Teen Titans; Epilogue Story – Prologue Rewind; Chapter 18: A Broken Part of Me
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The suit wasn't all that had filled the boy's head with countless, endless lying thoughts. Another figure, and a worried one had stepped into the warehouse with them. His cape swept across the floor as he went, flying and on the scene in a much quicker span of time than Slade had expected of the pissed off bat.
Slade dipped his gaze towards the bat and had Robin behind him. It wasn't to make amends that the crying rodent was here – he wanted to have the man on his knees. Praying for a resolution.
Slade grinned below the face he clung to. Robin could stand by; he was a victim until he left the shadow of his former mentor.
A plan formed and Slade rolled with "it."
"I asked you a question, Batman. Were you ever partners, unofficially? Because it looks to me, like your little bird has preferred going solo –
"I won't play your games, Wilson." Batman spat at the villain's smug face. Robin stayed back as if Slade…
Bruce gritted his fists and took to his rangs while the bluffing crook took to his staff, all the better to shock Bruce with.
And of course, Robin would really want to help the man who'd made him into a hero, but he would be shocked to find how "Robin" wouldn't be aiding the bat.
He'd be too good at forgetting how to block.
Dick watched as a part of himself recalled it well. Bruce would save his "ward" and then the Joker would just cry crocodile tears for having…
Dick ground his hands into fists as his legs built up speed. He could face the man. Getting a hit in wouldn't just fix his mood, it would –
He watched as his three – point barrage nearly had Slade with the advantage.
"Too slow, Bruce…" Slade ducked and a hit from the boy wonder's trembling fist met Bruce's jawline, to cause the male to fall backwards.
Dick's fists shook. He retracted them and felt his head spinning by the contact… he was afraid to run to the man, as if…
~ I…. hurt him….no…no, Slade wasn't…not this soon…. ~
Slade chuckled as he saw that his sly tricks had done their best to confuse the boy blunder a bit.
"Poor heroes…Your relationship was a fragile one at best, though who needs friends when it comes to what's fair in "love and war?" Slade put up his hands, willing to win this fight and plant his seeds deep – as far as they could hope to go in order for Dick to finally find his resolution as just.
Bruce wiped a trickle of blood from his jaw and spat out a taste of metal and saliva. "It matters, but you could never understand what protecting someone really means…." The darker tone made Slade want to spear the rodent, yet he didn't think it was time to bury any dead. He still had a demi – god to groom to perfection after all.
"And you and I are the same about that, Wayne. We can't trust anyone, or else not only our reputations, but the safety of those we care about…" He paused, seeing that this was becoming a lengthier explanation than he'd originally planned. "So? If the boy can't trust you to keep him safe, would he be able to save a city? Could he?" Slade looked to Richard who growled at the man from the side with his hands up defensively. Yet, the growl was softer, less of rage and more denial. Slade knew how to read the boy well, after their time at each other's throats of course.
"If the suit won't show it; what he's capable of becoming, it would mean that you're now less than human, Grayson… You can't be the same hero who this bat weaned on those, sweet words of "peace and justice," He shot out to the man's younger equal. Dick was unable to go to Bruce's side, but he didn't want to see Slade's face. Not his words...he didn't, want to listen. But...
He was right. As Dick's courage nearly faltered in the face of this new trial, Batman rushed over, and gripped the teen's arms, as he tried to take his son from this hypnotic sway that Slade held over the Titan youth.
Slade slipped off, backing away a few steps in silence, and simply waited.
"One… two…" He counted slowly, in a sing – song tone.
The boy's eyes lit up. Good. He was still as mad as Slade could have him.
"No! No! I have to…let me go! Bruce!!"
"There it is…" Slade softly whispered under his breath with a chuckle. "I'll gladly hope to see that fire in you some other time….When you are willing to find your way into the limelight once more. After me…"
There; the drive he'd always carry as long as Slade never grew too soft. His forever enemy was BACK.
Bruce didn't even pay attention as Slade was let to leave with his false "to the dark side" lectures and promises of a better life for his unwilling puppet to follow. Dick certainly wasn't going to come out of this mess all alone, not while he still had a shoulder to cry on.
/
"Let…go! Slade is getting away –
"Stop it, Richard…"
"No…no! He did this! He has to fix it! To… Fix –
"The damage can be fixed, but we can't –
"He lied, Bruce! He didn't do this for power…. he did it, because…. because…" Dick's lip wobbled as his shaking form finally let out a withheld breath.
~It was a challenge, and I fulfilled his want to be entertained. Just an object…I'm…not me… ~
"He…used us…and I let it happen…It was him. Always his…"
/
Raven sensed that they were close, but her eyes ere not what had spotted the one trying to flee the boy's prior fight in the dark of that midday. She turned a corner and had Starfire follow, while Cy and Wally had gotten a lock on Batman's location.
The two groups wouldn't let these events escalate, but Raven knew better than to believe herself powerless. She was not worried about Trigon, but Slade was still as greedy and evil to his core, a contemptuous soul by the likes of one she'd only considered perhaps wiser than Trigon at times, but cunning wasn't all wisdom.
A thief was sly. A king needed wisdom, which Slade could never hope to become.
As Starfire zipped past a stack of crates in the yard, a beam shot out to seamlessly hit one just above the girl's head. She gasped as Raven grappled with her magic reaching the Titan in time, just to block those blasted boxes. A laser. Someone was here, and willing to get rid of them quickly.
"Come out!" Raven shouted to the one hiding in the crate – yard, a sea of wood and metal all in a row. Too many things easily weaponized, here, she seethed. Stafire swiftly checked for any sneaky villains before the rows, plucking up the ones she could lift and even seeing if the –
"Raven!"
The co – leader quickly levitated to find Starfire eyeing a calling card left on the ground.
There laid out was Slade's badge with that metal S engraved across it, and on the piece's, back was an inscription that made the girls' heads both spin.
~ To Better Days Ahead. ~ Was all it mockingly read. Another puzzle, and another villain having escaped trial by Titan.
/
"It's an anagram." Bruce looked over the metal badge as Dick stayed by Starfire with his head down on the dash beside his mentor.
"What does that Annie…. I dunno?" Bb scratched his ear with his back leg as a rabbit.
"I believe that this "puzzle of letters" that The Batman has described will bring us closer to saving –
"I…. don't need saving."
"You do need a shower, though." Sniffed Cy, as he tried to pull Robin out of his serious funk with the light hearted jab.
The boy just groaned and kept his head covered with a blanket; one that Al had handed to him and still, his memories of this manor wouldn't stop increasing with his unbridled guilt. It was almost November, and Gotham was Eastward, frigid winds and the like. It was cold. Period. Still, Robin missed Jump's sunshine the most…
~ Back into the limelight… ~
He hid his drying tears back and shook away those words, just in time for Bruce to pull apart the first part of the mad man's message.
"Aha, here. The words "To Better Days Ahead." Clearing his throat, the Bat got down to business, "This is in two parts, so if we rearrange here…" He brought a slew of different possibilities up onto the screen, as the computer dropped only that which didn't fit the pattern of words that Slade must have been going for.
"We have a match."
Robin slowly let up his arm a bit as he turned his head to see Bruce growing a five o'clock and needing more sleep. He…was still this…. Robin frowned and put his arm back down to block out his "savior's" frowning face.
"The only match that fits here and comes up right away, is "abated stead theory."
"Huh?" Wally looked at the words and squinted at the screen, before shrugging with a half grin. "Don't see the big picture, yet."
"You can't, because that's not the message."
"More, mysteries!" Starfire covered her mouth in awe. "Why does he simply not give you the answer –
Roy had the gist and shook his head. It was easy, for the Batman anyway. "It's not to inform us of some location this time, maybe to warn or…to scare us..." He wondered and rubbed his chin, contemplatively.
"Aha." Cy crossed his arms and nodded. "So, Slade really was…tryin' to go after…"
"I'm leaving –
The heroes all turned to their young leader.
"You're staying right here." Bruce turned his head as Dick's eyes finally met with his mentor's own cowled ones, staring coldly back. Fear was behind the four, of what this criminal could do to their imperfect relationship, and knowing their identities didn't help in the slightest.
"I. Am. Tired." The hero forced out, irritated.
"Then, rest." Bruce's chin pointed to the seat beside him. "I don't want to lose you again."
"You…" Dick suddenly felt his heart harden up; his fists curled at his sides. "You're…just like him…. I'm leav! –
"Starfire!" Batman barked his orders out, quickly. Raven and Cy both were sure to keep Dick from making another unwise mistake, as they also pinned him down, letting Bruce bring together the answer to that damned anagram, courtesy of the now long – gone villain who could apparently fix his protege's body….
When it was his brain that needed to go through the rinse cycle.
"Ahhh!! I don…. wanna…see……!"
~ That is because...you've already solved it. Apprentice. ~
/
The last word lay across one corner of the screen, while in the center stood the masked face of Deathstroke in his more urban, get - up.
"No!" Starfire took Robin close to her as he flailed about, a fish caught in a net. Slade only grinned behind the cloth replica, wearing a more updated addition of his first outer wear as the Terminator in his earlier days. A bit darker and still Black and Orange.
/
"The last word, says, "Shattered."
Bruce let the man hear him as his disgust echoed out. "That's maybe something the Joker would do. Would you care to elaborate for us why you left another hint at the scene of your escape?"
~ Not at the moment, no. I believed you'd keep an eye on my test subject for some time. Actually, I've found good use for the suit's material before. The same Nth metal source has another component that can become fused to the wearer's skin if it is not…properly handled. ~
Roy jumped in, finding they could all be targeted with Slade's knowledge of that sort of tech. "That's called entrapment, Slade. You must have had other motives for doing that if you haven't made your move on Wayne's company just –
~ You think Lex won't pardon my fault on that? We are on much better terms, and I intend to later drive you deep underground to have what I want…However. ~
Slade's eye turned back to a now silenced, boy wonder. ~ Your downtime can't last forever, Richard. You've become better than him, so why try to be caged any longer? You might just find that the higher the stakes, the greater the thrill you'll –
"I…just want it off…. I want to have my life back…. You took everything!"
~ I gave you something greater… ~ Slade jumped down the pup's throat. ~ Better, even. You'll witness their deaths but your serum's completion even surpasses my own; didn't you notice on the ship? That wasn't all that was done to complete the process… -
"Stop it, Wilson." Batman commanded, but his enemy was terribly possessive at this point. Dick had been marked by this mad man, and it was his job to find Robin help before Slade grew tired of waiting again…
~ Not until I explain everything in this message, Wayne. ~ Slade watched as a twitch formed by the bat's brow. Lovely way to have ones' revenge.
~ On the ship, you overcame the procedure that I was subjected to while in the United States army. Without being knocked out too many times, not that those blanks in your mind weren't all fabricated –
Richard's breathing hitched a bit as s anger only rose for this…this...!
And yet, his eyes were becoming wet again. Slade had sliced him deep, he'd taken away more than his pride…Dick tried to cover his ears, to look away as Starfire glared hotly at their enemy, while switching to a more sympathetic gaze for her leader.
She was going to burn out her resources on that boy, one day. Slade noticed how their relationship was already plenty toxic. Richard could do better on his own, without a whining woman to keep him safe like Bruce had failed to.
Dick collapsed back into Starfire's chest with his back to her, his eyes now sealed shut. "Stop…. I…I don't want to hear –
~I should just let you suffer through your lackluster transformation, Dick. ~ Slade tisked. ~ You still never could appreciate an ideal opportunity like this one, even when it was laid right in front of you. ~
Something snapped and Starfire saw how her leader's body turned to ice in her arms. "I'll kill you…. I'll kill you!! You ruined everything! Slade!! AAAhghhh!! Stay away from me!! All of you!"
Slade saw how the boy twisted from Star's grip and use his heightened speed and agility to grab a broken batarang from a shelf in the lab, chucking it with a cry at the man on the screen.
As if Batman and Slade could read the signs, Slade's eyes never grew to tire, but a smirk stayed stapled plainly, across that masked manm's face. Slade was overjoyed to see Robin acting out of character for once, and the heroes loathed every second of that masked grin up on the bat computer's main monitor.
~ I see you have some cleaning up to do as well…. If you ever decide that this life has become too much to handle all alone…. –
Bruce turned off the screen and then he noticed it as well. Dick was once again, already gone.
/
Al handed the teen a cup of Earl Grey and another tissue box to use up in the next thirty minutes. A new knock came to the manor's study room door as Bruce and half of the Titans bounded in.
"What was that?"
"Master Bruce, if you would –
"No, Alfred. I wish to speak to my son. Alone, please." He eyed the nosy younger heroes by the door, as Al was hushed and made to leave the room with Dick's concerned teammates. To make matters worse, the boy had left his tea cold while he'd been stared down by his mentor. His jailor as of now.
"The bat computer can be fixed."
"But, I can't –
"You're not –
"I AM!" Dick moaned out, driving daggers through his mentor's poor heart with those fading blue eyes looking up at him. Shattered, as Slade had spelled out for them. Turning to grey. No longer with their innocence to them…
"Cyborg can't stop it. Raven…. magic is what Slade used to do this to me…and alien tech now??Why can't I just go home –
"You ARE home." Bruce looked and saw how anxious this space was making his son, so he moved a bit to the side to give him some breathing space. Clearing his throat by the extra chair across from Dick's, he tried to calm down. "I'm worried, because with your enemy now knowing how to push you down the path he wants, you could end up…going back to him. And I know why you hate me. I didn't tell you…I should have a long time ago…Do you remember that night with, Two – Face?"
Dick's nodded with a sniffle. "Y- yeah…" He replied. "I…remember it."
Bruce smoothed back his knightly cowl and let his dark hair breathe, eyes glancing back at the frightened boy, situated comfortably enough on the biggest chair in this fire – place lit room.
"Well, you know what happened then; we fought, I knew you'd try to take him out by yourself so you got mad. At me for stopping you, but in the end…"
"He shot me." Dick gulped and rubbed his shoulder to feel for the wound. It was still a scar, but the serum couldn't change past marks, only current ones. "I…told you, that I quit. That, I wanted to leave and find my own reason for becoming a hero." The fireplace crackled softly, while the room still felt too quiet for words to describe. "I found my place as Robin…as a Teen Titan. Then, I met them…" He weakly smiled, leaving a lot of that crystal color to return to his orbs again…before, more dark clouds had returned to cast away that pretty shade once more.
Over a memory, and a somewhat, current event.
"Slade appeared as an old man in red, traditional attire from the east, who convinced two elemental brothers "Thunder and Lightening," to use their powers over the elements to take the Titans out and to… destroy us, even when they didn't realize what he meant by…" Robin pursed his lips at the picture of the two brothers fighting each other, two sided at best. He continued, "We fought, he and I were eager to meet…I was separated from my team, and then after we had eventually stopped his plans, we heard his name mentioned again. While an operative Gizmo, tried to leave a message, from a group called –
"The Hive." Bruce interjected. "Cyborg told me you fought some of their junior members, ones that Slade hired to test your team with. To get information, on you."
"That wasn't the only reason…" Dick clung to his feet; his acrobatic limbs were perfectly cross - legged in the big chair's throws. "He was after three computer chips one time…We kept fighting his drones, robots but…I came up with the persona "Red X" to stop him, the real Slade. I was the only one who could get close enough to shut his plans down for good, before something terrible happened….and it did…" Dick frowned, the vigor leaving his features once more. "He knew X's identity, my plan ultimately failed and my team…had to wonder if they could ever learn to trust me again…"
Bruce nodded and rubbed his chin, thinking back to the data that was on the older Titans' file regarding the "X" the incident. "The suit you made had a power source, that source of energy allowed the wearer to the ability to morph its weapons at will, to teleport, and fight; by the activation of a radioactive "core."
Robin tossed his gaze to the side and waited. "The core's power was extremely unstable and highly dangerous if left in the wrong -
"Xenothium…." Robin sighed. "And like I said, it was a mistake… the suit was locked up tight. No one's touched it since –
"And, yet he's still just as capable of doing more harm to you, psychologically. By what he's doing to you now. Making you into –
"Bruce…" Dick stopped the man with one glance. "I want to get this off my chest. So…maybe later then you can figure out how to have Alfred take away my desert privileges. Alright?"
"We'll need to talk about it sooner or later." The man reminded his ward firmly. Dick nodded, pensively trying to put together his next part to this grueling sob story of his.
Dick rubbed the back of his neck and replied in earnest to his mentor.
"I haven't forgotten. Just, needed some room to think…is all…"
/
So, this is Dick getting personal about his fears with Bruce an Co, and what you'll have in the next chapter will fill in a few extra blanks. Cause let's face it; mother boxing is last gen. We need some more Constantine, am I right? Stay tuned and read on for the relieving conclusion to our alternative arc. If you read Epilogue story rated M, it was my first apprentice fic. The new years arcs were about soul stealers, spirit possession and prophecies – so, no. Not the first, but a start. Still have the few stories listed I do want to work on. Chronic health popped up and I'm trying to get over the blues with a little angst - driven madness. Hope you'll see into the way this turns out!
