...hi.

I know, I suck. I'm sorry, but I promise I wont wait that long to update again. Probably. I've been able to map out the story for the most part and in all honesty it was just hard for me to figure out how this chapter was gonna go down. But its here and yeah.

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment! Love you and thanks :) (also, if the format is off, just ignore it. Still figuring this out and for some reason the formatting on this chapter is coming off kind of janky)

Chapter 3

Black.

That's all Robin could see for the longest time, along with the other titans. Hearing drops of water hitting a cement floor repeatedly, Robin could infer they had to be in some type of cell.

The masked boy shifted slightly to his right, being tied up in some sort of chair, only to yelp out in pain from a shock that was sent throughout his entire body.

"Electrodes. Great." he muttered.

"Ouch!" he heard a higher-pitched voice shriek. "Dude, that hurts!"

"Then stop moving you idiot." Robin could sense the eye roll Raven was giving the changeling just by the tone of her voice.

Just then Robin was able to see the faces of his teammates when Cyborg flicked on a flashlight that was connected to his shoulder.

"Ha." he said. "Good thing I installed this bad boy. And Raven said it was stupid."

The goth rolled her eyes. "You already have two on each wrist, and your eye glows. It is stupid."

"Guys." Robin said, breaking his own silence. "Can we focus, please?" Where the hell were we? he thought.

"Uh, guys? Anyone see Starfire?" Raven asked in her usual monotone voice.

Panic suddenly shot through all of the titans, but mainly Robin.

"Idiot." He thought. How hadn't he noticed she was gone sooner? He always keeps his eye on her, even during battle. He always puts it upon himself to know her location and the expression on her face; always. As the team leader, it's his job to protect her(that's what he tells himself at least). And now of all times he forgets about her. "Nice going, bird brain." He scolded himself mentally.

"She's dead!" Beast Boy began to panic. "She's GONE she's dead she's dead she's deeea-OUCH"

The three titans shook their heads in annoyance while Beast boy went on his whole spiel, periodically yelping out in pain when he moved too much in his seat and got shocked.

"Ha ha ha HA HA! Ha ha he, he hah…" a voice unknown echoed through the dark room. "Wow, let me tell ya Dick. Thought you'd have a harder crew to battle."

Robin's insides started to flip, palms began to sweat and instant fear shook through him. "It's you." he breathed out over the faint echo that was slowly getting louder.

"But I guess you're still learning." The voice continued. The titans could easily sense the obvious smile in his voice.

"Robin...who's this supposed to be?" Cyborg asked, started to get shaken up himself seeing how paled his best friend had gotten.

"Learning's good...fun even." A man slowly walked out from the shadowed cell into the small beam of light that was being cast from the robot's body. "And you know how much I love fun." he grinned, insanity in his voice.

The man was tall and covered in numerous scars from God only knows where. He had vibrant green hair that was basically sticking out of his head; as if even they were trying to escape him. His face was pale white, his eyes darkened as if with coal. His mouth seemed brutally mangled, extended to the midpoint of his jawline and seemed to have been cut with scissors. He walked slowly, examining each of the titans.

"Let's see…" he strolled behind the seat of each teen, appointing them directly. "A robot with a teenie tiny light...a little animal boy the color of vomit...OH! And a goth." He began to run his hands through Raven's hair, causing her to growl and shock him with the use of her magic.

"Ouch!" he screamed out before letting out a chuckle. He grabbed a fist of her hair and bent her head back in order to not only electrocute her, but to hit her head on the back of the chair she was sat in. "Bad girl!" He scolded.

"Don't touch her." Beast Boy growled at him.

The Joker stared at the green titan for a minute, looking at a now-bleeding Raven before back to him again. He began to smile. "Ah, a friendship. Or is it love? Which is it? Tell me, buddy boy." Beast Boy's face began to flush, both at the comment and at the man walking closer to him. "Well. I'll be sure to keep you two farrrr apart." He said, pulling Raven's chair to the other corner of the room. He leaned down and whispered into her ear, but still being loud enough for the others to hear. "Can't have any funny business going on, now can we?"

"Get away from her." Robin seethed, finally out of his head. His face was hard as a rock now, but that was only to hide his fear.

The Joker backed away from the seething girl of Azarath and made his way over to the leader. "Ah, boy blunder. Part of a love triangle?" He frowned. "Really? Pretty cliche. Kinda disappointed. Don't get me wrong-black beauty over there is a keeper- but I thought the tabloids matched you up with Red."

That set him off. "Where the hell is she?" Robin demanded, fists clenched.

"Oh, thank goodness." The Joker sighed. "You are with the princess. I hate triangles. She's quite the looker-too good for you though, considering your kind of-"

Robin jumped just enough to allow the chair to come up and slam back down on the Joker's foot, causing the freak to yell(followed by the boy bat himself yelling, taking a small shock).

The Joker frowned, becoming inpatient. He grabbed the teen by his dark hair and pulled hard, bringing Robin's face close to his own.

"You're gonna be a fun one to kill." He spat.

Robin's heart was in his throat, but he continued to speak nonetheless. "I said, where is she?"

"We're just playing a game." he smiled honestly.

"What game?" Robin demanded, yelling somewhat.

The Joker's eyes widened, a sparkle evident. "A game where you're the prize."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, man?" Cyborg chimed in.

"Ha!" The maniac laughed. "Well, my good ol' bucket of bolts buddy, I'll tell ya." He backed away from the teens and pulled out a remote from his pocket, flicking on a television screen placed on the nearby wall.

The screen was staticy for a moment before clearing, only to reveal on the screen a mangled Starfire, struggling to escape a sharp wire wrapped around her in a chair.

"Let her go." Raven spat, beating Robin to it.

You could tell Starfire had muttered something; probably calling out for help, Robin imagined. But there was no sound on the recording. With that, the screen showed Starfire jumping up into the air, the wire cutting deeply into her stomach and arms in her escape. Blood dripped down her body onto the floor, and she seemed to be in serious pain.

"No!" Robin yelled, jumping up onto his feet, only to fall forward onto the ground as the electrodes pierced into his skin with his movement.

The Joker let out a laugh before flicking off the screen. He walked over to the almost-unconscious boy and put his foot on his head, pressing it into the ground.

He looked back at Cyborg. "She's got three days to find you before I kill you all myself."

"Why Starfire? Why'd you chose her?" Raven demanded, shooting the green-haired fiend a glare.

"Like I said, she's a hot little number." he winked.

"Don't talk about her that way." Beast Boy growled.

"Going after all the girls, aren't ya Sparky?"

"Answer the question." Cyborg screamed. "Why her?"

"No fun, are you?" the Joker sighed. "I hate spoiling a good story, so I'll cut it short. She's got something I need."

"What is that?" Robin mustered up the strength to ask.

"Hmmmm." the ghostly man pondered for a moment before kicking Robin across the floor, causing a few protests from his fellow teammates (but, as expected, the Joker blocked them all out). "Play the game, boy wonder."

Jack's heels clicked as he walked towards the door of the cell, opening it just enough for him to slide out.

"Just play the game."