Hi…wow, Geometry is just so inspiring! Wrote most of this chapter to the "soothing" sound of my teacher's voice…

An Angel from Hell: Thanks!

Hollywoodstarsandeyes: Well, I figured from what we know about her, Raven has a tendency to be a bit short with people, especially when her emotions are going haywire. LOL is this soon enough for your taste? I apologize for the long wait on the last chapter. LOL sock drawers can be used for so many things! Don't we all? LOL eating in class? I get yelled at for not looking at his "beautiful" face for every minute of the period. LOL sweet, I have a dog named after me! Glad I could help…tell your teacher to get some medication or something…

Furubafun24: LOL I had fun with it mostly…YAY! Er…how much more? No pressure, but I'm really excited to see the next chapter! I'm really glad you still like this…thank you.

CelticHeiressFiona: Yeah…I threw her in for comic relief.

Hollywoodstarsandeyes: I would have read it sooner if I knew you had uploaded something. LOL I'm amazed…my silly comments cheered you that much. Yeah…my geometry teacher explodes like a nuclear bomb…and you just never know when it's going to go off. –blush-…thanks, it was no problem.

Aeris-Raven: LOL yeah I had fun with it. Yeah…keeping Wisdom and Knowledge separate was a bit of a challenge. Yeah…ironic ain't it?

Ok, let's get this party started! …well I don't know if it's exactly a party, but…

-

In a matter of seconds, all hope of rest was crushed as Nameless felt a searing pain in his upper arm. He clamped his hand over the wound, a wave of dizziness rushing over him as blood poured from it. He had hardly had time to breathe when a black-and-white blur leapt at him, bringing it's bo-staff smashing into his skull. Stars erupted before his eyes as he hit the pavement with a thud.

"What's the matter? Catch you off guard?"

Nameless blinked, wondering if he had been hit hard enough to affect his hearing. But no, the voice really did sound like that. Garbled, distorted…so this must be… "X."

"Red X." He lunged, two extremely sharp X-shaped blades spinning expertly in his hands. In one fluid movement, X brought the blades down on the man's chest, leaving two long, intersecting gashes in his solid black uniform.

Nameless screamed as he felt the blade tips rip through his skin, leaving a stream of pain in their wake. He clutched his chest, hunched over and gasping…the oxygen just wouldn't stay in his lungs.

"That's gotta hurt, but I'm guessing this won't feel too good either." An explosive X flew towards Nameless, exploding barely an inch from his face, the sheer force sending him flying into the nearest wall. His head collided painfully with concrete, a ringing noise pulsing in his eardrums. This was not good.

"Who taught you to fight like that? Your mother?", taunted X, hooking his boot under the man's chest and turning him over.

A small, raspy chuckle forced its way out of his oxygen-deprived lungs as he stared blearily up at the skull-like face. "Don't insult yourself." His foot shot up, catching X square in the chin and sending his head whipping backwards. His few moments of shock was all Nameless needed to recover his footing and launch an attack of his own. X blocked the punch, but in doing so lost his balance, stumbling backward into the alley wall. Before he could recover, a hand was at his throat, pressing hard enough to discourage him from moving.

"You know what? I'm really quite tired of this whole thing. You are merely an illusion; I'll admit, a very…realistic one, but an illusion all the same. So why don't you just disappear, like all the rest, so I can go about what's left of my life?"

Red X blinked in surprise. This guy was absolutely insane! "Oh, I'll disappear all right. But you're going to regret extending the offer." X shimmered, like a staticy television program, then faded to nothing.

Nameless took a step back, his eyes widening. It couldn't be that easy; X was definitely not gone… Every muscle tensed, anticipating the pain of another slash from X's blades or a blow to the head from his staff. Every second that ticked by made his heart beat faster. "Enough games, X! Show yourself! Or are you afraid to fight?", he shouted, playing off his own pride.

Nameless gasped as he felt a metal boot drive into the base of his spine. One breath, two…a paralyzing fire shot up his back into his neck to lodge itself in his skull. He convulsed, his legs crumpled beneath him as the air was stolen from his body, taking away his right to scream in pain. He hit the ground, his mind frozen, his mouth still, though a silent scream ripped its way through his body as the pain intensified, almost blinding him.

"Well, it looks like I hit the spot. I always knew the training would pay off one of these days." X leaned nonchalantly against the wall, watching with mild interest as Nameless twitched and convulsed in agony. "Don't worry, it shouldn't paralyze you for life, just put you out of action for a while. Very little actual damage has occurred, though I'm sure it doesn't feel that way."

His vision was going black, every second without oxygen darkening the veil before his eyes…random thoughts chased themselves around in his quickly disengaging mind. "That was a good hit…never saw it coming…that kid must be good…I wonder why I feel so cold? Why is my heart beating like that? Why…?"

Swirling, falling, black…deep and endless black…as dark as the feathers of a raven…raven…Raven!

"Don't you dare quit on me! Not now! Not this time!"

A jolt of energy shot through his body, surging into his fingers and toes, a bright light that surrounded him, pressing inward until it merged with his body in one blinding flash. An image flickered before him as the light faded away…eyes, deep purple eyes…

A loud and foul four-letter word banished the image, and he felt cold, hard concrete pressing into his back once again. He felt his heart beating, pumping blood into his veins, bringing him back from what he was almost certain had been death. His eyes fluttered open, pain shooting up his spine and stinging in his arm and chest, but greatly reduced from the agony he had been experiencing moments before.

"You're alive." The hoarse whisper, even in its distorted form, sounded slightly panicked. "I…I didn't mean to—"

His vision cleared, bringing the skull face of X back into view. "You…don't mean to do…a lot of things,X. Like betray your team, and lose the trust of your best friend, and push Beast Boy in front of the subway."

X froze, his jaw clenched beneath his mask.

"He could have died. You almost killed him. You could have killed all of them, but hey, all that mattered to you was Slade. You didn't care about the consequences, just so long as you won your little power struggle. Your friends were nothing but casualties of war."

Deafening thunder and blinding flashes of light surrounded the pair of them, as mask met mask.

"The end justifies the means, right X?" Nameless managed to stumble to his feet, gritting his teeth against the pain and staring coldly at the projection of his dark side. He hated this person, hated the period of his life that that mask represented. He had never forgiven himself for what he had done while hidden behind that cold, heartless skull. That face wasn't him!

X gasped as Nameless ripped off his mask, grabbed him by the shoulders, and shoved him to the ground, holding his face just inches above a puddle of rainwater. He saw a pale-faced boy, with ruffled black hair, eyes wide behind a small eye mask.

"This is you! This is what you truly are!" Nameless tossed the gruesome mask onto the pavement in front of X. "Is that what you want? To be a common criminal? There's nothing wrong with your intentions, it's your method that demeans you! Stealing to catch Slade makes you just like him! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT?" Nameless was soaked with rainwater, his hair falling on his forehead, rain mixing with the blood from his wounds. His chest heaved, his fists were clenched at his side as he finally released X, taking a step back and watching him intensely. "You know this isn't right. You know this isn't you. You don't have to be a criminal to catch a criminal."

X was still staring at his reflection, breathing heavily. The guilt he had been trying to ignore welled up in his chest as the man's words echoed in his mind. It stung, but it was all true. He had been lying to himself all along. Now it was time to face the music. He reached for the mask with a shaking hand, then slowly got to his feet, his eyes fixed on Nameless. His stomach heaved as his eyes fell on the bloody "x" on his chest. How could he do that?

Nameless watched as X held the limp mask in front of him, gripped both sides, and ripped it in two, dropping the shreds carelessly to the wet pavement. With a blinding flash of lightning, he was gone.

The rain continued to pound down on him, sending a shiver of cold through his thoroughly soaked body. No, this was beyond insanity. He was a raving lunatic. He put a hand to his chest, then brought it before his eyes, the crimson of blood visible for a moment before the rain washed it away. "This…this can't be real."

"On the contrary, Robin. This isvery real."

Muhahahahaha! Ok, I have some serious plans for the next chapter, and it will most likely be quite a bit longer than this one…so it might take a bit longer for me to update, but don't worry, I will. Until later, then…Oh, considering changing my name to DustyRobin…yes? No? If you like it, DON'T STEAL IT, CUZ IT'S MINE! Later! -Dusty