Chapter 24: Family Terra stared back timidly, trying to decide what to do.
But…she told them her answer – she couldn't go back.
"I'm not…running anymore."
Her voice was definite and Raven found herself confused by this sentence.
"And you don't need to hide anymore either," Raven said, trying to get the meaning of her words.
"And I don't hide either," she said decisively. Raven knew that she was lying – she was hiding from herself.
Why else would she pretend not to remember her life as a Titan?
"You're lying!" Raven told her, surprising the rock user. "You are hiding. You are hiding from Slade."
"What? What is that supposed to mean?" she asked annoyed.
"That means that Slade is the one who makes you face your greatest fear, Terra!"
Starfire and Cyborg watched with uneasiness as Raven's voice rose slightly.
"He makes you face yourself!"
Terra's eyes grew angry before she shouted at the half-demon. "That's not me!"
"But that was a part of you," the Empath said, lowering her voice after Terra shouted at her.
"Being evil – it was never a part of me! I…was just confused," Terra cried, devastated that they would want her to come back and yet, reminding her of her wrong-doings.
"That's not what I meant!" Raven stated, causing Terra's angry expression to turn into surprise. "Your…powers – he makes you face your lack of control over them."
Terra's eyes stared back at the half-demon with surprise and sadness.
No, she wasn't running from him. She came to him for control but when she decided to forget…that was the moment she thought she could outrun him.
But she didn't know that…through Beast Boy she was running right back to him.
But now…she was free!
"I'm not running from him anymore and I'm not hiding from myself. I am not the girl you once knew." Raven stepped back, seeing the finality of her sentence reflected in her expression.
But what about the explosives?
"And what if you are the key to Robin? Slade still has him."
Terra's eyes narrowed.
"And, in a way…he still has you."
A painful scream escaped the ex-leader of the Titan's mouth, after receiving another blow from his mentor.
He had been called to spar with Slade…but each punch and kick sent into his body, made it more and more seem like beatings.
Robin fell onto the floor after Slade's foot had found good foothold on his knee.
"It seems that the warning I gave you, wasn't enough to teach you how to behave," Slade spoke calmly, stepping closer to the struggling ex-sidekick.
Robin managed to get onto his feet, evading a punch but failed to evade the knee that suddenly found itself lodged inside his stomach. "Y-you…don't even know…how to learn," Robin breathed, earning him a punch into his face, sending him back to the ground.
"But I'm sure…that you have learned quite a lot, Robin – especially what it means to be hero."
Slade's words sent shivers down the ex-titan's spine.
He knew what it means to be hero – and that's why he had to stay away from his friends.
That's why he had to fight them – and hurt them.
"Prepare for your next mission. You might like this one," Slade muttered as he walked away from the boy wonder.
Robin didn't make a move even when he realized that Slade had left the hall.
What had he become? Was he a criminal hero?
Saving lives only to commit crimes – even coming close to taking lives?
He remembered how brutally he had beaten the youngest member of the Teen Titans.
He remembered Beast Boy's sad smile, accepting how things turned out for him.
And Robin remembered wishing away that broken smile and for a split second, considered any method to fulfill this wish.
And he saw what happened if he disobeyed Slade.
Slade knew that Robin had resisted his will on more than one occasion, each time paying a dear price. Slade knew exactly when Robin was playing him and he exploited his weaknesses quite skillfully.
And this time, it seemed that he couldn't outsmart the mastermind.
But why was he his apprentice in the first place?
Only to commit crimes in his name?
If so, then why him – why was Slade so persistent on him walking in his footsteps?
"…I might become something like a father to you…"
Robin felt rage surging through him at the memory of those words.
Slade was not even close to his former mentor.
His anger cooled instantly, regret and disappointment filling him instead.
What would he think if he saw him now – the child he took under his wing to become his own hero – a hero to his former city.
A child to step out of his shadow…only to step into a much darker one. What would he say if he saw his once sidekick to be working as a villain?
Robin pulled up his knees, resting his head on them in shame as the word 'disappointment' flashed in his mind.
But what if this is what still enabled him to be a hero?
Meanwhile Cyborg was inspecting the damage done to the garage – some of his gear damaged due to the explosion.
He was shocked to find that the T-sub was one of the causalities. But luckily, the things he needed for now were unharmed.
Starfire was on the upper floor where the most damage was visible.
Walls were charred and cracked and windows completely destroyed.
A deep sigh escaped her throat, realizing how many times their home received damage and how long it will take them to fix this damage.
Raven had floated up beside the alien. "I know the situation of the tower but Cyborg has more important matters to attend to. When he's done, we can take care of it."
Starfire looked to the floor. "Do you think that he will be victorious?"
Raven followed her gaze but gave her an honest answer. "Most probably. He did it once after all."
Starfire smiled slightly. "And how long do you think the process will take?"
"As long as it takes."
Starfire felt uneasy. The more time passed, the further away it seemed that their leader was drifting away – drifting towards the villain Slade wanted him to be.
"Do you think…we will be able to save Robin?"
Raven looked at Starfire, feeling the same uneasy feeling passing through her but tried to ignore it. "We have saved him once and we will save him again."
"But…it is not us this time. Slade…has chained him to something much bigger, something he cherishes more than friends," Starfire spoke in a low voice.
The half-demon agreed silently with her.
He was bound to his nemesis by something different this time, seeing that he probably knew about Terra being infected with the explosives yet didn't do anything about it.
And Robin was too smart to simply not have found a way to force Slade to release him and Terra.
But what was it?
Meanwhile Robin found himself in complete darkness as his feet hit gravel, trudging along an unknown path. Whatever he would have done, he wouldn't have been prepared for this. He couldn't know that his next mission included him walking blindfolded to an unknown destination.
In one moment Slade called him to talk about his mission and in the next, he found himself blindfolded, sitting on the floor.
And after that, there was no explanation of where they were headed…and what he even had to do in that destination. Robin felt the gravel vanish as his feet found solid ground – asphalt.
Were they on the street?
He listened intently but it was too quiet to be the street. There were no cars, no horns blaring, no engines running. The ex-leader listened more intently and realized that there were no other footsteps or voices as well – no people either.
Could this be an alley?
But by the way, he felt the heat of the afternoon sun on his back…he guessed that there must be not many buildings around. "Where are we?" he asked, feeling Slade walking close behind him.
As an answer, the burning heat suddenly left and he felt a cool shade around him.
Like they were in a building.
His feet felt something soft under them…something like fabric – a carpet?
And as they walked further…his feet suddenly moved on uneven ground, sinking a little.
"Stop," Slade commanded and Robin obliged. "Climb."
Robin felt for a rope or a ladder and found cold metal meeting his hand and he began to climb. He heard the clanking of metal under him and knew that Slade was following him.
He reached the top and walked only 2 steps when Slade told him to stop.
Robin felt no other objects around him as Slade stepped up behind him. His foot moved forward a little…and he felt no surface on the front part of his foot. Robin moved his foot back, realizing that they were high above the ground.
"Hold this," Slade commanded and Robin felt his arm stretch out from behind. The ex-sidekick reached out instinctively and his hand clamped automatically around the hard, smooth object. It felt almost exactly like his staff with the only exception that this was probably wooden material.
His other hand reached out as well, suddenly feeling drawn to the object.
Slade's hand pushed it down. "Take this instead," he said with a hint of content in his voice and another wooden object was pressed into his hand that clasped around it. But the skin of this hand felt a strange heat coming from somewhere above the object. "I want you to take your surrounding in. Take a careful look at it before I tell you what your next mission is," Slade's voice ringing in his ear.
Robin frowned – he didn't like the tone in his voice.
"And you do know what happens if you even think of trying to disobey in this mission," Slade whispered, reminding Robin of the word 'hero'.
Slade's hands worked on the knot at the back of his head and the blindfold slipped off and dropped.
The first thing that Robin saw were rows of red chairs after he recovered from the sudden bright light that had invaded his eyes. His eyes wandered around and he saw that down below was a circular sand-filled stage. He looked up and saw that the ceiling was actually the top of a giant tent.
His eyes finally rested on his left hand and he saw that he held a trapeze in his hand.
And suddenly images of his childhood flashed before his eyes – images of his parents as they flipped and turned in the air. And he saw them catching him as he jumped after them, the crowd cheering loudly.
He was in a circus!
His eyes wandered around the empty chairs facing him, the crowd's cheers still echoing in his ears before his eyes fell on his other hand.
And rage and grief spread through him as he saw the rope of the trapeze suddenly snap, dropping his parents to their death. The torch in his hand filled him with that horrible memory.
It was only a memory – a memory he tried to hide through the mask he was wearing. But Slade's words turned it into reality. "Burn it!"