Chapter two: Dueling with the Past
"Patience Robin, patience."
God do I ever wish I would've been patient. But right then, nothing mattered more to me than tracking down Slade. Nothing. My friends thankfully forgave me after the Red-X incident and I let them down, big time. True, a good portion of it wasn't my fault-but I could've prevented it.
"Nanoscopic probes." If it weren't for those few words, extortion-based purposes, I wouldn't have been trapped in a situation that either my friends or I couldn't handle in a simple manner.
It was true. There was no way of getting around it-I was petrified. After laying down his carefully thought-out plan and revealing it to me-first at the T-tower, the place to which I abide, and then exploiting it for the horrible plot it truly was, I was stuck. He'd won.
".if you swear to serve me, then I will allow your friends to live-however if you disobey-even the smallest command-I will alienate them Robin, and I'll make you watch. So." he furthered his triumph. ".do we have a deal?"
I had no choice but to agree. He'd won. Won. I fell for it. The whole time he wasn't scheming to obtain more technology or more money-he wanted to obtain me.
But why? For what purpose?
We are alike in various ways, attributes of determination-plotting to grasp whatever seemed to be out of our reach-it was something I'd never willingly admit, but he was right.
But why me?
It should be more than evident what he sought from me-an apprentice, ne? A person to follow in his footsteps-take after him. But that still doesn't answer my question- Why me?
Is it our similarities? The features that bind us together as if we were some sort of father-son pair? Or was it merely a tactic to alleviate the destruction of my team? Apparently after screening the fights I encountered with my friends-first as Red X and then as his "apprentice" he could easily assume that I alone could take down my team. But what I still couldn't understand was why he would expose my friends to nanoscopic probes and when given the chance, which he was granted before my departure, to destroy all of us-all of his competition, he choose to let us live-me live rather. What was his motive? Why did he keep the team he despised so much alive? It wasn't about me was it? Perhaps he had another intention for a future reunion if this were to backfire. Knowing my nemesis, he wasn't one to actually believe he'd fully succeeded-especially when he was dealing with the Teen Titans. So what is he plotting?
I need to know.
"Robin?" Star's voice echoed through my room as if it were desolate.
I stubbornly ignored the announcement of my name.
"Robin?" she pressed on cautiously.
Her voice reflected such emotion. The kind of emotion that was fixated on the person to whom you were addressing. Like the jumble of feelings were a result of something that the person did.
"Yeah?" I did my best to carry out the conversation as if I hadn't been contemplating my relationship with my arch-enemy about an hour before.
"Do you wish to "potato" the couch alongside us?" I responded as gently as I could, "No."
Starfire's emerald-colored eyes met with the floor. "Oh." She was upset about my reply-I could tell. I thought that maybe she took a hint to leave after that, but she remained inside the room that, to me, was haunted by a presence. Not one of Slade nor one of I, but a spirit that was evil and did nothing but get pure enjoyment out of torturing me. The spirit of the darkness that had taken control of me-still taking dominance over me.
"I do not understand, Robin," she paused and then continued on after locking gazes with me. "Slade is no longer a problem for us and yet he continues to trouble you. Why is that, may I enquire?"
The mention of that name, Slade, infuriated me to a point that Star would've become my main target of attack, but it was a question that was innocent enough, so I dismissed my anger and answered her, "Because he isn't gone. He's still alive. He could come back."
Her facial expression matched my mood, perplexity, and she examined my masked-face for a better reply. "But Robin, he has not shown up again yet, so why do you continue to hide out here?" Her inquiries were challenging to answer-generally because I didn't want to acknowledge the fact that Slade was in control-again.
"Because I have to," I simply responded. Star looked at me like she wanted to protest my staying in my room, but sighed in frustration and left me to be alone.
"Careful...I wouldn't want you getting hurt."
That quote, believe it or not, defines exactly how I feel about informing the others of my obsession, because if they found out, if Slade found out rather, he could use it to his advantage. I didn't desire for my team, my best friends, to be put in a dangerous position due to me.
But perhaps that's exactly what Slade's dreaming up.
"Patience Robin, patience."
God do I ever wish I would've been patient. But right then, nothing mattered more to me than tracking down Slade. Nothing. My friends thankfully forgave me after the Red-X incident and I let them down, big time. True, a good portion of it wasn't my fault-but I could've prevented it.
"Nanoscopic probes." If it weren't for those few words, extortion-based purposes, I wouldn't have been trapped in a situation that either my friends or I couldn't handle in a simple manner.
It was true. There was no way of getting around it-I was petrified. After laying down his carefully thought-out plan and revealing it to me-first at the T-tower, the place to which I abide, and then exploiting it for the horrible plot it truly was, I was stuck. He'd won.
".if you swear to serve me, then I will allow your friends to live-however if you disobey-even the smallest command-I will alienate them Robin, and I'll make you watch. So." he furthered his triumph. ".do we have a deal?"
I had no choice but to agree. He'd won. Won. I fell for it. The whole time he wasn't scheming to obtain more technology or more money-he wanted to obtain me.
But why? For what purpose?
We are alike in various ways, attributes of determination-plotting to grasp whatever seemed to be out of our reach-it was something I'd never willingly admit, but he was right.
But why me?
It should be more than evident what he sought from me-an apprentice, ne? A person to follow in his footsteps-take after him. But that still doesn't answer my question- Why me?
Is it our similarities? The features that bind us together as if we were some sort of father-son pair? Or was it merely a tactic to alleviate the destruction of my team? Apparently after screening the fights I encountered with my friends-first as Red X and then as his "apprentice" he could easily assume that I alone could take down my team. But what I still couldn't understand was why he would expose my friends to nanoscopic probes and when given the chance, which he was granted before my departure, to destroy all of us-all of his competition, he choose to let us live-me live rather. What was his motive? Why did he keep the team he despised so much alive? It wasn't about me was it? Perhaps he had another intention for a future reunion if this were to backfire. Knowing my nemesis, he wasn't one to actually believe he'd fully succeeded-especially when he was dealing with the Teen Titans. So what is he plotting?
I need to know.
"Robin?" Star's voice echoed through my room as if it were desolate.
I stubbornly ignored the announcement of my name.
"Robin?" she pressed on cautiously.
Her voice reflected such emotion. The kind of emotion that was fixated on the person to whom you were addressing. Like the jumble of feelings were a result of something that the person did.
"Yeah?" I did my best to carry out the conversation as if I hadn't been contemplating my relationship with my arch-enemy about an hour before.
"Do you wish to "potato" the couch alongside us?" I responded as gently as I could, "No."
Starfire's emerald-colored eyes met with the floor. "Oh." She was upset about my reply-I could tell. I thought that maybe she took a hint to leave after that, but she remained inside the room that, to me, was haunted by a presence. Not one of Slade nor one of I, but a spirit that was evil and did nothing but get pure enjoyment out of torturing me. The spirit of the darkness that had taken control of me-still taking dominance over me.
"I do not understand, Robin," she paused and then continued on after locking gazes with me. "Slade is no longer a problem for us and yet he continues to trouble you. Why is that, may I enquire?"
The mention of that name, Slade, infuriated me to a point that Star would've become my main target of attack, but it was a question that was innocent enough, so I dismissed my anger and answered her, "Because he isn't gone. He's still alive. He could come back."
Her facial expression matched my mood, perplexity, and she examined my masked-face for a better reply. "But Robin, he has not shown up again yet, so why do you continue to hide out here?" Her inquiries were challenging to answer-generally because I didn't want to acknowledge the fact that Slade was in control-again.
"Because I have to," I simply responded. Star looked at me like she wanted to protest my staying in my room, but sighed in frustration and left me to be alone.
"Careful...I wouldn't want you getting hurt."
That quote, believe it or not, defines exactly how I feel about informing the others of my obsession, because if they found out, if Slade found out rather, he could use it to his advantage. I didn't desire for my team, my best friends, to be put in a dangerous position due to me.
But perhaps that's exactly what Slade's dreaming up.