Red

"There is a thin line between those who commit crime and those who stop them. Even though I'm a superhero and on a superhero team, I have crossed that line. I became the Red Hood to get closer to Slade. I stole from innocent people, but I returned all of those items. I hurt my friends, but only gave them minor injuries. Am I the bad guy? Impossible. I'm not like Slade or the clown or Luthor. I'm just trying to do what's right, but I can't seem to. Am I fit to lead this team?" thought Jordan.

"Snap out of it, friend. There he is," said Starfire.

Jordan stops staring at the moon and stops thinking about his morality. He looks in the direction that Starfire is pointing at and sees a shadowy figure enter a warehouse.

"Who is that?" asked Beast Boy.

"Don't know, but we have to put him in a nice comfy cell. That will teach him not to steal. Titans, let's nab a thief," said Jordan.

The Titans hop off the rooftop and run towards the warehouse. Jordan pulls out a gadget and places it on the door. The gadget melts the doorknob and the door quietly opens. The Titans tiptoe to not alert the thief of their presence.

"So, why are we being so stealthy?" asked Beast Boy.

"We don't know how skilled this guy is. We have to be on guard at all times," said Jordan.

"I doubt that a cat burglar would be a threat to us," said Beast Boy.

"Don't be cocky. That could get you killed," said Jordan.

"By whom? A thief that only steals things from warehouses? There's nothing to worry about. I'll just go grab him and we can leave," said Beast Boy.

"Grab me? I don't think that you can do that," said the shadowy thief.

The Titans stop tiptoeing once they hear the voice of the thief and turn to look at him kneeling on a box.

"Don't move. The less you struggle, the less time that you will spend in jail," said Jordan.

"Why would I want to go to jail when I can escape?" asked the shadowy thief.

"Don't do it," said Jordan.

"Who's going to stop me?" asked the shadowy thief.

"Trust me, pal. You're making a big mistake by trying to antagonize us," said Cyborg.

"Me trying to antagonize you? I wasn't trying to do that," said the shadowy thief.

"What are you trying to do?" asked Raven.

"I would love to keep talking, but my way out has appeared," said the shadowy thief.

The shadowy thief runs towards the wall that had just opened. The Titans won't allow their villainous prey to escape and run after him. They continue to run until they reach an elevator shaft. The shadowy thief hops into it and grapples to the next floor. The rest of the Titans hop onto the top of the elevator and Raven uses her magic to make the elevator move upwards. They reach the next floor in seconds and see the shadowy thief start to run again. He reaches some lasers and uses a gadget to deflect them. The Titans follow him and duck under the deflected lasers. They continue to chase the thief until he just stops running once he reaches the light. He turns around and showcases that the Red Hood has returned.

"It's him," said Raven.

"So you have returned huh? It has been a couple years. Did something catch your eye and your itch to steal came back?" said Cyborg.

"Itch to steal? I'm not a petty cat burglar. I'm a whole different class," said Red Hood.

Red Hood pulls out some shurikens from his jacket and throws them at the Titans. They explode in front of the young heroes, but they dodge to escape getting damaged. Raven darts towards the thief and tries to use her magic to launch some boxes at him, but he easily dodges them, jumps into the air, and kicks her away. He tries to throw more explosive shuriken at her, but they are blasted away by Starfire. Starfire launches more Starbolts at the thief, but he dodges them and pulls out a taser. He throws it at the alien girl and electrocutes her until she falls out of the sky. Beast Boy tries to hop in, but Red Hood throws a puddy bomb in his mouth.

"Not again," said Beast Boy disappointingly.

Cyborg runs towards the thief, but he pulls out a claw gadget and uses it to smash multiple boxes on the metal man, but the attack isn't effective. Cyborg gets up in seconds.

"Is that all you got Hood guy? If that is, you won't be getting away this time," said Cyborg.

"Kids, I guess you will never learn," said Red Hood.

Red Hood pulls out a couple smoke bombs and drops them on the ground. The bombs dispense enough smoke for him to vanish in front of the eyes of the Titans.

"Where did he go?" asked Starfire.

"Don't worry. I'll use my scanners to find him," said Cyborg.

"There's no need! I got him!" exclaimed Jordan.

The Titans turn around and see Jordan wrestling on the ground with the Red Hood.

"Where did you get that suit?" asked Jordan.

"Found it. Upgraded it. Are you missing it?" asked Red Hood.

"How did you get into the tower?" asked Jordan.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" asked Red Hood.

"Don't talk then. I'll just rip the suit off of you," said Jordan.

"That won't be easy," said Red Hood.

"I don't want it to be," said Jordan.

"Then taste this!" exclaimed Red Hood.

Red Hood kicks Jordan off of him with both feet. Jordan quickly throws a Claw at the thief, but he jumps over it and tries to kick him in the face, but Jordan moves out of the way at the last second. Jordan then grabs the thief's right leg with his legs and slams him on the ground. He tries to do it again, but Red Hood quickly jumps away. He then tries to tackle Jordan, but Jordan counters the tackle and slams him on the wall.

"Who are you?" asked Jordan.

"If I wanted you to know that, I wouldn't be wearing a mask," said Red Hood.

Red Hood grabs Jordan's left arm and electrocutes him. He then kicks Jordan into a hill of boxes. The Titans reenter the battle and the metal man and sorceress charge at the thief first.

"Azarath Metrion Zin-," said Raven.

Before the two Titans can launch their attacks, they are electrocuted by an electrocuting gadget.

"It seems that your wires crossed. You should make sure that that doesn't happen again," said Red Hood.

Starfire darts towards the thief and launches many Starbolts at him. The thief dodges the projectiles and uses puddy to trap Starfire to the wall.

"The only crime that I committed was not going on a date with a cutie like you," said Red Hood.

"Get off!" exclaimed Starfire.

Starfire shoots some beams from her eyes and launches Red Hood into a large number of boxes.

"You didn't have to reject me like that. You could have just said no," said Red Hood.

Red Hood gets up and starts to run towards the exit to the warehouse. Jordan gets back up and runs after the thief. The thief pulls out some rope and throws it at the legs of the leader. They curl around his legs and force him to fall to the ground.

"You kids were fun to play with, but it's time to leave. Goodbye and thanks for the suit," said Red Hood.

Red Hood grapples to the rooftop and escapes.

"Damn," said Jordan softly.

Forty minutes pass. Jordan now glides through the air over the sea. He sees an observatory and grapples to the telescope. He then hops off the telescope and lands on the floor. Before he can walk, he is almost hit by a blast. He then backflips a few times to avoid the blasts. He hides behind cover and sees that he is being shot by a scientist. He pulls out an explosive Claw and throws it at the scientist. It blows up in front of him and the scientist drops his weapon. Jordan then runs towards the scientist and pounces on him.

"Professor Chang, scientific substance dealer. Where do you get your Zynothium?" said Jordan.

"My dealer skipped town. It's impossible to get anymore. Unless you steal it from somewhere," said Professor Chang.

"Where is this somewhere?" asked Jordan.

"There's a tech company on the South End. Legend says that they hold a large amount of Zynothium ore in their vault, but it's not for sale. You will have to steal it," said Professor Chang.

"I won't fall for your trap. You're just trying to get me to steal your Zynothium for you. You can't trick me," said Jordan.

"How will you get the Zynothium then?" asked Professor Chang.

"I don't want it. I just need to stop someone from taking it," said Jordan.

"Best of luck to you, young hero," said Professor Chang.

"I don't want your pleasantries, Chang," said Jordan.

"But, you hope that you would want them," said Professor Chang.

Fifty minutes pass. Jordan grapples up a building and reaches the rooftop. He looks around the rooftop but finds no one.

"He isn't here yet. Good. Raven, can you hear me?" said Jordan.

"Loud and clear," said Raven.

"I've tracked down some Zynothium to a tech company on the South End. He's going to be here. He has to," said Jordan.

"Why do you believe that?" asked Raven.

"I just know. That warehouse was the warehouse of an infamous Zynothium dealer from Poland. He must be looking for some more," said Jordan.

"Do you need help? If he isn't there, we may be able to find him faster," said Raven.

"I don't need any help. I will need to work on my own to find out who this guy is. I'll know who he is by tomorrow morning," said Jordan.

"Good luck," said Raven.

"I don't believe in luck," said Jordan.

"You should. Weirdly, we keep on meeting at random places," said Red Hood.

Before Jordan can turn around, he is sucker-punched on his blindside. Jordan stumbles back and sees the thief hop into the building from an open window.

"Follow the leader huh? Fine, I'll play your game," said Jordan.

Jordan hops through the window and follows the thief. He runs through the halls but doesn't find the thief. He continues to run until he sees something from the corner of his eye and quickly turns around.

"So, you want to play? I understand. These are your toys after all," said Red Hood.

Red Hood pulls out a lot of explosive shurikens and throws them at Jordan. Jordan ducks and the explosive shurikens hit a panel and open the door behind the thief. The thief proceeds to backflip through the lasers. Jordan follows the thief and copies the same movements. Red Hood reaches a forcefield and throws a gadget at it, disabling it for a few seconds until he can get through it. Jordan pulls out his gadget and breaks the forcefield. He lands on the floor and walks down the hall until he sees a floor checkered like a chessboard.

"What is this?" asked Jordan.

"After you," said Red Hood.

Red Hood pushes Jordan onto the floor and it turns red once he reaches it. A large laser cannon appears from the ceiling and starts to fire at Jordan. Jordan runs away to avoid being melted to smithereens while Red Hood causally grapples across the room.

"Thanks for the hand, kid, but your help is no longer needed," said Red Hood.

Red Hood enters the vault and the door closes in front of Jordan's face. Red hood then walks towards a panel and taps on it. Zynothium ore is released from its container and Red Hood grabs it.

"Zynothium ore. This will last me a good while," said Red Hood.

"It may, but it will be a shame that you won't be able to use it," said Jordan.

"Huh? How did you get here so quickly?" asked Red Hood.

"I have lasers too," said Jordan.

"I should have known that. Maybe I should have planned be-," said Red Hood.

"Shut up. You talk too much," interrupted Jordan with a kick to the thief's head.

The thief is knocked back and drops the Zynothium. Jordan then throws some small explosives at Red Hood, but he jumps out of the way to avoid being blasted to bits.

"Kid, you take life way too seriously," said Red Hood.

"Teach me how to be less serious," said Jordan.

"Gladly," said Red Hood.

Red Hood throws many shuriken at Jordan and he easily dodges them. He then pulls out his katanas because he's ready to no longer hold back. Red Hood pulls out a dagger and prepares to do the same thing. The two fighters charge at each other and their blades collide. Due to his blade being smaller, the thief has to throw more punches and kicks, but Jordan easily dodges them. Their blades clash a few more times until Jordan kicks Red Hood in the stomach. Red Hood quickly regains his footing and clashes blades with Jordan once again.

"Why did you steal the suit?" asked Jordan.

"I did it, so I can do what needs to be done," said Red Hood.

"What does that mean?" asked Jordan.

"I want to fight crime like you guys, but better," said Red Hood.

"How could a thief like you do a better job at protecting this town than us?" asked Jordan.

"Just watch and you'll see. I will show you how effective I can be once I get this Zynothium," said Red Hood.

"Won't happen," said Jordan.

"It will and you won't be able to stop me," said Red Hood.

"I will and I will take the suit back and destroy it," said Jordan.

"You can't. I won't let you," said Red Hood.

"Try me," said Jordan.

"Boys. Boys. Please calm down. There is no need to do this to yourselves. Why can't we all just get along?" said Professor Chang.

"Chang, how did you get into my comms system?" asked the two enemies.

"I am called Professor Chang for a reason," said Professor Chang.

"What do you want?" asked Jordan.

"I was just checking in on my two favorite students to see what you guys are doing," said Professor Chang.

"What are you up to?" asked Jordan.

"Nothing in peculiar unless you're currently occupying a t-shaped tower in the bay," said Professor Chang.

"What are you doing?" asked Jordan.

"I know it would be dumb to explain my plan, but it's already too late. I have created a Zynthonium cannon to destroy your little tower," said Professor Chang.

"You lied. You always had Zynthonium. You were just leading me on a wild goose chase," said Jordan.

"Exactly. Great deduction skills," said Professor Chang.

"I won't let you hurt my friends or our home," said Jordan.

"You won't be able to get here in time to stop me," said Professor Chang.

"We'll see about that," said Jordan.

"We will see indeed," said Professor Chang.

"Red Hood, I could need your help. Maybe we could and he's gone. Great," said Jordan.

Fifty minutes pass. Jordan returns to the observatory and hops onto the rooftop. He sees Professor Chang preparing to launch the cannon and he hops off the rooftop. He then grapples towards Chang and kicks him off the cannon. He grabs Chang and headbutts him, knocking him out. Before they even reach the ground, Chang's goons are ready to attack.

"I should have planned smarter," said Jordan.

The goons aim at the young hero and prepare to shoot, but they don't shoot. One falls and another falls and another and another. They're falling like flies. In a few seconds, the goons are all gone.

"Who shot all of them?" asked Jordan.

"That would be me," said Red Hood.

"I thought that you had just disappeared with the Zynthonium," said Jordan.

"I took the Zynthonium, but I came back to help. I'm an anti-hero at the end of the day," said Red Hood.

"More like a murderer," said Jordan.

"Relax. They were trying to kill a kid anyway. They deserved it," said Red Hood.

"That's not up to you to choose," said Jordan.

"Then, who will? The broken criminal system?" asked Red Hood.

"You should be glad that I don't care tonight. I better not see you again after today," said Jordan.

"You will. Every single night. Every single day. I won't leave until I purge all of the criminal scum in this city. See you around, squirt," said Red Hood.

"Why do you think like that?" asked Jordan.

"Once you die, you will understand why I do this," said Red Hood.

"You died?" asked Jordan.

Jordan gets no answer before the anti-hero disappears into the night.

"It can't be you, can it, Jason?" asked Jordan.