Part 63: Traumatic

"So you feel that Robin is hiding something?" Tazuka asked as he moved one of his chess pieces.

"Hai, I do," Ryuki nodded as he moved one of his pieces forward too.

Ryuki had gone out to take Brimstone out for a walk when they encountered Tazuka at the park, who was just doing what he did best when he used to be human. The disguised Arrancar was now playing a game of chess with Ryuki. Brimstone lay down next to the Dragon Knight, receiving an occasional pat on the head every few minutes. Ryuki was playing as the black side while Tazuka played white.

"Checkmate," Tazuka announced as he moved one of his pieces. Ryuki was surprised and checked the board to see that Tazuka had effectively trapped his King. He smiled.

"Good game," Ryuki acknowledged and his friend nodded. "So, what should we do about this? The Orphenoch running around has already killed two people, which we know of, and who knows how many before it even arrived here."

"Quite the conundrum," Tazuka said.

"Also, Robin is starting to act strange. I know he has secrets but if this Orphenoch is somehow connected to the Joker then he needs to give us information that can help us track this Joker copycat down."

"Don't you have an archive of super-criminals?" Tazuka asked.

"Hai, we do, but the Joker was erratic and unpredictable and this copycat is following in his footsteps. We need someone who has dealt with him before."

Tazuka looked thoughtful and then asked, "What makes you feel this is an Orphenoch copying the Joker? What if it's the Joker himself?"

Ryuki shook his head. "He's dead."

"So were you," Tazuka pointed out. "And so was I," he reminded, "Yet here we are, talking as if we were normal people."

Ryuki thought over Tazuka's words. He had a point, but then denied them by saying, "But the Joker can't be an Orphenoch. If he was then his Orphenoch Gene should have activated right then and there."

"But the Joker was also known to be unpredictable," Tazuka reminded. "What if he was just lying in waiting? What if his Orphenoch Gene took longer to become active? What if the Joker is this Orphenoch and not just some copycat?"

Ryuki thought over the questions. For some reason, the questions weren't so ridiculous after all. Just because his Orphenoch Gene had activated as soon as he had died, it took longer for it to manifest his powers. Could the Joker be the same? He had to tell the others his theory. "Tazuka-niisan, thank you."

"You're welcome," Tazuka smiled and then gave Ryuki a warning, "Tell Robin to be careful, alright?"

Ryuki nodded. If this was the Joker then he would go after Robin. Robin would know why. They still needed the information, though. "So, who else other than Robin knows about the Joker? Can you think of any?" Tazuka asked.

Ryuki tapped his chin and then his eyes opened widely. "Batman! We could ask Batman for the information."

"Good thinking, but would he give it to you?" Tazuka asked again, "And what about Robin? This would be considered going behind his back."

Ryuki frowned. "We can't think about that now. People are getting killed here."

Tazuka chuckled. "You haven't changed one bit, Ryuki-kun."

Ryuki's ears picked up on a familiar ringing sound and stood up, a look of seriousness etched on his face. Tazuka, though he could no longer hear the ringing, knew that look well. He offered, "I'll look after Brimstone for you."

Ryuki nodded, "Arigatou," before dashing towards the source of the ringing. He then entered a conveniently placed public bathroom and locked the stood in front of one of the mirrors. He pulled his Zodiac Dragon Deck out of his pocket and clutched it tightly in his hand as he held it out in front of him facing the mirror over the sink. His belt appeared and strapped itself around his waist. He then let out a single, "Henshin," before he slid the deck into the empty slot in front of his belt. "Empowerment of the Zodiac Dragon!" he called out and in a bright flash of red light was donned in his armor. The mirror in front of him rippled like water as he dove right through.

Renia was in her room, reading one of the many books she had that Rorek, her teacher, had given her. It was about the nature of the Pactio.

"A contract between a mage and his partner," she read, "It is a symbiotic relationship where they can assist one another in battle. At times, the mage can be left defenseless while reciting a spell, which may take time. Therefore, the partner will act as the mage's sword and shield." She sighed. "I wished I could get myself a partner."

The first name that came up in her mind was Mortuary's. She blushed as she pictured herself kissing him to initiate the Pactio. Although he had let her down gently, she still held feelings for the necroplasmic gunslinger. Of course, she just looked like a little kid and he saw her as nothing more than as a kid sister.

As a homunculus, there was a possibility that she would never age and would stay this way for good. Rorek was trying to find a way to make her fully human as was she. Sure she loved being able to regenerate her wounds and her crystal powers…but all that just reminded her of how she wasn't really human.

After a talk with Terra months ago, Renia realized that she truly did have a soul. She wasn't the recreation of a dead person made by Alchemy. She wasn't the shadow of another or even a freak. She was just Renia…Renia the Crystal Alchemist.

The Locust Inzecter leapt onto her shoulder and chattered and she rubbed it between the antennae with a singer finger. Though a machine, that little thing had turned out to become one of her closest friends. Her eyes then turned back to the book as she turned to another page. This time it told her how sometimes partners would eventually develop a relationship and then…marry.

Renia blushed when she read that passage and shut the book, chuckling nervously. She was trying not to picture herself being married to Mortuary but with little success.

Mortuary was presently out in the obstacle course, armed with his Deathbuster. As a target popped out of the ground, he aimed and fired, destroying it with a single shot. Another popped out behind him and he spun around before pulling his trigger, destroying it. He ran through the course, shooting all of the targets that popped up either with his Necro-blasts or Deathbuster shots. He didn't miss a single one. He was doing this for when they faced the Orphenoch.

Orphenochs. Ever since the Templars were killed he had held a deep hatred for their kind. However, he was also starting to realize that maybe not ALL Orphenochs were evil. Ryuki was an example and he had befriended the Ifrit Orphenoch. However, he was still worried about the 'what-ifs'. What if Draco turned against them? If that ever happened, Mortuary would be prepared.

Another target popped up and Mortuary's quick reflexes enabled him to get it with one accurate shot to the 'head'. It was over as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"How did I do?" he asked Terra who was at the controls and had monitored his training exercise. She threw him a towel and a bottle of water.

"Well, you got all of them," Terra said, "But…"

"But?" Mortuary asked as he took a sip.

"Don't you think the way you're fighting is a bit too violently? We're not looking to kill our enemies."

"Speak for yourself," Mortuary frowned. "When I get to this Orphenoch, it's gonna end up like the dust under my shoes."

Terra sighed. When concerning Orphenochs he was still so awfully vindictive. The Tower right now was on high alert, the crime scanners on waiting for anything. There hadn't been any major criminal activity other then the 'Mysterious Murders' as the media had started calling them. "Hey, Craig?"

"Yeah, Tara?"

"Do you think this Orphenoch is just someone trying to copy the Joker?"

"Maybe, I don't know," Mortuary shrugged, "But whatever the reason, it's going down. Why do you ask?"

"Robin's freaked out. He hasn't been leaving his room except to train and eat. And when he does he barely says a word to any of us." Terra frowned. "He's hiding something."

"We all are, Tara," Mortuary said. "We all got secrets we keep to ourselves."

"Well, Robin needs to tell us stuff about the Joker," Terra crossed her arms. "If this copycat is doing stuff the Joker does, then we have to be prepared."

"He will when he's ready."

"But when will he be ready?"

Mortuary couldn't answer that. Robin was just as secretive as he was when it came to things dealing with his past. He only trusted Terra with this kind of information and also Draco. After their adventures when they had crossed over several dimensions, they had develop a close partnership. Although they disagreed on many things, they often put those aside and worked together as a unit to defeat their foes.

They did have conflicting views when dealing with Orphenochs though. Things had been quite tense since the incident involving Yuka the Crane Orphenoch. She had been sent by Occultus but then could not go forward with her orders. Maybe…just maybe…not all Orphenochs were bad as Draco had proven.

But right now, there was one bad Orphenoch out there that needed to be taken care of. He cocked his gun and said to Terra, "Set the course up again and this time I want those things to shoot back."

Terra said, "Okay, fine…" She sighed. Looks like Mortuary was going to have another trip to the infirmary.

Draco rolled out of the way of a spear strike from the monster before he got up in a kneeling position and shot a fireball at his adversary. It used the powerful shield attached to its arm to block before it charged straight at him. The monster possessed the physical characteristics of a bull and wore thick armor for skin. It was armed with a spear and a shield and looked pretty tough.

Well, maybe in the past a monster like this would've given Draco a lot of trouble, but not today. As the monster came at him he used the Power of Scorpio to turn into sand. The monster passed right through his sandy body as he shattered. It looked around in confusion as the sand reformed itself into Draco. A blade popped out of his Dragauntlet as he rushed at the monster from behind. It received several slashes in the back before it turned and bashed Draco away with its shield. Draco flew backwards but was able to land on his feet. He raised a fist and then opened his palm. "Freeze!" he shouted out before firing a freeze ray. It raised up its shield but the ice froze it and began creeping up its arm. Draco then used a blast of telekinesis to shatter the shield and also its forearm which had been frozen. Shards flew through the air as the monster bellowed in pain.

Now without its defensive weapon, Draco decided to go on the aggressive. He charged at the beast and began raining punches on its body. The armor began to dent and crack under the bombardment of fists before Draco landed a rather powerful kick to its torso to send it flying across the ground. Draco then teleported and reappeared behind the monster and waited for it to get in range before he used a high kick to send it into the air. It went up, and up and up, bellowing loudly as Draco stared at it. It the started coming back down.

"Time to finish this," Draco said as a bright light flashed in his hand before his Keyblade appeared in it. He then leapt up and cried out, "EXTREME SLASH!" before swinging his weapon down. He sliced the monster right in half and then landed back on the ground when it exploded just above him. He then stood up, satisfied that he had finished off his opponent.

He was about to turn and leave when he heard clapping and froze when he heard the clapper speak, "Nice battle, little brother."

He growled as he looked over his shoulder at his sister, "Copycat…"

Copycat raised an eyebrow and teased, "Oh, where's the love, otouto?"

Her question was replied with another question, "Why did you help Asakura?" followed by another, "Do you now how dangerous he was?"

"I did," she said, "And believe me, I remembered. He actually allied himself with the Gamemasters before he killed their leader, Striker."

Draco whirled around and glared at her, "So why did you let him out of the Mirror World? Didn't you know what he would do once he got out? I left him there for a reason!"

"It was unexpected that he turned into an Orphenoch," Copycat sighed. "How was I supposed to know?"

He retorted, growling, "For what he'd done, he should've been left to rot in the Mirror World."

Copycat was surprised at his words. But then after all these years in this war, she didn't really expect anyone to stay so naïve or optimistic, at least not for so long. She relaxed and her eyes went over to his weapon. "Nice weapon. It's called a Keyblade, right?"

Draco hadn't noticed but he was still holding the Keyblade. In a flash of light he banished it and crossed his arms. "So? What of it?"

"It's just…that weapon is quite remarkable." She paused, "But I can't remember how you even got it." He froze. "How did you get you get the Hyper Inzecter and your Hyper Mode?" She continued, "I've had lapses in memory before but nothing too severe like. I feel like a part of myself is lost and that weapon of yours is the key." Draco swallowed the saliva in his mouth nervously and she could feel that she was getting closer to the truth. Soon, she would know what had happened to her when she'd been sent flying across dimensions with him due to the Hyper Inzecter. "And, finally, where did you get that ChronoLiner thing?"

"How do you know about the Keyblade!?" Draco shouted out, surprising Copycat. Why was he so tense? Was he hiding something from her?

"Slade has spy equipment he lets me borrow from time to time. I just saw you summon that Keyblade and decided to see what was so special about it." She sighed, "But it looks like I won't be getting those answers, at least for now." She didn't want to fight. There was business to attend to. She then turned to walk away.

"Where are you going? Aren't you going to try and attack me like you do before?" he asked, bewildered by her behavior. Usually she would just attack him and ask questions later. She stopped in her tracks and turned to look at him again.

"Slade-sama wants me to do something for him," she said and then added, "Oh, and say 'hi' to Tazuka for me. I really missed him too." With that, she once again turned on her heels and walked away.

Draco was worried now. She was starting to remember things. But he had locked those memories away with the Keyblade, hadn't he? If those memories ever resurfaced, then…

He didn't want to think of the consequences. He stared down on his hand as the armor was fizzling out. It was time to leave.

"You're going to call Batman, aren't you?" Raven asked. She was in the Smart Brain Special Ops room with Shadow and both were standing in front of the console. They were being patched into the Justice League's Network.

"Robin won't cooperate with us or tell us anything about the Joker," Shadow told her.

"But this is just a copycat," Raven said, not getting where Shadow was going with this.

"Exactly," Shadow said, "Which is why it is necessary that we get a hold on Batman and ask him about the Joker's Modus Operandi." He was waiting for someone to receive his call. "Where are they?"

"Maybe they're busy. You know how they handle nearly all global and intergalactic trouble," Raven reminded.

"At least there should be someone waiting for us," he said. Then, Mr. Terrific's face came on the screen. "Finally," Shadow hissed.

"This is the JL Watchtower. Who's calling?" Mr. Terrific asked.

"Shadowcobra of the Jump City Teen Titans," Shadow said, getting to the point, "We need to speak with Batman." Mr. Terrific shook his head.

"Sorry, but Batman can't be reached right now," Mr. Terrific apologized. Shadow's eyes narrowed.

"Why not?" Shadow demanded, fists clenched. "This is important! We need to speak to him, NOW!"

Mr. Terrific looked surprised at Shadow's anger but then relaxed. "Listen, Shadow, right now Batman is on an important assignment chasing after a lead and not even the League can reach him."

"So, when and how can we reach him?"

Mr. Terrific answered, "You might have to go to Gotham and find him yourself. He's tricky and always stays in the shadows so he may be a little hard to find."

Shadow smirked, "Oh…I think I will be able to find him." He then turned off the connection and looked to Raven.

"You're going to Gotham City, aren't you?" Raven asked.

"Tell the others I have an urgent meeting to get to. They'll understand," Shadow said. He then wrapped himself up in darkness. He was going to make a stop at Gotham.

Starfire stood outside Robin's door with Silkie in her arms. She had her hand up to knock but then let out a dejected sighed as she pulled her hand back and walked away.

Earlier, she had attempted to invite Robin to go out for a walk just so he could relax. He refused, strongly, before shutting the door in her face. He told her he was too busy and needed to work. This thing regarding the Joker copycat was having effecting Robin…just like Slade.

She had been quite hurt when he had pushed her away while he was obsessing over Slade. All she wanted was to help hut he would just ignore her and tell her that he could handle things alone.

They were a team, didn't he know that? He shouldn't be doing things alone. He should be able to confide in her, at least.

She wanted to comfort him, with a kiss or a hug, but in his current condition and his cold behavior he was very much unreachable. Maybe her sister could give her some advice? She had always done so in the past.

Gotham, it was always so dark even in the day due to the early fog rolling in. Then again, it was Gotham, home of the Dark Knight…The Batman. The Gothic exterior was his home and he became part of its gothic appearance.

A hired thug of Rupert Thorne was running in terror from something. In his bag were drugs he had been selling to kids in the slums. The kids would then begin stealing and robbing people to just get more of this highly addictive substance. It would boost their strength, eliminate their fears and morals, turning them into the perfect little criminals to boost Thorne's business.

The Dark Knight was none too happy. The thug looked up to see the shadow of Gotham's protector flying overhead and ran faster. He tripped over a garbage can and dropped his bag. Right now, the bag and the drugs meant nothing to him. Not even the loot inside the bag was his priority. Right now, he wanted to get as far away from the Bat.

He picked himself up and kept on running. Sweat of terror beaded on his face as he entered an abandoned building. He felt he had lost the Bat. He should've taken notice of the red eyes looking down at him from the rafters.

Batman picked up the bag and frowned. He looked around to see where he'd lost the thug. This was one thing he hated abut Thorne. The man could even get away with murder. In his hand was evidence that could put Thorne away for good but he also needed a confession from the thug. But, where was he?

He then heard something.

"Oh, no! Please! Let me go! Who are you!? Who are you!?" It sounded like the thug and he was being attacked by something. Batman followed the screaming and saw the thug

scrambling out of an abandoned building. He ran in Batman's direction, still looking over his shoulder and accidentally bumped into the Batman. He fell on his rear and Batman picked him up by his collar. The thug felt relieved upon seeing the Batman, which was something Batman was unfamiliar with when dealing with the criminal population.

"Oh, thank God!" the thug cried. "Please, Batman! Lock me up! I'll do anything! Just don't let it get me!"

The Batman looked down on the thug and then dragged him over to a lamppost before cuffing him. He then turned his attention towards the building and heard footsteps coming out. The thug turned hysteric and tried to pull away from the lamppost in terror but the cuffs held him there.

The dark figure walked out and turned his red eyes towards Batman. The thug paled when he saw those red eyes again. The figure then walked into the light, limited as it was, so that Batman could see him. Batman finally recognized him.

"Shadowcobra," Batman said, seeing the young man pull his collar down to reveal his face.

"Greetings, Batman," Shadow said. He cast the thug a look of pure evil and then he just passed out. Shadow grinned. "Ah, I love it when they do that."

"What are you doing here?" Batman asked. He didn't like anyone else interfering inhis city. Gotham was his turf. He had plenty of help already.

"I'm here for some information," Shadow said, getting straight to the point with narrowed eyes, "About the Joker."

Batman growled at the mere mention of the name and turned around. "Follow me." He fired a grappling hook and it pulled him high into the air. Shadow then followed the Batman as he began roof hopping and swinging from one building to another. The police would come to find the thug with the drugs. It was a gift from the Batman.

Both Cyborg and Pluto were in the garage, working on the many vehicles in there, mainly their own. Cyborg was coating his 'baby' with some spray on Soul Metal that Pluto had provided him. It was artificially created, duplicating the Knights' own Soul Metal armor and highly durable like the real thing. It would take a lot more than a few bashes to dent the T-Car now. Also, the seats had been replaced with Soul Fiber and the wheels with Soul Rubber. Cyborg had asked Pluto why all the stuff had to have the word 'soul' in their names and Pluto had told him, "We put our heart and soul into making them. It seemed like the right term for it."

Pluto was upgrading some of the software and hardware on his own baby, the Blue Hound Mark II. The previous Blue Hound had been destroyed in a fight in one of their visits to Tokyo (see Volume 2) and it had taken him months to rebuild. It would've taken him sooner to rebuild it if he hadn't been distracted by his alien girlfriend and lover, Blackfire.

He considered himself the envy of all Sci-Fi geeks. While most of them could only fantasize and masturbate about the thoughts of making love to an alien female, he was actually doing it. He would howl to the moon about her and how great she was.

The Blue Hound Mark II had been built specifically for comfort as he and Blackfire had 'tested' it numerous times in the backseat. It was during those times that he was grateful to possess not only the brains of a (mad) genius but the looks of a male supermodel.

His eyes wandered over to Beast Boy's moped. He remembered how Cyborg had told him about a little upgrade he'd made on the T-Car to make more effective for battle. The only elaboration the cybernetic teen had given was, "If you thought the T-Robo was great, you ain't seen nothing yet!" Pluto just couldn't wait.

Things were becoming dangerous for the Titans and all of them needed upgrades. Slade had the stolen OMEGA Gear and was quite powerful, evident by their last encounter. Draco was barely able to hold him off.

When Pluto was done with the moped, Beast Boy would be eternally grateful to him. Now, if he could only find that wrench.

Both Batman and Shadow landed upon a tall building where you could see the entire city of Gotham from it. It was quite a view but Shadow was not interested in sightseeing, at least not today.

"Why do you want to know about the Joker?" Batman asked firmly. "He's dead."

"I know that, but right now in Jump City we have a killer who has a similar Modus Operandi," Shadow said. "All of his victims died laughing, literally." Batman's frown deepened.

"So you think it might be a copycat," Batman said.

"It might be a copycat, but I have reason to believe that there's more to this than it seems," Shadow said. "And I think you know something."

"Even if I do, why should I tell you? Dead or alive, the Joker is still my business," Batman crossed his arms.

"This concerns Robin…Tim," Shadow said. Batman immediately stiffened.

"He didn't send you, did he?" Batman asked. Shadow shook his head.

"I may be 3rd in command of the Titans, but I am also leader of my own team, the Knights," Shadow said. "With or without his permission, I will go out on my own for the good of my team."

Batman could see similarities between himself and Shadow. Maybe he could give him the information. "He's been having those nightmares again, hasn't he?"

"Nightmares? Yes, he has mentioned them, but had not described them to me. Starfire is worried as well as the others. He's locked himself in the room when this case just came about. It all started when he saw that 'Joker' card."

Batman's eyes narrowed at the mention of the word 'Joker' but remained silent.

"I don't like clowns, never did and never will, but this Joker is on a whole different level." Shadow went on, "The Joker did something to Tim, didn't he? That's why you killed him."

"I didn't kill the Joker," Batman said.

"Then if it wasn't you then…" Shadow then realized it. "It was Tim." Batman didn't answer but his silence confirmed Shadow's conclusion. "What did the Joker do to Tim?"

"Aren't you the mind reader?" Batman retorted. Shadow hissed.

"I prefer not to go sneaking around a person's mind," Shadow said. "Right now, I need you to tell me EVERYTHING!"

Batman relented, "You care about Robin, don't you?"

"And so does Starfire, which is why I am doing this."

"Very well," Batman said. "It all started a few years ago when Robin was 14. He went on patrol alone and…"

Beast Boy was sitting in the common room with Terra. The two of them were watching cartoons when the television suddenly cut out. "What?" cried Beast Boy. The TV flickered back on, but the show was different. It now looked like the backdrop for a circus. Suddenly a man appeared on the screen. He had a clown-like appearance, including bleached white skin, red lips, and green hair. He wore a purple suit with a flower attached. No matter who you were, everyone knew who he was.

The Joker…

"Hello, my fans," he said giddily. "Your old pal Joker here with a little message for your pals, the Teen Titans. I challenge you little Titans to find me." A large timer lowered behind the Joker showing a flashing 24:00. "If you can't find me within the next 24 hours, I'll make sure everyone in your precious town goes out with a nice big smile... Toodles!" The Joker began laughing insanely as the timer began counting down.

"ROBIN!!" Beast Boy yelled out as he ran towards the alarm button and smashed him palm onto it, "EMERGENCY!!"

Shadow had listened intently to Batman's story and his eyes widened. It all made sense now. The terror, the nightmares, locking himself in his room, pushing the others away…

Shadow let out, realizing the truth now, "He was tortured."

"His mind was nearly destroyed by what Joker did by the time I got there. I was too late. Joker turned Tim into a little duplicate of himself. However, when the Joker ordered Tim to kill me, Tim came through and…Joker was electrocuted and I confirmed that he was dead. I then sent Tim to an old friend of mine to be treated psychologically and he eventually got better."

"But he never really did get better, did he?" Shadow asked. That kind of trauma could not be forgotten anytime soon, no matter how much someone tried. He knew that for a fact.

Batman continued, "He still wanted to continue being Robin but I wouldn't let him. We had a fight and he then left."

"And then he met the others and started the Teen Titans," Shadow finished. He paused for a second before saying, "Tim never killed the Joker."

"What?" Batman demanded when he saw Shadow looking at him and he felt like the Snake Knight was looking deep into his soul.

"Tim never really did kill the Joker, did he? The Joker didn't die from electrocution, did he?"

Batman sighed. "How did you guess?"

"I can 'feel' when someone is lying. Comes with practice. I know that the Joker was electrocuted but that did not kill him, did it?"

"No," Batman shook his head. "I only told Tim the Joker was dead. He was actually comatose and put in Arkham. He was in there for 3 years on life support."

"For all the things he'd done, they should've pulled the plug," Shadow said with a cold edge in his voice.

"Well, the doctors of Arkham believe that their inmates are not responsible for their actions and can be cured, the Joker included. I had no choice but to let them do what they felt was best."

"But then the Joker really did die when the life support failed so they bagged up his body to be sent to the morgue," Shadow finished up. "But his body disappeared." He then added, "And what you found at the scene was ash and the clothes of some of the staff and personnel in Arkham Asylum."

Barman was surprised. How did Shadow know about that? "How did you find out?" Batman asked, hiding his emotions. In fact he was impressed by Shadow's deduction skills.

"It was just a suspicion, but from what you told me, it is now confirmed," Shadow crossed his arms. It all made sense now. Batman decided not to pry. He would find out more eventually. As he had observed, Shadow was really good at keeping secrets and would not blab even if he was being tortured.

Batman then said, in a soft fatherly tone, "Shadow, as his friend, please keep him safe. If this is really the Joker, then I'm afraid that…" his words were interrupted by Shadow's communicator beeping. "That sounds urgent."

Shadow flipped his SNK-Phone open and stared at the screen. He hissed and closed his eyes. "It is…"

Blackfire and Jinx were in the hex caster's room and having some girl-talk about their respective loves when they heard a knock at the door.

"Come in," Jinx said and the door opened to reveal a pathetic looking Starfire holding Silkie. She would usually just float right in but her feet were planted on the ground. Blackfire didn't like seeing her little sister like this.

"Star, what's wrong?" Blackfire asked. As if she didn't know.

Starfire sat on the bed and laid Silkie down in her lap before crying, "Oh, sister, I am worried for Timothy deeply." Starfire sniffled, "He will not even leave his room when I call him."

"So, the bird-boy is nesting," Blackfire shrugged. "It's not the first time, right?"

Starfire remembered the times before in the past but then shook her head, "No, this is different. It feels like he doesn't even trust me."

"Typical guys," Jinx sighed. "Not willing to open up. Thank goodness my man doesn't have that kind of problem." Blackfire elbowed her lightly. "Oh, sorry."

Starfire shook her head as she petted Silkie, who gurgled happily at her touch. "It is alright. I know you do not mean anything by it." She paused, "It's just so frustrating when he does this."

"Well, for me, it usually takes me beating Pluto up before he can actually talk to me," Blackfire said. "He's not a touchy-feely kinda guy, you know."

Jinx admitted, "And, well, it took me awhile too when I wanted to know more about Ryuki's past." Ryuki was able to talk to her easily about the positive aspects but it was harder just talk about the more painful parts of his life, like losing his best friend and the many lives he had failed to save. Most of all, he had a hard time just talking about when he'd lost control of his Orphenoch side. Not one of his proudest moments. "But, it's not just a guy problem. We girls don't talk much about our pasts either."

Blackfire totally agreed with Jinx. She then began talking to Starfire in their native tongue.

"Starfire, have you told him about…" Blackfire began and Starfire shook her head.

"No, I have not," she said. Her own past had been painful too and it was surprising how she had turned from a savage warrior into the kind gentle girl she was now. She did still have a mean streak. Kitten saw it first hand. "But I will soon."

Suddenly, the alarms blared as the light flashed red.

"Dudes! It was the Joker! He was on TV!" Beast Boy yelled out as he flailed his arms around in the panic. All the Titans, except for Shadowcobara, had conjugated into the living room, responding to the emergency alarm. Robin stiffened at the announcement.

"That's impossible," Mortuary said. "The Joker's dead."

"I saw him too," Terra said, backing Beast Boy up.

"There's just one way to solve this," Pluto said. "T.I.T.A.N., playback the transmission!" Pluto had programmed T.I.T.A.N. into recording all TV programming everyday for 24 hours each day and then saving them into large file folders within the supercomputer. T.I.T.A.N. complied and replayed the message for all to see.

The other Titans were shocked to see the Harlequin of Hate but the reaction of Robin was much worse. His eyes were wide as dinner-plates as his skin turned as pale as a ghost. His body was shaking as he backed away.

"Robin?" Starfire said, noticing as Robin was shaking in fear and terror with his eyes fixated on the face of the Joker. "Robin! You're shaking!" she exclaimed and the others tore their eyes away from the screen and straight at the cowering Boy Wonder. He was usually so confident but right now…he looked like a scared little child.

"No, it can't be!" Robin let out, almost hysterically, "He's dead! HE'S DEAD!" The Joker on screen let out a maniacal laugh and Robin immediately turned towards the door and ran. However, his exit was blocked by a barrier of darkness as black shadow chains erupted from the ground and wrapped around him, trapping him. Robin struggled, not wanting to face the Joker on screen when Shadow phased out of the floor.

"Robin, calm down," Shadow said.

"Let me go! LET ME GO!" Robin demanded loudly, struggling even harder.

"Those chains won't break so easily. Stop this now before you hurt yourself," Shadow ordered.

"What's wrong with Robin?" Beast Boy asked. "He's freaking out!"

"He's scared," Raven said plain and simple as she could sense the fear coming off Robin in waves. She could drown in that kind of fear.

"Robin, please…control yourself," Starfire begged. "Calm down."

Shadow said to Robin, "Tim, I know what the Joker did to you." Robin's eyes widened and focused on Shadow. "But we need you to be our leader. So, you need to trust us. Tell us what he did to you…or I will."

Robin had no escape but the truth. He didn't want to tell them but right now he had no choice as they were all looking at him. Robin relaxed and Shadow loosened the chains holding him and then reabsorbed them into his own shadow. He cast Shadow a glare and then stood in the centre of the Titans' attention, to tell them about the most traumatic time in his past.

What they heard…it chilled them to the bone.

"Dear Azar…" Raven let out. She remembered seeing something like this in his mind during the 'Haunted' incident but never got an explanation. Tears were streaming from Starfire's eyes as she stepped forward to hug Robin and comfort him. The others held feelings of either shock or anger directed towards the Joker. This was no man…it was a monster.

Jinx could sympathize with Robin. She too had been tortured in the past. Though the time Robin spent being tortured had been a lot shorter than hers, it still didn't make it any less traumatizing. That kind of trauma could change someone.

Beast Boy decided to try to calm down the tense situation and said, "Well, I guess this explains why you freaked out when you saw those clowns at the carnival, huh?" He had tried to make a joke, but nobody felt like laughing. Neither did him as his ears drooped.

Renia wasn't sure what to think. Robin didn't seem like someone who had gone through such horrible torture, but people never appeared as they seemed. Robin did seem pretty reluctant to talk about his past. Well, now she understood why. To go through something like that…for two whole weeks…must've been horrible.

"But…" Robin spoke weakly. "The Joker's dead…Bru-Batman told me."

"He didn't die when he was electrocuted," Shadow relayed, "Just comatose. Arkham Asylum put him on life support for who knows why."

"So…he's alive," Robin realized." He clutched his head, "My God, this can't be happening."

"It gets a lot worse," Draco frowned. "I think that the Joker and this Orphenoch are one and the same."

The others looked at him with shock written on their faces.

"Oh, man…" Beast Boy groaned. "That is bad news."

"Draco is right," Shadow said. "Joker died recently and when his body was being taken to the morgue, it vanished, leaving only the clothes of some staff and ash. Sound familiar?"

Mortuary nodded, "Evidence of an Orphenoch attack."

Blackfire grimaced, "As if we didn't have enough problems.

All eyes turned towards Robin. They needed him to lead them, now, more than ever. He then opened his mouth and said…

To Be Continued…