Dark Titans – Arc 1 – Red XX?

Chapter Four

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

Cyborg flopped down onto the long, semi-circular couch that took up the center of the main room. He let out an explosive sigh, mentally exhausted after a night of trying to piece together the puzzle that had been handed to them. On the couch to his left, Raven and Beast Boy sat; Beast Boy was nearly passed out and only Raven's insistent pushing kept him from falling all over her. To his right, Starfire and Ryouga sat, leaning comfortably against each other and looking a bit sleepy themselves.

"C'mon, Ryo, you know that Nabiki girl better than anyone here, why would she steal the suit?" muttered the Titanium Titan.

Ryouga didn't bother to move from his enviable position, he just swiveled his eyes in his direction. "Well, asides from the obvious, she might be a bit insecure about not having any ability to defend herself. If that thing is as powerful as you're all making it out to be, I don't doubt she'd make good use of it. The only thing that I can't figure out, is why she'd cross paths with Happosai. There have to be better ways to test it out."

With one last shove, Raven sent her emerald tormentor flopping off of the couch and onto the floor. She then turned her attention back to the conversation. "It does seem slightly odd. I only met Nabiki for several minutes, when she revealed her betrayal of the Headmaster. She didn't seem like the kind of person that would willingly enter into personal combat herself. Certainly if she wanted additional protection, Gizmo would be more than able to create something more suitable to her mindset."

On the ground, shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, Beast Boy sat up. "What are you talkin about? That Red X suit is the ultimate. Robin sure pulled out all the stops when he made it, heck, it was even good enough to beat Cy's tech."

Hey now! "Hey, watch it, Grass Stain. I'm still tryin to figure out how he made such an advanced suit. No offence to our leader, but he just isn't that smart. There's something . . . something key that I'm missing, but it just shouldn't be possible for a suit with no visible power sources to be able to do all that stuff," he explained in annoyance.

The changeling just waved him off dismissively. "Pfft, and I thought I was the green eyed kid. Don't be jellin just cause Robin is the new Techno Wizard of the Titans. You had a good run, dude."

Oh, that was it. "Good run? Good run! Dawg, I am the master of technology! I could design circles around Robin. And Gizmo's tech is at least as good as mine. There's no way that Mighty Midget would resort to stealin Robin's tech, either one of us could make something ten times better than him!"

By the time he finished, he was huffing mightily, and all of his friends were leaning away from him with nervous looks on their faces.

"Um . . . eh heh . . . whatever you say, dude, you're the master . . . heh." Beast Boy's weak agreement didn't seem quite as sincere as it could have, but he'd take it.

To his side, Starfire and Ryouga disentangled themselves and the Lost Boy leaned forward. "So what the heck does this suit do anyway? I mean, if we're going to go after Nabiki, I think I should at least know what it's capable of."

Cyborg flopped back into the couch once more. "That's just it, we don't even know all of it's abilities. Heck, some of the things it can do don't even seem possible. Suffice it to say, if you see a red X comin your way, you'd best be getting outta said way."

Ryouga's nonplussed stare signaled his lack of satisfaction with that answer. Luckily, Raven decided to pick up the slack. "We don't know all of its abilities, but the ones we do know are impressive. Short range teleportation, adhesive attacks, explosive attacks, energy redirection projectiles, wrist blades. I also believe the suit grants and increase in both strength and speed, though not agility. It was designed by Robin, for Robin and it perfectly complimented his fighting style."

This time, Ryouga's nonplussed stare signaled something entirely different. "Oh, is that all . . . I feel soo much better now."

"Yeah, I know how ya feel. If only our overly paranoid, spiky haired leader would just give me the plans for the suit, I'd be able to figure out what it does, but he don't share nothing he doesn't think he needs to," muttered Cyborg, in disgust.

Starfire sat up at that. "Please, friends. I am certain that Robin has a most exemplary reason for not informing us as to all of the capabilities of the Red X suit. We must believe in him, for he too is our friend."

"Yeah, yeah, Star. Big trusting family here, we know Robin wouldn't do anything to hurt us," mumbled Beast Boy, though how sincere his statement was, was a bit in doubt.

A rumble in his titanium stomach grabbed his attention. Hmm, food didn't seem like a bad idea. With that in mind, he hopped over the couch and made his way to the kitchenette. "It's all good, Star. I know that we can take down Red X. I just wish I knew how Robin managed to make a suit with all of those capabilities without a ton of supporting equipment to power it . . ."

Apparently Ryouga seemed to have something in mind as well, as he stood up and flipped over the couch, following him to the kitchen. The martial artist yawned loudly and stretched as he walked. "Feh, you know what? Who really cares? Whether it's Nabiki or not, this Red X girl hasn't done anything worse than attack the Old Pervert, and really, who hasn't done that? I don't know why you're all so worked up over one of Robin's old toys, if it was really that great, he'd still be using it."

That struck Cyborg as strangely true . . . The Red X suit was incredibly useful. Sure, Robin claimed that it reminded him too much of his time with Slade, but a minor cosmetic change could fix that easily. Was there another, more logical reason that the masked hero refused to use the suit?

"Well, as exciting as all of this sitting around and griping is, I think I should get back to Terra. Hey, whose turn is it to take me back down?" asked Ryouga, looking around the room.

Cyborg quickly lifted his hand and started counting the days on his fingers. Oh, damn! It was Tuesday, that meant he was on Ryouga duty. Man, how could anyone get that lost that easy? He raised his hand further and was about to bite the bullet, when something stopped him.

Said something being the twin glares of Starfire and Raven willing him to silence. Ryouga was staring in his direction, so he didn't see the girls' heated stares behind his back. Rather, Ryouga looked at him quizzically, since he had raised his hand.

He needed an out, quick!

"Um . . . i-it's my turn to make dinner tonight! Yeah, that's it. So you better not spend all night in Terra's cavern again, Ryouga. You're a growing boy after all, and you need to eat," he spat out, pretty unconvincingly.

"Sheesh, Cy, what are you, the guy's mom?" barked his best bud from behind the couch.

Ryouga just shrugged, accepting his words at face value. "Fine . . . just, no pork, right?"

Cyborg rolled his eyes. Fine, cow was good enough. Still, dealing with BB's odd eating habits was bad enough, now he had to make the Tower into a Kosher deli?

"I'll be glad to take you down to the cavern today, Ryouga." Raven's quiet voice floated across the room.

He chuckled to himself, yeah, that wasn't a surprise at all. Those two had been acting pretty awkward around each other lately, they definitely needed to hash things out. He still kind of hoped that she was only interested in him as a friend, though. His conversation with Jinx, so long ago, still echoed in his memory from time to time. Jinx and Ryouga had been crazy about each other, mind control or no, and Cyborg was pretty sure that the Lost Boy was still reeling from that emotionally.

"Hey, thanks, Raven. Come on, we can hit a restaurant on the way and catch some breakfast," offered Ryouga. The guy then turned and headed straight for the closet, totally missing the light blush that formed on Raven's cheeks.

Uh-oh . . .

A moment later, the depressive duo got themselves sorted out and vanished down the elevator. He could only shake his head in worry.

"Excuse me, but do either of you know where Robin is to be located now?" asked Starfire, politely.

He struggled with that for a moment. "Oh yeah. He's down in the gym. I sent Kasumi down to train with him, since I'm gonna be too busy tracking the suit today to go over the medical equipment with her."

Beast Boy jumped onto the top of the couch, a dreamy smile on his face. "Heh, talk about one lucky dude. I still stand by my original statement, that girl is an angel."

The sudden surge of red to their resident Tamarian's cheeks piqued the resident cyborg's curiosity. "Somethin wrong, Star?" he asked innocently.

"No, of course not, friend Cyborg, for what reason do you inquire?" she fired back in a hurried tone.

That only made him more suspicious. Heck, even BB was catching on. The other boy leaned over on the couch towards the girl. "Are you suuuure, Starfire? It sure seems like something is bothering you."

"You are gravely mistaken, Beast Boy! I most assuredly do not believe that Robin is spending far too much time with the Kasumi person. That would be a most foolish and immature assumption for you to make!" The girl's heated denial was followed by a rapid exit, as she literally flew out the window, blushing as bright as the sun.

Cyborg watched the spectacle blankly before turning to face Beast Boy, who wore a matching expression. The younger boy looked back at him, a little embarrassed. "I'm guessing this is the part where one of us says 'but no one mentioned Robin'?"

He could only shrug in response. "Man, we've seen her get jealous before, but over Kasumi? I mean, sure, she's super hot and super nice and a great cook and . . . and . . ." he trailed off uncertainly.

Beast Boy's head shot up at the sudden revelation. "Umm . . . dude? You think those worries of hers might not be totally unfounded? I think I'm gonna go after her, see if I can't talk her down," offered the emerald youth. He followed his statement with action, heading for the window.

The Titanium Teen sighed loudly. "Yeah, you do that. I better get started on this scanning stuff."

If Beast Boy heard him, he gave no sign. Instead, the other Titan just dived out the window . . . hopefully turning into a bird or something before he hit the pavement below. Sure, the guy did that on a daily basis, but it always weirded him out, just a bit, to see his best friend jump out of a fourteenth story window in his elf form.

A quick head shake to clear his mind of disturbing and morbid thoughts, and he made his way to the fridge and prepared to get himself a little breakfast to start the day -

A loud beep from his arm mounted communicator nearly made him drop a plate full of bacon on the ground. A quick bout of curses and some dramatic acrobatics saved his meal, but ruined his mood. And if he found out that Beast Boy and Ryouga switched his bacon out for tofu bacon again . . . heads would roll!

His arm beeped again. Oh yeah, incoming call and all that. "Man, this better be good. Don't these people realize that they're infringing on Cy-time?"

He did his best to paste a neutral look on his face and activated the view screen on his arm. The sight he saw, was quite surprising indeed.

"Hey, Sparky! How are things lookin out there at Titans West?"

His neutral expression melted into a genuine smile. A call from Bumblebee was always welcome.

"Things just started lookin real good from where I'm sittin, girl. How are things goin in Steel City?"

The dark skinned girl's pretty face broke into a wide smile as well. "Hey now, you know flattery will get you everywhere. And things are actually goin pretty well out here. I just wanted to call you to thank you for all of the help you've given us."

He made a show of scratching his head in mock puzzlement. "Help? What're you talkin about, girl? I haven't seen you since you guys took off. And there ain't no way that I'm haulin my butt all the way across the country to help you move into your new place."

The super heroine rolled her eyes in amusement. "You know what I mean, Sparky. I wanted to thank you for designing our tower for us, and for sharing all of your vehicle designs with us. With Tatie's financial backing, we're gonna be up and running in a month or two, barring a few . . . small problems . . ." she trailed off uncertainly for some reason.

His human eyebrow arched curiously at that. "Small problems? What problems could you have? My plans are fool proof."

As if in answer to his question, the sound of an automatic door sliding open on Bumblebee's side of the conversation heralded the arrival of a familiar pair of voices.

"Cease thy mad rantings, Chef! I absolutely forbid it, it is unseemly and impractical." Kunou's voice, obviously, rang out across the communication feed.

"Mad rantings? Oh, come on, Kunou. I'm just saying that we should open up an Okonomiyaki restaurant on the ground floor. There isn't even anything there in the blue prints, it's wasted space," came Ukyou's (also obviously) reply.

Bumblebee let out a sigh of resigned patience, while he struggled to hold in his laughter. "Does that answer your question? Man, it was bad enough with Tatie wanted to call us his "Kunou's Angels"! Now Baker Brain wants to open the first floor of our top secret and highly secure facility to the public as an eatery!"

He couldn't help himself, he just had to laugh. Man, why hadn't he ever thought of that? There sure was a lot of wasted space in Titan's Tower. Maybe if they leased out some space, him and Beast Boy could bring in a little extra money and, oh, pimp out the T-car or something . . .

The loud ring of spatula meeting head cut through his laughter pretty quick. A moment later, the communicator that Bumblebee was using was plucked from her unresponsive fingers and a new, though equally pretty face filled the screen. "Baker Brain! Well let's see who's laughing now, concussion girl. Hey Cyborg! How are things goin with you? The Lost Boy isn't causing too much trouble is he?"

Cyborg smiled nervously, only partially secure in the knowledge that this cutely smiling engine of destruction was thousands of miles away from him. "No way, Ukyou. Things are goin fine here, just some super villain troubles. Nothing we can't handle though."

"That's great! Hey, Cyborg, since you're all second in command and stuff, can you tell these guys what an advantage it would be to have a restaurant running out of our tower? I mean, from a public image standpoint alone, we'd be doing great!" she prattled on excitedly.

Again, his reply was interrupted as another hand descended on the communicator. This time there was a small tug of war, but eventually a new face filled the screen. This one wasn't very pretty at all, he thought glumly.

"There will be no common eatery within the noble walls of the new and illustrious Kunou Towers!" Kunou barked at the girl, before turning his attention to the communicator. "Please, excuse my companions, noble contemporary. I would ask you a question though."

Cyborg shrugged, suddenly quite happy that Kunou was taking care of the construction effort on the East coast. Suddenly the thought of having to go over there and help them in the building . . . it secretly terrified him. Not even all of the relationship trauma going on around him could possibly be as bad as it seemed Bumblebee was dealing with.

"Um, sure. Ask away, buddy."

Kunou nodded sharply. "I would ask if there have been any reports of my sister since last we left your company. I spoke with Saotome back in Japan, but she has not yet returned there to torment him, as deserving as he is."

Oh yeah . . . he'd completely forgotten about that. Which was a kind of jerkish thing to do. Forgetting that a guy's sister had gone missing, right after a major catastrophe . . . at least Kunou seemed to be handling it well. "I'm sorry, dawg. No one's seen her since we all escaped from the Hive Academy, just before it blew. We know she made it out with everyone, but no one remembers seeing her at all after that tornado thingy went off."

Kunou nodded again, though this time with a hint of melancholy softening his features. "I thank you, my friend Cyborg. I am certain that she is unharmed, though I would be more at ease if I knew where she was. But enough on that. I wish to reiterate Karen's thanks to you. You're plans and designs have been most helpful to our cause."

Suddenly, the aristocratic young man looked away, to something off screen. He then looked back, a slightly hurried look on his face. "Unfortunately, I must bid you adieu, as a certain commoner is currently in to process of altering said plans and designs!"

Then, without a further word, the communicator flashed to black, effectively ending the communication. He stared at his arm for a long moment, counting his blessings silently. He . . . he was sure that Bumblebee was alright. They wouldn't drive her mad . . . would they?

Nah, she was a tough girl, she could handle them.

"Still, looks like the grass is definitely greener on this side of the fence."

He wasn't trying to drive her mad . . . was he? She stared uncertainly at the Bandanna clad boy's back, as he led them to Terra's cavern. Well, perhaps 'led' was a bit of a strong word for what he was actually doing, but a few flashes of ebon energy here and there managed to keep him on the right track. Maybe he needed blinders, to stop getting distracted, or maybe a chip implanted in his brain, or something like that.

Of course, all she needed to do to fix the problem, was just pick up her pace and start walking beside him, but a number of flimsy reasons were preventing that. First, was the fact that she was in civilian clothes, since Ryouga had suggested that they go for breakfast together. She admitted, now, that perhaps she had been more eager than she should have been when he had made the offer. And frankly, the navy blue blouse and knee length black skirt, while fashionable, didn't exactly lend itself to flying over crowds.

That tied directly into the second reason. Ryouga walked fast. Obviously a life on the road hadn't accustomed the boy to enjoying a leisurely stroll with friends. And since she was limiting herself to walking as well, due to her thrice-cursed apparel, she was having a bit of trouble keeping stride. Not that she minded the view from her current position . . .

She shook her head harshly, banishing that rather random thought. No, no, nonono! She had already been over all of this in her head, with Starfire, even with Ranma. She could not afford to let herself get involved in such a way with anyone. It was bad enough that she had friends in the first place, considering her destiny, but something told her that taking that extra step would be an extraordinarily bad idea.

For that matter, even if she could get involved with someone, Ryouga had been sending off such mixed signals to her for the past few days, that she had no idea where he even stood on the matter. At times, he was almost randomly forward, such as asking her out to breakfast this morning . . . or at least that was how she viewed it. But other times, he became unbearably uncomfortable around her for no reason, like the incident last night, when she had been flying him across the city.

The breakfast had been enjoyable too; she had chosen a quiet little bistro that she frequented in her free time. She had enjoyed a light meal of tea and some fruit, while Ryouga had . . . what was the term, 'bulked up'? They had engaged in some small talk, a little on the pointless side, but pleasant. The fanged boy had even covered the entire bill, despite her rather meager protests. Overall, she would have called the situation promising.

But then the boy completely flip-flopped on her! As soon as they started walking again, he seemed to get lost in thought. Honestly, the way he was right then, she wondered if he even noticed that he was leaving her behind? She didn't even have the courage (why was she never around when she needed her?) to ask him what was on his mind. It seemed like a fifty fifty chance of her to guess what he was thinking about. The first thing, of course, was Terra. Which made sense, considering where they were going.

Of course, there was an equal chance that he was thinking about Jinx. And that was the reason she couldn't ask him. As much as she disliked thinking about it, she knew how he felt about the vanished sorceress. Though she had a hard time understanding why. Jinx had abandoned him when he had needed her the most. It was Raven that had been there, that had fought by his side against the Headmaster. Well, her and Ranma, but he didn't count.

She let out a small sigh. Yes, without even trying, Ryouga was driving her crazy, just by being himself.

Her train of thought was derailed, when she nearly walked right into the human wall's back for the second time in as many days. She prepared an acidic glare and a biting comment reminding him about her earlier threat, but then he turned to face her, a serious look on his face. Absently, she noticed that they had arrived at the entrance to the cave which led to Terra's cavern.

"Raven, can you tell me what Terra's name means?" he asked cryptically.

Her entire angry rant flew out the window at that. What an odd question, and so seemingly random. "What do you mean, Ryouga?"

He stared at her intently. "Well, I was just wondering if her name meant something in another language. Or if it signified something about her, like Cyborg, or Beast Boy."

Hmm, an interesting direction he seemed to be taking, but then, almost any direction he chose ended up being extremely interesting she bet. "In Latin, the word terra literally refers to the earth itself."

At that, Ryouga began to walk down the tunnel again, though more slowly. He nodded slowly to himself as he went, apparently mulling over her answer. "Yes . . . that's what I thought. It is very fitting . . ." he muttered, more to himself than anyone.

She almost wanted to ask him if something had occurred to him, when he suddenly turned on her again. This time, though, she didn't nearly walk into him. Again, his intense stare seemed to pierce her soul. Why did he have such amazing eyes? Starfire had gone on and on about Mousse's eyes, but frankly she didn't see the appeal herself. Ryouga's were just so deep and soulful . . .

"Raven, can you tell me about Terra?" Another cryptic request.

She stared at him oddly. "Didn't Beast Boy already tell you everything about her? Why would you need me to tell you about her?"

He shrugged absently. "I'm not sure, actually. I just feel that if I know more about her, it might help. Maybe you got to know a different side of her than Beast Boy. Maybe you might have some key piece of information that can help me, that he didn't."

She nodded, despite the fact that it didn't really make sense to her. How would knowing her better help him reverse her petrification? Didn't his knowledge of the Bakusai Tenketsu tell him what he needed to know? Still, he seemed interested in knowing, and it was certainly an improvement over the silence they had been walking in.

"I'm . . . not really the best person to talk to about Terra. We never really got along, even before she betrayed us to Slade. The two of us did nothing but argue and snipe at each other," she admitted, a bit sadly.

Ryouga nodded slowly. "You two must have been very different."

A small smile formed on her lips at that. "We were, but I believe it was actually our similarities that caused so many of the problems between us. The two of us, we both shared the burden of power, the endless struggle to contain and control it, lest it hurt those around us. I think that you and Ranma might be beginning to understand at least a small part of that, after . . . the Academy . . ."

Her companion didn't even bother to answer. Instead, he only nodded again, a slightly haunted look in his eyes as he recalled the event. Despite all of his training and skill, for just a moment, just a fraction of a second really, his power bloomed beyond his power to control it. And the result was the destruction of an entire cathedral, though that was quite minor compared to what it could have been. It was at that moment, she liked to believe, that he had come closer to truly understanding her than any of her friends could ever hope to. True, that had been an extreme case, but it was something that people like her and Terra lived with on a daily basis, except the consequences of their failure would make the Lost Boy's slip seem quite minor indeed.

"Terra never had very good control, though she tried so hard. I never gave it too much thought, but perhaps that was one of the reasons I never liked her. She shared my burden, but never seemed consumed by it, like I am. I spend so much of my effort to maintain my control, that I have become . . . somewhat socially inept . . ." she stated, a touch ironically.

A gentle hand on her shoulder brought her gaze up to match Ryouga's. A sympathetic smile was given to her, free of charge. "I'd hardly call not laughing at Beast Boy's jokes socially inept. That's just common sense, really."

Her weak smile grew slightly at his support, and his touch. "Thank you. But, as I was saying, where I was withdrawn, Terra was alive. She enjoyed every small thing in life, she reveled in the idea of helping people with her powers. She even laughed at Beast Boy's jokes . . ."

"Heh, well, no accounting for taste I suppose. But then, it sounded like she brought the best out in our little shape changer," he said.

"If only that had been true for all of us. I was so . . . so jealous of how happy she was, that it blinded me. I didn't see how hard she was struggling, just below the surface to control her power. Maybe, if I had been more supportive, rather than so suspicious of her, she wouldn't have fled to Slade . . ."

Ryouga's grip on her shoulder tightened slightly, but not painfully. His control seemed to be as excellent as always, and she didn't even feel the need to recoil anymore. She knew how much that her reactions had been affecting him, but getting the image of his snarling face out her dreams was not as easy as she wished it would be.

"You can't blame yourself for that. Trust me, if anyone can understand her desire to run away from her problems, it's me. But one thing that I've learned, after a life time of running from my own demons, is that no matter how much I blamed other people for my problems, it was always my choice on how I lived my life. Admittedly, like Terra, I made a lot of stupid choices and hurt a lot of people, but I have no one to blame for that but myself." He paused for a moment and looked to the side in thought. "And Ranma, but most everything is actually his fault anyway."

She didn't know if he was serious about that last part or not, but a small giggle actually escaped her lips, a giggle! Raven did not giggle! Rather than dwell on it, she decided to push past it and bury it. "Maybe, but I find I have a hard time blaming Terra either. She was frightened and alone, it was Slade that came in and took advantage of that. He offered the one thing that she had always wanted. Imagine if someone offered you a cure for your curse, or to make certain that you never got lost again . . ." she asked quietly.

"I . . . it would be very tempting . . ."

"But even turning her against us wasn't good enough for Slade. Even though she followed him willingly, he took advantage of her trust with a cruelty that I had only ever attributed to my father before. He tricked her into wearing that vile suit, used it to control her actions, nearly forced her to kill Beast Boy," she spat, still horrified at the scene she had stumbled into when she and her friends had arrived at this very cavern so long ago.

He nodded, a grim look on his face. "Beast Boy mentioned the suit, said that it did something that let that bastard control her . . ."

"Yes, it was sick. The suit actually assimilated into her skin, forming a neural link. From what Cyborg learned of the technology, he doubted that she would ever have been able to remove the suit without crippling herself," she explained darkly.

Rather than comment on the cruelty of the suit, the Lost Boy suddenly looked down, walking on blindly, lost in thought. "Assimilated into her skin . . .?" he muttered to himself absently.

It struck her as odd, why did he find that so interesting? "Do you think you've found a way to help her?"

"I'm . . . not sure . . . Last night, just before Robin called us back . . . I felt like I was on to something . . . something – something fundamental. I just wish I could remember what it was!" he growled in frustration. A moment later, the two of them looked up, to see that they had finally arrived at Terra's cavern. It had seemed like a remarkably short walk, but she supposed the conversation had been somewhat deep.

"Thanks, Raven. I'll call you up again, when I want to come back to the tower," he said amiably.

She looked at him oddly. "Perhaps I should stay? I might not have your specialized knowledge, but I have learned a lot about chi and energy from Cologne. I might be able to help you."

He nodded. "Maybe . . . but I think I have an idea where I'm going now. If you stay down here with me, it would . . . distract me," he admitted.

She felt a small blush forming on her cheeks, thankful for the poor lighting of the cavern. She was about to reply, when-

"I mean, no offense, but your aura is huge. I can barely even see any of the breaking points around here with your energy filling the cavern."

An icy claw pulled the blush from her face. Her aura was huge, was it? Why, the nerve of that boy! Well fine then, if she was such a huge problem, then she would leave. "Hmph, if that's the way you feel, then I'll leave," she replied in a huff.

With forced calm, she twirled around, her skirt flaring out daringly, and started stalking back up the way she came. She ignored the strangled protests of the Lost Boy, who seemed to catch on to what exactly he had said and left him in the dank cave.

How could any boy possibly be that clueless? She would hardly call herself a normal person, but she was still a woman. And he hadn't even complimented her on her outfit, considering she had picked it out just to go out with him. She glared down at the offending piece of material that kept her land bound.

She was just glad that she was the only empath in the group. She was pretty certain that she was maintaining her composure on the surface, and acting normally for the most part. But if any of her friends realized just how off she was thinking on the inside, because of Ryouga's presence . . .

He wasn't trying to drive her mad . . . was he?

Robin shot up from his dreamless slumber. The Tower's obnoxiously loud alarm was blaring, yet again. God, it was days like this that he wished he had vacation time. He looked over to the clock beside him.

Oh, for crying out loud! It wasn't even midnight yet! He wasn't even planning to wake up till one in the morning, so he could have a good crack at catching Happosai. With some grumbling and bumping around, he grabbed the communicator from his nightstand. As an afterthought, he also grabbed his eye mask and carefully placed it over his sensitive eyes. Appearances had to be maintained, after all.

"Cyborg, what's the situation?"

"Reports are coming in about a fight between a midget and a skeleton. I think it's pretty obvious who's out there," came the larger Titan's reply.

He nodded in disgust. "Get everyone together and lets go."

With that, he deactivated the device and threw it onto his bed. He looked over to his closet, deciding which of the dozen perfectly identical suits he would wear that night. Really, Red X was out, flaunting her ill-gotten gains, for a second night in a row?

She was just trying to make him mad, wasn't she?

Happosai was starting to get mad. Here he was, perhaps the greatest martial artist on the planet, and he was being thwarted by some adolescent female. And it wasn't even Ranma this time! Of course, he wasn't actually trying to defeat her or anything, women were weak and defenseless after all and needed to be protected. No, what this spandex clad girl was doing was much, much more reprehensible than simply imparting physical violence on him.

No, he had been battling her for twenty minutes now, and had yet to get a good grope in!

The indignity of it all. How was he supposed to properly enjoy himself, not to mention replenish his chi, if she wouldn't let him cop a little feel? He even had a technique picked out to purloin her undergarments, despite her skin tight body suit. The ancient master cackled happily, he couldn't wait to see the look on her face when he pulled that one off!

He spun his pipe again, blurring it to speeds that most aircraft propellers would envy. The small wind funnel he produced blew the adhesive red projectiles away and into a nearby parking lot. He didn't envy those overnight parkers the mess they had to clean up come morning.

"Ha! You'll have to do better than that, sweety. Those sticky attacks might be useful against someone of Robin's caliber, but they won't help you against me," he gloated wickedly.

He leapt into the air, angling himself for Red X's lithe form. The nimble girl dove to the side, barely clearing his attack in time. His pipe crashed into the asphalt, destroying a small area of the city's infrastructure.

Indeed, those adhesive X's were a useful gadget, but not a real weapon. As soon as she fired them, they began to lose cohesion, so they were easily deflected by a simple gale force wind.

Red X rolled to her feet several meters away and spun to face him again. Immediately, the girl raised her hands, palms forward and fired off yet another salvo of X's at him. He nearly sighed at the girl's predictability, he really didn't understand why Robin considered this purloined suit to be dangerous at all. It didn't seem to be able to do very many things at all.

With bored ease, he spun his pipe again knocking the useless projectiles away like the last batch-

What! He nearly missed it over the sound of his own attack and the sound of the first dozen projectiles splattering away! The deadly whirring sound of a metallic blade flying through the air!

He looked forward, just in time to see the lethal crimson X cutting through his wind tunnel, not slowing down in the least. Instantly, he cut off the ineffective defense, a small smile forming on his lips. The girl was learning.

It was too late to dodge, so with a flick of his trusty pipe, he casually defl-

Happosai snapped back to consciousness a fraction of a second later. A cursory examination seemed to place his smoking body embedded into the wall of a nearby building . . . very, very nearby now.

"Oh, wow. I'm sorry, Grandpa, I didn't think it would do that!" yelled his annoyingly sarcastic attacker. Once again, she stared at her hands, apparently in awe of yet another newfound ability.

"Heh, heh, heh. It's been awhile since I've been exploded. But I think we've had enough fun, it's time for me to claim my prize!" The masked girl didn't even have time to react, when he exploded from the wall. The flimsy brick and mortar shattered around him and rained over the street, trailing him like a comet's tail as he flew through the air. His only hint of Red X's shock was the shocked widening of her mask's eyes.

His hand shot out, viper-like, in search of his, hopefully lacy, prize. His cry of victory, though, turned into a gasp of shock. Just as his hand began to touch the zipper of the costume, Red X vanished! He flew through the air wildly, it took him three whole tenths of a second to reorient himself and land safely on a nearby mailbox.

How had that happened? She had just vanished under his fingertips. No one was that fast, and he should know, he had battled some of the fastest people on the planet!

He looked back to the street, to see Red X, standing several yards from where he had seen her last. The girl was wavering slightly, pressing a palm against her forehead; appearing to fight off the signs of dizziness.

"You are just full of surprises, little lady. I can't remember the last time I've fought someone so unpredictable. I almost don't want to beat you down now, if only to see what you'll pull out next," he said, praising her excitedly. She might not be a great fighter, not even in Robin's league, let alone Ranma's, but she had a variety in her tricks that even that blind Amazon boy would kill for. He was also starting to think the suit was giving her a bit of a bump in her strength and speed, since her physical conditioning and skill level didn't seem to mesh with the acrobatic feats she'd performed so far.

"Ugh . . ." She let out a quiet cough before continuing. "Soo glad to know that I'm entertaining you. It's just a matter of time before I learn enough to take you down, Old man. Don't you worry about that," she muttered weakly. Apparently that hyper speed trick of hers took more out of her than she had anticipated.

"Maybe you will, maybe you won't. Far, far better than you have tried and failed, sweety. However, I think it's time to finish things for the night." He advanced a step in her direction, flexing his nimble fingers excitedly.

"Oh, it's over all right."

The grand master let out a sigh of annoyance, as the familiar voice flowed out of the darkness above them. Both him and Red X looked up, just in time to see Robin drop down from a nearby rooftop. A moment later, the orange skinned alien girl dropped from the sky as well, landing beside the small boy. Behind him, a large figure dropped from the sky and landed on the ground with a mighty crash. A green blur landed beside the armor clad giant and reformed itself into a green skinned boy. Then, a disturbance in the air to his other side heralded the arrival of the demonic Titan. She rose from the ground in an ebon shroud, and when it parted, it revealed Raven and Ryouga, both glaring at him dangerously.

Red X took a few steps closer to his position. "Um . . . you don't suppose that these guys are all here to catch you . . . do you?" she asked, perhaps slightly nervously.

He looked to the six Titans again, as they spread out to surround the two of them more fully. Ryouga and Starfire were assuredly glaring at him, but everyone else seemed to be mostly glaring at his latest dance partner. "I'm afraid not, girly. Whatever you did to tick these kids off, it must have been quite the doozy."

An explosive and distorted sigh burst through the girl's mask. "I didn't think so. So, how about a temporary truce? I'm sure the two of us together could get away from these kids."

He nearly laughed at the suggestion, seriously considering it for a moment. Offering to team up with the person you were just fighting, now that took some nerve. "Heh, I'm afraid not, my lovely young maiden. I can get out of here fine myself. And I'm sure these kids will be coming after me sooner or later, I don't want to give away any of my tricks too soon. Besides!" Suddenly, he leapt high into the air, angling himself for the roof of the five story building a few dozen yards away.

"Consider this advanced training!"

Robin glared heatedly at the masked villain that had stolen his greatest failure as a hero. The six of them surrounded the young women completely. Even with the short range teleportation abilities of the suit, she would have a hard time getting away without a fight. If she was as canny as he thought, he suspected she would head for Beast Boy and try to outmaneuver him. That's what he would have done, after all.

"Surrender, Red X, now! You aren't getting any more warnings," he barked out threateningly.

The masked girl stared at him for a moment, then turned to regard all of his companions. Almost agreeably, she began to nod to herself. "I'll admit, things do look a bit . . . unpleasant at the moment, but I'm sure we can talk this out like civilized people, can't we?"

Screw the witty repartee, this ended here.

"Titans go!"

As one, Robin and his six teammates charged the villainess. He drew out his bo staff, Ryouga drew back his fist, Cyborg and Starfire started glowing with azure and emerald energy, Beast Boy charged ferally while Raven simply glided in.

When suddenly, Red X raised her hands into the air.

What the . . . was she surrendering? No, it was obviously a trick! Even as his friends pulled up in confusion, he continued forward. As such, he wasn't surprised when she suddenly swung her arms down, a pair of X's shooting into the ground at her feet and bursting into expanding clouds of thick, red smoke.

He cursed again, he should have seen that coming! It was what he would have done if he had been in her position as well. He quickly pulled his breather mask from his belt and put it on, even as he ran to where she had been standing.

A sudden yelp from his left told him that she was no longer there. "Dudes! I'm totally stuck to the gr-mmph!" The changeling's cry of warning was cut off abruptly.

"Raven! Disperse the smoke!" he yelled as loudly as he could, hoping she would hear him.

A moment later, and a wave of black energy filled his vision. It retracted again, almost instantly revealing the street once more. He spun around quickly, to find out what had happened. There, on the ground to his side, Beast Boy was covered in adhesive red material. Ryouga was nowhere to be seen, he better not have gotten lost already. Damn, his direction sense was a massive liability!

"There!" Starfire's shout drew his attention to her. The pretty alien girl was pointing down the street, to the fleeing form of Red X. He didn't bother barking orders to anyone, all he could do was give chase. Behind him, he heard Cyborg stop to help Beast Boy.

Raven and Starfire flew off past him, he hoped they would catch the thief in time. All Red X needed to do was find an alley, and she would likely vanish for the night.

And, just as he feared, Red X did just that. He cursed loudly as the black clad form of the criminal came up to the nearest alley and ducked in like a black flash -

Only to nearly stumble in shock, when almost immediately, Red X rebounded out of the alley, landing painfully on her bottom. He staggered to a stop, not quite sure what to make of it, when suddenly Ryouga took a step of the alley! The fanged martial artist glared down at the prone figure of Red X, cracking his knuckles ominously.

"Oh, please, Nabiki. The old smoke screen trick didn't work when Ukyou tried it. You should know better than that," bragged the fighter mercilessly.

Red X stared back at him for a moment. "You're right, I should know better. Of course, if I was Nabiki, then wouldn't I know about this?" In a flash, crimson blades shot out from the girl's gloves and she swiped fiercely at the fire hydrant that she had nearly landed on.

"Oh, crap . . .," was all the poor fool had to say, before the horizontal geyser of water engulfed him and sent his now significantly smaller form flying back into the alley.

With that, Red X flipped back up to her feet and ran around the spraying hydrant and began sprinting down the street.

Only to collide with a wall of ebony force. Red X spun again, quickly avoiding Starfire's right hook, as the three females entered into close combat.

Robin began running again, he trusted his two friends implicitly, and they had progressed a lot over the past months, but that suit had been designed to take them down specifically.

Ahead of him, Starfire and Red X started fighting back and forth, even as Raven floated around looking for a good angle of attack. The black clad girl had retracted her wrist blades, and the two were exchanging rapid kicks and punches. It was obvious, that with the suits help, Red X was faster and naturally more nimble, but Starfire was definitely the stronger of the two.

Starfire blocked a kick easily with her forearm, and fired back with a rapid jab. Red X just narrowly slid out of the way of the attack, turning her torso to the side. Then, with criminal grace, she grabbed the Tamaranian's extended wrist and, using all of her weight, suddenly dropped and slid between Starfire's legs. The move was so unexpected, that Starfire actually bent over as Red X dragged the girl's arm with her.

Suddenly the grounded girl's hands flashed back and forth from Starfire's arm to her legs, and when Red X rolled away, Starfire's left arm was hopelessly bound to both of her legs but several adhesive bands. A second later, as Red X jumped to her feet and started running, the bands contracted, pulling Starfire's legs together and trapping her arm between them. The alien girl flailed helplessly with her free hand for several seconds, before crashing painfully to the ground.

He winced at the painful crash, but continued running. As long as Raven could hold her for a few more seconds, he would catch up.

Rather than run away, Red X ran directly in Raven's direction. She jumped into a flying kick, aimed directly at Raven's chest. The dark Titan simply raised a black dome over herself, essentially making herself immune to Red X's attack. Robin smiled at that, he knew he could count on Raven -

Except that instead of bouncing off of the black dome, Red X landed on it and slammed her slim hand against its black surface. Instantly the black force field split open before her, revealing Raven's shocked face! Before the Titan's sorceress could even react, Red X thrust her other hand through the opening, aimed directly at Raven's chest.

Robin pulled out an explosive disc, he couldn't let Red X hit her ther-

Red X's hand hovered over Raven's chest for what seemed like an eternal moment, very nearly caressing the girl, then suddenly shot up to her face. A second later, a wide X shot out of Red X's hand and wrapped around Raven's entire head. Instantly, the remains of the ebony shield dissolved away and Raven collapsed to the ground, clawing at her covered face.

Robin roared in anger! "Raven!"

He flew into the air, leveling his own flying kick at Red X. Predictably, she teleported just out of range and appeared several yards away. Robin landed harshly and slid back to Raven's side, glaring angrily at the thief the whole time.

"Well, what's it gonna be, Robin? Chase down the lovable prankster, or save your friend?" she asked casually.

He growled furiously, even as he pulled out a birdarang and leaned in to carefully begin freeing Raven. Luckily she calmed down at his touch, rather than continue to thrash around.

"You just crossed a line, Nabiki. For what did to Raven, I'll never forgive you. You are going down!" he promised her.

Red X stared back at him, tilting her head curiously. He couldn't read her expression, because of that damned mask, but something seemed odd about her reaction. A second later, when Cyborg's angered yell could be heard coming in their direction, Red X turned away.

"Whatever, Robin. Goth girl shouldn't have been out like that anyway. I'll see you when I see you." That said, Red X leapt into the air and pressed the button on her belt buckle.

Only to land on the ground again, as the belt sputtered angrily. Robin cursed mentally. The suit was running out of power! All he had to do was reach out and grab her! But . . . but Raven was still in his arms, and if he wasn't extremely careful in cutting away the material covering her mouth and nose . . .

Damnit!

"Oh heck!" Red X cried, hitting the belt hastily, even as she turned and began running down the street. Several hits later, Robin could hear the belt energize again, and Red X vanished once more. He glared after her angrily for several moments . . .

Until an insistent arm began tugging at his sleeve. He looked down in shock, to see Raven waving at him, only slightly frantic, considering she hadn't exactly been breathing for a minute at that point.

He glared at Red X's last location for one last second, before he leaned in and carefully began to cut away the red goo covering Raven's mouth.

"This isn't over, Nabiki . . ." he swore softly.

"Not by a long shot."