These Black Eyes

by P0ST

The ongoing adventures and experiences of the Teen Titans, as witnessed through the eyes of a silent newcomer.

227. A Hard Act to Follow part 12

227. A Hard Act to Follow part 12

"Jeez, is he still training?"

"He's got to, Jordan. You know how much concentration it takes for what he's learning."

"I don't get it, Ana. I mean……what's simpler than Destruction? You rip through things……you break stuff……you turn the sky a little 'red'. What's the big deal?"

"Hehehehehe……you really need to meditate deeper."

"The Master says I'm doing fine……"

"Yeah. Cuz you aren't thinking. You're just doing. Speaking what comes out of your head. Hehehe……I can understand learning the Black art of being impulsive, but no need to be dim-witted!"

"I'm not dim-witted. I just……well………how can Red require any more time and concentration than Black? I've felt some of Red, Ana. The same as I've felt some of White. There isn't much there to carve the meat from."

"That's just it, Jordan. There isn't a lot to be had in Red. The adept that studies it must rely on his own strength as much as that of the Destructive side of the Spectrum. It's a very……very lonely journey. Not like you and me. Black depends on and reinforces both poles……and White reflects on all life in general."

"Yeah……I-I guess you do have a point."

"When you're a Red adept, the only thing you have as a friend……is ultimately Death itself."

"Right……"

"……………"

"……………"

"……………"

"………still……we should have gone bowling half an hour ago."

"Hehehehehe……don't worry, Jordan. He'll come."

"Yeah……heh……I hope so."

"After all, the three of us are inseperable……right……?"

…………

………

……

…

T-T-T-T-T-T-

T-T-T-T-T-T-T-

November 30, 2005

Early morning.

T-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"Hmmm…….Hrmmm…."

"How is he now, Leslie?"

"Oh….horrifically wonderful!"

"Horrifically?"

"The way in which he physically recovers is remarkable! It's like he hasn't suffered a single blow or cut to his body, the way his insides are ticking. But if you look…he's quite obviously in a banged up shape."

"Is he metahuman?"

"Oh, I wouldn't know from just one examination, Dick. Besides…I think his 'powers' are something he only exercises when awake."

"P-Please, Leslie. Call me 'Nightwing' at the moment. Who's to say if he's waking up or not?"

"Dick…take it easy. Of course we're going beyond the 'masks' with him. Especially at this point in time."

"…….yeah, sure."

"Dick!"

"Are we serious? Batman, how much can we trust him now that he's here?"

"All this time we have been 'trusting' him. And he hasn't let us down."

"But aren't you forgetting what he did in Vegas and Metropolis and--?"

"And aren't you forgetting how he dragged you away from the burning warehouse after Deathstroke interrupted your little brawl?"

"………."

"He didn't come all this way to be brainwashed and sent back home. That's where Superman was in error. I'm not about to make the same mistake. We all know how a vigilante passion can't simply be suppressed. With Noir, it's either prison or the battlefront. And I think we need him more on our side than on no side at all right now."

"I'm sick of all this tapdancing around fate! Why can't you just interrogate him and have it done with, Batman? Like the old days!"

"These aren't the old days, Nightwing."

"Yeah, I know. 'Triangular'. 'Red Aviary'. 'Balance of Morals going to shit and whatnot'. Yeesh. I've seen better days in Jury selection."

"Batman's right. This is a threat unlike any Gotham—or the rest of the world for that matter—has ever faced before. And in case you haven't noticed it….we're all dealing with an element that Noir here seems quite familiar with."

"I hear the 'reaper' nearly took your head off, Bruce."

"We managed, Leslie."

"Did you now? And just how close was it? A hair's width? For goodness' sake, the evils you people fight get only worse and worse. I'm afraid that whatever comes next will be worse than the grim reaper incarnate. Today the angel of death. Tomorrow……what, a black hole?"

"Is he seriously recovering?"

"As serious as I am a trained physician! Despite my old age, I know a trouper when I see one. The boy has terrible…terrible scars all over his body. Most of them are years and months old. But a good handful are still fresh. I've treated them…since he's been long overdue. I think a good shower and bed for a night would do him good. Almost reminds me of your old days of training in Asia, Bruce."

"Hehehe….a regular guest, for sure…."

"Let it rest, Batgirl…."

"Sheesh! Well if you aren't Mr. Grumpy today, Nightwank!"

"I greatly suspect that those black eyes of his are sensitive to lights. And though there aren't many lamps in this place of doom and gloom, a good pair of shades will do him wonders."

"Understood. Alfred…will you grab some sunglasses from the utility wing?"

"I would if I could, sir. Heaven forbid you should be working down here and find the sudden inspiration to vacation in Bermuda. But fear not, I believe there are some in the glove compartment of the Batmobile."

"Less chat and more charity, Alfred."

"Well noted, sir…"

"Do you suppose he knows?"

"Knows what, Batgirl?"

"Everything."

"Everything that we know?"

"…….."

"Hardly. But there are things he knows that most certainly we don't. That's why we need his cooperation."

"Well, if anything, it'll probably be like a litmus test. After we 'hear' Noir out some, maybe we'll know whether or not that kid has been telling us the truth."

"He has been, Nightwing."

"How do we know?"

"Call it a 'hunch'…."

"Pfft…you and your hunches."

"I think he's proven his honesty by now……………Batgirl? Any sign of Fox?"

"I've been checking all day. No sign of him. He could be using a new call sign."

"Keep at it. There's a chance Noir might not know where Lucius' son ended up after all."

"I'll also check on Kara and see how Miss Markov is doing."

"Good."

"…………"

"Nightwing, something troubles you?"

"I'm just wondering how long Noir's been faking sleep while we've rambled endlessly around him."

"Precisely three minutes."

I groaned mutely.

I stirred where I lay on some lone medical bed somewhere.

"G-Good heavens!" the voice of an old woman right beside me shook as her frail body jumped. I sensed an echoing of her voice against cavernous rock. "I-I must be getting careless! I didn't even realize the patient had awakened!"

"It's okay, Leslie…," a warm, feminine voice. Young…yet mature. A thin, caped figure drifted over into my ring of spatial awareness and placed a gloved hand on my shoulder. "Take it easy, Noir…..you're with allies now…."

My black eyes fluttered open.

It was dark.

A dark place.

But one of the voices had been right. My eyes couldn't handle the stabbing glow of a lamp or two nearby.

So, I clenched my eyes shut…cringing some. I realized I was shirtless. Swordless. I lied there in my fatigues and boots and long hair in a fan beneath my head. I sat up, face tense. A right hand over my clenched-shut eyes. And my left hand….

….

My left hand.

Shit, it's gone.

Gone for good……

I blurred my right hand to the metal disc of a stub on my left limb. The shattered stump of the metal prosthetic must have been removed in my sleep. I was back to the one-armed nakedness I had always been since July fifth. Now…nearly five months later…I felt just as wounded.

Yet, twice as lost.

"Easy….Easy…..Slade isn't here. He couldn't possibly know where any of us are. Not here."

I took a shuddering breath. I tried to 'picture' the room in my mind with spatial sense. But as much as I could define shapes, bodies, people….I couldn't feel the walls. Wherever we were….it had to have been big.

"There now, keep still….," a gentle hand on my shoulder. The old lady. "I'm just going to check your pulse and blood pressure again, now that you're awake."

Blindly, I nodded. I lowered my right arm and sat up straight as an ice-cold stethoscope was pressed up to my bare torso. Responding to the woman's light words, I breathed heavily and tilted my head in the direction of the largest of the bodies.

"It was a close call, Noir," Batman's voice said. "Too close, almost. But it was necessary. We had never gotten that near to Red Aviary before."

"…………."

"I didn't expect us to truly take him down. But now we know that we can withstand. Together, at least."

"But what if he gets stronger?" Nightwing's voice drifted over, directed towards Batman. "It looks like all he needs to do is kill more people to increase his grasp on Destruction. He's called the 'Parasite' for a reason, you know. The more people he consumes, the more badass he is. It's like some sort of soul-eater or something…."

The woman—the physician—was wrapping a blood pressure band around my right arm. She constricted it firmly around the upper limb and relaxed it. My pulse throbbed…

Batman's voice replied to Nightwing: "I've dealt with vampires and 'soul-eaters' before. Trust me. Red Aviary is a new and deadly entity."

"It sorta figures you'd have run into a vampire since I left the Cave. What, with you never seeing the light of day and all…"

Again, the warm womanly voice uttered from the side: "Do you think we need to call the Justice League?"

"What Justice League?" Batman's voice said. "They were already in the initial stages of breaking up even while I was incapacitated…..long before November Fourth." The Dark Knight's presence shifted over towards the front of my circle of sensitivity. "Right now, they are in transition—as I'm sure Noir is quite aware. If we were to contact them at this point, only one or two at most would join. And right now, we can't do with just half a League. Whatever group is seeing to Deathstroke, it has to be solid and unified. No matter the size."

"Heh. Guess I'm lucky to be with the 'home team'."

"I think we're being unfair to Noir. Shouldn't we fill him in?"

"I was going in that route," Batman said. I sensed his body turn towards the distance. "Alfred, you're back."

"When you said 'glove compartment', sir, you neglected to mention the emergency land mine disposal switch positioned wondrously in the path of the drawer handle."

"Thanks, Alfred….."

"Risking my neck for sunglasses is exactly what I'm paid for, sir."

Heavy, booted footsteps. A swish of a cape.

"Here, Noir…."

"….," I reached my right hand out. My fingers brushed a thick leather glove. Icy cold. I winced, ignored it, and took the shades. They were sleek. Perfect. I couldn't complain one bit.

I slipped them on….

"…….."

I was gazing upward. And stalactites were stabbing down towards me. Rows upon rows of them. High up on a dark, domed ceiling of jagged earth. A glistening sheen from nearby lamps flashed off of them, and suddenly—without much provocation—a throng of bats flapped their shrieking way down in a curved arc.

I flinched instinctively.

The bats swarmed up into an alcove behind a row of stalactites and shrieked into silence.

Someone giggled.

I cleared my throat, sat upright, and looked around.

And indeed…we were located on a flat alcove of stone extending from an even larger platform above us. Medical equipment and healing tubes and special racks rested around me. In the distance, computer consoles and miniature laboratories dotted the enormous interior. And then—even further up and outward was a long series of stone steps leading up…up….up…somewhere.

Ah.

The BatCave.

I guess I should be thrilled……but……

"Well, you seem fine to me…," the old woman said.

"…..," I glanced at her.

She smiled ever so slightly and stepped back. A gray-haired lady with soft eyes and a stone-wrinkled face made for frowning as much as grinning. She was dressed modestly in a purple shirt, gray jacket, and a grayer skirt. She seemed out of place in this vigilante purgatory.

"My name is Dr. Leslie Thompkins. Certified physician, I assure you…," she winked.

What isn't 'certifiable' about this place?

She went on: "Luckily, you'll be able to stand and walk. Just do so slowly. You're just as versatile as these rascals. I should have known better than to expect less from a Titan." She turned her head and glared in the direction of one of the heroes. "Though I must state….half of his bruises could very well have been avoided on behalf of one individual here!"

"Look, how many times do I have to say I'm sorry?"

"……," I glanced left.

Nightwing stood a few feet off, leaning back against a rack of medical supplies. He looked a little tense behind his tight black eyemask as he shrugged and said: "But at the time, it was the most logical choice! Noir was fighting his way to his own doom. And face it!" He pointed at me and directly uttered: "The guy is reckless! He won't hesitate to fight Superman and Wonder Woman of the Justice League if it means him getting what he wants! What consolation did we have that he wouldn't fight us either?"

"Simple…," Batman marched into view. His tall dark visage and glaring eye slits as cold and chilling as ever. "…up until this time, Noir has not been given what he's wanted. And we have what he wants. If we work together for the same means, there'll be no need for conflict. End of subject."

"Heh….," Nightwing folded his arms. "Naturally."

"Don't you think we should give Noir a choice?" the woman's voice asked.

I looked over.

A redhead in black tights and cowl. Yellow and blue cape. Batgirl sat at a huge-ass computer and gestured: "We owed him just as much as he now owes us. I don't think we should obligate him…."

"Considering the nature of what we're dealing with," Batman droned, "I don't see how he'd reject."

Batgirl made a face. "Did you ask him?"

"…….."

Nightwing smirked.

'Leslie' the doctor shifted where she stood.

"………," with a little disgruntled hesitance, Batman's head turned and looked at me. "Noir, if I was to tell you that together and with our combined efforts we'd track down both Deathstroke and the stolen thermal energy of Terra, would you be willing to form a temporary partnership with us?"

"………," my black eyes narrowed under my shades.

All masked eyes were trained on me.

The doctor and an old, balding fellow in a butler's uniform also stared at me.

Batman's asking me to join his side on fighting Red Aviary……

Slade must be even more powerful than even I've witnessed.

"……."

I glanced once again at Nightwing and then at Batgirl.

Then again, Batman's got a large enough family as it is.

I looked at Batman.

I silently nodded my head.

Batman's pointed mask tilted forward back at me. "You are an excellent team player, Noir. Wonder Woman shared that with me from your correspondence. I'm sure we'll find much to help each other with."

"Yeah….," Nightwing groaned and flexed his upper limbs. "And how about no more beating around the god damn bush?"

"It is getting more and more violent out there…," the doctor said. Her face was tight. Her eyes thin. "…what use is adding one more member to your team? An outsider of the Titans, at that? That terrible reaper will only rip you apart all the more viciously!"

"I say….," the butler exhaled.

Batgirl stood up. "Dr. Thompkins….why such bleak hope? Don't you see that we have an edge now?"

"You mean him?" the old woman pointed at me. "Hasn't he been tossed around enough as it is?"

"Don't look at me!" Nightwing smirked.

I would have shot him the bird if my metal hand wasn't broken in a thousand pieces and lost in a Gotham City street somewhere….

I glanced around absent-mindedly….and saw Myrkblade in its scabbard lying on a distant tray besides a bundle of my tattered shirt and jacket.

Okay.

Good to have 'friends' nearby…

"Noir has a power quite similar to Deathstroke's," Batman said. "Whatever Slade is now, he's a completely different person since the day Noir 'killed' him. After my first encounter with Deathstroke, I knew that even I was no match for his supernatural touch of death. I had to assault him craftily, and with help."

"So that's why we sprang forth at just the right moment…," Batgirl spoke in my direction, as if they had all been 'explaining' themselves to me the whole time. "Your coming into this City brought Red Aviary out into the open. A confrontation was inevitable. And we were there to assist you in the nick of time."

I exhaled.

Yeah……

In the 'nick of time'……

Images flashed through my shaded vision. Bane screaming as he was chopped in half. The Ventriloquist's head rolling across a red-strobed floor.

I bit my lip.

"Face it…," Nightwing groaned. "We were just using him," he pointed at me. "I don't see what the big deal is. He doesn't seem much of a match for Red Aviary on his own either."

"Nobody in this City is," Batman said. "But at least Noir might be able to tell us where he is."

"And Fox?"

"One thing at a time," Batman then faced me. "Noir. This a situation of dire urgency. Lots of people—both good and bad—are getting killed. But you don't need me to tell you this…"

I shook my head.

"Some things are unpreventable at this point in time. Even I was misled by the red herrings of Red Aviary long before his bloody revelations. We need as many experts on Slade's tail as possible. If you work with us, we might get closer to him than ever before. We may be able to end death before death can end the Titans. Isn't that what you want?"

Boy……

This guy can be psychologically appealing……

But……who am I?

I nodded.

Yes.

I want the Titans safe.

Whether I'm being used or not……I just don't want them to die……

Please……

"Then now is as good a time as ever to ensure our trust….," Batman said. And at that, he stepped back and gripped the edge of his cowl. He glanced out the corner of his eyeslits at the other vigilantes present.

Batgirl nodded and reached for her hood.

Nightwing—with a slightly hesitant sigh—limply grasped his eyemask too.

I barely had a chance to blink. In almost ceremonious fashion, all three of them unmasked….

"Hrmmm…," the 'butler' looked over at Dr. Thompkins, sleepy-eyed. "Not quite the bashful bunch they used to be…"

"I'd say."

My black eyes were narrow. I couldn't help but lean forward on visual examination….

Nightwing seemed to me like just any tall, dark, and handsome fellow without his eyemask. Blue eyes. So what? I wonder if I'll look like him in a few years with all that long hair and stuff……plus a few added scars and black eyes.

I couldn't for the life of me recognize the sapphire-eyed redhead that had replaced 'Batgirl'.

But Batman…..

Holy shit.

That's……kinda funny in a way……

"…….Greetings Jordan," Bruce Wayne startled me with the verbal address of my first name. He reached a gloved hand out and processed a manufactured smile that seemed to betray all the iconography draping off of him. Two hard blue eyes that were once hidden under a mask's chilling eye slits gave way to a prominent channel of trust and honesty. I didn't know if I was being charmed, brainwashed, or something in between. But I felt safe. Protected. And scared all the same. "Welcome to the BatCave," the 'boy billionaire' said. Anything but less than a man. "I think we've met before…"

My black eyes blinked. My lips pursed and lip synced as I numbly shook his head: 'Westhaven……'

He nodded. "During the hostage situation initiated by former H.I.V.E. members. I was there in person….or half-person."

Yeah. I get you.

"He's a little….'mute' without his left hand," 'Nightwing' uttered. "Don't ya think?"

I glanced over, wrenching my eyes from Bruce Wayne.

Who the Hell is this?

Wayne answered with an almost telepathic punctuality: "Dick Grayson. My ward."

"Former ward," 'Dick' folded his arms. "A man's gotta go out on his own eventually. Billionaire foster parent or not…"

"Indeed," the butler rolled his eyes.

"Alfred Pennyworth," Dick smirked and pointed the elder out. "Who hardly needs any alternate identity."

"Yes…," 'Alfred' examined the cuff of his suit's sleeve. "Heaven would rue the day a 'Bat-Butler' descends on the criminal streets of Gotham…"

"Alfred has been with me a long time, Jordan," Bruce Wayne gestured. "You'll have no problem trusting him along with the rest of us."

"Oh, my dreams of extortions daily fly out the window," Alfred added with a smirk.

"Ahem….," a certain young woman cleared her throat.

I glanced over.

The redhead smirked, sitting with legs crossed again in the huge computer's chair.

"Looks like Babs is getting jealous of attention," Dick said. "Hardly exemplary…"

"Hey! I just thought I'd join in…."

"Jordan, meet Barbara Gordon. Before you let her flirtatiousness overwhelm you, keep in mind that her father keeps a gun under his armpit at all times."

"Flirtatiousness? Pfft! You're a dick, Dick."

"Charming as always…"

"…..," I leaned my head to the side. Barbara………Gordon………

"Of course, it's important that this caped secret stays here," Barbara said. "With the 'capes', if you catch my drift."

"Jordan doesn't wear a cape, Babs."

"Oh hush."

Gordon……as in……Commissioner James Gordon relation? What are the odds of--

"The Commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department is my father," she remarked with a slight rosiness to her cheeks. "Given circumstances…..I-I'm sure you can understand how important our alternate identities are."

Ah.

I smirked slightly and nodded.

I think I'm beginning to catch the drift of all this……'masked identity' stuff……

I blinked.

Hey……wait. Didn't Kara say that she and 'Batgirl' were friends? Then wouldn't that mean--?

"We have all made life pledges, Jordan. We're all dedicated towards fighting crime in all its forms, bringing to the world the least amount of casualty and collateral damage as possible," Bruce Wayne said. "In this global sphere, the stakes rise higher and higher. Sooner than naught, the madmen who live to threaten the people grow in number. Because of that…certain sacrifices must be made. And even the most isolated amongst us must reach out and join with team members to support the common good. Somehow, I think you know this, Jordan. You came a long way to find yourself…and you found the Titans along with it. Would you consider yourself different now?"

I looked at him.

I breathed lightly.

All right, tell me straight. How much do you know about me and my life?

Dammit……this is all so screwy……

I took a deep breath and ran a hand through my thick black hair.

Bruce Wayne is Batman……

Wayne……

Wayne Corp……

William B. Fox is using Wayne Corp, isn't he?

Does that make Bruce Wayne—or Batman for that matter—an accomplice to Triangular? Or is Wayne Corp not in it like I'm quick to assume? And if Bruce Wayne—er, Batman has been so caught up in Red Aviary—who is Slade—all this time, then how come he's been disappearing from the Justice League and the Gotham City crime scene for so long? Or his teammates for that matter—excluding Nightwing……

And then my mind again leapt back to 'Bruce Wayne'. And I remembered scant images in newspapers and t.v. press conferences from my youth about the rich man that everyone in the world knew. And I vaguely remembered back in my pre-Spectrum School days an interview with Bruce Wayne, and the camera displayed a young man sitting with him. Almost a direct clone of Bruce Wayne, howbeit younger. Thinner…less muscular. And that had to have been Mr. 'Dick Grayson'. The ward….the adopted son of Bruce Wayne.

And then my head twisted some more. My brain wrench inside out. And somewhere in the middle of it all, it felt like floodgates opening.

Bruce Wayne had a……second 'ward', didn't he? Years later? Some……Some kid. Also a dark-haired adoptee. Some lucky rich punk now……

"Jordan, we know that this must be a lot for you…," Barbara Gordon said. She bit her lip and added pensively: "B-But it's simply like this: we want you to trust us. We're not here to use you or tell you what to do or show you the places where you need to go. I gather that….that a lot of people have been doing that to you lately."

I looked at her lately.

And just how much do YOU know too?

"Hackers…messengers…counter-terrorists….," Bruce Wayne rolled off his tongue. He caught my attention and gestured: "You've been a very….popular rogue, haven't you?"

"……..," I nodded exhaustingly.

"A regular MVP," Alfred smirked. "I do say he deserves a trophy. Perhaps if we lend him one of Master Dick's. He never comes back to the manor to dust them off anymore…"

"You're pushing it, Alfred."

"Regardless…," Bruce Wayne slipped his cowl back on his face, as if he felt a lot more relaxed and complete with the mask on. Indeed, there was certain regained iciness when Batman faced me and uttered: "I reiterate that we have no reason to force you to do anything."

"Except keep our friggin' secrets of course…," Dick uttered.

Barbara rolled her eyes.

"……..true," Batman grunted. His eye-slits narrowed. "But….like I said, we have what you want, Jordan. And we're not about to hold back."

"……," I leaned my head to the side, blinking curiously.

"…….," Batman turned to the nearby shadows of the cave and said: "You can stop hiding already, Tim. Come on out…"

"…….?" I blinked.

Tim?

A voice emanated from the shadows. A voice that startled me down to the bone with its familiarity. "Always. It never fails. Couldn't it have waited? I was……taking my time……"

"Now."

An obedient shifting of feet. Light feet. In my peripheral vision, I saw a body morph out of the darkness. Red. Green. Yellow. Black. Black spiked hair. White eyemask. The plastic casting of a legend turned to blood and skin and lips. Bit lips. A slight nervousness and a slight forwardness jumbled together in a smoky ambiguity as if billowing from a fire hundreds of miles and twenty-six days ago. Something that was, but shouldn't have been. Someone blissfully unreal, until his voice once again shot out from the shadows and ricocheted into my ears in the subtle fierceness that only he could summon.

"I know….I've long since been tired of playing this 'game' with everyone….," Robin said, standing alive and illuminated on the sidelines of the open infirmary. "Most of all you, Noir…."

"…………………………………."

Robin took a deep breath. His head tilted towards the side, and I knew he was averting his gaze. "Yes, Noir…," he said without looking. He straightened a loose flap of cape that had subconsciously draped over his right shoulder. "I'm not some doppelganger or illusion. It's Robin. I'm….I-I'm alive…"

"…………………………………," I pivoted where I sat on the medical bed. I swung my legs off and jumped down to my weak legs. I wobbled for a moment.

Dr. Leslie Thompkins started, but Alfred held her back. They stood silently. Everyone stood silently.

But me….

I limped towards the Boy Wonder. One-armed. Scarred. When I reached him halfway, I slid my right hand up and slipped my shades off. With natural black eyes I stared at him, and he was as blindingly real as the first day I awoke in the Tower after destroying Cinderblock's android and faced the 'gentle' interpretation of the caped crusader and Raven.

We stood a few feet from each other. Two ghosts. One miraculously immaculate and the other beautifully beaten.

Robin's lips curved ever so slightly. And I didn't know if he was manufacturing a grin or suppressing a legitimate smile. All I knew was that he was there. And he was speaking…no, stammering: "I am….I am still proud of you, Noir." He took a deep breath. "I always am."

"……………..," I dropped the shades to the floor. I placed my right hand on his left shoulder. I leaned my head to the side. My black eyes thin.

His eyemask narrowed, as if confused.

Ten solid seconds of confusion.

"……………."

I fiercely hugged him.

He let out a gasp for a moment. Over my shoulder he saw Batman only half-gazing at the embrace. Dr. Thompkins and Alfred were smiling. Dick seemed distracted, while Barbara looked a little misty-eyed.

I shuddered, my one arm wrapped around his back as I clenched my eyes shut.

"It's….uh….o-okay, Noir….," Robin spoke against me. "What Batman and the others said were right. We're safe from Slade here…."

Robin wasn't hugging me back. He wasn't even trying. And that was what told me—once and for all—that this wasn't a dream.

And I couldn't help it. I cried. Silver trails leaked from my black optics as I squeezed him and shook all over.

Did I ever stop believing, Ana?

Dear God……did I ever stop believing……?

The Titans……we are whole.

We always had been.

So god damn beautifully whole……

Tempest was right.

Cyborg had it all wrong. All the Titans have had it all wrong. What are we falling apart for?

It's a miracle……it's a miracle……but……

I parted the hug. After unashamedly wiping the tears from my cheek with my right forearm, I looked at Robin and with quivering lips mouthed: 'H-How……?'

Robin straightened his uniform, cleared his throat, and spoke in an artificially composed voice: "Humble intercession. Nothing more."

I made a face, my black eyes thin. 'What?'

Robin knelt and picked up my shades. "To be honest, I'm a little surprised you of all people didn't figure it out yourself." He stood back up and handed me the shades. "But then again, if Slade—Red Aviary was fooled, then so you could have been. It was absolutely….." He sighed with a little bit of remorse and triumph mixed painfully together. "….it was perfect. Just how he said it would work."

I leaned my head to the side. 'Who?'

There was a flash of green light in my peripheral vision.

"Alas, all the world's a stage."

Batman turned to the shadows once again, this time with a different tone in his voice: "We came close to Red Aviary."

"Let me guess……just close enough to smell his cigar, but still 'no cigar'……"

"In a manner of speaking. We wouldn't have survived without Noir's intervention."

"You mean you wouldn't have survived!" Dick smirked.

Batman glared.

"?" I spun about, confused. I jerked to look at Batman….then jerked to look at the shadows.

A petite figure walked out. "In case you haven't figured it out, Noir….Batman and his team didn't catch up to Red Aviary on his own. He needed two wildcards. The second is you. The first….," the Messenger stood out in the open, his hands in his sweatjacket's pouch. "….was me."

"……," I stared, gaping. I glanced at Robin.

Robin smirked at me.

I glanced at the Messenger again.

He smiled. He softly spoke: "Noir….a long time ago, I told you something. Promised you something, actually. I said: 'It may be a week. It may be a month. But eventually….things will come full circle. Full circle….in the way you would wish it.' And they're starting to, aren't they?"

"…….," I shakily slipped my shades on and smiled helplessly at him.

He gazed at me with a soft grin. The same smug, asian look that the punk teenager had ages ago when I sat-dismembered-on a bed in the Titans Tower infirmary after the 'death' of Slade. It was immaculate…something that only Robin could punch. And Robin did. Long ago….at the end of a bloody November Fourth that everyone who was or wasn't there remembered. And somewhere in the Messenger's grin, I fell in and drifted backwards to the sound of his voice….

-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-

November 5, 2005.

The City.

3:02 am.

VRMMMMMMMM!

Robin burned down the wrecked and scarred industrial section of the City. Ashes and crumbling buildingsides from Dagger's onslaught could be seen all around……littering the asphalt. The Boy Wonder gripped firmly the handles to the 'borrowed' police motorcycle and headed towards the radioactive depository.

I could have sworn I preached a morale to you Titans. Something that obviously fell on deaf ears. When there is a gruesome death—be it a villain or superhero—you must ALWAYS HAVE A 'BODY' TO CONFIRM IT! Think of Dagger, Noir. You let him fall into the dark, rain-strewn streets of the City. He came back. Think of Slade. Skewered on a sword and tossed into the sea. Same story.

SCREEEECH!

Robin parked the motorcycle

He stood up.

He gasped and ran over to the gate of the radioactive depository.

Two guards' bodies lay on the ground. Their torsos hacked and ripped to shreds.

"Somebody is here!" Robin shouted to the Titans through his communicator. He ran up the tiers of the radioactive depository, attempting to scale the top of the industrial complex. "Most likely Dagger or his men! I'm going to investgate!"

Viper was no less different. Up until that fateful night, he was yet another 'disappearing body'. Commissioner Decker may have ended the mute assassin's attempt to drown the City in a terrible, biological pestilence……but he hadn't killed off Viper's ego. The madman was obsessed with Red Aviary more than the rest of us. Instead of making him wise, it made him selfish. He wanted to 'become' the essence of Death itself. To prove to the world that he could be the very same reaper that had bombed the Omega Wing of the prison and ended Commissioner Decker's life, among other things of course. But seeing that so many people had already died on November Fourth, Viper had to aim higher. So he took to the skies…and he found a lone bird in the aviary of death. That lone bird happened to be Robin….Slade's intended target of the carbonite charges at the Radioactive Depository.

CL-CLANG!

The door at the top of the depository shredded and kicked out from the inside.

WHAP!

"Ungh!" Robin was impacted by the doors, he flew back and slumped against the railings. When he looked up, he gasped: "V-Viper……You're not dead! Wh-What are you doing here?"

The mute assassin leered over him with his broadsword. He smiled and the metal disc in his throat flashed a red light: "To clip your wings, boy…"

SWOOOSH! SLASH! SLASH!

SLIIIIIIINK!

"AAAAAAUGH!" Robin shouted, bled, and fell back.

"NNNNGGGAAAAHH!"

WHAP!

But Viper was no god of death……He wasn't close to the immensity of Red Aviary. And Red Aviary was holding back. He was holding back for just the right moment. Viper's presence only assisted Slade. It only made Robin weaker. So when the time came…..Robin wouldn't have the strength or speed in him to outrun the fires of Hell.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Robin screamed and yanked back at his grappling hook.

Viper, his neck skewered, fell over the railing of an upper tier, fell down a level, and hung with a snag! when the grappling hook hung his ripped cranium from a distance. With a final quivering, the assassin died.

And Robin was bleeding.

And Robin was torn.

And Robin was limping….

With half his eyemask torn away to bear a blue eye to the red sky…

He fell on his knees.

He heard and saw and smelt the carbonite.

And he gasped…for when he looked up.

He saw the Titans on a nearby rooftop.

Raven. Beast Boy.

Starfire….

Starfire was staring down at him. Her green eyes wide…and growing wider with the moistening realization of what was soon to be obliterated.

And something inside of him shot back in time with a peculiar, homesick breath as the carbonite ignited.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

"Annie."

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The radioactive depository exploded all around him.

But just bare milliseconds before the flames could evaporate his figure……

A body appeared behind him. Green. Shimmering.

In a leap, the body grabbed Robin from behind, swallowed him in a chest-level hug, and vanished the two of them in an indiscernible emerald flash against the rising amber heat.

ZAAAAAAAAAAAT!

PHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMB!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!" Robin screamed at the top of his lungs. He screamed and shook and screamed some more, because he was being consumed all over by pure plasma and fire. Noise and chaos filled his ears and at the end of his scream, he inhaled deeply……

……only to realize he was inhaling deeply.

He was alive.

And yet……

He wasn't burning.

Half an exposed eye wide, Robin hyperventilated. Sweating all over. And yet, there was no noticeable heat.

In fact, the burning flames enveloping him seemed far away. Like on the outside of a snowglobe of comfortable staleness. In fact, Robin hardly felt anything at all. It was like his senses were sucked out of him. And he didn't feel temperature……nor hunger……nor exhaustion.

And everything was laced with green. An emerald fire that billowed more brightly than the amber madness trying to swallow him. The radioactive depository naturally roasted all around. The metal railings melted. The iron plates curled and turned to lava. Viper's body was skeletonized and soon vaporized in a tornado of molten ash.

And the heavily breathing Robin realized then and there that someone's arms were encircling him in a vice-like grip from behind. Like a guardian angel.

He murmured amidst the noise: "What……Wh-Wh-What?"

The Messenger tilted his head forward and murmured in the Boy Wonder's ear: "Hello, Mr. Timothy Drake."

"……………"

"Robin is dead."

"…………b-but……," Robin swallowed and gazed up. The sarcophagus was closing. The radioactive depository and everything that burned inside was sealed up like a giant oven. A fiery tomb. "H-How……?"

"Shhh……let me concentrate, Timster. It always takes a little extra gusto to handle two people in the Middleverse. Now work with me……I'm going to move us far……far away from here. But I'll need you to relax and stay still. One little jolt to upset my balance, and we just might resurface in your dimension. I'm not about to become asian cuisine, what about you?"

"I……I-I……"

"Right then: 'or roasted crackers'. My sympathies to the Caucasian race. Ahem……and on we go!"

FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOOSH!

Robin gasped. The Messenger seemed to be flying the both of them straight through walls. Through flames. Through the outer shell of the sarcophagus. Before the Boy Wonder knew it, they were both soaring straight out of the glowing epicenter of the bombed industrial complex altogether. And—as the green pair picked up speed—they soared out of the City and through the waters of the Bay and into mountains and trees and nightlit slopes and……

ZAAAAA-AAAAAT!

"Ooof!" Robin tumbled across the forest floor of a mountainside just north of the raped City.

"Nnngh!" the Messenger too rolled into a tree. He winced and giggled ever so slightly to himself: "Hehehe……argh……should have strapped seatbelts to my ass. I swear, I'll never get it down right like Kurt does……"

Robin scrambled up to his feet, shaking all over: "What the Hell just happened?"

"Easy now, Tim……," the Messenger caught his breath and sat up with his back to the tree. He waved a hand at Robin: "I swear……as funky as it felt, I did NOT impregnate you……"

"What……in the HELL……," Robin panted and shook all over. "Just HAPPENED?"

"You're dead!" the Messenger shouted back with a sudden frown that silenced the Boy Wonder. "That's what happened!"

"………," Robin clenched his fist. "Dagger……damn him! He was leading us all into a trap! He was using Terra as bait!"

"Very good, Robin. Now if you'll just calm down and—"

"NO!" Robin shouted. He ran, leapt, and jumped up to a tree branch. He stood, looking down the darklit mountainslope at the City. Ninety percent of the lights were off, so the distant burning spot of the Radioactive Depository shone like a beacon. "If I was nearly wiped away that easily, the Titans will be too! I have to go back and……"

ZAAT! The Messenger suddenly appeared on the branch beside him. "Don't bother. They're fine."

"Are you nuts?" Robin glared at the asian teen. His one blue eye was as cold and menacing as his ivory-clear eyemask, but the Messenger didn't falter any. Robin pointed down at the City and said: "After all Dagger's done to day, he's not going to friggin' stop till all of my teammates are dead!"

"It wasn't Dagger who 'killed' you, Robin. It was Slade!"

Robin jolted. His lips parted. "Slade?"

"Yes……and I assure you," the Messenger jabbed a finger into Robin's scarred chest. "……all he wanted to target—at least now—was you."

"But……B-But……," Robin stammered. "Slade is dead!"

"Yup……darn tootin'," the Messenger knowingly smirked with a nod. "And as a matter of fact, he has thus become death……"

Robin's optics thinned. "What do you mean?"

"Robin, don't you get it? Slade is Red Aviary……"

"…………"

"I can't believe it took me this long to figure it out, but I did……," Messenger leaned back on the tree branch and gestured: "Slade is Red Aviary……the Parasite of Triangular. Somehow he manipulates and prods the criminal organization forward to accomplish his own means. Somewhere in the course of gaining metaphysical powers of Destruction, Slade has found weakspots in the Dagger, Metropolitan, and Gothamite sectors of Triangular. Because of the threat he poses to them, the only strong actions Triangular can perform……they must perform in the shadow of Red Aviary. And here in this City……on the bloody holocaust that shall forever be known as November Fourth……Red Aviary slithered his way in. And Dagger took the opportunity to waltz in the shadow of his true lord and master. Slade targeted two people. Commissioner Decker……and you. Decker was just a last minute charge for the red will of the Reaper. It was you whom Slade wanted, Tim. All of the last twenty-four hours of pain and suffering has just been Dagger's way of dancing around the main scheme at hand. Slade has wanted you. In the same way that for some obsessive reason or another he has always wanted you. Only this time, he's not holding anything back. He wants you dead. And for all intents and purposes, you are dead."

"………," Robin gazed outward at the City. Then down at himself. "But……B-B-But……"

"OF COURSE YOU AREN'T DEAD!" the Messenger barked, then rolled his almond eyes. "Sheesh! So literal! All right, Mr. Puritan……maybe it's about time I made something clear."

He stretched a hand out and playfully shook the Boy Wonder's gloved hand. "Hello, Mr. Drake. I'm a mutant. And as your friendly neighborhood mutantman, I have a unique power or ability that gives me an edge of espionage and ass kicking, as well as making me score with the ladies. Since the latter part of those fringe benefits haven't happened yet, I've been a little too preoccupied with hopping around from dimension to dimension as my funky genes see fit. It so happens that I also have access to a silly place that act as layers between dimensions. And this silly place is called the 'Middleverse'. Ever heard of it? I swear to God, it'll be covered from head to toe with tourists in about two decades from now."

"Uhm……

"Anyways, a cool thing about the Middleverse is that—even though to some percentile extent it coexists within the same relative frame of a universe the likes of which you and I are familiar with, it is enough out of phase with reality to not subjects travelers of its emerald pathways to the ills and wills of natural elements. A good example of that would be……ahem……FIRE!"

Robin gazed numbly down at the flickering amber spot on the northern tip of the City. "The Radioactive Depository……you……"

"Yup. I 'hugged' you to safety. For the time being, at least. You see," he gestured while eloquently speaking: "There's a snazzy side effect of going into the Middleverse."

"What's that?"

"Being severed from physical elements is one thing. It goes without saying that the same thing is accomplished on the metaphysical side of things as well."

"…………"

The Messenger leaned forward and smirked: "Red Aviary only knows that as soon as the carbonite went off, your 'life essence'—if you will—disappeared. Being a fresh wielder of Destruction, Slade depends on the Red end of the Spectrum to determine if his flightless targets go 'kerplunk' or not. The Middleverse ripped you away from his proximity senses, and bringing you here will undoubtedly reinforce that. After all, now that Slade thinks you're dead, the last place he'll be going is north. Because it's WEST where they've taken Terra……"

"Wait a second……hold on……," Robin held his gloved hands up and glared suspiciously at the Messenger. "Red? Destruction? Spectrum? I mean what the crap?"

"Isn't it obvious, Tim?" the Messenger asked. He raised a finger: "On July fifth, when Noir thought he killed Slade, he was right. BUT……what he didn't know was that the vengeful act of killing him—so enforced by Noir's powers—also gave Slade the reins to the very metaphysics that ended his……'lively' life."

"………………," Robin merely stared at him.

"I don't know how much Noir has told you, but there are many shades to the ass-kicking grey of the swordsman's sexy powers. He only encompasses one of them. A rather……heavenly balance of Construction and Destruction. In willing Slade dead during the climactic frigate entanglement, Noir unwittingly focused all of his Destructive poles into finishing the masked terrorist. Slade—his mind twisted enough in favor of Destruction—seized upon the Red end of Noir's Spectrum, and now he has become a Parasite of the Balance of Morals in this neck of the world. Everything that Slade has ever wanted to do, he is now fulfilling: immortal life, death and destruction to all his enemies, and—ultimately—ruining the lives of the Titans. And to do that, he has to start at the beginning. He has to target and eliminate the first 'apprentice'. He has to kill you, Tim. He has to bathe the sky with your blood……make the bird's aviary a red place. And all the Titans in turn will follow, but in a pattern. Terra is next. She is the second apprentice. And the third apprentice? As cute and adorable as Jinx is—no. It's Noir. They're both in line for the red blade to fall. And then after that, God help the Titans and everyone else in this part of the world that claims to be 'good'."

"That's impossible……," Robin shook his head. "Slade couldn't possibly get away with it. He'd……"

"Be found out? Whether Triangular likes it or not, they're working for Slade. Slade need only threaten their inner criminal heartbeats, and they'll do whatever he prods them to without argument or dispute. Dagger's the one person with enough guile to stand up to Slade—after all the two have worked together with much friction before. But Dagger isn't a stupid man. He knows how powerful Slade is, and he knows that Slade—as Red Aviary—is only getting more and more powerful. All that Dagger can hope to do is somehow find loopholes in the parasitic system that will grant him the opportunity he needs to break through and impart his own will on the battlefront. Hence……why he stole Terra away. Terra is inevitably in line for a gruesome plot that will reshape the landscape as we know it. Thus we are dealing with two fronts here, one against Red Aviary—Slade, and once against Triangular—Dagger. Slade wants to kill the Titans……Dagger wants to rule the Western world. And both villains—entangled in the web of each other's evil—are spiraling their way towards a dual apocalypse. And that spiral began tonight. With the devastation of this City………and with the death of Robin."

"………………," Robin hopped down from the tree branch. He marched over to a clearing in the mountainside forest where the elevation gave him a grand view of the darkened city and the reflecting, red sky. "It's all so preposterous………and yet, it makes so much sense."

"Glad I could finally frickin' reach you……heh……," the Messenger said from the tree branch above. "Dagger had found me out. He was most certainly having a ball making me look bad before the late Commissioner and the Titans when our search for the carbonite turned up badly. But alas, there still remains a fat lady in heaven and she has yet to sing."

"…………," Robin took a deep breath. He fingered the shredded corners of his eyemask and tensed his jawline. "Slade……after all these years, he has what he wants. Ultimate power……yet in ultimate death." He gritted his teeth. "That twisted bastard……As soon as I regroup the Titans, we'll shove him into Dagger's face and see who survives. And then I'll smash in the head of whoever's left, god dammit!"

Swoosh! Pl-Plant! The Messenger leapt down and stood behind Robin, shrugging: "How can Robin lead the Titans when he's dead?"

"……………," the Boy Wonder turned around. He gave the Messenger a suspicious glance. "What are you saying?"

"Robin's dead, Tim," the asian teen pointed. "And it would do the world a lot of good at this moment in time for him to stay dead—"

"NO!" Robin snarled and shook his fist. "Absolutely not! I cannot and will not abandon my friends right now! They need me! They—"

"They will hurt all the more if you go back to them, Tim."

"………"

"Do you think Red Aviary is stupid?" the Messenger gestured. "Slade may not 'sense' you anymore. But he'll be back. He'll be checking on this Tower to monitor the Titans, all the same as Triangular's been monitoring the Titans for some time now. At the first sign of you being alive, he will strike harder to end your life. And I can't save you all the time, Tim."

"It's a chance I'm going to have to take……," Robin grumbled and started to march down the hillside.

The Messenger called after him: "And even if you manage to survive his second strike……what then? As it may be for the moment, Slade's strategy is aligned with his obsession! He wants you, Tim. He wants the First Apprentice! And if he can't have you dead……then he'll have to kill other Titans out of place to summon you out of the mortal woodwork!"

"………," Robin came to a stop. He spun, his lips parted some. "He wouldn't……"

"What else is beneath Slade by now, Tim? You would know that more than I could ever tell you……," the Messenger spoke in total solemnity.

Robin's gloves fisted and he shook momentarily. After a few seconds, he sighed: "Exactly……how much danger are the Titans in?"

"How much danger have they ever been in?"

"…………"

"Nothing compares to now, Tim. Nothing compares to now……"

"But they're my teammates………m-my friends……"

"The very same thing that made you do the impossible before…," the Messenger stepped towards him. "And in so doing, you saved them." He placed a hand on their shoulder. "And what Noir did when he had his back up against the wall……it hurt the Titans, but it saved all of you all the same. Tim, who am I to teach you that we must often do exactly what we do not want to do for all the good reasons?"

"And just what will 'playing dead' do in this case?" Robin growled.

"You have other friends, Tim," the Messenger leaned forward. Eyes thin with emphasis. "Other……family members……"

"……………"

"Allies whom……are endowed with far securer secrecy than the Titans, if I may be so bold. Now's the time to go back home. Now's the time to reclaim old trusts. Re-strengthen yourself, build back up, and take on the covert angle that will fight Red Aviary on his very own front."

"Batman……Gotham City……," Robin murmured.

The Messenger nodded. "I'm sure Bruce still has an eye out for his younger 'son'. Now's a good as time as any for the bird to return to return to the roost."

Robin gave the Messenger an evil blue eye. "You've never explained to me how you know so much……"

"Oh what? About the strange secret of Bruce Wayne? About the wonderfully mild-mannered Timothy Drake who became his ward years ago? Pfft……I'll have you know, Robin, being a ghost means more than just walking through walls and scaring homophobes. I've learned from the best myself, but thankfully for me—they're far away in another dimension. If you're ever there, feel free to look up every ugly secret about me and my 'identity' as you and your detective talents see fit. But I assure you, it's hardly anything of interest. Besides……I'm not the one who is being sought after by a red-smoking reaper of death."

Robin sighed shudderingly and gazed again towards the City. "I am……"

"Actually……ahem……you're DEAD!" the Messenger grunted. "Terra's the focus now."

"………"

"Slade is going after her. Dagger thought he could pull the wool over Slade's red eye by stealing her and using her for his own purposes. And to an extent, Dagger will succeed. But sooner or later, Red Aviary will catch up with him. That is……unless someone a lot speedier and a lot more 'experienced' in the Spectrum was to catch up with Terra first……"

Robin exhaled: "Noir……"

"Do you really think your 'number two' will sit around for long, given the circumstances?" The Messenger stepped up beside the Boy Wonder, crossed his arms, and gazed out at the City. "While you obsess over fighting crime, he obsesses over the safety of his friends. Even dead friends……heh. Something tells me that he'll go after Terra in a heartbeat. In essence, he'll hold Red Aviary at bay. After all, it is the 'right' thing to do."

Robin glanced over: "How do you know this?"

"In due time," the Messenger looked back. "A recent acquaintance of mine will reach an epiphany, and such an epiphany will run concurrently with him giving Noir a very important 'message'. I think we're about to see a new world that smiles upon Blake Glover."

"The reporter?"

"Da Man!" the Messenger winked. "And it's awfully nice of him to act as a substitute teacher for me. After all……I'm going to be a little bit indisposed with you, Mr. Drake."

"How do you mean……"

"I can't think of any safer harbor……," the Messenger gestured. "Than I helping you get to Gotham City by the 'highway'."

Robin took a breath. "You mean the Middleverse……"

"I've always wanted to 'go long'."

Robin stared out at the City. He took a deep breath.

"This will be a turbulent time for the Titans, Tim," the Messenger gently said. "It will be a turbulent time for all of us. But mark my words……as long as you and Noir are in different places right now, Red Aviary's wrath will be postponed. And that will give you and the Bat-Troupe just the amount of time you need to build up and figure out just what the Hell is going on with Triangular and the red-smoldering Slade. There may be a chance to save the world……AGAIN."

"Yes……we've done the impossible before, haven't we……?" the Boy Wonder murmured.

"I'm not sure who this 'we' is, but I'm flattered nonetheless……"

Robin smirked ever so slightly. "Why are you doing all this?"

"Doing all what?"

"Saving me. Investigating this dimension. Trying to help us stop this threat."

The Messenger scratched his neck and 'searched the stars' with his eyes as he spoke: "As a certain little bird once YELLED into my face……"

Robin winced.

"'This is not my City'. And……'This is not my blood'. But you know what?" He looked at Robin directly. "It sure as Hell is my war……in that the lives of innocence and the balance of morals are at stake."

"…………"

The Messenger extended a hand and pointed north beyond the mountain: "Now are we going or what?"

Robin took a deep breath. "Yes. But first…I need to do a few things."

"Ah. I understand."

Robin gazed out at the City for the millionth time. He sighed: "Forgive me……"

"What should you be sorry for?" the Messenger asked with a gentle smile. "The Titans will grieve. And they will weep. But the ultimate sorrow will be held for them—and not you—provided you choose not to do what's smart right now……"

Robin took a deep breath. "I just hope that they can last……"

It turns out that Robin had preparations for this sort of eventuality. That's a good vigilante detective for you. He had goods stashed away somewhere. Up in an observatory, where a former employee of Wayne Corp worked, the Boy Wonder had all sorts of Bat-esque gadgetry just waiting for an emergency grab. Prior to this occasion, he only had to rely on the cache once. But a revisit was inevitable.

Inside a darkened laboratory the next day, Professor Chang worked on a robotic arm that he was welding to a mesh of electrical circuitry and mechanisms. As he hummed and toiled away, a pile of newspapers showing bold headlines of November Fourth's tragedy and the Death of Robin rested in discarded, ignored piles on the floor.

"Dum de dum………hrmm hrmm hrmmm……," he chuckled to himself. A shine glinted off his red goggles as he breathed a synthetic vapor. "Tsk Tsk……what a shame. All the more room for bad boys to grow, I suppose. Hrmmmm……yes……heheheh."

THRIFFFT! SNPP!

Chang jolted from a tranquilizer shot in the back of his neck. "Daaugh! G-Great……Quarks Alive!" THRUMP! He fell over his work bench, unconscious.

TH-THWISH! Pl-Plant! Robin landed in his tattered uniform from a hole slid open in the laboratory ceiling.

Z-ZAAT!

The Messenger appeared beside him.

"Friend of yours?" he smirked.

"Hardly……," Robin grunted and ran past the man, snapping the tranquilizer dart out as he breezed by. He used a remote control to open a vault in the side of the room. "I'm the only one granted access to this chamber. It's for emergency re-stock of birdarangs……explosive discs……including parts of my R-Cycle."

"Courtesy of a certain rich 'dad' back at home……"

"That's up for interpretation," Robin grunted. He walked the length of the vault's interior, grabbing items by the handful. He reached a metal rack where a cloak of sorts resided along a length of space. He whipped the cloak free and revealed what looked like hover-droids equipped with sensors and cameras. "Before we leave the City, I'm going to release these."

"Awfully big for hummingbirds, aren't they?"

"They're probes. I'm sending one into every major City while Red Aviary is still around. Metropolis. Gotham. Central City. Keystone. Star City……where was it that you said Noir was going?"

"Vegas."

"Heh……figures," Robin rummaged through the droids, switching them on one by one with an electric hum. "If Slade or Triangular shows up again in any of these places, I want to know where and how and to what extent. If I need to come out of hiding to save a Titan's hide, nothing's going to stop me from doing so at the last second."

"You know……I just realized……'Chang' is such a stigmatizing word for a Professor. I mean……Hell……look at him! His face makes him look like a frickin' Asian goldfish or some-crap."

Robin turned his head and glared. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Tim……," the Messenger marched over. "You know as well as I do that you can't just 'up and go' to one of these Cities now! Your place is in Gotham. You need to regroup with allies who can keep your secret. You need to redouble your efforts against Red Aviary, or else any slight revelation of your existence could throw the whole plan into a loop!"

Robin took a deep breath. "Well……," he muttered. "……at least I want to send these probes out. Monitoring my footsteps is the least I can do."

"If you're gonna do it, close the damn vault door behind you," the Messenger gestured. "It'd do us no good to have 'Professor Wan Tan Soup' here wake up see evidence of your smexxy existence."

"Consider it done……," Robin pressed a button on his remote.

All in one accord, the android hoverbots glowed and floated out the vault door into the laboratory. They wound their ways through the halls till they reached the inner dome of the observatory. From there, they exited and hovered off to separate, invisible spots along the horizon.

"Skedaddle time?" the Messenger asked.

Robin took a deep breath. He glanced at the cloak. With a last thought, he grabbed it and hoisted it around his shoulders. "Almost……"

I try not to take things for granted. Thus, when I told Robin that he needed to fake his death to maintain a sense of order against Red Aviary's chaos, I knew that I had to relent to some things. I had to understand and keep in mind that what Robin was doing was hard. And it was mostly hard because of what it meant to him and his friends. He was abandoning them. He was abandoning them to save the Balance of Morals—and in turn, to eventually save them as well. Now Robin is one to sacrifice himself. But at the expense of his friends? He's had to suffer that before. And just like then and now, it was all…..ALL because of Slade.

"He was everybody's son. And everybody's brother," Superman gave his speech before the memorial crowd gathered at the funeral service in the City Cemetery one gray day. "And to the young and growing souls of those among us….he was everybody's father as well. He did far more than carry on the tradition and legacy of the Boy Wonder. He became a man. And men are not defined by age or by stature as they are by the pieces of their heart that they willfully give away to those around them in hopes of a better tomorrow."

"………," Robin stared. From over one hundred feet away. Beneath a tree, shadowed……robed in black.

The Messenger stood beside him at a finger's distance. He whispered to the Boy Wonder: "Tim……we have to go now. We cannot waste time any longer. If Red Aviary was to come back and sense you here, everything will be over with."

Robin merely took a deep breath. Through his tattered eyemask, he stared into the crowd and found the profiles of the Titans. But one face in particular he stared at in prolonged measure. A red head. Green eyes. A gentle, teenage alien clad in black.

The Boy Wonder's lips parted and he exhaled softly: "……Starfire……………"

"Tim?"

Robin blinked. He shook his head, sighed, and looked the Messenger's way. "I'm ready," he muttered. He extended a hand. "Let's go……"

"You'll be back, Tim……," the Messenger said. "And under better circumstances, I promise you."

"We'll what Batman has to say about that."

"Indeed."

ZAAAT!

They vanished in a green flash.

Superman went on with his eulogy, uninterrupted.

A cold, November wind.

And……

A green-skinned member lined up with the Justice League slowly turned and gazed behind the congregation. With thin, scanning eyes Martian Manhunter stared at the background.

"……………"

Wonder Woman whispered to him: "J'onn……something wrong?"

"………," the green leaguer looked back towards the outside podium. "Nothing, Diana," he whispered. "Nothing to worry about……"

"………"

T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"There was a slight surprise waiting for us when we arrived here at the Bat-Cave," the Messenger said. He looked at me. "Or Wayne Manor…..depending on how you see it."

I blinked. Nodding.

Yeah, that makes sense.

But……

What surprise?

"Batman was indisposed. You think the Dark Knight is THAT cold that he wouldn't even attend his dead sidekick's funeral? I mean come on!"

"I dunno…," Dick Grayson folded his arms. "It's rather an intriguing concept….."

Batman curtly uttered: "Wrong sidekick."

Barbara giggled.

"Hrmm….," Dick uttered.

"Truthfully, I was indisposed," Batman took the reins of speaking as I listened. "'Wasted' is more of the correct term for it. Deathstroke is so cunning and deathfully empowered an individual that he slid even beneath my criminal radar. As it turns out, he was claiming lives in Gotham City long before the Titans' metropolis was ever put into play. Only—since Dagger has shared no special interest in Gotham City, our town didn't suffer the same holocaust as yours. Red Aviary's movements were silent….swift….and deadly. Many people were suffering from Slade's carnivorous attacks, and I was to find out the hard way."

T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Gotham City.

October 29, 2004.

1:23 am.

Downtown.

SWOOOOSH!

Batman swung via grappling hook cord and landed on an eight-story apartment rooftop. He unfurled his cape and glared over the edge, his eyeslits thin.

A man was running across the busy city street that night. A heavy-built man with a buzzed head and hefty muscles. Eyes that were used to glaring were full of widening, white-laced fright. He ran straight through traffic, forcing cars and trucks to screech to honking halts as if they mattered little to his life. Like there was a greater threat eating at his heels.

"Hrmm………," Batman murmured to himself before standing up straight. "Well aren't we in a hurry?"

I had been doing twice as many routine patrols during my night beats, especially since the escape of arkham inmates Killer Croc, Clayface, and the Ventriloquist about a month before. I was hoping to catch a stoolie in the act of hanging by his own noose so that he could 'fess up to me exactly who was responsible for the breakout. I had no idea that something as big as Triangular was at work in Gotham, although Two-Face's recent exploits did both puzzle and worry me. That night in particular, I caught a recent parole subject from Blackgate making a run for it through the City. Very suspicious indeed…..

The man ran directly down the alleyway, heavily panting. Sweating all over. Terrified…..then….

FWOOOSH! Batman lowered down with a glide of his cape. He crouched before standing up menacingly before the muscular man.

The former inmate skidded to a halt, gasping. "Y-You!"

"Bolton……," Batman growled. He marched icily forward. "It's often I find 'Lock-Up' on the run from the law. Tell me, Lyle……just what are you up to this time?"

"Batman……y-you don't understand! You've got to help me! I……I'm being followed!"

"That's exactly what I was going to ask you about……," Batman leaned his mask into the man's face. "Who's chasing you? Who are you dealing with this time? I thought it was below you to associate with 'criminal scum'!"

"I-It's nothing like that! Please listen to me, Batman! 'Lock-Up' is way behind me! In the past! I'm just Lyle Bolton now! A gymnasium janitor! LOOK! There's something out there that doesn't see through shit to understand that! I-I'm a target!"

"Why? What for?" Batman jabbed a gloved finger into the man's chest. "What have you done to get hunted down for?"

"Will you wake up and smell the bat pellets for God's sake?" Bolton was panting and sweating all over. "I told you! I've gone clean! But that doesn't matter to this creep!"

"Who?"

"I DON'T KNOW! Everyone in the streets is talking about him! I'm surprised you haven't heard! The 'Grim Reaper'! The 'Parasite'! Word is that he ended Baby-Doll and then took out Calendar Girl and now he's out to RIP ME APART!"

"Bolton, take it easy! This doesn't have to be an interrogation. I just want the truth," Batman hissed. "Why are you running? Do you feel like you are in danger? Have you SEEN who it is that's chasing after you?"

Bolton hyperventilated. He pulled at nonexistent hair and murmured: "I-I-I swear! I-I see him out of the corner of my eyes! It's like he's some damned ghost waiting for me! He's gonna eat me up!" He gripped Batman by the cape and pleaded like a weak, wounded animal. "Batman! You've got to save me! I'm sorry for what I've done! I'm not Lock-Up anymore! You hear me! I'm not!"

"Bolton! Control yourself!" Batman wrenched the man's meaty hands off him. "At least give me the chance to……"

"!" Bolton gasped. His eyes twitching. He pointed a finger over Batman's caped shoulder: "It's him!"

A red glow.

"………," Batman slowly turned his head. His mask's eyeslits widened.

FWOOOOOOSH!

A red cloud of sorts surged down the alleyway. A red blade shot out of the vapors.

Batman gritted his teeth, he whipped out two batarangs. CHII-IIING!

The red collided with him.

Batman tried jabbing into the vapor, but was knocked fiercely aside by the smoking force.

"Nnnngh!"

The red converged on Bolton.

The man stumbled back, screaming. "Aaah! AAAH! AAAAAH!"

SLASH! SLASSSH! SLIIIINK!

Batman weakly knelt up on the alleyway floor. What he saw made him gasp.

Bolton's body lay in three, soggy pieces. Standing over him……billowing from the dark cracks of his red and black suit……was Slade.

"Slade?"

FWOOOOSH! Red Aviary smokingly spun around. His one eye glaring crimson out of his cowl.

"Batman……a pleasssssure. Hckkk—clik-clik-clic……Long have I dreamt of our firssssst time meeting. Hcckkk!--But like alwaysssss……," he lifted half a metal and flesh hand. A plume of fiery red smoke danced in his twitching palm. "…..I'm tradddding the gloriousssss occassssion for a chanccccce to get to know your ssssson….."

"I thought the Titans had finally defeated you……and that you had gotten what you deserved……," Batman stood up and readied a taser from his belt. ZZZTT! "But I should have known better. There was no body found in the Bay. It was erroneous to hope for your death."

"Oh…..but I am dead…clik-clik-clik-Hcckkkk! Far more DDDDDEAD thannnnn you cccan possssssibly imagine-hckkkk!"

"I will not let you touch Robin again……," Batman paced around Deathstroke, taser ready……sparking. "And as for you, I don't care what new tricks you may have learned. You're still the same criminal and murder that you were before……"

"Heh…….heh………heh……..,"Deathstroke twirled his sword. TH-TH-THWISH! He pointed it—billowing—at Batman. "…..I am betterrrrrrr than I have ever been beforrrrrre. Death itssssself yieldsssss to my command….."

"I am not afraid of death," Batman breathed.

"You most certainly won't be…..hckkk—clik-clik-clik……becausssse soon you will not have a HEAD TO FEAR WITHHCKKKKK!"FWOOOOOOSH! Deathstroke charged Batman.

Batman gritted his teeth and rolled to the side.

SLIIIIIIICE! Deathstroke's billowing blade ripped up a slice of alleyway floor.

Batman jumped up and jabbed his taser into the square meat of Deathstroke's backside. "Nrghhh!"

ZZZZZT! POW! P-POP! PFFFT! Smoke and flame erupted from the muscles and flesh in Slade's hollow body from the sparking weapon.

Deathstroke merely writhed, clicked, and grunted as his shredded innards and hidden mechanics grinded with each other.

Batman's taser exploded in overload. POW! "Augh!" he stumbled back, gripping a gloved wrist.

"Yesssssss….hckkkkk! Give me a tasssste of what it meansssss to feel pain again!" Deathstroke spun around with a twirl of his cowl's red tails. "It makesssss what I'm going to do to you that much more fulfillingggg!"

FWOOOOSH! He leapt on Batman.

THWAP!

Batman grappled with him, holding back the sword.

But as Deathstroke's face slits reached Batman's mouth, a vapor of red exchanged between them. And like a poisonous gas, it weakened Batman and sent him sprawling back, clutching his throat.

"Pardon my sssssmoke……," Slade slurred and spun with a flying kick across the Dark Knight's face.

WHAM!

"UGH!" Batman flew and slammed into the alleyway wall beneath a tall stretch of metal fire escapes. He leaned weakly against the wall, coughed, and hacked. Red fumes were lingering around his lips and face…suffocating him.

"You'rrrrre pathetic, Dark Knightttt….hckkkk!" Deathstroke sheathed his red blade behind him. CHIIIIING! "But still….clik-clik-clik!—Killing your wormy life will give me the sssstrength I—HCKKK!—need to finish off your pathetic squire….."He whipped out his shotgun and aimed high towards the supports of the fire escape four floors up from the ground. "If Robin can'tttt be my apprenticccce in life…..hckkk!-clik-clik-click—He will be sssso in DEATH!"

"N-No……," Batman coughed. He stretched a hand out. "R-Robin……"

BLAM!

CLINK!

BL-BLAM!

CLANK!

The supports to the fire escape snapped off from the murk-charged shots. The weight of the bottom four floors took over, and the fire escape platforms and railings collapsed. Burying Batman in a metal grave.

CRAAAAAAAAASH!

"Nnnngh!"

CLANG!

Then……

Silence.

"Hckkkkk!" Deathstroke holstered his shotgun along with his sword behind his back. He breathed red vapors in short bursts as he reached to his side belt. "Sssssleep ssssoundly, Batman….." He produced a carbonite grenade and clicked it on. "And assssss for the—Hckkkk!—face inside of that mask. Your sssecret shall be clik-clik-clik!—safe in flamessss."

He raised his hand to toss the grenade onto the metallic pile.

VRMMMMMMM!

"Snkkkt?" Deathstroke hissed and glanced aside.

A pair of headlights blinded him before the onrush of the Batmobile. The vehicle took up the size of the entire alleyway as it burned rubber down the claustrophobic length and fired a large 'grappling hook' out of its front fender.

POW! SWOOOOOSH-SMACK!

The hook slammed into Deathstroke's stomach and shot his smoking body down the length of the alley. When he impacted a wall on the far end, the grenade rolled too the ground, beeped along the side, and ignited the carbonite.

KAAAABOOOMM!

Flames and plasma ate through the alleyway but came short of where the Batmobile had screeched to a halt. The large grappling cord extracted back into the fender, but the hook had been blown off. SNPP!

After a momentary stillness, the glass door to the Batmobile slid open. SWISSSSSSSH!

Batgirl unbuckled and leapt out of the driver's seat. She stared at the flames, panting. Then she looked at Bolton's bloody remains. Then she looked at the pile of metal shrapnel piled on top of the hidden Knight. "Batman!" With a twirl of a yellow and blue cape, she leapt out of the car, ran over to the pile, and started pulling slab after slab of metal off of him.

"Nnnnngh!" Batgirl heaved and struggled. CL-CLANK! CLANG! "Mmmmff!" THWANG! Finally, she uncovered him. She gasped at the sight of his eyes closed……a huge, ugly welt on his forehead. She felt his pulse, gulped, and shook his figure. "Batman……snap out of it! Say something! Bruce? Bruce!"

I was rather fortunate to have Batgirl on a beat that night as well. If it wasn't for her, Deathstroke would have come back and finished me….as we all know that the single explosion in the alleyway wasn't sufficient enough to finish him off. Batgirl brought me back to the BatCave, but I wouldn't be reached for over a week. I had survived the attack, but the concussion was a serious one…..and I was in a coma for a long time. During which, the horrors of November Fourth unfolded, as well as Red Aviary's and Triangular's infamy in Metropolis and Gotham City…..which was incessantly climbing.

"I got the fourth call from the Justice League in a row today, Alfred," Barbara Gordon said as she stood beside the medical table in the Batcave. "This time, it was Superman. Clark has resorted to asking for me or Nightwing. He must know something's up. He must know that something else is terribly, horribly wrong……"

Alfred paced around the other side of the table, administering to Wayne's health. "I assume you're following along in the best of Master Bruce's intentions."

"Yes. Only HE can make contact with the Justice League for some godawful reason," Barbara tossed her arms and sighed. "I wonder if I'm doing the right thing in sticking to that rule, Alfred. With what's happened to the Titans…………w-with what's happened to Robin, would you do things differently?"

"I would most certainly investigate the issue of Robin's disappearance……"

"Disappearance?" Barbara made a face. "Alfred, Tim was instantly vaporized in that explosion!"

"Ah……but do you see here how Master Bruce is still alive? And over the last forty-eight hours, his health systems have been improving. Miracles happen, Miss Gordon. I've lived long enough around capes and cowls to know that."

Barbara sighed and stared off into a rocky abyss. "Or maybe you've just lived so long that death is of little consequence to you anymore."

"Ah, that too."

Barbara gave him a sarcastic smirk.

There was then a signal flashing on the Bat-Computer a few tiers up.

Barbara turned to look. "Hmmm……another message from Superman?"

"Hardly," Alfred put some tools and needles aside before walking up the steps. "That's my cue."

"Oh……right. Someone's at the door of the manor."

"Quite so. And lord knows it's my purpose to be Master Bruce's number one diversionary tactic. Do watch out for him while I'm briefly gone, will you?"

"Heh……," Barbara folded her arms and looked over at the unconscious man on the medical bed. "What else am I good for these days?"

"………………"

The redhead sighed. "Hang in there, Bruce. I'm sure Tim will be fine……"

T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"I woke up shortly after Robin's arrival. It wasn't until after then that I started my initial planning with everyone on the old 'team'," Batman said. "If I had only been around when Robin most needed it, I swear….I would have been there the fastest the Batjet would have taken me. Even still, I soon realized that supersonic speed wouldn't be enough to save the Titans. Deathstroke was far stronger than I had given him credit. And making a show of going out into the criminal public to forcibly stop him would not get the job done."

"In other words," the Messenger winked. "My plan was golden."

I simpered.

"I more or less had to take the reins of things when I arrived back in Gotham," Robin said. "The Messenger had pointed the way. Batgirl and Alfred had preserved the Dark Knight. And all the while, the Titan's City was losing focus. Vegas, Metropolis, and Gotham City would become the aim of Deathstroke's plans….as you could concurrently find out, Noir. But at the time—early November—the wheels of fate hadn't come full circle into Gotham. There was still time to…..strengthen up….."

T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-

November 10, 2004.

Gotham City.

Wayne Manor.

2:32 pm

Dinnnnnng-Donnnnng!

"Just a minute! Just a minute……pfft……rubbish. Everyone's so blasted impatient about ruining a billionaire's afternoon these days."

Creeeeak!

One of the two front doors opened and Alfred peered out from inside the Manor's Atrium.

His eyes widened: "Good god!"

A beaten and cut-up Robin was leaning on the supporting arm of the Messenger.

"Hiya, Jeeves," the Messenger smirked. "Uh……does this bird belong to you?"

"I……erhm……er……ahem……," Alfred sputtered nervously before sticking his nose up. "Never seen him before in my life! Shoo, you strangers!"

"Nnngh!" Robin shoved the Messenger aside and stomped through the door. "Alfred, it's me, Tim."

"D-Dehrm……"

"I need to see Bruce. Now."

"That w-will be most difficult, Master Tim……," Alfred said, watching nervously as the Messenger whistled his way in after Robin. "Y-You see……erm……Bruce is……"

"What, Alfred? I'm sure Batman can be interrupted no matter what he's doing," Robin gestured at himself. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm kinda sorta dead."

The Messenger smirked and pointed: "He's kinda sorta dead."

Robin glared, then turned back to Alfred: "Slade's alive. He's out to kill the Titans……while Dagger of Triangular is out to control the Eastern Seaboard. I need to see Bruce to talk over a counter-operation. Where is he?"

"He……ahem……is in a coma, Master Tim."

The Messenger blinked.

Robin's jaw dropped. "He's what?"

"He……h-had a nasty run in with some murderous fellow who was streaking 'red flames' as Miss Gordon put it. Quite a harrowing situation. It's quite miraculous that he survived at all, to tell the truth. Much like you, Master Tim. Good heavens……how haven't you bled to death!"

"'Streaking red flames'………," Robin murmured. A pause. He turned towards the Messenger.

The asian teen somberly nodded.

Robin gritted his teeth and shook his clenched fists. "Slade………"

"P-Perhaps you should see a doctor. Ms. Thompkins is back in town and—"

"RAAAAUGH!" Robin spun suddenly and slammed his foot through a nearby, expensive vase.

SHATTER!

Alfred cringed, fidgeting over the fallen shards.

The Messenger looked elsewhere, silent.

Robin stood in place……seething. He snarled: "Where is he?"

'Mad' doesn't describe how I felt then and there. It was then I realized that indeed there was no turning back. The Titans may have been the target of Deathstroke's new, metaphysical agenda……but they weren't the only ones vulnerable to him. The Messenger was right. Slade was indeed bent to make a 'red aviary' out of my life. And he started at home, where I was most intimately sensitive. Where everything in my life began and—with his insistence—it could very well have ended as well. Deathstroke had willed Batman's death. And maybe—as far as he was concerned—he succeeded. For it gave him the will power and motivation necessary to come after me. Bruce's predicament was only a precursor to November Fourth, but it shook me all the more. Because it struck at home. Red Aviary……meant business…..

"So let me get this straight…..," Dick Grayson stood in his black clothes and leather jacket, leaning up against the Bat-Computer. "Slade is alive. He's been zombified or something by a manifestation of the Titan Noir's power when he was 'killed' on that frigate four months ago. And now that he's realized the full extent of his deathly powers, he's on a rampage to eliminate all Titans and—what—challenged some sort of Balance of Mortality?"

"'Balance of Morals'," Robin corrected. He sat on a bench, shirtless, while Leslie Thompkins huddled behind him and tended to his wounds. "It's what Slade obsessed over the last time we faced him. He wanted to pollute all the Titans with the same nanomachines he once used to control me when I was his 'apprentice'. Only—that time on the Frigate—he planned to torture us to death until we either succinctly perished or willed ourselves over to his side."

"The idea is an experiment in and of itself," the Messenger said, standing a little way's off from Alfred and Barbara. "But a very realistic one. If you kill enough superheroes and absolute do-gooders in one fatal swoop, the result is a blackhole that chaotically sucks in every subsequent defender of justice along the spiritual-whatever plane nearby. If Red Aviary—Slade kills enough heroes and people, a snowball effect will take shape. Tilting the so titled 'balance of morals' and letting evil and Destruction have a hand at holding the greater weight in this universe for a change."

"That's utter bologna!" Nightwing barked. He gestured wildly: "Who says there's a discernible essence of right and wrong in this universe? Slade's utterly insane!"

"You're right, Dick," Robin frowned. Wincing a little from Dr. Thompkins' administrations. "It's total, utter insanity. But that total utter insanity has robbed my City of its Commissioner and hundreds of innocent people. And need we overlook the violence that has taken place in Gotham City? The violence that nearly took Bruce's life?"

Barbara glanced forlornly at the medical table where Bruce 'slept', then turned her attention back to the group: "I did extensive research while on the Net this morning. A terrible tragedy has taken place at Lexcorp a while ago. A massacre inside the Lexcorp HQ building itself. Whatever is truly Red Aviary's strength, is stretches out beyond the constraints of Gotham and the Titans' City."

"Sounds like a clear case of the apocalypse to me……," Dr. Thompkins murmured. "And if Bruce's and Tim's near death isn't a personal testament to that, I don't know what is."

"I know this sounds wyrd……," Robin hesitantly uttered, "……but I want to 'stay dead'. As long as Slade thinks I'm out of this mortal coil, he'll start on a pattern of movement that we can more readily observe and respond to."

"Slade will be after Tara Markov next," the Messenger nodded. "With the 'first apprentice' now dead, the 'second apprentice' is his target. Fortunately—or unfortunately—Dagger has Terra's statue hidden. He too is trying to prolong the escapades of Red Aviary, but for his own nefarious purposes. But all the better……because we've got a wildcard slicing its way onto the dealing table. Noir—the same Titan whose powers are most related to Slade's infamy—is about to start a trek. Pretty soon—yes, even tonight or tomorrow night I gander—my good friend Blake Glover will be delivering him a message. I intend to rendezvous with Noir in Vegas. I promise you all……I'll see to it that he helps get Terra to safety."

"Exactly who is this joker, anyways?" Dick gestured at the Messenger.

"Oh, the same as always," the Messenger shrugged with a smirk. "Only minus the face paint, a few inches, and a sexy clown henchgirl. Say, any of you Mark Hamill fans?"

"Ignore his joviality," Robin spoke to Dick. "He saved my life. He knows a Hell of a lot more about this ordeal than I do."

"And how do we know that?"

"Correction, Robins," the Messenger lifted his finger.

Both boys looked over on subconscious impulse.

The Messenger said: "I know a lot about what's going on. Ghost vision goes so far, ya know. But when it comes to Slade……I believe the expert is the most recent ghost of all. Yon chirping-dead-guy right there. Say, you look handsome in 'lacerations'. It's a nice color for you."

"Save it," Robin droned. He turned to face Barbara. "You said that there was an incident in Metropolis a while ago?"

"Yes. A bloody massacre of its lab technicians," Barbara nodded. "I downloaded security feeds during a night-long hacking."

"Metropolis is one of the three poles of Triangular," the Messenger said.

"Exactly," Robin nodded. "I have a feeling that some answers as to the relation of Triangular to Slade might make themselves known if that place was to have a further examination……"

"I'll see what I can do," Barbara said.

"I dunno……," Robin scratched his chin. "Someone might want to go in there and investigate in person."

"Like any of us are in the condition to do that!" Dick exclaimed.

"There's also a group of Triangularites in this City, and we must find out who……," Robin stood up.

Thompkins complained: "Tim, I'm not finished yet—"

"Any word on the escapees from Arkham?"

Dick shook his head: "Clayface, nope. Killer Croc, nope. Ventriloquist……he may be in this City. Word is out that Rhino and Mugsy his two favorite lackeys were seen in the upper apartment complexes."

"What about the Joker?"

"Out of Town. Same with the Riddler. There's been no sign from them for a while."

"……who left would possibly be capable and willing to strike a deal with Triangular?" Robin thought aloud. "It'd have to be someone who would find the deaths of smaller, two-bit villains like Lock-Up and Calendar Girl as collateral damage. And you can rule Thorne and Dagget out, because they couldn't afford these days to take such familial risks."

"Right."

"…………," Robin's eyemask lit up and he palmed his fist with slight pain. "Two-Face! He's still at large AND he's had connections with Lexcorp before! Why didn't I think of it before?"

"Too busy shooting down HINDs?" the Messenger remarked.

Robin spun to face him, again making Dr. Thompkins jump. "Messenger……do you know anything about Two-Face's involvement?"

The asian teen shrugged with a smirk. "You're a detective in this case, Boy Wondrous!"

"It has to be him," Robin said. Then with a slight, soft sigh he added: "Who else would Slade persuade to ally with Dagger? There's no one else in this City who has hurt me as much as Two-Face has. No one except………"

The Messenger leaned his head to the side, curious.

Robin shook his head. "Never mind." He looked up. "Nightwing!"

"Huh?"

"Pay the Penguin a visit. If anyone's got information, he knows. And I can't interpret him myself without blowing my cover!"

"Erhm……"

"Batgirl! When you're done reexamining Lexcorp through the computer, see what you can do with your dad's influence to check on Maggie Sawyer's files regarding Lexcorp embezzlement. If they're circulating funds in an awkward fashion as of late, that might point us in the right direction!"

"Uhhhh……"

"Alfred! Could you get my old R-Cycle ready?"

"…………," the butler was suppressing a smile.

In fact, everyone else seemed on the verge of either laughing or shouting.

The Boy Wonder's eyemask thinned. "What? What am I missing?"

"It would seem that Master Tim has gotten quite used to being a team leader……"

"Y-Yeah……," Dick chuckled. "Quick, Barbara! Chant 'azarath metrion zinthos' so you can begin a computer search of Metropolis! Hahaha!"

CLANG! Robin's fist slammed into the bench. "Dammit! I'm not kidding around here!"

The others were silent.

Robin pointed with a frown: "Bruce's practically dying. I'm supposed to be dead. And if something isn't done soon, Terra, Noir, and the rest of the Titans are going to bite Slade's red blade! Or even worse……Triangular could get the upper hand of things and November Fourth will happen all over again!"

"…………"

"…………"

"…………"

Robin took a calmer breath, but there was still laced anger in his voice as he said: "And if any of you wants to start doing something to get a little order in this chaos going, then be my guest! But we gotta start moving now! How else can we outrun Death?"

"Tim……," Thompkins placed a hand on his bandaged shoulder. "Be a little calm. I know that none of us have been what you've been through as of late, but this is all a little hard to digest." She looked around at the others. "As for the rest of you, you should take Robin a little more seriously! Hasn't his days with the Titans and battling Slade proven something to you? Or does it take another hundred deaths of his own City's innocent civilians to wake you all up to what's going on here?"

Alfred and Dick looked aside.

Barbara walked over and stood before Tim: "You are certainly not the same twelve-year-old punk who stowed away in the Batmobile and became a charming part of all our lives." She bent over and hugged him gently. "We're proud of you, Tim. And by all means, we'll go where you point us. This is your battle as much as ours……"

Robin took a deep breath. Something soft and reserved inside of him said in a relatively foreign, human voice: "Th-Thanks, Babs. I'm just……mad at what Slade has done. To my City. To Batman." A breath. He glanced to the side. "To my friends……"

Dick walked up and pointed towards the infirmary, smirking: "Well, don't be too mad for too long."

Barbara and Robin spun, gasping.

Bruce Wayne was stirring to life on the medical bed.

"Blessed be!" Thompkins exhaled with a grin. She made her elderly down the steps and hurried to the billonaire's side to treat him to wakefulness.

Alfred smiled: "Well……it certainly feels like Christmas all over again. In some morose……awkward way."

"Which means my cue to leave……," said the Messenger's voice.

Everyone spun and looked up towards the top of the stairs leading out of the Bat-Cave.

The asian teen waved: "When things get happier, that's when I walk off. Lord knows, it's a wyrd pattern. I'm only available for sunshine housecalls. Anywho……"

"Las-Vegas-Ho, I take it?" Robin smirked.

"More or less. I usually wouldn't touch one myself……," a blink. "Oh, you mean 'are you GOING to Las Vegas'! HA! Oh……yeah. You're a real killer, Robin."

He must have been rolling his eyes beneath his mask.

"I need to meet a certain swordsman. A good one. I promise you, I'll be back. And when the time comes……it will be you whom Noir will be needing assistance from."

"Sounds reasonable to me."

The Messenger picked something out of his pocket. An extra, bulky watch. "Here……catch!"

He tossed it.

Dick caught it. He glanced up. "What's this?"

"Communication. Whenever I drop into this universe, drop me a message in turn. It helps to touch base."

"What about Noir?" Robin called up. "Shouldn't he know that—"

"Robin is dead, Tim. Remember that," Noir pointed. "Noir will know the truth. In time. Right now, he needs to have Terra on the mind. And nothing else. Once things become clear, he'll look back and see all that's been accomplished……and maybe he won't be so mad at me."

"When you don't like the message, don't shoot the Messenger."

"Exactly. Bonjour, Batcave."

Z-ZAAAT!

"Wyrd……," Dick shook his head and tossed the watch into Robin's gloves. "Here ya go, Tim. Merry Christmas."

Robin swiftly tossed it back.

Dick nervously caught it.

Robin pointed: "Presents can wait. Let's all gather around the tree……," and that said, he nimbly ran and leapt down to the rocky tier where the infirmary was. Alfred and Barbara slowly followed.

"B-Bruce!" Robin called out as he came to the bed. "Can you hear me?"

"R-Robin……," the Dark Knight winced. His blue eyes thin. He reached out: "Slade……h-he……"

"I know, Bruce……," Robin gently took the billionaire's hand in his. "I know……far more than you could possibly know……"

"He said……th-that he was going to kill you……"

"And in a way he did, Bruce," Robin swallowed. A hopeful grin. "But only part of me."

"…………wh-what happened?"

"One thing at a time……," Thompkins forced Wayne to lie down straight. "As for now……rest."

T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"We soon formulated a plan," Robin said. "As soon as Batman regained his strength, we would all conceal our presence from the Gotham Community. As long as I was under an 'oath of silence', so would the rest of the troupe be. And if we were instead revealing ourselves on our nightly beats, that could have left us still vulnerable to Slade's vengeful attacks. In the meantime, we operated covertly to investigate Lexcorp and Two-Face all in one fatal swoop. But you know how observations ago. Everytime you investigate something in the physical world, the observable subject is altered in some way. The same is true of Triangular. We didn't want to reveal ourselves to them until we had a firm enough grasp of what they were up to. We're still not there quite yet. But the only reason we came out into the open, Noir, was to keep you safe and perhaps have a strike at Red Aviary himself."

"Which we did and failed, by the way," Dick added.

"I was personally trailing the Terrible Troupe up until their fateful run-in with Slade and Triangular on the zeppelin," Batman said. "I first noticed you at the factory south of the Gothe Nightclub. It was the first time any of us had seen you in Gotham…..especially after the Metropolis incident. I decided to work with Batgirl to track you and the Troupe down all at once. You did everything I expected you to. From interrogating Penguin to attacking the Troupe head on. You're young, reckless, and fearless, Noir…..but at the same time you are quite effective. Regardless, I wanted to be there in the event that you needed salvation regardless of anything. When you fell towards the burning zeppelin remains following your first meeting with the Ventriloquist, I was poised to swing in and save you. But much to my own surprise, Selina Kyle beat me to it. I wanted to know her involvement with this whole ordeal. And seeing that you were safe for the time being, I kept at a distance to observe. During the meeting with Gordon….and even the fight with the light-elemental assassin girl, I was observing you."

"Though, I have to admit," Barbara winked from afar. She sat at the computer still. "I beat them all to it."

"Ah jeez…..," Dick rolled his eyes. "Here we go…."

"?" I looked from Dick to Barbara with curious black eyes.

"We got to know each other quite a bit before, Noir," Barbara said. "And I don't mean the late-night chats I have had on occasions with Supergirl. But as of late, Kara's been asking me to keep a lookout for you. Especially since you insisted on going to Metropolis alone after giving her charge over Terra."

"…..," I squinted towards her.

Now wait just a damn minute……

Barbara smiled proudly. She performed a single key-stroke on the Bat-Computer. Text flashed and the speakers vibrated:

'HELLO, NOIR. THIS IS THE ORACLE.'

I bit my lip.

Dag nabbit. Son of a--

"She's good, isn't she?" Robin smirked.

Heh.

I tried hand-signing, but again forgot I was only one-armed. So I sighed.

"It was my pleasure to…..erm…..save your butt from time to time," Barbara said. "Besides, it's been a blast. I've never had a chance to put 'the Oracle' up to this much good use."

"Everyone's got to have a dissociative personality these days," Alfred gestured.

Thompkins chuckled lightly.

"Besides…..you and your regular 'hacker' buddies," Barbara gestured. "As it turns out, the infamous 'J' had disappeared from the digital scene! Somebody had to take his place, right? Now…..isn't it just fantastic that Kara telephone me when she did? It was great for the both of us, I'd say!"

I nodded dazedly.

She has a point there……

The Messenger suddenly marched into view, his hands held firmly behind his back. "'Disappearance'……is such a hazy word these days. Wouldn't you all agree?"

"What are you getting at?" Dick asked with a raised eyebrow.

The Messenger smirked and looked in the Dark Knight's direction. "Batman, what has Slade been trying repetitively to acquire that you've always had?"

Batman shortly answered: "A sidekick."

"'Apprentice' is more like it. Someone to follow in the bleeding terrorist's footsteps," the Messenger gestured. He paced in front of me, looking at his feet. "Now…..if someone doesn't do what dear 'daddy' desires, what does he do with them? He beats them up and threatens his friends—such was the case of Robin. Or he abuses them and claims them in the worst ways possible—the case of Terra. And with Jinx….."

"He resorts to murder in the end," Robin murmured.

"Exactly," the Messenger paused and looked up. "Doesn't this pattern seem a little too vicious to come from nowhere?"

Barbara said: "Perhaps…..P-Perhaps Slade was an unsuccessful father once?"

"Unsuccessful is a good term for it," the Messenger nodded. "But then again, so is 'unloving'." The Messenger suddenly swiveled around and spoke straight-square in my face: "Isn't that right, Jericho?"

I made a wyrd look. Blinking. And then I gasped, for a dizzy sensation throttlingly came over me. I lurched forward, feeling like I would wretch. But then my eyes twitched….a low green glow enveloped my vision. I fell on my knees and gasped as something passed out of me in an emerald stream and solidified in a small human figure on the Bat-Cave floor.

FLASH!

"Thar she blows," the Messenger smirked.

I gasped for breath, nearly falling over. Robin had run over and was supporting me by my shoulders. I looked up….and gasped.

There was 'J', huddled on the floor. Hugging his little self. He glanced up with wide green eyes at the Messenger like he had been shot. He then flashed me a frightened, apologetic face before scurrying over into a dark corner of the infirmary.

"Whoah! What in the Hell?" Nightwing jumped as the little blonde ran by. "Was that kid…..inside Noir?"

"A 'jumper'….," Batman murmured. "It makes sense now."

"It's that hacker!" Robin whispered hoarsely to me in amazement. "The one that was inside of me before Viper came to Town!"

I panted….panted…

I looked into the corner and caught sight of the trembling shadow of 'J'. Hiding. Shivering….ashamed…..

"How on Earth did he ever get inside of you?"

I shuddered, shaking my head and breathlessly mouthing: 'I don't know……'

"You don't?" the Messenger knelt and smirked at me. "Cuz I've been keeping myself bottled up about it myself. I'm pretty controlled, even when I'm jealous. But it was in Vegas, Noir."

"……….."

"Don't you remember?"

"………..," I gazed off into the dark expanse of the cavern. Thinking.

And then.

It hit me. Like it really did hit me. In the hallways of Pompeii. After the confrontation in the Vault…..

T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"Ghost Boy! Hurry up!" Jinx shouted in the middle of her fight down the hallway far behind me. "Get that door open before we lose the old fart!"

I hissed.

Struggling with Myrkblade against the panels of the metal double doors.

I finally yanked Myrkblade back. I considered punching through doors with my metal wrist when--

FWOOOSH!

The doors opened on their own.

I stared directly into the next chamber.

And—

FLASH!

"………….," I blinked. I suddenly realized I was sitting with my butt on the floor. I tried to get up, but I was horribly…horribly dizzy.

I winced and all but collapsed on the ground.

"Ghost Boy!"

I planted a hand on my forehead. I took a deep breath. And—just like that—the dizziness was gone.

I wearily stood up, shaking my head. Breathing easily.

I gazed into the room beyond.

Where the doors had opened on their own.

The green light was gone.

THWUMP! A final guard fell to the ground behind me.

Jinx ran to my side, panting. Her short pink hair laced with sweat bulbs. "Good job getting the door open!"

I blinked at her.

"Come on!" she yelled and darted in with a pink blur.

I awkwardly stumbled in after her.

T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"Jericho….or 'J' as Noir affectionately knows him by…..heh…..," the Messenger stood up and smiled at 'everyone'. "….has a talent. He can jump into people's bodies by making eye contact with them. From there, he either subliminally controls their motor functions, or simply sits inside the person's head and takes a 'ride'. In Noir's case here," he pointed at me, "…Jericho took the latter option. I'm pretty damn sure Noir was in control of everything at all times. Otherwise…..heh…..I would have noticed. I'm quite observant that way."

I panted as Robin helped me up to my feet.

"You okay?" he asked.

I nodded shakily and wiped my sweaty brow.

Jesus, Ana……

I can't believe it……

I just……can't believe it……

Barbara was slowly, gently walking towards the alcove where 'J' hid. A look of concern was on her face.

Batman drifted over by the Messenger's side, gazing at the shadows. "No wonder Jericho had so much insight. Hackers don't normally get that far in tracking down their enemy, Counter-Red-Aviary or not."

"Indeed," the asian teen folded his arms and nodded. "It was Jericho who hopped into Gary Sills' body and stole the video footage of Noir's battle with Jinx on the City highway, an incident that got the late Blake Glover into this whole thing. And it was also Jericho who 'hopped aboard' Robin at a press conference and used the Boy Wonder's position in Titan's Tower to catch up with the crew partially responsible for the Omega Wing bombing at the prison."

"Yeah….," Robin muttered. "I remember that."

"………"

"But why jump into Noir?" Dick scratched his head. "What's Jericho's game? I thought he and the girls he was working with split up a week ago!"

"What else is he doing it for?" the Messenger smirked. "He's trying to get closer and closer to Red Aviary. Much like we are."

"But why?"

"Simple enough," the Messenger pointed. "Jericho….is Slade's son."

"……..," I gazed at the Messenger, then over at where Barbara Gordon knelt. And I saw those two green eyes from that little body look timidly at me. And I remembered the boy crying mutely in my lonely, decrepit room of the Norman Apartments as I tried to hug his sobs away.

It makes so much sense now……why he was so obsessed with Slade……why he pushed me to join the Titans to fight him.

He felt responsible.

He……he still feels responsible.

God bless him.

"Hey…..," Barbara spoke into the shadows. She reached a hand out and touched Jericho's shaking shoulder. "It's okay…."

The boy sniffed and tried to jerk away from her, but he was collapsing in on himself. With his own tears.

"We're not mad at you….," she murmured. "We want to help. You can trust us….it's okay…."

The boy sniffed, wiped his eyes, and fell forward into Barbara's arms.

The redhead gently hugged him, rubbing a hand across his back. Very motherly…caring…

Kara has good friends.

I sighed and turned to look at Robin.

Robin turned to look at me.

And everything everywhere—if but for a partial second—felt warm and happy at once.

But an iciness rose to my brain and forced my lips to mouth:

'So what the Hell next?'

Robin nodded and said: "That's what I'm alive for."