Author's Note: Hey dudes! Look how quickly I updated! WOOO! I'm so smart and nice and efficient...mmyep...heh. Anyway, this is (hopefully) where it starts getting (more) interesting! YAAAY! Enjoy! A very big, warm, fuzzy thanks to ShadowSage2 for correcting my big whoopsie last chapter! THANKS!

Knife Edge: Part Two

A Teen Titans fanfiction by J.S.Danskin (a.k.a. Invader Jed)

SCENE THREE –A dark alleyway in the city. It is raining very heavily. -

ROBIN is running down a dark alleyway, looking at his tracking device. When it shows that he is directly in the spot where the mysterious new criminal should be, he skids in the rain-filled streets to a halt. He picks up his communicator and flicks it open, bringing it to his mouth. An image of CYBORG looking somewhat glum appears.

ROBIN: Robin to Cyborg! I'm in the right place, but there's no sign of...aargh!

A dark shadow suddenly swings down from a lamppost and kicks ROBIN in the face, throwing him backwards. He rolls over and grabs the communicator which he had dropped. The figure walks over to him calmly and stands on his hand applying weight to it. ROBIN cries out in pain, but the figure says nothing and presses harder still with the boot until ROBIN's hand eventually opens. The character kicks the communication device away out of ROBIN's reach. He stares after it helplessly, his eyes widen and his mouth opens in a gasp. After a moment his eyes narrow and his teeth are gritted.

ROBIN (angrily): Who are you? Where's Starfire?

The figure remains silent and lunges at ROBIN, picking him up by the front of his costume. ROBIN and the strangers' faces flicker in the lightning; the stranger is wearing a mask. ROBIN narrows his eyes again defiantly and the character kicks open a manhole in the ground. ROBIN stares at it for a moment in confused wonder, until the mysterious attacker jumps down it, dragging a yelling ROBIN down too.

ROBIN lands with a thud and an "oof!" on his back. He groans and sees that the figure is no longer beside him. He picks himself up slowly, cradling his sore hand in his other. Suddenly, as if remembering the circumstance, he looks up and around him. Nothing. He stands up, preparing for the unexpected.

SLADE (not seen): Hello, Robin.

ROBIN looks in the direction of the voice, and a light on the other side of him switches on with a loud click which echoes. He turns his head abruptly, only to see three silhouetted figures against the light.

ROBIN (darkly): Slade...I knew you were behind this.

SLADE (with amusement): I know you, did, Robin (he chuckles) Although, you've always thought yourself cleverer than your teammates, your...'friends'.

He says the word "friends" with malice and sarcasm, and ROBIN scowls, spreading his legs apart and preparing for combat.

ROBIN: Look for some new material to taunt me with, Slade. This is getting real old, real fast. Now give me back Starfire, or you'll die and regret it. (as his voice grows angrier, his voice echoes around)

As his voice echoes around the room, a couple of rocks from the ceiling fall down and break at ROBIN's feet. He studies them as he thinks about what to do next.

SLADE (mock-scornfully): Ah, ah, ah, Robin, where are your manners? Didn't you ever get taught to say 'please'?

ROBIN scowls even more.

ROBIN (bitterly): Not to lowlife criminals, no. And I wasn't requesting it. I was telling you to return my friend!

SLADE: But is she merely your "friend", Robin?

ROBIN looks confused, and a screen turns on (the same one as in Part I: Scene V) and the same footage comes on. ROBIN gasps as he sees himself running to a frightened looking STARFIRE, and grabbing her hand tightly. SLADE fast forwards a little to ROBIN holding onto her hand, a look of despair on his face. SLADE fast forwards again to ROBIN pushing BEASTBOY away from him and calling for STARFIRE.

ROBIN (breathlessly): What...?

SLADE: Are you in love with Starfire, Robin? Is that why only you came, so that when you rescued her, you would be the hero and she would be so impressed she'd agree to date you?

ROBIN: You don't even know what you're saying...You're insane.

SLADE walks right up to ROBIN, who holds his stance and grits his teeth, staring up at his arch nemesis ferociously. Their faces are close, and one can imagine that SLADE may be smirking triumphantly beneath his mask.

SLADE (very quietly and calmly): Oh, but I do, Robin. And I know for a fact that you're not as professional as you'd like to believe.

ROBIN snarls angrily at SLADE but visibly loses confidence, and as SLADE rejoins the other shadows, ROBIN's stance clearly withers.

SLADE (irrelevantly): How rude of me not to introduce my new friends. I'm sure you've met them before, yes? Knife (he gestures to KNIFE, who steps out of the dark and grins nastily at ROBIN) and Dagger, my young new apprentice, to replace Terra until you come to your senses...which may be sooner than you think.

ROBIN swallows nervously, and DAGGER steps into the light. It is the same person that attacked ROBIN in the street. ROBIN frowns and looks at KNIFE, who is staring intently at ROBIN mockingly. ROBIN runs forward to him.

ROBIN (yelling): Where's Starfire? She's never done anything wrong! Let-her-GO!

He explodes into a rage and swings out his Bo-Staff. KNIFE smirks and DAGGER leaps in front of him just as ROBIN is about to reach him. She lands like a cat and stares up at ROBIN, who has stopped in surprise. ROBIN scowls and stares back at her. He roars, having composed himself again, and brings up his staff, but she pushes him backwards with a punch to the chest. ROBIN is winded and staggers backwards, sinking down to one knee momentarily before soon regaining his balance. He jumps to his feet and whirls his staff around threateningly, letting DAGGER know he means business.

ROBIN (bitterly):I don't know who you are, but you're standing between me and Starfire, so I'm warning you in advance...if you want your life spared, you'll move. Now.

DAGGER merely shakes her head, so ROBIN runs forwards again, striking her with his bo-staff this time. She jumps back and backflips three times. ROBIN chases after her, and they run onto a vast floor, almost like a dance floor. Their steps and cries echo around the cavern. ROBIN glances to his right and sees SLADE and KNIFE standing side-by-side, which is time enough for DAGGER to attack him with a flying kick, knocking the staff out of his hands as he falls, slides and picks himself up in one swift movement.

ROBIN (charging): Yaaaaargghhh!

He springs into the air and hurls several discs at DAGGER, who flies up into the air, somersaults and lands with a kick to ROBIN's face, which he nimbly evades by rolling to the side. Before he can pick himself up again DAGGER fires a Starbolt at him, knocking him against the opposite wall. He hangs there for a second before the wall crumbles with him to the ground. He looks up, panting, his mouth open in surprise.

ROBIN (in disbelief): How did...(he blocks a flying kick)...are you a Tamaranian?!

DAGGER says nothing, and doesn't give him time to gather his thoughts or his breath, so ROBIN reco-ordinates himself and launches back into battle. Meanwhile, SLADE and KNIFE stand next to each other, KNIFE's arms folded as he watches on in satisfaction.

SLADE (calmly): Are you so sorry you spared her now?

KNIFE: She's not getting spared. She's just being granted...a reprieve. Same with the boy. They're living on borrowed time, Slade. Remember our deal.

SLADE (putting KNIFE in his place): I don't forget anything, Knife. Remember that.

KNIFE regards his ally respectfully and looks back to the two fighting. ROBIN somersaults to land on the other side of DAGGER, who whirls around and runs into him, where they throw and block punches at each other.

KNIFE: Ironic, is it not, that he's fighting the one person he believes is worth saving?

SLADE: Irony has nothing to do with it. It means our plan is working. They will soon be weak enough to destroy. See how far their beloved friendship gets them then.

KNIFE: That is, if they don't destroy each other first. Five bucks say they do?

SLADE ignores him, and KNIFE shrugs. The scene closes on ROBIN launching a flying kick at DAGGER as he yells STARFIRE's name.

-SCENE CLOSED-

Author's Note: HAH! Bet you thought he was gonna discover it was Star there, didn't you? WELL YOU WERE WRONG! SOOOOOO WRONG! Heh. Well. Bet you're sad now, huh? More fight scening next chapter, hope you're enjoying the longer-ness of them. AW WOW WHAT A COOL WORD! Ahem. Longer-ness. I think there's a market in that. Defo. Anyway, after tottering playfully into the world of irrelevance, I shall return! WAHOO! Hello. SO anyway we're going to have a little bit of other Teen Titan-ness next chappie, so BB, Cy and Raven fans don't cry, cos I've not forgotten them! YAAAAY im so rememberful. Another cool word, no? Uh...no. Ah well! Answers to reviews next!

Answers to Reviews:

AntimatterManticore: Well....it's Dagger really, cos would Star attack Robin? I THINK NOT! But yes, I suppose so. In a way. It's her body. You can go with your opinion with BB and Ray, I won't judge you for it at all. I just can't see them together, but I'm just so deluded with the magnificent Star/Robin romance that I don't have time for anything else! Heh heh. Hope you keep reviewing!

DIWaRrIa: Oh God not YOU again! Heh heh. Just kiddin, I love ya really! I can't WAIT to see season three. YAAAAAAAYYY! Ahem. So, yes, I hope your mighty judgemental powers liked this chapter, and hope you review again cos if you don't I won't buy you a sheep for Christmas! MWAAAAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (coughs, chokes and dies)

Lhaewen: Wow I think I should have made her ask Slade why his face was orange, even though technically it's not his face it's a mask, and only half of it is orange. Sorry. I have a bit of a preciseness disorder. (straightens slightly squint picture on wall) Hee hee. I'm not scary, it's watching Teen Titans and Invader Zim that do it to me! AAARGHHHHH! Thanks for reviewing again, thanks for not thinking I'm cheesy, cos I don't like cheese. Unless it's on pizza...mmmm....pizza cheese.....(drools)

Moon-N-Stars: OOOOOO you lazy so and so! Didn't even log in for me! (huffs) good to hear from you again! WOO! They're longer now, they're longer now, Yaaay are you happy? Hope so! They may get even longer, in fact...I THINK THEY JOLLY WELL WILL! Wow! How cool am I (random person coughs ironically). I'm not scared of spiders, but wasps just freak me out. I can't stay stil. Seriously, if I have kids I'll be running around flapping my arms going "Don't worry kids it's just a bug nothing to worry about just stay still....EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKK!" and then I'll fall over like a twonklet. So yeah. Ahem. Please review again! Luv ya!

Dark Fire Fox: Hey! Hope you enjoyed your car trip! You better have had air conditioning, cos brothers tend to fart a lot and you might die of asphyxiation, and then you wouldn't be able to review and say nice things about my story!!! o!!! Well you'll just have to see if your prediction is right or not...MAHA!

starrobin4eva: Yay you reviewed again! I started school on Tuesday (groan) and yeah, it's quite tricky but I manage for you lot! Shows how dedicated I am to you dudes! Hope you appreciate it! Nah, just kidding! Review again!

ShadowSage2: Wowww you saved my bacon you nice, lovely person. Thanks so much for pointing out my mistake, and I have now corrected it and even thanked you in my authors note at the start of this chapter! THANK YOU! Why do you want me to be nasty to Robin? I LOVE ROBIN! And I think he got quite a lot in this, poor ickle soul, everyone's nasty to him, he just wants his Star back. Will he get her? Tune in...tomorrow...or maybe Saturday...WE'LL SEEEE!!!! MWA! Xx