Robin yelled and threw the three batarangs in his hand at the hulking figure. Each one exploded against his chest, impacting with the force of about a crate of Semtex. A normal human would have been reduced to oh-so- many pretty little cinders. Bane was only knocked down on his butt.

He killed them. He'd killed all of them. Star, Raven, Beast Boy, Cyborg, and before them, Batman. Robin was all there was left standing between this knew even more pumped-up version of Bane and the unsuspecting populace of Gotham City. He didn't hesitate when Bane went down, opting instead to attack full-force. He leaped on top of his archnemesis, the only supervillian to have managed to paralyze and kill Batman.

Robin whipped out his bo staff and prepared for the knockout blow. Bane was faster however. He managed to knee Robin in the stomach, causing Robin's head to snap forward and right into Bane's forehead in what was a terribly brutal head-butt. Robin saw stars.

Bane lifted the Boy Wonder up with ease in one hand, standing up himself. His eight foot figure was blurry against the setting sun and Robin's half- consciousness. Bane smiled the full face mask he wore contorting wickedly. "Bye kid," he said. He placed a thumb on one side of Robin's head and a forefinger on the other, as if he were about to twist the cap of a bottle of soda. He chuckled once again. "You were just too easy." He sharply turned his wrist, snapping Robin's neck and twisting his head into a one- eighty.

AAAAGGHHhhH

Robin sat up, sweat pouting in rivulets down his face. His hand immediately went to his neck.

It took about two seconds for him to realize that it wasn't real, that he'd only been dreaming. It had seemed so real though. So realistic, right down to the familiar smell of the explosions, the impact of the blows, everything. He took a moment to concentrate on slowing his breathing, and then got up, throwing the covers off. He needed milk. Yes, that was it, a nice cold glass of milk.

He walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge, not bothering to turn on the kitchen light. He squinted. Where was the milk?

The lights went on suddenly. "Robin?"

The Boy Wonder turned around upon hearing Starfire's voice. "Star? What are you doing up?"

The young Tamaranian girl stepped all the way into the kitchen from the hall where she had been standing. She looked tired, her hair was rumpled, and her purple T-shirt hung hapahazardly off her shoulder. It looked like she had just been woken up. "I am very sure I heard you yell out," she said tiredly.

Robin closed the fridge and stood up straight, thinking back to his nightmare. "Oh."

"It woke me up," Starfire continued. She ran a hand through her hair. "Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah. Just a nightmare, that's all. You know where the milk is by the way?"

"Cyborg drank the last of it this morning."

"Oh."

Starfire cocked her head to the side. "So what was giving you nightmares?"

Robin shrugged. "It was weird Bane had just killed you guys and even Batman. I was the only one left and then he killed me too."

"Morbid," remarked Starfire. She arched a brow. "I must say, you have never seemed like the type to have nightmares."

Robin walked over to the staircase leading down to the basement. He looked over his shoulder with a wry smile. "You'd be surprised Star."

***

"What was the impression you got from him?" asked Vergil Lee, Kay's boss. She was in his office, having been called up to offer a debriefing.

Kay found it rather disconcerting that the room lights had to be dimmed so low, but her boss had never tolerated much light. No that she could remember anyway. She shrugged, crossing her legs as she sat down on the black sofa that was backed against the wall. "Robin? He's great."

"Do you think he will take the job?"

"Yes, it certainly seems that way."

"Did you invite him to the festivities?"

"Of course. I think they'll be there as well." Kay leaned forward. "Still not going to tell me what it is that they're supposed to be protecting, are you?"

"Its top-secret research, and that's all you need to know."

Kay sighed. "Figures. Well, I have homework to do, so if that's all . . ."

"You can go." Vergil watched disinterestedly as the girl got up and left the room, glad that she had closed the door behind her. A quick press of a button and the door was locked as well.

A figure came out of the shadows then. He was a tall, well-dressed man in an Armani suit and Gucci loafers. He was wearing sunglasses.

"She suspects nothing," the figure said. It was half statement, half question.

Vergil chuckled. "Of course she suspects something. How could she not? As long as its not anywhere close to the truth, there is no problem." He turned around. "What made you decide to drop by, Mr. Takahashi?"

"We just had another break in."

"Where?"

"The Gotham facility, where else? A couple of guards are wounded. No serious injuries. They didn't manage to locate the artifact of course, but it worries me to no end that Rupert's men have been able to infiltrate our facilities time and time again."

"That should all change once the Titans join our security team."

"It had better." Takahashi frowned. When he had first stolen the ancient artifact from crime boss Rupert Thorne, he'd apparently overestimated the ability of his security forces to handle any retaliation that should come as a result. He should have known better though. Robbing a thief is the ultimate insult, and Rupert Thorne no doubt had taken it as such. Under any other circumstances, he would be prepared to deal with Thorne and his hoodlums, but not now. Not in the midst of a grand opening in which he had PR work to handle, financial transactions to make, and business deals to solidify. Not to mention that he wanted as little involvement with a crime boss as possible, what with the media's eye locked on his company, which was probably one of the biggest things to happen to Gotham since LexCorp's rebuilding project after The No Man's Land period. They even expected Takahashi Inc. to give WayneTech strong competition.

He snapped out of his reverie. There was one more thing he had to discuss with his subordinate. "I've noticed something about Kay," he said.

"What?"

"She seems to have developed a fondness for Robin."

"Her and every other teenage girl in Gotham. The guy's more of a heartthrob to most of 'em than boy bands, what do you expect?"

"You agree with me then?"

"About Kay? Well, I don't disagree. I mean, I haven't seen anything less than professionalism from her so far -"

"Still. In the end, it is imperative that her loyalties lie with us, not Robin and the other Titans."

Vergil nodded. "Of course.

***

The next day, Robin told the Titans about two things he'd sort of forgotten to mention the night before. "Guys," he said, "yesterday, Kay invited me-I mean- invited US to a ball."

"A what?" The question came from Beast Boy.

"Ball. You know, a party, a dance, that kind of thing."

"Why?" asked Starfire suspiciously.

"They're having it as a commemoration of the opening of their new Gotham facilities. Its pretty formal, which means tuxes for us guys and . . .uh . . .fancy clothes or whatever for you girls."

"Hey, hold it right there man," Cyborg interjected. "I don't do tuxes man."

"And I can't stand dresses," Raven added darkly. It would have been nice if you'd consulted with us before you agreed to it."

"C'mon guys, its only for one night, and it'll help us to get more familiar with the company and stuff."

Starfire sighed. "If you say so."

Cyborg didn't look too happy about it, but he stood up anyway. "Well come on guys, lets go buy us some fancy clothes."

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