A/N: I'm seriously sorry for not updating in a long time. I had to finish up my Island Hunting and I said that I was not going to update anything till I got my Jak and Daxter fic updated. So here is your chapter! I'm now saying that this is AFTER the End episodes now. Sorry if it bores you because I'm not well into the plot quite yet. After this chapter it will be. But please give a review! Thanks! Some questions will be answered at the end of chapter. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: what is there to say? You guys already know.
Chapter 3 The Big Switch
Robin drummed his fingers on his desk then ran his them through his raven black hair. He gave a sigh while staring up at the giant computer screen. He had been sitting there for around three hours with his mind spinning with all kind of theories and ideas about Red X. Where was he going to strike next? He had finally returned to Jump City to steal. This time he did not bother to get his belt back. It did not matter because he was just as good with or without it.
"He has no pattern to his outings," Robin muttered to himself while picking up his notepad and circling a note he had taken a long time ago. "How can we figure out where he will go next when even the villain does not know?" he asked himself with a sigh.
"This is all my fault!" he yelled at himself while throwing the notepad to the floor in frustration. He then got mad at himself for freaking out like that again for the fourth time that night. "What have I created?" he asked himself weakly while rubbing his forehead. "No," he said while shaking his head. "It was all Slade's fault. He tricked me into creating Red X. But I still took the bait without thinking…" he trailed off. In his mind he still took all the blame for Red X. He could not get over it, and it only made him mad and frustrated.
Suddenly the room was filled with red light and the alarm blasted into his ears. He jumped from the small surprise and waited for his team to get there. They all arrived at around the same time. Starfire and Raven flew into the room first with Cyborg right on their tails. Beast Boy of course arrived last while rubbing his sleepy eyes.
"Dude, it's three in the morning!" he complained. "I'm guessing it is Red X. That dude never seems to sleep! I have no idea how he can do it?"
"Maybe he has insomnia," Cyborg said with a shrug. He looked over to Robin and said, "Like someone we know." Robin ignored him. So he had a hard time sleeping. Did it really matter? He fought crime just as good as the others with or without sleep. Plus, when he did sleep he was just faced with frustrating nightmares that seemed to never go away.
"If you guys are so tiered then sprint to the T-car," Robin said while seeing where they needed to be and whom they had to take down. "To the warehouse by the docks," he said while spinning around on his heel. He headed for the door in a quick walk and added, "It is Red X again."
"I was right!" Beast Boy said with a smile. He pumped his right arm into the air in a small victory dance. "I'm so smart!"
"It does not take a super genius to figure that out," Raven muttered to him while flying ahead to catch up with Robin. They all jogged to the garage with the exception of Raven and Starfire flying. Raven flew up to Robin and asked him, "Who steals from an old warehouse?"
He had been thinking the same thing. "Don't know," he said to her quickly while picking up the pace and going into a sprint. The others moaned as they saw that they had to hurry, but started to sprint after him anyway. "But this time Red X is going to jail."
"Don't you think it was odd that he did not take anything yesterday?" she asked him after she flew around a corner. Robin was going so fast that he had to slide to a stop sideways then take off in the right direction.
"He is acting strange lately, but why should we really care," he said to her as they ran up to the T-car. They all piled in and Cyborg took off. Robin was sitting next to him while thinking deeply about this. What was Red X up to? Ever since he came back he was more careful and popping up at different places and always seemed to be ahead of Robin's team.
"I'll look into it," Raven said to Robin while buckling herself up.
Robin looked behind the seat and gave her a strange look. "Why?" he asked her. "I can do it."
"So can I," she snapped back at him. She saw him frown at her, and she knew from his strong vibes that he was deeply annoyed at her. He turned back around and folded his arms in front of him in silence. Raven knew they would talk later about the matter of Red X. She knew what he was feeling.
They arrived at the warehouse quickly, and they all jumped out of the car all too ready for another fight. Robin had gotten them all wild up with that sprint and they were itching to kick some bad guy butt. Even Beast Boy was in a happy mood that early morning. Usually he was a bit sluggish and would complain.
The morning air was cold and misty. There was a fog all around them as they got out of the car because they were right next to the water. The warehouse was big and had other little ones around it. It was old and was one of the first buildings built in the city. Most of the windows were smashed and graffiti signs covered every wall.
"Follow close behind me," Robin said over his shoulder as he walked over to the biggest building there. The door to this building was locked, but there was a hole big enough for them all to easily fit through. Inside the warehouse were only old machine parts and birds trying to sleep in the rafters' way above. Everything was dusty and had a layer of grim on it. It was still cold and dark, though, and it made Robin shiver. He still had nightmares of that time Slade's dust was in his system. He would never feel completely safe in the dark anymore.
"Split up," Robin told them while taking out a small flashlight from his belt. "But stay in someone else's sight. Be on high alert. We don't know if this is a trap."
"Who would wish to stay in here?" Starfire asked them while hiding behind Robin's cape. This place reminded her of their basement when Raven had denied her fear and made anything scary come to life. She looked over to Robin, and he gave her a warm smile to encourage her. She smiled back and went her own way with Raven following slightly behind her as if only a shadow in the green light of Starfire's starbolt.
Beast Boy turned into a bird and flew above them. He then swooped down close to Robin and made a loud bird cry while flying over his head. Robin jumped with a gasp of surprise while taking out a bird-a-rang. That had freaked him out so much! He then got angry as he saw Beast Boy land as a human next to him while laughing hard.
"You should have seen your face!" Beast Boy said through laughter. "It was priceless!"
"Cut it out!" Robin snapped at him in anger. He wanted to push the changeling to the ground, but he controlled his anger and just stormed off deeper into the darkness of the giant room. He tried to steady his hand that was shaking slightly. Why did he have a feeling that something very bad was going to happen? Maybe he had just not gotten over that thing with the dust yet.
The thought was stupid. Even though Slade had disappeared after helping them defeat Trigon it was not possible that he still wanted Robin. Slade had failed and tried again with Terra. He would not want to try to get Robin back now, would he? Robin shook the thought out of his head. He should not think only about his own safety from Slade.
Robin walked along steadily and trying to not appear freaked out to his team that kept looking to him to make sure everyone was okay. So far everything seemed to be fine and nothing was there. Robin noticed that Starfire was starting to get scared again when she saw a rat. Raven had to walk beside her to calm her down. Cyborg and Beast Boy had teamed up too.
I'm all alone again, Robin thought while glancing over to his other teammates. He pushed the thought out of his head and kept searching. Suddenly the floor under him dropped. He gave a short yell of fear and surprise while trying to pull out his grappling hook. He was then suddenly in a plastic tube as if in a slide.
Robin pointed his grappling hook up and shot into the air. Before he was yanked to a stop, his hip hit the bottom of the slide and he fumbled with the gadget. It fell out of his hands as he kept sliding down the tube. "No!" he yelled while going around a corner. He tried to get to stop by hanging onto the side, but they were too slippery and he was going too fast.
Robin thought fast and pulled out one of his bird-a-rangs and slammed it down into plastic to slow down. The weapon barely touched the slid when suddenly Robin was falling into another room. He landed on his feet in the room with a wince. He felt his right ankle snap from landing so hard on the metal floor. He gave a small yell of pain while trying to get up.
"Where am I?" he asked himself while looking around. He was trapped in a small plastic room that was bathroom stall sized. The floor had little holes in it. This did not look good. It sent a flash of panic into Robin's body and his heart started to race and he was breathing hard.
"You're mine, Robin," someone said from a speaker in the small cage.
"No!" Robin said while backing up into the wall behind him in shock. It was Slade. "You're dead," he said. "This is just in my head. This is not real." He took out another one of his bird-a-rangs and threw it at the opposite wall. It bounced back at Robin, and the teen had to catch it before it hit him.
"You're not getting out of there anytime soon," came Slade's voice again. Robin saw two figures walk up to the box he was in. It was Slade and Red X. Robin was in total shock as he saw the two people. How could he think this all up? This time it was real! His feelings had been right this whole time. He made a quick mental note to stick with his gut feeling for the rest of his life.
"I'm getting out of here," Robin muttered to himself while running up to the other wall. He winced as his ankle sent a jolt of pain. He stumbled a bit on the floor because now he could only use one foot to avoid extreme pain. Robin took out a small bomb he had created for times like these. He put it on the wall then ran over to the opposite wall and prepared for the explosion.
Sure, the explosion was big, but it did nothing but leave a black mark. When the smoke cleared Robin stared at the mark in disbelief. Then purple mist started to come up from the holes in the floor. Now Robin freaked. He could feel the sleeping effects start only after two seconds. Robin's vision started to fuzz up as he tried to stay awake. He fell to his hands and knees then finally passed out.
- Jake -
"Suit up quickly," Slade ordered Jake while handing him Robin's outfit. "The others will wonder where Robin is."
Jake did everything in silence and a frown planted on his face. Slade knew that he did not want to do this at all but was ignoring his sour attitude. He dressed quickly then was handed the mask. He gave a sigh of defeat then put it on. When he was done he looked exactly like the young leader. He had cut his hair and died the blond part back to its normal color.
Slade looked him over with a nod. He was very pleased. "If both of you were standing by each other I would never be able to tell the difference," he said while smiling under his mask. "Amazing how the two of you look so much alike."
"No," Jake said. "Its not amazing. Its just scary."
Slade gave another shrug as if he did not care. Robin was in his hands now. Jake had to be placed back into the Titan's. He nodded to the new Robin and the teen walked over to a door and disappeared into the darkness.
It baffled Jake that Slade could make a whole layer underground right under a warehouse without anyone really knowing. He had slipped under the careful watch of the Teen Titans so easily. Slade had told him about the dust thing and how Robin thought he saw Slade even though he was not there. Of course Slade had activated it to test Robin. And of course Robin had passed it with flying colors. Jake just had to know about that small detail about Robin's life so he would not make a mistake if one of the Titans talked to him about it.
Jake finally made it to the surface right outside the warehouse. He ran to the door to the warehouse and peeked in to see the other Titans searched desperately for Robin. They were calling his name and looking everywhere. Jake took a deep breath to calm himself then walked inside. No turning back now.
"Robin!" Starfire yelled while spotting him. She quickly flew up to Jake and hugged him. He winced, as his bones seemed to be crushed under her alien strength. She finally let him with a smile. He forced a smile and remembered Slade telling him that Robin had a bit of a crush on Starfire. It would be easy for Jake to like her.
"What happened to you, man?" Cyborg asked him as he and the others ran up to Jake. They all looked so worried about Robin. Too bad this was the wrong Robin. Jake felt so bad for lying to them. But he had to stay focused or Valentine would pay for it. So how would Robin react to this? When he was now placed in the teen's shoes he really did not know for sure.
"Trap door," Jake said quickly. He had changed his voice to sound like Robin's. He was pretty good at sounding like other people. He had picked it up in the orphanage on boring rainy days to entertain some of the other kids. Valentine loved it when he would do the voices of the Teen Titans when he told her fights he had with them as Red X. He missed her already.
"The door just lead to someplace underground," he added. "I found stairs that went outside. Nothing was there, though. But have you found anything?"
"Nothing, dude," Beast Boy said. "I guess we came down here for nothing. Another night wasted!"
Jake nodded then said, "Let's search the other warehouses." He really did hate to make the others look all night for someone who was not even there. He could not even believe that he was making it this far. He could not believe he was doing this!
"Fine," Beast Boy moaned while walking out of the building. The others followed right behind him with as much emotion he was showing.
As they quickly walked over to the next warehouse, Raven levitated next to Jake to talk. "You think too much about Red X," she said to him in a voice only the two could hear. "If we do not find him here then let me take up the case."
Jake looked to the ground in thought. This must have been a subject the two had been talking about right before the big switch. He went with what he knew of the Boy Wonder and started to wing it with her. "I'll take care of it, Raven," Jake said with some sternness in his voice.
"But I want to help," Raven said. "You can't fight him all by yourself, Robin. It is about time you let one of us give you some help. You are not in this alone." She was about to touch his shoulder to try to figure out his emotions. They were really mixed up right now and it felt like he was a complete stranger. Yet this was Robin. Her very best friend that had always been there for her. She guessed that she just needed to meditate.
"I'll be fine without you," Jake said quickly and moving slightly away so she could not touch him. That was one thing Slade had told him a lot. Don't let Raven touch him. He never said why.
"Hey, look over there!" Cyborg said to them. He pointed to a truck starting up in the maze of small warehouses. They had not seen it through the thick fog till it had started up and shown its lights.
Jake gave a silent sigh. He had felt Raven try to pry into his head the whole time they talked. She knew something was different about him. If they had talked any longer he would have been found out. This new distraction from Slade was perfect.
"Titans go!" Jake yelled while pointing at the truck driving away. He smiled at the power those two words possessed. The whole team flew into action in less than seconds.
Cyborg grabbed the bumper of the truck and easily stopped it there in its tracks. He gave a small grunt when the person driving it sped up to get away. Starfire used her strength to rip off the top of the car as if she was opening a can of soda. She gave a small scream from surprise when a net popped out of the car and tangled her up in it. She quickly used her starbolts to cut her way through.
The car doors opened and the Titans were surprised to see five people step out wearing all black. Jake was not very scared. These were really Slade's new robots that were programmed to know every move the Titans had. They were better than his others were. Jake had fought one for a few minutes and he would have to say that it had been a good challenge.
"Take them down," Jake said to his new team. He pretended like he knew what he was doing by pulling whatever was in his back pocket out. Ah, the Bo Staff. The only thing Jake had no idea how to fight with. Just his crappy luck doing its magic on him. Of all the weapons he could have taken out he had to pick this one. He could not just put it back. He would look stupid and any one of the Titans could start to wonder.
They all seemed to attack at once with no hesitation. They all choose their own person to fight quickly and went into action. Starfire flew above her robot with her eyes and hands glowing a brilliant green. She started to skillfully throw as many starbolts she could muster at one time at the robot. The thing easily did a few flips to get away from her attack. It jumped onto the top of the truck and slammed into her in mid-air. They both smashed into a warehouse and bricks started to rain down on the ones below.
As this was going on, Beast Boy was backing up away from his own robot with a small smile on his face. The robot lunged at him and the green teen quickly turned into a cat and ran through his legs. He turned sharply around while morphing into a panther. A deep growl escaped his mouth as he pounced on the robot. But the thing was stronger than what Beast Boy had expected and after being brought down he kicked Beast Boy into the air.
Cyborg and his robot were going at it with intense punches and kicks. Cyborg was slammed up against the truck with a small yell of surprise of how hard this person could punch. He looked up as Starfire kicked her robot off her and sent the thing into another warehouse. Suddenly a dumpster dropped on top of the robot trying to punch Cyborg again.
"Thanks, Rae!" Cyborg yelled up to his friend. Raven gave a silent nod from where she was levitating above the others and picking up random things to fight these new foes. She spotted the person who she thought was Robin and stuck her hand out at a few fallen bricks to make them levitate.
Jake gave a loud battle yell while slamming the Bo Staff down on the robot. It seemed to do nothing to it. Boy, these things were strong! Jake gave up on the weird staff and put it back. He would have to practice more with it later. He took out a bird-a-rang with a sly smile on his face. He threw it like he would one of his X's and the thing got stuck in the robot's shoulder.
Beast Boy landed with a loud 'uuff' next to Jake. The teen looked down at the changeling with a bit of surprise. Beast Boy got up with a wince then winked to Jake before throwing himself back into battle. It was odd how much these guys could take. Giving up was never an option, and Jake loved seeing that in someone else.
Jake had to quickly duck to dodge another attack from his robot. He rolled to his side and threw another bird-a-rang at the thing. A brick suddenly whacked into the back of the robot's head and sent it stumbling forward into Jake's roundhouse kick. Jack then flung the robot into a brick wall. It finally slumped to the ground in sparking bits. It was dead.
"Dude, look out!" Beast Boy shouted to Jake as he saw the robot he had been battling came at Jake. The teen spun around while taking out two bird-a-rangs from his belt. In a flash he had the robot cut. It fell to the floor in three pieces that twitched a little.
"Victory!" Starfire cheered while gracefully flying up to Jake with a wide smile on her face. The rest of the team gathered up around Jake with smiles for winning a good battle.
"Let's celebrate!" Beast Boy said while pumping his fist into the air.
Jake smiled at his actions. He guessed that Robin let them do that a lot. "Where to?" he asked them.
"Aw, yes!" Cyborg said. "How 'bout a milkshake?"
"Oh, yes, please," Starfire said while smiling again. "I adore the shaking of the milk!"
"Sure," Raven said without even a shrug. She was just thinking about how Robin was acting. He was normal but different. She just could not place a finger on it. She studied him closely. Somehow he was not the Robin she knew. She would figure it out by herself. Her teammates might not be able to see him differently, but she sure could.
A/N: Okay, to answer the big question of who Red X will start to like. First, the romance is very and I mean very little! It is just going to come in handy later on in the story. Sorry to disappoint y'all. And I don't want to tell you who he likes because where is the fun in that? I like to keep you guys guessing all the way. And you will see more of Red X and not Jake later on. Robin is coming in too a lot, so don't complain about not seeing him often when the fic is about him. Just be good little readers and review. Heck, just say what you want. I don't really care!
And I want to ask you readers a small favor. I'm going to New York City in a few days for a mission trip with my youth group for two whole weeks! Don't worry. I will write in the subway. But what I will be doing is going up and talking to random people. If the subject of God comes up then it will be good. But my team is not forcing it down people's throats. But I'm really scared of talking to strangers. I would rather sky dive! So if you can, please pray for me. Just a small favor. But I think I'll have a blast. NYC is so much fun! Thanks you guys. Please give a review!
