Disclaimer: The show Teen Titans isn't mine a neither are any of the characters featured in the show. They all belong to Cartoon Network and Warner Brothers. All the characters in this fic are fictional and if the names resemble anyone alive or dead then that is a coincidence.

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Jump City.

The city itself, being one of the country's fastest growing economies, was never considered to be asleep. It was always busy. The city had a very vibrant nightlife indeed with dozens of nightclubs and 24 hour bars located all over the many districts of the city. But not all places of the city are as lively as most might think.

Even in a city like this there places where the "dead of night" took hold. Places where the darkness was not pierced by any light. Places where sound was almost non-existent. Places where anything can exist within the shadows. It's the kind of places most parents would warn their children never to go to in those wee hours of the night, the kind of place where one's deepest fears seem to come to a life of their own.

It was in these places where it felt most at home.

In some alley somewhere in the more decrepit part of the lower town, for the moment, it was hunch down behind an old dumpster that hasn't been used for over ten years. It was still, barely moving. It made no sound but the steady and soft intake and release of air with every deep breath. It was waiting for something. It came eventually.

A rather large rat scurried out from under a crack on the wall of the building it was under. It scurried into the middle of the alleyway where the faint light of the moon glistened in its dark gray fur. The rat moved about and sniffed at the ground, looking for scraps of anything that was remotely edible. It spotted a dead beetle somewhere among the weeds sprouting out of the moist soil in the alley. The rat went to it and started to have a midnight snack.

The rat sat in that spot chewing down the dead carcass of the beetle for what seemed like half-a-minute. It watched, hidden in the shadow of the dumpster and the building next to it. All the time, it watched the rat as it had its last meal. Then, in the flash of a second, the large arm wrapped in bandages shot out and grabbed the rat then pulled it up. The rat struggled in a useless attempt to free itself form the grip of its catcher. The rat squeaked loudly in fear.

It stared at the rat for a while. The arm then slowly pulled the rat into the darkness behind the dumpster. A crunching sound. The squeaking ceased.

It was a minor reward for a fruitless night. The creature knew that and didn't think any of it. It savored the small meal. The rodent wasn't too bad. That's why it liked to scare its prey first. Fear causes the muscles to tense and warms the flesh while also causes the release of several hormones and enzymes which sweetens the blood. Within seconds the rodent's body was completely devoured under the darkness. Slowly, the creature got up. It looked up at the dark, moon-lit sky.

He didn't show up tonight. Its prey did not show up that night. The creature didn't know if it was disappointment it felt or something else.

But it didn't matter. The nights in this city were long. It would have plenty of time to continue the hunt in nights to come. And when it does catch its prey, it would strangle it first, let the prey squirm in its grasp, in order to warm the meat and sweeten the blood. Its prey would meet a slow and agonizing death. Then, when the last heartbeat passed, it would feast.

It licked the last of the rat's remains from its palm, stretched its limbs out to get its own blood flowing through the veins again. The sun would be up in an hour or so. It left the shadows and dashed through the alley with a speed that would have been thought impossible for its size and mass. It travelled unseen and unheard across the dark places of the city.

When the sun rose, it was as if it never existed.

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Daytime in Jump City

The first two weeks of the new school year were as bright and sunny as they were boring and eventless. At least that was what Nicholas Davenport thought. Same faces, same halls, same classrooms, just one year later. After he got over the initial orientation periods that happened in the first couple of days, the monotony of school started all over again. He didn't really mind though. He fully expected this at the start of the year, every year before that, and every year to come. Well at least he had an eventful summer.

For the moment, school was over for him and Tara. They both decided to get a light snack and stopped by one of the fast food places one their way from school. They were standing in line together and were about to go next when Nick turned to her.

"So," he said to Tara , "what do you wanna have?"

"Just the usual," she replied. "A number 3 with a large soda."

"Again? Okay, have it your way."

She gave him a suspicious look. "Anything wrong with that, Nick."

"If you keep eating like that you might gain a little weight you know."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "And what if I do? What of it, Nick?"

He smirked playfully back at her. "I might have to change the suspension on my bike. You know those things are expensive right?"

Tara lightly slapped the back of Nicks head and put on an annoyed expression. Nick simply chuckled inaudibly. At last their turn cam as the woman in front of them moved away with a tray full of whatever she ordered. Nick took one last glance back at the menu board to make sure he got the name of what he wanted. Nick stepped forward and was about to order when suddenly this rather irate man in a suit cut in front of him nearly knocking him back.

Nick had to step back in order not to fall down and luckily Tara also caught him. He looked up at the guy who cut in front of him with questioning eyes. He was tall, about six feet, large build, but not muscle-bound, greasy hair and the distinct smell of hairspray, the expensive kind. His cologne was heavy enough to make Nick gag.

"Excuse me!" exclaimed the man, though not to Nick but rather to the girl at the register.

"Y-Y-Yes sir?" stammered the girl at the register. By the look of her Nick assumed that she was in her mid-twenties.

"What do you call these?" exclaimed the man and he put forward something in his hand.

The girl looked, along with everybody in the immediate vicinity. "Umm, a large order of fries?"

"Soggy fires!" said the man. The girl cringed at the man's high volume. "Did you hear me order soggy fries when I was here? I don't think so. You expect me to eat this? What did you do, soak them in the sink? What kind of place is this that serves soggy fries?!"

"I'm sorry, sir. I-I-I'll get you some better fries."

"That's not what I want!" she cringed again at the loudness of his voice along with everybody around them. Except for Nick. He stood their listening to their conversation and he was getting annoyed at it. The man was one of those types that just let every little thing ruin their day. Nick could tell he probably had one heck of a day as is. This little mix up was probably the last straw for him this day.

"I want a refund!" demanded the irate man. "Not just for the fries, but for everything I ordered."

"But sir, you already ate over half of what you ordered. We can't refund you for that."

The looked like he was about to explode. The girl behind the counter looked scared and so did her co-workers. Behind the man, the rest of the waiting customers also looked nervous for the situation. Nick was the only one who looked like he did: annoyed and impatient. Behind him, Tara held onto Nick's shoulders and flashed him a look as if to ask what he was doing. Nick looked back at her with an expression that asked her to trust him.

The irate man spat out a few more profanities before rearing up his hand as if to slam it down at the table. His arm was grabbed before it could get any higher than above his face. The irate man looked back to see Nick grabbing his forearm.

"What? Who the hell are you?" demanded the man. "You want a piece of me?"

Nick was unaffected. His expression was flat and he spoke in a calm and cool voice. "Sir if you would please try and calm yourself down, it's a beautiful day and there's really no reason to go and make a scene here."

"Why don't you mind your own business, kid?"

"I'm making it my business sir. Me, and my girl here, are hungry you see. And chances are everyone behind us and next to us is the same way. You're only making things worse for the rest of us."

"Look here, buster! I'll have you know--"

Nick gripped the man's hand even harder. He could tell the man felt it. "Look here, sir. I'm sure the girl behind the counter is exhausted, she's stressed, and she's worked for who knows how many hours constantly dealing with assholes like you, and she probably thinks that we all hate her just as much as you do which is not true. So why you don't just give her, and everybody else, a break? Let her go back to her job, which I'm thinking is a lot more thankless that yours, and let us all get on with the rest of our day."

Nick's voice didn't falter one bit and neither did his expression. The irate man had nothing left to say. Nick released the man's arm and the man immediately rubbed it to sooth the unexpected pain. Nick had a strong grip after all. Nick continued to glare at the man with a neutral face and piercing eyes. By now, the irate customer couldn't deny his defeat but still decided to leave with the last word.

"This place blows!" he said as he rushed to the door, not bothering to go back and finish his meal. After the man left, everyone, except for Nick, seem to breath a mutual sigh of relief. One less thing to ruin their day, they supposed.

"Nice going," commented Tara. "So I guess your finally learning to try and deescalate a situation first rather than beating the crap out of someone?"

"People like him are just not worth the effort, that's all," said Nick.

Nick walked up to the counter and came face to face with the girl behind the counter who was smiling appreciatively. "Thank you," she said. "I don't what would've happened if you hadn't saved me back there."

"No problem. Now about our order…"

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A short time later.

"So what's your new car gonna be like?" asked Tara.

Both of them were sitting at a table near the window, enjoying their meals. Nick had a modest meal, the cheapest one in the menu actually, comprising of nothing more than the restaurant's basic burger, a small packet of fries, and a regular sized soda. A meal like this was enough to satisfy his hunger for the next few hours. Tara's meal, in great contrast, comprised of a large double-burger with all the toppings available, a large serving of fries, a large drink, and a chocolate sundae for desert.

If there was anything that intrigued Nick about Tara, it was definitely her above-average appetite. Whenever they would eat out she would always order one of the heaviest things on the menu much to Nick's chagrin since it almost always used up the remainder of his allowance for those days. More curious to Nick was the question of where all that food was going. Despite her appetite, Tara has yet to show signs of any sort of weight gain. While he found this unusual, Nick was the last person to complain about it, as well as tell it to her face.

"Firstly, it's not strictly my car," he replied. "My mom will be the one to mostly use it. And also I don't know what she'll pick."

"I know it's not your car, so to speak. But she did say she'll let you use it, right?"

"Yeah, she did. But I'm mostly fine with my bike anyway. What, you don't like riding with me anymore?"

"No, no, no, that's not what I'm saying. I'm just asking why you guys want to replace your old BMW M3. I personally liked that M3 of yours."

"Well, me too, I guess but it was mostly my mom's descission to get a new car."

"Why?"

"She said that the M3 was a little impractical. Fuel economy is not that good, engine's getting old, and she said that the steering is too heavy for her. But I doubt she's telling the truth on that last one considering she's a master martial artist who can bench-press 90 lbs."

"Oh. So you think she's doing it for a different reason?"

"I know so."

"What do you think is that reason?"

Nick didn't answer right away. He took a long sip of his soda and let out a sigh. "I think it's because…that car had some memories to it."

"…huh?"

"Did you know that this was the first car they bought together?"

"They?...Oh! you mean…her and your dad?"

"Yup."

It was Tara's turn to be a little silent as she took a bit out of her meal and chewed that bite for a longer time than usual. "Guess she's still getting over it huh…your dad passing and all…"

Nick flashed her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. Mom's a strong woman. This is just her way of finally putting away the past. As for me…"

"You crossed that road long ago huh?"

Nick smiled a bit more. "You'd know about that wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, I would."

She smiled back at him enjoying the slight humor that only they could understand and share. "You've really changed you know, Nick?"

"Is that so. How would you say I've changed?"

"You mostly look ahead now. Unlike back then. Even before your father died, you were always a little bit obsessed with the past. Remember that one story you told me when you met this kid back in grade school and you picked a fight with him because of something bad he did to you three years earlier."

"Yeah…I don't even remember what he did to me anymore. I think he stole some homework of mine or something."

"Yeah…you were always the one to carry a grudge back then. But now…you don't seem as srazy about past events as ususal."

"I guess I learned something important…though I'm not really sure what it is."

"It's not important whether you know what it is. As long as you learned it, right?"

"…Right."

They both shared mutual smiles for a while.

"Well, enough of that sentimental stuff. Whatever your mom does, I'm sure it's for the best. Still, I'm curious what she'll get. I don't really know her taste in cars."

"Me neither. But I do know that whatever she get's she'll use the money from selling the M3. She got a pretty good offer from this collector who's willing to pay more than what we used to buy the thing in the first place."

"You think she'll replace it with something just like it?"

"Not sure. She did say she'll get something more…practical."

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Later that afternoon.

"Mom," said Nick, "when you said you were gonna get something more practical, this isn't exactly what I had in mind."

After dropping off Tara at her place, Nick went straight home to the Skyline Tower Apartments in uptown. By the time he was headed home the sun was already setting. It was there that he managed to meet his mom, Tomoyo, outside in the outdoor parking lot standing by a car. Their new car apparently. It was by coincidence that she was just headed back from the dealer and that she arrived outside the towers about five minutes before Nick himself arrived.

"Aww, C'mon Nicky, this is more practical," said Tomoyo to her son. "At least compared to our old car."

"Somehow I doubt that. At least our old car was a four-seater."

"What, you don't like this?"

"No, it's not that. But…"

Nick was at a slight loss for words. Looking at the car his mother bought for them, he knew he was expecting something else other than this. Still, the car was not really something he would not like. It was a two-seat roadster with a foldable soft top, front-mid-engine, rear-wheel drive, six-speed transmission, compact sports car colored in a nice metallic white. Being who he was, Nick actually had a taste for performance cars and he wasn't really complaining about this. It was simply that, from what his mom told him about what she would get, a Honda S2000 was a little outside of his expectations.

"Why not? This looks cool right?"

"Well, I guess I kinda expected you'd get something like this, mom," he said. "But when you said more practical, I was thinking more along the lines of a sedan or something. And if you were gonna get something sporty, at least an Impreza or even a Lancer Evo would be more practical than this."

Tomoyo gave him a slightly confused look. "Hmmm? Well I don't know anything about what you just said. But I was actually thinking about you when I bought this, Nicky."

"How so?"

She flashed a wry smile. "Don't you think it's more practical for you to pick up Tara in this than in your bike? Heaven knows you'd look better in front of her."

His face turned slightly redder. "Mom, please!"

Tomoyo had a hearty chuckle at her son's expense. Nick decided he had enough surprises for the day. "Well if you'll excuse me, I'll just go and get my homework done and call it a day."

"Sure! And if you'll excuse me I think I'll take this baby for a night out on the town!"

Tomoyo eagerly hopped in the new Honda, inserted the key into the ignition and turned it. Nothing happened. This caused some confusion in Tomoyo.

"You have to push the start button," said Nick.

"Oh! Right…" Tomoyo did as she was instructed and the engine sparked to life. She stepped on the gas pedal and drove the roadster out into the road with a screeching start.

Nick inwardly hoped that she would not ruin the thing on the first night driving. At the same time he hoped the car was insured. As he watched the car drive away he pondered on what his mom said. He would look rather cool when he picked up Tara in that thing. He shook the thought out of his head, got back on his bike and rode to the underground parking lot of the apartment building.

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Inside their apartment.

Nick tossed his schoolbag haphazardly to one corner of the space and headed straight for the couch. He grabbed the remote control from the table and turned on the TV. He turned it on to an old movie, something he had already watched and wasn't interested. He changed channels and got an old cartoon from the seventies. He had not taste for that either. He turned to a game show and he didn't even stay for more than a second. He turned to a action series which kept his interest for a few minutes before he realized it was a encore episode which he had already seen.

So lastly, he turned to the news which was currently reporting sports. The Jump City Sharks have lost a chance at the cup again. Oh well, better luck next year. Nick decided to get up from the couch and moved to the kitchen and made himself dinner. He took a few minutes to cook it all the while the news on the TV reported something on the Teen Titans capturing another supervillain wannabe and then escorting said wannabe to jail.

In the back of his mind, Nick was actually wondering where all the great bad gauys have gone. After that thing with the Brotherhood of Evil and the deal in Tokyo, the Titans have been more or less on vacation. He even thought he might have a go at them, again but then thought better of it.

After putting his dinner on a plate and grabbing a soda from the fridge, Nick retreated back to the couch and continued watching the news as the anchorman delivered a new story.

"And now, news from the business world," said the anchorman. "Today marked another bad day for the employment department as the western branch on the giant pharmaceutical company, Parasol, has announced earlier this day that it would let go of over 4000 of its employees. As expected, the working force was not to pleased with this. Our correspondent on the field, Sherry Graham. Sherry, what's the situation out there?"

The image on the TV switched to a scene of a young newswoman standing in front of a crowd of very irritated people with picket signs. She was holding a mic bearing the news network's name and logo.

"David," she began, "the scene here is one anger. As you can see behind me hundreds of Parasol employees have gathered in outside of Parasol's main facility in Jump City, and the west coast, protesting the announcement that would mean the layoff of over 4000 jobs at factories, not just in this city but all over the west coast. This is a very serious situation considering that the layoffs would also drop the employment rate of the city a whole 18. That's a big number, David, considering how our economy has boomed in the past few years. Back to you, David."

The scene switched back to the anchorman "Thank you, Sherry. In a related story, Parasol's Annette Ashford, manager of the Jump City branch and CEO of the company, called a press conference earlier today out of the public questioning the layoffs. It went as follows."

The scene switched to a conference hall somewhere probably in the Parasol building itself. On the stage, standing tall, was a fine-looking, middle-aged woman of a high society background. She wore a neat business suit that was a bright red color. Her long black hair was tied in a straight ponytail. Her stoic expression reflected nothing but absolute professionalism.

One look at her and Nick thought she might have had a cactus stuck up her hind quarters.

She stood behind a podium made of dark stained glass. The front of the podium bared the company's logo which reflected its namesake. The logo resembled the shape of an parasol standing on its stem where the stem itself plus the right half of the was dawn to look like a stylized letter "P" colored in white while the left half stayed true to a parasol look and was colored gray. The drawing was encased in a black square with curved edges and right under the square was the name "Parasol" printed in bold black letters.

The scene had started while already in the middle of the conference.

"Miss Ashford," started one of the reporters in the room, "Can you give us one solid reason why the high number of layoffs?"

The woman stayed calm and her expression neutral. "Firstly, I'd like you all to understand that whatever we do is in the best interest of the company. This event was not something decided haphazardly. There were plenty of factors that allowed us to come to the conclusion that this was the best action to take."

"Can you expound on these factors?"

"Cost-Benefit analysis for one thing. The management has felt that the company has in fact had too much employees. A lot more than we really needed and that it was costing us significant revenue."

Another reporter rose up. "How can you say this when your market actually rose by a total of 10 points in the last two months prior to the firings? Wouldn't that have allowed you to have a greater net income despite the size of your workforce?"

"Oh, you're forgetting quite a few things. It's not just employment costs. We also had the R&D funds to think about."

"R&D into what?"

"New product lines that we hope to have released to the public after about five or six months. As to what these products are, I'm afraid I cannot indulge on specific details. You'll just have to wait when the products themselves are released before we--"

She stopped in the middle of her as if noticing something on her waist area. She reached into the pocket of her skirt and produced a very thin cell phone which was vibrating. She read the text message she recived in less than two seconds but it was also in that two seconds where the woman's expression changed from stoic to curious to comprehension, then back to stoic again. No one seemed to noticed. Nick did.

"Well, if you'll excuse me," said Annette Ashford, "I have some pressing matters to attend to. This conference is over."

She started off the stage and the myriad of reporters in the room started standing up in unison and called out to her with more questions. They were all largely ignored and the woman disappeared stage left. Nick thought, as he watched, that there was something odd about the whole affair but he didn't bother analyzing it. The news switched back to the anchorman.

"Well, that's all the time we have for tonight," said the anchorman, "This is David Garrison reporting for the six-o-clock news. Goodnight."

The news ended. Nick grabbed the remote and began browsing through other channels again. It was seven in the evening now and he had nothing better to do anymore. As he flipped through the channels all the shows he saw didn't catch his interest at all. Before he knew it, he had finished his dinner and browsed through all of the channels twice. Finally ending up in the same channel he started with (that old movie which was close to ending by then) Nick dropped the remote onto the couch and let out a defeated sigh.

Bored out of his mind, he decided to get up, grab his dishes, and went to the kitchen to clean them. As he washed the plate he used to eat his dinner on, Nick contemplated on just going to bed when a thought crossed his mind that caused his lips to curve ever so slightly upwards. He then looked towards his bedroom door which was visible from the kitchen.

Why not, he thought to himself. It could be fun. A night out on the town would be nice. For a second he thought against it but he found himself going back to that thought over again. It's not like you're gonna steal anything tonight, he told himself. No good enough targets to pick out yet. Just go out and stretch you legs. The curve on his lips grew to a rather big grin. He turned to the clock. 7:15 pm. Knowing his mom, she probably wouldn't be back till half-past ten.

An hour or two outside would be a nice change of pace. It's been a while since he put on the suit anyway. By then, Nick had already decided. He finished up cleaning his dishes and put them away. After washing his hands, he made a bee line for his room. He went to his bed and reached under to pull out a duffel bag. He placed it on the bed and unzipped the bag.

He pulled out its contents and spread them on the bed for easy arrangement. All the pieces were remnants of a suit; boots, pants, shirt, all black as the night, plus a pair of gun-metal gray gloves. The last piece he took out was a mask. A mask depicting an ivory white skull with a slashed red 'x' across the face.

Nick smiled to himself. It was time for the Red X to rule the night once again.

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