This chapter is dedicated to reader1, who asked me to update.

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Two shadows slid through the sewers of Jump City. In silence they navigated the twisting labyrinth of tunnels, with only dripping water and squeaking rats to keep the company. At last, they stopped in front of a dank wall, seemingly no different from any other. Slade bent down and ran his hand deftly along the bottom row of bricks, and then up the left side. There was a quiet click, and the wall swung inward.

A narrow set of stairs descended into the darkness. The two figures descended without a word. Slade produced a glowstick from within his suit and lit it. The sharp crack echoed off the walls as the soft green glow illuminated their way. Down, down, the stairs wound, a twisting path that led them into the very bowels of the city. At last the stairs exited to a small room, bare except for a large iron door on the far wall. Slade motioned for Batman to stay back, and approached the door. He rapped a complex pattern across the rusted door and waited. There was no response. Slade looked back at Batman and shrugged almost comically, and called out, "Spider, I know you're there."

Silence.

"Spider, you know this door will not stop me, and if I have to break it down, I will be cross. Do you want me to be cross, Spider?"

The door swung open, screeching reluctantly.

"Much better," Slade said, nodding. He walked into the blackness. Batman followed, a silent shadow.

Within, they found a sparse room, animal bones strewn everywhere. The air smelled of sweat and refuse. In the corner sat a gray mattress, broken and sagging. In the center of the room a small fire burned. As Slade and Batman approached it, a voice called out from the shadows, thin and reedy, "No further."

"Spider, how good of you to invite us in. I'm sure you know why I'm here."

"I cannot," the voice hissed. "You know this. The laws—"

"The laws can burn, along with the rest of this city. I've been crossed, Spider, and I will pay him back in due. And you will assist me." Slade's voice was ice.

"No, no, they will come for me, I cannot—" the shadow's rambling turned into a strangled cry as Batman stepped into the light.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DOOONE?" wailed the Spider.

Slade's arm whipped across the fire and pulled the howling thin thing into the light. It was a small man, bundled in so many rags that he looked like a gray ball. His hair was black and greasy and hung down to his waist. Some of his rags had caught on fire when Slade pulled him across, and he howled as he beat out the flames. He looked up balefully at Slade, and Batman saw that the man's eyes were a light pink, and that he had no pupils.

"Traitor!" he hissed, baring his yellowed teeth.

Slade knelt down next to the ragged little man and leaned in. "You will tell me what I want to know, it is only a matter of how many bones I must break before you do."

The rat-like man giggled. "You cannot. You have thrown in with him. He will not let you. He cannot."

Batman knelt down on the other side of Spider. "I am no longer in the business of protecting anyone. Tell him what he wants to know."

Spider's eyes grew wide.

"Who was he?" Batman asked as they emerged from the sewers.

"No one is quite sure. He is named Spider, because his web stretches across this city. Nothing occurs that he does not know. He brokers information to any willing to pay, as long as they respect his neutrality. I broke his laws tonight, and there will be...consequences for it." Slade glanced at the Knight. "You should have let me kill him, his assassins will slow us down," he added mildly.

Batman continued to walk, not looking at Slade. "I am not a killer. Not yet."

Slade shrugged. "Not yet," he agreed. "One man or two? What difference does it make?"

The group of 8 moved through the abandoned industrial district located on the outskirts of the city. Factories loomed everywhere, their vacant windows staring at the group with hallow empty deadness. They were not alone. Every once in awhile, Red X could spot a shadow moving along the rooftops, or creeping through the abandoned factories that lined the street. They all seemed to be heading in the same direction. He heard the reason before he saw it. A low throbbing beat began thrum, getting louder as they continued to walk. They finally rounded a corner, and Red X saw the source of the noise. It was a warehouse, larger than any of the ones they had passed before, and it wasn't abandoned. Flickering strobe lights blasted through the windows and music blared. From every direction, Robin could see young villains congregating on the building.

"What is this place?" asked Urko, his mouth open in amazement.

"Hey, a girl needs to dance," replied Jynx, twirling. "Welcome to Club Zeus, the hottest villain nightclub this side of Jump City."

"Club Zeus?" asked Red X.

Jynx gave him an impish smile. "In Greek mythology, Zeus was the god that cast down the titans."

"The deal was for you to get us information, not to go party," growled Magpie from the back of the group. Her voice still gave Red X goosebumps.

"Relax, miss grim-dark. Where else are we going to find information except where all the villains gather to hang out?"

"Let's just get this over with," said Stone, shouldering his way past Mammoth and Blackfire and heading toward the warehouse. He had been quiet since his private session with Gizmo, and Red X feared the worse.

If anything happens to him…Bruce, I won't forgive you. Red X vowed. With a growing sense of unease, the Titans followed Stone and the HIVE trio into the throbbing nightclub.