When Terra awoke, she quickly realized that she had been taken captive. She was inside of a glass sphere inside a dimly lit room made entirely of steel. She tried pushing against the sphere, but found that she was unable to make it budge. She wasn't sure why she had expected anything different.

As her eyes adjusted to the lighting in the room, she was able to see a figure dressed in black with a silver mask that had a red "X" symbol on it.

"What's going on here?" Terra asked. "Are you working for Slade?"

"Perhaps," the figure responded.

Terra waited for a moment to see if he would elaborate any further, but the figure said nothing else. "Where am I?" she asked.

"Do you really think you're going to trick me into telling you anything?" he responded. "If so, you've drastically underestimated my intelligence."

"You must be working for Slade," Terra said. "Only he could have come up with this." She pounded against the glass sphere again, but there was no response.

"I'll at least tell you that there's no way you're ever getting out of that container," the figure said. "Wouldn't want you to exert any unnecessary effort. Your figure is frail enough as it is."

"Trust me, I am much less frail than I look."

"Cute."

Terra felt a hot flash of anger, but decided to take a deep breath before talking again. "You might not know me very well," she said, "but I know you. You're Red X. Robin told me about how he created an alter ego to try to learn more about Slade. When it backfired, he hung up the mantle, so clearly you've stolen it in order to make a name for yourself."

"That's not exactly what happened, but I don't have time to get into it."

"Well, if you are working for Slade, then you better listen to what I have to say," Terra said. Red X made no indication that he was listening, but he made no obvious sign that he wasn't, either, so Terra continued. "I tried working with Slade, once. I thought I was weak and that he would be able to make me stronger. Instead, he abused me, verbally and physically. He made me stop trusting my friends, the Teen Titans. He made me lose the only boy I ever liked. By the time I realized the truth of what I had done, it was too late. I saved the Titans, my friends, and sacrificed years of my life in the process. I don't know who you're truly loyal to, but I promise you that siding with Slade is a huge mistake. You might think he has your best interest in mind, but the only person he has ever cared about was himself."

There was a long moment of silence after Terra finished speaking. She could not tell what was going on behind the mask, but it seemed that Red X might be considering what she had to say.

"We need to get a few things straight," Red X said, sauntering over to Terra and looking her dead in the eye. "First, I am not loyal to anyone else. Working for someone has never been my game plan. I'm only in this for myself. Second, I know a lot more about you than you realize. You had a long, sad history of being blamed for your powers. Earthquakes, mudslides, everywhere you went, disaster followed. You're lucky you're in that sphere right now, because you'd be likely to take this entire factory down if you weren't."

"You have no idea what I'm capable of," Terra said, glaring directly at Red X, her face as close to the glass as possible. "I am in much more control of my powers now. I'm not gonna lose control again like I used to. When I get out of here, you're going to wish you never crossed paths with me. I'll take you and Slade out and save my teammates, my friends."

"Look, sweetie, even if you did find a way out of that spherical cell, what would you do? This room is pure steel, not even a pebble in sight. Your powers will do you no good here, and I know I have more experience in hand-to-hand combat. You'd never make it out of here."

Terra gave Red X's statement a careful thought. "As angry as I am to admit it, you're right. I wouldn't stand a chance against you in a fight. That's why I'm going to try something else."

Red X chuckled. "Go ahead, if for nothing more than my personal amusement. What is your plan?"

"To reason with you," Terra said. "Beast Boy told me all about what you've done since picking up the mantle Robin left behind. You look out only for yourself, but when your interests align with the good guys, you're willing to lend a hand. I think because of that, the two of us can find some common ground. Before that happens, though, I have to ask why you are aligned with Slade in the first place. What has he promised you?"

Red X started laughing again. "Please. This half-hearted attempt at appeasing to the better angels of my nature is as transparent as it is naive. Slade has already promised me everything I wanted. It would be foolish for me to turn that down based on some misguided attempt at morality."

"Okay, fine. Screw morality, then. What about business? You might think transactionally that Slade can offer you more than I or any of the Teen Titans could. You might also find that you're wrong to believe that. How much did Slade pay for you? What is he offering you in exchange for your loyalty?"

"I'm not an item at auction to be sold to the highest bidder," Red X said, anger apparent in his voice. "I've had enough of this. If you don't stop talking, I can pipe in sleeping gas that will make you unconscious in seconds."

Terra gave Red X a wicked smile. "Touch a nerve there, did I?"

Red X groaned in frustration, but he made no movement towards Terra's spherical chamber. "Fine, I'll tell you, but don't expect that you'll be able to change my mind. This plant produces Zynothium, and in exchange for helping Slade to make the plant operational, he promised me as many weapons as I could ever want."

"That makes sense," Terra said. "It's obvious why you went for that deal. It's a generous offer on paper."

"On paper?" Red X asked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"If there's one thing I know about Slade, it's that he's a master at doing whatever it takes to convince people to work with him, only to turn on you at the smallest hint of disloyalty."

"Well then, it would be pretty foolish of me to turn against him now."

"Unless you were willing to take a chance that the good guys would give you much more than Slade ever could. Trust me, Slade has no intention of honoring his deal with you. Knowing him, he wants the Zynothium weapons all to himself. He's not going to give you anything that he would find useful for himself."

"And how exactly do you know that?" Red X asked. His voice slightly wavered, which told Terra that she was gaining ground with him.

"Slade promised me control over my powers," Terra said, "but all he did was use me as his personal weapon. Teaching me how to control my powers made me less effective at spreading the chaos that he wanted to spread. I never felt more out of control than when I served as his apprentice. Robin would tell you the exact same thing, because he went through all of that before I did."

"So what is your proposition, then?"

"Free me, free my friends, and help us take down Slade. You'll have a much better chance of getting the weapons you need if you get Slade out of the way."

"No, you're wrong about that." Red X stepped away from the sphere and turned his back to Terra. "Robin would never let me keep the Zynothium plant for myself. He'd have this place shut down faster than you can say 'Gotham City.'"

"You save me and my friends, and then let me talk to him. We can work out a deal, and if you help us take out Slade, I'm sure Robin would be willing to reconsider."

Red X turned back to face Terra and looked into her eyes for a long while. After that, he went to a nearby control pad and made a few keystrokes. The glass sphere lifted away, and Terra was free.

"You're making the right decision," Terra said, approaching Red X.

"You better not make me regret this," he replied with a hint of menace in his voice.

"I promise you I won't," Terra said. "We have to free the rest of the Titans. Where are they?"

"They're here," Red X said, "but clear on the other side of this factory. We'll have to fight through hundreds of drones, and we can only hope we don't run into Slade himself. He's too strong, even for the both of us. We have to be careful."

"Lead the way," Terra said.

With that, Red X and Terra left the room and entered a long hallway. Red X pulled up a schematic on a holographic display projecting from his wrist. "I know how to get to the room where your friends are being held captive," he said, "but it's heavily guarded, and there are no rocks for you to use to help fight. Leave the drones to me and keep an eye out for Slade."

The two of them started running down the hall. There were no drones at all at first, but after a few minutes, they found a hallway with ten drones standing guard. Red X pulled something from his utility belt. When it hit the steel floor, it exploded, blowing all the drones to pieces.

"I can see why you want access to these weapons," Terra said.

"That was one of the weaker ones," Red X replied.

They continued down the hallway.

"So...what were you planning to do with me?"

"Slade wanted to inject you with nanobots again so you wouldn't report the Titans missing."

"Glad I won't have to go through that again."

"Don't be so sure. We need to make sure we find the Titans before Slade finds us."

They turned a corner, and according to the schematic, the Titans were dead ahead. Terra and Red X ran to the doorway to the room to find it closed. Terra reached to open it, but Red X slapped her hand and put his own hand over her mouth. "We don't know who's in there," he whispered.

The two of them placed their ears to the door to see if they could hear anyone inside. Thankfully, it was quiet.

"I am going to open the door very slowly," Red X said. He put his hand on the handle and slowly pushed the door open. After a few seconds, he opened it all the way, knowing that if Slade had been inside, he would have already attacked them.

When he and Terra came into the room, the Titans looked at them with surprise. Beast Boy was the first one to jump for joy. "Dude! You convinced Red X to bust us out?" he asked.

"Sort of," Red X said. He went to the control pad and entered a code again, freeing the six captive Titans in the room.

Beast Boy leapt out and immediately gave Terra a hug, which Starfire gladly joined. Robin, Raven, and Jinx stepped out more slowly, but a wave of relief came upon them. Cyborg, unfortunately, couldn't move.

"What did you do to him?" Terra asked Red X.

"We couldn't confiscate all of his gadgets," he explained, "so we had to drain his battery."

"We can recharge him at the tower," Robin added, "but we need to find a way out of here first. Raven, can you carry him for us?"

"Not a problem," Raven said.

"Hold on," Red X said, holding up his hand. "I was told that if I helped you guys, I'd have access to all the Zynothium I want. Is that a deal you'd be willing to honor, Boy Wonder, or has Terra been snowing me this whole time?"

Robin took a moment to think. "I can't in good conscience let you do whatever you want," he said, "but we can give you a communicator."

"Oh no," Red X said. "Becoming one of you do-gooders was not part of the deal."

"You don't have to feel obligated to do anything for us," Robin replied. "The communicator is my way of keeping an eye on you. Whatever you need these weapons for is fine as long as you're not hurting anyone in the process."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Red X asked.

"It means as long as you're not committing violent crime, I'm willing to look the other way, but you need to make sure I have plausible deniability."

This time it was Red X's turn to think. "I can't take that deal," he said. "I can't possibly guarantee that I won't hurt anyone who's stupid enough to get in my way."

"Then we have no deal," Robin said, "which means you're going to jail."

"If you can capture me, that is," Red X replied.

The Titans and Red X were poised to fight, but before anyone could make a move, they heard a voice from near the entrance.

"My oh my, what do we have here?"

Everyone turned and saw that Slade was standing in front of the door. He was standing with his hands behind his back, his voice echoing coldly off the steel walls.

"Jason, I'm disappointed in you," Slade continued. "Clearly Terra was more convincing than I thought she would be. What did she promise you in return for allowing her to escape?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Red X asked.

Suddenly, Slade lunged at Red X at top speed and pinned him to the ground. Robin made a move towards Slade, but Raven put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head.

"I should never have put my trust in you," Slade said in a chilling whisper. "I knew your history, but I allied with you out of necessity. Now that you are no longer working for me, give me one reason to let you out of here alive."

"I'll give you one," Robin said, lunging at Slade. Slade swung his hand out and knocked Robin aside. Raven then latched onto him using telekinesis, pinning his arms to his sides.

"Get out of here!" she yelled. "I'm right behind you."

Starfire lifted Cyborg and followed Robin, Beast Boy, and Jinx out of the room. Terra and Red X, however, remained behind for the time being.

"What are you two still doing here?" Raven asked. "I can't hold him forever."

"This isn't over," Red X said to Slade. "You still owe me my fair share of these weapons."

"The deal ended when you freed that miserable girl standing next to you."

"You're going to regret getting in our way," Terra replied.

"We have to go now," Raven said.

Terra and Red X ran for the exit. Raven used the last of her strength to throw Slade aside and flew out of the room as well.

Slade returned to his feet, seething with anger, but he chose not to follow. Now was the time for him to start making other plans.

The Titans and Red X ran through the halls of the factory, taking out any drones that tried to slow them down.

"Thank you for having a change of heart," Robin said to Red X. "We owe you one."

"Let's get one thing straight, pal," Red X replied. "I've never had a change of heart. It just became more valuable for me to side with you for the time being."

"Well, either way," Robin replied. "I just have one question for you."

"I already know what you're going to ask," Red X said, "and I'm not going to tell you."

"Fine."

Before too long, the Titans and Red X found their way out of the factory.

"This is where I leave," Red X said. "Don't bother trying to look for me." With that, he dropped a smoke pellet. The Titans had to shut their eyes and started to cough. By the time the smoke cleared, Red X was gone. For once, Robin decided not to try to pursue him.

"Okay," Beast Boy said, "can we talk about the elephant in the room for a sec?" To make his point, Beast Boy briefly turned into an elephant, then changed back.

"About Slade calling him Jason?" Robin asked. "I already have some ideas of why that might be."

"An old friend," Jinx asked, "or an old nemesis?"

"Possibly both," Robin replied.

There was a moment of silence while everyone processed the implications of that.

"Will you not tell us of your suspicions?" Starfire asked.

"I'll need to confirm a few things on my end," Robin replied. "Until I can do that, it's best not to speculate."

"Fine by me," Beast Boy said, "I'm getting hungry, and Cyborg's still dead weight. We need to go home."

The Titans began making their way out of the forest towards the city proper. No one said anything else to anybody until they saw the city limits in sight. Day was just beginning to break, and the pink shades in the sky cast a warm aura on the landscape. At this point, the team stalled, and everyone turned towards Terra.

"What are you going to do?" Robin asked. "Just head home?"

"Yeah, my parents are gonna kill me for being out all night, but I can handle it."

Beast Boy had a frown on his face, but the other Titans were stoic.

"We're still gonna call every night, right?" Beast Boy asked Terra.

"Of course. Wouldn't miss it for the world, especially after what just happened."

Raven scowled but said nothing. Beast Boy gave Terra a hug, holding her tightly to him.

"You're free to stop by at the tower whenever you want," he said.

"I'd like that," Terra said. They stopped hugging, and Terra gave Beast Boy a kiss on the cheek. "See you guys later," she said to the rest of the Titans. She then lifted a rock from under her feet and began riding it back home.

Once she was out of sight, the Titans made their way in the other direction, back towards the tower. All that was on their minds was hope that they could have a few hours rest before the next inevitable threat reared its head. It had been a long night.