Chapter 10
Robin staggered into an alleyway that he knew was a safe and isolated distance. He put his back against a brick wall and slid into a seated position. He was not worried about the Joker catching him. Slade obviously did not want the Joker interfering in his plan. The Titans leader sighed before coughing more blood into his fist. He had no clue how much time he had left and had no way to check. The testing device was stored in his belt which was taken by Joker. He did not have the strength to go anywhere, let alone get to his R-Cycle and he could not call his friends.
Robin could not believe that he let this happen. He hated himself now more than when he thought he killed Sychotech or when he infuriated his friends for being Red X. He let his stupid pride get in the way of getting help. It was his fault he got poisoned in the first place and his fault he tried to handle it alone. After he quit working with Batman, he had always thought he could handle anything himself. He now knew how wrong he was. He should not of ever felt that he needed to work alone. He always had friends and mentors to help him so why did he not just let them look out for him? Bruce, Barbara and Alfred were his family and now he was the leader of the greatest friends/family he could ever hope for.
As for his stupid issues with Slade, that made everything worse. His friends had even tried countless times to remind him he was not the only one to stop him. Slade always made Robin so determined that it got in the way of logic. He probably got his determination from Batman but at least his mentor thought more efficiently. Robin left Batman because he did not agree with many of his methods but it turned out he was not so different.
Robin knew he was going to die soon and Slade would win. The only thing Slade would not get is his friends seeing him die. He did not care about Slade though, in fact he did not care if Slade was somehow watching him at the moment. He was worried about what would happen to his friends. They cared about him so much and he did not know why considering how he had treated them. They meant everything to him and he did not want them to fall apart like Slade predicted.
His mind went to Starfire and he felt the worst of all. He had lied to her when all she wanted to do was help him. He realized now that he did not deserve her by a long shot and hoped that she could find someone else without grieving for too long.
Robin's vision started to go in and out of focus and his chest began to hurt again. It was not enough to make him scream this time but he knew he did not have much time.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
Raven landed on a rooftop after searching for half an hour. She could not continue until she meditated and got back in complete control. She crossed her legs and hovered with her eyes closed. As she chanted her magic words for the third time, she began to feel better. Raven sighed with relief and continued. By the fifth chant she suddenly sensed something bad. It was a terrible metal pain that went through her whole body. She shut her eyes tighter and tried to figure out what it was. After a moment she realized it was the same feeling she got when Robin had almost died before. She gasped but remained focused to prevent loosing connection. Robin was dying but she needed to know where he was to save him. She concentrated hard but without being there to enter his mind it was difficult.
Suddenly she had the idea to figure out all his current feelings to try and find a clue. Raven achieved this ability when they made a bond by her entering his mind the for first time. She saw many emotions but one stood out to her. Robin was feeling cold which Raven gathered it was from a breeze. There was usually more breeze by water and the only nearby water was at the Gotham harbor.
"The docks!" Raven exclaimed out loud as her eyes flew open.
Raven was not sure how, but she was now completely sure that Robin was there. She flew as fast as she could towards the harbor while calling everyone.