Chapter 7- Complications

"Eternal war?" Red X asked, feigning nonchalance while inside his mind was whirling. "Sounds a bit big, even for you."

Immortals smiled tightly. "You are skilled and clever, Red X," he said, "but like many of the young today, you lack imagination- and the perspective to truly understand our world and how it works. Consider- the human race was born from conflict. In the beginning, it was conflict with nature, striving to establish ourselves as the dominant species. When nature was tamed, we turned upon each other, each side seeking to be the most powerful."

Immortus walked along the window, staring out over the vast, barren desert he had made his home. "And in truth, the greatest heroes and legends of the world came from wars. The Spartans, Alexander the Great, Ceasar. And in other parts of the world, Sun Tzu and Rama, Arthur and Charlemagne, Genghis Khan. Heroes who rose to power through war, and went on to change the world. It is conflict that creates greatness. War is what pushes the human race forwards."

"But now," the old man turned back towards X, "there has been no great war since the downfall of the Third Reich. They knew war, but the Fuhrer would not listen to my counsel and was consumed. Now what is there? A single powerful country chasing petty terrorists in circles. This is not war! It is- stagnation."

"And so what are you planning on doing about it?" X asked acidly. "Overthrowing America with a few thousand mercenaries and all that tech you scrounged off the Brain? Hate to break it to you, old man, but that's not gonna happen."

"It wouldn't have happened, without your assistance," Immortus said. "The device you stole for me from Professor Chang's research labs is an experimental weapon that will change my fortunes in this battle. It was designed to emit a high-powered electrical pulse that will disable any sufficiently advanced technology in the area- except for that which is properly shielded, of course."

"Of course," X said. "And so this thing'll take out any enemy tech in the area- that's certainly useful, but I don't see how one of the things will take out the most powerful nation on the planet."

"'That tech I scrounged off the Brain', as you so eloquently put it, will change that." Immortus smiled again, and X inadvertently flinched back. The old man bore a distinct resemblance to a shark when he did that. "This fortress is run from a generator that the Brain invented immediately prior to his unfortunate defeat. It produces enough energy to power this fortress for eternity- or to provide something else with a massive, temporary boost."

"The weapon," X whispered.

"Yes," Immortus said. "I shall feed the weapon power from the generator until it is more powerful than that fool Chang ever dreamed. Then I will fire it into the upper atmosphere and activate it via remote control. My base is properly shielded, as is, presumably, Chang's lab. The rest of the world will be stripped of all advanced technology and weaponry. The playing field will be leveled, and the world will descend into chaos. I shall sell my weapons and services to all sides, and prolong the conflict indefinitely. Through this great war, new leaders and heroes shall arise and lead the human race onto the path of true greatness."

X's first thought was to tell the General that he was crazy, throw a weapon at him, and bolt- but he quickly decided that wasn't a sane option. He'd have to fight his way through the base's security systems, which did not seem at all fun, and odds were he'd be killed before he made a clean getaway. X was no coward, but he was pragmatic, and right now the practical thing to do seemed to be humoring the eternal lunatic next to him. "That's very impressive," he said.

"Indeed," Immortus replied, staring out over the desert. "Leave me now. I need to meditate on my plan and discover any flaws before putting it into action." X quickly turned to leave, but the Forever Soldier's voice stopped him. "And if you are thinking of leaving, I would remind you that your suit would be destroyed by my weapon as easily as any other technology. If you value its power, you might wish to remain within the fortress until my plan is complete."

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Red X paced back and forth in the room that Immortus had given him, desperately trying to find a way out of this miserable trap. He'd thought the old nutjob just wanted world domination like every other wacko with an army ever had, but it seemed an immortal's sensibilities ran in a different direction. X didn't know what made him angrier- the fact that he'd been wrong, or the fact that the world was about to end.

X was a hard, cynical type, but he had to admit that the modern world had its conveniences. Fast food, for one. High tech suits that were a thief's dream come true were another. He wasn't sure what place their would be for a man whose skills lay in the direction of high-tech theft and espionage in General Immortus' bloodstained new world, but he did know one thing- the notion of having a shotgun thrust in his hands and being sent of almost certain death on the front lines was a fate to be avoided at all costs.

Sure, if he stayed here he could keep his suit from being fried, and then get paid massive amounts of money to keep on doing the same things he had been doing with a far lower risk, but risk was a main reason why he did this sort of thing in the first place. And what good was money if there was nowhere to spend it?

X supposed he could play hero- he'd done it before, after all, and although it was far from his favored activity he did it reasonably well. But Immortus probably had that weapon under heavy guard, and the idea of fighting through weapons and traps laid out by a six-thousand year old genius sounded less like heroism than suicide.

It was at that moment when, suddenly and inexplicably, Red X's communicator rang. Grabbing the device from his belt, the thief held it up to his mouth and opened it. "Who are you and how did you get this number?" he snarled.

"Now, Robin," an eerily calm voice said from the other end. "I think we've known each other too long for that kind of talk."

"I'm not Robin," Red X replied. "Looks like you need to get your facts checked, whoever you are."

There was a pause. "I was mistaken, it seems," the voice said, "but that doesn't mean we can't do business. In fact, it might make things easier. But first, tell me- where is Robin? I'm quite curious."

"Probably still in prison," X laughed. "The government thinks he helped steal some experimental weapon of theirs, and he's too much of a good boy to try escaping."

"Don't underestimate him," the voice said. "There is more to Robin than you might think. When he gets some idealistic crusade on his mind, there is little that can stop him. But enough of idle conversation. You- or someone wearing the Red X suit- were last seen in the employ of an old friend of mine- and I mean that quite literally. General Immortus."

"How did you know that?"

"I have my sources. It has come to my attention that General Immortus' plans run counter to my own. From what I hear of them, I doubt that they are amusing to you either."

"You could say that."

"Then I propose an alliance. You will wait until the opportune moment, and then strike. You will save the sword of General Immortus and the schematics for his weapon and bring them both to an address I will transmit to you at that time."

X laughed again. "I don't work for free, mystery man."

"I think that perhaps double what the Forever Soldier is paying you might be interesting?"

"Very."

Red X got the sense that the person on the other end was smiling. "Excellent. Now listen carefully- this is what you must do…"

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Robin and his team climbed into the T-ship and Cyborg took the main controls. The jet engines activated, and the advanced aircraft rose up into the sky.

"What are we going to do now, Robin?" Starfire asked. "We do not know where Red X and the General Immortus went. How do we find them?"

"Very simple, Starfire," Robin replied. "I threw a tracer on Immortus' ship just before it blasted off. It's giving off a signal so strong that the T-ship's sensors- and only the T-ship- can find it half a world away."

"I'm on it," Cyborg said. "Immortus'll probably find the thing eventually, but it's one of my designs, so that'll take him a while. Picking up the signal- now!" He punched some keys, and the tracking data appeared on all five Titans' screens.

"Due east," Robin said. "Going straight off the map. But if we follow the trail straight, we'll find him."

"We'd better," Beast Boy put in. "Do you have any idea how much sleep I lost in that cell? And it'll take me days to catch up on all the TV I missed."

"Well then, we'd better take him down fast," Robin laughed. "Teen Titans- Go!" The T-ship surged into motion, perfectly following the trail that the tracer on Immortus' aircraft had left.

Suddenly, Beast Boy spoke up again. "Dudes," he said, "we have a situation here. Looks like company."

"He's right," Cyborg said. "Two jet fighters, coming in fast."

"Please tell me this isn't who I think it is!" Robin snapped, but a crackling voice over the radio confirmed his fears.

"Teen Titans, this is the United States Air Force! Bring your craft to a halt and power down your weapons and you will not be harmed."

All was silent in the T-ship's cockpit except for Starfire's loud pronouncement of several choice Tamaranean curses.