A/N: Hello!

So, I bet you guys are wondering when Slade will show up, huh?

Just to let you know, Slade's been harassing me about his appearance, he's been eager to get his devious plan for Robin started...so,I guess I deserve it...trying draw this story out and not giving you or him what you both want lol

Anyhoo, I hope you like it...and thankies very much for the reviews!

Okay, shutting up now!

Enjoy!

PS. Will never own Young Justice, Teen Titans, DC Comics...only in my dreams! :P

Any grammer mistakes are entirely my fault...and one day I will have a chapter with no errors (only in my dreams!)

Or if I had a beta reader...hmmm...okay, enjoy!


Chapter Three

"Ding…Ding…Ding…You have reached level twenty of S.T.A.R. labs. Please exit carefully and enjoy your day" a monotonous female voice announced, through the speakers of the elevator, as the complex machine made an utter stop its doors immediately sliding open, revealing a mediocre white wall and tiled floor hallway with half the hallway lights on. Robin swiftly ambled out of the elevator with the team.

"So far, so good" Megan commented optimistically.

"Let's hope it stays that way" Superboy muttered.

Aqualad nodded.

"So, where do we go now?" KF asked, tapping a foot impatiently.

"Easy KF…just down this hall, the lit side, of course, turn right, go down that hall, and then turn left and viola, we're there" Robin answered simply.

"Sweet…the closer…the better" the redhead teen said.

"Sounds easy to remember" Artemis remarked.

"Let's move" Aqualad said and the team briskly took off in the direction Robin had pointed out.

Robin, however, didn't follow; his intuition gave him a sudden jolt, a feeling that they were being watched. He twisted around, facing the other side of the hallway, which laid in pure darkness. Robin took a few steps forward and narrowed his eyes, the white lenses of his mask narrowing into slits, picking out a slightly faint outline of a figure.

"Is it just me…or do I see someone lurking the shadows? If so…they must be watching and listening to us…must be the culprit" Robin thought curiously, and was about to continue to go forward, towards the figure, when he felt something grab his arm. Startled, Robin glared at the person responsible for grabbing him.

It was Kid Flash, who grinned at him.

"Rob, could you ogle the hallway some other time?"

Robin returned his gaze to the darken hallway.

Whatever or whoever he had seen, it was gone now.

"Unless you want to share what you were staring into the darkness for" KF suggested teasingly.

Robin consider the speedy teen's remark, but decided against it.

"No…it was nothing" Robin replied disappointedly, wondering if he just imagined it or not, and the two jogged back towards the waiting team. Robin cast one last glance behind him before turning the corner. Not even a five minutes had passed before the team had to halt once again, this time something unexpected had happened to Megan.

They were halfway towards their goal, when Robin and the others heard a startled and agonizing gasp from behind and a soft thump. Both Aqualad and Robin, who were in the front, twisted around to see Megan on the floor, rubbing her head, the three teammates around her.

"Megan, are you alright?" Aqualad inquired, concerned.

"What happened?" Robin asked.

Megan was eased to her feet by Kid Flash and Superboy.

"Thanks Superboy…KF" Megan said gratefully, and then continued:

"I am alright, but I am not sure what happened. I was fine…and then I sense our adversary again, but this time, the darkness that swirled around his mind…just attacked me...On Mars, this is a horrendous crime to attack another telepathically, I am wondering if they are an outlaw Martian…"

"Well, whoever they are, they will be sorry for doing that to you" Superboy growled protectively.

"I don't like this…don't like this at all…" Robin muttered.

"Either do I and the sooner we face our adversary, the better" Aqualad said.

"Let's get going..we're almost there" Artemis urged them.

The team then continued and reached the end without any further incident. That is, until they reached a dead end, staring at a perfectly smooth wall, lacking the one key component to getting into the room: the door.

"What?" You gotta be kidding me" KF groaned in disbelief, slapping himself in the head.

"I don't understand…I know the door is here" Robin said, staring at the wall, a dazed expression on his face.

"Are you positive this is the right location?" Aqualad inquired gently, giving Robin a curious look.

"I'm definitely positive. So positive, you can sit on it. Get it? Sit is in positive?" Robin answered, quickly recovering from the unexpected surprise; trying to keep his tone light and cheerful.

"Where is the door? Doors just don't disappear! Wait…what if something is covering it? What if…" Robin thought, his mind working furiously to solve this new dilemma as he reached out, touched, and ran his hand all over the wall.

"What are you doing?" Superboy asked Robin.

"The door is definitely here…somewhere, it has to be. I think it has been hidden with a cloaking device"

"Dude, who would want to do cloak a door?" KF asked incredulously.

"Yes…who and why?" Robin paused, struggling to understand.

"This all seems like a test…first with me, then Megan…and perhaps what we will find on the other side is a larger test…this person has put a lot of effort into this…" Robin thought, but was pulled out of his thoughts by Artemis.

"So, here is my question, how are we going to find the door?" the archer asked, annoyed.

"Why find a door, when you can make one?" Superboy countered, grinning and cracking his knuckles.


On the other side of the wall, on a shadowy part of an elevated catwalk, that allowed him full access to the room below, paced Slade, who was now waiting for the Young Justice team to arrive. He gazed at his Sladebots, some were standing on the catwalk, while others were concealed in various spots in the room, as well along the level. This was the final test for the team, where all members would be tested. A test of stamina. Slade was eager to see how their fighting skills were and hoped they wouldn't disappoint him. Only one of them had passed his first two tests…and if he passed this, he would be the one who would be Slade's very soon…

"Robin" Slade uttered softly, enjoying how it sounded.

The boy was clever, intelligent, resourceful, and his computer skills were equivalent to Slade's own. At first, Slade had doubted that the Boy Wonder would be successful in out hacking his reprogrammed system and enjoyed watching the young hero struggle. Finally the boy had achieved his goal, impaling through his defenses and sent a virus into Slade's laptop, causing it crash and become useless, proving his extraordinary skills. Then, in the hallway, the boy's instincts were keener then the others, he was the only one out of the six who had sense Slade's presence, which pleased Slade. He had expected the redheaded girl to sense him, with her powers, or even Superboy, if he had heat vision or whatever powers he shared with the legendary Superman, to sense him.

"But no…only you Robin…" Slade thought pleasantly.

Then he tested the Martian girl. She had made a blunder, attempting to read his mind. So, he sent her a message or warning, however she wanted to interpret it. She was mentally strong, but didn't know how to mentally defend herself. Of course, Slade would have devised a test for each member, but there wasn't much he could do for all of them in a lab building.

Slade sighed and tapped his foot, wondering what could be taking the heroes so long. Of course, he had cloaked the door, but now knowing what Robin was capable of, knew the boy was figuring a way to enter the room.

Suddenly, a thunderous blast erupted, and Slade watched undisturbed, as the eastern wall, which faced him, blew and crumbled, spraying metal and plastic debris across the room, along with a thick cloud of plaster dust. Slade silently slipped deeper into the shadows and watched the six heroes burst into the room.

"At last…let's see if you have what it takes…"


"Be on your guard" Aqualad warned as they stood in the center of the room, coughing slightly from the dust. Robin glanced around noticing that the room was seemingly empty, only seeing the soaring stacks of boxes lining the room. He let his handful of his cape, which he held over his face as they entered the room, slip from his grasp.

"Well, this isn't what I was expecting" Wally remarked, looking around and scratching his head.

"Spread out, perhaps they are hiding behind the boxes" Aqualad said.

"No need to do that…Welcome, Young Justice, I've been expecting you" a soft icy deep masculine voice greeted. Robin suppressed a shiver, the voice was way creepier then he had expected. He glanced about the room, as the others were, trying to spot the man whom the voice belonged to, but saw no one in sight.

Aqualad boldly stepped forward.

"Show yourself and fight"

The man chuckled, and Robin had to attempt to suppress another shiver. The laugh was twice as eery has the owner's voice. He felt an ominous feeling, and he shifted uneasily.

"In due time… Aqualad, is it? First, you have to pass my final test"

"Dude, you've been testing us?" KF blurted out.

"Yes. Sadly, only one of you was capable and knowledgeable to pass both of them. What a shame, the Justice League seems to let their sidekicks' slack…"

"We. Are. Not. Sidekicks." Superboy snarled, clenching his fists.

"Of course not…now, let's not get off topic. Defeat my minions, every single one of them, then we shall meet face to face and fight" the voice said lightly.

"Told you guys that this will be a breeze, the guy hides behind robots…just another loser" Artemis murmured.

"You're on" Superboy replied loudly.

"Well then, good luck to you all"


Swiftly, average sized, slightly hunched, mechanical robots, with black clothing and steel armor lining their limbs and upper chests, an orange circle in the middle of their faces where their eyes were located. They came from above, surrounding from the sides, even from below, clawing their way up, and from the hallway.

Megan, link us up" Aqualad said urgently, referring for her to link their minds so they could communicate telepathically.

"Everyone here?" Megan asked telepathically.

"Yeah" Superboy answered, disgruntled.

"Sure am, beautiful" Wally thought.

"I am here" Aqualad responded.

"Haha…I'm here!" Robin thought loudly.

"Well…this is going to be fun" Wally thought, adjusting his goggles onto his face.

"Oh yeah" Superboy agreed, nodding.

"Do you think we can defeat them all?" Megan asked.

"Of course, they're just scrap metal" Superboy answered, eager to fight.

"We may be outnumbered, but not outmatched" Aqualad commented.

"Haha…my thoughts exactly" Robin thought.

"So who makes the first move, them or us?" Wally inquired.

At the moment, both the heroes and robots were idle.

Robin grinned and pulled out a grapple hook, one with a silencer on it. Once fired and hooked onto one of numerous large and broad girders, Robin silently flew up and flipped himself onto it. He grinned, seeing his friends still idle. Robin let out his unique laugh and leapt off, falling feet first into the vast thicket of minions, activating them.

"There's your answer, KF" Aqualad answered, withdrawing his water bearers.

"Now, let's kick some robot ass!" Superboy said vocally and charged at the nearest group.


Robin gave another laugh as he delivered a kick to the closest minion, sending it flying across the room, hearing a satisfying loud crash as it landed on its counterparts. More rushed at him, one throwing a right hook punch at his face. Robin easily dodged the attack and smashed his fists into the robot's face, hearing a snapping, hissing, and sizzling sound as wires and pieces came bursting out, before collapsing onto the ground. Robin continued his hand to hand combat technique, lashing out with swift punches, kicks, and flips.

"Okay…need to be more productive here…wonder if these guys like bird-a-rangs" Robin thought amusingly, withdrawing a handful of bird-a-rangs from his belt. With a flick of his wrist, he flung them, watching them snap open and slicing or striking the six robots down with ease.

"Now that's productive…" Robin thought, grinning, but leapt aside as a robot came running, and ran past him. Robin laughed as it crashed face first into its comrade, both falling into a heap.

" Too easy...Better see how the others are faring" he thought amusingly, as he grabbed and fired another grapple hook at another girder.

Landing on top of the girder in a crouch, Robin viewed the scene before him. There were an abundance of robots in the room, encircling his teammates. Robin watched as Kid Flash zoomed through the black and silver wave, sending minions flying high into the air and into other parts of the room. Aqualad was using different water bearer techniques to take down the robots, while Superboy used his brute strength to easily crush the robots to pieces. Megan and Artemis worked together, Megan hovering into the air, using her telekinesis to elevate a group of robots, while Artemis shot a handful of arrows precisely into them.

"Amusing to watch, isn't it? Your teammates are quite the entertainment" the culprit's voice uttered from behind.

Robin rapidly twisted around the girder on his heels, still in his crouch and faced the dark figure, who leaned on the rails of the catwalk.

"Hmmm…says the guy who hides behind the robots" Robin replied.

His heart pounded wildly and he couldn't help but to grin.

Finally, face to face...well…darken face with the enemy!

"I see you are eager…and curious"

Robin rolled his eyes.

"Well duh, I am always interested in how the criminal mind works"

"Your mentor said that to me once…sadly, he never found out much about me"

Robin snickered.

"Don't worry, I'll find out for him. Sooo…are you going to come quietly, or does this have to get ugly?"

Hmmm…I don't do or never will do the "come quietly" part, it's definitely not my style. But if you want me…come get me"

Before Robin could respond, he heard the soft clicking of footsteps running down the catwalk. Robin glanced back over his shoulder, to see his fighting comrades still swamped with the robots.

A flash of guilt ran though him…if he left and chased the culprit, will his friends be overwhelmed?

"They'll be fine…just go" the voice in his head urged.

"What's the matter Robin, afraid to do anything by yourself?" the man's voice taunted from the shadows.

"Okay...That's it…" Robin thought, slightly annoyed now.

Robin scowled and leapt into the air, flipped once, and landed on the catwalk gracefully and dashed after the man. They ran straight ahead, where this part of the catwalk extended from a hallway. Robin ran blindly after the man, the pitch dark hallway swallowed Robin into its darkness.


"Almost there" the man called out, sounding a bit closer to Robin.

"Good! Cause I feel blind as a-"

"Bat? Nice metaphor" the man finished amusingly.

Robin continued to run, until an unseen hand snatched his arm, and yanked him.

Robin stumbled into the man, who then shoved him roughly aside.

A door slid close and multiple locks clicked, securing the hero and culprit in the room.

Two spotlights flickered on, one above Robin, who blinked furiously, trying to adjust to the brightness. As his eyes became adjusted, Robin glanced at his surroundings, noticing they were in a commodious, vacant, and windowless room. Then, Robin looked at the other spotlight, his heart continuing to beat furiously.

The man stepped forward into the spotlight, revealing himself. He was surly in appearance; he wore a vertical half black, half orange metallic mask, with two small orbs on each side of the mask (which Robin presumed were for the ears) and four vertical slits for the mouthpiece, and a single dark colored eye that felt like it was piercing into Robin. The man was muscular, the muscles of his tri and biceps showed through the black material clothing with steel armor along his limbs, as well along his collar bone and he had a wide broad chest; and wore a grey utility belt around his waist.

"How cute…his minions match him…either he is self conceited or a horrible trend setter" Robin thought amusingly, and smirked at the thought.

"So….did Halloween come early this year?" Robin joked smugly, pleased with his taunt.

The man chuckled placidly.

"You are very brave to mock me, Robin"

"Yeah, I get that a lot"

Robin saw that the man was scrutinizing him as well and Robin shifted.

"So, who the heck are you?" Robin blurted out, impatiently.

"Someone has to get the conversation started...or this will take forever" Robin thought.

"You can call me Slade"

"Slade? Slade?...That's it?" Robin asked incredulously, then burst into laughter.

"That's all I need to give and to be known as, believe me." Slade said darkly.

Robin slowly stopped laughing and grew serious.

"Are you the one who tried to out hack me?"

"Yes, which I must congratulate you on an exceedingly well done performance. Your unique virus utterly destroyed my laptop" Slade answered.

"Ha! That's what you get…I put the "Vir" in virus"

Slade chuckled.

"You amuse me, boy"

"Yippee for me"

"Alright…two questions down, fifty more to go…" Robin thought and crossed his arms, softly pushing a hidden recording button on his left glove.

"I am going to get evidence of this confession…or whatever he admits" Robin thought determinedly.

"Alright. Are you the sole culprit of the recent attacks and robberies on the eastern coast?"

"Indeed, I am. I was hoping the League would come after me…more preferably your mentor, Batman"

"Why do you want Batman for?"

Robin could feel a cold devious smirk beneath the mask.

"Let's just say…I owe him"

Robin felt extremely uneasy at the answer.

"May I suggest you keep your questions short and to your mission's objective?" Slade inquired, feigning an innocent tone.

Robin scowled.

"Trying to do this professionally, you know. Fine. Next question, does an elegant silver "S" emblem belong to you?" Robin inquired, drawing it out in the air with his finger.

"Yes, here, take this…a pin of my emblem. Consider it a gift for passing my tests" Slade replied, tossing the object to Robin, who caught it with ease and stared down at it.

"Yep. This is definitely our guy. But why is he admitting all this freely?" Robin thought curiously, but shrugged it off.

"Well Slade…it seems like I have you" Robin said, grinning victoriously.

Slade chuckled.

"On the contrary Robin, it is I, who has you"


Abruptly, Slade disappeared, leaving Robin, who had glanced down at his left glove, making sure the concealed blinking red dot, which signaled the recording, was still functioning, and glanced up to see the villain gone.

"What? Where did..." Robin's voice trailed off as he felt a tap on his shoulder. Feeling very uneasy now, Robin twisted around and was greeted by large gray fist smashing into his face, making the boy stumble back.

"Okay, I did not see that coming" Robin muttered, shaking the dizziness away, and back flipped away as the man rushed towards him.

Robin stood his ground as Slade bore down on him, unleashing rapid and aggressive punches. Robin deflected these punches with his arms, each blow stinging his arm harshly. Robin then counterattacked, dodging a blow and attempted to make a hit in, but the man caught his fist with ease.

"Nice try…and do try again" Slade said lightly, releasing his hold.

Robin tried again, only to have Slade catch his fist again.

Robin pulled away and tried hitting from a different angle, but Slade was as quick as Robin and caught the boy's fist, this time squeezing it hard.

Robin bit back a yelp, not wanting to give Slade any satisfaction and yanked back, but the man's grip held firmly over his fist.

The hero and villain went back and forth across the room, Robin on the defense, arms trying to deflect Slade's punches, which seemed to find an opening every time. Robin dropped to a knee after Slade's last punch left him breathless.

"What is this guy, an ultimate martial arts master or a psychic?" Robin thought annoyed, clutching his side.

"If you want to give up and surrender, I understand. I don't expect and know you won't defeat me" Slade commented.

"Oh yeah? Well…I don't intend to surrender" Robin uttered determinedly, as he stood up.

"Good…I dislike quitters" Slade replied.

Robin aimed a kick at Slade, only Slade caught Robin's ankle with one hand as easily as he had caught Robin's fist. Robin's eyes widen slightly.

"Good techniques, but always room for improvement" Slade commented coolly. Then he flung Robin away from him, like a rag doll. Robin hit the ground and quickly rolled to his feet and charged at the villain, attempting to deliver rapid kicks and punches at the villain. Again, Slade either parried or caught the young hero's fist, and delivered a blow of his own to the boy.

With each attempt to hit and fail to hit Slade, whether it was a punch or kick, anger slowly consumed Robin.

Robin withdrew some bird-a-rangs and flung them at the man.

Slade crossed his arms, the armor sides facing Robin, who watched as his bird-a-rangs hit the armor and bounced off, flying back towards him.

Robin dropped to the ground, hearing the harsh whistling as his own weapons zoom above him.

"Okay...bad idea" Robin thought and scowled as he picked himself up.

Slade stood there, looking smug.

"You still have much to learn…"

Robin said nothing, wincing as an unexpected sharp pain shot through his side.

"He must have hit me harder then I thought...guess I'll have to take him down another way" Robin thought, then spoke.

"I can say the same for you, Slade. As much as I like to spar with you, I have other things to do" Robin said.

"Like helping my friends" Robin thought guiltily.

But, retreating from this man was a blowing dent in his pride. It angered and frustrated him that he couldn't take Slade down, at least physically.

But, Robin did have some knock out gas…

Robin dashed off and around the room, rapidly withdrawing bat-a-rangs filled with knock out gas.

Robin then skid to a stop several feet in front of Slade, a grin splashed across his face.

"What are you up to Robin?" Slade inquired curiously, standing in a relaxed pose.

"Time to say nighty night, Slade" Robin said gleefully, covering his face with part of his cape in his free hand and flung the bat-a-rangs towards the ground. A hissing sound was heard as they hit the ground, a dark greenish smoke rose from the devices, obscuring the villain from Robin's sight.

Robin laughed through his cape, pleased that he was able to take down the clever villain, even if it wasn't his preferred way. Robin waited, excitedly and anxiously as the smoke began to recede, expecting an idle figure lying on the floor.

When the smoke had fully dissipated, Robin's heart felt heavy in his chest, his jubilant feeling turning into disappointment.

"How?" Robin whispered in disbelief.

"It was supposed to work…I was supposed to succeed…" Robin thought numbly.

"Again, a nice attempt, but knock out gas doesn't affect me" Slade's voice rang from behind him.

Robin spun around to see Slade several feet away.

"Now Robin, it's my turn" Slade remarked and flung a sleek silver disk.

"What is that? A Slade-a-rang?" Robin thought numbly.

Robin instincts were now screaming at him to move, but Robin just stood there, in a daze, watching as the object snapped open, and a thin but durable twine wrapped around him, drawing his arms to his sides and his legs together. Robin tottered for a moment, but Slade had briskly rushed over and placed a hand on his back to steady him.

"Hmmm..what do we have here? let's take this out..." Slade said amusingly, plucking Robin's comlink from his ear.

"Crrrrunch" the sound of Robin's comlink crusjing into pieces.

"Now, Robin, this will only tickle a bit" Slade whispered into his ear and removed his hand from Robin's back.

The moment he did, an excruciating electrical shock coursed through Robin's body, causing the hero to cry out in pain, not expecting the shock. It continued unceasingly until Robin began to see shimming stars and his vision dimming.

"Please…stop…please stop…" Robin silently begged, swaying on his feet, then dropping to his knees.

As if it heard him, the twine rebelliously tighten against him and another couple shots of electricity ran through Robin. Robin collapsed to the ground, on the verge on blacking out.

"Batman is going to give me a full lecture when he finds out that I got myself caught.." was Robin's last thought.

As his eyes closed, he heard Slade chuckle and say:

"I told you Robin, I have you"


A/N: DUN DUN DUN...

Well...there you go!

Slade made his appearance, lured Robin away from the team, and captured him!

Slade's just getting started too...and he wants me to tell you, yes you, dear readers...

*takes deep breath and let's it out*

"He wants you to review or else! By "or else" you may not know what happens to Robin :O

Yes, Slade is a meanie and I am a bit crazy XD lol