He crept through the near-darkness of the city's sublevels, his figure practically invisible in his practiced movements and silent as a shadow. "I know it's here," Robin thought to himself, determination flaring. He flicked on the wrist-light in his left glove, illuminating the immediate area. "Where did you hide it, Slade?"
His question was answered as his light fell on a small black box marked with a familiar 'S'. Robin crouched gingerly next to the tiny bomb, surprised by its size. He wouldn't have thought that an explosive so small could take out the entire city. But knowing Slade and his resources, Robin was sure it could do everything Slade threatened it could.
Within a few minutes, Robin had the bomb disarmed. He stood slowly from his crouched position, regarding his work with some confusion. It shouldn't have been that easy.
Robin cast about, holding his left arm out in order to spread as much light as possible. His quickly found his fears confirmed as the light revealed another tiny black box, identical to the one he had just disarmed. Suddenly an immense wave of dread slammed into the pit of Robin's stomach as a horrible thought invaded his mind. He whirled, eyes searching the darkness. Yes, there was another one, on the far side of the sublevel chamber.
Ignoring the two newfound bombs, Robin turned down a corridor, his head snapping in all directions. There to the left was another, and behind him were two more. The corridor to the right revealed at least three, but he didn't stop to count properly. Robin was no longer taking care to conceal his movements or be silent. His footsteps echoed through the endless tunnels of the city's sublevels, his wide eyes finding more and more of the tiny bombs as he ran on in panic and desperation.
Finally he stopped, breathless. Now he understood exactly what was going on. There wasn't just one bomb; there were thousands.
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Titan Tower had not been spared from the city's disaster. Only parts of the lower walls still remained standing, and even those were beyond repair. Raven and Beast Boy had worked earlier to brace the crumbling walls and even add a temporary roof. Neither knew why they had felt the need to stay, to try and keep living in their devastated home, but they had done it nonetheless.
Beast Boy sat on a large slab of concrete that had fallen near the water. His green eyes were turned toward the city, and the radiant sunset behind it. The sky glowed blood red as flames from the city's fires reached upward to merge with the sinking sun.
He could just see Raven's cloaked figure out of the corner of his eye as she came to stand beside him. Beast Boy didn't turn his head to acknowledge her presence. He kept his gaze locked on the sunset and the shadow of the city's crumbling skyline. "How is she?" he asked solemnly.
From the shadow beneath her hood, Raven's voice answered, "She's sleeping now, but I don't know how she'll feel when she wakes up. All of this has been so devastating to her…to all of us."
Silence descended on the pair for a long moment. Then Beast Boy broke it unexpectedly, "I saw Cyborg on my way over here."
Raven blinked, surprised by the sudden statement. She said nothing, waiting for him to continue.
"He still wouldn't talk to me." The green shape shifter sighed and drew his knees up to his chin.
The large cybernetic teen had withdrawn immediately after the explosion. He'd found a semi-intact corner of the city and had been staying there alone. Beast Boy and Raven had been to visit him several times in the past few days, but neither had been able to get Cyborg to respond in any way.
Raven nodded slowly. "I'll go see him again tonight. Will you stay with Star?"
Beast Boy returned the nod, and let the silence fall between them again as the sun sank ever lower, taking with it all light and warmth.
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Robin stood motionless in one of the many sublevel corridors, his mind overwhelmed with shock as he tried to comprehend what he had just discovered. The entire city was rigged with thousands of bombs, all of which would explode simultaneously in less than a half hour. There were too many—far too many to disarm. Even if he called in his friends, they wouldn't be able to stop it.
Robin sank to his knees as a wave of hopelessness hit him. This was it; they'd lost. The city was going to be destroyed; all the people living here would be killed. There wasn't even enough time left to get an evacuation warning to the city's inhabitants.
He'd failed.
A part of him was angry—angry with himself for giving up so easily. His stubbornness berated him, reminding him harshly that he never quit, never admitted defeat. But at the same time, his voice of reason knew it was over. This time, he was beaten.
A sudden thought struck Robin. It was too late for him, too late for the city, too late for all the innocents living here, but he could warn his friends. They could get away, get out of the city, they could save themselves.
No, Robin realized, he knew them all too well. They wouldn't abandon their home. They would stay, defending it to the last, and be destroyed with it.
Somehow, Robin couldn't let them do it. He knew they would resent him for what he was about to do, he knew they would hate him and hate themselves, but he couldn't let them die. He had to save them somehow, even if it meant betraying their trust.
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Author's Note: Lots of people to thank this time! TamerTerra, llccee, Child of the Stars, Michiko (?), ducky76, and ChocolateCurlz, thank you all for your input! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, the best is yet to come.
For some reason, the italics aren't showing up this time, so I had to do them in bold. Sorry it looks so weird, I'm pretty upset about it myself, especially since the first two chapters look exactly the way they're supposed to.
