Hey, Friday night folks! Isn't it great to be alive? Ahem... anyway...

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Hope you guys got enough description of little Dezzy. Here's the next chapter, "hot off the press."

CHAPTER 10

I rounded another corner, panting after running so long. There he was again, flashing out of sight behind another building. I pushed myself faster; if I could only catch him, then the Titans would know for sure that I wasn't a spy. That I was one of the good guys.

The part of town I'd run to was shabby – there were barely any lamps lighting the streets. I couldn't see any hint of life, and the dark night was completely silent. We soon left the city entirely, and I heard the whistle of a freightliner pulling out of the docks beyond a field of warehouses.

I came to a halt and bent over, supporting my weight on my knees. I was exhausted; I must have run twenty miles.

"Tired already?" his voice called.

I glared up at Red-X, who was casually sitting on the roof of the nearest warehouse. "I can see that you are," I growled, looking around for a way to get up there.

He chuckled and stood, agilely walking across the top of the building. "I've only just started our fun, dear Dezerae..." I watched as he dropped through an open access panel in the roof.

I grit my teeth, and ran for the cracked doors of the warehouse. I slipped through the small opening, and looked around the room. Stacks and stacks of paper reams filled the room, separated by wooden pallets. I saw X jumping across the highest stack in the dark shadows of the massive room.

I bolted right for him, weaving in and out of the maze of paper.

"Dezerae, you disappoint me..." The chilly voice made me freeze in my tracks. "After all I've done for you... this is how you repay me?"

I felt myself submitting to his authoritative voice immediately. "M-Master...?"

HE stepped from the shadows between the stacks of paper. His one eye was narrowed through the darkness, and his hands were behind his back. "Explain yourself, Apprentice," HE said sternly.

"I-I..." My face was stricken. "Master, I'm sorry –"

"Return to me, Dezerae, and I will forgive you. You do not belong with them..."

My eyes did not blink in my trance-like state, and I stepped forward to take the hand he held out to me. "Master..."

Suddenly, my body was jerked away from HIM and I flew through the air. "Master!" I called, reaching back to the ground. I was in someone's arms, swinging from a rope. I struggled, desperately striving to reach HIM... bewitched to reach HIM...

"Dezerae! What are you doing here?" Robin yelled, lithely landing on a high pile of paper. His grappling hook zipped back into his belt, and his masked eyes stared at me as though I were a maniac.

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. The urge to find HIM was nagging at me, but I stomped it out. "Slade," I hissed. "He's here!"

His eyes widened, and he looked down over the dark room. "...He is?"

"Yes! I saw him just now! I need to –" Robin caught my hand just before I jumped to a 30-foot fall. I struggled, trying to jerk my hand away. "Let me go!"

"Are you crazy? You're trying to get yourself killed!" He pulled me back from the edge forcefully, and I caught myself with my hands when I fell.

I jumped up and growled in aggravation. Ripping the glove off my right hand, I held it in front of Robin's face. "Don't make me use this!"

Immediately, he side-stepped and held his hands up in surrender. "I knew it," he said under his breath.

I smirked at his weakness, and took off across the platform I was on. I jumped onto lower stacks until I reached the ground safely. Once there, I began searching. Robin reached the ground via his grapple, and he watched me on the sidelines.

When I turned into the corner that HE had been in, I saw a different masked figure. "How many holograms does it take to trick a silly girl?" He laughed outright, juggling three silver balls in his hands. "Just one, apparently..."

I gaped. Of course HE would come himself. What had I been thinking? I clenched my fists angrily. HE always had tricks to spare. "What's your part in all this, X?" I asked irritably. "Are you just the guy in charge of the catchy insults?" I gestured frantically, upset to have been fooled... again.

He caught the balls he was tossing, and strapped them to his belt one at a time. "Well... that position was already filled, cutes... by your boyfriend there." He waved behind me, and I turned to see Robin... standing there like an idiot.

"So it was all a diversion, hu? To get me away from the Titans?" I spoke to X, even though I glared at Robin. Robin, who'd fallen for the whole thing! I whipped around to X. "Where is Slade?" I demanded.

He chuckled lowly, and leaned against a paper stack. "Do you think it's that easy?"

I scoffed, crossing my arms. "Fine. I don't need you. I'll find out eventually." I turned away sourly.

"Yep – sure you will." He slipped something from his belt. "Gotta go, hot stuff... don't cry." His voice was smug. "Don't call me – I'll call you." He clicked his tongue and pointed at me. "Say 'hi' to Starfire for me, Robbie." A cloud of smoke burst from the small capsule he threw to the ground.

When it cleared up, he was gone.

I turned back to Robin, my jaw nearly on the floor. "You just let him get away?" I demanded, throwing my hands out. "What kind of a superhero are you?"

He stared at me. "What was that?"

Ah! Kitten has claws... What did Robin think of her brat-fit with X?

Review – it means a lot to me.

-Scarlet