Teen Titans; The Fighting Life – Epilogue Arc – Chapter 12: Showdown in Central

/

As the late speedster hero had put away his tools and suit; his awarded protégé – Barry Allen had taken up the role as his own. A well – informed millionaire made miserable, the replacement and second Flash to wear the costume had brought S.T.A.R labs back into existence with the intent that heroic acts were dually to be rewarded by the general public. In as such, Barry took over S.T.A.R. labs at the time of his predecessor's passing.

In this great tier the man had leapt, another face stood to eventually continue the speedster clan's long lineage of greater expectations. He'd forever stayed humble. As a fellow forensics scientist to S.T.A.R labs' great tale in the making, the death of its founder, Harrison Wells, brought up more dirt than could ever be dug from the grave of Barry's own mother, even.

A tragic heart wrenching lesson, as the wealth that Allen had been handed by his mentor, was nothing less than a curse to the second Flash. With the rest of the assets handled, Barry took to his own apartment complex and lived simply, training his mind and the mind of a further generation of new heroes on the side to ease his complex guilt.

Wallace 'Wally' West, became one of the family, and he learned as much as Barry Allen had from his mentor on how the mantle could better his perspective on the world around them. The two had a slightly awkward relationship that was no better than the father and son stories you'd find; all as ageless as time itself.

He was labeled like his allies, Robin and Speedy (who were in separate cities under different aliases) as a Superhero's side – kick. This strain in the two's relations was unwinding. In order to find a peaceable means to an end, another might take advantage of the men's mindless argument, and shove it right back into the great hero's side – blinded face.

/

A deadening THWAK CRACKLED through the air; rain being just the ticket to cover one's ears and run for cover.

A storm was on the horizon, yet the only cover that Barry Allen had was far off coarse. He sped through light traffic to his apartment in Central at 1956 Showcase Drive. In Apt #4, he'd see the kid keeping his head up and trapped inside the pages of a darned history book, yet.

Ollie Queen had never had this much trouble with his ward. Spoiled, he was not. Barry was handed a fortune, but was not wise enough to run the company as Wells had for over a decade, and he knew it well. (Using different universes from both comic and series since Slate is not dramatic enough, I guess. Pairs better.)

Getting back to basics had been, a terrible trip. He'd put his relationship on hold with one reporter he'd been smitten by – she'd run a piece on the Flash only months ago, so he had a lot of questions to ask her.

Now, a real monster had come out to tango. And it wasn't a time or place to go dancing in the rain, not as far as he could tell.

The officials of Central City had been alerted, but the one running the show behind the scenes was…

A real escape artist. Almost an enigma, but not quite.

He'd created this fight scene as a way to weaken their walls. Something felt wrong.

Very, very, wrong.

"You must just be passing through, old timer." Barry turned to see that a SWING of metal had not been from the lightening as it had nearly passed before his eyes.

Fast as lightening, too.

"With everyone in the city tucked into their beds, the rain will act as a perfect cover. Before I put you in your place, hero."

Slade's sword was something called forth purely by mythological madness and genius, his own weapon of choice that even Robin refused to see him slash a corpse with – which, IF Richard had seen the man as Deathstroke, then he would understand why.

A series of stares; as Deathstroke; donning his top - notch Ikon suit, had a special surprise in store for his old foe.

One of them, for he had many in the JL universe to call foe. However, there was a glint in the one unmasked eye of his nemesis's that gave Barry reason to combat the man – though completely defenseless, save for his attentiveness and agility, and to save his own skin from the world's greatest killer.

"So, what brings you back into Central? Money? Status? A tip – off from some nosy client?"

"No, actually…" Slade tipped his head to the side playfully stating, "Seeing your face again just wouldn't be the same, without a reason to back up my coming into town on a whim." Slade explained this cryptically, and let his God Killer sword sing aloud as the sky rained upon the two's armored backs.

Merciless wind, as if Slade had summoned this storm.

Very unquestionable indeed.

Barry wasn't going to push, but he needed to end their chat and have the dangerous hunter come clean. Yet, the night was young. Raging on as it did…. Wally had to be safe up in his room. Away from this fire – breathing monster.

"I almost forgot, but did you hear about the latest report on the news this evening? We have a criminal on the loose who's been secretly working behind the backs of those at S.T.A.R labs and our city's local law enforcement. They say this person is connected to taking on Aqualad in Steel City only a few days ago... "

Slade's head mimicked a bird as he perplexed by the news this hero brought with him. "Interesting, indeed…"

"This, mysterious fighter…Took a hostage from the lab, an encrypted data file or two on a secret project to create living soldiers…and was unable to be traced by any images on camera soon after."

Slade raised his head up, but his brows only arched a light.

He did not deny. Which, was no shocker there.

Finally, Barry could put this nonsense to bed.

"You're just looking for a fight. Well, you've got one but I'll warn you." Barry made sure to get charged up. Yes, God Killer was welcoming him into its range; he'd be its latest opponent.

He had to win. This man was hiding something, and that left Allen on the edge of his seat with furious anticipation.

"Should I think to do the same, then? I was never your real enemy to begin with. But now…." Deathstroke's body radiated golden and left a pattern to ripple across the man's powered suit like a glorified honey - comb design etched in the darkness.

"I think its time I returned the favor. You remember this image, don't you Speedster?" He chuckled and didn't act like the SpeedForce he'd kept safe from their last encounter was anything to not celebrate over. Flash's distraught look was priceless, so he'd toy with the man before putting him to bed as he'd done with many other heroes while wielding his blade (that could kill actual gods.)

Forged by a Greek ally in the past, Zeus had nothing on Deathstroke. He'd proven it, and had pulled off the biggest trip yet.

What a rush…

With its upgrades and immense power, he could go toe to toe with the fastest man alive. This suit had the same energy that had given Speed to the Speedster, a siphoned amount he'd borrowed and had been very grateful to dissect.

He knew who it was behind the mask. Hit information was solidly built, just like his suit.

Built specifically, to tear his enemy to pieces as the world slept on.

/

Robin had been put out of commission. His head was building up to pop; with thoughts of harm, and miserable endings that he could not undo. If Raven could only…

~ Our bond was destroyed when Slade used that weapon on them…. Raven can't do anything until I get that control…~

No. He'd only infect her further if he tried to reach back. He had to look for the device. It was the only way to play the hero again.

"I'll…manage…If…He…-

Robin froze as he touched the knob of the door. It was…unlocked? He pushed and had it fall from the side, allowing him access to the main room. Robin's temporary bed was slept in long enough. Time to try from the beginning. Do or….

Robin froze again.

~ What more can he take from me? ~

The hero gulped, afraid to find his master's probe – gun in the darkness. Not knowing what dwelt there.

He took one step, and then his heart nearly stopped.

He saw them, all of their vital signs on the monitors, with Aqualad being the newest edition to Slade's…

He gulped.

Collection.

"Sick…" Robin grimaced at the tugging angst, the pitiful remorse that he'd only allowed to let them flourish.

He took a glance up towards the screen, then looked around to seek out his master's rooms. The doors were well marked. Just as Slade's intentions for something other than a willing apprentice were not that easy to decipher, the man lived in constant paranoia.

"He can't trust anyone." Robin whispered to himself, hoarsely.

"He's going after everyone…My team, the Justice League…." Robin swallowed. That lump did not seem to want to let him be. He brought a set of fingers to slide across the computer's controls.

How he'd longed for it.

The control. The boy swallowed.

The control that the man would dangle in front of his eyes, to keep the boy blind.

Forever in the dark.

Tantalizing as the darkness that tried to pull him in.

He blinked. That, was odd…

"I'll be fast, I haven't got much time left…" Robin exhaled and got to work, looking for a way into another room around the base. All locked, encrypted. He cussed under his breath.

Growling at the doors, he felt cheated by fate. A complete nightmare in which only send the bearer deeper into their subconscious with each lazy –

A switch in the wall activated as a mechanism whirred continuously, until the wall had sunken in to reveal a second entrance from behind. A doorway inside the wall.

"Oh, Slade's into medieval times? Robin grinned. "Never guessed him to be the type like Bb who 'd play D & D in his spare time." (Quoting on how he got the name Deathstroke for laughs.) Having gotten a good laugh out of the image, Robin took to his clues. He found the door to be something he could pry by, so it went down by a few simple moves. He let the metal push back into itself as he relaxed his guard a slight.

"Why such crappy security, Slade?" He asked himself. "Was this room…unused before?"

He kept walking, until a ladder shown itself above and down the long hall where it led to.

"An escape hatch, nice going Grayson." The teen bobbed his head by the sarcastic slice of praise and attempted to ascend the ladder with all of his upper body strength still intact.

It was partly rusted, so it probably didn't hold to being a lair that Slade had kept up on. Or, this was to fool those who were looking to enter into the dragon's den?

~ Great, This Den - of – Geek - talk is rubbing off on me. Way ta' go, Master. You've officially made me uncool. ~

As far as his killing arm, Slade could probably kill with his comebacks. HECK. By his efforts, he could kill some unlucky god –

And little did Robin figure, he was right.

The hatch turned and the air he breathed back into his lungs was fantastically invigorating.

Escape. As if –

~Apprentice, I'm in the middle of a special mission. I'm sending new coordinates to your unit. Find and subdue, Kid Flash. ~

Robin fell over by the impact.

~Why can I hear him? ~

~I'm not dead, I'm in your thoughts via the link in your suit. However, this is no time for explanations…...Argh! ~

"Master Slade? Slade!...~

He had no answer sent, so Robin nodded, as if outside of his own frame of thought. He had to fulfill it. Slade wasn't going away. Wherever he was in this city…

Robin jumped.

~Bring me the side - kick and then I'll relay to you our awaited "phase two" …good luck –

The ex – hero blinked and gasped back into his lungs. A jolt of lightening struck through the air. He'd been easily pushed into becoming the biggest chicken. How upsetting for the proud ward of the Batman's - alter.

On he walked the streets, as if dawn could not rise again. He was further from Slade's location, but the man could always keep his apprentice in line.

Anywhere. Anyplace.

The coordinates were sloppy at first; he read that the speedster's side – kick was…supposed to be…

"You put me in a really tight spot back there."

Helloo, lucky day.

BAM!

The kid packed a wallop as Robin countered the other's kick. He took to the blow as that of a man trying to keep his opponent from reaching his next destination. Robin's big brain ticked, and soon he had a plan to counter Slade's messy directions.

Kid Flash saw the face expose itself, and the mask the other boy wore became as clear as day…

"You're! –

"YAAH!"

Weapons in his pouch? Oh! He'd not bothered to check. Slade had prepped him; conditioned him here like some brainwashed soldier. Robin took to these tools as a way to push the other hero out of his way, for now.

Slade wanted Robin to stand and fight. So, the hero found his options anything but limited.

Kid Flash was lanky, but fast and quick to quip. He didn't need as many high – tech tools like the Bat. His body was a weapon, enough. He could move as rain or oil to the slick pavement, avoiding every crack as he melded in with his settings and surroundings.

"Robin, right? The mask made me think –

"Don't get involved…Just hold still!" The hero sent out flash pellets that had the kid caught up in a cloud of dust. He jumped at Flash's side – kick, careful not to use his fingertips like the last time, and had the boy's earlier kick in the back returned to him. Another hit, and Kid Flash was to his knees, before bolting out of the way of Robin falling leg; had that been his skull, then a bone shattering result instead.

His hit left an impression mark in the tar coated road, and that only made Robin even more frustrated about his unwanted powers.

~ Don't get mad. You'll lose control again, try to stay focused on the target. ~

"You're…. obviously in a bad mood, so why don't I just –

"You're staying here." Robin turned to the kid and growled. "I've come too close in shutting down the one responsible. I'm not even close to figuring out how I can fix this…But, if I do what I'm supposed to…It might all begin to make perfect sense…"

Kid Flash blinked. Frowning, he'd lost his fellow 'Titan gone rogue' by the threat. Was it a threat, or a cry for help?

"I don't really follow, but I'm supposed to take in criminals. And the League issued a threat in the area soo…."

Robin grinned with a crooked bit of humor to his harrowing image. "Do you think it was me?"

Get caught, get out. He had a shot at this.

"Maybe, not really…" The kid shrugged and tried to 'fancy his feet' in order to confuse, as Robin circled the ground too in their mini - stand - off.

"But…you DO look like shit. And things would be pretty plausible in this case, if you had a monkey on your back – Are you in some sort of –

"Don't." Robin's fists shook as he went to land a punch at the chatty brat,

"I'm not going to get to fix things by myself…"

Cryptic, and he'd make sure Kid could only understand.

"So, you are in trouble?" Kid Flash dodged by flexing his chin the other way of his family's praise.

"You be the judge." Robin tried to code out his speech. Blinking back, kid smirked. Good, he wasn't all looks.

Another hit to fool the mad man, and he was going to get his wish.

"I was warned; on the news that some crooks stole data from S.T.A.R LABS last night. I was on patrol miles from the scene –

"I'm not sure what you are trying to ask, but Batman is not going to know, so why bother making me look like the culprit?" A bit narrowly woven, but Robin's flip through the air let his 'rang' press hard into the wall of a grocery store, which Kid evaded as they continued to face the music of both their fates.

"You don't know anything, so back off before its too late."

"Are you staying here for someone else's sake? What's with the getup? You look like someone tossed a bucket of paint over-

"Stop being such a pain! At the shore, we could take you out within minutes. A mastermind can't be unmasked by your leader. As a side – kick, you should know better than to play the hero on your own. So, don't push my luck." Robin nodded briefly as Kid had the message.

"Hah, so you were converted to the dark side? What and how, not my problem. I'm just gonna let Flash take you to Gotham for a rewiring."

"One step and I won't hold back."

"So, why not now?" Flash went round in circles as Robin flinched by the wind at his scalp. "Why are you looking chicken, boy wonder?"

"I…." Robin gulped. He had to finish it. If Slade could pull a decent trip, so could he.

"Will bring you in, I won't fail again!"

"You sure about that?" Speedy sent Robin flying by the gust his spiral had created, once he'd stopped.

The rebound left the hero to pick up his now –

Robin gritted his teeth and winced out.

"Shit! No, wait! –

"Wh…. aaat?" Kid saw it; his ally's arm was writhing with muscle and bone to reset itself.

His jaw hit the floor.

"Super - Healing? Since when can you do that?"

"The answer you want isn't going to fix me…. or save you…!" Robin pulled out a collapsible bo staff Slade had granted him, not knowing about its extra features.

"Hey!" The speedster dodged the blow, which turned out to be electrifying. The staff could shock him, while Robin looked to be wielding a massive thunder bolt in his hands. Unharmed by the crackling, metal lighting rod he didn't hesitate to keep his master entertained.

"The one you want isn't me, but the real Flash probably figured it out by now. You are fast on your feet, but not quick to realize the rest of his plan!"

The electrified bo staff hit the wall, breaking stone and concreate in its wake. Robin wielded a device that had Kid at a distance, waiting on the message to reveal his next form of attack he'd taken to.

Why was Robin dressed like a familiar crook from the League's big book of villains.

AS if a shock was all I took, Robin soon felt his whole body convulse, but not full of electricity.

It was the nano – bots. They'd been activated.

As a warning.

Slade had finished his important mission to a fault.

Robin started to panic. He tugged on his invisible leash to find a way out –

"We didn't finish! Robin! Yo –

"Stop…. Get back…. please! Leave me…. alone! Him…. He's…... –

He motioned with his skull. It was time to play follow the leader.

~ Let's do this, Slade isn't going to fight if it means losing me. I'm his way to Batman. Without me, he's got no real edge… ~

Kid followed and pretended to be a step or two behind. Robin's physical state made it hard to do as before (in contorting himself to go through a crevice.)

He had to stay high, not go low this time.

The hatch, it was out of range. He had to use the –

Docks. He'd get the hero to pay close attention.

~Robin! Return to the base – If you dare to disobey my orders, the next heroes to fall will be the last of your pathetic team. That's an order! DON'T TEST ME AGAIN. ~

SUIT…. I HAVE TO…. GET IT…..OUT! –

~YOU CAN'T…~ Slade clarified darkly. Strongly and firmly, he'd have Robin bite his tongue before finishing his message.

~I'd left out that the suit isn't necessarily why I'm in your head, Apprentice. The link is via your own system is partially to blame. The nano - bots allow me this access, just as your friends will likely welcome their own ends if you should disobey a direct order again. ~

~ Yes…Master Slade…~Robin's arms hung limply at his sides.

~Good boy. ~ Slade purred proudly. ~ Now, return to base , Apprentice… and bring your little friend with you. He'll be glad to know that his teacher is alive and well…for the moment…~

Robin gasped and tried to catch his breath. No…. The Flash? That was who he' d been –

"I'm not gonna be after your butt till sun - up!" Kid sped into the hero, as Robin swiftly took to the streets and found an entrance to the secret hole this monster was hiding his darkest secrets in. Robin's answer would be there, even if his trust and loyalty to the league was questionable at this point in time.

"We aren't there yet, but…where are you taking me?" Robin turned around and slowed his pace so that the other kid speedster could read his lips.

"I'm going to do what I have to…It's too late…"

Wally's eyes grew sympathetically, larger.

"Why?"

"I'm out of time." Robin gave a small, though pained and nano – bot - stricken smile, as his old ally fell away – until Kid Flash "magically" sped up to catch up. Robin felt his stomach drop. Slade would do his worst…. this was the worst!

The electricity surrounding Robin was not like the bot - infected red globule look as his friend's conditions. He looked normal, as if Slade had spared him the agony. Save for the crackling red lightening, which made him look like anti – Flash's dopple. Scary thought there….

An apprentice with benefits, and a hero with a death wish.

Kid Flash was repelled by the mad – science - made force field surrounding Robin's body. He was forced to keep a close enough distance, but not a low profile as his ally's dark master was about to come to light.

Robin gulped and slipped through one passage to find another entrance to Slade's domain, right where the man had left the lair's coordinates imprinted in his young soldier's mind.

~ The bots. They are being used…with telepathic communication and brainwashing? Am I really his apprentice or his tool anymore? ~

The hatch was busted inwards, and Robin dashed through the sewers with his latest catch. His boots hit the water with a troublesome Splash*. He was running out of time….

His latest victim; for the master who'd made this ex - hero into a messenger of doom…

Kid Flash came with, and his first instinct was that Robin had been forced with a change of plans that were outside of his control. He had to follow this leader into the dark abyss. He felt he was drawn to this story. Like a kid being called home for curfew by their parents or…

Guardian. Robin was missing, Speedy had found out during his call in to the Titans West. He'd been on the news for weeks, making as little appearances as possible, but…

Was Robin really not in control, anymore?

The metal latch of the main door was activated as Robin was welcomed in with open arms - by the one who'd stripped away his individual freedoms in the first place. Kid took to the wall and made sure to try to keep his head down as he slid through it. Mimicking a scene from the movies – where treasure hunters had no reason to turn back and lose a vast fortune, they'd keep it all for themselves. Kid would savour a sweet victory or narrow defeat - whichever was his fated objective. Such was the hero's life he led.

Getting up from the dust, kid Flash looked around and coughed as the cloud had slowly started to clear. Robin stoop by another armored entrance with his hand over a scanner. This wasn't good…

"Ok, I'm confused. What are –

"Hey!" Robin was a fairy on the move. He didn't stop and it made Kid even more curious to know the boy's secret. The doors opened, and the hunt continued.

"Wait…. up!" Kid Flash drove his motor mouth, but the last thing he needed were lasers in his face, which were a big welcome even to Robin as the red beams had both boys dodging from within the cross-fire effect. His master wanted his apprentice on his feet and ready at every given second. What kind of haunt was this? Kid was about to see it all for himself.

Another stray door was opened; as if this were a game to whoever had built the obstacle field. A level revealed after one level was mastered. Pretty fun stuff for a psycho to put into practice.

The psycho who had kidnapped Batman's ward.

Robin calmly took his time as Kid Flash finally, was able to finally stand upright beside the crippling appeal of the tainted ex – Titans' leader. He was still shocked in and out; his goose bumps more visible than the average person's. Sweat on his brow, like a virus deep below the skin. In his bloodstream. Robin's body wasn't his. Someone else was in control…

"Be…aurgh… ready…." Robin winced and tried to walk tall, without slouching.

A dark and eerie *creeeak* came from above, as if there had been an intruder wandering between those gaping spaces…

A rat.

Wally flinched.

"Ah, you're right on schedule. No delays necessary." A voice as sultry as a siren's greeted the two.

"We have some level of retribution to act out upon, Apprentice."

Wally looked at the bat's kid. What was that slack jawed whacko talking about...

"As for today…A demonstration is in order...and I'm hoping to even the score with. Him."

A light went on and up on the catwalk, then a few more, a masked man in the infamous Ikon battle suit with a strange gun device to the neck of a decimated…hero…revealed himself.

Kid gawked and felt something falter here. Guessing it was his naivety, he shouted up to the murderous man with a darker aura.

"Flash!" Wally called back, and finally understood. He'd been played, and Robin was being manipulated.

Without any back - up, he had to get away, fast. Or he'd end up with a bigger target in his face than–

Or, at his back…than his ally of the Titans', who had faced this miserable person throughout his entire being here...

Robin had a weapon to Kid's neck as well, not a gun. A Rang, a "sharper than life" one.

The kid would never –

"I brought him." Robin called to the male on the catwalk. Wally turned pale.

" He's going to be a part of this, so tell me what our –

"AAANNNGG!" Robin fell to his knees. "Rob! "Kid exclaimed, baffled by this new sort of torture.

Slade still had the trigger. But in the boy's mind, he didn't need a material aspect to keep his apprentice standing. He could imagine the boy paying for his indiscretions, and he'd be granted a grand scene before the king of this larger ploy. Slade always waited, watching for Robin to lose his grip and call the man master for a lifetime. He's have it no other way.

"What did you do to him? He's not himself! He fought me, but he healed…. wait…"

Flash shot a warning to his ward, which had Wally direct his attention away from Robin for but only a second. "Kid!...Don't….test…. aaaah!"

Barry's screaming was not a pleasant sight. He had a strange device being waved around as the ultimate punishment, while Robin was riled up on the floor. Trying not to pass out.

Imitating a bird and a worm. The "hawk" being this crappy villain on the catwalk.

Wally felt that his hands were tied.

"I won't hurt Robin, but Flash…How did you beat him? You couldn't have possibly known –

"You're doomed to repeat this lessen, young Speedster, so I'll gladly fill in any missing pieces. Robin is simply, my Apprentice."

Robin winched at the painful title, as did Kid flash.

"He promised to serve at my side, for as long as it takes to achieve our goal."

"You're the biggest liar I know, and Robin probably thinks he knows everything about you, but I can tell him the truth…about WHAT you really are…"Goaded the teen, who was going to get his ass kicked by a league of assassins' illuminati…

"I would let things be as the were, Kid Flash. If you want your mentor back in one piece, you'll not test your role against my own. You're just a side – kick, after all." He mocked the teen, who turned red as a bull with the horns still attached.

"Robin thought, is the same as them…. Yet, I'm going to prove otherwise…" Slade cocked the strange gun; turning up the heat as it scorched the second Flash's neck, right through his red suit. The mad man had Wally's mentor leaning over the catwalk's banister as he administered that devastating blow before the kid's poor eyes.

Making poor Wally suffer. Just as Robin had the first time his team had been affected by the probes.

"You…. need to go…. please…" Robin moaned and clutched his stomach. Tears welling up in his eyes as he avoided coming into contact with his old ally. He couldn't do it…Turning Kid…into a monster…. like him…

"Kid Flash wouldn't look away. Unlike Robin, his mentor was a blood relative. He couldn't give up.

"NO." Slade put up his hand to quiet his apprentice's yearning moans. "Let him stay and watch, my apprentice…" Slade bots came from the doorway, in the shadows and came in droves to prevent an escape from Flash's dutiful side – kick. Or from Slade's witless apprentice.

Robin hung his head, panting. He'd never recover again…his friends' trust…. While they were…still in danger….

Slade lessened the pressure of the device in his hand, teasing the older man's neckline as if it would never fully grip the man's senses. Rolling circles as if it were a percussion massager and not some deadly weapon that could incapacitate a living legend. A push and pull effect, it was very traumatizing for Wally to watch with his own two eyes. Even below the mask, it was a very surreal scene to depict.

Narrowing his eyes behind his mask, West tried to find if this crook could be reasoned with. After all – he'd come for a contract. He only took what he wanted. So, what was this bozo after, anyway?

"Tick – tock, Speedster." Slang hummed as he goaded his captive. "Time, is running out."

"Just…. what are your demands?" Kid Flash's voice shook. Fear etched all over his face, his mask couldn't hide his shame. He'd not been kind enough to the man who'd taken him in. Family, his Uncle Barry….

Who… Was

"Good Boy. See? You can learn something if you try hard enough." Slade was not done taunting the hero, keeping him there; a spider in his web. An insect that was both paralyzed and hypnotized by the loss of control he'd been forced to relent. Like Robin, he'd end up a slave to his ambitions of revenge.

"My apprentice will see to it that you are comfortable. Robin. Make sure your friend pays close attention. Our demands aren't settled, and I want these heroes to pay up." He cocked the gun again and applied more pressure, making Wally gasp out.

Slade took to his word and let his voice lead them on, having both boys to drink in his wafting echoes of deception.

"There is nothing more disheartening than a student…." Slade drawled on.

He said this with an edge of malice in his voice. Not yet finished.

Robin heard it and stood up slowly. Kid Flash edged away, knowing his fate was to live in fear. He had to escape this… he was dealing with a cobra at his neck! Like Barry…

"Who will not obey his master." Slade tutted and had Flash's face perched up a bit to see his own failure staring back at him

Barry. His eyes were glassy, were dead. Hurting; as Slade never stayed within his own boundaries. He worked outside the box.

It dawned on Wally. This was no real contract.

This was personal. To send a message.

"Apprentice. Subdue the target." Slade's words were absolute.

"Our task is nearing its completion. That is all you will have to know. Now, ATTACK!"

The robots, Robin, and the rest was a blur. Barry was helpless as Slade humiliated him, and the robots as a plus to Slade, kept the side – kick from stopping the whole unmasking of Wally's mentor from happening.

The jarring probe gun was shoved into The Flash's mouth. Like a real gun. His eyes still popping from their bloodshot sockets.

Robin forced himself to look away and with the bots, kept the other kid hero flat on his stomach to the floor.

The electrifying staves were used as a prime example on how to tame a beast, but not a god - ling.

Robin's skill was enough. Yet… Wally wouldn't do it. He couldn't harm a Titan without a reason to.

Slade knew this, but kept an eye on his apprentice from his position up top.

Rioting back, vibrating, his molecules failed to go through solid objects. Creating a whirlwind was useless too. Kid Flash shouted out.

"No! You…. don't…. have…to... Lizzten!AAAAHGG!" The shock this time was from Robin's unbroken bo staff. I only he'd known; the staves siphoned out his powers, making him completely powerless, as Slade had made quick work of the boy's near – dead mentor.

The sizzle administered to the speedster's suit was down to the bone. Robin wrinkled his nose at the taste of char; an illusion. There never was never such an outcome. Yet, Slade was his dark master, twisting his reality until the world leapt up into a big ball of –

"Aaang~!" Robin held his skull, as if a vision from one of Raven's episodes. He saw something. A something that was not the probes, but a force that drove him to drop his staff. He shook, his hands coated in red. Was this…. a possession by someone…else?

The click of the gun! It hadn't gone off…. Injection…. he'd…already taken Robin's body again…. What else was left to take from his life?

"B-B-…BASTARD!DAMNIT!FLASH!FLASH!WAKE UP! COME OOOON…WAKE UP!BASTARD…. YOU…. YOU KIILLED MY MENTOR!"

Robin choked as Slade took back control. Wally's screaming was music to the mad man's ears.

"No-…n-no…. d-don…don't do this! Master Slade! PLEASE! –

"We'll discuss a fair enough punishment for you later, Apprentice. You've had your fun. Now it's time to finish our little errand, while your friend will just have to cope with his losses."

Robin didn't get to fight back. The control, the staff. He had it, and in a flash…. Kid Flash…. was totaled into the floor as the rest of the world turned back to ash and blackness. Robin had wanted to attack his master, but all signs led him to his target. His comrade of the Titans who'd not officially joined up…

~That's what happens when you defy orders…. you lose, and he made sure you kept your promise to him…...ah…. Raven…...I…lost…. I'm sorry….! ~

Robin's movements were as a puppet on strings. Slade was silent as the man let his apprentice hit his target, leaving Wally to wallow in the darkness. In only seconds, Wally found himself immobile. His eyes spied boots, only black boots, steel toed. That fateful plop of his mentor's form came crashing right in front of the boy's tear-stricken eyes. Lifeless, dead. Maybe worse…

"Bar…I…. I'm…...s-…so…sorry…for….t…this..." He fell apart, and Robin could not speak to him. Not for his old friend. His voice was contained by their adversary. Slade only applauded the act as one of intrigue. Robin had not denied him, he'd been unable to say no so he'd allowed their contract to continue. Like a good test subject, he'd made the right choice.

The Flash could have said the same about Robin and the Bat, but he lay beside his side - kick. His family, as he remained dead to the world. Barry's eyes were tired; his face still stricken by the trauma he'd faced while up against the dual – sided Speedforce. If only he could warn his team…

Wally screamed, but no one could hear. The criminal who had stolen the Boy Wonder was gone. He'd sneaked off to locate his next target. His next victim, like a vampire in the night. A living devil with a death wish.

Wally, with all of his strength, tried to pick himself up. He had to get…. Flash, home….

"Let's…. go…" He coughed, trying to fix his ribs by whatever power he had left.

A blast echoed out; as some massive green energy forcefully enveloped the door - where Robin had first opened poor Wally's eyes to his reality.

The face of an orange skinned, red headed princess, and the hero, Cyborg, Green Lantern…. They were all there…. But far too late…

"Dear Kid Flash! Who is responsible for this atrocity? You are badly injured!" Starfire flew over to the young man's side. Thankfully, the Slade bots were also gone, long gone with their master's message.

The Green Lantern here was the current Lantern. An ex – Marine officer who'd been able to take on Hal's legacy, John was stationed only a few cities away from Jump in California. He checked in on the heroes now and again. He had known Robin from their years as budding protégés to….

"You…have to go after…cough!...them….He's….there….I saw… -

"You saw who?" cyborg tried to interrupt. He had to hear it from the hero's lips. He had to know that this wasn't just a contracted killer putting everyone into body casts. He had to –

"Rob..in….and….-

"Slade…" Cyborg was the one to say it, but Wally shook his head.

"No…Not that…He….was him! The killer! The one Flash fought and….he came after him… and me…" He pointed weakly to the unmoving body of his uncle.

"He was shot, with a weird gun that….didn't fire –

"Wait? A gun that….uh - oh! Star! Keep Kid away from The Flash. He's gotta be the same as –

The nan – bots' fire almost had Wally shout out, as its influence took over Barry's lifeless body from head to foot. "He wasn't dead?" The kid gasped back in disbelief.

GL warned the Titans about this new danger, Cy dove in to get the two cleared out of the room.

"Get away from him! He's infected with the –

Green Lantern didn't get to finish as Barry; unmasked partly, and maimed partly, was a wild man. He was on his feet and crying out to the moon like a wolf.

"Shoot! This was not supposed to happen like that!" Cy grabbed Star and Kid as GL guided the teens to a safer place. He used his powers to contain the infected Flash as Bar's speed seemed to have been siphoned off. Only one person could sap the fastest man on Earth like that.

"Tell us again who attacked you, if it wasn't Slade then who?"

Cyborg finally had his match made. This criminal was Slade or he was another dangerous threat.

"He's the same person!" Protested the speedster. "Your Slade is actually an assassin known as Deathstroke! He's has Robin brainwashed, and he did this to my mentor! Your hero helped him to defeat us! He's a –

"Stop saying mean things about our leader now, please! –

Starfire's eyes lit up, yet Cy had her call back her rage. She was upset, but it wasn't something their minds could comprehend without all of the facts in place, first.

/

Back at the Watchtower, the containment field held now three persons to prevent a possible outbreak on Earth.

Raven, Aqualad, and the Flash all were having tests run on them under Green Lantern's protection. This had gone on for far too long to simply reverse without the proper protocol. Eventually, Batman would want to know the rest of the Titans' sad story.

"Slade….so he had other aliases before he came to mess with the Titans West." Kid Flash had taken a shower to calm down and wipe off the grime. He'd not liked being away from home this long, but it was to be sure that Slade had not attempted the same thing on the Flash's side kick while he'd been conked out.

"WE had no clue." Cy shrugged and let out a heavy sigh, slamming a palm to his forehead in frustration.

Starfire floated up to GL and wanted to ask if any other heroes would be told about this information that their younger allies had collected.

"I don't wanna' keep this a secret. Even if we did, we never shoulda' let things go on up to this point… but the evidence wasn't there. Slade…So he's been using a name even I recognize by his files. Can't say that was pretty clever, though." The adult frowned and rubbed his chin.

"Wait…So you know his identity?"

"Can't tell you just how much I know about your nemesis, but that's still gonna be top secret for league eyes only. Even Barry mighta' known, but –

"He didn't know enough. But HE knew almost all of it." Wally said with his head hung low to the ground. H was talking about this Slade character. The man responsible for so many league deaths, already.

"He's going after everyone in the league. The next place could be anywhere, and he knows half of our identities. He can track us down…but…He kept Robin in the dark…he was…crying and….hurt…And I couldn't help but wanted to so badly! Damnnit! –

"He did more than just that to your leader, Titans. He also took it on himself to make a name for kidnapping the kid from under the Batman's nose. It's like he wanted us to keep lookin…" GL wasn't glad to be a part of any more wars, with things becoming hairier than his four o' clock stubble.

"He is trying to scare us. Do you not see it, friend Cyborg, Kid Flash and Mr. Green Lantern?" Starfire put in. "I fear that he is using this threat to have Robin do as Slade wishes. He does not listen to a conscience, and Robin cannot persuade the man to stop his plans from taking effect on all of us... That mad man must be stopped before even more lives are to be lost!"

"And I agree. But, we have to be smarter than Barry or even you, Wally." Wally moped. He didn't like to be lectured by anyone. He'd not done much….but follow a potential threat into the sewers to save his mentor.

"You went in there, after Robin. But why did you say he "helped" Deathstroke to defeat you two –

"Because, he's a traitor." The kid raised his voice. Fickle and irritated by the fact that Robin was still a victim at all.

"He brought me down there into his "master's" lair after trying to give me a coded message, which is one that I want to throw out but can't! I still feel too sorry for him….But, what was that gun for?" He looked up a Cy, who had the answer already. Nearly.

"Why did my mentor not get killed from that fall! Why is he not dead?" He clutched his and tried to calm down.

"It was the nanobots, that's how this all began." Cy interrupted before GL could explain the whole scenario from act one.

"From S.T.A.R labs? That project on the news?" Wally piped up a bit.

"BEFORE that theft took place, there was another break in." GL stated.

Cy, Kid, and Starfire looked to GL for an honest explanation.

"You serious?" Cy asked; shocked by the fact that they'd not known about it earlier. That had been OVER a few months ago, which meant…

Slade had planned this in all that time. Like a true super villain.

Robin's new boss.

GL nodded and continued.

"Yeah, we tracked the coordinates down but later, we lost the signal and before long it was labeled as a cold case. No leads. Nothing. As if that device was… -

"It was no longer there…" Starfire gasped and gulped back her fears. "It, was with Slade the entire time….disguised as a device that shot red beams at Robin's team… it was underwater. In the sewers below our city!" She said this aloud, and recalled the first shot fired at her that had lead to….

This.

"Underwater? No wonder! We searched the coast and the bay, ten times over the same day. Found bubkis. I still can't believe it…"

"You should watch your backs, Titans." Wally warned, breaking the silence. He stood up to shake his head free of any extra shower water.

"Now that Slade is active again, he's not going to stop until he has what he wants. Batman's surrender. The JLA broken, like he broke my teacher. Robin is his way to finding his enemy's weakness, and putting The Batman's lights out for good –

"You are also in danger, Kid Flash!" Starfire protested. "You could be targeted from not having perished by that man's hand." She then concluded.

"You knew of his identity, so this could give him reason to wish to destroy you…Please do not go back, we shall find this man and hunt him as he has hunted all of us."

Her pride was strangely admirable. Despite the talk of vengeance and the gory details that came with the ides of war, Starfire was not afraid to do as much as she could to save a friend. As a true hero should lay down their life for the sake of justice. At any and every cost of the word.

"I'm not going back! You kidding? With this Flash being infected with some "flesh eating virus" –

"Nanoscopic probes, actually –

"Don't care." Wally grunted at Cy, to let the speedster finish his sentence.

"Anyway, I'm not supposed to be the next Flash, yet. My teacher…Uncle, is still in there…And I can't protect Central all by myself!….I can't get caught up in your fight, only if it can save Flash and the rest of my friends…"

"We don't wanna have you on the side lines either; but unless you help us out, the entire League is left defenseless from this looming threat." GL tried to get Wally to listen to reason. Barry had given him a purpose, and now he was too afraid to stand up and fight back for his teacher's sake? Well, Slade could kill them all, but he hadn't. He'd spared Wally and had left him without his mentor's shame thrown back in the boy's face.

A true way to ruin a hero, was to have them bleed wide open.

Robin had hopefully not squawked to the man any of the League's secrets. He was one of the older members of the group's, like Flash and also Speedy or Aqualad.

Speedy…He was just about to say something, when a transmission came through on the screen behind GL's head.

~ This had better work, OH! That's pretty close up, sorry….We got word of an attack in Central, and an outbreak in Jump. Turn on the news; channel 4! ~

/

Who is contacting the watchtower at this hour? Find out in chapter 12! Read on and stay curious for more!