I want to thank everyone for taking the time to review!

Okay, I got a couple of reviews and PM's saying that I made Red X out of character in the last chapter, which I really don't think I did. Sure he talked a lot more, but it wasn't like anything he said was a bunch of bullshit. Every time he opened his mouth it was to offer information or guidance. He'll be doing that in the future too, helping the others become better heroes and eventually connecting with some of them. That's not him being out of character, that's me developing his character around the situation he's in.

Onto a completely different matter, I want to talk about the differences in experiences the younger generation has in comparison to each other. Obviously Red X has the most experience clocking in about 8 and half years. Next would be Robin who's been at it for around 4 years.

Speedy's/Red Arrow's history is a little convoluted, considering he's a (spoilers)… clone. By the first episode Speedy has been a sidekick for 3 years. However, we know that the original Speedy was kidnapped by Lex Luthor not too long into his career, where GA found Roy's clone 3 months later. So I average that Red Arrow has been doing this for about 2 years and 4 months. Raven was a Teen Titan for 2 years, which puts here on par with Kid Flash and Aqualad, who became sidekicks in 2008 (exact dates unspecified). Then we have Superboy and Miss Martian who have no real combat experience. Zatanna will later fall into this category. Rocket, who made her debut alongside Icon in May 2010, will join the Titans in December, giving her 8 months of experience.

Artemis is a lot more complicated. When she was nine, her mother, Huntress, was paralyzed during a mission gone wrong and was sentenced to six years in prison, leaving Artemis to be raised by Sportsmaster. We know that he started training her as a mercenary at some point, but that's about it. Once her mother was released in July of 2010, Huntress kicked Sportsmaster out, swearing she and Artemis were going straight. Witnessing this fight, Artemis began patrolling Gotham to stop crime where she's recruited by Batman and Green Arrow.

Phew, that was longer than I expected. Anywho, back to the story.

~Young Justice: Red X~

Chapter 12: A Bad Day Part I

|GOTHAM CITY
|2010 July 19, 23:32 EDT

Something wasn't right, Batman knew that for certain. His tabs on Bane's operation in Santa Prisca reported that they'd suddenly stopped all shipment, with no visible explanations as to why. His gut instinct warned him that something was up and so he'd decided to call in Red X to investigate.

There'd been no response.

The younger heroes' radio silence didn't sit well with the Dark Knight, not at all. He tried contacting John Strike's listed residence only to get an answering machine that hadn't even been personalized yet. He asked Dick to try to contact his fellow Titan, just to see if Red X was purposefully ignoring his calls, but the Boy Wonder had gotten the same results.

It wasn't until he spotted the Bat Signal up in the sky two hours later that the Dark Knight felt something like unease grasp at his insides. He'd arrived at the precinct in record time with Robin trailing silently behind him. It was unnatural for his sidekick. Robin was proficient in stealth and knew when to be silent, but there was no reason for the boy to be so quiet at the moment. Robin loved to talk after all, always making teasing comments or voicing his idiosyncrasies in creating back-formations on certain words. His partner must've picked up on his mood. Something was wrong, but Batman didn't know what and it was setting him on edge.

"It's good to see you Batman, Robin." Jim Gordon greeted them and Batman sent a nod towards the Commissioner before turning his attention to the two culprits sitting in the interrogation room. "We picked them up a few hours ago, out cold and left in some random alleyway. They were almost sent to the hospital when one of the on-duty officers recognized the man on the left from a bulletin sent out by Blüdhaven's police force." The gray-haired commissioner explained as he pointed towards the burly, red bearded man sporting a bruised jaw.

"His name is Patrick O'Malley, thirty-eight years old and convicted of three armed robberies as well as the lead suspect to a murder case. When we started reading him his rights, O'Malley claimed that he had valuable information on a missing hero and that he wanted to make a deal. I thought it best to call you, just in case there was any truth to what O'Malley's been saying." Gordon concluded as he held up the convict's file for the Dark Knight to look over.

Batman took it without confirming or denying O'Malley's statement and sent a measuring stare over at the second perpetrator. He was young, probably around Speedy's age, with dirty blonde hair and a pock-marked face. His stained and wrinkled clothes hung off his thin frame, making the boy look even smaller to Gotham's caped crusader.

"Do we have any information on the other one?" He inquired stoically as he quickly read over the file and heard Gordon sigh heavily in response.

"That would be Michael Jacobson, a seventeen-year-old who ran away from his abusive father a couple months ago. We've been searching for him ever since he was reported missing. He's had a clean record; this would be his first offense. He's a brilliant kid really. He was already signed on to join Star City's Technology and Science College Center when he graduated from high school. It doesn't look like that'll happen now."

Batman narrowed his eyes at the words on the paper before him, but didn't really take them in. How many times had he seen a kid's life be ruined because of one bad decision? The young man most likely had no other choice but to take the job, whatever it was, just so that he could earn some money that he no doubt badly needed. Batman studied the teenager again and saw, not a criminal, but a desperate frightened boy with no other options.

"Separate the two of them. If anyone is going to get a deal, it should be the boy." Batman growled as he took in the crooked and cocky smirk on O'Malley's face while the teenager beside him rubbed his terrified, teary eyes with dirty, shaking hands.

~Young Justice: Red X~

|CENTRAL CITY
|2010 July 20, 21:41 EDT

The first few days at Black Canary's –call me Dinah when we aren't in costume Raven– home, were awkward to say the least. Raven was used to the that kind of atmosphere though, and she barley registered the long, empty pauses that filled their few forced conversations. It had taken most of the Teen Titans a while to warm up to her too, and vice versa.

Dinah didn't act like most of the Teen Titans though. She wasn't annoyingly persistent like Starfire had been, nor was she oblivious like Beast Boy. No, she was more like Cyborg and Robin, both boys had respected her privacy and had left her alone most of the time. Dinah did like to talk though, not about herself, but about how they would work with each other in the future.

Training had started, though it wasn't the kind Raven was used to. When she'd been a Teen Titan, Robin had designed everyone's training regime. He'd had them focus on their unique talents and taught them how to gain better control over their powers. Everyone, except for Beast Boy and their leader, had been beginners at the time, new to the life of a hero. She, Starfire, and Cyborg had to learn control, to pay attention to their surroundings, to not endanger those that they were trying to protect.

Here though, while Black Canary stated that while she could still use improvement in controlling her powers, it was no longer considered her greatest weakness. Now it was close combat that proved to be Raven's downfall. She'd been taken down by the woman in a matter of seconds during their first spar. Which frankly, had been a bit embarrassing. She wasn't a rookie, she had more experience than most of the sidekicks in this world. Her mentor promised to help her though and Raven was determined to learn, if not for herself, then for Robin.

Dinah meant well, that much Raven could tell, and it wasn't like Black Canary didn't know what she was doing. She was obviously a master in hand-to-hand combat. Raven worked surprisingly well with the Black Canary during training, easily able to follow silent orders and cues that she'd learned to recognize from Robin. And Dinah had nothing but praises for her. It was nice. Raven had never really had any kind of a relationship with the adults back in her dimension.

Life outside of training though, was vastly different from what she'd experienced as a Teen Titan. During the early hours of the day she was being prepared for her first time in high school as a sophomore, her civilian name was to be Rachel Roth, after she'd decided to take her mother's surname. Robin had been the one to suggest Rachel. She studied history, literature, mathematics and science, and by the end of the day, she was surprised at how much she actually enjoyed learning the things that she had.

Education had never been the Teen Titans' main concern. She knew that Robin had already completed his schooling at the age of fifteen, but she'd never really appreciated how much effort that must've taken. The only problem she had, or rather what Raven worried over the most, was that she would actually be going to a public school rather than being homeschooled. Just the thought of constantly surrounded by other people and expected to get along with them made her anxious. Dinah had told her not to worry so much, the League had pulled some strings and had gotten her into the same classes with one of the Titans, whom she would be going to meet in a couple of days.

The Titans. Raven wasn't really sure how she felt about this new group of heroes who'd taken on her team's title. Robin had warned her about how parallel this world was to their own, how they had their own version of Aqualad and their own, albeit younger, Robin. Did that mean there were other versions of her friends here as well? Perhaps a younger Beast Boy, one who would be even more immature than the one she'd come to know? Raven shuddered at the very idea. Still, she wanted to see her friends again, even if these people weren't her original teammates.

She was adjusting to the changes slowly, but not without problems. It was a little startling to only have Dinah as company; Raven was used to having four other rather loud roommates to ignore. Despite herself, the teenager found she missed the old arguments over what they would have for breakfast. She missed the time she spent with Cyborg in tuning up the T-car. She missed meditation and mall trips with Starfire. She missed Beast Boy's terrible jokes. She missed movie night at the Tower. She missed the way things used to be. 'At least I still have Robin.' Raven frowned as she thought about her friend.

Robin was another major change to the world she'd woken up in. Her friend and leader had changed so much in the year that she'd been – gone. No longer did he bare the name that he'd so proudly made his own, but that of a failed disguise, Red X.

Raven could honestly admit to herself that she would never be able to call Robin that name without it leaving a bad taste in her mouth. She did not like seeing her friend stuck in that costume once more, or being unable to hear his voice without that cold metallic tone masking it.

She hadn't seen Robin since he'd found her a week ago in that alleyway. She had left Slade's Old Haunt, it had not escaped her notice that Robin had taken that place as his own, and went with the Black Canary, being brought to the woman's home. Raven had watched him until the door was sealed behind her. Robin had stood too still, starring hard at a computer screen, his back turned to her as she left. Batman had stayed behind as well.

There conversations since then had been daily, but brief. Robin had given her the frequency and access code to his comlink, which she used only because he insisted. She much preferred their telepathic talks; she could pick up on his feelings more easily that way. Not much had been said between her and Robin on a personal level. He updated her about certain events that happened to the team, about the Brotherhood of Evil, and the expansion of the Teen Titans. It amazed her how quickly things had evolved, how the underrated team she'd been a part of had grown into a force to be reckoned with in but a year's time. Robin had done a truly amazing job.

They didn't talk about what she did to stop the Prophecy. And she didn't have the courage to ask about Trigon.

Once they finished talking about the Teen Titan's final battles, Robin told her about how the lives of her teammates had progressed. Cyborg and Bumblebee becoming a couple had not been surprising. Starfire and Beast Boy, on the other hand, was.

She didn't admit it to Robin, but there had been times when she'd considered Beast Boy's boyish attitude… endearing. Perhaps at one point in the past she'd had brief moments of something resembling a crush on the changeling, but those feelings had ultimately been pushed away when Terra had joined the Teen Titans. Raven had hardened herself after that, denying and ignoring her attraction towards Beast Boy. Emotions were dangerous, especially for her.

On the other hand, she knew that Robin and Starfire had been sweet on each other. She'd sensed it in his mind during the time he'd been infected with Slade's dust. And Starfire's affections had been obvious. Raven couldn't imagine how he'd felt, seeing Starfire with Beast Boy sharing romantic gestures. She didn't broach the subject with him, or prod his mind for answers. She knew from experience just how painful that was.

Eventually their conversations moved onto what Robin had accomplished so far this new dimension. She listened objectively to his stories about spying in Rhelasia, about his first night in Gotham as Red X, his encounter with Count Vertigo that left him wrongfully labeled as an assassin to the public, of how he'd created a civilian identity for himself, and how he'd met this dimension's Justice League.

He told her about the Titans, admitting not knowing them on a personal level, but that he trusted them to watch his back. Whether they were capable of doing so was another matter entirely. Superboy was an angry clone with a justifiable father-complex. Miss Martian was nice, well-meaning, but lacked self-confidence and was just as new to being a hero as Superboy. Kid Flash was, appropriately enough, just like his counterpart. Aqualad, Kaldur'ahm as he was called, was level-headed, and the obvious peacekeeper of the team. Robin, the younger one, was… different. Robin hadn't clarified how his counterpart contrasted, merely stating that he was young. All in all, her future teammates sounded interesting at least.

So while Raven was still easing herself into her new life, she found that it was doable, that she could handle the sudden changes. The only thing that gave her any trouble was her sleep. She could not remember her dreams, but she always woke up in a panic, panting and sweating, her heart racing dangerously in her chest.

She could still feel it, her connection to Trigon. She had always been able to feel that link, but Raven, undeniably, had hoped that her death would finally break that bond. It hadn't though, and she could sense that something terrible was going to happen. Raven had shared these fears with Robin. He'd told her not to worry and that, whatever this danger was, they would face it together. She'd been grateful for his comfort, but she could not shake the feeling that the worst had yet to come from her father.

A knock on Raven's door disrupted her thoughts and she stood up to answer, letting her eyes wander over her new room. It was sparse, but it still had her touch in its appearance. Dinah had taken her shopping for furniture and while Raven wasn't fond of the activity, she appreciated that Dinah had let her make the bedroom truly hers. It wasn't the Tower, but she certainly felt welcomed here.

The bed was a simple single size, with dark blue sheets and a black iron bedframe. The walls had been painted a darker shade of blue than her blankets and the carpeted floor was a dark grey. There were two, mostly empty, black bookcases set up near a fully stocked dresser and a nightstand with a blue lamp sat next to her bed. In her closet, several copies of her costume waited to be donned, hidden behind many civilian outfits.

Her new costume was mostly the same except for the new gray tights that were similar to the ones Black Canary wore. She still had her black, long-sleeved leotard, her red gemmed golden belt, and gemmed broch. But she'd added a pair of gloves that matched Black Canary's excluding the color, as they were a deep blue that matched her cape. Her old shoes, deemed as inappropriate for fighting in, were replaced with thick black combat boots. Built for better traction, a more protective material, and able to dish out more damage. Raven had been hard-pressed to argue that change to her costume.

"Yes Dinah?" Raven asked as she slid the door open just enough to make out the other woman's face, which looked grim and serious.

"Batman called, Red X is in trouble."

~Young Justice: Red X~

|GOTHAM CITY
|2010 July 20, 22:17 EDT

Red X woke up slowly, his vision fading in and out dizzily. His head hurt, and not just in the pounding way that came from a headache. He knew these symptoms intimately. '…Concussion.' His mind deduced as his vision began to swim again and the muffled sounds of someone speaking nearby pierced his foggy head. He could feel the open wound on the back of his skull and how his scalp itched from what was likely drying blood. Thankfully it seemed the injury had mostly clotted over on its own. 'Now, how did this happened?' X silently asked himself as he shifted slightly, finding that he was tied rather tightly to an off-balanced wooden chair. 'I've been captured, but by who?' He remembered hearing a woman screaming from an alleyway. He'd easily knocked out the two men attacking her, and then… something hard had hit from behind.

He tried to focus his vision, wincing a little at the bright light shining down from overhead. He was in a warehouse, judging from the size of the room and the numerous crates spread across the open area. The light fixtures were old in design and hung down from the high ceiling. Only a single bulb was used rather than the fluorescent fixtures that most companies used nowadays. Unfortunately, this meant most of the light stayed centered on him rather than spreading outwards, leaving the room covered in shadows. It was not an uncommon design. Despite Gotham's advances in science and technology, some parts of the city were still rather old fashioned.

Ignoring the glaring bulb, the teenager focused on the noise he could hear. He'd originally thought it was someone speaking, but as his head cleared a little, he realized it actually someone singing. It was a bouncy tune that made his head pound painfully, but he was able to make out the words after a few seconds by straining his senses. The music and voice came out a little rough, sounding much like when Alfred used to play music on his old record player.

"Smile, darn ya, smile! You know this whole world is a great world after all. Smile, darn ya, smile! And right away watch lady luck pay you a call. Things are not as black as they are painted, time for you and joy to get acquainted. So make life worthwhile, come on and smile, darn ya, smile!" The music suddenly cut off, a loud screech echoed throughout the warehouse, making X flinch in pain as his head throbbed in response.

"Well, well, well, it looks like our little Xy is finally awake." A deep voice said with a mad chuckle underlining his words.

Red X stilled at hearing that voice, it was one that he could instantly recognize even after not hearing it for the last three years. He slowly raised his head up to peer into the darkness in front of him, spying the tall, dark silhouette that stepped into the light. The tattered caped hero narrowed his eyes as he spotted that too wide smile filled with yellowing teeth, and the thin lips that outlined them in a dark red color, which had always disturbingly reminded him of blood.

"Joker." He stated evenly, getting a rare frown in response. Perhaps the infamous criminal had thought he would panic, but X had woken up too many times in similar situations to react in such a way. Most of Gotham's crazies craved to see their victims panic and he'd been taught never to give them what they wanted. "How?" He hissed, unable to keep the irritation out of his voice.

"Ah, you have my little Harley to thank for that." There was a brief, mad sounding chuckle. "Really kiddo, you should realize that not everyone on the street who cries out for help is just some sweet, innocent person needing to be rescued." The Joker chided mockingly until his face took on a darker expression. "She did hit you harder than I wanted though, so I had to punish her for being bad, that's why my little minx can't be here now." The Joker gestured wildly to the empty warehouse room they were in.

"Alright, so I got the when, where, and how, but I'm still missing the why." Red X replied coolly as his eyes raked over the area, gaze landing on a table just shy of the overhead light. He could identify a few things on it; knives, a clamp, and… was that a plunger? He mentally cursed when he found his belt lying on the floor twenty feet away from him.

"Why it's your welcoming party of course! Ha-ha!" X raised an eyebrow in response which made the Joker chuckle for some reason. "You see kiddo, your good old Uncle J noticed that no one threw you a 'Welcome to Gotham City' party. So I said to myself, "Joker, why not give the boy one of your own special celebrations?" Heh, so I did. My party's bound to be better than anything Batsy would've thrown together anyways. Everyone knows he has no sense of humor." The clown finished intensely, causing the teen to stiffen instinctively.

A pleased Joker was bad, but an angry one was much, much, worse.

"...Where are the other party guests?" X asked as he studied Gotham's most infamous criminal, trying to buy some time.

This Joker looked very similar to the one from his dimension. Green hair slicked back, with that disconcertingly wide grin and those red piercing eyes. He wore his signature bright purple suit, a green vest and a dark orange dress shirt underneath. His purple trench coat and matching fedora were tossed over a nearby chair next the table. The only difference Red X could spot was a thin silver metal chain hung between the man's vest and pants pocket. It swung erratically against his right leg, glinting in the dim light.

"It's the strangest thing, really. I sent out invitations, but no one wrote a response. Hmm, maybe I shouldn't have put that itching powder into the envelopes after all?" The Joker mused out loud before bursting into a fit of laughter that echoed throughout the warehouse. "Now then, let's get this party started!" The clown pulled out a purple party cracker that shot out a cloud of green gas and purple streamers that covered Red X's mask.

The teenager instantly recognized the gas, having experienced Joker's toxin many times in the past, and waited for the cloud too dissipate before breathing again. Even though he knew his breathing apparatus would block out the smoke, X didn't want to take any chances. He stared back at the Joker's eager face, taking little pleasure from seeing the clown's smile quickly turn into a scowl after realizing that his Joker Toxin had no effect. The glare didn't last long before the Joker looked delighted once again, his laughter ringing louder than before.

"Oooohh Xy, I knew there was something I liked about you." He chortled happily as he casually walked over to the table and gave his back to the young hero.

Red X made his move.

Activating his X-Wrist Blades, the tattered caped hero cut through the rope tying him to the chair and launched said chair at the crazed criminal. Unsurprisingly, the clown dodged it and threw himself at X who'd made an attempt to retrieve his belt. While Joker had never looked it, the teen knew for a fact that the man could hold his own in a fight. One didn't become the most dangerous criminal in Gotham without being able to go a few rounds with the Batman.

Joker let out a sound that was a mix between a growl and a chuckle as X delivered a well-aimed punch at the man's jaw. The clown quickly recovered, sending his foot upwards to meet the younger mans' face. Red X ducked, only to stagger slightly as his vision swam thanks to his concussion. He felt a slight pinch in his right arm and instinctively struck out with his fist, hitting Joker in the stomach and earning a pained grunt from the man as he fell to one knee. He quickly dove for his belt again and turned invisible, just barely dodging the switchblade Joker had thrown at him.

"Hey that's no fair, I call cheats!" The Joker shouted angrily and Red X smirked at the crazed criminal. As the clown tried to stand up, X launched a sidekick into the mans' knee, forcing him back onto the ground again. He jumped back to avoid a second knife that the Joker had swung out with blindly, and quickly knocked the blade out of the clowns' hand. He heard rather than saw the knife clattering and sliding across the warehouse floor. He knew better than to take his eyes of this particular opponent.

Just as X moved to knock the older man out, a sudden snicker broke free from his mouth. The Joker's smile widened, and the man chuckled as he aimed a kick at where he heard X's laughter. The hero dodged at the last second, but stumbled to his knees, clutching his stomach painfully as another cackle escaped his now grinning mouth. 'When? How did you poison me? I never breathed in the toxin!' That was what the teen tried to ask, but only a strained, half-muffled giggle left him.

"Ah, now that's a sound I never grow tired of hearing." The Joker said elatedly as he held up an empty syringe for X to see. The tattered caped teenager collapsed onto the floor, that terrible smile stretching painfully across his face as the laughter grew louder.

'Damn it… can't… stop… laughing.' Red X thought urgently as the Joker tore away his belt, stripping him of his invisibility and dragging him back towards the table, where those knives were scattered ominously in the dim lighting. He knew what came next; madness always followed the laugher. Soon his thoughts wouldn't even be coherent enough to plan an escape. He needed help, now. 'Raven…'

~Young Justice: Red X~

Yay, Joker made another appearance. Being the huge Batfan that I am, I absolutely love Mr. J! That being said there are some iterations of the man that I'm not very partial towards. One of them is the rendition they made for Young Justice. When I saw the Joker make his debut alongside the Injustice League, I was kind of disappointed.

I based this Joker mostly off of the one we got from Batman: The Animated Series and from the Arkham video games. (FYI Mark Hamill is the greatest Joker ever!) So, if he seems OOC by being cooler and more awesome than the one from the YJ show, that's because I completely scrapped him.

For those curious, the ploy for how Joker nabs Red X is from Batman Beyond: The Return of the Joker movie. The song I chose to use is called "Smile, Darn Ya, smile" by Billy Cotton. If you don't know it, you can find it on YouTube. I figured it fit the mad clown's tastes.

–Hexalys