Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. Takes place during "X".
Shadow
Slade.
That is how I am defined, at least for now.
No, I am not that masked man. I wear a different mask.
One that covers only my eyes...
But Slade feeds me. Makes me grow. Ever more, I am defined by Slade.
But fundamentally, I remain... Robin.
I am a shadow. The evil that lurks in his heart. I am his spite, his malice, his frustrations. I am Robin.
And then the unthinkable happened... he gave me a form. A bigger Mask, one with an X. He used me, he embraced me! I was defined by Slade no more. Robin gave me form through the Synothium. Robin gave me a name of my own... he called me Red X.
And once given, form cannot be taken so easily...
The Shadow leapt about, dodging the Titan's attacks with ease. Only when they got close to it could they see its identity. It's name they knew all too well. It was Red X. They fought.
Eventually it had a chance to get close to Starfire. A chance Robin had been too afraid to take. It knew that Robin wanted her, wanted her so badly. But he kept that bottled inside, for fear their relationship would bring harm to her. Fear. Anger because of the need to feed the fear instead of releasing it. Anger.
"You know, cutie, the only crime here is that you and me haven't gone out on a - "
She then shot him, with beams of pure green light from her eyes. She played hard to get, perhaps. All consuming lust met anger and fear. The Shadow left, to come back later....
I want her. He wants her.
I need this Synothium to retain my form... He needs her to retain his mind.
All these thoughts while in the cage that Robin made. He had made it, so it was real even to the Shadow. Painfully real. But, even while they were fighting, Robin had pleaded with Red X, asking for help. In name, he asked about fighting crime. In truth, The Shadow knew what Robin really wanted.
Her... Starfire, with her hair so radiant. He wanted her. I wanted her.
Light and Dark in agreement, creating Shadow.
I would help him get her... I swore it.
And so the cage holds me no more.
"I thought you didn't like to play the hero."
"Doesn't mean I don't know how." Red X fought alongside Robin. Light and Dark, to save her. To save Starfire. Just because Robin would never admit it to himself didn't mean it wasn't true. The Shadow wanted her, which meant Robin wanted her.
After being saved, she seemed happier. Without the Synothium, The Shadow couldn't maintain his form for much longer. So he didn't even try. Easier to simply wait for Robin to again step too far into the light, to create him again.
She is beautiful. I will have her. You will have her, Robin.
Starfire...
She is how I am defined, at least for now...