A note: in spite of being a rewriting of the end of Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo, this fanfiction is in no way a pretension that this animated film was bad in any way or that I could write a better script. This is just something written when inspiration struck. Why I am putting such a note is because of the controversy the movie elicited.Rated K because the actual show has done things along the lines of this plotline.
And huge thanks to the transcript of without which this fanfiction would not have been possible.Disclaimer: Teen Titans and all its characters, names, locations and so on, are the intellectual property of its respective owners. I do not claim ownership over Teen Titans or anything within it. I am not making any profit from these fanfictions either.
The Titans advanced as cautiously and silently as they could in the gargantuan comic book factory. Yet, Robin felt that it was useless. The idea that Brushogun's disturbing creations could spot them never mind their efforts, be it thanks to a magic sense of observation or because they were waiting for them, clung tenaciously to his mind. This fallen artist predicted his moves far too easily for his liking.
"This way," he suddenly whispered. How did he know where to go? He did not know it himself.
A double door appeared in their eyesight after a few insufferably eerie seconds of running. A simple double door. Not a fancy sliding door, like the one he demolished with a birdarang to reach…
Robin wrinkled his nose in disgust and shook his head to clear his thoughts. Why did he think of that? This part of his life was finished, terminated. It would only distract him now. A nod and an approving motion of his hand later, the team burst through the door, landing in combat stance and ready to take dozens of inklings.
"Freeze!"
It seemed the printing house itself obeyed, draping itself in a veil of silence more ominous than ever. Cyborg broke the immobility of the paradoxically long moment by flicking on the flashlight integrated in his left shoulder. Oddly, Robin was thankful of him.
Abandoning all pretence of visual secrecy, the Titans walked straight ahead, casting furtive glances around them in hopes of discovering some helpful hint that would allow them to finally solve the predicament Brushogun enmeshed them in. Or, in Robin's case, in hopes to discover the familiar shadow of a certain inspector who had much to gain from this unnatural crime wave…
They reached an immense printing press. Near it, an empty seat stood proudly on a platform, like a pedestal dedicated to felony. Darkened, turned-off monitors surrounded it, the entire scenery reminding Robin of the memories of events that prevailed among the worst of his young life.
"Brushogun. He's not here," Robin stated, not even surprised. No one was.
A wheezing breath, evoking years of pain, caught their collective attention. One of the great panels of the press slowly flipped open, releasing a decade's worth of dust in the air. A silhouette appeared through the clearing dust. Old and withered, entrapped in the machinery by eight tubes as black as their prey.
"…I am."
"Brushogun?"
He grunted and lifted his head, seeing the vestiges of light for the first time in ages. "…So glad to finally meet you," The man, no, the ghost said in a voice from beyond the grave, sounding like a forgotten parent thankful to be finally remembered.
The Titans walked towards the press. "You're not the one behind all this, are you?" Robin asked rhetorically as he stopped. "You're just-"
"-his slave. He trapped me in this thing… This cursed printing press that uses my powers against my will. The criminals I create serve him now."
Robin felt his stomach tighten. It was Brushogun's actions, but not his will. The situation was all too familiar; and painful. He glanced at Raven. Her teeth were clenched and he knew she had the bitterest taste in her mouth. He had it too.
He put those reminiscences away and continued to question Brushogun, his concern for the prisoner for once managing to make it past his façade. "But you sent the card, didn't you? You set me free. And you sent Saico-Tek to our tower because-"
"It was the only way I could call for help. I knew that if one of my creations attacked your home-"
"-it would give us a reason to come to Tokyo," Robin finished. "A reason to find you."
Cyborg stepped up. "So you weren't the one who framed Robin."
"Saico-Tek was printed twice." Brushogun's voice was becoming more tired; it was evident he did not have to speak so much in years. "I sent the first to you as a messenger. He sent the second to Robin as a trap." His eyes suddenly looked centuries older as he mentioned his captor.
Silent until then, it was Beast Boy who asked the question all the Titans had in mind since the beginning of the conversation. "He, who?"
Dispelling all memories of her enslavement at the hands of her father, Raven elaborated, "If you're just the brush, who tells you what to paint?"
Robin's eyes narrowed to slits. "There's only one person who stands to gain from creating criminals: the hero who catches them." He turned around to face the seat on the platform, which was now turned around in such a way that only a fraction of the back of a silhouette is visible. "Isn't that right… Commander?"
An all-too-familiar chuckle answered the inquiry. "Oh, Robin." The swivel chair started to swirl around, slowly, tauntingly slowly. "I am so dreadfully hurt that you already forgot me..."
The swirling stopped when the man faced the Titans. In spite of his seating position, he appeared tall, towering even, which allowed him to sport a flat-crowned hat despite the backrest. He also wore long red travelling robes over a black kimono with a grey cloth belt. His face bore thin moustaches and beard, enclosing a smug smile. His long white hair allowed only one eye to be seen: the left one.
Time seemed to have stopped. Robin's eyes widened to his mask's stretching limit. Raven clenched her jaw, painfully aware of the unknown devices exploding somewhere in the comic book factory because of her surprised powers. Beast Boy took a step backwards whereas Starfire stopped floating and landed on the ground, her hand in front of her mouth wide open in shock. Cyborg analysed the man and desperately wanted to believe his data bank was erroneous.
"Slade…"
"Myself," Slade replied, the synthetic skin forming a smirk.
"So you are the one who led us to Tokyo!" Robin hissed. "Why? Is Jump City not enough?"
"The scenery becomes boring after three attempts to take it over." Slade shrugged.
"And that's why you left hints pointing towards Uehara pulling the strings!"
Slade raised his visible eyebrow while smiling condescendingly. He opened his mouth to say something, but at the precise moment he was about to speak, the entire enormous room was flooded in light. "I will always cherish the perfect timing ofheroes," he said instead of whatever he meant to say… unless it was all planned, as usual.
The panels of the glass roof exploded as countless Tokyo Troopers dropped in on ballasted ropes, landing on the rafters, railings, intact machinery or the floor. They all pointed their laser rifles at Slade as their leader descended as well, landing just in front of Brushogun and facing the Titans and their most resolute enemy. A bullhorn in one hand and a laser pistol in the other.
"Commander Uehara here! You're under arrest!"
Slade's laughter became much more disquieting. "So predictable."
He swiftly whirled the chair around and hopped off it before unseating it with enough strength to send it flying towards Robin, who dodged. Before the troopers could even react, he pushed the biggest button of the control panel and Brushogun released a tormented scream that startled Uehara and made him fall from the press.
As the troopers redirected their laser barrage on the newly created hordes of monsters to cover the Titans and protect their lives, Slade ran up the stairs by the platform, punching, kicking and generally manhandling any trooper unlucky enough to happen to stand there or foolish enough to try to stop him out of the way.
"Help the troopers and Uehara!" Robin ordered his friends. "I'll go after Slade!" They were too busy avoiding the attacks of their enemies to do otherwise anyways.
A few levels higher, his pursuit was cut short by a knife bigger than him stabbing the railing floor. Robin somersaulted above it all the while throwing an explosive at the yellow robot that just tried to kill him. He then continued to run, unperturbed by the loud explosion or by the squeak of surprise of the two catgirls which got crushed under its flaming hulk before they all dissolved into ink.
Robin eventually reached the highest rafter, dozens of meters above the printing press. Slade was awaiting him exactly at the middle of the metal catwalk. The flying monsters did not even approach it; most likely an order of Slade, he realized, as it was the surest way to remain unperturbed.
"Sick of running, Slade?" Robin spat. "Sick of always coming back?"
Slade remained composed, smiling conceitedly. "Are you?"
A robotic shriek resounded behind Slade, somewhere in the alcove of the other entry of the catwalk. Slade purposely sidestepped and Robin saw Uehara throw his bullhorn at the little blue robot that had followed him, distracting it enough time for the commander to skewer it with lasers.
"Surrounded by the two people you tried to frame… How ironic." Robin allowed himself a smile, his eyes darting from the falling carcass to Slade.
The robe-wearing man cocked his head slightly to one side and arched his eyebrows. "Frame? But I attempted no frame."
"You don't mean… Uehara? Is it true?"
Uehara refused to answer.
Their foe turned his head towards the commander. "My, my, are we timid?" he said with a falsely jovial smile. "Never mind, let me tell you a little story…" He cleared his throat, paying no attention to a yellow robot soaring right next to him and impacting with the roof in a shower of ink near the rafter. "Brushogun…
"Brushogun, back when he became a monster, killed many people, directly or through his creations. Many family bloodlines disappeared, and even more brushed against extinction, if you can pardon me this pun."
Uehara's expression cooled ten degrees while Robin started to understand.
"Among these… less unlucky families were the ancestors of Daizo Uehara. Centuries, during my trip to Japan, I met and enslaved Brushogun. He had a very interesting potential, but not one I wanted at the time. So I left him to… meditate in some forsaken cave with a few runes so that he may not escape.
"Now, Uehara is a decent man. He cares for his people," Slade sneered at that, earning two hatred-filled glares, "but he always was better at leading policemen than being one himself. So he never gained the promotion he yearned and which would permit him to protect his hometown as efficiently as he wished. Therefore, one day, I went to him and proposed him the service of Brushogun. He was delighted in the poetic justice: a criminal would allow him to get enough men under his command to stop all crimes of Tokyo!"
"Why did you do it? You are no good Samaritan, Slade."
He smiled and turned to Robin. "Simple. I already had this reunion in mind."
"Enough!" Uehara suddenly screamed. "You won't hurt this young man and his friends anymore!" He drew his laser pistol and aimed at Slade's head. "…Turn around, I don't shoot people in the back."
Slade faked a sigh of delight. "How honorable." He whirled around and thrust his right hand forward. Uehara's pistol escaped his hand and levitated towards Slade's left hand. "Firearms. I always preferred close combat," he said as he threw the weapon away.
A second later, he was in front of the officer. He grabbed his coat and flung him over his shoulder and, before Robin could do anything, Uehara was hanging from the railing with only one hand desperately clasped to the catwalk to prevent him a deadly fall.
Stepping away while facing Robin, who ran to Uehara to save him, Slade asked, "What is more important Robin?" The hero narrowed his eyes and glared at him. "Saving him, or stopping me?"
Robin's eyes almost popped out of his mask. So that was his sick plan, the only reason he helped Uehara! Typical: when he thought Slade could not stoop lower, he proved him otherwise. When he thought he could not hate the monster more, he was proven wrong.
He looked at Uehara. Then at Slade. Then back at Uehara. Then Slade, one step further from them. Back to Uehara. Slade, another step further.
"What is more important Robin?" Slade repeated. "Saving him, or stopping me and saving all the people I would endanger while free and alive?" Never in their lives had Robin and Uehara witness such a maleficent smirk.
"Don't listen to him!" the commander ordered. " I'm not important! You must stop him!"
Robin closed his eyes and gritted his teeth so hard he thought they would crack. When he reopened his eyes, he was already running to Slade and, seconds later, had him down on the metal floor.
"You will pay for this!" Robin hissed, clasping his foe's shoulders and slamming him repeatedly against the floor at each word. He drew an arm backwards, ready to punch, when a yelp cam from behind him. He looked at the source.
Uehara was losing his grip.
Robin loosened his own grip, not realizing Slade taking advantage of his distraction to escape, and ran to Uehara with a resounding "No!" leaving his lips.
The commander looked at Robin's running form. Despite the situation, he smiled. "Thanks for your help, my friend. Sayounara." And that was when his hand slipped.
Robin watched, wordless, as Uehara fell. His horror and distress increased when he realized that Slade had chosen the position of his fall: just above Brushogun's printing press.
Brushogun, drained and exhausted by the myriads of creatures he saw himself forced to give birth to, snapped upright and released a long, horrible scream as Uehara vanished into the spinning rollers. The press disappeared under a veil of smoke and unruly electricity. The floor started to crumble and some rafters danced, about to collapse.
"What is more important Robin?" Slade spoke again, ominously. "Stopping me, or saving Tokyo?" And with that he disappeared.
"Retreat!" a multitude of troopers yelled.
The Tokyo Troopers evacuated the immense factory as quickly as they could, the Titans minus Robin helping them and saving the less lucky. Their leader was stuck on the catwalk, Slade nowhere to be seen, predictably.
With a miraculous timing, the plumbing tore from the ground only after all the troopers were evacuated. The ink became more of a scurvy goo and it swallowed Brushogun. Robin, far away but not enough to not see it, took a moment a silence. He failed. The goo continued to rise, climbing the walls like a sentient, dangerous being. He failed. Twice. If not more.
But the time of laments was not to last. Robin threw an explosive at each end of the catwalk. Now freed from the bounds of the building, he hopefully could use this makeshift platform to save himself from the rising goo. A chance it was not liquid ink anymore.
It reached the broken glass roof. As his platform came close to it, he jumped out of the building and landed on the concrete roof. He waited until it became to crack and crumble, and only then did he jump on one of the tentacles formerly known as plumbing. Again, he was lucky. The base of the tentacle was very near to the recognisable place where Brushogun was engulfed.
Robin took a deep breath, focused to chase Uehara… the molasses monster's agonizing screams away from his mind and he dashed. Every inkling daring to confront him soon found itself in pieces, half melted or disposed of in another way.
Finally, Robin reached the base of the tentacle. As it convulsed in a way that provided him a vaguely horizontal path to Brushogun, he used his freezing disk to preserve the passage. He cautiously walked on it, occasionally burying his bo staff into the goo to get a better balance.
He promptly removed it and smacked a blue robot with it, breaking it in half. It seemed the creatures continued to be born… He glimpsed down. The troopers and his friends had trouble containing them. He had to be quick.
He reached Brushogun. At last.
Robin thrust his arm in the goo, sounding to find Brushogun. He eventually found it, but as he tried to bring him out, it brought him in. The last thing he heard was Starfire's horrified scream.
His struggle felt like an eternity of the most excruciating kind, but he managed to swim? climb? dig? his way out, Brushogun clinging to his arm for dear life – no, for dear deliverance.
Just as Robin freed him from the eight enslaving tubes, the goo retracted. Slowly at first, but it soon quickened and they found themselves on the ground, covered in remnants of ink. Brushogun rolled over to land on his back
With the last of his strength, he whispered, "You saved me." And he disappeared, finally free.
Starfire jumped on Robin to hug him.
No sign of Uehara.
-
A week after this dreadful night, and after an official name clearing, the Titans were to be thanked by the mayor himself. They stood on the huge podium and facing the mayor as well as the innumerable cheering crowd, in front of a colossal screen, with a professional orchestra on the left and a storey-high edifice of which content was hidden by a huge drape.
The mayor stopped the deafening cheers with a word in his headphone-incorporated microphone. A man approached him and bowed, presenting him an elaborate cushion with five medals on it. The Titans bowed as well.
"For uncovering the truth," the mayor placed a medal around Raven's neck and advanced further, "for pursuing justice," he placed medal around Starfire's neck, "and protecting our city," Robin, "from a treacherous evil," Cyborg, "I present these medals to Tokyo's newest heroes…" After giving Beast Boy his medal, he turned around to face the crowd and present the said heroes with a motion of his left hand.
"The Teen Titans!"
The loudest applauds they ever heard echoed through the streets of Tokyo.
The mayor held his hands up, asking for silence. "There is another reason why we are here today. There is one man to blame for Brushogun's ability to threaten out fine city." He marched towards the draped construction, and Robin could feel a lump in his throat. Maybe the other Titans did as well, since he had told them the whole story…
"This man is none other than Daizo Uehara, former leader of the Tokyo Troopers, his creation." His voice was louder, to the point he did not need his microphone to be heard anymore and eh deactivated it. "And this is why I, in the name of Tokyo," he continued, taking a golden string hanging from the drape, "give Daizo Uehara national pardon." He pulled the string and the drape fell, revealing a monumental portrait of the smiling commander.
The crowd gasped and started to protest. The mayor paid no heed to them and continued.
"Because the will is more important than actions, and because Uehara's first and foremost reason to accept a criminal's offer was to protect his people as much as he could." At those words, the civilians doubled their cheers and applauds.
"This portrait will be put above the entry of the Wakamono Shuppan comic book factory as soon as it is rebuilt, so that we may always honour and never forget Daizo Uehara's sacrifice."
In spite of the tragedy that occurred a week earlier, Robin felt… fine.