Disclaimer: :slightly muffled but still loud yelling from under bed: I WON'T SAY IT! I ABSOLUTELY ON NO UNCERTAIN TERMS REFUSE:eyes glint as authoress is dragged out from under bed: Oh my…scary lawyers…okaysoIdon'townTeenTitansnowleavemealone! You so don't want to sue me, I'm liticaphobic and would so totally embarrass the crap out of you!
"Alright, so what are we going to do?"
He snarled at Cyborg's casual use of that word—we—but didn't comment on it, though he very desperately wanted to, instead doing nothing to express his immense frustration at its usage except crossing his arms over his chest.
"Rush, I know you don't want us here, but you're going to have to get over it." The Sorceress sighed. "You're in charge of this mission, okay? You have to tell us what to do, other than telling us to do nothing or go back to the mansion or something of that sort."
He huffed, but moved on, seeing as he wasn't going to get his way…this time.
"Wayne had connections with the architect who built Methuss' main office." He said as he pulled out the blueprints the Businessman had given him. "I found a secret building added onto the schematics—that's where he keeps the clones, blood samples, etc."
"I'm somewhat familiar with the layout of that building." The Original put in helpfully.
"Somewhat familiar doesn't help us any." He said sharply.
"Rush." The Sorceress said sternly, and he snorted, but again dropped the matter.
"Nemo said this is the room the clones are kept in." He continued, circling the aforementioned room in blue. "This is where they keep the blood samples." Another room was circled, again in blue. "Now, seeing as cloning is…well, heavily frowned on even if it's not illegal yet, I think this must also be where he's keeping the nanobots and antidote." A final room was circled in red.
"What if you're wrong?" The Original asked.
"I'm never wrong." He replied tersely. "Call it a sixth sense."
"But won't Methuss be expecting that?" Cyborg asked.
"He would if he knew Neo was with us. He knows Neo helped us, and he knows Nemo is with us, but I'm positive he thinks I—we—hate Neo's guts and wouldn't help him no matter what, so at the very least he won't be expecting us to go after him so soon."
"Are you sure—?" The Sorceress began.
"Sixth sense, Raven. Even if he did expect us to be going after him, he would expect Robin to be in charge, which would mean we would go for a direct attack on him. No offense, but subterfuge isn't really Robin's style. I'm a loner, and even if I wasn't I would lean towards being the leader, not a follower, but he would expect me to be overturned on the grounds that I'm an ex-thief and you guys know that, which means you wouldn't side with me on that particular subject and Robin would be in charge." He explained.
"Ah."
"Right. I'm the smallest person here other than Raven, plus I'm the most experienced at this sort of thing, so I'll sneak in and—"
"It would be better for me to sneak in, if you're planning on opening a door of some sort so the others can get in as well." The Sorceress broke in. "You might be more experienced, but I can keep myself cloaked in shadows so as not to be seen. Plus, if I get caught I can just banish the person to another dimension before they can sound the alarm."
He pursed his lips, but nodded. "Fine." He pointed at a part of the schematic. "These are the air vents. This part of the building is underground, so this is how they exchange the air. You'll sneak in at this entrance," he pointed at something else, "and I'll direct you via this headset," he pulled a headset out of the small bag he'd brought with him, "to this door," he pointed again, "which you will then open, allowing us inside, cloaking and banishing as you will."
She nodded as she and the others all took a headset. "Where did you get these?"
"From the one and only other group heist I've ever participated in."
She arched an eyebrow at him. "Oh, really? What happened?"
"Well, I've never done a group heist since then, so take a wild guess." He drawled, giving her a 'look'. "They're special headsets made by a very talented technician. They only allow the person who owns them to hear what's being said. It doesn't do anything to mask your voice, but no one will hear any of the rest of us talking to you. I deleted their previous owners long ago, and you guys are now programmed into them."
"When did you do that?" The Original asked.
"They were going to be Christmas presents to take places of those stupid communicators, and I get insomnia periodically." He explained. "Put them on."
They did, and gaped down at themselves as the headsets grew into full body suits, black in color, covering everything but their eyes.
"Was the guy who made these human?" The Original blinked.
"Very, but he was also a genius."
"Was?" Cyborg asked.
He nodded. "Silas Stone. Apparently he died of heartache a while back after his wife died in an accident and his son, whose life he'd saved, ran away."
The color drained out of the human half of Cyborg's face.
"You knew him?"
"He was my father."
He grimaced. "Ah…he was a good man." He said awkwardly (he was no good at that whole comforting people thing…), then cleared his throat. "Anyhow, those will work as far as costumes go. If you need to change to some other disguise, there's a button over your left ear…well, it's easy enough for you to figure it out yourselves."
"Right." The Sorceress said. "So, after I let you guys in, what do we do?"
"Once we're in, Maxwell will take these video-feeds and hook them into all the cameras. They'll start a loop that ought to last long enough for us to have time to get in and out." He said. "Since he's super-fast, that shouldn't take too long…" He paused and looked at the Original. "Do you know how to hook those in?"
The Original nodded.
"Good. After he's done that…" He trailed off, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger—this was why he hated group heists. He had to think of something for everyone to do…and resist the urge to do it for them.
"Cyborg, Maxwell, and I will take out the guards while you go after the antidote." The Sorceress jumped in. "Tell us when you've got it, and we'll create a diversion until you're clear."
His eyebrows shot upwards as he wondered if she had done this before. "Sounds good to me." He said as he looked at the other two.
"Simple is good." Cyborg agreed with a nod.
"Let's do this thing." The Original said.
He snorted. "It's not as simple as we made it sound. First, I want Cyborg to hack into their computers and find out what the uniforms are for janitors. Raven can use the outfit to change into that, plus an ID tag. Once she lets us in, all of you change into business suits while I infiltrate the vents and go after the antidote. You'll follow along with me in the vents, and if I hit any trouble you can back me up as needed. Once I'm in the room where the antidote is kept, you guys go and do whatever—far away from the room—until I tell you I'm ready to leave."
"Then we do our thing, kick some major bad guy butt, and once you're out, we hightail it out of there." Cyborg said with a grin, seemingly delighted with the prospect.
He nodded. "Right."
"Do we have any idea what sort of security they'll have in that room?" The Sorceress asked with a frown. "You might need help from one of us."
He cracked his knuckles, smirking. "Leave that to me, Rae. I'm a solo guy, remember? I'll have cracked harder safes than Methuss can come up with, trust me. I've successfully infiltrated Fort Knox, for God's sake—when I was thirteen, even—this job will be cake."
"You broke into Fort Knox when you were thirteen?" The Original asked, wide-eyed.
He shrugged. "It was a clean job and I got a good cut of the money."
"You'll do anything for money, won't you?" The Sorceress asked with a sigh.
He frowned. "No, I very well won't." He all but snapped. "I steal. That's all. I don't kill or kidnap or anything else someone could think of—I just steal. That's my area of expertise like yours is fighting crime. If the person requires that I kill someone while I'm stealing, I turn down the job. And I only fight if it's absolutely necessary. I steal for money and I love getting a rush, but I do have morals, which I stick to very closely, thank you kindly, and you'll do well not to assume I'll do anything for money, because the truth is you just don't know much of anything about me, or apparently not enough for you to know me better than that."
She looked stricken by his words, a light blush spreading across the bridge of her nose. "I…"
He waved her off. "I'm used to it. But for someone so smart, I'd have thought you would've realized I won't do anything for money, like killing, when I reacted so badly to Methuss. He's willing to pay quite well for my…services. I guess now you know."
"How is it that almost every conversation with you ends in a lesson on ethics?" Cyborg asked.
He shrugged. "If thieving was honest work, I would be a very ethical person."
Cyborg paused. "I know you've been completely legit for the past few weeks…but it's still a bit strange to think of you as ethical…"
He laughed. "Well then, I've done my job right. And it will be even stranger to think of me as ethical after this job."
"Why's that?" The Original asked curiously.
He smirked as he held up a very familiar mask. "Because I'll be doing it as Red X."
(THE RUSH)