Prologue
Robin's Point of View
"Bruce always said that it wasn't easy. He'd say it every night before we left the Batcave, and he'd say it when we came back after a night well spent cleaning up Gotham. I always listened to him – you don't ignore Bruce – but I don't think I ever really listened to him. I don't think I ever took those words seriously.
But now I know he was right.
I never found it hard in the first place, this superhero thing. I guess it came as a sort of second nature to me, growing up in a circus; you don't live in a circus without getting into a few fights. The bright costume. The acrobatics. The hours of work and practice and perfection. In some ways, being a superhero isn't all that different to being a circus star. There is, however, one vast difference:-
A superhero is fighting for something, for the ideals that they strive to promote - truth and justice and peace and love - as Bruce, and especially Superman, would put it. There's good, and there's evil. There are heroes and villains, right and wrong, light and dark. It should be that simple, and up until recently, I foolishly and naïvely believed that it was.
But it's not.
It's not, as any of my many run-ins with Slade will convict. Bruce puts him as a Moriaty-figure to my Sherlock Holmes, which is his way of saying that Slade is always one step ahead and that I'll never catch him.
I hate to admit it, but Batman may be right about that too. I've definitely redirected my priorities concerning Slade. I go overboard when it comes to him, I know I do, and the Titans, my friends, know I do. They don't seem overly bothered about him, but I don't know if it's because I'm the only one who can see Slade for the threat he is, or because Slade goes out of his way to bait and taunt me.
At least, that's how it used to be between him and I. A simple hero-villain, Holmes-Moriaty continuum. But it can never be that way now. Not after what he has done, all in the name of his prophecy. Not now that he has marked me as the "Avenger" and is set on killing me. And if he succeeds, he'll be able to summon the apocalypse at his command and bring the world to its knees.
I told the Titans everything. The prophecy. The Avenger. The mortal gods. Everything.
Everything apart from what happened in Arkham Asylum. I haven't told them what Slade did to me, but I don't think I need to. I think they already know, but they won't say anything, and neither will I. I think we have come to silent – and pitying on their parts – agreement that it should remain unspoken. It shattered me, completely crushed me for a few days, but I feel better now. I don't know if it will ever heal completely, and for a while I wanted to quit being Robin.
But I can't escape. Not now. Raven says you can't run from your destiny, and she's right. No matter what my destiny is, death or victory, I have to face it, and I know my friends will face it with me. I guess that's the very most I could hope for, and I guess that's all that matters.
But now, not for the first time in my life, I have no idea what tomorrow will bring…"