Chapter Twenty-Eight-End of All

NO SUMMARY! Sorry...but I don't wanna ruin how it ends!!!

(niobe: This is it y'all...the grand finale...you guys ready? Brace yourselves!)

They had been searching for months. I had been hiding in alleyway on the bad side of town since I left. I knew that they would probably not look for me there because Titans are not allowed on the bad side of town unless there is a crime over there. That was the only place left to run, hide, or whatever I was doing.

Footsteps. They were getting nearer and nearer, louder and louder. I peeked through the hole on the side of the dumpster I had been using as a bed as well as a home. Raven. She had come looking for me.

She stood glancing trashcan to trashcan, dumpster to dumpster. She was wrapped in the usual blue cloak with her hood up. She lowered it down. She had wept-you could see it in her eyes, and hear it in heart beating with anguish. "Robin, if you can hear me...please listen. I know I am just talking to emptiness...you've never listened, and you probably never will," she said, sitting on the edge of the curb. Her eyes filled with tears as she continued, "we miss you...and were sorry-I'm sorry! ...And I miss you, Robin......I miss you..."

She then walked away as tears fell to the cold asphalt. Though it meant nothing, the words stabbed me like a rattlesnake's fangs, and the tears that fell from her eyes stung my mind like rattlesnake venom. The sorrow inside pierced my heart like an assassin's dagger (yes that is from Teenage Robot-Lon.). She said I would never listen, but I was. From every word to every syllable, from every scream to every whisper, from every heartbeat to every tear falling to the ground, I was listening.

'They really do miss me,' I thought. As if on cue, pounding footsteps snared my thoughts and crushed them. Screams of anger and horror beat the ground over and over and over again as the dumpster opened to show a face controlled by Hate and Death themselves. It was my nightmare and my daymare. It was all I had despised, yet what I cared about most. It was what my past was-and is. It was my desire, yet my fear. It was what I had become before. It was Hell-it was Hate-it was Death. It was Slade.

That is how the story goes. That was nearly a year ago. The Titans? They have forgotten Robin. They no longer sob or search, cry or call. The warm happy smells of Spring faded into the coolness of Autumn which withered away into the dark frost of winter. As I said it has been nearly a year since I ran. I want so bad to just die. I would kill myself but then those happy innocents that used to care about me-and I used to care about-will die. I am thinking about escaping from Slade tonight. He is calling me so I have to go. Write later

-Robin

I safely tuck away the diary that holds years of memories as I wipe the tears from my eye. Slade's voice is becoming tense with anger. I run to my master's side as his obedient puppy. "Yes?" I say. "I have a mission for you. Rob Titan's Tower" he replies. I feel my face twist into a "Dasia vous (day jah voo)" figure. I glance at the button in his hand that was ready to be pushed. "Alright," I say, turning towards the doors. Robin, the REAL Robin, takes control. I take control. "No," I say, turning, "No!"

We fight. Punch for punch, kick for kick, pole for pole, hit for hit. Slade fights for misery, I fight for life, for freedom, for fear. I had let him hurt me for fourteen years, and it was going to end at fifteen.

Bones break and blood splatters. Metal falls and skin rips. Nothing matters now but death. I fall on a broken leg and a twisted ankle. All is silent. A puddle of red death lies in front of me. My reflection appears. I see my face. It is scarred with the present and rend(ed) by the past.

He stands over me. He thinks he's won. One last kick. Slade slams to the ground. He backs away as I stand up. I charge. He dodges and grabs my arm. One last throw. I slam into the factory gears. I feel the gears against my skin. I feel the pain slowly sear through me as my life was crushed to an end.

author's note: THE END! Well before you kill me, the sequel is coming soon. I wrote a review on it, so be sure to read it. So, what do I have up my sleeves this time? Find out soon! Also, I will be starting a new FanFic a little ways into Strike Back. Robin AND Slade narrate this one so be prepared for that. That one is titled "From Within".

Strike Back: Two years after Robin's death, the Titans have forgotten Robin. But has everyone gotten over his death? Everything seems normal until an unusual robbery with a new enemy. Are the Titans in for a new treat with Slade, or is there a new villain on the block?

It will be out soon. Until then, Peace!

Niobe D. Roosevelt