Teen Titans; The Fighting Life – Chapter 1: It's always been about you

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Friday; at exactly ten o' clock tonight….

My heart cries out to you, dear friend. We were disposed of by those terrible robots that your kidnapper, Slade sent to do away with…. I cannot speak ill you, Robin…I was only trying to do what was right in my heart. Do be safe, whenever you have gone. We will not give up the "search." I swear that the dreadful Morblik shall pay for crossing paths with the Teen Titans, your team remains hopeful for the return of its missing leader. Your sacrifice will not be the final blow. You shall come home, safely to us…This is a promise from the heart…to you…

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A ship in the harbor was lazily bobbing among the dock's other selective getaway rides. This was no cruise ship, but an armed vessel. Slade decided to keep this matter private and away from any of his sworn enemies on both sides of the villain – hero construct. Bots stood front to back of the ship with guns and weapons of chaos in hand. This was a one-way trip. There was no turning back, not even for the ringleader. Slade himself, had made his bed. He'd have to take the long road home once the rest was said and done.

A Slade bot dropped its creator's prize into a sack as the boy carefully kept still, for his consciousness would not permit him to awaken this early in their little game. Slade had been lucky to have not had the boy retaliate during the entire ride over. He was sound asleep, or rather, had been hit quite hard in the neck where his pressure points stood out like a sore thumb.

The metal neck plate on the man's apprentice's neck, by his shoulders, was released. It had, with his armor and tools of mass destruction that Slade had granted the teen, been stripped from his body and those lovely, toys were no longer permitted to be in the kidnapped Titan's possession.

Slade knew Robin could be a threat to his plans. He was also the man's greatest asset, which was why Slade had played his hand a bit in, too deep. He wanted the entire pot, and Robin was not just some lucky gold coin. He was the jackpot to those who knew a rare find when they spotted their chance to change their fates.

Slade simply, had a plan to use Robin. He'd been so close, and the perks had been an irresistible rush for Robin to let soak in. Until, he'd decided to break their agreement. Slade did hate to lose, he also hated to be rejected without any gratitude in what HE had allowed to transpire. Slade had been gracious enough to spare the Titans, when he could have killed them all!

He huffed out and decided to blow off some steam once the group had loaded up the ship with only the barest of necessities.

His apprentice's black and orange attire was proof that no one could lay a finger on the boy. He decided to head their course for a port out of the way of Jump, farther away, in order to reeducate the poor troubled teen before he regained his desire to slit the mad man's throat.

~When he awakens, I won't be so forgiving. I'm the one holding their lives in my hands…. The nanobots are still inside of Robin…I can use that…~ Slade had no reason to kill Robin, but he could use the dormant bots to do more damage to the Titans, not just to them…But to the entire Justice League as well.

He'd have to work fast, though. Time, was still not quite on his side. The vessel was warmed up, crew ready to board and all. The Titans had not found him, they were too slow to pick up any cues. Sad, really…

Slade looked over off into the harbor of Jump one last time before turning back towards the lower deck. He had a few teeth to pull. A few words to get in before the gears in his skull went and dulled on their own. Sleep would not keep him, Slade needed to show who was in charge, an that was reason enough to stay wide awake a few more hours.

"We're ready. Full speed, remain on course. We should arrive some time by this week…With enough time left to keep me entertained…" Slade had the bot follow with the boy inside of the large sack. The three stepped down a flight of steps where a clank of metal made the below feel as if they'd entered the belly of some underwater beast. Slade did not stop there. He was sure, once Robin woke…the boy would have no choice but to call him, Master.

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Slade had the bot first take the boy into a cell that the navy might have used for criminals or insubordination in their ranks. In his day, the army had reason to do this.

Maybe in another time he'd actually been a buccaneer. Slade chuckled at the picture of a high seas' allegory - a true misconception of what a villain was in to the present day.

The sack hit the ground in a way that might have crushed someone else's spirits. Slade had gotten the urge to open up a conversation with the teen. Might as well be now, rather than before they'd hit rock bottom into the Pacific.

The man pulled out a capped vile from one of his many belt compartments and had the bot stay by the exit. Another few soldiers of the man's making were outside. The kid would not have his day. No dog would run into the road, yet only the truly desperate could want to die at a time when their world had been ripped apart.

The vile was quickly uncapped with a reverberating POP. * The item would break the chains around this sleeping beauty's fading consciousness.

Smelling salts; a tip? Always bring your tools and keep them nearby when you have a last – minute job that requires carrying a hostage onto a moving vehicle.

Which is what Slade did. And instead of a kiss from a prince, Robin had a whiff of the vile's contents –

His eyes fluttered open; his mouth slightly ajar with a bit of drool lazily spilling down his...

The boy was on his side with his legs bend a bit –

Oh, his gut hurt…But…It was not that…His head…. Really….hurt!...

Slade looked over and cocked his head from up above the boy. He crouched a bit as Robin was just starting to come to. The boy held a hand to his temple and was able to prop himself up by his elbow…

"Welcome back. Or were you expecting someone else to save you?"

Robin's heart suddenly flickered; a pounding in his head held the boy from attacking. These, were….

"Y…. You! –

His eyes looked venomously up in the male's direction. The hand that came next, gripped at the teen's mop of messy black hair, already coated in remaining water, rust, blood and sweat from their escape into the sewers.

It twisted the teen's scalp to look into the man's one eye. His now, broken mask had been fitted back into place as a reminder of what time they'd actually had to put this plan into action…

Plan!

"Let…. Hnnnnn…...go...monster….SLADE! –

~Ach! ~ That decent slap across the boy's face was part of the plan. Well, now he had no choice but to make sure Robin knew the rest of what he'd be expected to accomplish on their little journey, into the unknown.

Robin was barely up, just siting there, breathing hard and gritting his fists, still in shock over the man's tactics. His right side of his face was engulfed in red, a bright sheen from where the man had showed his apprentice some form of the man's mercy. Robin had been beaten by criminals before in his old role as a sidekick to the Batman. He'd tasted blood too often to have forgotten the sensation. But this, shook him to his core.

He'd never been more humiliated that this…

A thought proceeded. His face shot up and suddenly, he did remember!

His friends...That...that meant….

"…. Th… The…Titans…." Robin stayed shaking still with fury – while holding his rage back from view. His gaze was raised towards the man's, as he questioned the crime lord in a low murmur.

Slade got up from his knees and dusted himself off. He hated being so cut -throat. He had been granted a reputation for having quite a temper…Based on what the …Forget it. Slade's trip down memory lane could wait until he'd retired from this life of crime. If you could call it a real, criminal offense to want to pursue such a rewarding career as being your own boss...

Slade looked back down at Robin and decided to let this moment be worth the boy's while. He was doing well as a weapon, maybe a few more years and he'd no longer require any fine tuning by the man's teachings.

"If you think that their lives were spared," Slade started. Then why do you still hesitate." The man linked his hands behind his back and stood over the boy's form. Looming above, he held the control. Robin had to realize that.

Robin briefly paused, then exhaled out a breath. His limbs still felt so weak with the mild sedative he guessed, if he'd even gotten a dose. He didn't recall feeing anything. He just remembered, nothing…the haunt…And his friends finding him…But…

Robin let out a breath as stale as the salty air out in the harbor.

"You, the nanobots…" He croaked a bit.

"Your body is still infected, yes."

A lump in the pit of Robin's stomach dropped when he'd heard that explanation from his abductor's lips.

He swallowed and tried to find the courage to ask…

"How, do you get them out…"

"You don't."

Another drop, as Robin's face showed that he'd seemed to have lost all hope. Before something else could be found swimming within those masked features, Slade had the pleasure of breaking Batman's favorite sidekick in two.

Slade saw as Robin's face turned slowly whiter as he gulped up at the man.

Shakily, the teen's anger finally rose up in the form of a risky demand. Typical.

"Get…them…Out…" Robin said to the man.

Slade raised a brow below his shattered mask. "Excuse me?"

"This wasn't part of the deal! –

"Yet, betraying me and defying my orders to attack the Titans, wasn't?" Slade egged on.

His voice dripped in the acid wake of this vivid, fever - dream. Robin regretted nothing, yet he denied everything else.

So, to him, it had to be a mistake…Did Slade want him as leverage against the Titans? Against…. Any heroes who dared knock at the man's lair door? Would he bother telling the boy a thing, even if he swore an oath as promised through their agreement? Blackmail. An offense that was something so heinous to some, and yet a tool like any other. Slade had made a choice clear; Robin still wasn't seeing the big picture.

"I took you to be my apprentice, and that is a promise you had best be willing to keep…. IF you want to stay within my good graces…" Slade soon turned his head away; his feet walking off towards the exit as Robin's arm shot off to call back out to his captor - with a look so frightened behind his masked eyes that it almost dared to drag the man back into the boy's pained world.

That small crinkle was a sign…And also a signal to not lose himself to pity as he'd already done. A sign that Slade's luck could turn. He just had to know what it was the boy was still willing to sacrifice.

"Wait! Where are you going! You won't hurt them again! SLADE! –

The metal door slammed shut and locked with a solid Clang*.

The lone Slade bot stayed a few feet from the teen's crumpled body; its brain as wired to its job as to be compared to any brainwashed soldiers, for it was willing to die if need be. Just like Robin would be expected to….

Robin's legs had still not recovered long enough to get him from the floor to the door, where Slade had left and was not going to listen to the rest of his pleas.

Robin yelped by a force of heavy feedback from within the walls. His ears rung as if unwilling to shut off the noise. He bit his lip and could not drop his attention away from the man's tone.

~ If I, were you apprentice, I'd think about working on a way to apologize to me for your minor, discretions. I'll accept, if you'll do what you promised to back at the haunt…~

Slade said this through the doors, or from a speaker in the walls. Robin couldn't tell. His head felt so muddled. Panic washed over him as he gritted his teeth and fought back his inner desire to pull that mask off the man's face and show him the slammer…. If he could…

He tried to keep Slade's words at bay. He did not want to listen…!

"Back at the haunt…I was still your prisoner! This won't change anything! I'm going to take you down like before!" The teen pounded his fists into the floor. Robin continued and shouted, with his mask so very unlikely to hide the bags that had allowed dark circles to show from under his eyes. A tantrum, great…. This deal had better have come with health insurance coverage for all of the bruises…

He still doesn't even have a scratch…

Robin's heavy breathing only led to him shaking again, his panic closer to crying than rebelling. Why? Why was he so afraid?

He didn't say he'd let them live…Not exactly. And I'm still infected with…

Robin felt his gut rile. The stress on his body made the portion of sea sickness enough to push him overboard. He dipped his head and felt a spill of bile fall from his lips. Nausea…He wasn't going to be able to apologize if he caught a fever. Then…didn't…. Slade even care?

Too much…Robin's body convulsed a bit, as if not of his own doing.

He heaved again. He had to fight! Why did…

~You kept your head up fine, then, so let's see how you do when you are all alone. Take a breather. Out here, no one is going to hear you scream. If you can remember what you had said to me back then…That will serve as your apology, and your undying oath to your new Master."

Robin froze up. His heart seemed to also turn to stone. ~ MASTER…...Oh…...No. ~

The damned voice was toxic – everywhere! Robin put his head into his hands and trembled. Brainwashing…. Slade was keeping this place to be like an echo chamber…Shit! He felt like running into the wall – just to get away from that freak for good! To go back into that dark place, but he was too stubborn. To selfish to keep their memory dead…

Instead, with another strained heave, he retched up the last meal he'd had that evening. His hand to his brow, and one to his stomach, the boy's lip trembled by the reaction. His body was not right…. It had to be…

A protein drink; a soured one, before he'd returned to the mad man's haunt. He saw it and wanted to gag again instantly. The taste of lactic acid and the brand's enzyme rich intake had now become his out – take, the smell rose to have the teen cover his mouth from the bitter memory of his last mistake he'd ever regret…

"You're sick…...I'm going….to stop…ung…. …..you had…better….not…..forget! –

Robin fell over, not realizing that this chamber was air tight with some sort of knock out drug.

The boy silently shivered as he lay still again.

He did say to cool off…. then why did his body feel so cold, already?

Moments later, the teen had drifted again off to sleep amid the rocking waves. Probably his only way out now was to dream of a way back home, for this reality no longer belonged to him. But his new master...

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