Robin was choking now. He couldn't breathe and he felt his vision starting to go dark. Suddenly, Slade let him go free, and Robin hit the ground on his hands and knees. He looked up at Slade, his vision still hazy. "W-what did you do to me?"
"Look at your hand, Robin," Slade commanded.
Robin frowned, looking at both his palms. He noticed a rip in his glove where the glass had dug into him only an hour or so before, but upon closer inspection, he was surprised, actually dumbfounded, when he found the wound completely healed. There wasn't even a scar in its place. "How did this . . . "
Slade abruptly pulled Robin to his feet, and Robin tensed when he saw Slade lift his hand. For a moment, he thought Slade was going to attack, but he gasped in surprise when he saw Slade take one of his own weapons and tear open the palm of his own hand. Robin stared. "What are you . . . " But Slade said nothing, and when Robin looked back at Slade's now-injured hand, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. The bleeding, though severe in the beginning, was already starting to stop. And the wound itself seemed to be healing at such a rapid rate that within seconds, the skin was repaired with no scarring whatsoever.
"Do you understand now, Robin?" Slade asked.
Robin blinked in confusion, still unable to make the connection.
"Increased strength and speed," Slade continued, motioning to the places where they'd previously fought.
Robin looked, nonplused when he saw several dents in metal where he'd tried to strike Slade but missed. There was a crack up a wall where Robin's bow staff had connected. Suddenly seeing Slade's fist in front of him, Robin defended himself and was shocked when Slade missed his face completely, instead burying his fist into the metal wall behind him. Robin saw a large dent in the metal where Slade had struck, then he turned back to Slade, eyes wide.
"I have always said that the two of us are so very much alike," Slade said. "But now . . . we are identical."
Robin fell to his knees, clutching his skull and unable to believe it. "No . . . " he whispered. "N-no, I'm . . . " Robin suddenly leapt to his feet, clutching his bow staff. Slade was wrong; the two of them weren't alike. He had friends; he had the Titans. He was a hero. "I'm not like you, Slade," he growled.
"Attacking again, Robin?" Slade asked, now circling Robin. "Will you ignore what you know to be true and instead try to fight me? In your condition, you won't get very far."
Robin blinked. Outwardly, he snarled, refusing to give in, but inwardly he knew Slade was right. He was too exhausted to take on Slade again. He had to rest, recover, then return to confront Slade. He had to know what had happened to make him suddenly attack his friends. "You can't keep me here, Slade. I'm leaving."
"Who said I was forcing you to be here?" Slade asked.
Robin blinked, confused. "I'm leaving," he repeated.
"Then leave," Slade said.
Robin's grip on his bow staff slackened, but he quickly retightened his grip. "Why aren't you making me — "
"Stay?" Slade asked, finishing Robin's sentence. "Because I don't need to, Robin."
Robin blinked again. "Why did I attack my friends?" he asked, feeling something was up since Slade was actually letting him go. "Why did I almost kill them?"
"Haven't you figured it out?" Slade asked. "The reason is simple: when such a drug is present in a human's system, bouts of heightened emotion cause — "
Slade suddenly disappeared from his spot, and Robin barely had time to gasp before Slade's fist collided with his face. Robin staggered, gripping his bow staff tighter, but a kick to his back sent Robin to the floor.
" — enormous strength and speed along with increased healing capabilities," Slade said, appearing for only a second to kick Robin again before disappearing. "Any such emotional rush, such as hatred or panic, causes adrenaline to flood your system. The drug in your system latches onto the adrenaline glands in your body, making you much stronger while at the same time forcing your current emotional state higher. Such occurrence is a downward spiral of increased strength and heightened emotion until you lose control, so to speak, turn animalistic, and . . . "
Robin thought he heard glass shattering somewhere off to his left, and he suddenly remembered his friends, lying on the ground because of the injuries he'd caused. It made Robin's stomach twist.