There weren't any guards. Made their jobs easier, Robin supposed.

The ache was still stabbing through his head and twisting the contents around its sharp pain, but now that he knew the source, he had a new determination to push through and finish this.

The team left and ordered him to wait in the Bioship as they went in to scout.

But since when did Robin or Dick Grayson follow orders?

xXx

Inside the warehouse, the team (minus Robin) didn't find anything. There was not a soul to be found. KF ran around, combing the warehouse for signs of life. Superboy listened intently for anything moving around, other than the speedster. M'gann did a mental scan of the area. Aqualad and Artemis kept watch over Conner and Miss Martian as they concentrated. But they didn't find anything.

That is, until Conner opened his eyes suddenly. "Robin's in here. I heard his heartbeat. And... it's really fast. Bad fast. And... weakening."

"Where is he?" Aqualad asked worriedly.

The clone looked slightly confused. "...Below us."

xXx

Robin had followed his mental compass straight to a hidden starcase, apparently undiscovered by the rest of the team, and down the stairs to a strange ruined lab.

The computers were smashed, and two giant glass containers not unlike the one in which they had found Superboy stood in the middle of the room. One was in pieces, scattered across the floor. The other was intact and open.

Robin approached the computers first. He tried to access the surviving data, but there wasn't any to access. Whoever had trashed this place sure was thorough.

After his attempt at straightforward information, he tried to piece together what had happened. Smashed computers. One canister smashed and one intact. Papers scattered everywhere, most of them burned. How was he supposed to figure this out with this constant headache gouging his brain at every passing moment?

Then he noticed the body. Under a table, nearly hidden by a smashed monitor, was the still form of what looked like a scientist in a special hazmat suit. It had special insulation that was unlike anything Robin had ever seen.

Except...

Miss Martian had showed them two weeks ago. It was only mentioned vaguely in passing, but he knew what it was.

It was insulation against telepaths.

He stood up quickly and started toward the stairs, but his headache suddenly decided split his world in two. His vision blurred as he clutched his cranium in his hands. And he knew all at once exactly what had happened, and what was now about to happen.

The scientists working here had been trying to make a homemade telepath to serve their bidding. But a mind that powerful is difficult to subdue. They weren't prepared enough to control it, and it broke loose, killing the scientist present. But not before it used her to destroy all of its data on the computers. It created a follower for itself in the intact pod by using all the information contained in the scientist's mind.

After it was no longer alone, it had turned to the surface world as an opportunity. It had planted the idea to rob the bank in a man's weak mind, and he had carried it out at the bank, where he had been met by Robin. But that was the plan. The creatures had prepared the whole heist to be a lure for a hero. They launched their attack, intending to learn all of his secrets. But his mind had defenses that they hadn't anticipated. He kept them from stealing all he knew just long enough to wake up. But they did have a plan for this possibility.

They had created a mind virus that would 'forward' all of his thoughts to them, along with those that he had contact with. In case the main function of the virus didn't perform as it should have, it was supposed to search through his relaxed subconscious as he slept. But for some reason, his subconscious noticed the virus and blocked itself to ALL telepathic contact, including both allies and enemies, and prevented him from sleeping. However, all this action this took a toll on him. That was why he tired so quickly.

And this headache that was now slicing through his mind was coming from the same place as all the understanding.

The telepaths.

And they were closing in for the kill.