"BOOYAH!"

"Aww, what?!"

"I STILL GOT IT, BABY!"

"Come on!"

Beast Boy threw down his controller and pouted as Cyborg celebrated his victory at the fighting game they were playing on their "PlayEngine 2". "You probably cheated or something! You know stuff about hacking, right?" Beast Boy said, accusing Cyborg of playing unfairly.

"If we were playing a ROM, I'd be able to hack it! But we're using the disk! You can't hack a disk! Especially on a "PlayEngine" from two generations ago!" Cyborg retorted.

"Yeah? Well, you still probably cheated!"

"Pfft, is that your only response to losing?"

"Yeah! Because it's true! Duh!"

"HOW WOULD I HAVE CHEATED, THEN?"

"BECAUSE THERE'S NO WAY I WOULD'A LOST IF YOU HADN'T CHEATED!"

"WELL, I- Starfire?"

Starfire had entered the living room without either of the two boisterous Titans noticing and had only noticed her when she picked up the "PainEngine" that Beast Boy and Cyborg had been playing on.

"Star? What're you doing?" Beast Boy asked, scratching his head.

"Friend Robin has lost something, and he has requested that Raven and I search for it!" Starfire replied, checking everywhere behind the television that Cyborg and Beast Boy had been playing on.

"Robin lost something? What did he lose?" Cyborg asked, standing up, ready to help search for the missing item.

"He has lost a tape of VHS! Perhaps it was not simply misplaced, however," Starfire answered. "Red X may have stolen it!"

"Woah, woah, woah! Red X? He was here?!" Beast Boy asked, his voice rising in volume.

"How did he get in? I thought I had this tower locked down before we left!" Cyborg exclaimed.

"He may have done the breaking off in, but we are unsure at the moment!" Starfire said, checking under the shelf below the television.

"Wait, what's so important about some VHS tape? Those things are super old!" Beast Boy asked.

"Maybe it holds some kind of sentiment?" Cyborg suggested. "Did he tell you, Star?"

"He has not, but perhaps because I did not ask. I am sure he will tell us, though!" Starfire said.

"Hey, did he say anything about how it smelled? I can turn into a bloodhound and sniff it out!" Beast Boy said before morphing himself into the animal and letting out a 'bark'.

"Robin did not mention the aroma of the tape. Shall I ask him?" Starfire asked.

Beast Boy morphed back into his humanoid form, and responded: "Nah, I'll ask! He's in his room, right?"

"He is!" Starfire said, nodding.

Before Beast Boy could head upstairs, though, Robin walked downstairs to check the living room. "Have you found it, Star?" He asked.

"I fear not," she replied, frowning. "But maybe Raven has located it?"

"I haven't."

The other four Titans looked in the direction of their cloaked friend as she entered the living room. Raven floated further into the room before halting as the other Titans searched for the tape. She directed her vision towards Robin, then shut her eyes and began to meditate in midair, taking her usual crossed-leg position, and placing her fingertips together.

"Hey, Robin, what did the tape smell like?" Beast Boy asked.

"Huh?" Robin said, turning to Beast Boy. "Uh… dusty, I guess? I never actually smelled it…"

"There's a lot of dusty things in the tower, but I'll still look for you!" Beast Boy said, morphing himself back into the bloodhound he had been earlier.

"Robin?" Raven asked.

"Yeah, Raven?" Robin asked.

"You're distressed… and confused. what was on that tape that makes it so important?" Raven asked, one of her eyebrows raised.

"Uh… nothing," Robin responded.

"That's suspicious," Cyborg said, raising his eyebrow as well.

"Look, it's a more… personal thing. That's all," Robin said.

"Woah, like how personal? Like… family memories, or naughty nighttime adventures kinda personal?" Cyborg asked, smirking.

"Wha- HEY!" Robin yelled.

"Hehe, I'm just messin' with ya. It's too dark in that room of yours to be able to film anything, anyway," Cyborg said, poking more fun at Robin.

"Grr… look, we need to find this tape. It's more important than you think. You know that Red X probably took it, right?" Robin said.

"Yeah, Star told us. I'll try and figure out how he got in after we're done finding this tape… unless he took it. Then we can't," Cyborg said.

"We will! And find out now! We need to make sure he doesn't take anything else!" Robin said.

"Alright. I'll head over to the security office," Cyborg said. "But… what could Red X do with that tape? What is on it?"

"Nothing you should worry about," Robin replied coldly.

"Alright, alright… but it'd better not be anything bad. If it is, you need to tell us," Cyborg said, walking into the Tower's elevator to head to the floor with the Tower's security office.

"We'll see…"

Meanwhile…

The clear rain fell heavily down from the dark skies, each thick drop smacking against the streets of Jump City. Streetlights and electrical light from inside the buildings behind the sidewalks lit up the streets, and the moon illuminated them with a nightly, white glow.

A young couple walked side-by-side together along the sidewalks, holding each others' hands to keep close. He held an umbrella over him and his significant other's heads to keep them dry from the pouring rain.

"Don't worry, we're almost home," he said to her. She responded with a sweet smile and gaze as they continued to walk.

As they were walking, her eyes widened in worry. "Oh no, I think I forgot my wallet at the restaurant!" she said, stopping dead in her tracks.

"Uh-oh! Do you wanna go back and get it, or...?" her boyfriend suggested, looking equally worried.

"Well... we should check that I have it, first. I might have it, but..." her voice trailed off.

The man looked past his girlfriend and saw an alleyway entrance just behind her. "Should we head in there and check?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," she responded before they entered the alley.

It was a little darker in the alleyway, but there were enough lights inside of it to be able to see clearly. The light of the moon was blocked by the roof of one of the buildings next to the alley, however. The rain continued to pour.

"I'm sorry about this, Max... I should have kept better track of my wallet," she said to her boyfriend, looking down in shame as she opened her tiny, velvet purse.

"It's okay, Emma. You might still have it, anyway!" Max said, smiling at his lover. She smiled back, then started shuffling through her purse to find her wallet.

A few moments passed by before either of them said anything. "Oh, I have it! I'm so silly, I'm sorry!" Emma said, grinning.

"Hey, it's no problem," Max said, grinning back. "Let's get ho-wha-?!"

Suddenly, Max was yanked further into the alleyway by a taller, stronger man. His beard was sharp and short, and his face was as dirty as a garbage can. He had numerous neck tattoos and wore a vest over his otherwise naked chest. The man pinned Max against the brick wall of the alleyway and pulled out a knife.

"MAX!" Emma screamed, taking a step back out of shock.

"Emma, run!" Max said, paying closer attention to his girlfriend than his captor.

"Don't you dare run or I'll cut this pretty boy's throat open! Then I'll make you drink it!" Max's captor said, holding his weapon dangerously close to Max's throat.

"Oh, God, Max!" Emma said, completely still. Her hands instinctively moved over her mouth, and her face heated up in terror.

"Give me everything you have, girl," the man growled. "Then your boyfriend's gonna give me everything he has! Then maybe I'll let you go."

"O-okay! Just please don't hurt him!" Emma said, reaching inside of her purse almost instantly.

"I won't have to as long as you- WOAH!" the man was interrupted as he was yanked further into the alley, dropping Max in the process. He was raised off of the ground by a man taller than him and put into a ridiculously firm chokehold. "O-oh, God! What the hell?!"

What the thug saw holding him up was a masked figure. A red sort of visor covered up his whole head, and that was covered by a red hood. The visor was glowing like a computer from the inside, but there was no way to see through it. There weren't even eye holes! He had a dark, brown jacket made of leather and black gloves with an unbelievably strong-gripping material on the palms. There was something on his chest that looked almost like the Batman's symbol, but far simpler, and without ears. The thug couldn't see much more than that, but he wasn't too focused on it.

"You two go get some help. I'll deal with this chump." the red-hooded figure said. His voice had some sort of filter over it to make it sound just a little robotic, but his voice was still recognizable as a human's.

"O-okay!" Max said, rubbing his freed neck. "Thank you! Thank you so much! Emma, come on!" Max said, gesturing Emma to follow him to retrieve help. They had left so quickly that they forgot to grab Max's umbrella.

The thug sat in the figure's chokehold, grasping at his captor's arms. "W-who the hell are you?!" he managed to sputter out.

"Right now? Not your best friend," the figure began, his voice slightly comical. "But depending on what you have to tell me, I'd love to be your greatest pal."

"What?" the thug said, perplexed. "What the hell do you-"

"What the hell do I mean? Is that what you're about to say?" the figure said, finishing the thug's sentence. "I've heard this before. It's what everyone says when they're being interrogated about something they don't think other people know about."

"What do you want to know?" the thug asked, staring into where he imagined the figure's eyes to be. The visor's glow was cold and lifeless... he didn't like it.

"Let me help you out, buddy. I'm gonna give you a name, and you'll probably be able to understand what I mean," the figure said. "Tony Zucco."

The thug was silent for a moment. How could anyone have known about his business with Zucco? He was one of the most secretive mobsters out there! "I, uh..."

"I know you have some kind of business with him. I saw you there one night. You were even talking to the main man himself... Mr. Tony Zucco," the figure said in a patronizing tone. "So just tell me anything you know about him. His whereabouts, his plans, anything. I'll take anything. But I want as much as you can give."

"Look, I don't have any business with that guy! Honest! I don't even know what night you're talking about!" now the thug was being semi-honest. He didn't recall ever seeing this figure... ever, really. This was his first experience with this guy.

The figure sighed, then hung his head for a moment. He brought it back up, and spoke. "If that's the way you wanna be, then be that way..." he paused. "As long as you're ready to spend your life in a wheelchair."

This was obviously a threat. But the thug was gonna act tough. "Ha! You don't scare me, punk! I don't know nothin'!"

"Okay, punk. My turn, then.

The figure pulled the thug off of the wall and slammed him against the dirty, grimy ground. The figure placed his booted foot heavily against the thug's chest and reached for one of his legs. "Ow, hey! What're you doi-"

The most sickening crack the thug had ever heard just rang through his ears, and it came from his right leg.

"AAAGH! WHAT THE HELL!" he screamed, hot tears forming in his eyes.

"You think that's bad?!" the figure shouted down at the thug. "I haven't even done enough to make it unfixable!"

Suddenly, the thug was absolutely terrified. "WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!" His main objective at this point was to save himself from this figure. "I'LL TELL YOU EVERYTHING I KNOW! PLEASE! STOP!"

Everything went quiet, except for the pained wails from the thug. His breath was shaking around like a little toddler's. His nose was practically shooting mucus. His face was hotter than the sun at this point.

"So what do you want to tell me, pal?" the figure said, unfittingly calmly.

"I-I-I have d-debts! I b-borrowed s-s-some money from Zucco! Th-they're late, though, s-so he gave me extra time to get them as l-long as I s-start working for him afterward!" the thug cried, stuttering all over the place.

"So you've been taking things from innocent people so you can pay off some debts, eh?" the figure guessed. He knew that he was right.

"Y-yes! I h-have to or else Zucco's m-men will kill me!"

"So do you know where Zucco's staying? And why he's here, too? I thought he was a Gotham mobster," the figure asked.

"H-he's here because of some kind of traveling circus! Haly's C-Circus, I think?"

"I'm familiar with Haly's Circus. Is he still trying to get them to pay for his "protection"?" the figure asked.

"Y-yes! I think so! They're in J-Jump right now! They're showing all week! He wants t-to strike on Saturday!"

"So in five days."

"Y-yeah..."

"Where is he staying?"

"He's not told a-anyone! I think he s-stole someone's ID and is staying at a h-hotel somewhere... or maybe he's set up s-some kind of living quarters in o-one of the warehouses he's c-controlling?" the thug whimpered.

"Which hotels and warehouses?"

"I don't know which hotels, but... I do know he has warehouse 44-C under his control! But that's the only one I know, I swear!" the thug begged. His tears had dried up on his face and in his gnome-ish beard, only to be replaced by more moments after.

"You promise that's all you know?" the figure asked.

"That's all I know!"

"Good job, buddy. Was that so hard?" the figure teased. He removed his foot from the thug's chest, and stared at him for a moment.

"Wait! W-what about Zucco's men! They'll kill me now!" the thug pleaded.

"Nah, I'm sure the guards for your prison cell will keep you safe," the figure said.

"Wha-no! Who are you to put me in prison?!" the thug yelled, gripping carefully at his crippled leg.

"Who am I?"

The figure paused.

"Call me the Red Hood."

The Red Hood pulled a strange gun-like object out of his jacket and aimed it at the roof of one of the buildings that made up the alley. He fired it, and a strong rope with a sort of hook on the end was launched toward the roof. In almost an instant, the Red Hood was pulled up to the roof by the hooked rope and disappeared past the edge of the roof.

The thug tried to stand up now that he wasn't pinned down, but almost screamed in pain when he moved his broken leg. Defeated, he laid still on the cold, wet ground of the alleyway. All he could do now was wait for the police to arrive since that couple left to get them. Either that or he'd just sit there until someone found him. Either way, he'd ultimately been defeated. Looking into the sky, he realized that it was no longer raining. He must've been paying so much attention to the Red Hood that he didn't even notice.

He closed his eyes to try and sleep away the pain, but the pain was the only thing keeping him awake. All he could do was sit there in excruciation and discomfort, waiting for the cops to pick him up and toss him in a cell. At least that was better than being killed by Tony Zucco's men...

Later…

"No… dammit! This is hopeless…" Robin said, his brow furrowing under his mask and his green-gloved fists balled. Starfire saw this and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Robin… it is likely that Red X took the tape you seek, but we will get it back! We, as your team and your friends, will make sure we do!" Starfire said, smiling at Robin.

"Thanks, Star, but… why would he steal it in the first place? It couldn't have been of any value to him…" Robin questioned.

"Perhaps it did have a level of value to Red X? Or, maybe, the level of value it held to him was that it held value to you. Red X is our enemy, so it would make sense that he would want to hurt you," Starfire said, frowning at the thought.

"But he couldn't have known what was on that tape…! Unless he watched it, that is… but then… gah, I don't know!" Robin said, tightly gripping his hair.

"Yo, Rob!" Beast Boy called from under a desk in a canine position. He had forgotten to get out from under the desk before he morphed into his humanoid form.

"Yeah? Did you find it?" Robin asked.

"No, but I was listening to you and Star. Does that tape have your secret identity on it or something? 'Cause if Red X has something like that, then you might be in huge trouble!" Beast Boy said. "You know, because he could blackmail you or something with it, or he could look for people you care about… who are you, actually? You've never told us that!" Beast Boy said, quickly changing subjects.

"I… probably shouldn't tell you that."

"Aww, come on! We've been together as a team for years! You still don't want us to know who you are?" Beast Boy whined.

"Look, it's a risky move to reveal myself to you all. If any of our enemies find out that you know, then they could hurt you until you give in and tell them," Robin explained.

"Yeah, but what if we promise not to give in?"

"Still, it's too risky," Robin said.

"Fine! But then can you at least tell us what's on that tape we've all been looking for?" Beast Boy asked.

"It's… something. Important, but… look, we won't find it here. If it is here, Cyborg can locate it while he's in the security office. If Red X took it, then Cyborg will be able to confirm that. The bigger picture, though, is that Red X got in without the tower sending an alarm signal to Cyborg," Robin said, squinting his eyes.

"Then we shall find him! And when we do, we will get the missing tape back!" Starfire cheered.

"Robin?" Raven said.

"What's up, Rae?"

"That tape was hidden under your bed. That means you didn't want anyone to find out about it… what's on there that you don't want us to know?" Raven asked.

"It's complicated… look, I kno-"

Robin was interrupted when his communicator started to beep. "Hang on, Raven. It's Cyborg."

Robin answered the call and was greeted by Cyborg. "Hey, Robin. I found out how Red X got in and out of the tower," Cyborg said, focusing on what was probably security footage.

"How did he do it, then?" Robin asked.

"He… walked inside. He didn't break in, he entered the password for the front door, then walked inside. It was his own password, Robin."

"What?" Robin said, dumbfounded.

"I have no idea how he got in when he first stole the Red X suit, but when he was here while we were in Tokyo, he must have set a password for himself to enter. You know how each of us have a password, right? Star's is "Xhal", yours is "Todd", Beast Boy's is "TofuIsBetterThanMeat", so on?" Cyborg asked, putting a silly voice on for Beast Boy's password.

"Yeah. Did he set one for himself?" Robin guessed.

"He did... I don't know if it's something personal to him or anything, but it's "BatsAreOverrated".

"Bats are overrated? Uh, hasn't this guy ever heard of BATMAN?!" How is BATMAN overrated?" Beast Boy said, shocked at what he considered banality.

"It might be personal towards Batman... that seems like an awfully strange password. Especially for someone who's almost an equal match combat-wise with me..." Robin said. "He seems like the kind of guy who'd have something against heroes like Batman."

"I'm deleting the password now... I've got some news that you might wanna come and check out, though," Cyborg said. "Apparently, some couple was saved by a guy called "The Red Hood". Think we have another good guy on our side?" Cyborg asked.

"The RED HOOD?!" Robin said, nearly shouting into his communicator. "That's the last thing any sane 'good guy' would call himself! Do you know who the Red Hood is?!"

"Woah, calm down. I've heard of the Red Hood before, Robin," Cyborg reassured. "But maybe they just have a similar name? It's not too likely you'd see some old criminal - who hasn't even been seen since Batman dealt with him - going out and saving people. Believe it or not..." Cyborg paused. "This Red Hood guy's saved a lot of people while we've been gone."

"Oh, the Red Hood's been seen alright. But you do have a point... it could just be a coincidence. I'll be down there with you in a minute. Be there soon, Cyborg.

I had more written for this chapter, but I figured I'd save that for the beginning of the third chapter. That's two chapters in two days. Yay.

R&R! I like reading reviews. I hope to flesh out the Red Hood a bit more in the next few chapters. Maybe starting bigtime with chapter 4. Blablabla

Again, R&R! Thanks.