Talen: Honored readers, I most humbly apologized for the delay in this chapter. There were various technical difficulties that had to be addressed. Thank you as well for the comments in the reviews, they are much appreciated. For my most revered readers, here is the next chapter.

—Last Chapter—

"Who are you?"

"You have always called me Slade.

"You were involved in an … accident. There were some injuries sustained, but they were all minor. Still with all head injuries one can expect a certain amount of disorientation. I know of a doctor that can be reasonably trusted. If you can hold down your breakfast, we'll go see him."

Without explanation, Slade turned on his heel and strolled out the door, giving Robin plenty of time to swap his mask for the glasses and follow him.

Chapter 3: Dark at the End of the Tunnel

-Rob–

Slade set a brisk pace down the street, giving Robin only a limited time to analyze his settings. While the neighborhood wasn't a thriving suburb, it wasn't in the slums either. There was a nostalgic air to the place that said twenty years ago there had been carefully cut lawns and white picket fences. Now there was a hint of decay to the buildings, and the people were as ghosts, so wrapped in their own lives that no one paid any attention to anything else. "The perfect place to hide," thought Robin. But the question nagged at him, "what are we hiding from."

"Hurry up, Robin, don't fall behind." For all his concerned words, Slade moved even faster, and began weaving between the people and objects in his path as the two traveled into a seedier part of the city. It was a quite a city. High skyscrapers revealed themselves as the sound of traffic assaulted Robin's ears. The crowds became thicker and he was finding himself needing to jog to keep up.

Faster and faster Slade went, as if he was determined to lose Robin in the rush of people. Robin picked up his own speed, eyes scanning for the few glimpses of the one-eyed man he could catch. It wasn't long before he was slipping between the crowds in a full out run, not wanted to be lost in a city that he didn't even know the name of.

Right when Robin thought he had lost Slade for good, a strangely familiar voice rang through his head. Disappearing in a crowd is simple; it is just a matter of stepping where people aren't looking for you. Without take time to consider where is odd snippet of information came from he immediately made use of it. All right, if he's avoiding the places I am looking for him, where am I not looking for him?

An idea came to him and Robin spun around in time to catch a glimpse of Slade vanishing down an alleyway. He darted around people and ducked, taking a sudden change in direction, only to skid to a stop before the entry to the alley.

It was dark and dank, something out of a bad movie. One where a curious passerby get mugged and killed. Still he was sure that Slade went this way, and he had to find him. Who else had all the answers? I wish I had a weapon, was his thought as he walked into the darkness. It fluttered across his mind that he didn't even know if he could use one.

Apprehension filled his being and the feeling of watched became a tangible presence embedded between his shoulder blades. As he walked on he could sense people moving in the shadows, enemies surrounding him. "Six here and one on the fire escape." He could tell they were working up to something, trying to scare a reaction from. "I need to get this over with." A small smirk appeared on his lips. "Besides, I'd hate to disappoint."

"Who's there?" In his voice he let slip the tiniest indication of fear. That strange and dark voice came again into his mind: Criminals in general, and gangs in particular use fear as a weapon to give them an advantage over their opponents. With that in mind he would use his own pretended fear as a lure to the trap.

"Well, well, well. What 'ave we got 'ere?" The leader of the group stepped forward, three of the others with him. He was a lanky youth, a punk who obviously ruled over his fellows with strength and fear. Well-toned muscles and the way the leader carried himself showed that he had fought, and won, many fights. "Looks like this poor fellow's got 'imself lost."

"I'm just passing through, I have no intention to remain." Again Robin allowed his voice to wobble. Instincts began preparing his body for battle, shifting muscles and lowering his center of gravity.

"Unfor-chun-atley you're in our territory, an' we don't take kindly to people 'passing through', do we, Cash?" The leader sneered at Robin.

"Nope, not at all." Cash was the one immediately to his left. About the same age as the leader he was much bigger, he would be a giant of a man when he quit growing. "If he lives that long." Robin quipped to himself. "We should do him a favor an' teach to choose his routes better."

The leader barked out a laugh and sneered again. "Right you are, Cash, right you are." He gestured abruptly and the two still lurking in the shadows lunged out to grab Robin and hold him for his 'lesson.'

But Robin was ready for him. He rolled forward, causing Shadow One and Shadow Two to crash into each other. He continued his roll and shot up in the last minute, dropping Cash with a well-placed blow to the jaw.

The Leader recovered quickly at seeing his victim down his right-hand-man so fast and swung a fist at him. Robin jumped over the fist and flipped over the Leader, pushing him into Nameless Goon One in the process. Landing on his feet, Robin immediately ducked low, dodging the blow that was coming from Nameless Goon Two.

Still crouched low, he spun around with a kick and sent the youths legs flying out from underneath him. Jumping up he slammed an elbow in to Nameless Goon Two's stomach, keeping him out of the fight. Now that he could turn his attention back to the rest he saw that the leader had crashed into the other boy hard enough that Nameless Goon One was no longer a threat. That left the Leader, Shadow One, and Shadow Two.

The Leader faced Robin warily, with a lot more respect than before. Rather than waste more time, however, Robin charged the youth, jumping just before he reached him to grab hold of a fire escape and pull himself up. Amid the curses and insults of the leader, Robin climbed swiftly to the roof.

Once there, he ran fearlessly on top of the edges of the roof down the alley. He looked for any sign of Slade and found none. While he ran, his mind churned with thoughts. How did I know how to fight like that? It was all instinct; just what is it I am capable of? Who am I !

­–Slade–

This was excellent. Robin remembered so much more about combat than he expected him to. As much as he appreciated having a completely blank sheet to work with, there had been the concern that he would have to teach the boy everything from scratch. But it seemed Robin retained the more deeply ingrained of his skills. Everything could be altered and polished to Slade's requirements. Requirements Robin would be only too happy to fulfill once he had the boy's complete trust.

Talen: This one had certain difficulties with the fighting scenes. Also, over-all, I had trouble with the flow and movement in the story as pertaining to the phrasing. For those of the readers who felt the story lacking this one respectfully asks for their words of wisdom in its correction.

May the Lady of Fate smile upon you.