A/N: Hey guys! It's LOG again, back with yet another Young Justice story! Let me know what you think, by just hitting the little button at the end of the chapter and leaving a review. I'm gonna try to get chapters up as fast as I can, but Summer is over and I am now juggling school, so I just ask for patience and if you do that, I will update as often as I can. So just sit back and enjoy the story! ^_^

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or any of the other characters who may appear.

Prologue:

I've always wondered why I'm such a trouble magnet. I mean, really. It seems like everywhere I go, trouble seems to find me. And with trouble comes danger, which always seems to make it worse.
This whole trouble thing started when I was about 6 years old. I thought the lion at Haley's circus was just about the most amazing thing in the world. I would watch the tamer feed it every day until one day, after he fed the lion, I decided that I would go in and say hello to it. It didn't realize at the time that lions were incredibly dangerous animals, so it just seemed like a giant cat.
I unlocked the cage and went in to try and pet it, but I ended up with a giant scratch on my arm. It didn't take my parents long to figure out where I was, and when they found me sitting outside of the cage, they realized right away what had happened. Then they saw the blood on my arm, and went into a whole lecture about why I can't go near the lion, because it didn't really want to be my friend after all… it just wanted to eat me.
Then there was the time when the Mobster, Tony Zucco murdered my parents. We were trapeze artists, so when Haley wouldn't give Zucco the money he wanted, he put acid on the trapeze ropes, causing my parents to fall to their deaths.
There were several other occurrences in the past 4 years since Bruce Wayne took me in, but before now, the most recent was with my friends Wally and Kaldur'ahm. We were on our own superhero team together, the Young Justice League, but when the Joker came crashing into our lair one day, the three of us were taken into a whole other world where day was dark and night was light. When we finally thought we were going to escape the new world, we were locked up by the Joker, who teamed up with Cadmus. Wally and Kaldur were going to be taken by Cadmus, which meant that I was left alone with the Joker.
I was tortured for a week, being injected with a new kind of laughing gas. I was also branded with a swirly "J" that still glowed a slight pink, after four months.
When Batman came to rescue us, we were attacked by a clone of me created by Cadmus. I still don't know what I was thinking, but I was able to use all of my strength to leap out of Batman's arms and take the blow from the clone's glaive. I still have a really nasty scar from that, too.
This time, though, I'm afraid of what might happen. The Joker wanted me for entertainment, but this new enemy wants so much more from me. So much that I can't give him. But the only way for him to leave me alone is for me to die.
So here I am now, unable to move as I bleed out onto the factory floor. I can feel strong arms around me, and cries of anguish. It must be Batman. He knew this was how it had to end, but it still hurts to do this to him; to leave him alone like this, while I go and see my parents.
Mom and Dad should be proud, though. I mean, I came this far. I became a hero, I left revenge behind. I walked with insanity and still made it through. Yeah, they would be proud, but now it all seems silly.
I did all that, escaped death so many times, just to die here, in Bruce's arms, bleeding everywhere.
I can hear the masked man crying, too, but not out of grief, but anger. He's shouting something along the lines of "Not Robin! He was mine! I was so close!"
And then his cries are cut off and I hear Wally. My best friend. No! I think. I don't want him to see me like this. I don't want him to regret letting me come alone.
I have one regret; leaving Bruce and the team behind. Leaving Barb, Wally, Artemis, M'gann, Kaldur and Connor, leaving my family.
I see the light getting closer, and the forms of my parents. I smile at them, but they frown. Why are they frowning? They should be proud of me!
"You can't come yet, Dick," Dad says.
"You need to go back to them, sweetie," Mom smiles.
"But I want to see you!" I say, still getting closer. "You miss you guys!"
"I know, and we miss you too, son," it's Dad. He looks happy, but also disappointed.
"We want you to come, but it's not time. You can get through this, Richard, just have faith. Batman needs you by his side more than we do. The world needs you, Dick."
I look at both of my parents. They were right, Batman needed me, but… "I can't beat him though! I can't fight back!"
"Yes, you can!" Dad says, grabbing my shoulders as I reach them finally. "You're strong, Richard! You left the path of revenge! You played the Jokers game and you won. You can beat him."
"How can I beat him?" I ask. "I don't even know his name, let alone his powers!"
"We can't tell you his powers," Mom says, looking sad. "But his name…"
"You need to promise us that you'll go back," Dad says, holding out his pinky finger.
I look at it and think. They're right. I can win. I can defeat him, whoever he is. I nod and grab his large pinky in my own, smaller one.
Suddenly, the light starts fading. Mom and Dad are leaving and I'm returning to the pain, the cries, and the darkness.
"Wait!" I cry. "You didn't tell me his name!"
Mom looks back at me, "His name… is Slade."

A/N: Ok, also, if you review, please be honoest; was adding Slade a wee bit cliché? Really, it was just too tempting to pass up.