The titans raced up to the clock tower, and sure enough, a crowd of watching civilians were gasping in horror, pointing at the figure tied to the clock hand. "Aww, crap!" Cyborg shouted.

"I'll get her! Beastboy said, racing foreward as a falcon.

"Nn! Dn't! Isa trp!" were the muffled yells of Batgirl. Her warning wasn't heard, and she watched helplessly as the falcon swooped forward to her bonds, and was immediately zapped with a heavy dossage of electricity. He started falling. Raven started to move forward to save the unconcious boy, but slumped to the ground.

"Raven! What is wrong with her?" asked a worried Starfire.

"I don't know! Rae, can you hear us?"

"Magic... barrier..." she hissed. "Messing with my mind... can't... fight it... bringing out... him!" she let out an agonizing scream, and continued her attempts to keep the monsters in her head at bay.

"It's rigged! We can't save Batgirl and BB at the same time! Slade set it up!"

"But what shall we do then?" Cyborg wasn't sure, but seeing who was in danger presently...

"Star, you go catch BB! Try to wake him up or get him down here as fast as you can!"

"What of Batgirl?"

"I'll figure something out! Go!" Starfire followed orders, and zoomed forward to catch Beastboy mid fall. As she carefully brought him down to the ground, she realized that the boy had been harmed worse than first thought. That simple dose of electricity that he'd been shocked with had burnt most of his skin. He needed immediate hospitalization. She pulled out her communicator, not wasting time.

"Cyborg, Beastboy is very much damaged! I am taking him to the hopsital presently, I will return shortly!"

"But Star, what about-"

"He's in very bad condition! Batgirl surely can wait a few moments!" he heard the tears in her voice, and knew she was struggling with her choices.

"I hope so..." he mumbled to himself. "It doesn't seem like we have much of a choice." He looked up at Batgirl. The clock read 6:23. They had seven minutes to save her.

Batgirl, while freaked out, was thinking logically. If only she could reach her communicator... wait! That was it! She had an idea. Her other communicator was perfect for the situation! Hopefully Kal wasn't doing anything too important... she pushed the button.

Robin froze in horror. Slade knew? He... knew? Slade knew Robin's identity. NO! Not possible! Not at all!

"You seem a bit overwhelmed, Richard. Surprised I found out?"

"I'm not overwhelmed. Just... a little whelmed is all. But... but... how did? And what are gonna do now? Blackmail me again? Hold me for ransom? Doesn't seem like something you'd do."

"Now why would I do a thing like that? Richard, you know as well as I- you've got nothing to loose. I'd rather you join me on your own accords."

"Why would I-"

"You've got nowhere else to turn."

"The titans-"

"Don't care about you. I've got proof. You can even check the tapes to see if they've been tampered with, which they haven't." Slade pressed a button on his computer, and the earlier conversation played. Robin watched Starfire make her decision to save Batgirl over him, and while glad she had, was a little hurt too, though he didn't show it. I mean, if he really had been missing for a few days... though whats to say the same hadn't happened for Batgirl? She could've been kidnapped as well. But if they'd suffered the same fate, wouldn't the titans look for their leader first?

He was confused, that much was plain to see.

"Now, Grayson. You've got a few choices here. And by a few I mean two. One: join me, leave your unloyal 'friends' behind, and become more powerful than even Batman."

"My second option?" he asked, uninthusiastically. He knew things were never simple with Slade. The second choice was probably as bad as the first.

"Your second choice is a bit more... painful. You can leave unpersued, by me anyway, a head-start of ten minutes. Of course, you'd be leaving knowing I know your identity, Richard, along with Batman's." Seeing the shock on Batman's face, he rolled his eye. "Come now, Richard. You can't possibly think that I've figured out who you are, and am incapable of realizing that the man who raised you must be Batman. It's simple really. You go to the manor with Brucie, and suddenly Batman has a partner. You'd think the Bat would plan better... but anyway. You'd leave with a head start knowing what you know, and then end up back here anyway after realizing how your friends have used you over the years. Now, you can either take it from me, and learn on your own."

"So you're saying either I become your apprentice, or I leave and live a normal life until you blackmail me into becoming your apprentice anyway."

"Exactly. Either way I get an apprentice."

"And who's to say I won't figure out how to stop you in the time I'm free?"

"You won't.".

"I will." He stood up, easily escaping the bonds Slade had tied. "I'm out of here. I get a ten minute head start, right?" He was about to reach for the door knob, when he was tazered from behind, and knocked upside the head by a metal fist.

As he slowly lost conciousness, he reached for an emergency button on the side of his belt. "Wrong choice, Richard. But don't worry, I'll be more than willing to let you change your mind...

Clark Kent was just about finished typing his article for the Daily Planet, when his communicator started insistently buzzing in his pocket. He sighed, and wearily pulled it out. His two lives seemed to be clashing more and more...

Alarmed, he realized he was recieving two emergency signals. Both from Jump City. "What in the world?" he mumbled to himself. He looked at the clock. 6:26. His shift was over at seven today anyway... "Cheif, is it okay if I leave early today? I've got a family thing."

"Sure thing, Kent. Just be sure to have your article on my desk first thing tomorow, got it?"

"Yes, Cheif. Thanks!"

"No problem!" Clark left the building, and quickly made his transformation. Superman flew off to Jump City wondering, 'What was going on?'