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Robin winces as the bright light flashes on her face. The small hobgoblin girl squirms in her bond as she's manacled to some sort of hard bed, her arms and legs spread far apart and bound by her wrist and ankles.

Behind her, the lumbering brute grunts and laughs, seemingly amused by some distraction of his own volition.

Aside from her, the form of the doctor plays around with the vial, now empty, a smirk upon her goblin lips.

But she can see and sense little else because Robin's head throbs to the beat of her heart, and her heavily lidded eyes do as much as they can to block out the light as she peers through her lashes.

A voice speaks up. It's not one that she's familiar with, but there's a snarky superiority to it. Male.

"A veritable treasure trove you have in your noggin, my darling." The voice says. With a hiss of air, the bed flings up to a vertical position, and the light shines primarily upon her head instead of her eyes.

The figure standing before her wears a tattered old suit, and his top hat has patches in there. His large nose, green skin, enormous ears, and wide eyes tell her little more than his origins.

"You're eloquent for a goblin," she grumbles.

He places his hand on his chest and bows his head. "And you're quite manipulative for a hobgoblin, and I would expect nothing less from a Justiciar spy."

She takes a deep breath, closing her eyes, trying to get that pounding to stop.

"Oh, there's no need to deny it. Your headache and disorientation are all evidence of the truth serum my lovely assistant has administered to you. You may not have remembered any of it, but that's how these things go. Rest assured, your secrets are now mine to do as I will."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she says, opening one eye.

The goblin walks over toward the wall. He pushes a button on a wall-mounted panel, which glows with arcane energy. "You're planning all sorts of nasty things for the goblin mob, and I'm sure they'll be more than happy to reward me for my efforts."

"If I am an officer," she says, her head held high, "Then kidnapping me is a serious offense."

"More serious than any other form of kidnapping, you think? My dear, it's only natural to cradle rob-it's the family business. Well, apothecary is the family business, but you know what I mean."

"What are you planning to do?"

"I'm just going to call your friends at the Family to let them know that their cute-as-a-button hobby is a no-good dirty mole. What anger there must be when their plots of anarchy are infiltrated by the arbiters of justice?"

"And who is the one who will be ruining my life?" she asks, keeping her eyes down, "And what are you going to do to me when you're done?"

He pauses, his finger right on the button, and then he pulls away. Spinning towards her, he tugs at his coat with his thumbs and smiles a big goblin smile. "Why, my dear, I'm practically a celebrity. And I want people to know that I'm doing this town service by exposing the truth! There are judicators among us, and they are traitors to our kind!"

As he speaks, the brute lumbers behind him, and the Doctor steps up beside him. He holds his hands wide, and tiny little gremlins hop up from the woodwork and land among him. One even pops out of his hat.

"I am the fantastic and marvelous Dr. Jeked. Business Owner, champion, and friend to all goblin-kind."

She tugs at her bonds. "You don't seem too friendly to our kind."

He taps his nose and shakes his head. "Ah, well, I'm helping the majority instead of being a filthy race traitor like yourself. I'm sure you can appreciate my loyalty since you've pledged yours to an organization that punishes the freedoms your ancestors so loved."

A gremlin hops up to the counter and presses its palm against the button. A moment later, the arcane whoosh communication filled the room.

"Attention, goblin family!" Dr. Jeked says, straightening his tie. "I come bearing news. I've dug up some dirt on a cute little hobgoblin gal in your ranks who has been siphoning your protection money to fund activities to undermine your operations."

There's a moment of silence where no one in the room speaks, but the hulking goblin grunts and giggles, holding up a book vertically with one hand.

"Hello? Family?"

The voice on the other side crackles through in a grumbling cadence. "I know who you are, Dr. Jeked."

Robin gasps.

The voice continues, "I know what you're capable of. If you want to end this quietly, you can return Robin, unharmed, to where you found her. I'll forget everything that's come to pass here, and you can walk away."

Jeked pulls his hat off, rubbing his bald head, grimacing. "Who the hob-goblin fuck is this!"

"You have one hour to return, Robin. If you do not. I will find you and take care of this myself."

The magical connection ends with a click, leaving Jeked and all his fellows to quietly turn to look at Robin.

Robin, for her part, puts up a big toothy grin. "So, whatcha gonna do?"

--

The carriage drops off the hobgoblin in front of the alleyway, and in her hands is a care package of various medicines and fizzy drinks. Jeked watches her out the window as it rides off, the Doctor sitting across from him.

"So, you're just going to let her go?" she asks.

Jeked taps his nose. "Oh, I think I got everything that I need from her. She didn't betray anything about her true nature. I hate that I couldn't hand her off more conspicuously."

"All those things she told us... she actually thought were true? Even I know my true nature, despite being so sophisticated; it's just second nature for me to realize the truth of my creation."

"It's amazing, isn't it?" he says, smirking, folding his hands together. "Unlike the rest of my homunculi, this "Robin" actually thinks she's a real person!"