One More Look and I Forget Everything [Open]

[Red X]

Tonight, Tori was going to be normal. She was going to put the Red X costume in the secret-room of her closet (which was just about the size of another closet, but hidden), stay away from her xenothium injections, and do something else. Even she knew her addiction, her need for the suit was beginning to get a bit out of hand. So she was going to stay inside, although that wasn’t the initial plan. Lightning flashed and thunder clashed outside her apartment windows, rain splattering against the glass and blurring nearly all of her view of the outside. It was beautiful to watch, so instead of doing a number of things she had halfway planned-hanging out with friends, tooling around town, shopping (oh, the irony), or just watching TV, drawing, chatting on the phone-she decided to watch it. It was probably dangerous to sit right in front of the wall-length windows, and it did make her nervous. But then she shook her head-she was Red X, if she was out tonight she’d probably be jumping out of one of these without any problem. With a reassuring thought, she pulled a large armchair to the window, nuked some hot chocolate, and snuggled into a blanket and a book in her large chair. It was chilly in the large apartment, and it just seemed to fit right. All together. Comfy.

“Aren’t you going out tonight?” She looked over at her dad, giving him a smile that stayed as her face morphed into surprise. He was a handsome man-in all honesty, he looked more like an older brother, seeming to be decades younger than his own age. Apparently it was all his years working around slight radiation-go figure that one out-although his innards were just as old as he was. But with his thick brown hair combed, chocolate brown eyes sparkling, and wearing a nice pair of pants and shirt. The former and the latter surprised Tori, but she didn’t pay much mind to it, snuggling deeper into her blankets, her long hair falling over her face. She pulled her arms inside her knee-length green, black and cream sweater-dress, thick black tight curling around her toes. Her face covered by the blanket, except for her eyes, she moved the blanket down to her chin.

“Thought I’d take it easy. ‘Specially with that storm.” She smiled, crossing her legs and grinning at a large flash of lightning. Her dad sat on the arm of the chair, looking at the storm with her and resting his hand on her hair, shaking and pretty much ruining her hair. But she didn’t mind, not at all, leaning into his side and closing her eyes. Neither of them spoke for a few minutes, and when she was halfway asleep and he was gently pushing her back against the chair, she raised her voice. “You have a date tonight, don’t cha? Where?”

“She’s coming here, but I wouldn’t call it a date.” He replied, and if anything she smiled. A date would be too serious, and she didn’t want to meet any girls her dad went out with. Not only would it be weird, but there were honestly too many of them. He was a chick magnet. It was that simple. He was intelligent, charming, handsome and rich. And she was his punishment-Tori was intelligent, sweet, and gorgeous. He knew exactly what came into boys’ minds when they saw her, because he was still one of them, of course obviously not about her. Tori sighed, opening her arms and groaning. She was so warm and cozy. Now she had to get up and leave the apartment. She knew he’d never ask her to, but the thought of staying was just awkward and gross. Especially when she had found a camisole that wasn’t hers in the laundry.

“I’m gonna go hang out, then. Tori sighed, pushing herself almost painfully out of the chair, as her father offered her to stay. She knew he meant it, but she didn’t want to. “I’ve got my phone and ID.” It was code. Confusing code, but still code. Not bringing her ID meant she was gonna bring it, but if she said she was going to bring it, she really wasn’t. That was because neither of them were going to mention Red X out loud. The phone meant nothing. Paranoid? Perhaps. But when you were a most wanted criminal…Never be too safe. So naturally, she wouldn’t bring her ID with her as Red X. How stupid could you get to do that? Nope, she was leaving it here. She sprung up and gave her dad a tight hug and a kiss, before running to her room and closet.

DNA tests. Fingerprint. Occular. Hair. Height. Blood. Voice. Pigment. Everything possible to protect that suit was hooked up, and it took minutes to get through. Overriding it would just set off alarms, which was the point of going through the tests, not to set them off. Binding her chest down, tying her hair up in tight buns (more took up less space in one area, spreading them evenly amongst her head), and sliding on the fitted suit, she looked like a guy. Completely and utterly-besides the face, but the mask took care of that. She felt it snap into her body, a tingle that wasn’t unpleasant, her body feeling charged as she became one with the suit. The comfort earlier was nothing compared to this, her eyes zeroing in with the mask as well. With a blink and a twitch of her hand different filters flickered before her eyes, but she didn’t use any at the moment.

Leaving the apartment through a series of trapdoors and stunts that no sane person would have attempted, she made her way into the storm. The thunder was bracing. The lightning was challenging her. The roaring wind dared her. And she took it up on it, jumping into it as she soared through rooftops.

[gen200]

Kana limped in the chilly, bracing rain, her eyes glazed over and unfocused in an attempt to dull the pain that wracked her body. Not only pain of the physical sort, but of the emotional and mental varieties as well. The rain felt cooling against her burnt skin, her right arm pressed against her side and held gingerly by her left. The red wound that covered her forearm stung in more ways than one. The images of her burning house and her charred father were fresh in her mind, branded against the backs of her eyelids like a horrifying nightmare. The sound of the rain soothed her consciousness just as the cool rain drops did for her singed skin.

She had nowhere to go. She was miles from any friends' house, did not have enough money to pay a hospital bill, or any at all, and was to mentally drained to have any chance of focusing enough to fly. She closed her eyes a moment and leaned on the brick wall beside her. Where was she, again? This thought was soon expunged from her mind as another wave of pain shot from her arm. She cried out and fell to her knees, into a puddle of what seemed to be a mixture of water and motor oil. THe question of exactly why this thought registered to her instead of something more important was lost to her as another bolt of pain coursed through her body, like her arm was being burnt a- 'Oh, right,' she thought. as she leaned her back against the wall in a vain attempt to find shelter from the rain.

Kana looked to the sky and grimaced as another shot of pain swept over her. She panted and went limp as the pulsing pain subsided, her gaze settling on the street before her. Cars came and went, nobody caring to spare a glance at her.

[Red X]

Most people considered to be Red X a bad guy, and it was true. She stole everything from money to chemicals. She fought the Titans. She had her own file in the Tower and everything. But she also had helped the Titans. She never endangered any lives (well, for the most part) and the fact was she couldn’t care less about taking over the city. All she wanted to was…well, she didn’t know exactly. She’d know when it came to her. And in a flash it did, right along with a bolt of lightning. She was going to rob the bank. It was so easy for her at this point, it would be a bore to explain, make her way in and out without a hitch. It was just to burn time at this point, the cash itself meaningless. She couldn’t hold onto it all without causing suspicion, so it was simple: she’d give it away.

It wasn’t selfless. It was easy. She made her way down to the streets, her eyes cold behind her mask. She had no way of knowing the differences between the homeless people-whether it was because they spent all their money on drugs and women, or if their house or job went down the toilet. She stealthily snuck up, watching them huddle in protection from the rain, slipping a few wads to those she deemed deserving. It was unfair, but it was easy to see life was unfair. She had to spread the money out, throughout the city, as not to pinpoint a certain location in any way. And doing so on a stormy night made this Robin Hood task exciting.

She had finished sooner than expected. She always did, when the Titans weren’t involved. She didn’t save any for herself-she’d give out stolen money to upper-class kids another day-but she had the suit. That was all she cared about. The simple things. Alright, even she had to laugh at that, the suit far from simple. She was across the city, not that fast, but exhilaratingly. Lightning challenged her, thunder boomed, she almost didn’t notice the girl crying in the street. Almost. Her attention wavered and she stopped her rooftop running, looking down at the girl, dropping various amounts of feet and landing soundlessly on fire-escape until she reached the one closest to the girl.

What was with her lately? Why was she the ones finding all the wounded people? This was so not her job. Did she have any money left to give her? No, the girl needed more than that. Yes, Red X felt sorry for her. She wasn’t a Titan, and she couldn’t tell she was a metahuman in anyway. It was clear she didn’t belong on the streets, and her wounds weren’t one of any street fights. The girl needed some bandaging, a meal, and some shelter. She seemed perfectly sane to Red X, and she gave one final sigh before speaking. Fine. She’d play Prince Charming. But just this once.

“You alright?” She asked, the suit changing her voice. It was such a guy move-it was obvious she wasn’t alright, but she had to ask anyway. Even with the perfect exterior, if she couldn’t act it, it wouldn’t mean anything. She kept her place, leaning casually on the fire escape. It was true, nobody noticed them, especially in this part of town.

[Necros]

Jagged bolts of lightning tore across the darkened sky like the white tongues of some savage beast, and the thunder that followed shortly after functioned as its roar. The rain came down in sheets, mercilessly drenching everything, living or not, like needles of ice, driving the breath from the bodies of the humans passing below, making them shiver and pause to tighten their coats around themselves or adjust their umbrellas accordingly. It all originated in the depths of the black sky, heavy and forbidding with its ominous obsidian clouds crowding together like too many eager passengers trying to catch the next train out of the city. The wind lent its assisstance to make this night a misery for all who were not suited to it, blowing the rain in every possible direction, tugging at recently arranged protection the humans had attempted to utilize to protect themselves against the whims of nature. If only the full moon had been out, pouring its gleaming, soft sheen of pearlescent light down upon the scene below, the night would have been perfect.

So thought the pale youth sitting cross-legged on one of the tallest skyscrapers in the city. Unlike the humans below, he could withstand these elements that had been unleashed so suddenly upon them. Not simply withstand them; revel in them. He could feel the rain alright, but the cold did not affect him, at least not the way it did the pathetic life forms scuttling hundreds of feet below. It made him feel alive and refreshed, the burning cold of it only augmenting the natural cold contained within his own skin, skin as white as ivory. Because he certainly didn't look alive: his white skin often reminded people of things they would rather not think about, bringing to mind thoughts of corpses, which the color of his flesh represented. Crimson eyes stared out from underneath silky black bangs, blank and emotionless, but still shining with a swift, cruel light holding a chill which rivaled that of the rain pounding his lithe body. The hood of his cloak was down, but his face was still obscured by his shoulder-length hair. He tilted his face upward, raven locks falling away as he allowed the freezing drops to fall upon his upturned visage.

As he stared at the heavens, unblinking, a portion of one of the clouds above seemed to move, twitching as if it were alive. Then all was still. After a few minutes, it happened again, but this time it didn't stop, and as it moved it seemed to get larger, moving toward him, as if a piece of the blackened sky was falling toward him. Then the living shadow alighted on his left shoulder and resolved itself into the form of a raven. ~Having fun? ~Perhaps. The ebony bird ruffled its feathers, shaking off excess moisture, and began to preen itself. ~It's working Nevermore. Not as swift as I would like, but it's working. The raven made no comment, though he knew what the boy was talking about. Achema. He was finally beginning to be able to push her out of his mind. Not forget her: even if he wanted to, he wouldn't have allowed himself to do so. But now thoughts of her did not intrude on his every waking moment, things that once would have reminded him of what it was like to be with her were now able to be ignored. It had been so ever since his talk with Martyr. She gave me something else to focus on. Something worthwhile to think about.

A disturbance from the regular drone of resigned misery that had emanated from the humans down below for a while now drew his attention. Someone was in pain; mental and physical. A quick flash of pearly fangs, and that was all the indicator he gave that he was appreciating the deliciousness of the girl's suffering. She was not normal, but whatever had happened to her, it had been enough to injure her badly. He paid it no further mind. It was not his concern. But then something else drew his attention, and he decided to monitor activity around the girl. For he had sensed another female approach the first, more human, but vastly different. Intriguing. He had remained in the same position this entire time, and continued to do so, waiting to see how the events below would play out.




((I'm kind of hoping for a fight here. This environment is perfect for Necros to have one in, and it's been awhile since he has tested his skills.))[/size][/color]

[Red X]

Buildings sheltered Red X from the rain as she awaited a response. She leaned against the old iron railing, clearly having nothing better to do, even with the storm clashing overhead. The girl wasn’t responding. Not good. Not good at all. She was badly beat up and now apparently unconscious. Or just ignoring her. One could mean the girl was dying, the second could still mean the girl was dying but had enough sense not to talk to the girl in a mask and tights cross dressing. The latter at least expressed some hope for the child. What could Red X do, though? Call an ambulance? There’s a girl downtown, hurt on the street…Who’s calling? Red X. Yeah, no. Not gonna happen. She watched the girl’s shallow breathing, and figure it was best to leave her for now. She didn’t need to get her hands into anything new, and this girl clearly would require both of them. In civilian form, Red X would be thrilled to call an ambulance. In Red X form, not really an option. She still waited a few more minutes, but without another word began silently climbing up the fire escape, away from the alley below.

The storm should have bothered her. It was the worst this city had seen for a good amount of time. It was close, strong, and relentless, deafening Red X’s sensitive ears even as the suit scrambled to numb it. Water rolled off the fabric, clinging to the false shape below it little more than usual, not a drop of water coming inside. She was dry, but not exactly warm. Being warm while out or in possible danger was far too carless, you felt too comfortable and lazy. When cold, you were alert, your muscles wanting to move to warm up, reading to spring with your mind clear. Even so, she couldn’t say she wasn’t in the mood to be a little bit warmer. She sprinted across rooftops, her long legs moving rapidly, propelling her across the gaps between buildings. Her cape, as ratted as it seem, provided some gliding, although nothing that would come close to soaring over the city. She was aimless, allowing herself to chase bolts of lightning and attempt to outrun the wind, to see how far she could glide in this weather. She’d always figure out a way down later, as much as she preferred to be prepared beforehand. She knew that wouldn’t always work.

Guilt. She felt guilty for leaving the girl alone. But what made her any different from the other homeless people she had seen? That she was hurt? No, no difference. Young? Still no difference. She knew what it was, and she knew it was stupid trying to figure out another answer when she already had one. The girl didn’t belong on the streets. Something bad just happened to her, and from what she recalled from the wounds something real bad. Leaving her alone, somewhere she clearly wasn’t familiar with, it was starting to bother Red X. She swore, her voice utterly drowned out by the wind and rain. When did she grow a conscious? Or at least start paying it any attention. She sprinted over rooftops, trying to push it away as she pushed more distance between her and the girl. She was Red X. She didn’t care about others, just herself. She only bothered with things when they involved her. And, with a groaning she couldn’t help but do, she was starting to realize she was involving herself with that girl. But what would she do? Take her home? She swore again, realizing that was exactly what her conscious had in mind. She paused in her running, tilting her masked face towards the sky. She could see easily, not a drop of water on her skin, and she couldn’t help thinking it ruined her dramatic (well, at least for her) mood slightly.

She found herself finding her way back easily, even though she was going against the wind. She was fast. And she knew the city better than the back of her hand, taking different routes and turns to get her there quicker. Instead of coming the way she had left, she ended up coming another way, silent as always even if she was just going to check up on the girl-she hadn’t yet decided if she was going to take her home yet. What if she was crazy? She couldn’t help but scoff at that, and ignore pretty much any negative ideas of the girl her mind could come up with, especially as she continued to stay sneaky and soundless. It just never hurt to be too careful, and her mind shut up as she spied another person, watching the girl. Had he been here before? She couldn’t help thinking she had, and she stopped in her approach. There was something wrong. No one should be okay in this weather, out in the open and dressed as he was. And that bird, there was something wrong with that creature, too. Red X had always prided herself on her instincts, and right now, they were screaming for her to grab the girl and leave by any means necessary.

In a few blinks and subtle nose twitches, the mask filtered the area to thermal imaging, just to get a better idea. The rain had cooled the buildings, but people still had their orangey glow. Except for this one. He was colder than any of the buildings. It was impossible. He should have long since been dead. She bit her lip and blinked, the filter gone. She needed to get out-she was good at that, getting out before any real trouble started. And yet she found she couldn’t help staring, with morbid curiosity and a little…attraction? No. Not in the Red X suit. It was a different place. A zen place. Where she ruled and she controlled. And she sure as hell was going to keep telling herself that.

((We'll see where it goes!))

[Necros]

The second girl, after lingering next to the first for a few minutes, made to depart. She had no doubt offered to help, but when the injured girl had not responded, she must have decided the effort of helping was not worth it. Her consciousness began to fade away as she quickly left the area, but before her presence disappeared completely, he sensed her returning. Guilt. She felt guilty about leaving the girl to her fate, whatever it may have been, and now she was going back for her. She must be a rogue of some sort. It was the most logical explanation. A true hero wouldn't have left the girl's side at all, whereas a true villain like him would either finish the job or ignore it, as he was. Mixed in with the feeling of guilt was a trace of resentment. The girl didn't want to involve herself in this, she didn't want to feel this way, but she couldn't help herself, and it irritated her. She was taking a different path returning to the girl's side however, one that would cause her to run into him if she continued upon it. She did.

There was a quiet thump as she landed on the roof of the towering building he sat upon. She was behind him, but he did not turn to face her, merely keeping his face raised to the tainted heavens. Nevermore shifted his perch upon his shoulder, turning to look at the figure who had arrived at their temporary "playground". A quite faint, and exceedingly rare spark of surprise emanated from the boy's companion. ~Well, that's a fascinating turn of events. The youth didn't bother asking what it was that had interested Nevermore. He would find out once he deigned to face the girl. For now he remained where he was, though he finally lowered his head, allowing his hair, now slick and shining with the rain, to conceal his facial features once more. The girl knew there was something wrong with him: the unease washing through her senses made that clear. Although that was nothing unique; almost everyone could tell he was not human just by looking at him. But there was a trace of fascination mixed in with her other emotions, and he knew she found him interesting. He decided to play with that a bit.

A faint silver aura wrapped itself around the outline of his body, pulsing gently, though the soft scarlet light falling from his eyes would go unnoticed, since his back was to her. Indeed, the only reason she would be able to see the silver aura was because everything was nearly invisible in the glorious darkness that surrounded them. Rising a couple of feet into the air, he unfolded his legs before descending, alighting soundlessly on the roof as he ceased using his telekinesis. Nevermore remained on his shoulder the entire time, not unsettled in the least. Even if he hadn't been taken in by Necros months ago, he would have retained his calm. It had been so the first time the raven saw him use his powers, almost as if Nevermore had known what he could do even before he had met the boy.

Necros didn't move, waiting for the girl to speak. She was the one who had stopped here and was observing him, so he left it up to her to initiate the conversation, once she was ready. And if she decided not to, then it would be a disappointing end to what had the potential to become a truly unique encounter indeed.




((Blah, short on muse.))

[Red X]

Oh, hell. Various other curses and cusses swept through her mind, although she didn’t allow any to pass her lips. Her red eyes caught the aura-the darkness definitely helped, but she was so hyped up on xenothium she could feel the rain through the suit, the pressure if not the total wetness. She kept herself still, watching him float into the air. She swore internally again. Why? Why did everything have to get worse? The bird didn’t seem to care in the least, which was quite bothersome, and she kept her eyes glued to the descending figure. The girl on the street had totally lost her current interest, showing to be no danger (at least at the moment) whatsoever. She needed to focus everything on this guy, because it was clear he knew she was there, too. He wouldn’t have bothered moving, and her sharp eyes had caught movements of the bird and the lowering of his head. It was her move now, and she had never been any good at chess.

What did she know about him? He had powers, obviously. He could float, and auras generally weren’t cool either-was that protecting from the weather as well, having to do with him supposedly being dead, or was that something else entirely? There was something with the bird, telekinesis most likely, her mind scanning for parallels. The screen of her suit flashed answers on a transparent background, storing and analyzing images for later. Aqualad could talk to fish, maybe this guy had the same with birds. The suit prompted Raven’s demonic aura, so he probably had something like that as well, but a hell of a lot darker. Well, maybe not, since she remembered being encased in stone during the end of the world thing, but he wasn’t even trying to hide it. Ugh. She hated magic. So unpredictable. Sure, there were ways to beat it, but she had to figure out how they controlled it first. It was just annoying and aggravating in general, and she couldn’t trust anyone with it.

“Look who decided to show up,” she said, her voice scrambled by the mask. She had never seen him before, but she had no doubt he had been around the city before this, just on general principle. She stood up straight from her crouched position, the wind battering from behind her currently masculine form, her ratted cape snapping towards the strange man in front of her. Generally, she wasn’t one to talk-sure, she had a few quips, but that sentence was the longest she had in a long time under the mask. But she got enough of a gist that he expected her to speak first, and she wanted to test him a bit. See what he could do before jumping in. She wasn’t stupid-it was one thing to take on a bunch of Titans when the suit was made to take them down, but it was a whole ‘nother idea to try and take Slade down with the suit. She was good, she’d admit, but she didn’t have close to the experience or the drive to make it in a fight with anyone like him, she’d be happy if she lived. Of course, she tended not to get herself in those situations in the first place, and she sure as hell didn’t want to start such a habit now.

((Me too. –searches Ebay-))

[Necros]

"Who indeed." The words drifted out into the freezing air like sheets of poisoned silk as Necros turned to face the girl, raising an eyebrow as he did. Most of his face remained hidden behind the curtain of his hair. Then the other eyebrow inched its way up his pale forehead as he saw who the figure was. Red X. The vigilante known as Red X was standing in front of him, and the conscienceness emanating from under the mask was unmistakably female. Remarkable. It wasn't that he was of the opinion that females were incapable of being strong and independent, but it was a generally accepted fact that Red X was male. Of course, Necros had never completely accepted that, if only because he had never met Red X himself. Well, now he had. This was obviously what had surprised Nevermore, and now his master experienced his own shock, though there was hardly enough to even say that's what he was feeling.

He watched silently as she stood up, then inclined his head in a small nod. "Red X. It is a privilege to meet you." Again the subtle venom accompanied the words as they made their soft way out of his mouth. The tone wasn't directed at her specifically; he nearly always talked like that. It was just a bit of emotion he allowed to leak into his voice to let everyone who was dealing with him know that they had best tread lightly. He remained motionless except for his eyes, which flicked upward to watch the roiling storm clouds and trace the paths of the rain drops in the forbidding sky. After a few moments his eyes returned to the figure in front of him, studying her, evaluating everything to see what information about her her appearance would provide him with. It wasn't much. All he could deduce was that she had bound her chest flat, which meant that she wanted to encourage the illusion of Red X being male, which was further helped by her altered voice. Any more information would have to be procured from her mind.

He also continued to monitor her emotions while he waited for her response. The interest in him was still there, but now it was accompanied by ripples of suspicion and a drop of exhilaration. She was tense, preparing herself, just in case he decided to attack her. But she need not fear a fight; Necros wasn't looking for one. If she saw fight to instigate a confrontation though; he would oblige her. After all, he was in a good mood.

((Agh. Drain on muse...overpowering...))

[Red X]

“I’d say likewise, but can’t say I know who you are.” Red X shot back easily. She caught venom in his voice, and couldn’t help but add a little edge to her own. She had no idea that it was just how he talked, clearly never having seen him before in her life. She also had the idea that she wouldn’t see him again unless he wanted her to, and that was always a big no-no. Never let the other person decide when you’re gonna meet. Besides, if she let that happen in the first place, at the rate this was going she wouldn’t know his abilities, either. She’d be caught off guard and get hurt, she doubted she get herself into a situation that was literally life and death, or to the extent that life wasn’t a pretty large chance with her skills.

She watched his eyes go from her to the storm above, keeping her eyes completely focused on him as he looked back. He knew something. She could tell, he knew something about her-she just kinda sensed it, like eyes on the back on her neck. It was something he wasn’t supposed to know, not that she knew exactly what it was, but it wasn’t common knowledge. She wasn’t going to pretend to read minds or know how secretive that apparent secret he knew was, but it was there. It pushed her farther on edge, and she wanted to know what it was. Not only that, but what he was willing to do with that knowledge, or what he could just do in general. As stated before, she doubted she’d find him-well, easily at least, of course that was compared to her not-quite-enemies who lived in a giant T. Maybe it would be easier than she thought. Or it could be harder. Either way, she wanted to know what he could do, and she wanted to know now.

It was impulsive. It was irrational. There was no warning, besides her silence and her raging thoughts. And she really hoped he wasn’t reading those, since that would be problematic in so many ways. Her body had stayed still, not a twitch exposing any move, even though the suit was skintight. Or it would be, if it was on her skin. Not only was her chest bound, but she needed padding to give her the shape of a guy in the skintight suit. At the same time, she needed to fight in it, along with it feeling like skin and bones underneath rather than just padding on impact, whether she was doing the impacting or not.

Speaking of impact, even with her rather impulsive move (for her at least, since she suspected she was a bit OCD about planning ahead on these things) she didn’t rush forward. She didn’t run or charge, at least not yet, pulling out a few small throwing stars and holding them between her fingers-all small red x’s, of course. She almost lazily tossed them forward with dead accuracy, all aimed at deadly spots. She doubted they would hit their mark, if they hit him at all. Her knees were bent, her feet ready to dart forward or back, towards him or away, her mask scanning for his movements and energy.

[Necros]

Her suspicion was increasing, as well as her unease. She was unnerved by him, which gave him a small amount of satisfaction. Her emotions were whipping within her mind nearly as fast as the winds that tore at her tattered cape. Flashes of thought accompanied them. She knew that he could tell there was something off about her, something that the general public, perhaps even no one, knew about. Maybe she had very acute senses, maybe it was some of the suit's functions aiding her. After all, he had no idea what the suit was capable of. Although he was fairly certain that it was capable of thermal imaging, gauging height and weight, and other such activities. He continued to watch her, as did Nevermore, although the raven did so with a decidedly greater amount of movement, thingying his head this way and that, shifting around on Necros's shoulder, and occassionaly ruffling his midnight feathers.

As he continued to watch her, her anxiety and excitement steadily rose, and he readied himself for what he knew would come next, tensing his shoulders, crouching slightly, hardening his abdominal muscles. All of the changes in his stance were nigh undetectable, but maybe the suit would register them and inform its owner. In which case she might decide to think better of her hasty decision and not follow through with it. She spoke again, and her words cut through the shrieking wind and hissing rain, fast yet controlled, like a razor.

"I’d say likewise, but can’t say I know who you are.”

Fangs flashed again in the light of another lightning strike. "If you did know who I was you probably wouldn't." He shrugged, a humanlike gesture he deemed appropriate for the situation. "But then, I hardly know you better than you know me, so perhaps I am wrong." The thought to see if Red X would be a good addition to his forces had occured to him fleetingly, but he never paid it much attention. He had been busier with people like Achema, Mori, and various other beings of the superpowered nature. Whenever he did have free time, the amount of which had increased dramatically since Achema's departure, his frequent searches for new helpers had always lead him to someone other than her. Now that he stood her conversing with her though, the notion of her assisting his endeavor was becoming increasingly attractive. The fact that she cared about no one but herself was just one of the similarities between them.

After a few more moments of silence, the tense silence that comes before a fight, he murmured, just loud enough for her to hear, "You find me disconcerting." It wasn't a question. Three objects appeared in her hand seemingly out of nowhere, and they gleamed like rubies. Then they were spinning towards him at a deadly speed, but almost instantly began to slow at an alarming rate until the stopped inches from their intended targets. Nevermore shrieked in indignation. Necros's eyes gleamed red and the silver aura surrounded him once more as he once again used his telekinesis. He could have simply teleported out of the way, but Red X didn't need to know that. His levitation had been a show to unnerve her, and it had obviously worked. Flying and/or levitating was just a branch of telekinesis, which was a little known fact. Those who could fly or levitate, but not move other objects with their minds, actually possessed telekinesis on the most basic level. Anyone with a moderate amount of intelligence could figure this out, which immediately excluded almost the entirety of Earth's population. "What possessed you to do that?" he whispered, and then sent the projectiles, now glistening with rain, whistling back toward Red X's masked face.

[Red X]

"If you did know who I was you probably wouldn't." Flash of lightning. Were those fangs? Lovely. "But then, I hardly know you better than you know me, so perhaps I am wrong." She kept her chin tilted up, relieved at the very least he wasn’t stalking her without her knowing. How he would ever manage to do that, she would love to know. She tended to think her instincts were better than being stalked without knowing, and she had been stalked. Once. But it hadn’t been anything serious-face it, just about everyone gained a stalker in their lifetime. Either they nipped it in the bud, let it get out of control, or the stalker eventually lost interest. She nipped hers in the bud, sensing the weirdness of the person before it started. Stalkers tended to be weird, and her danger sense flashed. But that was another story, and relatively boring in comparison to everything else that she did, and not even as Red X for the matter.

"You find me disconcerting." If that had been a question, her opinion of him would have lowered. Quite a bit. Her eyes left his face for a moment, watching the sparkling weapons speed towards him. She ignored the bird’s squawk-maybe she should have aimed for that thing too. She never liked birds, and she knew she could hit it before flight, let alone during. Unless it was mystical Raven with some sort of mojo, but at least then she’d know it had such properties. It could be the source of his power. It was an idea. Her mask didn’t detect any special energy around the bird, however, there wasn’t any special energy around the boy at the moment. At least no visual energy of any sort. She blinked, twitching her nose under the suit again. If it wasn’t hidden, she would feel like she was in I Dream of Genie or Mary Poppins, and thus find it unacceptable. But it did its duty, and she was able to see some odd energy around the bird, although it was alive at least-temperature wise, pretty much.

"What possessed you to do that?" She didn’t respond for a moment, scanning in the glow, before looking back to his face for a moment. She knew the levels of telekinesis, the different forms-she had figured out a couple by herself along with the levels, but the DEO files were so complex. They had files and profiles on every known telekinetic-this one clearly wasn’t one of them, but she didn’t doubt he’d soon be on the list. The DEO were notorious, and not even the Titans liked them. Either way, she had been expecting telekinesis, if only from the added aura, although she still wondered about anything else. Could he make energy matter constructs? Teleport? Precognition? All of those had different layers, and she had made a point to know each of them. Not to mention they were just fascinating to know in the first place. She was Red X, after all, and clearly more than moderately intelligent.

As the x’s came back, she didn’t flinch. She expected a bit more, maybe a deeper fight. Was she supposed to start that? Not her style. She had given the opportunity, and he hadn’t really taken it. He just flung them back. She stood up straight, clearly not about to sprint forward and attack. Her mask had taken in everything, and as much as she wanted to see what else he could do, she would wait. If only momentarily. Her hand darted in front of her face and back down, faster than humanly possible. She flexed her fingers, exposing the gem-like shine in between them, caught easily before placed back into the utility belt in moments.

“Wanted to see what you’d do.” She said honestly. He was annoyed more than anything else. A few basic toys were clearly nothing to him. She began walking forward, casually, as if the rain and the wind weren’t there, whipping her cape around her body and between her legs. They were long, strong steps, no different from her normal walk besides loosing the swing of her hips and leaning back, a casual slouch as well. She had never been much for words as Red X, since she had never really needed them. Now that she clearly was expected to talk, it was unnerving and awkward. Not to mention the fact she had just thrown razor-sharp metal at him, even if it didn’t do anything to him.

“Why are you here?”

[Necros]

A miniscule drop of relief emanated from her when he admitted to his lack of knowledge about her. It was merely instinctual though, for stalkers were obviously no threat to her. Besides, stalking wasn't really Necros's style. Of course, Red X didn't know that. Her suspicion abruptly switched from him to Nevermore, and he noticed her head shift slightly as she looked toward the raven. "He poses no threat to you." Not at the moment. "Pay him no mind." ~What, I'm not important enough to warrant her attention? Now you've gone and hurt my feelings. ~I can already feel the guilt eating away at my soul. ~At the rate you're going, pretty soon you won't have a soul. ~If you asked anyone who knows me, they would say I never had one to begin with. We've already discussed this; I can't run out. Now be quiet and let me concentrate.[/i]

"Wanted to see what you’d do.”

He watched dispassionately as she caught the deadly projectiles and pocketed them again. He nodded, another human motion that seemed to fit the current circumstances. "I know." Of course, now he did. He had suspected it before she had answered, but she could have had a different reason. And he hadn't lied; he did know, after she had answered, although her human mind would assume that he meant he had known before putting the question to her. It made sense that she would attack him, from a certain point of view anyway. It was the easiest and most straightforward way to gauge a potential enemy's strength and discover thier abilities. She was just fortunate that this was Necros, who had a massive amount of patience, as opposed to others who would have incinerated her the first chance they got if she did something like that to them. As it was, that patience was tested every day simply by his living on this planet.

"Why are you here?”

He gestured with one gloved hand vaguely, the sharpened rubies embedded into the knuckles glittering in the light of another flash of lightning. "Just enjoying the weather." That statement alone would probably be enough to convince almost anyone that he was insane. He wasn't; he just enjoyed this type of weather. He knew some humans did too, though not to this extreme, and they would never dare to so openly expose themselves to these elements, as he had. There had been precious few days with rain and winds since Winter had gone, and none with a storm as splendidly fierce as this one, and he was grateful for it. So, he had decided to leave his dwelling for a while and relax. Though hardly anyone would call hanging out on top of a skyscaper while a wild storm like this one raged about you relaxing. The few who might would be astonished that Necros knew what "relax" meant, let alone be capable of doing it.[/size][/color]

[Red X]

"He poses no threat to you. Pay him no mind." Red X’s thoughts were shockingly the same as the bird’s. Not yet. The snake might be sleeping, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t wake up. Or something along the lines of that. Either way, she wasn’t going to pay that bird any less attention, especially on a stranger’s words that every fiber of her being told her to stake or shot with a holy silver bullet. Multiple times. And throw into sunlight and chop into tiny tiny pieces. Perhaps she was being a bit dramatic, but you could never be too sure if something was dead.

“I know." She pretty much dismissed that. Phrases like that could be used for so many reasons, her own words generally had multiple meanings. This was nothing important to her at the moment, whichever possible way he meant it. Or at least it held no interest. If he had really meant to hurt her, he would have done so by now, perhaps even before she threw the metal at him. She rarely geared for a fight, and if she did, all she had to do was trip an alarm at a bank for the Titans to come rushing. Or someone. Either way, fighting had almost lost its spark, or at least the idea of it. In the moment it was bracing and thrilling, even when it became deadly. That just made it more exciting.

"Just enjoying the weather." Red X raised her eyebrows, vaguely wondering if the stones on his gloves were real, but nodded. It would be totally hypocritical to doubt that, since that was exactly was she was doing as well. If she really had wanted to stay inside, she’d crash with a friend. Instead, she had chosen to test the elements, without having any mystical mojo to help her out. Magic was just annoying anyhow. She walked to Necros’ side, about a foot away, sitting down on the edge of the roof, the wind and the rain threatening to knock her off the roof. It was the kinda of storm used for dramatic, emo videos, people completely soaked through, hair wet and smoothed back, mascara and eyeliner dripping down the face. Cold and wet, she could only imagine the former at the moment, looking down at the semi-conscious girl. Oh. Right. The reasons she came back. Guilt knawed at her again, and she knew she’d have to leave with the girl. She figured she’d be gone right now if Necros had wanted her, but she might as well stay and wait to make sure.

“You’re trying to distract yourself.” She said, a solid, robotic statement. Even if he did enjoy the weather, there were only so many reasons to be out in this weather. Call it a sixth sense, she just found it a part being female, and it worked with and against her. Typically against her, or eventually against her. She didn’t look back up at Necros, one leg dangling over the edge, the other resting against her chest, the wind dramatically whipping her cape around, looking down at the girl, ignoring the drop below.

[Necros]

Her continued focus on Nevermore made it clear that she had either determined, in part at least, the way he manipulated words, or she simply didn't believe him. He would be more impressed with the former, but either way, she was smart. Unfortunately for her, that increased the risk that he might decide it would be best to get rid of her. Her unease was still escalating, and now he caught an image as thoughts flashed through her mind. His expression still blank, his face still hidden, he said flatly, "I assure you, I'm very much alive." The image of silver bullets passed behind his eyes again. Such things wouldn't affect him the way that she was hoping they would. Even if he was some sort of undead creature, he obviously wasn't from Earth, so why would weapons that worked against human terrors work on those from other planets? Then again, why wouldn't they? Speculation aside, they would have no otherwordly effects if used on him.

Her pent-up energy seemed to fade abruptly, as if she no longer cared about his presence. He watched as she slowly approached him, but knew that she didn't mean him harm this time. He shifted slightly, keeping her in sight as she sat on the edge of the roof, dangling one leg over the edge. In place of the excitement, guilt rose up again. His voice was still emotionless, yet somehow soft. "Leave her. What is she to you?" Was the infamous Red X, the legendary thief that even the Titans could not capture, the rogue who made it clear to everyone that she did what she pleased and only looked out for herself, feeling guilty because she wasn't helping some random girl she had seen struggling on the street? Was this new for her, or did she simply keep up the facade of insensitivity only while in public? Necros certainly knew all about masks. Either way, it didn't suit her.

"You’re trying to distract yourself.”

His gaze, which had roamed around while he thought, whipped back to her. He mused silently. Until a few days ago, she would have been correct. He hadn't been able to cease reminiscing about the time he had spent with Achema and it had been beginning to test his patience. But a few days ago he had met Martyr, and it was as if she had diverted the repetitive torrent of memories the female vampire was responsible for, and provided a new path for it to follow. Straight to her. Something new and worthwhile to concentrate on. On the slim chance that Achema would decide to speak with him after she had retrieved the locket from Zethis, it was nearly impossible that they would be able to reconcile. And even if they did, there would always be something different between them. It would eventually be possible to overcome, but it would just make things more awkward at first. He brought his attention back to his surroundings, a feat which would have been somewhat of a struggle for him before he had met Martyr.

He looked around for a few minutes, watching as the ravening wind tore at his midnight cloak and her ragged cape like the hands of an inexperienced thief. The rain had now thoroughly soaked his hair, so that it clung to his face and neck, and it pounded down on the both of them. Finally: "Incorrect. Although it is a reasonable conclusion to draw from my behavior, if I was a normal human being." A pause. "And it's painfully obvious that I am not a normal human being." Now to see how she reacted when her deepest secrets were tossed out into the open like handfuls of dust. "I suppose you thought so because of some type of female intuition." The carelessness of his tone was perfectly calculated and delivered. He added a quiet, derisive laugh to top off the presentation. All in all, quite the splendid display of ignorance of the enormous effect of what he had just revealed he knew would have on her.




((It's up to you, but I was kind of thinking she won't realize he's acting, partly because no one ever can, and partly because a total stranger just threw her greatest seret in her face so she'll be a little preoccupied flipping out and seriously attacking him. Once it's over, it will have made them respect each other, and perhpas have sown the seeds of their friendship.))

[Red X]

"I assure you, I'm very much alive." So he was a telepath. Lovely. There must be something in the suit to prevent that-or Raven would have sense Robin inside it when he wore it, wouldn’t she? Or was she actually polite, and didn’t invade other people’s minds unless she had to? Whichever way, she knew she’d have to figure it out. She didn’t want anyone going inside her head, even if they did answer questions she wouldn’t have asked. It was her head, she had secrets in there she was supposed to know, let alone have others find out. She’d have to get into the DEO files again, or perhaps Checkmate. Either one should have some system of screwing with telepaths. For the moment, though, she’d just have to attempt to keep her thoughts guarded. How was that even possible? She didn’t really know, but she sure as hell was going to figure it out.

"Leave her. What is she to you?" Red X was inches from rolling her eyes, if she hadn’t heard the slight softness in his voice. She was careful not to confuse it with curiosity, and even if it was, she wouldn’t have given a long answer. “I care. It makes me human.” Her reply was simple. It was painfully clear this guy wasn’t human, and she wasn’t going to waste her time explaining the concept of humanity. Either he wouldn’t understand, or he had heard it long before. She cared. To some, it was a weakness, if you didn’t know how to use it. If you didn’t care, you didn’t have the drive to bother. But it was worse when you cared about things your enemies cared of, in the same way (although with obviously different actions). They saw mirrors of themselves in you. They understood you. Your motives, your thoughts, your ideals. You became shockingly similar to them, and it was something they couldn’t handle. It was exactly why she was the thief the Titans couldn’t capture-they didn’t know if she always was good or bad, if she was some misunderstood vigilante as well. It lurked in the back of their minds, even if they weren’t always aware of it.

Her masked zoomed in on the girl, her forehead creasing. The wounds, the scars, they were all healing. Fast. Not instantaneous, but they were better than before. Perhaps not even deadly. Some bones clearly healed incorrectly, but they were healing. This screamed Metahuman, and Red X wanted to know exactly who. The suit stores information and profiles, allowing her to sift through them easily, and try to match. On looks alone, and possible match of abilities, Superboy came up. What? She bit her lip under the mask, as there was a shocking resemblance. Was there another Superman clone? Possibly. But the DEO didn’t have anything on the female one-the one time she wanted the DEO to be sneaky and such. She just have to find out later. As for now, her mind was made up. She was going to help the girl, not only because she had the need to, but because she could always use allies. A super-girl would be a great one, and she wasn’t going to leave her among this guy.

"Incorrect. Although it is a reasonable conclusion to draw from my behavior, if I was a normal human being. And it's painfully obvious that I am not a normal human being." She had guessed he wasn’t human before, but he didn’t confirm it. He said he wasn’t normal. Obvious. It was easily dismissed as well, but her previous statement still wasn’t false. There were humans without humanity, it was a general assumption they had it, since most did. She had found aliens with more humanity than most humans, almost terrifyingly so. She didn’t stiffen at his last words-"I suppose you thought so because of some type of female intuition." She moved without thought, without hesitation. Her leg lashed out, previously hanging on the roof. She hadn’t been sitting very close, but her legs were long, and she moved fast. Faster than humanly possible-of course, not the Flash speed, but besides that…

She wouldn’t even tolerate rumors of her true gender. It was something she should have forseen when she found out for sure he was a telepath, but she knew where that knowing glint in his eyes came from. She hadn’t worked all too hard to make the image, the imagine there before she donned the suit. But she was going to make sure it was kept, and she knew how to do it. Murder was wrong, but murder was also human. Might as well have a secret to keep, have a guy she doubted anyone really cared about. He didn’t seem very likable, not to mention very human, either. Sure, it would bother her, she had no doubt about that. But she’d get over it. She always did.

She didn’t wait to see if the kick connected. X-blades grew from the back of her hands, and she threw a red x at the bird as she lunged. It bound around its body, predicting movement and most likely paths, watching what they did, where they moved. She hadn’t been edging for a fight tonight, and knew it would have to be quick. This guy was strange, and powerful. This wasn’t a fight against the Titans, where she could goof around and play with them. This was going to have to be fast and strong. Xenothium pumped through her veins, adrenaline speeding it through, her bladed arms slashing at the man in front of her, whatever direction he went. It was kill or be killed, or so she thought. She was ready. She was willing. She was able. She was Red X.

((Woo, corny ending. xD And yes, she totally flips out. –pokes post- And then their friendship shall rise from the ashes and I really need to stop reading Lord of the Rings. xDD))