Chapter 4- Deception
The corridors of the base were empty and silent as the Titans and Red X slipped through them. The thief was in the lead, Robin right behind him. Beast Boy flapped by Robin's ear in the form of a bat, and behind the two of them came Cyborg, sonic cannon at the ready, and Starfire, floating a few inches above the floor. Raven came last, all of her senses alert for the enemy.
"I'm not sensing anyone in this part of the building," the sorceress said quietly. "That must have been some diversion."
"Mine always are," X said smugly. "There's a reason you all were never able to catch me."
Cyborg studied the scanners on his arm for a moment, then looked up. "I'm picking up something very powerful near the middle of the base," he said. "Way off the charts. I knew Chang was good, but this is- unbelievable!"
"Before he was running on a tight budget," X replied. "Now he's got almost unlimited resources to work with. Whatever he's making, it's one of the most powerful weapons in history. I can almost guarantee it."
"But he's never going to get the chance to use it," Robin growled. "Cyborg, take the lead. Follow that signal."
"On it." Cyborg slipped to the front of the line and kept walking, scanner out. Several times he would pause, his sensors torn between two or more energy sources, but the signal emanating from Professor Chang's lab was so strong that locking back in on it was never hard. Following the half-robot's lead, the team wound their way through the deserted corridors to the very heart of the base.
They were stopped once, outside of a pair of heavy double doors, where a quartet of soldiers in unmarked grey uniforms stood waiting, beam rifles in hand. They were surprised when the Titans rounded a corner and came face-to-face with them, but they knew their job well. The beam rifles were up in an instant, pointing directly at the young superheroes.
"Hands in the air, or we'll shoot!" the leader barked.
"All right- if that's what you really want," Red X said with a soft sneer. His hands came up- and as they did, a pair of gleaming red x's shot from his gloves, striking two of the soldiers' guns and knocking them out of their hands. The remaining two didn't lose a second, bolts of red light lancing from their weapons- and stopping inches from their targets, held back by Raven's power.
"Little boys shouldn't play with dangerous toys," X taunted. "Someone might get hurt!" With a snarl he leapt forward and struck the officer who had spoken hard in the face. The man went down and didn't move. The other soldiers drew pistols and advanced on the thief, but they were dragged off their feet by Raven's magic and pinned against the wall.
Robin rushed forward and dragged X off of the fallen officer, who was breathing shallowly. "We do not use lethal force- ever!" he hissed.
"He's not dead," X said with a complete lack of concern. "I don't do assassinations- too messy. Anyway, I think I'd better get the door." Wrenching himself free of Robin's grasp, X strolled over and stuck another of his innumerable x-shaped devices on the door- and was knocked back by a sudden flare of electricity, the device vaporized.
"That's gonna leave a mark," X groaned.
"High-tech security systems'll do that," Cyborg said. "Now then, I think this is my specialty." Walking over to the door, he extended a mechanical interface from one finger and inserted it into the lock. His eyes went blank, and for a few minutes nothing happened- and then the door hissed open and the Titans slipped inside.
They stood inside what could only be described as a madman's paradise combined with a junkyard. Bits and pieces of technology so advanced even Cyborg could only guess at its function lay strewn about on every surface; monitors and pulsing lights lined the walls, glowing and blinking in a mad pattern. No wonder Chang's crazy, Robin thought, if he surrounds himself with this sort of stuff all the time. Even Robin was getting a little woozy just watching it.
The sound of low voices could be heard from the other end of the room. The Titans maneuvered their way past stacks of pulsing wreckage and saw an old man in an environment suite facing away from them. He was hunched over a table and berating several similarly-clad assistants in terms so technical Robin couldn't even guess at their meaning. The old man, however, he knew- Professor Chang, inventor of the Red X suit and hundreds more high tech weapons.
One of Chang's assistants pointed, and the scientist wheeled about, squawking in alarm when he saw who had invaded his sanctum. "Don't just stand there you fools!" he shouted, "get rid of them!"
They assistants hurried forwards, large and unpleasant looking devices in their hands. Robin and X, though, had fought Chang's men before. They were not true warriors, no matter how deadly their weapons might be. Robin hurled his birdarangs, Red X his throwing x's. The sharply bladed weapons tore through the assistants' devices and left them torn and sparking on the floor. The now unarmed henchmen looked from their weapons to their foes, and quickly retreated.
"It's over, Chang," Robin said, grabbing the professor by the front of his environment suit. "Whatever it is you're making, hand it over."
"Will I never be free of you, boy?" Chang ranted. "Even here, you pursue me."
"We never give up in our pursuit of evil," Starfire proclaimed in a ringing voice.
"What she said," Cyborg added. "Mad scientists go down, no matter who they're working for. That's one of our first rules, and one we're all too happy to carry out."
"Your new master can't protect you any more, Chang," Robin growled. "Now where're the weapon?"
"Well, I'd think a dreadfully dull good little boy like yourself would be more respectful of the United States government!" Chang shot back.
"What do you mean?" Robin asked.
Chang threw up his hands. "I've gone legitimate, you fool! This is a US research center. I was on parole, building weapons for your government."
"Then you weren't working for General Immortus?" Robin felt he was rapidly losing his grip on the situation.
"Who?"
Raven closed her eyes, then shook her head. "He's not lying," she said. "As far as he knows, this place is legitimate."
"Then we have made a mistake?" Starfire asked hesitantly.
"You could say that," Cyborg replied. "And our first mistake was trusting X!"
"Where is he, anyway?" Beast Boy piped in. Robin dropped Chang and spun, but there was no sign of the thief.
And then the roof blew in.
The Titans stared upward in horror as massive beams of energy cut through the ceiling, dropping debris everywhere. Raven quickly had a force field up, protecting her teammates and Professor Chang from the worst of it, but the attack wasn't over. A sleek black plane hovered over the opening, a ramp on its underside open. And on that ramp stood a gaunt man who made Chang look young, dressed in an ornate officer's uniform. A cavalry saber was belted at his side, and a black cape that hung over one shoulder blew in the wind. Robin had only seen this man up close a handful of times, but he recognized him just the same.
"Immortus," he hissed.
The air beside the Forever Soldier flickered and Red X appeared, a faintly-glowing metal canister under one arm. "I've got what I came for, boss," he said to the general. "Let's blow this place." Immortus raised a bony hand, and the plane's bay swung shut. The aircraft flared its engines, and was gone.
When the rubble stopped falling, Raven dropped her shield. Starfire turned to Robin. "Shall we pursue them?"
"I don't think we have time for that," Beast Boy said. "Look!" The team spun around to face the door. There stood a company of soldiers with flags on their uniforms, beam rifles pointed at the Titans.
"In the name of the United States of America," their officer proclaimed, "You are under arrest."
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Red X lounged in one of the passenger seats in Immortus' private jet, idly tossing the device he'd taken from Chang's laboratory from one hand to the other. "That wasn't a bad plan, old man," he said to the withered figure who sat beside him. "You got your weapon, and the government thinks the Titans are criminals. They'll lock 'em away good and deep for this. It's actually kind of funny, really. I wouldn't have thought a military man like you would have come up with something quite so sneaky."
"All warfare is based on deception," Immortus said softly.
X chuckled. "Quoting Sun Tzu?" he asked. The old general shook his head.
"No. He was quoting me."