Chapter 27: Master and apprentice A dark day was passing through Jump City with grey, thick clouds blocking out the morning sun.
What a weather to reflect their mood!
After the titans managed to free the animals together, they got informed of some upheaval in Jump City prison.
But when they arrived, their only task was to untie and wake the guards. Cyborg also suggested interrogating some of the villains – including Brain.
But, of course, he told them that he neither had anything to do with it nor had seen who did, saying that he was also knocked out by the assailant. But one of the guards that recovered from unconsciousness told them that he had memorized the face of the attacker and the team was more than shocked to know that Robin had managed to infiltrate the highly secure building.
And the fact that Brother Blood was missing just last night didn't make things clearer.
So with lowered spirits they went back home to get some sleep. The next day wasn't any better since they had to deal with both Control Freak and Mad Mod in a row!
They managed to defeat them but had destroyed quite some property while trying to take them out and had to spent a tiring hour to fix the damage as best as they could.
The result was that they were still sleeping even though it was 11:00 in the morning.
After another hour, the titans slowly rose from their sleep - one by one, glad that they received a very relaxed rest in a long time. And after they had a very varying and filling breakfast ranging from vegetarian toast and grilled bacon to Tamaranean dish equivalent to earth's cereal, they worked together to change back their tower to its former self. Cyborg worked to replace the T-sub, Starfire replaced the broken window in the lower floor after receiving the right instructions while Beast Boy and Raven worked to repair the damaged walls.
But of course, thoughts of their leader and his nemesis nagged at the back of each of their minds.
Question upon question – building up like weeks' laundry.
All their questions lead back to his nemesis…but they weren't answered.
And all they could do was push the troubling thought away…since with no lead, they could only wait for their next encounter.
Heavy footsteps echoed through the dimly-lit hall. Mallah was still suspicious of the masked man that granted him freedom since his creator was denied this freedom…for now as it seemed.
And the fact that he had been given the task to produce a serum for a certain titan didn't make the gorilla trust Slade even though the promising effects were…intriguing. Brain's right hand knew that there was more to this than meets the eye and he would turn the tables on the masked man as soon as he had the slightest hint that he would be playing dirty.
The giant ape stepped in front of said masked man and held out his hand. "It might have taken more time than expected but Brain promised excellent results."
"And I don't expect anything less," Slade said, taking the small syringe from the gorilla and examining it. There was just more than a teaspoon of a strange yellow liquid floating inside the syringe and Robin wondered from the side-lines what those 'results' would do to his former hyperactive teammate. "Now it's your turn to keep your part of the deal," Brother Blood's voice broke in.
"Ah, how could I forget," Slade muttered and motioned for Robin to receive Blood's technology that was in the form of a small blue computer chip.
Robin took the chip from his hand and looked at Slade who nodded in approval.
His hand moved to his belt.
"Don't worry. You'll receive your reward in just a moment," Slade spoke and suddenly Robin's hand shot up, alarming both, Brother Blood and Mallah.
The lair was covered in a bright white light before Mallah charged at the apprentice. Unfortunately, he couldn't get far before he felt a strong wire wrapping around his arms.
"I should have known that you are not to be trusted."
"You will pay for this!" Blood's angry voice broke through the blinding light who was also restrained by the wires.
"We will see about that," Slade muttered before Robin's hand shot up once more, letting a black ball drop beneath his feet before he and Slade turned away.
After the queer, green smoke had cleared, Brother Blood and Mallah were lying unconscious on the cold floor.
"Is that all?" Robin murmured as they were walking along the hallway, not sure why he asked that question.
One part of him wanted to know what and especially how the 2 items acquired now worked…and another part of him almost knew the answer.
But there were 4 titans.
So what about the other 2?
"I have enough knowledge about the other 2 team members from…previous encounters with those acquainted with them," Slade said, already knowing what Robin meant by that question.
Robin was not surprised and it wouldn't have surprised him even if he answered with 'their enemies are currently out of my reach'. And it was obvious how he could get to Raven after working for Trigon and seeing how he used Terra to exploit her weakness – again. Only…Starfire was a bit of a mystery. Was she that obvious to read? He felt shame spread through him when he thought of her. Here he was, literally selling his own team out to his arch-nemesis. And he wondered for how long Slade's game was going to last. "Don't worry. You will see them soon enough, my apprentice."
Robin's eyes narrowed in disgust – he hated the way Slade addressed him as his 'apprentice'. But he hated the fact that he would see his friends as his enemies even more. "I will see them – but not in the way you want me to," Robin muttered under his breath.
"If I could make you see things my way…then they would no longer be around."
Robin smirked, knowing that Slade was right – Robin would never see things his way, no matter what he did.
And almost as if he saw the smirk from behind, Slade let his message register in the boy wonder's head. "So I just give you a little peek of my point of view. And that is all I need to make you change your way eventually."
Robin frowned, realizing that in some sense it was true. He had changed – he was no longer the fearless, confident leader of the Teen Titans.
He was a tense, ruthless apprentice. But he knew he wasn't Slade's apprentice and he knew that Slade wasn't his master. As long as he fought as a hero…no amount of effort from Slade could turn him over to his side.
He worked for him still as the hero he used to be – he just knew it!
Night approached Jump City and 4 titans went out of the tower, deciding to have some fun after all that hard work that had fixed most of their tower.
"So, what's the tour? A scary movie? An all-you-can-eat buffet? Or maybe…karaoke night?" Beast Boy began guessing, obviously not liking to be left in the dark.
"No, Nope, and nada," Cyborg answered as they walked through the city center. They passed a club, loud music blaring and beating through the walls. "Is it probably the club of dancing?" Starfire guessed, having mixed feelings towards the place from the last time they entered such a place.
They passed the city's library and Raven stole a glance at the covers beneath the windowpane. "I guess it's not the library then," she mumbled, trying not to sound disappointed.
Cyborg remained uncharacteristically quiet until they reached a gate, greenery swaying gently in the cool breeze.
"Why are we here, Cyborg? I do not see anything that would be able to captivate my interest," Starfire said.
"You haven't even seen anything yet. Wait until you go inside," Cyborg retorted and passed the gates.
The others followed unsurely, soon walking between trees, bushes and grass. Birds chirped, the frogs by the lake croaked and even a squirrel managed to surprise the teens with its squeaking.
After a few more steps, they reached a meadow and Cyborg stopped right in the middle of all that grass.
The others stared dumbfounded when the half-robot suddenly dropped down on his rear before he spread himself fully onto the cool, soft, green ground.
"And?" Raven inquired with a raised brow.
"And what? Just let loose," the large teen replied and gazed up at the sky.
"You know…I can't really do that," Raven retorted, surprised that Cyborg told her to 'relax'.
"Why not?"
"Because this is just a park – a boring, and absolutely not-good-reward-after-we-went-through-all-that-trouble-of-getting-the-tower-back-in-shape park," Beast Boy complained. "And I guess I don't have to remind you how we all worked equally hard so we all should have a say in this," the green teen cried, waving his still broken arm suggestively in front of his ignorant best friend.
"And I thought you would have some respect for Mother Nature. I mean you can practically turn into nature at will," the half-robot half-joked, making the changeling stare back in annoyance.
"I do enjoy the breeze that ruffles my hair and gives me 'goosebumps' crawling like small insects on my skin. And the sky looks indeed as if it has been punctured by numerous shiny needles that sparkle like the broken shards of glass," Starfire commented and sat down beside the large teen. "And the grass feels like a wondrous cushion you lay your head on."
"And I'm pretty sure this is a good place to get your head back together, right Raven?" Cyborg grinned at her and she turned away.
She glanced around and saw that he was right – they were pretty far away from people, hidden between bushes somewhere in a secluded area of the park. Raven dropped on the grass and immediately felt Cyborg's grin widen. "And what about you, Beast Boy? Don't you wish to partake in the enjoying of nature?" Starfire asked and patted the grass next to her.
"You heard Cyborg and I can totally agree on one thing. Since I can turn into nature at will, why would I want to waste my time with it when I can enjoy it just about anywhere I am?" Beast Boy grumbled in mockery.
"Oh, so I guess you don't need these then," Cyborg pulled something out of a compartment in his left shoulder, revealing a large assortment of snacks ranging from crackers and chocolate bars to gummi bears.
The changeling stared star-eyed at the colorful wrappings in the robot's hand before the robotic teen mentioned something about a late-night challenge on the gamestation.
Beast Boy morphed into a terrier and half-scurried and half-stumbled up to the sweets, not able to resist the offer – and a broken arm wouldn't stop him.
"So how about a game? Winner gets all the goodies," Cyborg boomed, holding a pack of cards in his hand.
Eyes stared hungrily at the 1st prize that had been laid out onto the grass. They just managed to encircle the sugary nutrients when the beeping of Cyborg's communicator broke through their sweet-filled fantasies.
The other titans watched as Cyborg's face turned solemn as he looked at the screen of his communicator. "There's…someone at the subway. And he's on a wrecking spree."
"Drop-outs?"
"Gangsters?"
"Robin!"
The others looked at Cyborg in confusion before he showed them his communicator.
The face of their ex-leader was shown before he threw a bird-a-rang, causing the screen to black out.
What a weather to reflect their mood!
After the titans managed to free the animals together, they got informed of some upheaval in Jump City prison.
But when they arrived, their only task was to untie and wake the guards. Cyborg also suggested interrogating some of the villains – including Brain.
But, of course, he told them that he neither had anything to do with it nor had seen who did, saying that he was also knocked out by the assailant. But one of the guards that recovered from unconsciousness told them that he had memorized the face of the attacker and the team was more than shocked to know that Robin had managed to infiltrate the highly secure building.
And the fact that Brother Blood was missing just last night didn't make things clearer.
So with lowered spirits they went back home to get some sleep. The next day wasn't any better since they had to deal with both Control Freak and Mad Mod in a row!
They managed to defeat them but had destroyed quite some property while trying to take them out and had to spent a tiring hour to fix the damage as best as they could.
The result was that they were still sleeping even though it was 11:00 in the morning.
After another hour, the titans slowly rose from their sleep - one by one, glad that they received a very relaxed rest in a long time. And after they had a very varying and filling breakfast ranging from vegetarian toast and grilled bacon to Tamaranean dish equivalent to earth's cereal, they worked together to change back their tower to its former self. Cyborg worked to replace the T-sub, Starfire replaced the broken window in the lower floor after receiving the right instructions while Beast Boy and Raven worked to repair the damaged walls.
But of course, thoughts of their leader and his nemesis nagged at the back of each of their minds.
Question upon question – building up like weeks' laundry.
All their questions lead back to his nemesis…but they weren't answered.
And all they could do was push the troubling thought away…since with no lead, they could only wait for their next encounter.
Heavy footsteps echoed through the dimly-lit hall. Mallah was still suspicious of the masked man that granted him freedom since his creator was denied this freedom…for now as it seemed.
And the fact that he had been given the task to produce a serum for a certain titan didn't make the gorilla trust Slade even though the promising effects were…intriguing. Brain's right hand knew that there was more to this than meets the eye and he would turn the tables on the masked man as soon as he had the slightest hint that he would be playing dirty.
The giant ape stepped in front of said masked man and held out his hand. "It might have taken more time than expected but Brain promised excellent results."
"And I don't expect anything less," Slade said, taking the small syringe from the gorilla and examining it. There was just more than a teaspoon of a strange yellow liquid floating inside the syringe and Robin wondered from the side-lines what those 'results' would do to his former hyperactive teammate. "Now it's your turn to keep your part of the deal," Brother Blood's voice broke in.
"Ah, how could I forget," Slade muttered and motioned for Robin to receive Blood's technology that was in the form of a small blue computer chip.
Robin took the chip from his hand and looked at Slade who nodded in approval.
His hand moved to his belt.
"Don't worry. You'll receive your reward in just a moment," Slade spoke and suddenly Robin's hand shot up, alarming both, Brother Blood and Mallah.
The lair was covered in a bright white light before Mallah charged at the apprentice. Unfortunately, he couldn't get far before he felt a strong wire wrapping around his arms.
"I should have known that you are not to be trusted."
"You will pay for this!" Blood's angry voice broke through the blinding light who was also restrained by the wires.
"We will see about that," Slade muttered before Robin's hand shot up once more, letting a black ball drop beneath his feet before he and Slade turned away.
After the queer, green smoke had cleared, Brother Blood and Mallah were lying unconscious on the cold floor.
"Is that all?" Robin murmured as they were walking along the hallway, not sure why he asked that question.
One part of him wanted to know what and especially how the 2 items acquired now worked…and another part of him almost knew the answer.
But there were 4 titans.
So what about the other 2?
"I have enough knowledge about the other 2 team members from…previous encounters with those acquainted with them," Slade said, already knowing what Robin meant by that question.
Robin was not surprised and it wouldn't have surprised him even if he answered with 'their enemies are currently out of my reach'. And it was obvious how he could get to Raven after working for Trigon and seeing how he used Terra to exploit her weakness – again. Only…Starfire was a bit of a mystery. Was she that obvious to read? He felt shame spread through him when he thought of her. Here he was, literally selling his own team out to his arch-nemesis. And he wondered for how long Slade's game was going to last. "Don't worry. You will see them soon enough, my apprentice."
Robin's eyes narrowed in disgust – he hated the way Slade addressed him as his 'apprentice'. But he hated the fact that he would see his friends as his enemies even more. "I will see them – but not in the way you want me to," Robin muttered under his breath.
"If I could make you see things my way…then they would no longer be around."
Robin smirked, knowing that Slade was right – Robin would never see things his way, no matter what he did.
And almost as if he saw the smirk from behind, Slade let his message register in the boy wonder's head. "So I just give you a little peek of my point of view. And that is all I need to make you change your way eventually."
Robin frowned, realizing that in some sense it was true. He had changed – he was no longer the fearless, confident leader of the Teen Titans.
He was a tense, ruthless apprentice. But he knew he wasn't Slade's apprentice and he knew that Slade wasn't his master. As long as he fought as a hero…no amount of effort from Slade could turn him over to his side.
He worked for him still as the hero he used to be – he just knew it!
Night approached Jump City and 4 titans went out of the tower, deciding to have some fun after all that hard work that had fixed most of their tower.
"So, what's the tour? A scary movie? An all-you-can-eat buffet? Or maybe…karaoke night?" Beast Boy began guessing, obviously not liking to be left in the dark.
"No, Nope, and nada," Cyborg answered as they walked through the city center. They passed a club, loud music blaring and beating through the walls. "Is it probably the club of dancing?" Starfire guessed, having mixed feelings towards the place from the last time they entered such a place.
They passed the city's library and Raven stole a glance at the covers beneath the windowpane. "I guess it's not the library then," she mumbled, trying not to sound disappointed.
Cyborg remained uncharacteristically quiet until they reached a gate, greenery swaying gently in the cool breeze.
"Why are we here, Cyborg? I do not see anything that would be able to captivate my interest," Starfire said.
"You haven't even seen anything yet. Wait until you go inside," Cyborg retorted and passed the gates.
The others followed unsurely, soon walking between trees, bushes and grass. Birds chirped, the frogs by the lake croaked and even a squirrel managed to surprise the teens with its squeaking.
After a few more steps, they reached a meadow and Cyborg stopped right in the middle of all that grass.
The others stared dumbfounded when the half-robot suddenly dropped down on his rear before he spread himself fully onto the cool, soft, green ground.
"And?" Raven inquired with a raised brow.
"And what? Just let loose," the large teen replied and gazed up at the sky.
"You know…I can't really do that," Raven retorted, surprised that Cyborg told her to 'relax'.
"Why not?"
"Because this is just a park – a boring, and absolutely not-good-reward-after-we-went-through-all-that-trouble-of-getting-the-tower-back-in-shape park," Beast Boy complained. "And I guess I don't have to remind you how we all worked equally hard so we all should have a say in this," the green teen cried, waving his still broken arm suggestively in front of his ignorant best friend.
"And I thought you would have some respect for Mother Nature. I mean you can practically turn into nature at will," the half-robot half-joked, making the changeling stare back in annoyance.
"I do enjoy the breeze that ruffles my hair and gives me 'goosebumps' crawling like small insects on my skin. And the sky looks indeed as if it has been punctured by numerous shiny needles that sparkle like the broken shards of glass," Starfire commented and sat down beside the large teen. "And the grass feels like a wondrous cushion you lay your head on."
"And I'm pretty sure this is a good place to get your head back together, right Raven?" Cyborg grinned at her and she turned away.
She glanced around and saw that he was right – they were pretty far away from people, hidden between bushes somewhere in a secluded area of the park. Raven dropped on the grass and immediately felt Cyborg's grin widen. "And what about you, Beast Boy? Don't you wish to partake in the enjoying of nature?" Starfire asked and patted the grass next to her.
"You heard Cyborg and I can totally agree on one thing. Since I can turn into nature at will, why would I want to waste my time with it when I can enjoy it just about anywhere I am?" Beast Boy grumbled in mockery.
"Oh, so I guess you don't need these then," Cyborg pulled something out of a compartment in his left shoulder, revealing a large assortment of snacks ranging from crackers and chocolate bars to gummi bears.
The changeling stared star-eyed at the colorful wrappings in the robot's hand before the robotic teen mentioned something about a late-night challenge on the gamestation.
Beast Boy morphed into a terrier and half-scurried and half-stumbled up to the sweets, not able to resist the offer – and a broken arm wouldn't stop him.
"So how about a game? Winner gets all the goodies," Cyborg boomed, holding a pack of cards in his hand.
Eyes stared hungrily at the 1st prize that had been laid out onto the grass. They just managed to encircle the sugary nutrients when the beeping of Cyborg's communicator broke through their sweet-filled fantasies.
The other titans watched as Cyborg's face turned solemn as he looked at the screen of his communicator. "There's…someone at the subway. And he's on a wrecking spree."
"Drop-outs?"
"Gangsters?"
"Robin!"
The others looked at Cyborg in confusion before he showed them his communicator.
The face of their ex-leader was shown before he threw a bird-a-rang, causing the screen to black out.
