Robin felt like an elephant was sitting on his forehead. Not the best way to wake up in the morning. He sat up groggily, rubbing his head in an attempt to soothe the piercing headache he had suddenly developed. The first thing that he noticed was he was in his full uniform. He could have sworn that he hadn't gone to bed wearing it. Admittedly, in the past he had occasionally collapsed onto his bed without bothering to switch out of his combat gear, but he always made sure to switch out of his utility belt. Explosion hazard. He had learned that after a particularly rough night's sleep. But for some strange reason, his utility belt was clamped around his waist, the metal gleaming gold in the harsh light from above.

Light from above? Robin didn't have a ceiling light in his room.

Robin leapt to his feet, slipping into a combat stance instinctively. Wherever he was, this definitely wasn't part of the tower. The room was cramped, barely the size of an average dorm room. Elegantly carved obsidian walls seemed to absorb the bright light blasting from above, making the area appear even more claustrophobic than it already was. Gleaming silver tiles were arranged in complicated patterns across the floor, forming intricate geometric designs. Overall, the room seemed like a jail cell, albeit an elegantly designed one.

What the room lacked in space, however, it more than made up for in height. Glancing upwards, Robin noted that the room seemed to be without a ceiling, stretching almost infinitely upwards before reaching a blinding white light. Most concerning, however, were the lack of any doors or windows. The black walls were seamless, revealing no signs of any exits or entrances that could be possibly exist. The room was completely cut off, impossible to get in or out of. Wherever Robin was, he had no idea how he had gotten in there, and had even less of an idea on how to get out.

Robin took a few cautious steps backwards, his mind reeling as he tried to figure out exactly where he was. His heel sudden snagged on something, and Robin went tumbling backwards, smashing his head against the obsidian wall with a sickening crack. Great. Three seconds in, and Robin had already managed to give himself a concussion. That might be a new record.

Robin groaned, sitting up and gingerly rubbing the back of his head. To his surprise, his complaint was matched with an equally annoyed groan. Glancing down, he noticed what he had tripped over. He swallowed involuntarily. If she was here, whatever was about to happen was either going to be much easier or much more difficult.

Raven sat up warily, clutching her head and wincing. She glanced over at Robin, who was still halfway on top of her, crashed against the wall in an admittedly comical position. She sighed in exasperation, pulling her cloak out from beneath Robin with a less-than-graceful yank. Robin's head smacked against the obsidian again, in exactly the same location. That was going to leave a nasty bruise.

"If this is another one of your surprise combat drills, Robin," Raven growled, getting to her feet and brushing herself off, "I'm going to kill you."

Robin pulled himself to his feet, untangling his cape from around him. "Before you kill me, just let me say that this one isn't my fault," he replied, surveying their prison once again, "I don't really remember planning a course like this."

Raven glanced around the cell, taking in their surroundings silently. If she was surprised, she gave no sign. Instead, she formed a small black orb of energy around her right hand, preparing an incantation.

"What do you think?" Robin muttered, drawing one of his bird-a-rangs and turning to face the opposite wall, going back-to-back with Raven. "Five dollars says it's either Mad Mod or Control Freak."

"I'd say Mumbo Jumbo," Raven said evenly, as if being kidnapped during the night was no big deal for her. "If it was either of those two, the walls would either be plastered with Union Jacks, or would smell like body odor and pizza boxes."

Robin shrugged, remembering their previous encounters with the less-than-super-villains. "Fair enough. My money's still on Mad Mod, though."

To be honest, neither Robin nor Raven were particularly panicked about the situation. Robin was constantly running obscure combat drills, ranging from simple hostage scenarios to fist-fighting virtual harpies in a simulated tornado. Although the other Titans were just about ready to throw the Boy Wonder out of a window for the 5:00 AM wakeup calls, at times like this the training paid off.

"Do you think you can get us out of here?" Robin asked, gesturing towards the orb of magic in Raven's hand. "Can you cast a portal, or teleport us out of here?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Ah, yes, I forgot that I'm the Titan's taxi service. How silly of me."

Despite her sarcasm, Raven raised her hand, preparing to launch a portal at the obsidian wall farthest from them. The black orb began to glow with energy, prepped for launch.

"You know, that might not be a good idea."

A voice echoed from above, resonating off of the cell's walls until it sounded like a trio of voices speaking at once. Both Raven and Robin glanced up, squinting to see through the bright light at the top of the shaft.

Leaning against a balcony high above their heads was a dark figure, twirling a cane nonchalantly. At first, Robin felt slightly triumphant. A cane would normally mean Mad Mod, and that would mean Robin had won the bet. As juvenile as it was, Robin liked winning his bets, as opposed to admitting he was wrong. This tended to cause a bit of trouble over the years, as he and Cyborg tended to get into heated arguments about who exactly had won certain bets, and who had to pay the other the coveted fifty cents. Yeah, it was a bit immature, but Robin couldn't help it.

His second thought was about the balcony. He could have sworn that it hadn't been there when he had last checked. Somehow it had materialized there when he wasn't looking. Even more surprising was the fact that there was no door leading to it. There was no crevice in the wall behind it, no sign that there was any way to climb into it or drop onto it from above. It seemed like the balcony was completely inaccessible, but yet, there was a person standing on it, leaning casually against its twisted metal handrail.

The figure stared down at the two Titans, a darkened silhouette from the harsh light above him.

"Well?" he asked, his voice echoing off of the walls. Definitely male, judging by the inflection of the words, and probably a teenager. "What are you waiting for? Give it a shot. See what happens."

Robin and Raven both turned to look at the pulsing orb of magic surrounding Raven's hand. Robin opened his mouth to say something, then hesitated. When a villain was encouraging you to go through with your escape plan, it wasn't a good sign. It would usually lead to booby traps, explosions, or explosive booby traps. None of which sounded pleasant. Finally, Robin shrugged, gesturing at Raven to go ahead. Raven hesitated, but then aimed her hand directly at the wall farthest from them. Robin made sure to cover at least half of his face with his cape, just as a bit of added insurance. Hopefully it would be enough not to get disintegrated if this went haywire.

Raven took a deep breath, glancing quickly back up at the figure above them, who leaned casually against the guardrail of the balcony. She was obviously considering blasting the guy with a good deal of magic, but he didn't seem quite in range. "Azarath…" Raven muttered, the orb in her hand pulsing rapidly, "Metrion… ZINTHOS!"

The orb blasted from her hand, aimed directly at the wall. On any other occasion, it would have been a perfect shot. Right now, however, the rules seemed to have changed. The energy struck the obsidian wall perfectly, and then ricocheted off like a haywire missile. The orb darted around the room wildly, the edges of the magic sharpening to the point where they looked like they could leave a nasty wound.

"Get down!" Robin shouted, dropping to the floor as the orb ricocheted inches above his head, scorching a few hairs off in the process. Raven dropped down next to him, cursing under her breath as she watched her spell bounce around their cell uncontrollably. It was only a matter of time before one of them was impaled by the runaway magic.

Suddenly, the orb, which now resembled the business end of a medieval flail, screeched to a stop in midair, dropping from sixty miles per hour to zero in less than a second. The orb hovered in midair for a moment, as if unsure where to go. It then zoomed upwards rapidly, rocketing directly towards the silhouette far above their heads. For a moment, Robin hoped that the orb would smack the guy in the face, whoever he was, and send him tumbling down to their level. At the very least, it would be pretty entertaining.

No such luck. The orb shot over the figure's head, stopped, and then began to drift down slowly, like a partially deflated balloon. The pulsing black energy settled gracefully into the figure's outstretched hand, hovering only a millimeter above the fingertips. For a moment, the very center of the orb seemed to pulse red, like it was developing a tiny heartbeat. Then the figure closed his hand into a tight fist, crushing the magic into nothingness. The figure chuckled, as if he had enjoyed reducing the magic to nothing. Or possibly because watching the orb ricochet inches above the Titans' heads had inherent comedic value.

"I'll give you points for effort," the figure remarked, speaking almost condescendingly, "but this cell has been specifically prepared for you two. The walls were designed to reject all forms of magic."

The figure chuckled again, as if laughing at his own private joke. For a moment, it seemed like small red sparks seemed to emanate from the speaker's outstretched fist. "Except my own, of course."

"Whoever this guy is," Robin grumbled, getting to his feet and dusting himself off, "he is really starting to get on my nerves."

"Care to rethink your bet?" Raven muttered, glancing up at the silhouetted figure leaning on the balcony. "I'm starting to doubt that we know this one."

The figure laughed out loud, like he had just remembered something hilarious. "Oh, my sincerest apologies, sorceress. I've neglected to make introductions."

As soon as the words were spoken, the figure vanished in an small tornado of burnt-red smoke. After an instant, the smoke cleared, revealing not only that their "host" had disappeared, but also his entire balcony. An impressive magic trick, but it probably didn't bode well for the Titans.

"Now then," a voice said from directly behind them, "where were we?"

Robin and Raven wheeled around, finding themselves inches away from an oddly dressed boy, the remains of the smoke fading away into nothingness.

Robin wasn't sure if he was impressed or disappointed. The boy was definitely about their age, judging by his height. To be honest, the height was the only thing Robin could tell about the boy for sure. The boy's entire head was concealed within a gleaming silver skull mask. The mask was remarkably ornate, carved with extraordinary attention to detail, and had a ring of minuscule rubies embedded in the skull's forehead, like a crown from the Underworld. The eyes of the mask were slanted downwards, presenting an expression halfway between a glare and a look of disappointment. The boy's chin and mouth were hidden behind a shining silver jawbone, matching the ornate skull in detail and intricacy. Together, the jawbone and mask formed a stretch of teeth across his cheeks, giving the boy a constant, unnatural grin.

Beyond the mask, the boy seemed to be dressed like a gentleman. A sharp-edged black tuxedo clung to his athletic frame, with a blood-red shirt and gloves contrasting sharply with the dark color scheme. A dark red rose was tucked into the boy's lapel, freshly picked and so dark Robin almost mistook it for black. In his right hand, the boy clutched a cane the same color as the walls of the cell. The top of the cane was made up of a thick silver ring, with four ruby claws pointed up towards the ceiling. Robin had the sense that some type of object was supposed to be held between the four claws, but there was nothing, no top to the elegant cane. Overall, the boy looked like royalty from Hell.

The boy seemed to smirk below his mask, tilting his head slightly as he stared at Robin. "You seem surprised to see me, Robin," he noted, clicking his tongue behind his bony grin. "Have you forgotten me already?"

Raven gave Robin a look like; You've run into this kid before? Robin looked back at her, a blank look on his face. If he'd run into this particular villain before, he couldn't remember.

"Let's see… skull mask, tuxedo, cane… I've run into a lot of supervillains like you," Robin replied, scratching his head in a mockery of deep thought. Finally, he gave an exaggerated sigh. "Sorry, you must not have left much of an impression."

The boy didn't seem surprised by the response. In fact, he seemed like he had been expecting it. "Pity," he said calmly, his voice revealing no emotions whatsoever. "It only took you a month or two for you to completely forget about me. I don't particularly blame you. At the time, I was a… failure, in your modest opinion." The boy's tone was still neutral, but there seemed to be a threat lurking beneath the words. "It's a shame you don't remember. This could have been much more interesting if you had."

The boy shrugged, waving Robin off like he was a pesky mosquito. "But never mind that. You aren't who I'm interested in. Why focus on the servant when there is royalty in the room?"

Before Robin could respond to the casual insult, the boy turned to face Raven, almost appearing to grin under his mask. "Ah, sorceress, you are truly exquisite."

Raven raised an eyebrow at him, a bit uneasy from the compliment. "Um, thanks?"

As the two spoke, Robin slowly slid his staff out of his utility belt, trying to make as little sound as possible. If he could take down whoever this kid was before anything major happens, that would be great. A quick, forceful blow to the back of the head should do nicely.

If the boy noticed Robin arming himself, he gave no sign. His eyes bored into Raven, silently examining her as if she were a precious gem. Raven was clearly uncomfortable with the attention, but she had noticed what Robin was doing. She needed to stall until Robin could give their captor a nice smack in the head.

"Daughter of Trigon, member of the Teen Titans, and unmatched in magic capabilities." The boy shook his head, chuckling. "Raven, you are one of a kind. Yes, this is going to be quite interesting. To be completely honest, I've been looking forward to this."

Raven shifted her stance awkwardly, glaring at Robin, mentally urging him to hurry up his sneak attack. "Oh, so you actually do have a plan?" Raven's tone was completely flat, but she still managed to sound sarcastic. "Or are you simply planning on complimenting me all day?"

Robin shifted behind the boy, expanding the staff to its full length. Kidnapping the two of them was one thing. Blatantly flirting with Raven? That was something else. Robin decided to take this kid down as quickly as possible.

"That depends if I get what I want," the boy said simply. "Now that we are done with the pleasantries, I should introduce myself."

Robin chose that moment to attack. With the boy's back to him, Robin dove forward, swinging his staff directly towards the boy's head. Under normal circumstances, Robin's staff would have left a serious dent in the boy's silver mask and would probably knock their captor unconscious for a few hours. Unfortunately, these weren't normal circumstances.

As Robin dove forwards, the boy bowed slightly, allowing the staff to swing harmlessly over his head. Before Robin could react, the boy whirled his cane over Robin's staff, pinning it down, and yanked down with surprising strength. Robin, still clutching his end of his staff, was flipped over the boy's back and was sent flying into the opposite wall with a sickening crack. Before either Robin or Raven could react, the boy seemed to teleport from one end of the room to the other. He stood over Robin's sprawled body, the ruby claws on the tip of his staff digging into Robin's throat. Robin couldn't even swallow without risking slicing his throat open. He wasn't even sure if he could breathe.

"Do not interrupt me, Robin," the boy growled, his tone contrasting sharply with the unnatural grin stretching across his face. As beads of Robin's blood trickled out of his throat, the rubies on the staff began to crackle with a rusty-red energy, dancing through the air inches from Robin's throat. "I may be interested in the sorceress, but I only keep you around for two reasons. One is a personal vendetta. The second…"

The boy glanced at Raven, who had shifted into a fighting stance, both arms encased in shifting black energy. The boy stared at the magic, drinking it in. Robin couldn't understand it. Most villains they'd faced would shrink away at the sight of Raven's dark magic, sometimes even surrendering to the threatening black aura. Not this one. He seemed to be transfixed by the magic, staring at it almost hungrily.

"If you back away from him now," Raven said quietly, her voice made even more threatening by the undercurrent of magic her voice resonated through, "I might not send you through one of these 'magic-proof' walls. I doubt that they'll provide much help to you when you crash through them."

Once again, Robin was reminded how glad he was that Raven was on his side. Trying to face down a half-demon was like trying to fistfight a bull. You won't be coming out in one piece.

The boy stared at Raven silently for a moment, as if contemplating his options. Then he leaned back, twirling the staff over his shoulder like he had just come back from a long hike. Robin released a deep breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, wincing as he felt the blood trickle down his throat.

"The second reason," the boy continued, his tone as casual as if he were merely discussing the weather, "is insurance."

The boy glanced at Robin, who was just starting to get to his feet. "You wouldn't want to pull anything tricky with your girlfriend's life on the line, would you? Nor vice versa."

"She's not my girlfriend," Robin wheezed, still trying to catch his breath after having his windpipe forcibly shut.

"I'm not his girlfriend," Raven snapped, glaring at the boy, who had begun spinning his cane casually.

The boy shrugged, unbothered. "Regardless, I doubt either of you would risk the other's life in a futile escape attempt. Besides, my requests are reasonable."

Raven stared at him, almost too bewildered to respond. The boy had kidnapped them, and he had the nerve to say that his requests were reasonable? Supervillains were getting more insane every day.

The boy chuckled, leaning against his cane as he stared at the two Titans. "I'll give you a little while to become acquainted with your new surroundings. Then we'll have a little negotiation. After all, I'm not a barbarian."

"Right," Robin mumbled, massaging the four shallow cuts on his throat. "It's not like you've already kidnapped us, or injured us, or…"

"The injuries were in self-defense. You attacked me, as I recall," the boy pointed out. "Now, may I finally introduce myself?"

This time, neither Robin nor Raven interrupted him. The boy sighed in relief. "Finally, a little chivalry."

The boy's skull mask seemed to grin evilly. "My name is Dante." The boy chuckled, as if he had made a delightfully clever inside joke. "I'll give you an hour to settle down. Then we'll begin… negotiations."

With that, Dante disappeared into a thick cloud of rust-colored smoke. When the smoke cleared, he had vanished, leaving Robin and Raven alone in their tiny cell.

Raven glanced over at Robin. "You sure you don't measure this guy?"

Robin stared at the ceiling, thinking as hard as he could. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "He said his name was Dante?"

Raven nodded, sighing with relief. At this point, any information was appreciated. "Why? Do you remember who he is?"

Robin stared back at her, his face completely serious. "I don't have a clue who this guy is."

Raven groaned, punching Robin in the shoulder. Hard.

Robin winced, rubbing his shoulder gingerly. "Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood."

Raven rolled her eyes, sighing in exasperation. "Great idea, Robin. Lighten the mood. That'll make kidnapping so much easier to handle."

Robin shrugged, glancing around the room sheepishly. "Yeah, I know. But did it work?"

Raven glanced around their tiny room silently, ignoring Robin. Then, after a moment, she allowed herself a tiny smile. "Okay, it worked. But only a little."

Robin glanced back up, grinning. "Told you."

Then Robin sat down, lying back against one of the obsidian walls. "Okay, I'm finished exploring our apartment. And only fifty-nine minutes left."

Raven sighed, sitting down next to him. "Well, we better get the most out of our rest. Anyone named Dante probably isn't going to have the most peaceful negotiations."

Later, Raven would look back on this statement and almost laugh. The "negotiations" weren't an effort in diplomacy. They were personalized hells.


(Note: I do not own Teen Titans). I know, I know, not the most exciting first chapter. Thank you to anyone reading this. I'm looking forward to writing this story.