Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice, Teen Titans, or any of the DC Comics characters, cities, etc.

Summary: Follows the story of Jake Cross (born Jake Wilson) who has taken the mantle of Red X. For this story (and those that follow it) all of the events in the Teen Titans cartoon have happened (Trigon, Brain, etc.) and none of the Young Justice events have occurred yet. More info will be on my page as well as explained in the story.

Enjoy.

Shattered Persona

Prologue: Masks

[Wayne Enterprises: Jump City, California]
[21:32:12 PST]

The rain fired down from the heavy clouds covering the heavens on the streets below. Many people would have simply gone inside to avoid the storm that was brewing. But the two that occupied the roof of Wayne Enterprises hardly cared. All that mattered to them at the moment was the ending their fight once and for all.

Punches were swung. Kicks were thrown. Though neither connected completely. They mirrored each other perfectly. One, a thief with a high-tech suit that could do things that others dreamed about. The other, an acrobat that had more weapons on his belt than some countries had in an army. One a hero, the other a villain. Yet both exactly the same.

A flush roundhouse kick was made to the younger boy's face, causing him to stumble backwards a bit. The opening, though only present for a few seconds, was enough for the older to capitalize and he landed another, harder, kick to his rival's midsection. Due to his morals, he allowed his foe to fold over and regain his breath. Beating an unarmed enemy was something he did not do and killing was simply out of the question. Even if he was fighting for revenge.

"Give it up Bird-brain. You can't win." Jake Wilson said to his opponent.

"Never." Dick Grayson responded as he rose. "You will lose today X. You're going to jail, even if I have to do it singlehandedly."

Jake, Red X, only seethed behind his mask. Not because Dick, Robin, rose to his feet again, but because of memories that flashed through his head. He thought of happier times when Jake and his sister could actually play like privileged children could in their large backyard. Those memories died every time he thought about a fire and a failed mission from the Teen Titans.

The death of his sister.

Dick revealed his metal staff, using it to regain his balance. The kick to the face was a lot harder than he expected. But he would continue to fight. This was Red X. This was the villain that he created. It was true that they were similar in a lot of ways, but he would always see the difference. Red X was a villain. Robin was a hero. It was just that simple.

In a split second, Dick came for Jake once more. Jake, currently weaponless, dodged the strikes from Dick's staff. Robin was no pushover, especially when it came to wielding that metal pole. It was equivalent to Raven's spells or Starfire's energy blasts when it came to pain wise. And Jake would know. He had been on the receiving end of all of those attacks once or twice before. For now, he would be on the receiving end of a strike to the gut, followed by a downwards swing to his back. Jake only had a second to regain himself before rolling out of the way of a would-be finishing strike from the Boy Wonder.

"Give up!" Robin growled as he leaped into the air, preparing a thunderous downward strike with his staff in his hands.

Jake's eyes narrowed as he activated his wrist-mounted X-shaped saw blades, slicing the staff before it could connect with him. Twirling gracefully, Jake frightening Richard to backtrack as a spinning blade came dangerously close to cutting Dick's neck.

Now Robin was on the defense. Red X was skillfully slinging those saws around as if they were a child's toy. Robin had witnessed several of Slade's drones be diced by his opponent in a matter of seconds with these blades. They were the coup de grace and then some if they were to be used on a person.

"Running out of room." Red X stated as Robin's left foot felt the edge of the building. "This is the end!"

Dick had never heard the thief yell with such aggression before. He was normally calm, collected, and above all, sarcastic. Yet the guy that stood in front of him now was filled with rage and hatred. This was probably not going to end well for him if he did not think quickly.

Jake saw Dick retrieve a few smoke bombs and quickly prepared himself for teleportation. As soon as Robin raised his hand to throw the bombs onto the ground, Red X appeared behind him, landing a double-kick to his back. Dick flew forwards, tumbling on the hard, wet rooftop before coming to a stop.

"Now that I have you here, I can finally end this." Dick's world grew black after his foe finished speaking.

[Jump City, California]
[22:15:46 PST]

Richard groaned as he opened his eyes. He gasped, seeing that he was restrained in a vertical position, the city beneath him; literally.

"I should've killed you." Richard looked upwards, seeing Red X sitting on the rooftop of an unknown building. "But I didn't."

"Why? What have I done to you?" The question was pretty rhetorical seeing as all villains hated the heroes that stopped them. Though this was not Jake's reason at all. In fact, he loved it when he was confronted by the Teen Titans or some other hero. It made him go back and train harder so he could escape with what he wanted next time.

"Rose Wilson," Red X continued. "Do you know who she is?" Robin shook his head. "She was my younger sister. A bit rough around the edges, but I loved her nonetheless. Do you want to know how she died?" There was edginess in the teen thief's voice that startled Dick now. "Because you let her burn in a building!"

Dick instantly knew what incident Red X was talking about. A few months back, the Titans had a run-in with an assassin in Gotham known as Ravager. She was planning on killing an ambassador that was visiting the city and the team was sent to stop her as the heroes were meant to do. However, there was a third party there who set the building ablaze. While the Teen Titans attempted to save as many people as they could, the building collapsed before all could escape, including Ravager. Dick continued to stay up late nights with that mission on his mind, ignoring Starfire's pleads on getting some sleep and letting it go.

"I didn't know." Dick said quietly. "X, I'm sorry. I'm sure your sister-"

"Don't you dare speak for her!" Jake snapped, glaring down at his captured prey. "You didn't save her because of your code!"

By now, Dick was confused. "What are you talking about? I tried to save everyone in that building!"

"Including Rose?" Robin frowned but nodded. This caused Jake to laugh, standing on the ledge now. "That's funny. Last I heard, you and Rose battled to her death. Or was that all a lie?"

"What are you-"

"You didn't fight the assassin known as Ravager?" The question caused Dick's eyes to widen beneath his mask. Ravager was Red X's younger sister? But that would mean… "You had my father's attention, but to take away my sister…" There was a pause, the rain lightening up a bit. "Rose wasn't perfect, but she didn't deserve to die because she was an assassin. You should've saved her."

"I tried! I tried to save everyone!" Robin argued.

"You were fighting her when the first explosion went off. There is no excuse as to why you didn't save her." Jake stated.

Dick knew that Jake was right. When the building shook and Ravager's head met the side of the wall, he began to usher out the civilians there first with thoughts of getting her later. It was his code that killed Rose. Then his mind traveled back to another revelation.

"Slade is your father." Dick questioned though it came out more like a statement.

"You're like the son he's always wanted. Someone who had great skills, didn't joke around, and took his training seriously." Jake answered. Dick was a little unnerved when the teen was now hanging off the roof, the two at eye-level now. "I won't kill you today, Robin. I just wanted to show you how alike we are. Almost like we're each others' other half."

"We're nothing alike! I am not a criminal!" Robin growled.

"Look at your city." It was the first time that Dick had done so. He could see some smoke rising off in the distance and hear the sounds of sirens all around. "This is your doing. You chased me to Wayne Enterprises, setting off bombs, throwing your little knives, and not caring about the bystanders. Your team flipped cars, knocked down power lines, and blasted the streets just to unmask me." Dick's eyes went wide once more. "You're a bigger threat to the people than I am, for I was merely standing on a roof before this began."

"Why not kill me then? Or reveal my identity to the people?" Robin questioned.

"We both know that killing you would leave me without competition to stop my next heist." Robin heard the mocking in his voice and bit down a groan. "As for revealing your identity, I never cared about that."

"Everyone does. That's why we wear masks." Red X chuckled a bit.

"I wear a mask simply because it goes with the suit and gives me different visions. You wear a mask simply because you can't bear to stare into the eyes of a murderer every time you see your reflection." The jab met its mark at Dick's confidence and morality.

"That's not true." Robin said quietly.

"Say what you want kid, the fact remains that you and I walk a very thin line between right and wrong. I will not kill for the sake of a job and you…" Jake's words trailed off as he eyed the city. "You are willing to put hundreds of lives in danger for the sake of one thief who was just casually standing on the roof."

"We couldn't take the chance that you would be-"

"What? Working for my dad? As if." Red X interrupted. Robin was unprepared for the thief to hop back on the roof. "Your team should be here any second now."

"Wait! What if this stuff let's up?" Dick questioned as he struggled against the rather large red X that stuck him to the side of the building.

"Then I suggest you think fast." Robin was now desperately trying to reach his grappling hook, though the X-restraint was pretty tough. "And don't try the grappling hook. I left that behind so Beast Boy could get your scent."

Now Robin was panicking. Slade was a mastermind and Ravager was a skilled assassin. He did not know just what Red X was capable of now that he was forced to think the thief had blood ties with the other two. Slade would not kill Robin for the sake of Robin joining allegiance with the man and Ravager, for what Robin knew, only killed people she was ordered to. So what made Red X kill? If it was vengeance, then Dick was a dead man already.

"X," Dick said before looking up to see that the thief had disappeared. "Great…" Dick's eyes went back to the city. "Just great."

He could practically hear the people of his city crying in pain. Pain that he caused. He was the one throwing bombs and skipping into traffic to stop Red X, who had been just casually standing on a roof before the chase began. Of course, Red X did exchange a few words that got the entire team fired up, but that was no excuse for the damages done.

"Robin!" The masked hero barely gave Starfire a glance. "Are you alright? Where is the Red X?"

"He's gone Star." Robin replied.

"Should we-"

"No." Robin knew what she was going to ask and stopped her before she could even say it. "Just get me down and let's go home."

Richard could only stare at the city. Was he as much of threat to the people as Red X or Slade? Maybe not so much as the latter, but he had definitely done more damage than Control Freak had. So maybe he and Red X were not so different.

After all, they both wore masks.

A/N: Where, here is the opening to Shattered Persona. It will focus mostly on Jake/Red X's life and begin to blend in with Young Justice and a few other DC titles. Hope you enjoyed it and please leave a review.