A/N: Again, sorry for the lateness. I wrestled with this chapter and I hope I struck the right tone. Enjoy. :)
"I'd send the pain below, much like suffocating."
Red on red, the two dots on the GPS began to eclipse one another. Robin should have been right in front of them. Instead, the four flamboyant teens stared a dead-end in the face.
A wall of sewage-tainted brick mocked them.
Faith shaken, Cyborg checked and re-checked the screen on his wrist.
"This…this can't be right!" he exclaimed under his breath, baffled.
Clearly frustrated, he began to tinker with his robotic appendage. The mechanical components of his arm whirred gently as they shifted and stirred.
Eager to help, Beast Boy traded in his intimidating cat claws for a rat's superior nose. He sniffed the ground eagerly, trying to pick up a helpful scent. Alongside Beast Boy, Starfire poked and prodded the wall as if it held some hidden secret. She gingerly ran her long fingers across the disgusting brick.
"Perhaps there is a way around this obstruction?" she suggested.
Cyborg shook his head. His dark brow furrowed. His expression became suspicious.
"That's the weird part," he explained. "It shouldn't even be here. This tunnel should go all the way to the ocean. Something's not addin' up."
Centering herself, Raven stepped forward and placed her small hand on the brick beside Starfire's. She ignored the pungent, sticky moisture that clung protectively to the stone. Inhaling and exhaling profoundly, she closed her wintry eyes and called upon her magic.
"Azarath…Metrion…Zinthos…" she chanted in a sigh.
An electric current of iridescent black bounded down her arm and disappeared into the wall. It sent out a radar signal, attempting to find anything of interest in the immediate vicinity. What it found was surprising.
The wall was not really a wall at all.
It was a door.
Blearily, Robin watched with jaded eyes as the western wall of the haunt blew apart. The day-dreamed sight he had waited so long to see was becoming reality: his friends raiding Slade's lair, coming to rescue him from the hellish prison that had been his home for months.
And he couldn't be more miserable.
Pieces of smoldering rock soared through the air. Sundered pebbles cascaded to the cement ground in a heavy rain. A trickle of intense, unusual, heat rustled Robin's lank hair and kissed his icy skin. A wispy fog of acrid smoke hid his friends from view. Waves of warm dust settled upon the floor like new snow. Pipes, rails, and part of a catwalk that were attached to the unfortunate wall were dislocated. Their iron limbs swung limply, waving sad goodbyes.
Despite the fantastic blast, the haunt was still swamped in shadow save the pillar of fluorescence that hung above Robin. The flying Grayson was going to lose his new family the same way he had lost his last one—under a spotlight.
Even in the midst of the floor-shaking explosion, he remained as silent and still as possible.
The smoke dissipated. The Teen Titans were revealed in all their foolish glory—blue, green, yellow, and purple. Together, they dashed into the place that would be their undoing.
"Remember, apprentice, bait doesn't speak," came Slade's quiet, callous warning in his ear.
His former friends found him easily. Out in the open as he was, he would be hard to miss and even harder to resist. He knew how pathetic he looked: clothes torn, skin shredded, stripped of his mask, his dignity, and hooked to an intimidating chain.
Centered in a circle of light, Slade had positioned him just right—a perfect damsel in distress.
The Titans didn't stand a chance.
Starfire spotted him first. Her vibrant, verdant eyes landed on him like an anvil. Pinned, his heart began to race despite the tragic moment.
"Robin!" she cried, and dashed forward.
She was at his side in less than a second. Time, which had seemed so slow and nonexistent down here, came back with a vengeance.
"Oh, Robin…" Starfire whispered as she took in his wretched state.
Dropping to her knees, Starfire made quick work of the pesky chain. The uncomfortable weight on his ankle vanished; the twinkling jangle of metal hitting stone chimed. She rested a tentative and gentle hand on his bare shoulder, shaking him slightly. The heat of her touch made him flinch.
Mildly reanimated, his heavy-lidded, bloodshot eyes swerved in her direction, but he said nothing. Starfire supposed he was in too much pain to speak, to move. She wasn't wrong...
...but she wasn't right either.
A radiant blob of purple and red, Starfire leaned closer and placed her other tan hand on the side of his bloody face. A trill of inexplicable pleasure shot up his spine and he instinctively pressed his selfish cheek into her palm. Her familiar, heady scent made him dizzy—well, dizzier. So much so that his vision began to go out of focus and he had to close his eyes to keep the vertigo away.
Mistaking it for something more serious, Starfire's grip on his arm tightened. The strength of it caused his shoulder to throb. Finger-shaped bruises were added to his injurious collection. But it was worth it, just to have her near. Even if it was only for a moment.
"Robin, can you hear me?!" Starfire called under her breath. "Can you move? I know you are in great pain, but we must leave this place!"
Robin pitied her then. Had she honestly believed it would be so easy? That the chains or his tortured state were the only obstacles keeping him here? That Slade would just let him leave? That blowing a hole in the wall would be the end of it?
When he still didn't respond to her pleas, Starfire took matters into her own hands—literally. She curled her arms around him and scooped Robin up.
The sudden movement ignited his body in new flames of pain and the groan he elicited when she tore him from the floor was no act. His glazed eyes snapped wide.
Her strength was good for battle, but not for bedside manner. Her long, scarlet hair brushed against his mangled hand. He jerked it away and was met with a lightning bolt of agony. He ripped his lip into shreds trying to keep still and silent.
Starfire didn't seem to notice his brief spasm. Her head was turned as she looked over her bare shoulder.
The faint, wary steps of the other three Titans clicked in the background, inching closer.
Cyborg's sonic-cannon was unsheathed and buzzed with blue energy. Beast Boy had already shape-shifted into a sleek panther. His razor-sharp claws tapped softly against the cement. Raven's pale fingers crackled with electric black, ready to strike.
All of their eyes flicked from side to side, searching for the inevitable enemy in the dark.
"C'mon, Star," Cyborg whispered, not taking his eye off the encroaching shadows. "Let's go."
Starfire spun around. Again, her strength took Robin off guard. The force of her sudden speed and equally abrupt stop caused his ruined hand to ricochet off his stomach. His teeth dug deeper into his lip, drawing blood, but he couldn't keep his cry of hurt down. It bubbled out of him on its own volition.
Alerted, Starfire snapped her head in his direction.
When she saw his grotesque hand, her eyes widened in horror and she cried:
"Friends! His hand!"
The lights switched on.
The sudden brightness hurt Robin's eyes and he buried his head trying to escape it. Rock shifted and metal squealed. A barrage of thumps collided with the ground and a parade of footsteps approached.
Robin could hear the Titans' feet shifting as they readied themselves. Starfire's grip tightened protectively. Her alien heart began to hammer against him.
He did not need to see to know what had happened. Everything was going according to plan.
The impressive hole that the Titans had created was re-covered by a layer of steel and stone.
Hundreds of Slade's automaton lackeys had dropped from the overhead rafters. The Titans were quickly surrounded.
Pupil-less, glowing white eyes were locked unnervingly on the five teenagers. The robots' shoulders were hunched in mechanical servitude. Their lifeless arms swayed stiffly as they moved into position. Blasters hung from their bolted-on belts. Their faces were hollow reflections of their master—metal facades painted orange and black in overlapping circles. They had no mouths. No expression. No voices.
They formed a tight ring around the Titans, pressing closer.
What are you doing?! Robin thought to his former team. RUN, YOU MORONS!
But it was too late.
"Ah, the Teen Titans. I was wondering when you would show up."
Slade's unmistakable voice slithered through the air. It wound around Robin's stomach and squeezed. He felt sick. He had played his part and the curtains were calling.
The master himself appeared a moment later, emerging from the pitch black of an adjacent tunnel like the snake he was. All of the Titans simultaneously glared, oblivious to their precarious situation.
Beast Boy's feline lip curled in a snarl of utter hate. Cyborg aimed his cannon at Slade's split mask. Raven's witch hands curled into telling fists.
Starfire's eyes began to glow bright green, twin suns of emerald.
Slade met their obvious disgust with cool calculation. He strode smoothly forward in the calm before the storm. His mechanical men ambled out of his way and let him into the crowded circle before re-closing ranks. The villain's black-gloved hands were clasped behind him. His boots clapped the ground and the sound echoed like unnerving thunder in the pregnant silence.
His friendless eye flashed.
"That doesn't belong to you," he said with a nod in Robin's direction.
The hackles on Beast Boy's hairy back stood at attention. He growled menacingly, baring pointed fangs. Raven's stony glower deepened and her magic crept up her arms in warning. Her shadow grew horns. Cyborg's weaponized arm glowed and whirred impatiently.
"You…you clorbag vorblernelk! Come no further!" Starfire shouted at Slade, her beautiful face twisted in rage. "Robin is our friend! HE WILL NEVER BELONG TO YOU!"
Slade remained characteristically unfazed. He continued his calm walk forward, closing the distance between him and his temporarily stolen property.
"How touching," he responded mildly with a chuckle. "But my apprentice doesn't need any friends."
"We are not leaving here without Robin!" Starfire yelled defiantly, spitting sparks.
"Dear child, you misunderstand," Slade said in his most patronizing voice. "You're not leaving here at all."