as round and tight as

half a melon. But instead of the husky trunk of Batman, Tim's torso

tapered into a 28" waist surrounded by tight bands of muscle that ran

through his abs and into his well-muscled thighs. Stretched by his own

weight, the bariations of his muscles stood out in high relief.

The Pied Piper smacked his lips as he gazed at Robin through the

one-way mirror. Let him bake awhile there, he thought; those lights would

raise the temperature in that room to over 100 degrees. And he had been

planning this for a long time. o rush things.

Robin's head hung limply as he gamely tried to serve his strength.

After about an hour of the seari of the floodlights, he heard

footsteps and looked up to see a woman in a white nurse's uniform holding up

a large glass of water with a straw. The womahe straw to Robin's

lips and said, "you're dehydrated, drink this." Robin knew he he

water, and he was so helpless that there was or poison him,

so he sipped deeply. The water had a harsh metallic taste. Oh shit,

thought the Boy Wohat was drugged! Now what? The woma as

Robin's mind began to swim. The harsh white light of the arc lamps begin to

flicker into a million different colors and swirl around him. The pain in

his arms almost seemed to dissipate as the room spun around him.

It's time, thought the Pied Piper. He dimmed the arc lights and

activated the cooling fans which blew the hot air out of Robin's cubicle.

Then he walked through the hidden door He lifted Robin's with one

hand and stared straight into the boy's heavy-lidded eyes. "I am the Pied

Piper. I have roamed the world slaking my unquenchable hunger for the flesh

of teenage boys and now I have e to Gotham City for the most famous teen

titan of all."

"Those other boys were just bait for you, Robin," the Piper said.

"They've already been flushed into the river and that warehouse has been

buro the ground. I'm sure someone will fish them out eventually. You

see, I knew Batman was away with the JLA and I figured you'd figure out that

videotape clue I left for you. And you fell right into my trap. I had

to burn your uniform, since I wasn't sure where Batman might have hidden his

little trag devices. In fact, your whole body was x-rayed before we

arrived at this facility, just to make sure there weren't a

transmitters hidden under your skin. We don't want Batman breaking up our

little party, now do we?"