Chapter 3
Five minutes into the search, Cyborg was walking through the park looking for any sign of an underground place. Suddenly his foot was caught in a small hole in the edge of the park. After a sustained effort he got his foot free and looked. It was another exhaust vent, similar to the one they had found for Slade's first hideout. Cyborg called the others using his arm phone.
"I think this might be the place. There's an exhaust vent here just like the one we saw for Slade's other hideout!" said Cyborg. "I'll be at your location shortly. Stay right there," responded Robin.
Robin put his communicator back into his utility belt and ran towards the park. The others weren't as obsessed with getting to Slade and were in no hurry to arrive. Minutes later Robin got to the park and saw Cyborg waiting near the sidewalk.
Cyborg pointed the hole out. "It was concealed by some grass but I accidentally stepped in it," he explained. "Maybe Beast Boy should take another look inside."
"Do you still have our chemical reagent?" asked Robin.
"Right here." Cyborg brought out the two vials of powder.
"I think this is Slade's hideout," said Robin optimistically. "Put the powder down the hole."
"Not so fast!" warned Cyborg. "The hole might not lead straight to Slade's room underground. There could be several bends in the pipe."
Beast Boy, Raven, and Starfire arrived at about the same time. Robin turned to Beast Boy. "Take this chemical down the pipe until you get to the end. Don't let Slade see you. When you see Slade, open the vial and let the chemical fall into the room."
First Robin dropped the vial into the darkness of the pipe. Beast Boy shrank into a mouse and followed.
A short while later Beast Boy emerged from the pipe and transformed back to his usual form. "Did you succeed?" asked Robin.
Beast Boy looked around confused. He switched his stare from Robin to the empty space near Cyborg. Suddenly he fell to the ground, then flew into the sidewalk and landed painfully on the cement. An invisible hand seemed to pick up Beast Boy as he then recoiled as if he was being punched and kicked. He flew backwards and again landed on the sidewalk.
Cyborg realized what had happened. "Beast Boy must have gotten a dose of our chemical reagent!"
The actual, real Robin rushed over to Beast Boy, who looked up and got more confused. Robin pointed to himself and shouted, "That Robin is only a hallucination! I'm the real Robin! Remember, you were exposed to the chemical when you left it in Slade's room!"
As soon as Beast Boy took in what the actual Robin said, the imaginary Robin immediately disappeared. Beast Boy couldn't stand after having been beaten up by the imagined Robin, so the Titans had to carry him back to the Tower.
Meanwhile…
In the new underground cavern Slade had recently built, he failed to notice the powder that had fallen into the room from the ventilation grille. Suddenly, realizing (falsely) there was someone behind him, he turned around. A roof tile opened (in his imagination) and Robin dropped through to land on the floor.
Without another word Slade ran forward, aiming a flying kick at what he thought was Robin. "Robin" dodged to one side and threw a right hook, which Slade (thought he) blocked. In Slade's view, Robin backflipped up, kicking Slade right under the chin as he did so. Slade stumbled backward, his jaw in pain. "Robin" followed up with a flying kick forward, but Slade sidestepped and turned to attempt to strike "Robin" from behind, but "Robin" had "anticipated" this somehow and kicked backwards with his foot, catching Slade in the groin. Slade cried out in pain and staggered back. "Robin" kept right on going, leaping back into the air to begin another flying kick. Slade struggled to sidestep the kick; however, when he evaded "Robin's" forward foot, he was caught by "Robin's" other foot and thrown across the room. Slade, despite his pain, stood to face "Robin" as he approached menacingly.
"Don't think you can defeat me with this one battle!" shouted Slade, trying to sound intimidating and nearly succeeding. "Even if you kill me, I will always come back to haunt you!"
Only Slade heard "Robin" speaking. "You're not coming back anymore, not when I'm finished with you. You've been hiding from me all this time, sending robots for me to destroy while you cower down here…but I have you now, and your life ends right now!"
"Robin" charged (of course only Slade saw it) and threw an uppercut. Just then Slade's communicator rang. Slade ignored the call. He had a more urgent matter at hand.
Slade simply caught "Robin's" fist and twisted it, and was rewarded with "Robin's" cry of pain. But Slade was then caught off guard as "Robin" raised his knee, catching Slade in the stomach. In his surprise and pain Slade let go of "Robin's" hand, and "Robin" immediately reused that hand in an uppercut to Slade's chin, which had already been bruised from "Robin's" earlier kick. Slade suddenly dropped low and kicked out at "Robin's" feet. "Robin" easily jumped over the kick, then backflipped and gave Slade another kick under the chin. Without missing a beat "Robin" threw another left hook, then somersaulted forward, bringing his heel downward into contact with Slade's forehead and knocking Slade to the floor. Slade tried to get up again but the pain of the blows he had imagined was too much. "Robin", however, took advantage and stomped down on Slade's stomach. A thin trickle of blood started to emerge from under Slade's mask. "Robin" then repeatedly jumped up and down on Slade's stomach, bringing out a trickle of blood each time. Slade finally tapped his last bit of endurance and jumped up, grabbing "Robin's" foot" as it came down for the umpteenth time, and slammed "Robin" into the ground. However, just as Slade brought his fist down for the finishing attack, "Robin" leaped up again and caught Slade with an uppercut to the groin, followed by another somersault kick to the stomach, throwing Slade against the wall.
Just then the large door into the room swung open and Brother Blood entered, looking for Slade. "Slade, why didn't you—" His expression instantly was shocked at the sight of Slade, prostrate on the floor, with a trickle of blood from his mouth. "Whoa! What happened to you?"
Brother Blood was startled as Slade suddenly lifted up from the ground and slammed into the wall again. "Get Robin!" shouted Slade, already angry that Brother Blood wasn't helping.
"Robin? What Robin?" Blood was puzzled.
"Right—Uff!" Slade cried out in pain as he was thrown right towards Brother Blood. Blood was caught off guard and Slade landed right on him, knocking both of them to the ground. Blood looked around and saw no one. "Slade, what the hell is going on!?"
"Can't you see…it's…Robin…" before Slade suddenly felt the imaginary impact of an invisible shoe on his chest.
"There's no one else here except you and me!" exclaimed Brother Blood.
"No! I can see him right the--"
Brother Blood stood up, slightly hurt from having Slade land on him, and pointed his hands right next to Slade, firing a stream of red electricity. Slade imagined seeing Robin bend backwards and evade the electricity.
"You can't see him because he has a cloaking device!" explained Slade, thinking it was the only possibility.
"Then how come you can see him?" challenged Blood. "If he was cloaked, you wouldn't see him; if he wasn't, I would!"
Slade suddenly was reminded of another possibility. Perhaps Robin was really not there!
The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed. He had handled the chemical reagent before, after all; might he not have fallen victim to the same illusion?
"Robin" charged forward. Slade turned and calmly walked towards the door, knowing that "Robin" did not exist. He was less sure of himself when he felt the unmistakable impact of a foot on his back, knocking him to the ground.
"Robin! I know you're not real! You can't hurt me!" shouted Slade defiantly.
"If I'm not real, then who gave you those bruises?" mocked Robin, in such a way that only Slade heard his response. "You've haunted me so long now with your hiding in the darkness, tormenting me from some hole in the ground…but no longer! Your life ends now and I will never be haunted again!"
Robin charged again, ready to finish the fight. Slade thought of what Robin had done with his hallucination.
"Lights out, Robin!" resolved Slade, as he reached the light switch and turned it off. As the room darkened the image of Robin disappeared in mid-charge.
