Not Again

Alexnandru Van Gordon

Victor: (Yawning.) Good glory, Robin—it's two am! Can't we sleep?

Alex: You know, you can leave any time you want. You live two blocks down from here. ANYHOW—I made the last chapter nice and long for you guys, so no one is allowed to bite, punch, kick, or flip me—and I don't care if you take judo or whatnot. I'm only a green belt in taekwondo, but I'll fight back, even if I die!

Victor: Someone's wide awake tonight…

Alex: It's the insomnia.

DISCLAIMER: God glory, I'm running out of ideas….

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: Impressing

He didn't know what to do—follow Robin or get the other Titans. They would know what to do and he needed them anyway seeing that he himself was in no condition for fighting solo. This would also prove to them that there dearly departed was as 'gone' as they thought he was.

In his shadow form, he slid out from the alleyway at a fast pace and transformed back once he was running along the sidewalk toward the intersection of the street. From what he could see, a heck of a lot had gone on without him, a large cloud of dust still settling long after the explosion. But, seemingly, the Titans and the Dark Knight were victorious.

Then why was Starfire crying?

Running into the dust, he backed away instantly and sneezed forcefully a couple of times, wrinkling up his nose at the scent. Damn—that wasn't just debris and whatnot—there was some sort of chemical in it. But, seeing that his villain form was entirely diseased, nothing affected him besides giving him a little dosage of pain.

"What in hell's name is going on here?" He asked; stopping next to the one called Raven. They were all gathered in a circle around the alien girl who was rocking back and forth from her sitting position on the ground. She was holding an invisible friend.

"He's dead." The goth girl choked, shaking her head slowly as she attempted to keep him powers under control. "He was stabbed in the chest and died when he saved Starfire."

Jaze paused and looked around, leaning forward a tab bit to see around the next corner down the other street. Pausing, he frowned behind the bandage wrapping at raven in confusion and shrugged. "Uh…where is he?"

She gave him an odd look and pointed to Starfire. "There—in her arms."

Jaze's frown never left as he knelt down beside the weeping girl and stared at her arms. Truth be told, nothing was there.

"Are you guys doing this in spite of the fact that I'm a villain, or is there something else going on here?"

Batman, for once looking sad, turned his head to him sharply and frowned menacingly. "Perhaps you need your eyes checked. Look right in front of you."

Then there was a little detail Jaze remember, something he recalled Robin saying to Slade before the madman snatched.

'They knew what happened to me when you used the hallucinogenic dust—they'll catch on!'

'No they won't, Robin!'

But what was that part about them dying? Slade said that once they died, no one would possibly be able to save them. Was he going to hurt them through the hallucinogenic dust as well, or was he hoping that they would eventually pass on from other matters.

His bet was the dust.

"This…" Jaze pointed to the invisible person, fighting to find the words to explain. "This…image is not Robin. You think it's Robin—but he's back in the alleyway just—"

Beast Boy was one of the last people he imagined would have attacked him. It was so sudden, Jaze didn't even see the changeling transform into a tiger before he had Jaze pinned to the ground, snarling in his face. There was an inhuman look in his eyes—and even though Beast Boy wasn't human, he always had a look of a humble and merciful child in his eyes. This was not the same Beast Boy. Something was changing him…

"Just leave, Jaze." Cyborg said in a deep, frustrated voice. He didn't even bother to look at Jaze. "Go before we decided to arrest you…"

beast Boy transformed back into his humanoid self, but the beast remained in his eyes as he stood off Jaze and allowed him to get up Brushing himself off, Jaze couldn't believe what he was hearing and seeing. They didn't believe him…they weren't going to believe him all because of Slade and his dust.

Jaze paused and time seemed to freeze as he racked at his brain. When he went inside Robin's mind, he recalled seeing the memories of a hallucination—something of an image of Slade caused by a dust. It was slowly killing him, his stress level rising of its own accord as he either battled or searched for the fake Slade. Even when he wasn't fighting the man, the dust continued to kill him.

"Damn you, Slade." Jaze cursed beneath his breath, staring at the alien girl who was doomed to die in a couple of days. He needed to find an antidote or something that would allow for him to heal them, but anything of that sort would be in Slade's possession.

As was Robin.

Things just kept getting better and better…

He turned around and started jogging away, glancing over the shoulder at the five lost souls. He was a villain in the beginning—so why shouldn't he just let them die. He could still save Robin and just forget about them…He could finish what he began and nothing would be his problem anymore.

Maybe it was guilt. He felt it was his fault that all this happened. If he had never taken Robin in the first place, he would have never been trapped back at his house and Slade would have never had grabbed him. Then that led to all the suffering Robin must have gone through to escape who knows how many times, and he almost succeeded a few moments ago if not for Slade.

"Why the hell did you have to pick on that poor kid?" Jaze muttered, picking up a glimpse of Robin's thoughts to track him by. "What the heck did he ever do to you?"

-R-

He was cold and he was quiet, not saying a word as he sat at the back of the boat in a lower room. He could hear the water sloshing against the side of the boat as Slade's robots loaded his things and made haste to leave. This was the end of the line and Robin knew it.

Sitting on the floor in a corner of the room, he leaned his head against the wall and pulled the blanket closer around his shivering body. He could barely stand without getting dizzy from all the sedatives Slade loaded him up with, and that alone prevented him from escaping. Besides, the window was too small for him to fit through and a robot guarded the door to the room out in the hall.

The doorknob moved and the door was opened as Slade walked in. He took a seat in the other corner on a chair, staring at Robin as he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. Robin wouldn't do so much as look at the man, letting all his hate toward the man boil up inside his chest and fade out as he tried to think back to happier times.

"Again with the silent treatment? That's quite unlike you, Robin."

He didn't say anything, ignoring the man as he stared at the opposite wall. He wanted nothing to do with the man but, seeing that that was impossible now, the most he could do was pretend he wasn't real until they reached their next destination.

"You will answer me when I speak to you, Robin. I don't care what you think."

"Since when did you ever?" Robin asked plainly, still not looking at him. "You don't care about a thing."

"I care enough to see you become something better, and yet you continue to think it's horrible. Why is that, Robin? Why does my little apprentice not want to become something greater than what he already is?"

"Don't call me that." Robin hissed and narrowed his eyes at the wall. "I don't care what you think, you have nothing against me."

"Is that so? All it will take is a well placed bomb and I can blow up quite a few people. Your friends might be able to take care of themselves, but you devoted your old life to saving people. Are you going to stop now?"

"You contradict yourself, Slade."

There was a pause.

"And how so?" The man asked, leaning back in his chair with his legs crossed.

"You want me to become a thief and a murderer, yet I'll only be listening to you to save lives. You'll make me destroy your blackmail."

Slade began to laugh and Robin shivered mentally. He hated it when he did that, but there was no stopping Slade and his pans. Slade had seen that coming.

"My dear boy, that is what life is all about. It's not about quality, but quantity. I could give you a gun and tell you to shoot someone, and you would—if I had my robots aimed and ready to kill a larger group of people. You'd save them, yet you'd be killing someone else at the exact same time and you'd be stuck in an ever-lasting circle until you accepted the fact that you were meant to kill. Robin, isn't it obvious by now that were supposed to find me and let me led you along—you've tried to escape who knows how many times, and yet you are still here…My apprentice, what is going on inside your head that can't be fixed?"

Robin thought about that…What was the purpose God or fate created that intertwined him to the imprisonment and influence of Slade. True, he had tried to escape numerous times, and true, he was back where he had started…What was he supposed to do? Was he to give in? Was he to fight until he died? Who was he trying to impress…?

"You can't even give me an answer, Robin." Slade said with a small laugh, the boy remaining silent. "That's because the answer is—there is nothing. Nothing in that mind of yours can't be fixed and that was why I was allowed the chance to mend it. I can set you right Robin, but you have to realize that yourself."

"And what would you have me call it?" Robin muttered. "Brainwash?"

"Hmmm…more of a road to recovery. That old mentor of yours turned you in the wrong direction and now he's screwed you up…" Slade leaned forward with his elbows on his knees again, sounding serious once more. "Let's re-cap, Robin—you've tried to impress him and all he ever saw were your faults. You fought crime, you brought in the rightful justice—and the moment you came close to losing a limb he broke apart your team…or was it even ever a team? He wasn't your partner—he was always your master."

Robin frowned and resisted the urge to hit Slade. His state of weakness stopped him, but not so much as the fact that Slade was right…Robin hated to admit it, but Slade was right…

"You left and then, when things went wrong, he threatened to take you back to Gotham. Did he ever compliment you on your team's job, or thank you for ever helping him?...No. Did he ever just asked you what you thought or if you ever wanted his help—No! Hell, no! And all this time you've been trying to impress him. You wanted him to see you as a man and all he saw this entire time was a small boy…"

Robin's frown lightened into one of worry. All those questions had been rightfully answered by Slade. Was Robin really trying to impress his old mentor…was he trying to prove to him that he was really a hero and could handle things on his own…and Batman stared right over that all and ignored it entirely. All he saw was another young child who could get killed.

"You might have never impressed him, Robin…" Slade continued, something in the whisper of his voice that made Robin listen. "…But you sure did impress me. Isn't that saying something—doesn't that mean something? Things just don't happen for a reason, Robin, and that's why our paths crossed. They both lead in the same direction, so just walk with me so we can see the glorious ending of all this...What does that mean to you…"

Robin turned his head slightly to look Slade in the eye, only seeing him before in the corner of his vision. "I think...that you're wrong. I don't know how, but it's all wrong…"

-S-

Stubborn, wasn't he? But that made it all the more worth his while. That meant, when Robin did submit to him…it would mean something…it would mean a lot. Robin was the most foolish and strongest person Slade knew of his age, and that was saying something. That was why Robin had to be his apprentice.

"The correct answer is right in front of you." Slade said simply, not at all affected visibly by Robin's damn answer. "Give it time and it'll come to you…after all, you'll have quite a few years to think about it…"

The boat jolted slightly and Robin almost slid from the corner as the boat started up. They were leaving the docks and would arrive at their next destination soon—somewhere rather far from Jump City.

Saying nothing more, Slade stood and headed for the door, locking it behind himself as he started down the long hallway toward the stairs to the deck. But he paused when he thought he saw something move in the corner of his eye…

Turning his head slightly to the left, he stared at the shadows…maybe his imagination was getting the better of him. After all, he had been rather busy trying to make sure everything went according to plain. The Titans were dying, Robin was coming with him, and no one was there to stop him.

He hoped.

He was just a little tired. Staying up for nights on end, it had been quite the task to keep Robin sedated—but even then Robin almost managed to escape. The second time Robin actually got away, the boy almost made it to his former friends before Slade stopped him in the alleyway. Must have had that shard of glass still on him…

Shrugging of his worries, he started back down the hall and up the stairs. Things were going smoothly…

And he'd be damned if anyone tried to stop him…

-A-

Alex: Another chapter—another chapter! Yeah!

Victor: I think I should steal your lap-top. It's time for sleep.

Alex: I'll send this in tomorrow, then—but I got another chapter done over the weekend and it was all thanks to my wonderful lap-top!

Victor: I wish you didn't have insomnia…

Alex: What's wrong with insomnia? My grades are at honours, I'm physically fit, I have no problem with other people…I just don't sleep as much as other people unless I take that medicine for my knee.

Victor: Big question here—does anyone in your family know you have insomnia?

Alex:…I think my older sister does, but I don't think the medicine that makes you sleep. I get nightmares of my family dying when I do…

Victor: You never told me that.

Alex: You never asked—and why would I tell the guy who bleached my black hair white?

Victor: It still turned out nice…

Supposedly going to bed now,

Alexnandru Van Gordon,

And

The ever-annoying,

Victor Van Heiring

Victor: Hold a sec—'ever-annoying?'

Alex: Oh—just go to bed already!

Until next time.