A/N: And finally, we have a new chapter for the story. And this time, two more would have the same affliction as Robin, but I think it best if you read it to find out who. :)
Teen Titans: 3rd Season Rewrite
Chapter 5: Echoes
Act I
Play Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu Music: "Title Screen"
It all started one night with the crescent moon partially hidden behind dark clouds in the night sky. Inside Titans Tower, a sort of snoring house pet was shown before it went across the darkened space, the operations center, and stopped on Robin, who sat before the window/screen, which showed three images: long shots of the museum, a stretch of the bridge over Jump City Bay, and the waterfront carnival, with a digital clock readout ticking over to 12:00 near the insomniac Boy Wonder; who rests his elbows on the computer keyboard, his chin on his hands. Just then, a door opened with Terra and Cyborg walking in.
"You still up, Robin?", Terra asked with a yawn as they walked in.
"I've got work to do.", Robin responded as Cyborg and Terra then only noticed that there isn't a single soul out there in any of the locations shown on the monitor.
"Well, whatever you're looking for is probably asleep, like you should be.", Cyborg responded.
"The only reason I'm staying awake is because I'm waiting for someone.", Terra responded before noticing a familiar figure arriving near the tower by boat before stepping inside.
"Huh. There she is.", Terra grinned as Terra waved to her before Cyborg then went over to the Tower's security systems and did a palm scan seeing as Rose was bound to be inside by now before doing a palm scan.
"Lockdown initiated. Good night.", Cyborg spoke, shutting the door as he walked out.
Later, Robin, Terra, and Rose were in the basement with an electric light flickering fitfully.
"Thanks for coming on short notice, Rose.", Terra thanked.
"Sure. Happy to help.", Rose responded with a grin before getting puzzled about one thing.
"So, is that where you guys really fought Scarecrow?", Rose asked.
"Among other things. But I guess he was so busy attacking us with nightmarish illusions that he didn't notice these.", Terra responded, gesturing to the boxes for which robin picked one of them up and opened it, revealing assorted memorabilia either used by Slade or at the very least connected with him, especially the mask Robin once broke in half a long time ago, which was later reattached, albeit fractured and scarred. Robin, joined by Terra and Rose, regarded the items for a moment and lifted the mask for a good look, stirring up clouds of dust as he does so, inadvertently setting off a slight coughing spasm for both him, Terra, and Rose just before suddenly, the lights came on and the next voice took him by surprise.
"He's not coming back, you know. That's all that's left of him after Batman whacked him into lava. Nothing but dust.", Cyborg responded.
"Well, I sure hope that dust wasn't his ashes or something.", Terra commented.
"You and me both.", Rose responded.
"We can't be sure. He was never captured, never found.", Robin responded.
"It's over, Robin. Slade's gone.", Cyborg responded.
"I'm not so sure.", Terra responded just before the alarm suddenly went off, accompanied by flashing red lights.
Stop Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu Music: "Title Screen" (1:08)
"Trouble!", Robin shouted before he, Cyborg, Terra, and Rose ran toward the stairs, leaving the scarred mask behind.
Act II
Later, on a winding stretch of mountain road in the distance, an explosion flashed up among the trees. At the blast site, freshly smashed vehicles burned in the road as several people crouched behind riot shields. The wreckage was swept aside and replaced by a thick stone leg that stepped into view belonging to Cinderblock, who was on the loose again as he let out a roar and slammed his clasped hands to the pavement, causing the hiding people and the prison guards to end up tumbling near or against the guardrail, out of commission for the time being, before he lifted another vehicle with a roar, only for a starbolt, if not more of them, to the chest to catch him off-guard with Cinderblock getting his footing just in time to notice all 6 tians, especially Rose along with them.
"Drop it, Cinderblock, before we drop you.", Robin warned.
Cinderblock, however, only responded by throwing the vehicle at them with Raven stopping it cold and tearing it apart with one swing of her hands. The Titans charged with Robin wielding his fighting staff in his hand and Beast Boy becoming a triceratops as Terra ascends on her podium.
Then, Starfire fires another starbolt barrage with Robin using his staff to crash against the square head. Before Cinderblock can react, the green horned triceratops rammed into him, bulldozing him all the way to the guardrail with enough force to snap it. After a moment's teetering on the precipice, the behemoth regained his balance and flung Beast Boy aside.
"Beast Boy!", Terra shouted before Beast Boy changed back to normal while screaming before Terra caught him.
"I gotcha!", Terra assured before Cyborg then got out his sonic cannon and leapt up with a yell as lightning ripped the sky before he and Cinderblock clashed fist with fist before the former wound up slammed and kicked onto the ground, forming a crater, leaving him struggling to get up.
But before Cinderblock could strike, Raven managed to use a large clamp trap him, although not without struggling to maintain her hold on the massive enemy. Then, when Starfire continued her assault with Cyborg launching his sonic cannon as Terra launched her rocks at the creature, rocks of which were coated with Rose's grenades, Cinderblock had enough as he grabbed the rope and lifted Raven up before tossing her toward Starfire, skidding them across the broken pavement.
Robin then went goes on the offensive, snarling and twirling his staff overhead with Rose unsheathing her katana and yelling while charging forward with him just as Cyborg climbed out to lend a hand before the still-clamped Cinderblock got blasted in the feet by Cyborg's cannon and assaulted a flurry of staff blows to the head with katana slashes on the cheek. Then, Cyborg leapt to try another high-powered strike, only to get swatted down again with the colossal twenty-ton foe leaping incredibly high, breaking free of the restraint at the top of his flight, and coming straight down toward Robin. Standing in the giant, growing shadow, the teen ran for his life, but was thrown upward by the shock waves of Cinderblock's impact, falling down just past the guardrail.
"Robin!", Terra and Rose shouted before the two girls went after him with Cinderblock roaring, urging the 4 titans remaining to charge as Cinderblock followed suit, but not before Beast Boy turned into a Tyrannosaurus Rex and gave a roar of his own.
Meanwhile, another infernal explosion erupted, rocking the place as Terra and Rose caught up to Robin and helped him up.
"Are you okay?", Rose asked.
"Well, I've had better days.", Robin responded just before someone just passed by them quickly, making the trio gasp before robin got out his staff woth Rose drawing her katana again cautiously.
As the trio stood carefully, a bolt of lightning flashed in the sky and when the flash dimmed, the one person they never thought they'd see again, much less so soon, was seen standing behind a tree intact and with a brand new mask firmly in place. It would appear that the leader's fears (as well as his two teammates') were justified after all.
"Slade!", Robin, Terra, and Rose glared before chasing after him only for Slade to run off from them and leap up into the treetops, but the trio caught up to him, not willing to let him slip away, staying well ahead as he is.
"Stop!", Terra shouted.
Unfortunately, Slade did not do so, urging Robin to whip out a birdarang and hurl it toward him just as Slade stopped and turned around to see it. But after another crack of lightning, Slade disappeared, causing the birdarang to hit the tree trunk instead. After Rpbin freed his weapon from the trunk, the rain started pouring down, drenching Terra, Robin, and Rose in water.
"How did he pull this off?", Terra asked to herself.
"Too slow, you three.", Slade spoke before the three looked up to see Slade on top of a branch above them, the rain not even splashing onto his armor so much as phasing through him somewhat.
"You always were.", Slade added.
"Somehow, we just knew you'd come back.", Rose responded before Robin then got out his birdarang, acting as a grappling hook with the trio then aiming to attack Slade only to miss with another lightning flash before the trio then each took turns swinging at Slade, only to miss each time before landing on a branch with Terra and Rose landing behind Robin as he faced Slade.
"Already out of breath? Don't tell me you've gotten soft. Save your energy. You're going to need it. I merely freed Cinderblock to get you three's attention. And now that I have it...", Slade began.
"Just what are you planning here?", Rose asked.
"Seismic generators, Rose. Three of them. Placed on fault lines all over the city. And in three short hours, they'll trigger an earthquake so magnificent, it will break your city in two.", Slade responded, holding up a controller before it showed each of the same locations from the monitor now revealed to each have a large, cylindrical device with a red flashing light, even below the carnival, attached to the pier's morrings before it went back to Slade.
"Not if we break you first.", Robin responded before swinging his staff at Slade with a yell only to miss as Slade jumped off before Robin, Terra, and Rose jumped off along with him, heading back down to ground level, but not before the former of the three launched his staff toward Slade, who vanished again with a flash of lightning before swinging on a branch and then landing on the ground to see if the was there but found no sign before going over to his staff and getting it.
"Okay, I give. When did Slade find the time to do tricks like that?", Rose puzzled before Beast Boy spoke up, causing the three to turn to him and the others with Raven already using a sort of raven-shaped shield to protect her form the rain.
"Uh, sorry to interrupt your little nature hike, but... WHERE WERE YOU?!", Beast boy shouted, practically pulling his hair off and blasting Terra back.
"We had to finish off Cinderblock by ourselves, in the rain, and...", Beast Boy began before he then trailed off into a violent sneeze, causing him to turn into an elephant, before changing back to normal.
"Great. Now I've got a cold.", Beast Boy spoke, now feeling congested.
"Sorry, Beast Boy. We were going to get Robin back up to help you fight Cinderblock, but something came up.", Terra responded.
"Or someone.", Rose added.
"Who?", Beast Boy asked.
"Slade. He's back.", Robin responded, retracting his staff.
"You sure it was him? I mean, you kinda had Slade on the brain lately. Maybe…", Cyborg began before Terra interrupted.
"He's telling the truth. He's going to use seismic generators to create a massive earthquake, and we have three hours to stop it!", Terra responded.
"I don't get it. The dude fell into a pit of lava. Who lives through something like that?", Cyborg asked.
"Apparently, Slade.", Raven responded.
"Yeah. He's pretty...pretty...", Beast Boy began before he sneezed three more times, turning into a capybara, a velociraptor, and a fish before changing back to normal and wiping his nose.
"...slippery.", Beast Boy finished.
"Guess it was only a matter of time.", Rose responded.
"We'll worry about how Slade survived later. Right now, all that matters is how we stop him.", Robin responded before turning to Cyborg and the others.
(Cut to a close-up of him on the end of this.)
"Cyborg, check out the bridge. Raven, Rose, take the park.", Robin spoke.
"Got it.", Rose nodded.
"Beast Boy, Terra, the pier. Starfire..., we're going after Slade.", Robin finished before lightning flashed across his face.
Nearly 2 hours later, Robin and Starfire were walking across the forest.
"Fear not, Robin. We will stop him.', Starfire assured.
"We have no other choice.", Robin responded before his communicator beeped and he pulled it out before flipping it open.
"Robin, I'm at the bridge.", Cyborg reported.
"Did you find the seismic generator?", Robin asked before it went over to Cyborg at said bridge.
"Man, I can't find diddly. No signs of anything unusual.", Cyborg responded before it showed Raven and Rose outside the museum.
"Nothing here either.", Raven reported.
"What do you mean? It's clearly right there!", Rose responded, pointing toward the globe which appeared to have been there, shining a flashlight onto it only to see only the globe wherever the flashlight shined, almost revealing that there was no machinery present.
"Okay. That's just freaky.", Rose spoke.
"What's so freaky about it?", Raven puzzled as if it was normal
Meanwhile, Terra and Beast Boy were at the pier.
"I got bupkis.", Beast Boy reported himself before sneezing, turning into a tiger, causing his communicator to fall into the mud by his paws before then turning into a crab, a flamingo, a horse, a gorilla (a long green, stream of snot travelling down before Beast Boy sniffled and gave one more sneeze, turning into a big Brontosaurus.
"They're there. Keep searching.", Robin spoke in response.
"Um…, maybe you might want to leave this one to me.", Terra assured before picking it up while seeing the generator in question before shining a built-in flashlight onto it only to notice it wasn't here.
"Huh?", Terra puzzled.
"What's wrong?", Robin puzzled.
"This is odd. No flashlight on, generator, but when the flashlight's back on, no generator. Slade must've upped his game since last time.", Terra responded as she moved the flashlight away from the supposed generator before then moving it back toward it only to show that it wasn't really there.
Meanwhile, Robin was growing a bit uneasy.
"I wouldn't put it past him, considering what I know from him up to now.", Rose responded.
"Want us to regroup?", Terra asked.
"Not yet. See what you can figure out about it first. And then regroup where Starfire and I are when you do.", Robin responded.
"Okay.", Terra responded before the communication ended.
"I should've gone to find them myself.", Robin responded.
"They will be found, Robin. You must have faith in your…", Starfire began before lightning struck again. Robin was staring straight ahead before he charged off without a word.
"Robin?", Starfire puzzled before Robin barreled ahead and finally saw Slade in front of him once more, stopping with a skid across the wet dirt.
"Tick-tock, Robin. This is going to be easier than I thought. You've gotten sloppy while I was away.", Slade commented, his taunt spurring Robin into a roaring attack acoompanied by a handful of discs flung forward before exploding at his feet, but he did not even twitch.
As the smoke cleared, Robin rushed through it, but was easily sidestepped as Slade stopped the next attack and countered with a palm thrust that drove Robin to his knees with Slade about to step on him only to miss as the Boy Wonder slid away and tried a low roundhouse kick that Slade avoided without easily with a jump before Robin stood up, trying to look for him only for Slade to appear behind him and knock Robin flat to the ground.
"Robin!", Starfire shouted just as Slade turned to ward her and ran in her direction, not knowing that Terra and Rose were already heading toward him from above.
"Starfire, stop him!", Robin urged.
However, Starfire looked around and looked as though she could not see him.
"I got it!", Terra assured as she and Rose arrived just in time, riding on a rock-like podium before they jump off towards Slade to pounce on him with a shout.
But when lightning struck, Slade suddenly disappeared in a flash of lightning, causing Terra and Rose to react in exclamation out of surprise before they landed on the ground just as Robin caught up and noticed that Slade was no longer there, just as Terra and Rose did upon looking up from recovery.
"Dang it!", Rose grunted.
"Terra, Rose, what happened? And did you at least learn anything about the generator?", Robin asked in calm fury, angry as he is with a hint of that fury showing.
"Well, yes and no. As for Slade, I don't know. One minute, Slade was right there, but the next, he's gone in a flash of lightning.", Terra responded.
"He was?", Star puzzled in surprise.
"Wait. How could you not see him?", Rose puzzled.
"There was no one there.", Starfire responded.
"But Robin, Rose, and I saw him... Oh, no.", Terra spoke in worry.
"What's wrong?", Robin asked.
"Don't panic, Robin. But, right now I have two theories. Either Slade somehow got his hands on some kind of teleportation tech, or he's some kind of ghost. The kind that haunts the people who can see him. Like you and me.", Terra responded, only making Robin and Rose give a look of shock and confusion as the former panted, not knowing what to make of her words.
Act III
Nearly an hour later, at a skyscraper in Jump City, the torrential rain continued as Beast Boy winged into view as a pigeon, making his way to Cyborg and Raven at the curb, the latter still keeping the rain off herself, and sneezed himself into pig form just short of ground level before splashing down in the gutter, sniffling loudly after morphing back to normal.
"I've looked everywhere. I think Slade sent us on a...", Beast Boy began before he sneezed three more times, turning into a giraffe, an armadillo, and then a goose before resuming human form.
"...Wild goose chase?", Raven guessed.
"Can I please go lie down now?", Beast Boy finished.
"I've run a complete sweep of the city's seismic faults. They're all clean. I'm thinking all this seismic-generator stuff is just another one of Slade's tricks.", Cyborg spoke before Starfire landed behind him.
"I am not so certain that Slade is behind this.", Starfire spoke up.
"What happened? Where's Robin?", Cyborg asked.
"Robin...has elected to search on his own.", Starfire responded.
"Huh? Why?", Beast Boy asked.
"He said he, Terra, and Rose saw Slade. I tried to see him, I truly did, but I could not. I have never seen Robin so angry...", Starfire responded.
"Speaking of Terra and Rose, where are they?", Raven asked when her communicator went off.
"Try seeing for yourself.", Terra responded before it showed Terra at the pier and then Rose at the museum.
"Uh, what are you guys doing?", Cyborg asked.
"Waiting for the moment of truth.", Rose responded.
Then as both Terra and Rose braced themselves and held the flashlight, the timer on the supposed seismic generators ticked down from 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, before finally, the bright areas shone by the flashlight remained normal while the darkened areas only exploded, causing a big gust of wind to blow outside the circle with Terra's hair getting blown back a bit as well as Rose's on her end just before the shaking occurred, but when the flash light went to the ground, the shaking stopped for both of them.
"Huh?", Terra puzzled as she stood up as meanwhile Rose commented while standing back up.
"Curiouser and curiouser.", Rose spoke.
Just then, Cyborg's voice spoke.
"So, how'd it go?", Cyborg asked.
"Well, the bad news is, the seismic generators exploded. But the good news is, they…didn't?", Terra responded.
"What do you mean?", Raven puzzled.
"You guys go see if the generators damaged anything. Or if they're really here at all, that is. Rose and I'll help Robin look for Slade.", Terra responded.
"Okay. But when we're done, we're gonna help you two find Robin.", Cyborg responded.
"Noted.", Terra nodded before she left to pick up Rose.
Later, inside some sort of twisted industrial wreckage, lit only by a red glow and a few shafts of light from overhead. The door suddenly fell off the hinges, revealing Robin on the other side before he looked around warily and advanced across the floor with terra and Rose appearing.
"Hey, Robin.", Terra greeted.
"Terra? What are you…?", Robin began.
"Look. The others may not've been able to see Slade, but we did. So, you're not alone in this.", Rose interrupted.
"That's right, Robin, Whether or not Slade is really here. The least we can do is help you.", Terra assured before Robin then gave grin and turned around as the trio continued.
As they looked around, though, Slade was standing at the railing before seemingly vanishing from behind them. Once the trio got to the area of Slade's original lair, Robin then rubbed his gloved finger across the chair and eyed the residue left on it.
"Is that where you briefly became his apprentice?", Terra asked.
"Unfortunately.", Robin responded.
Then, as soon as he walked over to the broken mirrors, which were once monitors, one of which was now been broken away almost entirely, Robin noticed in the distance, a figure, Slade, dropping into view before Robin, Terra, and Rose span into a run, seeing it race along a broken catwalk giving chase before the trio stopped and turned only to notice that Slade wasn't on top of a catwalk anymore before he dashed behind the trio, who turned as Terra gasped, frantically looking around as Slade spoke.
"So, here we are again. The old haunt. Just the four of us.", Slade spoke.
"Slade! Show yourself! Come out and fight!", Robin shouted before terra spotted him standing on top of a mountain of smashed gears.
"Relax, Robin. I'm not going anywhere.", Slade assured before Robin and Rose climbed up the pile and got to the top only to notice that Slade was gone before the top gear started to tip down due to the imbalance, causing the group to fall down across the hill before landing and barely escaping not one but two big gears before panting with Terra pulling Rose away while Robin managed to get away just in time.
Play Michael McCuistion, Kristopher Carter, & Lolita Ritmans Music: "All It Takes Is One Bad Day"
"Brings back memories, doesn't it?", Slade asked.
"All I remember is how much we hated you!", Robin responded.
"Camera tracks in a circle around him and zooms in.)
"What I remember is that you couldn't defeat me...at least, not all alone.", Slade responded before the trio then ran toward an electrical panel and flipped the switch, turning the light on only for the light to go out, revealing that Slade was now right behind them!
"Pity most of your friends are of no use to you.", Slade spoke as Robin, Terra, and Rose turned to see him.
"Why couldn't Starfire see you?", Terra asked.
"I believe you are familiar with cloaking technology.", Slade responded.
"I'm familiar with all your tricks. That's why you're not going to get away with it.", Robin responded before charging in toward Slade only to miss as he dodged and then took off, urging him and the two girls to look around for any sign of him as Slade then moved around before perching himself atop a gear nearby.
"Our time apart may have made you soft..., but it's only made me stronger.", Slade responded as the trio glared before swinging and vaulting away backwards, perched on top of a tilted wheel, urging Robin to try and do so, causing the gear to collapse.
"Well, there goes that way.", Rose spoke.
"Then, let's try a different approach.", Terra responded before she and Rose then got on the former's podium as it went up from the ground and parked near the two before they got on and pursued in that manner.
When Robin got close, however, he came up a bit short and only managed to hang from the cracked wood by his fingertips. At this point, if he falls, he'll meet his end, never mind get badly injured if he hits the broken pipes erected on the ground with Robin getting up as best he could.
"Your friends won't find the generators, and they can't see me like Terra and Rose can. They can't see the truth, Robin, even when it's right in front of them.", Slade discouraged before Robin then got himself up with a push from his feet on the other side of the catwalk, getting back up and going behind Slade.
"Then we'll have to take care of you ourselves! We've stopped you before!", Robin responded.
"Robin...if you've 'stopped' me..., then why am I still here?", Slade asked rhetorically.
"Would you happen to believe, some unfinished business?", Terra joked in response before Robin then charged in and tried to attack Slade but failed as he missed every time up until Slade eventually caught Robin's fist, bent it a little with a squeeze, and threw a crushing jab at him, driving him back along the catwalk.
Then, Rose took over and rushed at him with her katana in hand only to miss as Slade backed up and got thrown back along the planking next to Robin before she got back up.
"Okay. That didn't work.", Rose responded as she, Robin and Terra glared at Slade.
"Neither of you can even touch me.", Slade discouraged.
"Wanna bet?", Terra retorted before she then lifted pieces of the ground and then spun them in orbit before launching them at Slade, who only sidestepped each rock tossed casually at the last possible instant before Terra charged at him only to fall down screaming as she missed.
"Terra!", Rose and Robin shouted before Terra then managed to lift a chunk off the ground and landed safely before sighing.
"That was close.", Terra spoke.
"How can you save a city, Robin, when you three can't save yourselves?", Slade asked discouragingly before he then launched a devastating right jab, which put the masked teen on the floor, sliding him toward a pile of gears.
"Robin!", Terra and Rose shouted with worry.
It took him a few moments to raise his head before he saw the assailant leaping in with a yell only for Rose to intervene, blocking the strike with her katana, only for it to break apart after a moment, allowing Slade to strike Rose and throw her down before Slade then picked her up and tightened his right hand into a fist before then striking her twice, making Rose slide coincidentally toward one of the shining lights, revealing that Rose's outfit was slightly torn by the sleeves and leggings, before Terra spoke out to her.
"Tag out!", Terra urged before this time, being a bit more prepared, she blocked as many hits as she can take up until Slade broke her guard with a propped-up gear wheel, prompting Terra to dodge it, its impact force of which left Terra barely able to straighten up already as she stood right back up underneath the light, which showed her own injuries with her shirt and pants just as torn as Rose's with a pant only to be met with a huge hand reaching down for her only for Robin to save her, taking the blow himself instead, his head nearly turning 180 degrees before two more heavy hits were dealt to Robin, although at this point, to Terra and Rose, Slade isn't really here and it looks as if Robin was being insanely delusional.
"Am I the only one seeing this, Rose?", Terra asked before Rose shook her head in reply just as the boy wonder had no choice but to crawl away only for Slade to grab him by the ankle and dragged him backward.
While all this was happening, the other four Titans were heading up fast, but stopped when Cyborg's forearm beeped, urging him to check it.
"Robin and Terra's locator signals! They're nearby!", Cyborg spoke before, through the walls, they immediately heard his scream of pain and a couple of loud crashes.
"Very nearby.", Raven responded before the 4 titans advanced quickly.
Then, just inside that doorway, Starfire floated into view at it. Only more grunting from Robin was heard as he backed woozily into view. Seen from the knees up, he is now in rather bad shape, judging from his torn clothing.
"Robin!", Starfire shouted before charging off for him.
"Wait a second…", Terra spoke in realization before stepping out of the nearby light and then advancing forward to notice see Slade pummeling Robin before stepping back in and no longer seeing him just as all four spectators arrived, staring pop-eyed before Robin continued reacting as if being ruthlessly pummeled.
"Um, since when is Robin into mime?", Beast Boy puzzled.
"He isn't.", Terra responded, prompting him and the others to see Terra and Rose.
"Terra! You and Rose found him?", Beast Boy asked.
"Were you able to ascertain what is going on?", Starfire asked.
"First off, yeah. And secondly, unexpectedly…, see firstly.", Terra responded as she and Rose step out of the light and see Slade attacking Robin again just before Robin whirled to face the other 4 titans, exposing numerous injuries to both clothing and person, including one of his eyes nearly swollen shut.
"SLADE!", Robin shouted before Starfire lifted her hand following a collective gasp from the titans, lighting the room up in a brilliant green light, the glow spreading across the machine room like an emergency lamp, the teammates looking around in confusion.
End Michael McCuistion, Kristopher Carter, & Lolita Ritmans Music: "All It Takes Is One Bad Day"
"What are you doing here?! You're supposed to be finding the generators!", Robin barked.
"I don't think you have to worry about those generators. They may've been set off in the darkness, but in the light, the fault lines are actually still okay. Almost as if they were never there.", Terra responded.
"We even made sure of that before we met up with you to help fight him.", Rose added.
"I think they're right, Robin. There weren't any generators, man. We looked everywhere.", Cyborg agreed.
"Slade must be cloaking them, just like he's cloaking himself! That's why you couldn't see him!", Robin guessed, filled with paranoia.
"But if I could not see him, why could you, Terra, and Rose?", Starfire asked, followed by a brief, stunned pause.
"What are you trying to say?", Robin asked before Raven put herself ahead of the others.
"Robin, are you sure you, Terra, and Rose really saw Slade?", Raven asked.
"Saw him? We fought him! You think we did this to ourselves?", Robin asked, pointing to his injuries as well as theirs.
"Dude, this is the only way out, and we were standing here the whole time. No one got past us.", Beast Boy responded.
"No one was in here but us.", Cyborg added.
"At least for now, anyway.", Terra added.
"I don't have time for this. If what Terra and Rose said about the generators not having set off yet is true, then I at least have to see for myself.", Robin responded before his exit was promptly blocked by Cyborg's broad, armored, chest.
"There are no generators! There is no Slade!", Cyborg assured in an attempt to dissuade him, but to no avail.
"I KNOW WHAT I SAW! Whether Terra or Rose want to help me or not, I have to stop him! I might as well be the only one who can! And I'll take down anyone who gets in my way!", Robin threatened as he backed up and got out his birdarang with Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Raven staring wide-eyed, knowing for certain that Robin has officially went insane.
Suddenly, Robin was neck-chopped by Starfire, rendering him unconscious before the glow dimmed from Starfire's hand, showing that she did not want to do that, but was left with no other choice as Robin groaned a bit.
"Well…, it kinda had to be done to calm him down.", Rose spoke.
"So, what did you figure out?", Cyborg puzzled.
"We'll explain on the way.", Terra assured.
Later, at the tower's infirmary, Robin found himself restrained onto the mattress under the cover of darkness with only Terra and Rose in the same room with him with the latter in-between the light form the lamp and utter darkness while Terra was also near the computer readouts for his heartbeat.
"Well, look who finally woke up.", Rose grinned.
"Rose? Terra? What are you…?", Robin puzzled before overhearing Starfire's voice as well as Cyborg's, Beast Boy's, and Raven's from outside.
"But must we keep him restrained?", Starfire asked.
"He threatened us, Star. He's dangerous.", Cyborg responded.
"Dangerous? Try totally flipped-out coo-coo labonza!", Beast Boy responded before sneezing himself backwards.
"If Terra and Rose somehow know what's really going on, we've at least gotta run some tests on them. Just to be sure.", Raven responded with Cyborg nodding in response.
"Don't worry, Robin. We'll figure out how to fix whatever's going on somehow and get that out of our system.", Rose assured.
"Don't be so certain.", Slade suddenly responded before both Rose and Robin noticed Slade emerging from the shadows.
Slade: (from o.c.) Alone again, Robin?
"No matter what you do…, you could never get rid of me that easily.", Slade discouraged.
"And Slade's here, isn't he?", Terra guessed, judging by Robin's shocked look.
"Oh, yeah. Big time.", Rose responded.
Act IV
Robin's heart monitor signal was shown on the infirmary wall with Robin's grunting heard, as he was still straining against his bonds for several seconds before Slade spoke to him.
"Relax, Robin. I promise... you won't feel a thing.", Slade assured darkly as he got out a small dagger with electricity coursing through it.
"Okay. We've gotta get him out of there.", Rose spoke.
"You got that right. The only question is, how?", Terra puzzled.
"Well, unfortunately…, it's going to take both of us to help him. Even if it means stepping into the dark.", Rose responded.
"Then, we're going to need to come up with a strategy to help him once we help him get out. Not that it'd be easy since he practically hits like a freight train.", Terra responded.
"Good. I wasn't expecting easy.", Rose responded.
Meanwhile, Starfire spoke with the other titans with Cyborg and Raven looking at the monitor while Beast Boy was now on a chair, the ice bag resting on his head.
"Please. You have uncovered the cause of his strange behavior?", Starfire asked.
"So far, everything looks normal.", Raven responded.
"But he is not normal! Robin would not do these things. He would not threaten his friends, he would not shout at me or...there is a cause! And you must find it!", Starfire shouted in plea before Beast Boy removed his ice bag.
"Star, I'm sure there's a good explanation, okay? Maybe Slade really is invisible and we just can't…", Beast Boy guessed.
"No. He still would've shown up on my radar. I'm telling you, he wasn't…", Cyborg began just before the pulse suddenly got faster.
"His heart rate is off the charts!", Raven spoke in concern before Starfire watched, horrified.
"Blood pressure, neural kinetics, most people can't survive this kind of stress!", Cyborg added in worry before the scrambled beat continued for another tense second before it finally flatlined.
"Robin!", Starfire shouted in worry before rushing away to the infirmary door, which opened to allow the quartet in just in time to notice that neither Robin, Terra, nor Rose were there, evident by a pile of unfastened straps the removed sensors.
"Wow. And I thought I didn't like going to the doctor.", Beast Boy commented.
"But where are Robin, Terra, and Rose?", Starfire puzzled before thumps were heard from above.
"There!", Cyborg shouted, pointing to the open vent on the ceiling.
Beast Boy then turned into a humming bird and then flew up toward the vent only to get blocked out by a sudden metal sheet appearing with the same sheets blocking out every door and window before a shrill emergency sound went off.
"Whoa!", Cyborg exclaimed with Beast Boy, in human form, tumbling down onto the bed next to Starfire, grateful for the soft landing, which may've been what he wanted to do ever since he got sick with Raven typing hastily on the computer.
"Robin's activated the quarantine protocol. Nothing can get in or out.", Raven guessed.
"We shall see about that!", Starfire shouted before she then fired a starbolt, which was then promptly ricocheted all across the metal sheets one after another, just missing Cyborg's head.
"Careful, Star!", Cyborg urged before Starfire pounded on the doors in thundering defiance.
"We must find Robin, Terra, and Rose!", Starfire urged before Cyborg then comforted her for a moment while gently moving her back before then extending a chainsaw blade from his arm and then starting to try and cut through it just as Beast boy noticed Raven preparing to meditate.
"What are you doing?", Beast Boy asked.
"Finding those three. Azarath Metrion Zinthos...", Raven chanted before her eyes opened, showing that her eyes are glowing bright white with a sort of black raven then forming before phasing through the sheet, went up and down a few times, past through a few fans, and then descended upon Terra with Rose next to her in the main room before Raven spoke to her.
"Terra… Are you three okay…?", Raven asked.
"Raven? Um, not exactly.", Terra assured before noticing Slade preparing to strike with his fist.
"Whoa!", Terra exclaimed before leaping back with a jump.
"But as you can probably see, not too bad either, if that's what you mean. It's Robin I'm more worried about. Rose and I know Slade isn't real, but he doesn't. He needs help.", Terra responded.
"Obviously.", Raven agreed.
"Aren't we all? And who are you talking to?", Rose asked.
"I'll explain later.", Terra responded in assurance just as Raven's black raven left Terra and then went toward Robin, who was in the middle of fighting to survive.
"Robin... we're here to help you.", Raven assured before it showed the operations center, which showed images of Slade quickly flashing by on the monitor before then heading for the computer console opening and showing a schematic of the tower while zooming in toward a red circle as a pounding heartbeat sounded while showing the stairs to the basement before then showing the boxes, one of which had memorabilia of everything about Slade before then going to a cave of sorts where a light showed Robin's shadow as he held up his hand, taking up an oath in front of Batman's shadow before then arriving at a sort of circus where two figures fell down as the two conversed with each other.
"Raven! What are you...? You have to get out! Slade! He'll destroy you!", Robin urged.
"Robin, your heart. You're in danger. You have to trust me. Slade isn't here. He's not in the Tower.
"No! He's here! He's real! I've seen him!", Robin protested.
"Then let me see him through your eyes.", Raven responded before Robin then closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them, revealing Raven's pupils and vilet irises within his mask's outlines before looking around as Raven spoke again.
"See, Robin? There's no one here. There never was.", Raven assured only for Robin to spot Slade, who had entered the ducts unseen, before he threw a punch straight at the lens with a flash of lightning, knocking Raven out of the trance with a scream, hurling her backward to the floor before she sat up with a terrified gasp as Beast Boy leaned over her.
"SLADE!", Raven shouted.
"You saw him?", Cyborg asked before Raven nodded and started to stand up.
"I don't know if he's real or not, but he's real to Robin, and that's all that matters. Because they already knew Slade isn't real, Terra and Rose may be lucky enough to keep their cool, but the stress on his brain is destroying his body. Robin truly believes he's fighting Slade and even with Terra and Rose helping him... Slade might be winning.", Raven explained.
Play Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Music: "Become a Pillar"
Meanwhile, in the basement, Robin lunged at Slade for a punch only for Slade to throw him down the stairs with Robin managing to get his footing with the master criminal charging toward him and delivering a kick that knocked the wind out of Robin's lungs. Then, Robin tried to hit Slade but missed before his wrist was caught and bent viciously behind his back before then flinging Robin off the stairs with Robin then managing to flip himself to a lower portion of the stairwell as luck would have it. But when Terra and Rose got to the basement, they noticed Slade standing on a high girder behind him.
"Robin, Slade at your 6 o'clock!", Rose shouted before Robin turned to see him just in time for Slade to leap from a high perch with Robin being dealt a heavy blow right before getting tossed down the stairs again toward the railing only to get kicked away from it and slammed into a different section with Robin attempting to counter attack only to hit him in the chest and land on the ground before then getting hauled up by the cape and thrown down the rest of the way toward the boxes.
"Robin!", Terra shouted before Slade then turned to see her and Rose.
"Real or not, your fight's with us!", Rose glared.
"How touching. I'll be with you two in just a moment.", Slade responded before turning back to Robin and then walking down toward him just as one of the overhead lights flicker a bit and each time it comes on, Slade disappears, which repeats a bit as he went down the stairs toward Robin, who tried to crawl away in agony.
"You always knew it was going to end this way.", Slade spoke before he then grabbed Robin by the hair and lifted him up.
"No…", Robin spoke weakly before Terra and Rose gasped in shock.
Meanwhile, Raven was still in the infirmary when she sensed something wrong just as Cyborg was still trying to saw through the door and Beast Boy, in octopus form, was trying to break off the metal sheet on the vent.
"Robin! I can feel him. He's not gonna make it!", Raven spoke in worry.
"Then let us end this battle! NOW!", Starfire shouted while reaching down and digging all 10 fingers into the tiles before tearing up a large section, diving under the floor.
Meanwhile, Robin reached for a stairstep weakly with the last of his strength.
"Slade... stop...!", Robin groaned only for Slade to kick him away with a tumble before he slowly moved toward the collapsed leader as the light flickered again.
"No, Robin. I won't stop. Not now, not ever. I am the thing that keeps you up at night. The evil that haunts every dark corner of your mind. I will never rest...and neither will you.", Slade responded as he knelt over Robin and hauled him up.
End Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja 3 Music: "Become a Pillar"
"My friends say... you're not real.", Robin groaned.
"Oh, I'm very real.", Slade discouraged just as Terra and Rose caught up downstairs.
"Even if you are, you still can't keep us down.", Terra responded.
"Can't I?", Slade retorted before shoving Robin toward a girder with the light flickering again as he approached.
"Could you have gotten all those bruises from someone who wasn't there?", Slade asked before Robin looked up weakly at Slade.
Play Final Fantasy XV Music: "Somnus (Episode Ardyn)" (6:39/7:28)
"Neither of you can even touch me.", Slade added.
"All these...bruises... but you don't have a scratch.", Robin spoke before it then showed a flash back with Terra and Rose jumping up toward Slade.
"I got it!", Terra shouted before Slade suddenly disappeared, causing her and Rose to land on the ground, much to their shock as they apparently missed Slade.
"Darn it!", Rose grunted before it then showed the Jump City Bay bridge, which had an alleged seismic generator placed onto it only for it to vanish when lightning struck.
"There are no generators! There is no Slade!", Cyborg's voice echoed before it then showed memory after memory of Slade's recent attacks on Robin, Terra, and the others as clues of some sort.
"I am the thing that keeps you up at night. The evil that haunts every dark corner of your mind.", Slade's voice spoke as said memories were shown before then showing Slade walking downstairs with yet another flicker with Robin finally figuring it out.
"Every dark corner...you're only in my mind...only in the dark. My friends are right. You aren't real!", Robin realized as he straightened up, slightly alarming the illusion.
"I'm real enough to finish you!", Slade only retorted before leaping forward to attack Robin, who only turned on the circuit breaker, causing the light to turn on with Slade disappearing for good.
"Lights out, Slade.", Robin spoke before Terra and Rose stepped forward, stepping into the light.
"Nice work, Robin.", Terra grinned.
"Took long enough.", Rose added before Starfire quickly hovered over to the basement, much of which was still in darkness just in time to see tat Robin had the everloving bejeebers beaten out of him five times at least.
End Final Fantasy XV Music: "Somnus (Episode Ardyn)" (6:39/7:28)
"Robin!", Starfire shouted before going over to him.
"It's okay, Starfire. It's okay.", Robin assured as he slightly passed out with the others joining in as well.
"Well, almost. We better get fixed up first.", Terra responded.
Later, as the rain still continued to pour down, the titans were now back in the infirmary with Robin, Terra, and Rose sitting on the bed with sensors connected to their foreheads this time for comparison.
"Guess it had to happen eventually, huh?", Terra grinned a bit nervously.
"Looks like Slade pulled off one last trick. His mask contained a chemical reagent that infiltrated both your central nervous systems.", Cyborg spoke.
"The dust. It made us see, hear, and feel Slade, even though he wasn't there.", Robin realized.
"And the more you fought, the more harm it did to you.", Starfire added.
"And anybody else who got in the way.", Raven spoke, rubbing her chin.
"The only question is, how are you two still okay? Bruised, maybe, but still.", beast Boy puzzled.
"Well, there were some things that didn't make sense at first.", Terra responded.
"So, we eventually put two and two together and figured it out like he did.", Rose responded.
"Yeah, but Robin was surprisingly a bit slow this time.", Terra responded before Robin interjected.
"Hey.", Robin retorted before Terra and Rose giggled a bit.
"Scan says you three are all clear now, though.", Cyborg smiled.
"Yeah? Well, just to be sure...", Robin spoke as he got out of bed and went to the light switch before turning it off for a moment to see that the only living things were him, Terra, Rose, Cyborg, Raven, and Starfire.
"Well, no sign of him here.", Terra spoke before Robin sighed in relief, knowing for certain the nightmare is over before he turned the light back on.
"I've been fighting Slade for so long, I guess it's hard to just let it go. But sometimes, I feel like I'm the only one still looking for him, the only one who can stop him.", Robin stated.
"Robin, you are never alone.", Starfire assured.
"Yeah. You have us.", Terra added in assurance.
"And if Slade really does ever return, we'll be ready."
"Now, I wonder who said that the last time I was here?", Rose smirked.
"We've got things covered here. Why don't you get some rest?", Cyborg suggested.
"Sounds like a good idea.", Robin smiled before leaving.
"Okay, they're better. Now what about me? (He collapses into another bed.) I'm dying over here!", Beast Boy shouted as he then opened the curtain, showing himself to be a true wreck before he sneezed into the forms of a guinea pig, a koala bear, and a frog, letting off a pathetic croak, making Terra giggle as Starfire and Raven laughed at his expense.
"Oh, Beast Boy.", Terra grinned before turning to Cyborg.
"Is there a cold medicine for him?", Terra asked.
"Actually, yeah. They should be in this cabinet.", Cyborg assured, pointing to it before terra saw it.
"Thanks, Cyborg.", Terra thanked before Cyborg looked at the map screen with Raven, Starfire, and even Terra, who just got the medicine for Beast Boy (which was mostly a couple of pills for the common cold) turned to notice it.
"What is it?", Raven asked.
"The reagent in Slade's mask didn't trigger itself. There was a signal. Somebody triggered it... from outside the Tower.", Cyborg responded.
"Someone did that? But who?", Terra puzzled.
"Well, I can give you one guess.", Rose responded before it then showed the dark basement with the box full of Slade's memorabilia still lying on the floor before it showed Slade's scarred mask, whose eyes glowed bright red before it then faded to show that Slade was, in fact, still alive!
"And so it begins.", Slade spoke before then standing up and turning slightly to a mysterious figure behind him, which appeared feminine.
"Now, then. It's time to finish what my daughter could not… the destruction of the Teen Titans.", Slade spoke to the mysterious figure before lightning struck behind Slade amidst the pouring rain.
A/N: Now, that's a surprise. Slade did, indeed, survive the last attack after all, and he has someone very mysterious with him, yet. But how was that possible, you say? More importantly, you might even be curious about the figure behind Slade. Well, I'll let you come up with theories for now. Right now, I gotta get ready for now only a new story involving YTV's Freaky Stories, but also a new chapter for "The Seven Deadly Sins: Sin of Vengeance" first. For now, good night. :)