All right, yall. Dusty speaking. First of all, let me give a shout-out to everyone who reviewed.
FoureyedRae: I'm glad that Raven is sounding good…I'm having a lot of fun writing her…sarcasm is great!
Nevermoretheraven: I'm really glad you like it. I'll try and put in some more flashbacks if I make any other references to Haunted. Thanks so much for the review!
Harei: LOL no it's not a one-shot. I thought that showing Robin in a vulnerable position would give people a new perspective, let them see a different side to our fearless leader. Hope it didn't come out sounding cheesy.
Jillian Augusta: Thanks, I'm really glad you're enjoying it. I was seriously considering writing a sequel… suppose it just depends on how aftereffects ends ;)
Febreese: Thanks, I'm really glad you liked it. I'll be sure to swing by and drop you a line.
Blah: Wow, I'm really glad you're enjoying it. Thanks for the review :)
Wickedwitch9: Thanks for reading, I'm glad you like it.
Ok, once more thank you for your input! Keep it up! And now, on with the story!
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"Why am I here? What's going on?" The pounding in his head blocked out any reasonable thought. He could hardly see his surroundings….everything was dark and blurred, twisted, shifting and swirling before his very eyes.
"What's happening to me?" He was lost and alone in the dark… "Dark…Slade…", and with that thought, the darkness became complete.
"Perfect", came a chilling voice from the shadows.
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Raven performed a thorough search of Titan's Tower, from the rooftop to the basement. No Robin.
"Don't panic. Fear is the enemy of successful action. You must remain in control." She asked each of her fellow titans if they had seen the masked hero since he had first emerged from his bedroom; none of them had.
"Ok, Raven. Focus, how can you find Robin?" "Communicator", she mumbled, reaching for hers. "Bingo", she muttered, staring at a tiny bleeping "R" on the screen.
Five minutes later, she was standing in a dark, musty alleyway. According to her communicator, Robin should be…just…here.
"Nothing", she said, stepping forward. She gasped, staring down at her foot. "Brilliant", she groaned, identifying the thing she had stepped on as Robin's communicator. A quick search of the surrounding area produced Robin's utility belt, retractable bo-staff, and cape.
"He wouldn't just leave these behind", she thought. "But there's no sign of a struggle…This place looks like it's hardly been touched in years." Her eyebrows drew together. This just wasn't making sense. All Raven knew was that she had to find Robin, fast.
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"Now then, Robin. I think it's time for some further testing. Stand." Slade's voice changed as he uttered the last word; his tone was commanding, and every letter was pronounced perfectly.
Robin's limp body slowly stood, and his eyes fluttered open.
"Excellent", said Slade, chuckling with sadistic pleasure. "Come to me", he commanded, in the same tone he had used before.
Robin slowly walked towards his worst nightmare. He stood before Slade, shoulders hunched and head tilted downward.
"We must not have secrets among friends, Robin. Remove your mask."
Robin's hands made there way haltingly up to the mask, pulling it off. Slade reached out and tilted Robin's head upward until their eyes met. Slade stared, captivated in spite of himself. Robin's eyes, though dull and somewhat empty at the moment, were still exceptional. Gray, green, and blue existed simultaneously in those eyes, swirling together in a color that Slade, at a loss for a name, could only call hazel.
The moment was gone in a matter of seconds. Slade's eye glared down at the impertinent youth who had dared to defy him. A metal-gloved hand swung back and slapped Robin with all the force its owner could muster. Robin's body slammed into the wall, sliding limply to the ground.
Slade quickly regained his composure. "This has been quite enjoyable, Robin, but I think I would prefer more of a challenge. Wake!", he ordered.
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A close look at the alley floor revealed a trail of footprints in the dirt and scum. Raven was surprised to see that this dark, narrow space was not so much an alley as a tunnel that sloped ever downwards. The footprints continued, close together and slightly smeared in places, as though their owner had been stumbling and shuffling along. Raven had a pretty good idea of who the footprints belonged to, and she felt slightly comforted knowing that, at least while in this alleyway, Robin was alive. Very, very slightly comforted.
"Please be ok, please be ok", she chanted over and over again in her head as the tunnel got colder, damper and farther underground.
"Would you be this worried if Starfire went missing? Would you go this far to rescue her?", whispered Doubt in her ear.
"What are you talking about? Of course I would!", Raven argued back, but Doubt had gotten to her. Why was she so concerned about Robin's safety? "He's my leader, my friend…", thought Raven, with less conviction this time.
"Come on, Ray. You know it's more than that!", said Happy teasingly. Raven felt a blush coming on, something that had never been known to improve her mood.
"I kinda need to concentrate here, so would you all just Shut Up?", she thought, irritated.
Her head hit something solid, and Raven jumped back, dazed. The tunnel had ended in a door. Raven stared at it for a moment, mentally preparing herself for whatever lay behind it. Then, with a deep breath, she reached forward, and turned the handle…That is, she would have turned it, had the door not been locked.
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Robin's world was spinning, twisting, whirling. His head throbbed insanely, almost blinding him. Robin clutched his stomach, wondering if he was going to be sick.
"Ah, Robin. Good to see you", said Slade pleasantly, as though they were old friends at a community social.
Robin whipped his head around, but immediately shut his eyes as the room spun faster and his head throbbed even worse. He dry-heaved; not having eaten anything all day, there was nothing to get rid of. A foot came out of nowhere, kicking him hard in the ribs. Robin curled in on himself, his head cradled in his hands.
Slade chuckled. "You and I are going to have a lot of fun."
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Raven focused her energy on the door, chanting, "Azarath Metrion Xinthos!" The door was lifted off its hinges and set down as quietly as possible. She had no idea what she was facing, so stealth seemed to be the best plan.
Raven sighed as she saw that the door revealed yet another long, dark tunnel.
Pain shot through her body, but it was not her's, it was Robin's. The pain stopped after a few seconds, but Raven was still breathing heavily. She had to find Robin.
Raven flew down the tunnel, pushing for more speed…She was racing time, and her instincts told her that she was losing.
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Slade pulled Robin up by the front of his already ripped uniform. "You look as if you had a rough night, Robin. Anything I can do to help?", he asked courteously, punching Robin in the face.
Robin screamed, slumping on the ground. The pain in his head was so intense that he felt as though his entire body was screaming in agony. He was no longer aware of his surroundings, although he could still hear Slade's voice echoing in his head.
"You feel a little warm, Robin", said Slade, kneeling and taking Robin's head in his hands. "Is there anything I can get for you?" He slammed his head into the concrete floor. The impact made his nose bleed, and stars erupted in front of his eyes. He wasn't sure why, but something was telling him to stay awake. Easier said than done.
"You really should have cleaned up those cuts, Robin", droned Slade, kicking him across the room. "You could get an infection", he said, kicking Robin again.
Robin stared up at Slade, his eyes unfocused, shaking uncontrollably. His body was curled up into a ball in a feeble effort to protect himself.
Slade grabbed Robin by the arm and dragged him effortlessly over to a large supercomputer, into which was built a fairly small device, which had a lens at its center.
"Say cheese", said Slade maliciously, holding Robin in front of the lens. A blinding flash of light went off in Robin's eyes, making his head ache even worse.
"Now, Robin, I think our little play date is drawing to a close."
Robin heard Slade's words as though through a badly tuned radio. Every part of his body was screaming for release...
Slade threw him into a wall, catching him as he fell and slamming him into the ground. "That should do it", thought Slade. Somehow, this wasn't as enjoyable as it should have been. "I won't kill him, not yet…not until I've had my fun." Slade kicked Robin again, this time to test his state of consciousness. There was no response from the so-called "Boy Wonder". Slade smirked, staring hungrily at the broken youth.
Robin was slipping…everything, even the pain, was fading out…And then he heard something, something that echoed crystal-clear in every chamber of his mind. "I'm coming, Robin! Hold on!"
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"Door…CRUD, it's locked!", Raven yelled mentally, stooping to a level of slang that she rarely, if ever, visited. She took her mind off of Robin long enough to dispose of the annoying obstacle, and then immediately returned it to him. She knew that Robin was in this very room, but his emotional signature was so weak that he might have been miles away.
She wanted to fly into that room and throw caution to the winds, but her experience in such situations would not allow her to. Instead, she shifted into her shadow bird form, creeping forward in the dark areas of the large room.
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"I imagine it's all going dark now, isn't it, Robin?", whispered Slade venomously, forcing Robin to look at him. Amazingly, Robin's eyes were still open, but they were glazed over and Slade could tell that those eyes weren't seeing much at all right now. "Horrible things lurk in the dark, don't they, Robin? They're always there, just waiting to reach out and grab you with Death's ice cold fingers." His voice was like poison, seeping into Robin's veins and chilling him to the bone.
"Oh, and before I forget", said Slade, conversationally, reaching into a compartment of his utility belt and extracting a syringe and a small vial. He stuck the needle into the vial, slowly drawing out the clear liquid inside it. He then jabbed Robin's arm, injecting the strange substance into the unsuspecting, and mostly unconscious, hero.
Slade was suddenly surrounded by a black aura. Next thing he knew, he was being repeatedly slammed into the wall. Quickly recovering from his unpleasant surprise, Slade broke free from Raven's power and stood firmly on the ground once more.
"Oh look. It's one of Robin's little friends. I was beginning to think you wanted to get rid of him when none of you came to collect him. I'm afraid you'll find it's too late now. Far too late." Slade was fairly sure that Robin was still alive, but he wanted to see this girl suffer for a while.
"Shut up, scum!", Raven screamed, hurling a large chunk of the concrete wall at the masked lunatic.
"Another time, perhaps", said Slade, seemingly disappearing into thin air. The rock crashed pointlessly into the ground where Slade had been standing.
Breathing heavily, Raven searched the room for Robin, cringing at the thought of what she might see.
"No!" She tried to scream, but all that came out was a hoarse whisper. He was lying in a heap, face down, unmoving. Raven was frozen, unable to move, unable to think... He was gone.