Beast Boy can tell that Old Man Beast Boy wasn't happy. His face had so much range expressed on it that he looked as if he was about to shoot lasers out of his eyes. Never before had he been so humiliated. This sight was ruined due to the fact that someone had forced a power-nullifier collar around his neck mid morph along with firing a million tranqualizer darts on his back so that he was out cold until he awoken in their jail cell. Old Man Beast Boy now resembled what appeared to be if the supervillain Cheetah was a man, which made him both look very funny and scary at the same time.
Beast Boy too, as well as the other Titans had the same giant metal collars around their necks which felt as if he had swallowed an aircon whole. The room that they were in was extremely odd. It was as if he had walked into a giant birdcage, due to the fact that the room was cylindrical and had giant metal bars instead of walls.
Behind a giant wall was a simple toilet and a sink, and to the other side of the room was a giant screen and a large table where 7 food trays, were placed, each one, with the exception of the baby food, having a relatively large meal of soup noodles, a salad and an oversized meatloaf. Cyborg seeing a change to finally have some 'real food' wolfed down almost everything in his tray and, seeing that the shapeshifters doesn't eat meat helped himself to their meatloaf's, as he simultaneously fed the baby Vic the IV some baby food as if he was a mother.
"So…" Starfire said as she looked down at her food tray. "What is it that we do now?"
"I have no idea." Phoenix said, "But due to the fact that Robin is absent, it is safe to assume that he is involved with something with Ashly and Ra's Al Ghul, and that we are being used as leverage against him."
"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Raven said
"I tried to bend the metal of this cell" Starfire said "But I found that they are reinforced pretty well. Plus there are guards that keep on checking up on us"
"Hey, cat boy." Cyborg cried, looking at Old Man Beast Boy, but upon seeing the look on his face, Cyborg choose that time to stop talking.
"Well Friends!" Starfire said with a forced smile on her face facing Phoenix and Old Man Beast Boy "Since we are all in a tight situation, why don't we, what you Earthlings say, 'break the ice'?"
"…I suppose…" Phoenix said
"A question that I've always had in my mind is what have you been doing for over 40 years Friend Old Man Beast Boy?" Starfire said, oblivious to the fact that he looked unwilling to talk.
Old Man Beast Boy sighed heavily as he fiddled with the small pile of used tranquilizer darts that he had pulled out of his body just moments ago and sighed as if recalling a bad memory. "To tell you the truth Star…I don't know…" Old Man Beast Boy said "Once the supervillains took over the world, I knew that there were very few places left in the world that were safe. It was common knowledge that the rulers of each area around the world is hunting down anyone who is a metahuman, or the supervillains hunt down the remaining superheroes in their respective area. I managed to live this long for several reasons. The first is that most of the supervillains thought that they had 'broke me', which is absolutely true. The second is that I chose the right place to settle…"
Old Man Beast Boy paused as his face turned a strange colour. He took out his flask, chugged on it and sighed "I am going to tell you a story that happened to me, you might not find it relevant, but it is important for context. 41 years ago, when the entire Justice League were off world, Harley Quinn thought it would be a great idea to have a 'Girls night out'. By that she means capturing several of the remaining superheroes left, pulling a Slade and injecting them with nanobot's that will blow up at a press of a button. Then Harley Quinn had a major party where all the super villainesses were invited and the gift bags were the superheroes that they captured, saying that they are now our new 'assistants' and they can threaten to kill us if they don't do what they want." Old Man Beast Boy paused as he looked down at his bowl of ramen as if expecting to see a secret message written in the bowl "Yours truly ended up with Cheetah, and for 3 whole weeks I was forced to do whatever she wanted. I was her toy. I was forced to do everything from bank robberies to training with her to prepare to kill Wonder Woman…and if I didn't cooperate…well…the nano bots did more than just blow up. It can also cause great pain to you."
"I don't get it." Cyborg said "What has you being Cheetah's Toyboy got to do with this?"
"That's the thing." Old Man Beast Boy said. "She still saw me as her toy even after the nano bots were removed. I know this because she would frequently visit me for almost 15 years to 'see how I was doing'." Old Man Beast Boy looked up at the Titan's faces and upon looking at his younger self's face he said "No, I didn't marry her or sleep with her or anything like that…that I know of…But the point is, Cheetah kept me alive because she sees me as 'her property' however I can't really answer for Cyborg…and…uh…"
Old Man Beast Boy looked as if he regretted bring the topic up, but he continued immediately trying to change the topic away with his relationship with Cheetah
"…So after almost 15 years of being a drifter and occasionally being Cheetah's toy, I started a farm, and a few weeks after that, I met a woman called Linda, a few days after Cyborg killed Cheetah." Old Man Beast Boy's face turned an unusual colour as he continued "I was finally happy that I found love after the supposed death of Raven…Linda was the greatest thing that ever happened to me, and less than a year later the next greatest thing in my life happened. A daughter…I named Rachel…in honour of Raven…I had a family...I was happy…I then had 3 more kids...Smart James…Big Stella…Little Jason…I…I…I loved them all…and…and…" Old Man Beast Boy stopped as he burst into tears, which is an extremely odd sight as he was half human, half cheetah.
"Evil me" Cyborg said under his breath.
Old Man Beast Boy nodded, tears cascading down his face. "Correct…he took everything from me…so I took everything from him…He is gone…I hope…"
"Don't worry Friend Old Man Beast Boy!" Starfire said "I am sure everything will be okay!"
Old Man Beast Boy looked up from his hands/claws and looked at Starfire in sorrow. "No. No. No Starfire. No. I am not okay. You can't just go through everything I have been through and say that 'I'm OK'. No. I have been through so much. You, the Titans haunt my dreams for years. I am never at peace. I have failed my family. I have failed Linda. I have failed Rachel. I have failed James. I have failed Stella. I have failed Jason. I have failed this world. I am not OK Starfire. If you think I am, you are naïve. I have suffered through so much. I. Am. Not. OK. I will never be OK. And you will have to accept that"
Robin was suffering from whiplash. One moment Ashly had declared that she was going to kill him, the next she had insisted that he gets a tour of the heart of her operation, which led him into going to a bunker in some sort of tower in the city.
He, Ashly and Ra's Al Ghul stepped into a fancy looking lift that had the aircon on full blast. The lift was made completely out of wood, had only two buttons and it seemed to take forever to reach the bottom. Ashly and Ra's Al Ghul chose this moment to relax and get themselves lost in their own thought, however Robin knew better than to attack them. Anyway, he already knew that one wrong move and his friends would get it.
When the lift finally reached the bottom, Robin was confronted with an odd sight. At first, he thought that he was looking at a futuristic looking arcade, due to all the large computers and equipment. A large crowd of people were operating these strange looking equipment, and all of them were wearing giant helmets that included VR goggles. To one side was a giant buffet holding every known food in the world, a door that led to the toilets, and another door that when looked at in an angle looked to be the corridor in a 5-star hotel. Robin stared at this in confusion, what the hell is going on?
"This" Ashly said proudly "Is the heart of my operation to cleanse my home of crime!"
Robin cocked his head, unable to comprehend what he is witnessing. Then it hit him as if he had been hit by a truck.
"They are telepaths!" Robin cried
"Yes…" Ashly said with a slick smile "It is the only way to maintain our security, the only way to make sure that the scum of the Earth get what they fucking deserve."
"Yeah, but this!?" Robin cried "What you are doing, killing criminals before they commit crimes, is bad. But this…taking away people's freedom!?"
"It's a price worth to pay for security!" Ra's Al Ghul sneered "it has been going on for centuries, and I see no difference"
"Ashly. What the hell is wrong with you!?" Robin cried "You are really killing people who just think of committing crimes!?"
"Well…" Ashly said "that depends…if they jokingly think about it then no. But if they seriously think about doing it, then yes!"
"NO!" Robin cried "No! No! No Ashly! NO!"
"I'm an adult dad! I can do whatever the fuck I want!" Ashly cried, as she made a gesture and out of nowhere two muscular men emerged carrying a thin man with a large blindfold on his face. Robin stared at the man as his blindfold was removed. He looked like any regular man. Black hair. Brown eyes. Too many pimples on his face. A badly shaven face and wearing cheap clothes.
Robin turned to see her holding a large gun. She smirked at Robin.
".357, one round in the chamber. Some things, they just…well…They feel right in your hand, huh? I know what you're thinking, Dad. You could attack me…but it's not gonna work, 'cause I'm all geared up." Ashly said as she looked down at the man as if he was something she found in a toilet seat.
"I'm not going to kill you." Robin said
"Nope…Not yet, you're not." Ashly said as she now looked down at the man with pure rage on her face. "Now Dad. Now it's time to put a face to all your fancy talk about redemption. Hello, Freddy Trot, a.k.a. Rotto."The man called Rotto looked up at Ashly, fear was displayed on his face. He was terrified, and he knew what was happening "I don't wanna die." He cried "I don't wanna die!"
"What did you do to him?" Robin growled
"I caught this piece of shit stealing a car, trying to skip town." Ashly sneered
"I was scared! I'm sorry, I was running for my life." Rotto begged
"Shut up." Ashly growled
"Stop it, Ashly!" Robin cried "He doesn't deserve to die, just 'cause you caught him stealing cars!"
"Is that what you think?" Ashly said in disbelief "Why don't you tell him a little bit about yourself?" She said looking down at the man
"You have no right to do this!" Robin roared
"I'm…I'm…I'm nothing. I'm just nobody." The man wailed"Oh, yeah? That all?" Ashly said
"I…I…I pour their drinks. I drive their cars." Rotto wept
"You were doing a little more than that a few weeks ago!" Ashly bellowed to the man's face
"What are you trying to prove, Ashly?" Robin cried
"You're trying to step up." Ashly said turning her attention back at the man
"N…N…N…No." The man stammered
"No?" Ashly practically screamed as she threw a kick at the man's face "NO!? Who are you!? West 43rd Street! 4th floor! Room T! Why don't you tell him what happened?"
"Pl…Pl…please…" The man said, blood pouring like a waterfall out of his mouth as he turned to face Robin "I'm…I'm sorry…Please, please, I'm sorry."
"You tell him now.." Ashly said, adding too much emphasis on each word as she thrusted her face at the man's face.
"N…Nothing happened, I'm sorry."
Ashly scowled. Then she raised her gun so that it was aimed directly at the man's face
"I'm only gonna ask you one more time." She howled
"Ahh! I didn't know!" The man wailed "It…It was an address! This…this…this guy, I didn't even know his name. He, he got wobbly with the wrong people, owed something to somebody, 'cause the order came from on high."
"What orders?" Ashly growled
"The…the…the sort you can't say no to."
"Say the words!" Ashly yelled now punching the man vilontly in the face "You say it! Do you hear me?!"
"You…You…You don't understand these animals!" The Man cried "You…you can't back out.
You can't!"
"I won't ask again. Say the words, asshole!" Ashly roared
"I did it!" The Man screamed "I DID IT! I killed him! I killed him. I put two in his head!"
Ashly's face went dark then she grabbed the man's arm. There was a horrible snapping sound, as Ashly casually snapped the man's arm.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The man howled
"NO!" Robin cried, but Ra's Al Ghul stopped him with his cane, his face in disapproval as if he was interrupted in watching a good movie.
"Tell. The. Rest. Of. It." Ashly growled
"I didn't know I didn't know the old man was in the house!" The man whimpered
"Old man? What old man? What did you do?" Robin said
"I…I didn't know he was in the house. He wasn't supposed to be in the house. He…He started screaming. I begged him to stop."
"What did you do?" Robin said, already knowing the answer
"He…He…He saw my face…I…I…I had no choice!"
"Old man left a wife. Dead woman, husband and kids." Ashly said solemnly
"You gotta understand me. I had to do it." The man said, but his words fell onto deaf ears as Ashly gestured at the man to Robin as if this was supposed to change everything.
"You still think this piece of shit is worth saving?" Ashly barked
Robin looked at the angry Ashly, then at the terrified man, then back at Ashly, then back at the terrified man.
"I'm not gonna shoot him." Robin said
"Yeah, okay." Ashly said as if she expected this answer. "Then I will."
Ashly lifted her gun, and fired a single shot.
Nothing much happened after that. The only sound came from Old Man Beast Boy drinking from his flask and Starfire's futile attempts to restart the conversation. Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, it was Raven who broke the silence.
"So…we are waiting for Robin to get us out of here?" Raven said
"Yes." Old Man Beast Boy said "It is all down to Robin. No matter what he is up to, I hope that he will survive."
As if on cue, the screen suddenly flickered to life. All the Titans turned to face the screen, as if they knew what they are about to see will determine whether if they live or die. And this was comfired when the sceen showed a single face.
Robin.
Robin was wearing his usual Robin uniform except this time he was wearing a giant blindfolded, and he looked absolutely terrified as if he had just seen someone die in front of him. His mouth was forming rapid shapes and his bones seemed to have been turned into jelly.
Starfire cried out as if trying to warn Robin on what is about to happen "Robin!" She screamed "Robin! We are OK! ROBIN!?"
The screen flickered again to show Ashly, also wearing a giant blindfold, and she was heavily armed with all the weapons known to man. She was busily juggling a giant axe as if it was a toy. She looked more composed, more relaxed as if flighting people to the death while blindfolded is something that someone did on a regular basis.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and Girls!" The voice of Ra's Al Ghul rang out "We are about to see our beloved champion; our dear leader; Ashly Grayson take on her father from the past! The one and only Robin, Dick Grayson!"
There was an inaudible sound of a large crowd cheering as the screen showed the two people with the caption showing their name.
"Let the battle begin!" Ra's Al Ghul cried as the horn blared as the two figures walked to the area, both of them knowing that one of them would die.