A/N: Some insight into Kyd Wykkyd...

"Man, this place is starting to creep me out," Kid Flash said as he walked around the very dim area. "Where are we anyway? This cannot possibly be hell…" he added, glaring some at Kyd Wykkyd where he was sitting on the ground.

"But it is…" Kyd muttered into his knees. He didn't know why his Master had sent him back here but he didn't like it. He hadn't done anything to deserve this. He'd only done his best to follow orders. He was supposed to distract them and he had been doing that. Why was he here? It didn't make sense! The ground violently rocked and several of the teenage heroes scrambled to keep their footing.

"I believe we are on a boat," Aqualad said after Kid Flash had managed to regain his footing. "The motion and sounds are very distinctive. Why it is so dark, however, I cannot begin to say…"

There were several minutes of silence before Kid Flash seemed to think of something. "Maybe it's night?"

"No, there's not even anything here. It's just a whole lot of darkness, some noises, and an unsteady floor," Robin pointed out.

"We're in his mind," Miss. Martian supplied quietly, glancing over at Kyd Wykkyd. "I can't break us out of here though. Something's keeping us all trapped. Even him." The superhero teens looked over at their enemy. Kyd was curled up a little ways away, paying them no attention whatsoever. His knees were brought up to his face and he had wrapped his arms around his legs tightly. He looked utterly lost and more than a little terrified. It only took one look at him to know that he had no intention of this happening at all. He wasn't the one in control here. Someone else was just working through him.

Conner frowned and folded his arms over his chest. He really hated messing around in people's minds and people messing around with his. Suddenly, Conner noticed something and he gave Robin, who was closest a slight nudge. Robin looked up at the taller boy curiously. "He look smaller to you?" Conner asked softly.

Robin blinked and looked back at the curled up figure. "Yeah… he does," Robin agreed after a few mental notes. The shirt Kyd was wearing was a bit bigger than it had been and the pajamas came further down his legs than they had before. He was… shrinking? Not very fast, but he was definitely changing size.

"Perhaps if we ask him a more direct question, he will have a better answer to give us," Aqualad commented before crossing the distance and kneeling down beside Kyd. Large dove grey eyes fixed on him instantly and Aqualad attempted a smile. Their enemy now only looked to be about ten years old and was clearly frightened. Frightening him more didn't seem like a smart thing to do. "Do you know what boat we are on?"

Kyd shook his head slightly but didn't answer verbally. "Do you know why we're here?" Robin asked, picking up the same gentle tone that Aqualad had a moment before.

Kyd looked down at the ground and frowned. "Gran'pa's lonely… no," he said before shaking his head. "No, Master said to… do something," Kyd corrected harshly. "A distraction."

"Distraction from what?" Kid Flash asked, zipping over to Kyd's side in an instant.

Kyd's brow furrowed but he shook his head some. It was getting harder to not let his brain be entirely swamped with fear. It was clouding his mind. "He… He didn't tell me this would happen…" he murmured as he tried to remember what he'd been thinking before he'd been sent back to his own personal hell.

"Is there anything he did tell you?" Conner asked in annoyance.

Kyd's frown grew as he clearly strained to remember. "Master… wanted to keep you busy. You and the League. Needed time when you weren't looking-"

"Kid? Where are you?"

Kyd's face turned ashen and instantly his concentration was broken. His hands dug into his own legs as he searched the darkness for the source of the call. "What was that?" Kid Flash asked uneasily.

"Aren't you a little old for hide and seek?"

Kyd shrunk down into a smaller ball though the Team had thought for certain he couldn't compact himself any more than he already had. "Come now, Kid. I won't hurt you!" The disembodied voice called and Kyd flinched.

The Team exchanged a worried look. It was not exactly normal behavior that their suddenly fragile looking enemy was exhibiting. Robin glanced at the darkness where the voice had come from and then at Kyd. His face grew grim as he knelt down beside the boy. "What's your name?" he asked softly.

Kyd looked startled as he turned to Robin. "Christopher," he answered almost automatically.

Robin offered a smile and jerked his head to the side. "And his name?"

Christopher shook his head. "He said to call him Gran'pa…"

Robin scowled some at that. "But he's not is he?" Christopher shook his head.

"Robin? What is it?" Miss. Martian asked, clearly worried.

Robin gave Christopher a bit of a smile before getting up and walking a few steps away to address his team. "You said we're in his mind right, Miss M?" The Martian nodded in agreement. "Well, I'm guessing if this is his mind and he said this is Hell… then we're in the worst part of his mind."

"Like bad memories," Kid Flash said glancing around. "It doesn't seem that bad."

"I have a feeling we have not yet seen the worst of it, Kid," Aqualad said softly.

Robin shook his head. "I've seen kids acting like this before."

"You have?" Conner asked, eyebrow raised. "When?"

"In Gotham. A lot of people kidnap kids for ransom, bait, and… other things. A lot of them look like that. Christopher was kidnapped… and this is his memory of it. Whoever 'gran'pa' is… that's who did it. And who he's so afraid of," Robin supplied, glaring some at the distance. "I have a feeling he wasn't snatched up for anything good…"

"You think that's how he went all evil minion, Rob?" Kid Flash asked, glancing at Christopher for a moment.

Robin shrugged. "Maybe. Hard to say without knowing if he managed to get away or not."

"So, how are we supposed to get out of here?" Kid Flash asked. "I mean. If we're stuck in his bad memories… does that mean we can just change it to something better? Can you do that, babe?"

Miss Martian blinked in surprise. "I can try," she agreed before raising her hands to her temples.

"Don't!" a sudden, familiar, voice called out.

Miss Martian gasped and looked around. "Uncle J'onn?" The older Martian was nowhere to be seen but that didn't necessarily mean anything when they were in someone's mental landscape. "What are you doing here?"

"When Artemis was unable to awaken any of you she contacted us at the Watchtower," J'onn supplied. "We have moved all of you back to the cave so that we can try and bring you back to your own minds. Unfortunately, it has proven difficult to connect fully with my own powers. There is something interfering."

The teens exchanged a look. How long had they already been in here? If it had been long enough to for Artemis to wake up and then call the League it couldn't have been only a few moments like they'd thought. And then they'd already been moved all the way back to the cave? Had they really not been able to notice their bodies being moved like that?

"You mustn't attempt to alter the memory," J'onn warned mentally. "Not until we are certain how you came to be trapped within it. It may trigger a chain reaction and harm you all. It is not a risk we can take."

"Then how are we supposed to get out?" Conner demanded.

There were a few moments of silence. "Attempt to keep Kyd Wykkyd from being consumed by the memory," the Martian advised. "He is the catalyst. If he thinks of other things he may be able to break through. Or at the very least, give us more time to reverse what has been done on the outside."

"Right. Keep him in his happy place. Got it," Kid Flash said before zipping over to the boy. Christopher looked up at the redhead though he didn't move from his spot. "So, where are you from, kid?" Christopher simply blinked, not apparently comprehending the question fully or possibly he was simply confused by the speedster's power.

Slowly the blackness around them shifted and swirled until vague shapes took form within it. The teens felt the floor level out and they could just barely tell it was becoming rough asphalt. The blackness lightened ever so slightly to make out the form of skyscrapers around them against an even blacker sky. "It appears to be a city," Aqualad said as he studied the skyline.

"Yeah, but which city?" Conner asked as he folded his arms over his chest.

The Team studied the skyline carefully for any distinctive buildings but it was hard when the shapes were black on an even darker black. It took a few moments before Robin perked up some. "I know that one," he said pointing to one of the buildings opposite where Kyd Wykkyd was huddled on the ground. "It's the original Wayne Building in Gotham. You can just barely make out the sign though it's not lit."

"So this is one of your baddies, Rob?" Kid Flash asked glancing between his best friend and the boy.

Robin shook his head some. "I've never seen him causing trouble in Gotham before… if he is fro Gotham he might have never gotten back after the kidnapping." Suddenly, the world rocked to the side and the city faded into complete darkness again. The creaks of shifting decks around them were back as well. Robin grimaced some. "Guess I shouldn't have mentioned that again…"

"His home doesn't seem to be a much better memory than this one," Megan said as she hovered above the shifting floor. "We should find one that is more pleasant if we can."