I haven't felt like writing in a while... I found out that my best friend is moving and it kinda had me bummed out until I thought, "Shit happens. Get over it." (I'm very nice to myself.) So, I've accepted it and somewhat moved on, but I'm still upset and this is what happens. Poor Robin.
Let me just say this before you read any more...
This is not going to be a happy story. I have a general (general being the main word here) idea of where I want the story to go, and it's definitely not fluffy happy goodness. Just thought I should warn you.
Big, huge, thank you's and huggles to Peeta's Lover! She helped me so stinking much on this chapter, it's ridiculous. Thank you for helping me past my writers block, dearie :D
The setting is after the untimely end of the television series. *sniffle* Oh, and the events from the movie never happened in this, so, sorry Starfire, but you don't get to slobber all over Robin.
Disclaimer about how I don't own them blah, blah, blah...
I'm done talking.
Incentives
Chapter 1: Sadistic, Aren't We?
Slade sat forward in his chair and stared at the computer screen in front of him. The hacked security camera fed him a live image of the Teen Titans relaxing and laughing at their favorite pizza parlor. Cyborg was laughing at Beast Boy's imitation of Plasmus, Starfire was giggling and drinking what looked to be mustard, Raven was watching silently with an amused look on her face, and even the usually paranoid Boy Wonder was leaning back and smiling. Slade smirked and stood up. He picked up five, small, colorful metal spheres from the desk and clipped them to his belt before walking out of the room. Slade walked down a hallway, passing multiple rooms before coming to a stop next to a door with a small keypad next to it. He punched in the code and stood back as the door opened with a quiet swish. He walked inside of the dark room and waited for the door to close behind him to go in further.
He flipped a switch and a single flickering light bulb dimly lit the room. The room was small with walls made of gray concrete. In one corner, there was a leak in the ceiling. Water had dripped down, leaving a permanent stain that looked eerily like blood on the wall. The floor was cold iron, and Slade's boots clinked softly when he walked in. It smelt of dirt, sweat, human waste, and hopelessness. Slade took a deep breath. Ah, the smell of despair. He walked forward and looked down at the bruised, bloodied, and unconscious figure slumped below him. Slade squatted down and checked the manacles that were around both of his prisoners hands. He stood back up and pulled on the chains attached to them. The chains were bolted into the wall high enough to keep the unconscious man's arms stretched up, but low enough to force him to always be seated. Having found the restraints satisfactory, Slade nudged the man with a steel toed boot. When he didn't stir, Slade tutted and walked back to the door. He turned back around and pulled a small knife out of his boot. Slade admired the way the knife glinted, twisting the blade to catch the dull light. He looked up, and with a flick of his wrist, threw the knife. The knife buried itself completely into Mad Mod's left palm, pinning it against the wall with a soft thump.
A hoarse scream tore out of Mod's throat and his head jerked up as he unwillingly regained consciousness. He screamed again and jerked his right arm, trying futilely to free it. He pushed his left hand forward, but stopped with a groan when his hand just slid down the knife further. Mod curled his fingers around the handle of the knife, trying to pull it out. He stopped and slumped back against the wall with a sob and looked up to find Slade staring intently at him.
After throwing his knife, Slade had walked forward and knelt down in front of Mod again and watched as Mod struggled to get the knife free. Slade was highly amused by the blood that ran down the man's hand and dripped off of his elbow onto the floor. When Mod finally looked up, Slade grinned underneath his mask.
"Why did you do that?" Mod sobbed.
"You wouldn't wake up." Slade said airily.
Mod groaned softly and closed his eyes as he started to feel dizzy from blood loss. Slade's eye narrowed and he backhanded Mod across the face, leaving a large red welt. Mod flinched and looked up at him with dull eyes.
"Why are you still keeping me, Slade? I told you what you wanted to know, now let me go," Mod said.
Slade grinned and traced the red mark on the older man's face, making Mod grimace.
"But you're such a joy, Mod. Why would I let such entertainment go?" Slade replied mockingly. He pulled out one of the spheres from his belt and held it in front of Mod's face. "You're sure these will work?"
"I told you they would before, didn't I?" Mod spat.
Slade's eye narrowed again and he calmly put the sphere back in his belt before pulling a fist back and slamming it into Mod's chest. He smiled slightly when he heard a muted crunch; that was sure to be one of Mod's few remaining unbroken ribs.
Mod's breath left him with a woosh, and eventually he drew in a wet, ragged breath. He coughed up blood, and let his chin fall down against his chest.
Slade pulled one of the spheres out again, and roughly grabbed Mad Mod's chin and pulled his face up.
"Now, let's try this again, shall we? Will... these... work?" Slade hissed.
Mod coughed up some more blood and nodded weakly. "Yes. They worked when I used them, I see no reason why they shouldn't work now."
"And the modifications?" Slade asked.
"They should work fine," Mod said quickly.
"Excellent," Slade purred. He abruptly let go of Mod's chin and stood up. "I really must thank you, Mod," Slade said thoughtfully. "You have made my upcoming task much easier, not to mention acquiring your cooperation was most enjoyable." Slade bent over and pulled the knife out of Mod's hand slowly, relishing the gurgling scream the man choked out. Slade wiped the blade clean on Mod's arm before returning it to his boot. He stood up and walked back to the door. The door opened and Slade paused in the doorway to look back at the still bleeding Mad Mod. There was a possibility the man would bleed to death before Slade returned, but then again he had all that he needed from Mod. Slade smirked and turned out the light before walking out.
Slade walked slowly to the elevator that would take him up to the surface of his latest lair, which was underneath the empty warehouse of pier 53. As he rode the elevator up, he absentmindedly traced one of the metal spheres. Time to play, Titans, he thought to himself. This was going to be fun.
Robin laughed as Beast Boy pranced around the table, imitating the squelchy screams of Plasmus. The Titans had done well today, they had taken care of the gooey criminal well before dark, and they were actually able to eat dinner at a normal time. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms behind his head. Ever since the Titans defeated the Brotherhood of Evil, the criminals of Jump had seemed to calm down. The most trouble they had usually came from Mumbo, and even then the effort it took to stop him was hardly worth calling a fight. Even Red X was settling down, choosing to occasionally steal a piece of jewelry rather than go after the unstable Xenothium. And as for Slade... well, Robin hadn't heard even a whisper of the man's name after they parted ways when they momentarily joined forces to stop Trigon. Life, for the moment, was deceptively calm.
"Friends, may we partake in the watching of movies after we are finished eating?" Starfire asked.
"Yeah, we haven't gone to the movie theater in forever," Beast Boy said, pausing his charade.
Robin smiled "Sure, that sounds like-" He was cut off by the unmistakable tune of his communicator. He flipped it open and his eyes narrowed. "Sorry guys, but the movie is going to have to wait." He closed the lid to the communicator and looked up, smiling grimly when he saw his team on their feet ready to go. Robin set off at a run towards his R-Cycle and the T-car, the other Titans close behind him.
"Man, whoever is stupid enough to interrupt my movie night is fixin' to get their butt kicked," grumbled Cyborg.
"It's Slade," Robin growled. Cyborg blinked and ran a little bit faster.
Robin screeched to a halt in front of one of the cities many banks. He jumped off of his bike and threw his helmet on the ground as the other Titans came roaring up in the T-car. He heard the car stop and then various doors open and slam shut. Robin turned to find his team standing behind him, ready for a fight. Starfire's eyes and hands were glowing green, Beast Boy was starting to grow claws, Raven had her hood down with only her eerily glowing eyes showing, and Cyborg's sonic cannon was humming softly.
Robin turned back around and his eyes narrowed. There was something... wrong with this. Slade never bothered robbing banks, even if he did send Slade-bots to do most of his work. This was something very out of character for the villain. Plus, there was the fact that there was no visible damage to the bank or any of the surrounding buildings. The hair on the back of Robin's neck stood up. Yes, there was something very, very wrong.
"Be careful, something isn't right here," Robin muttered to his teammates. He pulled out his bo-staff and walked down the street slowly, looking down each darkening alley carefully.
"It would appear that Slade is not here," Starfire said happily.
"Yeah, maybe the alarm system is messing up," Cyborg added.
"No, he's here. I'm sure of it," Raven said softly. Robin stopped and turned to face the purple haired girl.
"Can you sense him?" Robin asked her. Raven pushed her hood back and closed her eyes. She frowned in concentration and suddenly, with a small gasp, she opened her eyes and chanted her mantra frantically, enveloping the entire team in a shield of black energy. Before the other Titans had a chance to react, an explosion hit the wall of the shield.
"DUDE!" Beast Boy yelled. "Where the heck did that come from?"
Raven lowered her shield slowly and when the dust settled, Robin growled.
"Slade," Robin growled.
"Very good, Robin. It seems you still have the uncanny ability of remembering people's names," Slade drawled. The villain was standing calmly in the middle of the street with his arms clasped behind his back. He held up a hand and in it was a small S shaped disc, much like the ones Robin used when he was Slade's apprentice. "What do you think of my new toys, Titans? Aren't they simply marvelous?" Slade asked. He cocked his arm back and sent the disc flying towards the Titans.
"Titans, GO!" Robin shouted. The team scattered, narrowly avoiding another explosion.
Slade smirked underneath his mask. Let the games begin, he thought to himself. Now then, which Titan first? The green boy has always annoyed me, he'll be the first to go. Slade kept his eye on the other Titans as he ran towards Beast Boy.
Beast Boy saw Slade running for him, and changed into a tiger with a growl. The changeling rushed towards Slade, leaping towards the man with a roar and claws bared. Slade stepped to the side and palmed the green metal sphere. When the tiger turned to face him once again, Slade kicked a rock towards him, drawing Beast Boy's attention away from him. The man threw the sphere, hitting Beast Boy in the head. The ball opened on contact, and multiple huge, rubber band-like things encased Beast Boy. The tiger's eyes widened in shock and the huge feline quickly changed into a stegosaurus, mouse, and then an elephant before stopping on a very disgruntled green-skinned teenager.
"Where did you get that from?" Beast Boy asked, shocked.
Slade chuckled. Yes, this was going to be marvelous.
As soon as Robin saw Slade running towards Beast Boy, he had immediately began to rush to them. When he saw the rubber bands encasing his friend, he stopped short. Where had he seen those things before?
Slade turned his attention to the other dumb-founded Titans. He snorted and crossed his arms over his chest. "I dearly hope the rest of you won't be defeated that easily. I was hoping for a challenge."
Robin ground his teeth together. He knew Slade was trying to bait him, and he knew better than to respond, but god, was the man annoying. Robin pulled out a bird-a-rang and crouched down. He looked at Cyborg who nodded slightly. Together, Cyborg and Robin rushed towards the criminal while Raven and Starfire took to the air.
Slade saw the two teenage boys running towards him, and pulled out his own bo-staff with a grin. He spun it expertly and held one hand forward, beckoning for the teens mockingly. Cyborg yelled and aimed his sonic cannon at the man's torso. He fired and then growled as Slade jumped nimbly out of the way. Robin hurled his bird-a-rang at Slade, not missing a step. Slade hit it aside with a swipe of his bo-staff and clucked his tongue disapprovingly.
"Sloppy, Robin. I expect better from you," he chided.
"Shut up, Slade!" Robin roared. He glanced upwards and smirked.
Slade saw Robin look up and jumped back; a car encased in black magic slammed down onto the concrete where he had just stood. The criminal looked up and saw Raven, eyes still glowing and hands encased in black glaring down at him. He threw an explosive S disc towards the sorceress. He saw her eyes widen before they were hidden by an explosion of yellow and green. Starfire flew towards him, eyes blazing. Slade crouched down and at the last second grabbed the alien girl's wrists, using her momentum to swing her around and slam her into a building. She fell to the ground, stunned, and Slade reached for another sphere.
Robin slammed into Slade, making the older man stumble back. He lunged forward, balancing on his hands and sweeping one leg around to knock Slade's legs out from underneath him. Slade jumped up, landed on Robin's shoulders, and pushed off, sending the teen sprawling backwards.
Slade turned just in time to see a metal fist headed straight for him. He grabbed Cyborg's fist and twisted it behind him. The teen snorted and rolled his eyes.
"You may be an evil genius," Cyborg said. "But I'm part machine... and WAY stronger than you!" With a yell, Cyborg brought his arm back in front of him, dragging the criminal with it. Cyborg looked at Slade with a cheeky smile until he noticed the amused look in the man's solitary eye. Slade held up a blue metal sphere and waved it in front of Cyborg.
"I was counting on that," Slade said. He wrenched his hand out of the Titan's grasp and took a step back throwing the sphere as he did. It hit Cyborg and erupted in a shower of sparks. Cyborg froze and fell to the ground with a loud thud. His mechanical systems had completely short-circuited, and the shock knocked his human side out.
"CYBORG!" Beast Boy yelled. He began changing more rapidly, switching from wolves, to snakes, to ostriches in a blur of feathers, fur, and scales. Slade walked up to Beast Boy and gave the teen a kick in the temple, knocking the boy out.
Robin jumped to his feet and looked at his two unconscious friends. He looked first at Cyborg, then at Beast Boy, and finally at the strangely familiar bonds around Beast Boy. Finally, he realized where he had seen them before.
"Raven! Starfire! Be careful, Slade is using the same kind of technology that Mod did to keep us in his school!" Robin cried.
"Very good, Robin," Slade purred. He dusted himself off and stepped towards the Boy Wonder. "I wonder, though, if you and all of your little friends couldn't stop me, how can you possibly imagine beating me with just three Titans left?"
Robin snarled. He ran forward as Raven flew down to check on the fallen Titans. Starfire shakily got to her feet, and held a hand to her aching head.
Raven flew to Beast Boy's side and ran a black covered hand over his body, closing her eyes in concentration. She sensed no internal injuries; he was going to have a nasty headache when he woke up, but besides that he was fine.
Robin swung his bo-staff around quickly, aiming for Slade's head. Slade held up an arm and let the staff ricochet off of the metal armor. Robin growled and swung the staff back around him, then brought it up. He jumped above Slade, and using gravity, slammed the staff down. The man stepped out of the way, causing Robin to crash into the ground, leaving a small crater where his bo-staff had hit the street. Slade chuckled and grabbed the boy's cape and slung him to the side before turning his attention to sorceress who was checking on her fallen friends.
Slade ran to Raven, who still had her eyes closed in concentration. He could hear her chanting softly to herself. Slade brought his foot back and sent it forward, kicking Raven in the side and sending her flying. Raven landed on the ground and slid a little ways. She could tell she had at least two broken ribs, not to mention deep scrapes all along her body from the rough road. Raven whimpered and cradled her side.
Starfire saw Slade's attack on Raven, and her eyes glowed green. She flew to her friends side and stood in front of her protectively.
"You will not hurt Raven any more!" Starfire cried. She threw starbolt after starbolt at the man, and finally shot the bolts from her eyes as she screamed in fury. She finally stopped and peered into the smoke, breathing hard. The fist came out of nowhere; slamming into Starfire's face, the white-hot pain momentarily blinding her. She fell to her knees holding a hand to her broken nose.
Slade smiled; this was too easy. He pulled out the orange and purple spheres and glanced down at the two heroines. Pathetic.
"Leave them alone, Slade," Robin shouted. The Boy Wonder ran at Slade, and used his bo-staff like a pole vault, launching himself over the villain and in front of his injured friends. He mentally cursed himself; in his haste to help his friends, he had sacrificed his bo-staff. He glanced wistfully at the staff lying on the ground behind Slade before pulling out two bird-a-rangs. He connected them to make a sword, much like the one he fought Malchior with, and swung it through the air, making a high pitched whistle.
"Now, that, is a lovely trick," Slade said while putting the spheres back and bringing his own bo-staff out in front of him. "I doubt it will be much help to you though. You've gotten sloppy, boy."
Robin roared and brought his sword down hard, the blade hissing through the air. It met the bo-staff with a resounding clang, and Robin sprang back before Slade had the chance to trip him. He swung the sword sideways, but Slade held his bo-staff so the blade slid off of the smooth metal, throwing Robin off-balance. The villain kicked Robin in the back of the knee, buckling one of the hero's legs. Seeing Robin kneeling below him was quite an ego-boost for Slade. Slade kicked Robin hard in the back, forcing the teen down onto his hands and knees and sending his sword flying. While Robin kneeling was by no means unpleasant, seeing the poster boy for justice, truth, and purity on his hands and knees underneath him was absolutely... delicious. The image so enraptured Slade, that he didn't notice a certain red haired alien stagger to her feet.
Starfire ran at Slade and slammed into him, actually throwing the man off of his feet. She made a mental note to later thank any and every god she could think of for her alien strength. Starfire knelt by Robin and wiped away another trickle of bright blue blood streaming out of her nose.
"Robin, you are uninjured?" she questioned.
Slade lurched to his feet and lunged for the red headed girl. He grabbed a handful of her long hair and yanked her to her feet. Slade pulled her hair hard, snapping her head back. Starfire cried out in pain and clawed at Slade's gloved hands.
"A little tip," Slade snarled. "Cut your hair shorter. Long hair can be so bothersome." He spun around, pulling Starfire by the hair, and threw her to the ground. He grabbed the orange sphere and hurled it at her as hard as he could. It exploded in a flash of red and seconds later Starfire was completely enveloped in a red, pulsing light. Her starbolts were useless; she couldn't shoot them from her hands or eyes. Along with rendering her powers useless, the strange pulsing light seemed to bind her feet and wrists together, making it impossible to do anything but roll around on the ground uselessly.
Slade turned to see Robin on his hands and knees still, gasping for breath. He walked past and kicked Robin in the stomach, and grinned when Robin slumped totally onto the ground. Slade turned his attention back to Raven and was surprised to find her standing.
Raven's healing abilities had mostly healed her ribs, they were a little bit sore but she could fight. As for the scrapes... well,1 Raven was just going to have to deal with looking like she got in a fight with a cheese grater until she could heal herself properly.
"This stops now, Slade," she said lowly. Raven raised her hood and her eyes glowed white. She muttered to herself and Slade jumped back as the ground in front of him cracked. Using her powers, Raven picked up a huge piece of concrete and sent it flying towards Slade. The man jumped up and onto the piece of road and ran forward, leaping off of it to land crouched in front of the sorceress. Raven flew into the air and tore a light post from the ground. She saw Slade's eye widen before she slammed the pole into him, sliding him across the street and pinning him to a building. She saw his head go limp and fall to the side and let her powers recede back inside of her. Raven's eyes resumed their violet hue, and she floated back down to earth slowly.
Robin watched as Raven seemingly knocked Slade unconscious. He saw Slade slide across the concrete and slammed into the building. He saw his head go limp. He also saw the minute movement of Slade's right hand.
"Raven...!" Robin choked out. Raven turned to look at her leader and was shocked by the look of pure panic on his face.
Slade threw the purple sphere when Raven turned to look at her leader. It hit her in the side of the leg and for a second nothing happened. Thoughts of violent deaths to a certain mad Englishman crossed Slade's mind before the sphere suddenly burst open. Raven was encircled by a lone ring of white light, and her arms were pinned to her sides. She couldn't focus enough to chant her mantra because of a loud, high pitched buzzing noise that filled her head. She sat down with a groan and tried to block out the earsplitting buzz.
Slade looked down triumphantly at the sorceress before turning to stare at the still shouting Starfire.
"Really, you silly girl, what do you think shrieking will accomplish?" Slade snapped. Starfire glared at him and sucked in a breath. She opened her mouth and screamed as loud as she could. Slade rolled his eye before pulling out another S disc. Starfire eyed it warily and Slade grinned. "You're a Tamaranian warrior princess, remember? This won't hurt a bit," Slade promised mockingly. He threw the disc at her and smirked when he saw her passed out when the dust cleared. There were numerous scrapes and cuts along her; maybe it had hurt. Oh well.
"You bastard," Slade raised an eyebrow and turned to find Robin on his feet, hunched over and holding his stomach. "You're not going to get away with this."
"Oh, but my dear boy, I do believe I already have," Slade drawled. He crossed his arms behind his back and walked calmly to the seething Boy Wonder. "Your friends are either unconscious or incapacitated. I'm surprised you can still stand after how many times I kicked you. You lose," Slade jeered. "Accept and move on, boy." Slade slid a leg down and under Robin's feet knocking the teen flat on his back. Slade knelt down above him, pressing one of his knees into the small chest below him. Again, Slade reflected on how appealing the situation was.
Robin grunted and pushed at the dead weight that was Slade's leg. The man's eye narrowed and he pushed down harder, until Robin could barely pull in a breath. The hero let his arms fall limply to the side and focused on breathing.
Slade grinned as Robin finally gave up.
"Much better," the man purred.
"What do you want, Slade?" Robin wheezed.
"Patience, Robin. You'll find out soon enough." Slade reached for the last metal sphere and held it above Robin's head. "You better start getting used to me," Slade added, "because you're going to be staying with me for a long, long time." Robin's eyes widened in fear at Slade's words. Slade grinned and dropped the red metal ball beside Robin's head. There was a soft hiss, and gas began pouring out of the ball. Robin tried to hold his breath, but eventually the need for oxygen overpowers even the most stubborn of all teenagers. He gasped and breathed in the sticky sweet scent of knockout-gas. The last thing he saw before his world went dark was a single, gray eye, leering down at him.
Slade stood up and sent for Slade-bots using a small remote he carried with him at all times. He waited patiently, thinking about how perfect his plan had gone. Eventually, the bots showed up and he ordered them to carry the unconscious Titans back to the pier hideout. Raven barely noticed being picked up and slung over a cold metal shoulder; the noise inside of her head drowned out all thoughts except for pain.
When a bot walked towards Robin, Slade punched a hole through it's torso and pushed aside the now useless heap of metal. Nothing and no one was going to touch his bird–ever. Slade bent down, picked Robin up and threw him over his shoulder. He started walking back and noticed how light the boy was and decided a new diet was in order. But then again, that was what had attracted Slade to Robin in the first place; the Boy Wonder was petite, lithe, and lean. What had appealed to Slade the most was how utterly pure the boy was. The potential for total corruption was absolutely irresistible. He had his bird now; small, perfect, and pure. He won't stay that way for long, the villain mused. Slade smirked and walked faster.
Oh dear God, I suck hairy titties at writing action... Please be gentle...
Soooo, besides the terrible action, any thoughts? Anything that didn't make sense, or was just worded awkwardly? Grammar and such? Anything that you liked and want to see more of? ANYTHING AT ALL?
Also, how was the length? Too long? (that's what Slade said) Not long enough? (that's what Robin said... ;D) This is my first time writing a legit multi-chapter story, so I'm not sure how long the chapters should be.
There will be slash eventually... God help me when I have to write THAT for the first time.
This is where I need yalls help. I need specifics that you think should happen because, like I said earlier, I have a general idea of where the story is going to go, but I haven't the faintest idea what's going to happen along the way. So any thoughts you have on the story's progression would be wonderful. :)
I'm going to try and update once a week, but because of school it might be a week and a few days depending on homework and such. Please have patience with me and my poor, school-addled brain. Also, I can only work on this at night, since mommy dearest doesn't know about my... erm... writing misadventures, so, how much I write depends on how tired I am. I'm sacrificing my much needed sleep for all of you, because I LUFFFFF you! Seriously though, the reviews and views on my other story made me very, very happy.
Reviews are like little caffeine pills, they keep me motivated and awake! Thanks for reading!
~*~ R
starfire: red rings around her wrists
Raven: white glowing circle around her body.