What is happening in Titan's Tower

What they see on their TV

Titan's Tower

"Okay, that was not Dick. At all." Batgirl said as she walked across the room, like she had been doing for 15 minutes.

"You're right. We need to get that plan into action. Cyborg." The man in black turned to the half-robot boy. "Any ideas?"

Cyborg sat down and thought for a minute, and suddenly jumped up with a smile on his face. "I do!" He ran to the computer, sat down and started writing as fast as he could. "He uses our TV to communicate with us, even though he hasn't done it in a while. But I think that I might be able to hack into his camera."

"And why do you want to hack into the camera? How can it help us?" Raven asked as she floated in the air. Cyborg turned to her.

"I... don't know. Maybe it'll give us some answers, or something?" He said and continued writing.

"But, friend Cyborg. Will Slade not be able to see us too?" Starfire asked.

"No, I'll make sure that they won't see us." He paused but then smiled. "I've got it!"

"Oh my god!" Beast Boy yelled as the image of Slade's Hideout appeared on the screen.

"You called the bat! I know you did!" Slade yelled at Robin who was barely able to stand. He looked terrible. Tears had made his cheeks wet and shiny, and they were still flowing. There were a lot of cuts on his face and chest, his shirt had been ripped off, he had a black eye and a lot of bruises, a few broken ribs, his mask was off and his hair in a mess. Slade was holding him up by his wrists.

"I swear! I di-didn't!" The boy yelled between the sobs but the masked man slapped him harshly.

"Lies, Richard! Lies!" He threw the bird on the ground who landed with a cry. He then gave the boy a few painful kicks.

"You're weak. You can't even defend yourself, what makes you think that you can defend a whole city?" He said as he stopped kicking the boy. Everything was silent for a few long seconds.

"Please. Please, let me go home." The boy murmured. Slade kneeled next to him. Robin was lying on his stomach with his hands buried in his hands.

"Why? We're having so much fun." Slade said and you could hear by his voice that he was grinning. Usually this would be the time were Robin would make a joke, say something sarcastic or something very clever, but he remained silent and lay completely still. After a few seconds, Slade started getting worried.

"Richard?" He gently poked Robin's shoulder.

"What?" Robin asked back and sat up. It was painful for him, that was obvious, but laying on the floor was just as uncomfortable. "What could you possibly want? I've stolen for you, betrayed my friends who probably look at me as a villain now and you make me steal from my own father's company! You beat me up every single time I make a mistake or when the Titans are better than I am in a battle. You make me starve and only let me sleep for a few hours a day!" He slowly stood up as he was yelling at Slade and leaned up against a wall. "And for what? A button. A stupid freaking button!"

"Rich-" Slade tried to say as he stood back up.

"You don't even care a little bit! Just look at me! I'm not in any position to fight, steal or do anything! What's the point of having an apprentice if you can't even..." He broke into tears and fell on his knees while Slade stood and watched him.

Batman looked off of the TV and at the others. Everyone else was shocked, staring at the screen with their mouths open and eyes wide open.

"Robin..." Batgirl whispered.

"Why is he his apprentice? Why doesn't he quit?" Beast Boy asked.

"I think... I think he can't." Raven whispered. But they stopped talking when they saw what happened next.

"Robin." Slade said in almost a compassionate voice and put his hand on the shoulder of the crying boy. "Robin, I... I know that I've not been... the best mentor.. and..." He tried to say but Robin just shaked his head.

"You're not sorry, you heartless monster." He said, pushed Slade's hand off of his shoulder and stood up. "You're never sorry."