"It's been six months since I was forced to become Slade's apprentice. Six long and brutal months. I fought at first. My pride wouldn't let me bow down to Slade so easily. My stubbornness was relentless as I refused to go down without a fight. However, as time went on, it became more and more difficult to keep the fire that burned inside me lit. I remember, vividly, the day my fighting spirit died out. It was the same say that the Teen Titans decided that I was a lost cause. Their hope in me died and the pride and stubbornness I had in me died out as well.

"It was a Sunday, the day that Slade had given me the order to steal a priceless ruby necklace that had once belonged to Cleopatra. It was a pointless mission-why did Slade need a necklace? He didn't have a special someone and he sure wasn't going to give it to me. I argued my point, but he still forced me to go retrieve the necklace. Everything was going smoothly until half way through the mission when the Titans showed up. Normally they try to talk to me, to see if they could get me to come back. But this time was different, they didn't say anything, they just glared. Then Cyborg shouted what used to be my line emTitans Go!. /emAnd they did and they didn't hold back. They hit me with everything they had. I almost didn't make it out of there.

I failed to get the ruby necklace and Slade was furious with me. But I didn't care; all I could think about was how they didn't care. How after all we've been through they just gave up like it was nothing. I was punished for not retrieving the necklace, but I think Slade went easy on me. His pity was almost too much to bare. It was one thing to have your friend's turn their back on you, it was another to have the man you despised pity you.

"Someting changed that night. My pride had died out and was replaced with a deep sense of hopelessness. It felt as if the world around me had drown dark. My snarky attitude had ceased to exists as I quit talking. I responded to Slade only when it was required. I had lost my appetite, and randomly throughout the day my eyes would begin to water. The tears were the worst part; they would come on randomly and uncontrollably. It was a constant battle. I became a zombie, just trying to get through the day. The only emotion I had left was sadness, the rest were just gone.

"I didn't think Slade noticed my changed behavior, or maybe he just didn't care. Either way I was shocked when he sat down by me when I was watching TV. I was allowed to watch one hour of TV a day. Normally I didn't watch anything; I just stared as a random show played. Slade left me alone, this was my personal time. He never came in and told me I could and couldn't watch. He just left me alone. But today was different. Today he did come and sit down.

"I barely noticed.

"So, Robin, what are we going to watch?" He asked. He didn't really care what we watched he just wanted me to say something.

"I just shrugged and handed him the remote. He didn't say anything as he took the remote and started to flip through the channels. After about ten minutes of flipping he finally landed on a TV show show that I used to watch with Raven every week. I suddenly felt like someone kicked me in the stomach. Then my throat started to ach with suppressed sobs and hot tears invaded my eyes. I tried to hide it from Slade as best as I could, but he knew. He reached across and rubbed my back in small soothing circles. It only made me feel worse.

"Half way through the show, Slade finally spoke, "Robin, you need friends."

"I was confused and shocked at that statement. When I first became his apprentice he kept insisting that I didn't need any friends, all they did was get in the way and hold me back. A spark of hope flickered through me. Maybe Slade would let me have contact with the Titans. I knew it was a long shot, but I didn't want to screw up any chances that I had. I quietly and politely said, "I thought I couldn't have any friends."

"You can't have superhero friends, but you can have villain friends," Slade said bluntly.

"The disappointment came crushing down on me like bricks, but I didn't let it show. I was proud of that.

"I'm enrolling you into Hive Academy. There are plenty of kids your age that you could become good friends with," Slade explained.

"I didn't have it in me to argue, but is said, "What if I don't want to go?"

"You don't have a choice. You need to socialize with people other than Wintergreen and myself. You need to get out of this depression. Friends will help you with that. You start tomorrow so get plenty of sleep," with that Slade got up and left

"As I climbed into bed I tried to think of all villains that went to Hive Academy. There was Jinx, Mammoth, Billy Numerous, Gizmo, SeeMore, and Kyd Wykkyd. I'm sure there's more, but I can't think of any at the moment, I guess I'll find out tomorrow.