"Okay, now that's taken care of let's go find Rachel and help."
"This isn't good enough. We're not leaving him here."
"What are you talking about this is fine." To prove his point he slammed his hand gently against the bin lid balanced on his head, his body bent and squished inside a metal bin beside someone's house. The lid wobbled and fell to the ground slowly, each painful second where it slid and clattered amplified a thousand fold between the two.
Coughing awkwardly he picked it back up and carefully balanced it back, chewing the inside of his cheek as he looked to him sheepish.
"Should we be off then?" Sighing heavily and with a long drawn out sigh Robin pinched the bridge of his nose before silently glaring.
"Take him out, and help me move him somewhere sensible."
oooo
Slade stumbled back, his feet gripping onto the air as he steadied himself, a hand coming up to his shoulder and pinching out a sprout of fire sizzling away.
"Well that was unexpected. Who would have thought it, you are capable of wielding power. Well done. Very well done." She glared at him, his patronising attitude only riling her up more, her eyes flashed white, anger welling up in her stomach as she glared at him.
Either he didn't notice or didn't care to as he continued talking, laughing to himself as he dusted off his clothing, only small patches having been singed.
"I believe it's my turn now?" Grasping onto a tree he tore it from the ground, roots suspending in air as he hurled it towards her, striking across her face and snapping in half. Both ends span away in different directions, disappearing into the distance easily. Except she didn't move, her body still rooted to the spot where she was floating.
On instinct she had created an arrowhead of black aura to protect her face, not even a single splinter having touched her body.
She hadn't registered what she'd done, a confused look crossing her face as she narrowed her eyes, the black arrow falling apart and leaving her face clear to Slade.
"Did I do that?" She mumbled, not able to understand how it was possible. She had chalked down the dodges to pure luck, but this couldn't be luck. She hadn't even realised she'd moved. This was something in her mind. Some instinct buried in the powers that was kicking in for self-preservation. She highly doubted it was doing this to help her, but rather itself. Not that she was complaining. As long as she was alive she really didn't care what was happening and just hoped it continued.
"Apparently so." Forgoing the tree he shot sparks of energy to her, blue's and whites colliding through the air as they built up their power before combining into one large stream of energy.
As before they split into two before reaching her, arching around her body and continuing into the distance.
"Is it just instinct for your body to react that way? To protect itself. Or are you hustling me?" He seemed to think for a while, debating the chances before answering. "Or, I underestimated your giver and he's remotely controlling your abilities still. Trying to keep you safe on the off chance he'll be granted them back." He laughed at the thought. They would have to be exceptionally powerful to do that. It had taken Slade centuries to be able to master it.
She refused to answer, shifting where she stood as she readied herself. Refusing to let him think he'd won. If her abilities were fighting she should too. It could only help.
"Not going to answer? Fine, let's see how long you can keep this up."
Forgoing any magic he darted at her, swinging his fists once he was in range and shattering every shield she set up. But unable to touch her once he'd broken through. Most of his power being sapped from the hit to the shield.
She threw herself backwards as she set up block after block, making the black substances thicker and thicker each time, trying to find a strength that would stop him.
Despite the mask covering his face she knew he was snarling, teeth gritted and eyes at needle points.
It was terrifying, but she couldn't back down. Even the slightest hesitation and he'd kill her. That she had no doubt on. If he wasn't trying at the start of this fight he definitely was now. And he was after her blood the longer it drew out.
0000
"Are you happy now?" Beast boy asked, leaning against the wall of a nursing home room, the man tucked into an empty bed his lifeless body sagging into the bedding.
"Is this your idea of sensible?" Robin asked simply, stood by the door and keeping an eye out for the carers occasionally walking the hall.
"You're not happy?" He sounded gobsmacked, as though he couldn't understand how he was less than thrilled. "You are impossible to please. Be more specific if this isn't right. And don't let me set the guy up only to tell me no."
"Use common sense. How is this good? Why not just a hole in the ground?"
"How disrespectful's that?!" He cried, a harsh shush from Robin shutting him up.
"And this isn't?" It as a loud whisper, his hands gesturing wildly to the body. "He's dead in an old people's home rotting in someone's soon to be bed."
"It seemed fitting."
"Grab him, this time I'm finding a place. Honestly, we're supposed to be helping Rachel not pissing about."
"We'd be there already if you weren't being so immature." He was enjoying this far too much, what had started out as a genuine attempt was turning into trolling of his unconventional friend and him caring less and less about actually doing anything else.
This was much more fun than dying.
Robin cracked his knuckles at the back of his head earning a soft whine and grumbled curse. The green boy rubbed at the back of his head, wincing as he felt the flesh already start to swell. He didn't complain though, the look in Robin's eyes telling him he was on thin ice and the boy wonder wouldn't think twice about killing him.
0000
Having finally agreed on burying the man they set off for Rachel, the task of finding her not at all hard thanks to the destruction over the forest, sparks of what looked like lightning colliding in the cloudless sky.
"We need a plan. What if when we get there she's dead. Then what?"
"She's not going to die so easily. She's held out this long she can hold out longer. Don't underestimate her."
"I'm not, but Slade. I can feel his energy all the way over here. He's mad."
"That obviously means she's doing better than he thought she would. Now we just got to push the odds even more in her favour."
He could see a bit of a resolve forming behind his eyes as he steeled himself, nodding before shifting into the largest bird he could think of.
"A pterodactyl? Seriously. You couldn't have thought of something. Well, alive."
"Hey, shut up, how else am I supposed to carry you? You're not exactly a feather."
"Excuse me?" They could both feel a fight brewing and quickly stuffed it down for later, Robin climbing onto Beast Boy's back and clinging on as the boy took off. His large body shrank in the sky instantly, as they flew just below the clouds, Robin able to reach up and ghost his fingers through them with just a bit of a stretch.
He could feel shortness of breath but regulated his breathing. Now wasn't the time for trivial things such as air. Despite his faith in Rachel's abilities he wasn't convinced she'd be fine for much longer. Exhaustion would be setting in and against a man such as Slade that was nothing less than a death sentence.
He strained his eyes, trying to see her as more than just a dot surrounded by energy blows, hoping that would give him some reassurance that she wasn't being overwhelmed too badly. His stomach was churning and he needed to know it was all in his mind.
They were quickly approaching the two, much to his relief, and though it was hard to see he could definitely see the determination written on her face as she warded him off, black aura appearing and disappearing rapidly with his blows.
Balancing himself on Beast Boy's back he removed one of the numerous custom gadgets from his belt, popping one of the boomerang type projectiles open before aiming for the man's head. Hoping he was weak enough from the drawn out fight that it would be enough to injure him even slightly.
Hell, at this point he'd be glad just to gain his attention.
"Steady Beast Boy, let me aim." Nodding softly the giant bird slowed, his wings catching on the wind and making them glide, their bodies much more balanced.
Squinting as he aimed he drew his arm back and threw with all the might he could summon. The weapon shooting forwards and ricocheting off the man's mask with a loud 'ding' gaining his attention easily as steam almost seemed to rise off him in anger as he stopped the assault on her shields and raced towards them.
"Beast Boy, get us out of here!" The teen didn't need to be told twice, propelling them both forwards with as much speed as he could. It wasn't fast enough though, Slade catching the tip of his toes in his fingertips and ragging them back, sending them hurtling towards the ground, Robin thrown from Beast Boy's back into a thick tree branch, breaking it upon impact.
"Robin! Beast Boy!" Rachel cried in horror, forming a platform between them and the ground to cushion their falls instinctively. They both landed upon them, Beast Boy crashing first and morphing back into his much smaller body with Robin splatting down across the boy's chest. Effectively winding him.
"Oh my god you're heavy!" The green boy cried, Rachel releasing a relieved sigh at the fact that they were at least still breathing. Removing her aura she watched as they dropped a few feet to the ground with an unimpressed 'oof'.
Slade turned his eyes to her, his mask having been knocked off centre by the hit and making him look all the more demonic than he already was.
"You called in reinforcements I see. Well, will you look at that. They don't seem to be much use though. If anything they just made everything a lot worse for you." He could see a flicker of confusion cross her face. "What? You think they can help you? Maybe for a few minutes, but after that they're just going to be one more thing you have to protect."
They both watched as they stumbled to their feet, Beast Boy shoving Robin back and yelling at the boy to lose weight.
"Maybe you should get rid of them yourself. It would be the kindest thing." Her eyes shot to him in horror, mouth agape. The very notion shocked her more than she had ever expected. And without thinking landed a solid hit sending him flying, her fist stinging and cramping as the bones shattered on impact.
She didn't have time to take in what she'd done. Dropping to the ground clutching her hand and running to the boys in a panicked relief.
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