Teen Titans; The Fighting life – Epilogue Story – Chapter 2: Not Even a Scratch
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Aright! It is now…. Lemme….ah, yeah. You've been gone way to long, man. I counted a whole week. We looked into the satellite feed and nothin' has come up. Nada. Star is going crazy, and Raven won't leave her room. We finally got her out once, but…it wasn't easy. Huh…. You'd know her mind better than all of us put together. Ah…. An' Rob? If you ever see this, I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to do enough…We got mad when, I should 'a known he'd pull a fast one…Next time, Slade is going' down. We are with you man, and this is Cyborg, signing off…Come back to us soon, Robin…Time is…. Eight A.M, an' I'm ready to hit the sack…Yawn!'. Stay frosty, but remember, we aren't goanna lose hope, an' neither should you.
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The brig was what some would call being tossed into a solitary, militaristic jail. The brig, is where Robin would stay until they'd stopped closer and had safely docked to collect more information and supplies in the next city.
Steel City was the closest, industrialized city that Slade could spot out on his GPS mapping program. The ship was that new, he'd done a job for some ex – military commanding officer and with perks to match his tastes. Slade liked to be in control, and owing a favor for free military shipping vessel? Well, it was more a cargo tanker in appearance, though today it had saved his skin. He'd made some upgrades. Now, it would go for an even higher price on the market due to his tampering with a secure United States computerized, system. Encoded? No problem! His IQ had increased the same way his strength had during…
Some of his investments, like with Mr. Wayne's rejection of his late proposal, had opened some eyes. To change that soured topic… There, in the lobby waiting patiently, had been a boy in casual attire with an elderly gent. A butler. The boy was not just lost in the big city away from his parents. He seemed to be waiting, for someone to show up. Slade had been on his way out after the proposal's contents…had been swept up from the carpet….
Slade was forced to wait, to see if his ride was still on its way. He didn't want act suspiciously under any circumstances around the city's top scientific minds. He'd scare a few later, and anyway. With a war - driven scheme to keep the big guns in the hands of hungry mongers like himself, the new "no weapons" policy at Wayne Industry was a blow to the chest.
The boy then seemed to be worried, as if he'd never get the chance to find the person he'd been waiting to see…Slade just stood there, before the butler firmly coaxed the twelve-year-old to follow him to another spot in the lobby. They left, while Slade was made to wonder. He looked just like the billionaire's new ward on TV…
Dick Grayson.
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Slade sat up at his work desk and groaned upon the rude awakening. That memory had, seemed to work into his plans. He'd not tell Robin about his past yet. The boy was still a captive. Not a willing one, but without a choice, nonetheless.
And as such, he had the right to do as he needed to survive, right?
Slade scoffed at that philosophy. The boy was angry, not upset by his unleveled emotions. Not really as much as the teen might want to admit. He didn't have to. Slade's box was rigged to provide an echo – chamber effect on all those who ended up inside. Robin was in the brig. He was not allowed to act up while under heavy guard. Even so, retraining the Batman's now, EX – protégé…that would be a challenge. Even while time wasn't entirely limited on their trek across states by way of open waterways, Slade still had connections to the mainland.
Maybe Robin would prefer training on a remote island. Only way off? He'd have to become a killer. That would change things up a bit, but a hero into a master thief or assassin….He had quite a lot to counter by this opportunity he'd built for himself.
Robin wanted to catch Slade, yet Slade had not taken the threat lightly. He had the upper hand. As robin stayed and let his anger die down, he'd hold the same contempt once they hit dry land. The bots might not be willing to die an early death at the hands of a rather miffed teenaged boy.
Well. They had time to even the odds out. Robin would be in shock, but a bit more willing to listen he hoped. After all, the boy wasn't off the hook. He still owed Slade a well – formulated apology. Scratch that – Slade DESERVED one. The man rose from his desk and pulled a fresh mask from out of his desk drawer. An old one, a cloth piece he'd worn with a different identity, well before he'd met the Teen Titans.
"Time to wake the contraband." Robin was not damaged goods. He wanted to make that perfectly clear. Even if the boy was willing to give up his life, he'd be lying if some small part didn't say how ridiculous that idea was in that brain of his….
Robin was willing to live. He just had to pry hard enough and have the boy come to his senses.
Then, the Titans would be set loose. Nothing would have the teen to hold back in being better than he'd seemed of himself in his old life, previously.
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The clunking of heavy boots was not hard to read as Slade entered the lower decks. Robin immediately sat up. His eyes were narrowed at the door, while he'd just been rudely roused from his nap against the cold floor of his prison cell.
Robin looked down and saw that the puddle of vomit had been wiped clean…He'd ended up…
~You're awake. Good. We haven't been gone long. I'd hoped to have you recite me that apology….and if you aren't too sure of what to say –
"Does, get a life work? Get bent? Shove it? Don't –
~DO you want to be treated like this forever? ~ Slade's echo had Robin cover his ears this time. Without the drugs in his system, he could limit the feeling of vertigo quite a bit, he'd found.
"I'm your prisoner, you tell me… Or. You could get rid of the Nano - bots and stop terrorizing –
~ We won't have to worry about your friends anymore. I'm not going to stop until I've gotten what I deserve. Your friends after all, are still under my control. ~
Slade heard Robin give a hard swallow on the last part.
"I could just go back to sleep and ignore you… -
~ Or, you could stand and face reality, Robin. I want you to serve me, or else your life and their own, won't come to the same outcome. Trust me when I say, it has always been about you. ~
"That…. That is just…...I'm telling you! I won't become your stupid drone! I'm a person! This is –
~Criminal? Insane? ~ Slade knew that Robin was aware of his position, but this fight would not last.
"Y- yeah..." Robin bobbed his head and warily looked at the walls for a hidden device. Something to get his gears going…He had to find a way out…
~To me, it's only just business. People are taken hostage all the time. Didn't your mentor ever have to save you from that mad clown? Or Poison Ivy I hear takes a liking to those she can tame…~
"I'm nothing special. You're definitely kidding yourself if you think –
The door slid back as Slade stepped through, letting the Slade bot outside manage the rest as the exit was closed off again.
"Alone at last, and now that I have your attention."
Robin's breathing hitched as he tried to ready his stance. A small, boxed in room. God…he was bound to end up hugging the wall if –
"We can…talk…. right? Ahem…as long as we don't have to …I don't know…sing, koombaya." Shrugged the teen. He relaxed just a little bit, seeing that his mind was less in a fog since the gas was out of his system. His body was still rigged, but his determination was there. It kept him from hitting the wall, all while his cheek had not finished changing from red and blue, to a pale yellow.
Slade stood there before the teen's only exit, and waited. He'd not come to simply plot and take what was owed to him, right? Why not try to give the boy a challenge. He was stuck in a hole; it was the last thing that the man could do to protect his little investment's fragile mind.
In truth, Robin was forcing himself by all of his training and mental capacity to feel calmer than he did. A fun trick; you cannot feign all of your fears…however, you can act afraid….
But…
Robin was doing something he'd not expected of the young soldier to do.
He wasn't speaking out of turn. Not right now.
Let's see how long it took to push the hero's many hidden buttons.
"I've decided to keep your identity a secret, and I'm sure you'd rather not spill any of this to the bat…
"Not that I could, anyway. We don't stay in touch…. since…" Robin rubbed his arm, then stopped when he'd seen Slade's only eye change.
"You went solo. That was in the headline. You formed the Teen Titans as a way to show Batman what you are capable of."
"That doesn't –
"It's a fact of life. You left the nest, but you didn't prepare well enough for what may lie ahead."
"That was a mistake."
"And I applaud you for making it, actually…This all worked out in my favor. Still."
Slade stopped the conversation to steer it in another direction. He brought a stray hand to his chin and rubbed it, thoughtfully.
"What comes next will be up to you to decide. It would be a shame to waste such rare potential. You obviously have both the skills of a crime fighter and junior detective as one of Gotham's former finest, thanks to The Dark Knight. Yet, you'll never be his partner, but you might just have another option –
"I won't turn into you. There." Robin snorted and crossed his arms over his chest, proudly. "I'm going to get back home, and the Titans –
"Will be dead. I can actually do more than simply activate them…" Slade carefully eyed the controller at his wrist as Robin dropped his arms to his sides. Almost afraid to take it all back…He couldn't…. He watched the man as if captivated by his performance.
"For the record…. the bots can work on one, or two at a time if I imagine it. You'd be left standing. And still, if you continue to disobey me –
He reached for the buttons that held the lives of so much, more than his own many deaths that Slade had been resurrected from. Robin might learn his lesson much sooner…If he let sleeping dog lie…
"Wait!"
"Why? Do you deserve to be rewarded? I let you keep them; your worthless team hasn't even found a trace of where we are. You are at my mercy, and if you want to keep them breathing…." Slade's tone grew heavier with warning as his eye turned to a slit. The man's gloved finger stood only a few mere inches from pressing the button.
"What…. What about the device that controls the nanobots? It's on this ship? I –
"Yes?" Slade coaxed the boy to go on.
"I'm…sorry…. But, please don't hurt my team…I'll…I…"
Robin's fists were shaking again at his sides as he tried to keep the words from being set loose. Surrender was not an option, dying though…. No, he couldn't try to if he wanted.
"It's a start. Very well." Slade dropped his hand and the button was left untampered with. To Robin's relief, his hands had stopped shaking. This was why he was unable to think, but it was for them. He had no other choice.
The Slade bot from before let the door open a crack as Slade walked cautiously up to the robot to pull a piece of copy paper and a pen from its grip. The door shut again and Robin was forced to let the reminder wash back over him.
"I…."
"You hadn't forgotten your real task, had you? Keeping the Titans safe was a personal decision. The identity you carry? That would be a requirement, as would this."
Robin's wrist was tugged as he was forcefully handed without delay, the copy paper and ballpoint pen. It was nothing fancy, Slade wanted to have him….
Robin's throat suddenly went bone dry.
~To call me master. ~
Robin's wrists set into a tremor as before. Slade looked the teen over one last time before hoping to depart a while as his apprentice worked on his John Hancock. He headed towards the exit before stopping to pause. His hands were still laced behind his back. A true strategist never let down his walls.
"If you feel the urge to do better, then list what you wish to improve on while under my wing at this time. I won't hold it against you. And." Slade turned from the door with his boots silent compared to before.
Robin looked up, feeling trapped as the man smiled under the mask at the bewildered teen.
"By the end of this trip, you'll be calling me master or one of your friends…will meet their untimely demise if you fail to comply…. I hope you understand Robin. This is just business. I can't afford to lose another of my assets before I know their entire worth…. also…."
Robin couldn't look away. His life, was falling apart.
"I want that oath written out in triplicate. Nothing personal. Just business. Now… Goodnight, apprentice. I'll make sure to keep the lights on until you've done exactly what's been expected of you." The door shut and the lights stayed on, as promised.
Robin looked aimlessly at the door, at the lights that flickered a bit above him, and the piece of paper and pen left in his hand.
He let out a guttural sound and yelled. The paper was crumpled up and balled up, then tossed right into the door. The pen was shoved aside and flung against the other opposite wall. He breathed, but the world still was falling in all around him…
Slade heard right after, that the boy's fire hadn't just been lit, but his emotions…. Robin's yelling had died down to be replaced by shuddering sobs…. until they'd finally balanced out a bit.
He'd sat down, and was too busy rocking himself on the floor while again, he had started to cry a river of endless tears.
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