Once at their destination, the titans entered the arsenal and stealthily patrolled their surroundings. All the lights were out except for a few dim bulbs which shone over the 'Emergency Exit' signs around the building. "Fan out," ordered Robin in a low whisper. "Cyborg, Apollo, and Raven, check the lower levels. Beast Boy and Starfire come with me upstairs." Everyone did as they were told and commenced with the mission. Walking through the silent building, the heroic teens remained apprehensive and on their toes as they alertly scanned the arsenal and its contents. Upstairs, the setting remained just as calm and undisturbed as it had been downstairs; the silent, dark building remained unfazed. It was like there was no one there.
Though the allegedly secure building remained silent, the titans refused to end their search until the conclusion was unanimous. However, while no there were no obvious signs of a break-in, there was still an eerie feeling that there was in fact someone in the building who clearly didn't belong… Slowly Raven floated down one of the dark halls. The ammo-lined path was still and undisturbed; one at the end of the hall, Raven turned back to Cyborg and Apollo and nodded- confirming that it was clear and everything was accounted for. "Cyborg to Robin; the East Wing of the upper level is secure," said Cyborg in a business-like manner as he spoke into his communicator. "We're gonna run a search of the West Wing and the armory and then we'll meet you guys downstairs," he continued. "Cyborg out." After his conversation with Robin, Raven regrouped with her team and they continued to the other side of the building. On their way, Cyborg couldn't help but notice the shifty and suspicious nature of his two counterparts. "You two okay?" he asked in response to their behavior. At first there was no reply, but then Raven finally managed to direct her attention to her teammate's remark.
"There's someone here," she said in her usual monotone; her eyes still searching the rooms. "I don't know who and I don't know where, but someone is here."
"I don't know," answered Cyborg skeptically. "We've searched virtually every possible point of entry, with no results." He continued, looking around the room. In the midst of their conversation, Apollo continued moving- her eyes and ears open to any possible sounds or slip-ups by the suspected perpetrator.
Completely ignoring the discussion, she continued to search the building; on her own once again, she walked toward the armory- expecting to catch the thief there. However, as she got closer, Apollo began to analyze the factors of the break-in. While robberies were obviously one of X's strong points, he clearly wasn't known for stealing weapons. 'What goods a gun when the guys already got an entire stolen suit full of destructive gadgets?' she thought to herself. 'Even a nut like him couldn't be that trigger-happy…' she continued to ponder to herself, laughing at the thought of Red X carrying a bazooka. "Hah, real scary," she giggled to herself as she approached the entrance to the armory. "Abso-…" 'Abs' she thought, subconsciously thinking back to the jewelers. Even though he had the suit to cover them up, during that hard kick to the core, Apollo could still feel the rock-hard resistance of her worthy opponent's six (eight?) pack.
Still reflecting, she slowed her pace and thought back to the entire fight. Though he was the thief, for some reason, fighting Red X- both verbally and physically- was… fun. For some baffling reason she enjoyed it; probably just as much as he did. Once inside the armory, she quickly woke herself from her strange and psychotic stupor and began to examine the dark room. Fine-tuned to the silent darkness, she crept through the room like a predatory beast. With no noise or signs of obvious entry, Apollo thought back to Raven's discussion with Cyborg; though it did seem like they were checking a false alarm- like Raven- she did get the chilling sense that there was someone there who shouldn't have been. After one last lap around the room, she decided to call it quits and catch up to Raven and the others; but as she made her way out, Apollo suddenly stopped short and whirled around in response to a faint sound she heard coming from the back corner of the room. 'X,' she thought to herself as she crouched down and slowly made her way to the origin of the noise.
She continued to creep forward, slowly and slyly, just as she would if she were the thief- natural instincts from her past occupation. As she grew closer she activated her wristband- a staff, prepped to strike- but then she felt a sudden shift in the once still air; her target had moved. Turning back towards the exit, she managed to catch a quick glimpse of the thief- an odd black shadow- pause in the doorway for a second before running a ways into the darkness. Instinctively, Apollo followed, ready for another scrap; but as the shadow burglar led her further down the halls, she began to get the feeling that Red X was not the one behind this caper. The stalking chase continued until they reached a dead end. Finally, Apollo spoke out to the ominous figure, "Freeze!" she commanded in a stern manner, whipping out her staff and a series of projectiles in the process. Her choice of weaponry showed that she was prepared to fight; the only issue was who she would be facing.
Slowly, the shadow turned to face Apollo. Completely encased in black, the ominous figure stood before her. Its posture was calm and unfazed- just like Red X- however, there was something about this thief's body language that seemed different- more arrogant and confident than his. Still apprehensive, Apollo stood firm, weapons ready for the battle; only this time, she decided to save herself the headache and call for Robin and the others- this wasn't Red X… and they needed to know.
"Any sign of her?" asked Cyborg as he and Raven continued to search the upper level of the building for Apollo. When, Raven responded negatively, Cyborg let out a long and irritated groan- clearly he was fed up with the Lone Wolf and her 'loose cannon' behavior. "Ugh, come on we have to find her before-" Cyborg let out another irritated sigh as he was quickly interrupted by his and Raven's communicators- Apollo. "Finally," muttered Cyborg, rolling his eyes as he answered the call.
"Where are you," demanded Raven.
"Apollo?" boomed Cyborg in response to the ghost call. "Ap-" he was suddenly cut off again by a loud thud and a grunt. Immediately, Raven looked to Cyborg in response to the call; she then alerted the others as they began their search for their possibly endangered teammate. Quickly they rushed to the location pinpointed from her last broadcast. While doing so, Robin continued to call for Apollo screaming her name into his communicator. He and the others grew even tenser when they heard a loud unidentified scream followed by the sound of shattering glass! They immediately picked up the pace and ran to the armory. Once outside the doorway, Robin called for his friend again in the dark room; with the help of one of Starfire's glowing starbolts the room was quickly illuminated with the vibrant green glow.
"Apollo!" shouted Robin as the team began their search. The room was in shambles! Shattered glass littered the floor and lethal guns hung out of their broken cases and safes.
"Goodness, what happened here?" asked Starfire in shock.
"Looks like Red X, took his last beat-down a bit too personally," commented Beast Boy as he cautiously stepped over and around the broken glass. Slowly they continued walking, until suddenly they were startled by another loud thud and a scream. Instantly, the team picked up the pace and ran to the source of the noise in the back corner of the armory. Once at the scene of the commotion, Robin and the rest of the team found Apollo- alone- stumbling to her feet in the center of broken glass and disheveled firearms. Slowly, the teams worry turned to suspicion at the sight of their teammate, alone in a room full of liberated and valuable objects… shyly she looked up at the skeptical and piercing glares that surrounded her.
"What?" asked Apollo in confusion as the stares became harder and more distressing. "What are you guys looking at?"