-1Me: Welp, looks like no one figured out my little Easter Egg. Well, since it deals with him, I'll pass it on to Robin. Take it away!

Robin: Ok, fine. For those that didn't catch the significance of Red X's name, here it is: The last name is "Tim" spelt backwards. Tim Drake is another guy that takes on the role of Robin in various Batman comics.

Raven: So who the heck are you then?

Robin: Richard Grayson. The original and, in my opinion, the best.

Raven: You say "Titans Go!", "Titans Move!" and "Titans Trouble!" enough times to make all of us want to smack you. I haven't met this Tim dude, but he probably isn't as annoying.

Everyone: (Nods in agreement)

Robin:…Fine. What-ev-er. You can all go…

Me: That's all for now!

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Well, here goes nothing! Drake thought. Grabbing Raven's hand with one hand, he pushed the button on his belt with the other. It fizzled, but nothing happened. His eyes widened. "Oh, come on!" He muttered. He hit it again, nothing doing. "Damn!" He spat. Slade made his move, firing a black shot not unlike Raven's at the skull-faced thief. He nimbly dodged, trying to think of something, anything he could do.

"Ah…you see? Just give me the jewel, thief. Relinquish it, and you and your friends will be spared. For now," Slade said with confidence. Then his head whipped from Drake to Raven as she finally pulled herself back up. He saw her flip back up, eyes flashing. What he did see, or hear for that matter, was the sound of a sonic cannon unleashing a furious blast.

Slade grunted as he was blasted into the air. "Booyah!" Cyborg cried with a satisfied smirk. Slade landed on his feet gracefully and growled. Leaping at Cyborg, he unleashed a flurry of black shots at not only the offending Titan, but the others as well as they began to break the power that held them.

"Oh HELL no!" Red X said furiously. He dove and knocked the still-paralyzed teens out of the way, while Cyborg fended for himself.

"Fine! If you will not give it to me easily, I will take it myself!" Slade roared. With that, he ran to the edge of the building, leaping off.

"No…not this time, murderer!" Drake roared. He reached down, ripped Robin's utility belt from his immobile waist, strapped it around himself, and gave chase, leaving the Titans stunned.

"Titans, GO!" Robin said, finally shaking off the effects of the paralysis and looking down at his waist, annoyed.

"One more special power, suit. Come on, work with me," Drake muttered as he fell after Slade. He watched as Slade shot a black shot downward, creating a cushion for him to land on. Drake, closing his eyes, pressed the button on his suit and prayed. Then he smiled as he felt the boot-mounted jets and shoulder wings emerge. Knowing he didn't have many frequent flier miles, he shot downward and pulled up, allowing him a safe landing. He hit the ground running, keeping close to Slade.

"GET BACK HERE AND FIGHT, YOU COWARD!" Drake roared. The chase led them into the winding commercial part of New York City, racing behind a McDonald's and scaring the shit out of a poor employee taking out the trash. Finally, they hit a dead end alley.

"Nowhere to run, Slade. Creative name, by the way. Where'd you get it from?" Drake asked sarcastically.

(A/N I know that Slade is his real name in the comics, but this is the animated series. I'm taking liberties with Slade's past since it's never revealed in the animated series.)

Rather than answer, Slade leapt forward and struck Drake with a powerful blow to what was intended to be the head. Instead, he met up with a pair of Birdarangs, which Drake used to block the blow. Having succeeded, Drake threw the devices, narrowly missing his opponent.

The Titans caught up a few minutes later, at which point Drake and Slade were in heated combat. From their view on top of the Burger King that bordered the left side of the alley, Cyborg charged his cannon, but Robin stopped him.

"No. They're too close together. We're not gonna be able to help him until they leave that cramped area," The Boy Wonder said tersely. The other Titans grudgingly agreed, resigning themselves to waiting on the sidelines.

"Why - the - hell - did - you - do - it?!" Drake cried each word as he swung at his opponent. The mechanical voice filter was all that covered the pain in his voice. "What - did she - ever to do YOU?!" He roared, finally connecting viciously as he completed his sentence.

From their perch, the Titans looked between each other, confused. "Uh…Something I'm missing here?" Beast Boy asked, scratching his head. Robin furrowed his brow and shook his head.

"I have no idea. I just wish they'd get out of the alley so we could help…" The Boy Wonder trailed off in thought. Who's this "she?" And why the hell would Slade know anything about Red X - I mean, Drake? He thought, confused. He shrugged.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Slade said with an infuriating laugh as he got up. "Honestly? Back then…I was just a small-timer in Gotham. Heh…oh, those were fun days. It really wasn't to be what it turned into. The plan was a mere theft. Something more exotic than simply robbing a gas station," Slade mused.

Drake pulled a couple more Birdarangs out and combined them as Slade continued. "But alas, we misread one of the run times. People came an hour before we had planned. The problem was that no one listened once we'd taken hostages," The masked man said with an audible frown.

Robin's eyes widened. No… He thought as his mind began to put two and two together. Slade had been a small time crook in Gotham at one point…He closed his eyes as memories flashed through.

Flashback

"Robin, to the Batmobile!" Batman told his sidekick briskly. The spiky-haired teenager nodded, racing after his mentor. Together, they sped off, screeching a halt in front of the Gotham Cinema Theater.

"Catching a movie?" Robin asked, one eyebrow cocked. Batman gave him a "be serious" look.

"There are reports of a robbery gone bad inside. Come on," Batman said as he exited, racing for the theater. The Dynamic Duo burst onto the scene to find several men adorned with black and orange hockey-style masks on, some holding hostages.

"No one moves or the broad gets it!" One of them said. Robin turned to Batman, a Birdarang drawn. Batman reached into his own belt for a Batarang, shaking his head no. Color drained of Bruce Wayne's face as he realized that his Batarangs were, for some reason, missing.

Batman gave Robin a look. "Dick, you've practiced with those more than I have. Go," he told his partner. Robin smiled and nodded, aiming carefully. With a heave, he flung the weapon outward…and missed entirely. Startled by the sudden movement, the thief pulled the trigger on reflex, causing the woman he had taken to fall limply away from him.

And with that, chaos broke out. Guns were fired, people fled and screamed, and the two heroes found themselves struggling to press through the frenzied crowd. "Whoa!" Robin cried as he saw a kid kick the gun out of the thief he had tried to hit earlier and shoot him with it…

End Flashback

It had the last mission Robin had taken with Bruce before leaving for Jump City. I was responsible… I'm the idiot that missed. That woman…the kid…Oh, God. And the guy…He got away. Drake was wrong…his dad got away…And now…Oh, God! Robin dropped to his knees, full of grief, guilt and self-hatred.

Drake had been the kid. Robin had unknowingly seen Red X years before he created him. And if Red X had been the kid, and he was acting as though Slade had some sort of knowledge concerning him…and Slade had been a small-time thief…

"That's him." Robin whispered through a stream of tears as the others surrounded him, startled by the sudden change in their leader.

"Robin, you're not making sense. What's going on here?" Raven asked. Robin just closed his eyes behind the mask, unable to answer.

Finally, Slade nailed Drake with a punch that sent him flying out into the street, out of the alley. With a final look at their leader, the Titans descended upon the two, Beast Boy turning into a tiger on the way down and landing lithely on his feet.

Slade's eyes widened. He knew that he was outmatched, having already expended considerable amount of energy and power in combat already. Instead, he leapt up and took for the skies. Starfire looked up, looked at Beast Boy, and smirked. Raven couldn't fly, but both Starfire and Beast Boy were able to fly by their own biology, something the gems would not stop.

The two Titans were airborne in an instant, but chased after nothing. "I would assume that the gems have allowed him to vanish," Starfire growled. Beast Boy nodded his pterodactyl head and returned to the ground with Starfire.

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"Ok Robin, you need to explain and explain now," Raven said, soft but firm. They were sitting at the Burger King they had been near to, and the band plus Terra had been called in. Drake, unmasked, nodded vigorously, whilst Cyborg and Nevermore stared at Drake. Robin closed his eyes, swallowed his pride, dignity and self-respect, and related the story to them.

By the time he was finished, everyone had a mixed look of shock, sympathy, horror and disbelief etched into their faces.

Everyone except Drake. The ex- Red X was staring at Robin with a blank look, as unreadable as the mask he wore with the suit.

"I am so sorry, Drake…It was my own stupidity. That Birdarang…if it had hit, not only would your mother still be alive, but Slade would have been arrested, and I probably would never have left Bruce…"

"That Birdarang formed us," Raven mused. Robin nodded.

Drake closed his eyes, breathed, and opened his mouth. "We all fuck up, Chu- I mean, Richard," He amended, shocking everyone further. "How the hell can you see to aim, anyway?" He demanded. Robin couldn't help a small smile.

"They're one-way. Screened," He explained.

"Ah. Well, you made a bad shot. It cost you. Point is, no one's perfect. Including you. You tried to save my mother's life, and that's what counts to me. Does it suck that you failed? Yes. Does it suck donkey balls that my dad lived on to be a frickin' madman villain that dabbles in the occasional abuse of demonic forces? Absolutely. Doesn't me you hate yourself forever. You did what you could. That's all I could have asked for if I had been with you," He told the man who he held eerie amounts of similarities with across the table.

"And if you don't mind, I'd like to take you up on that little offer of yours. But talk later. You guys have somewhere to be," Drake said, pointing at the clock, which read 4 PM.

Raven's eyes widened. The battle! "It starts at five. But…" Drake looked annoyed.

"It's what you came for. You're going, and so are we. Now let's move," The former thief ordered. Raven gave a small smile and nodded, getting up and readying for a teleport.

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Short but intense!