The Titans, Batman, and Alfred sat on the couch in a circle, as Black assumed the lotus position over by the window. For once, he wasn't singing.
"Let's review," Batman began. "Richard Grayson was volunteering at the Jump City hospital when he learned about Project: Duality, a rehabilitation project run by Dr. Jack White. He joined the project, and quickly found out there was much more to it than he anticipated."
"Richard recorded a series of videos on a Slade bot that shows the condition of the environment he was kept, as well as messages for us," Raven added.
"So you know who's behind this?" Cyborg asked.
"I'm fairly certain. I found it shocking at first, because the pair do not get along, and are rather hostile towards each other." Batman threw down a pair of files on the table. "This is the work of Joker and Two-Face. That much I gleaned from the final video recorded. Two-Face works in duality. When Harvey Dent had his accident that left half of his body burned, he developed a dual personality. One of order, and one of chaos. In the video, one of the men is called 'Harv,' no doubt short for Harvey. I believe he hired Joker to create a toxin that would cause a similar effect so that he could create an apprentice."
"How did you know it was the Joker?" Beast Boy asked, fascinated.
"As I said earlier, I recognized the alias Jack White, but more importantly, Robin said so in the video."
"He did?" Asked Cyborg. "I've watched it several times and I never—"
"In his code."
Beast Boy thought for a moment. "But he sings Cotton-Eyed Joe and Karma Police. How does that—?"
"Joe-karma. Joe-kar. Joker."
The team stared in awe.
"You're good," said Cyborg.
"I'm Batman."
"Why were they all the way out here?" Raven asked, "You said so yourself that it didn't make sense that they were across the country."
"It didn't. Not at first. But then I realized they came out here for the same reasons Robin did. 1.) Jump City has the second highest psychiatric hospitalizations in the country, right behind Gotham, and 2.) It's far away from me. I was actively looking for both of them. If this experiment was a three month long ordeal, they needed somewhere they wouldn't be interrupted."
"Somewhere where they wouldn't be on anyone's radar," Raven frowned.
"Well, let's find them and beat them up!" Said Beast Boy, punching his palm, an action he had picked up from Robin.
"I'd love to, but we still need to focus on Robin. I have an idea, but it may take a while to work. Joker's venom is never the same concoction twice, but he does use similar components. These, I'm familiar with. I may be able to synthesize an antidote for the toxin, but I have to have a clean blood sample. No opioids, no sedatives, just the toxin."
"But…won't that…?" Cyborg began to ask, remembering the trickle of dark fluid Robin coughed up.
"It's not ideal, no," Batman agreed. "And I don't know if we can truly get a clean sample with how long Oxycodone stays in the blood. But we need to try."
"So," Beast Boy began, optimistic, "if we give him this antidote, Robin will be back?"
"Yes and no. The opiates stabilize whatever concoction the Joker made which suppresses Robin's Ego. The result is this persona that was created out of trauma. I clearly see a lot of age regression in him as well, so it's compounded on the childhood trauma he had. If we cure the toxin, we'll probably see Robin a lot more, but there's no guarantee he won't just switch into Black at a moment's notice."
"How do we fix that?" Raven asked.
"We convince him that being Robin is ideal and that Black is the part he should suppress. Besides that…we might not be able to fix him completely." He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees and folding his hands under his chin. "Are you all going to be able to handle that?"
"Whatever it takes," Starfire said. "I am prepared."
"Ditto," said Beast Boy. "I can handle the occasional crazy Robin."
"I'm in," said Cyborg. "He was always a little crazy."
"Let's do it," said Raven.
"Where shall we start, Sir?"
"First," Batman smirked. "We need to wear him out." He turned to the corner. "Hey Black!"
"Yes Sir Hops A lot!" Black saluted.
"Would you join us for a workout this afternoon?"
"Psh, do bears ride motorcycles?"
There was a long pause before Starfire whispered. "Do they?"
—-
Out on their course on the beach, Batman prepared a set of skill tests to measure Black's abilities. He was curious to see what the dynamic change was, if there was at all. Cyborg supplied him with the most recent charts Robin had filled out.
Black came out, his hair slicked back from hair gel, sunglasses, and Robin's work out pants. His many scars were visible on his torso, despite the red beater he wore. He could care less though. Walking through the doors, he walked with a slouched posture and exaggerated shoulder movement. "Awright," he spoke with a terrible, thick Jersey accent. "Who's ass am I kickin'? Where's the gabagool?"
Batman narrowed his eyes as he observed the scars. Once Black was tired, he'd try to get a better medical assessment. For now, he wanted to see how Robin was recovering from his ordeal, and if he could go back into the field.
"What is a gabagool?" Starfire asked him, indulging his stupidity.
"What? You don't know gabagool? That's a load of gaaawbage!"
Batman didn't look back up from his charts. "Gotham is in New Jersey, and many people there have that accent." Then he tacked on, "Gabagool is a type of deli meat, like capicola."
"I did not think Black ate processed meat?"
"It's just a fun word to say."
"Gabagool…gabagoooool," Beast Boy chuckled in the corner.
"Alright, children." Batman said, louder. "Let's get started. Black, front and center."
The delusional boy skipped up and stood rim rod straight, his hand in an 'L' shape on his forehead.
"I want to see what you're capable of, so we have some tests to run. Cyborg, if you please..."
Cyborg spoke up from the control panel. "We'll start you out on our obstacle course. Starfire will do it first to show how it's done." Then he called over to her. "Remember Star, no flying!"
"Comprehended!" She called back.
A red light by Cyborg told her to get into position. Yellow, she crouched. Green, she was gone.
Black watched in admiration as she slipped through the obstacles, no problem. Lasers grazed past her hair, sharp claws swiped and missed her skin. At the end, she landed perfectly and elegantly on her toes, not a hair out of place.
"How did I do?" She asked Cyborg.
"Almost matched your best time, by two seconds."
She snapped her fingers. "Flortoga!"
"Alright Black, it's your turn."
The boy scratched his chin, then while keeping in his Jersey character, he asked "Do I gotta do it like that?"
Batman considered. "No...I guess you can do it anyway you want."
"Great!" He happily tottered over to the starting point.
"You ready?" Cyborg called.
"Whenever you are, you delicious chocolate man!"
Giggling came from the rest of the Titans as Cyborg shook his head and reset the test. "He's not sane, Cyborg. He doesn't know any better."
"BumbumbumbumbumBUM. BUM. BUM. BUM. BUM." Black started singing.
The green light signaled and Black started. Right from the start, he started showing a hidden cleverness and intelligence. He took a separate route, still through the course, but the less dangerous way. Each move he made was calculated, and didn't waste any energy. There was little running, mostly acrobatics to get big air from spot to spot. Lasers were guided so they aimed at him, but he moved so that he not only avoided them, but they took out each other. Then he surprised everyone as he sang while he moved. "The sun is shining in the sky, There ain't a cloud in sight. It's stopped raining, everybody's in the play and don't you know it's a beautiful new day?" He even threw in a few dance moves.
Batman frowned, though not in disappointment. "Interesting song choice."
"Mr. Blue Sky?" Beast Boy asked. "It's a classic, and a personal fav. What's so interesting about it?"
"It doesn't fit his theme."
"You mean the Radiohead theme? I think that was Robin's doing. I think this is just Black goofing around."
"Perhaps."
"Running down the avenue, see how the sun shines brightly in the city, on the streets where once was pity, Mr. Blue Sky is living here today." Black took an unnecessary risk by leaping sideways and cartwheeled through the air. He was almost nicked with a blade, but managed to twist himself out of the way at the last second.
Batman scowled harder. "It's a routine."
"I have never seen him perform such a routine," said Starfire. "It is not in our battle plans."
"It's not a training routine," he clarified. "It's…it's an acrobatics routine."
"I do not understand," Starfire apologized.
"I don't get it either," said Beast Boy. "Was Robin really into gymnastics or something?"
Batman huffed, not thrilled that he had to divulge such things. "I'll tell you later. All of you. It's…not a short topic."
"Mr. Blue Sky, please tell us why you had to hide away for so long. Where did we go wrong?"
The team watched in fascination as Black seemed to bend the rules of physics to weave through this course. And he did it effortlessly.
Like he had done it a hundred times before.
"Hey you with the pretty face, welcome to the human race. A celebration, Mr. Blue Sky's up there waiting and today is the day we've waited for!"
He came to the end, landing like a gymnast would dismount, up on his toes with his arms up. Then he lost all feigned composure. "Whoo! Didja see that, son?! Bang! Pow! Whoosh! Zing!" He laughed wildly to himself as he ran to Batman, grabbed his hands and danced around. "I did it! I did it! Are you proud of me, Bunny Man?"
"Unhand me," Batman spoke stoically.
"What's next huh? Huh!? Huh?! Uh-huh?! Huh!"
Batman placed a heavy hand on his head, to still him. "Calm your tits, kid." He looked over his chart, his mouth ticking to the side. "Matched Robin's best time."
"Yay! I'm a match! Just rub my butt, and I'm on fire!"
Batman narrowed his eyes as he stared at his old partner, his adopted son, this insane stranger.
He was completely unrecognizable.
They spent the day out there. Every variation of the course they could conceive, they made Black run it. Any information they left over from Robin's charts, they compared with Black.
He either matched them, or squeaked just beyond.
"I'm impressed," Cyborg admitted, looking over Batman's shoulder.
"I'm not," said Batman. "Training courses are good and helpful, but I would like to see him in a fight, hopped up on adrenaline."
"I have some footage of him during the few fights we saw him in."
Batman handed the clipboard over. "Actually, I think I'd like to see it in person." He stood in the middle of the brawl ring. "Black!"
"Aye aye Captain!"
"I'd like to brawl with you. No holds barred. Give it your all."
"Are you sure?" Beast Boy asked.
Batman gave him a flat look.
"Fair enough."
"You wanna wrassle?" Black beamed. "Let's tussle!" He ran into the ring, getting into a fighting stance.
Batman didn't wait for a countdown or anything, but lunged forward to throw a punch.
Black easily dodged, and launched an attack of his own, throwing a jab to the side that Batman left open.
Batman grabbed his wrist and attempted to twist it backwards, but Black did a standing backflip to go with the twist, then spun on his heel and nearly kicked Batman in the face.
"Wow Bunny Man! You've got the groove!"
Batman didn't say anything, just attempted to kick Black in the ribs.
Black blocked the kick with his arm, then trapped his leg against his body. He smiled widely at Batman before punching Batman in the thigh with the side of his fist.
Batman cried out as a searing pain dug into his leg. He reached forward and grabbed Black by the face, and shoved him away.
Blood was trickling down his thigh. "Who gave you a knife?" Batman snarled.
"I'm a man of many secrets," Black grinned again. Then his smile faded as he saw the rage on Bat's face. "You said no holds barred. I thought I was allowed to stab you."
"You wanna play dirty?" He growled.
Black's eyes flashed in delight as he darted towards Batman, ready to strike again, but Batman simply grabbed the front of his shirt, turned, and used the momentum to guide Black over and onto the ground.
Batman reeled up to punch him, but Black somersaulted backwards, getting to his feet, before leaning back and nailing Batman in the jaw with his foot. He twisted, landing on his other foot, and then kicked Bat's in the face again.
While Batman reeled backwards, Black darted forward and attempted to jab him in the stomach.
The fight would have taken a horrible turn if Batman hadn't grabbed his wrist at the last second.
Black had the knife again, and almost stabbed his father in the stomach.
"We're done," Batman stated sternly.
The smile on Black's face was malicious and sinister. "What's wrong, old man? Don't like losing?"
With the grip Batman had on his wrist, it took no effort to lock it and throw it out of joint.
Black swore a tirade of foul curses against him, his family, and friends.
"Not so fun being in pain, is it?" Batman hoisted him to his feet.
Black's anger dissolved into tears, as he started throwing a tantrum like a toddler.
Batman just shook his head.
Cyborg picked Black up and threw him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Back to the med bay with you."
Black attempted to hug Cyborg around the waist as he was carried away.
Starfire sidled up to Batman and lifted him around the shoulders. "Pardon me if I am assuming too much, but you are injured. There should be no reason for you to walk on your injured leg."
Batman didn't argue. He couldn't afford an injury right now, and Starfire carrying him would prevent it from getting worse. "Thank you, Starfire."
She smiled at him and rushed after Cyborg.
—-
In the med bay, Alfred got to work patching Batman up while Raven and Cyborg put Black's arm back into place.
"Of all the times you've been stabbed, I did not think Master Dick would be one of them."
"Makes me wonder how many criminals he has stabbed," Batman winced as another suture went in the wound.
"Johnny Rancid got it in the leg too," said Beast Boy. "Made him lose control of his bike and crash into a wall."
"Jesus."
Black laid back on the bed, his arm in a sling while Raven did her best to knit the muscles back into place. He pouted as he stared at Batman. "You cheated," he grumbled.
"I cheated?" Batman frowned back.
"You called the fight off, and then you dislocated my arm. That was cheating!"
Batman shifted his jaw and then answered, shortly, "fine. I cheated."
Alfred finished up, and gave him some Tylenol.
Black perked up. "Can I have some of those?"
"No."
He pouted again. "This is cruel and unusual punishment."
Batman simply took a sucker out of his belt and tossed it to him. That shut Black right up.
"You don't argue with him," Cyborg noted. "Why are you indulging him?"
"Not indulging," Batman insisted. "Compromising. I've worked with the insane for 20 plus years, and I always have better results if I compromise on the small things. Especially if they aren't committing a crime. I've gotten Mr. Freeze to stay complacent in Arkham because I have Wayne Enterprises working on a cure for his sick wife, with his input. Poison Ivy gets rare and exotic plants for her cell that she couldn't get anywhere else if she behaves. And Robin decides to trust whatever I tell him to do because I 'get' him."
Black scooted back on the bed to lay down. The exercising worked, and he was tired.
"So what next?" Asked Cyborg.
"Now, we wait. He hasn't had any opioids since last night, correct?"
"Yes sir."
"Then we keep him hydrated and wait until they move out of his system."
"How long will that take?" Asked Beast Boy.
"Probably another day at least. We'll just have to keep an eye on him. No matter how much he whines, we can't give him anything."
Black 'hrmph'ed from his place on the bed.
"Alfred, why don't you make these kids some food? In the meantime, I'm going downtown to conduct my own investigation." Without so much as a 'goodbye' he turned and left.
Once he was gone, Black let out a long whimper and pouted. "Mr. Bunnyman is mad at me…"
"Well, you stabbed him, what did you expect would happen?" Beast Boy snipped.
Black started sniveling. "He told me to fight hard! I thought it was okay!"
"It's never okay to stab someone," Raven told him, bewildered that she even had to. "Where did you put that knife?"
He put his finger to his lips. "Izza secret."
"Hand it over," she said sternly. "You don't want me to find it on my own."
He blew her a raspberry and took the knife out of his pocket. "Fine, Mrs. Killjoy."
"It is for your safety, Black," Starfire insisted.
Black started bobbing his head, grooving, one might say, then sang, "You got some nerve, coming here."
"And we lost him again," Cyborg rolled his eyes.
"You got some nerve coming here. You stole it all, give it back."
Raven ignored him and stowed the knife. "Let's all move to the ops room and help Alfred with dinner."
"You stole it all, give it back," Black sang.
"Uh…I don't think Robin liked that you took his knife." Beast Boy pointed out.
"Well," Raven poked Black in the chest. "Robin can get over it. If he cares about our safety, he's not going to let Black have a knife." She huffed, then looked at Starfire. "Keep an eye on him, would you? When he decides he wants to join us, he can."
She went to the hall, with a bit more anger in her step than she intended.
Black's voice followed her.
"Good morning, Mrs. Magpie. How are we today? Now you've stolen all the magic. You turn your back, walk away."