DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: About Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This fanfic was not written by me!! This was written by an author named 'oneortheother', who gave me his express permission (and in fact insisted!) that it be posted on this account. This is the fourth installment of the Sanza Salazar saga, following "A Tale of Two Apprentices". Read the last three fanfics in the series before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

Terra quickly ran over to her friend Marcy's place, her backpack loaded with all the things she would need for the slumber party slung over her back. Marcy lived about one street away from her boyfriend Rob, who was one of Sanza's best buddies. Marcy lived quite near the school, so it was only a short trek till she arrived at Marcy's place. The reason Terra was running was that she had just realized her enjoyable romantic interlude with Sanza had taken quite a bit of time and she was now running late. She regretted declining Sanza's gentlemanly offer of giving her his jacket, as she just wore her long sleeved t-shirt and long khaki cargo shorts, which all offered very little protection from the cool breeze that was quite bracing at this hour.

The blonde geomancer eventually arrived at the modest house where the girls-only sleepover was taking place. Terra walked up the stairs and rang the doorbell, a smile already present on her pale face, a smile that was equally present on the girl that went to answer the door. Sanza's ex-girlfriend Cleo opened the door for her. She also had been invited to the slumber party, though Terra couldn't help but notice that the smile on Cleo's face, the same happy, bubbly, giggly smile that was on her own, seem to flicker ever so slightly, as if Cleo wasn't all that happy to see Terra. But it was probably nothing, maybe just a trick of the light.

"Hey, it's you! Come on in Terra, we're all waiting for you," greeted Cleo, averting Terra's eyes as she swung the door open and invited her in.

Terra couldn't but sense something in Cleo's voice and demeanor that maybe there was something that was just amiss. Was the redhead angry at her? Cleo had no reason to have anything against Terra, did she? They both had enjoyed a perfectly genial conversation the other morning, so Terra couldn't really imagine what she had done to upset her in the last couple of hours, she hadn't even seen her since lunchtime. Either way, Terra followed Cleo inside. Cleo led Terra to a large basement, where the girls were set up to have their slumber party. Terra and the five girls had made it a part of their regular schedule to try to set up a sleepover every fortnight or so. her two old friends from her brief stint in Murakami School had came along as well, and over the months the girls had all banded together to become good friends, though they all made an effort to stress that it was 'girls' night out' and made an oath to not invite their boyfriends in or anything. Undoubtedly a noble crusade…

As the pair made their way down the creaky stairs they were promptly welcomed by their happy host, Marcy. Having been preparing things beforehand, Marcy had already gotten changed, and she was wearing thin purple pants and a matching sleeveless purple tanktop, while her feet were clad in a pair of cute bunny slippers.

"Any word from the others?" Cleo asked, as she had a seat on one of the sleeping bags on the floor, stretching her arms above her head. She was still in her street clothes, a dark green sweater that accented her eyes, a long black skirt and dark nylon stockings. She jiggled her feet, which were in a pair of simple slippers that Marcy had lent her.

"Yeah, where is everyone? Couldn't any of the other girls make it?" Terra inquired, as she took her sleeping bag out of her backpack and laid it down.

"Uhh... Debbie said she had homework," Marcy replied, a bit embarrassed that most of their ranks hadn't made it.

"Hah! Typical Deb, always leaving things till the last minute," chuckled Cleo, making fun of their often absent-minded friend.

"Um, Ashley is out with her boyfriend," stuttered Marcy.

"What ever happened to girls' night out? She's always been ditching us since she's been dating that new guy Andre," complained Terra.

"Though you can hardly blame Ash though… That foreign exchange student Andre is such a hunk…" Marcy sighed before she realized her mistake, as she began shaking her dirty-blonde head frantically. "Wait, don't tell Rob I said that!"

Cleo and Terra both burst out in laughter, and Cleo reassured Marcy… "I wouldn't worry Marcy, I bet he isn't the jealous type."

"…and Rhiannon got arrested."

Cleo was surprised that their friend had been insane enough to let that happen.

"Seriously? I didn't think that limey girl was the type to go try to rob a store..."

That 'limey' girl was one of her old friends from Murakami school, Rhiannon 'Nannon' Holmes was one of her best friends. She was of British descent with platinum-blonde hair and a bit of a rebellious streak, she had always had a flexible relationship with the law but it was still a bit saddening to hear one of her good friends had had a bad run in with the police and all.

"Actually she got busted for doing drugs... according to her mother anyway," Marcy added reluctantly.

This information shocked Terra. "Woah, seriously? That sucks…"

While Nannon had always been a rebellious and daring individual, it was foreboding to think that she had been foolish enough to do something like try drugs without regard for the consequences, even if she thought it was just harmless fun.

"Hah, though her mom could just have grounded her and made that up," smiled Marcy, trying to lighten the mood, though it was a sad smile as they thought about their friend.

"So it's just the three of us tonight?" Terra asked, hoping she could perhaps bond with Cleo a bit more. Sure they were friends now, but they weren't exactly close and Terra couldn't help but feel there was still just a little bit of tension between them.

"So what do you guys want to do?" asked Marcy, eagerly playing the good host. She was often the host for these kinds of things, simple because she was so good at it. Marcy made a great host.

Terra shrugged as she took her space, undoing the straps on her dark grey boots, revealing her long black socks as Cleo replied, "We could chat for a while, and then maybe watch a video or something, how about it?"

"Sure, I love gossip. So what's up you with you and Steve?" Marcy asked teasingly.

"Oh, just you know, just the usual…" blushed Cleo.

"And what exactly would the usual be?" queried Terra, giggling at the ridiculous question.

"Yeah Cleo, religious boy Steve seems to be really peppy these days, what are you guys doing?"

"Oh, no different that the stuff you and Sanza get up to, I'm sure," Cleo replied to Terra… though it was a somewhat resentful and cold smile, which Terra immediately noticed and commented on.

"Is that what's been bothering you lately? I thought you were okay with me and Sanza dating."

"I'm not bothered by it," Cleo stiffened, her body language suggesting the opposite.

"Oh come on Cleo… talk to me, don't be moody," Terra said pleadingly.

"There's nothing to talk about." Cleo insisted. She had always been quite a stubborn character, though it seemed her company would try to change that.

"Come on Cleo…" Marcy said reassuringly as she tip-toed behind the girl, quiet as a mouse. Once she got close enough, Marcy reached out and lightly squeezed Cleo's sides.

"Aaah!!! Hee hee, don't! Ha ha ha..." the clearly ticklish girl squealed. Her arms tried to block Marcy's attack, and she playfully attempted to squirm free and escape. Cleo was giggling hard and trying to roll away from Marcy's probing fingers which were teasing her abdomen, but not struggling as much as she would have if she really wanted to escape… this was a bit of harmless girly fun after all.

At least until Terra joined in. The blonde haired girl reached over and pinned Cleo's hands above her head, leaving the effective tickler that was Marcy continuing to tease all over Cleo's upper body. Terra's playful chants of, 'coochie coochie coo!' didn't especially help either. After what felt like an hour of this, though in reality it was much closer to ten minutes, Marcy stopped, giving a grateful Cleo a breather. Cleo's face was moist with sweat from the tinkling tickles.

Marcy smiled devilishly as she wiggled her long red-painted fingernails menacingly… "Come on Cleo… tell us! Or we'll have to tickle it out of you!"

Marcy motioned to Terra to tickle Cleo's armpits to emphasize the point.

"Okay ahah, fine!" replied a still very giggly Cleo as Marcy released her and stopped giggling, giving her a moment to catch her breath.

"Okay, this is the truth Marcy…" Cleo said slowly, still quite breathless from the tickling.

Just as it seemed Cleo was about to speak, she flew at Marcy showing impressive agility and tackle-pinned her to the ground. As Marcy's attire left much more ticklish flesh exposed such as her belly, she was soon laughing wildly, her dirty-blonde hair began to cling to her face as she perspired.

"Give me a hand, Terra!" Cleo called out.

Terra pondered Cleo's offer, knowing that she'd just as rather tickle Cleo and help Marcy recover… But, she didn't what to be that mean to poor little, ticklish Cleo, so she felt it was only fitting that they 'spread the love', or in this case 'spread the tickling', despite the fact it'd likely be Terra's turn next.

"Tell you what Marcy, donate some money to Steve's church and we'll let you go!"

"Nohohoh!" squealed Marcy out of the corner of her eyes as she saw Terra sneak behind the redhead and prepare to pounce.

"Pretty fair, it is for a good cause after don't you think?" Cleo smirked, as she stroked her fingers along Marcy's underarms unaware of the ticklish ambush from behind.

"That was an interesting sales technique. Mind if I try it on you?" Terra asked playfully.

Cleo was about to turn around, when she felt two hands plunge into her armpits, fingers wriggling ticklishly. She shrieked and dissolved into giggles. Her knees buckled and she fell forward, her face about to hit the plush carpet if it weren't for the hands in her armpits holding her up. Cleo was slowly lowered face first to the ground as she felt someone straddling her back, most likely the person whose hands were still tickling the captive redhead under her arms. Cleo also felt someone sit across her calves, and she felt her slippers being pulled off.

"Well, these sure make it easy!" A familiar giggly voice said.

Marcy had recovered quickly. Cleo attempted to roll around in ticklish laughter, but the two eager ticklers sitting on her easily managed to keep her from going anywhere. Soon, long fingernails were gliding up and down Cleo's nylon-clad soles, adding to her hysterics.

After a few hours, in which much laughter was elicited from each of the girls in turn, and very little gossipy information was gathered, the girls all piled in front of the television, exhausted. Marcy had soon recovered from the trauma and was playing the humble host as she set up a video for them to watch, though in fairness they weren't trying that hard as they continued chatting as the film was rolling, Terra had taken the couch in its entirety, while Marcy was in an armchair and Cleo was stuck sitting on the floor. Sitting on the floor made Cleo uncomfortable, so she tried lying down… but then the table blocked her way. She turned around and looked at her relaxed friend taking up all the space on the couch.

"Hey Terra, do you mind moving your feet a bit so that I can sit down?" Cleo asked her blonde friend. Terra shook her head.

"Nah. I'm quite comfortable like this." Terra replied with a small giggle, wiggling her toes playfully. "Plus, you guys tickled me so much just now, I think I deserve to get the couch..."

Terra stretched her limbs so she covered the entire couch, lying down comfortably as she watched the television screen.

"She does have a point Cleo," added Marcy, who was sitting in the armchair crunching on a bowl of popcorn. She passed her bowl of food to Cleo who happily ate some as well. "You did tickle her pretty bad after all…"

"I'm going to tickle her worse if she doesn't let me sit down!" Cleo made a pouty face and she got closer to Terra's feet.

Terra couldn't help but smile at the cute sight of the pouting girl... "Bring it on," she challenged, and stuck her tongue out at her playfully.

"If you say so."

With that, Cleo quickly began running her fingers over Terra's now bare right sole. Terra had worn socks when she had arrived but after the first wave of tickle fights her socks had been forcibly removed and now they were God knows where. Grinning widely, Cleo wiggled the two of her captive's largest toes, jumping right into her next little game.

"So, how ticklish are your feet, Terra?" Cleo teasingly taunted as she glanced down at her blonde companion. Terra giggled and bit her lip as Cleo went from wiggling her toes to pinching and digging her nails under them.

"Mmhmhm… oh come ooon, leeheeheeave my toes alone!" the blonde giggled as she clenched and scrunched her toes and did her best to try and avoid those tickly fingernails. All she could do was squirm lightly and giggle as Cleo continued to pinch each one of her toes.

"Oooh, Terra is ticklish.. I think she wants some more-" Cleo chirped, and wasted no time in taking advantage of the situation. Tiny playful fingers skittered themselves quickly up and down the soles of the slender size 8 1/2 feet that now swayed back and forth desperate to escape the ticklish sensations. If Terra moved her feet in one direction Cleo's hands followed. "Heehee… Tiiickletickletickle, Terra is very ticklish!"

"Eyahahaha! Oh nooohoho nahat thaaahahaat!" Terra squealed as she squirmed helplessly, wanting to shuffle away but not wanting to quit the game just yet. Her head shook lightly from side to side as the sensations intensified, feeling fingernails dragging agonizingly slow against both of her arches. Her toes wiggled and clenched trying to do what they could to nullify the sensations but she was forced to unclench them when she felt a flutter of fingers on the tops of her toes. Cleo was grinning ear to ear as she watched the taller girl's reactions, switching up tactics every now and then to keep Terra on her toes, quite literally at times.

"Eheheheh! You're really cute all giggly like that Terra, and all you have to do if you want it to stop is move your feet away," Cleo laughed, as she wiggled her fingers menacingly, coming closer to the tickle radius of Terra's pale feet once more.
However at this point Terra cleverly decided she had enough as she quickly pulled her feet away and rubbed her soles against the fabric of the couch to get rid of the tingling sensations before giving Cleo some space to take a seat.

"Thank you," Cleo said, as she now sat on the couch. "Was that so hard?"

"Yes, actually..." Terra replied with a cute giggle.

"You sure were territorial, Terra," laughed Marcy, who had been watching the whole spectacle from the safety of her armchair.

"I think we all are Marcy, could you pass the popcorn?"

"Sure," Cleo replied as she took the bowl from Marcy and passed the bowl over.

O-O-O

It was getting late for the girls as Cleo focused her eyes on the television, her eyes drooping. She was getting sleepy though she tried his best not to close her eyes, but she eventually did, and she sat there on the couch sleeping soundly.

"Let's give Cleo a little taste of her own medicine," Terra smiled as she dragged her toes along Cleo's tummy.

Cleo just moved away from the feeling she had just encountered.

Terra quirked an eyebrow questioningly, "Looks like she's dreaming."

Terra was speeding things up a bit by running her toes up and down Cleo's side and ribs to elicit a stronger reaction.

"Stehehhehehve stohohohop…" Cleo said, squirming. Terra smiled brightly at hearing this.

"Coochie coochie coo," She whispered silently at her silent captive, trying to wake her up and spoil the fun. Her other foot joined the action as well by sneaking in and tickling her taut belly. As soon as Cleo felt Terra's foot on her stomach, she woke up.

"W-what's going on?" she asked, looking around frantically. Terra giggled and gave her a sweet smile.

"Wakey wakey, Cleo. I still think you're more ticklish than me."

Terra's toes started brushing the area around her navel as her other foot went under Cleo's shirt as well to play over the bare skin of her ribs and sides.

"Hahahahahaha sohoho whaahat haha…!" Cleo stated… well, tried to state as the giggling made her barely coherent and she squirmed around even more.

"Well, I think I'm gonna have a little fun now," Terra replied. Her big toe was now stroking Cleo's naval and her other foot started brushing her stomach as well.

"You seemed to have fun tickling my feet. But how do you like to be tickled now?" Terra asked teasingly.

"Stohohohohohohohop!!!" Cleo demanded, squirming around even more and trying to avoid the blonde's feet from poking her sensitive upper body. Terra just stuck her tongue out and continued teasing the redheaded girl with her feet. Her navel was getting it the worst, but her tummy and sides also got some good tickling as well, and naturally it was only a matter of time till soon the proverbial 'shoe would be on the other foot', as Cleo wasn't the type to just take the tickling, especially when Terra's feet were in such a precarious position…

And just like that, the escalating tickle conflict started again…

O-O-O

After a long and fruitless string of tickle-duels, in which all three girls had tickled each other silly, after Marcy had been woken up by Terra and Cleo's little nighttime tickle-fest and had joined in the fun… eventually, they had all retreated back into the basement with their sleeping bags and for the last and final time for the night, they were trying to go to sleep.

The night of laughter ended with a symphony of 'good nights', 'sweet dreams' and 'pray I don't tickle you later'. Cleo inhaled deeply as she closed her eyes, a smile on her face because of all the fun she had with her friends during this slumber party, she felt she had grown closer to all of them, especially Terra. And Cleo had something to tell her. The redhead quietly crept over to where the blonde geomancer was slumbering. Terra was lightly snoring, it wasn't an especially loud sound, but it still wasn't the type of thing one expected to hear from a princess like Terra. Cleo gently prodded her, until Terra mumbled a dozy, 'Yeah?'

Cleo started to whisper, because she knew their gossipy host would likely eavesdrop on this conversation. Marcy was that kind of girl, she just loved to chat and tease her friends but she didn't especially want this to be mentioned again, so Cleo kept the volume down.

"I'm so sorry I was mad at you earlier Terra, I shouldn't have done that."

"Ittt's okay… Good night Cleo…" yawned Terra as she closed her eyes.

"No… you see the thing is, I was just upset seeing you and Sanza together like that. It reminded me so much of what things were like before," Cleo said solemnly, her voice trailing off.

Terra's brilliant blue eyes sprang open as soon as she heard the name of the boy who meant so much to her, she listened intently before getting up to pull Cleo into a hug.

"It's okay, I understand, we're friends, right? We can talk about anything!" Terra whispered in Cleo's ear.

Cleo smiled at Terra's kind and benevolent words, her smile illuminated by the faint nightlight of the basement as she pulled Terra close before whispering into her ear, "Thanks Terra… You're a good friend."

Terra broke free from the hug, a friendly smile on her face that mirrored Cleo's. She spoke to Cleo, stifling a yawn mid-sentence, "Listen girl, I love you but I really want to sleep please…"

"Okay, fair enough, Terra!" Cleo replied happily, before giving Terra another hug before she walked off.

Terra watched her silhouette as Cleo returned to her sleeping-bag, pondering her actions.

"She's reminding me of Starfire… I'm not really sure that's a good thing…"

As Terra snuggled under the covers once more, trying to find that perfect sleeping position, she heard one final 'good night' declaration.

"Good night, I love you guys, despite the fact you're a bunch of tickle-loving jerks," Marcy announced, either aware that her two guests were not asleep, or she was still a bit peeved that they had gang tickled her for a while.

It was one or the other, as laughter filled the room once more. This time it was voluntary laughter, as the girls just laughed at the strange, fun, enjoyable night they had just experienced. Laughter echoed across the room until the girls all snuggled back under their covers, still giggling until each of the females drifted off to slumber land.

O-O-O

Sanza stood up and walked across the hallway to his sister's room… however, as he remembered to knock politely, he raised his hand to knock courteously on the door, a custom he had forcibly been imposed on by people like the cranky Teen Titan Raven, who did not enjoy being disturbed. This bizarre rule he had eventually grudgingly accepted. However, before he knocked, he heard his sister Maddy loudly nattering away on her cell phone, gossiping with her friends. Sanza laid his hand on the doorknob and pressed off, walking away from the door. He was always impressed by his sweet sister Maddy. She had been through so much, being the little sister of a costumed one-time dark villain and current-day hero, many an evil villain had once upon a time tried to threaten Sanza's family to get the gifted master-thief that was Red X to obey him. But despite all the trauma of being used as a bargaining chip and a hostage, young Maddy had rebounded well and had recovered from it all. She was now a perfectly normal happy pre-teen, doing perfectly normal things. Sanza was really glad that his sister had managed to achieve normalcy again, much like he had.

"She's growing up so fast…" Sanza thought.

He felt his eyes glazing over ever so slightly as he trudged along slowly, reminiscing of the many happy moments he had shared with his sister, who despite it all, no matter what path Sanza chose to take, continued to adore and support him. For that, Sanza was eternally grateful. To others it might be so little, but to a person like Sanza who put his family above all things, knowing that his family would always be there for him was a great reassurance, a real morale booster. Sanza smiled sadly as he walked up to check up on his mom.

O-O-O

The rest of the house was quiet, Maria Salazar was in her living room, staring wide-eyed at the telephone as her son Sanza entered the room and greeted her. She stared blankly at the phone. Clearly something had distressed Maria severely, as she was gripping the telephone handles hard enough that the old telephone looked like it would be ready to snap any minute, and the look on her face was reflected a combination of fear and despair.

"Mom… you okay?" Sanza asked, wondering what could cause his mother to behave as though she had been told she only had 48 hours to live.

"Oh, it's nothing Sanza, everything's going to be all right," Maria replied weakly, though her demeanor and expression suggested otherwise.

Sanza didn't reply, just looked at his mother quizzically, waiting for a more sufficient response, which he soon received.

"It's just… I lost my job, Sanza. Twenty years, all the health benefits… gone, life savings gone practically overnight… it's all gone, Sanza, gone…"

"Oh God, how could on earth could this kind of thing happen, Mom?" Sanza asked, shocked that such a thing could happen. This was the kind of thing Sanza had heard of, but it was the sort of thing that he had assumed would happen to 'someone else'. However it seemed we were all 'someone else' to someone else, and that was the sad truth in this situation.

"The corporation I worked for went bankrupt, apparently taken over by a rival company. I've never ever seen a company with such leverage before, just one word and all our employees are out fending for themselves, it's unbelievable…" Maria said, stifling a sob.
"It's damn outrageous."

"Who did this, Mom?" Sanza continued, not realizing he was stressing the syllables in each word as he felt deep-seated anger begin to bubble inside of him.

"The CWA Corporation. They seem to have their greedy hands in everything in this city these days," Maria replied with a light sniffle. "Anyway, I'm just going to go see how Maddy's doing… you just be careful, my son."

Maria gave a small, brave smile, though Sanza couldn't help but feel that her wanting to talk to Maddy was more like an excuse to leave the room. However, after she left, Sanza realized something about what she had said.

"Be careful? Does she expect me to do something? Does she want me to? Would it be okay as long as I was careful?"

Sanza clenched his fists till his dark-skinned knuckles turned a grim white, feeling his heart thumping hard in his chest and his adrenaline surging. Sanza knew exactly what he had to do.

"The scum who did this are going to pay." Sanza murmured to himself as he paced the room, morally debating about what he should do and soon he made a decision, he swore to himself.

"I swear it, they will pay."

O-O-O

Sanza returned to his room, anger filling the depths of his soul. He felt now an even greater urge to just go out and steal something worth a small fortune from one of the buildings owned by that heartless corporation CWA…

Suddenly, Sanza came to a disturbing revelation. He remembered where he had come across those initials before, back when he was researching about the business sector of Jump City with Cleo quite a while ago. Sanza clearly remembered he had come across a dull article blustering on about the miraculous exponential growth of a company. He hadn't really given it much thought at the time, but today, the ominous name of the place had some meaning, as he finally remembered what it stood for.

The Craig-Wilson Alliance. Then Sanza saw the link and why that name was seemed so familiar.

Slade Wilson.

A name that simultaneously made Sanza's blood boil with anger, yet freeze with dread and fear. Slade Wilson was the sadistic criminal mastermind who had tormented Sanza and the Titans, not to mention all of Jump City, for years. Slade had even tried to recruit Sanza, or namely Red X to serve under him as his apprentice. And when Sanza had refused, Slade resorted to blackmail and threats to his family to force him to obey. But Slade was dead… he had plummeted to his death back in Los Angeles when Robin had apparently thrown him off a building. Robin claimed it had been an accident but Sanza doubted it. Robin, leader of the Teen Titans, had once been Slade's unwilling apprentice as well, only his friends were the collateral that forced him to do Slade's bidding. And knowing how Slade could be so cruel and manipulative… Sanza might have willingly killed Slade if had the opportunity… after all, Slade had vowed to never stop his bid to try to get Sanza to join him as his apprentice, and deep down Sanza knew it was certainly for the greater good. Slade had tried to hunt down and kill all of Sanza's loved ones, including Slade's former apprentice, Terra, the girl that Sanza loved more than he could say… He had hoped all this madness had ended and they could all go back to a regular normal blissful life, and while it had certainly been bliss until now, it seemed that they had yet to reach the end of all the chaos and manipulations of the criminal mastermind.

Was there any connection? Or was it all just some bizarre coincidence? Sanza just didn't want to take that chance, but he eventually decided that regardless of the risk he had to do something, to show the world that he wasn't just going to let unknown powers push him around and mess with his family.

"What goes around comes around…" Sanza said aloud, smiling and recalling one his favorite quotes from one of his English literature assessments.

Sanza surely had to do something, or at least certainly Red X had to do something.
And he would do it for his family.

Red X's mission today was to right an injustice.

And it would be a mission that would be eagerly accepted.

However, Sanza did realize the dangers of acting rashly and impulsively. After all he had done that before on numerous previous occasions and rarely had they ended up in his favor. This kind of assault required planning. While the master thief was a master improviser, sitting down and thinking about how he would go about this for a moment would surely be a good idea. Sanza sat back in his chair, the chair in which moments ago he had been slaving away on his homework on, but his family's predicament had changed everything as he picked up one of those plastic auto-dispensing air fresheners that his mother must have put in there because his room was beginning to stink. He tossed the device from hand-to-hand, much like one would with a softball. As he casually threw it back and forth, he deliberated on what he should do. He knew that since his costumed identity was revealed he would have to use a disguise under his disguise. After all, if he went as Red X he might as well be trying to rob the place in his street clothes. The only real difference would be the lack of Xynothium powered weapons, meaning it would be pretty insane… not to mention practically a guaranteed trip to jail, which was certainly something Sanza wanted to avoid.

Sanza reached into his closet and pulled out a long brown trench coat with a high collar that was practically a hood. He also took out dusty black karate sash he hadn't worn for years to bind his new non-skintight attire to his body and face to make sure that his masked face was concealed.

"This will do nicely, and I look cool!" Sanza thought, laughing devilishly as he struck a little pose. Still smirking as he put those garments on over his skintight Red X suit, he got ready to set off, making sure that the sashes had tightly been wrapped around the hood so that it concealed his face… his masked face.

Red X darted out of the fire escape and for just a second stood there to enjoy the flood of adrenalin that was rushing through his system.

"The thrill of the hunt," thought Red X, grinning under his mask as he inhaled deeply and set off on his crusade.

As he left, he didn't notice the phone vibrating on his desk with an urgent message from the Titans… not to mention a text from Terra.

"Hey Sanza! Hope you're not worn out doing homework! I'll be back early tomorrow, try not to do anything illegal while I'm gone! Lots of Love - Terra."

Little did Terra know that her comment, as carefree and light-humored she had been when she had sent it, would later prove to be quite prophetic…

O-O-O

Chapter 3 is coming up soon…