Chapter Nine: Mistake

It had been three days since Red X had fired all the other members of the Teen Titans...maybe. Maybe it had been four days. Or five...he wasn't keeping track of time any more. He hadn't stepped outside since that night when they all left. He had been working non-stop, improving every weapon he could. He was going to find Jericho, fight him, and win. He would make sure of it. Once he finished all the weapons, he would need a few hours to rest. Then he would be ready.

"We need to work on a strategy,"Raven was saying to Beast Boy and Starfire three days later. They had been staying in an abandoned warehouse, not far from where Slade's lair had been. Raven was determined to head after Jericho, though the other two continued to try and talk her out of it.

"Raven, we should not go after this Jericho. You have seen what he has done to Robin. And Robin said that-"

"I know what Robin said. I also know that Robin is capable of being wrong,"Raven replied sternly. She sighed. "Remember, Starfire, we're on our own now."

"But without Cyborg, too?"Beast Boy said.

"Cyborg won't come back. Not after what happened that night. He's mad at Red X, he's mad at Robin, he's mad at us. He needs his time. Cyborg stays out of this,"Raven insisted.

"Raven...there's no way we can do this,"Beast Boy said sadly.

"Don't say that! If you keep telling yourself that, then you'll start to believe it! We can do this...we can!"Though it was clear Raven wasn't so certain of this herself. Starfire and Beast Boy both sighed, sitting down on the ground where Raven was sitting cross-legged, eyes closed now, trying to clear her mind.

"Hey, I was just thinking about this the other day...why hasn't Jericho come after us yet? I mean, we all fought Slade, wouldn't he want to destroy the whole team?"Beast Boy asked.

"He has,"Starfire said softly.

The next night, at around 10:00, Red X headed out, all geared up. He knew where Jericho would be, and he headed there as fast as he could. Jericho was hiding out in his father's old warehouse headquarters, not far from where Raven, Starfire and Beast Boy were staying.

The three remaining members of the Teen Titans had also headed out that night in search of Jericho, though they had no idea where he might be. They were merely searching. Little did they know, that it would not prove to be a difficult job finding him.

Red X marched proudly into the abandoned, burned, almost completely destroyed warehouse. He walked to the center, looking around the pitch black building.

"Hey Jericho! You've got a visitor!"he called loudly. He waited, taking a big satisfied breath. He heard footsteps from behind him. He was ready to attack at any moment. He slowly turned to face his enemy...

"Hey pal. Long time no see, huh?"Red X greeted smugly, laughing at the look on Jericho's face. He looked quite unprepared for a fight. He was in an old white t-shirt and his leather pants and boots. He looked very unkempt and unshaved. Red X couldn't be more thrilled.

"You! It is not you, I broke you!"Jericho spat, still in shock.

"I heal real fast,"Red X replied. And he attacked. He leapt on Jericho tackling his surprised opponent to the ground. Jericho reacted quickly, shoving him off. Red X leapt back, landing on both feet steadily. He pulled two bird-a-rangs from his belt, tossing them right at Jericho, who was still jumping up. One bird-a-rang caught him on the cheek, the other on his left shoulder. Jericho howled in pain, but came running at Red X nonetheless. Red X merely stepped aside as Jericho ran at him. Jericho whirled around, grabbing Red X by the neck. He lifted him up, choking him.

"I broke you before, and I will do it again!"he growled. Red X jerked quickly, and kicked Jericho right in the nose. Jericho dropped Red X, yelling in pain again. Red X pulled the large stick from his belt, giving Jericho a good blow to the head as he moaned and groaned, blood pouring from his nose. Jericho fell to his knees, crying out again.

"You never broke me,"Red X spat. He wrenched Jericho up by his collar. "You broke a weak, worthless little phony. I'm the real deal. And you will never break me."And he nail him good right in his already hurt cheek. Jericho fell back to the ground.

"You are not the Robin!"Jericho yelled, struggling to leap back up. He backed away from Red X, staring at him through the blood all over his face.

"I am now,"Red X said, grinning evilly. And he shot another bird-a-rang right at Jericho's gut. Jericho leapt away, but Red X then wacked him in the side with his stick. Once Jericho was down, Red X kicked him hard in the head, then kicked him again in the other side. He dragged him up and slammed him into a wall. He rammed his head into the bricks, and Jericho fell backwards. But he wasn't out yet. He stumbled as he stood up, trying desperately to steady himself. He swung a punch at Red X, who ducked it as if it were a pebble being tossed at him, and nailed Jericho good in the face. Jericho growled, charging at Red X and shoving him fiercely. Red X didn't even stumble. He stood there...and he laughed.

"And you're the one who broke Robin...he's even weaker than I thought!"he laughed. Jericho punched Red X in the face...and Red X continued to laugh. Jericho was angry, hurt and in no mood to be laughed at. He tried attacking Red X with everything he had. Finally, it all built up...and he punched Red X good in the gut as he was laughing. Red X stumbled back, the wind knocked out of him. He coughed, holding his stomach. Jericho was empowered. He ran at Red X grabbed him again by the throat, this time holding him down on the ground. He was about to bash Red X's head into the cement, when suddenly he felt something sharp dig right into his stomach. He gasped, letting go of Red X. There was a scream from somewhere...but things were going dark. As he fell back, he saw Red X holding up a dagger...covered in blood.

Raven, Beast Boy and Starfire had heard the noises of the fight from the warehouse, and had gone in to find out what was going on. They came in just as Jericho was pinning Red X to the ground...and they saw Red X grab his dagger and stab Jericho in the gut. Starfire let out a scream.

"No!"Raven gasped in horror. Red X stood up as Jericho writhed in pain below him. The three Titans could see the gleam in his eye. The kill. The insanity.

"NO!"Raven screamed. Red X completely ignored them all. He was crazy. He had no more sense of right or wrong. All he wanted to do was kill. He raised the dagger up...and brought it down into Jericho's chest, hard. Starfire let out a blood curdling scream, tears streaming down her face. Beast Boy yelped and quickly ran out of the warehouse, sick to his stomach. Raven's eyes widened in utter horror. Red X stood up again, the bloody dagger still in his hand, staring down at Jericho with a look of sickening satisfaction. Raven shook her head, backing away.

"No...no!"she screamed. That's when Red X snapped out of it, finally acknowledging the other's presence. He stared at the three of them...and the gleam was gone. His own eyes widened, he looked down at the dagger in his hand for the first time...and he dropped it to the floor. He backed away from it, as if it were the dagger that had done everything, not himself. He stared down at Jericho's still body, then at the dagger. He looked down at his own hands, continuing to back away, almost trying to run from himself. He looked at Raven, who's large eyes stared back in disgust, in horror, in question. He shook his head, turning pale and looking absolutely stunned. Then he turned, and ran from the warehouse. Starfire was sobbing now, and she turned too, running towards the hospital. Raven took Beast Boy's arm and pulled him after Starfire.

"Robin!"Starfire shrieked horrible as she burst into his hospital room at 11:00 at night. Robin, who had been lying staring out the window unable to sleep, leapt in shock.

"Starfire! Starfire, what's wrong? What happened?"Starfire had collapsed at the foot of Robin's bed in hysterical fits of sobbing. Raven and Beast Boy followed, both looking equally as pale and horrified. Robin looked around at them all fearfully.

"You guys, what's going on? Tell me what happened!"he demanded.

"He killed him. We saw it. We watched him kill him,"Raven said slowly in a low, empty voice. Her stare was scared and distant, an expression hardly ever seen on Raven. Beast Boy was unable to say a word. He was petrified. Starfire was inconsolable. Robin looked around at them all, trying to understand.

"What happened? Who killed who?"he asked.

"Red X!"Starfire screeched through her tears.

"Someone killed Red X?"Robin asked.

"No. Red X killed Jericho. He killed him and we watched it happen,"Raven said, in the same empty tone. Robin's eyes widened in completely shock.

"He killed Jericho? He didn't just stop him, he didn't send him to jail...he just killed him right there on the spot?"Robin asked. Raven nodded.

"He was so heartless...there was that look in his eyes, that gleam, that kill...he's insane, Robin. Insane!"she insisted. Robin stared at the three of them.

"I...but how could...he wouldn't...no...but..."he stuttered. He didn't know what to say. All at once he had to deal with the news that his greatest foe was now murdered, someone posing as himself was the murderer, and he had let down his entire team. It was too much. There were no words to explain it all. There was nothing for him to say. He just looked at the others. That was all he could do for about ten minutes.

"Where's Cyborg?"he finally managed to ask.

"He left days ago. Quit,"Beast Boy was finally able to reply, though he sounded very shaken and frightened.

"Cyborg quit?"Robin repeated.

"We were all fired. Red X fired us,"Beast Boy continued. Robin stared at him.

"No! He can't! Why didn't you come to me? Why didn't you tell me about this?"Robin demanded. Starfire had managed to calm down a little, and she looked up at him.

"He said he did not care if we did. He said you were not a threat to him. He said...he said you were worthless, that you did not intimidate him. He said there was nothing you could do to stop him. He has taken control, and you cannot take it back,"Starfire repeated. She said it all, staring up at Robin painfully, as if almost asking him if it were all true. She was losing faith in him. And that absolutely tore Robin apart.

"He hasn't taken anything from me! He's psychotic, he has no idea what he's doing!" Robin shouted angrily.

"Then why did you put him in charge of us?"Raven asked. There was a pause, as Robin stared at Raven. The other two were also looking up at Robin questioningly. They were all losing faith. Robin sighed. He opened and closed his mouth several times before speaking again, trying to choose the right words, decide how to put it. Finally he decided to just come out and say what was true.

"I made a mistake. I've been avoiding that truth for weeks now, but I can't run from it any more. I made a horrible mistake. But Red X was wrong. I'm not weak, and he hasn't taken my team. Their faith...yes. But my team? Never. And I swear to you right here and now that I am going to do everything in my power to gain back the faith that I lost,"he told them.

"You are going to fix things, then, Robin?"Starfire asked. Robin nodded.

"I'm going to fix things."

I know this seems like a good time to end this darn story...but alas, I still have one more chapter up my sleeve! We need to find out what happens to Red X, right? Well, I'm sorry to say that there won't be any more Starfire/Red X. I know I'll probably disappoint a lot of readers, but that really just isn't the direction this story is taking. But there will be a little Starfire/Robin in the last chapter! Thank you so much for all sticking with this story, I got a lot of great feed-back and I tried to use it all! I'll get the last chapter up ASAP. Thanks again!