Fan Fiction ❯ A Story of X ❯ Payback ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

I do not own the Teen Titans or any other DC character… I own Kale and I wish I owned the Red X suit… Oh, and when life gives you lemons, make lemonade… Then go out and find someone who life gave them liquor, and have a party (I strongly do not condone drinking…)

Fall can be quite an interesting time of the year, as it is full of changes. The leaves begin to change from their normal green color to that of a beautiful mixture of yellows, oranges, and reds. Even though they are dying, they still look amazing in doing so. The weather begins to fluctuate between summer and winter highs and lows, but mostly stays at about an average, comfortable degree. The sun begins to rise later in the morning and set sooner in the afternoon, sometimes keeping the morning in partial darkness. On a day such as this, another change would occur, yet not one that happens naturally due to the tilt and rotation of the Earth. No, a much different change was about to occur.

Dick had just gotten out of Victor’s car. He may have been rich, but Victor’s car was custom built and was tricked out to no end. Everyday, he came and picked up Dick, Kori, and Garfield and drove them to school, since it would be a crime against nature if they had to ride the yellow limo service the school offered, aka the bus. Apparently, Victor actually helped construct it, for he was obsessed with cars and loved everything about them, even more than his love for sports. When Dick had asked what he called the car, since Victor named everyone of his inanimate objects, he had answered by saying it was the T-Car. When asked what the ‘T’ stood for, Victor replied by saying that they were the titans of the school, the highest of the high in the student social stature, and that the titans deserved a sweet ride named after them.

“Ah Vic, have I told you just how much I love that car of yours?” Dick asked as the group of ‘titans’ started walking out of the student parking lot and towards the trail. He had his arm around Kori’s waist and held her close, like any real boyfriend should.

“Ya man, about a hundred times. And before you ask, I ain’t selling it.”

“Ah man, why not? What’s it gonna take for you to sell me that thing?” Dick asked half jokingly, half seriously.

“First off, its not a thing, its my baby. And I might consider selling it, IF you take off those sunglasses of yours.”

Dick just turned to him with a dead-pan stare. “That, is not going to happen.”

Victor smiled to himself at his friend’s weakness. “Exactly my point.”

“Can I at least drive it sometime?”

“We’ll see dude, we’ll see.”

“Alright then. That’s all I ask, for now” Dick said as a smirk came across his mouth.

“Dudes, today is finally the day I ask her out” Garfield spoke up, tired of the car conversation. He usually grew bored within thirty seconds of any conversation, that is unless it had anything to do about the latest video game, or women.

“Who, Terra? Dude, good luck little man” Victor said, patting the shorter teen’s head, as if to stress the fact that he was the shortest of the two, let alone their whole group. Hell, he might even be the smallest teen in the entire school. Maybe.

Garfield just batted the hand away. “Hey, hey, hey. Watch the do man” he said while slicking back his hair. Why he did so who knows, for its so short and spiked that nothing could mess it up, especially not a friendly hand pat. “And I don’t need no luck, I gots my famous Garfield Logan charm.” To stress this, he smiled and shone all his pearly whites, with even a little sparkle appearing as he did so.

“Pfft. Whatever, ya fat cat.” Victor said this last part softly, but Garfield twitched a brow and shot him a cold stare.
“What, did you just say?” he said with a very angry looking expression on his face.

“Nothing” Victor said waving his hands in an innocent manner.

“Be quiet you two, we’re coming up on the creek. Oh, I love this part of the trail, its so quiet, relaxing, and utterly peaceful” said Kori.

Due to the construction plans of the school, the city council had agreed to leave a part of nature intact around the back part of the school, including trees and a creek. It was mainly for scenery, but the science and art classes used it for research and inspiration. But Kori didn’t care about that though, she just loved the peacefulness of the babbling water running under the bridge of the trail.

“Yeah guys, pipe down or else. Whatever my girl wants, she gets. Got it?” Dick said in a joking yet threatening manner that instantly shut up the two talkative teens behind him and his girlfriend.

From a few meters behind the ‘titans’ of Jump City High, the silent, dark newcomer walked all by herself, with a novel in hand, but was able to read it with very little success. ‘Its about time those two shut up. But with my luck, they will start up soon enough. And even worse, now I cant even concentrate on my book. Damn these people. Why was I forced to here again? Oh, now I remember, my bastard father.’ She let out a heavy sigh and put the closed novel under her arm, all while glaring at the group in front of her.

“Ah, I just love the creek, don’t you Dick dear?” Kori asked softly.

“Hm? Oh, ya. Its pretty amazing” he responded, obviously not caring or paying too much attention to what was said. He was at this moment distracted with his own little, trivial thoughts, though he didn’t believe they were. Mainly, how he was going to torture Kale. He may have hated school, just like any normal teenager in the world, but he enjoyed and even looked forward to torturing the kid that did nothing to deserve it. It was just, fun. What more of a reason do you need than that?

Dick’s eyes where wandering all over the place, completely bored with the situation, until he looked up, and what he saw made him stop in his tracks.

Kori noticed this as his arm fell away from her waist. “Dick, what is the matter?” she asked while turning around to face him, only to find him staring upwards. She in turn turned her attention to where Dick was staring, and her reaction was about the same as her boyfriend’s.
Garfield’s and Victor’s attentions were completely focused on the discussion at hand, whether or not playing video games was better than being with two women at one time. This particularly strange conversation was brought up due to another one of Garfield’s comedy shirts. This one was a ‘Good, Better, Best’ shirt, with video games as best, beating out being with a girl, or even two girls.

“Yo, are you kidding me? Check this, being with two chicks is way better than playing video games” said Victor. (I do not agree with this statement… I just own the shirt, and love playing video games… This is, however, based on crap I get from other people who disagree with the shirt, but I don’t care… A shirt is a shirt, and I would rather play games, so back off people…So sorry to any women readers out there for this little part…)

“I’m not saying that’s not true, but I love video games, and this shirt expresses that point.”

“Oh, big word for such a small kid.”

“Shut up. Look, I like both. Games and girls. The best though would be being with two chicks WHILE playing video games.”

“I heard that!” Victor shouted and the two began fist pounding and high-fiving each other, so they were caught off guard when they accidentally walked into Dick and Kori. “Hey man, warn us next time when you decide to stop right in the middle of the trail.”

“Sorry guys, but look up there” Dick replied softly, almost inaudibly.

“Look up there? Look up where?” Garfield asked a little annoyed and confused.

“Look up there” Dick said a little louder, pointing in the direction he was trying to indicate to his friends. They finally got the message and looked up. But their mouths dropped open in response to what their eyes beheld.

The dark new girl was getting agitated with the conversation that the big kid and the elf were having. ‘Video games vs. multiple women. My God, don’t these people have anything better to talk about? I swear, they have the minds of children. So immature and shallow, these two are. And as luck, or my lack there of, would have it, I get to be stuck right behind these two dolts. Out of all the people in the school, I get stuck behind them. Gee, lucky me. God, will someone make them shut up?’ As if on cue, just as she asked herself this, the two dolts, as she called them, actually fell silent. ‘Thank you whoever did that.’ She looked forward to see what was up and noticed everyone along the trail had stopped moving and were all looking up in one direction. ‘Now what’s going on?’ The girl looked up to where everyone else was looking, and her eyes widened from what she saw.

There, sitting lazily on top of one of the lamp posts that lined the trail, was someone completely adorned in black. With one leg bent up with an arm on top of it, and the other leg dangling off the lamp post, he looked pretty relaxed. A slight breeze past by, picking up his tattered cape, and it fluttered for a few moments in the passing wind. He was looking up himself, but he was looking towards the sky, more like the moon that still hadn’t set yet.
All was quiet as everyone stared at the lone figure that had so captivated everyone’s attention. The stark and dreary silence was broken by a certain someone. (Three guesses who it is, and the first two don’t count…)

“Hey man, I don’t know if anyone told you or not, but you’re a little early for Halloween. Come back in a couple of months why don’t ya?” Dick called out quite loudly, trying to gain the attention of everyone around him... everyone.

There were a few nervous laughs audible from Dick’s group, but everyone else was deftly silent. The person atop the lamp post slowly turned his head and glanced at the person who had interrupted his moment of peacefulness. Kori let out a small ‘eep’ of terror and clung onto Dick’s arm, for when the mystery man turned, the image of a skull with a ‘red x’ through the right eye could be seen on his face. But this was the only reaction Dick got from the mysterious stranger, for after his slight glance, he turned away and stared back into space.

Now, we all know Dick Grayson is one of the most popular teens attending Jump City High. And because of this, he thinks a little too highly of himself, or vain as one might put it. Very vain indeed. So one can imagine his annoyance when he was pretty much ignored by the dark mystery figure.

Dick gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, for he did not like being ignored. “Hey man, I’m talking to ya. What, are you deaf or something?” Dick asked snidely.

“If I were deaf then how is it that I responded to your first remark? No matter how small it may have seemed, I still responded. So think of something else, that is, if you can. Though, I sincerely doubt it” the figure said, not even turning to face Dick. But when he spoke, his voice sounded warped and distorted, to something that boarder-lined on mechanical, although a bit of humanity still rang true.

Dick twitched at the mystery’s response, and grew angry, more so than he already was, but he tried to hide it. “If you think you’re such hot stuff, then why don’t you come down here and fight me and my boys here” he gestured to Garfield and Victor. “That is, unless you’re afraid.”

Garfield seemed a little nervous at this, but Victor took a step forward cracking his knuckles and neck, seemingly all too eager to get in a brawl with this person shrouded in mystery. “Hey ya, I could use a warm up before school” he said confidently.

“Ah, hiding behind your larger friend huh? I guess that’s easy enough, since you could have a mega mall grand opening, two county fairs, and a three-ring circus behind him.” Victor started to fume at this, but the insulter just smirked behind his mask. “But ya know, I have wanted to test this suit out in a low stakes situation where I wasn’t in any danger. You know, like a test run. And this seems like the perfect time to do so.” With that said, the boy turned his body away from the others in a motion seemingly of indifference. But that would soon change as he suddenly fell backwards, with legs clinging onto the lamp post, resulting in the masked boy coming to an upside down stare off with Dick and his crew. Cross armed and apparently confident he gave a little laugh. “Three against one eh? I must say, I like those odds, and let me tell ya, they are definitely not in your favor.”

Dick was fed up with this talk. “Guys, get him.”
Victor bent down in a charging stance at Dick’s command. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Garfield was still a little hesitant, but he still got into a fighting stance, a weak and poorly executed one, but one none-the-less. “Um, yeah, lets get this guy.”
“Oh, how rude of me, I almost forgot. Where are my manners? We haven’t been properly introduced. The name’s Red X” he said coolly. “There we go, my conscious is clear” Red X said with a fake sigh of relief.

“Who cares what your name is? Get him!” Dick commanded.
Red X merely smirked from his upside down position. “Come on kids, ‘X’ marks the spot” he said while tapping the crimson colored x that went across his chest.

Victor let out a low snarl and charged forth with his arm raised for a devastating blow. “Argh! You’re mine punk!” he yelled out as he rushed towards his target. But Red X’s only reaction was a slight raise of his brow, and nothing more. Victor was now in range and thrusted his fist forward right at Red X. But right before his fist made contact, Red X disappeared into thin air, leaving Victor confused as he was thrown off balance.

“Huh? What the? Where’d he go?” Victor asked as he quickly turned left then right, surveying the area trying to find Red X. “Ha! The little punk must’ve chickened out and fled the coop. Guess I showed him, huh guys?” he said as he kissed on of his muscles vainly. But as he turned to face his friends, his smug look turned to one of questioning. Dick, Kori, Garfield, and few other onlookers were just staring at him, eyes wide and mouths gapped open.

“Uhhh guys, what’s up? Why are you all looking at me like I just grew a second head? Come on guy’s, someone tell me what is going on!” Victor asked in a very nervous voice. He was starting to get worried.

“Uh, dude?” Garfield said pointing at Victor.

“What? What is going on?”

“Dude, just look.”

“Look where?” Victor’s only answer was Garfield’s finger pointed at him, shaking rapidly in his direction. He finally got the point and turned his head towards his left. What he saw made him stand dead still.

“You know, I always thought that all jocks were all brawn and no brain, and I guess I was right. Took you forever to figure out what ‘Skinny’ over there was talking about. My God, you’re slower than a tortoise when it comes to these things.” He rested his elbow on top of Victor's bald head while having his own chin snug against his hand. From his indifferent body language one could say he was either utterly relaxed, or totally bored. “Man, and here I thought I was going to be able to really test this suit out, but this isn’t even a challenge” he said in a mock depressed voice. Obviously, he was bored.

It took a while for Victor to snap out of his dazed state, but when he finally did so, he was pretty pissed. “GRRR! Why you little!” He reached over and grabbed at Red X, but he was already gone. “Argh, where’d he go this time?” Victor asked more to himself than to anyone around him, obviously very frustrated.

“Try looking down a little. You know, you are taller than me, so that means that you probably cant see me in you direct line of vision from way up there.”

Victor looked down, and right in front of him was Red X. “You’re gonna get it now punk!” Victor punched right at Red X, but he just moved to the left, side-stepping the attack. Victor let loose another punch, which ended up with the same results. He started to move forward while he attacked, pushing his target back. A right hook, a left jab, and upper cut, a left hook. All were evaded fluidly by Red X, who elegantly and gracefully weaved in and out of all the oncoming punches.

‘Thank you speed and agility enhancement.’

“Argh, stand still why don’t ya!” Victor yelled as another one of his punches was dodged.
“Now tell me. Why on earth would I do something like that? Red X asked as he evaded another punch. “Hmpf, too slow.”

Victor only smiled. “Ya think so?” Just then the last punch that had been thrown turned into a back-hand grab, which completely caught Red X off guard and by surprise.

“Well now, I guess you’re not as dumb as you look” Red X said as he was jerked violently in front of Victor, both arms held firmly at the side by his attacker from behind.

“Yo Gar, you wanna lend a hand?”
“I’d love to, but I think a foot would have a much better effect” Garfield said as he stepped forward towards the two combatants. A devious smile played across his face as he came closer.

A similar smile came onto Victor’s lips as he realized what his friend had in mind. “Hehe, foot. Say, why not got straight for the ‘family jewels?’”

“Dude, you read my mind.”

“Hehe, come on guys. Cant we work something out? Make a deal or something?” Red X asked in what seemed like a seriously pleading voice.

Victor and Garfield stared at each other for about a second then returned there gazed towards Red X. “Naaaaaah” they said in unison.

‘Oh well. I tried.’

Garfield reeled back for a second, then let his foot fly, going straight for the mother of all under-the-belt attacks ever created by man… literally. His foot went forward, right on a direct course, but at the last second, Red X disappeared right of Victor’s grasp. With too much force and momentum put into it, Garfield could not stop his kick-in-progress. It landed exactly where it was supposed to land, but not on the intended target. For a spilt second, Victor’s eyes went cross-eyed, then went back in his head a little. He clutched at his groin (like that actually helps) and keeled over. He fell on the ground in the fetal position in a twitching heap.

“Ow, that’s gotta hurt” Red X said from the railing of the bridge where he had escaped to. “There goes a couple generations right out the window” he said with a light chuckle.

“Dude, are you okay? I’m sorry. One second he’s there, the other… Come on man, speak to me!” Garfield pleaded to his downed friend. The only response was a slight groan of pain. Garfield then turned to where Red X was. “That wasn’t cool dude” he said in an angry tone.
“Oh, I don’t know. Seemed pretty funny to me” Red X said replied nonchalantly. This only seemed to accomplish making Garfield angrier.

“You’re gonna pay for what you made me do to my friend!” Garfield yelled out as he charged forward in a blind rush, arms flailing around like windmills. Right when Garfield got within striking distance Red X disappeared, leaving the small attacker right at the edge of the bridge over the creek.

Red X appeared right below his attacker, and in one smooth motion, he swept Garfield’s feet out from under him and pushed him forward. “Watch your step.” This act caused Garfield to fall over the railing and plummet down into the creek.

“AAAIIIIEEEEEEE!” SPLASH!

Red X got up from his crouching position and stared down at the now soaking wet Garfield. “Hehe. Looks like the jokes on you.” He then turned to face the last two members of the ‘Titans’ as Victor had called them, Dick and Kori. One had a look of anger, while the latter had a look of fear. “Come on kid, don’t ya wanna play?” he asked, indicating to Dick. “Your other friends were quite fun,” Red X said as he gestured to the creek and Victor who was still laying on the ground, “for the short time they lasted. Come on kid, I just wanna see what you can do, or rather see what I can do to you.”

To say Dick was angry was an understatement. He had seen two of his best friends taken down so easily, by one crazy guy in a Halloween costume. And now this same nut job is just taunting him, like he’s nothing. His anger usually got the better of him most of the time, but he intended to make this situation an exception to the regular path he usually takes. “Before we start though, I have one question. Who are you?”

Red X raised a brow and scoffed at this ridiculous question. “Hmpf, and here I thought you were smarter than that” he replied with an indifferent shrug. This only made Dick angrier, clenching his fists and grinding his teeth. But he was determined to keep his cool. “I believe I went over the introductions, but as it seems you are too dense to remember, the name’s Red X. as in the ‘red x’ on my chest and forehead” he replied, indicating to the spots on his body he just mentioned.

“Now who’s the one who’s dense here?” Dick scoffed and Red X narrowed his eyes at this. “No, that’s not what I’m asking. I want to know, WHO are you?” Dick restated, pointing at Red X.

“Ah, now I see. I understand now” Red X replied sarcastically while playfully smacking his forehead. “Everything is all so clear. But to answer your question, I will ask one of my own. If I wanted you to know that, would I be wearing a mask?”

That did it. Dick had tried to keep his cool and he couldn’t keep it any longer. Enough was enough. Dick rushed forward and wildly attacked at Red X. His punches were fast and furious, but they were sloppy and poorly executed. He put too much force behind them and not enough skill. Because of this, Red X was able to dodge these attacks easier then Victor’s.

“Kid, you are really taking life way too seriously. Loosen up a little. It will do you a world of good.”

Dick let out a roar of frustration and anger and punched right at Red X’s face. But at the last second, his target disappeared and Dick went stumbling forward.

“Dick, are you alright?” Kori called out worriedly from the side. “This… this is all so wrong.”

“You know cutie, the only thing wrong here is that you and I haven’t gone out on a date” an all too familiar distorted voice whispered into Kori’s ear. She turned slightly to face the skull mask of Red X. “Oh come on, you’ve probably dated every guy in this entire school by now. What’s the difference if ya go out with some dark stranger you never met before. Knowing your kind, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

Kori’s face flustered with embarrassment and anger of what she had just heard from this person. He had pretty much just caller her ‘easy.’ She turned quickly and swung her arm around to back-hand her insulter, but Red X was no longer there.

“But then again,” Red X said as he reappeared right behind Kori, backs facing each other. “You really aren’t my type. You’re too preppy, high spirited… and loose” he smirked. “I actually prefer someone who is a little dark, like me.” As he said this, Red X turned around and there was the dark new girl. So to prove his point to the snobbish redhead, he blew a kiss and then winked towards the violet haired girl. Her reaction was one of complete shock, and maybe something more.

‘Huh, so that’s what she looks like when her face isn’t buried in a book. She really doesn’t look to bad. Oh well, back to the matter at hand.’ He then turned his attention back to a fuming Kori. “In other words cutie, someone who is the polar opposite of you. Bet ya thought someone like you, especially you, would never get rejected. But guess what…”

Kori yelled out and took a swipe at Red X’s face, but she only slashed at air. “You just did” a small whisper echoed in her ear.

“Get away from her!” Both Kori and Red X turned and stared at a very cross looking Dick. His face was completely red with anger and if this were a cartoon, Red X could totally see steam rising out of Dick’s ears.

Red X only smirked at this though. “You know kid, its not nice to interrupt the adults when they’re talking.” Dick got even angrier at this. Being called a kid constantly was pissing him off, but Red X didn’t seem to notice, or care. “Maybe we should close that mouth of yours for now.” He extended his arm with his palm facing upward, and with his index finger he reached down and the weapon sensors in the finger and palm connected, activating the weapon. The crimson x in the middle of his palm started to glow brightly which brought a smile to Red X’s face, but of course no one could see it on account of the mask. But the smile disappeared from his lips as a high pitch whirring sound could be heard and a laser beam erupted from his palm and headed straight for Dick.

With little room to spare, Dick ducked down out of the way as quickly as he could to dodge the blast. He succeeded mostly, except his hair wasn’t so fortunate. While his person was not harmed at all, his precious jet black hair had been singed. Everyone, including Red X, fell deafly silent.

‘Whoa. Hehe, you know, I was not going for laser beams here. I don’t wanna kill anyone. Okay, lets hope the next finger I try actually activates the constrictive binding gel.’ Red X once again raised his palm towards Dick, and everyone stared horrified at what he was about to do. They thought he was going to fire another laser beam, unknowingly to them that he had a various array of weapons at his finger tips. He wasn't going to activate the laser this time... at least that's what he hoped. This time he used the sensors in the ring finger and again the crimson x began to glow. But there was no whirring sound, and this time he was rewarded with the gel, which shot out and connected with Dick’s face, wrapping itself around it to cover his mouth. “There we go, much better.”

With that said and done, and with everyone else incapacitated with either fear or pain, Red X disappeared. But as soon as he did so, he reappeared on the very lamp post he had been sitting on earlier. “Well, what can I say? Its been a blast. Thanks for the fun.” He then turned to Dick who was still struggling with the gel wrapped around his face. “Oh, better luck next time” he said while jumping off the lamp post. And as he was vanishing, Red X called out one last word that was heard loud and clear. “Loser.”

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

“Okay, note to self! Before going into a fight, first find out what weapon each finger activates” said Kale as he removed the skulled mask. He was now on the roof of Jump City High reflecting on what had just happened. “So I NOW know that the index finger activated the palm lasers and the ring finger is for the constrictive binding gel. The middle finger is for,” he put out his hand and touched the weapon sensors in the middle finger to the one in the palm. The crimson x on the back part of his hand started to pulse and then grow. The x had soon extended to an ‘x’ shaped razor blade and began spinning around violently. “Wow. Well if that isn’t the perfect weapon for this finger. If this doesn’t scream ‘screw you’ I don’t know what does.” he pressed the middle finger sensor again and the blades retracted back into the ashen gray glove.

“So, index for lasers, middle for ‘screw you’ blades, ring for gel,” he counted off, “so by default that means that the pinky is for the projectile shurikens. Alright then, I think I got this down.” Kale leaned back against the wall of the roof entrance and slid down it to a sitting position.

“But where the hell did that all come from? My strength, speed, agility, weapons, all of that came from the suit. But my attitude, my confidence to stand up to those jerks. And that kiss I blew towards the new girl. I mean she’s not that bad looking really, but where did all of this come from? This is one hell of a huge change. The old Kale Riley would never have the guts or the courage to do any of those things I just did.” He then looked down at himself and then back to the mask. “It is the suit” he realized. “It is the ability to hide behind this mask. Once I put this on there is only Red X, no Kale Riley.”

He then rested his head against the wall and looked up towards the sky. “Well, I said you had damn well better have something big planned for me, and I guess ya did. And may I say, I love what you had in mind.” Kale smiled to himself as he got up and quickly changed back into his civilian clothes. “You know, I think I’m gonna enjoy this new life. But now that I have this suit, this power, what am I going to do with it?” He shrugged it off. “Oh well, that’s another question for another time.” and with that, Kale opened the door and went into the school. After all, he didn’t want to be late like some people.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

It was a dark, steam filled room, with rotating and grinding gears all over the place. A single man stood in front of a wall of screens, each depicting something different on it. One had the schematics of the stolen prototype suit while another was displaying a video sent from Shirumari Weapon’s Co. that showed the suit in action.

“Well now, it looks like whoever stole the suit from me has just activated it. Interesting. From these readings, everything seems to be working perfectly. This young man is the perfect guinea pig for this. But, I need to know who you are” the man said as he leaned in closer to a screen that held a still frame sot of a young male who was in the middle of the act of stealing his suit. “You are proving to be most useful. And thanks to the secret tracking device I had Shirumari install, I now know everywhere you’ve been, and everywhere you are. And soon, I will know everything I need to know about you, my little test subject.”Converting /tmp/php5iEUpP to /dev/stdout