Author's Note: Well, I'm back up to bat. So...ah I don't know, I have nothing to say o.O Read and review fools!
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Robin's mind, like it had done last night, whirled to life with questions as he saw the giant stone golem known as Cinderblock. One little detail stuck out the most.
Where there was Cinderblock, there was Slade.
A disturbing thought, but it was the one that was haunting Robin's mind at the moment. Despite how he had always hoped that Slade was no more, he could not deny that maybe there was a chance that Slade had something to do with this. Even when Slade was supposed to be gone for good, he still found a way to cause havoc. For example: some certain dust on a certain mask that had affected Robin.
The leader of the Teen Titans had almost been killed because of that. And maybe that had helped create Starfire's doubt about what they were doing...
Robin shook his head, an attempt to clear his mind.
He would have time to ponder over these thoughts later. They weren't going to help with the problem that he and Starfire now had. And that problem was stomping right towards them.
"How could he have escaped?" questioned Starfire, who was now hovering a few feet in the air next to Robin.
"I don't know," replied Robin. Last he heard, Cinderblock had been heavily locked up in a prison cell that had been made just for the walking stone giant. Someone must've miscalculated Cinderblock's strength...or freed him.
Either way, Cinderblock was out and about once again.
Though they were supposed to have had the day off, Robin still had his communicator, which was now in hand and up to his mouth. "Cyborg, are you there?"
There was a pause before a bit of an angry and loud response greeted him. "You better have a good excuse for causing me to lose the game Robin!"
The boy wonder thought he could hear cheering in the background that sounded like a certain changeling.
"Get down here and take your anger out on Cinderblock," replied Robin, glancing up at the still approaching Cinderblock.
"...Well that changes everything. Be right there. Make sure to save some action for me!"
By the time Robin had put away his communicator; Cinderblock had broken into a run and the distance between him and the two Titans was quickly cut in half.
And that was enough for the barrage of green starbolts to be launched by Starfire.
As the first projectiles struck, Cinderblock was quickly halted and even started to take a couple of steps back from the sudden assault. But soon, his large right hand came up and was held in front of him, as if to ward off the powerful blasts, and Cinderblock started to slowly stomp forward, his speed increasing with each step.
The onslaught suddenly came to a halt, but only so that Robin could smash his bo staff into the giant. Cinderblock stumbled from the blow. Before he could straighten himself, Starfire suddenly appeared hovering above him. A second later, Cinderblock suddenly fell hard to the ground as green beams of light shot from Starfire's eyes and blasted the golem to the ground.
It was starting to look like Cinderblock was going to be brought down easily.
That was until Cinderblock suddenly gained a burst of strength, quickly sitting up and raising his right sock solid fist to bat Starfire out of the air and cause her to slam onto the ground.
Starfire immediately sat up, holding a hand to her head. Turning, she saw that Cinderblock was now towering over her, his fists raised, intending to crush the alien girl.
And then several spinning discuses suddenly shot over Starfire's head and streaked towards Cinderblock. The discs collided against his stone body and exploded on impact, causing him to step away from Starfire while smoke covered his vision.
Robin's foot suddenly flew through the smoke and delivered a swift kick to Cinderblock's face.
The blow caused the stone giant to fall backwards and land on the ground with a loud thud. Despite the attack, however, Cinderblock still picked himself off the ground and once again stood on his powerful legs while staring forward.
Starfire was back on her feet, her green eyes glowing while starbolts formed in her hands. Next to her, Robin held his bo staff in front of him, with another discus held in his other hand, ready to use.
Cinderblock only took a moment to assess the Titans before charging forward.
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While battling Cinderblock, the two Titans failed to notice a figure that was shadowed by the darkness of the alley. There was the sound of tapping keys as the figure typed on a keyboard.
The visor over the figure's eyes lit up for a second, allowing some light in the alley. Moving at the mouth of the alley, the figure watched the ensuing battle.
"Is this good?" the figure spoke in the microphone that was attached to the visor.
"Yes," replied a voice, one that was devoid of emotions. "Make sure to stay hidden and observe."
"Yeah yeah I know."
A little annoyed by his chosen assignment, the figure signed. However, he stayed where he was in the shadows of the alley.
Watching Cinderblock battle the two Titans made him want to join in and help. He didn't want to be hiding and observing, this was boring work. He wanted to fight, to get some action.
Despite that, he knew his orders.
Soon he will be able to fight. Then he would be able to get the action he now craved for, no more observing. And he was going to have a lot of fun.
Until then, all he was able to do now was observe the battle.
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Another discus was thrown towards Cinderblock. But instead of another explosion when it hit, Cinderblock's left arm was suddenly encased in ice. A second discus was launched and Cinderblock's stone chest met the same fate. After half a dozen more, the stone giant was nothing more then a large icicle.
Robin knew, unfortunately, that the ice wouldn't hold him for long. A human would've easily been stopped by one of those discs. But Cinderblock wasn't human. It would give Robin and Starfire a small breather though, not to mention give Cyborg and the others some time.
"Why is Cinderblock attacking?" Starfire suddenly asked.
"I don't know," replied Robin, breathing slightly heavily.
But there was something Robin did know. Cinderblock must've been sent by someone.
This hadn't been some random attack. Cinderblock hadn't been walking around and suddenly decided to cause havoc. He had been looking for them. The giant hadn't destroyed something all the way at the edge of the city to cause Robin and Starfire to come to him, he had come to them. He somehow managed to travel to the, basically, heart of Jump City, right where the boy wonder and tameranean had been sitting and eating pizza.
The idea that Cinderblock came for revenge had crossed Robin's mind. But after all his experience fighting the golem, Robin basically thought of Cinderblock as someone who wouldn't seek revenge. Truthfully, the boy wonder thought of the golem as a mindless drone that only followed the orders that were given to him. Every time the Titans encountered Cinderblock, he was part of one of Slade's plans.
Though Robin didn't know if he should count the time when he was fighting a Slade that was afraid of the light.
The sound of ice being cracked pulled Robin out of his thoughts. Staring forward, he saw fissures breaking through the ice that surrounded Cinderblock. The ice that encased the giant's right arm shattered, causing pieces of frozen water to drop to the ground. Soon, the left arm was free, then his legs, and finally his head and chest were freed from the icy prison.
Robin and Starfire were immediately on guard as Cinderblock was freed. The golem grabbed a car with his right hand, and held the vehicle over his head as he prepared to throw it at the two Titans.
Until the car was suddenly wrenched from his grasp.
For a few seconds, Cinderblock just stood there, his right hand up in the air. Finally, he looked up to see what happened.
The car was no hovering several feet above Cinderblock. An aura of darkness had encased the car. Cinderblock tilted his head to the side, just as the car suddenly dropped and slammed into him.
The sudden force of the impact caused Cinderblock to bend slightly. And before he could straighten, the sound of very loud heavy feet that caused the earth to suddenly shake pounded against the road behind him. Cinderblock turned, saw a large green spiked tail of a stegosaurus, and was sent flying into the air.
"Booya!" a familiar voice shouted from above Cinderblock.
The stone giant looked up, saw Cyborg falling down towards him, and the hybrid's mechanical feet stomped against Cinderblock's stone chest. Now Cinderblock was being propelled back to the ground, Cyborg falling after him.
People from a mile away could've sworn they felt the ground vibrate slightly as Cinderblock fell back onto the round, causing fissures to break through the concrete.
Cyborg continued to fall towards Cinderblock, his arm transforming into the powerful sonic cannon. Power crackled around the weapon as it charged, the inside of the barrel glowing blue. When only about eighteen feet in the air, Cyborg pointed his weapon at the still downed Cinderblock and a blast of sonic energy shot down directly towards the stone giant.
Cinderblock didn't stand a chance. The giant practically disappeared in blue light as the attack hit. Cyborg didn't stop firing until he landed on the ground several feet away, his decent having been slowed by his mid-air attack.
Cinderblock just lied on the damaged concrete, unmoving, with smoke railing from his body.
"Oh yeah, I'm that good," Cinderblock said, grinning while he blew on the barrel of his sonic cannon like a cowboy would do in an Old West movie before it transformed back into his mechanical arm.
"I am overjoyed that you made it!" Starfire said happily, smiling at the three newly arrived Titans.
"Ah, glad we could help Star," replied Beastboy. He grinned. "I guess Cyborg should be thankful that Robin called, I was so beating him!"
Cyborg whirled on Beastboy. "Man, no you weren't! You just got lucky!"
"Dude, that wasn't luck! That was pure skill!"
Nearby, Raven just rolled her eyes at the two. "Can we just go home now?"
Starfire couldn't help but giggle at the scene. She turned to face Robin.
And found him gone.
Blinking, the alien girl scanned the area. A smile blossomed on her face when she found the leader of the Titans, who was standing over the defeated Cinderblock. Smile still on her face, she hovered over to him.
"Robin, we are victorious! Shall we continue..." She trailed off, her smile slowly disappearing.
Robin hadn't turned to face Starfire, only continued to look down at Cinderblock. Kneeling down, Robin pried open Cinderblock's left hand that was still closed into a fist. Starfire suddenly blinked, remembering that Cinderblock only used his left hand to bat her to the ground and try to crush her.
Starfire blinked again, suddenly seeing Robin stiffen as he opened Cinderblock hand. After another second of staring, the boy wonder bent down and picked up whatever it was in the giant's hand before standing up, continuing to stare at the thing.
Curious, Starfire hovered over to Robin. She looked over his shoulder to see what the item was.
It was a mask.
Starfire gasped, her green eyes widening.
Slade's mask.
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Robin continued to look at the mask, with Starfire looking over his shoulder and staring with wide eyes at the mask. Neither of them moved. Ten seconds passed, and they still didn't move. They both stared, not even blinking.
Their chests didn't even rise and fall to signal breathing. Strangely, Robin's cape seemed to be suspended in mid-air, not even moving, just like the owner. It was the same with Starfire's long red hair.
It was like a breeze had blown both hair and cape. Then...gravity seemed to have disappeared completely, leaving them in the air.
And time suddenly seemed to go backwards at incredible speed.
Starfire suddenly hovered away from Robin, and the boy wonder placed Slade's mask back in Cinderblock's hand before closing it. In a few seconds, Cinderblock was suddenly up, holding a car above his head with his hand. A second later, he was encased in ice.
Time continued to go backwards. Robin's exploding discuses colliding into Cinderblock, then Starfire was on the ground with Cinderblock standing over her with his fists raised, and then the golem was on the ground while Starfire hovered over him while starbolts shot from her eyes and blasted Cinderblock. Back and back time went.
And with a sudden click of a button, time froze again with Starfire and Robin eating pizza.
The screen that was showing these events was the only lighting in the dark room.
In front of the screen was a figure sitting on a throne, their hand hovering over a key panel installed in one of the arms of the throne. The darkness that deprived the room of light also hid the figure in shadows.
Behind the figure, the door to the room opened and another figure stepped in.
Neither spoke. Silence filled the room with the darkness.
"I didn't expect Cinderblock to win," the figure on the throne suddenly spoke, her sly voice shattering the silence like glass. She pressed a button on the panel and time was back to normal on the screen, which now showed the two Titans look up from their food to see Cinderblock approaching them.
"I didn't think you did," replied the other figure, his voice lacking emotions.
Another click and time fast forward.
"So why did you send him?" he continued.
"To give them a message," she replied.
Another click and the screen froze, showing Robin looking at the copy of Slade's mask in Cinderblock hand. She tapped another button and time went backwards again.
"They don't know anything that's going on."
"When do we strike?" he asked.
"Soon, but not now. Give them time to think, to let them guess what they're up against."
Click, and Robin delivered a swift kick into Cinderblock's face.
"As you wish." Nodding his head at her, he turned and left the room.
Even when the door closed, she waited. After about a minute of silence, she tapped on the key panel one last time.
The screen froze with Robin standing straight, his bo staff held in front of him with one hand while a discus was held in the other.
"You will pay," she murmured, ice and venom creeping into her voice. "Soon, Robin, you will pay for what you did. Pay for what you did to him...and what you did to me."
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Author's Note: Before I end this chapter, I want to say that the whole finding Slade's mask thing was Pixie's idea, not mine . She just didn't want to delay her chapter so instead told me to write it up. So thank her for the idea! And speaking of which, it's her turn again!