Teen Titans; The Fighting Life; Epilogue Story; Chapter 24: I Made You Mine – Yet You Wanted to Fly – Saying Simon Says
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~ A shifting paradigm; a great eclipse overhead, as the red sun sets and a new one takes its place. ~
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~ I came to…. The conclusion, that doing good is ok; if it saves your villainous rep. I'm a big fan of one super villain; Madame Rogue, who is my absolute idol! I don't do charity work for the hero community, a lot. They don't understand us, they never have. It's like a dumb social club! You get in and you're hired. IF you make the cut. We didn't, so the H.I.V.E let us in. They had an ok headmistress before – but she was replaced…Ah, oh… of the school I attend with my team, and he's now a real super villain; the big leagues. Even his students are afraid of having this new headmaster mark them up as tardy. It's a good that I'm never late. But…KF is, strange. Weird, and I feel like I can trust him…even if I'm late to report to class this one time…. What? So, what if I want to be a bit out of my element! That's, my choice, dang it! ~
/
She stood with a magic book in her hands, as if a peace contract was about to be signed (kudos to Wynja!) None of the sort as Wally smiled at his comrades, and this new...Old enemy of the Titans.
Cy and Star were the first to react.
"Kid…flash…" Starfire breathed in, then exhaled softly.
"What is Jinx doin' here?" Cy finished, just as upset; thinking there was another mole they'd have wean out.
"Before you go all "galactic enforcer" on us, hear me out." Wally put his hands up as he defended Jinx's head as well.
"You may." Diana crossed her arms. Jinx's energy was not of malicious intent, yet.
"First on you, D- W (Double WW.) Okay…. So, I ran into Jinx on a run - through mission; she was stealing priceless shit and…. It got complicate –
"You tried to say I should join he heroes since my team treats me like a useless leader! That's exactly what happened, so I decided to see what this "end of the world crap" was since my magic protected us from turning into statues. Go figure…" Jinx cut Wally off with a definite huff afterwards.
"How long ago did you know of Jinx?" Starfire didn't believe the male's story.
"We…had fought….and –
"And?" Jinxed leaned over to goad her savior. Her brow raised up, ticked by his attitude.
"And…. We just…. De –
"Just tell them, already!" She shouted in his ear. Sighing loudly, , as this was something she could only determine as a failure, only moments to weeks ago…When her life had done a back flip in Central….
/
Central City; August. Flash, had hit rock bottom against –
Well, he wasn't alone. We can tell you that much.
Mystic havoc would have been fair, but facing off against someone out to steal secrets from S.T.A.R labs?
A really bad omen, and Wally had to be a part of the fight.
Well, it wasn't against one off their CC villains, but the big leaguers' players from back in the day. Even Green Arrow had beef with the killer without a prayer.
One of the best.
And one of the most elusive; on a midnight stroll was a long android, hoping to score itself a shine new toy.
Perfect to cover its tracks, because it was only supposed to be a drone working for the real boss in the shadows.
The gash in the secure wall was totaled. Stolen tech; it was supposed to be a simple job. He'd not forgotten to get toe to toe with the real avenger in question, but our rogue assassin knows how to put on a show and leave in the same hour. His bots created the allure of disillusionment in the crossfire – but with their trinkets and claws, he'd have a lot of regrets at the damage they'd let litter the grounds of Allen's inferior laboratory.
At the door and out again., all in the same night.
The Flash was no exception. He would put the man's lights out. Make him stop before catching that green light. First? The assassin scanned the hall from a large enough air duct. No need to breathe in the chemical fumes. Scientists or no, he had a lot to keep to. The clock was ticking.
Disarm the security in this shit –hole factory. GET OUT. Easy, for one man on a mission, anyway.
And the bots had him covered. One – hundred and ten percent.
The alarms blared, someone had –
"We don't take well to trespassers after dark."
That voice…Shit.
He scrambled and decided to smoke his way to the room where the device was being kept.
Right next door, was the industry sister site Ingenico; which had a hold on the chairman's head. Only the killer in his prime had seen what they'd wanted kept secret.
He wanted it, so he'd snatch up the device.
Tonight. No questions.
Only thing was…The mini – flash was, a pest. He had to be ruptured before midnight. At least.
The smoke ball spilled out and countless pellets let the hall become a waking dust bowl. Flash cleared it up quick as lightening, and had his comrade take the edge off. They went for the vents, so the killer did have a plan – but it was a risk. As usual, this mystery man had called in some back up.
Robots. Commanded, like the army officers they were not. Of chrome and titanium. Masks in shadow on each of their brutally dishonest little faces.
Down the next hall, up a flight….six feet up, apparently.
He rushed and kicked the grates off.
There.
"Gone so soon?"
~ Flash…. Damn! ~ Slade clicked his tongue coldly at the annoying ass, of a heroic member to the JLA.
"I do appreciate the warm reception, but I won't be long." The man fell from the ducts gracefully, to land in a light – footed crouch away from the vents. "Your security is shit." He dusted off his arms in disgust. "I'm surprised you've managed to stay aloft for this long. Humnph. No matter; you're going to hand over the device to me, and back away. I have other work to do, in other cities." He held out a staff that could break Flash's powers to bit, shocking to say the least.
"Deathstroke." Flash squinted and got into his more offensive stance. "You've looked better. Low on funding for that criminal empire you shot back at Green Arrow about, last year? Any luck duking it out and getting your face spat on by the worst crooks in Bluudhaven? I'd liked to have seen you try to get your world domination "kicks" of the ground." Chuckled the blonde not – so – rich- millionaire of S.T.A.R labs.
Slade cocked his head at the ligt swing to his ego; even a good boy could go south, interesting.
He wasn't being fair, but then again. Your enemy's weakness was your greatest strength. Barry was a good guy, but a lovable b-r-a-t. Then again, so was Oliver Queen. Slade wasn't glad to get such a reception from either tightwad kid. Not in this get - up he'd donned today.
He knew them, he had fought every member of the JLA since his first full – length debut. Slade Wilson. They knew him, but he'd not wished to remain so old fashioned as to pass his name around the war tent.
"I got a new job; I'm finally my own boss." He spread his hands out, as if inviting the man into his world.
" No need to look so stunned. You work for yourself too, right?" Slade stepped a bit closer to the stunning marvel. "A, what was it again?" He rubbed his chin to think. "Ah, a Nano – bot control device - one for the sake of curing even cancer…How cruel of you, doctor…" He shook his head, his staff in hand, slipping back only a mere half inch from his prey.
The searing, shocking type of staff wanted action, he'd have it. Patience….
"The ones who will have the chance to benefit, can afford to keep you. But those who'll simply suffer?" Slad''s eye changed. He looked more tiger than wild man in his new suit. Very intimidating, Barry noted by the new façade of a criminal Slade had slipped into overnight.
"You may want to work towards finalizing a plan towards universal healthcare, in the near future." He hissed, smirking under the mask. A new one; not as cloth but metal. As grim as it always had been. Only, his one eye was masked a bit better.
Barry huffed. "The device is a prototype and is strictly off limits. If you think that thing will get you off of Santa's naughty list…Well, think again."
They came at one another, talk was cheap. Slade got ready to show Flash that he wasn't willing to sully this new opportunity.
"Oh, I wouldn't dream of ever trying!" Slade made his comeback, and sent the Flash back a few steps in only two, indirect hits.
"I'm too good at what I do. Your partner had better watch his back… –
"Leave Kid Flash out of your demented, comments section, Slade!" Flash noticed it too; Deathstroke had his Ikon tech or Nth metal suit on. It was hard to tell in the poorly lit room at midnight what shields he had up.
His suit had next to no red, only black and grey, besides the mask. Black and red... Yet the metal he wore had such little sheen to it.
As if he'd rather remain in shadow…
This… was a bad move.
Barry saw Slade chuck out a bomb to stick right onto the wall behind himself. The streets down below would not carry the device well. Did he have another means of escape? Was the wall that hollow -
"Oh, speaking of bombs; your partner has never faced my drones, hand –to - hand before, has he? New suit, better detection…. I think you should reconsider my recent threat –
"What threat?" Barry dumbly asked the man. He seemed delighted to monologue tonight, a new mask and a new persona to battle the odds. What came next, had Barry wishing he could fly.
"Glad you could ask. The bots." Slade motioned to the wall and with a detonator's sound BIP* it blasted through, leaving a gaping hole where a copter and bots piloting it, were waiting to pick up their sinful leader and creator. Rubble fell through the cracks as it made a clean mark. Not much damage for the company, but still a powerful blast had shattered Barry's expectations of what this man was still capable of committing to. He took on a job, got it done before the any loose ends could be tied.
One of the best in his field, now a thief and a crime lord… apparently.
"The ones he's bound to face right now, are set to detonate. Just like this wall."
Barry went ridged with rage.
"If you let me go with my prize, I'll give you a ten second head start before my own crew is left to the same wreckage with your young, side – kick." He narrowed his eyes at that title. Oh, when would they learn not to stick their noses into other people's businesses?
Those darn heroes had it coming.
As did their blind followers.
"I can't stop you, but we will not see the last of one another. Count on it, Deathstroke –
"Call me Slade." The man seemed to appreciate that promise, keeping word that he would finish that hit on the league's finest, if given enough in payment to do so...
"The new teen heroes in Jump seem not to mind saying my name to the heavens, so do spread the word." He went; taking his leave, and had two of his bots from the copter tug the device and all of its pieces - the data and all, from the mount.
What was he going to do? Create a world wide, human casualty? A mass hysteria boom? What could he possibly do, was the question, as its contents tumbled around Barry's mind and he fled with Slade keeping his word.
Flash flew after the room that Ollie had been cooped up in – the bots were…
A kid's blood on his hands? Neither of them could live it down. It wasn't his time, yet.
Slade took what he wanted and left the bots to fizzle as Kid chucked them away, finding that Flash had lost the perp. For now.
"What?" KF frowned up at his mentor and uncle. "Did you get him?"
The circuits to these devil – androids had been fried. Any attempts to trace their signal back to the hive, had been lost.
Slade had kept his word, but for how long would he hold to those same old morals before the power corrupted him, absolutely?
/
KF was on another mission, that same night before the break in. He'd seen a bank on the verge of being blasted right through by a bunch of chuckling, gaggling, reluctant teen villains afraid to join in on the big league's fun. Or maybe, they were still in training.
He'd been on patrol for close to an hour now, and no sign until then when he saw…
Her.
Pink eared and quippish that night, Wally wanted to seek her out and find out how close she was to the criminal side of the sphere.
She had a purple and black gothic allure and hair and eyes to match that of something not from this earth. It was a patter at first, but also a curiosity as she greeted the ones robbing the CC bank well before midnight.
He slipped over, quiet as a mouse. She had this look, a bored one. And then it struck him as bluntly as the arrows of Eros.
She wasn't the super – villain type…
How did Wally know?
Call it, super – heroes' intuition, but she wasn't fond of the pack of two; a snobbish younger looking bald male with a suit that could control tech he had built, and a goliath the teammates called Mammoth.
"Jinx, I think this is the spot." Mammoth whispered (barely) over to his co - hort. She was, Jinx…He watched as the door had been no match. Kid had sneaked in easily to tail the baddies in question. He saw Jinx as her magic was powerful enough to bring the guards to their knees.
A ray of pink and dark energy, the new girl in town let the safe door fall over as well. The security lock and trigger alarms were dismantled, piece by piece. She was doing most of the work they'd said, to make up for a penalty – a mission that had backfired. She'd been the perfect candidate for leader at the time, but so far no one had come to a verdict.
Wally was no Superman or Batman, but he could make out by how their tensions seemed to fluctuate around the topic. Not much team spirit going on there…
"Whoa, you win this round. My turn!" Mammoth cracked his knuckles and got as many sacks of moolah and gold bars as he could snag. Like eating as much as you could in a single setting – for a giant.
"You scotch – sniffers have it all wrong. We're gonna get –
"I'd watch your language little guy." Wally popped out and made sure he was genuinely posing for the camera. "Someone might end up censoring that mouth of yours, one day."
"Huh? Who's the pajama freak?"
"Hey! Freak - on – a – leash – for – brains! We don't have time ta' kill ya. Our flight leaves in half an hour –
"Really? Then let me not hold you up!" Wally grabbed the long rug that lead up to the safe, and shook it until dust filled the entire room and safe up.
"Eww! You're gonna PAY for getting my hair full of dirt!!"
Jinx had beef with KF now, as the long entry rug tore into shreds and the floors buckled beneath her foe to stop the speedster's side kick from fleeing with his dignity.
Jinx rose to the occasion, and commanded the boys to pack up the loot while she went after the other trespasser - to pay him back for her new look. (Who said banks are so clean? Hah!)
They ran out of the bank, the speedster not aware that Jinx could partially levitate (let's go with it.)
He dodged a few desks, a ficus (poor thing) and a great big –
"Showing you the door! Hah!" The door, she'd tossed a door. Ok, this kid was zany!
"Can you stop wrecking the place long enough to hear me out?" KF went with his instincts, which were blinded by the laws of attraction at this point. Thank you, cupid!
"I'm not here to get paid, I'm here to pay off someone else of I'll be kicked off my team! You don't get anything, so back of, speed demon! –
"Demon – queen, yourself! Look who's talking! I barked up the wrong tree – Ah!" He ran to avoid her hits on the head with more columns that Washington D.C had to offer. What was with the architecture of this bank? It was highly unsafe to rob. Too many weaponized items to store. The place was a stock house of goodies to grab – not just the dough!
"Hold still! I need to squash you, first!"
"You don't, because…. You don't want to kill anyone!" He came in close to her as she gasped and backed up, nearly falling over in the process.
"What are you saying? I'm a villain! You are –
"Romeo? Your nemesis? I'm hardly what you'd call an easy target." He smirked at her.
She sneered, then decided to see what he meant by that…
"Are you sure? Why did you try to –
"Yah!" She grabbed his arm, but for some reason regretted it later.
"Let me go! Heeey!" Miles it felt, but it was only a few blocks and the park was right there. The moon above the August - time lake as he let her onto a bench to sit, and to talk.
"I know you guys, you run your operations from out of Jump City." He went for two seconds to grab some water for the both of them from a lone vending machine. She was too dizzy to run, and her last chance had come at no later a time than tonight to be caught red handed.
"So, what is this school of yours' like?" He went through a bottle all too quickly, then running to get another which Jinx stared aimlessly at her share, he decided to drain the leak first. Nature called.
"Then, aren't you going to arrest me?" She blurted back out, finally fed up with him, "ghosting" her questions. He came back and seemed to be unable to grasp the question. Or, his attitude needed a fixin.
"I want you to vent first, we can talk maximum cell time after, promise." He ran off to bring her one more thing.
That had her eyes pop. "How'd you know I was –
Just as she'd realized; his powers of deduction were spot on as Jinx's stomach let out a groan and a growl, to indicate that she'd skipped a few extra calories from some late night theft attempts with her…Teammates.
"They punished you and didn't give you any food? What kind of fri-
"I wasn't really in the mood to go out and….We don't live like the big bad Lex or even Penguin. We have to get by on our own." She explained. " I got kicked out last time; we lost to the Titans….You're probably aware that they even exist –
" Kinda. Wanna bite?" Wally shoved a gas station sandwich into Jinx's hands. "When did you?" Her stomach protested, and so she took the meal to quietly contemplate how she'd find a way back to her haunt with the others…
Later, he was really nosy for a hero. But, kind of considerate for a weirdo in a onesie.
/
"And so, from what I've gathered; the Jinx in our time is inherently supposed to go hero – but…..It's tricky –
"I know how to get through to the witch, but to get back as Slade for giving us a grade for the exam we were forced to partner up for and lose anyway? I'll be the first to say that we weren't thinking. But…" She bit her lip and rubbed her arms. "I don't want the world to end, so I'll help.'
"She'd not last a day inside the demon's head!" Constantine shook his, frustratingly so.
"What other heroes can you summon –
"I can help!" Jinx shot out, exclaiming that her worth went back generations as a dark sorceress.
"My magic is hereditary. What I can do is sense a presence or even gain insight by the natural occurrences on earth -
"Almost telepathically?" M 'Gann asked from the door with Conner and Wonder girl to assist.
"No, power spots. The places that exist outside of conscious knowing to regular people. I know how to find out…. How things will be for us."
~Precognition. ~ Manhunter nodded. ~ You could sense how Trigon's rule has spread –
"But, can you summon up an army to bite him in the arse?" Constantine frowned. "If you're only power is not at close range, the you must be hiding why they call you "bad luck."
"I can deconstruct, levitate and warp your tiny pea brain if I wanted to, but I'm not trying to mess with you. I really think I could –
"You? A real temptress-
"I'm not! See? This is why being a hero for anyone but YOU is, so exclusive!" Her voice rang true, as Diana agreed. "Give Jinx a chance, John." She nudged him to stop picking on kids like a bastard.
"If we want em' done for, you'll be best with an army." Snuffed the irritated wizard.
"Or Trigon's is gonna best our sorry carcasses back to Bedrock." (Cartoon joke since hanna – barbara is akin to dc crossovers.)
/
Later, Barry had reason to find out something else he'd come to discuss. About his mentor, and the fight at the lab. To him, he'd not realized WHO they'd been forced to let flee, what the perp would become in recent decades.
"Even the Speed - force can't save me now." Sighed Wally, as he headed off to where his mentor's recovery process had finally gone underway.
Right outside the Watchtower's med bay, Barry was hulled up on a hospital bed in a white gown, with flowers by his bedside table. Wally chuckled at the picture, and hoped it was that outlandishly simple; but, it never was for them.
Real world laws; tragedy was the only teacher to both hero and villain, alike.
He took a breath, and prepared the worst to wash over him, as the doors slid back…
He was…Lying with a beeping monitor to Barry's right. His IVs still dripping around the clock. Wayne's symbol and logo touched every part, besides S.T.A.R labs' goods. That was a part of their teamwork…And, now?
Where was Bruce? Barry? Ollie? Slade had taken out the men who could stop him….But not the others. Not his enemy's family. They were alive. Deathstroke had not gotten far enough to finish the job –
"W…allace….." Barry Allen looked over, blearily at the door and at his nephew's crying eyes.
"Uncle Barr…..I'm right here…" Wally wiped away his pain and went over to the man, who was ready to tell him about it all.
Slade and the nanos.
Robin going rogue on a tight leash, afraid to run and call for help.
Raven and Batman getting to know Trigon before his eventual coming.
Martian Manhunter; seeing Slade in Ollie's skin, or vice versa.
A take over that no one could reverse, but time could be rewound to see it into nothingness.
It could all be changed, with enough hope.
And enough sacrifice…
"We…did it…The device…. not, big….here…." He pointed to something in a duffle bag by his bedside. He wanted Wally to go over, so he did.
Inside the bag, was a shiny metallic pocket watch. It looked to house the secrets of all the known universe.
"Tricking….him…ugnh….Would require…. stealth…." Wally listened and took notes.
"To Slade, pride is everything. Robin, was to get rid of Bats…...And he did… Got rid, of us…Superman…..Ollie…Roy? How…. how is he doing?"
He groaned and sat up, as Wally helped his uncle to take a moment to talk.
"What didn't you know about Deathstroke's plan, uncle? Was Bats on his trail since the break in? you never told me; that you fought him, the device…. Why'd you let it go?"
"To save, you…. he threatened, to kill you. Bombs in the chests, of his robots…. big. Bit of a…liar…. never came to pass.." He lay back a bit, the Nanos were relentless in their take over as well. He had his healing, but it would take time.
"Did you even get him tracked? What happened? I did something stupid too, since we're letting our skeletons out of the closet…I enlisted Jinx from the H.I.V.E to help. I'm getting more Titans to –
"Wallace, you don't know…. Trigon is…. All seeing. That won't be enough…. Magic can defeat magic (Haha! Jackie Chan Adventures, Great line!) You need a real supernatural…Cough! *…Cough!*…." Barry turned his head and then went for a box of tissues.
Blood on them, to not show to his nephew. The bots were that light of an ulcer. He didn't want the big C. No…no need to panic….
"Uncle B…. What is Slade trying to do besides keep us out of his business? I don't get his motives; but he wanted revenge on Ollie and he got it. Bruce too, and you…..Who else has to go down to make this guy stop? We'll be at this all –
"TIME." Coughed the hero as he leaned over a bit. "I talked to Zatanna's father…...A few times, we found…time magic can work with…. techno – magic…so we…..made a relic of our own….basic….modern alchemy….sorry….." He chuckled, then coughed again into the tissue wad.
"She, can help…...Jinx too, if she's willing…. cough!*… to lay down her contempt as a villainess…. in training."
"I want her to be a Titan." Kid said. "She's stronger than she's treated as in her school at the H.I.V.E academy. I want to help anyone I can, but we can't be so judgy about –
"You like her…I saw how much of a fuss you'd put up with…...that time, after the battle. Heck…cough cough…...you went…. to your room to brood. Sounds…... like your friend?"
"Rob? Speedy? Wah, well, yeah! I'm not a robot!"
"No. You're a hero and my own…...flesh n' blood, kiddo…If I….Don't get treatment enough later, I need you to be ready –
A lump in his throat would not seem to dissipate. Wally tried to be brave, it just hurt to want to.
"If this, time can be returned…. cough*…. to the time after Slade's defeat BY the Titans…...or somehow…. Then, unless I perish here, I want you to ride out my legacy as the new…. Flash…. You can do it. I know it….…you've got heart…Determination. Don't let anyone say otherwise…"
"Barr? Uncle…. Un…. Barry!?... Barry!" He was out again, and Diana heard the scream as the monitor went dark on that dark, dark day in time.
Wally did pledge it, on his uncle's deathbed.
He'd return to the Titans' present, and stop Slade's deal from ever happening.
As the next to wear red, and the blood of his enemies against his heart.
/
"I see, one is dead…That's a pity…."
Richard was still beside his master, but he couldn't focus on what was worse. That Trigon had redecorated the Manor of Wayne's every time he came to visit, that Lex had decided to become loyal to Slade's army of demons andd fire creatures without souls to save his own skin from the end of the world.
Raven had gone to prepare with Trigon their initiation into the leaders of a new world order, while Richard and Slade stayed cozy and harassed Pennyworth to no end.
"I'd bring in Wintergreen, but you've never met. Nor should you, I think." Slade didn't want Robin getting by, since that part of his apprentice was dead.
Dick was working on a project he'd been told to, but he saw the monitor with the league, titans' vitals and his own, and the bots…
Had taken someone out. That's why Slade was celebrating from the background. Messing with Batman's gadgets and gizmos…
"I'm done with it, Master Slade."
"Thank you, apprentice. The sword is well sharpened, are you sure you've never used one? I think what you told me in the dojo…that was a lie –
"No, sir." Richard gulped and felt the collar around his neck, twinge. Nearly not enough, to make a difference.
"I have sharpened…. Bruce's…. batarangs, which is why this is sort of no big deal fo –
"It should be." Slade stood up from his seat at the large computer, knowing Richard was going to lose his grip if he acted too brash too soon.
If Robin did not exist, then Batman could not either.
He instead paced over to the table where the rangs were stationed. Some in pieces, others…
Still whole.
"What did your last mentor do for a living…" He carefully picked one of his rangs up and studied it.
Listening for the boy's simple answer.
"He was a tech…. Technology…." Dick held his skull. He blinked. A -gasp, as if under some sort of curse.
He kind of was…
"Sorry, I don't know…"
"You don't have to." Slade responded coolly.
"I'll be the one to decide for you. The rangs are…. not really, perfect." Dicks' ears perked up at the comment. His eyes fell, as if upset by the comment more than he'd ever been. Just as the delicate poster boy, he could not be anything less than perfect to anyone.
"But we can do better with swords, rather than these toys, which hold you back. Would you finally like to impress your master, Dick?"
Slade turned to his simple – minded protégé, as the bots didn't need to work for Dick to say;
"Yes Master, as you wish."
"Very good, now. Bring out the ones by the evidence cave, there. That one."
A katana from decades old, Dick acted as if it could shock him down when he saw it. He looked over his shoulder, Slade's patient manner was stretched. He was afraid to push anymore…
"Are, you –
"That is what I want you to bring." Slade said this as thoroughly clear a he could. "Bring it to me, now."
"Yes, Master…" Dick nodded and knew the combo, the lock as if….
~No... Master Slade is already upset. I can't make him angry. I can't lose it…~
What was it? Lose what?
Something was breaking the control on Dick's mind. What, though? Slade saw over where the child had paused, a mindless drone would not do…
A titan?
Raven's influence?
Trigon?
Or…
Constantine.
Slade squinted from a few feet off. He came up to Richard and decided to give the collar some juice.
~It responds with intense emotion. The Roman Pact is in sight; but the only way to keep it working non – stop, is through torment at each time the spell breaks. Through mean that will tug and tear at the heartstrings and mind. ~
"We need to talk."
Slade took the sword from Dick's hands and watched the boy's eyes go wide.
He was getting close to breaking free.
~Shit. Batman has trained you well…So sorry that it has to end like this…~
"I have to dive inside your mind, something is wrong –
"Ah...I'm sorry! Did I screw up, again?" Dick lowered his eyes and then raised them; practically begging his master to mean well in some way.
"No." Slade stopped the boy. "Begging to know the answer, won't save you. You are just a bit confused; I want to remedy this quickly before it spreads. Will you let me in, apprentice?"
~For the pact to seal as it should, he has to consent, or the deal is nullified by the sacrifice's say so. No matter how much I take him in body, his mind is still guarded from me. This is the only way to break that hold, to regain my heir from his web within the past. Fates be damned, as long as Raven is absolutely gone…I still have a chance not to blow it…~
"Sir…Are you, are you sure? I feel like…. –
"You don't need to feel anything…." Slade pulled up his mask a bit to show the boy how serious this matter was.
"You just need to give me a reason to help you...Will you? Dick?"
"I…"
"Fighting will only make the pain in your head, unbearable…"
Slade threw the switch, and the bots came to life in the form of a full blown, migraine. Sickly as all, Dick used both hands to cradle his skull.
"Hurts…agh...Stop…. this…...Master!..."
"Let me in, boy. You need me. I can help…" He took the kid's shoulders as he kept the boy from falling into his arms again.
Slade had Robin on the ropes, he could win over his protégé for a lifetime of rules and contracts. He could have what he'd decided to claim when first having met the Bat's new Boy Wonder…
"Y-ye….
~DON'T
The word was there, protecting him. Dick's eyes grew out of the trance's ulterior effect. Raven, and Constantine had left a little present for Slade to find –
The almighty Deathstroke riled back as the bots' effects died with that glare in his own eye, just a hotly boiling over as a steaming pot of trouble on the fire.
Slade coughed, and picked himself up from the ground.
~ Magic…damn it! ~
He staggered over to the computer chair, and breathed out fire through his lungs.
"They bested me…Damn…" Grumbled the killer, who'd been humiliated by monsters far worse…
Dick gasped and tried to be cooperative, to help his master from the ground…
"Master…I'm…s –
Slade went to the bat's computer, and SMASHED the dashboard with a cry out in anger. Anguish, for a hopeless bunch of…. sorcerers had kept him from his prize.
Fizzling sparks set the machine to dim; while hopefully, it could be fixed later. Ah, for his will was unbreakable once bent out of shape. He seethed to be back in control. He craved it - to dominate his opponent like never before…
"You've gotten to this point, apprentice…" Slade thought and smoothed over his anger quickly. Dick stood in shock before the man.
Frightened lamb….
This tiger had to clean its fur a bit.
"Master –
"You are a living weapon, just like me." Slade directed his eye to the dashboard's destroyed wreck of a platform - for evil of any kind had a weakness. Richard followed over and understood why Slade had told the boy not to use his meta – human abilities too often. Madness was the take – away. Falling to it, or using it…as….
Pure rage.
"We're going to harness it, your rage this time."
Dick opened his mouth to speak, then shut it quickly. Not yet.
"You've been on the sidelines, long enough. I'm going to teach you, how to become…Unbreakable."
He'd be broken, he had…hadn't he? But, then why were they still here...
Slade had to lower his guard, work on the boy's body –
Weaken the mind…Break their control. Have the power to attack, head – on.
A bit rogue of a feeling, but Slade knew he'd be guaranteed a victory by the boy's ongoing withdrawal into the past he'd let go of.
Or would, eventually. He'd not take John Constantine's bull - shit excuses. Would you volunteer to go on your own, inside the mind of a victim to get to the source of the "said" prior, complications leading up to the events that left them a vegetable – or, would you hire a professional to do your dirty work, instead?
A demon like Trigon. He could get the boy's other oppressor to listen to reason.
"We'll get started. Go get that sword in the case, there." Slade seemed better now, less dangerous to learn from so Dick nodded. He rushed to find yet another sword that would be suitable. He knocked out the memory of a former "him" in this exact same predicament. Opening the coded case, Dick was only here in the moment. He'd always been.
"Here it is!" Dick didn't run but he wasn't slow about his choice. The blade was bit lighter as well, so he'd be working with it –
"Here –
Slade tossed the one in his hands to Richard, who rushed to grab it and did. Expert shot with a few tools in ….
"Thi…. ah!" He realized that its weight had been near doubled. Was this anti – gravity?
"I thought that going with a challenge would be more thrilling than waving around something you know will work for you. If you're forced to use those powers, you have to know –
Slade changed the lighter blade to his hand as Dick tossed it over, and it stayed light. Slade could remedy that.
Every cell played a part, Dick would learn from the master.
"Do you remember how to start?" Slade dipped the lighter blade lower as he checked its quality. It wasn't any older than the ancient katana in Richard's hands right now. It was, a bit weaker. Just as the metal on the older would be shattered to pieces. Right onto Batman's grave.
"I think so." Dick got into position. Such a fast learner….
"I'm pleased by your progress, apprentice." Slade took to his stance and decided to push for a greater feeling of this self – gratification syndrome he'd had to handle before –
"Richard, who knows? I might even become like a father to you –
Dick's eyes grew something and he unconsciously struck the first blow. Fighting back. After the ceremony, he'd be practically sworn in as Slade's – till death do they part…. For decades to come. Or more.
"I…..already –
Slade went in for the kill before the boy could replay any other past events.
/
Raven's scenario was a bit more peculiar in how Trigon had changed. She knew him as her father, and wanted no ill to come between them. As if she'd been this way her whole life. She'd had a mother, Arella…She'd passed away. Never to be witnessed by her own daughter.
Half – demon.
Princess of an inter – dimensional hell.
And bride to be of the co – sovereign of Earth, Richard Grayson. It was an odd agreement. Trigon was busy gaining souls to take and draw in his power, and he'd made a deal with a meta – human on top of this take over…
Raven didn't understand, but she believed that he'd take their souls as well in the end. A part of her didn't think the deal would last at all.
"Father, am I allowed to meet with my new husband?" She sat in her room so long, that Trigon found it a bore, and had brought the child her own throne to seat beside his. She was small, and was nothing like his kin throughout time. She was half Azarathean and mortal, which meant that her power would one day surpass his own.
He needed her to change for when that day arrived.
She had her same eyes and skin tone as before; he'd told her to wait until the ceremony, then she could mature as her father's right hand to be.
"What are your plans for the earth." Raven asked as Trigon's scowl added to the unneeded tension.
~ I am making the mortals bow, as they should. To your father, the people of this planet have nothing left to cling to. ~
"I understand." Raven nodded and stayed to herself, trying to gather up the memories that had been nagging at the back of her mind.
~ I'm not too sure, daughter. For these rivals now fast, approach…~ He stared intently at the entrance to his throne. A seat at the government building that had been warped to suit; with presidential ordinance as by the law of Lord Trigon; conqueror of worlds, Trigon was not leaving any time soon without his full payment.
Earth's unparalleled destruction was imminent. He would be its undoing. It's - End of the World.
/
While the bots had warned Alfred to stay out of earshot of any security cameras, he'd definitely felt like a prisoner in his own home. Master Dick wasn't aware, but Bruce was still alive, just…Not himself due to the Nano – bots' functions being an impossible lead to break from.
"I must warn Master Dick or another of the League's members about these events…I have little influence here, and this fellow Wintergreen he's spoke so highly of…" The male thought deeply over this concerning matter. This "intel" he'd preserved in a file so engrossed with many of the captor's secrets, that Bruce had not let it out of his mind for a number of years – since the Red – X incident, it wasn't worth the man's time as of right now. However, he'd fled from the heroes, not wishing to be unmasked.
The news of Robin's involvement with the perfect criminal counter – alias; against Slade, or Deathstroke the Terminator as the League recognized the army official gone rogue, was then the start of something vile. And if Bruce could only create a crack in Deathstroke's impenetrable armor, then this Wintergreen fellow and Pennyworth could drink to their master's honest win in peace…
It still boggled him. He was traced like a criminal within the manner, but Alfred had worked in the business of a British Spy in his days, he had some knowing of this predicament. Below the surface, it was a take – over, and not as messy as Slade would have considered his work with an interdimensional demon.
"This Trigon, is…. rather elusive. I fear that keeping his file neatly packed won't only be a challenge for Master Bruce…Should he recover some of his composure." Al shook his head and sat, awaiting his fate in the comfort of the only room that wasn't off limits. The library. "And Master Dick…Oh, I fear he'd just going to prove himself to us both otherwise…Why didn't I persuade the Master –
"You seem to call that man something he's not any longer." One of the Slade bots let his master pass by them in the doorway. The ominous music in Al's head was a jest, compared to the fear he'd felt upon his witnessing Master Bruce's fallen form.
Was he dead? Was he really going to be sent to an interdimensional realm as collateral?
In the large library, the butler had been left to groan. Or so Slade had expected of his other captive, but he'd now realized his faults there.
"You're capable of starting trouble for me. I promised earlier not to harm you. My apprentice seems to still, keep you in his thoughts…."
Slade's mask was the same, but his suit had become more dangerous to gaze at than the grey ensemble had been from Jump City California. He looked to be in all a shudder over Robin's relation to the butler within his stronghold. Also, if family was taboo, here to the killer it was treason to speak of an older one in the man's presence.
~ He's possibly wanted to be praised; just like any, war criminal. How unattractive. Yet, he won't let his guard down around anyone but our young master, Dick… ~
"Your time in the manor is waning, shortly. I spoke to Trigon, and he thinks your loyalty should be, within a change of hands –
"I won't be traded off as if my life is for naught." The butler proudly said what he had to. "Master Dick and Master Bruce alone, are the only people that may rip up my contract; yet I would inform you, that I am bound to this household by a strict promise I made to Mr. Wayne – prior to this, disappointing travesty –
"Disappointing?" Slade threw his head to tilt it back in mockery of the other man's goading.
He chuckled.
"The fact that your master's ward is now my pet, my protégé, or that the world is overtaken by demons because the Bat failed to stop my plans?" Slade was grinning below the confines of the iron mask.
Somewhat hotly, he'd not hesitate to show his darker side.
Al puffed out his chest, still bent on keeping himself alive for his allies to find. "Unholy this predicament may be to us, yet the Justice League will save Gotham and the rest of the world that Trigon has sullied through his conquest of it. I can assure you, that we will not be the first, nor last to lose all hope –
"What about some of it? That hope?" Slade decided to do something that might be too soon to manage.
Dick had to cut ties, and what better way than to participate in breaking the bat's smug foot soldier in the shadows; Pennyworth?
Someone, not unworthy of such praise to the mad man's allegiance. Not like Bruce would come back his old self any time soon, he didn't even know the whole story.
Bruce was dead, but Trigon would have his soul. That was the payment between them.
That bullet was in hi chest, and it was making him a puppet as they spoke, to another.
A fossil. Unlike him.
He used his unit to call to Dick from the cave, instead of via their telepathic link. Constantine could come after them if he did, yet Slade did not want he or Dick too up in arms, before Lord Trigon's ceremony was to take place.
Pennyworth still relented, "You're bluffing. The boy is in pain as it is! Do not treat him as a test subject, or he will surely break in any way you'd have seen fit - of any other, average human being he is not as you say. He is a boy. You are going to get him killed by your reckless antics!"
"Had he been human to begin with, maybe I would have been softer on him." Slade shrugged and spoke through the hidden mic in his suit and mask.
"Apprentice; come to the library in the east wing at once. Don't make your master wait."
The boy must have paused, for the crackle came through as he replied to Alfred's shock.
~Yes, master Slade. I'm on my way. ~
"Such obedience." The man purred as the link was shut off before those words could reach the boy's ears. Only Slade and Alfred knew it. An obsession that had gone too far. A failure, and now…
Perfect? Slade was a demented soul that belonged to Trigon…. HE should be wed to the demon, instead!
"What have you done to him, Deathstroke?" Gulped the elderly male up at the man's other face. So akin to envy and rage that it left a bilious . He was taken by the threat. Good. Having him in the grave beside the Bat's mommy and daddy would be a fitting end to witness for the Bat's current ward.
He needed to know that his connections would remain dead, like this glance he gave to the older butler, Pennyworth.
"I've given him a new purpose; he'll be in consummation with the Daughter of Lord Trigon to secure our outpost here on earth, very soon. He'll be a real prince, and you? The fool." Slade spitefully added.
"Unless, you'd rather end this farce and submit before my apprentice, reconsiders keeping you in his sights?" Slade was being generous? Was it out of pity? Or something else? Alfred sat, twitter-pated and plain baffled by the swap…
In the killer's demeanor.
The man twisted the words of his victims, perspectives and minds with that brain of his. That ego he shouldered so well…
Something Bruce would have labeled, as a dirty tactic.
Filthy, was more Slade's style.
Previously a blood soaked killer, he'd decided to steal what he wanted, with the time he had left to built his ugly legacy from the ground up.
He had zero ties, or was his connection here in Gotham made to preserve the lives of himself and only Master Dick?
"I am going to pledge myself to my true friend and Master, until my time has come. I won't fear your treachery, it is only thus. Bruce is not as dead as you say; you seem to be keeping your pupil in the dark –
"He knows, but won't care. Bruce is what he recalls, not Batman. Robin is dead, and he is the one who won't be joining in this fight."
Slade turned to his unit. Growing cross.
"APPRENTICE. NOW."
He spoke a bit louder in tone as the boy soon opened the door to the room, with his eyes as wide as someone who'd been chased by spooks.
"I'm here…..Master…I…..Sorry..." Dick wore the outfit that suited him as Slade's apprentice. He took to this as if he cared for only the outcome, but stranger still…He did not wear a mask. His eyes looked to be bloodshot to the butler, yet Slade was remedying the after effects of the serum that Dick had worried about before he'd turned into a true drone.
"Master Dick…." Rasped the older gent with a barely, sad shake of his head.
His mask- less eyes seemed to peer back, emotionless to the older male. As if, only ready to take the hit.
To do as he was told without question.
Alfred knew how soldiers looked in their traumatic states. This was that same glance he'd pieced together, and he was not calm about it once he knew the truth, from Robin's deadly shaded blue orbs.
"Come here, don't apologize." Slade commanded the boy, who had no choice but to obey as he never once groaned on his two weakened legs.
"What has happened to you, Master Dick? You cannot be in cahoots with this wanted criminal - I disapprove on all accounts, as does master –
"Say another word, and we will just have this chat rescheduled for tomorrow, Pennyworth."
Dick gasped by how his master was losing in on this balding gent…. Who was he?
"Nameless?" Slade turned to the boy, who was lost in thought until his name had been uttered –
"Dick!"
"Anh, sorry...Sorry, Master Slade…I …"
"It's alright. Come over here." Richard did as he was told as Slade draped a stray arm around the boy's shoulder. Alfred looked like a hot pepper ready to become jam. This display was beyond anything he could place of it.
"I have something for your mission; I've decided to let this fine gentleman join in a little, game of sorts." He splayed his hand out to show the man in his primtive state – a regular rebel in defeat. Alfred turned up his nose to the mockery of his title.
"Game?" Still a bit dazed for the reason of his bound Roman Pact, (sorry if it sounds the same as the peace contract. Not the same!) Richard was unable to comment so far.
Alfred "almost" snorted back. This was beneath him, however he reprimanded his two captors; not being Dick AS the captured, mind him.
Alfred sputtered worriedly. "Are you mad!?" He exclaimed and felt frailer than he'd felt in a long while.
"Quiet." Slade hissed at the elderly butler, right in the eye no less. Al shuddered, nerver having guessed this could happen to him. Well, the batman had by far made infiltratino by any criminal mind into the manner, th faintest of a reality he'd faced doozens of times. A hot spot for anyone's guess, the Manor qas their first safe haven in all of Gotham, no more...
Yet, to Robin's case, Slade was delightfully quaint and lowered his voice to remain softer, as a person of interest would feel safer in the arms of a loving soul. Or a seedy manipulator from the depths of the criminal underworld. Yet his soul was….
Not a completely tainted one.
"We'll simply…. play a simple version of "Simon says. Doesn't that sound interesting?"
The rebel shouted out, the old man had regained his glory days as a freedom fighter. Lovely.
"Absolutely not! I won't let this continue any further. Release Master Dick, at once...Mr. Wilson! –
"Then, would you like to join the Wayne family, in the ground, right about now?" Slade shot at the butler, finding him to be a nuisance instead of being even mildly entertaining. Fools were supposed to be laughed at. It was their job. And Wilson was currently out of the office. Death would do, instead.
"You'll have your chance to change all of this, so do reconsider…...Master Robin…" Begged the butler, as he watched the boy's masked eyes register the information slowly.
"Who?" Slade imitated an owl as Dick looked completely unamused by the strange title. As if…
Oh god…...
He didn't know…...Al went pale.
"You said before, that Robin…was….no longer, with us…" Dread soon filled Pennyworth's voice as he asked his question.
"Dead he is, and yes. Yet, he's not the same. Nameless, exists where Robin does not."
"Nameless? Are you not facing your own identity crisis, Mr. Wilson?" Scoffed the gent in denial at this point, or so they thought possible.
"Bruce let you read up on my file." Slade shrugged. "Yet, no matter." Slade readied for the game to start as Richard stretched a bit, as if knowing what was going to happen to them both in a few minutes.
"I'll start the clock, we'll begin –
"Why, I never! -
"Simon says…." Slade started to speak over the man's barking out. "Stand on one leg."
Alfred was speechless. What was Deathstroke hoping to do? Tire the old man out?
Robin did so as he was ordered, and with such grace of a child raised by acrobatic marvels.
"Very good." Slade looked over the boy, as if a pedophile from the skeleton closet.
"Now…. Simon says, trip yourself."
"I don't see what this may accomplish –
"Aren't you willing to save what's left of your young Master, Pennyworth?' Slade raised a brow as Dick attempted to do as he was expected of this silly game.
"Trip…. on one leg, break my fall? My head would go into –
Slade glared at Dick, who simply stopped long enough to "still" his independent nature.
"I'm not going to ruin myself so that you may prove your power over me is real. I'll pass."
"First strike, three and you are out, prmanenetly."
That had Al gulp, but he too to standing up. Anything that would his legs was out. Slade knew that.
"Now, will you continue to drag out our fun?" Slade turned to Richard, who was still just as shocked by the image in his head. But...
The boy shook his head, despite his brain saying to avoid this mindless beat - down maneuver. He wasn't. This had to be done.
Dick made sure to trip and fall as the scrape to his knees made the teen yelp out, and seethe through unevenly clenched teeth. Dick shook. He soon after, got up and pretended that he was alright. Still in a slight wince, a light wobble.
A truly, brainwashed soldier, how was this going to end? Alfred was helpless to this torture. However… Wasn't Richard now imbued with Slade's same meta – human, healing abilities?
"I've reduced the potent effects of the serum for only a few minutes, he'll be beaten and the bruises will show by this game until one of you quakes."
Richard nodded and awaited his next order with a wince, all while Alfred looked up in disgust and could not comprehend what was about to come right before his sights.
Dick's pain.
His scars, and…
A boy's lost faith in recalling a proper and average future, home...
/
"Simon says, punch yourself in the stomach, hard."
Dick blinked.
"But, Master –
"Do it, or this won't just be his punishment. I told you not to make me wait. Do, it. Now, Apprentice.
Richard's eyes fell below the domino mask as he relented, helplessly engrossed in his promise.
"Yes, Master. As you wish…" With a swift hit to his abdomen, a strand of saliva passed by the boy's awe stricken and gutted lips.
He'd knocked the wind clean out of himself, falling to his knees with a painful wheezing and coughing.
Alfred would have been amazed, had he not been so horrified. He did the same, but he did not kill himsefl over it. Slade seemed to prefer this tactic, so that Robin could suffer longer than Pennyworth could anticipate.
The game only made things far worse between them. He was slowly going to kill Alfred Pennyworth, while Dick healed from only minor scratches and a patchwork of bloodied streams upon his back. Later, the boy would participate in a new game for the bedroom only. Slade felt his adrenaline pump by so much power. It was a thrill...Yes it was...
"Simon says…. bite your hand, for ten seconds."
"I won't resort to this sort of tomfoolery!" Coughed the butler as he'd not hit himself as hard as Dick had his own stomach.
"Suit yourself. You'll kill off the Bat's pride. What a horrible man you are, Al –
"I am sure Master Dick also finds this to be –
"Master Dick!? Let go of yourself, at once! Come to your senses, oh my! You, can't be serious? Deathstroke! Take back your order, please! –
Dick HAD bitten down on his warm flesh; as he let his wrist bleed, seeping out onto the wooden floor panels of the library. He, would do anything, madness had consumed his logic! Fear….And his face red and white, as if logic and lust were there. Slade's bots made the pain feel like a tickle. Dear god...
And a part of his mind was teetering on terrified for his own life, and someone's…
Still, Dick was only temporarily rewired like a machine. Slade held the logic button on sleep mode until it benefited him to let the boy out.
"I've lost you…...Sir…..No…Not this…" Al felt tears prickle past his wrinkled vision.
He bit, but not as harshly to his own hand, for ten seconds.
Mind games. All of it.
"And now, punch yourself in the face –
"Right, I know this; you didn't say Simon so…. Master Dick! What are you?! –
"He's given an order, and performs it without fail." Slade praised the boy's move as Dick socked himself in the face, even if it did not mean he'd won this game. "You can spare yourself, but your allies?" Slade looked over them in his favorite pose. A decorated war mogul.
"They all belong to me now…"
Dick coughed and wiped a smear of blood from his nose. He wasn't sure, but Slade needed him to face his demons, this man was one of them. He'd just untie this knot, let it hang freely of its own volition.
"Ready, Master..." Slade's pupil had that word on speed dial. From memory, he'd never forget. Slade nodded. Alfred gulped and tried to look away from Dick's marred features as they were stitched up by meta – D.N.A infusions and a few cheap tactics to keep him obedient.
"Good boy...Next round…. Simon –
/
~ We can't be too sure. ~
~ Yet, we can't just run away…I lost my friends inside that...haunted house! ~ He was talking, lauging at his pain...to his shadow? Dick felt initially powerless as he floated about the space inside his head.
~ I told you…. not to let him in. ~
~Not to…I... let him…. let him…I didn't ...I didn't, LET HIM –
An echo, obscuring the true face's wants to him, for he to listen to its message.
~Let him save us, put us away. I don't' want to lose anyone else. I'm going to take it all…All of the hurt that he can throw at me. All of that pain, I want to…want….to…..want to sav –
~You're not going to end it quietly. ~ The shadow interrupted Dick , as it made hinm face his fears head - on. The pain was an escape. It wasn't an answer to his problems. Not a solution.
Dick looked over to a second character in a pointlessly blood red outfit and a mask that adorned his face. The person, was decorated in fathers as black as soot.
It was, an omen? Or the past self he'd lost…. what?
~Why are you dragging me away from my, Master Slade? I wasn't able to –
~You don't have it in you to kill. ~ The figure stated this clearly. ~ He'll only try to force you to go against HIS principals. The man that raised us; was not just Bruce Wayne. You won't know, not until you stop Trigon from doing his worst to your time –
After that lecture, brainwashed Dick protested. Slade wasn't the true enemy? ~He's saving us! I have to stay…Raven…that girl…. She needs someone to watch over –
~Shut up. That's your mashed - up mind trying to trick you. ~ The entity with his face spat back.
~Raven was our friend, and now she's sold out by us….by you. A Nameless? Don't you even remember what Starfire said about the festival she warned the Titans about? "Blorthog? The Forgotten? Drifting apart? You are just creating a time paradox and when Slade takes us to his paradise, we'll never be able to escape it. Trigon may be all powerful here, but Slade in your real time actually lost against that demon in a fight…. In...This time, Slade is going to steal Trigon's magic and use it to not let our time as his apprentice, escape from him again. You can't be here, forever. You have to trust me, if not yourself...! Trust that, butler. You can't let Slade, no matter what, inside your mind. Raven is still protecting us…You have to fight and win! ~
Dick couldn't speak, but he did somehow. ~Fight…. But, Master Slade! –
~Whether it's Bruce or Slade, you have to choose. Will you follow them, or lead your own army? ~ The feathered and decorated anti – face in his mind crossed its arms and tried to be firm, to be the leader.
A leader he'd….
Winds so strong pulled the figure in feathers up to reveal what had lain beneath his visage; the mask however, had stayed.
A boy is a costume that looked to be brighter than his own. His face was also clear and no such subtly behind it could be so striking as staring down a person so pure in presentation alone…
While the real Dick…Curled into himself, as if shaken by this daunting blow.
That, had been him…. he saw it…But, it still made no sense…. Why? Why was he –
~APPRENTICE. ~
The world turned gray again, as the figure in green and red dispersed into thin air. Dick opened his eyes, only to recall that he was not wearing a mask.
/
