Title: A Hero's Redemption
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Teen Titans! DC Comics owns every bit of it, and so does the creators of the show!
Summary: When Robin falls, it's up to the Titans, an old enemy, and a new friend to help him see the light... (Sinking Into Slade Sequel)
Author's Note: Well, here I am, getting squared away at what will hopefully be a very, very wild and wonderful ride! I'm all geared up and ready to go with this fic, and I've been getting ideas for another TT related one... same sort of genre... Anyone hear of the Batman/Catwoman love story? I thought I'd do a new spin on it, thanks to some things I've thought of... Anyway, I've changed a few things in this first part of the chapter, which, as some of you already know, I put up as a preview at the end of SINKING INTO SLADE, so if it's slightly different, that's why. Also, I believe it was Alexnandru Van Gordan who mentioned me creating a "Mary Sue" character. Actually, this isn't true. The girl I'm 'creating' is, unfortunately, nobody I've thought up: someone else did. And she actually IS (or rather, was) a Teen Titan during the Dick Grayson/Robin age, and was one when he became Nightwing. Don't believe me? Look up the COMIC version of the Teen Titans, and if you look hard enough at the description I put down and pictures of her, you'll know exactly who I'm talking about. I'm just expanding on her character, and introducing her in an entirely different route than they are.
Anyway, here we go. Enjoy!
FIVE MONTHS AFTER THE FALL OF THE TITANS...
The day was cold and dark, a severe contrast to the usual comings and goings of Jump City, and a lone girl shivered in an alleyway, her long black hair trembling ever so slightly against the wind. The streets were bare of people, glass from sidewalk shops strewn every which way, and there wasn't a street corner without the now routine, black and metal clad foot soldier of the one called Slade, their stony glare expecting nothing, and receiving no trouble at all. The wind howled a wolf's call between the passageways between buildings, and called to the people who once lived here. Where had they gone? Where did they go? But no one seemed to be around to answer.
It made her shiver in uneasy anticipation, like an accident waiting to happen.
She could use her powers if she wanted to, scout around in the skies above, but she had heard from a neighboring town that the second in command to Slade would come to expect weird things. She was definitely weird, so she figured she'd better stay out of sight. Even amongst the garbage and the refuse, she felt weird, awkward, standing out more than she should, but she couldn't take the chance of being seen.
Watching a pair of drones pass her alley, she kept wondering about the Teen Titans. Where had they gone? Where was Raven, the half-demon witch? Starfire, the alien? Beast Boy the shape shifter, or Cyborg the half man, half machine? Where were the Titans?
She had asked such a question to the folks she hitchhiked with in the other city, but they couldn't answer her. When she mentioned the fifth Titan, they glared, and avoided the question. Why? This city could use him just like any of the others.
Then again, maybe not; the city looked like it needed more than just one more Titan: it looked like it needed a few saints and saviors.
She rubbed her bare arms, trying to warm them, and cursed the day she decided on a red, no sleeve top. It was her favorite, embroidered with white stars along the left side, with scarlet hip huggers to match, but for today, she should've went with something warmer. If the cold of the day didn't get her, the Slade drones would.
A piece of paper was clutched in her hand, and she stopped rubbing, looked down on it and read the first few lines of an address scrawled on it, even though she knew it by heart by now. It was the address to Titan Tower, the central point of superhero power in this city, and she needed to head there straight away. It looked like the city needed heroes, and plus, she needed a place to stay. After being kicked out of everywhere she went, she was desperate to belong somewhere, especially around people who had abilities like hers.
At least they wouldn't kick her out, just because she was different. They'd surely accept her for who she was...
A fly buzzed around her hand, and she shooed it away, sighed, then focused on her task, determined. "Time to find the Titans," she said, and started on her way. It would take her a couple hours to get to her destination, but that didn't matter: just as long as she got there.
Electricity crackled and jolted every fiber of his being, but Robin never even grimaced at the pain. Strapped to a lab table, volts of electrolytes lit his face like light bulbs, arcing back and forth across his chest and abdomen but he couldn't give in, he couldn't give up. He was strong, so very, very strong, stronger than anything, stronger than steel. He was a superman, a beast, a creature of the night and darkness, and a few shocks were nothing to him; he'd suffered worse. He would adapt, and survive; it's what he did best.
It's what they both did best.
A quick glance to his right, and the sight of his father comforted him. Even Robin had never seen his face, for he'd never show it to him, but it didn't seem to matter. He was, in essence, his father, and Robin respected and adored him just the same. The man gave him strength, and assurance, filling him with more than enough determination to see through this stamina game. He was trained by the best to be the best, and he felt lucky to have been the son of such a great man. He'd make his father proud: he always did.
As soon as the shocks had started, they stopped, and he unclamped himself from the table before he jumped to the floor. Like always, the stinging at his temples throbbed, but for now, he'd ignore it. It was nothing, just another fading memory, like the many he'd since forgotten. Blinking, he adjusted his raked mask and smiled, eagerly waiting to be addressed.
His father casually walked into the lab from the control room and nodded, his voice showing signs of his extreme pleasure. "Good, Robin. You did better this time. I increased the shock level and you didn't even flinch."
"It was nothing, Father," he replied humbly, proud of himself. He adjusted his usual metal collar over his black and orange uniform, the wickedly curved "S" gleaming in the dim light. "I just did everything you told me to do: I blocked it out, and achieved the objective."
"You learn quick, son. If I'm not careful, you'll be better than me someday."
He laughed heartily, shaking his head furiously from side to side. "Never. You're the best, Father. Nothing can ever stop you."
"And don't you forget it." He lovingly ruffled the boy's ebony hair and chuckled, delighted. "I'll give you twenty minutes to rest, and then we'll continue along with your training. Dismissed."
"Yes sir!" With that, he was gone, grateful for the rare opportunity to sleep for once. Sleep, his father told him, was for the weak, and it was weaned out of him long ago. He usually settled for his daily adrenaline shots anyway, so sleep was a gift. He must have pleased his father greatly.
"Robin." The voice drew him back, and he immediately stopped, obeying. "I look forward to seeing how capable you have become when the time is right. You'll become something great one day when you take my place and the entire world is at your feet."
He beamed. "I look forward to it, Father. Good night."
"Sweet dreams, my boy."
Slade grinned wickedly as he watched the boy leave, and relished the complete control he had over him. Robin had no idea what had been done to him, what was continually being done to him, and he preferred to keep it that way. The more ambiguous he was, the better off he'd be, and the better to serve his plans. Besides, it was too late to turn back now, for both of them: The Boy Wonder's memories were almost wiped clean of everything but what Slade had told him, and Slade himself was beginning to become misty eyed when it came to the boy. Robin now had a real father, someone close enough to Batman that he could merge those memories, and Slade had a successor, an apprentice, a son.
Like it or not, Robin made the madman proud, and made him sentimental.
The ever ingenious Doctor Simms shuffled into the room, his eyes bleary and cold. "Slade, please. I beg you, let me go." Wallowing on the floor, he cried, his body shuddering uncontrollably. "I can't do this anymore."
The mastermind considered him as one would regard a fly. "No. Doctor, you misunderstand your objective in this. The purpose of you being here is to serve me, and me alone. Thanks to you, I finally have control of the one person I could regard as my own son. He's mine, and in just a few more hours, that change will become permanent. I've been waiting for the moment for years, Simms, and not even your insolence will ruin it, not this time."
"What you did to that boy is murder," cried Simms. "You've completely deluded his mind!"
"Thanks to your 'Memory Override' serum and the shock treatments, I think it's more like improving him. Robin has succumbed to my will, and I appreciate all the help you've given me in the matter. Do you think I'd let you go now? Just when the fun has just begun?"
"You're murdering his personality! He's an entirely different person than who was chained up in heavy shackles! You've turned him into your own little lap dog!"
Slade laughed. "You forgot to mention both broken and bleeding. Robin was broken and bleeding when he came to me, and this time, there was no blackmail or double crossings. Out of his own free will, he asked for this life, and to take him away from his pain. I only helped him realize that the pain he felt was miniscule and he can endure it with the proper... treatment. I gave him a life, Simms, because he had asked me to, so you have no right to judge me."
The poor doctor collapsed, exhausted on the floor, his blue eyes staring blankly. "I hope you rot in hell, Slade."
"Then by all means, you take the first step in, Doctor, because you were the one who helped me. Thanks to you, I have what I wanted."
"The Titans'll-"
"Will do what? They're all dead, Simms. They're all dead. None of them will ever going to take Robin away from me. I'll never let him go!"
Simms could only nod, forced to agree. But when Slade turned his back, the old man whispered softly, "That's what you think..."
The red clad girl ran through the alleyways, knowing the city by heart as she twisted and turned, trying to achieve her goal. She had to make it to the Tower; it was urgent! The city was crawling with drones, and two had already found her, tailing her to no end. She was fast, faster than most regular people. But these were Slade's robots. There's no telling what they were capable of.
She adjusted the black backpack on her back and quickly cut a sharp left, following the path until, to her dismay, it lead to a dead end. No way out, there was no way out, and the footsteps were closing in on her...
At first, she didn't notice the open sewer hole, but she found out quickly as something slimy gripped her feet, and another slid over her mouth to keep from screaming. Wide eyed, she struggled as it pulled her downward and sealed the world above her by moving the lid back in place. Completely dark, the tentacles finally let her go, and she screamed loudly, scared out of her mind. "AHHHHHHHHHHHH! WHAT ARE YOU?"
What surprised her the most was a return greeting. "Hey, could you quit screaming in my ear? You're giving me a migraine!"
Somewhere in the darkness, a blinding emerald light flickered on, and the girl stared, wide eyed, at the collection of strangers standing around her. Staring, slack jawed, she gaped, and gasped, finally recognizing who exactly they were.
"Welcome to the new lair of the Titans," replied Raven, frowning worriedly and glancing at Beast Boy, Starfire and Cyborg before looking back at the girl. "We saw you wandering in the alleyways, and Beast Boy was kind enough to get a good look at the piece of paper in your hand, and hear what you said. You were looking for us. I want to know why."
