Teen Titans; Epilogue Story – Prologue; Rewind – Chapter 14: A Kick in the Pants
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Dick had less time to crunch the numbers. Star….and Al! They were all…
~App… ssshhrrrrrrre…. n…. tssshhhhrrrrrrrr …….c…o…. shhhrrrrmmm...e….in!~
Slade's going to blow my cover!
Dick crawled over to the bed; his body scrunched beneath it as he kept the units in his ears and let his boot dismantle the sparking contraptions. Sorry, but Star needed to know everything.
I was ok…I wasn't gone…but now the Titans…. how do I –
"This was his…. "room" to be bedded –
"Ah, abode, is more like it…" Gar rubbed the back of his neck and tried to steer Kori from that selection of words. His room was a classic pad. The entire space had been cared for in the teen's absence, and nothing looked out of sorts. It was almost as neat and tidy as Richard's place back at…the tower…
B's ears drooped as the memories started to hurt his good spirits.
"He grew up with Mr. Wayne, so this must be his childhood safe haven." Starfire spoke in a hopeful voice, expecting to find something, anything to clue her in on Robin.
"We can't expect a ghost to pop out…" Wally zipped in and started to snoop. Starfire gasped and pointed at the speedster worriedly. "You must not desecrate anything within this home! I will not tolerate the ruining of our dear fr –
"Yet, you wanna be able to know too, right ?" Wally grinned up at her as he tugged out a stuffed animal from a chest at the foot of Dick's bed. It was a lion with a collar around it that said "Courage." Richard's flashback of the timeless item made his ears redder than Star's face.
Martyr immediately cloaked himself properly, setting his mental watch quietly for when he'd have to leave them behind. Slade couldn't come here. Raven still needed help to escape…
"Oh!" Starfire floated over to an image that was tucked away in the other corner of Robin's darkened room. Wally switched over to find a light, and the nearest lamp came to mind before the bat's kid's bed. Dick bit his lip, not wanting to growl if his cover was –
"Was this, Robin's family before moving into the "Wayne's family home?" She had found it…it wasn't as easy to spot, but she had. Dick lowered his face to hide his shame, even with the extra cloaking tech to shield them from finding out. That he was more than sorry, but fearful that this couldn't last.
Not like Slade's apprenticeship. If Trigon came to Earth, Slade would take his power. He'd be trapped working for…for….
His nose wriggled as a speck of dust made its move. Dick covered his nose, but his elbow bumped the bed's wooden base with a light thump.
Bb's ears picked up the vibrations as he went and became a basset hound, sniffing too close to where the noise might have originated from. Dick held his breath, his nose still twitching, but his idea of a ghost…
He couldn't face them. They'd be killed if Slade caught hold of the situation.
His tech at full max, Dick scurried backwards on his belly. His nosy teen dog – friend had found the same dust bunnies and woofed out an " achoo," before reverting back to Beast boy's near teenaged self.
"Whoa! Al missed a spot… choo!" Sneezing back the rest, the worst was yet to follow. Dick crawled towards the window, realizing his hood was falling loose over his neckline. He ignored it, but then another came to join them.
Cy's eye could detect even ghosts, and it was far superior to Slade's black magical presence.
The Titan second – in- command's one eye grew wide as he rushed in, seeing what the others could not. Bb became a bat and shrieked, finding the target thanks to Cyborg's second sight and direction. The window was there, he just had to –
"Robin!"
Suddenly, her voice rang out. As if a spell on this magical night for the prince to avoid a tough crowd, the cloaked form fell away to reveal him; as himself. As a Martyr.
Eyes tirelessly deciding on what to do next, Cy and Star leapt onto the teen's limbs, dragging him back into this room full of his childhood anguish.
"NO! STOP! YOU CAN'T!! –
"WE ARE NOT GOIN' AFTER YOUR SORRY BUTT ALL OVER THIS CITY, ROBIN! PLAY TIME IS OFFICIALLY UP!"
"NO! PLEASE! HE'LL KILL YOU! PLEASE….! I. CAN –
"NO!" Starfire came from behind to pull Robin's back toward her. She hugged him in aN effort to break through.
"He cannot hurt ANYONE…. Raven will be alright…. you must trust in –
Dick's body grew stiff against he, falling apart at that decree. No wishing could undo the past.
"THIS ISN'T ABOUT TRUST! TRIGON! PLEASE…. R……RAE! I have to stop him!!" He flipped her away and to the floor with the meta – powers Dick had earned as the mad man's test subject for months. She wasn't safe…. he'd find –
"No way –
From the doorway, Speedy drove an arrow to "net" the teen as he shocked the brat into submission. Starfire looked up at the archer with eyes angriest for Roy's brutal use of force. "What are you doing to him??? He is not evil! –
"I'm making sure he can't go back to the one who is."
Speedy nodded to Wally, who backed down from this fight.
Sighing, Cy frowned and tried to check if Dick had suffered by the shock. His wounds were already cleared up by the serum…
"We have to get him over to Mr. Wayne's –
Roy shook his head and lowered his arrows away from the target.
"They went to the big man's office, setting up some bait there. Johnny's –
"He isn't here either." KF made the heroes blink as his swish meant that he'd double checked the cave.
"I…might have peeked while Speedy was talking…. a little?" He squinted and nervously chuckled widely.
Guiltily.
"So, we have no body guards against…" Bb's teeth chattered, "D- did i- I – it j - -
" Move !" Dick shouted to his team. Too late. Their distraction had already breached the manor's walls.
Cold seeped in as Starfire rubbed her arms, seeing that Robin was not…. fazed as much…?
"W – what – is………g- g- gu???" Cy felt his teeth chatter as much as his teammate's youngest. The window to Robin's room had frost collecting around its edges; inch by inch, from the outside.
IN.
A fabled breath of cold snuck inside as an icy ridge appeared to allow someone to step through the window only just. Its eyes were red, and body as blue and white as frost bite. Behind it were more sets of eyes, all glowing as the sun had begun to go down. Richard felt his blood turn to ice with the uninvited intruder and its eerie companions.
"Playtime though, is never through, children…Now…. let us inside to greet the Man of the house!" A second voice introduced itself as its face made Dick's barely masked orbs quake. The cooler, first figure did not grin, yet raised a heavy piece of machinery. A gun, and with a cold shoulder, it turned Robin's childhood abode into a frozen wasteland.
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Going to build suspense; shorter chapters, only for a bit. Right now the Arkham crowd has a side proect,and Martyr broke curfew. Slade just can't resist ruining his kids' lives, huh. Read on and stay curious for more!