A/N: HA! Fooled ya! I'm not dead! (My dog's whacking me with her paw to get my attention) Sorry for not updating recently. But here we go. Chapter 12! Isn't that great! Alright, recap: Slade, Deathstroke, TT Robin and YJ Robin FINALLY meet, the Bats talk about TT Robin, The Slades and Robins fight, The two teams discuss strategies, the Robins get knocked out, the Batmen reach them too late. Oooh the suspense. What's going to happen next? Well read on to find out... I hope you all are as excited as I am for this bit. Now... ONWARDS!


Chapter 12: Old enemies, old tactics, new angles

-Somewhere…-

-Robin (The Team)-

How long has it been? That's one question he just doesn't have the answer for. It's dark, it's cold, and he has no idea what was going on.

A groan from nearby almost makes him jump out of his skin.

"Robin?" he asks quietly. Nearby, he hears someone roll over.

"The one and not only," is the reply. Dick smiles in the darkness. At least his double has the same sense of humour that Dick does. Things seem to be getting better between them. Then he hears another, angrier groan. "Stupid Slade!" Then the sound of a kick to a wall and a loud curse. "Stupid me! Stupid Batman! Stupid wall! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" Repetitive kicks to the wall in time with Robin's words. He gives an annoyed sound before going silent again.

"Finished your tantrum?" Dick asks, amused. There's no reply, just a bit more movement from the corner. "Robin? Please don't tell me you're cross with me now too," he whines.

"Oh, I'm not cross with you," a voice behind him whispers in his ear, making the Boy Wonder squeak. Robin laughs, coming to sit next to him. "Ha! I got you," he says. A strange noise follows him as he pulls his legs over into a better position next to him.

"What's that sound?" Dick asks. A bright light shines him in the face and he blinks for a moment before his eyes adjust. The beam points down to Robin's right leg where a chain trails off over to a solid, spiky lead ball. "Hmm. Classic, but I think it's a little over the top." Dick muses. Then, "Hey, why don't I get one?" he asks almost with a tone of jealousy in his voice.

"Favouritism," Robin says in a flat tone. He shines his small penlight around the room so the two can assess their predicament. The two sit in a jail cell.

"Well, that's just rude! Also, how did you manage to drag yourself across the room with that thing and not make a sound?" Dick asks, trying to take his mind off where they are.

"Kid, you aren't the only one who can go to great lengths for your own amusement. I wanted to know how heavy it was. I thought if I could throw it hard enough I could break down the door." Robin says in a mock grumpy tone. He'd obviously been kidnapped quite a few more times than Dick had.

"Well. What are we supposed to do now?" Dick asks, looking at the ball and chain still.

"We wait." As Robin replies, he clicks off the penlight, stashing it away in a corner.

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There is some fiddling around with keys and locks at the door before a bright light filters in, blinding the two young heroes. As their eyes adjust, a figure enters the room, walking over to them, while another stands silhouetted in the doorway. "Get up," one says. Dick recognizes the voice almost instantly- Deathstroke.

A clink nearby makes Dick look around and he sees the chain fall off Robin's leg as he stands. Robin extends a hand down to Dick and he takes it, his body aching and his muscles burning. "Thanks," he mumbles.

Deathstroke grabs the two by their shoulders firmly. "Ow! That hurts!" Dick calls grumpily while Robin just struggles irritably. In the light, Dick can see the various bruises and cuts on his double, his uniform, once again for the second time in the past two days (at least that's what he thinks) it seems to be in tatters, but his mask still rests almost perfectly on his face. After a moment, Robin stops struggling, and reluctantly- very reluctantly- is led to the door. Slade moves out the way, grabbing Robin, leaving Dick with Deathstroke. They walk down the hall until they hear the sound of cogs turning. Robin physically stiffens, standing a little straighter. He seems to know what is behind the door at the end of the hallway, and he looks afraid of it. That's not a good sign.

Slade opens the door, pushing Robin in, Deathstroke following with Dick. Robin steps away from Slade, earning an amused look from both of their captors. "Don't look so angry, boy. You've had this coming," Slade says, getting a cold look from Robin that almost makes Dick shudder.

"I'm. Not. Doing. It," Robin says through gritted teeth. His hands curl into fists and he looks ready for another fight.

"Save your energy, Robin. You're going to need it," Slade says, turning to walk off. Robin reaches for his utility belt, only to find it gone. Dick checks for his, only to find it missing too.

"Did you really think we'd just leave you with all your weapons? You must think we're amateurs," Deathstroke says, leaning on the wall next to the door, shutting it with his foot when he catches the Boy Wonder's eyes trailing over to it.

"Well, amateurs would actually tie our hands together," Dick points out.

"You'd escape them anyway, so what's the point?" Deathstroke says, shrugging, seeming a little more laid back than Slade.

"True," Dick says, earning a glare from Robin. Probably shouldn't be chatting with the enemy, but he couldn't help it. He talked with everyone; even the bad guys. Bruce called him a chatterbox, always trying to make a conversation during patrols. Sometimes the villain he was fighting would get so wound up in a topic with him they'd stop fighting to talk, and Bruce would handcuff them and take them away only to find that the following day, Dick would go off to Arkham and continue their talk. It happened, but not often.

"But you still put a ball and chain on Robin like a convict," Dick adds, earning a grunt from the boy in question.

"He'd try and escape otherwise," Slade says, his voice cold, sending shivers down both boys' spines.

Dick turns around and sees Slade holding a box. The man throws it to Robin, who begrudgingly catches it with a grunt. It must be heavy. Deathstroke opens the door and motions for them to go back the way they came. It leads into another room. "Get changed and be ready in ten," he says, slamming and locking the door behind them.

"At least this room is nice," Dick mutters, looking around. The room is more of a lounge, a couch and table with three rooms branching off from it. The ones on the far left and right: Bedrooms with a double bed, desk, wardrobe, and chair in each. The middle one: A bathroom with a shower, toilet and double sink. Robin throws the box onto the couch, then goes around each room looking for bugs, cameras etc. Strangely enough, there doesn't seem to be any; not one camera, bug, or anything.

Dick goes into the bathroom. "Mirror, mirror in the bathroom… Dick Grayson you look… nothing really rhymes with bathroom that means horrible…" Dick says earning an annoyed, yet amused look from Robin.

"Move over; my hair's a mess," Robin says, pushing the boy out of the room to fix his hair.

"What's in the box?" Dick asks, getting a shrug in return.

"I can guess, but I'm not wearing it again," Robin says darkly, his sort-of good mood vanishing in a blink.

-The Batcave-

-Batman (Young Justice Dimension)-

"This isn't good," Bruce says, looking up the two villains on the bat computer.

Batman comes over to stand next to him. "Tell me about it," he says, his eyes trail over to the computer. "Is that glitter?" he asks, looking at the last few traces of one of Dick's Christmas pranks.

"Dick likes pulling pranks," Bruce explains. Batman gives a sad smile.

"Yeah, I know. Mine did too," Batman says sadly. Bruce stands and puts a hand on his double's shoulder.

"We'll get him back. We'll get them both back," Bruce reassures.

"But what will they be when we do?" Batman asks darkly, a hint of sadness in his eyes.

-Deathstroke and Slade's Haunt-

- Robin (Teen Titans)-

"What is it?" Dick asks again, but Robin just continues to look at the mirror, his hair was the least of his problems.

"Just open it," Robin snaps walking back into the room. Dick pulls at the top, peering over into the box, taking out two smaller boxes.

"Don't tell me it's pass the parcel." Dick says, trying to make everything a little bit happier.

Robin takes the bigger one with a 'T' on the top. The Teen Titans symbol. Oh, how he missed his friends.

"I'm guessing this one's mine?" Dick says, grabbing the other one.

"Yup."

"And you think you know what's in them?"

"Yup."

"Are you just gonna keep saying 'yup' until I stop talking?"

"Maybe." A smirk appears on Robin's face, amused.

There's a bang on the door. "I know you two aren't doing what you're supposed to be doing. Get changed, or suffer the consequences," one Slade says.

"I'm gonna suffer the consequences," Robin murmurs under his breath.

"I heard that, Robin. Do as you're told; remember last time?" Yep, it's his Slade.

Robin stays quiet until the footsteps recede. "Last time?" Dick asks.

"Just… just get dressed. Disobeying orders can get your friends killed," Robin says, no hint of humour in his voice.

-Titans Tower-

-Beast Boy (Teen Titans)-

"What are we gonna do now?" Beast Boy asks. Both Kid Flashes shrug at the same time.

"I think I could help," a voice calls out of the dark.

"Yo! Show yourself!" Cyborg shouts.

"As you wish," the voice calls again. A lithe body slides out of the shadows. It's Red X.

"Red X!" Beast Boy shouts, getting ready to charge at the anti-hero.

"Wait," Raven says, stepping in front of him. "Last time, X helped us," she says, turning to the villain. "What do you want?" she asks.

"I overheard your plan. It seems like it could work," he says.

"Yeah, we know that!" Beast Boy shouts. Cyborg comes to stand next to his green friend, his arms crossed.

"-But we can't get to either of the Robins, so we can't do anything," Cyborg says, sizing Red X up.

"I think can help," Red X says, shrugging like he helps people travel to other dimensions all the time. He inspects everyone in the room carefully, lingering on Jericho before quickly looking back to the eldest Titan.

"How could you possibly help?" Cyborg asks angrily.

"I helped build the portal; I know where it is."

-The 'Slade lair'-

-Robin (The Team)-

Dick opens the parcel, still a little confused by Robin's words. Robin does the same. Dick hears an intake of breath and turns to look at Robin in the right hand side bedroom, he holds a mask in his hands, a little different to the one they both wear, the tips are pointed and curled upwards, but other than that, it seems like a normal domino mask to the boy, what was the fuss about?

Dick looks down, seeing a similar mask but with orange edges around the black on one side. His parcel also held a similar outfit to what he usually wore but in orange and black. "What is this?" Dick asks, looking over to Robin, who holds a similar suit in his hands, holding it away from himself.

"It's your apprentice suit," he says. Dick looks from his double, to the suit in his hands and then over to his own suit.

"My what?" Dick asks, looking at the suit with distaste, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable holding it. "I am not wearing that!" Dick flops onto the couch. Robin comes in, already suited up, except for the mask, he holds that and a strange metal 'S' like the symbol on the map ages ago. His vibrant blue eyes connect with Dick's masked ones.

"Trust me; you don't wanna disobey Slade," he says, walking to the bathroom to put on the mask.

"And you know this because…" Dick motions for Robin to finish his sentence. Robin places the mask over his eyes, almost as if the mask gives him confidence.

"I just know things, alright?" he says angrily, staring at the 'S' in his hands before sighing and placing it in the place his 'R' usually went.

Dick sighs, knowing he won't be able to get information out of Robin unless he wants to give it. He tries to get into the suit, and after a few moments he gets it on and tries to attach the strange metal armor. After a moment Robin comes over and helps him, eating an apple as he does so. "How'd you get an apple?" Dick asks. Robin just smiles, clipping the metal into place.

"It was in my box," he says. Dick looks over to his box. There wasn't anything in his. He opens his mouth to voice this, but Robin just smirks sadly. "Favouritism," he says again, finishing his adjustment the last bit of Dick's pin.

"That's not fair," he whines. Robin hands him another apple. "Thanks," he adds, taking off his mask, watching as Robin looks at his eyes, the same colour as his own. He places his new mask over his eyes and finishes his apple, throwing it into the box with Robin's.

The door opens at exactly the same time. Deathstroke looks at the two of them and his eye seems to show an amused look. Robin scowls and Deathstroke motions for the two of them to follow him.

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"Ah. Well done," Slade says, looking over the two boys.

"What do you want, Slade?" Dick asks. Robin sighs, looking away.

"Has Robin still neglected to tell you?" Slade asks, amused.

"He said something about apprentices," Dick says. Slade nods.

"You see," Deathstroke starts, "For a while now, I've been looking for an apprentice, someone to follow in my footsteps. Slade told me about you. He said Robin was such a good apprentice. We devised a plan. A plan to get me an apprentice, and for Slade to get his apprentice back."

"I'm not going to be your apprentice," Dick says, and Robin folds his arms, but says nothing.

"You don't have any say in that matter," Slade says, pressing a button. A giant screen turns on, showing eleven figures and their nervous systems.

"Oh no," Robin says under his breath.

"A while ago, we sent some of your friends on a wild goose chase to find a detonator," Slade begins, "The detonator released a cloud of dust, releasing tiny probes into their nervous systems. When they got into contact with the others, the probes were transferred into them, as well." Slade holds up a hand and a built-in remote appears, attached to his suit. Deathstroke shows the same on his hand. "If we press this button, your friends' nervous systems will paralyse them, an electric current striking through their nerves, sending pain signals to the brain for it to shut down. They will die, and it will be slow and excruciatingly painful. And we will make you watch." Robin closes his eyes.

"Similar to Terra's apprentice suit." Robin says.

"Except ten times more powerful," Slade adds. Robin looks up at the mercenary, a hurt look on his face. Dick looks to Deathstroke, who has a smug look in his eye. He doesn't want his friends to die. But he also doesn't want to be this man's apprentice. His life, or his friends. If he says no, his friends will suffer, and he'll still end up here. There was no grey, just black and white.

"Fine," Dick says at last. Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry…. Dick urges himself to stay there and be brave.

"Robin," the older teen says to him, shocked.

"There's no other way," Dick says quietly. Deathstroke stands behind him with his hands on his shoulders.

"He's made the right choice, Robin. Now what are you going to choose?" Slade asks. Robin looks to the screen, his friends' lives on the line.

"Last time I escaped. Last time my friends found out about the probes. Last time I won." Robin says.

"Last time you said yes. This time there's no way of deactivating the probes. You can't get the probes this time. You. Can't. Win," Slade says. Robin clenches his fists, ready for a fight, but looking at the screen again, they unclench.

"There's always going to be a way," he says, like he's trying to convince himself.

"Believe me; there's not," Slade says, still talking in his smooth, cold voice.

"So this time, you win," Robin says, looking at the ground.

"I'll be your apprentice, Slade."


A/N: Just realized that because I'm Australian some of the ways I spell things are different, I was doing a once over and realized there were a million red lines, turns out words are spelt different. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as I enjoyed writing it. A big thanks to LittleWeirdPerson for editing this chapter and all the others :) I wonder what's going to happen next... actually, no I don't I'm writing it! For all of you who are wondering if I can count as there's like seventeen of the heroes and only eleven of them are gonna get hurt, read on to find out.

I realized while writing one of the next chapters that no one knows who Red X really is, some think it's Jason Todd, but I've chosen someone else to be X. Just telling you all this in advance. How do you think this chapter was? Did you all like it? Do you have any ideas for the future plot? If you do dont hesitate to review or message me or whatever... that reminds me. Onto reviews!

PandakaiLove

Thanks, I was wondering if I managed to do that alright, I have seen a few people do that too. At the end it was TT Batman talking about TT Robin if that helps. I personally think it's funny when TT Robin gets cross with people, in the TV show he has some of the funniest facial expressions. :P

nikkielizabeth

That's great! I hope this chapter didn't disappoint you then!

Red Blaze 16

I enjoy this story too, even if I am the one writing it. (It's like my baby XD) Hmm I wonder too, I haven't figured out how they're going to get to the Robins yet, I keep thinking about it, but noting seems to feel right.

Story time: I got the final edit from LittleWeirdPerson back for this chapter during Digital Tech class. I was helping some year fours (They were soo cute!) make a keyring on a 3D Printing website and their internet wasn't working so I was letting them use my laptop. I turned it on, typed in the internet password and then they started making the keyring. I had scratched my leg and it was bleeding all down my leg. It was a tiny scratch and so much blood was pooling out of it. I got up and was looking around for a tissue, while holding my dress out so not to get blood on it. My friend and I ended up having to run out the classroom to the adjoining art room and grab some. When I came back the two year fours were peering at my screen trying to read an email that popped up saying I had received a DocX delivery and I literally grabbed the laptop from them and closed the email down saying that they didn't need to read that (a little louder than normal but not a shout...) And all my friends started laughing as the two of them sat there shocked as I handed the laptop back to them. My friends had to explain to the poor things that I write fanfiction and we were all cool after that. XD

Alright! That's all for now! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Don;t forget to tell me what you think, and favorite/follow this story so you don't miss anything! And I'm gonna go attend a weird writers workshop information night. so TTFN!
Byyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Top Hat signing off for the night!