(A/N: Remember how we left Robin falling through a mysterious hole in the ground? Well, it's finally time for a Robin vs. Slade chapter! I don't know if you were looking forward to this, but I sure was. I'm still figuring out how I'll divide the rest of the story up, but it looks like there will probably be three more chapters. We're in the home stretch!)

Robin fell through the trap door until he finally landed in a dark room, the floor covered in a thin, even coat of slime and sewage. He could not tell where the room started and ended, as it was pitch black with only one flickering lightbulb hanging low from wherever the ceiling was. His gloved hands gripped his bo staff as his eyes searched the darkness.

"Hello?" he said, not sure if he was making too much noise or too little. He thought he heard something, or someone, move behind him and spun around. "Starfire?" he said hopefully.

Suddenly, two large hands came out of the darkness and shoved him down from behind. He crashed to his knees for only a second before standing back up and facing his adversary. The dim light revealed just enough of a metal mask and single, piercing eye.

"Slade," Robin seethed.

"Robin," Slade replied. "How nice to see you again." The pleasantries over, he instantly attacked, punching Robin in the side first before attempting to grab his arm. The boy dodged him, then ran as fast as he could until he was under the one, dangling lightbulb. He could see a two-foot radius around himself, but beyond that, nothing. Slade was somewhere in that nothing. Robin felt his breath quickening and his heart pounding. Now, in the middle of the night, his nightmares were coming true.

"You really should come and visit me more often," Slade's haunting voice said. Robin looked around frantically, trying to discern from whence it came. "It's so sad when children leave the nest."

"Where are you?" Robin demanded, blocking out his taunts.

Slade answered him, "I am all around you. You can never escape. You never have. Didn't you know it would have to end with the two of us?"

Robin threw a birdarang in the direction of Slade's voice, but it came back to him without hitting anything. "What do you want with Starfire?" he asked.

"The alien?" Slade now sounded like he was in another part of the room entirely. "I want nothing more from her than I do from the others. I have an army taking care of them now. They are useless to you now, and worthless to me."

"No," Robin whispered in horror as he heard the very same words Slade had spoken to him in his dreams. He knew he had to be brave and face his nemesis, so he took a deep breath and responded, "Then it looks like you haven't learned your lesson, Slade. My friends are stronger than they look. We've defeated you before, and we'll do it again!"

His exclamation echoed through the empty chamber. After a moment, Slade spoke again, now from somewhere completely different. "I have learned my lesson, Robin. I have learned from my mistakes. I am more powerful now than you could ever imagine. We are playing a dangerous game of chess, Robin. The pawns will be picked off, one by one."

Once again, Robin threw a birdarang at Slade's voice, but once again, it returned as silently as it was thrown.

"It appears I have taken something much more valuable than a pawn this time," the villain boasted. "Judging by your reaction, I'd say I've captured your queen. That's usually a turning point in the game, isn't it? Without your most powerful piece, what chance could you possibly have at winning?"

"Shut up," the Teen Wonder said angrily.

"And now the king has been cornered," Slade continued, again changing the location of his voice. "You do not dare step into the darkness. You cannot move without causing your own destruction. I believe the term is…checkmate."

Something about the way Slade said that word sent chills down Robin's spine. "What do you want, Slade?" he asked the darkness.

"I would like to present you with a generous offer. You know you cannot run from me now. I will give you one last chance to live if you agree to join me as my apprentice."

"Don't you already have one?" Robin asked.

"She is no longer of use to me. She has failed me too many times. I do not plan on keeping her around much longer."

Robin thought for a moment about what Slade had just said. Shego had failed him too many times. Right now, Slade claimed that the other Titans were about to be destroyed, and that the same would happen to Starfire. Yet, Shego had called the Titans and shown them definitive proof that Starfire was still alive. Robin had seen how powerful the green woman was on the bridge earlier, so she had to be strong enough to destroy an unconscious, powerless Starfire. Was this one of the failures Slade was talking about? The pieces began to fit together in Robin's mind. Regardless of how things had started between them, Shego was now working against Slade, not for him. She was keeping Starfire alive, and she wanted the Titans to defeat her master, all while pretending to remain on his side. He couldn't help admiring a little bit of her brilliance.

"She was never the apprentice you were, Robin," Slade continued, unaware of the revelation occurring inside the boy's head. "Together, we could do anything. I will train you to be stronger than you ever dreamed. The world could be ours. Admit it, Robin, you have missed working by my side."

"I don't tend to enjoy assisting madmen," he retorted. "You said this is an offer. What if I don't take it?"

"A fair question. The plan would include watching every one of your friends die horribly before facing your own destruction. Only a suicidal fool would prefer this alternative."

Robin thought he heard a footstep near him. He extended his staff to its full length and swung it quickly in a full circle, hitting nothing. "Nice try, Slade," he said, "but the Titans are stronger than you think. I don't care how many robots and apprentices you have, you'll never be able to capture them all, let alone defeat them. We're like a family, and families fight for each other to the end, no matter what. That's what you'll never understand about us."

"Family." Slade's voice sounded more like a growl than human speech. "Family. Yes, I suppose you would think that I could never understand it. That was a poor move, Robin. I understand it more than you know. I also understand that I've been tracking all of your teammates' moves through their communicators. At this time, all four remaining signals are either inside of my lair or currently being escorted there by my robots. You are the last one to remain free, and I am giving you a chance to keep it that way."

"I don't believe you."

"See for yourself." Slightly to the left of what Robin perceived as the center of the room, a gadget on Slade's wrist projected a holographic map of the sewage system. Signals labeled with Beast Boy's, Raven's, and Cyborg's names were inside of a large room, and Kim's signal, still labeled as Starfire's, was quickly approaching it. All were red, the color of distress. Slade shut off the hologram and plunged the two of them into darkness again. "I know more than you think I do about family," Slade continued, suddenly sounding like he was on the opposite side of the room from where the projection had been, "and I know that it is not enough to stop me. This is your last chance, Robin. I know you have missed our time together. Save yourself and join me as my apprentice."

Robin thought of his friends in danger. Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy must have been captured by Slade's army. He hadn't seen what had happened to Kim, but she had been severely outnumbered when he had left her. The communicator Starfire had been using had been shut off by Shego, so there was at least some hope for her, though not much. He knew he could never abandon his friends. He hated Slade more than ever for suggesting it.

"Never!"

Out of nowhere, Slade's hand reached out and grabbed Robin's arm, twisting it behind his back. The boy tried to wriggle out of his tight grip, but it only made it hurt more. "You're going to regret that," his deep voice said.

Robin let out a yell and swept his foot upward, kicking Slade in the face. He broke free and backflipped once, landing on the very edge of the circle of light, facing Slade on the other side of it. "I don't think so. You forgot one of the most basic rules of chess."

"Oh really? And what is that?"

"A king can back another king into a corner," Robin replied, his face betraying a tiny smirk, "but he can never touch him. I'm not in checkmate at all. If it's really just the two of us left, then the best you can hope for is a stalemate."

Slade ran toward him and aimed a punch at his stomach. Robin barely ducked out of the way in time, then, in one motion, he jumped up and kicked Slade's chest, shoving him backwards. Robin tried to hit him, but the man disappeared into the darkness. Before the Teen Wonder could see it, Slade wrapped his arm around his neck in a chokehold and pulled him into his pitch black surroundings. Robin fought himself free, but found that he could see nothing. All he could feel was Slade's fists repeatedly attacking him from all angles. One hit knocked him hard enough that he fell face first to the ground. What could he do? If he couldn't see Slade, how could he defeat him?

Wait a moment, he thought quickly, I've heard that before. He remembered his training from the True Master of martial arts. It had been a long time, but he could still recall the lesson of the blind snake in the cave. He had to anticipate Slade's next move. He shut his eyes, concentrated…

…and grabbed Slade's wrist before he could land his next punch. In an instant, he removed the holographic gadget and leaped far out of reach. He turned it on and activated the claimed would lead him to his friends.

He heard Slade calling from behind him. "Apprentice! Stop!"

"I'm not your apprentice!" he shouted back. He threw a black disc to the ground just in front of Slade, which exploded in a bright flash. From the sound of it, some part of the wall or ceiling turned to rubble and crashed. Whether it had hit Slade or not was unimportant. What was important was saving his friends. He sprinted out of the room and into the next dark corridor lit only by the dim light of the hologram, not even caring to look back.