"Can't speak kiddies? I'm a bit disappointed! Where's bird boy and your two pretty friends boys?" The Joker grinned at the currently-distraught Beast Boy and Cyborg. The two had Heard stories about the psychopathic clown. The man who had killed and nearly killed millions of people.

"Alright Joker, we don't want any trouble..."
"Well that's just no fun Cyborg! Here I was all set to play a little game!"
"What kinda game?" Cyborg asked, raising his human eyebrow.
"Duude! You do NOT ask the JOKER that!" Beast Boy interjected, this made Joker simply hysterical, laughing that creepy laugh of his.
"And here I thought you'd enjoy a lesson in comedy Beast Boy!"
"Hey! I'm plenty funny! I don't need to learn anything!"
"Oh come on now, there's always something to learn! Let's start with; getting your ass kicked 101." Joker snapped his fingers and about a dozen thugs wearing clown masks jumped down from the buildings above them.
"Seconds out!" Joker said, taking out a knife.
Cyborg and BB somehow managed to fight off the clowns, including one hulking man who used a giant sledgehammer.
"Oh boys, this is getting boring! Maybe Mr. Happy will spice things up!" Joker jeered.
Out of nowhere, a huge, deformed, monstrous man wearing a torn purple pinstriped suit came and with one swipe of his hand knocked Cyborg to the ground.
"Cyborg!" Beast Boy cried, running to Cy's unconscious dented body.
"C'mon, wake up Tin Man!"
"Ooh, looks like Borgy's down for the count! Can Beast Boy avenge his fallen friend? Oh I certainly hope so! This is intense!" Joker grinned, staring as the frightened beast boy squared off against the hulking thug.
"Geez he's big..." He thought to himself, and on impulse jumped out of the way of another swipe from the big guy's hands. "How did he get so big!" Beast Boy continued to think, then he realized he was thinking too much and managed to transform into a gorilla.
In a few moments, Gorilla Boy finally managed to get an edge on the monster thug. Then things took a turn.
"Oh boys! This may not be a good time, but it seems the bomb I set to go off here an hour ago is set to go off in about two minutes! Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll get out of here while the gettin's good!
Joker laughed as he and the giant thug made their exit in a helicopter that just so happened to be just above them.
"Oh come on!" Beast Boy yelled as Joker and his giant henchman made their escape . His ears drooped when he saw that the timer on n the bomb was set to go off in 1:32.
"Cyborg! We've got to-... Oh no..."
Cyborg lay there on the dirty ground, on closer inspection, Beast Boy saw that Cy's systems were completely offline. The impact from the monster's attack caused his battery to leak.
"C'mon Tin Man... We gotta get you outta here..." Beast boy transformed into a gorilla, picked Cyborg up and clambered up the nearest building, getting over it just before the massive explosion went off behind it..
"Phew." Beast Boy thought, averting his near-death experience.
"Lets get back to base, maybe Alfred can help fix you..." He thought as he put Cy in the back into the T-car, which ever-so-luckily was out of reach of the explosion.

In the midst of his sadness at his friend's misfortune... He felt accomplishment at something he had never done before.

Drive the T-Car.

Raven and Starfire had left the scene of the Wayne family's death, after Raven paid her respects to the deaths of two great people, the parents of Batman, grandparents of Robin.
Starfire wondered in her naive mind how truly great this 'Bat-man' must be, it seemed to her that all of the other Titans most certainly thought him as something special.
"Starfire, there's nothing else to look for here, we need to regroup with Robin and the others."
"Yes, we have found little here of interest to Batgirl's misfortune or the disappearance of the Batman."
"Good for a history lesson though." Raven said, picking up her communicator.
Titans, we need to regroup, there's nothing here to find, and it's getting dark."
There was no answer.
"Robin? Beast Boy? Cyborg?" Are you there?" Raven asked, the worry in her voice was easily detectable.
"Raven? What is wrong?"
"The boys aren't picking up... We need to find them, fast."
Though both girls knew that all three of their male Titan friends could certainly hold their own in a fight, neither of them could help but feel worried...

Robin slowly opened his eyes, shaking his head, he became conscious that the light shining directly in his eyes was blinding him, he quickly blinked a few times, then sat up.
"It's about time you woke up... I was beginning to think you never would."
Said a voice from the end of the room. As he looked around, Robin became aware that he was in a prison cell.
"Where am I?"
"Safe, for now." Replied the voice.
"Who are you?"
"So many questions, and here I thought Batman had taught you everything there is to know about being a detective, I'd think you'd have figured it all out by now."
There was a very slight British accent in the voice of his captor, Robin studied his mind, desperately trying to remember where he had heard this voice before. Then it hit him like a brick.
"Ra's Al Ghul..."
"Very good, I suppose you are a worthy protégé to the Detective." Ra's said, stepping into the light.
"What are you planning Ra's? Where's Batman?" Robin questioned angrily, as Ra's approached the bars of the prison cell.
"You're not really in much position to be asking questions, now are you, Boy Wonder?"
Robin gritted his teeth, scowling at the man before him, whose face remained expressionless, as if he didn't know what to think of the boy.
Robin had only met Ra's once before, and it was a very sore memory to him...

Flashback

Robin shot his grapnel launcher up the building as Batman and Batgirl did, still angry and sore over not being told about Batgirl's identity, but he figured he would let it pass for now, at least until Wayne Co. was safe.
The bat trio made it up the top of the building, and were greeted by a familiar face, though certainly not a friendly one..
"Detective, I see the clown couldn't keep you and your... family.. occupied long, could he? I suppose it was to be expected."
"You were in hiding, Ra's, why team up with Joker?"
"I'd hardly call our relationship a 'team-up'... After all, he was but the decoy. Even given a job so simple, he somehow managed to foul it up... SO I suppose I'll have to deal with you myself."
Ra's snapped his fingers and about twenty or so ninjas appeared out of almost nowhere, leaping from the shadows and the sides of the buildings.
With a glance, Robin and Batman sprung into action, Robin taking on the Ninjas while the Dark Knight handling Ra's.
Batgirl in the meantime took the distraction as a chance to defuse the bomb. She opened the hatch on the front, and began fiddling with who knows what.
Robin saw her and just used the anger fuel to continue fighting against the League of Shadows ninjas.
The ninjas were on the ground, and Batman had Ra's in a half nelson, from which the near-immortal man couldn't break out.
"Stop!"
A woman's voice was heard from the edge of the roof.
"You have won, beloved." She said again, she walked into the scene and batman let Ra's lay gasping for breath.
Robin recognized her as Talia Al Ghul, Ra's' daughter, he also knew there was something between her and his mentor.
"I did it! We're safe!" Barbara said as she held a handful of wires triumphantly. Robin put a hand on her shoulder, "We need to talk." He growled.
"Yeah. We do." Batgirl said, wrenching her shoulder away from Robin's vice-like grip.

"I am sorry, beloved, but I cannot allow my father's plan to go awry like this." Talia said, as she pulled a detonator from her pocket.

"Talia, no!" Yelled Batman, but he already knew it was too late, the bomb had started beeping again, this time at a much faster rate.
In a swift movement, Batman grabbed both of his protégés and glided off the building.

The bomb exploded, the entire skyscraper's top was gone in a fiery shockwave.
When the dust cleared, Batman, robin, and Batgirl stood in a dank alley just beneath the burning building.
"Why didn't you tell me? Barked Robin to Batgirl.
"I didn't think I had to, and you weren't exactly honest with me either." She said, scowling at the Boy Wonder.
"But you told him!" Robin barked again, pointing to the Dark Knight, who had been observing this spat silently.

"He knew." Batgirl replied, inadvertently surprising and severely pissing Dick off, he rounded on Batman, fuming.

"It wasn't my place to tell you." Batman lamented bitterly.

"But it was your place to put her in danger!" Robin squared off against Batman, the fourteen year old was running on so much adrenaline right now, he could kill a bear.
Barbara cut in, "It wasn't like that! I volunteered!"

Robin turned his head and looked at her, "You think you did! You don't know him like I do! He manipulates, pulls strings, anything to get what he wants!"

To this, Barbara was going to reply, but realized it was no use... and backed off, in the few months they'd been dating, she had never seen him so angry before.

"I thought we had the same goals." Batman said coldy to Dick, who rounded on him. "Things change! I've changed!"

There was a brief intense pause, "The game's over Batman!" Robin finally said, tearing off his long yellow cape, and rounded mask.

"I quit." He muttered hatefully, pulling a grapnel launcher from his utility belt.
"Robin." Batman said, reaching his hand out to his shoulder, when in one, final, wrathful yell, Robin turned and punched Batman in the jaw, knocking him off his feet. Batgirl gasped in horror and ran to Batman's side as he rubbed his chin.

Robin launched his grapnel hook and swung away quickly, leaving the horrified Batgirl and a physically, and emotionally, hurt Batman.

End Flashback

AU: Let me know how I'm doing with this! Pointers? Questions?
I'll respond next time! I didn't really get enough reviews for the last chapter, but I'll do mailbag for sure next time!
Review and make me feel good if you want this story to continue!

-TheNewBatman