Disclaimer: Well, I wish I could say otherwise, but unfortunately I do not own Teen Titans.

A/N: Ah yes…this chapter. I have been waiting a while to post this. I hope you all enjoy this.

In other news, I have a new laptop! Praise the Lord! For real, guys, I just went from windows XP to windows 7. That's a HUGE jump. So now I have a faster laptop and I can write more fanfiction faster! That doesn't mean I'll post early though. And I just watched The Dark Knight again, so I felt compelled to quote a little for this chapter.

Oh yeah, and my friends and I (20 people) launched a massive nerf gun assault on a freshmen dorm full of preview students last night. Complete with battle cries, an inspirational speech, a recon team, and a tactical plan. As we left for the rendevous point afterwards we overheard preview students saying they want to come to our school. SUCCESS. Just thought I'd tell you guys that. :)

"And here…we…go."

-The Joker, The Dark Knight

Chapter 22: Blackout

-C-

7:50pm

Jump City, California

Titans Tower

The Justice League was coming.

That fact alone put Cyborg out of his despondent mood. With the JLA's help the Titans might just be able to solve this damn mystery. Just like a good mystery novel, Cyborg couldn't stand the suspense. Unlike a good mystery novel, the suspense might actually kill him and the others if they couldn't figure this out.

He could understand Robin's frustration with himself and the Justice League. Not being able to solve or do anything by yourself always made Cyborg grumpy. Back in the days when he was an athlete, the coach always talked him down whenever he failed to do something. Having someone else do the work made him feel like a child again.

Or just weak.

Cyborg shook his head. No, Robin wasn't weak. None of them were. From what Cyborg could tell, all of the Titans had gone through something traumatic and survived. They were far from weak. In times like these it was wiser to ask for help than to deny it.

"Hey BB, could you hand me that file?" Cyborg asked, pointing to a folder.

Stifling a yawn, Beast Boy handed it to him. While everyone else was recuperating from that huge fight that escalated a few hours ago Cyborg felt it prudent to keep working. Even with Slade's mask and dust samples gone he could still do other things. Right now he was using the main computer to configure the location of the signal that triggered the reagent. Although he didn't have the mask to help pinpoint the source of the incoming signal Cyborg could still track it, since he already knew which frequency it was on. He had tried doing this before, since the wavelength was recorded on the computer, but every time he tried to pinpoint a location it came from somewhere else in the city. For the past week he had been monitoring the signal, which was weak until now. At first it didn't bother him much, since Robin showed no sign of being under the influence of the dust.

Intrigued, Cyborg acessed the computer's history. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin as he stared at the data. From what he could tell it looked as though the signal was weak until last night. The signal began pulsating strongely at about nine o'clock last night. What could that mean?

"It seems as though someone is still sending out the signal," Cyborg said, "I haven't been able to pick up the signal again until now."

"What does that mean?" Beast Boy asked.

"Whoever triggered the dust is still out there and sending out the signal again. It doesn't make sense, though, since someone—I'm thinking the perpetrator himself—stole Slade's mask. Why would he be sending out signals again?"

"To taunt us," Raven said, her voice monotonous. "The perpetrator must know that we're monitoring these frequencies."

Grunting in frustration, Cyborg turned his attention back to the flashing spots on the screen representing all of the possible locations the signal could be coming from. While Cyborg thought himself pretty good with technology he knew that there were others better than him. His father, for example, could probably help with this. But Cyborg didn't want to drag his father into any of this. There was nothing to do but wait for the Justice League to come and sort this mess out.

He wondered vaguely what the League would decide to do first. If Batman was coming along, would the man decide to apologize to Robin first? Maybe and…maybe not. Although Cyborg knew how important it was for Robin to hear Batman's apology, all of them knew that that wasn't the most important thing to do now. Before anyone could do anything they would have to solve the mystery of the dust.

Despite the argument that took place, Cyborg stubbornly stuck to his theory that Brother Blood was behind all of this. He just couldn't let it go. Yes, he supposed that he was acting like Robin, but at least he had a rational reason for believing that Brother Blood was behind this. Well, Robin didn't actually believe that Slade was behind this, but he still couldn't let that go either.

His musings were interrupted by a soft bleeping noise. He turned his head back up to look at the screen.

Someone was calling Titans Tower.

"This is the JCPD calling Titans Tower."

The four Titans crowded around the television screen. A youngish police officer stood in front of the webcam, looking just as tired as they all felt. With Robin fast asleep Cyborg stepped up to assume the role of team leader.

"What's up, Lieutenant?" Cyborg asked.

The lieutenant's eyes scanned the group. "Is Robin around?"

"You can talk to us."

Cyborg could tell that the lieutenant looked uncomfortable talking to them. Well, who wouldn't be? This guy looked new to the JCPD and probably wasn't yet used to dealing with superpowered freaks. Cyborg could tell from the way the guy fidgeted.

"How important is this?" Raven asked.

"Very important," the officer replied. "We know that you're dealing with a hard case and that you'd rather not be disturbed, but Johnson wants to speak with Robin."

The Titans exchanged nervous glances.

"Raven, can you go wake up Robin?" Cyborg asked.

At once Cyborg realized that he should have asked Starfire to do it, but the Tamaranean did not seem perturbed by this. She looked wrapped up in her own thoughts and wasn't even paying much attention to the screen. Raven said nothing as she nodded and turned to go wake up their leader.

-Rae-

8:02pm

Jump City, California

Titans Tower

Robin really was asleep. He lay curled in a slight ball on top of his bedcovers, using his cape as a blanket. She didn't like the fact that she had been chosen to wake him up. The kid really needed some sleep, especially since he had had a bad day. Raven bent down and shook his shoulder.

"Robin, the Chief of Police just called."

He woke with a start.

A flood of brief memories washed over Raven as he came back to consciousness. She saw images of the billionaire Bruce Wayne, a smiling Batgirl and an old man, and many others she did not recognize. Angry voices echoed in her ears.

"He didn't torture our identities out of me, he just knew!"

"Maybe Slade was right!" Robin's voice screamed."Maybe you don't care about me!"

She could feel the pain inside her chest as Batman—unmasked in her mind—said unkind things to Robin. Anger swelled within her as Robin struggled to deal with Batman's coarse reaction to his troubles. The very last image was of Slade's metal face taunting him…and his nightmares. Robin sat up, his hands gripping the bedcovers in tight fists. Sweat poured down his face and plastered his ungelled hair to his forehead. His chest rose and fell rapidly as he turned his head to look at her.

"What?" he asked, his tone breathy.

Raven almost forgot to answer. Just watching him wake up like that made her uneasy. In those few brief moments he looked so vulnerable, like a child frightened of the monsters underneath his bed. Once he realized who was speaking to him he began to calm down a little.

"The JCPD just called," Raven said, "and they want to talk to you."

He breathed heavily for a few moments as he calmed down. She could sense his shimmering thoughts whirling in his sleepy mind. They whispered to her, calling out for her to listen to his troubles and woes. She shook her head. Ever since she went into his mind to help him in his dust-induced state it became easier for her to access his mind. Raven didn't want that. She respected his private thoughts and felt no desire to butt in on his problems. Well, unless they interfered with Titan work.

"Okay…okay…" he said, although he sounded like he was reassuring himself more than acknowledging what she said. "I'm coming…"

She waited for him in the doorway. Robin lay back down on the bed and closed his eyes, as though trying to regain his composure. What was troubling his dreams? His nightmares? She placed a hand on the frame of the doorway and listened to his anguished thoughts. While the JCPD sounded as if the apocalypse would come upon them all, she knew that whatever it was could wait.

Only because this couldn't wait any longer.

"Robin," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure there isn't anything you want to talk about?"

She felt him tense. He turned his head to look at her, the expression on his face that of utter anguish. Raven supposed that she should be talking to the others about their problems as well, but she was just drawn to him because of the mental bond they shared. Never once since the incident with the dust had Robin ever asked about her past.

"Why?"

"Everything about your past with Slade has been leaked out to us because of whoever triggered the dust. Robin, whoever is doing this to us counted on the fact that you would keep your experiences to yourself."

Bottled up, she thought, and ready to explode like bubbling champagne.

She allowed her words to sink in. Robin pushed himself to a sitting position and ran a hand through his hair. After glancing down the hallway Raven stepped back into the bedroom and walked up to him.

"What do you see?" He asked quietly.

He took her hands and held them tightly, as though afraid that he would lose her to whatever horror the perpetrator had planned for her. His tone suggested that he already knew the answer, but Raven answered his question anyway.

"Your memories."

"You know who I am, don't you?"

He didn't sound angry about it. Just…down. It was as if he expected her to know.

"I know enough to guess."

She knew that he valued his secret identity more than anything else. Well, almost more than anything else. Raven knew that it must have taken a great deal of courage for him to give up his secret identity for the lives of his friends. With so many other lives at stake aside from the Titans, Robin knew that he must have been taking a huge risk revealing his secret identity and that of his mentor. Well...actually, he didn't have a choice.

"I suppose it's unfair to keep my secret identity a secret from you guys," he said, lifting a hand to his mask. "Slade knew my identity…you should too…"

She stopped his hand. "If you don't want to tell us your name then you don't have to."

A pained expression crossed his face. Raven knew what it was like to keep secrets. As his friend Raven respected his past and his secrets. Yet she could sense his desire to reveal his secret identity. While Raven knew that one day she would know, she knew that today wasn't the best day to do it. He let his hand fall to his side.

"It just…doesn't seem fair…"

He strode towards the window and leaned on the windowsill. Even though he talked a little bit with the team about his problems with Batman Raven didn't feel annoyed about his Batman rants. She felt concerned.

"What doesn't seem fair?"

"That Slade—our worst enemy—knew my secret identity." He looked back at her. "And it's not fair that Br—Batman has been acting the way he's been acting. You know, just before Batman started yelling at me I confessed that Slade tried to make me think of him as a father." He placed his hands on his chest. "Batman isn't my biological father, but he's the closest thing I have to one."

As soon as the words escaped his lips he looked surprised at the confession. Raven said nothing. Slowly, the pieces were falling together like an intricate jigsaw puzzle. This was just classic Robin: no one would know what was bothering him until he allowed bits and pieces of his anxieties to fall from him. If anything, Raven felt that it was unfair for her to delve so deeply into his mind while he knew nothing about her past.

"Robin, I also have issues with my father."

That was the only thing she could offer him. Robin shut his eyes for a moment before looking at her.

"Raven, I'm practically drowning. You can feel people's emotions, right? Explain to me why Batman's been acting this way."

To her surprise, Robin's tone sounded desperate. She could feel his anxious and lonely emotions reaching out to her. He felt anger, yes, but above all else she sensed his utter confusion and hurt over Batman's words. When Starfire took him out for a late-night flight she did wonders for him—something Raven knew she could never do herself.

"Unlike my father, Robin, yours does care about you."

"He's not acting like himself!"

His voice nearly cracked as he said this. Although she didn't want to see them, brief memories played in her mind as Robin reminiscence. Instead of disturbing memories they were happy memories of Robin's childhood with the billionaire Bruce Wayne, his legal guardian. He longed for the days he could simply talk to Wayne without exchanging harsh words. He longed for his deceased mother and father, the people who taught him how to fly. But above all he longed for a day when he could step out into the world and never be worried again about the threat of crime. A day when children would not have to have their parents murdered by greedy criminals or be afraid of being hurt by the big bads.

The thing was, both of them knew that that day would never come.

"He's been acting more like…more like…" he forced the words out. "Slade."

Is that what was bothering him? Of course, Raven suspected more, but she felt like she was just beginning to probe into the root of his problems. Although she wanted to help him, she knew that she couldn't help him solve all of his problems before the Justice League came to help.

"You need to talk about it with us and with Batman."

It was the most sensible thing for him to do. Robin needed to talk to his mentor (she suspected that it was the root of all of his problems) without the privacy of a webcam. They needed to talk their problems out with people watching. Both men, it seemed, kept their problems inward until the pressure inside built up to a dangerous level. Then at a random moment they exploded like an overheated tea kettle.

"I…this isn't the right time." Robin broke away. "I need to talk to Johnson."

"Robin," she said, her voice firm, "whatever the Chief of Police is asking you to do…you don't have to say yes."

Robin's eyes widened slightly at her words, as though it was a novel thought to not go after every single criminal out there. What he really needed to do was relax. That's what some villains counted on: that the heroes would go out and protect everything and everyone threatened by some malicious plot to bomb the city.

He brushed past her without saying a word. As he did so more memories flashed by her, mentally jarring her as she visibly recoiled. Grunting, Raven put a hand to her throbbing head as screams and maniacal laughter filled her ears. Robin hadn't noticed a thing.

It was as though he told her without words why he was going to agree to help the JCPD. The kind of crime he grew up around—the kind of crime that caused strife in his life—simply ingrained a sense of vigilante justice within him that no one could overthrow.

Not even Slade.

"Took you long enough," Cyborg said.

Robin shot him a glare as he approached the large television screen. Raven rolled her eyes. Was that comment really necessary? Al though she could normally handle their roommate antics Raven knew that this wasn't the right time to poke each other's nerves.

"There you are, Robin," the lieutenant said. "We really need your help."

To anyone outside of the circle of heroes Robin looked fine. No civilian or policeman could ever tell that Robin or the other Titans had been run ragged during the past week. Robin glanced at Raven before answering the lieutenant.

"Lieutenant, can't this wait until—"

"No. I'm sorry Robin, but we need your help. I know you're working on a case now, but Overload is attacking the city's power generators. If he keeps it up he'll knock the whole power grid off and we'll have a blackout!"

Now that was a problem.

Raven watched Robin struggling to make a decision. Right now their goal was to figure out who triggered the dust. All of the little incidents—Johnny Rancid's bank robbery, the HIVE kids, even Red X's little escapade—deviated them from their goal all week. Right now they were waiting for the Justice League to finish whatever business they had to do in Metropolis or Gotham so that they could work together.

But this was more than just monsters and mayhem. Just like Robin, Raven knew the implications of a blackout on the whole city. If Overload managed to fry the generators and backup generators the whole city would be thrown into chaos. Communications would go down. Security everywhere would go down. Villains being held in the Jump City Maximum Security Prison would be able to break out.

"Can't anyone else do this?" he asked.

"This is Overload. No one else can get near enough to take a clear shot."

"What about the honorary Titans?" Beast Boy piped up. "Maybe Aqualad or Speedy or…someone?"

"Aqualad is doing some work with an undercover agent in the HIVE Academy," Cyborg said. "And Speedy's off somewhere…not sure where…"

Robin turned towards them. Even before he opened his mouth Raven knew what his decision would be. She wouldn't expect anything less from the Boy Wonder. However, that didn't mean that she approved of his decision.

"We have some time to take care of Overload," he said. "Titans, go!"

They moved into action. For the briefest moment Raven stayed behind, wondering whether or not to make them all stay. After everything that had happened to everyone Raven wasn't sure if they could be sure of anything anymore.

With a dubious air she decided to follow.

-BW-

9:48 pm

Gotham City

Crime Ally

Batman watched the drug dealers hesitantly band together in Crime Ally. He sat crouched on a rooftop next to an old billboard advertisement for toothpaste, still as a stone gargoyle and just as creepy. He put a pair of binoculars to his eyes and searched the faces of the men stepping out of a black Cadillac.

Of course, Black Mask wasn't there himself. Batman hoped to find some sort of clue from these men as to the location Black Mask was operating from. Then at long last he would be able to arrest the man.

His JLA communicator buzzed.

Like he had been doing all day, Batman ignored it.

If Clark was stupid enough to come to Gotham, then there would be hell to pay. He didn't want to deal with the League and their lectures about how to run his life. The thing was, though, Bruce knew that they might just come to Gotham. It would be like Clark to do something like that.

As he sat there like a stone statue Batman wondered whether he had made the right decision to come here. Once he reached the Gotham City Police Department to talk to Commissioner Gordon about Clayface's new activities thoughts of Dick festered at the back of his mind. And while he was making his way over here he thought about the Joker. There were so many things going on that he didn't know what to do. It took him a great amount of self-control not to drive straight to Arkham.

Several toughs with machine guns stepped out of the car, securing the perimeter before commencing the engagement. Their eyes scanned the rooftops as they clutched their automatics with tight fists. They were probably watching out for the Batman like so many other twitchy criminals hanging around town. Three guys with automatics surrounded another man with a suitcase handcuffed to his wrist. There was the blood money. What kind of drug could Black Mask possibly be selling to warrant that much money?

Batman sat completely still. Unless someone—possibly one of the GCPD's hovering blimps—shone a light on the rooftop no one would know he was there. One of the lampposts nearest to his location flickered out.

His plan was to wait for the buyers to come out. Then he would swoop down at the most opportune moment, engage Clayface, and then nab one of the buyers to make him squeal. It would have to be done quickly and efficiently if he was to do this right.

Two of the toughs exchanged a quiet conversation right below him. They were discussing the possibilities of encountering the cops or Batman. For the first time in a long while Batman wished that he had a partner to help him nab the bad guys. If Robin were here he could provide a distraction while Batman went after the tough guys. That was back in the day when Dick loved doing that kind of stuff. Of course, he could always call in Barbara, but a stubborn part of him prevented him from calling.

He heard laughter.

Batman cocked his head in curiosity as he lowered his binoculars from his face. He recognized that laugh, but it couldn't be…

Momentarily forgetting Clayface and the buyers, Batman began to scan the surrounding area. Where had that come from? Was he imaging things? It sounded so much like the Joker's laugh, but the Joker had been on his mind so much since yesterday evening that it must be getting to him. The lack of sleep probably didn't help either.

Puzzled, Batman turned his attention back to Clayface. Once he swooped in there Clayface was bound to resume his true form to fight Batman. Then all hell would break loose. Bullets would fly and blood would probably be spilled. Hopefully, he would be able to do this with minimal bloodshed.

"Hey, are you sure it's safe to meet here?" one of the buyers asked, directing his question towards the disguised Clayface. "I saw the Bat-signal on my way into town."

"What are you, superstitious?" his friend asked, chewing an unlit cigarette. "If everyone got spooked by the Bat nothing would get done around here."

Ed Quinn, aka Clayface, merely smiled mischievously. What Batman wouldn't give to wipe the smirk off of Hagen's face right now…Clayface had been successfully avoiding him for the past three weeks. That was far too long for Batman's taste.

"If the Bat does show up we're going to fill him with lead, ya get me?" Clayface asked, motioning towards the gun hanging on his belt. "Now, let's get this over with. Black Mask ain't a patient man."

Nodding, the buyers moved closer to Clayface as the circle of thugs formed a tight circle. Batman tensed, putting away his binoculars as he leaned in closer to watch the exchange. Now he wished that that lamppost hadn't given out. He couldn't see anyone's face.

Someone laughed again, but it was louder this time.

Batman looked at the group of drug dealers and then back down the alley. A thought crossed his mind. Was Harley in prison? Yes, she was. She was under less security than the Joker, so it might be possible that she escaped. Then again, if she escaped prison then he would know right away. Batman shook his head. Why was he even thinking of Harley? Was it because he kept thinking of the Joker? The wind blew, softly blowing a piece of paper towards him. At first Batman ignored it, but then picked it up once he saw that it was a playing card.

The Prince of Knaves.

His eyes flickered towards the empty alleyway just below the building he stood on top of. He saw several more playing cards fluttering in the slight breeze. Ignoring the men down below, Batman began to sprint away and leapt across the rooftops. As he neared the edge of a rooftop he stopped himself. What was the matter with him? The Joker was in Arkham. He was just chasing shadows.

It was…just…that laughter sounded so real. And the playing cards…

Batman glanced at the buyers and then back in the direction of Arkham Asylum. Clayface could wait. It wasn't as if Black Mask's operations would cease tomorrow. Turning his back on the man he had been chasing for three weeks, he followed the trail of playing cards.

Although the slight wind shifted the cards out-of-line he could still follow the trail. The voices of Ed Quinn and the buyers slowly drifted out of earshot as Batman ran further and further away. He took out his grappling hook and swung down to the ground. Something caught his eye amongst the garbage littering the alleyway. A small box wrapped in brightly-colored paper decorated with smiley faces and a red bow was the oddball out.

A present.

Batman stopped dead in his tracks. Instead of approaching the box he took out a bat-a-rang and flung it towards the box. He crouched low and flung his cape over himself in anticipation of an explosion. His past dealings with the Joker made him wary of these kind of things. But nothing happened.

Utterly perplexed, Batman straightened. He looked at the present again, looking for anything strange or unusual. No explosions? No party favors? This didn't seem like the Joker's work. A copycat, perhaps?

A light shone on his face. Batman shied away from the light, holding up an arm to shield himself from the sudden brightness. Whoever was shining this godawful light in his face didn't seem like a foe. Any other villain would have attacked him in an instant.

"Oh, it's you."

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness Batman realized that it was a Gotham cop. A young guy. His partner stood a little ways away, his hand resting on the hilt of his gun. Good, he needed to talk to the GCPD anyway.

"Tell Commissioner Gordon that Black Mask's men are meeting in Crime Ally," Batman said. "Clayface is there, but it's the perfect opportunity to arrest his men."

Batman glanced back down at the garbage, but to his surprise he didn't see the Joker's present. For a moment he simply looked at the bedraggled shoebox in its place. The cop coughed awkwardly to get Batman's attention.

"Why don't you take out Clayface first?"

"Because I believe that there's a bigger threat behind this drug ring than Clayface," Batman replied, tearing his eyes away from the shoebox. "I'm going to investigate that."

The young cop mouthed incomprehensible words before sound finally came from his lips. "We can't handle Clayface. Who's a bigger threat than him?"

Of course, the cop probably knew the answer, but Batman didn't want to waste any more time. He blinked the after-images away from his eyes and shot his grapple hook towards the rooftop. Even though he normally would finish this business with Clayface he just couldn't wait. He should have followed his first instincts and gone straight to Arkham first.

The beam of light followed him as he shot towards to the rooftop. Before his cape whipped out of sight the cop shouted to him.

"Where are you going, Bats?"

Unfortunately for the cop, he didn't get an answer. Batman raced across the rooftops, intending to go back to the Batmobile and book it to Arkham. The night was still young. He had plenty of time to do the things he needed to get done.

As he ran he thought about his fear of the Joker. If the Joker really was behind this and this business with the dust, then there would be hell to pay. It was one thing to terrorize the citizens of Gotham, but quite another to target someone so close to Batman.

In a way, Batman wanted Dick to stop being Robin just so that no one would target him anymore. Once before he forbade Dick to continue being Robin, after that horrendous encounter with Two-Face, but somehow that didn't quite work out. As adrenaline pumped through his system Batman became more and more convinced that the Joker was behind the dust. Why wouldn't he be? Why didn't Batman think of this before?

It made perfect sense. The Joker liked to screw around with Batman, but he would never kill him for that reason. That didn't mean that the Joker would be unwilling to kill Robin or anyone else close to him. Batman increased his speed, leaving Clayface and the drug dealers far behind him in Crime Ally to do their business. Commissioner Gordon and his men were more than capable of taking care of them.

His JLA communicator buzzed again.

"Batman," the communicator said. "Come back to the Manor right now. We're going to meet you there and all head to Jump City together."

That was Clark's voice. Or was it Ollie's? Bruce didn't' know and he didn't care. He was so focused on his current goal that those words didn't even register in his mind.

His JLA communicator dropped to the ground and fell into pieces as it smashed against the pavement. Now Clark and the others couldn't contact him or track him through the communicator. Just as well, Batman was sick of JLA interference. He had had enough of that crap. He was going to do what he should have done a couple of hours ago.

It was time to see the Joker.

-R-

8:48pm

Jump City, California

Jump City Power Plant

"Stop, Overload!"

The sizzling villain merely looked at him quizzically. Not as if Robin expected him to respond. Overload was sort of a laconic villain. Robin rolled to the side as Overload threw an arm towards him. Unless Robin wanted to fry, he needed to move quickly.

"Foolish biologicals!" Overload hissed. "Overload will take over the generators!"

Way to be subtle.

Robin searched the ceilings for any source of water. That was how they beat him the first time. The problem was they couldn't just turn on all of the sprinklers here in the Power Plant. That could just as easily knock out the power, and he didn't want that to happen.

"Titans, find a way to touch him without getting electrocuted!"

He knew that he was being obvious, but he had to keep barking orders to help keep everyone alive.

Robin wondered whether he made the right decision to come here. While he knew that the JCPD wouldn't be able to handle this, he knew that could have called other people to help. He knew that he could have confessed to the police that the Titans were in no condition to fight anyone, but he just couldn't say no.

While everyone had their limits Robin couldn't afford to let the villains see the Titans' limits. By refusing to fight a criminal as menial as Overload the Titans would be showing their weakness to the world. And with the Justice League coming to help them, Robin wanted to show them (and secretly Bruce) that the Titans were at least competent enough to take down Overload.

Beast Boy screamed as Overload lashed out and electrocuted him. Panic fluttered within Robin's chest as he heard his friend scream. Without a second thought for his safety Robin launched himself in front of Beast Boy and faced Overload. The heat of the electric monstrosity caressed his bare skin and cast the Boy Wonder in a flickering white light.

"You've just made a big mistake," Robin growled.

Laughing hysterically, Overload stuck an arm into one of the generators. Robin shut his eyes tightly as Overload's sizzling body grew brighter and brighter, to the point where the white light emanating from his body became blinding. The air around him shimmered as the heat intensified. Someone screamed as sparks flew from the air. Robin flung up an arm to shield his face from the oncoming sparks.

The lights went out.

Robin whipped his head around, trying desperately to see in the sudden darkness. As he stepped backwards he stepped into Starfire. All around him the other Titans struggled to adjust. A bright light shone in the darkness as Cyborg turned on one of his portable lights.

"Dude, where did Overload go?" Beast Boy asked.

That was a good question.

"I don't like this," Cyborg said, "it looks like he fried all of the generators."

Robin didn't like this either.

He gripped his bo-staff tightly in his hands as though planning to use it like a blind man uses a seeing stick. It bothered him that he could barely see his surroundings. Did Overload immerse himself within the power grid?

"Cyborg, can you check to make sure he hasn't?"

The cybernetic teen aimed his light to the generators. They looked pretty fried to Robin. Great, just great. This was exactly what he wanted to avoid.

"Titans, we have to find Overload," Robin said, "Then we'll have to find a way to repo-"

A strange hissing sound emanated from all around them, like gas trickling out of an oven. Or perhaps like a poisonous gas leaking out of showerheads. At first he didn't even notice the noise until the hissing grew louder and louder until it was all he could hear. At once Robin pulled his cape over his mouth to block whatever was coming out of the vents. Still, like everyone else he began to cough as something swooped into his lungs.

Whatever was in the air completely engulfed him. As his eyes searched the darkness something horrible clicked within his mind. His mouth suddenly felt dry as he opened and closed his mouth, unable to comprehend what just happened.

"No," he whispered.

At that moment he couldn't find words to express the terror he felt. Here they were, in complete darkness, in the worst possible situation they could be in. At once he feared for his own sanity as well as the sanity of the other Titans. Robin let his cape fall as he grimaced to the darkness. What was he doing? He shouldn't be wasting time. He had to tell them immediately or else—

He heard several pairs of boots clanking against the floor. Before any of them had time to react one of their mysterious visitors shot Cyborg's shoulder lamp out. Starfire shrieked and the air around him grew hot as her fists glowed with starbolts. Robin could barely see anything even with Starfire's starbolts to light the room.

"TITANS! STAY TOGETHER!" Robin shouted.

He might as well have been talking to a doorknob. Someone strong grabbed him by the arm and dragged him away from the other Titans. Robin struggled to free himself, lashing out blindly at his attacker. His feet kicked at metal shins. The hand gripping his hand felt like steel. Who was attacking him, a man dressed in a metal uniform or some sort of robot?

Robin didn't have much time to think about that.

With the ferocity of a cornered man, Robin struggled to escape from his captor's tight grip. He didn't want to go through all of it again. He didn't want anyone else to experience the same blind terror that he had felt a week ago. However, nothing could change the fact that they had just been royally screwed over.

"NO!" he shouted. "TITANS! TITANS! YOU'VE BEE—"

Robin's cry was cut short as his attacker placed a hand over his mouth. He thrashed and screamed muffled threats, but whoever was holding him captive was much stronger. The man pinned Robin's arms to his chest with a strong arm and lifted his hand from Robin's mouth. Before Robin had time to shout a warning to the others the man slapped a wet rag over Robin's face.

Instantly, Robin knew what it was. The familiar scent of chloroform wafted into him as he breathed through the soaked rag. Slowly, he ceased his thrashing as he began to lose consciousness. The last thing he heard was the battle cries of the other Titans as they attempted to fight off their mysterious attackers. If he had the strength he would have begun to cry in desperation and fear, but all he could do now was succumb to the darkness.

He hung limply in his captor's arms. Before he lost consciousness completely one single thought took over his mind:

They were all infected with the dust.

End of Part 4

A/N: *laughs hysterically as roommate watches in curiosity*

You guys are all going to hate me for the next few weeks. All I will say is that this is going to get complicated really fast.