Chapter 3

Robin sat there with his eyes closed. His head hurt terribly as he tried to remember what had happened earlier. He tried to move his hands to rub his face, but found that they were restrained. A searing hot pain flashed against Robin's wrists and his eyelids snapped open. The restraints had violently heated up against his struggling, and after he ceased doing so they cooled down. He looked around the unfamiliar room as he gasped in pain. It looked similar to a hospital room, where he was strapped onto a lab table in the centre.

"Hello?" Robin called out after he had calmed down.

A familiar voice struck out from a dark corner of the dimly lit room, "Oh Robin… good, you're awake." Robin's blood froze and his eyes widened as Slade's voice emerged, and his heart pounded heavily in his chest when he realized that he no longer had his mask on. Robin, with his identity now revealed, was trapped with Slade… this had to be the night…mare.

Robin looked down at his body and saw that he had no clothes on save for his green tights. From an adjacent room, he heard Slade's voice and strained his ears to listen in but to no avail. However, it didn't matter because, moments later, Slade emerged from a silent sliding door.

"The little birdie… just woke up." Slade chuckled, turning away from Robin and towards a screen, "Would you like to say hello?"

"ROBIN!" The beautiful voice of Starfire pierced through Robin's heart like an arrow and he wrenched at the restraints with all his might. He had to get to Starfire! He struggled against the clasps around his wrists and ankles and tried with all his might to ignore the resulting, excruciating pain. The searing hot metal burned away at his skin, and Robin could no longer take the pain. He gave up, seeing as his struggles were getting him nowhere, and tried to keep his mind away from the blistering pain from his burns.

"Robin! Do not move! We will find you!" Starfire's voice screamed. Robin could tell that she was crying.

"I highly doubt that," Slade replied.

"What do you want with him? What are you planning?" Robin heard Cyborg say in such a way that it reminded him of himself.

"Nothing," Slade replied in a monotone voice, "Nothing at all." There was a pause in which Robin laid there, confused.

"What?" Beast Boy asked, confused.

"I don't want you, or him, or anyone for that matter to do anything." Slade said as he walked over to a rod, dragging it towards Robin, "I hate this boy…"

Slade gave Robin a look of pure hatred, and said through clenched teeth: "I have no secret, ingenious plans…. EXCEPT TO WATCH YOU SCREAM!"

Robin was getting anxious and he couldn't lean over far enough to see what Slade was holding, and when Slade lifted the object up his heart began to beat rapidly. He barely got a glimpse of the S-shaped symbol of Slade on the object before it was rammed down onto his chest and Robin then felt unbearable pain that made the pain in his wrists nothing in comparison. He screamed out and his face contorted in pain all while Slade laughed, basking in Robin's pain.

Slade pulled off the brand after what seemed like an eternity, vaguely hearing Starfire yell something before her voice cut off and left nothing but dead silence and Robin's heart beating against his chest. Robin lay, gasping in anguish, as Slade looked down on his pained face.

"You've been very frustrating Robin, and I intend to repay the favor ten-fold you little bastard." He spat. "We're going to have a lot of fun, Richard Grayson, and it shall begin… now."

Robin's eyes widened upon hearing his real name, mind reeling in shock and in fear. What would happen to the people in Gotham? Would Slade act upon this newfound information? Would he tell anyone? Robin was thinking of so many things that he didn't even notice that Slade had left the table and returned with a tray that hosted an array of strange tools that clinked when he set it down.

"Richard!" Robin was pulled away from his thoughts.

"Pay attention!" Slade continued gleefully, "I am going to tell you my plan and I shall only say it once." He picked up a syringe full of teal, transparent liquid and flicked it so that it made the glassy, 'tink' sound.

"I have been introduced to a few new substances that I would like to try out on you." The villain moved over to Robin and leaned over him, using his arm to prop himself just inches away, face to face and so close that Robin could feel Slade's hot breath coming through the mask in exhilarated rasps.

"Each concoction creates a different experience for the person it is injected into, and you are my guinea pig, Richard. Every time one formula wears off, you are going to tell me everything that you experienced and what it meant to you. Furthermore, should your pathetic friends locate you, I shall inject you with a poison that will kill your body for four days. They will be unable to tell that you will revive, and it is more than likely that you will wake up six feet underground and die of suffocation or starvation."

Slade cackled at the sound of his plan and pressed a button at the side of the table, causing the restraints on Robin's wrists to turn so that his inner elbow was exposed. Robin's breath quickened as the needle approached his vein. Suddenly, Slade stopped and looked around the room.

"You know?" Slade said thoughtfully, "I may just send your team a live video feed. Then I could have my own documentary." And with that he plunged the needle deep into Robin's vein. Robin looked away and squeezed his eyes shut, but felt the needle sink through his skin and puncture his vein, the contents releasing into his circulatory system and he knew that in very little time the contents would spread throughout his body. As the numbness spread throughout Robin's body, Slade slowly withdrew the needle.