"He's the second Robin?!" Rainbow Dash asked, in shock.
"Far as I'm concerned, I was the best Robin!" Jason boasted.
Nightwing was still in shock, "Jason? This can't be! You're... You're dead!"
"Guess Batman didn't tell you. Or any of you. That's so like Bruce. Always keeping so many secrets," Jason chuckled, "I was dead. But I came back. You wanna know how? I'll give three words: Ra's Al Ghul! And to those of you who have no clue what I'm talking about, allow me to explain. Years ago, back when I was Robin, Ra's had an operation going on and he wanted to keep me and Batman off his trail. So he hired a psychopath to distract us. Only he never expected him to kill me in the process, and he felt guilty for it. Can you believe that? The Ra's Al Ghul, the Great One, the Demon's Head, actually felt guilt over me. I must be special. So he had his League of Assassins steal my body and bathe it in the Lazarus Pit, and that's how I how I came back. Only, I was posing as Red X long before that."
Nightwing's shock soon turned to anger as he spoke, "So, all this time, it's been you. Toying with me? Pestering me? Being a living reminder of the mistake that nearly made me cross the line?! Why!?"
"Would you believe, I was jealous?! You were always Bruce's favorite! Sure, he never said anything or showed it, but I knew. And it got me thinking, what did you have that I didn't! So I decided to find out. It wasn't hard for me to find your little headquarters and that's where I found out about your little plan to get close to Slade. I knew from that very minute it would go south and it did. You're too you, Dick. Too much of a goody goody. It's no wonder Slade saw right through you! Your failure was so humiliating, it was funny!"
Jason laughed, "You can't pull off the thief impression, but me? I came from the wrong side of the tracks. So I could... No acting. No trying to get in character. Just plain old Jason Todd. While you were spending an entire year, earning your team's broken trust back, I was committing thefts and catching Slade's attention. And unlike you, I actually had Slade fooled. But to fully earn his trust, I had to make one final theft: stealing more Xenothium! And it was just so convenient that you and your team just happened to show up just then. Even though you all foiled my theft, I still earned Slade's trust, and as an added bonus, I got to rub you're failure right in your face! From Slade, I learned where he had his robot soldiers built and then Batman and I blew it up, there by putting a crimp in his robotic empire! Yeah, I did, what you failed to do!"
"So you did all of that just so you could get Bruce's approval?" Nightwing asked, getting more angry.
"In a nutshell, yeah. That's about it," Jason answered, coyly, "The only thing funnier than beating you was that you never thought it could be me behind the mask. I mean, the skills were more than enough to get you thinking. After all, only Batman could train someone like that. Face it, you'll always be one step behind..., kid!"
Enraged, Nightwing screamed and tackled Jason, sending them both crashing through a window and out into the pouring rain.
The Turtles and Rainbooms were about to rush out and help, but the Titans stopped them.
"No!" Starfire said, "This is Nightwing's fight."
Nightwing and Jason tumbled around before Jason threw him off. They stood up, facing each other.
"So? We're gonna duke it out now, huh?" Jason asked, before getting in a stance, "I'm down with that!"
The two stared each other down, before they rushed at each other and fought hand-to-hand.
Nightwing swung his fists three times at Jason, but he dodged and jumped up to spin kick Nightwing in the face, only for Nightwing to lean back to avoid the kick then threw in a kick of his own and a punch, but Jason blocked those as well. They continued going at it, throwing kicks and punches and blocking and deflecting the other's moves.
"Why so angry, Dicky?" Jason remarked, as they fought, "You mad, because you were a gullible idiot?" Nightwing landed a blow that jerked him back, "Ooo, did I hit a nerve?"
Nightwing swung more hits and kicks, but Jason dodged them before he leaped up and disappeared from sight, "Where are you, Jason?!" Nightwing demanded.
"Closer than you think..." Nightwing turned just in time for Jason to kick him off his feet, "You give up and say I won?" Jason asked.
Nightwing stood up and pulled out his batons, "You're... not going to win!"
Jason retracted the X blades on his gloves, "You are still taking life way too seriously."
They clashed their weapons back and forth while also trying to land some kicks at each other.
The Turtles, Rainbooms, and Titans watched the fight with intense.
"Who do thinks gonna win?" Mikey asked aloud.
"No way to tell," Cyborg said, "They're both evenly matched!"
"You got this, Nightwing!" Casey cheered.
"Personally, I just want that guy beat so we can focus on going home!" Raph said, in irritation.
"Raph, would it hurt to show a little support?" Sunset Shimmer asked, frowning at him. Like Leo, she was also starting to get irritated by his bad behavior.
"What do you think, Batgirl?" April said to the heroine.
"Even back when Jason was Robin, they were both evenly matched." Batgirl replied.
"What do you think, Leo?" Twilight Sparkle asked.
"I just hope Nightwing can put this burden to rest." Leo answered.
"You and me both." Robin agreed.
Nightwing and Jason continued to clash weapons, until they reached a grapple. Both sides struggled against one another and moved slowly in a circle.
"Tell me, Dicky Boy," Jason asked, "What bothers you more? That once again your biggest failure has come back to haunt you? Or that you just won't admit that I'll... always be... the better Robin?!"
As Nightwing struggled against Jason, he started getting flashbacks to when his teammates chewed him out for not telling them about his plan.
"What were you thinking not telling us you were Red X?!" He heard Cyborg shout.
"Dude! Friends don't keep secrets from each other!" Added Beast Boy, "We totally would have kept your secret!"
"We could've hurt you or worse!" Raven said.
Then he heard what Starfire had said, "Slade did not trust you, and you did not trust us."
The final blow came when he heard what Jason had said to him earlier, "Face it! You'll always be one step behind, kid! Kid! Kid! Kid!"
Finally, Nightwing yelled and broke the blades right off Jason's gloves, surprising the punk. Then Nightwing struck him in the face twice, kicked him to the ground, and pinned him.
For a long moment, Nightwing just held there panting, until he finally spoke, "If all you want is for me to admit it, then fine! I admit it! In many ways, you are better than me, Jason! And maybe even better than Batman! But you're wrong!" Nightwing got off him, "Bruce loved you just as much as he loved me. After you died, he mourned you for weeks and refused to have another Robin for a year!"
"I'm touched." Jason said, as Nightwing let him up.
"Why would you go and do this, Jason?" Nightwing demanded, "Why come after me after all this time?"
"Yeah," Leo chimed in, as he and the others approached him, "And what is Subprime planning?"
"And why is he mutating Gotham villains?" Twilight Sparkle added.
"So you want me to explain the obvious?" Jason chuckled, "See? Right there! That's the reason I called you naive! You can't even guess the clear answer."
"Call us naive again and I'm gonna knock that stupid mask clean off your face!" Raph threatened.
"My stupid mask?" Jason retorted, "You and your brothers are also wearing the same type of masks as well."
"That's what I said." Leo pointed out.
"Don't change the subject, Jason," Nightwing interrupted, "Also, how could you team up with the Kraang? They want to destroy the world!"
"You think I don't know that?" Jason said, "Why do you think I didn't use the mutagen on the Hive or actually loaded it on the missile?"
"Wait. You mean you actually wanted us to take the mutagen from you?" Sunset Shimmer asked, in confusion, "Why didn't you just give it to us in the first place?!"
"I wanted to see what you kids had in you," Jason explained, "And I'll admit, you're pretty good. Not great, but good."
"Can I beat him up now?" Casey asked, with a glare.
"Hold up," April interjected, "You teamed-up with the Kraang, but now you're betraying them? Who's side are you on?"
Jason smiled, deviously, "Mine..." he answered, then he threw down a smoke bomb and disappeared.
"He got away!" Raph exclaimed.
"Let him go," Nightwing said, "It's over. For now."
After a while, Beast Boy spoke, "Well... at least we got that mutagen stuff back. And now we know who Red X is. So, that's a win, right?"
"I can't believe Jason's alive." Batgirl said, still shocked by the reveal.
"Do you think Bruce knows?" Robin asked aloud.
"I have a feeling Bruce knew before we did," Nightwing pondered.
"What do you mean?" Twilight Sparkle asked.
"Haven't you been listening? Jason just told us that Ra's Al Ghul brought him back to life," Nightwing stated, "What do you think Batman's "mission" was?"
Over seas, at the temple of the League of Assassins, Ra's Al Ghul was looking out his large window. He stood there in silence then, without turning around, he spoke, "So to what do I owe this little visit, detective?" He asked.
Batman stood behind him, "Jason's alive. And I know you had a hand in it." the Dark Knight stated.
"Yes, and no," Ra's replied, "It was done without my knowledge. You see, during our first discussion about the "boy", my daughter had overheard. So she and a few of my soldiers trailed you back to Gotham. They found him, after his clever but vain attempt to kill the Joker literally blew up in his face, barley clinging to life. They brought him back here and healed him with the Lazarus Pit. I suppose she wanted to do something for her beloved."
“Unfortunately, there were some....... side effects. The boy became violent. Aggressive. He escaped. Talia had many men search for him, but he was gone. It was then I had found out myself about what she did.”
Batman could only glare at what he had heard.
Ra’s continued, “I also heard that you have some new allies as well as a new enemy. I’m curious about these ninjas.”
Batman glared again, “ They are not from our world and they won’t be around for long.”
“Pity. And here I thought you were starting a clan of your own. I’m sure that under your tutelage, they could give me a...” Ra’s looked to see Batman was long gone, “Challenge.”
The door opened and Talia entered, “ He was here, wasn’t he, Father?”
“Yes, Daughter. And he didn’t seem pleased with what you did with the boy.”
Talia could only close her eyes in remorse, “I can only ask for your forgiveness, Father. I only wanted to win him over.”
Ra’s turned around and faced his daughter, “What’s done is done. And perhaps what you did can prove to our advantage on the detective. But for now, I have my own matters to attend to.” And with that, Ra’s left the room.
Back at Titans Tower, Nightwing was sitting on the couch while holding the Red X mask that Jason had left behind. He looked at it in remorse and thought back to when had first met the Robin Gone Wrong...
It was just before he had set up his plot to get close to Slade, back when he was still Robin, he and the Titans were battling more of Slade's robots. Robin ran ahead to try and find the mad man, only to be surrounded by more of the robots. He fought back, but he was severely out matched. Just as he was getting pounded by the bots, a figure dropped down and destroyed the bots attacking him. Then, working together, they took down all the robots. The figure then turned to the Boy Wonder.
"You're welcome." he said, smugly.
"I could have handled it!" Robin insisted.
"All evidence to the contrary," the stranger countered, "You would have been robot chow if I hadn't shown up! So I think the proper response is "Thank you"."
Robin looked the stranger over, he was a boy about the same height but a few years younger then himself. He wore a red Robin suit with black arms and legs and red gloves.
"I take it Batman found a new Robin?" He guessed.
"Yeah, a better one." the other Robin replied.
"You're a long way from Gotham," Robin stated, "Why are you here?"
"Just wanted to see how the former Robin is in action," the other Robin said, "And I gotta say, I was expecting a lot more from you."
Robin narrowed his eyes, "Well, if you are Batman's new Robin, then you're needed back in Gotham. So I suggest you head back, kid!"
"Alright," the other Robin turned on his heels, "The name's Jason Todd, by the way. And I suggest you take my advice: don't underestimate this Slade guy. Or you'll regret it!"
"I still do." Nightwing said, dismally to the mask.
"Nightwing?" He turned to see Starfire standing behind him, "Are you the alright?"
"I don't know, Starfire," Nightwing replied, glumly, "I thought by finally catching Red X and finding out who he is I would finally get some closure. But now... I don't know.
"I understand," Starfire took a seat next to him, "Do you think that by betraying the Kraang, Jason is turning over the new leaf?"
"Hard to say. Jason was full of surprises." Nightwing said.
"You know, Nightwing. I remember that day when we were able to bring you back after Slade forced you to work for him," Starfire recalled, "You told me the difference between you and him, is that you have friends. So even if Jason still does the bad deeds, we will always fight by your side."
Nightwing smiled a bit as he embraced Starfire, "I really wanna say this is all over, Star. I really do."
"I know," Starfire stood up, "Come. Let us join our friends in celebration."
"What celebration?" Nightwing asked.
Then as if on que, Pinkie Pie popped from behind the couch, "This one!"
Nightwing looked back and saw that the Titans, Turtles, and Rainbooms stood there with party decorations everywhere.
Pinkie Pie flipped over and announced, "Welcome to your You-Finally-Caught-Red-X-And-Discovered-Who-He-Is-As-Well-As-Getting-The-Mutagen-Back-Party!" She smiled.
"That's a mouthful." Batgirl said.
"We're still working on the name," Mikey noted.
"Look, Pinkie, I appreciate it," Nightwing said, "But I'm really not in the mood for a party right now."
"C'mon, Nightwing," Cyborg said, "We got the job done. I say we earned it."
"I second that." Twilight Sparkle agreed, as did everyone else.
"I don't want to rain on everyone’s parade," Nightwing went on, "But I doubt this is the end of Jason Todd, let alone Red X!"
"Yeah! We’re aware we’ll run into him again." Cyborg said.
"But we beat Red X and learned his secret identity after all this time." Beast Boy stated.
"Sounds as good a reason to celebrate." Raven added.
"Si," Blue Beetle chimed in, "And Pinkie went to the trouble of setting things up."
"And you can finally put all this behind ya!" Pinkie Pie said, but Nightwing still looked unsure, "Please?" She gave him the Puppy Dog Eyes.
"We brought plenty of pizza!" Mikey held up a box.
Nightwing looked back at Pinkie's pleading look and sighed. Then he smile, "I guess we can’t let good pizza go to waste."
"BOOYAKASHA!" Mikey and Cyborg cheered.
As everyone took a slice, Leo spoke to Nightwing, "You think Jason will return?" He asked.
"If he does, I’ll be waiting for him," Nightwing said, with determination in his eye.
Later, the three teams were once again sharing stories with one another. But while everyone was talking, Mikey and Casey slid up behind Applejack and Rarity, "So? Did you two enjoyed your kiss?" Mikey asked, making the two Rainbooms blush again.
"Cause it sure looks like you did!" Casey added, and they both roared with laughter.
Applejack and Rarity frowned and backfisted the both of them in their faces, making them fall over.
"Well, we certainly enjoyed that." Applejack grinned.
"Quite." Rarity agreed.
"You were tricked into releasing a evil magical dragon!" Twilight Sparkle asked Raven.
"His name was Malchior and yes," she confirmed, "One thousand years ago, a young wizard named Rorek imprisoned him inside his spell book with a powerful curse. When the book ended up in my possession, he tricked me into thinking he was Rorek. He taught me many magical spells so that my magic could be powerful enough to free him. By the time I realized the truth, it was too late."
"I can relate," Twilight Sparkle sympathized, "When I was studying the magic anomalies in Canterlot High, my former principal forced me into using the magic my tracker absorbed just to win some school games and the result was I became a monster. But Sunset was able to help me overcome it. And despite having nightmares about it, my friends, especially Sunset and Leo, stood by me no matter what."
"Just as my friends stood by me after fighting Malchior," Raven said, "You know, Twilight, you and I have a lot in common. Just don't blurt it out to Starfire. And especially Beast Boy."
"Will do." Twilight Sparkle smiled, and wrapped the gloomy girl in a hug again.
"Still not a hugger."
"And, Koriand'r," Rarity said to Starfire, "You had to fight your own sister, twice?!"
"Yes, I am afraid so," Starfire replied, dismally, "When my sister Koramd'r or Blackfire first came to earth, I was overjoyed, as I had not seen her since leaving Tamaran. She even gave me a priceless jewel as a gift. But later, my friends and I discovered that she was in fact a criminal! And the jewel was stolen. The true reason for her visit was to frame me for her crimes."
Applejack spat out her punch, "Your own sister tried to frame you?!"
"She did," Starfire nodded, grimly, "And when my friends and I returned to Tamaran, we discovered that Blackfire had become the Grand Ruler. I had hoped that she had changed, but sadly, she did not."
"Why did you go back to Tamaran?" Fluttershy asked.
"I was... betrothed."
"Heh?" Mikey asked, confused.
"It means she was gonna get married." Donnie explained.
"Oh," Mikey got it, "But wasn’t she a little too young to get married, back then?"
"Sometimes, people are betrothed when they were born, Mikey." April informed.
Starfire continued, "It turned out to be a plot for revenge by my sister to get back at me for our confrontation on earth. My friends tried to warn me, especially Dick, who did not take the news of my betrothing very well."
"Were you jealous?" Casey asked Nightwing, humorously.
"I was more concerned for Starfire," Nightwing said, "She did not want to marry who was marrying her. This Glgrdsklechhh. But Blackfire had us all imprisoned before the ceremony."
"Luckily, they escaped before I answered my end of the ‘I Do’s," Starfire went on, "So I battled my sister again and was victorious. I banished her from Tameran and became empress."
"That’s great!" Sunset Shimmer said, "Are you still empress?"
"No. my place was on Earth with my friends. I relinquished the crown to my caretaker," Starfire said, "And I know one day I will find the suitable mate."
"I wonder who that could be?" Pinkie Pie asked out loud, as she and everyone looked slyly at Nightwing.
"I doubt it." Nightwing crossed his arms, annoyed.
"And what did this, uh, Glgrdsklechhh look like?" Rarity asked.
"You do not want to know." Starfire shuddered.
"You know, Nightwing, the whole you being jealous thing, does make sense," Leo said, with sly grin, "Considering how close you and Starfire seem to be."
"Like with you and Twilight?" Robin asked.
Both Leo and Twilight blushed before they shouted, "No!"
Their friends, the Titans (except Raven), Batgirl, and Robin looked at the two with knowing smiles. The rest of the Rainbooms all giggled to one another.
"Right, looking after each other in a fight and freaking out when one gets hurt is no indication whatsoever." Nightwing stated.
Twilight Sparkle face palmed, "Can we please change the subject?"
"Yeah," Leo added, "Like how Cyborg went undercover in this Hive Academy?"
"Alright! I was wondering when it was my turn," Cyborg exclaimed, "You see, we were wondering about infiltrating HIVE headquarters, back when it was just Mammoth, Jinx, and Gizmo. I volunteered under the disguise of Stone."
"Like your last name?" Mikey asked.
"Yep. Anyway, I found out that there were more villains. Like a whole school of villains," Cyborg said, "Their teacher was Brother Blood, one of our toughest opponents since Slade. He mind controlled his students and was impressed by how I infiltrated the school. They also made me go through initiation and stuff and I guess I got Jinx interested."
"Oooo!" Pinkie Pie nudged him, "Little romance with a villainess?"
"Any who, turned out Blood was on to me, like Slade was with Dick," Cyborg continued, "But he tried to manipulate me by saying he could make me human again. Not gonna lie. There are a lot of times I wish I was still human. But thanks to my cybernetics, I was able to resist his mind control and catch him off guard at the cost of blowing my cover."
"And how did Jinx take it?" Applejack asked.
"She just said I could’ve been one of them," Cyborg said, "I could’ve been a lot of things."
"Now that I think about it," Fluttershy wondered, "I didn’t see Jinx anywhere during our fight."
"Yeah," Rainbow Dash added, "Is she-"
"A Titan? Yep," Cyborg finished her sentence, "She had a little convincing from our fellow Titan Kid Flash. But I think she likes him more now. Not that I’m jealous or anything. I guess she’s still not comfortable near us or hasn’t forgiven me for the Stone bit."
"I can't believe there's a school for super villains!" Sunset Shimmer said, in disbelief.
"Was a school for super villains," Nightwing pointed out, "But thanks to us, the Hive Academy has been shut down permanently."
"I think the Shadowbolts would fit right in." Rainbow Dash said.
"The five girls who go to your rival school?" Blue Beetle asked.
"Yep, and they just looove to compete." Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes.
"Until they reformed and we trained them to be ninjas." Sunset Shimmer noted.
Cyborg went on, "After that, Brother Blood had an underwater base that our fellow Titan, Aqualad, told us. We formed teams to stop him. He then sicked his best student, Bumblebee, against me."
"Bumblebee?" Mikey said, "He sounds like a robot that turns into a car."
"She's actually a girl and she was secretly against Blood as well," Cyborg corrected, "Thanks to her, we stopped Blood but he got away. Afterwards, we made Bumblebee a Titan and she now leads Titans East."
"So what happened to Brother Blood?" Fluttershy asked.
"We didn't see him again until he launched an attack on Titans East," Cyborg explained, "He had stolen and memorized my blueprints and built an army of cyborg clones. Blood wanted to know how I could resist him, so he planned to take me apart to find out. He also surprised me by revealing he had all of Titans East mind controlled. And as an even bigger surprise, he also revealed that he had himself converted into cyborg like me!"
"Dude! Sounds rough." Mikey said in shock.
"Reminds me of when the Rat King possessed our sensei." Leo recalled.
"Luckily, Dick was a ‘never leave a Titan behind’ kind of guy and he and the others came to help. They fought the possessed Titans East while I went after Blood. Not gonna lie. He almost had me," Cyborg stated, "I lost all my limbs and the others were subdued. But by reaching down somehow, I took down the clones which rebuilt my limbs and I clobbered Blood! Brother Blood was then sent to prison and the Titans East begged me to stay. But I felt like I was needed here and thought Bumblebee was best suited as leader for them."
"That. Sounds. Awesome!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
"Awesome? More like metal!" Casey said, before realizing who he was talking to, "No offense."
"I got ya, Case," Cyborg said, "It was tough, but one of my BBME!"
"BBME?" Sunset Shimmer raised a brow.
"Best Booyah! Moment ever!"
"You know, this Brother Blood guy reminds me of Pizza Face for some reason?" Mikey noted.
"Who is this Pizza Face, anyway?" Robin asked.
"Not real." Donnie stated, bluntly.
"Just a campfire story he told us once." Sunset Shimmer added.
"Which was based on a nightmare he had." Leo put in.
"Oh, it totally wasn't a nightmare, it really happened!" Mikey said, and got smacked by Raph, "Ow!"
"So how did it actually happen?" Cyborg wondered.
I'm so glad you asked!" Mikey smiled.
"Mikey!" His brothers and April warned.
Mikey ignored them and spoke, "You see, it all started when I made my own pizza and shared it with my bros here."
"How was it?" Blue Beetle asked.
"It made us sick," Donnie replied, "And not just from the taste."
"Anyway, after they dejected my pizza, they ordered a new one and sent me to got wait for it," Mikey continued, "When I came back with the pizza, I was so hungry that I started hearing the pizza saying "Eat Me!" But then I realized I wasn't hearing things. And suddenly, the pizza attacked me! I managed to fight it off, but when I tried to tell my bros they didn't believe me!"
"We still don't believe it." Raph said in deadpan.
"All we saw was you rolling around on the floor with our pizza." Donnie noted.
"After that," Mikey went on, "I decided to stakeout near Antonio's when I was ambushed by these zombified humans, but I got away. Only to come back and find my bros and even Master Splinter were zombified too! And if that wasn't bad enough, there were more attacking pizzas! But I fought them off and interrogated one of them and it explained everything..."
"So, what did it say?" Robin asked.
"That a few days ago, the pizza chief Antonio was making pizza when a canister of mutagen landed at his door. And thinking it would make a great topping, he foolishly tasted it and got mutated into a big blob of pizza! His plan was to put all his zombie customers into giant calzones and eat them!"
"So I faked out being a zombie, got in, a stopped Pizza Face's whole plan by eating up his body, until he was just a little slice. Then I forced him to let the mind controlled humans go and he did. But then he attacked my face and woke up in bed. That's when my bros and April told me it was a dream, but I would later discover that it wasn't! But that's another story."
"There's a reason we don't believe you about that, Mikey," Donnie said, "Nothing about it makes sense!"
"So, will you just give it a rest already?" April frowned.
"Every time you tell that story, it just proves you’re an idiot!" Raph stated.
"Raph!" Leo cited, "Look Mikey, you can deny this Pizza Face being a dream, but no matter how many times you tell it. No one's gonna believe it!"
"I believe him." Nightwing said.
"Me too." Cyborg added.
"If Dick believes him about the Face of Pizza, then so do I." Starfire declared.
"You guys actually believe me?!" Mikey beamed.
"Are you all for real?!" Raph asked, in surprise.
"Eyup." Raven said, in deadpan.
"That's right." Blue Beetle stated.
"You too, Batgirl?" April asked.
"I believe it’s a possibility, at least." she replied.
"Plus, it's just like that time when I fought this space tofu!" Beast Boy recalled.
Sunset Shimmer gave him a very confused look, "Space... tofu?"
"Allow me to explain. You see, it all started when we were chasing after this UFO when it suddenly disappeared. Not only that, a new restaurant had just conveniently opened: Mega Meaty Meat. I couldn't care less, since I'm a vegan," Beast Boy said, "But I had bigger issues at that point. Chasing the UFO wore me out. So I decided I needed a moped. But Dick wouldn't buy me one, Cyborg couldn't build me one, so Raven suggested I get a job. Unfortunately every job I took literally blew up in my face."
"Dang!" Casey said, "Sounds like that would be a Pinkie thing!"
"I know right?" Pinkie Pie chimed in.
"So with no other choice, I was forced to work at the Mega Meaty Meat. Which, like I said, I didn't like it cause I'm vegan," Beast Boy continued, "Until I found out the reward for employee of the month was the very moped I've been wanting! Things were okay at that job, but my boss Bob was kind of a little off, especially since he kept getting my name wrong.
"Which one?" Casey asked.
"In general." Beast Boy said.
"While that was happening, the UFO came back," Nightwing explained their part, "We chased after it again and managed to bring it down. It was hard to break open but when we did, we were surprised to find a cow inside it!"
"You were being invaded by cows?" Rainbow Dash asked, in confusion.
"That's what I said." Raven noted.
"Actually, according to my scanner, it was a regular earth cow," Cyborg corrected, "And it wasn't the pilot, it was the power supply. But we didn't have time to think about that, cause right then a whole hoard of UFOs showed up an attacked us!"
"Wasn’t that a movie we saw one time?" Mikey asked his brothers.
"If it was, I don’t think I saw it." Leo replied.
"Just as I can’t believe I’m hearing this!" Raph said.
"Raph, shush!" Pinkie Pie stuffed a cupcake in his mouth, "Please continue, Beast Boy."
He did, "Bob told me never to go into the back room for some reason. But one day, during a feeding frenzy, I had to. And that's when I discovered the horrible secret: the UFO!"
"Hold on," Twilight Sparkles raised her hand, "You mean the UFO disguised itself as a restaurant?"
"Just like how the Kraang were hiding out in the TCRI building!" Mikey noted.
"Yep. Not only that, but I also met the alien leader: the Source! Who turned out to be a tiny cube of space tofu. He kind of sounded like you, Donnie," Beast Boy pointed to the smart Turtle, "He explained that they were the Newfu and that they came to steal all of earth's cows and blow up the earth with a machine called the Destruct-O-Tron!"
"Seriously?" Rainbow Dash asked, in disbelief.
"They were just gonna blow up the earth for no reason?" Applejack said.
"That makes absolutely no sense what's so ever." Donnie stated.
"I thought so too," Beast Boy agreed, "Then the next thing I knew, I turned around to see Bob standing behind me. And then he split into a million Bob clones! So I used my animal changing abilities to fight off the Bobs then I kidnapped the Source and escaped back to the Tower on the moped."
"Dare I ask," Raph said to himself, "What did you do next?"
"I asked the Source how to free the cows, stop the Bobs, and shut down the Destruct-O-Tron," Beast Boy continued, "But, of course, he refused to talk. So I threatened to eat'em!"
"Heh? When I was interrogating that pizza, I just threatened to put it in the oven." Mikey said, remembering.
"Did it work?" Fluttershy asked.
"Like a charm!" Beast Boy smirked, "He told me their weakness was water! It could revert them back to cubes. So with the moped and a super soaker, I rescued all the cows, turned all the Bobs back into blocks, turned off the Destruct-O-Tron, and saved the Earth!"
"So... what happened to the Source?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I stuck him in the fridge," Beast Boy answered, before frowning at Cyborg, "Until a certain someone ate him for breakfast!"
Cyborg scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, And I gotta tell you, I had some terrible indigestion from that little guy. And I've switched to veggie burgers ever since."
"Dude, that was sick," Casey said, "And not in a good way!"
"Yeah, we all thought so." Raven agreed.
"And you guys actually believed him?" Raph in deadpan.
"Only cause we saw the UFO beforehand," Nightwing noted, "But even if we didn't, we'd still believe him. We've dealt with a lot of crazy stuff back then. So, it wasn't that far-fetched."
"Yeah, right," Raph scoffed, "That space tofu sounds even more stupid than Pizza Face!"
"If you don't believe any of it, than that makes you a short sighted idiot!" Raven quipped, making Raph glare at her while Mikey, Pinkie, Beast Boy, Blue Beetle, and some of the others laugh.
While that was happening, Leo had a question for Nightwing, "So how did Batman and Jason meet?"
"Jason tried to steal the tires of the Batmobile." Nightwing answered, leaving the Turtles and Rainbooms in total shocked silence.
"You're joking." Twilight Sparkle said.
"No. That really happened," Batgirl confirmed, "And no matter how many times I hear it, I still find it hilarious."
"Seriously?" April asked.
"Everyone who hears it loves that story," Robin noted, "Even Bruce likes it."
"So Batman took in a punk kid to train to fight?" Raph said, "Seriously, does everyone he meets is just a pawn for him?"
"Actually, Bruce took in Jason because he didn't want Jason to be a criminal." Batgirl corrected him.
"And look how that turned out." Applejack stated, with a frown. And Sunset elbowed her in the arm.
"When was that?" Fluttershy asked.
"It happened after Batman and I had a falling out." Nightwing replied.
"Why?" Twilight Sparkle asked.
"We had different ideas on how to do the job. I admired him at first. When I was a kid, I used to hear tales of The Batman on how he would descend from the night sky in order to fight criminals and protect the innocents. When I became Robin, I was over the moon. "I was the Batman's partner" I thought. That was greatest feeling I had," Nightwing reminisced, "Then as I got older, I got more independent. I was getting sick of being treated like a kid and Bruce had a hard time accepting that I wasn't one anymore. We had a fight on how he would never change and I will always be in his shadow. Then I left to struck out on my own. That's when I met these guys." he pointed to the titans.
"Quite a lovely story," Rarity said, "Was that when you renamed yourself?"
"That was a little later. After a while I was getting too old to be called Robin. As I was looking for one, a friend told me the story of a hero named Nightwing. He told me that the Nightwing was the great re-builder. The catalyst of change. Eternally reborn to start anew."
"Ah' Lame," Raph coughed, making Casey, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack snicker only to have the punch in their cups splash on their faces. They looked to Raven who smirked at them, implying that she was the one who did it.
"That is amazing." Fluttershy said.
"Yeah." April agreed.
"That's a nice story," Leo said, "Who told you that?"
"Like I said: a friend." Nightwing stated.
"Any chance we can meet him?" Sunset Shimmer asked.
Titans and Batfamily looked at each other with knowing looks, as Nightwing said, "Maybe one day."
"Let's just say, that once you meet him it'll be 'super'." Cyborg added.
"Not to sound like a stickler, but can we head back to Gotham now." Raph asked, in annoyance.
Nightwing frowned, but said, "Much as I hate to agree, he's right. We do need to get back."
"We still gotta stop the Kraang and find a way home." Donnie chimed in.
"Yeah," Rainbow Dash added, "The Kraang's butts aren't gonna kick themselves."
Starfire hugged Nightwing, "I will miss you, Nightwing." she said.
"I’m sure I’ll be back again." Nightwing returned the gesture.
"Thanks, Raven," Twilight Sparkle hugged her, "For everything."
"You’re welcome," Raven replied, "Still not a hugger."
"Keep in touch, BB!" Mikey said, as the two hi-fived.
"You too, Mikey." Beast Boy said.
"You be a good boy, Silkie," Fluttershy snuggled with Silkie who cooed from the affection.
"See yah, Blue Beetle." Casey fist bumped with him.
"And good luck on your goals." April said, hugging him.
"Adios!" Blue Beetle said, and the Scarab blinked, "From both of us."
"It was an honor to fight alongside you all." Leo shook hands with Cyborg.
"Thanks again with Red X. You guys are okay," Cyborg said, then he and the other Titans nodded to each other, "In fact, Nightwing and I talked it over and if you guys ever come back, you know who to call."
Raven used her magic to float up thirteen small round radio-like devices and handed each one to the Turtles, April, Casey, and the Rainbooms.
"What are these?" Sunset Shimmer asked.
"They're Titan Communicators," Nightwing explained, "As of right now, you’re all honorary Titans."
"Honorary Titans!" Pinkie Pie echoed in excitement.
"This is so metal!" Casey said.
"BOOYAKASHA!" Mikey cheered.
Subprime screamed out in rage, as the droidless Kraang creatures were cowering in fear. After they gotten back and explained that Red X had betrayed them, he was not too happy.
"That Double Crossing, Backstabbing, Two-timing, Lying, Cheating, Scheming X!" Subprime raged, as stormed back and forth, smashing and kicking things in sight, "I can't believe he swindled us out of our droids and mutagen!"
Joker, on the other hand, could only laugh, "Jason was always such a clever boy. Why I remember the first time I was bamboozled by him. Only he was know as the Red Hood back then. Ah, such warm memories. But one question springs to mind, what could Jason want with all that mutagen?"
He didn't have time to guess, as Subprime glared and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, "While you’re idolizing your encounters, the Turtles and the Rainbooms are still alive!'
"On the plus side, they’re being distracted enough for us to reach our goals!" Joker pointed out.
"That may be, Joker! But we’re running of time, lackeys, and my patience!" Subprime shouted.
"Boy what a grouch," Joker muttered, then he grinned, "But I wouldn't say out of lackeys, Subby. I happen to know two very fine gentlemen who can keep them busy. And I can guarantee that one of them will literally make their lives a living nightmare!"