A/N: What's good, folks? I'm swear I'm not dead, (yet) and I honestly have no well structured list of reasons as to explain why I haven't updated in months other than lack of motivation and deadlines, but in all honesty, that's no reason. It's an excuse. I will make an attempt to own up for my mistakes and try my hardest to complete this. I owe it all to you guys and gals; if it weren't for your entertaining novels, I probably wouldn't have even started to write. I deeply thank all of you talented, wonderful individuals.

Full Summary: Slade devises an airtight solution to once again blackmail Robin into another forced apprenticeship. This time, not even the Titans will be able to revert him from his inner demons.

Through the unconventional understudied use of time-travel, the mercanary is confident in his quest to obtain his perfect heir. The right person shows up at his doorstep aiming to foil Slade's scheme, however, neither are prepared for the disastrous fallout of failure.

Notice: This novel takes place somewhere after the events of the episode: Things Change, as well as the movie: Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo.

Disclaimer: Let's get this straight, cause I'm only going to say it once: I own the full DVD collection of Teen Titans. *dramatic pause* And that's it, yup. Nothing more.

Get it? Got it? Good. We shall proceed.

Preparations and Pretense

As soon as the symbolic emblem flashed on the monitor screens signaling an ominous threat, a pretense of danger; he had already vanished out the door, leaving his team to once again pick up the scattered remenets of his unexplained departure.

Robin knew he was reckless; he knew he was obsessed -- more so than the definition itself could entail. His previous downfall had been a mixture of obsession and overconfidence; he had severely underestimated the mercanary's ambitions at the cost of his essence. Robin was smarter now; he had promised himself he'd never make that fatal mistake again, for Slade would no doubt keep a tighter reign on his invisible shackles and find a more careful, foolproof method to ensure his prized possession's loyalty and allegiance.

The teen revved his motorcycle quickly, disregarding his helmet that lay discarded amongst the dingy shelves of the garage as he hastily hightailed his way out through the darkened city streets, surrounded by hidden presences and lurking strangers.

Robin furiously clenched the handlebars as if it were his lifeline to reality, angling the speeding vehicle in the direction of Slade's haunt. He couldn't care less if he was twenty miles per hour over the designated speed limit. He couldn't care less about the fact that he was running red lights like a maniac; almost derailing a bus full of children in a nasty accident as said vehicle swerved off the road to avoid the oncoming danger he induced.

Who knew what sort of storm Slade could've been brewing up for six months while the rest of the city was sleeping? He and his team weren't stupid to overlook the crucial fact that the mastermind had been off the grid for half a year. Following Slade's disappearance from the world, Robin and his team immediately tried to locate him and his whereabouts for countless weeks, starting with the man's haunt and spreading outwards, coming up with nothing but faux leads and a mountain of unanswered questions, leading to more questions and theories and speculations of where the hell Slade could possibly be.

Why did he leave? Where did he go? What dangerous scheme is he plotting now? Did he die?

He instantly ruled out the notion that Slade was dead as soon as the thought crept it's way into his brain. The teenager knew the criminal had an ulterior motive for vanishing off the face of the Earth. Perhaps he was hiding, waiting for the perfect moment to catch the city off guard and launch whatever his nefarious plot was.

Robin gritted his teeth as he sped up, cruising against the windy chill that toyed with astray tufts of ebony hair. Regardless of where Slade was and what the man could've been doing for six months, the fact remained that he was the only one who could stop him. And if it came to it, he would take down anyone who stood in his way.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Amongst a sinister array of creaking gears, a dark silhouette resided behind an advanced computer, tinkering with a series of complicated coding like he had been doing for the past three hours now. He had vanished without a trace from his city for six months, contacting underground agents, as well as trained professionals and covert organizations for a vast range of supplies and research to make this operation run smoothly. Slade was just finishing up the final preparations to his machine. All he had to do now was patch up one last unit of programming and wait for Robin to show up.

A smile cracked at the corners, hidden by his two-toned mask. With a bit of deductive rationalization and scientific expertise, he had basically achieved the impossible and forever revolutionalized the future. Anything was attainable if you put your mind to it. Combine that with devoted dedication, strict deadlines, a trustworthy team of certified experts you can rely on, partnered with extensive knowledge and research of the subject; whether that identifies as limitations, experimentation, measurements, hypothetical inferences, etcetera, topped off with a clear concise goal within the realm of reasonability and you had a solid foundation to transform your dreams into reaility.

Slade had done just that and was rewarded with the complex power to turn back time or shift it forward. The mercanary had decided to designate the same trigger from his failed apprentice fiasco as the controller for his earth-shattering creation. He could distort reality and even break the laws of physics if he really felt like it, but the man had done this for one specific purpose; to assert revenge against Robin's defiance when he took the kid under his wing in the hopes of converting him to the other side of the coin.

Robin was the only one out of millions to surpass Slade's ridiculously high expectations with flying colors -- and the teenager had done it by complete accident. Slade knew perfectly well Robin hadn't purposely been trying to catch his eye, but in doing so had made Slade that much more intrigued to discover everything about him, highlighting the rebellious hotheaded teenager in contrast to everyone else.

He was the only one who fit the criteria. Recruiting Terra as his apprentice all those years ago had simply been a means to an end and nothing more. Robin's apprenticeship was meant to be permanent, until of course the boy unexpectedly foiled Slade's blackmail at the bargain of his own life, forcing the mercanary to let him go. He had retreated in ultimate defeat that day, therefore learning from that encounter to never underestimate the Boy Wonder again.

Everything was going according to script. Now all Slade had to do was sit back and let Robin come to him. It would be an interesting reunion to say the least; Slade had often wondered just how the boy would react to his reappearance after nearly half a year. During those six lonely months, the man had admitted his life had been quite dull without Robin around; it just wasn't the same without the kid's smartass accusations and jests he had grown so accustomed to hearing.

The mercanary grinned to himself as he eagerly awaited to set his plan in motion. The boy likely thought he had the high ground in this encounter, but it was going to be that false belief that would become his own undoing.

You'll figure out my plan in time, Robin. But by then, the damage will already be done and it will be far too late to save yourself from the edge of that darkness I know you embrace inside your veins. I'll be the only one you can turn to; the only one who bothers to listen to your thoughts and acknowledge your true desires deep inside your soul.

Oh, this outcome will be in my favor. You know as well as I do that I'm not one to give up on my ambitions, Robin. However, this time around, I'll do things a little differently.

A/N: Yeah, I know it's short, but this is only the beginning. I have many ideas on where I want to take this, and I have already started drafting a majority of the second chapter.

If you guys have any suggestions, feel free to comment, (It's not an obligation, and I certainly will not hunt you down if you don't; I'm not THAT cruel) or shoot me a PM any time. I'd love to hear 'em! :D

Peace, yeast and make a feast!

-Void