I have returned! Rejoice and be merry! …Or, just sit there, silently willing me to shut up so you can get on with the story. Either one is fine with me. Updating on my stories has been a bit slow, lately, since I haven't felt any real creative surges…and, unfortunately, the occasional muse hasn't been all the interested in dropping by, no matter how many times I keep praying…Crap. Any—hoo, this chapter is just going to explain some stuff…sorta boring, so don't kill me.

Chapter Three: A New World

"SLADE!" Robin snapped, turning quickly in the darkness, squinting furiously as if hoping to catch even the slightest glimpse of the man. "Slade! I know you're around here! What do you want!"

No answer. Robin sighed in frustration and began moving forwards again, his ears pricked slightly to catch any noise that sounded out of place. He had heard him—he knew he had! Or had he? What if he was just hallucinating again? Sanity was one of the few, precious things he still had—though it seemed to be steadily slipping out of his grasp. It was probably the only thing that kept his friends willing to believe in him…if they still did.

Unlikely.

Muttering a curse under his breath, Robin fumbled with his belt, pulling out the first weapon his fingers touched; his bo-staff. Good enough.

"Do you honestly think you can fight me, Robin? Here?"

The teenage hero crouched, waiting, before lunging at where he had last heard Slade's voice coming from. He, instead, went crashing into a wall, body slammed hard against what felt like concrete…great. As if his head wasn't abused enough today… At least he'd found one wall. Maybe, if he followed it for awhile, he might gain some sort of sense about the exact perimeter of wherever he was. Speaking of which…

"Where the hell am I, Slade?" He roared threateningly at the shadows, waiting again for his enemy to respond. It didn't take long, the criminal's voice coming quickly and smoothly, as though it were coated in amusement.

"You mean you don't know? I thought, of all people, you would recognize it."

Obviously not.

"No," He shot back, hand tightening on his weapon. "Enlighten me, please."

As if on cue, two thin, beams of light shot down from above like spotlights, one revealing the imposing figure of Slade, hands behind his back as usual. If this was the man's idea of humor, Robin wasn't laughing. Slowly, the boy entered the second ray, metal staff glinting slightly.

"Better?" Slade asked in that smug voice that never failed to make Robin want to slug him in the stomach.

"Yes," The Titan muttered, never looking away. Silence stretched between the two, as they surveyed one another. Slade, sizing him up, whereas Robin glared at the still concealed scenery about them. Finally, the quiet was broken by Robin's sharp question of:

"You never answered my question. Where is this place? And where are my friends? If you did anything to them, I swear I'll—"

"They are still in your Tower, as are you…in a manner of speaking," The man added under his breath. Robin glanced around again at the impending shadows all about the two of them.

"I don't understand…I've never seen this place before. This is new to me."

"Well of course it would be. Not many people take the time to look inside their own minds."

It took a minute or so for Robin to completely process this, but when he did, he began to back away back into the darkness, shaking his head.

"You're lying…YOU'RE LYING!" His voice echoed in the emptiness, so that it sounded like several ghosts of himself were screaming along with him.

"This isn't possible. You—this is—and—you shouldn't be in my head, if this is my mind. And I seriously doubt it…"

Slade looked mockingly surprised.

"No? But, Robin: Most of your free thought revolves around me, whether you know it or not. It only makes sense that I would be here, controlling everything you think about."

"This—" Robin tried searching for the right word. "This is insane. I'm just—I have to be dreaming, There's no way this can be happening…"

"I can assure you, it is. How else do you explain the two of us, standing here right now?"

"You must have done something to my head," Robin growled. Slade's eye flickered almost red for a moment.

"Now there's an idea…"

R-R-R

"Are you crazy!"

Raven met this statement with a blank stare as she remained still, watching Cyborg with a trace of a severe frown threatening to crease her brow. Her robotic friend gaped in surprise.

"You're…you're serious?"

"Yes."

"Man, you are nuts!"

The Goth girl gritted her teeth in concealed frustration and said in a muffled voice:

"I'm not nuts. And I'm not suicidal either," She added waspishly, as Cyborg opened his mouth again to speak.

"However, I am concerned. The last thing I want is for Robin to be trapped in a coma for the rest of his life. If you and your technology can't help him, then I can."

"Raven…" Beast Boy muttered weakly from his spot on the couch. "Dude, please tell me you're joking?"

Instead, however, the demoness let loose a rather strangled cry of anger.

"NO!"

The filthy dishes that had slowly been building up in their sink over the past three weeks flew from their haphazard stacks to shatter against the wall. Starfire squeaked as the ceramic fragments scattered themselves over her lavender boots, and she quickly drew her feet up onto her chair.

Meanwhile, Raven, breathing heavily after her emotional outburst, turned towards a shocked Cyborg, her eyes weary and a bit pleading. It surprised him, but he didn't comment on it.

"Please," She whispered. "Please, just let me try."

Cyborg bit his lip, thinking hard.

"Rae…where did you get such a crazy—ass plan anyway?"

Raven blinked, a bit thrown. How could she even begin to describe her amazement at Anger's advice—Cyborg and Beast Boy wouldn't understand, not after their trip into her mind…nor could she explain Fear's intoxicating shrieks of utmost terror at (just as Rage had said) losing Robin. He was probably her closest friend, and one of the few that knew what she was going through…

"Just a friend?" She heard Love whisper softly in her ear. "Or something much, much more…?"

"Shut up," Raven growled irritably. An indignant look crossed Cyborg's face.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. I wasn't talking to you."

She could have smacked herself for saying something that stupid; Raven was trying to persuade Cyborg to bend the safety rules, and she could see from his raised eyebrows and the looks he exchanged with Starfire and Beast Boy that he was immensely skeptical.

But—?

"Well…look, Rae, I don't know. Don't you think it's a bit…well, risky?"

The girl's eyes narrowed to determined slits.

"Nothing, nothing is too much of a risk when it comes to our friends."

Cyborg tiredly massaged his temples.

"Fine."

"Follow me," Raven instructed, drifting swiftly towards the medical wing.

R-R-R

Slade casually strolled about Robin's stiff form, more rays of light shooting down to light a circular path around the Boy Wonder. The boy's eyes never left Slade for even a second….not that it would do him any good.

"Robin, though you may not know it, your mind can be surprisingly complex at times, as I have taken the time to discover."

The teen glared, not saying a word as he continued to listen carefully.

"Even your simplest thoughts are used to continue building up this…maze that one must wander through to reach the very core."

Slade snapped lightly, and, to Robin's horror, colossal green hedges burst from the ground, swerving to create a trap all around him.

"W—what—how are you doing this—?"

"Or…"

Slade reappeared easily before Robin, shimmering slightly as if he were a mirage fading and appearing upon the flat plains of a desert.

"Perhaps a better word would be labyrinth?"

The plants began to morph slowly, slithering as they hardened and thickened, transforming into slabs of sturdy rock that towered over Robin's head, as if closing him in. Though he'd never thought he was claustrophobic, the very sensation was making it a struggle to breathe.

Slade was gone now, but his voice lingered, whispering in the boy's ear:

"Have you ever heard of the Greek legend about the Minotaur?"

Robin nodded obediently, still terrified as his eyes darted around—perhaps he had been expecting the mythological creature to spring at him. But what was to come would be far worse.

"It is much like your mind…of course, there is not just one, blood thirsty monster waiting for you in the center…they are all around you…"

And from behind a nearby corner, Robin heard an only too familiar roar.

Somebody please help me…

To be Continued…

Well…okay, it was a short chapter, and I got a little lazy. So sue me. I hope you liked this, and the next chapter will be coming soon…just as soon as I get a few things sorted out.

Later—

Rebel-Aquarius