The cold moist air of the sewers eked down its various pathways. Everything was still in the dark and lonely sewers; the silent emptiness was interrupted by the occasional rhythmic dripping of a leaking pipe. Then suddenly, the eerie dripping was accompanied by another sound- the splashing of footsteps, slowly creeping down a damp pathway. Gradually, the footsteps continued down the pathway through the darkness before pausing before a dim light in the distance. The dull light shown just bright enough to illuminate what appeared to be makeshift living quarters. Amongst the dim glow were the shadowed traces of a tattered armchair and cot, a worn down armoire with a missing door- revealing a series of random objects- and beside it, a small burlap sack; in it lay numerous sparkling jewels- including a priceless sapphire ring…

Unfazed by the gems, the footsteps continued forward, approaching the armchair. As the footsteps grew closer, the muffled sound of chuckling and confident remarks became apparent in the makeshift home. "Enough to get me whatever I want for a good long time," the voice sighed confidently. "I love it when the good guy win-" suddenly the voice was cut short, surprised by the splashing footsteps- the intruder.

"Red X I presume?" said the intruder in a low, unidentifiable, yet suave tone.

"That depends," answered the thief. "Do I owe you anything?" he asked while casually fiddling with his utility belt. Confidently flashing the ready weapons inside.

"No."

"Then you've got the right guy," he responded, releasing his grip on his belt and the weapons inside. "What do you want?" asked Red X, staring up at the mysterious dark figure from his seat. Though it was clear that there was someone standing before him, he couldn't make out any identifiable traces of a face or bodily shape- just a long black figure. Perplexed, Red X continued to stare at the entity a moment longer before directing his attention back to the diamonds in his hand. "I don't have all night," he sighed arrogantly. "I was having a mome-"

"I believe you are familiar with the Teen Titans?" it asked.

"Yeah so," X responded, still rolling the precious stones around in his hand. Then suddenly his statement (as well as his train of thought) was suddenly cut short as the figure effortlessly tossed a wad of $100 bills onto his lap. Shocked at first, the urchin stared down and the bribe for a moment before cynically looking up at his new employer, "Keep talking…"

Meanwhile, in the silence of night, the titans continued to sleep, undisturbed in the peaceful air of the tower. Calm, placid, serene, even Apollo who hours before was on the verge of an anger-driven outburst, lay in her bed in peace. Nothing was out of place; not a single disturbance…nothing… then suddenly- like an unanticipated blast of thunder- the tower's alert system began to boom through the halls! Immediately the titans sprung from their beds and rushed to the common room. Instinctively, Raven and Apollo rushed to the computers to determine the cause of the alert and the source of the disruption, while Cyborg deactivated the alarm. "Who is it?" asked Robin as he leaned over Raven's shoulder and studied the main screen.

"I'm not sure. All of the security cameras have been destroyed." She replied, her fingers still tapping and typing at the keyboard.

Still focused on her own screen, Apollo continued her search to find at least one security camera that hadn't been sabotaged, but with no luck. She soon sat back in her chair and stared at the black screens which used to hold footage of the targeted destination; but suddenly she felt a slight tingling on her wrist. Immediately she sat up straight and called the others to her as she realized that the point of entry was a destination she had on watch, which could only mean one thing… Red X! Quickly she activated her projections to reveal that he had broken into the city's private bank. "A bank." sighed Raven unenthusiastically. "There's a shocker…"

"Nice work Apollo," praised Robin as he began to rush toward the doors. "Titans GO!" he commanded as he and the others began to sprint to the garage. Immediately everyone boarded their vehicles and headed to the bank- prepped to stop the thief in his tracks. As Apollo silently put on her helmet and started her cycle, the focused, stone-set expression on her face proved that some were more determined than others. In an instant every engine had been started in a synchronized roar and the entire team blasted out of the garage to their destination and the thief who waited inside.

In no time, the titans had reached the bank. Outside the entrance, everyone stared forward trying to determine X's point of entry. Soon Starfire was able to point out a broken window around the back of the building. Silently, Raven was able to faze everyone inside through the wall and- eyes wildly scanning the dark building- they began their search. Like the armory, at first it appeared that they were checking a false alarm, but suddenly a distant thumping noise was heard from the back of the building- 'The safe!' everyone thought simultaneously. With a swift hand gesture, Robin directed everyone to move forward and investigate; but within the first several steps another noise was heard coming from the bank's offices in the opposite direction. Considering the fact that Red X was an established 'solo act', it became clear that there was someone else in the building. "Split up," directed the leader in a low whisper. "Whoever else is here isn't-"

"Hold up," interjected Cyborg as he quickly walked forward and pulled his friend aside. "You want us to split up again?" Confused, Robin looked at his teammate and followed his glance back to the rest of the team and studied his focus on Apollo. "Do you not remember what happened the last two times we split up?" he continued in a low whisper- clearly restating his previous feelings of suspicions. Annoyed by his friend's actions, and clearly more concerned with the mission, Robin ignored the statement and repeated his orders.

"Split up: Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy check the offices," he stopped and stared at Cyborg for an instant and began to speak again, "Starfire and Apollo come with me to the safes." After establishing directions, he irritably shot Cyborg an unenthusiastic 'you happy now?' glance before everyone split and headed for their destinations. Before being led away with Robin and Starfire, Apollo slowly walked past Cyborg and stared at him angrily. In doing so, Cyborg caught a glimpse of the eerie silver glow behind her hair; obviously she had heard what he'd said, and wasn't happy about it.

Quietly the two groups crept to their destinations; silently on the prowl, Robin led the girls to their point of investigation. As they grew closer to the main safe, Starfire slowly dimmed the light from her star bolt. However, even through the dim green light, the trio was still able to see that the enormous steel door to the safe had been blown open! Impulsively, Robin rushed into the safe with Starfire close behind for cover. At first Apollo joined the charge, but then- as usual- her instincts told her to remain outside and scan the outer area. Stealthily, she moved behind the safe's opened door- her wristlet slowly forming into a staff- and continued to creep to the back corner of the room. Once she had reached the end of the room with no sign of Red X, she began to turn back and join Robin and Starfire in their search; still on edge, she continued to walk slowly with a certain sense of alertness that can only be mastered through years of practice and rigorous training. Just outside the safe, Apollo began to make the turn into the doorway, but in doing so, she was unexpectedly caught off guard by a sudden blast of red light and a suffocating cloud of smoke. Hearing the hissing sound of the expelling gasses, Robin and Starfire looked up and noticed the growing grey cloud; they then looked around and realized that Apollo was not with them! They were then startled by the repeating sounds of thuds and grunts, as well as the sight of an x-shaped blade which slowly slid to a stop at their feet. "Apollo!" shouted Robin as he whipped out a birdaraang and, with Starfire at his side, charged into the foggy mist. Blindly stumbling through the fog, Starfire and Robin continued to call for their possibly endangered teammate. "Apollo," shouted Robin as he and Star continued to step through the smoke. Unfortunately, instead of a reassuring reply from their missing member, the distant sound of a deep chuckle filled Robin's ears, "Answer me!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, a clear sense of fear and distress in his voice. When the smoke finally began to subside, Starfire managed to use her star bolts to officially clear away the remaining wisps of smoke to reveal that Apollo was indeed gone- as was her anticipated captor; all that remained were several gashes in the carpeted floor and a torn piece of black fabric- not big enough to determine who's suit it had come from. Quickly Starfire bent down and picked up the piece of fabric, at the same time, Robin received a call from Cyborg who questioned the condition of his friends after hearing the loud noise on the other side of the building.

"He has taken her!" cried Starfire as she handed the bit of cloth to Robin.

"What?" asked Cyborg.

"Apollo! She has been taken. He has kidnapped her!"

"What? Who?" he asked again, this time with Raven and Beast Boy hovering over his shoulder also waiting for an answer.

Before responding, Robin looked down at the piece of fabric, he looked at Starfire, then the floor as he thought back to the second noise they'd heard and the possibility of a second culprit. In his mind, he already knew what he wanted to say as 'Red X' continued to blast in the back of his head, but as he thought harder, he finally looked back into the communicator and responded, "Don't know-" just then out of nowhere a loud boom echoed down a nearby hallway followed by another silver flash. Eyes fixed on the sight of the spark, Robin began to lower the communicator as he continued, "But I'm going to find out…"

Off in another large safe in the bank, Apollo found herself in the dark; angrily kicking and throwing blows at a swiftly moving shadow who continued to dodge and faze through her fists. "Why don't you stand still and fight like a man!" she shouted angrily as she leapt forward in an attempt to grab the slick thief.

"Maybe I don't feel like fighting," Red X replied sarcastically as he lazily leaned against a nearby desk. "Besides, so much anger isn't good for a pretty face…" he continued, slowly walking towards Apollo. "It leaves frown-lines."

"Huh, conceited much?" scoffed Apollo in response to the remark.

"Actually babe, I was talkin' about you," he purred as he apprehensively raised his hand as if to strike, and set it down on her cheek, gently caressing her face. Startled at first, Apollo stiffened slightly, unsure of how to react, but as his hand continued to grace her cheek, she slowly began to relax- oddly enjoying the feeling. It wasn't until his hand attempted to push back her hair that she snapped out of her stupor and struck him in the chest. As he fell to the ground, Apollo quickly fixed her hair and began to walk toward Red X who had already made it back to his feet again. Angrily she directed her foot towards his leg, intending to kick him in the shin, but he managed to elude the attack and hop onto a desk. "Getting kind of old don't you think? I mean, I was hoping we could do something different for our…second date?"

Trying her best to ignore the continuously cheeky remarks, Apollo continued to provoke the fight, "When was there ever a first!" she shouted as her staff exploded from her wrist.

"No need to play cute (though you are doing an amazing job)," responded Red X as he grabbed Apollo's staff and used it to spin her into him. "I was hoping that maybe this time we could just talk, and get… familiar?" Annoyed by his constant cooing and cocky pick-up lines, Apollo pushed herself away from his chest as she dropped to the floor and clipped him. Once his body had hit the ground, she reached for her communicator in attempt to call for the others, but then Red X suddenly sprung up and snatched the little yellow device away in a teasing manner.

"Give it back!" she demanded as she reached for her communicator which was held just out of arm's length.

"Relax," Red X sighed as he casually continued to fiddle with the communicator. "I just wanna talk; seriously." Given the sincere tone in his voice, Apollo skeptically calmed down and, backed off slighty to let him speak.

"So?" she asked, resting her hands on her hips in a sassy manner. "Talk."

"You've got to get out of here," replied Red X. "Tell the kid and his posse to pack it up and leave," his voice still calm and serious, Apollo soon perked up and asked why. "Let's just say, something's going down," Red X continued. "And I'd hate to see that pretty face get struck in the crossfire." Slowly he walked forward and, again, attempted to place his hand on her face, this time to remove her mask.

"Don't touch me," growled Apollo as she smacked his hand away and turned her head. Still skeptical, she briefly looked back at the thief and continued her interrogation. "Going down?" she asked. "Is that the best excuse you can think of-" Suddenly her attention was drawn away from the devilish delinquent when she heard the sound of Robin and Starfire calling her name from down the hall. "Robin, Star!" she shouted in response before turning back to continue her conversation with Red X. "You really expect me to believe that and leave you here alone? I may be blonde but I'm not-" again she paused when she realized that there was no longer anyone in the room; Red X had escaped, leaving her alone in the safe. Annoyed by the days happenings, Apollo groaned and rolled her eyes as she began to walk towards her communicator and pick it up. "Struck in the crossfire," Apollo sarcastically repeated to herself. "This guy busts into a bank, briefly kidnaps me...! And then thinks that by giving me some ridiculously un-helpful advice, that I'll believe him?..." she shook her head. "Robin!" she shouted again, trying to determine where her friend was in the dark building. Jokingly, she mumbled again, "Seriously, how-"

"One mustn't talk to oneself," interrupted an unfamiliar voice from the far corner of the safe. Startled, Apollo spun around and whipped out her staff. "It gives the wrong idea…"

"Who's there!" shouted Apollo as she began to walk towards the noise. Creeping closer, she shouted again, "Answer me!"

"Calm yourself my dear," the strange voice continued. "You're safe… so long as you and your friends stay out of the way…"

"Robin! Starfire!" Apollo shouted as she took out her communicator. She then looked up into the dark corners of the room; the occasional sparkle of a gold bar from an opened safe caught her eye. Ignoring the valuable metals, she probed the darkness- weapon readied- and continued shout. "I'm not gonna ask again, show yourself. NOW!" she demanded angrily.

"And if I don't?" asked the voice, accompanied by the sound of footsteps.

"Then it's your head," Apollo hissed as her staff switched into a broadsword.

"A bold young lady, aren't we?" purred the voice. Once deep and ominous, Apollo soon noticed a change, as it slowly became higher, more distinguished, and… feminine, with an apparent accent.

"Apollo!" echoed Starfire's voice from further around the corner.

"Alright," continued the voice, as its owner stepped forward and stood before Apollo. Apprehensive, Apollo stood stiff and stared up at the large, black, faceless figure in front of her- the thief from the armory!

"You!" she growled, angrily lowering her head and clenching her teeth.

"Hmm, yes," replied the voice as the figure continued to move forward. "Even with the distraction of another you still manage to find the true mastermind…" slowly the shadow-figure loomed over Apollo as one of its elastic-like arms reached out and snatched her communicator from her. "Impressive; for a child." Then suddenly, without giving Apollo time to react, the large black figure transformed into a woman! A tall dark- haired woman dressed in red, standing proudly in front of her stupefied target.

Even with the sounds of her friends' voices growing closer, Apollo ignored their calls and continued to stare, weapon ready. "Wha- who are you?" she stammered as the mysterious woman threw her communicator aside and charged at her, arms literally stretching as if they were made of rubber! With a crushing blow, the woman slammed her fist into a wall, smashing as if it were made of paper!

"Madame Rouge," replied the woman in a sophisticated tone, her French accent strong. "And you my dear are done."

**Well there's chapter six. Hope you like it and sorry it took so long. If it helps, at least now you know who the mystery villain is! Will update soon; hopefully next time it won't take me as long. Enjoy, and always, please review!**