Chapter III

Jump City, the present.

The room where the police stored top-secret video files was dark and quiet. And darker and quieter still when a black, oval portal materialized on a clearing on the floor. Two figures soundlessly rose out from the swirling pool of magic – one, a mixture of man and metal that led many to call it a cybernetic organism ("Cyborg" for short); the other, a young girl (named "Raven") of tremendous magical powers, who has donned a black suit and a purplish-blue cloak.

"Is Robin sure about this?" Cyborg whispered.

"It's about Slade, Cyborg. Of course, he's sure. Now, keep quiet.", the girl replied…rather bluntly.

A small flashlight slid out from Cyborg's right shoulder and provided some light for the two of them as they walked through endless shelves of confidential videotapes, the contents of which are sure to set you on the run from one group or another when viewed.

"Cyborg, over here.", Raven broke the silence with this whisper as she used telekinesis to pull a videotape from the shelf. Cyborg walked closer to shine some light.

"It's the one, alright.", he said as soon as he was sure it was the tape they were sent out to find. A slit, the size of the videotape, opened somewhere on Cyborg's metallic breastplate. Raven inserted the tape, still using telekinesis. It took about four seconds before Cyborg nodded to signal that he had done his job. Raven got the tape out and returned it to its proper place with her powers.

Deeper darkness fell upon the room once again as the two teens sank unto the dark portal that now appeared below them. The portal closed after they were gone. No fingerprints. No evidence.

"Yo! BB! Star! We're back!" Cyborg yelled upon returning to their T-shaped headquarters, the Titans Tower.

"Friends!", greeted a flying girl in a purplish top and skirt, who wasn't really human. Starfire was a "Tamaranean" from the planet "Tamaran" (it's an alien thing). "Did you locate the adhesive sheet that you were sent out to seek?", she asked.

"Uhh…that's a different kind of 'tape', Star.", commented the green-skinned Beast Boy as he entered the room, scratching his head.

"Oh, I see…" Starfire said, yet learning another lesson about Earth's culture.

"In any case, we have a copy of the tape. Where's Robin?", Raven asked.

Starfire's eyes drooped to the ground as she answered, "He is…in his room."

"Don't sweat it. I'll bring it to him." Cyborg said.

"Yo, Robin! Here's a copy of that tape." spoke Cyborg upon entering their leader's dark room. He produced a small data disc from a small slit that opened on the surface of his metallic left wrist. He handed it over to the spike-haired figure whose back was hunched over, scrutinizing at something on the desk in front of it.

"Oh, thanks. Sorry for the trouble, Cy." Robin answered as he took the disc without even looking away from all the documents on his desk.

"Don't mention it." politely replied Cyborg, who kept his eyes on Robin as he turned and made his way to the door. Upon arriving, however, he hesitated to step out…still looking at Robin.

Robin noticed. He stopped whatever he was doing and looked up, not exactly at Cyborg, but at the wall upon where the light from the hallway cast Cyborg's shadow. "Was there something else?", the masked hero asked.

At this, Cyborg turned his whole body back to Robin and spoke in a lower, more serious tone. "It's just…it's Star, man. She's worried. And not just her…we're all concerned about you, y'know? It's always like this about Slade."

Robin heaved a heavy sigh before turning his gaze back to the documents on his desk. "I'm sorry, Cy…", he said. "…I'll let you know when I find anything out."

Realizing that there was no more point in arguing with a man who already had his mind set, Cyborg turned around to step out.

"Oh, and…Cy…" Robin called, stopping Cyborg in his tracks. "…tell Starfire I'm okay. There's nothing to worry about…all of you…"

Cyborg nodded in confirmation and stepped out. The door slid close behind him.

Robin paused for a while to consider the ramifications that his obsession was having on his friends. Then his thoughts moved to his so-called "important matters at hand".

The Titan's latest investigations have yielded some curious information. It seemed that the present was not the only time that a criminal like Slade had been active. For ten years before the Titans ever heard of the name "Slade", a similar threat had constantly undergone a cycle of activity and dormancy.

Robin inserted the disc on one of his hologram gadgets. A two-dimensional scene flashed before him as you would see in a television screen. It was an interview with a security guard dated ten years before the founding of the Teen Titans. There was only one camera angle all throughout the video, shot from a corner of the room's ceiling where the interviewee's face was completely visible but only the back of the interviewer could be seen.

"Alright Jenkins…tell me what you saw." The interviewer began.

Jenkins, as it turned out the interviewee's name was, didn't look very…well, shall we say…sane. He sat on the chair with his legs outstretched, his arms lifelessly hanging, and his head tilted to one side. And the blood on his uniform made him look like a corpse.

"Jenkins?" the interviewer continued. "Jenkins? Jenkins?" He was snapping his fingers now. A good six minutes has been wasted without any results. "Jenkins!" the interviewer yelled, losing patience now.

At this, Jenkins slowly turned his head toward his interviewer. The movement had been so eerie that it made the interviewer lean back on his chair.

"He was shot…in the head…", Jenkins said, raising his right hand with the same eerie slowness of movement. His thumb was up, his index and middle fingers outstretched, and the two remaining fingers closed against his palm. With this imaginary "gun" in hand, he aimed right between his eyes.

"Shot…head…fell back against the wall…" continued the interviewee.

"I thought he was dead…", he added. By this time, tears started flooding up his eyes and skimming down his cheeks. Jenkins started shaking his head slowly, saying "No…no…no…" in a weeping tone. "He turned his head to me!" he cried…literally. His face was wet with tears now. He moved his imaginary gun to his right eye. "His right eye…lost…blood all over…"

The interviewer leaned forward again to listen, for Jenkins started mumbling, bowing his head.

"Jenkins…I don't understand…what did you say just now?"

With a swift, violent movement that you wouldn't expect from a man who had made none so far, Jenkins grabbed his right eye with his right hand as if he was trying to pull it out. Instantly, security guards (sane ones) rushed in to try and save Jenkins from himself. They made sure that Jenkins's hands were far from his face as they pulled him out of the room.

All the while, Jenkins was shouting… "He ran to me! He tried to kill me! HE TRIED TO KILL ME! One eye glaring! Blood spilling all over! Sinister voice…one eye…blood…kill…one eye…"

As soon as Jenkins was out of camera-shot and earshot, the video feed was cut.

Robin turned to one side of his room, where a replica of Slade's mask hung for display. He couldn't help but notice the connection to Slade's mask, which had no eye slit on the right half of it. Although the mask could mean that Slade might've wanted to hide his right eye for fear of being identified in case of the presence of a distinct property in it, it could also mean two other things: either he didn't need his right eye, or he didn't have one.

Robin went to great lengths to investigate what was the name of the man Jenkins referred to, or the name of his faction if he had one…but all to no avail. Whatever, or whoever, this threat was…it was doing a good job of covering its tracks. And that's just, all the more, additional reason to believe that the said man was the elusive Slade.

The fire in Robin's veins was re-ignited. He was, once again, coming close to acquiring knowledge relevant to his personal war against Slade. But just when the information is at the tip of his fingers, suddenly it's all out of his reach. If he was just given the chance… the chance to go back in time and investigate the cases himself… he would know all about Slade's origins. He would know Slade's secret identity.