The five teens now found themselves standing before the entrance to a sprawling and very busy lumber yard. There were at least a dozen trailers lined up to their left, a flat, snow-covered field to their right, and a series of tall, wide workshops and storage buildings stretched out for some distance straight in front of them – all of it framed on all sides by the densely wooded mountains, of course. The open yard bustled with activity, and the air was filled with the sound of industrial saws and other heavy machinery.
"Wow," Cyborg muttered, rubbing the side of his head that wasn't metal. "You sure this is the right place, Robin?"
"Yeah…" He, too, was somewhat taken aback. "This is the right address and location, and Snow's hired goons said they always met him at a lumber yard. Still, I wasn't expecting it to be this… big."
"I dunno, this just doesn't feel right. I mean, ain't it kinda… crowded, for the supposed hideout of a terrorist or a wannabe criminal mastermind?"
"And besides," Beast Boy added, jumping on Cyborg's wagon, "This dude's a thief and a kidnapper who stockpiles chemical weapons, right? This doesn't really seem like a good hiding place for hostages or weapons."
Robin frowned. "Well, maybe he just uses this as a meeting site. Or, maybe there's more to this place than meets the eye. In any event, it's the only thing we have to go on right now, so let's spread out and start looking a… Raven, are you feeling all right?"
She had a hand pressed to her temple, and her brow was creased by either concentration or pain. "It's… I… sense something. Over that way… something…"
She began walking across the yard toward the empty snow field. The others, after exchanging a short flurry of quizzical glances and shrugs, fell in behind her.
As they passed the nearest workshop, Beast Boy suddenly stopped.
"Hold on," he called to his teammates, who paused to wait for him. He stood still, staring intently at the side of the building.
"What is it, Beast Boy?" Starfire asked, floating back toward his position.
He continued to stare at the building. "There's… something there," he muttered in a low voice.
"…I see only the building of lumbering," she admitted, trying to follow his line of sight.
Ignoring her, Beast Boy shifted into wolf form and sniffed the air for a moment. Then, he began stalking slowly toward the building.
"Better not turn out to be a mouse," Cyborg joked. Robin, meanwhile, was watching Beast Boy's movements closely.
The green wolf closed to within about eight feet of the building and stopped, first sniffing the ground, then the air.
Then, with a startled yelp, he was suddenly knocked to the side, as if he'd been kicked.
And a visible distortion in the air before him revealed the shape of the person who'd done it. A figure which, until it had moved, had been totally invisible to the eye.
"Titans!" Robin shouted, not wasting another second. "GO!"
As he, Cyborg and Raven surged forward, the invisible figure disengaged his optical camouflage, revealing himself to be a tall, wiry man dressed in gray fatigues. His silver hair, pulled back into a tight ponytail, his severe, hawkish features and the set of reflective-lens goggles which concealed his eyes, all matched the physical descriptions the Titans had managed to gather of the man called Snow. Those features twisted into a snarl as he drew forth a small, compact submachine gun and sprayed a volley of bullets toward the two nearest targets.
Starfire darted in front of Beast Boy, already charging a star bolt as she did so; the extreme heat generated by her cosmic energy melted the projectiles in mid-air and rendered them harmless. She then returned fire, forcing Snow to dive for cover, losing his gun in the process. Quickly changing tactics, he ducked inside the busy workshop before the other Titans could reach him. Robin was right behind him, his adrenaline surging.
"I'm switching to EMF vision in case he pulls that 'invisible man' trick again," Cyborg barked, he and Raven following on Robin's heels as they plunged into the building.
They nearly lost him right off, between their eyes having to adjust to the much darker lighting inside, and all of the noise and activity from the dozens of workers going about their jobs. But Robin, thanks in large part to his many years of pursuit training on the streets of Gotham, quickly spotted him as he ducked between two large piles of stacked lumber a short distance away.
"This way!" he shouted to his teammates, nimbly dodging around a moving forklift as he gave chase. Reaching the lumber stacks, he caught a glimpse of a silver ponytail disappearing between two adjacent rows. His mind and body acting in concert as a well-oiled machine, Robin quickly fired his grappling line into the rafters and swung himself up and over the woodpiles, aiming to cut off his quarry's escape route and drop himself right on top of him.
To Robin's surprise, however, Snow was ready for this move and spun out of the way, avoiding the Boy Wonder's diving kick, and catching him in the side – square in the kidney, actually – with a lunging elbow on his way past.
Wincing from the unexpected blow, Robin mentally berated himself for the oversight and forced himself to recover quickly. As his quarry continued to rush toward the open air beyond the building's walls, he retracted his grappling line and immediately fired it again, catching the fleeing suspect by the arm.
But this too proved to be only a momentary delay, as with one smooth moment, Snow flicked out a knife and sliced through the line, freeing himself. However, the extra second lost had allowed Cyborg to catch up with him, and the cybernetically-enhanced Titan dove at him with a football tackle.
For a split second, Robin was sure Cyborg was going to end up inadvertently breaking every bone in this guy's body. But at the last instant, Snow again managed to narrowly dodge his intended interceptor. Cyborg lost a bit of his momentum trying to change directions after his missed tackle, and their quarry took full advantage as he bolted out into the open air and kept running – straight out across the open snow field Raven had originally begun leading them toward.
As Cyborg charged out after him, joined outside by Starfire and Beast Boy, Raven dropped down next to Robin's position, where he'd paused to catch his breath and prepare himself to rejoin the chase.
"You okay?" she asked him, her violet eyes glittering dispassionately within the depths of her hood.
He nodded wordlessly, giving his side a final pat before pushing himself back into a forward jog.
Raven levitated herself alongside, matching his pace, still watching him with that inscrutable, analytical expression. "I should probably mention that I'm sensing some really strange things from that guy."
"Is it something I need to know before we catch him?" Robin quickened his pace, eager to catch up with his teammates, not to mention Snow himself, who was now halfway across the snow field and heading for the trees beyond.
"Well, he's an empath."
He spared her a sideways glance. "An empath?"
"Yeah. When he hit you, he felt your pain."
"How do you know?"
"Uh, because, I'm an empath, too?" She frowned at the wide-eyed stare this provoked. "What? How did you think I was able to sense people?"
"Uh, okay, good to know," Robin muttered, channeling his emotional response to her revelation into a full-blown sprint.
About twenty feet ahead of them, the other three Titans were closing on Snow. Then, abruptly and with a loud CRUNCH!, Cyborg fell through the ground and disappeared from view.
"Wha--?" Robin gasped, momentarily stopping short to assess the situation. Starfire and Beast Boy had also stopped, and were staring at the hole Cyborg had fallen into.
A strangely dark hole, Robin could see as he drew nearer.
Dark, and… moving.
"Oh, no…" he breathed as the realization hit him. "We're standing on a frozen river! Beast Boy--!"
"Got it!" the green changeling yelled, already diving for the hole, shifting into a sea lion in mid-air as he plunged into the rushing waters.
"Starfire! Help them!"
"Understood!" she called as she hovered anxiously over the ice, her eyes and hands glowing brightly.
"Raven!" Robin pointed at Snow's retreating back, as he disappeared into the trees on what was now obviously the river's opposite bank. "Give me a boost!"
She said nothing, but gathered him up in her glowing, neon black telekinesis aura and swooped after their target.
Robin hit the ground running, determined not to let his concern for his friends divert his attention from the pursuit. Although Snow was no longer directly in his line of vision, the trail he'd left in his wake wasn't difficult to follow. After a hectic dash through the trees, the trail led him to a small clearing, and a low, concrete platform with a covered manhole in the center. Snapping out his retractable bo staff, Robin attempted to pry it open, but it was too heavy.
He turned toward Raven, who'd just entered the clearing behind him, and indicated the manhole cover. "Could you…"
With a silent nod she complied, stretching out a hand from where she stood. Her eyes flashed gray and an arc of black current traveled between her and the metal lid, flipping it open with little apparent effort.
"Right, let's go," Robin said as he prepared to descend the maintenance ladder leading down from the hole's entrance.
"Uh, Robin? Wait a second." Surprised, he looked up at her. Her face was still shrouded by her hood, but something in her voice had sounded… odd, uncharacteristically… concerned? Almost… fearful? No, that couldn't be it. This was Raven, after all…
"Something… something isn't right, here," she was telling him. "There's a lot of… there's an awful lot of pain, down there. Something's wrong."
Robin steeled himself. "All the more reason to stop Snow," he told her gravely. "He's down there, too, and whatever's going on, here, I'm sure he's the cause of it. Are you with me?"
She blinked at that, and seemed to snap back to herself after that lapse of… whatever it had been. "Of – of course. Let's go." And she followed him down the ladder.
After descending about fifteen feet, they found themselves in a narrow, twisting hallway. Concrete, wood and plaster, lit by an intermittent series of light bulbs strung along the ceiling… whatever this was, it certainly wasn't a drainage tunnel. It had obviously been built for some other purpose, and camouflaged by the manhole entrance above to make it look like something related to the local water systems.
The two Titans made their way cautiously through the winding passage, watching and listening intently for any sign of their target. But the halls were strangely, oppressively silent. Even their own footsteps seemed oddly muffled.
Robin glanced back at his blue-clad teammate as they proceeded. "Can you get a fix on him?" he asked her, keeping his voice low.
Her eyes narrowed in concentration, but she shook her head. "No… I just keep picking up whatever he's sensing, which is… us. It's like trying to follow an echo in a crowded room."
They reached a fork in the passage, where the hallway branched off in different directions. Raven opened her mouth to say something just as a small metal object came bouncing out of the passage on their right, and the hallway was almost instantly engulfed in thick, white smoke.
Having been gassed before, Robin instinctively held his breath. Raven, however, wasn't as fortunate, and immediately began to choke and cough uncontrollably. Grabbing her by the arm, he quickly hoisted her over his shoulder and lunged down the hallway toward the direction the attack had come from. Once they were clear of the smoke, he gently lowered her to the floor. Hearing scrambling footsteps just ahead of their location, he paused only a few seconds to make sure his teammate would be all right, before he threw himself back into the chase.
Leaving Raven where she was (there was no other choice, he told himself coldly), Robin raced through the maze of corridors, convinced Snow had to be just around the next turn. Rounding a corner, he glimpsed a door swinging shut a few steps down the hall ahead of him.
Mentally preparing himself for combat, Robin burst through the door.
And stopped dead in his tracks, his mind scarcely able to process the sight which now greeted him.
For the deepest, darkest, filthiest pits of Gotham's underworld paled in comparison to the room he'd just entered.
It was, literally, a torture chamber. Lit by a single light bulb in the center of the ceiling. Chains and hooks also hung from the ceiling, and the walls, as did… other things. There were a few chairs, tables, cots… mattresses… all of them horribly, horrifically stained, as was the floor.
And, stacked in rows along the wall across from where he stood…
Children.
In cages.
More than a dozen, a few dead, but most of them alive.
Bound.
Chained.
Abused.
Tortured.
Molested.
Mutilated.
And not one of them was even half Robin's own age.
Despite all the things he'd seen and experienced, the sheer horror of this threatened to overwhelm him, and he had to look away. He clenched his eyes shut, fighting to regain control of his emotions.
He could remember a small handful of times they'd come across things like this – well, not like this – things involving crimes against children, in Gotham. Those times, Bruce would never let him look in the rooms. He always made him stay outside, he always went in alone.
Now, Robin understood why.
As the room came back into focus, he realized he was standing next to a camera tripod. And there was an impressive collection of audiovisual recording equipment arrayed against the opposite wall, behind him.
His stomach twisted in a mixture of revulsion and fury.
And then the light bulb exploded, showering him with sparks and shards of glass as the room was plunged into merciful darkness.
Raven stood in the doorway, framed by the light from the hallway behind her, her expression and features hidden within the darkness of her cloak.
Robin ran a hand through his hair and drew a shaky breath, determined to at least restore his own outward composure, for the sake of his team. He deliberately focused his thoughts toward his friends, and away from the horror of the room. This wasn't the sort of thing they were used to dealing with, to put it very mildly. They were going to have to call in some outside help. Assuming, of course, Beast Boy and Starfire were able to rescue Cyborg from drowning…
Once he felt confident that he'd gotten himself sufficiently under control, he stepped back out into the hallway.
"…Come on," he said in a low voice as he passed Raven. "This place is like a maze. We're not going to be able to find Snow without Beast Boy and Cyborg. And, we have to call the police, to help these… kids…"
He took a few steps down the hall, stopped, and turned back.
Raven was still standing in the doorway. Motionless.
"Raven…?" He approached her, reaching out to gently touch her shoulder. "Are you—"
At the slightest hint of his touch, she spun away with a strangled shriek and telekinetically slammed him against the wall. The impact knocked the wind out of him, and he slumped to the floor, dazed.
It took several seconds for his vision to clear. When it finally did, he saw her with her back pressed against the doorframe, staring at him, her eyes wide. And there was a look in them that he'd never seen before, and would never forget having seen now, no matter how much he might want to.
Her eyes were devoid of recognition, of reason, of control. And the raw, primal horror he saw in them was a hundred – no, a thousand times worse than what he'd felt himself, a minute earlier.
"Ra… Raven…" he managed to whisper, holding out an empty hand, trying to bring her back from wherever she was. "It's… me… it's Robin…"
Gradually, a sense of recognition began to return to her wild, staring eyes. But as it did, she began to shake uncontrollably. "…Ro…" she croaked, swallowed, and pressed a violently trembling hand against the wall, attempting to steady herself, with very little success.
"…Robin…" she breathed, then choked. Doubling over, she collapsed against the wall and retched painfully, then fell to her knees, coughing, still shaking, her frail frame shrouded within the depths of her cloak. Finally, she sank completely into the shadows and vanished, having teleported herself away, leaving Robin there alone.
