Chapter 25
"You've done well." Slade waited for Starfire to come out of her bow before he stood facing her. He gently took ahold of her chin and looked over her face before sighing. "You've done well, but this is not good enough." He looked over the cut to her cheek, and lifted her head to see the bruises forming on her neck. Letting go of her, he watched her head drop, looking at the floor. Robin watched with curiosity as Starfire's fists balled and she dropped her shoulders. It was the first real sign of emotion he had seen from her. It was strange.
"Look at me." Slade's voice was surprisingly calm, but Robin supposed that was when he was scariest. Starfire brought her head up and met his gaze. "Do not let it happen again." He turned away from her and she righted herself. Standing tall with perfect posture, she turned to look where Slade was looking. At Robin. Slade sat back in the chair, and let out a content sigh. "Ah Robin, who knew that today would be so satisfying."
Robin glared at him. "Screw you." He struggled against the grip of the robots but he was far too drained to get them off.
"Mind your manners Robin, you're at my mercy now." Slade leaned forward in the chair. "Your friends didn't put up much of a fight. But then, not many people can fight against tranquillisers."
"Sounds to me like your weapon couldn't handle them without putting them to sleep." Robin didn't believe the words as he said them, but he had to stay seemingly confident.
Slade let out a chuckle. "Don't try and kid yourself Robin, she could have killed them without trying. I told her to let them put up some sort of a fight, otherwise what's the point? Besides, it's only a mild tranquilliser, Kid Flash should be waking up any moment now."
Robin looked over at Flash who was laying still on the floor. He knotted his eyebrows together. "Gee Slade, I didn't think you'd give us chance to go for round two."
"I'm not." Slade stood and stalked over to Flash, lifting him by the wrist. Flash let out a groan as he was jostled, his eyes fluttering. Slade pointed to the black ring around his wrist. "Inhibitor bracelet. You're friends won't be doing anything."
Robin let out a bitter laugh. "Right, so you want me to believe that Starfire is this unbeatable weapon, but you had to use tranquillisers and inhibitors. You don't seem to be too confident in her Slade."
Annoyingly, Slade stayed ever calm against Robin's accusations. "Believe me Robin, when I unleash her, it won't be pretty. I've done you all a favour by telling her to reign it in." He dropped Flash to the floor who grunted as he landed.
One by one Robin watched as Flash, Raven, and Beast Boy all came around. Groaning and rubbing their heads. Cyborg was ever still, and it worried Robin a little bit. As each member of his team sat up, they were promptly grabbed by the robot behind them, and held on their knees much like Robin. They each looked at Robin before looking at each other. Robin shot them all an apologetic look. "You guys okay?" They all responded with sad nods.
Beast Boy turned his head to the left where Cyborg was slumped, no sign of life. "Cy! Cy!" He struggled against the hands of the robot that held him, but he wasn't strong enough to break the grip. "Come on dude."
Slade stepped away from Flash and drew his attention to Beast Boy. "The robot will be fine. He just needs a little rewiring."
"What did you do to him?!" Beast Boys anger flared as he tried to shift but found he was unable to.
"I did nothing to him. I can't, however, say the same for her." He moved to allow Beast Boy to see Starfire who was stood proud. Slade ignored the Titans as he moved to Starfire again. Flash looked over at Robin, who was watching Slade intently.
"Robin. Boss, what do we do?" He whisper shouted it, but he knew he could be heard around the room. Robin opened his mouth to reply but Slade beat him to it.
"There's nothing you can do." He turned to Starfire again. "Did you get what I instructed?" She reached for her pocket but Slade stopped her hand. "Don't. Just tell me that you got what I asked for?"
"Yes."
The entire room turned to her as she spoke for the first time. It was one small word, but the voice behind it was strong. She sounded just like herself and for the Titans it was unnerving. Robin gaped at her, not because she had done anything spectacular, but because she sounded so normal.
"Good girl."
Robin wanted to ram his fist into Slade's face for how patronising he sounded towards Starfire. She was a goddamn princess, and deserved to be treated as such. Robin ignored the fact that he'd just gone head to head with her and hit her in the face with a skillet pan.
"I think that we've managed to achieve everything so far, my dear. You know what you must do next." Slade watched as Starfire nodded silently to him before turning and walking towards the door. Or rather, the hole where the door used to be. Robin waited until she was out of sight before he took in a deep breath. Somehow, he found some small reserve of adrenaline in him, and he wrenched his right arm free of the robot that was holding him. The robot stumbled and Robin used the momentum to grab its arm and flip it over his shoulder. As he did, he kicked out at the other robot, knocking it to the floor before flipping free away from them.
They both lunged for him, but Robin was prepared and bunny hopped over one, knocking it to the ground before slamming his foot down and destroying its head. The other one missed him, and as it turned to locate him, Robin grabbed its face and its shoulder before twisting them in opposite directions. It fell to the floor with a thud. Robin turned menacingly to glare at Slade. Slade didn't do anything but stand and stare back at him. Robin took one step towards was promptly caught off guard as an arm snaked around his throat and he was pulled harshly into the body behind him.
Starfire had flown at him, gripping him around the neck and pulling his body flush against hers. She tightened the grip of her arm, the crook of her elbow pressing dangerously tight around his windpipe. He grabbed at her arm and tried to pull it off but it was useless. She grabbed one of his arms and wrenched it behind his back before kicking his feet out from under him and pushing him forward. Robin landed hard on his front, her arm still choking him. She was sat on his back, her arm around his neck still, lifting his head from the floor. Her other hand held his left arm tightly behind his back, his right was trapped beneath him, still clutching at her arm around his neck. Her ankles were hooked around his knees. He struggled for a moment before he realised that he was not going to get her off of him. Struggling to breathe, he opened his eyes to see Slade baring down at him.
Slade flicked his eye up to Starfire who was looking down at the back of Robin's head. "Don't kill him." Her grip loosened a little to let Robin breathe, but not enough that he could move. He spluttered furiously. "I hope you realise Robin that I could tell her to kill you and she would. Honestly, I don't know what you thought you could achieve."
Robin didn't reply, as he was concentrating on his girlfriend who was currently pinning him down. Slade was right though, she could kill him right now and probably wouldn't hesitate if she was told to.
"What's your game, Slade?" Flash had shouted from where he sat, prompting Slade to turn away from Robin.
"That is for me to know, and you to find out."
"Well, you've got us now haven't you? What the hell are you waiting for?" Flash struggled against the robot behind him, trying anything to pull from its grip.
"The cavalry." Slade turned away from Flash and looked out of one of the windows. He seemed completely unfazed as the window he was staring through shattered. Superman's form filled the window as Batman swung in and landed in front of him. Batman scoured the room, he saw the four Titans to his right, being held down, minus Cyborg who was out cold. He noticed the small black bracelets. It explained a lot. His gaze found Robin and his eyes instantly narrowed to the girl who was pinning him down.
Superman floated in beside Batman, his eyes never leaving Slade. "This ends now Deathstroke."
Slade chuckled. "I beg to differ." He turned to Starfire and she caught his gaze. He flicked his hand, and Robin yelped as he was brought from the floor. Starfire let go of the arm she was holding behind his back, and fired a starbolt into the wall, creating a hole to the outside. She dragged Robin by the neck, his feet scrambling to keep him from falling. She twisted him in her grip to face him before she grabbed his throat with her hand and pushed. Robin felt the ground below him disappear as she held him out of the hole. He couldn't breath, but he certainly wasn't going to do anything that meant she might let go.
Starfire's other hand glowed green, and she turned away from Robin to use a starbolt. It disintegrated the Batarang that had been thrown at her. Relighting her hand, she held it out towards Batman and Superman who stood still.
Slade moved over to her side. "I'd stay perfectly still if I were you."
Superman scoffed. "I'll catch him before he could hit the ground."
"Perhaps. But you're not fast enough to stop her from crushing his throat before she drops him." Slade moved behind Starfire and placed his hands gently on her shoulders. "Really she is a marvel. She's does exactly what I ask of her, and she does it with haste. She's passed every test I've thrown at her with flying colours. Give or take a scrape or two."
Robin saw black spots in his vision as he struggled to breathe. He was trying to listen to what Slade was saying, but his heart beat was pounding in his ears. He saw Batman who looked as stoic as ever, staring at him and not at Slade.
Batman sighed and moved his gaze to Slade. "What do you want?"
"This was a test for Starfire. She's an all round success. All of this is leading to something that you won't be able to stop. I just wanted to see if you would come to save your sidekick." He flicked his gaze to Robin and smiled beneath his mask. "However, because she's done so well, I don't see why we can't kick things off right now. The Titans have certainly seen what Starfire can do when I've told her to hold back, imagine what she could do if I told her not to. I would take what has happened today into consideration while you think over my proposition."
Batman frowned further. "What do you want?" He ground the words out as he repeated himself.
Slade glanced over the Titans that were sat on the floor, fear for their leader evident on their faces. Robin's face was turning an unusual shade of red, mixed in with the dark purple of the bruises forming across it. He looked back at Batman, his confidence was staggering. "I want the Titan Network disbanded."
The room went silent, except Robin who was gasping for breaths he couldn't reach. He wasn't entirely sure he could cope much longer, he wanted nothing more at this moment than for Starfire to let go of him and let him breathe properly.
"Not on your life." Batman looked completely unimpressed.
Slade actually laughed. "I was hoping that would be your answer." Slade looked down at Starfire, before leaning down to whisper in her ear. She looked over to Batman and Superman before looking back at Slade. He chuckled. "No, my dear. Your enthusiasm is pleasing, but we don't engage with them until the time is right." He turned back to Batman and Superman. "I'll give you forty eight hours to really think over my proposal. If I don't hear from you, then I hope you're well prepared."
Slade squeezed Starfire's shoulder gently and she hoisted Robin back in and held him in front of her. She fired her starbolt off at Batman and Superman who dodged out of the way. Lifting Robin a little higher, her eyes started to glow and Robin squeezed his eyes shut. The rest of the room watched on in horror as Starfire sent an eye beam into Robin's chest as she let go of his throat. The beam sent him back and into the wall far behind him. He bounced from the wall, the back of his head hitting it with an audible bang, and landed hard on the floor with a thud. The last thing he saw was Starfire and Slade leaving via the hole she had created before his vision clouded over and he lost his battle with consciousness.
