"It should be around here somewhere," Batman told them as they existed the bio-ship to look for Robin.
"Okay, so why would Robin be hanging out next to highway in the middle of nowhere!" Artemis exclaimed.
"This is the location the computer picked up his utility belt," Batman told her sharply, "so we're looking around."
They walked alongside the road for about a minute until Martian Manhunter stumbled upon something, "Batman, you need to see this."
Batman rushed over to find himself coming at a heart wrenching halt as he whispered to himself, "We're too late."
The rest of the team ran over to find Martian Manhunter and Batman glowering over Robin's utility belt which sat in a sloppy circle in the dirt. In the middle of utility belt was a pile of greenish colored seeds, and a few dead birds lying on the pile.
"What is it?" M'gann mumbled.
"Poisoned bird food," Martian Manhunter told her, "but why?"
Batman slowly grabbed Robin's utility belt, gazing at it for a moment while his mind ran over a million thoughts per minute. Batman couldn't conceal the defeated look that sunk deep in his eyes and dragged at the corners of his mouth.
"Well, this is obviously a message that Robin is in danger," Artemis blurted out, "so let's not stand here, we need to go find him!"
"But why?" M'gann pushed. "Why this message? Actually, who is the best question."
"Who, indeed," Martian Manhunter repeated then he turned to Batman, "I fear only you know. The team needs to know what is going on, they can be useful to finding Robin."
Batman let out a deep sigh, "the Joker has been after Robin for some time now, we thought maybe he had moved onto another crime to commit, but that's obviously not the case."
"I noticed the change," Kaldur spoke up, "Robin staying at Mount Justice, you not letting him go on that previous mission we had not too long ago. . . ."
Batman nodded slowly as though his neck had been rusted in one place, "But we're afraid that's not all that is going on. We've had suspicions towards the Injustice league, but through my research I think it's larger than the Injustice League. I've suspected something was going on with Gotham villains too, mostly Gotham villains, which is why I kept your team out of it."
"So it's more of a Dynamic Duo situation going on?" Wally pressed.
"Yes, and things involving me and Robin as partners do not intertwine with Young Justice," he replied, "I'm supposed to handle those situations."
"Well, whether it's a Dynamic Duo or not," Zatanna stepped up, "we're going to help find him. He's our team member, we owe him that."
Thirty Minutes Later:
The Joker was in one of his laughing fits again, laughing so hard that Robin was surprised he didn't pass out. Robin wondered if he'd ever take a pause and breathe, but eventually he did stop and he went to Harley.
"Okay, we're going now," Joker told her, "but first, I think Boy Blunder would like a funny piece of information."
"Can we cut the jokes," Robin smirked, "after all that I'm not in the mood for laughing at your failed attempts at freaking me out."
"Kid, you never do give up," Joker snickered, "but it seems neither are your friends or the Batman."
"Wait, what's going on!" Robin demanded.
"Well, if you must know," Joker continued, "You're friends just came to see you."
"What are you trying to say?"
"That while your friends were wondering around like a bunch of blind fools – opps, sorry about that kid," he cackled, "we were safe here, underground."
"Oh, so close," Harley mocked him, "better tell Bats to check his detective skills, looking so hard for his little birdie when we've been right under their feet all this time!"
Robin panicked and began screaming for them, but Harley pulled a rag over his mouth, holding it so tightly that he began gagging.
"You're too late Bird Boy," Harley smirked.
Suddenly Robin realized there was something on the rag and the world began blurring around him. His head spinning as he came closer to unconsciousness.
"Now that we've had our own personal fun we'll take him over," Joker said just before Robin passed out.
Forty Minutes Later:
Robin awoke in a daze and his bones aching. Lifting his face from the stone cold ground he lied upon he realized his arms and legs were chained to the ground, he tried breaking the chains but it was no use. All around him was darkness, except for the blue light night that glimmered upon the bars that he could not see, coughing his whole chest heaved in ache and he began to wonder how long he had been out.
He could feel something rather disturbing lodged in his left arm, there was a razor sharp joker's card stuck in his skin. Reaching a hand up he painfully yanked it out and slide it across the floor in anger and sorrow. He needed to escape, but finding a way out when he couldn't even see his hands was going to be difficult. He needed Batman.
A Day Later:
The team had been pretty restless, M'gann cooking stop cooking even if you have tied her hands up she'd just use her telekinesis and Connor seemed lifeless but that wasn't out of the ordinary. Wally couldn't stop talking about what happened, except he didn't realize he was talking so fast no one could really understand him. Artemis couldn't stop sulking as she tried to distract herself with television, Zatanna just kept to herself, and Kaldur would begin pacing every five minutes. Tension had never hung so heavy between them all.
"Do you think they're getting closer to finding him?" Zatanna randomly asked, everyone in the room froze a minute.
"They have to," Wally assured her, "Batman got it all under control, like he said, it's a Dynamic Duo thing and he can handle it."
"I remember him saying that he's supposed to handle those situations," Artemis spoke up.
"Then why has he been running himself ragged with research?" Wally shot back. "He's not going to give it, its Robin after all. . . I'm surprised you haven't choked on your negativity yet."
"I'm surprised you don't choke on your food," she shot back with a glare.
"Come on, guys," Zatanna relaxed them, "we don't need to turn against each other."
"Zatanna's right," M'gann exhaled, "but perhaps we could ask Batman how his research is doing? He usually visits Young Justice around this time."
"Yeah, when Rob's here," Wally grumbled under his breath.
"I think M'gann's right," Connor backed her up, "he'll probably bit our heads off, but it's worth a try."
"He is our teammate after all," Kaldur joined in.
Agreeing on this idea they all headed into the training room to wait around, but Batman was already there talking with Black Canary, Red Tornado, Martian Manhunter, and Green Arrow. Wally nearly zoomed over to interrupt but Kaldur put his hand on his shoulder to stop him.
"We need to wait until they're done conversing," Kaldur told him.
They all sat around waiting, but something happened before they got a chance to ask Batman anything. The holographic computer popped up, the screen starting off in static as all heads turned in bewilderment. Batman rushed over, but then a familiar face appeared before the screen.