Ok, here we are… if you battled through my note to Yami no Kaiba, that is… Thanks for all the great and totally-helpful feedback, you guys! Soo… to Quinn and his Quill (I agree; I think tumbleweed shooting should be an Olympic sport too…); and to YamiTai (I find the strangest things cute, you know…); and to Phoenix Skyborne (doesn't Slade deserve to be annoyed by someone like the Joker? Especially after what he did in your Changes… bastard…); and to Narroch06 (I thought it looked wrong when I typed it up… And I nicked the fear gas from Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu, actually, but it is the same thing; no research, I am, guilty as charged – just like you – a hopeless Batman fan…); and to a new reviewer, Kami-Elf (a DBZ fan, or just a coincidence? And Robin will get more aggressive later on… very aggressive, actually…); and to DarkMarkLv (your questions shall be answered…); and last but not least, again to Yami no Kaiba (I checked; you're right, "preposition" is actually a typo; Robin gets a lot less whiny and a lot more crazy later on – wouldn't you whine if the Bat was kicking your ass under the guise of "training"?; no, it's nothing like Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, although that is an awesome movie…; and any coincidences with Knightfall or Outsiders comics are utterly innocent – I gave up reading Outsiders two years ago because our stupid comic book store wouldn't get them in on a regular basis, just one every now and then, and I have only read Knights'end of the Knightfall saga; and lastly… Slade lowering himself to regular rape? My reading of Phoenix Skyborne's Changes aside, I really wouldn't put it past him… if he was real, I mean…)

Woo! Sorry about that, but you're all such damn good reviewers I feel that I have to reply to all your questions and comments… -

Two chapters for y'all now… Enjoy!

Flight from Arkham

Robin's eyes fluttered open beneath his mask as his consciousness returned. His head was pounding and he felt sick and weak. He wondered where he was and sat up slightly, feeling something smooth slide off him as he did so.

He found himself on the deeply-set backseat of the Batmobile, curled up in a little niche in the black leather. The thing that had slid off him was a long black cape with a bat-shaped cowl attached; obviously Batman's. He shivered slightly and pulled the cape back around himself in an attempt to warm himself up. It was fairly dark in the Batmobile but he gradually became aware of pinpoints of light coming from the dashboard beyond the front seats. He also saw the large shape of Batman leaning over the lights, pressing buttons and adjusting screens.

And then he remembered.

"Batman, I didn't do it!" He said desperately, sitting bolt upright. Batman jumped and turned sharply to face him.

"You're awake," he acknowledged bluntly. He shook his head, which, Robin noticed, was still bat-like; the cape he had draped around himself was obviously a spare.

"Batman, please," he went on, determined to make his ex-mentor believe him, "please, I didn't do it. I didn't kill them. You have to believe me!"

Batman stared at him blankly.

"Pardon?"

"The Titans… the Titans are dead and you said that I killed them because I was like Slade but I didn't!"

Batman's blank expression didn't change.

"The Titans… are dead?" He asked, obviously as confused as his ex-sidekick was desperate.

Robin's own desperation faded into confusion.

"You… you said they were… I saw them, I…"

Batman burst out laughing, something so rare it rendered Robin speechless.

"You stupid… boy!" He spluttered between laughing. Robin blinked but waited until Batman's laughing fit had subsided, spending that surprisingly long time wriggling through the gap between the front seats to join his hysterical ex-mentor.

"Didn't you see the gas?" The Dark Knight asked, his tone serious again. Robin frowned as he settled back into the black leather passenger seat.

"Yeah… it was green, but-"

"Robin," Batman sighed. "Someone broke into the confiscated weapons vault during the break-out. They got hold of Scarecrow's fear gas and let it loose all over Arkham."

"I was…"

"Hallucinating," Batman finished bluntly. "I heard you screaming and by the time I had got to you, you had passed out."

"Oh." Robin couldn't think of anything else to add. Hallucinating? But it had seemed so real…

"You weren't the only one," Batman went on.

"I know," Robin replied. "I was with Two-Face when it got him. I managed to get him out of the area, but I couldn't do anything else with him."

Batman nodded approvingly.

"Good boy." He lowered his cowled head. "It got a lot of the police officers and several of the minor prisoners, plus a few more dangerous ones. The Mad Hatter and Killer Croc were both shrieking like banshees when I found them."

"Oh," Robin said again, still at an extreme loss for words. His gaze settled on the flashing dashboard.

"You know about fear gas, don't you?"

Robin looked up.

"Yeah, I guess. Makes you hallucinate about the Boogie Man, stuff like that."

Or in my case, murdering my friends…

"That's only half," Batman corrected reprovingly. "It feeds on your worst fear, the very deepest and darkest veneration hidden away within your soul. It preys on what your mind shies from."

Batman paused and Robin dared to breathe out; a tiny smile graced the Dark Knight's face.

"It's a new version, though, a modified hallucinogen adapted to its needs," he relented with a shrug and a grin. "The older version, yes, did make people think they were seeing monsters and ghosts, some of which were hardly frightening. But this new type…"

"Is more specific?"

"Exactly." Batman sighed heavily. "You know Jonathon Crane – Scarecrow – was a teacher, don't you?"

Robin nodded.

"Clever man," Batman went on. "Very clever; it's a shame his intelligence has gone to such waste. A few months ago, when Poison Ivy broke out of Arkham, he took advantage of the situation and escaped in the confusion. I tried to track him down but found my hands full with Ivy and also a Ra's Al Ghul case I was working on at the time. Then, of course-"

"I got involved and nearly died," Robin interrupted dryly. "So you keep reminding me."

Batman smiled thinly but refrained from commenting.

"Anyway, Scarecrow seized the opportunity to elude my attention and obviously spent his time developing a new type of fear gas. Around two weeks before the Joker incident, he struck City Hall while Mayor Hill was giving a speech on, of all things, Arkham's new security measures."

"I don't remember seeing that on the news," Robin said with a frown.

"You were in a coma after crashing your damn bike into a truck," Batman said flatly. "Of course you didn't see it."

"Oh. Right…"

"I was called in via the Bat-signal, and I turned his own gas back on him. He was carted off back to Arkham within the hour. His gas was collected up and locked away in the confiscated weapons vault until tonight."

It preyed on your deepest fear? Somehow… that was worse. It made it specific; his hallucination hadn't just been a random screw-up of the mind. Was his worst fear truly the thought of turning on his friends? Of hurting them, killing them? Of being like Slade?...

"Robin, are you alright?" Batman asked worriedly. "You've gone… pale."

Robin put a hand to his forehead and shook his head as though clearing it.

"Yeah, I'm fine…"

Batman looked unconvinced.

"What were you babbling about?" He asked suspiciously, peering hard at his ex-ward. "The Titans… being dead and you killing them? Only… you didn't really kill them, but I thought you did. What was that about, hmm?"

"Hallucination," Robin murmured evasively.

"So I gathered," Batman acknowledged dangerously. "Robin, I firmly believe that teenagers are entitled to their secrets, as are adults, and I'm not trying to deliberately pry things out of you. But-"

Ah, yes. The Big "But"…You're in for it now, Bird-boy.

"-I'd appreciate it if for once you wouldn't keep things to yourself."

"It was nothing," Robin said firmly. "Just a little hallucination brought on by the fear gas. It just seemed vivid, that's all."

"Robin…" Batman sighed. "Look, I care about you, maybe even more now than ever because you're not under my supervision. If something's bothering you I want you to know you can tell me. You can count on my help if you need it, ok?"

Robin nodded.

"I know, I know…"

"Well… just make sure you don't get stuck in any more tight holes, ok? I'm not blaming you for what happened in there with the gas; that wasn't your fault. But please don't dwell on it, and for god's sake don't do anything stupid."

"I won't," Robin promised.

Batman rolled his eyes and pulled down his cowl.

"I'm going to have a pleasant few weeks, I can see," he said, his voice contradicting his words.

"What do you mean?" Robin inquired, looking at the screens that were still flashing and flickering.

"Everything went to pieces," Batman explained, not sounding too distressed or indeed surprised. "The gas got lots of police officers and several of the criminals had weapons. They all got away, every single one of them."

"What!" Robin stared at the Dark Knight. "Where were you!"

"On pick-up duty," Batman responded dryly. "Picking up you and bringing you out here to the Batmobile. I couldn't leave you in there breathing that gas; the lack of air would have killed you."

Robin bit his lip.

"Sorry…" Was all he could say.

"Hmm… yes, well…" The Dark Knight looked a little embarrassed now; with his cowl down he couldn't hide it. "Arkham's empty. Although, it's not as bad as it seems…" He added, catching horrified look on the Boy Wonder's face.

"How could it be any worse!" Robin asked, his voice near hysterical.

"Well, on first thought you would expect every notorious criminal Gotham has to offer to have escaped, right?"

"Right," Robin agreed.

"Well, only a small minority was actually in Arkham," Batman explained calmly. "Ra's Al Ghul is in the Middle East somewhere with his daughter Talia, I have no idea where Harley Quinn is –" At this point he glared at Robin, who promptly became terribly interested in his right green-gloved palm- "Poison Ivy is dead, Clayface is undergoing tests to try and rectify his condition, the Penguin escaped months ago, Catwoman is on parole… oh, the list goes on. It is to my belief that only a few major criminals were in the asylum tonight."

"Two-Face, right?"

"Among others. The Riddler, Scarecrow, Killer Croc, the Mad Hatter, Bane, Clock King…"

Robin swallowed, almost afraid to ask.

"The… Joker?"

Batman sighed.

"Unfortunately. He's No #1 on my priority list. The time before last when he got out he smile-gassed a kindergarten. However… well, you know the Joker. He's flamboyant; his crimes are never low-key. It shouldn't take too long for me to find him. After him my main targets will be Killer Croc and Bane. Scarecrow will be out of commission for a while; he'll need time to develop more gas."

Robin nodded.

"You and the Titans will need to be vigilant," Batman went on. "I've no doubt that some of them will flee over the Gotham-Jump border to try and escape me; you're a part of this as well, Robin. I expect Johnny Rancid and some of his friends from Arkham will go back to Jump."

"Great."

"Some might go to Metropolis," Batman mused, speaking more to himself by this point. "I'll have to alert the Justice League, of course, but I'm sure Clark will notice a sudden influx of Gotham-oriented villains."

Oh, Superman would notice alright. Kick their butts Big Time, too…

Batman suddenly flicked his cowl back up, securing it over his face, then started the engine, which ignited with a roar.

"Come on, I'll take you home," he said drolly. Robin nodded wordlessly as the Batmobile came to life.

He realised that the Titans would have their work cut out for them now, as would Batman. He neither did doubt that some of the escaped criminals would come to Jump in the hopes of escaping the Dark Stalker of the Gotham Night, namely Batman. All this meant, however, was a sudden steep spike in the crime rate, which no doubt meant more work, less sleep and less time to send Beast Boy on a mission to the nearest Walmart to stake out on ice-cream and pizza. Luckily Slade hadn't been getting bored recently, as was obvious by the lack of Robot Commando raids on Downtown Jump City at 2:00am. The last mildly interesting case the Titans had cracked had been a mere week after Starfire's return home from hospital following the "Joker Incident", as it was dubbed. In short the Amazing Mumbo had thought it a good idea to put on a "magic show" in the new mall, causing a lot of confusion and involving Starfire having knives thrown at her and Beast Boy, if not permanently, being turned into a rabbit against his will; it had been up to Raven, Cyborg and Robin himself to cut Mumbo's act short.

But that had been… how many weeks ago? Robin couldn't remember. Two, maybe? Three? Since then his time had been spent playing Super Ninja Fury with Beast Boy and Cyborg, organising the Evidence Room and painstakingly alphabetising two year's worth of crime files, or using "working out in the gym" as a clever cover-up to go off on his own and brood for hours on end about Slade, fight patterns and techniques, Slade, Batman, Slade, the Titans as both a team and as friends, Slade, the recent events in Gotham City, and, of course, Slade.

And earlier, in Arkham Asylum, before he had passed out… He had seen Slade, right? It hadn't just been the start of his hallucination? Pushing the hallucination itself out of his mind altogether, he wondered if it was even plausible for Slade to have been in Arkham. More to the point, why would he have been there? It wasn't like there was anything to steal or to gain.

Something else came into his mind at that point, something that he had spent the previous day writing a report on for the newly-alphabetised crime file drawer A-G. It had come under A, entitled "Azarath, Orb of". Jump City Museum had been subjected to a break-in two nights previous, with nothing but this mysterious orb being taken. The museum workers didn't seem too bothered when Beast Boy and Robin himself, the only two available Titans at the time the museum demanded an inquiry, had turned up to check out the crime-scene. No evidence, at least not anything that would be of any use to a forensic or chemical study. Neither Titan had established that it was a big deal, but had taken notes and gone through the regular motions of a comb-over. Only two things bothered Robin about the whole thing, and he had contemplated them as he waited on his R-cycle for Beast Boy, who was hitching a ride with him, as the shape-shifter made a detour into a gas station for some tofu ice-cream and soy-flavoured potato chips. One, the lack of evidence niggled him; the wires in the security devices had been expertly disabled in a way that would have put even Cyborg to shame. There were no fingerprints, footprints, stray hairs, or indeed anything that was in any way forensic. The second thing that bothered him was the stolen item itself. From the description of the museums guides and security guards, it was a rock embedded in a piece of silver. That was it. It appeared to do nothing, and none of the workers could understand its value. From file pictures Robin failed to comprehend this too, and this was one of the things that made him question its theft. The other thing was its name. On first hearing the rock's title, he had thought it strangely familiar, and had consulted Beast Boy on the subject; the green shape-shifter too agreed on it's familiarity, but was unable to place where he had heard it before. Robin had later realised that "Azarath" was the first word of Raven's spell, the chant issued in both meditation and the calling upon of her powers.

He recalled filling her in on the details of the theft before retreating to his room to write the report; she had seemed pretty distraught, and then vague and distracted when he asked her if she was ok. He had seen very little of her since then, having been in Gotham all day today and in his room all day yesterday. However, he couldn't help but notice that she was, to put it mildly, distressed about the disappearance of the orb, establishing that she had some kind of connection to it. He knew, at least, that the dimension she was originally from was known as Azarath, as she herself had told him.

"You ok?"

Batman's voice cut into his chain of thought. Robin blinked and looked up.

"Sorry?"

"You're very quiet. Tired?"

Robin thought it best to play up to this assumption.

"Yeah… you worked me real hard today."

Batman smiled faintly.

"We're not even started yet," he promised. "I'm going to be busy these next few weeks following tonight's events, and so are you, but when things quieten down I'm going to put you through your paces until you get everything perfect."

Robin tried to smile back and failed. He suddenly genuinely felt tired, and could barely wait to get home to sprawl out on the couch with his friends and watch some low-budget zombie movie, hopefully with the accompaniment of popcorn, and maybe a glass of Coca-Cola, or, even better, Perrier, if Raven hadn't hidden it to prevent him from doing such a thing as stealing the only beverage she drank other than herbal tea.

"Robin?" Batman pressed more firmly, seeing his ex-ward going into another deep-thought zone that made him oblivious to anything else.

"Mmm?" Robin leaned back deeper into the leather seat, finding it difficult to even keep his eyes open.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"'Course I am," Robin answered lazily; the Batmobile's passenger seat was starting to become overwhelmingly comfortable. His eyes slid shut against his will and Batman smiled and shook his head as he steered the Batmobile through the night.

He realised he must have fallen asleep as he opened his eyes and felt the car wasn't moving. He looked across at Batman; his cowl was down once more and he was speaking into a two-way radio receiver to Commissioner Gordon.

"Alright, Jim… yes… yes, I'll get on it as soon as I get back… I might be a while, I'm in Jump City… it's a long story…"

Robin listened as Batman bid Commissioner Gordon farewell and replaced the receiver on the dashboard.

"Good, you're awake," he said simply. "I didn't want to wake you up. If I remember correctly, you didn't use to take very kindly to being woken up." He peered long and hard at the Boy Wonder. "You used to have a filthy temper when you were tired."

Robin grinned and shrugged.

"I've gotten over it. You get used to being woken up at odd hours of the night when you're a Teen Titan."

"I can imagine." Batman pushed a button on the dashboard and the opaque glass bubble slid back, allowing the night air to enter the car.

"Well, here we are," he went on. "Tower, sweet Tower."

"Thanks." Robin pulled off the spare cape Batman had draped around him and handed it back to it's owner. "Guess I'll see you soon for another beating, right?"

"You can count on it," Batman agreed nonchalantly. Robin nodded and made to get out of the car. Batman reached out and grabbed his wrist, pulling him back.

"Robin… you'll… you'll be alright, won't you?" He asked as his ex-ward turned to face him in surprise.

Robin blinked.

"Sorry?"

"About the hallucination, I mean. I've accepted that you don't want to tell me about it, maybe because you're afraid or embarrassed or whatever, but you seem so distracted. Promise me it won't drive you to do anything you'll regret."

"It won't," Robin said. "I won't do anything stupid, you have my word."

"And if you ever need my help for anything, or even if you just want to talk, don't let pride get in the way. You can call me, or even Alfred, and we'll listen to you. I know you're out on your own, and I know you're growing up, but we both still care about you. Costumed identities and super-teams aside, you're still my…"

"Sidekick?" Robin prompted.

"More than that."

Robin wracked his brain.

"Ward?"

"More."

Robin grimaced; dare he say it?...

"Apprentice?..."

Batman smiled and shook his head.

"Son," he said softly. "I'm not your real father; we both know that. But I care for you the way any father cares for his son. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"I know."

Batman reached out and massaged Robin's dark hair in a rare display of affection.

"Be careful, ok? All of you, be careful."

Robin grinned.

"Hey, don't worry," he said brightly. "Alien, shape-shifter, telekinetic, half-robot and Batman's sidekick? We kick ass!"

"Higher skilled people than you have been killed on the job, Robin," Batman replied drolly. "Higher skilled and less arrogant."

Robin's grin didn't deteriorate.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but hanging around Raven will make you immune to that insult," he said happily.

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe she has a point?"

Robin stuck his tongue out at his ex-mentor and leapt out of the car.

"Thanks for a "fun" day!" He called as he ran away in the direction of Titans Tower. "Bye!"

Batman snorted in mingled disgust and indignation as he clicked the black bubble back into place.

"Don't worry", Robin had said, not even an hour after passing out in Arkham Asylum after exposure to Scarecrow's fear gas. Not even a month after the "Joker Incident", in the duration of which he had nearly been killed at least 10 times. Not even three months after Poison Ivy had nearly killed him.

Oh, but I do worry, Robin, Batman thought grimly as he revved the engine and plunged back into the night.

And for good damn reason, too…

That was the last relatively… nice bit. It goes a bit crazy from here on in, and… you do all realise this is a trilogy, don't you? No kidding, this is a huge storyline… Not that I'm trying to scare you off, it's just… don't expect any conclusions at the end of this, because there'll be a part 2, and a part 3… DON'T STOP READING!

There goes another tumbleweed for Narroch06 to kick into the Garden Mulcher 30… (do those even exist?)