Disclaimer: DC comics holds the trademark for the Batman Series and the Teen Titans, not me, I'm just a humble and slightly obsessed fan...

Sorry those of you reading this, but I've had an epiphany, and have decided to rewrite this story, the new version can be found under the name: "Battle Not With Monsters", and will no longer feature Red X as a central character (But he will still be important!) I know, you probably think there's nothing wrong with the current version, but at work today I was thinking about Red X's character, and realized that he was becoming too benevolent, so now he's been 'replaced' by an original character...... as far as you know.

Here's the introduction to the newer draft:


Prologue:

Rockin' Around

Christmas time; jolliest time of the year.

Jump City glowed, as it did every night, but around this season one could swear that it glowed a little than usual. For once, the streets were free of death and terror, children played and couples smooched and Santas... ho-ed. It seemed that even the criminals, the killers and the psychos and the rapists, had holiday shopping to do. The big day was fast approaching, and all the procrastinators had to either grab gifts now or receive a lashing later from their loved ones. During the holiday season, the American population could pretty much be divided into two groups, people who got great gifts early, and people who struggled to get mediocre ones late.

Robin and Beast Boy belonged to the latter group.

The two heroes were walking, out of costume, in the main plaza of the city, where various vendors had set up shop in the streets, selling cheap knickknacks and handmade items. If you could dodge all the frantic mothers heading for a sale or the distraught fathers dashing for something their daughter had demanded, you'd soon realize that all the good stuff was on sale. Unfortunately, all the good stuff had also been sold, the signs only remained up to attract suckers dumb enough to wait until the day before Christmas Eve to go gift-shopping. Places like Target and Wall-Mart were closed by now, but that didn't mean much in a city full of street-smart hustlers. One could still find anything from a bootlegged watch or a pirated DVD to heroin at half-price or two joints for the price of one.

A few of the more honest vendors were selling handwoven scarfs or festive sweaters, however over the years those had become less popular seeing as after Christmas it became somewhat difficult to wear red and green clothing unless you were some sort of costumed vigilante.

By now, the two young Titans were beyond desperate, having been searching for hours still being unable to finding anything suitable for their remaining loved ones.

Beast Boy had yet to pick up anything for both of his bird-themed comrades, Robin and Raven. The simple reason behind this was that Raven was an incredibly hard person to please, and Robin was so rich that there wasn't much he didn't have. Plus the slick team leader was completely uninterested in most of the things most normal people were, he was obsessed with being a hero, so what kind of gift does one get a friend who loves crime fighting but already possesses every every tool a crime fighter could ever want?

The Boy Wonder himself may not have shown it on his face, seeing as he was wearing his trademark mask as always, but he was inwardly just as distraught as his green-skinned partner. He had asked everyone else on the team, and they'd all told him the same thing, Starfire was an easy person to buy gifts for. She was easily fascinated by all manner of Earthly objects, so get her an Earthly object which she is unfamiliar with.

But Robin wanted to get her something... special.

Something she'd cherish more than the mustard she always carried with her, or the enormous larvae she kept for a pet; something she'd remember...

"Uh, Robin, hello? I'm talking to you!"

The ex-sidekick snapped out of his daze and turned to Beast Boy.

"I said, wouldn't this be a great gift for Star?"

The changeling was holding up a book titled "world". Robin took it and flipped through it, it was full of pictures of various places and peoples of Earth, specifically all the most spectacular, Antarctica, New Zealand, the Himalayas, India, Afghanistan, et cetera.

"... Yeah, she'd love it." Robin said blandly, handing the book back and continuing further down the plaza. As Beast Boy paused to pay for the book, soemthing caught Robin's eye atop a nearby roof, the end of a tattered cape whipping away from the edge. His eyes narrowed.

Getting on the roof was not a problem, Robin never went anywhere without at least part of of his gear. He was still weary though, because without his armoured costume he'd be in trouble should anyone be deciding to ambush him.

The Boy Wonder blinked twice rapidly, activating his mask's scan lens. He couldn't detect any other life form on the roof, but he still had a hunch that-

"Hey kid, how's it going!?" An electronically voice asked, though the source was nowhere to be seen. Robin's head whipped around wildly, and he brought his fists up to bear, but he was taken completely by surprise when an invisible arm wrapped around his throat and a fist began rubbing into the top of his head.

"Merry almost-Christmas Robby!" Rex X laughed as he released Robin from the noogie.

The Titan paused a moment to run a hand through his hair, pushing it back into it's proper position, before suddenly lunging forward at his now-visible antagonizer. But the X-themed thief teleported behind the Boy Wonder and just barely grabbed the scruff of his hoodie before he lunged himself right off the building.

Robin responded by whipping around with a punishing roundhouse kick, but X ducked under the blow, grabbing the vigilante's other ankle and pulling it out from under him.

"Cool it, kiddo, it's the Holidays, I'm not here to fight." Red X said, holding up his hands as if there was a gun pointed at him.

"Are you here to give back the suit you stole!?" Robin growled, climbing to his feet and taking a stance.

A breeze picked up X's cape and caused it to wave lazily behind him, it was only then that Robin noticed the green duffel bag slung over the thief's shoulder.

"Fortunately, no," X's mechanized tone responded, and then he removed the bag, sliding it over to his rival. "But here's a peace offering, gifts for you and the rest of the Titans, you can take credit for them if you want."

Robin activated his scan visor, but the bag seemed free of any traps; however he did furiously note that no weapons were detected in Red X's suit either.

"Why?" Was the Boy Wonder's simple question, asked through gritted teeth.

"Uh, because it's Christmas...?" X answered, throwing his arms up in mock defeat again. "And because I've seen the gifts you got, gotta tell ya, they suck."

"Were you spying on me!?"

"What- No! No, I ran into you a couple of times in the mall, jeez."

Robin's expression hardened.

"Just because I'm a theif by a night doesn't mean I don't occasionally pay for things."

The Boy Wonder reached over to grasp the bag, but his hand was smacked away.

"Not so fast kiddo, I even wrapped those babies, so how about a little appreciation?"

"...Thanks."

"You're welcome." One could hear the satisfaction just in X's tone.

Robin picked up the bag, finally, though never took his eyes off his living antithesis. "You must want something for this."

"Righto, I need you to crash Slade's party over-"

"What do you know about Slade!?" The ex-sidekick suddenly blurted, drawing a birdarang. The thief raised a metaphorical eyebrow, before continuing.

"Over at that new hospital on Thirty Fith and Fourth, he's doing some bad stuff, like always, kidnapped a friend of mine, the family's disappeared too."

"...What kind of friend?"

"The childhood kind, me and him used to get into all sorts of trouble... tagging buildings, skipping school, you wouldn't know, I'm sure that you don't have any real friends, thanks to the old Batman."

That struck a nerve. "Get out of my sight before I get Beast Boy to Swallow you..." Robin turned around and walked to the edge. "I'll think about saving your friend."

"Uh huh, sure, I'm sure you'll really give a lot of thought about whether or not you wanna get your ass kicked by Slade again." X chuckled, before tapping the buckle of his belt.

When the Boy Wonder turned around the theif was gone.