I heard footsteps pass by my room. I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes. It was dark outside, and it would be pitch black if it weren't for the few buildings in the city lighting the horizon. I crawled out from my covers and scurried to the door. I peeked down the hallway.

"Cyborg?" I called. "What time is it?"

Cyborg turned with a big yawn and checked his arm. "Midnight. I just switched the Tower to lockdown. Robin's still up for some reason. You can go check on him if you want, but I'm going to bed. Good night."

Cyborg turned to corner, and I left my door and headed down the hallway to the living room. The doors opened, and I squinted at the harsh lights of the TV screen. Robin sat at a computer, his shoulders hunched and his chin in his hands. He didn't turn around when the doors opened or closed. The screen showed three locations of town, but there was no movement in any of them. Nevertheless, Robin remained fixated on the screen, waiting for something to happen.

"Why are you still awake?" I said.

"Why are you?" Robin said, his eyes forward.

"I just got here."

Robin stood and headed for the door. He walked past me without a word. I followed him to the entrance to the basement. He opened the door and plunged into the darkness. I took a few steps inside, shuddering at how little I could see, save the air that the hallway's dimness touched. I gripped the railing and moved slowly. Robin's footsteps were well ahead of me. I heard his shoes hit the concrete below. He had reached up and pulled on a small chain connected to a dangling lightbulb, illuminating the small patch of area around him. As I continued to climb warily down the stairs, I watched Robin walk to a stack of boxes and pull out one from the top row. He set it down on the floor and removed the lid.

I reached the bottom of the stairs and observed from afar as Robin pulled Slade's mask from the box. A small cloud of dust kicked up from the contents, and Robin coughed. I held my breath until the dust subsided. Robin stared silently at mask. I stepped into the light and looked over his shoulder.

"Slade's gone, you know." I said.

"How can we be sure? He was never captured." Robin said.

"He didn't need to be captured. He fell into a pit of lava! His body disintegrated in a vat of molten rock!"

That still didn't seem to convince him. Robin stood and faced me.

"Look me in the eye and tell me that Slade is truly gone and we don't ever have to deal with him again." he said.

On account of him wearing a mask, I couldn't technically 'look him in the eye'. But still... I couldn't lie to him. Yes, Slade was gone... but just for this moment. He would make his grand reappearance in season four after being revived by Raven's father, Trigon. And tonight, in this episode, Robin would see him before that fated time.

I opened my mouth to respond. The small, dimly lit area we stood in changed to red and the warning sirens blared. My muscles relaxed from relief. Robin noticed it, but he didn't comment. Instead, he hurried up the dark stairs, two at a time, and disappeared down the hallway above. I glanced back down at the box, at Slade's cracked mask sitting on top of broken scraps of metal and robot parts, before leaving.


Dark clouds rolled over us, blocking out the sky and stars. We hurried through the forest, using it as a shortcut to get to our destination. We broke through the trees and looked below. On the highway, a totaled police truck lay in pieces. Five policemen stood with their body-length shields as protection as Cinderblock approached them with a growl.

"Titans, go!"

We rushed at Cinderblock, allowing the policemen to retreat to the forest. Cinderblock looked between us, slightly dazed from the multiple figures rushing at him. Cyborg leaped into the air and summoned his cannon arm. He reeled it back before throwing a punch at Cinderblock. Cinderblock met it with his own, creating an explosion of blue energy. Cinderblock swatted his other hand and launched Cyborg into the ground. Beast Boy transformed into a triceratops and rammed his horns into Cinderblock's stomach, pushing him near the cliff edge. Cinderblock grabbed Beast Boy's horns and threw him. Raven used her astral magic to lift the totaled police truck and throw it at Cinderblock. Cinderblock opened his arms and caught the truck, tossing it right back at her. Starfire flew in front of Raven and used her starbolt energy to create a barrier. The truck bounced off and crashed to the ground.

Robin sprinted toward Cinderblock, bo-staff twirling, and jumped into the air. He thrust his foot into Cinderblock's cheek, and the stone monster's neck lurched to the side. Robin swung his bo-staff, but Cinderblock recovered and pinched his fingers, grabbing the rod. Robin dangled in the air and kicked at Cinderblock's chest to try to make him let go. Cinderblock turned and threw Robin over the cliff edge.

"Robin!" I sprinted to the cliff edge, immediately coming to a stop. The railing was broken, allowing anyone to freely plunge down into the thick forest below. I gulped and stared down the cliffside. There was a slight slant, allowing anyone with a death wish to traverse up or down.

I glanced back at my friends, still heavily engaged in a battle with Cinderblock. I gulped again, ignoring the cold chill creeping down my spine.

This is stupid. I am stupid.

I stretched a leg out and gently placed it on the slanted stone. I took another step.

"Ciela, what are you doing?!"

Beast Boy's cry startled me. My foot slipped. I landed on my butt and began to slide down the cliffside. I slid over rocks of all shapes and sizes, each of them guaranteed to leave my butt covered with bruises. A large boulder came into view below me. I thrust out my legs, meeting with the rock. The incline and the abrupt lack of momentum made me lurch forward, almost pulling me up to my feet. I sat back against the cliffside and caught my breath. The clouds thundered above me. I looked up at the downpour that sporadically arrived, quickly drenching my clothes and converting the dirt on the rocks to mud. I peeked past the rock and to the ground; I still had about one hundred feet to go, and there was no way I could miraculously do again what I just did without turning my sliding into a tumble. I grabbed my energy pistols, locked them together, and transformed them into my energy sword. I scooted to the edge of the rock and stabbed the blade into the mud. Pausing to muster enough courage, I slid myself off the rock.

My weight caused my sword to slither through the mud, slowly carrying me to the ground. My feet sunk into the wet grass. I yanked my sword out of the mud and hurried away from the cliffside. The blade of my sword was coated with a thin layer of mud. I held it in my hands, taking a moment to let the rain clean it. Once the sheen had mostly returned, I returned it back to my pistols and holstered them.

I heard grunts coming from the forest. I hurried through the trees and tried my best to follow the grunts, but they traveled quickly. I continued to search, but the grunts stopped. I leaned against a tree to catch my breath. I looked up in the branches, blinking rapidly to clear the rain water drenching my face.

"Robi-!" I cried, but a hand slapped against my mouth. I uttered a muffled yelp as I was pushed against the tree. Robin hovered uncomfortably close, soaked to the bone, trembling, and panting.

"Don't speak. He may hear you." he whispered.

I pried his hand off my mouth. "Robin-"

"SHH!" Robin hissed. "I saw him. I saw Slade! He's the reason why Cinderblock's on the loose! He set him free to get my attention!"

I scowled. "Robin. Stop. Slade is dead."

Robin growled and threw himself away from me. "I know what I saw."

The trees rustled, and we turned and saw our friends approaching us.

"Thanks for all your help back there!" Beast Boy cried. He hugged himself to try and stop his violent shivering. Snot dripped from his nostrils, and no amount of sniffling could stop the flow. "We had to fight Cinderblock by ourselves!"

Robin approached our friends. "Slade is back."

The others stared at him, wide-eyed.

"What? Are you sure?" Cyborg said.

"Yes! I saw him! I fought him! He's still alive!" Robin said. "Cinderblock was just a diversion. Slade's planted seismic generators around the fault lines of the city. He plans to set them off three hours from now and split the city in half. We have to find them and stop his plan!"

The other Titans glanced at each other then looked over Robin's shoulder and at me. I remained silent.

"Cyborg, check out the bridge. Raven, check the park. Beast Boy, the pier. Starfire, we're going after Slade." Robin turned to me, reluctant to wanting to speak to me. "Go with Cyborg."

I folded my arms. A chill deeper than the rain sunk into my skin, making me shudder.


"Well, this doesn't make any sense." Cyborg said, returning to the same pillar we began at. "I didn't see anything. Did you?"

"No." I said. Standing underneath the bridge, I wrung out the water from my braid. "There isn't anything here. There never was."

Cyborg rubbed the back of his head. "Maybe this is just another one of Slade's tricks." Cyborg activated his communicator.

"Titans, status report." Robin said.

"We're here at the bridge." Cyborg said.

"Well? Did you find anything?"

"Sorry, man, but... we didn't find anything unusual around here."

"Nothing here, either." Raven said.

"Bupkis." Beast Boy said right before a violent sneeze.

"Well... Keep searching! I know they're there somewhere!" Robin cried. The communicator shut off. Cyborg let his arm fall back to his side and sighed.

"I don't like this." Cyborg said.

"Me neither." I said. "Let's head back to the city."

"But Robin said-"

"Robin isn't in the right condition to take orders from. Slade is not the problem here."

I walked ahead, ignoring Cyborg's confused silence.


The rain continued to slap against the earth. I shivered and held my arms, but the constant downpour covered me in a blanket of cold. Cyborg and I reunited with Raven and Beast Boy.

Beast Boy, slumped on the ground, groaned. "This Slade search is going to be the death of me." he said. He sneezed loudly, transforming into an aardvark. "Can I please go lie down now?"

"I'm afraid we cannot let our guards down." Starfire landed nearby and approached us.

"Where's Robin?" Cyborg said.

Starfire's face drooped. "Robin renounced me from my searching duties. He decided it would be best if he handled things alone. He said he saw Slade. I tried to see him as well, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not." she said. She bowed her head. "You are fortunate to not have seen the look on his face. I have never seen him so angry... so angry at me..."

My hands tightened around my biceps. Robin had returned back to the same frantic paranoia he had back in season one. He almost lost his friends and himself in the process.

But this time... It's much worse. He's throwing himself in dangerous situations and environments. He's hurting himself. Robin is so bent on catching Slade, it's clouding his judgment and the voices of reason from those he cares about. Heck, when I tried to tell him Slade was gone, he looked ready to rip my head off.

Slade wasn't the one who needed to be stopped; Robin was.


We tracked Robin's communicator down into the sewers. A chill rushed down my spine as we headed down the pathway towards one of Slade's old hideouts. Giant gears and chunks of broken wires and metal were piled up against the wall, and the area reeked of rust and oil. Uncomfortable memories of Slade attempting to kill me with my own weapon surfaced. I shook my head in an attempt to scatter my thoughts.

A scream- Robin's scream- leaked into the hallway, following by something slamming against the wall. My focus had diverted. We sprinted into the room. Cyborg shined a flashlight into the room. The light landed on Robin, who stumbled back from behind a pile of broken machinery. He grunted and doubled over, looking as if someone just punched him in the gut.

"...Robin?" Raven called.

Robin whirled around to face us. "SLADE!" he screamed. His clothes were torn and tattered. Bruised and scratches covered his face and body. He was an absolute mess.

Starfire lifted her arm up and created a starbolt. The green energy lit up the area. Robin frantically searched the area before redirecting his attention back to us.

"What are you doing here?! I told you to search for the generators!" he said.

"There are no generators, man. We've looked everywhere." Cyborg said.

Robin growled. "Slade must be cloaking them, just like he's cloaking himself! That's why you couldn't see him!"

Starfire frowned. "But... if I could not see him, why could you?"

Robin reeled back. "What are you trying to say?"

"Robin... Are you absolutely positive you saw Slade?" Raven said.

"Of... Of course I did! I fought him personally! Do you think I did this to myself?!" Robin tugged on his sleeve, which was reduced to a limp piece of fabric and dangled against his bicep.

"Dude... We're standing at the only exit in this room. No one can get past us without being detected." Beast Boy said.

Robin scoffed. "I don't have time for this. I'm going to find Slade, with or without your help."

"How many times do we have to tell you that Slade is no longer a problem?" I said. "Listen to me, Robin. You may not want to hear it, but you're wrong about all of this."

Robin stepped towards me, spit flying. "How dare you talk to me like that! I'm the leader of this Team, and what I say goes! If you don't like it, then you don't deserve to be on this Team!"

My throat closed. I swallowed hard. I placed a hand against one of my pistols.

"Lay off, man!" Cyborg cried as he and Beast Boy blocked Robin's path to me. "You're not thinking straight! You need to-"

"You need to obey my orders! Slade is still out there, and I will find him, no matter what it takes!" Robin stepped back and pulled out a birdarang.

My friends stared at him, flabbergasted. A shock of green energy hit Robin in the back. He cried out and collapsed, revealing Starfire behind him. With a groan, Robin fell unconscious. Raven, Beast Boy, and Starfire gathered around him. Cyborg remained at my side and rested a hand on my shoulder.

"He didn't mean to say that." he said.

"I know, but... the hurt is still there." I sighed.


I squinted through the opaque glass window. I saw Robin's blurred silhouette lying on a hospital bed, restrained by at least five or more belts. Starfire stepped to my side and peered inside, too.

"Was it really necessary to restrain him like this?" Starfire said.

"Yes." Cyborg said, glancing over his shoulder from the large screen displaying Robin's health stats. "Until this Slade thing is solved, Robin is dangerous and needs to be watched."

"He went completely loco for cocoa!" Beast Boy cried. He sneezed, knocking himself off his feet and transforming into a turtle. He rocked back and forth on his shell for a few moments before transforming back to his human self. He remained on the floor and groaned, pressing a heat pack against his forehead.

"We just need to do a few more tests to figure out what's wrong." Raven said.

Starfire sighed and stared at the screen. "What have you discovered?"

"...Nothing. All scanners say he's normal."

"But he is not normal! Something is very wrong with Robin, and it is making him do horrible things that he would never do! There is a cause, and you must find it!"

"Don't worry, Star. We'll fix things." Beast Boy said, still on the floor. "And who knows? Maybe Slade really is back and we just can't see him."

"Impossible! I'd be able to detect him on my scanners!" Cyborg said.

The steady beep of the monitor quickened suddenly, and the background of the health monitor flashed red and black.

"What's happening?!" Starfire cried, her eyes following the sporadic, jagged pattern of the monitor. As quickly as it began, it stopped. The screen flatlined. "Robin!"

Starfire dashed to the door, my friends following nearby. Taking a deep breath, I dashed out the door and into the hallway. None of my friends noticed. As I ran, slabs of metal slid over the windows and covered them. Panic continued to rise in my throat. I flew down the steps leading down to the attic. The lightbulb swung lazily in the air, still burning strong. The box of Slade items sat in the same place we left it... including the Slade mask.

I fell to my knees and grabbed the sides of the mask. I exhaled deeply. I lifted the mask and threw it back into the box. A cloud of dust flew from the mask and into the air. I leaned forward into the cloud and inhaled. The particles clung to my nose and throat, and I coughed as some clotted my windpipe. I swallowed.

Something crashed against the stairs, filling the room with a clang. Startled, I scrambled to my feet. I looked around, forcing my eyes to adjust as quickly as they could to the darkness. I heard a pained grunt and another clang. I saw a silhouette- two silhouettes- on the stairs. One stood tall while another was doubled over and panting. The first silhouette grabbed the second and threw him down the last flight of stairs.

"Robin!" I sprinted toward the stairs and opened my arms. Robin fell into me. I stumbled back into a stack of boxes, and they shuddered but didn't collapse. His body was completely limp, his strength depleted. Whether he was conscious or not, I couldn't tell. His heart pounded so rapidly and powerfully that his chest look like it was vibrating. I awkwardly carried him over to a sturdier stack of boxes and sat him against it.

"Hello, Ciela." A chill crept down my spine. I stood and turned as Slade approached me. I planted my feet, assuring an obstruction in his path to Robin.

Wait, what am I saying?! I grit my teeth. He's not real! He's not real...

"It's been a while since I've seen you. I must admit, I missed that sparkling personality of yours." Slade said. Instead of stepping closer, he remained outside the circle of light. "You've grown up so much."

"I won't let you hurt my friends anymore." I said. I winced inwardly. At least... I wouldn't let this Slade hurt my friends.

"Hurt?" Slade shifted his eye to Robin. "We were merely sparring... but it looks like my partner doesn't seem to understand how it works."

I clenched my fists.

"But all jokes aside, Robin wasn't the one meant to inhale chemical reagent I planted in the mask; you were. But you're smart, and I trusted you would do the right thing."

"You wanted me instead of Robin, I presume?" I scoffed.

Slade chuckled. "I couldn't bear the thought of leaving you without the decency of sending a farewell gift."

"What are you talking about...?" My voice trailed as I thought back to 'Deception'. The lightbulb above me began to flicker. It struggled in its attempt to continue shining. "You're the one behind the mysterious spoiler, aren't you? What did you do? Who are they?!"

Slade's chuckle bubbled into a laugh. Sweat trickled down my spine.

"How could you believe anything I have to say? I'm only a figment of your imagination."

I grit my teeth and shook my head. "Fine, don't tell me. It... It doesn't matter. I'll get through this, just like I did before! My friends will help me."

Slade smirked underneath his mask. "So... naive. She'll have to fix that."

The lightbulb, sputtering its final sparks of light, died. Slade rushed toward me. I gasped as he drew back a fist.

A rush of light bathed me and the area around. Slade had disappeared. I turned and saw Robin clutching the light switch. His muscles trembled as he tried to hold himself up by a railing.

"Robin..." I said.

Robin smiled. "It's okay... Ciela..."

Robin's grip slipped. I gasped and lunged to his side, catching him before he faceplanted. I shifted my feet to support our combined weight. His head lolled on my shoulder. I let out a breath of relief.


Back in the nursing room, Robin and I sat on separate beds. Suction cups were pressed into our temples, and we stared at the monitor before us.

"Slade implanted some kind of chemical reagent in the mask that causes hallucinations." Cyborg said. He smiled and turned to us. "The scanners say everything's all right. You're both good to go."

"Good... but just to be sure..." Robin removed the suctions from his forehead and walked over to the light switch. He flipped the lights off. It was silence as he glanced around the room. I looked, too. The lights came back on. Robin sighed. "I guess I've been worked up about Slade for so long, I just can't seem to let him go even after he's gone. I... I'm sorry, guys. My actions were completely unprofessional. I hope you can forgive me."

Starfire approached Robin and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Of course we do, Robin. You are our friend. You were not acting as yourself."

Robin smiled. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

"Why don't you get some rest? You definitely need it more than us." Raven said.

Robin chuckled. "Right. Goodnight."

Robin left the room, the door sliding close behind him.

"Uh..." Cyborg said, staring at a 3-D diagram of Titans Tower and an atom structure of the chemical.

"Is something wrong?" I said.

"Well... The chemical reagent Slade put in the mask didn't trigger itself. I just picked up a signal. It was triggered by someone outside of the tower."

"...By who?" Starfire said, clasping her hands to her heart.

Cyborg shook his head. Slade's words crept back into my mind, and a wave of nausea boiled in my stomach.

"...She'll have to fix that..."

I looked up at my friends as my vision faded to black.