Chapter 5: Kyrie
a/n: Extra long chapter! This is not the end of the story, but it does bring the story arc over the next hurdle. Big Thank You's to Arrendi and Jestana for their continued support. Love ya, girls!
Robin was miserable. He was on his knees, battered, broken, and sobbing. The fallen body of one of his closest friends lay before him, her long blue cloak chewed to pieces by the creatures of this nocturnal hell. Her flawless complexion was contorted with fear and agony: he had been too late. After Brother Blood disappeared, he had run like he had never run before, but it had not been enough. When he arrived, he chased away the crows and the wolves and threw himself over Raven's body.
"No...Raven, back, please...please don't die!" Robin wailed. Then, just as though he'd been once again assailed with the entertainment center, there was a sharp pain and he lost consciousness.
"It's working," Slade murmured. "He'll bend like a reed now. Stop the simulation."
Brother Blood pressed a few buttons and keys on the control panel before him and the two again went into the chamber that held their prisoner. This time, Slade carried with him a robotic arm. It was a piece of the robot that the Teen Titans used to escape from the Hive Academy long before, but thanks to Cyborg's ingenuity, Robin would never know the difference. He also carried a pelt of fur dyed green. At this proof, Robin would snap like a tender young twig and would do whatever he asked. Like he told Brother Blood—eliminate the distractions.
"Robin..." Slade called gently. Robin lifted his head. His eyes were red and puffy and his knees very nearly didn't hold him up. He looked up at Slade and cried out, "What do you want from me?"
"Rejoin me. Your skill and your instinct are second to none. We could be a team again," Slade demanded.
"I have a team," Robin replied, gritting his teeth. Slade said not a word but threw down the arm and the fur in front of him. Robin dropped to his knees again, this time too shocked to reply.
"The changeling screamed like a little girl when we skinned him and your friend the Cyborg put up little resistance once we dismantled most of his primary systems. It was just like pulling the plug out of the outlet. They're gone, Robin. You have nothing to go home to. Join me again and we will rule this city together," Slade commanded. Robin couldn't breathe. The shock was too much.
"Make this easy on yourself, Robin. Your friends are all dead because of your stubbornness. Join us!" Brother Blood coaxed.
"N...never! I'll never be your apprentice again!" Robin screamed. He curled up on the floor and cried, scooting himself into a corner and hiding his face. "Do what you want to me, but I won't join you again!"
Slade took a step toward Robin but Brother Blood rested his hand on Slade's shoulder.
"It is enough, Slade. You have already broken the boy. Now where there is grief and brokenness, you must replace it with trust. He is exhausted and certainly hungry. Come, let the boy rest," Brother Blood suggested.
"Your mercy is your weakness, old man," Slade grumbled.
"I am a man who understands human nature, Slade. Especially that of an adolescent child. They are impressionable enough without your torment," Brother Blood replied calmly. Slade relented and left the room again.
Robin curled up tighter and rocked a bit as he sobbed. Dead...they were all dead...his best friends...his fiancé...all gone...all his fault. Robin slipped into a fitful sleep minutes later, hunger and exhaustion overtaking him again.
The Teen Titans emerged onto the tenth floor, inching their way along the hall and covering one another as they moved. Down closest to the floor was a smooth, green gecko lizard. The lizard padded down the hall on his sticky feet and turned a corner before bolting in under a door. In this room he found wall to wall computer equipment and hundreds of blinking lights, switches and knobs. The lizard climbed the wall and fell with a plop onto the tilted panel, taking in the sight of all of the controls with his quick black eyes. The gecko next climbed up the glass of a window overlooking an adjoining holding cell. Squeaking in shock, the gecko suddenly transformed into a chimpanzee and jumped from the panel to the floor and resumed his real shape: the young man known as Beast Boy.
"This is not good!" Beast Boy muttered. He pushed open the door of the room and rejoined his friends in the hallway.
"There should be a door at the end of this hall that leads to an observation room. Robin's in there and he doesn't look good! We need to get him out of there, now!" Beast Boy panted.
"They know we're here. He was on the sixth floor when I was here before. I'll bet they moved him when they got wind of our battle with Gizmo and Mammoth," Torque replied.
"I know indeed, child," said a voice behind them. Jinx gasped as Slade lifted her by the back of her neck and held her.
"I've known ever since you interfering thorns in my side managed to get past the torture chamber downstairs," Slade said. As he spoke, Jinx pulled at his hands and choked as he constricted her airway.
"Interfere with this!" Cyborg cried, raising his cannon arm and aiming for Slade's head. The other teens followed suit and fell into combat positions.
"What can you possibly do to me?" Slade sneered with a haughty tone. "What can you hope to accomplish against us both!" Brother Blood stepped in out of the shadows and joined Slade, grinning in maniacal triumph. The kids were taken aback but not discouraged. From the strangle hold that Slade had on her, Jinx hoarsely whispered, "Omega...three..."
Cyborg's jaw dropped in horror, "No! Jinx, no!"
"Do it! Save Robin and get out!" Jinx choked.
"Not without you!" Cyborg growled.
"I've had enough! Choke this!" Torque shouted, throwing her arms out in front of her as she projected her powers across to Brother Blood, grasping his throat and squeezing. Brother Blood immediately collapsed to the floor. Slade could feel the heat from Starfire's starbolts, and hear the crackle of Raven's black energy bolts. He heard a fearsome growl as Beast Boy transformed into a lion, swishing his tail and lowering his head like one on a hunt.
"Would you like to rephrase that question?" Raven growled. Slade observed his options. Torque was still squeezing Brother Blood's neck. His face was turning dark crimson red and his eyes begged for Slade to do something to end this foolish standoff. When Slade turned back around, Torque squeezed harder and Slade finally dropped Jinx. Torque dropped her hold and screamed, "NOW!"
All six of the superhero teens opened fire as though they had planned it this way all along and both megalomaniacal super villains were instantly throttled from all sides. Raven lifted long sheets of sheet rock and sent them hurling in their direction, Starfire pushed them back with her starbolts, Cyborg unleashed his arm cannon as Gizmo and Mammoth appeared out of the stairwell and joined the assault. Seconds passed before a great red bubble of energy boiled just beneath the surface of the rubble and the pile exploded, sending fragments of debris flying in all directions and violently announcing that Slade and Brother Blood were still very much a threat.
Raven began to summon the doors off the doorways and threw them one by one at their attackers. Slade dodged them and ran toward Jinx, throwing his exploding disks at her as he ran for an exit. Jinx summoned one of her hexes and the exploding disks disintegrated before they reached her. She summoned the spell again and charged it in the direction of her former master. Slade was caught in the back with the full brunt of Jinx's spell and slid face first across the floor. His eyes flashed in shock as Starfire soared over the top of him and fired her starbolts directly over him. He could just barely deflect them before he had to duck from Raven's energy charged floor tiles. He lifted himself and began to crawl toward the exit when suddenly things got quiet. Slade rolled over and discovered Beast Boy standing over him. Slade raised his arm, but not fast enough, for seconds later, there was a velociraptor standing over him, his rows and rows of menacing teeth gleaming at the fallen villain. The creature took a deep breath and roared at the top of its lungs, causing the villain to scream and cover his ears in pain. Torque moved in again and took hold of him as Raven held Brother Blood tightly in her own grasp. The police were waiting downstairs to incarcerate them. Slowly and carefully, the kids lowered their newly vanquished enemies, including Gizmo and Mammoth, down through a shattered window and down to the ground.
Looking back at one another, the kids breathed a sigh of relief. Beast Boy morphed back into his normal form, Torque rubbed a sore shoulder, and Starfire looked around the hall for the door that Beast Boy had spoken of before; the one that would lead her to Robin.
Before she could open it, Beast Boy tugged her away.
"I think you need to see this first," he said gravely. The six teens crowded into the control room and Beast Boy turned on the lights in the observation room. The young man inside the stark white room screamed in fear, clutching several objects that had been placed inside the room with him. He pressed himself all the way back to a corner and continued to scream and cower in fear. Raven squinted as she looked at the shell that remained of her dear friend. She looked at her comrades and observed their reactions. Beast Boy's eyes were downcast and sad and Jinx hid her eyes and buried her face in Cyborg's chest. Tears spilled from Starfire's eyes and Torque covered her mouth with one hand as she, too, allowed tears to fall from her eyes.
"You can't have them! Do you hear me? I won't! I won't join you! I'd...I'd rather...kill me! Kill me you slimy son of a bitch! You took everything from me! You...you took my life away from me! For God's sake kill me!" Robin screamed. There was still sweat and dried blood caked in his hair and on his face. His uniform was torn, rumpled and dirty. Raven looked at what he had in his arms.
"Is that...?" Raven murmured. In Robin's arms was one of her cloaks. It was shredded nearly beyond recognition but she would know that blue anywhere. Also in his arms were a robotic arm and a pelt of fur...green fur. Raven was beginning to see what had happened. Her suspicions were confirmed when a metallic ting was heard and Robin scrambled to retrieve a shining object from the floor.
"Starfire, isn't that your engagement ring?" Raven asked gently. Starfire looked harder and replied, "But that is impossible. My ring is in my bedroom in Titans Tower. I did not want to lose it."
"Raven...is that my spare arm?" Cyborg wondered out loud as he forced himself to look up at the heart-breaking scene.
"Something's not right here. How did he get all those things?" Raven said. Beast Boy came forward and pressed a few buttons. The objects in Robin's arms disappeared and the Titan's leader panicked as none of them had ever seen before.
"No! No! Give them back!"
"I've had enough!" Starfire shouted, storming out of the control room.
"Starfire wait! You could give him a heart attack!" Raven cried.
"I cannot watch this anymore! He is mourning for those who are not dead!" Starfire yelled.
"One thing at a time," Beast Boy coaxed. He walked carefully toward the door and opened it slowly. Beast Boy turned to his comrades and instructed them not to come in until he motioned for them. Reintroducing stimuli too quickly could make Robin's body go farther into shock. Beast Boy walked quietly into the room, pausing when Robin looked up and saw him. Robin looked at him with empty eyes.
"Robin?" Beast Boy called softly.
"No...you're not real!" Robin cried.
"Robin, look, it's me," Beast Boy continued, taking another step closer. "It's your buddy, Beast Boy." Robin shook his head.
"No...it can't be...I saw it..." Robin choked down his tears at the thought of the fur he had held. Beast Boy came closer and knelt as he reached for Robin's hand.
"Touch me. See for yourself," Beast Boy said gently. Robin's shaking hand gingerly reached out and then shrank back. Beast Boy didn't even flinch.
"It's okay, Robin," Beast Boy murmured, taking another step closer. "It's really me. We're gonna get you out of here." Robin looked Beast Boy in the eyes and then carefully touched his hand. Shocked that it was real, Robin threw his arms around Beast Boy's waist, his heart pounding again, this time for relief. Then something terrible dawned on him: what would Beast Boy do when he found out that Robin had let Raven die? He shrank back, looking at Beast Boy like a frightened pup.
"What's wrong, Robin?" Beast Boy asked.
"Raven..." Robin whispered. He couldn't seem to bring himself to tell Beast Boy the rest.
"Raven's just fine, Rob. She's right here," Beast Boy replied soothingly, looking up at the doorway where his teammates waited like actors in the wings. Raven came into the room taking calm even steps and knelt beside Beast Boy.
"See Robin? I'm okay," Raven said, mimicking the tone of Beast Boy's voice.
"I saw you...I was too late...your whole body was..."
"Robin, it wasn't me," Raven replied, reaching to touch his face. For a split second he jerked away but then reached out to cover her hand with his and press it to his cheek. It was real.
"The others..." Robin croaked, his voice still hoarse from all he had been through. Beast Boy motioned to the other Titans to come in. Torque and Jinx waited outside the door. Beast Boy had told them that too many faces in the room could be traumatic, so they consented to wait for introductions and explanations until Robin was well. Until then, they were both welcome in Titans Tower.
When Starfire knelt down beside Robin, his face changed completely. His hands shook as he reached for Starfire and she collapsed into his arms, both of them holding each other tightly as they cried.
"It is all over, Robin," Starfire wept. "We are all safe now. We can go home now, beloved."
