Author's Note: A reviewer asked about the dark Robin saying "I will never be your apprentice". In my story, even though the roles of the characters are switched, their personalities remain the same! Thus, even though Slade is a hero in my story, he is still no less obsessed with conquering Robin, and Robin is no less determined never to fall to Slade's side (although we might not really consider that a 'fall', since this is a Dark Robin). Jinx, Mammoth, and Gizmo are exactly the same as they are shown in the Cartoon Network series. Their appearance, personality, and powers are identical except that they fight for justice instead of villainy. Slade is just like he is in the show—mysterious, obsessed with Robin, and his greatest wish is to gain Robin as an apprentice. He serves good rather than evil, but he still has the same martial art/utility belt. Plasmus is human while asleep and a sludge creature when awake. He has all the same powers (sludge/acid spit, split into many parts) as in the show. Robin will play the same role as Slade in the show except that he doesn't aspire to be Slade's master.

Chapter 2

In his dark, gear-filled hideout, Robin sat in his high chair, watching with great interest the video playing on his large theater screen. It was an advertisement from the Hierarchy of International Vengeance and Extermination, offering their services to the ranking criminal mastermind of Jump City.

"The Hive Academy for Extraordinary Young People is proud to present this year's top graduates…" a woman's voice was narrating the video. A photograph was shown of the supposed "graduates": a thin, green-skinned boy with pointed ears, a mysterious girl shrouded in a blue cloak, and a large, tall man covered with blue machinery. Robin looked on with some interest. The first recording of the video showed the half-robot firing a blue beam out of a cannon on his right hand. The beam tore through a training robot, wrecking it completely. Robin decided that he had seen enough.

"Sure, I'll buy it. Send the graduates in!" ordered Robin.

Gizmo was, as often, playing on the GameStation. Jinx was out shopping for groceries, Mammoth was still asleep, and Slade was sitting in his room surrounded by pictures of Robin. As a result, Gizmo started playing by himself, setting record after record on the racing track.

The large purple form of Plasmus slowly walked into the living room—Plasmus was too big to run—and "sat" on the couch next to Gizmo. Plasmus engulfed one of the game controllers in his fluid hand (miraculously not getting any sludge between the buttons) and started a 2-player game with Gizmo. Both of them focused completely on the screen, Gizmo's thumbs and forefingers flying all over his controller. After a while, Gizmo realized something amazing…

Gizmo was losing! He concentrated even harder and drove his short, stubby fingers to their limits, but his car stayed stubbornly behind Plasmus's on the racetrack. A minute later the words "WINNER: PLAYER 2" flashed on the screen. Gizmo slammed his controller down on the table in frustration. The controller cracked open and shorted out. Sparks flew from the metal wires inside the controller as it lay sizzling on the table.

Just then Slade emerged from the corridor into the living room, on one of his rare appearances outside of his room. He looked around, spotted the smashed game controller, and immediately conjectured what had happened.

"So Gizmo, it appears you just lost a game to a living industrial waste pool," observed Slade nonchalantly. Smoke was starting to come out of Gizmo's ears while Plasmus roared with laughter.

"I'm sure he cheated!" screamed Gizmo angrily. "I'm the best videogamer in the world!"

Slade nodded, but the inscrutable mask prevented anyone from observing his facial expression. "That's entirely possible," he said, "Plasmus is human after all, no matter what he looks like in the daytime. You should not have underestimated his intelligence Gizmo."

The door opened. Jinx took a step into the room with several bags of groceries in each hand. Slade glanced at the bags and noted that they contained a very balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, various boxes of cake mix or pasta, and a can of salt. As she took the step through the door, the alarm went off. Soon Gizmo pulled up the video of the attack on their screen. Three very unfamiliar figures were wrecking the pizza parlor downtown.

"I don't think we've seen them before," Jinx commented.

Mammoth arrived in the living room, having been woken by the alarm. He looked at the three villains on the screen. "Who are they?" he asked, puzzled.

"We'll find out soon," Slade replied, and the five Titans ran off towards the alarm.

The patrons of the pizza parlor had long since fled. Cyborg and Beast Boy had already scared off the workers and were now eating pizzas they had each stolen from the kitchen while waiting for the Titans. Raven declined the pizzas and stood beside the counter, tapping her foot out of boredom.

Off to the side, the Titans silently advanced across the street, hoping to catch the three villains off-guard…

BOOM! A mine went off as the Titans stepped into the parlor, hurling all five of them to their feet. When the Titans had gotten up again, they were face-to-face with a large, intimidating, half-robotic teenager. Behind him was a green-skinned, short boy and a blue-cloaked figure.

Mammoth looked puzzled. "Who are you?" he asked.

Beast Boy started: "We are the—"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Why do we have to identify ourselves before we attack?"

"Um…I don't know, because it's fun?" Beast Boy asked hopefully.

"Because our employer told us to," Cyborg stated with finality. He turned back to the Titans. "Anyway, 'We are the Hive, your worst nightmare, and this is attack pattern Alpha.'"

He raised his right arm, which turned into a blue sonic cannon, and fired.