"Although, I know it's unfair I reveal myself one mask at a time."
Stephen Dunn

Titans Phantom

Chapter 10: The Masks of Two Heroes

Part One

Slade sat high up on his thrown, the pendulums in the background turning nosily in their disharmonious state. It was dark, cast in hues of black and melted gold, with its master watching the screen from the camera well placed on the beach. It was zoomed in such way that it caught the movement of five teens looking tired, but relieved as they entered their Tower after attending to a minor bank robbery with some worthless criminal. Well this just would not due, the man thought. His plans were already in motion; he'd leaked the information into the Underworld, now, all he had to do was wait. But Phantom was not among them, and Slade had no way of finding the teen…well almost none. His one black eye drifted over to the side where the screen displayed Danny's bookstore, a smirk plastered itself on the man's hidden face. It was time to test the waters.

It was half past five when Danny managed to untangle himself from the covers. Slowly, he sat up, feeling the fuzzy white carpet sink between his toes as he stood and headed for the bathroom. The lights were too bright and the hot water did nothing to sooth the dull ache still pulling at his spine, but as Danny changed into a deep sea green turtle neck with baggy grey washed sweatpants, what caught his attention was his eyes, which were red rimmed and cheeks slightly puffy from tears earlier shed. It made him look…younger. He looked fourteen again, not sixteen. The teen quickly pushed all thought from his head, opened the door and headed up the wooden steps into the store.

Fixit had been handing a girl a strawberry muffin at the small café when he spotted Danny move to sit behind the chestnut countertop his head resting lightly on his hand, blue eyes hidden beneath raven black hair.

"You should still be asleep," Fixit said floating over to the counter top taking a seat next to the teen. Danny let out a snort.

"Couldn't, and besides, I won't be able to sleep tonight as is. Hey, what day is it?" Danny asked noting the afternoon sunlight drifting in.

"It's still Wednesday, you've only been asleep for the day. Now, do you mind telling me where you've been for the past three days?" Fixit asked stretching the 'three days' part while shooting his best glare at Danny, who merely rolled his eyes.

"Fine. But first, tell me how yours went."

The teen had been surprised to learn of everything that had happened in only three days. He felt proud that Fixit had managed to ward off angry shoppers, place orders for twenty different people per day, and reorganize the upstairs comic book section to fit in Mega Monkeys, and new seats in the lounge for the growing Geek Club which is what they called themselves. Danny found that part pretty hilarious. Overall, he couldn't help but smile as his friend informed him of the daily life Danny had grown accustomed to. It also helped when Fixit told him how much revenue they were bringing in from the comic book and gothic poem collections. But with one questioning glance Danny began to explain what happened the night he left to patrol the city for the first reemergence of ghosts.

At first the raven haired teen was hesitant to speak on what he'd been feeling when he realized he'd been trapped as a human in his ghost form or how he'd woken up in Titan's Tower with the five teens looking down on him like he was the most important thing in the world, a sharp pain digging into his neck. Fixit hadn't been to happy when Danny explained that the Titans took him on a mission in order to monitor his uncontrollable powers. But was glad at how the Titans all bravely entered the Ghost Zone for him in order to get to Frostbite. And for the first time in over a year Danny felt himself beginning to open up, pushing himself to go beyond the world he'd shut himself in. Once finished, Fixit sat on the stool next to him lost in thought, watching while Danny told a customer where to find the books on Ancient Roman literature. Finally, after much deliberation the robot spoke.

"So since you were human, breaking your neck directly interfered with your powers."

"Probably," Danny said sitting back down, "but my powers most likely were already screwed up from the Puppet King since he tried to drag out my soul, which my powers are directly tied to, my bones snapping just made it worse…o.k. make that a lot worse. I'd probably be completely dead now since my body couldn't change back," he said rubbing his neck nervously. The simple words" by being dead I'm alive" ringing in his ears. The confusion and fear in Danny's ice blue eyes did not go unmissed by Fixit. He knew the teen was still holding back, Fixit let out a frustrated sigh,

"I see," and with this he let the subject drop.

Robin was staring at a simple article written by Harriet Chinn for the Harold News. It had never been released, but mysteriously turned up on the internet after she'd been let go from the prestigious company. It was bold, and on it the picture of a ghost and a man in an orange hazmat suit were fighting it out. The caption, 'The Wisconsin Ghost, the Eye Opening Experience'. It was the exact same ghost who they'd seen at the theater, the one who'd called Phantom his son. Although, Robin was sure Phantom hadn't heard that, and the Titans were all pretty sure the ghost called Plasmius wasn't Phantom's father, simply due to the pure look of hatred in his glowing green eyes. But still, the question was why? Why was Plasmius going after Phantom? First in Wisconsin, when Harriet briefly said there was another ghost present, one with glowing green eyes and snow white hair, then Amity Park, and now here. Was the vampire ghost really that obsessed? Why did he want Phantom as his son, and how far was he willing to go? All of these questions were turning through Robin's mind, but the most troubling question was how is Danny Fenton involved in all of this? For it seemed that wherever he went Phantom followed, and wherever the ghost teen went, Plasmius followed. And then there were the whole separate questions for Phantom himself. Not to mention Danny. All in all the boy wonder found his mind staring at a triangle of questions, with no answers, and no way to connect the dots. So focused on the matter at hand, Robin nearly missed the flashing red monitor on the computer indicating the possible whereabouts of Slade's next attack. Quickly, the teen opened the file and read the chatter of the Underworld.

Danny and Fixit had just finished closing up shop; it was around seven-thirty, the red sun filtering in through the windows, casting the shop in a beautiful array of browns and gold. Slowly, Danny made his rounds through the shelves reorganizing and picking up books left on the seats, as he moved through the stacks he never noticed the shadow following him. Slade watched, his eye picking apart the teen's movements from his relaxed posture to the way his muscles rippled beneath the long green shirt. The man couldn't help the smirk cross his face while watching Danny who steadily seemed to tense, ice blue eyes beginning to scan unknowingly looking for something that made his sixth sense scream out in nervousness.

"Danny?"

Said teen spun to face Fixit, who floated down the aisle his blue eyes bright with confusion.

"Is something wrong?" Fixit asked noting the teen's stiff posture, his legs set in such away he looked ready to jump ten feet in the air. Slowly, the muscles loosened, and Danny relaxed running his hand through black hair.

"Yeah I'm fine. There something you need?" Danny asked placing a book back on the shelf.

"Yes, we have run out of food, and I am preparing to go restock. I just need you to check over the list and make sure everything's there," he said extending his arm, the list resting lightly in his long spidery fingers. Danny took it scanning through it, a slight frown on his face. Once done he handed it back glaring fake daggers at Fixit.

"You're never going to let me eat Pop-Tarts again, are you?" He replied the question more of a statement. To this the robot smiled broadly.

"Never."

Danny sighed. "Fine, I hope they've run out of Penz Oil," he said Fixit merely rolled his eyes and promised he'd buy real pastries, the compromise worked, and the robot left, leaving Danny smiling as he continued his rounds, brushing off his earlier fear. Until he heard the creak of the wooden railing.

Danny coiled like a snake, his eyes snapping up to where Slade stood balancing on the strong wood his one eye glistening maliciously.

"Come now, Danny, I'm not here to fight," Slade said watching Danny's frame shake in anger, only his fists seemed to hold a slight tremble.

"Then why are you here?" Danny spat his voice strong, even while he felt fear clawing at his throat.

"For information, tell me do you know what these are?" He asked throwing down a small screen which Danny caught with ease, immediately recognizing the three disks being displayed on it. They were a part of DALV's scientific center. One of Vlad's more fruit-loopy plans, each disk contained different sectors that were in the industry. The first disk lined in red contained experimental testing on the chemical Xanthium for weapons and energy supply in competition against Wayne Enterprises. The second disk in blue held the new engineering plans for the construction of a fusion chamber. But the last disk, the one lined in green, made Danny's heart drop, for that was the disk that contained all of the knowledge on the structure of halfa's and ghosts molecular structures, with the Fenton's guide to building anti-ghost weaponry. It was the disk Vlad had sworn to destroy after Danny learned about it. Apparently the fruitloop lied. Not that he hadn't expected that, letting out a growl Danny threw the display screen back in Slade's face who merely chuckled not knowing that the teen's clenched fists were an attempt to control his powers.

"What's the matter? Afraid?"

"Go to hell. You're not getting those disks," Danny spat, preparing to leap.

"Oh, but my plans are so much greater than that. Besides, there's only one disk I'm particularly interested in," he said and with this Slade jumped into the stacks barely missing the fist aimed at his chest. Danny stood on the wooden railing catching his breath, looking at the spot Slade had disappeared too.

"Damnit," Danny said. He needed a plan, one that involved getting a hold of the green disk– that contained all of Danny's parents' stolen blueprints mind you– and all of Vlad's own research. But first he needed to know where the disk was being kept. Jumping back onto the first floor the teen raced for the phone, he somehow misplaced his cell phone about a month ago, how he had no idea, but quickly Danny dialed, it was only on its first ring before someone picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Fixit?" Danny asked.

"Who else would I be?" Fixit asked lightly.

"Normally, I'd say something witty or snarky back, but right now we have a big problem," the teen replied instantly catching the robots attention.

"What do you need me to do?" Fixit asked his tone serious. Danny could almost picture the look of determination on his face.

"Well how good are you at hacking into a billionaire fruit-loop's insane security system?" Danny heard a snort of amusement and knew they were off to a good start.

Robin and his team moved into position, waiting silently in the dark room, one red disk rotating like a prize on the podium as the man dressed in black and bronze jumped down through the air vent a full mask covering his face. Robin appeared from the shadows, a scowl on his face.

"Tell Slade if he wants this, he can come get it himself!" He sprung into action his leg kicking the thief square in the chest. The fluorescent lights turned on, revealing the five Titans in the large computer built room which quickly filled with enemies. They leapt into action.

Danny and Fixit were down in the lab the robots red eyes focused on the computer, his hands flying across the keys, green encryption codes falling prey to his masterful mind. Danny couldn't help his nervousness, his patience wearing thin, his foot began to tap incessantly.

"You know, keeping rhythm won't make me go any faster," Fixit said his fingers never faltering. Danny blushed his foot going silent.

"Sorry. You almost done, I really need to know where the fruitloop stored the green disk."

Fixit shook his head.

"Almost, Masters has some pretty hard firewalls, not to mention the viruses encoded designed to infect my system. Why did you let him keep such a thing?" Fixit asked, the fourth wall broken. Danny frowned.

"I didn't. I watched him destroy it along with the lab, besides I was a little preoccupied to double check," Danny finished his hair falling in his eyes, Fixit paused momentarily before he typed in the final code.

"I'm in, now to search the main frame of DALV's in Jump City," Danny sighed in relief as Fixit got to work.

The Titans were being overwhelmed by the hoard of men attacking, their weapons fired burning golden beams that severed whatever they hit. Robin barely made it in time to pull Star out of the way of a falling flood light, both froze as three men prepared to fire. The teens jumped slightly when a giant square computer, roughly six feet tall, slammed into them. Cyborg brushing off his hands, a smile on his face.

"Amazing what you can do with computers these days," Cy said jumping back into the fray.

Fixit paused, his red eyes raised in surprise.

"What?" Danny asked.

"The central DALV Company is under attack."

Panic flashed across the teen's face.

"Is the disk there?" He asked fearing the worst.

"I can't confirm, so far I've only narrowed the search down to five buildings that seem to be missing information, all of which run on a separate system, meaning that if I'm not there, I can't hack their system," Fixit said his eyes turning ocean blue, a frustrated frown on his face. Danny raced out of the room heading for the training area, the robot quickly followed.

"Fixit, I need you to design a hard drive that'll allow you to hack and download all the information from this location. I can't risk you going into battle and getting hurt got it?" Danny asked entering the room and headed for the black ninja outfit hanging on the wall.

"I understand," Fixit watched as the teen pulled on the uniform put the sword on his belt, snatched up a Fenton phone and left.

Raven dodged another attack; the men were becoming more violent. She pulled up a dome black shield as the attack hit her square on. She could only stare in horror at the two deep gouges in the metal ground that would have cut her in half. Slade wasn't fooling around, he really wanted them dead. And what was worse was that these men, if they were men, held no emotional distress at what they were assigned to do. She looked up to the charging man; a fist aimed at her face, the thin black shield was an automatic response, her mind taking over in its desire to defend. Raven hadn't expected him to take out her legs, she hit the floor with a thud the man looming over her, weapon aimed at her heart. It crackled with energy, the green ram slammed into the goon with such force Raven was sure Beast Boy had shattered the guys' bones. She stood up eyes wide at a smiling Beast Boy.

"You owe me big time!" He said in a sing song voice, repeating the phrase even as another goon ran from behind him the charging of his weapon, the only warning.

"Wahh!" BB screamed a black computer sheet slammed into the attacker, who dropped like a fly. Sheepishly, Beast Boy turned to Raven who now looked annoyed her hands on her hips.

"Heh, call it even?" He asked.

Cyborg and Starfire were firing at the man in the black bronze mask who dodged with ease flying over them, snatching the red disk and running down the hall. Robin let his boomerang sore knocking the disk out of his hand.

"Mine!" Beast Boy shouted, his long anteater tongue wrapping around the chip. He felt the crunch of a boot and soon he let go his now human eyes watering, the man taking possession of the disk and rejoined the group of five who all disappeared in the smoke bomb.

"That tasted so nasty," BB said.

"Titans, Go!" Robin yelled running towards the only exit, the team hot on his trail.

They ran down the hallway into the main area revealing six doors in its hex-like shape, everyone paused.

"Spilt up!" Robin yelled. Each one of the team members dashed through a double door, Robin looked down at the barred drain in the center of the room leading to the sewers, and he was going down. The water splashed up his knees as he landed, the dim light catching the movement as one man dashed around the corner. Robin gave chase, dodging the attacks in a flip and roll, countering with his own metal disks, which were easily destroyed. The man ran down another tunnel throwing a grenade at the entrance. Robin watched through the small window of rocks and pipes as Slade's man disappeared down the tunnel. He approached a dead end and took out his weapon firing a steady golden beam cutting a wide circle revealing the outside world and a hundred foot drop into the sea. Starfire floating in the air worry on her face.

"I am asking you nicely to stop running and…"

She never finished her sentence when he fired, Star's tough skin being enough to handle the attack, but the pain encroached on her vision. Soon she was falling, staring blankly while the man jumped, his boots activating, rockets propelled him upwards. Robin raced forward through the tunnel not hesitating to jump, one grappling hook wrapping around Starfire, the other around the man's shoulders pulling him down. He fell like a rock before jerking forwards speeding towards the shore as Robin screamed from behind, dragging Starfire along. They crashed on shore, and Starfire woke up to the feeling of a fish in her mouth she quickly spat it out. She jumped when she heard Robin's voice.

"Now talk! Who's Slade? Why does he want this chip? And why are you working for…" Robin trailed off as he yanked the mask away revealing the TV screen of the robot and Slade staring at him through the monitor.

"Excellent work, Robin," Slade said a gear turning in the back ground.

"Slade," Robin growled.

"Really, I think your skills are improving," he said his tone serious.

"No more games, what do you want?" Robin snapped out. The robot lifeless in his grip, Slade shook his head in disappointment.

"But you do lack patience. If you're really so curious about my intentions perhaps we should meet, face to face?" He said his tone calm and never changing.

"Tell me where you're hiding and I'll be there in a heartbeat!" Robin snapped Slade merely drew back.

"Patience, Robin, patience," the screen died in a fireball of electricity, none of which Robin could recover. Robin stood his muscles tense, his anger clear. Slowly, Star approached her forest green eyes concerned.

"Robin?" Was all she asked, but he gave no reply.

Danny had made it to DALV corporations just as the Titans were returning the chip; quickly, he slipped into the shadows, Robin ordering the guards to never let the chip leave their sight. He watched as the Titans left, anger radiating from Robin which made Danny very nervous until they were gone. It was then he noticed the layout of the main hall, the hexagon fractal code in his parents designs, the sewer entrance representing the central memory key, the teen felt his blood boil. That stupid fruitloop, it was like he was begging the government to come and discover how to build anti-ghost weaponry, very effective weapons at that. Shaking off his desire to scream and go ghost, Danny had to remind himself he wasn't allowed to transform for three painfully long days. So with some deep breathing and a few promises to beat the living daylights out of Vlad, Danny stealthily moved forward down the hall to catch a glimpse of the disk. He practically sighed in relief when he saw red floating in the room the guards positioned on either side.

Disappearing into darkness, Danny sat down, his ice blue eyes observing the entire room from above, his mind trying to sort through the facts. First, Slade obviously wanted only one chip and if Danny was right, it was the green one. Second, Slade was going after him as Phantom, the question was why. Third, by attacking here it meant he didn't know which building housed the green chip, Danny felt relief at that. Unfortunately, it meant he didn't know either. Fourth, since Slade didn't get the disk, it meant he was going to try again. All Danny had to do was wait here. But the one question that sent chills down the teen's spine was the look on Robin's face when he and the Titans walked away, leaving Danny with only one thought. Just how far was Robin willing to go to take down Slade?

Robin had locked himself in his second room, it was spacious if not for the papers littering the floor and plastered on the wall. The desk, lit by only one overhanging light, was scattered with broken weapons and papers filled with Slade and Plasmius. Two unrelated villains, yet Robin couldn't help but focus only on Slade. Pushing every thought of Phantom and Danny out of his mind, Robin got to work. Every taught, every challenge, every praise rung in his ears.

"Who are you?" Robin asked frustration leaking out in the dark room, the sliding door opened filling the room with temporary light, Starfire entered hesitantly.

"Robin? I am wondering if you might wish to…"

"No," the teen answered with his face hardening, glaring down at the shattered mask on his desk. It took a second to realize who he was talking to he began making amends but only that.

"…thanks. But I need to figure out why Slade wanted that chip," Robin said, for the first time turning to see Starfire's brilliant green eyes.

"Agreed. And perhaps if you were to…take a break the answer would be easier to…"

Again she was cut off, the smile on Star's face disappearing as Robin spoke the simple words "I can't," pain spilling through his well controlled mask.

"You almost got hurt," he said approaching where she stood just outside the door. "Next time it could be worse. He's planning something, I have to find out what," Robin finished his voice growing softer as his thoughts began to run through all manners of theories and facts, still he came up with nothing just a simple option.

"But Robin, I am sure…" Star tried again, but the boy wonder didn't even hesitate to close the door. The girl lowered her head in silent defeat. Robin looked at the lone desk sitting in the abysmal room, he'd made his decision.

It was well into the night when the alarm system went off once more, red lights flashing; Danny instantly straightened while the guards left the room. Silently, he slid out his sword blue eyes searching when suddenly a being came into existence beside the podium. Shocked Danny stood frozen to the spot his mind racing, this teen obviously wasn't dead since his ghost sense hadn't gone off, but how did he do that? Calming his heart, the raven haired teen began to observe this new enemy. He had a skull for a mask, a red X on the forehead running down one eye and he dressed all in black, a blood red X placed over his heart, slashing downwards into his stomach, his belt looked pure silver, and held the highest technology along with his gloves and boots that would have made Tucker drool, not to mention the waist black cape made him appear bad ass. Overall, Danny had to give him credit, he looked like a villain. So why had he suddenly decided to appear? Most criminals wouldn't dare go after technology this hot because it was too risky to fence, not to mention the tightened security. Although, since the guards were locked out, Danny guessed it mustn't have been too hard to get in here.

Red X grabbed the chip when the doors exploded, the two guards running in and instantly fired, quickly Danny slipped away after all, there was only one exit now, and he needed to get there before this teen did. So he headed up.

The Teen Titans were waiting on the roof, Danny had barely made it to the shadows when they had appeared only Robin was missing. Listening closely, he heard Cy's communicator go off a video screen appearing on his arm.

"I'm working a Slade lead on the far side of town, sure you guys can handle this without me?" Robin asked.

"No problem," Cy said smirking the other's nodded, the transmission ended. Danny felt his phone vibrate; reaching up to his ear, he turned on the blue tooth to his Fenton phone.

"You heard that?" Danny whispered to Fixit through the line, praying that Beast Boy didn't have super hearing with those big pointy ears.

"Indeed. Robin is not there."

"Fixit, I want you to see if that lead is true. If he's chasing down a Slade lead, I need to know where."

"Understood," with this Fixit hung up and Danny disconnected, the creak of metal doors could be heard, Red X emerged onto the roof. The Titans moved forward catching Red X's attention, Cyborg activating his sonic cannon.

"You working for Slade, tough guy?" He asked. His voice a growl as Red X tensed preparing for battle.

"Red X works alone," he said and with this he fired a blood red X from his palm and Cyborg returned fire, his sonic cannon hitting it dead on the explosion cancelling the attacks out. Soon, Red X was dodging the attacks, and Danny watched as he alone took down each Titan. He launched attack after attack covering Beast Boy in red goo holding the teen in place no matter which animal he morphed into. He bound Starfire and covered Raven's mouth in X's. And with Cyborg he tapped into his computer system wired in his back and shut him down, leaving Cy to only yell profanities. It was then Danny had enough, as Red X began to run for the ledge of the building he moved from the shadows revealing his form and stopping the teen in his tracks.

"Who are you?" Red X asked his voice mechanically cautious. Danny's only reply was to raise his sword. They fought. Red's attacks all were being blocked by the swordsman. Slowly, Red X began to realize that the stranger was only on the defensive, soon he'd switch and this caused fear to spring in the teen's heart. Quickly, Red X made a dash for the ledge, he heard the swish of the blade cut through the air as he soared into the sky, twisting, he fired one burning X which hit its mark, but the strange swordsman only stumbled back instead of being thrown. Red X caught sight of ice blue eyes before he allowed invisibility to cover him, and he disappeared into the night.

Danny stood on the ledge, his sword grasped limply in hand while he tried to catch his breath, the smell of chemical Xanthium filling his nose. Danny let out a small growl, knowing he'd have a nice big bruise on his chest for the day, but the knowledge that if Red X had so chosen, he could have used that chemical to incinerate him instead gave him pause. This only filled the teen with more questions of who Red X was. Looking at the fallen Titans, only confirmed that Red X was someone who was not a villain. Slowly, Danny made his way over to Cyborg placing his sword back into its sheath.

"Fixit?" Danny whispered.

"Don't worry, just speak normally, I've modified the Fenton phone to alter your voice. Danny breathed a sigh of relief stopping short when Starfire and Raven took defensive positions even though both girls couldn't fight. Danny held up his hands in surrender.

"Relax, I'm only going to help," Danny tried not to jump at the sound of his voice, for it sounded too deep and smooth. It reminded him of Dan only far less evil. Still it didn't stop the teen from mentally flinching when Titans only held their ground.

"Why should we trust you?" Cy said sounding menacing even though he was face first on the pavement. Danny let out a sigh.

"Look, you can talk me through resetting your system as soon as I free Starfire so she and Raven can help Beast Boy, or I can stand here all night and watch you four do the funny chicken."

"Hey!" BB yelled. The five teens all stood in silence for a minute before Starfire approached Danny, her eyes studying his every movement.

"If you wish to help then please do so."

Danny nodded and pulled out a small ornate dagger, its handle as intricately carved as his sword. Carefully, he slipped the blade between her and the X and set to work. It was a tricky process, the red binding hard to cut without nicking Starfire, and in the silence all Titans observed Danny.

This teen looked like he'd stepped out of the feudal era in Japan: his black haori tied in a traditional silver knot, the same color as his long collar, his black pants flowing out until being clasped by the black boots. His hands were covered in sliver silk almost looking white, the long black selves stopping just before his wrists. And a wrapped half black mask covered his nose down to his neck the long material flowing down his back in two strips, revealing only two ice blue eyes which were hidden beneath the black monk hat, along with his midnight hair. With a last tug the material came free, and Starfire gratefully stretched her arms.

"Thank you…"

Danny merely shook his head. "Go help your friends." A flicker of disappointment crossed Star's face, but she did as instructed while Cyborg talked Danny through his systems. Fixit offered advice in the teen's ear. The growing suspicion of who Red X was weighing down like a weight in Danny's stomach.

"Rumor has it your interested in this," Red X said holding up the red chip. Slade merely stood his ground looking back at the man on the screen his gray eye emotionless to the man who managed to hack into his computer system.

"I'm interested in many things Mr.?"

"X. Red X."

"Hm. Catchy. So are you proposing a sale? Or a gift?" Slade asked his half bronze mask hidden in the darkness voice dripping in maliciousness.

"A partnership; I give you the chip, you cut me in on your plans," Red X said his eyes narrow.

"A partnership my, my… we are ambitious. But an alliance cannot be forged from one small chip, if you're going to win my trust I'll require more," Slade said the challenge rising in his voice.

"Just tell me what you want."

Slade smiled beneath his mask.

It was early in the morning when the Teen Titans finally came home. All of them gathering in the kitchen watching Starfire cut chunks of red goo out of Beast Boy's hair.

"I had no idea Red X would pose such a threat, I should have been there," Robin said his arms crossed behind his back.

"You bet you should have been there, look what he did to my doo! I'm lookin' at two months of bad hair days!" Beast Boy shouted while Starfire sat on the countertop cutting down BB's hair making it spike out all over the place. Raven tried to speak, her face angry, the team followed her gestures to the X still wrapped around her mouth. What she wanted was clear.

"I don't know Raven, that's kind of a good look for you," BB said, Raven glared daggers.

"Hold still," Cyborg said while the rest of the team already began to cringe even before he ripped off the X. BB and Star screamed matching Raven's thoughts as the nasty red mark vanished from her light gray skin.

"Ow. Even if you had been there, it wouldn't have made any difference," Raven said her hand rubbing her slightly swollen lips.

"Dude knew exactly how to bring each of us down. I guarantee he had a gadget with your name on it," Cyborg said holding the little X in his hand.

"Agreed. You need not feel guilt. We are undamaged," Starfire said. She forgot about the scissors in her hands.

"Hello?" Beast Boy said waving his arms madly a scowl on his face.

"Mostly undamaged," Star amended a blush on her face.

"And we are all eager to learn what you have discovered about Slade," she added her eyes shining with hope. Robin merely seemed to pull away his eyes hardening, his voice steely.

"Nothing, lead was a dead end, I should get back to work," he said and when he turned to leave what Star asked next made his blood run cold.

"Perhaps we should call Phantom he could…"

"No!" Robin said causing the team to jump, his mind reeled for an answer."Sorry, Star, but I don't think that's such a good idea he's still recovering, and didn't he say he was staying in the Ghost Zone while his Spectra Speeder was being repaired?"

"Yeah, Star, besides we still have that strange ninja guy to deal with," Cyborg said the team agreed and talked amongst themselves allowing Robin to slip away. Walking down the dark hallway Robin allowed his mind to wander, if Phantom had gotten involved no doubt he'd be exposed, but that still brought into question just who was that other teen, and why did Robin feel like he knew him?

Danny was pacing the lab floor while Fixit added the last touches to the new device, with a final click and a soft beep it was finished.

"Here, this hard drive will allow me to hack and download any information from this location."

Danny paused, absently taking the drive and pocketing it in his long pants, he'd yet to change out of his uniform, and the only things missing were his hat and mask which were thrown haphazardly on a table.

"Thanks," Danny said a small smile on his face before it scrunched up in a look of frustration.

"Red X is still bothering you," Fixit stated, the teen let out a frustrated sigh and flopped down on the tile floor.

"No, it's Robin who's bothering me," Danny said while Fixit joined him on the floor his feet showing beneath the blue robe.

"You believe Robin may be Red X."

Danny nodded half-heartedly trying to deny his thoughts.

"What do you think?" Danny asked.

"I believe it's a strong possibility. The Slade lead was a false trail, and I found no evidence disproving your theory. Plus, if Red X truly were a threat, why did he not kill the Titans back on the roof instead of just leaving them incapacitated?" Fixit asked. The teen closed his eyes and stood heading over to the table to grab his gear. Leaving the robot very confused.

"I do not understand, if Red X is Robin, does this not make things better?"

"No, if anything it makes it worse," Danny said securing the black mask and headed out into the night.