More show to story bits! plus... well you'll see! Everything will be coming together soon!
Dick-16/17 Jason-13 Cass-11/12 Tim-9 Damian-3
Sacrifice
15 – Pains Worse Than Death
Dick rested his head against the cool plasma screen for a moment, ignoring the lights coming from it. Other than what was on the screen, it felt good just to stand there. He managed not to throw up that night, but it was a close thing.
After a couple weeks (he assumed) of dodging the Titans, they arrived at the end of this heist. S.T.A.R. Labs had some thermal blaster Slade wanted for some reason, and he was tinkering with it now. Part of the team had cornered him outside the building and he barely managed to escape without a fight. Firing the blaster at the bridge just under them, he made a big enough distraction to get away. Since he admitted to his master he hadn't thought of a way to take down Starfire or really knock out Wonder Girl (he was doubting his methods with Raven too honestly), the man agreed to let him run the next few times they ran into each other. At least for the moment.
Still, it was nice not to think for a moment and let the cool plastic of the screen relieve his burning skin. In Mexico and on the road, Master had increased his endurance. He could run longer and faster than ever before, even lift weights twice his own. His reflexes were faster, sharper, and honestly he didn't tire as easily. Not physically at least. Most of his exhaustion was emotional, and that typically made him physically sick.
'Didn't puke this time. That's good right?' He ignored the moral pounding in his head. Stealing, not good. Not being sick, good. Not being sick after steeling, good? Bad? He should be feeling guilt like he always did, but that had lessened due to necessity. Which was worse: being the reason behind twelve good people's deaths or taking something for a psychopath from people who could afford it? A psycho you were planning on killing once you had the skills to do so that was. He'd right all his wrongs once the threat was gone. That was right. That was good. Bruce would approve… wouldn't he?
"Renegade, come." Dick took a deep breath before leaving the one piece of comfort he had in that place at the moment to rejoin his master. Once with him, he blinked in surprise. Master had the thermal blaster refitted to a piece of his armor. He only wore it during a heist should he be shot at. Why was the thing now attached? "Put this on and test it in the firing hall. Run a few drills with it and get comfortable with it. You'll need it soon against the Tamaranian."
The teen visibly paled. The laser was for… Swallowing the lump in his throat, Dick nodded, fitting the gantlet back on his wrist. His master smiled, pleased by his obedience. "When you're done, come back here. I have the plans for your next job, and I will not accept failure."
His apprentice nodded and left, not wanting to think about the next job, or the next job, or the next one. Just the last one he gave himself. It couldn't come soon enough.
Beast Boy groaned on the couch. "Seriously Raven, I'm beginning to doubt Renegade's a good guy in a bad costume."
"I know what I felt Gar." Their empath focused on her meditation, controlling how much she felt from the others in the room. Since first meeting Renegade and his unbridled emotions, she had trouble every time he was near. All the strong feelings inside him bled out constantly, even if his face said otherwise. Only during their fight with him a couple weeks ago, when he was seemingly lost in one emotion, did she have the strength to use her powers for her friends. Rage. All he felt then was rage, but very little of it was directed at them. "He's not doing any of this by choice and I sincerely doubt he wants to fight us."
"Could have fooled me." Cyborg was still working out all the bugs to protect himself from another of that guy's technological attacks. "He knew how to take each one of us out without batting an eye! He may have saved Garth and BB once, but he could have killed all of us that night."
"He could have killed us last night as well," Raven pointed out. "But instead he chose a distraction so he could leave. Slade's behind him, and we know how he is with teenagers."
"He made us hurt each other," Donna reminded them. She was really upset with the thief after he tricked her into hurting Roy. The archer was highly embarrassed he was beaten by a complete amateur. He and Beast Boy were the most experienced of the entire team and both were taken down like novices, by a dude younger than him! "And he's a criminal. Whatever his reasons, we can't let him run free."
"He didn't have everyone figured out you know." Garth poured some water over his head in the kitchen, keeping Starfire company as she attempted to cook, again. "I'm pretty sure he was winging it with you and Star. He made a point of not attacking the two of you directly."
"Could be a 'don't fight girls' policy," BB offered. Uncomfortable, he changed into a cat and started scurrying his back. There was this itch between his shoulder blades that seriously bugged him.
"Doubt it."
"Sorry I'm late!" Kid Flash ran into the room at top speed, his backpack swinging from one arm. "Detention for being late, again."
"Did you ask your uncle about Renegade's toys?" It was all business in a matter of seconds. Donna was good at that.
The speedster sighed, shrugging. "He's a bit swamped with his day job but I gave him the samples to see if he could verify my findings. He never heard of Renegade either in case you're wondering. Is that all you've been talking about? That kid who killed my boots?"
"We ran into him again last night." Their leader's jaw tightened in distaste. "He's not just taking chips, programs, or documents now. He took a laser cannon."
"Probably to use in another heist. Roy still shooting?"
"Like always." Cyborg looked through the walls best he could, a grim look on his face. "He's really peeved about that rookie beating him."
"Beating him?! He ruined my doo!" Beast Boy near leapt to his feet enraged. Though the changeling understood what he was feeling, he got over it easily. How many times had he been beaten? And how many more years of experience did he have? "That guy really needs to get his priorities straight."
"You're the one with all the wrong priorities." Wally ran a hand through his hair before swiping the remote and settling himself on the couch. "I vote we take a break from thinking about Slade and his new friend and just relax for a while. There's this new movie on HBO I wanna see and my mom won't go for cable."
"Seriously?" "Dude! I was so gonna suggest that!" "Is that the only reason why you're here? For a movie?" Most of them laughed, letting the tension leave them for a minute or two. What would come would come. Slade did not rule their lives, and neither did his apprentice.
The sick feeling in his stomach increased with every step he made. Did the manager of this building have to put the target on display like all the other idiots in town?! Seriously, they were only asking for trouble. At least this time it really wouldn't be stealing.
"You're not walking out of here Renegade!" Dick stiffened at the sound of Cyborg's voice, jerking around in surprise. He thought it'd be the building's security that'd reach him first, not them. Again every Teen Titan was before him, blocking his direct exit. "Not without a fight."
'Not again!' Quickly he grabbed the piece of tech behind him and charged forward, poised for a fight.
"Titans! Go!" The team ran straight at him, supercharged for a rematch.
But they weren't getting one. Quickly the thief leapt off of their spokesman, flipped over all their heads and grabbed onto the pipes for the sprinkler system on the ceiling. Swinging from that, he crashed into the air vent above and started navigating through it. He knew his way around one of these buildings. By the time he made it to the roof the device was already in a pouch and he was ready to bail.
"Not so fast Renegade." Master's voice crooned over the com in his ear, making his heart stop for a moment. "You have yet to achieve your objective."
"I got the device!" Dick retorted, desperate to get out of there before the Titans cornered him again. He had to get off that roof, away from his—"If I stayed a minute longer I—"
"NO!" That really made the teen stop in his tracks, both scared and confused. What more did he want?! "Go back. Unless you want me to destroy them, go back and fight!"
Inside he panicked. Master wanted him to fight, to prove he could take down each and every Titan, and in a way the Justice League. Whatever the man's personal vendetta was with this team, his apprentice defeating them would prove himself superior to all their mentors. This man wanted to win, with his favorite pawn.
"Renegade!" He jerked around at Wonder Girl's voice, the first to appear from the stairs. The others were soon following and he could swear he saw Speedy come through the airshaft after him and Raven appearing from her black light transfer spell. The Titans' leader stood her ground before him, lasso in hand. "Look, we don't know what has made you work for a man like Slade, but if you're willing to talk we can—"
The acrobat flew onto a kick and sent her flying towards the open stairwell, knocking into Cyborg on the way down. The others had barely joined them, making the group's first plan to try and flip Renegade fly out the window. Beast Boy stepped up to fight first, changing into a gorilla and making a dive for him while Speedy took a couple shots at his back. "Guess there's nothing to talk about."
Dick dodged each blow and shot as it came towards him, hiding his automatic distaste for the gorilla as he leaped onto the electric 'A' adorning the roof (a monkey bit him when he was four and he had to get shots; hated any kind of monkey since). BB followed him to a point, ready to grab him in an instant. He took advantage of his flailing arms and whipped a line from his belt around the guy's wrist. Quickly he swung down through the hole in the 'A', pulling the shape shifter after him and lodging the guy there with his temporary bulk. That'd buy him a few minutes to disable the rest.
He turned his attention to Speedy, still firing away at him, and glaring death. Dick fought back the pain from seeing that look on his old friend Roy's face and instead caught his arrows in midflight, throwing them straight back to their source. One blinded the archer, exploding, while another cut his string and a third pinned his vest to the AC unit behind him. He was about to rip himself free when the teen kicked him across the head, knocking him out.
He would have taken some comfort in taking down the most experienced ones already if Aqualad and Kid Flash hadn't charged at him right after. Purposely turning with the water flow and using the propelled momentum to his advantage, Renegade twisted into a kick, blindsiding KF and getting him caught in his ally's current, flying off the roof. Their target didn't stop the Atlantian from following after him to save his friend. He knew the two of them would be alright. They had each other.
A golden lasso found its way around his arms and torso, pulling him back towards the rest of the team. Wonder Girl floated above him, glaring slightly. "Forget about me?"
"Nope." Deliberately falling into her pull, he put all his weight backwards into a roll, tugging her rope downward and wrapping it around himself. Her surprise dragged her to the ground while he swiftly untied the amazon's knot and tugged the owner in for a swift kick to her gut. Raven and Starfire managed to catch her before he made a charge at them. Cyborg was just a few feet away, charging up his weapon but stopped himself when he realized he could hurt the girls, instead running forwards for some hand to hand. But it was Beast Boy as a ram that stopped him from hurting them further.
Thrown by the changeling's impact to the edge of the roof, Dick rolled with it and played dead for a moment, catching his breath. The former Doom Patrol member was causing him more trouble than any of the others. Maybe he should have…
"Dude! Are you okay?"
Guilt and anger propelled him to throw a flash bomb at the young hero, sending him flying towards Cyborg. He couldn't afford pity or guilt right then, nor anything else. Dick pushed himself up, glaring his frustration at all of them. It was bad enough he was stealing from there; did they have to pop up too?!
"Fight to win Renegade." Now he was getting orders from the concession stand! If only Master would shut up! "Use the thermal blaster."
The teen's arm shook where the weapon rested. He may have trained with it, but the old circus brat still hadn't shot anything living. He couldn't…
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven, someone he managed to avoid fighting much, cast a dark tunnel spell at him, distracting him for a moment. The black energy gripped his torso, but he managed to grab a flash disk before it could complete immobilize him. He threw it just a few feet from her position, blinding her and Wonder Girl while throwing them back a few paces.
Dick dropped back to the ground and charged at Cyborg, barely struggling to get back to his feet. Feebly the larger teen blocked as many blows as he could while being pushed back. Cy created his sonic cannon to blast at him, only for the acrobat to deflect it and swing his feet out from under him. The accidental discharge of his cannon only helped throw its owner back and his opponent to fly into the air and back to the barely working electric 'A' again.
Renegade surveyed the team for a moment, then launched himself into a run across the remaining letters. He beat the Titans once again. Best not to add anymore insult to injury with them. And the device was safely away in his—
He stopped and looked around. The tech he stole. It wasn't in his pouch. "Damn it…"
"I thought I told you to use that blaster." Dick grit his teeth, casting his eyes about for the tech he took while trying to make sure the Titans were still out. Speedy was waking up and Aqualad was bringing KF back to the roof on a water construct. He didn't have much time! Add Master breathing down his neck and—
"STOP!"
"ATTACK! NOW!"
The wind picked up around him, with a hint of Jasmine and a green glow emanating to the side. His mind racing a mile a minute, he jerked around, raising the gantlet with the blaster attached level to his next opponent's face. But what he saw and what was really there didn't match up.
"Do not move."
His heart stopped at the sight, his head swimming as he hesitated. Red hair, green eyes, purple dance costume, it was… "Barbara?"
The look of confusion on Starfire's face could only be matched with the desperate heartbreak on his. He didn't see the Titan floating in front of him, only the girl he had no choice but to leave behind. His head was so confused… "Pardon?"
Still in a state of confusion, he powered down his weapon and looked at her desperately. "What are you—AARHG!"
"RENEGADE!" Master made the earpiece ring when he shouted, making Dick painfully grip his head. "I gave you an order. If you won't attack, my probes will."
"NO!
Bruce rubbed his eye, blearily waking for another day. The sun wouldn't rise for another two hours and he hardly slept a wink, but three of his kids had school and he had a meeting later in the day, whether he liked it or not. Lucius insisted this project would get the company back on top again since its dip over the holidays when news of Dick's kidnapping came out. Family scandals had more consequences than he ever wished to admit.
Part way through taking off his night shirt to go shower, he heard an ear splitting scream. No, not one, four. He slammed through his bedroom door and ran straight for the closest one in the nursery. Damian was crying and thrashing and screaming in pain, sometimes yelling for Daddy. His skin had turned into a sickening shade of orange, and glowed in the darkness. Horrified at the sight, Bruce picked up his son and tried to hold him, only for the thrashing to continue. The toddler's skin was on fire, his heartbeat racing! No amount of cuddling would calm him.
"DAD!" "DADDY!" "ALFRED!" "DADDY!" "DAD!" "HELP!"
Bruce kept a tight grip on his youngest as he flew out the door, his heart leaping to his throat in panic at all the shouting and screams. Damian didn't stop when he came into Tim's room, and the nine year old was in just as much pain as he. "Tim…"
He turned to the hall again and saw a harried Alfred stepping out in horrified shock from Jason's room. Their eyes met as they heard Cassandra's screams as well, terror filling their eyes. They already knew she was the same. "Call an ambulance!"
Alfred sprinted to Jason's cellphone just as Damian's cries died out and he went limp in his father's arms. He was still glowing orange, burning from the inside out, but he was barely breathing. "No… Damian! Wake up! DAMIAN!"
Dick barely managed to catch Starfire before she crashed to the rooftop below, horror and panic filling him. The unhealthy orange glow coming from her skin and her agony clear on her face reminded him instantly of that first day when that woman was tortured in front of him. And if it was happening to the Titans…
"NO! STOP! PLEASE STOP! MASTER PLEASE!" Tear filled begging overtook his voice as he screamed to be heard. If not by Slade then by God above. "I'LL DO EVERYTHING YOU WANT! JUST DON'T HURT THEM ANYMORE! PLEASE MASTER STOP!"
Deathstroke waited a moment before answering. "You already know how to save them. Attack Renegade. Attack with everything you've got. It's the only way to save your family."
Horror, desperation, grief, they all took over his face when he hesitated. He looked over the Titans for a moment, seeing their agony. In his mind he could see his siblings waking up to this pain. It could kill the smallest ones, just the pain alone.
Titans or his siblings.
No contest.
He let go of Starfire, letting her lay crumbled on the 'E' and glaring down on her. She reached up in pain, instinctively trying to get help. But there wouldn't be any. Renegade charged up the blaster and pointed it at her chest.
"I'm sorry."
He fired the thermal blaster once then took off towards the others. As seriously as he fought them before, it was only to get away. Now it was to save everything dear to him. And nothing would stop him.
"That's my boy," rang over his earpiece, but he ignored it. Though his stomach revolted against the words, he didn't have time to think about it. He had to take down everyone, fast.
The orange glow stopped, taking one knife out of his chest, but it was startling how quickly a few of them were getting up. Speedy, Wonder Girl, and Aqualad needed a moment more than the others, but the device was at the archer's feet. Beast Boy was the first to make a coherent comment. That guy was resilient. "Okay, weirdness. What just—"
"HIIYAAA!" Renegade blasted at the ground where the recovered, softening his decent and surprising them in one go. BB turned to face him, only to get tripped up and thrown at Raven. He tripped and threw Cyborg backwards, crashing into a barely recovering Kid Flash just as Starfire (who's Tamaranian armor protected her from the blast) shot some of her bolts at him. He flew just past her and tried to land a kick after bouncing off the 'Y' behind her, but she narrowly dodged it. The acrobat caught himself in a flip, then landed to one knee, raising his blaster at them, glaring fiery hail. The alien hesitated a moment when she saw it directed at her.
Seeing her fear, he readjusted his aim and deliberately struck the 'Y' and 'N' behind them, before changing his target to Beast Boy. The shape shifter turned into a monkey to dodge the blasts, moving behind Raven's wavering shield before launching himself at their attacker. Reflexively he flinched and struggled with the monkey prancing around his body. It took him a few seconds to throw him off, but that was enough for Raven's dark energy to grab hold of the blaster and crumble it to pieces.
The empath took a surprised step back when she felt the small wave of relief flood over Renegade, which only made it easier for him to grab her wrists and tug her hood over her eyes before throwing her into Kid Flash. Cyborg made a dive for him, but the guy easily slipped out under the larger teen, tripping him in the process. He turned and readied himself for another round with these Titans, ready and willing to wipe them off the face of the planet if it meant his siblings would live.
"I think that's enough for one night." Master's smile over the com riled the teen up even more than before. "End the fight and come home."
Renegade looked once at Speedy and the tech he was supposed to steal. He knew his master wouldn't hesitate to activate the probes again if he failed to bring it. He looked at the team again and frowned. One easy way out of this.
Quickly he threw concussion flash disks at the glowing sign behind them, hitting just the right location to bring down the nearest pieces. They were already a mess anyway. As the dust kicked up and the sign pieces fell, Cyborg shouted for them to scatter. "Titans! MOVE!"
While those five ran to save their own hide and their teammates who were still recovering from the probe attack, Renegade ran at Speedy, grabbing the device he was realizing as at his feet. He almost made a clean getaway but the archer reflexively grabbed his arm, trying to detain him. "Don't even think about it wise guy! OOF!"
The acrobat kicked off of him, flipping backwards off the nearby ledge as if it were natural. He locked masked eyes with the hero and gave a knowing smirk before flicking something from the tech towards him. Then the thief was gone.
Speedy gaped at the open air, remembering that smirk and feeling he should know it somehow. He looked down to his feet and spotted what was shot at him at the last minute: a small red computer chip. Picking it up, he looked over the ledge to see if the guy was street pizza or not. Instead he spotted someone swinging from a line just out of their sights, already a couple blocks away.
The dust settled behind him and he heard his friends gather. Garth and Donna were still groaning while Wally just coughed up a storm, but the others seemed to have fared well. Starfire and Raven were looking around, as if expecting the criminal to still be there.
"He's gone," Raven concluded, landing by the undamaged 'W'.
"Everybody okay?" Cyborg looked over everyone, he being the largest and oldest of them, he felt the most responsible for them. Everyone nodded or confirmed they weren't that badly hurt. They would be sore for a while, but there was no horrible damage done to them.
"Uh, I know where Renegade picked up that heat ray," Breast Boy started after dropping from his bat form, "but, where did he learn that glowy, hurty trick? I've never heard of anyone who could do that."
"I do not thing that was Renegade," Starfire started, looking off to where Speedy was looking. Her armor was a little burnt, but other than that she was fine. The concern on her face and in her voice came from her thoughts. The teen looked so lost, so startled and heartbroken when he saw her at a glance, then how he yelled for his 'master' to stop… it was becoming clear to her he wasn't behind the burning pain they all shared. "Perhaps it is Slade who has learned a new trick."
"Dude! How can you say that?!" Cyborg interjected, miffed beyond words. "Slade isn't anywhere near here! That guy was ten feet away! He has to be behind this!"
"Believe what you will, but I know what I heard." The Tamaranian glared slightly at her friend. "Renegade begged for our lives to be spared. He was truly sorry when he used that weapon upon me. And I believe his aim in each of his fights was to disable and flee from us, not to bring us harm."
"He was relieved when I destroyed that blaster," Raven pointed out, resting a hand against the sign. "And his emotions were more erratic tonight than ever before. It doesn't make sense. The previous heist he was almost in full control of his feelings."
"Maybe that's the trigger for his powers," Kid Flash suggested, looking around. "It happens. You never know. Um… shouldn't we do something about this mess? Or find some way to apologize to the owner?"
"Wayne can afford his own cleanup crew," Speedy stated, still looking off in thought. The chip in his hand, the kid's smirk… something more was going on.
"Hey buddy, what cha got there?" KF zoomed over to his friend, curious what he was so lost in thought over.
The archer clamped his hand shut and put up his best lying face. "Nothing really."
A/N: Roy subconsciously recognized Dick! So, someone happy now? Wally's talking to his uncle about everything too, but the League gets swamped with other crisis so they haven't been much help with Slade or Renegade, if at all. B doesn't entirely approve of teenaged heroes and therefore isn't involved with them. That will change shortly. X3
That was the hardest fight scene to write out! I had to pause and play and rewind that ep so many times... and so many people to put into it... I just about died doing it. So don't own it. I really wish they didn't have such a large cast to account for constantly.
Well, things are coming to a head. Why didn't they figure things out earlier? Because in order for this to be close to canon, I had to drag it out and get to this scene! Nothing would make sense if Dick just magically popped up in Jump and started stealing if he wasn't Robin first. All the before chapters you went through, was to make sense out of everything. *sigh* and like I told people before, arcs aren't posted until they're done being written. whew... back to work!