A/N: Hey, everyone. I hope you enjoy this one-shot!
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans; they are the property of DC.
Have you ever known true failure? Have you ever failed someone before? Or, perhaps, a group of people? I'm willing to bet you have failed at something small, before. It's only human, after all. We all fail, but sometimes failure isn't acceptable, it isn't allowed. Failure can be scary, we don't want to fail, but true failure is horrifying and destructive. Failure can be costly, and sometimes it isn't you that ends up paying the price. True failure can result in death, and when you're walking that fine line of life and death, failure is not allowed. And yet, I failed…
I failed, and it cost more than one man's mistake should. I wasn't the one that had to pay the price, instead my team paid the price for me. My mistake, my failure and they paid the price with their lives. Four vivacious, teenage flames were stomped out in an instant, their lifeless bodies scattered all over the floor and the enemy's condescending laugh telling me what I knew was true: "You could have prevented all of this, but you were too selfish, stubborn and ambitious, and what did that get you? Failure."
It was all my fault for failing them, I was their leader, and they were waiting for my guidance. Upon that realization, my flame was blown out, too. Admittedly, my mind shattered, my heart ached, and my hope diminished, but I was still alive. My team was dead, but I still lived on. With life comes possibility, hope, as long as you live you can change, you can persevere, and you can find something to live on for. If you let yourself die, then it's all gone. With death comes sadness, and it takes away your possibilities. It takes away your hope.
I fled. Sure, it was "cowardly," but I wouldn't allow myself to fail them again, they already paid the price for my failure and I wasn't going to let it happen again. I didn't know what to do or where to go, but I knew I had to get away. The lifeless, bloodied bodies of my team came into my thoughts, and I tried to shake it out of my head, now was not the time to mourn. I couldn't let their deaths be a vain. I knew I couldn't go back to the Tower, because that's exactly where I would be expected to go. Instead, I "borrowed" a motorcycle from a street thug and escaped on it. Stealing was against my beliefs, of course, I am a hero, after all, but I had to get away. Sometimes, you have to ignore your morals and do what you have to do to live.
I didn't know where I was going, I just drove on aimlessly. I knew my enemy was becoming stronger by the day, and soon even the Justice League would have a problem dealing with him. It was becoming too late. I hadn't failed this badly since the time I created that "Red X" persona. My Red X persona was a failed attempt to get close to my enemy, Slade, and I regretted it afterwards, locking the suit away forever. The persona was a suave, relaxed, and efficient persona. When I was Red X, I was a smart criminal-type, but above all else I was successful at everything I tried to do, except getting close to Slade. To be honest, I find myself thinking that I could use being Red X again. The suit would give me an edge that I need, but the Tower is under his control now. Slade controlled the Tower, Slade controlled the city, and if left unchecked his influence would spread. As it was, Slade already had control of Jump City and multiple other cities in the area, he was slowly taking over the state.
I kept escaping, I had to tell the League. It had seemed that the League had already known by the time I told them. Contrary to popular belief, the League is not invincible. Slade was prepared for that and planned accordingly. The League was soundly captured and killed through Slade's plans. Afterwards, he quickly conquered the state and half of the nation. By this time, most heroes were pretty much dead, retired or conspiring against Slade. Some committed guerilla warfare on him, but it wasn't effective enough to do anything in the long run. Those days weren't my best times.
I was living on the streets, disguised and distraught. I was wallowing in self-pity. My thoughts often drifted back to the fallen heroes and my fallen team. I understood that Slade's rise to power was purely caused by me. My failure led to the death of the world's greatest heroes. Our numbers were dwindling, and the military wasn't doing any better against Slade.
The hero community was going extinct. Slade was intentionally hunting down any remaining heroes in the nation, whether or not they were a threat to him. The only heroes I even knew were alive were Batgirl, Static, Speedy, Zatanna and Kid Flash. It wouldn't last long, we all knew that. Someone was going to die, soon. To say the least, my spirit was broken by this time. I had failed one time too many. There was still a little will left in me to fight back and oppose Slade, but it wasn't enough. I was too weary and worn to take action. Or, at least, I had been.
One night, I found myself whisked away in my sleep. I had woken up just in time to be knocked unconscious. When I was awoken, I found myself in a familiar place: The Batcave. In front of me was Gotham's last line of defense: Batgirl herself, also known as Barbra Gordon.
"When did you give up?" I heard her voice ring full of disappointment.
He just gave her a sullen look: "I think I've done enough."
"Our comrades are out there trying to save lives and fight off Slade, and you're just sitting around feeling sorry for yourself." She spoke, harshly. "That's not the Robin I knew."
"Maybe that's because I'm not 'Robin' anymore." I told her, resignedly. "I gave up." He couldn't meet her gaze. "How'd you find me, anyways?"
"I'm Batgirl, remember?" She told me. "I'm not some cheap imitation."
"And why would you want to find me?" I sighed. "I failed the Titans, I failed the League, I failed the country and I failed the world." And I failed Batman.
"And you're just going to let everyone else pick up your slack while you mope around." She said through gritted teeth. She was glaring harshly at me, and I had to say that she had gotten good. She could give Batman a run for his money, if he were still around. "The world needs all the help it can get. We are running out of time. If you can fight, then you should get out there and help rather than just hide and do nothing. There's no excuse for giving up at a time like this." She was right, but there was still nothing that I could do about it.
"I wouldn't be any help; you're expecting too much." I said. "I'll fail again, and cost you all your lives."
"You're refusing to help because you are afraid you're going to fail?" Batgirl spat out, annoyed. "You don't think we're all afraid of failing? In fact, at this point we're all almost positive that we're going to fail, but we still fight on, we still save people. We don't run away and hide, and you didn't use to either."
I was about to respond, but an alarm went off and Batgirl just gave me a look and said "I'm not giving up, even if it kills me." With that, she left, going off to save someone somewhere. I didn't know it at the time, but that was the last time I would see her. I should have gone with her, I should have tried to help her.
I hid out there for a while, but even the Batcave was no longer a secret location. I was soon visited by Speedy, who unsurprisingly was disappointed in me, too. I don't really blame them for it. He informed me that he and Kid Flash were planning a strike against Slade, and he asked for my help, but I refused to join in. I didn't want to be involved anymore. He left me after giving me an anger fueled tirade. On a whim, I did leave the Batcave and went to check on their status. I hoped that they would be okay, but I just had to find out.
I'm not sure if I regretted not going with them or not, but now when I saw them, wounded and bloodied, I jumped into action. I threw some batarangs, smoke bombs, I used everything in my arsenal just to grab my friends and escape. It was hard, but thanks to a convenient sewer tunnel, we made our escape. Both of them were in bad shape, Kid Flash was down a leg thanks to Slade, and Speedy was down an arm. Kid Flash most likely wouldn't be able to be a hero anymore. Speedy wasn't much better off, without his second arm he couldn't use his bow. At least I didn't fail them completely, I did manage to save their lives, and life provides more chances, hope.
Upon arriving to the Batcave, I patched them up and waited for them to come to. In the meantime, I watched some of the news channels to see what was happening. Slade had extended the area of his control, and we were officially in a state of emergency. The President had called upon other nations to provide us with aide, but it wasn't looking too good.
When they came to, we decided that it was best to call together the remaining heroes to come up with a plan. For our final stand or a way to solve the problem, we didn't know. All we did know was that what we did decide was critical. It didn't take long for them to arrive. First, Zatanna arrived and then Static did. We didn't give any formalities, we cut right to business.
"What're we going to do?" Kid Flash said, despondent. He lost his leg, and with it most of who he is as a hero. He wasn't fast enough on his feet.
"We have to survive," Static said, firmly. "We can't afford to lose anyone else." He was still recovering from Slade's attack on his city. It didn't kill him, but that didn't mean that he survived without a loss. Gear gave his life to protect his best friend, and Static wasn't going to accept that sitting down.
"I don't know about you guys, but if I'm going to die, then I'll die fighting." Speedy said, trying to get up. Right before he succeeded, Zatanna pushed him back into his seat as gently as possible.
"That's reckless." She told him. "We need a real plan, and you're in no condition to fight."
"That doesn't matter!" Speedy barked, "Should I just roll over a die, then? Or should I live under Slade's tyranny, let him rule and hope that he dies of old age, someday?!"
"No one's telling you to do that." I told him, calmly. We needed to think rationally, now.
"That's rich coming from you, 'Boy Blunder'" Speedy spat out. "You would happily just lie in the streets and do nothing." I had to admit that he had a point. I didn't want to be involved before, I didn't want to fail anymore. I still didn't want to fail, but I didn't want them to die either. I sighed. "Yeah, you're right, I'm not going to lie about it."
"To be fair, he did save your life." Static defended me.
"Pfft, yeah, he totally saved me." Kid Flash said sarcastically. "If you haven't noticed, I can't run anymore, and Speedy's been disarmed!"
Static clenched his fists and felt a vein in his forehead twitch, "At least you're alive, be grateful for what you have!" He shouted. Kid Flash shut up, instantly. The sound of Speedy slamming his fist into the metal tray that was near the bed he was sitting in came out of nowhere.
"I just wish that none of this had ever happened." Speedy grumbled, "If you did a better job, then Slade never would've gotten this far." The aura of the room was bleak and nearly lifeless, but the response they heard surprised them.
"You're right, it's my fault he got this far," I told them.
"We get it, already." Static said, disgruntled, "But we can't change the past, so, stop focusing on it. Let's plan for the future."
"Hmm." Zatanna said, with a look on her face that showed she was thinking hard about something. "That might not be true."
"What?" Speedy said, surprised.
"I think I might be able to send someone back in time." Zatanna said, thoughtfully. "But I would only be able to do it to one person, and it would take a lot of preparation and power."
"Are you serious?" Kid Flash muttered.
"You mean we could stop this whole thing from happening?" I asked, there was finally a light of hope in this dark world.
"Maybe," Zatanna said, she was still thinking her plan through.
"What do you mean 'maybe?'" Static questioned her.
"I'm not sure if it would actually affect us." She admitted. "There are tons of theories about time, and depending on which is correct, it might not actually change our reality."
"So, you're saying that whoever gets sent back gets a 'get out of our crap reality free' card?" Speedy replied.
"And the rest of us get stuck here and are probably going to die." Kid Flash added, depressingly.
"Yeah, I guess that's one way to put it." Zatanna said. "But it's better than all of us dying, and at least Slade wouldn't get control of that other reality."
"Don't try to put a positive spin on it." Speedy told her.
"Who would be getting sent back?" Static asked. A part of all of us wanted to get away, but only one of us would be able to.
"I vote Robin, he knows the most about this villain and what caused this situation." Zatanna told the group, "He's also in the best condition." I hadn't noticed earlier, but behind Zatanna's brave face you could see that she was hiding great pain. Static was injured but not as badly as Speedy and Kid Flash, and those two were out of the question, and Zatanna was hurt, too, I was the only one in good condition.
"Why should he get the chance to go back? He's the reason that we're in this position." Speedy growled.
"Are you implying that you'd do better?" Kid Flash told him. "We're nearly six feet under already, do you really think you'd be able to stand a chance in another reality?"
Speedy sighed in resignation, "No."
"Then, if no one else is in objection, I'll send Robin back tomorrow." Zatanna said.
"Maybe, I object." I said to her.
"What, afraid to correct your failure?"
"Man up, damn it."
"There still is a chance it'll send you back in time in our universe, which means that you could save everyone, instead of them all dying." Zatanna informed him.
"Fine, I guess I'll go I guess I'd in our universe, which means that you could save everyone, instead of them all dying."d Flash, and thos." I sighed. I do have to admit, part of me was excited at the prospect of righting my failure. If I was sent back in time in our universe, then I could save my team and the League.
"It'll take a day or two to prepare," She told me.
"Okay, until then we'll all stay here." I told the group.
"Not like I could go anywhere on my own anyways." Kid Flash said.
Two days came and went rather quickly, Zatanna was nearly ready and I was, too. Things were going crazy outside. Slade had moved more into Gotham than before, and people were dying in mass numbers. The police were overwhelmed and failing. We didn't know how long it would be until our position would be compromised, but we had heard the sounds of Slade's forces in Wayne manor. It was only a matter of time. Zatanna also chose to inform us at this time about a suspicion she had.
"I think that we should do this where you want to be at when you're sent back in time." Zatanna said. "And I'm pretty sure the Batcave isn't that location."
"No, not really." I told her.
"If we want him in the best spot, then shouldn't we do it in Jump city?" Static asked.
"That makes sense." Kid Flash added in. "But that's also Slade's hotspot."
"That'll be hard to pull off." Speedy said. "Not to mention, Slade is searching for us."
"Well, let's not waste any time, let's get going to Jump city." She told me.
"We're coming, too." Speedy and Kid Flash said to her.
"I'm tagging along, too." Static said. "We need to make sure that you succeed."
"You're injured, you two should stay." I told Kid Flash and Speedy, but neither were willing to listen.
"Not a chance, this is too important." Speedy said. "We're not risking this failing."
"Just try to keep up." Static told them.
"Keep up? Have you forgotten who you're talking to?" Kid Flash asked, "I'm Kid Flash, the fastest teen in the world."
"Yet you're always last to arrive." Zatanna said with a smirk.
"If it's settled, let's get going." I said, we had a little trip ahead of us.
Somehow, call it divine intervention or whatever, we managed to get to Jump city without being caught. We were in the outskirt of the city, in a park my team and I had visited often. Zatanna started to set up for the spell, and it wasn't until she had finished setting up that we heard it. The familiar sound of Slade's robots. They were coming onto our position in great numbers.
"Hurry," Speedy told Zatanna as he prepared for combat. He didn't have his bow, instead he used a bow-staff in his remaining hand. Kid Flash was setting himself up, too. He was using a spare crutch courtesy of the Batcave. Static was waiting, patiently for the opposition to begin their assault.
"Come on, Robin." She grabbed my hand and let me to the circle in the center of a large pentagram. There were various lines drawn about. "Don't move, okay?"
I nodded. I was currently in civilian clothing, because on the off chances that I get sent to a different reality I didn't want to be dressed like a Robin imposter. "Tell me a day that would be safe to send you back to."
"I don't know the date, but the day we sent Cyborg to infiltrate the HIVE academy." I told her. "That would be the best day to send me back."
"Okay, got it."
"My, my what do we have here?" The sinister sound of Slade's voice came from a Slade bot that appeared out of a bush.
"Slade!" Static said, electrocuting the bot. Many more jumped out of the trees and foliage.
"There's no place for you to run away to this time." The robot transmitted its message.
"Get started, Zee, we'll finish this!" Kid Flash hobbled around at his advanced speed, trying to slow down the robot army.
There were five candles around the pentagram I was in, and suddenly they all lit. Zatanna's eyes got focused and she started chanting rapidly.
"Dnes Nibor kcab ni emit, dnes mih kcab ot erofeb Edals saw ni lortnoc, dnes Nibor kcab ot eht yad taht Grobyc saw tnes ot EVIH ymedaca revocrednu, dnes mih kcab ni emit WON!"
My body was feeling strange, my vision was becoming blurred and my hearing was leaving me. The last thing I heard was a groan a pain from one of them. Less than a second later, I was unconscious and my body vanished from our reality.
When I reawaken, I found myself laying in the grass in my civilian clothes to a much brighter world. I heard children frolicking and playing, birds were chirping and the sun was shining bright. I got up and smiled, we had done it! We had truly sent me back in time, I could fix everything now! I started to walk into the city, I needed to see for myself whether or not our Tower was standing proudly, and to my delight it was.
I walked near where we used to eat pizza at, and to my happy surprised I saw them there! I saw Raven, Starfire and Beast Boy sitting at a table eating pizza, happily. They were talking, joking, and, most importantly, they were alive! I could hardly contain my excitement, and with no Robin in sight I thought that maybe, just maybe, I was sent back in time and that whole time period of history in our world was whited out and was allowed to be replaced. Those thoughts, or rather delusions, were quickly shattered when I saw Robin, their version of me, walk out of the restaurant and sit down with his team. He had been getting napkins.
I realized now, with a feeling of dread, that my fears had come true, this wasn't my reality – I was sent to a different universe. Time travel wasn't possible, and my team was still dead, so wasn't our Justice League. My world would be taken over by Slade. My friends that I had left behind by being sent here, those same friends that had put their faith and hope in me to change the past, I had failed them once again, and they were all going to die because of it. They were all already dead, most likely. I made a vow that day, I wouldn't let all of their deaths be in vain, even though I couldn't save my own world didn't mean I would do what I had set out to do, I vowed not to let this world fall to Slade, too.
I also knew that I needed a name in this new world, and I knew just what it was going to be. I was going to use the same name that I did the last time I was truly successful: "Red X." Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, I wouldn't have to build the suit myself, because this Robin undoubtedly made it for me. Some mistakes were just bound to repeat themselves.
It should be noted, though, that if you learn from your mistakes you can avoid doing them again, which is why this time around I'm not doing things the "honorable" hero way. I have learned from my mistakes, and what I've learned is that I'm not meant to be a hero, it'll only lead to failure and death. I'm not going to play the hero anymore, but I won't let that man ruin another world, either. I would completely remake myself, fully become the relaxed, smart, calm, efficient and successful Red X persona.
A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the story, I know I enjoyed writing it. I won't claim that I came up with the idea of Red X being Robin from the future, but after I saw it and thought about it a bit I found myself warming up to it and really liking it. This fic is a result of that theory and my own backstorying of it.
I hope that you enjoyed it and I would love to hear your thoughts on my piece. What do you think of Red X being our Robin from the future/alternate reality future?