Chapter Twenty One: Surprises

Tick... tick... tick... tick...

What is that noise! Blaze was so tired. She had a late night last night, what with the burglary and all, and just wanted to sleep. That incessant ticking was driving her crazy! She didn't know where it was coming from, but if she had to get up and find the source she was sure to smash it to bits. Fortunately for him, X had gone home. His real home. Where he wasn't Red X the thief, just a regular person.

Tick... tick... tick... tick...

"Goddam it!" Blaze screamed, jumping up from her cot she used as a bed. She rolled onto her feet and began searching. Under mats, behind the weights, in the pile of weapons, nothing. She couldn't find it. "I swear, when I find you I'm gunna..."

"Who are you talking to?" Apparently X hadn't gone home.

"What the hell is that ticking?"

There was silence... Red X was listening for it, too.

Tick...tick..tick, tick, tick, tick...

There was a loud explosion, bringing down one of the dirt walls. X, out of instinct, hit the ground and pulled Blaze down with him. Once the dust and rubble settled, X stood and patted himself off. "Shit. What was that!" His voice was raspy. Well, more raspy than usual.

Light filtered in through a huge hole in the wall. Something, a bomb of some sort, had gone off on the street and had blown through the pavement. Robin was standing on the other side of the street. He didn't say a word, just clenched his fists and lunged at Red X.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Raven phased through the walls of the Tower, so not to waste time. She knew it wouldn't be long before the boys had gotten to the old part of the city, so she had to hurry. Without thinking, she led Starfire into her room and started pulling books off a shelf with her powers.

"Don't just stand there! Look!" Raven almost lost control of her emotions. She held it back, though, as she was used to.

"What are we looking for?"

"A book. A big black one, with red letters. There was a transportation spell in there somewhere. I think it would be powerful enough to transport Blaze to Olympus without her consent."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Blaze sprang up in her bed. "Ohmygod." she breathed heavily. Sweat was dripping down her forehead and she was finding it hard to catch her breath. "It was just another dream. Oh, thank God." She proceeded to pull the covers over her head and plop back down in the horizontal position.

"Get up. I gotta tell you something." X had thrown something at her, not sure of what it was.

"No!" she protested. "I'll I want to hear is complete silence." Blaze was still unusually tired.

"Too bad, get up!" He kicked her in the side, not to hurt her, to wake her up.

Blaze was thrown from her cot. Now she was face down on a blue mat. She pushed herself up and dusted herself up. "Okay, I'm up. What is it?"

Blaze looked at him, seeing that he was holding the painting they had stolen the night before. "This is for you." he threw it at her.

"But you wanted to steal it."

"It's not worth anything. It was a test."

"Test?"

"To see if you could actually do it or not. Actually, you surprised me."

"And you have yet to surprise me." Blaze looked down at the watercolor painting in her hands. "If this was game, I'd think I'd be winning."

"I never lose." And X did something Blaze never would have thought he would do. He reached around the back of his head and firmly grabbed the end of his mask, peeling it off his head. Blaze dropped the painting, not caring that it splintered into pieces at her feet.

She stared at him for a while, trying to figure out if this was still a dream, too. But it couldn't be because when Blaze tried to take a step towards him, a sharp pain entered through the bottom of her foot. She had stepped on the painting she had just broken. "Ow!" she screamed, shifting the weight from her foot.

Blaze took one last, long look into Red X's dark brown eyes before the black cloth covered them again. "I win." He mumbled, making his way out of the pipe gym. "You coming?"

He had asked this question so many times. Now Blaze was certain of the answer. "Absolutely."

Author's Note:

who saw that coming? seriously? i mean, i didn't even see that coming until i typed it. OOC here, but again... fits in with the story line. ending is coming up reeeeal soon. are you excited? i know i am!

Ruby...