Teen Titans – Side Stories and After – Snippets; Foxes Upon Foxes and Magical Girls Galore

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Breaking Bad – In The Red:

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There was a dripping faucet to one side of the cell, and a toilet to that same wall. He could have easily gotten to it, but…

There was no way.

Jason Todd; A.K.A: the Titans and Batman's worst nightmare…

If only Chuckles had been a lot softer on the toss into this piss- mill of a penitentiary…

"Yo! Can I take a shit around here!? Your warden Dexter pinned me to my bed! I'm ser –

"Quiet! Yesh! Kids like you are just askin' for a smack upside the skull." The man was called Dexter and he was the watchman in this zoo of dangerous minds and crazy "kids." Dex was no pal of X's, but he wasn't a complete waste. He was big, bald, but he was just going home to sleep on the couch and then patrol began at dawn as usual. X sometimes considered himself fortunate, despite the extra added years he'd be serving out.

"I hate to bother ya, I really do. But…. nature, calls?"

"Yeah, yeah. Five minu –

"Can a man even keep his colon in a hell – hole like this! Ten, and let me have a magazine." Egged the thief.

Oh, boy. Instead, Dex stood in the door, making sure he got through seven minutes of doing time. So much for any euphoric….oh ok. He stood corrected.

"All clear, Dex! Ah, here is you –

"Keep it." The man didn't push for getting the magazine back from the former hero.

The door slammed back and X went to see if his good luck was willing to change. Looks like Dex was really generous today. As he looked to the back of the Fortune Five – Hundred magazine, out slipped a tiny card key.

Wow, what a turn out. X wondered if the offer to get Dex out of his rut had done the trick. His "acting" could be very convincing sometimes.

Out into the yard, Jay just walked around as if he didn't have to beat it to keep his sanity. The wall was for playing ball on, the weights were…a bit crappy. He'd like to ride his bike again, maybe cross country. Save some pretty women and –

"Are you staring, sprout?" Over by the barbells, was a sight for sore eyes.

"Huh? Oh, my ba…. Mam….oth?"

"What's it to ya?" The biggest HIVE member of Team Alpha was…In here. He dropped his massive weight and was lumbering over. So, what about…

"Is that whiz kid with you –

"He's in shop class." Mammoth put in. "We can't do much with the guards watchin." He leaned in dumbly to whisper to X's face.

"You wear a Robin mask, huh? Why did they let you –

"Personal." Jay frowned. "And Jinx –

"Traded in fisticuffs for a "lasso of truth." Groaned the beluga to his new inmate.

"How long have you been broken up and…in here?"

"Since the Brotherhood dumped us and the Titans…You're not workin' for em too? Are Yah's?"

"I work for me. I'm in it always for number one. It's my motto." He looked up at Mammoth with a snarky smirk. "Sheesh. Am I losing my street cred in the criminal underworld, already?"

"Not that I know' ah, but the Titans are still off bein' heroes. Last time was them do – gooders was goin' to Japan. Fightin' monsters an' stuff. It's like they just up an' forgot all' a bout us." Sullen faced Mammoth would have gone back to lifting weights in the yard, but X wasn't about to let him hang for being the way he was. Mammoth had given him an idea. And he had a reason to go for the gold.

"Hey. Big guy?" He put a hand onto the larger villain's arm and had all eyes on himself. X liked to be number one, and this was no exception.

"How about we go see the Titans? Cause, I think that I want my title back…"

/

They met in the cafeteria. Gismo, See – More, and Mammoth were there and not sure about what this meeting would entail; since it was headed by a once – prominent ally, now gone traitor X, he'd not cleared the rest up with –

"What are you tryin' to pull on us, Snot – for - brains – traitor?? Mammoth? Are you mental, big guy?? X made us lose the race with Robin and Ding – Dong Daddy! We should kick him out of the room for making the Hive –

"We don't work for them, Gizmo. I wanna see the sun too. An…He says he has a plan."

"So, does it involve flirting with the enemy?" See – more asked with his vision contained by high tech goggles. "I mean, should we be runnin' from the po - po again? I still have time in here an' I might as well clean my slate before I get sentenced for life. I know how that Tameranean got when I took a peek at her…" He blushed. Far from wrong. "An' Jinx…helpin' her made you guys take away my membership for a year…"

"We all are kinda sick of this place." Mammoth told his friends. "I wanna eat a stock pile of pizzas. It can't be just us in here; what do you need from us, X? Can you really break yourself outta here if you wanna, anytime?"

"I'm happy you should ask. The answer is, not all on my own. I could, but it would make my conscience..." He rubbed his neck and was afraid to tell them.

"See? It's like you used to be one of the good guys!" Complained a snooty, Gizmo. This wasn't going to fly by him. If they were caught with the enemy…it would make the Alpha team look like a drag! A joke!

"But I know how to get past the guards. It's actually something I did when I first got thrown into the slammer. I even made a reputation as a media hog – they can't get enough." X casually let his legs hit the table like some delinquent. He put his hands behind his head and felt like top dog, only in theory.

For now.

"Ah, but what about the security an' the resta' the harder stuff?" See – More asked the thief. "You can hack just about anything, but Gizmo's tried and –

"There is no breakin' outta here without a real plan to disarm the whole dang system." Gizmo relented and knew how SWAT style X was. Like an Anti - Robin. Too dangerous to put in charge of his own squad.

"We can do it old school. The vents make a perfect cover, and with your technical– know – how, we can sweeten the result." X considered how easy that sounded. "Well, I already have the guard named "Dex" in the palm of my hand, so how about it? WE start a mean riot in secret –

"How – What is that supposed to accomplish – creep – zilla?? We could end up shot before we even reach the exit and we'll back in our cells by tomorrow! I say we need more time. If you are so keen on letting us, get what WE want…."

X raised a serious brow. "And what would that be?" He asked the bald-headed villain.

Gizmo cockily smirked at the thief and said as he whispered over the table. "A chance to humiliate the Titans …. An' get back OUR cred…You in?"

X smiled at the villains as the gears had begun to turn. "You bet. Number one is what I am. Chuckles can take a hint, how bout you, fine gents?" The others obliged and nodded their heads. All in favor.

"I think this is gonna be the start of a beautiful partnership."

X grinned. "Ditto." They shook on it; not knowing that either side had their own idea of taking out a dozen drones, guards and security locks meant to keep them from seeing the sun.

"We get this up and started; first thing? We need more info about the base." X switched gears. Mammoth was pointed to as X picked up his spork to get the attention of a fellow ally. "Big guy; we need a distraction in a few days. How much did you say you've been workin' out?"

Mammoth puffed out his chest and showed the team his arms. Bulging out. Good, he wasn't rusty.

"We'll have everything we need by Friday night. See – More? I need those codes so make sure to clean your goggles."

"I'll do what I can, but if my powers mess up –

"You'll be great, kid." X reassured.

"Why then are you sayin' for Friday? That's like zero time in Ocean – ten this place." See- more said to the thief with a cock of his head and a worried frown.

"Well, cause Friday is "pizza night" for chuckles and the gang. Can't get a decent slice in this joint as it stands." The criminal in the domino masked answered back.

"I like how you negotiate, scuzz -munch. We're in. But, for the lova pete, no more back – stabbing!" Drilled the bald leader.

"I know you took out my ride to save that Titan snot – brain, Robin. We all have ta' make sure you don't double – cross Team Alpha a third time, wisenheimer." He let his eyes wander to the clock on the wall.

X nodded and leaned back into his seat with his arms over his chest, crossed and willing to "partner up" with the vets of Jump's villain community.

Gizmo snorted "We meet back here for the dinner and lunch rush on the daily to come up with a real, top – notch plan. Five days sounds like a rush, but I won't even bother ta' tell you how much the place has invested lately in their state – of the art –

" Relax…I got this one gig in the bag. Tied and gagged." X seemed to not care if a few heads did roll. Quite the opposite, actually. "We'll get our dues, Wiz -kid… and the last slice on pizza night. Just you wait." Grinned the masked man at their table. "Just, try to keep up this time. I work alone mostly, so not even Robin can match my fancy footwork. You'd better hope that you've got what it takes to make it to the other side in one piece. Capice?"

/

So, their plan was to have Gizmo sneak in, disable the locks by going through an air duct – for he was small enough, and open up the cells to start a riot. Now in said riot in point b, there would be a cafeteria brawl. All the good films about food fights had em!

X would have to start up a draw – straws with See- More, but he'd be looking into a weak spot in the prison wall. Mammoth would drill through it, beefy feats and all. X, WOULD run to find his suit, and he knew where it was being kept too.

"Blackgate has more security than this dump." Jay noted this with a frown; looking down at the forged blue prints he'd swiped that the way would be a bit of a twist, thinking back to his time in Gotham as a punk on the run. Back in his cell, he had a safe place to keep the copy of the real blueprints. A Forkes magazine that even Lex wouldn't touch. To get that suit, the belt and to enjoy a marinara doused delicacy? Getting out would be a piece of cake.

Had to add that to the list of foods for a bucket list. What a thought.

"If I ever see Dickie – bird's mug, I'll let him know every bit he's missed. In Pacific time, of course." Not really considering telling the other Robin what he'd been up to just yet, Jay wanted to be faceless again and run around like that feather – brain Bruce had….

Time was wasted on the past.

"Then…. He should fit, the rounds the guards are going to make are…"

The plan for day one, was to set up surveillance and have X check the vents to see where they led to. As he found, to a control room, which was enough. Jay immediately brought his arse back to the team with a dusty grin.

The time for the food fight and brawl around suppertime? That…would be harder. It took some looking around for See - More. He went to the cafeteria's kitchen to request sloppy joes for their last prison run on Friday. The cook said with a straight face; "They'd think about it."

The other thing was the yard. If any, Mammoth would rile up some guys before the feast, which would later lead to the cafeteria turning into a war zone.

X was really hoping to find his suit before the bust happened. He'd also been keen on seeing into repaying his buddy Dex near the very end of his stay at Jump's finest hotel that NOBODY wanted.

The magazines were his only way to feel like a normal guy on the john.

He was above that, however.

The day before, Gizmo did a test run through the vents and set up a device to shut down the prison's security for a while. As the guards made their way to the perp, he'd be sure to leave them a little something for good measure.

The day came and X was ready to get down to business as usual. Nothing but a winning attitude, and to top it all off…

There was pie for desert that day. So, he made sure to look for his suit before the big event. Had to look sharp.

The time was six pm. They'd had Mammoth intimidate some loser thugs to get him back in the cafeteria at the wall, knowing a challenge to muscle bound freaks was more than just about pride and one's gusto.

Gizmo had the switch and took a very long time in the bathroom. He'd made sure to set up disrupters so that the system wouldn't easily reboot. His intel and tech came in handy, sometimes. X had to give the kid credit.

See – More made sure to spot a weaker wall and once it was there and ready to pound, he had Mammoth to take the hit. The crazed muscle heads be here and ready to see to their fight. To think; the weakest spot in the jail was the yard where they could toss their barbells and take the guards apart…Well, it wasn't Arkham at least! This was psychological tampering, nonetheless.

X sat in a coat he'd swiped off of one of his deal – buddies and waited to throw the first –

He took in aa deep breath.

A pie went flying at a guy; Steamroller, as he stood in shock, wiping a bit of coconut cream from his brows.

At the mark, X shouted out to the whole cafeteria.

"FOOD FIGHT!!!!!"

/

The kick from the thugs made the wall crack a bit, and then a few lights went out. The place was in chaos. A blackout??

"Agh…. shoot!" X rushed out of the way and simply split the scene. Guard with pies in their faces and on their pants were afraid to reach out in the dark. Talk about torture…

X knew how to see in total darkness. He'd trained with the elites before, and this was easy – peasy!

The hit to the wall in the yard got bigger, and bigger, while Mammoth had his idiot enemies doing his dirty work.

See – More waited and tried to rip off his goggles, which he did now that Gizmo had owed them all a solid.

X swiftly kicked a few inmates down as he checked his belt. Enough power to zap them if it got ugly enough. He wanted to be a good guy, unless he ended up between a rock and a hard place.

Gizmo had even managed to craft himself a flying saucer – like vehicle for one in the time it took to send the guards onto their backsides.

"We are home free!" See – More ushered the others to jump it as soon as the wall –

The security was flickering.

"Crud! We can't let em –

"We won't have to. Everyone! Hang on tight!"

X grabbed Gizmo's arm and the rest linked up as soon as X had pushed the trigger.

And then, nothing was left to take.

/

His mask in place, Jay felt at home in this city for once. Gotham was too noisy these days. Jump was, nice. In its own way.

"Titans, three o 'clock!"

"Wait? Aren't you go –

"We wanted to give em the slip, an' you made it a real miracle. The team has a spot if you ever feel like teaming up. And…that slice is all yours, Red." He pointed with his thumb to the pizza parlor and the ones sitting down to order a slew of choices on that Friday night.

X was a bit, touched by Gizmo's good-natured response. He almost didn't know what to say.

"If I ever need to break out of the pig pen –

"You have us, pal." Mammoth beamed and See – More teared up a bit from this fortuitous ending.

X saluted the crowd and went to do just that. With Chuckles at the helm of his team's victory, he could have some fun too. For old times sake. It could happen…and, he'd missed the taste of victory for a long time now. What wouldn't give him a reason to celebrate? He was a very, free bird with a lot to look forward to.

As long as the Titans kept his butt out of the slammer. He hated reading Forkes magazine…