The next morning, I woke up with a start and almost forgot where the hell I was. Once my eyes adjusted and I saw the blank, metal walls, my memory returned to me. I flopped back down and sighed heavily. I suddenly realized water was running. Sitting up, I looked to the right and saw light streaming out from underneath the bathroom door. Looking around, I saw Robin gone.

I stretched and yawned. Getting out of bed, I scratched the back of my head and approached the desk, which had suddenly appeared there. There was a stack of papers, a black laptop, and a black bundle sitting on it. I picked up the papers and quickly shifted through them. There was a training schedule, a map of the lair, very detailed two pages for my first assignment in two weeks, and instructions for the laptop. I scratched the back of my head uncertainly. Setting the pages down, I sat in the computer chair and lifted the lid of the laptop all the way until the screen sat straight up in the air. I found the ON switch and pushed it.

The laptop turned on. It took a few minutes for the login page to appear. After finding the username and password, I typed them in and then ENTER. A black S appeared on the screen. It rotated sideways for thirty seconds. The S soon vanished and small icons appeared on screen. After a few seconds, the desktop had the usual stuff like the Recycle Bin, Mozilla Firefox, My Computer, etc. Seeing the file named READ ME, I double-clicked on it. Notepad came up on screen with a memo typed onto the page. After rubbing my itchy, tired eye, I read it.

It said:

Apprentice,
Starting tomorrow, in order to control your anger, you will be taking two red pills each morning before training. You will also be taking two blue pills before going to bed at night; they will help you sleep. Fail to take the pills and you will suffer the consequences.
SW

'Courtney warned me about this.'

I exited out of the READ ME document and opened Mozilla. Going to Yahoo, I signed into my inbox. I had some SPAM items and an e-mail from my friend from Wales, UK. I read through it when the shower shut off.

Rocky,

It's Lucy. How's it going withcha? Well, I'm having family problems and I know how good you are at helping people and I wanted to share my problems with you.

Both of my parents started drinking again and my dad hit my little brother for being too loud. It happened yesterday and my brother still won't come out of his room. What should I do to help him out? Reply when you've got the chance.

Love,

Lucy

The bathroom door slid open. I ignored Robin to reply to the e-mail. Once done, I sent the reply and then closed the tab. The browser became blank and I closed the lid.

"Why not e-mail your family and friends about your kidnapping?" Robin asked suddenly from behind me.

"Because he'll be punished if he does." I felt Robin jump away from the chair. Yawning, I stood up and turned to face Slade. "Or, better yet, the Titans dead bodies will be all over the news. We wouldn't want that, would we?"

Robin growled. I rubbed at my aching, tired eyes.

"Yeah, now what do you want?" I asked. "I thought I had today off. By the way, have the time?"

Slade stared expressionlessly at me. He was probably contemplating whether or not to punish me for sounding like a punk. I yawned.

"Starting tonight, you will begin taking your medication," Slade finally said. I sat back down. "The blue pills will be taken before bed at ten and the red ones in the morning before training at six. In two weeks from today, you will be assigned your first assignment. Do you understand?"

I yawned again before answering.

"Yeah, I understand."

Walking up to the desk, Slade put the bottles down and then left, the door locking behind him. Reaching over, I picked up the bottles with one hand and stared at them wearily.

"What are they for?" Robin asked.

I set the bottles back down before answering.

"The red ones control my anger and the blue ones help me sleep at night," I explained. "But Courtney told me not to take them and I'm going to listen to her this time."

Closing the lid to the laptop, I stood up and grabbed the black bundle that was also left for me. I opened it up to reveal a black top with long sleeves. Robin sat down in my chair to look at the papers sitting on my desk. Using Chakra, I cut the sleeves off and tried it on. It fit snuggly against my skin but wasn't too loose. Hating to admit, it was comfortable.

"You have to steal from a Wayne Enterprises building next week."

Looking over my shoulder, I watched as Robin threw the papers down onto the desk in anger. I turned to face him fully.

"I'm sorry, but it's not my fault," I said. "The only one to blame is Slade and his thick head." Robin snorted. "Look, once my friends arrive, we'll combine our forces and defeat him. We'll find a way; promise."

Robin banged his forehead on the desk. Deciding I was still tired, I got back into bed and instantly fell back to sleep.

I woke up with a start and almost hit Robin in the face. He had backed up quickly just in time. For some reason I felt like I had to do something important.

Scrambling out of bed, I practically flew into the computer chair and lifted the lid of the laptop.

"What; you like watching people sleep?" I asked Robin as I quickly went to a site called Meebo. "I could've-Yes! Cora!"

Double clicking her name, a window popped up on screen. I quickly typed in my message.

"I was trying to wake you up actually," Robin said. "You slept all day. It's almost-"

I wasn't paying attention; was waiting in anticipation for Cora to respond. I grinned when the words 'Cora typing' came up. Her message soon came through.

I told Lea, Sheilee, and Alan what was going on. We told our parents too, but they wouldn't listen; said you probably just decided to run away. So we can't try rescuing you until school's out or they'll get suspicious and think we had something to do with it or something. I hope you can hang on until summer, but there's nothing we can do until then. Be careful ok?

I responded:

Yeah, its fine. Robin's arm is broken and we need to get him out of here too. And we can't escape until the Titans are safe. We'll find out what to do until then. It could give me a chance to get into Slade's head in the meantime; figure out exactly what makes me so special.

I sent her the message. She waited for almost a minute before typing a response. I soon heard footsteps coming towards the room. I quickly added to my previous message.

Whatever you were going to say, it can wait; can't talk anymore. I think Slade's on his way. I will keep you posted whenever I can.

Quickly shutting everything off, I closed the lid, jumped out of the chair, and sat back against the headboard of the bed. The door soon slid open and Wintergreen, not Slade, stepped inside. He stopped next to the desk.

"Master Slade would like you to take two blue pills now," he said. He looked at the desk. "Where are they?"

I stood up, stepped forward, and glared at the old man.

"You can tell Slade to take them himself so they don't go to fucking waste because I'm not taking them."

"I thought you might say that."

Slade was leaning against the frame of the door. I glared at him. Pushing away from the door, he walked over to the desk drawer and opened it. He pulled out the blue pill bottle and then shut the drawer. Walking up to me, he grabbed my wrist and shoved the bottle into my hand. I looked down at the bottle, staring at it expressionlessly. My glare intensified.

"Rocky, the Titans-" Robin said.

I clenched the bottle in my hand, close to breaking. I looked up at Slade, shoving the bottle into his chest and letting go. It fell with a clatter to the metal floor.

"I'm not taking anything you give me."

Slade's eye narrowed. Before I knew what hit me, I was on my knees, clutching my stomach. My eyes felt like they would come out of their sockets. I closed them. The sound of rattling pills reached my ears. Opening my right eye a crack, I saw Slade open the pill bottle and pour two into his hand. He grabbed a handful of spikes and forced my head back. He shoved them into my mouth and held his hand over it. Unable to breath properly, I swallowed the pills. Slade yanked my head back down. I glared at the floor, my hands curling into fists. I carefully pushed myself to my feet.

"Disobey me again and the Titans die," Slade said.

Slowly looking up at him, I growled.

"Go to Hell."

I was instantly kicked in the chest, crashing back into the wall behind me. My body slid down to the floor. I growled again.

"I've been to Hell before boy," Slade said as he crouched down in front of me. I looked at him and glared. "Believe me when I say this; Hell is a place where you wouldn't want to go. You know nothing of Hell." Slade replaced the cap on the bottle and shoved it harshly into my stomach. He stood up straight. "We'll work on that attitude of yours tomorrow. Do you understand boy?"

Looking up at him, I said, "Yes, I understand."

Slade's eye narrowed.

"Yes, you understand what?"

I gritted my teeth to prevent myself from growling.

"Yes, I understand…sir."

Slade stared silently down at me momentarily.

"That will do…for now. But disobey me again and the Titans are dead. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

I swallowed my pride.

"No, sir."

There was a moment's silence before Slade spoke again.

"Come, Robin. You have your own room now."

"Yes, sir," Robin said.

They left the room, the door locking behind them. Standing up, I looked down at the pill bottle. I growled angrily. Facing the wall, I dropped the pill bottle and formed a fist, Chakra forming around it. Lifting it up, I punched the wall each time a word came out of my mouth.

"Dammit; dammit; dammit; dammit!"

What the Hell was wrong with me? I was stronger than this. If I could defy the bastard in Ninja Academy, why couldn't I do it now? And what did Slade know about Hell? I had never been so pissed off in my life until now. Would I have to swallow my pride day after day after day until my friends helped rescue Robin and me?

"I'll show you," I said angrily, throwing the bottle at the wall where the wall had chipped. "No one pushes me around and gets away with it." Darkness seemed to swallow me. "No one…"