Ugh, cramps.
I'll spare you any further details.
Read, enjoy, ignore errors.
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The T-Car was roaring down the street in 10 minutes time.
It had taken everyone about 4 minutes to fully wake up. Briefing had taken 4 minutes, suiting up took 2. It had all taken far too long for Robin, but he supposed he had to simply deal with it. They weren't rusty when it came to fighting, patrolling made sure of that, but Robin knew they could be faster and more efficient. Planets could be on the line, and 2 minutes could be the determining factor between a species life and death.
"Almost forgot." Cyborg said, pulling down his visor and pulling some things from it, "Here's y'all communicators back. Thought I'd hold on to them for you guys."
"Sweet," Beast Boy whooped, taking his communicator back, "I've missed it. I thought I lost it back at the tower or something."
Robin flipped open his communicator finding 23 unheard messages. Mostly from the Titans East he supposed. Though Cyborg had long called and updated them, they were nosy. No doubt they wanted the full story from him. Well, they'd just have to wait until everything was all over with. He didn't have the time to converse. For a moment, he wondered if he should call them for backup, but dismissed the idea quickly. The more people involved, the sloppier things would get. It was the reason Robin left a note on the bat-computer for Batman instead of calling. For this mission, they needed precise measurements and order. Titans East weren't known for their precision, especially Speedy, Mas and Menos.
"Alright Beast Boy," he said, focusing, "Tell us again the layout."
"As mentioned before," he sighed, opening his communicator and uploading his files via batcave signal, "I haven't had much time to study this, not that there is much to study. I know we're going to a big building, bigger than a museum, but smaller than, say, a football field. The area is as you would expect in the outskirts. Abandoned buildings everywhere, that may serve as good sniper hiding spots and video surveillance, as well as drones and lackeys. There is a small water body nearby, but as far as I know, its nothing but a sewage draining spot. Dirty, mucky water that holds at least 24 different disease parasites and pesticides. The area is pretty straightforwards. It'll work in both sides favors. It's not well documented though, so that's about all I can get on the area."
Robin was mildly impressed with Beast Boys scouting abilities. He'd underestimated him. He knew himself the area wasn't documented (like all of the outskirts), but he'd wanted a refresher and Beast Boy had gone beyond that. He'd be sure to give Beast Boy more scouting jobs in the future.
That is, if there was a future. Whatever they were up against was clearly well thought out and exact.
He hadn't forgotten that he was going to fight Slade. Whatever fluke had happened before was just that- a fluke. Slade was far stronger and in general a better fighter. He knew Kory and him could never defeat Slade in the manor they had fought, let alone in less than a half and hour. Maybe Slade had gone easy on them, maybe they'd just gotten lucky. Whatever the reason, Robin knew this fight would be different than their last.
"Raven," he said, "Have you found anything on Luther?"
"Not much," she told him from the front seat, "He isn't, per say, hard to find. But he must be experienced with telepaths because he's blocked me out somehow. Last I know, he was in Bludhaven. Not the location we've got, but just a few blocks over from there."
"How about you Cyborg?" he asked, "Anything on CORE?"
"Eh." Cyborg sighed, "The blueprints gave me next to nothing. It really is nothing but a shell. Without Bruce, it can't start up. Without a proper power source, it wont start up. If Slade or Gunner have found a way to start it, I have no idea how to stop it. I'd need to see it in person to at least get an idea. But there is something I thought was peculiar."
"Is it the fact that is has a giant bubble hanging on the side?" Beast Boy asked, "Because I thought that was highly inappropriate for a planet-destroying machine."
"Uh, no." Cyborg told him, "While I was looking over the blueprints, I saw that their was actually two missing parts of the machine. Two highly developed robotic machinery. I saw it present in one of the pictures that was taken, but in a more recent one, the two pieces were gone. Nothing was reported missing though, even before it was sold."
"Then its no accident." Starfire spoke up, "But why would Gunner and Slade purposefully take them out? Without them, I doubt the machine will function properly."
"It wont." Cyborg confirmed, "Like I said, their highly developed pieces. Important parts too. From what I can tell, their part of the main central neural mechanism. Like the brain."
"Ew." Beast Boy spat, "Who would take out a robots brain? What could you do with it, learn chess?"
Or build a robot.
But Robin kept his thoughts to himself. Beast Boy was right. What else could you do with a 'robots brain' besides build a more functional robot? Slade was always a few steps ahead, so Robin had to assume that he knew what he was doing.
"There's the harbor." Raven said, and Cyborg slowed down the car and pulled into a nearby alleyway.
They had agreed that driving too close to their location was a bad idea. Once they crossed the harbor, security would probably be tight and the T-Car gave off a lot of different signals. Going in without it would probably be for the best.
"Leave communicators behind," Robin reminded them, because even they gave off signals and that could alert Slade and Gunner.
Robin was going through things with the utmost care. At least two lives were at stake here, and possibly a whole 'nother world as well. It was anyone's guess what planet Slade and Gunner wanted to blow up. They possibly may have already blown up a few, just for the heck of it.
"I'll see you again soon," Beast Boy said to his communicator, tucking it under his seat, "You'll be safe here."
"Ok, team." Robin said, gathering them, "Just as planned, we'll split up into three groups of two. Raven your okay with the connection?"
Raven nodded and he felt her invade his mind, opening up their link.
Naturally, they drifted to their partner, Blue Jay with Beast Boy, Raven with Cyborg, and Starfire with him. Not that he'd tell anyone, but Robin would have preferred to go into this with his brother, though he definitely didn't mind Starfire. But it was just normal for him to sneak into high-tech places with his brother. It actually put him at ease. But Robin knew Blue Jay could keep Beast Boy from making a game-changing mistake and that was more important than what he was comfortable with.
"Alright titans," he said, lifting into the air besides Starfire, "Stay low to the ground or high above it, and watch for security and cameras. Jay and Beast Boy will lead around back, Raven and Cyborg around the side, Star and I will scout the front. Worse comes to worst we'll need to tunnel underground. Got it?"
They all nodded their agreement.
"Keep your minds open," he said, one last bit of information, "But your focus clear. We just want a way inside without causing a racket."
Another nod his way.
Beast Boy shifted into a pterodactyl and grabbed Blue Jay by his shoulders, sweeping away low across the street. Raven created a black shield allowing Cyborg stepped on, and they went high and out of Robin's line of sight. Once his team were safely on their way, Robin nodded at Starfire and they kept low to the ground, flying towards the harbor.
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Tim wasn't sure what time it was, but he knew it had to still be late. He was too tired for it to be daytime. He wasn't sure what he'd been dreaming about, but he was glad to have woken up.
His initial thoughts were blank, but he had an urge to turn over in bed and attempted it, only, he didn't turn over.
His eyes groggily cracked open and he was met with a dark room. He smiled a little to himself before closing his eyes and trying to go back to sleep. But even in his stuporous state, his body woke him back up with a start. The room he had seen hadn't been his, and it had sent his adrenaline rushing. A fleeting thought ran past his mind telling him it was too early for this, but his blood raced and his back stiffened.
He found that he was already sitting up, but his hands and legs were bound to the chair he was tied to. Thick metal bound his hands and ankles, biting into his skin, and the lack of ability to move make his heart pound. He twisted and turned his neck, which had become sore and stiff being in one position, and tried to get a good lock around. At first, he had thought he was in a small, and darkened room, but looking around, he found that wasn't the case.
The room was darkened, but it was anything but small. Something big lay in front of him, taking up most of the room actually, but it was covered in a big blanket and he couldn't tell what it was. He wiggled his toes on the cold floor, taking note that he was barefoot, and tried to make out the pattern of the cold tile. It looked like a school floor.
Looking up, he found the source of the only light in the room. Their were small windows lining the upper-walls, the moon cast in a significant amount of light. The windows weren't big, but Tim bet he could somehow squeeze through them if he could somehow get to them.
It wasn't much to go by, but it was an exit.
There was a buzzing in the air, also. Tim knew it was the sound of electricity running through the building. He tried to turn his head around and see if their was a glowing EXIT sign somewhere, but he found none. If he was somewhere in the middle of the building, he probably wouldn't find an exit door easily, windows probably being his best bet.
Suddenly, a light at the far end of the room cut on. It was a pale blue color but flicked to a bright orange and then white as it fully powered up. One by one Tim watched as multiple lights turned blue and then orange and finally white. He was glad they powered up slowly, his eyes were already taking their time adjusting.
With the light, though, came a full view of the room.
It wasn't the school gym or classroom he had imagined in his mind. Instead, the room was actually pretty bare. It had a table full of things he couldn't see in the far corner of the room. Their was a folding chair on the right side of the room. But to his left, the entire wall seemed to be made of cells. Or large cages.
It reminded him of the gorilla exhibit at the zoo. An open room, blocked off from the world by tall bars that pierced both the ceiling and the ground. But Tim doubted their were any animals in the cells. Or any humans for that matter. From what he could see, they were all empty. Besides, the room didn't smell bad. It was actually sickening clean smelling. Like an excess of some kind of lemon floor cleaner.
The sound of heavy footsteps filled the room and Tim tried to beat down the panic that was rising. Whoever it was was behind him, his footsteps echoing softly in the open room.
He tried to put a position on the footsteps as best he could according to the sound, echo, and size of the room, but it seemed as if his heartbeat were drowning out the sound and he found himself continually restarting the simple calculation he was trying to do. He'd begun again when a shadow covered him from behind, blocking out the light above him.
"Well," came a voice. "Good morning. Or I suppose, good afternoon."
Tim's first impression of the voice was old. Old and male.
He relaxed a bit. It was just an old man. An old man who had an army kidnap him in the middle of the night. But an old man nonetheless.
He tried to turn his head around to see the man who had approached him, but the man circled him anyway. He was short. The kind of short that meant you were old and shrinking. Even sitting down, Tim didn't have a hard time looking the man in the eyes.
His hair, or what was left of it, was as snow white as his pale skin and was brushed over in the worst attempt of a comb-over Tim had ever seen. Dull gray eyes looked back at him. It seemed as if every inch of the mans face had wrinkles. Even his wrinkles had wrinkles. Sun spots. Hairy moles. The man was the poster of old age gone wrong. Even his clothes, a drab white t-shirt, a khaki jacket, faded blue jeans. It all added up the 40's.
How could this man have anything to do with Tim's kidnapping?
"How do you do?" the man asked holding out his hand for shaking. "Gunner Wilson, at your service."
Tim glared and man laughed, shaking Tim's bound hand.
Now that 'old' was past in Tim's mind, he could make out the scratchy voice of the man. The all too present sound of phlegm and mucus that reminded Tim of those commercials were people coughed because they had asthma and couldn't breathe.
But the name, Gunner, Tim knew it from the Titans files. This man was a big shot in whatever was going on. One of two masterminds.
But, Tim had been under the impression that Gunner was after the Titans. Why would he want him?
"What do you want with me?" he asked, voicing his concerns out loud, "If your after Bruce, you'll be waiting a while. He'll want a full investigation and will probably do some extensive research on whoever you are."
He had actually almost said something totally bad. He was going to mention something about the titans and about Slade and Batman. But he had remembered last minute that he wasn't in suit and Batman actually had nothing to do with things. He was Tim Drake. He wasn't supposed to know anything about Gunner or Slade. He had to act the part of a charity case. He needed to be afraid and confused. He needed to beg for safety and say he'd do anything. He was not supposed to be strong and he was not supposed to know anything.
"Impressive act." came a foreign voice.
"I'd say at least a Grammy." Gunner responded to the voice, "For facial expression."
Tim tried to turn around again and see who the first voice belonged to. Not being able to turn far enough, he turned back ahead, finding that the man, who was Slade, was already in front of him.
He jumped embarrassingly, surprised. Slade had his famous gold and black mask on. Tim found that a shiver had actually gone through his spine. It was something about the emotionless mask that scared him a bit. It was just too unnatural.
"Jokes aside," Slade said, turning from Tim and Gunner and going towards the machine, "You should know, Timothy, that there is no need for pretending. I am well aware of your situation."
"You don't know anything about me." Tim spat, but Slade turned around and Tim began to regret his choice of words.
Slade did not comment any further, though. Just letting out a smug, "Oh?"
And it was that 'oh' that told Tim that Slade wasn't kidding. He really did know everything about it. It was both satisfyingly scary and uncomfortable. Was he important or did Slade simply know everything?
Tim swallowed hard. He'd have to be careful about the things he said around the man. It was clear Gunner and Slade were totally different. Whereas Gunner was more carefree, Slade was down to business. The team of them didn't look too promising for him.
"So whats under the cover?" he asked, motioning to the big covered thing in front of him, "I doubt you're the kind of person who's into giving gifts."
And there he was, choosing his words carefully. But he couldn't help it. He was a naturally a sarcastic person.
"I hope you really don't expect me to tell you." Slade said, and Tim was surprised he'd even responded, "Because you would be sadly mistaken. I don't like repeating myself and I don't see the need in explaining something so mediocre to you."
"So whats the plan for now?," Gunner asked Slade, "I mean, you know its only a matter of time before..."
Gunner trailed off and Tim had to wonder what he was mentioning at.
"We test it now." Slade said, his voice having a weird grit to it, "Though I have the other problem under control."
He said that in a way that Tim guessed had to be anger. Slade's voice had still been so calm it was hard to tell. Apparently, they had a little pest control problem that Slade didn't want to be worried about at the moment. Tim could only guess that the 'pests', would be coming to his rescue.
"Move the blanket," Slade instructed, heading across the room and going to the table.
Gunner, did as he was told and Tim cocked an eyebrow. He had somehow been under the impression that Gunner had actually been Slade's dad. He couldn't remember which file had given him the notion, but he was starting to think it was wrong. Unless, of course, Slade was just a jerk and talked to his father like that. And Gunner was a punk for taking it.
It was a weird relationship they had, but the thought was quickly cast aside when Gunner removed the blanket. What lay before him could only be described as cool. Probably deadly. But cool.
It looked like a giant telescope, so Tim assumed it had to do with stars or a planet of some sort. From the sheer size of it, probably about 3 or 4 stories tall, Tim knew it had to be powerful and probably able to shoot, whatever it shot, very far.
He would really love to know what it did, and possibly, the damage radius.
"Fill the power caisson." Slade said, grabbing key from the table and returning.
Gunner mock saluted and grabbed a ladder that had previously been hidden from Tim's view by the machine. He set the ladder up by a giant bubble looking thing attached to the machine. Gunner climbed the ladder and turned a nozzle at the top. The nozzle shuttered for a moment, before a thick, clear, and gray-ish ooze dripped out.
Its slopping sound sounded bad enough, but less than 10 seconds went by before the smell caught Tim's nose. It was a horrible mixture between animal feces and decaying plants. His face scrunched up and if he could move his hands, he would cover his nose.
"Who blew that one?" he coughed, "Because I think you need a minute to yourself."
"No ones 'cutting the monkey'." Gunner said, climbing down the latter, "That, your smelling, is melted metals and graphite. Perfect electricity conductors."
Tim wasn't sure what 'cutting the monkey' meant, but he knew Gunner was saying the truth. He may not seem like the sharpest knife in the bunch, but he was right about the metals and graphite. They did manage electricity well.
When the glass bubble was finally filled with the melted metals, and the room stank of the putrid stench, Gunner climbed back up the latter and turned off the nozzle.
"Get Luther." Slade said, another instruction, and took the key he had and went towards the cells in the wall.
Gunner ran out of the room, returning with 'Luther'. Lex, Luther. Tim nearly gawked. A man like Luther wouldn't normally be caught dead in a dingy place like the one they were in. Luther had standards. He probably had his food hand fed to him while someone fanned him with a fan made of hummingbird feathers. He was spoiled and clean.
What could he have to do with any of this?
But Tim had to give it to him, he walked in with an air of royalty. His suit was crisp and pressed and he looked beyond professional.
"Are we finally ready to start this thing?" he asked, fashionably pulling up the sleeve of his suit jacket and checking his watch. "I have a meeting in the morning."
"The meetings got to wait." Gunner said, cracking his knuckles and jumping with energy. "When we fire this thing up, the whole world will be at our disposal."
Why did everyone want to control the world? What fun could it possibly be? It just sounded like a lot of work to Tim.
"The boy?" Luther said to Gunner, impatient. "The less time we spend messing around the more time we have fixing any kinks we may come across. We know the titans are on their way. It's only a matter of time."
"Slade's got it under control," Gunner said, crossing his arms and smiling. "He's thought of everything."
"And its clear you think of nothing." Luther said, with a scoff. "You're a deadbeat and he's an assassin. Their the titans. I've seen what those kids have done and a few droids aren't going to hold them back for long."
"Now listen here," Gunner began, but Slade shushed them.
Tim could almost hear the glare Slade sent to them and the glare Gunner sent to Luther. But Gunner nor Luther argued back. Luther checked his watch again, and Gunner went to work starting up the rest of the machine.
He turned a key that was sticking out near the front. Tim recognized it immediately. It was the same kind of key the titans had found. And the one Ryan had had.
And speaking of Ryan.
Tim noticed immediately the boy with the mop of red hair that Slade left the cell carrying. Tim's heart stopped and any previous emotions he'd been having was replaced with fear and an undertone of rage. He had silently vowed to conscious silence for the rest of his kidnapping, but words bubbled up in his throat and he just needed to know if Ryan was alive.
"Ryan?" he called, when Slade was close enough, "Ryan?"
"He can't hear you, boy." Luther said without look up, typing something on his phone, "Barren Coma."
Barren Coma? What did that mean? Barren: adjective, meaning empty or stripped. And he knew what a coma was. Should the prefix of the word and the suffix be in chronological and linguistic order, that would mean Ryan was in a... empty coma? Empty of what?
Luther sighed before putting his phone away and went over to the far away table. If they ran to it so often, Tim wasn't sure why it wasn't just brought over, but honestly, it didn't matter. What mattered was Ryan's limp body. His shallow breathing. Whatever they were doing to him was putting him in a non-responsive stare.
Luther returned with a syringe.
Tim's heart froze for a moment. Any energy he had had was drained from him, along with the blood in his face. Luther approached him and he could have sworn his heart gave up trying to beat. He felt like he was going to be sick.
But Luther walked by him without a second glance and plunged the needle into Ryan's arm. It would be horrible for Tim to say he was glad the needle hadn't been for him, but he'd be lying if he say he wanted it to be.
"Open the caisson." Slade said and Gunner jumped back on his ladder and climbed.
Luther pulled his phone back out and placed it on Ryan's chest. Slade shifted and Tim finally got a good look at Ryan's face. His skin wasn't nearly the vibrant orange it normally was, instead, Ryan was almost as pale as Tim. But perhaps the most startling thing about him was the fact that his eyes were open. Half lidded, though they didn't hide the dullness in his green eyes. His mouth was agape, and though it seemed he was awake, he was still completely limp.
If Luther hadn't told him otherwise, he would seriously fear that Ryan was already dead.
Gunner grunted and pushed open a lid that covered the bubble- caisson- thing. The open lid let out another whiff of the horrible smelling melted metals.
"Good grief," Luther said, covering his nose, "Just enter the code and press the green button and the suit will work. I need some fresh air."
Luther hurried from the room and Slade one handedly held Ryan and entered a code on Luther's phone. The phone beeped and it seemed as if the suit let out a twin beep.
Slade pocketed the phone and waited for Gunner to hurry down the latter.
"What are you doing?" Tim asked, slightly alarmed, watching Slade place a hand on the latter himself, "What are you gonna do with him?"
"We need the power," Gunner said, approaching him, "He gives off more than enough. The suit suppresses the amount we tell it. And the metals distribute it appropriately. He's the ultimate power source, you see-"
"Enough." Slade spoke and Gunner shut his mouth quickly.
Power source?
Barren.
Ryan was in a barren coma. Barren as in empty. He was simply out of energy. But, if he was out of energy, what were they taking from him?
"You can't take his energy." Tim spoke up.
Slade was halfway up the latter, "Oh cant I?"
"He's hardly giving any off. He was healing before and-"
"Works alright to me." Gunner said cheekily, "In fact, I think things are working perfect."
"But he has nothing to give." Tim tried again, "You'll kill him if you keep this up."
"Then we'll move on to his sister." Slade said, "And when she dies, we'll move on to her boyfriend. Getting the power isn't the hard part. Finding someone who can survive with the power, is."
Tim's mind was racing. He was already recalculating a way to get himself and Ryan out of their situation. Screw the window, with Ryan he'd never be able to scale the wall and get out that way. Which way had Luther gone? Left? It wasn't much to go on, but it was better than nothing. But that was a more long-term goal.
Slade had reached the top of the latter, and carelessly dropped Ryan inside the giant bubble before shutting the lid. Through the clear-ish gel, Tim could see Ryan slowly sink. He stopped about mid-way, his body in a seemingly frozen stance, his arms up, as if he were falling.
Slade went to a control panel on the machine and pushed a few buttons. A few lights flashed and the a loud hum filled the room. The machine was working.
Ryan twitched a little, in his frozen stance, and Tim was glad Ryan didn't need air to survive. But it did little to calm him. Ryan was still being drained, and he was still in probably a lot of pain. Every second the machine was on was taking more energy from him. Every minute he died a little more. It was a horrible thing to think about.
"We prepared?" came Luther's voice, and a moment later Tim saw the man walk around him. "Time is of the essence."
"Patience." was Slade's reply.
Gunner circled Tim, going behind him and pushing his chair forwards. The chair squeaked loudly across the floor until Gunner stopped Tim at the machine's control panel. Gunner pushed a button and a keyboard lowered right in front of Tim, a screen right behind it lighting up.
Tim didn't move. He wasn't sure if they were planning on watching some kind of TV program or if they actually expected him to somehow type.
"Last needed piece." Luther said to Slade, but his voice was oddly light. Like he was teasing.
Tim turned as best as he could to try to see Slade's response. He knew the man would be cool and collected about whatever Luther was hinting at, but body language said a lot too.
"Wont be but a minute." Slade said, actually snapping his finger and calling Gunner to him.
"Sladey, everything is working out perfectly." Tim heard Gunner say, "See? Your old man ain't such a deadbeat after all."
Tim couldn't see what was happening, Gunner and Slade were around the other side of the machine, but he heard a swish, as if something had been opened. Their was clicking and clanking- the sound of gears. They were moving, it sounded like, so Tim couldn't figure out why Slade would feel the need to open the inside of the machine up.
Tim looked to Luther for some kind of hint of what was going on, but Luther didn't help. The man actually looked back at him and raised his eyebrows, playfully, like he would to a child. Like he was playing with him. Like everything that was happening was nothing but a day in the park.
"You don't know how much it means to me, Sladey," Gunner went on, "That you included me in your plans. Father and son. We'll be ruling the world, soon. Just you and me. We can take Luther on."
Luther scoffed, "Not offended." he smirked. "Just remembering that plans change."
Plans change...?
Again, Tim was surprised at Slade and Gunner's relationship. Clearly, Slade was the brains. He held all the shots and gave all the orders. Gunner was the exact opposite, actually not being too smart. But he sounded so appreciative of Slade that it was borderline annoying.
Suddenly, there was a blood-curdling scream. An old voice. Full of phlegm and mucus. Full of pain. The screaming didn't last long and the clinking and clacking of the machine stopped as Slade apparently shut the panel door back.
"Everything's in order," Slade said, walking back around the machine and towards Tim.
Slade pulled a napkin from somewhere and wiped his hands, which were covered in blood. A violent tremor ran through Tim, and no matter what he did, he couldn't stop it. All previous thoughts were wiped blank and he was left with a wild sense of panic. His heart beat faster and his head pounded with a new headache. He wanted to scream. He wanted to stop his quivering hands. He wanted to turn invisible and disappear.
But he couldn't. Instead, he was left looking at the blank mask of a killer. Looking at the mask of a man who had just killed his father. Seemingly, by jamming him into the gears of a full powered machine.
Gunner was dead.
"Now," Slade said, putting his not quite clean hands on Tim's cheeks and squishing them, "We're going to go through this together. Step by step."
Luther approached and pulled a key from his pocket, unlocking Tim's hands. The freedom of his hands felt good and he massaged his wrists. But he still wasn't really free and Ryan was anything but. And that was a major downside because all Tim wanted at the moment was to run. Run far and fast.
Slade pressed a button on the machines computer screen and it lit light blue.
"This is the start-up menu." Luther said, obviously reading the information from something on his phone, "The password is a name. Someone close to Bruce who has changed his diapers many times."
"Ringing any bells?" Slade asked, turning to Tim.
Tim remained silent. He wouldn't do anything to help Slade or Luther. He knew the machine was dangerous and he knew lives would probably be lost if he cooperated. He wasn't sure if this was his only role in the kidnapping, but Slade had seriously wasted his time. Tim would remain silent.
"I know you know the answer." Luther said, "We both do. And I know your going to give us the answer."
"Why did you kill Gunner?" he asked, his voice scratchy, purposefully ignoring the question.
"I'm not going to-"
"A fault in the machine engineering," Slade interrupted, "The machine is designed to automatically shut down if it senses any traces of blood. That feature was made for the safety of the designers, but unfortunately for it, that shut down also leaves a few things unlocked and unchecked. With a few well planned hacks a lot of things are unlocked for us already."
"We needed a lot of human traces of blood to overload the lock-down mechanism" Luther said, clearly annoyed with the delay, "Gunner provided it."
"Now Timothy," Slade said, looking him in the face, "There is a series of questions you will need to answer, and I know you can."
"You see," Luther spoke up, "You were selected from a wide range of people for a reason. For one thing, you were a boy, and boys are more likely to cooperate when influenced. Another thing, you're an orphan, so no one will miss you."
Luther said that last part in a way the Tim was sure was meant to be a threat, but Tim didn't feel that way. In fact, the words shot out of his mouth before he could stop them.
"Bruce would." he said, and though he hadn't meant to blurt it out, he meant it.
Slade actually chuckled.
"Are you willing to bet, boy?" he asked, "If you knew the numbers to do the math, you'd know that we forced Bruce to adopt you while under mind control. You got the smartest IQ in your age group, and even that above it. You are naturally inquisitive and you have a fascination with heroes. You were chosen strategically, nothing more."
Tim wanted to disagree, but he had no leverage. Nothing to fight back with.
"Obviously," Slade went on, "A dumb boy would be no help to us. But your inquisitiveness showed us that you'd ask questions. Your never quite satisfied with a single answer. You must dig, it is in you. And that's alright. Because people who dig, get answers. Answers that I need. We needed you to get close to Bruce so that we could get the answers from you. Your fear of hospitals and tools make you easy to manipulate. And as for your fascination with heroes, well it confirmed that you would not only want to know about Bruce, but his other persona as well. And those answers may also be a need to me."
"Your quite lucky, really." Luther said, "Though your life may be short, the last of it was truly full of grand riches."
Call him crazy, but Tim didn't feel so lucky. He actually felt quite sick. Sick to his stomach, to be exact. Vile was burning his throat but he refused to let anything out.
"Now that we know the story behind your adoption," Luther said, almost bored sounding, "I think you need to answer the question for us."
Tim's nose was annoyingly beginning to become runny. As if he didn't have enough on his mind. Now he had to worry about snot running down his face. He scrunched his toes up, his mind racking for some kind of escape route, but his bare feet squished when it should have cracked. He cracked his toes on a daily basis, whether out of boredom or just a need to crack them. He knew when something wasn't right.
Confusion took over his brain and he leaned forwards, trying to see what was wet on his feet. For a moment, he believed the machine was leaking oil. His heart beat with happiness as the thought of the machine being broken solved all his problems. But the wet substance around his feet caught a ray of the light, and Tim saw that the oil was actually red. If he strained his ears hard enough, he could actually hear it dripping somewhere under the machine.
Realization dawned on him, and simply put, he freaked out. His legs and feet were still bound, but his mind didn't register this. His mind said run. It said get out. Leave.
The machine, was leaking Gunner's blood. And Tim didn't want to touch it or smell it at all.
Luther put his hands on Tim's shoulders and forced him to be still, but Tim fought him with his hands, though it did little.
"How about this," Luther said, "If you put in the code, I'll wash the blood away. Deal?"
No deal. He may be a little squeamish around blood, but it wasn't enough to make him endanger the lives of other.
Luther seemed as if he were ready to explode, but Slade held a hand up, stopping him from saying something else.
"Lets get the table." Slade simply said, and Tim saw a weird glint in Luther's eyes.
They both left to the table on the far side of the wall and picked it up together. He couldn't see from his seat, but whatever was on that table, Tim knew it wasn't good. He wondered briefly, what Batman would do in the situation. No doubt, Batman wouldn't be in the situation, but if he was, he probably would already have a plan.
Tim sighed, he wasn't Batman. All he could do was take what came and wait for back-up. He simply had to let it be.
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The streets were very empty. But that was because this was one of the worst places in Gotham, and Bludhaven, was very notorious too. Even the big baddies kept inside around there.
Paper and cans spread out, flying in opposite directions as Robin and Starfire flew down the street. Starfire made sure they didn't go fast enough to leave streaks of energy, but made reasonable time. They'd parked a considerable distance away, so they had time to make up for.
They stopped for a moment, just reaching the harbor. The smell was dizzying, but Robin crouched low and looked across the water, looking for any lights or a sign of a camera. This was it before they reached probable 'enemy territory.'
"See anything?" he asked, while Starfire crouched beside him. "I doubt finding the cameras will be that easy, but it pays to prepare."
"I don't spot anything," she said, "Should we still keep low?"
"Yeah."
He didn't stand from his crouch before flying out over the water. The water rippled on both sides of him, a spray spreading in his wake. Starfire caught up to him, touching his shoulder, and he slowed down. Looking down in the water, he saw a faint glow of green being left behind him before fading. He hoped no one had seen the glow. It might blow their whole cover.
He couldn't reach the other side of the harbor sooner. Being so close to the horrid smelling water was enough to throw anyone's flight pattern off.
He landed on the cracked sidewalk of Bludhaven. He couldn't see much in the dark, but it looked like they had landed in an abandoned part of Bludhaven. It seemed more downtown, because of all the buildings. Every building, though, had nearly no windows, and the ones that did have windows were broken. It looked like a ghost town. Though it may have seemed empty, Robin knew it was a 60% chance that it wasn't. The poor made use of places like that all the time. And you never knew who was paid by Slade to keep a good surveillance.
He looked to Starfire, placing a finger to his lips. She nodded. This marked the spot of silence. They'd use telepathy to communicate from there on out. Unless they were compromised, it was best not to cause a ruckus or make much noise.
Stay low.
He sent her, taking off close to the ground and staying near the shadows. If there were cameras, they would be in good spots. Even if he couldn't see them, that didn't mean they weren't there. He needed to behave like there were cameras even if there weren't.
He'd memorized the map they'd had before they left the cave. Though he knew where he was going, he had no idea what to look for. Not to mention that it was dark. It was easy to mistake one place for another.
They'd gone a few blocks before Starfire grabbed his shoulder gently. A rat scurried in front of him, a few more behind it, and Robin hoped she hadn't been concerned about them. He landed, staying in a crouched position and turned to her. She said nothing, but pointed ahead of them, through a few buildings.
He followed her finger and saw that a particular building actually had lights on. He did a few calculations in his head and found that the building was the target. He nodded at her and took off again. He wanted to try to mentally connect with Tim or Ryan, but knew the move might not be the best idea. Anytime he did something mental, he had to compromise some of his awareness. He wasn't good enough to focus on so many things at once while still maintaining environmental awareness. Even Raven sometimes had trouble doing it.
They were about a block from their destination, and still, they seemed to stay off the radar.
Lets find the others. He suggested, and she nodded.
Rachel latched on to them almost immediately.
I see you. She said, Cyborg and I are directly above you.
Beast Boy and I are on the other side of the building. We see you Raven. Blue Jay said.
I don't see anything. Beast Boy said, I think I do see a blob though...
We'll stay tight, Robin said, Raven, you and Cyborg scout above, try to land on the roof. Blue Jay and Beast Boy, come in close. Star and I will meet you on your side. Look for low-key ways in.
Their were mental nods of agreement and Raven shut down the connection. Starfire nodded at him and he led the way.
They made it to the building without any alarms going off, but Robin knew that that sometimes meant nothing. They may have tripped some invisible wire the moment the landed on the ground. Slade was tricky like that. Always a step ahead.
We've found a way in, came Blue Jay's voice, It heads underground, but doesn't look very stable. Shouldn't be too hard to get to a higher level.
We'll meet you there. Was Cyborg's voice, and Robin gave a mental approval.
Starfire and him snuck around the building and nearly immediately saw the rest of the team, crouching low next to the building.
Blue Jay pointed to what looked like a break in the wall of the building. The building seemed to mostly be made of stone, but beneath it was wood. Cyborg and Blue Jay was pulling out the stone pieces, revealing rotten wood that broke off easily.
As a squirrel, Beast Boy shimmied through the available space and went into the building, shifting back into his human form and helping out from the inside. Within minutes, they'd made a space big enough for them to get in through. If Raven, though, hadn't been still recovering from the shock back at the manor, she'd of just fazed them through.
Robin slid in first, easily landing on his feet and took a look around the room while the rest of the team climbed in. The room, clearly was for storage, he noted looking at the boxes and cleaning equipment. It was hot and badly insulated. Clearly not used often.
Blue Jay walked up behind him, signaling that they were all in safely and so far, seemingly undetected. There was a door just at the end of the small room, and no light was shining underneath. Sometimes it was better to just walk in through the door.
They readied themselves without actually lighting any power and Robin opened the door. Outside the room was completely black.
Robin adjusted his new mask, night vision coming. He saw his brother do the same. Beast Boy pulled out his old doom patrol goggles and they flashed quickly. Cyborg's eye turned green and he was set. Raven muttered a mantra and her and Starfire's eyes flashed white.
They all gave a nod to him, signaling being set and Robin led the way.
The hallway was empty, but Robin didn't see that as a loss or gain. Judging by the layout, material, and tiles of the floor, he guessed he was in a school of some kind. Because the area was so guarded and uptight, getting any information was tricky. Not much about the place was known.
They came to a split hallway, it branching out in the different directions. Robin didn't know many schools that had forks like that in the hallways. He changed his hypothesis of the building being a school to it being a hospital. An abandoned hospital. Odd, but not unheard of.
Strange place for Slade to choose for a hideout. Robin knew Slade didn't do much by accident. He wondered about the purpose.
Throwing a nod at the team, they split up in groups of two. Beast Boy followed him, Starfire went with Raven and Blue Jay went with Cyborg. They knew how to get in contact with Raven should something come up.
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Tim was fading in and out of consciousness. His vision was so cloudy that he could only rely on his memory of what the keyboard looked like, because he couldn't see the keys too well.
"A family doctor." Luther said, and Tim's fingers moved across the keys.
Leslie Thompkins. Easy.
The screen flashed green. Next question.
"Strong adversary."
Bane. Easy. Green flash. Next question.
"Death flower."
Rose. Easy. Green flash. Next question.
This one, Tim thought to himself. His hands quivered at the thought of his next attempt.
"_blank_ Alley."
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No glitching. Red flash. Tim grit his teeth as Slade pushed another needle in his arm. Hot, white, pain spread through Tim's arm. His arms were going numb. He felt like he couldn't breathe. He supposed, though, the numbness was a blessing and his blurred vision was too. He could barely feel the needle itself and he could hardly see a thing as well. That left little room for the panic he felt, just knowing something else was coming.
But whatever was in the needle was concerning. He tried hard not to think about what might be floating around in his blood.
But he couldn't just go down without a fight. Every few questions or so, he'd enter another kill code. He doubted any of them would work, but he knew a few strong ones in mind. He wasn't surprised that he remembered them. Numbers, after all, were his specialty. But he was a bit surprised that his brain was still working to the point that he could even type them in.
"Why are you so afraid of hospitals, Tim?" Slade said.
Tim shut his eyes tight. It was all about control. Every failed answer got him a short monologue and punishment. He was pretty sure it was meant to psych him out, but he took the time to simply focus on his own breathing. He wasn't going to buckle to this man.
"Is it because you remember your mother in one?" Slade continued, "Dieing. Afraid. Do you remember all the doctors? All their needles. Do you hear her voice, Tim? Screaming from all the pain?"
Control. Control. It was all about control. Slade wanted him to get worked up. Slade wanted him to get angry. To get annoyed. To type in the codes just to hurry this up. But Tim wasn't giving in. He wasn't going to let the man get to him. Though he honestly was on the verge of screaming something less than expected from his young mouth.
"You remember, don't you? You were only 6, but you remember. All that pain and all that medicine and all those shots. And for what? She still died, didn't she? Doctors are useless and their tools are cruel."
It was true, they were cruel. But having them sitting right next to him was just enforcing that idea.
"Do you hear her voice sometimes? Do you dream of her cries? She never loved you, but she was still your mother, wasn't she? You didn't want her to die. You didn't want her in pain. But she did. And she was. And you know that it's all your fault. That if you'd never been born, she'd never would have been in so much pain. She'd still be alive."
That wasn't entirely so. But not entirely untrue, either. He had had nothing to do with his mother's death. Every shrink and physician he'd ever saw pressed that idea into his mind like a bad but catchy song. It wasn't his fault. It wasn't his fault.
His mother had been forced to drink poison by Obeah Man, another psycho villain. Tim had been no part of that. But his mother and father had picked him up from Eaten, at London, to go to the Caribbean's for an impromptu vacation/business trip. Eaten had been his posh school for boys that he'd been shipped off to.
"You're a disaster Tim. A walking disaster. You bring pain with you wherever you go and the people around you will all end up like your mother. Suffering."
He wanted to change the subject. He was ready for the next question now.
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Robin was trying to figure out the layout of the building. Without his communicator he couldn't map it out 3 dimensionally, but he could have a basic map in his mind.
So far, they'd passed countless empty rooms full of long desks and storage rooms. A room full of antibiotics proved that this was an old hospital, and that worried Robin a bit. Slade plus old hospital was a scary thought. The man did damage in warehouses.
Beast Boy was in dog form, sniffing for familiar scents. Robin allowed Beast Boy to lead, but made sure he kept himself alert. Beast Boy's reflexes were in need of tuning.
They'd reached another split in the hallway and Beast Boy went to work figuring out which one to take. After a moment, Beast Boy shifted back to a human, but Robin held up a hand to silence him. He didn't need to be told. There was a low humming sound coming from the left. It sounded like a machine.
Robin pointed to the left and Beast Boy nodded. He'd smelt something that way too.
Robin led the way, this time, keeping to the wall and choosing his steps carefully. Him and Beast Boy had climbed some stairs, so Robin made sure to watch his steps. Being off of ground level meant you could fall. Being in a very old building meant the floors were probably unsafe. That combined meant you could fall through the floor hundreds of feet to your death.
The hallway turned a corner and Robin could see a light come from an under a door in a room. He looked to Beast Boy, and Beast Boy shifted into a blood hound. They crept closer to the door, Beast Boy leading, before Beast Boy shifted back to a human. He shook his head at Robin, obviously not smelling any human traces. But that didn't mean there was no one nearby.
Approaching the door, Robin looked through the glass window in it. Behind the door was very bright, and he had to blink a few times. He switched off the night vision in his mask and looked harder. It wasn't a room behind the door, it was what looked like a balcony, but not to outside.
The idea confused him, but he saw that there was no one in sight so he cracked the door open just wide enough for him to get through and entered. Robin saw the green ant scurry beneath the door and Beast Boy appeared beside him a second later.
He was wrong, it wasn't a balcony, but a landing. The landing was a complete circle, looking over and going around the whole perimeter of the room below it. He didn't stand from his couched position, but he looked between the safety bars and over the side of the landing. He saw some tables pushed to the side and knew the landing overlooked the hospitals cafeteria.
The room was large, but not barren.
Robin covered Beast Boys mouth, sensing him about to either gasp or make some other loud noise. CORE was at the center of the room, the machine humming loudly. They only had a side view of the machine, but Robin clearly identified Tim, Slade, and Luther right in front of it.
Tim was strapped to a chair, typing something into the machine, and Luther and Slade were watching on. He didn't see Ryan anywhere, but knew the boy had to be close by.
Robin backed up from the edge of the landing and sat crossed legged against the wall. He opened his mind, Starfire finding him first and Raven next. He had nothing to say to them, but he wanted to gather them at his position. Raven would pass the message to Blue Jay and Cyborg.
When that was done, Robin army crawled down the hallway of the landing. He wanted a different perspective. Beast Boy followed at his heels, in snake form. They passed countless doors, but Robin suspected they were all empty. That is, until one cracked open and Cyborg snuck out.
Robin would have preferred they entered through a door that wasn't quite so obvious, for Cyborg's size, but Robin saw neither Slade nor Luther look up from the machine and breathed a sigh of relief. Robin looked to the wall beside him, unsure why, until it faded an almost transparent black and Starfire and Raven stepped through it.
With them all being together, Robin allowed them to get a quick look of the situation below. It was a tricky setup. Luther was no fighter, but he didn't normally travel without some kind of protection. Slade was the biggest threat. And Tim was bound. Freeing Tim quickly would be number priority. He was smart enough to figure a way out himself. All he needed was a head start and a little persuasion. He probably wouldn't leave willingly.
But any move they made would alert both Slade and Luther of their presence. The first thing they'd probably do was grab hold of Tim. Robin knew him nor the team could do a thing if they had Tim.
And Slade's enhanced reflexes crossed out a lot of ideas too, like creating a portal below Tim. Slade could snatch Tim from it before he even fell through. And Robin knew Slade could probably punch a hole right through his shield. He wasn't as strong as Raven was, but knew should couldn't hold a shield against Slade while creating a portal below Tim. It was too much to focus on.
They needed a distraction. Something to get Slade and Luther away from Tim so that they could get him free. Once that was done, he and the team could deal with Slade and Luther, and find Ryan.
Robin's eyes caught a shadow across on the other side of the landing. The shape of the shadow. The hunched position. Eerie movement. And now that Robin knew what he was looking at, he even saw the pointy ears of the cowl.
Batman was here.
Robin looked at Raven and she opened the teams mind to him.
Batman is here, he stated, Right across on the other side.
Everyone strained their eyes to see what he was looking at.
Should I let him in? Raven asked, and Robin nodded.
When did you get here? Robin asked the man, when he was linked.
When did you get here? Batman responded. Fair enough.
We're at a dead end here. Robin said to him We can't make any moves forwards, they have Tim and we don't know where Ryan is. Anything else we do will just be pointless.
I see Ryan. Batman said, He's in the machine.
Everyone, again, strained their eyes. But they were on the wrong side of the machine, he was out of sight.
It was both a good and bad thing. At least they knew Ryan was close by and they didn't have to search for him, but what did 'in the machine' mean?
He's alive, Raven said, But he's in bad condition. I hardly sensed him.
Starfire was eerily quiet, Robin just noticed. And when he looked over to her, she was very pale. But she seemed focus, and that was good. He couldn't have her zoning out. This was not the time.
Robin had been about to ask Batman how to proceed, but Batman must have seen something he didn't quite like, because the next thing Robin knew, Batman had leaped over the landing railing.
Batman spread his cape, the light catching behind him and his shadow on the ground being the familiar bat-sign that people feared so much. Robin himself thought the whole bat-shadow was too cliché, but he took that as a sign to act.
He didn't need to look back at the team as he leaped over the railing as well. He stuck his landing right on top of the machine. His brother landing on it as well. Everyone else filed around Batman, waiting his command.
That didn't bother Robin. Normally, he'd have a problem with that, but at that moment, he just wanted to go back home to the tower, knowing everyone was safe. If that meant letting Batman lead this, then so be it.
Luther looked like he may have peed himself at the surprise of them showing up, but he regained his stature quickly. Nothing ever surprised Slade.
Robin suspected Tim would have a gleeful, smirk on his face. One that said 'I told you so' or 'I knew it' or 'what took you so long'. But Robin did a once over, and the boy didn't look so well. He actually looked nearly unconscious. Maybe he was the reason Batman hopped the railing without so even the idea of a plan.
Slade didn't even get a chance to say a word, before Batman launched at him. Luther saw this and ran for it. Robin took that as an open opportunity.
"Beast Boy," he instructed, "Get Luther back here."
Beast Boy mock saluted before running after the man.
"Raven, Star, get Ryan out."
Both girls nodded, flying towards the machine.
"Cyborg, Jay, figure out how to shut the machine down."
Both boys sprang to action.
Robin himself bent down next to Tim to cut him out of his bondage. Robin waved a hand in his face and shook him a bit, but the boy was nearly unresponsive. He grabbed Tim by his arms and swung him over his shoulders. He was just thinking about where to put him where he was safe and out of the way before he was hit hard and thrown back.
He landed hard on his side, sliding a few feet. He realized Tim had been thrown from his arms, and registered quickly that Slade had actually been the one thrown into him. Robin made literal eye contact with the man, but his eyes flashed away and he spotted Tim just a few feet from him.
Both he and Slade made eye contact again and Robin army crawled, scrambling to get to Tim first. He'd thought it before, whoever had Tim or Ryan controlled the fight. No one could do a thing if one of them were in danger.
Being closer, Robin actually got to Tim first, but just barely. Grabbing the boys foot, he pulled Tim towards him, shielding him with his own body. He knew Slade would begin an assault on him, to get Tim and change the state of the game, but no hits came. He unclenched his body and saw that Batman had gotten back in the game and the two were back in heavy hand to hand combat.
Taking advantage of them both being busy, he picked Tim up again and found an exit on the level. He knew Batman well so it wasn't hard to find the batmobile. He figured that it was as good as any spot without leaving the city entirely. Besides, the batmobile had an automatic homage system. Should anything happen, Robin could always just send the boy back to the manor.
He entered all the necessary codes to open the batmobile without a key and put Tim in the front seat, turning on the health check while he was at it. The car would now automatically keep tabs on Tim's heart beat and breathing. If anything changed for the worse Batman would get an alarm. But Robin checked his pulse just in case.
He was fully unconscious now, but Robin supposed that was a good thing. Tim would just want to help if he was awake and fine. This way, at least Robin knew he wasn't going anywhere.
He locked the batmobile back up and ran back inside, knowing they needed his help. Thinking about it, he should have sent his brother out to do this job, but he knew Blue Jay was more than capable of taking his place.
The moment he opened the hospital door, he was thrown back out of it. He rolled whatever had hit him, again, and stared into the face of his mother. Well, not per say, his real mother. Just the mother he'd come to ignore.
The woman's eye glitched, sparks coming out of it.
Just as Robin had suspected, his 'mother' had been a droid.
The droid powered down, now dead, and Robin made his way back inside. A giant green t-Rex was smashing a hand full of Slade drones. Robin had expected them at one point, but there was an overwhelming amount. He hoped they could hold them down.
He spotted his brother almost immediately. Blue Jay seemed to be covering Cyborg, while Cyborg worked on the machine. A keypad and computer was open and Cyborg had somehow hooked himself up to it. Judging by his body language, though, he seemed frustrated. Jay was holding his own, but Robin knew fatigue would kick in soon. He was fighting overtime.
He sensed Starfire before he saw her. She and Raven were back on the landing. Robin could only guess they had successfully gotten Ryan out. On a whim, he decided he'd go and find out.
He was about to pull out his grappling hook before he remembered he could fly. He had forgotten completely about his powers. He flew up, over his brother's head, but not before sending a strong shield to knock the drones a few feet back and give his brother a bit of time to catch his breath.
He landed almost graceful behind Raven and found that they had successfully gathered Ryan, but immediately, he knew something was wrong.
Starfire's face was near completely blank, but she held Ryan's head on her lap, brushing back his hair as Raven muttered her mantra. Raven's eyes were open but glowed a pale blue. Robin knew the color meant healing. He also knew that Ryan must of really been in bad shape. Neither girls would leave a fight unless it was to save someone. For them to both be there giving Ryan medical attention...
He crouched beside Starfire, taking in the boys appearance. He was wet with some odd kind of goo that smelt bad and was still in his hair. Next to Starfire, his hair looked especially drained and his skin seemed especially pale. His small, labored, pants of breath seemed to particularly effect Starfire.
Robin took in the situation as a whole for a moment. He knew he wasn't needed in that spot particularly, but he couldn't tear himself away. With Starfire in such a venerable situation, Raven out of it, and Ryan unconscious, every male-older-brother-boyfriend particle in him instructed him not to leave the trio. Pointed out every way that any number or combination of them could get hurt.
But his leader side took over. He wasn't any help there. His brother could use the back-up. Beast Boy could use his help. Cyborg might need his computer skills. He needed to leave them.
He hoped back over the landing, pushing the drones back for his brother again, and landing beside Cyborg.
"Keep a lookout for the girls and Ryan." he said to his brother and Cyborg.
Both nodded.
"What are we dealing with?" he asked Cyborg.
"Man, I don't know." Cyborg said, "I can't start this machine up. The power source is gone, but there's still some juice left to it. With it, I'm trying to get passed this firewall that was clearly created by Slade just now. The first and hardest firewall was already broken down. Someone, somehow knew the codes to this thing."
Tim no doubt.
But the machine was dying now. The power source, which was probably somehow Ryan was gone from it. Could the machine be destroyed now?
"If it's dying can't we just destroy it when it's on empty?" he asked.
Cyborg looked at him as if he were crazy. "Man, if we do anything to this thing then the whole planet might blow."
"That's just the point."
Robin and Cyborg turned to Luther's voice. Luther was behind them, tied up with what looked like spider silk. Robin wasn't going to question it.
"What do you mean?" Cyborg asked, leaning down Luther menacingly.
"You kids probably think we're planning on blowing up some distant planet," Luther continued, not at all fazed by Cyborg. "But you're forgetting the one we're standing on."
…Earth?
"Why would you blow up earth?" Robin asked. "You'd be dead too. You could never gain anything from that."
"Call it a suicide mission." Luther shrugged.
"Your not the type." Robin countered.
"Let's just say I was." Luther continued. "What would governments give to make sure this world survived? What would the rich pay for just a heads-up of when? Whoever has that machine controls everything, and everyone."
As much as Robin hated it, Luther was right. If CORE was pointed at the ground and a picture of that was sent to the president, a global outrage would occur. Governments would do anything to save themselves and the earth. The rich would pay money for a forewarning, and possibly some kind of devise to save themselves.
Slade and Luther could control the world. It was blackmail, but it was effective. They could decide who they wanted in office. They could decide what they wanted to be built. They could decide it all. And no one could say or do a thing about it, for fear that they actually would shoot a laser that would destroy the earth.
Cyborg punched Luther in the jaw, knocking the man out.
He and Robin shared a look. The mission to shut the machine down was more urgent than ever now.
"I'm gonna keep working." Cyborg said, turning back to the computer. "I'll figure this out."
Robin nodded, about the turn his attention to help finish the drones that Beast Boy and Blue Jay were fighting off, but he was kicked hard in his stomach and sent flying to the ground and back some.
Robin brushed himself off, jumping up quickly.
Slade circled him, cracking his neck as if he had just finished a warm-up.
"Where's Batman?" Robin asked, being rewards with silence.
"The detective fights honorably."
Which in code was Slade talking about Batman's 'cleaner' version of fighting. Robin knew for a fact that Slade preferred to fight dirty, though he usually fought clean when him and Robin sparred. But Batman was a better fighter than Robin. Robin almost smiled, nearly commented, about Slade needing to resort to dirty fighting to beat Batman.
But this still was bad. Batman was down, at least for a little while, and Robin sensed Slade had a little revenge planned for their last encounter. Robin wasn't sure how, but he knew Slade had gone easy on him. No way could he had defeated the man so quickly. Maybe, Slade had wanted them to keep the key. Maybe he wanted to be followed.
But Slade clearly wasn't in the mood to talk. Without so much as a warning, the man stuck. It was faster than Robin had ever seen and right off the bat, Slade had landed two successful punches to Robin's face.
Robin rolled out of the way of another throw, getting his bearings and retaliated with two swift punches and a high kick. Slade easily dodged them, backing up and into the fray of drones. Blue Jay flew over his head, smashing two or three drones as he landed, but there were still so many left that Slade disappeared in them.
But Robin spotted him just as easy and ran after. Leaping off a drone, Slade jumped over the railing and up onto the landing. Robin followed suite, making a note to self to keep the fight away from the girls and Ryan, who were on the other side.
Slade threw a kick towards his stomach, one he was able to elude. Robin retaliated with another series of punches, all of which found no purchase, and a few kicks. But each time, Slade just side stepped him. Moving out of the way just in time.
Throwing yet another punch, Slade didn't move, this time catching Robin's fist and bending it backwards. Within the movement, he landed a hard kick to Robin's stomach, sending him stumbling back against the railing of the landing. The metal of the railing groaned at the rough contact, but held.
Spinning out of the way of a hard kick Slade threw, Robin jumped to his feet, blocked a punch of Slade's and returned a combination of different punches. When he found no luck with them, he tried another combination, adding a surprise kick. But Slade wasn't surprised, catching Robin's legs and tossing him down the landing hallway.
Frustrated, Robin charged again, getting hardly a foot before Slade kicked him back hard in the stomach. He was pushed into the wall, and used it for momentary support. It was one of the hardest kicks Robin had felt from the man, and he found himself bending forwards and backing up, trying not to vomit. He backed up too far though, flipping backwards over the railing and falling off the landing.
He managed to roll himself into an upright position and avoid injury from the fall, but his stomach was in unbelievable pain. Looking back up to the landing, Robin saw Slade had disappeared. He stood shakily from his position on the ground and turned to find Slade, only to be punched hard in the face. He rolled a good few feet, just barely missing being stepped on by a drone.
He got to his knees, and whipped his head up just in time to see Slade fall from a jump, his foot outstretched. Robin scrambled to his feet, just missing the crushing blow. Slade went on the offence, punching him again in the face and then in the stomach.
Robin fell back, but managed to roll into a flip, trying to get back on his feet. He pushed off with his hands but Slade stepped on his cape in the middle of his flip and he choked back, falling back down onto his side.
Before Robin had time to get his direction back, Slade picked him up his tunic and landed a hard punch to Robin's face. Dizzy from the hit, Robin stumbled back, just barely blocking another punch Slade threw and fell backwards to the ground.
Jumping back to his feet, Robin backed up, just escaping another blow from Slade. He backed up again, missing another, and found himself continually being pushed back and into the fray of drones.
Slade seemed to tire at Robin's constant dodging and moved at lightning quick speed, punching Robin in his stomach again and following up with a kick to Robin hard in the face. Robin flew back from the hit, having traveled so far back that he hit the cell bars on the other side of the room and fell to his knees.
Again, wasting no time, Slade threw a successful series of punches, all of which Robin wasn't fast enough to avoid.
It was strange. Slade usually help back so much when they fought. Robin knew this, it being one of the things that frustrated him so much about the man. But now that Slade was going full force, Robin wished badly that the man would fight as he always had. He almost missed the teasing. At least talking would give him time to catch his breath. He was taking a major beating and aching badly already. His head was pounding. His stomach was flipping.
He suspected Slade had a bit spite against him. He didn't like being humiliated, whether he did so on purpose or not. There was little Slade actually up with, and Robin and Starfire had pushed those borderlines. He supposed he ought to have just been happy that she was left out of their fray completely.
Slade was still eerily quiet. He hadn't said a mocking word sense their fight had begun. If Robin hadn't of heard his voice early on, he might have suspected fighting a double. Even he admitted it, Slade was scarier when he was silent and serious. He supposed that was the mercenary side of him.
Rolling painfully to his feet, he didn't even make it to a proper standing position before Slade grabbed his hair in a painful grip and smashed his face into the bars of the cells.
Stars floated in front of Robin's eyes, and for a moment, he thought he'd pass out. If that didn't happen then he was sure he'd be chucking up his last meal soon.
He grabbed Slade's hand in a desperate attempt to free himself from the mans grip, but extra-ordinary abilities wasn't being processed right in his mind. Slade's superhuman strength was the last thing he was thinking about.
He lifted his knee quickly, jabbing Slade in the solar plexus, but even he knew the move was weak. Slade didn't flinch at all. Though Robin supposed he should have seen it coming.
Slade slammed his face into the floor hard, and stepped on it to the point that Robin was sure it was going to burst. Slade added an extra bit of strength and Robin's whole body automatically jolted into every evasive move he could think of. His temple began to bleed and the stars were gone from his vision, being replaced by dark spots.
He was yanked from his feet and then off the ground, Slade having his tunic again, and found himself being slammed against a window.
Robin hadn't even remembered seeing a window in the cafeteria, but here it was. Being the only thing between him and outside. Slade slammed him harder into the window and the entire window cracked into a million slithers, looking more like a stained glass than a window now. Pulled back, like he was a ball, Slade tossed Robin effortlessly through the window, and the already weak glass shattered into a million pieces.
Robin wasn't sure how far he was up and he didn't know how far he fell, but he didn't remember hitting the ground.
He found himself opening his eyes and staring up at pinkish-grey rain clouds, looking as if they would open up and come down any moment. His entire body ached severely, and he knew that meant he had been some ways up. Stickiness was setting in and he knew besides sweat, he was beginning to bleed.
His temple was still throbbing, but he felt fresh stings of pain as well. The back of his head. The side of his neck. His left arm. His right calf. The glass had obviously cut him deeply in some spots.
Lightning illuminated the area and Robin twitched, seeing Slade standing right at his feet.
He made a move to get up, but his body screamed in protest. He ignored it though, opting to finish the fight one way or another. Secretly, he supposed, though, he was waiting for some kind of backup. He could never beat Slade before and he sure as heck wasn't going to do any lasting damage in his condition. Perhaps in a better condition he may have stood a chance.
He dropped himself into a ready position. He wasn't going to be a rag-doll, simply thrown around and beat. He was going to fight Slade, no matter how weakly, no matter what. He'd put on whatever brave face he needed, and push his body to its worst limits. He was going to see this through to the end. He just hoped he would live to remember the day.
Because he wasn't sure how long he could keep it up.
A/N: Who loves when two different scenes come together? I do. You know with the whole Tim's POV and Robin's POV and how they just mesh at some point. Idk, I like that. But I'm weird.
It's a longer chapter for you guys, so that should hold you for a minute. Stay tuned.
Oh and btw, Read and Review, it makes me type faster!