WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Teen Titans Academy #5 by Tim Sheridan, Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona, Max Raynor, Alejandro Sanchez, Alex Sinclair, and Rob Leigh, on sale now
Red X has been running amuck throughout Teen Titans Academy. Red X's secret identity has become a top priority for not only the Titans faculty but three nosy student detectives as well. The Bat-Pack launched their own investigation into the mysterious marauder's identity and think they've pegged Billy Batson as their guy - that is until Red X is standing in their room after they've just spoken with Billy in the hallway. Red X doesn't surprise the Bat-Pack in their dorm to fight them, but to recruit them.
Red X's visit with the Bat Pack in Tim Sheridan, Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona, Max Raynor, Alejandro Sanchez, Alex Sinclair, and Rob Leigh's Teen Titans Academy #5 reveals the origin of the Bat-Pack and raises an important question regarding the reason for the existence of the academy.
Before the Bat-Pack came to Titan Academy, they were in Bludhaven, living in an orphanage called Beaumont Home For Children. When teenagers starting disappearing from the orphanage, three Batman-obsessed teens, Merissa, Diego and Lucas, became suspicious that the orphanage had ulterior motives for their young residents. The Bat-Pack started snooping around the administrator's office when they discovered a plot that implicated Beaumont as a farm for Dr. Grusel's super-soldier experiments, the same experiments that lead to the creation of Man-Bat.
Once they discover Grusel's plot with Beaumont's administrator, Diego gives himself up for the doctor's experiments just to give Merissa and Lucas the chance to track and tail them to a secret lab. They confront the doctor, but not before he injects Diego with the latest version of his serum. Dr. Grusel transforms into his own version of Man-Bat and corners the young detectives, but Nightwing shows up to rescue them. After this, they were recruited to join Teen Titans Academy.
Diego, Merissa, and Lucas's plan transformed Diego into Chupacabra and signaled the Bat-Pack's first official case. This story not only warms Red X's heart, but it also persuades him to aid them in their investigation by revealing his secret identity. He also leaves them with an offer to join a new pack, a pack that actually cares about them. Red X implies that the Teen Titans are using their students to an even worse degree than Beaumont was. He also tells them the only reason they were invited to the academy was because Diego is infected with Dr. Grusel's super-soldier serum. Red X asks them to think about it and gives them until summer break to make a decision.
It's clear that Red X wants to protect the students at Teen Titans Academy at all costs. He is on a mission to stop gifted children from being exploited for their gifts, and it's not entirely unreasonable to think that Titans Academy intends to exploit its student's talents. Red X believes training children to bear the weight of the world just because they were born with special abilities is just as wrong as donating them to be human guinea pigs.
Nightwing believes he is helping the children control their gifts and use them for good, just like Batman did for him. Red X, on the other hand, believes that it's cruel to sequester children to your ranks, even if your reasons are supposedly noble. The Bat-Pack has been left with many questions that they will now have to answer for themselves. They are now placed in a position where they will have to make a decision that will affect the rest of their lives.