Titan Tamer of The Swordsman
Chapter Fourteen
Masks
A/N
Karsap: Time for the next chapter.
Yuki: Okay now I'm confused again 'Masks' what's with that?
Kotemon: Yeah what is it?
Karsap: Well kinda had to say, but you two will figure it out, so do the disclaimer Kotemon please start us off.
Kotemon: Okay! Karsap doesn't own Digimon or Teen Titans.
Yuki: But Karsap owns Me Yuki Hata.
High Security Vault - Night
Nothing but silence filed a large, darkened vault where nothing but a bright beam of white light shined in the center of the room. In it, a red microchip rotated slowly in the air, hoisted by it's own power. From within the darkness, a large figure approached the light; clad in black armor, with additional steel plating reinforcing it's shoulders, biceps, shins, and waist, while it also wore a mask that hid it's entire face like Kotemon's. The mask was black, with a red-orange circle in the center with edges touched both eyes. Slowly, the figure reached toward the chip, revealed a steel-gloved hand. But before it could grab the object, the thief cocked one eyebrow in surprise at the sight of a familiar red, yellow, and green clad teen hanging upside down on the other side of the suspension field.
"Tell Slade if he wants this, he can get it himself!" Robin yelled before dropping from his perch and delivering a kick that sent the thief tumbling across the darkened area.
Once the thief landed, the lights in the room came on, showing the other six Titans in formation behind him, a well showing the vault is stuffed with supercomputers. A laser beam lanced down from above, forcing Robin to jump out of the way. He looked up and saw a section of the ceiling being cut. When the section finally fell, it gave way to a cloud of dust where several more intruders, similar to the first, lept in.
The Boy Wonder did a few backflips to avoid getting diced by another laser blast and soon had one of the new arrivals coming right at him. He blocked several punches, then tried to counter with a kick, only for the attack to get deflected. The masked figure then whipped out a brass knuckle-like blaster with a muzzle on the front and open fire. Robin quickly performed a few acrobatic tricks that carried him out of danger before retaliating with a jumping roundhouse kick that sent the attacker crashing into the far wall.
Just above the struggle with the masked leader, Starfire was flying though the chamber, evading shots from a squad member who jumped up after her. She gather herself and blasted a starblot that found itself dead center in the chest of her pursuer, sending it skidding across the floor. However another thief followed up with a blaster of it's own and struck one of the light lenses, slicing it off and sending it down to crush the Tamaranian girl directly underneath. As luck would be on this girl's side today as Robin darted across the air and plowed her away just in time as the lens crashed to the ground, creating a massive dust cloud that obstructed their view.
When the dust cleared, Robin set his teammate down gently. She was a bit dazed but soon snapped out of it with a sharp gasp a she noticed what was in front of her.
"Huh?" The spiky-haired teen let out as he looked in the same direction as the Tamaranian Titan. Across the room, three squad members leveled their weapons, ready to blast them to death. But before they can shoot, a computer cabinet slid across the floor and bulldozed them across the room before crashing into a wall.
"Amazing what you can do with computers these days." Cyborg smirked as he clapped his hands together before running toward the heat of the battle. Behind him, Beast Boy now a bighorn sheep charged across the the ground and into another thief, ramming him into the wall.
Yuki was shocked when one of the thieves aimed at him but before that happen Kotemon used his sword and whacked the thief's head so hard that the head came off, "Kotemon you just killed this gu-" The Tamer's scolding stopped when he and the Digimon stared at the head in shock, and realized the head was giving off sparks. "They're robots?" Kotemon asked as more thieves came up to the two, "Well in that case we don't have to hold back." Yuki said as he took out the Datamon card.
*Cue DigiModify! Blank track*
He spins the selected card around gaining it in his hand then he slide it through the D-Arc. "Digi-Modify!" He pauses letting the card read through "Datamon's Digital Bomb Activate!"
After that happen Kotemon glowed yellow.
?
Meanwhile at the outer space where all the Digimon Kotemon or his Digivoltions had defeated all in floating jail cells. Suddenly the jail cell that's holding Datamon glowed the same kind of yellow as Kotemon, "Again?!" the Android Digimon asked as it stopped glowing as it started. "What's going on!?" Gazimon asked as the other Digimon are confused.
High Security Vault
"Here we go! Digital Bomb!" Kotemon shouted as he shoots computer viruses from his sleeves, but instead hitting one thief the viruses hit the thieves that come up to them. "Huh that's new?" Yuki said confusedly.
On the opposite side room, Raven floated backward across the ground, staying just ahead of a laser beam. Just as another blast fired from midair, she created a shield around herself, protecting her from the attack as it disintegrated into the floor around her. A moment later, the enemy rushed at her and started throwing punches. She was able to stop the advances by forming small barriers in front of herself as she slowly backed away, but a low kick from her opponent to her legs out from under her and dropped her to the ground. Popping herself on her arms, the mage looked up and saw the blaster aimed at point-blank ranged.
"Leave Her Alone!" A voice shouted to the right of the thief, catching it's attention. The next thing Raven saw was Yuki running up, tackled her attacker, and knocking it to the wall. Without checking to see that the thief was out of commission the Tamer tuned to her, "Are you alright?" He asked. At the end of his question the thief that he tackled got up and it's blaster at the both of them while they looked at each other.
At the last possible instant Kotemon got in between them, "Take this Thunder Kote!" he shouted as his fist is charged with an electrical current and punches the thief's chest. Short-circuiting the would-be shooter out. Yuki and Raven looked at both the now decommissioned thief and Digimon. "You were saying?" the mage said sarcastically.
"Huh well would you look at that a Digimon partner is your guardian angel." the Tamer sheepishly remarked as he shot the girl a funny grin.
At the center of the room, Cyborg broke out his sonic cannon and started blazing away before receiving help in the form of Starfire's fusillade. One of the thieves leapt impossibly high to avoid the blasts, then pushed off the wall and sailed straight toward the chip, grabbing the bounty in a fly-by, and racing for the door after touching down. Robin gave chase as he hurled a birdarang at the thief; it struck the thief's hand and knocked the chip high into the air.
"Mine!" Beast Boy called out before running after the airborne piece of metal. Transforming into an anteater mid-stride, and lashed out a long, thin tongue around the chip and snagged it out the air as he slid to a stop at the wall. Unfortunately, one of the thief's boots came down on his tongue and made him lose his grip on the chip so it could be seized. "That tasted so nasty." The green teen cried; reverting back to human form and speaking as if he had bitten his tongue as a tear of pain hung from his left eye.
Once the object of importance was in the thief's possession, it quickly vaulted across the room to the door, where five other survivors had gathered, and threw down a smoke bomb. The resulted grey clouds shrouded the thieves and once cleared, it revealed that the six had escaped.
"Titans! Go!" Robin shouted as he ran toward the door in attempt to chase down the thieves.
After running through a very long and empty corridor, the seven heroes found themselves in a chamber similar to the theft occurred. The lights were dim, but not out, and a large circular hatch, covered with a steel grid, was in the center of the floor. Along the door they entered, there were five other passageways that led out of the chamber.
"Split up!" The leader of the team called out. On his command, each of his teammates fanned except for Kotemon who stayed with his Tamer out toward the five other doors in attempt to find the thieves. Seeing as his comrades cover the passageways, Robin headed for the hatch and move it aside before descending. Climbing down from a overhead ladder, he found himself inside a sewer tunnel. Nothing but the sound of rushing liquid was heard as he dropped into the water. Looking up he saw one of the thieves making a break for it and quickly gave chase. The thief noticed it was now being followed and quickly shot a blast from it's laser, only for the pursuer to run up a pipe wall and throw a birdarang in retaliation.
A huge jump carried the escapee out of the projectiles' path, and a second shot from the blaster reduced it to junk. Skidding around a corner, the thief made it's way down a side channel and tossed a grenade back at the entrance. Once the explosive detonated, the effect caused the path to be entirely blocked by collapsed rock and debris. Robin could stare through a small opening in the cave-in as the thief moved further ahead towards a dead end. Once it reached it's destination, it raised it's blaster and cut out a door-shaped outline, revealing a side of a mountain at sunset. The thief stood at the opening, ready to make it's escape, but was interrupted when a certain auburn-haired Tamaranian flew up to him,
"I am asking you nicely to stop running and-Ah!" Starfire cried as the thief shot her down with the blaster, sending her into a free fall. Her assailant jumped out after her and activated hidden jet thrusters in the boot soles and started flying away.
Robin had finally breached the wall of debris and reached the opening just as the thief zoomed past him. Looking after it, then at his falling teammate, he lept out of the opening, a grappling hook in each hand, and fired one down and the second up.
The first line around Starfire as she dropped toward the rocky waterway below, while the second looped around the armored chest of the thief. The thief stopped ascending and went to a sharp dive; Robin was suddenly yanked along the water with a gasp and a loud scream as the three flew off, skimming the surface of the water, and heading to a small beach.
Once the three flyers crashed onto shore, Starfire found herself half-dazed with a wriggling fish stuck in her mouth. She quickly spat the marine animal out of her mouth as she groaned weakly
"Now talk!" the Tamaranian heard Robin shout. She looked to her left and saw the Boy Wonder standing over the thief, holding it by the collar. "Who's Slade? Why dose he want this chip?" He demanded angrily as he place his right hand over the black and orange mask, "And why are you working... for...him?" He trailed off as he pulled the mask away. The reason for his trailing was the entire front half of the robot's head came off in his hand. Behind said 'face' was a small monitor.
Suddenly, the empty screen came to life, resolving into a not-fully-turned image of a imposing figure silhouetted against an ominous orange light. Behind him stood another shorter and slimmer figure also silhouetted against the light. "Excellent work, Robin." The figure complimented in a rather calm and erudite tone though the video feed.
"Slade!" The masked Titan said icily.
"Really, I think your skills are improving." The figure, referred to as Slade, added as the image flickered and refined itself.
"No more games! What do you want?" Robin demanded.
"But you lack patience." Slade went on to say, "If you're really so curious about my intentions, perhaps we should meet-face to face."
"Tell me here you're hiding and I'll be there in a heartbeat!" The teen snapped back as the image flickered again.
"Patience, Robin. Patience." Slade repeated as the sparks crackled from the monitor before cutting off. Smoke rose from within the skull of the robot as the system fell apart.
A fierce scowl settled on Robin's face as he released his grip, dropping the robotic body to the ground. "Robin?" Starfire asked worriedly as she approached him. His only response was turing away from her and stalking his way back to their home.
Titans Tower - Later
Later that night at the Tower, after returning the stolen item, Starfire, Raven, Cyborg, Yuki, and Kotemon had settled themselves on the couch in the Ops Center while Beast Boy stood in front of them; Raven was reading a book while the changeling spoke.
"Okay. All work and no flicks makes me a dull Beast Boy." Said green teen stated as he held up two videotapes, a broad grin slapped across his face. "So, my fellow couch potatoes, what'll it be?" he asked holding up one of the tapes, "Super Ninja Showdown Eight..." The videotape he held showed two ninjas bowing before they started fighting, "...or Maniac Fury: Attack of the Protozoids?" He held the other tape where a Godzilla-like creature spewed fire as screaming people ran for their lives.
"Gee. They both sound so good." Raven sarcastically stated as she continued reading her book, not even looking up at the movie fanatic.
Cyborg rubbed his chin in thought, "Yeah. It's really hard to pick." He said in all seriousness, "Wanna watch'em both?" He offed with a huge grin, while making Beast Boy's grin turn upside down.
Kotemon let out a soft chuckle while his Tamer gave him a dirty look as a vein on his forehead. "I could go for both." the Digimon admitted, earning him a hard stare from Yuki who sat on his left.
"Perhaps Robin would enjoy potato-ing the couch with us." Starfire said in her usual misunderstanding o the English language, clearly worried about their leader's state of being, "Tell me, is he-"
"-in the exact same place since his little chat session with Slade?" Beast Boy interrupted with an annoyed look on his face, "Um, yeah." He finished. The answer earned him a worry look on the alien Titan's face as she stood up and walked toward the Ops Center door.
As soon the Tamaranian left the room the Tamer turned to Beast Boy, "Now that's out of the way, I can't help but ask this but why watch a movie about ninjas fighting when there's a episode of Digimon about two Digimon based on ninjas fighting already?" Yuki asked in a stern tone as he crossed his arms. "Also with the Alien-Giant monster, Kotemon here can Digivolve to about that height as Asuramon." This made Beast Boy face plant, having not thought about that notion at all...
"Yeah...Wouldn't that count for movies that have cyborgs?" Cyborg asked. "It just...seems weird." Yuki had a good point there...
"It counts, same for the movies that have mages in them." Raven sounded as she turned a page in her book, enjoying.
"Aw come on dudes your knocking out like most of my line up!" Beast Boy whined as he stood back up. If they were really taking out movies with that specific genre, he's going to go mad. "Who if you have the real thing in the room when you watch a movie!?"
"We do." This answer made Beast Boy face plant again.
'Robin. Is that the beast you can do?' The eerily voice of the man who spoke to the Boy Wonder just hours earlier rang though his head.
Robin stood at a desk under a solitary overhead light in his room. Multiple newspaper clipping about different villains' exploits in Jump City hung from the wall in front of him as well as littered the desk and floor around him.
'Excellent work, Robin I think your skills are improving.' Slade's voice ran in his head again, 'If you're really so curious about my intentions, perhaps we should meet-face to face.'
Robin looked down at his desk. It was covered with a jumble of items; note, blueprints, wires, electrical instruments, parts of the robot's equipment... the front half of it's head, and a communicator marked with a stylized S. "Who are you?" The masked teen mumbled to himself as he stood in the solidarity of his room, deep in thought. The sound of his room door sliding open snapped him out of focus.
"Robin?" A very worried Starfire called out to him from behind, "I am wondering if you wish to-"
"No." Said Titan answered bluntly, causing the Tamaranian to look at the floor sadly, "Thanks. But I need to figure out why Slade wanted that chip." He continued as he turned and faced his friend.
"Agreed" She responded with a smile as she blushed a bit, "And perhaps if you were to take a break, the answer would be easier to-"
"I can't." Robin sighed sadly as he approached the girl at his door, "You almost got hurt. Next time it could be worse." He said with a sense of guilt in his voice, "He's planning something. I have to find out what."
"But, Robin, I am sure that-" the Tamaranian began. But the stubborn, spiky-haired teen ended the conversation by closing the door in her face. Sighing quietly, Starfire hung her head as she walked down the hall and made her way back to the Ops Center.
High Security Vault
Back in the trashed vault where the battle for the chip took place, two guards were stationed by the recovered microchip, only a dim light being the only source of... well... light in the darkened area. All was quiet, no sense of urgency at the moment. But the calm broke when an alarm went off and red flashing lights. Both guards ran tords the door and found themselves in an emptied vault that split into five other passageways.
"I don't like this." One of the guards said as both pointed their weapons back and forth as they scanned the room. Nothing happened for a moment, but the door suddenly slid shut without warning behind them.
"Hey!" The other guard shouted before the door closed completely, locking both out of the room with the precious cargo.
The alarms fell silent, but the lights continued flashing Inside the room withe suspended microchip, a figure materialized in front of it. It wore a skintight black outfit with a large red X emblazoned over the chest; the low end of the upward stroke was extended to cross the heart. Long black cape, gray belt and gloves, the latter with X's on the backs of the hands. A black mask whose face resembled a skull, with another red X on the forehead; it's upstroke extended, like the one on the chest, to cross the right eye.
The newcomer plucked the chip from the field. Once doing so, an explosion erupted from the door. The new thief turned to face the destruction and saw the two guards running in. "He's got the chip!" One of the guards yelled as both open fire on the intruder. In a quick motion, the masked thief leapt in the air an disappeared into the shadows.
"Where'd he go?" The other guard asked as they stared in complete astonishment at the shadows.
On the Rooftops
It was a clear night where the full moon shinned brightly over Jump City. On the rooftops six of the seven Titans were gathered as a small ringtone was heard Cyborg extended his forearm and on it, a panel appeared to reveal Robin's face.
"I'm working a Slade lead on the far side of town. Sure you guys can handle this without me?" The Boy Wonder asked though the small screen.
"No problem." The metallic teen replied reassuring. With a nod from Robin, the connection cut off. On the far edge of the roof, a skylight opened and the skull-faced thief climbed out. "You working for Slade, tough guy?" Cyborg questioned as he brought out his sonic cannon.
"Red X works alone." The figure stated his name. The voice revealed the thief to be male, but it was heavily distorted. He held out one palm, revealing the same mark on it, and fired a red X toward the six Titans.
Cyborg brought his sonic cannon into play as the other five scatter except for Kotemon who stayed with his Tamer; the two shots annihilated each other in midair. More cannon blasts sent the, self-named, Red X jumping all over the roof. Launching himself high into the air, he fired X's from both palms that force Cyborg to run for cover.
Beast Boy took his cybernetic comrades place in the battle as he leapt into the air and transformed into a charging lion mid front flip. The villain fired off another scarlet cross that became liquid as it flew; connecting with the green feline's face like a glop of mud, it carried him back down the roof. When he landed, he was unable to pull free of the gluey mess. Lion, human, gorilla, hawk, elephant-none of those forms were strong enough to allow him to break loose. As a result, the shape-shifting Titan was taken out of the fight.
Starfire and Raven flew in; the former reeling off starbolts while the latter prepared a spell. Red X nimbly avoided both shots of neon energy and a large black hand that emerge at his feet that tried to grab him. Two big X's were hurld at the girls as he flew through the air. One of them connected and tied itself round the Tamaranian like a giant rubber band, dropping her out of the sky.
"Azarath, Met-Mmmph!" The mage began but was cut off when the other X pasted itself across her mouth. Try as she might, she couldn't tear it away and fell off the roof.
As the victorious villain began his escape, a yell from Cyborg caught his attention. He turned around to see the bionic Titan try and seize him, only to sidestep easily out of the way.
"Huh?" The titanium Titan uttered as he tried to punch the thief, only for that to yield the same results. "What?" He felt the villain slap something on his back. On his back, a panel opened up and those grey-gloved hands of the thief reached in and tinkered with the circuits. "Hey! Yo, Who told you how to sut me down?" Cyborg cried out as his arms flailed about wildly. After a few moments, the massive teen slumped over on his feet while a little push from Red X sent him crashing down.
Just as he was ready to bug out, he heard a heard a voice shouting something, "Thunder Kote!" a certain reptile wearing a kendo outfit shouted as his fist is charged with an electrical current and punches the thief's chest and causing him skidding across the roof. When he stopped, he saw the one who had punched him.
Yuki and Kotemon was standing in front of him, "Any last words?" The Tamer asked as the Digimon took out his bamboo sword.
"Big mistake." Red X replied before running towards the two as Kotemon ran towards him, "Hothead!" Kotemon shouted as his bamboo sword is cover with flames and tried to slice the thief, this was when he simply vanished, "...Huh?" the Digimon asked in confusion, as Red X reappeared in front of Yuki, "Kotemon quick I'll use my Agil-" The Tamer tried to go look in his deck but the thief and slapped a red X onto his face and covering his eyes. "What the- Darn it! I can't see!" he cried trying to pull it off as Kotemon saw this as Red X turned to the Digimon, "You should've listened to his father." He said as he teleported out, "Wait how did you know-" The Rookie called back, but it was too late as he left the area, "Kotemon! Where is he? Where did he go?" Yuki asked his partner.
"He's gone Yuki. The guy got away," Kotemon said as he was the only one that was undamaged.
"Dang IIIIIIIIIIITTTT!" Yuki cried trying to pull the X off his face, only for it to hold on fast.
Underground Lair
Deep inside Slade's lair, the image of the successful thief was visible on a giant monitor that covered a sidewall. In front of the monitor, the silhouetted figure of Slade stood on a platform and listened to what the kindred spirit had to say.
"Rumor has it, you're interested in this." Red X said through the monitor as he held up the red microchip for Slade to see.
"I'm interested in many things, Mr. ..." Slade paused as he doesn't know who this is.
"X. Red X." The thief answered like James Bond.
"Hmmm. Catchy." The imposing, armored silhouette stated, "So, are proposing a sale or a gift?"
"A partnership." Red X stated, "I give you the chip, you cut me in on your plans."
"Partnership. My, my, we are ambitious." Slade said in a playful or as playful as his voice could sound, tone. "But an alliance cannot be forged from one small chip." He continued, "If you going to win my trust, I'll require more."
After a brief moment of silence, the master thief spoke up, "Just tell me what you want."
Titans Tower - Next Morning
After a hard night of fighting and much needed sleep, the Titans returned home and were recuperating from the damage they had received from the scarlet thief the following morning.
They were all situated in the Ops Center. In the Kitchen, Starfire was seated on the counter as she clipped the red gunk out of a very annoyed Beast Boy's hair, Raven with the red X slapped over her mouth, and Yuki with his red X slapped over his eyes, which at the moment he was still trying to rid of, as Kotemon watch, worried for his Tamer.
"I had no idea Red X would pose such a threat," Robin said addressing the other Titans, "I should've been there," He said with a sigh.
"You bet you should've been there. Look at what the guy did to my 'do! I'm looking at two months of bad hair days!" Beast Boy cried out, as a thundercloud floated briefly above his head before vanishing.
"Mmm Mmph!" Raven shouted, as she glared at the complaining Titan.
Beast Boy and Starfire merely smiled cautiously at the angered mage. "I don't know, Raven. That's kind of a good look for you." The stickily-haired boy said.
The comment caused a throbbing vein to pop out on her forehead, speaking more clearly about he supreme vexation that her tongue could.
"Hold still," Cyborg suddenly said pulling the thing away from Raven's mouth in one swift jerk, Beast Boy and Starfire bracing for the inevitable. With a vivid red imprint left on her face, mage held her lips pressed together as two ghostly images of her appeared to ether side and screamed though gritted teeth."... Ow." Raven said painfully as the imprint receded, knowing if she'd let her emotions out she may have vaporized Beast Boy. Then again... "Even if you had been there, it would've made any difference."
"Dude knew exactly how to bring each of us down. I guarantee he had a gadget with your name on it," Cyborg then stated holding the red X for later analysis. Hopefully for a solvent to dissolve the stuff in later confrontations.
"Agreed. You need not feel guilt. We are undamaged," Stafire sid happily.
"Hel-lo?" Beast Boy asked indicating his mangled hair.
"Mostly undamaged," Starfire returned, "Um guys." Kotemon started as everyone look at Yuki falling over the side of the couch at that very moment with a heavy thud, rising up a moment later and still trying to free himself of the vision-obstructing implement latched to his face. "I don't know how long people go without their vision." The Digimon added.
"A cyborg's job is never done," Cyborg sighed as he grabbed one end of the red X and yanked it away in one fell swoop, taking the Tamer's eyelashes and the far half of each eyebrow in the process.
"Yee-ouch!" Yuki cried holding his face. "That's smarts!" he cried out in pain holding his throbbing face.
"Here, allow me to, kiss it and make it feel better, as I believe I have have heard it been used," Sarfire said suddenly putting her hands on Yuki's shoulders and pressed her lips to his much to the others shock and Robin's horror. A few seconds later, the Tamaranian released him before asking, "There. Are you feeling beter?" she asked, the Boy Wonder going to the corner to sulk while Kotemon shook his head.
"Starfire... I think you.. misunderstood... the kissing it and... making it feel better... thing," Yuki said a bit tipsy before falling backwards in shock, earning a confusing look from Starfire before Kotemon interjected.
"What Yuki means is if you going to 'kiss it to make it feel better', then you should've kissed his eyes. Not him." The Digimon explained.
"Oh, my apologies," Starfire apologized.
Kotemon then turned to Raven "Raven can you fix Yuki's eyes?" he asked, "Sure, Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!" she called as Yuki's eyelashes and eyebrows grew back. Kotemon then turned back to Starfire "Also, before you try and put any Earth customs to practice, run them by any of us first. Alright?" He asked.
"Of course." Starfire said, "That aside, we are all eager to learn what you have discovered about Slade." She then stated.
"Nothing... Lead was a dead end... I should get back to work," Robin said wobbling from side to side as he left the room, clearly depressed about something. Nothing but the sound of the door sliding open and close accompanied him as the other six Titans watched him leave.
Later
Much later that night, when the Titans were soundly asleep, a distress call was sent to wake them. Robin, who had made himself scarce the entire day, was the on who called for the others.
The door that led to inside the Ops Center opened to admit the six as they rushed in to find what was wrong. "Okay, Robin, what's the..." Cyborg trailed off as they stopped and looked around the room.
"Robin?" The Tamaranian called out. From what they could see, everything was perfectly fine: no Robin, no villains, no nothing. Actually the only thing that could be considered out of place was a few dirty dishes that was placed in the sink. "Robin?" Starfire called out again as the gathered team members walked slowly toward the couch.
"You mean Captain Research?" Beast Boy gibed as he yawned expansively, his hair returned to normal after six showers, "Ah, he's probably filling out note cards at the public library."
"I was." The voice of Captain Research rang throughout the room though the speakers. Those two words startled the daylights and a short scream out of the sleepy green teen. The other five, who weren't startled, looked to the window screen and saw Robin's face projected on it, "But then I spotted Red X pulling a robbery in the tech sector. I'm on it. Get here as soon as you can!"
"You got it, dude." The changeling uttered sleepily as drool fell from the side of his mouth. He was in such a state of exhaustion, as he dozed off while their leader was speaking, "We'll be there any..." He trailed off as he fell asleep while standing. After a few snores, Cyborg reached own and grabbed a fistful of clothing before yanking this shorter friend with the rest of the team as they departed.
Near the Last Location of Robin
On the streets of Jump City in the tech sector, the leaderless team was gathered and standing at the ready. But instead of finding the villain they were after, they found nothing waiting for them.
"There!' The bulky bionic Titan yelled as he pointed down the street. Looking at a nearby building, the five teens and one Digimon saw Red X jump down from a roof with Robin in hot pursuit. After a few dozen yards, the black-clad thief stopped and thew a net back at the chaser. It ensnared him and sent him rolling across the pavement, stopping where he came down from the roof. "Robin!" Cyborg called out.
"I'm fine! Get X! Go!" The trapped hero ordered as he pointed in the direction of the escaping villain. As the others nod Kotemon noticed something, 'That sounds rehearsed, hum I wonder.' the Digimon thought as he started to bend down to looked like to help Robin.
After the other Titans stopped nodding they chased after the thief, Yuki turned around and saw this, "Kotemon didn't Robin tell us he's fine, we need to go." The Tamer told his partner, "Huh? Oh right coming." The Rookie said as they left Robin and ran after the others.
The chase led the team underground, into a subway station. All seemed too quit for the Titans liking as they scanned the area for their target. "I've adjusted my ocular implant to scan at multiple sub-harmonics in the EM spectrum." The metallic teen stated as he continued his search.
"Kay.." Beast Boy trailed off, confused at what his teammate just said,"...do you come with subtitles?"
"My eye should spot him even if he's invisible." Cyborg simplified as he pointed to his red eye. From his perspective, there was o activity on the tracks or the platform, at least none that he could see. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the skull-faced thief dropped into his line of sight and decked the unsuspecting Titan.
Cyborg was driven back several yards before falling onto his back as he skidded down to the far end of the subway station. "It's him." Raven said as their bulky teammate slid past the five other Titans.
When he stopped sliding, the titanium teen stood up and rubbed the back of his head. He was still woozy from the attack and was in no condition to retaliate against the X that appeared in midair and flew toward his back. Sparks flew from the bionic Titan as the black-clad thief jumped behind him, appeared from thin air as his cloaking device wore off, yet Cyborg remained in full control of his body this time. The result caused Red X to back away, completely surprised by the upgrade. "You gonna have to lean new tricks, dog." He taunted as he grabbed a fist full of materiel covering the chest of his target and threw the villain along the platform toward the others.
"Surrender! We do not wish to fight you!" The Tamaranian as the thief landed in a crouch between the remaining Titans.
"Sorry. I'm not done with you yet!" Red X stated as he lept high into the air and hurled an X at her. At the last second, a black energy barrier, created by Raven, stopped it before it could connect with her face.
Now Cyborg was on the skull-faced figure , coming up behind him and swinging a few punches in an attempt to hit the thief. These punches proved to be ineffective as Red X weaved his way between each jab. Starfire flew in for a low-altitude bulldoze, but missed her mark and plowed into the bigger Titan, sending both to the ground.
Following the attack, the mysterious thief nimbly may his way between Raven and Beast Boy as they tried attacking him. Dodging waves of black magic from the mage, Red X twirled his way around a large green bear that brought down a giant green paw in a effort to hit him and kicked it in the chest, knocking the ursine away. With the momentum of the kick, the thief flew back and struck the cloaked Titan as well, sending he crashing into a stack of crates. The changeling was't going to let his friend get hit without a response and rammed their opponent from behind as a bighorn sheep.
Beast Boy quickly resumed human form again and charged the thief fore a follow-up attack. However the foe caught hold of a pole and swung his weight around it, landing himself feet first back the way he came. His trajectory forced the green Titan to duck, having Red X land behind him. To the shape-sifter's surprise, the thief quickly whirled around and thew a punch that connected with the Titan's jaw, sending him crashing against the opposite edge of the tracks where he bounced off and fell onto the rails.
Sitting up dazedly, Beast Boy snapped back fully when the glare of headlights fell across his face and a train whistle made itself heard. He stared like a deer about to snuff it on the grille of a pickup truck as the underground locomotive made it's approach. At the last possible moment, Red X hurtled across the track and pulled the green teen screaming to safety as both landed on the platform an instant before the train made them into railroad pizza.
Beast Boy and Red X stood up and looked at the train, "Dude! Did you just save me?" The Titan asked in complete astonishment. Rather than an answer in words, his reply was swift kick in the gut from the villain in honor.
Red X then ran for the exit stairs But before he could reach them, Yuki and Kotemon barred his path. "Okay there's no way you can't hut me when Kotemon's near me so give up." The Tamer demanded, the thief threw two Xs at Yuki's eyes and mouth but the Digimon intervened, "Hothead!" Kotemon shouted as his bamboo sword is cover with flames and sliced the Xs burning them up. That's then the skull-faced thief had enough and fake out making the Rookie backed at his Tamer's legs, seeing a perfect opportunity Red X materialized a different 'X' in his hand and hurled at them like a ninja star. It caught Kotemon and pushed him into Yuki's legs, wrapped itself around them and Yuki fell by the momentum as the villain escape to the stairs that was blocked.
The five heroes ran over to the fallen partners and gather around them. "Uhh you two need help with that?" Cyborg asked, "No it's fine. We've got this." The Tamer said as he and the Digimon got up and took out his D-Arc and the Imperialdramon Paladin Mode card.
*Cue DigiModify! Blank track*
He spins the selected card around gaining it in his hand then he slide it through the D-Arc. "Digi-Modify!" He pauses letting the card read through "Imperialdramon Paladin Mode's Omni Sword Activate!"
Kotemon grabbed his bamboo sword and drawn it out and then shouted "Omni Sword!" as his dawn bamboo sword turned into the ultimate 'Omni Sword' and sliced the X freeing them.
"Who was that?" Beast Boy asked, looking at the stairs the thief ran up.
Undisclosed Location
"Impressive, Red X." Slade's voice complimented though a computer screen. Red X was sitting at a desk where a pool of light shined in a void as black as the night sky. On the monitor the thief was looking though, Slade's silhouette stood. "I tapped into the security cameras to catch your performance. You treated the Titans to quite a show." He continued saying.
"Glad you enjoyed it. Everything went according to plan." The thief returned. He then pulled out two microchips from beneath his cape and held them up to the screen. "Is the audition over?"
"Patience. Trust is easy to destroy, but it takes time to build."Slade's smooth, yet chilling voice said. His image on the screen shrank toward the top right corner, giving way to a pure white field. Inside, a green microchip revealed itself to the thief. "One last test. Prove yourself and... we'll meet to discuss your future." On the last word, the villain faded away, leaving only the bit of hardware on the display.
"Good." Red X growled as he turned around and pulled of his mask. When it was finally free from his face, none other than Robin was there. "It's about time we met face to face."
Titans Tower
Later that same night, Cyborg, Raven, Yuki, Kotemon, Starfire, and Beast Boy were gathered in the Ops Center looking at the window screen. On it, a large computer map of Jump City was superimposed with two green dots marked. Raven was standing at one of the consoles while Yuki and Kotemon stood behind her.
"Okay. That's where Red X has been." The bionic teen said, pointing to the two dots on the screen, "Now we just have to figure out where he's gonna to strike next." The mage did a little typing on the keyboard; many more spots on the map lit up, culminating to a total of 23 extra locations.
"Great." The changeling sighed wearily. The sounds of footsteps heard behind the six as Robin moved across the room, carrying a box with him.
"Robin!" Starfire cheered, "Wonderful! Our efforts to locate the Red X will benefit greatly from your help." She added as she moved toward the masked teen.
"It'll have to wait." Said Titan answered as he headed to a side door, "I'm close to a breakthrough with Slade."
"More wonderful!" The girl gasped happily, "Perhaps we could be of assistance to..." She trailed off briefly as Robin's back retreated into the dark hall, "...you." Starfire finished as she hung her head dejectedly.
"Let him go. Not like he's been much help lately anyway." Beast Boy stated angrily, "If Robin wasn't always A.W.O.L., X would be K.O.'d by now." He said as he socked his right fist into his left palm.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Beast Boy's right." Raven added.
"Y'all think maybe Robin's losing his grip?" Cyborg asked worriedly as he rubbed the side of his head.
"Or..." Kotemon cut in. "What if Robin is Red X?" he proposed.
"No! You are wrong! I will prove Robin is not the Red X!" Starfire said running out the room.
"Kotemon if Robin is Red X he would of told us." Yuki told the Digimon.
'Who's Slade... You almost got hurt. Next time it could be worse... Nothing. Lead was a dead end... I'm close to a breakthrough... Sure you guys can handle this without me?'
Robin's words echoed in Starfire's mind as she walk though the door to his room. Inside, a single overhead light still shined on a loaded desk as she proceed in and looked at the newspaper-covered walls. She stopped at the desk and looked at the items; she picked up the blasted birdarang from the sewer chase from a few days ago.
"Robin, where have you gone?" The girl sighed sadly before a flash from the desk caused her to drop the weapon with a gasp. The damage projectile grazed a small metal globe on the coner of the desk and knocked it over the edge.
The thing bounced a couple of times and rolled slowly to a stop near the wall. A beam of light shot straight up from it and split into two that folded down toward the floor on ether side. Between them, a holographic image of Robin appeared-caught up in the net a during the Titans' second pursuit of Red X.
"I'm fine! Get X! Go!" The hologram ordered as it flickered a bit.
Starfire was completely confused at the sight before her, "Huh? Robin?" She asked as she approached the image.
"I'm fine! Get X! Go!" Robin's hologram repeated The Tamaranean reached her hand out to touch the Boy Wonder, only to have it phase though the image, "I'm fine! Get X! Go!"
"If you were not really there, then where were..." Slowly but surely, Starfire pieced together the events that transpired the past few days: Robin disappearing, Red X knowing how to defeat the team in their first fight, Robin having a hologram of himself, Red X saving Beast Boy from the train... "*GASP* Kotemon was right! Robin is the Red X!" She said as she gasped sharply. To make maters worse, the alarms int the Tower went off.
Research Facility
In a protective field of it's own, a green microchip floated peacefully in a dimly lit chamber in a heavily guarded research facility of Jump City. As it floated, Red X approached the piece of technology and plucked it out of the air, the crack across his mask having been repaired.
"Excellent work." The thief heard a chilling voice say behind him. He turn around to see a pool of light cast down from one overhead lamp with a figure approaching it from the far side. The details of the figure were momentary washed out, but as it stepped to the center of the circle, Red X finally got a fully detailed view of his employer; Slade. The man was garbed in the same manner as his commando robots-black armor, steel reinforcements, and hand and foot-gear, but with two differences. One, a dark gray slash crossed his chest from his right shoulder to his left side; two, his mask was red-orange on the left side and black on the right, with no eyehole on the black half. "Honestly, I couldn't have done better myself." He complimented.
"So, do we have a deal?" The black-clad thief asked.
"Indeed." Slade confirmed, "You and I are so much alike. It seems only natural that we should be partners." He added while he held out his left hand, ready to accept his payment for the partnership.
Red X held up the three microchips as he spoke. "What are they for?" He questioned, "I need to know what we're planning... partner."
"Patience. You can't expect me to trust you with such sensitive information right away..." The armored villain said, "...Can you... Robin?"
The skull-faced thief's eyes popped at the realization that his cover has been blown. In a flash of light, a small net flew from behind the failed spy, swept the three components from his hand, and carried them to the one-eyed villain. Once they were safely in his grasp, the lights came up to reveal the room as a large, oblong chamber with several robots standing around the perimeter. These robots were the white and black-trimmed robots from the highlight reel the H.I.V.E. students fought. In addition, there was also a balcony that was packed with ranks of Slade's commando robots.
From one direction after another, the mechanical enforcers advanced slightly, as Red X got ready to throw down. While the robots on ether side of the villain started to advance, the entire room shook with the force of an explosion. Everyone looked to its source and saw the ceiling ad been blown out as shadows started to appear in the smoke.
"Titans! GO!" The voice of the titanium teen yelled from within. Following the command, Beast Boy, Raven, Kotemon, Yuki who the Digimon caught, and finally Cyborg jumped into the chamber.
As Red X sprinted across the room, Beast Boy came down on of the white robots as an octopus and yanked it to the floor, while Raven levitated a second one and forced it against the wall. Yuki then took out his his D-Arc and the Alphamon card.
*Cue DigiModify! Blank track*
He spins the selected card around gaining it in his hand then he slide it through the D-Arc. "Digi-Modify!" He pauses letting the card read through "Alphamon's Divine Sword Grade Alpha Activate!"
Kotemon grabbed his bamboo sword and drawn it out and then shouted "Divine Sword Grade Alpha!" as his dawn bamboo sword turned into the turns into the Royal Knight leader's sword and cut up a third robot into pieces. When he hit the ground, Cyborg's main focus was getting a hand on the black cape of the thief.
"Gotcha!" The bionic Titan shouted when he finally grabbed hold of the villain that gave them so much trouble. As Cyborg pulled Red X closer by the cape, Slade turned around and ran and ran out of the chamber.
"Let go! Stop him!" The black-clad figure cried.
As the thief continued offering resistance, Starfire flew in through the ceiling hole, "No! Release him!" She cried when she saw what her friend were doing, "He is..."
"Me!" Robin yelled pulling off the mask from his face. The revelation caught the other Titans expect Kotemon, completely flat-footed as they made noises of surprise for a moment while giant red question marks formed over their heads. "Well look at that, the Digimon was right." Kotemon said proudly.
The shock was enough for the titanium teen to loosen his grip, giving the Boy Wonder the opportunity to escape and run for the door. "Slade's getting away! Come on!"
A huge leap carried him over the two robots flaking the door, but they expect Kotemon stared after him as he made his way down the corridor the leading villain ran though. Before the other five could do the same, several robots jumped down from the balcony an surrounded them. "Well Kotemon looks like we own you a apology." Yuki said as he as he took out the Datamon card.
*Cue DigiModify! Blank track*
He spins the selected card around gaining it in his hand then he slide it through the D-Arc. "Digi-Modify!" He pauses letting the card read through "Datamon's Digital Bomb Activate!"
After that happen Kotemon glowed yellow.
?
Meanwhile at the outer space where all the Digimon Kotemon or his Digivoltions had defeated all in floating jail cells. Suddenly the jail cell that's holding Datamon glowed the same kind of yellow as Kotemon, "Not Again!" the Android Digimon asked as it stopped glowing as it started. "I'm so scared." Mushroomon said.
High Security Vault
"Here we go! Digital Bomb!" Kotemon shouted as he shoots computer viruses from his sleeves, and hit all the robots there making them to shut down. "I hope Robin is fine." The Tamer said.
Away from the action, on the rooftop of the building, a vet cap popped off and Slade lept out as if launched from a cannon. Robin soon followed after, now having ditched the Red X outfit in favor of his own. He chased the orange and black masked villain from one rooftop to the next and matched the criminal on every leap across a space between buildings.
As they ran, Robin thew a birdarang to strike the villain, but a quick backhand from Slade shattered the projectile before it could hit. The Titan stared down at the pieces as his nemesis ran to the edge and performed a impossible flying leap toward a distant rooftop that had framework of support beams erected on it with a red glow that shined over the area from a huge electric billboard.
Slade stopped for a look back and saw Robin standing on the high, far plateau. The Boy Wonder took a few steps and charged into a headlong rush before vaulting into the elevated emptiness and began to drop toward the pool of red light. he hit the ground rolling before coming up in a crouch to face the criminal.
"Careful. I wouldn't want you getting hurt." The villain said, feigning worry in his voice.
"I'm not the one who's going to get hurt." Robin return with a scowl, "Now hand them over!"
"Robin. I thought we had a deal." Slade stated as he and the young Titan circle each other.
"Sorry. I have a strict rule against giving stolen technology to psychos." Robin said.
"How very noble of you. But stealing in order to trap me? That wasn't so noble." His nemesis alleged, "Two wrongs don't make a-"
"Don't ever lecture me!" Robin snapped back, "Whatever you're planning, Slade it's over!"
"Oh, on the contrary, Robin. It's just begun." The criminal returned before the two charged at one another.
Silhouetted in the harsh glow from the billboard, they tried a few times to hit each other. Backing up a bit a couple of Robin's strikes; another silhouette view showed him avoiding more blows and then landing a kick that tumbled the Boy Wonder several yards, almost to the edge The teen got on his feet and went on the offensive, forcing the villain to back around the corner while dodging a kick.
Now the battle had shifted to within the framework as Slade continued the defensive and avoided more and more of Robin's punches. He then found his opening and struck the Titan with another kick, sending him tumbling further into the framework. Robin quickly recovered from the hit and charged the villain again. Back and forth they went, nether connecting with each other until a green fist was caught in a steel one. That a big armored left elbow drove it's way into the spiky-haired Titan's solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him. Before he could catch his breath, Slade flung the teen toward the edge of the rooftop. He stumbled against a couple of creates and fell over the edge with a short scream.
On the side of the side of the framework, hundreds of feet above the speeding traffic, Robin held onto the ledge for his dear life. Unfortunately for the young man, the masonry started to crumble before giving way to his weight. The leader of the Titans released a scream as he began falling toward the street, likely to meet his end. But before he fell too far, a steel covered hand reached down and seized his wist.
Robin looked up and saw the masked face of his opponent staring intently down at him. "You... saved me?" He asked in complete confusion.
"I'm not through with you." The man returned as he hauled the Boy Wonder back up and tossed him easily toward the framework.
The youth landed on one of the upper beams and hurled himself back downward to start the brawl anew. Once again, both fighters thew themselves at each other in a attempt to inflict damage. This time, Robin landed a flying straight punch that sent Slade and the three microchips careening away. The latter landed in a pile, while the former slid to the edge.
The next thing the criminal knew was Robin standing over him and reaching for his mask. "This ends now!" The masked Titan growled as he puled the mask off the man's face.
The entire front half came off, just like the robot he tried to interrogate after the first heist; revealing this Slade to be merely a mechanical double. Inside the head was a monitor that showed the genuine evil mastermind safely in his lair.
"Patience, Robin. We'll meet face to face some other time." The masked villain said from behind the screen, "Oh, and speaking of time..." Slade trailed off before a large number 5 superimposed itself on the view, then counting down to 4, and then 3...
Realizing what was about to happen, Robin put his feet into overdrive and sprinted to edge of the building. The counter continued it's countdown at 2, and then to 1. Once the teen was safely clear of the blast zone, he heard a long beep, presumably marking the 0, before a massive explosion roared from the rooftop.
Robin stared morosely at the explosion as the other Titans gather at a distance behind him. "Heh. At least he didn't get the chips." Beast Boy joked, trying to lighten an incredibly tense mood.
Robin's Room, Titans Tower
Later that same night, after returning the stolen chips, Robin was standing next to one of the walls, staring at the Slade robot's mask that he hung on it. He herd his door slide open to admit Starfire. "You want to yell at me too? Everyone else has." The boy said, without turning, as he pulled the mask from the wall, "And I don't blame them."
"I did not wish to yell, merely to understand" The sadden Tamaranian said. "Robin, why did you not tell us the truth?"
"I needed to fool Slade. If you guys knew it was me under that mask, you would've held back." The Titan leader sighed, "Doesn't matter anyway. Slade figured it out, and I still haven't figure out anything about him."
"That is not true. Whoever Slade is, you and he are similar." Starfire started as she gave her friend a reproachful look, "Slade did not trust you, and you did not trust us." She added before turned to leave the room. Her footsteps echoed hollowly in the space as she left, follow by the sound of the door as it slid close. Leaving Robin alone with the mask and thinking how long it would take to regain the other's trust.
A/N: Wow this chapter took for a loong time to write again so time to respond two reviews from the last chapter:
To Guest No. 6:
Well yes and no, a new Digimon will appear in Apprentice part 1 but Yuki and Kotemon won't fight it I'm saving that for 'How Long is Forever?' and yes Musyamon will fight Slade in part 2 but Digivolving before all that.
To Gry21:
I'm sorry but no Yuki and Kotemon won't discover the power to biomerge to Zanbamon during the final battle against Trigon in The End part 3, that happens during Yuki and Kotemon are in the Digital World.
And that's that. What happens next? Find out next time on Titan Tamer of The Swordsman. R&R