Beast Boy was awoken in the middle of the night by a knock on his door. Groaning and groggy, he sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Who's there?" he asked.
"Terra and I," Raven said.
"We want to have a little chat," Terra added.
Puzzled, Beast Boy rose from his bed and pressed the button next to the door. The door slid open and Raven and Terra walked in, both wearing devious grins.
"It's the middle of the night," Beast Boy said. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Terra said. "Well...actually, we have a proposition for you, and it certainly is wrong."
"Huh?"
"Poor Garfield," Raven said. "You never were one to be quick on the uptake."
"Seriously, what's going on?" Beast Boy asked.
"Go back to bed," Terra said. "We'll explain."
Beast Boy sauntered back to bed. Terra and Raven stood at the bedside in close proximity to each other.
"Terra and I have been talking," Raven said, "and we've realized something."
"All the anger and tension between us," Terra added, "was coming from somewhere. We talked about it, long and hard, and we realized that the reason we keep fighting is because we have the hots for each other."
To demonstrate this, Terra and Raven wrapped their arms around each other and kissed. Beast Boy realized that he was even more confused now than he was when he opened the door.
"We then realized something else," Raven said as Terra started to nip at her neck. "We like each other, both of us like you, and you definitely like both of us."
"So we decided," Terra said, pulling her lips away from Raven's neck, "that we could propose to you a threeway."
"Seriously?" Beast Boy asked, confusion beginning to give way to excitement. "You two are okay with this?"
"Of course," Raven said. "Clearly the two of us can't keep our paws off each other."
Raven and Terra kissed again. Raven pulled Terra's body close to her and ran her hands down Terra's back.
"So are you in?" Terra asked.
BANG BANG BANG!
Beast Boy awoke with a start. It took him a few moments to register what happened, but then he realized that he had been dreaming. "That's like the third time this week," he said with a groan. Indeed, about a week had passed since the conversation he'd had with Raven and Terra.
BANG BANG BANG!
Beast Boy, finally realizing that someone was knocking on his door, got out of bed and opened it. Cyborg was on the other side.
"What's up, Cy?" Beast Boy asked.
"I'm good, man," Cyborg asked. "Robin's holding a team meeting, says it's important. I was told to get you out of bed."
"What time is it?"
"Eleven."
"Eleven on a Saturday, huh. That's gotta be a record or something."
"Sorry, man, but Robin's in a hurry. We gotta go."
"When is Robin ever not in a hurry?" Beast Boy asked.
Cyborg shrugged. The two of them left Beast Boy's room and made their way to the ops room, where everyone else had already gathered.
"Good, we're all here," Robin said. "We've got a serious problem."
"What's going on?" Beast Boy asked.
"Red X," Robin replied. "He contacted my communicator about an hour ago."
"What?" Cyborg asked. "I designed those myself. They're supposed to be completely secure. No way he found a way to hack into our private frequencies."
"Sorry, Cyborg," Robin said. "I recorded the conversation. I'm casting it on screen." He pressed a button on his communicator, and on the screen came Red X.
"Red X," said Robin's recorded voice.
"You have a hell of a way to state the obvious, Boy Wonder," Red X replied.
"How did you get this frequency?"
"Come on, Robin, I managed to steal your costume and your Zynothium weapons. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise."
"You're not authorized to communicate on this channel. I'm going to find you and take you down."
"Believe it or not, I'm not calling to antagonize you or offend your delicate sensibilities. I actually need your help."
"What could you possibly need help with?"
"Slade. You heard him not so subtly drop my name back at that factory."
"I know who you are. You're Jason Todd."
"I neither confirm nor deny that, but hypothetically, let's say you're right. My identity is my most important secret. You of all people should understand that, Dick."
"What's your point?"
"The point is if word gets out about me being alive, that's going to cause a whole host of problems...hypothetically speaking, of course."
"Of course. I've done the research on you. You were kidnapped by the Joker back in Gotham, and everyone thought you were dead. Batman moved on, and you had nowhere else to turn when you escaped."
"Well yes, that would indeed be the case if I was Jason Todd."
"Can you knock it off with the semantics? You're not fooling anybody."
"Fine, but only for the sake of speeding up this lovely conversation we're having."
"What are you so afraid of?"
"You were mentored by the world's greatest detective. You should be able to connect the dots. Things have been so much easier for me since the world thought that Jason Todd was dead. If it ever comes out that I'm still alive, a lot of psychopaths will want to come after me. I pissed off a lot of people when I was playing Boy Wonder in Gotham. Penguin, Two Face, Killer Croc."
"The Joker," Robin said.
"Yeah, I was building up to that. Anyway, that's why I'm calling. We need to kill Slade before he gets a chance to leak this information."
"You were a protege of Batman. You know he made us swear to never kill."
"Well, we're not Batman's proteges anymore. We can make our own decisions."
"That's not a decision I'm willing to make. Slade is a psychopath, but that doesn't make killing him excusable."
"Jesus, I should have realized you'd take the moral high ground. You always were a goodie two-shoes. Why the hell did I even bother calling you?"
"Wait, don't disconnect. Killing Slade is out of the question, but that doesn't mean there's nothing we can do. If we abduct him and keep watch over him, we can prevent him from leaking your identity."
"There's no way that's ever going to work. We either solve this problem permanently, or you stop wasting my time and I take care of this myself."
"Murder is out of the question."
"Then stay out of my way. That way you won't be culpable. Goodbye."
"Jason, wait!"
The video stopped, as Red X had terminated the call. For a moment, all of the other Titans were stunned, trying to process what they had just seen.
"We've got a serious problem," Beast Boy said. "I can't even think of a stupid joke for this one."
"Good," Raven said. "I'm glad we can at least be spared of that."
"We need to find Red X and stop him," Robin said. "He's going after Slade, and either he does manage to kill him, or he gets himself killed instead. Unfortunately, I think the latter option is more likely."
"But how will we be able to locate him?" Starfire asked. "We have no idea where he is."
"We have to do a citywide search," Robin said. "We either find Slade, or we find Red X. We need to take them both down and detain them here. Then we can figure out what to do next."
"Are you sure that's gonna work?" Cyborg asked. "We've never been able to capture Slade before, and Red X is no joke either."
"There are seven of us and two of them," Robin said. "I think the numbers are on our side."
"Hold on," Jinx said. "I think we're approaching this from the wrong angle."
"What do you mean?" Robin asked.
"I get that we're not supposed to be murdering anybody," Jinx replied, "but if Red X was able to find and fight Slade, and one kills the other, would that really be such a horrible outcome? That keeps the blood off our hands and then we'll only have to deal with one of them."
"Out of the question," Robin said. "Failing to prevent a murder, knowing that it is likely, is as bad as doing it yourself. I cannot condone that option."
"Well, you're no fun," Jinx said. Cyborg gave her a dirty look, and she let out a sigh. "Okay, you're right, I shouldn't have said that. Blame it on my education."
"We have to get moving," Robin said. "The problem is that I don't know the best way for us to search Jump City. If we stay together, we're safer from both Red X and Slade, but it will take far longer to search. Split up, and we may find them faster, but we'll be in greater danger."
"Then we take the T-Ship," Cyborg said. "We can do an aerial search from there, which will be much faster than a ground search. Then, when we find either of them, we can engage from there."
"I like it," Robin said.
"I've been making modifications to it," Cyborg said, "since our team has increased in size. The seven of us should all have a seat."
"Then there's no time to waste," Robin said. "Titans, go!"
The team left the ops room, following Cyborg to the T-Ship. No one had anything to say to each other. All were lost in thought hoping that they would be able to stop Red X and Slade before it was too late. They boarded the ship and then the ship took off, beginning its scan of Jump City.
"Any ideas where we should start looking?" Cyborg asked.
"The Zynothium plant," Robin said. "It's likely Red X will want to stock up on those weapons he was supposed to be owed."
Cyborg punched in some coordinates, and the T-Ship headed out for the plant. It took about a minute to get there, but there seemed to be no activity on the outside.
"I'm running a biometric scan," Cyborg said. "It'll tell me if there's anyone inside." He ran the scan, and he was able to pinpoint one person.
"That has to be one of them," Robin said. "We need to land and raid the factory."
Cyborg took the ship down, knocking a few trees over in the process.
"Dude, you just toppled like a dozen trees," Beast Boy said.
"The factory didn't exactly have a helipad," Cyborg replied. "You're lucky I only knocked over a dozen.
"Stop arguing," Robin said. "We need to move."
The Titans left the T-Ship and ran through the factory. None of Slade's drones were here to accost them, which made Robin think that it was indeed Red X waiting for them and not Slade. When they were able to find the room where the body had been scanned, Robin's suspicions were confirmed.
"Jason," he said. "I know why you're here."
"You think I'm stocking up on weapons to take down Slade," he replied. "Almost correct."
"Almost?" Robin asked.
"I'm using these weapons to take down you!" Red X through a few pellets.
They erupted in smoke, blinding the team and making them cough. Robin took a hit and was thrown to the ground. He took another hit, this time to the head, and shouted out in pain. Suddenly, a black aura appeared and pushed Red X away.
The smoke disappeared, but Red X had hidden from view as well. The Titans started looking around the room.
"Show yourself!" Robin yelled. "You can't hide forever."
"I don't intend to." Red X leapt down from above and crushed Robin under his weight. Starfire shot a starbolt at him, which knocked him off of Robin. Cyborg followed up with a blast from his Sonic Cannon. Beast Boy charged into him as a rhino, hitting him with his horn. Raven then grabbed him with her powers to immobilize him.
"You're outnumbered," Robin said to Red X as he tried to break out of Raven's hold. "You're also wildly outmatched. You should surrender now before this gets ugly."
"Fine," Red X said. "I'll surrender, but you gotta get me the hell out of here."
"We intend to," Robin said. "Let's go."
From his utility belt, Robin pulled out a set of handcuffs. He cuffed Red X's hands behind his back, and everyone headed towards the room's exit. Before they could open the door, an explosion knocked them backwards.
"What was that?" Beast Boy asked.
"I should've known," came a deep voice that could only belong to one person. "You'll have to do better than that, Jason."
"Slade!" Robin yelled, charging towards him. Slade grabbed his arm and threw him at the wall.
"I came here to apprehend Red X," Slade said, "but it appears you've already apprehended him. No matter, he'll be coming with me."
"No way," Red X said. "I'm not gonna be held captive by a psycho like you ever again!"
"Ah yes, you do have a history of that, don't you?" Slade asked.
He ran towards Red X, but Starfire flew into him and threw him into the wall. Slade recovered quickly and knocked Starfire away from him. Beast Boy lunged at him as a cheetah, and Raven latched his arms to his body at the same time. Beast Boy bit Slade in the neck, which made him howl in pain.
"Get this animal off me!" he cried, trying to break free of Raven's grip, but it was to no avail. Robin ran towards them with a second pair of cuffs. Raven moved Slade's arms behind his back and Robin restrained him. He also restrained his legs with a separate pair of cuffs.
"Knock him out," Robin said. Cyborg ran over and hit Slade hard in the head multiple times until he was unconscious.
"It's done," Robin said, gasping for air. The rest of the team took a chance to recover as well. "We've got both of them."
"What do we do next?" Starfire asked. "I fear holding both of them in the tower could be a problem."
"I agree," Robin said. "We need to keep Red X with us. Slade needs to be thrown in maximum security."
"I'm already calling the police," Cyborg said, "but we should wait here until we know he's detained."
"Idiots," Red X said. "You have no idea what's really happening here, do you?"
"If you know something," Robin said, "you need to tell us now."
"Quit interrupting, and I will," Red X said, causing Robin to fall silent. "You've fought this guy, what, at least a dozen times? Has he ever gone down that easy?"
Robin was about to protest, but he realized that Red X was right. "Go on," he said.
"He clearly wants you throwing him in jail so he can stage a jailbreak," Red X replied. "How many bad guys have you put there recently?"
"A lot of my old classmates," Jinx said. "They've been causing trouble over the past week, and we've thrown them all in jail."
"If Slade stages a prison break," Red X said, "you'll be outnumbered, and he'll have the equivalent of a militia. You need to throw me in jail instead and bring him to the tower."
"Wait," Robin said. "That comes with its own set of problems."
"What do you mean?" Red X asked.
"I hate to admit it, but Slade is good at one thing," Robin said. "He always plays five moves ahead. I think he wanted us to come to this conclusion so that he can have access to the tower. It would be better to jail him and take you with us."
Red X sighed. "Fine, but if that prison break does happen, that gives me free rein to gloat about it."
"Whatever," Robin said. "Let's just take care of this quickly."
The police were waiting outside. The Titans left with Raven levitating Slade into the police van.
"Be careful with him," Robin said. "I'd recommend solitary confinement."
"Of course," the police officer said.
With Slade detained, the Titans brought Red X to the T-Ship and took off, leaving the police behind. The officer Robin had spoken to dialed a number on his phone.
"We've got him," the officer said.
"Good. Then everything is going according to plan?"
"Yes, sir. The Titans took Red X back with them, as you said they would."
"Excellent. It seems Slade actually knew what he was talking about."
"What are you going to do, sir?"
"I'm afraid the answer to that little question is above your paygrade, officer. You've played your part, so all you have to do now is sit back and watch your master work. It's going to be a three-ring circus."
"That's pretty funny, sir."
"Oh don't patronize me. You're lucky I decided not to have you killed once this part of the plan was finished."
"Sir?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you understood my modus operandi. I stand corrected."
"You were going to kill me?"
"Please, don't be so melodramatic. I need you alive for one of my contingency plans, and I only came to that conclusion because Harley liked your wife's cooking."
The police officer had nothing to say.
"Cat got your tongue? Fine, you were starting to bore me anyway. Make sure nobody finds out about this little arrangement, or your wife's exquisite baklava might be the last meal you ever eat."
"Um...okay, sir. It won't be a problem."
"Good! Then I bid you adieu. Don't call me again unless you have good news to share about our plan or your wife elects to cook me prime rib."
"Thank you, sir," the police officer said, not sure what he was thanking him for. The call disconnected without another word. A second police officer walked over to him.
"Jerry, you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"I'm fine, Steve," Jerry said. "No ghosts around here. All good."
"Then quit clowning around and let's get this psycho behind bars."
Jerry's stomach lurched when he heard the word "clowning," and he was grateful nobody noticed. As they drove away with Slade in tow, Jerry had nothing but time to reflect on his newfound fear for clowns.