Chapter 28: Haunted

It was nighttime in Jump City, and dark clouds were gathering as the moon shone its sickly pale light upon the earth below. Cliché as hell, I know, but that should have been obvious from the title of this chapter. More so when you look at the resident bird-themed hero, brooding in front of the main computer like a colorful version of Batman.

"You still up?" a tired Cyborg asked as he stepped inside the living room.

"I've got work to do," Robin answered in clear dismissal, his eyes glued to the screen before him. Cyborg gave those same screens one look and decided it was way above his pay grade.

"Well, whatever you're looking for, it's probably asleep. Like you should be," he offered in advice before turning to leave, deeply desiring some shut-eye.

"Lockdown initiated. Goodnight," and then he was gone, back to his room and leaving Robin to brood on his own again. He did not stay there for long however, as a final suspicious look given to the screens motivated him to venture into the basement levels of the tower.

With a badly functioning lightbulb that kept flickering on and off like it was in a horror movie as his only source of light, Robin dug through a box full of old junk. Until finally, he found what he was looking for, and brought it out. Coughing from dust knocked loose by his fumbling hands, Robin beheld the mask of Slade.

"He's not coming back, you know," Cyborg suddenly said as he appeared like a ninja behind Robin and flipping on the lights. "That's all that's left of him, nothing but dust,"

"We can't be sure. He was never captured, never found," Robin argued, the dude's paranoia and obsession going above and beyond what was healthy. Then again, what else would you expect from Batman's sidekick? (Lucky this is a fanfic, or I'd be flat on my ass with a black eye for making that statement)

"It's over, Robin. Slade's gone," Cyborg stated with finality, just in time for the dramatically timed alarm to go off.

"Trouble!" Robin said as the two of them rushed out of the basement to rendezvous with the team. Now this is the part in the show where we get an ominous close-up of Slade's mask coupled with ominous music, followed by a quick cut to the main intro.

But this is basically a low-budget B project I do because I would be bored to tears of writing if I only had to write the angst and edginess of Death Korps of Justice, so let's get to the actually entertaining bits here.

We now get to watch yet again how useless Jump City security really is (despite having a rather cool design), as they get thrown around like ragdolls by an angry Cinderblock.

"Spread out and surround him!" someone with an actual pair of brain cells shouted to his comrades, right before a hail of bullets absolutely shredded him like confetti.

"Less talking, more shooting, deadweights!" Raven hollered from atop a police van, an M240 machine gun clutched in her grip and spitting out lead at anything that moved in her line of sight. Already the road was littered with corpses, and more kept piling up as Raven kept her finger constantly on the trigger.

"Fuck yeah! Who needs aiming with this kind of shit?!" she screamed like a lunatic, firing wildly from the hip with a maniacal laugh. Which then turned to a frightened yelp as she dove off the high ground when a car sailed right past where she used to stand.

"Oi, watch where you're throwing those things, brickhead!" she shouted at Cinderblock, whose only answer was an incomprehensible roar and another car thrown at the panicking security.

"I'm not getting paid enough for this crap," she muttered to herself as she resumed firing, right before a barrage of starbolts nearly blasted her to smithereens. Quick thinking and quicker reflexes had her dodging all of the incoming fire as the Titans stepped onto the battlefield.

"Drop it, Raven, before we drop you," Robin warned, bo staff already extended and ready for action.

"Bird boy, how nice of you to come! Sorry about my hiatus, I've been completely out of jobs for months now!" Raven cheerfully shouted back, which had Robin gritting his teeth in frustration.

"But enough talking, let's get this party started!" that was the only warning the Titans received before Raven resumed firing, scattering them with a barrage of bullets. Starfire took to their and began pelting the area with starbolts, covering Beast Boy's T-Rex charge.

"Great, where's the Spinosaurus when you need it," Raven muttered as she dived out of the rampaging dinosaur's path. Beast Boy tried to stop and turn after her, but Cinderblock was quickly on him and sucker punched him straight in the jaw. Reeling from the blow, Beast Boy was wide upon for another punch that sent him careening back the way he came, screaming all the way.

"Yo, don't you dare bring up that shitty movie here!" Cyborg yelled out as he advanced on Raven, sonic cannon out and blasting away.

"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad!" Raven shouted back from behind cover while firing wildly back at him.

"It had a freaking Velociraptor say 'Alan' and expected us to find it scary!" Cyborg all but screamed.

"You're watching it wrong then! Don't think of it as a sequel, think of it as a low budget horror/comedy guilty pleasure!" Raven explained as she drew a single-shot grenade launcher. Right as Cyborg fired, Raven dove out from behind cover and gave him the good news straight to the chest.

"OH COME ON!" Cyborg shouted as he went flying from the explosion, with Raven giving him a cheeky wave.

"Got a few more of these goodies packed away if you're interested in a rematch!" she called after him, right before another barrage of starbolts rained down on her, courtesy of an irate Starfire hurling those things like they were going out of style.

"Where the hell is that blockhead?" Raven grumbled as she kept dodging an weaving around the barrage. She got her answer as a quick glance revealed Cinderblock being restrained by Argent's powers while Robin was hammering away at him.

"Honestly, do I really have to do everything around here?" sh grumbled to herself as she drew a flashbang from her belt. Said flashbang was then sent hurling at Starfire, temporarily blinding her and giving Raven enough time to turn her attention to Cinderblock.

"Eat lead, Goth wannabe!" she roared before letting loose with full auto on her target. Argent in turn gave a very undignified yelp as she abandoned her assault on Cinderblock to shield herself. Free at last, the lumbering golem swatted Robin aside and charged at an unsuspecting Argent.

Too late did she see the danger, and she was sent careening through the sky and straight into Starfire, both of them ending up as a pile of limbs on the ground.

"Oooh, that's gotta sting," Raven commented. Then she turned her attention to Robin, who was advancing on her with bo staff in hand.

"Alone at last, bird boy. Shall we get a bit intimate now?" she purred at him while throwing her now empty gun aside and drawing her sword.

"Don't you have a boyfriend now?" Robin spat right back at her.

"Do I detect a hint of jealousy there?" Raven teased. Robin just growled as he leapt at her with an overhead swing.

"Ooooh, feisty," she mocked while dodging the swing and countering with a thrust. Robin quickly backpedalled out of the way. But Raven was relentless as she attacked again and again, swinging her sword in wide and powerful arcs that constantly forced Robin on the defensive.

"Getting tired yet, birdy?" she taunted, so of course this was the moment when Robin turned the tables by slipping under her guard and giving her a good whack to the face with his staff.

"Actually, I haven't felt this good in a long time," he countered smugly as he gave her another blow that sent her reeling.

"Well, at least you're not so mopey anymore," she commented while massaging her jaw. Now normally this kind of fight would drag on a bit longer, but I'm getting a bit bored and want to move the plot along, so here's Cindeblock doing his usual schtick by throwing a car straight at the duo with no care for friendly fire.

"Oh that sonnuva-" Raven swore as both she and Robin were forced to dive off the road and down the cliff edge. One quick but bumpy fall later, and Robin found himself alone at the bottom with a sore back and bruised knees.

"Where did she go now?" he muttered to himself in irritation as he scanned his surroundings, right as a thunderstorm rolled in. That was when he saw something that completely made him forget both Raven and his teammates.

"Slade," he snarled out, not even once questioning the chances of meeting his supposedly deceased nemesis here of all places. Once spotted, Slade bolted deeper into the forest, with Robin hot on his tail. But while Robin barreled on through like a mindless berserker, Slade moved like a ghost through the undergrowth, not even disturbing a single leaf.

Soon they were jumping across the trees, and still Slade moved with a grace and silence that no living being should be capable of, made all the more obvious by Robin's mindless pursuit that knocked aside leaves and left branches shaking from his weight.

"Stop!" Robin shouted as he hurled a birdarang at Slade's back. Slade in turn stopped and turned to face the incoming projectile. But just as it was about to strike him, there was a flash of lightning, and Slade vanished with it (oooh, spooooooooooooky).

"Too slow, Robin. You always have been," Slade taunted from a tree branch higher up.

"I knew you'd come back," Robin stated as he used his grapple gun to chase after him. Yet again, he was left completely in the dust of Slade, who moved less like a man and more like a ghost. Finally, the chase ended, with Robin out of breath and Slade not even so much as winded.

"Already out of breath? Don't tell me you've gotten soft," Slade remarked, and Robin looked ready to tear him limb from limb for that.

"Save your energy, you're going to need it. I merely hired Raven and freed Cinderblock to get your attention, and now that I have it..." Slade revealed, which had Robin reluctantly restraining himself.

"What are you planning?" he demanded to know.

"Seismic generators, Robin, three of them. Placed on fault lines all over the city. And in three short hours, they'll trigger an earthquake so magnificent it will break your city in two," Slade answered. Now normally, this would all be highly suspicious, for a dead man to appear out of nowhere with such an over-the-top plan, and should be taken with a grain of salt. However, Robin had never been known to act rationally when dealing with his nemesis.

"Not if I break you first!" Robin warned as he attacked. It was downright comical with the ease of which Slade evaded each and every strike, until he finally grew bored and leapt off the branch down towards the ground. Robin did not even hesitate for a second and jumped after him, even throwing his staff like a javelin at Slade.

But yet again, just as it was about to strike its target, there was a flash of light and Slade vanished (hey bird boy, wanna take the hint yet?). When Robin finally landed, there was no trace of Slade, something which left a bitter look on his face.

"Uhm, sorry to interrupt your little nature hike, but… WHERE WERE YOU?!" and suddenly the rest of the Titans were there as well, with Beast Boy leading the charge.

"We had to finish off Cinderblock by ourselves in the rain and- ACHOOO!" and suddenly Beast Boy morphed into an elephant.

"Great, now I've got a cold," Beast Boy remarked dejectedly as he morphed back to his human form. Robin could not have cared less at this moment.

"Slade, he's back," he revealed, which had the team sharing bewildered looks among each other.

"You sure it was him? I mean, you kinda had Slade on the brain lately, maybe-" Cyborg could not help but ask, which only aggravated Robin further.

"It's him. He's going to create a massive earthquake, and we have three hours to stop it," Robin continued, which still did not wholly convince his friends.

"I don't get it. The dude got blown to smithereens, who lives through something like that?" Cyborg pointed out.

"Apparently, Slade," Argent commented on the sidelines.

"Yeah, he's pretty... pretty... ACHOOO!" and now Beast Boy was an animal I don't even know the name of.

"ACHOOO!" and the a velociraptor.

"ACHOOO!" and then a gold fish.

"... Slippery," he finally finished as his sneezings subsided.

"We'll worry about how Slade survived later, right now all that matters is how we stop him. Cyborg, check out the bridge. Argent, take the park. Beast Boy, the pier. Starfire, we're going after Slade," Robin explained the plan, anger and single-minded obsession oozing off of him like a foul smelling odor.

"What about Raven though? She's still running loose," Cyborg tried to argue, but Robin had already turned his back to them and started walking away.

"We'll deal with her later," he called over his shoulder.

A short hike later, and we find both Starfire and Robin trudging along in the rain, Starfire looking extremely worried for her friend and leader, while Robin simply looked like he was constipated. Come to think of it, that would actually explain a lot.

"Fear not, Robin, we will stop him," she tried to cheer him up, to little avail.

"We have no other choice," he simply stated without even turning to look at her. Talk about cheerful.

"Robin, I'm at the bridge," and that call had him snatching up his communicator and clutching it like his life depended on it.

"Did you find the seismic generator?" he demanded to know.

"Man, I can't find diddly. No signs of anything unusual," but he was to be disappointed by the answer.

"Nothing on my end either," and the disappointments just kept on going.

"I've got bubkiss. ACHOOO! ACHOOO! ACHOOO!" and that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"They're there, keep searching," Robin ordered before he threw the communicator to the ground like a petulant child about to throw a temper tantrum.

"I told them exactly where Slade put the generators! I should have gone to find them myself!" he snarled out in anger over his team's perceived incompetence. Starfire, ever the kind and loyal one, tried to speak up in their defense

"They will be found, Robin. You must have faith in your-" but Robin was deaf to her words as he saw something that made him forget everything else. With no regard for his friend, he took off running into the forest, completely ignoring how she called out after him. And when he finally made it out into a clearing, he found Slade waiting for him.

"Tick tock, Robin. This is going to be easier than I thought. You've gotten sloppy while I was away," he taunted, and Robin instantly flew into a rage as the threw a trio of exploding discs at the villain, who yet again did not even bother to dodge, even as they exploded all around him.

Not even waiting for the smoke to clear, Robin charged headlong into it, finding Slade still standing there without so much as a scratch on him. (Seriously, how have he NOT seen the fucking obvious yet?). Yet again, Slade made a complete mockery of Robin's combat abilities, dodging and weaving around his attacks with the same ease as outrunning a snail.

"Robin?" Starfire's voice suddenly cut in, which sent Slade running for the hills. Yet his escape path took him right towards Starfire, something which Robin was quick to capitalize on.

"Starfire, stop him!" he shouted. Yet to his utter bewilderment, Starfire just stood there and looked around, even as Slade passed within spitting distance of her. Left with no choice, Robin gave chase himself, but it was too late. Slade had escaped yet again. Overcome with rage, he turned to the one who made his escape possible.

"What happened?!" he shouted at Starfire as he tightly gripped her arm.

"You are hurting me," she tried to protest, (ALERT! ALERT! DOMESTIC ABUSE SPOTTED!) but Robin would have none of that.

"Slade ran right by you, how could you let him get away?!" he screamed in rage.

"But… Robin, there was no one there," she answered as she struggled to hold back tears. That seemed to snap Robin out of his rage as he just stared at Starfire as if she had just grown a second head that only spoke spanish.

Hours later, and Robin had ditched Starfire to continue the search on his own. That search had now led him to the ruins of Slade's old lair, long since abandoned. But Robin seemed convinced that he would find something here.

"So, here we are again, the old lair, just the two of us," and he was just proven right as Slade's voice echoed from all around him.

"Slade, show yourself! Come out and fight!" Robin demanded.

"Relax, Robin. I'm not going anywhere," Slade assured his one-time apprentice as he appeared atop a pile of junk. With no regard for safety or tactics, Robin frantically began climbing up after him. But yet again he was to be disappointed as Slade had vanished into thin air (Still not seeing the obvious, Robin?).

Suddenly, the junk pile, which had remained as steady as solid ground under Slade's weight, now groaned and collapsed under Robin's much lighter frame (Seriously, you still can't see the fucking obvious?).

Robin was left scrambling like a madman to avoid getting crushed by the assortment of junk and debris and fell all around him, barely avoiding death by overly large cogwheel. Seriously, what do you need one of that size for?

"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" Slade suddenly commented from somewhere unseen.

"All I remember is how much I hated you," Robin spat out as he glared all around him, searching for his elusive foe.

"What I remember is that you couldn't beat me. At least, not on your own," Slade continued as Robin went in search of a light switch. The power of plot convenience had him finding one almost instantly, and he quickly turned the lights back on. Of course, plot convenience struck yet again as the lights fizzled and died for good.

"Pity your friends are of no use," Slade finished as he appeared from literally nowhere the second the lights burned out (SERIOUSLY ROBIN, GET THE FUCKING HINT ALREADY!).

"Why couldn't Starfire see you?" Robin questioned, finally showing some skepticism on the matter.

"I believe you're familiar with cloaking technology? Raven was quite fond of it at the very least," Slade answered. Right, slipped my mind that part, Robin admitted to himself. Not that you could blame him. After all, Raven's usage of cloaking technology was so random and sporadic that it was almost like the author kept forgetting she even had it.

"I'm familiar with all of your tricks, that's why you won't get away with this," Robin declared before charging Slade head-on. But yet again, his attacks proved less than useless as Slade avoided each and every blow with downright laughable ease, not even bothering to strike back.

And then, yet again, he vanished without a trace, and Robin was left reeling in the dust as he tried to keep up with his opponent. Desperate to finish a fight he did not even stand a chance of winning (glutton for punishment much?), Robin began searching for Slade again. And, once again, it was Slade who revealed himself.

"Our time apart may have made you soft. But it's only made me stronger," he declared before making a great show of jumping from one pile of junk to the other in silent and downright gravity-defying moves. Ever one to jump before thinking when dealing with Slade, Robin quickly tried to copy Slade's moves, only to find the junk piles yet again collapsing under his weight.

One final jump left, and then Robin would kick Slade's ass. Or rather, that was the goal of it. As it turned out, that final jump was a bit harder to copy, and Robin was left dangling off the broken catwalk with an uncomfortable amount of sharp and rusty things pointing towards him down below.

"Your friends won't find the generators, and they can't see me. They can't see the truth, even when it's right in front of them," Slade continued with his endless taunting. But had had just enough of that, and so he braced himself and flipped right over Slade and up on the catwalk, eager for a fight.

"Then I'll just have to do it myself. I've stopped you before!" Robin declared, which did not do much to impress Slade.

"Robin, if you stopped me, then why am I still here?" he inquired, which sent Robin into a rage as all but flew at Slade, intent on tearing him limb from limb. But he forgot one crucial detail in his plan, the fact that it required that he actually managed to hit Slade, which was proving to be quite a challenge as he dodged and weaved around every attack thrown at him like he was sparring with a toddler.

But this time, he was not content to merely be on the defensive. Without warning, he suddenly grabbed a fist aimed at is face before a vicious blow to Robin's stomach had him reeling back in pain.

"You can't even touch me," Slade taunted, angering Robin even further. But when he attacked, he was met with the same abysmal results, with Slade effortlessly avoiding every strike aimed at him before retaliating with bone jarring blow that hurt far more than they really should. Robin desperately tried to guard himself against the attacks, but Slade moved so fast that his attacks seemed to slip right past Robin's guard.

Soon enough, Robin was sent careening off the catwalk, falling towards certain death with dozens of very nasty and very pointy things below him. A last minute usage of his grapple gun saved Robin from becoming a shish kebab, only to run into an even worse problem.

"How can you save this city if you can't even save yourself?" Slade questioned, right before a vicious kick sent Robin flying. Though quickly back on his feet, Robin soon wished he had stayed down and Slade went at him like a pinata. Kicks and punches rained down on him from every conceivable angle, and it was all Robin could do to keep up with the relentless onslaught hammering into him.

Then, there came a final uppercut, which left Robin with a sense of weightlessness for a few precious seconds before he slammed back into the ground. With a groan of pain, Robin managed to force himself upright and made ready for another round of ass whooping. Except there was a small problem, Slade had disappeared yet again.

"Still too weak to defeat me," Slade called out, his voice echoing all around Robin.

"Shut up!" Robin shouted back as he brought out his bo staff.

"You were always reliant on your friends to carry the day, never able to do things on your own. Even now, you're struggling just to even lay a finger on me, while your team continues to fruitlessly search for my generators,"

"I said shut up!" Robin screamed as he threw an exploding disc in a completely random direction.

"Throwing temper tantrums now? How far you've fallen since our last encounter," and Slade just kept digging the knife in deeper.

"Stop hiding and face me!" Robin demanded of him, his patience having run out a long time ago.

"And still as impatient. You've truly grown weak in my absence. You can't save your city, you can't save your team, and you can't save yourself. It makes me wonder, what would Batman say if he could see you like this?" and that was when he crossed a line that should never be crossed. In that moment, all sense of restraint and rationality went straight out the window. Now Robin cared only about one thing, making Slade pay.

He got his chance when Slade stepped around a pile of junk, his footsteps echoing across the cavernous ruin. With a murderous roar, Robin threw himself at the madman, bo staff raised and ready for a vicious blow. Robin got to savor a look of complete surprise in his nemesis' lone eye before the bo staff smacked the villain straight in the head. The bo staff cracked from the blow, but Robin merely threw it aside and went at Slade with his bare fists.

Like a bull driven insane with rage, Robin pounded on Slade, never letting up for a single instant. Again and again and again, like a well-oiled piston, Robin relentlessly pounded on Slade. Even when he fell over did Robin not relent as he merely straddled his opponent and continued beating down upon him. Slade feebly tried to force him off, but Robin would not budge an inch as he rained down blow after blow.

He refused to stop, even when Slade grew still beneath him, he just kept pounding and screaming in rage. His hands started to grow numb, his gloves began tearing up, and blood began appearing on his knuckles, but Robin saw none of that. He only saw his most hated of opponents, and he was putting a stop to him once and for all.

"Robin!" someone cried out, but he did not pay any attention to it.

"Stop it, it's over!" someone else shouted, and Robin ignored them as well. That was when a sonic blast struck him right in the side and sent him tumbling off of Slade. Disoriented, Robin had just enough time to stand back up before something big and heavy tackled him back down and pinning him beneath its bulk.

"What the hell were doing, man?!" that something shouted down at him, which turned out to be a furious Cyborg. Confusion rose to the forefront in Robin's mind, but was quickly replaced by an ugly mixture of rage and indignation.

"What am I doing? What are YOU doing?!" Robin shouted right back at him.

"Stopping you from going too far!" Cyborg answered, refusing to budge so much as an inch.

"What are you talking about?! It's Slade, he can take a-" that was when Robin actually looked at Slade, and he felt his blood run cold. Because it was not Slade lying there, but rather Raven, unmoving and in a pool of her own blood.

"I've got a pulse here, but it's weak! She needs medical attention stat!" Argent urgently reported. Robin felt like his world was crumbling down.

"But… when… how…" he could not even formulate any words for this.

"We're taking you back to the Tower. Don't make it any worse than it already is," Cyborg warned as he hoisted Robin on his feet and led him out of the destroyed hideout like a criminal. Robin did not even try to put up a fight.

Once back at the Tower, Robin was not surprised in the least when he was securely restrained in an interrogation room. If he had been in their position, he would have done the same thing. He was not even angry at being stopped from chasing Slade, there was too much guilt in him to care about that at the moment.

With the eyes of a broken man, he looked on his hands, still stained with Raven's blood. One rule, one rule above all else that had guided both him and his mentor, and he had come but a hair's breadth from breaking it.

"How are you holding up?" Cyborg asked as he stepped inside the room.

"Like hell," Robin answered truthfully, unable to even look his friend in the eye. "Is Raven going to be alright?"

"Better than alright, it seems. The girl's still unconscious, but she's already well on her way to recover. She'll probably be up and shooting bullets at us before the week's end. I swear, that girl must be a meta of some sort to bounce back from that kind of beating," Cyborg answered. It felt like a weight had been lifted off of Robin's shoulder.

"Then you need to focus on finding the generators before it's too late," Robin ordered, which put a very uncomfortable look on Cyborg's face.

"Look, man, I don't think those generators exist," he finally admitted.

"What?" was all Robin could think of saying.

"We've searched high and low for them, and we've found no trace of them," Cyborg explained, to little avail.

"Slade must be cloaking them, just like he's cloaking himself. That's how he was able to escape Starfire back in the woods," Robin argued, even trying to stand back up before remembering he was secured to the chair. Precautions and all that.

"Yeah, we heard it from Starfire as well, and I don't buy it for a second. 'Cause if Starfire couldn't see him, why could you?" Cyborg simply pointed out. It had Robin narrowing his eyes at his friend.

"What are you saying?" he asked in suspicion.

"I'm saying that maybe you didn't see Slade at all," Cyborg stated, and that set Robin off like a piece of firework.

"Didn't see him? I freaking fought him! You think I got these bruises from walking into walls?!" Robin exploded, but Cyborg was unmoved.

"And let me guess, it was also Slade who beat Raven to within an inch of her life," Cyborg commented, and Robin instantly deflated like a punctured balloon.

"I… I didn't mean to… I thought she was Slade…" he shakily admitted.

"And therein lies the problem. You THOUGHT she was Slade, and almost killed her for it. I don't care what issues you have with the dude, that ain't normal. For your own good, we're gonna have to keep you locked up until we can figure out what's going on," Cyborg announced, which brought new wind to Robin's sails.

"You can't! Slade's still out there, his generators are still active, we can't let him get away!" he shouted in desperation.

"There are no generators! There is no Slade!" Cyborg shouted right back at him.

"I KNOW WHAT I SAW! I have to stop him, I'm the only one who can!" Robin declared as he tugged and pulled at his restraints like an out of control beast.

"And what happens the next time you run into someone you think is Slade? What happens if we're not there to stop you in time?" Cyborg questioned, and that made Robin shut his mouth.

"Just stay put for now, and we'll figure something out," was Cyborg's parting words before he left the room, locking the door behind him and dimming the lights.

"Alone again?" Slade suddenly inquired from behind Robin, which made him turn several shades paler as the one-eyed villain stepped into his line of sight.

"As long as I'm around, you are never alone," he stated to Robin, who was now flailing about like a fish on a hook, desperate to escape his confinement.

"Relax. I promise, you won't feel a thing," Slade assured him as he brought up a very nasty looking electric scalpel. Now, to stay in line with the actual episode (and to maintain the T-rating), we'll cut it off right here and jump to the other Titans.

And now we're back with the Titans, who were arguing back and forth regarding what was to be done about both Robin and Raven. Now I could write out a long and detailed discussion, highlighting their inner thoughts and feelings which in turn could have led to a very deeply philosophical discussion about the dichotomy of good and evil and other questions about life and the universe as a hole.

But I'm feeling lazy today, so here's an alarm being triggered instead, alerting of an escaped prisoner. And considering Raven was still lying unconscious in the next room, there could only really be one other.

"Robin!" Starfire cried out as she took off in a panic.

"Starfire, wait! We don't know what we're dealing with yet!" Cyborg shouted after her in vain. Seeing his teammate run off like that, Cyborg could not contain his groan of annoyance.

"Days like these makes me wonder how this team have survived for so long," he muttered to himself before turning to Beast Boy. "Keep an eye on Raven, I'm going after Star and Rob,"

"Hey wait, why do I get stuck on guard duty?" Beast Boy tried to protest, but Cyborg had already exited the room before he had even finished his sentence. With an indignant huff, Beast Boy stomped over to where Raven was still blissfully sleeping on.

"You know, when you're not shooting bullets at me, you're kinda cute," Beast Boy could not help but comment to the unconscious Raven while briefly turning his attention to her vital signs.

"Why thank you, green bean," Raven suddenly commented, and Beast Boy had just enough time to turn his eyes back to her before taking a boot straight to the face, leaving him out cold on the floor.

"Sorry about that, but I'm in kinda in a hurry and don't have time to play with you," Raven apologized as she jumped off the bed, wincing from the pain of her wounds.

"Oof, I'm gonna be fucking sore in the morning," she moaned to herself as she limped over to a nearby table, her equipment haphazardly piled atop it. "This mission's been a fucking train wreck from start to finish,"

Meanwhile, down in the basement, Robin was suffering the beat down of a lifetime, with Slade treating him like his personal punching bag. By this point, Robin was barely able to put up an effective resistance, just trying to hold his ground to the bitter end.

"Slade, stop," he whimpered, battered and on his knees before the madman, who responded with a kick straight to his side.

"No, Robin," Slade began, his speech momentarily halted by the light flickering on for the briefest of second. "I won't stop, not now, not ever. I'm the thing that keeps you up at night, the evil that haunts every dark corner of your mind," and here came another pause so that he could hoist Robin up to eye level.

"I will never rest, and neither will you," now I could stretch it out a bit further and include a few more dialogues, but, as previously mentioned, I'm a lazy bastard today, so let's move on with a flashbang dropping in from above. Something which has both Slade and Robin staring at it in puzzlement.

"What-" was the only words that either one spoke before the flashbang went off, blinding Robin and causing Slade to release his grip on Robin. And by the time his eyesight returned, Slade had disappeared yet again. But rather than call out for his nemesis, Robin finally decided that discretion was the better part of valor and tried to crawl towards the staircase.

Except there was a teeny tiny problem with his plan. There was someone blocking his way on the stairs, someone way taller and with only one eye.

"No…" Robin whimpered as he crawled away from Slade, hoping to buy precious time. It did him no good as Slade pounced on him, keeping him pinned as he drew a knife from his belt. Robin fought desperately to break free, but it did him no good as Slade brought the knife down and stabbed him straight in the throat.

But what should have been a fatal blow that would have left him choking on his own blood, instead amounted to getting stung by a bee, followed by a nauseating feeling that blurred his vision and made him ready to just empty out the day's menu on the floor.

"You feeling better yet, bird boy?" Slade asked of him. Except, it was not Slade anymore, but rather-

"Raven?" it had to be her. Even though he face was still bruised and swollen from their scuffle, there was no mistaking her grey skin and violet hair.

"Yeah, nice to see you too, Mr. Traffic Light. I'd advise you to take it a bit easy now though, that hallucinogenic shit Slade cooks up has a real kick to it," Raven explained.

"What?" and Robin was still too dazed to make sense of that.

"You got hit with some of Slade's home-made stuff, really nasty stuff that makes you see the fucker whenever you turn the lights off. Boy, did he love using that stuff in training sessions with me and Terra, made me so paranoid that I carry around the antidote wherever I go these days," Raven explained as she patted her belt.

"Then the Slade I've been fighting-"

"Was nothing more than a pretty illusion, one that made your brain think it was taking a beating. The shit's meant to keep abusing you until your heartrate skyrockets beyond control and… well…" she left the rest of the sentence unsaid.

"But why help me then? Why not just leave me to die?" Robin could not help but question.

"Oh trust me, after the smackdown you gave me, I was quite tempted to do just that. But from personal experience, that's no fun way to go," Raven explained, or rather lied, as even Robin could tell straight away.

"Robin!" Starfire suddenly called. When turned towards where her voice came from, he found both her and the rest of his friends standing at the top of the stairs. And then, when he turned back to Raven, she was gone.

"Really, that's it? One quick save and a quicker explanation, and you're gone? Feels rushed and pointless if you ask me," Robin muttered to himself.

"The deal's off," Raven informed her employer as she sat slumped before her personal computer, chewing painkillers like they were candy while pressing an ice pack to her bruised face.

"Why this sudden change of heart?" a highly distorted voice asked of her.

"I don't like being left in the dark, and I like being made a fool of even less," she responded.

"When have I ever done these things to you?" the voice asked.

"Don't play coy with me here. First you hire me to kill that Robin imposter, knowing full well that Robin would come to me for help. Then you send me to free Cinderblock to gain the Titans' attention. And finally, you send me to Slade's old lair, where Robin just happened to wandering around suffering from some pretty serious drugs. I bet my pretty little ass that you also knew what kind of shit Robin's been smoking as of late. You want Robin out of the way, and you've been using me as a scapegoat and expendable pawn," she listed off.

"And how has this been any different than the work you usually do?" the voice asked again, to Raven's growing irritation.

"Yeah, well, your bullshit nearly cost me my life, and you're still keeping me in the fucking dark here. So fuck this shit, I'm out," she stated with finality.

"Patience, dear child. The truth will be revealed soon enough," the voice assured of her, and it sent off alarm bells in her head. Not the potential threat, but the familiarity of it. Whoever her mystery employer was, he almost sounded like…

"Who are you?" she demanded of him. She never received a reply.