Dark Titans – Arc 1 – Red XX?

Chapter Three

Enjoy if you will, Tolerate if you won't.

Starfire did her best to ignore the flashing lights, as she gazed longingly at the back of her very closest friend. She disliked, very much, seeing him in such a state of self anger. Even injured, the proud young man refused their help. He stood ram-rod straight, staring intently at the elevator door as they rode up to the Tower's main room. To anyone but his closest friends, which was nearly everyone present in the elevator, he might have appeared detached and in control. However, she knew better; she could see the tightly coiled muscles in his arms tensing as he tried to contain his emotions.

She wasn't sure if anyone else noticed, they were all lost in thoughts of their own. To her rear, Beast Boy, Raven and Ryouga were standing in relative silence. Her emerald companion was shifting back and forth anxiously; a nervous expression on his face. Ryouga was glaring at the wall of the elevator, as if blaming it for his current situation. Ever since they had begun speaking of Red X, the young warrior had started to withdraw, perhaps feeling left out of their discussion. Between the two boys, and leaning against the back of the elevator, was Raven. The pale young woman wore an, almost excessively so, neutral expression on her face. It was obvious that Red X was the last thing on her mind though, considering the extremely brief and secretive glances she continued to cast at the bandanna clad boy's back.

Beside her, Cyborg was busily reading a series of readouts on the view screen mounted in his forearm. The small screen was still flashing and emitting small beeps, informing them of the security breech which had occurred in the tower shortly after they had convened with Robin. As soon as they had learned of the incursion, they had made their way back to the tower as quickly as possible.

When they had gotten there everything appeared to be normal. Aside from the alarm lighting, there was nothing out of place or damaged. Robin's first reaction, though, had surprised them all greatly.

"Kasumi is alone in there. Our first priority is making sure she's safe. Then we'll find out what the alert is."

It had shocked them all quite a bit, the realization that someone helpless, like Kasumi, was in the tower during a possible enemy attack. It was also the reason they were riding up the elevator to the main room, since Kasumi's room was on the same floor, rather than going to the basement to determine the source of the alarm.

It was also likely a part of the reason that the Lost Boy, as Ranma had been constantly calling him, was still glaring at the wall. Ryouga took his role as Kasumi's guardian very seriously, and he was obviously annoyed that Robin had thought of her welfare before he had. She would have felt bad for him, except that his total obliviousness to Raven's attention was starting to annoy her.

The near silent swish of the elevator doors opening heralded their arrival to the main room. As a group, they rushed out into the room, prepared for anything. Robin flashed out, bo staff leading the way. Cyborg barreled past him, Sonic Cannon glowing threateningly. Raven and herself flew up as soon as they exited the door, while Beast Boy and Ryouga moved out to flank the two other boys. The flashing red lights and the blaring alarms nearly overwhelmed her senses as she surveyed the room . . .

"Oh my!"

What she saw was unusual, even for her sensibilities. There, sitting calmly on a stool by the kitchen counter, calmly sipping a cup of tea, was Kasumi . . . being calm. In fact, the young woman appeared to be more surprised by their rapid entrance into the tower, than by the loud sirens or strobing lights.

Immediately, Ryouga rushed forward to check on the Tendo woman. "Kasumi, are you alright? Did anyone attack you?" he asked, speaking loudly to be heard. Her friend wore a mask of fear and concern on his face, and she could sense his anger bubbling just beneath the surface. His desire to lash out at whatever caused this was nearly palpable; she could practically feel it in his soul.

To the side, Cyborg powered down his sonic cannon and moved over to the control panel by the elevator. Several deft movements of his fingers and the room was returned to blessed normalcy.

"I'm perfectly fine, Ryouga. I'm not sure exactly what is happening, but the computer was kind enough to explain some of the situation to me," Kasumi replied to Ryouga's worried inquiries.

Hearing that, Robin moved over as well, deftly maneuvering around the island counter that separated the kitchenette from the rest of the room. "What's the situation, Kasumi?"

Kasumi turned to regard their young leader, and gasped in surprise when she finally saw the condition the boy was in. Starfire could sympathize with the gentle woman's concern, she had hardly been consolable herself, when she had seen what that Old Man had done to him. The brunette looked ready to bury Robin under a wave of medical care, but the deadly serious look on the boy's face stopped her instantly.

The older girl regarded Robin for a few moments, apparently torn between helping him and answering his question. However, a moment later she looked down and away, a slight frown on her lips. "The computer said that there was a forced entrance in the basement. Apparently it happened a little over twenty minutes from when you sent out your call to everyone's communicators."

Cyborg smacked a fist into his open palm, resulting in a metallic clang. "Dammit! Whoever did this must have been planning this for weeks. They hit us as soon as we went to help you out, man." The titanium teen then raised a hand to his chin in consideration. "And twenty minutes . . . into the basement . . . Ah, man! Whoever it was, they must have found the emergency entrance! But how would they have known about that?"

It was Raven's turn to look surprised. Her dear friend floated forward to join the group, an odd look on her features. "It's my fault . . . When Cologne and Ranma arrived to help me, I directed them to the emergency entrance, so they could enter undetected."

"That means that whoever did this, they were spying on us for at least two weeks," theorized Robin. He then continued. "What else did the computer tell you?"

Kasumi looked back to the serious young man, her saddened look still present. "Apparently they only made it up to the third subbasement, before they set off an alarm and activated the security measures. That was all that it told me, and I wasn't able to go and see for myself, since I don't have any access to restricted areas."

Robin nodded, deep in thought. "That's for the best; you shouldn't be putting yourself into that kind of danger anyway. Thanks, Kasumi, you've told me everything I need to know about what's happening."

The Tendo woman smiled at that, then moved forward and placed a delicate hand on the boy's face, checking his injury before he could argue. Starfire felt an odd twinge pass through her at the gesture, seeing someone else act so familiar around Robin. It was not jealousy . . . was it? How could she possibly be jealous of Kasumi? Kasumi acted more like a mother than the attractive young woman that she was.

Another odd thought struck her, derailing her rather unpleasant train of thought.

"But, Robin. Is there not only one device stored in the third subbasement?" she asked.

Robin nodded, politely ignoring Kasumi as she began fussing over his injuries. Strangely enough, a small smile was forming on their leader's face, despite the raw and scabbed skin that covered his abused chin.

"The only thing stored there, was the Red X suit."

Beast Boy's sudden bark of laughter rolled over everyone, drawing all their gazes. "Dude, that is so awesome! Someone just went to all that trouble, to steal somethin that's already been stolen! Oh man, Cy, tell me you got cameras down there," crowed the changeling.

The look of joy on Beast Boy's face was contagious as he continued.

"I have gotta see the look on that guy's face when he finds out!"

Yet another intolerably long elevator ride and they were finally at the scene of the crime. Ryouga growled to himself again, probably for the tenth time that night. How could he have forgotten that Kasumi was alone in the tower? What the hell had he been doing? While he was out sitting in some cavern looking at a rock, the most gentle, sweet and caring woman in the entire world was at the mercy of some random criminal.

Once again, the elevator doors slid open. This time all that was revealed was a narrow corridor. All of his companions rushed out past him to examine what had happened.

"You can't blame yourself for this."

Almost all of his companions. He turned to regard the cloaked girl; he seriously doubted that she needed her empathic powers to guess what was on his mind. Mindful of the elevator, he stepped across the threshold and waited for her to join him. A moment later, the elevator door slid close behind them.

He contemplated the dispassionate gaze on the lovely young woman's face, before grunting derisively. "I don't see why not. I'm supposed to be protecting Kasumi, and the first time that something happens, I'm not even within ten kilometers of her."

Raven's eyes narrowed at his words. "We were all away; we all went to help Robin. Are you saying that it's more important to watch over Kasumi, on a one in one thousand chance that something like this happens, than it is to help someone that you know is in trouble?"

He opened his mouth to bark a response . . . but then her words echoed across the reason center of his brain. So instead he stood there for a moment, mouth hanging open like a gasping fish. When she put it like that . . . "Damn! Why do you have to be so smart all of the time?" he barked irritably.

So much for his self loathing inner monologue. Her superior smirk wasn't helping at all, as it was obvious who had won that exchange. Sure it was cute, but that just made it that much more irksome.

"Well, considering the competition here, it's not too difficult," she said, her smirk widening into a small smile. "Besides, if you hadn't been with us helping Robin, you would have been with Terra, trying to help her. Now you can't tell me that helping her isn't just as important as helping Kasumi, can you?"

Again, he opened his mouth to respond . . . but nothing cutting or witty sprang to mind. Why did his brain always fail him in these situations? He'd definitely need to work on his banter if he wanted to bandy wits with the likes of her. So instead of standing there like a fool, he spun on the ball of his foot and marched off down the hallway. He made sure to arch his back fiercely to make his annoyance obvious to her. He could sense her float after him almost immediately.

"You're not really angry, Hibiki, and you're not going to get any sympathy by pretending," her muttered voice traveled over his shoulder, a teasing tone flowing in it.

He didn't bother turning, he just continued to trek down the hallway, carefully stepping around the smashed laser cannons on the floor. At least five of the devices had been destroyed when the culprit had made their escape.

"I am angry, I'm always angry, just ask anyone," he barked back, barely holding in the small chuckle that threatened to destroy his posturing.

He could feel her close the distance between them, just hanging a few scant inches behind his shoulder. Another odd ripple ran through her aura, different from the last one as they flew over the city. "You'd be more convincing if you weren't smiling, you know."

This time he did stop, suddenly. He enjoyed a minute of spiteful glee, when she bounced into his back . . . well, actually the soft and warm contact that her gently curved body produced when she collided with him elicited more sensations than just the spite, but he focused mainly on that. He turned to look over his shoulder, smiling at the annoyed frown on her lips now. "Hey, since when did I start receiving the Beast Boy treatment anyway?"

She glared at him for a moment, before she floated past him. "I wasn't giving you 'the Beast Boy treatment', but if you ever do that again, I'll do something that makes 'the Beast Boy treatment' pale in comparison." Her warning given, the darkly clad girl floated to join her friends at the end of the hall.

He mentally kicked himself for that. Why had he done that? He knew that she still wasn't comfortable with him touching her in anyway. How could he blame her, considering he had nearly killed her...? Gods, for just a moment, he had forgotten that, he'd been so caught up in her gentle teasing. As much as he wanted to, he knew there was no way he could ever truly be her friend again, not after what he had done to her.

A quiet sigh escaped his lips, as he finally caught up to everyone at the end of the hall. It appeared that most of the wall they were examining was taken up by a large vault. The massive titanium door of said vault was currently laying flat on the ground. All around the door, along the floor, ceiling and walls were dozens of tiny reflective devices, carefully placed. At the moment, Robin was inside the vault. He was examining a large metallic slab which seemed to possess a strange indent, as if someone had lain down in the molten metal when it had been forged. Starfire and Beast Boy were both playing around with some of the reflective discs.

After finishing some scan or another, Cyborg finally moved over to the fallen vault door and casually lifted it up and leaned it against the wall. "Ah ha! Here's the culprit!" he exclaimed, pointing to a large metal dome that still clung to the front of the large door. Several spindly arms protruded from the circular device, but had mostly been snapped off when the door had fallen . . .

Hey!

"Hey! That's Gizmo's old safe cracker. He showed it to me over a month ago, back at the academy. He said it was one of his first year projects, but that he never ended up using it, since he could hack any security system anyways," Ryouga said, happy to finally be able to add something to the investigation.

Cyborg nodded slowly in agreement. "Yeah, it's definitely Short Stuff's tech."

"Does that mean that Gizmo stole your suit?" Beast Boy asked; a slightly puzzled look on his face.

Robin stepped out of the vault and shook his head slightly. "It's possible, but it seems a bit crude for him. It's possible that someone else might have bought the device from him, if what Ryouga says is true."

Ryouga rolled his eyes in annoyance at that, but held his peace. Admittedly, it didn't make a whole lot of sense to him. Someone using Gizmo's technology to steal something that had already been stolen. That didn't help them figure out who actually stole the suit. After all, the door was obviously still in place and functional when they had left to get Robin, or else there would have been no reason to rip the door off like that.

That seemed to indicate that whoever had really stolen the suit had been a much better thief. They had to have been, to get in, get the suit and get out, and leave the vault locked back up behind them.

Hmm . . . that was an interesting thought. Apparently Cyborg was way ahead of him, already accessing the vaults electronic lock. The larger teen considered the information on his arm for several moments, before finally coming to a conclusion.

"Dawgs didn't just hack this door once, they did it twice! Once tonight, but it looked like it failed, hence the overkill. The second time, though, was two days ago, and it was successful. Whoever it was, they were good, cut through the encryptions like nothing. I have no idea who it could have been, or how they got past everything else so easily, but they cracked this safe like an egg," said the Cybernetic hero, a mix of anger and awe in his voice.

Everyone seemed to lose themselves in thought at his explanation. Ryouga, however, was on a different train of thought. After Cyborg finished his scan and moved off to think it over, he moved in to examine the lock himself.

Ah ha again! It had been a long shot, but there they were, as plain as day. Ryouga couldn't be sure who had hacked first or second, but he had a strange feeling that the people he was considering were the ones that had been successful.

"I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I think I can narrow your list of suspects from anyone down to about five or so," he muttered cryptically. He ran his fingers over the input port on the lock, smiling slightly at his discovery.

Almost instantly, Robin was at his side, glaring at him intently. "What do you mean?" he nearly demanded.

He rolled his eyes slightly, but decided to let his friends insistent attitude pass. He knew that the young hero was very angry about this whole issue, though he still wasn't a hundred percent sure why. So rather than argue the merits of polite discussion, he pointed to the input port on the vaults lock.

"I can't be sure who hacked the lock first, but if you look carefully around the input, you can see four tiny scratch marks," he said, indicating the marks with his finger. Robin leaned in eagerly, carefully examining the marks. After a moment, the teen hero nodded and stood back up.

"I see them, but what do they mean?"

His smile grew slightly at that, it was always fun to be the one that knew the answer to something. "Those are the marks left by the computer hacking probe which is standard issue in all Hive communicators."

He quickly followed up his explanation by pulling out his own hexagonal communicator. He carefully flipped oven a panel on the bottom of the device, then pulled out a long cord and moved it towards the lock.

"Since most Hive students, like Jinx, Mammoth, or myself, never carry around any technical gear asides from our communicators, the Headmaster made sure that they could do as many things as possible. Not only do they have the communication and tracking ability that yours do, they double as memory sticks for downloading stolen data; and a hacking device for taking out security systems." He carefully maneuvered the tiny probe to the input and touched it to the opening.

Instantly, four tiny hooks swung out from the sides and scratched lightly into the titanium of the vault door. "Heh, normally, those would dig into the metal of a computer panel. They're meant to hold the probe in place, in case the communicator is dropped because of a fight or some other kind of disturbance."

Since the hooks couldn't gain any purchase on the solid metal of the door, he carefully slid it in the rest of the way. A moment later, a series of algorithms were displayed on the tiny screen of his communicator.

Robin stared in interest, while everyone else gasped in shock at his demonstration. The fanged boy looked over the display for several moments, before grunting in dismay. "Hmm, man, this is some complicated stuff. There's no way that I would have been able to pull this off. There were probably only one or two people in the entire academy that could have hacked this," he muttered in disbelief. Man, no wonder this last guy had just resorted to tearing the door off.

Cyborg glared angrily, cracking his knuckles as he stared at the communicator. "Three guesses as to who one of those people were."

"Dude, I only need one. Looks like Gizmo actually got to help out on both safe crackings. On the same safe no less," growled Beast Boy.

Starfire nodded, a thoughtful look on her features. "And if it was Gizmo whom stole the suit, then it is most likely that the female who was wearing it was . . ."

They all nodded in unison, as the answer became glaringly obvious to them. It was Robin that finally voiced the name that hovered on all their minds.

"Nabiki."

Nabiki spun around before her full length mirror, marveling at her new suit once again. She had asked Gizmo to hook her up with a little something to help her keep up with her boys and all of the enemies they were going to start racking up soon, but this exceeded her expectations. She looked down again, running her hands across the smooth, body hugging material that now covered her body. Not only did it look good, it felt great.

She noticed Gizmo still standing behind her, looking a little hot under the collar. It would be cruel of her to tease the boy, especially after he had just given her such a wonderful gift. Which, of course, was exactly why she decided to do it. Arching her back innocently, she then leaned forward as far as she could, running her hands down her legs and pretending to inspect her new boots.

A strangled gasp and the hurried sound of her favorite little inventor quickly turning away gave her a boost to her ego that she surely, surely didn't need. Suppressing the wicked smile that wanted to bloom on her ruby painted lips; she stood straight once more and looked in the mirror again. If those were the kind of reactions she was going to get, maybe it was about time that she rethought her stance on not wearing spandex in public.

The suits capabilities were pretty impressive as well, Gizmo had given her a rundown of what it could do, and she'd feigned understanding most of it. She'd read the manual later. She was sure that she'd figure out all of the less understandable systems later on, as she got more used to the suit. She definitely had to admit it though; this suit was a marvel of technology. With her limited understanding of the mad sciences (as she loved calling it around her little inventor) she had no idea how a skin tight suit could even do any of the things it did.

There was one thing that was bothering her though. She turned to her companion, an upturned eyebrow displaying her concern. "Gizmo?"

The young, young man turned back to face her, digging his toe adorably into the carpet and trying desperately to hide a blush. "Um . . . yeah, Boss?"

"I don't want to complain, but this suit is just a little bit tight," she stated calmly. An instant later, she intensified her glare, as Gizmo's face suddenly bloomed a bright red again. "I can only assume that there is a good reason for my outfit being so tight and not some immature, hormone driven reason . . . can't I?"

The poor boy looked like his head was about to explode for a moment there, when, "Um – It's new! Yeah, it's new, so it needs to be broken in! I'm sure you'll stretch it out in no time!"

Her brow arched dangerously at his choice of words.

"Wait! Not stretch out . . . um . . . work in! Yeah, you'll work it in, in no time, all comfortable-like, like a body glov- I mean, like a glove . . . ah, I'm gonna shut up now . . ." he finally muttered in humiliation.

Only to be difficult, she held her imperious glare for another moment, before finally smiling happily. Then she leaned forward and patted him affectionately on the head. "Oh, Gizmo, you're such a boy. But you try so hard, so I'll let it slide this time. Now, tell Billy to get me a coffee, I'm dying of thirst in here."

The look of relief on the young boy's face was hilarious, as he scrambled off to get someone else to do something menial for her. Ah, she loved her boys; they were just so much fun! Well, except for Billy, she was starting to wish that she'd taken See-more instead. Not only was Billy a sexist jerk that was stupid enough to hit on Shampoo of all people, but she was starting to realize the synergy that See-more and Kyd Wykkyd possessed when they combined their powers. She groaned loudly in disgust, why had she let the appeal of an infinite number of henchmen fool her?

"Yeah, I'd be groaning too if I had to wear a full body corset like that. Sheesh, I had no idea that Giz was so shameless," came a lyrical voice from the doorway.

At that, Nabiki turned to see her impromptu guest enter the room. She looked the girl over once before letting out a dismissive huff. "Shameless or not, I look gooood. And I hardly think you should be giving out fashion advice at the moment, Jinx," she fired back, gesturing to her companion's outfit.

Jinx leaned casually against the doorframe, her outfit consisted pretty much entirely of a fluffy cotton bathrobe. It was such a bright pink, that the girl's flowing locks seemed to melt into it where they fell around her shoulders. Nabiki noted, idly, that Jinx had yet to put her hair back up into its usual upturned style, and frankly, she looked a lot better with it down like this. Of course, her grayish, pale skin and pink cat-like eyes still made her stand out from a crowd, but she definitely didn't look like a villain at the moment.

Especially not with the absolutely adorable shade of pink that she'd painted her toenails.

Oh, and then there was the tub of triple chocolate fudge ice cream lodged in her arm like a long lost child. The young sorceress casually scooped out a spoonful of the tasty treat and ate it with passionate abandon.

"Mmmmm . . . That's sooo good. Anyway, it doesn't matter what I'm wearing, Biki. I don't have anyone to impress. Besides, we both know that I don't have the body to pull of something like that." Jinx punctuated her point, by draping her spoon bearing hand across her brow dramatically. "Oh, woe is me, a scarecrow that can't even get Happosai's attention."

Nabiki rolled her eyes, trying to bury her amusement. "Do you have any idea how many women would kill to have that particular problem? Besides, I know one boy that likes your body just the way it is. I'm sure if you gave him a proper test drive, he'd appreciate you in a whole new way," she suggested in a sly voice.

Her little jab worked, as Jinx's face suddenly blushed as red as a tomato. The girl then narrowed her eyes and pointed her spoon threateningly. "Don't get started on that again, Biki. I told you why I let Raven have him. I've done too much wrong to deserve him, and I don't need you constantly dredging up the past like that, thank you very much."

Yet again, Nabiki rolled her eyes. "And I told you how I feel about giving! It's just wrong, on so many levels. And really, would you listen to yourself talk? 'Oh, I'm not worthy of the Lost Boy, he's ever so perfect and kind.' I hate to burst your bubble, Jinx, but Ryouga ain't no saint. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that he was a psychotic maniac when he first arrived on the scene. Trust me, you are exactly the kind of girl that he deserves, and I only partially mean that in an insulting way."

Her irate companion glared back at her, angrily devouring another spoonful of gooey ice cream. "Yeah . . . well . . . well-shut up!"

The Ice Queen of the Hive Five smirked happily. "Oooh, nice comeback, Jinx. Is that the same witty banter you pull out for the super heroes? Heh, well, I can't blame you, there hasn't been a person born yet that can get the better of Tendo Nabiki," she proclaimed happily.

The annoyed sorceress turned to leave, but then stopped suddenly. Jinx turned to look over her shoulder one last time, a wicked smile on her face. "Yeah? Well that suit makes your butt look huge."

Jinx then vanished out the door, leaving her to stand there, staring blankly after the departed girl. Quickly, Nabiki turned back to the mirror, eyeing her reflection critically. She then turned to glare at the empty doorway angrily.

"Yeah . . . well . . . well-shut up!"

Left jab, right jab, left cross, uppercut. The punching bag reverberated with each meaty smack of Robin's fists colliding with its leathery surface. He repeated the combination again, and again and again, faster, harder and faster. He had already been at it for half an hour straight, and had long passed beyond the point where he was actually training.

Now all that remained was his anger and the intense need to vent it.

How could he have let her escape? The worst part was that he had had her! He had had her right in his grasp. She wasn't bad, but she wasn't great either. The suit made her dangerous, but she hadn't known how to use it very well yet. If Happosai hadn't interfered . . .

He jumped back and spun into a brutal spinning sidekick. The entire bag swung back from the impact and the chain creaked out a tenuous warning. As soon as it swung back, a crushing elbow met it and he flowed into a new combination of attacks.

No, Red X, whoever she was, she didn't know how to use the suit fully yet, but that would change quickly. Anyone clever enough to steal it in the first place likely wouldn't have too much trouble deciphering all of the systems given some time. And the more she learned, the more dangerous it would get. The worst part was that he knew if they didn't get it back soon, their chances of getting it back at all would decrease rapidly.

After all, he had designed it specifically to take down the Titans. With its power, he had been able to outmaneuver all of his friends, despite their super human abilities. Their only real advantage at the moment was that he hadn't known Ryouga when he had made the suit. As it was, there weren't any systems intended to take down either of the Titan's resident martial artists.

Of course, if it was Nabiki that had taken it, which all of the evidence pointed towards, then she already knew every single weakness that Ryouga might possess. She had been an extremely sharp female, even from his short interactions with her, and he doubted that she wouldn't take advantage of any advantage she could. Heck, he was actually pretty impressed by her. The fact that a high school kid could outwit and outmaneuver a seasoned team of super heroes . . . yeah, that one was definitely worthy of a wary respect.

"Oh my, I hope I'm not interrupting." A gentle, nearly musical voice derailed his train of thought. The masked vigilante ceased his near mindless destruction of the punching bag and turned to face Kasumi.

Even after a week, he still had a hard time reconciling the woman before him with the Kasumi that he had come to know. Seeing her dressed for training, dressed in a loose pair of gi pants and a black sports bra under a snug white t-shirt . . . it was a little distracting. Which was odd, especially considering it wasn't risqué at all, and in fact, more than either Raven or Starfire wore on a daily basis.

Maybe it was just the shock of the fact it was Kasumi dressed like that. He chuckled lightly, he had spoken to Ryouga on the subject, and the older boy had said that he had been just as disturbed when he had been subjected to the sight when they had started training back at the Academy. Of course, then Ryouga had started babbling some nonsense about nose bleeds and fainting spells, but he was pretty sure he was just teasing him.

"Not at all, Kasumi. You aren't scheduled for another lesson today though," he said politely.

She nodded, and then walked over to join him. The young woman took a short moment to check his injuries, running a soft thumb over his chin, before turning his head left and right so she could inspect him better. He took it with resigned patience, it had been easy to wave off her ministrations when he hadn't really been hurt, but after the working over that Happosai had given him . . . Well, he had soon found that she possessed a will that would not be denied.

After a moment, she turned to look at the target of his frustrations, and ran a gentle hand down the dented leather surface of the punching bag. "You really shouldn't be pushing yourself so hard. After what Happosai did to you last night, you should still be resting," she stated mildly.

He nodded slightly, but then smiled broadly. "I'm fine, Kasumi. You know just as well as I do that Happosai didn't hurt me that bad. He may be a panty stealing pervert, but he is a great master of the martial arts. Sure, I was in a world of pain last night, but it turned out that he had mostly just hit a lot of my pressure points and nerve clusters. He didn't do any actual or lasting damage. Heh, I have to admit though, seeing him go full out like that, it was a pretty humbling sight."

The lovely brunette nodded at his prognosis, though she obviously wasn't happy about it. "Perhaps, but just because you weren't hurt as much as you thought you were, doesn't mean that you shouldn't rest. You're just as bad as Raven, Ryouga and Ranma." A sudden look crossed her face, as she thought about what she said. A small giggle escaped her lips after a moment. "Oh my, isn't that a funny coincidence? Ranma, Raven, Robin and Ryouga, each one just as proud and stubborn as the next."

"Heh, yeah, that is a little funny when you think about it like that," he agreed, smiling widely. His smile dropped a bit, when she turned back to him, a tiny frown on her lips.

"And speaking of that, you might be well enough to train, but Raven is still far too injured to be going out on missions. I would like to know what one of my patients, who is under specific orders not to go on missions, is doing going out on missions," she asked as pointedly as was possible for the poster woman of sweetness.

The leader of the Titans tugged at his collar a bit nervously at that. "Eh heh, well, she wasn't actually on the mission. She was just making sure that Ryouga got there, she was only there in a transportation role."

His taller companion considered his words for a moment, before nodding slightly. "I suppose that makes sense, but I would prefer it if you would discuss her situation with her. I know she heals faster than normal, but her arm and ribs were broken quite badly. It will be at least another three weeks before she will be able to remove her casts," she explained calmly.

He shrugged. "Sure, I suppose I can do that. But I thought you said Ranma was only going to need his cast for two weeks at the most. Didn't he have nearly a dozen broken ribs? Raven only had three. I know Ranma is a fast healer, but that much faster?"

"It's not just a matter of that, Raven is actually an amazingly rapid healer, easily on par with Ranma and Ryouga. However, her physical conditioning is much less than theirs. While Ranma had nearly half of his rib cage fractured, his naturally denser musculature held them all nearly perfectly in place. Raven on the other hand, the force of Ryouga's attack nearly pushed one of her ribs directly into her lung. I would just feel much better if she refrained from entering dangerous situations like the one you were in last night." The young doctor in training spoke with a silent conviction that moved him.

"All right, all right, you win. I'll talk to Raven about it. Now, back to my original question, why are you here today? I thought you would be working with Cyborg."

She shook her head slightly at that. "I was, but he is understandably preoccupied with locating both Red X and Happosai. After last night, I believe that everyone has had a change of heart about letting you hunt him down alone."

"I guess I can understand that. But it's not him that we need to worry about. He may be powerful, but he's not really a danger to the city, just an annoyance. Red X is the real threat. She's a dangerous criminal and we will take her down," he promised darkly.

Kasumi regarded him strangely for a moment. "I know that you think Nabiki is Red X, but you seem to be much angrier about this situation than that would warrant. Just . . . just why does Red X make you so angry? To be honest, from what you've told me so far, she hasn't done anything to warrant such anger . . . yet."

He let out a beleaguered sigh. She did have a point. Whoever this new Red X was, Nabiki or not, the only thing she had done yet was attack Happosai, and he'd been doing that for a week straight himself. No, he wasn't even that mad about the suit getting stolen, though it was a thorn in his side. No . . . no, it was the reminder of then, of what he had done to earn Slade's trust. He had done terrible things then, broke the law, attacked his friends . . . no, the last thing he needed was some leggy vixen running around reminding him of his own shortcomings and running his reputation even further into the ground.

With that in mind, and suddenly feeling a strange urge to unburden himself, he led Kasumi over to one of the benches that ran down the walls. "Well, Kasumi, it's a long, dark story . . ."

"Slade, it all started with Slade."