Hey! I'm Back! Whoo! School = the devil, and play practice = work.

Robin's eyes flickered open. "Wh-where am I?" memories slowly came back to him. He remembered Slade finding out his identity... being strapped to a table... then Slade drugged him with something... but what was it? More of that nightmare stuff? Or just a sedative? He took in his surroundings. He was surprised to find that he wasn't strapped down or restrained in any way. He was on a bed in a room, furnished surprisingly nicely. His mask was gone though. That was enough to make him suspicious. He walked over to the door, and suspicion wracked through him when it opened. Not locked. No alarms. No traps. This wasn't like Slade. Not like him at all.

He walked down the hallway, and into another room. It seemed like a training room, weights in the corner, parallel bars to the side, escrima sticks on the wall. What surprised him, was the set of trapeze attached to the ceiling. The room, unlike the when he was stuck as Slade's apprentice, was sort of... homey. It reminded him of where he and his father trained, back... back in the circus. Confused, he backed up, trying to leave the room, but ran into something or rather, someone. He jumped in surprise, and spun around. A tall one eyed man with white messy hair looked down at him, amused smirk on his face.

"Why so surprised, Richard? You've seen me mask-less many times. It can't be startling you that much, can I?" Robin immediately got into a defensive stance hearing the voice, but his jaw dropped as he realized- this was Slade. Mask-less.

"Wh-? SLADE?" he gasped, confused. Seen him maskless before? Uh, no. Startling? Hells yes! "B-but? You? And the-? Where are the titans?"

"At their tower, where they always are," Slade reminded, eye narrowing in confusion. "What's wrong?" Suddenly though, understanding came over him. "Ah, you had that dream again, didn't you?"

"What dream?" Robin asked, still confused.

"The one that witch, Raven implanted in your mind? The one where you were one of them. She implanted memories in your head, absolutely insane ones, too. Ones where you were a titan, and trained under Batman of all people. Insane, but I suppose the witch isn't very stable to begin with..." Robin just stared. If anyone had lost their mind...

"Uh... but... but I am a titan... and you... you kidnapped me! You brought me here! You did this!"

"Apprentice, Richard, what are you talking about?"

"No! This isn't real! This can't be! Nothing make's sense! It's like a-" he stopped. "A nightmare... Slade trapped me in another nightmare world! That's what this is! But how do I get out?"

Slade chuckled. "Very good, Robin. But I'm affraid in this world, you have no choice but to be my apprentice. Deal with it."

"There's always a choice!" Robin shot back.

"True, but one option will get you back to reality faster than the other," Slade said cryptically, walking out of the room. Robin slid down the wall, until he was sitting on the ground, trying to think things out.

"Obviously this is another of Slade's mind games... Scarecrow's too," he thought to himself. "But if it is... how do I get out? Obviously he's trying to trick me in some way... how to get out... I've gotta fight whatever's keeping me in a coma, or brainwashed, or whatever's happening in the real world! So do I fight Slade's control over me?"

It made sense, but "No, that'd be too easy. Slade and Scarecrow are both geniuses. They'd count on me fighting against them, after all, I was trained by Batman. Trained to see in black and white. So does that mean that I have to turn... evil, to get out of here? Go against everything I've ever known? It almost makes sense... one of my worst fears is to turn evil. To lower myself to the likes of Tony Zucco, that murdering bastard that killed my parents...

"Anyone could guess the psychological damage that'd happen if I forced myself to turn. Even if it isn't real. Slade's probably counting on that too, so that he can further manipulate me... what to do though?" He looked up at the now masked Slade, as he reentered the room.

"Richard? I have an assignment for you, if you're up to it. I know the witch manipulated your mind rather well, the other day..." This Slade, this fake Slade, almost seemed sincere. It was back to this false reality. "Do you want the job, or shall I assign it to one of the HIVE students?" Robin looked down, thinking.

He raised his head, and slowly nodded. "I'll go." Slade handed him what he assumed was his Nightmare-world's uniform, and he went back to 'his room' to change.

As soon as he was gone, Slade let out a chuckle, a rare smile gracing his face. "Good boy."

*love? hate? think its crazy enough to earn an animaniacs episode? stupid enough to join the simpsons? let me know!