Slade's Tale
Alexnandru Van Gordon
Okay, okay…deep breath…wow…how am I gonna pull this one off? True to what most of you said, Slade's mind isn't the type of place to dive into without an arsenal of the world's greatest weapons (Currently floating around in a dark place where tall pillars curve and stretch far up and way, way down. Electricity streaks up and down and in between the columns, one catching Alex.) Yaowzars! This place is literally a deathtrap. Anyhow, the sooner I get this done, the better. Now…where is his memories of Masks…ZAP! IYAH!
DISCLAIMER: I would never want to own a mind this deadly
CHAPTER FOUR: Chosen…
Despite his little loss at burning down Jump City, Slade didn't believe he lost at all. If anything, he won something.
At his desk he continued his work on the latest of his inventions. It wasn't much—yet—just a little something to do with nanotechnology. He would be done soon, but it would be done even sooner if he had the information microchips. They held the schematics for his little weapon, but they were locked up tighter than the Queen's Jewels. Reason being—whoever invented them figured what they had done was wrong, but they didn't have the heart to destroy the information. Slade didn't know what was stupider—making something you weren't going to do anything with, or refusing to destroy something that could only be used to create utter chaos.
See his point?
Oh well…
A hand on his chin, he thought about it for a while. He had been pretty quite for almost weeks since the little incident with Lightning and Thunder, and he was sure the Titans would be edgy to hear from him…
Calling forth a few of his commando robots, he sent them of on a little pick-up trip in Jump City. Wouldn't want them to get rusty, now did he?
Meaning the Titans, of course.
-break-
A room stuffed with supercomputers was bathed in darkness (an odd saying—I know), save for a thick beam of brilliant white light revealing the reason for such high security precautions over the entire building. Levitating in the center was a red microchip as still as stone as though it was really perched atop an invisible pedestal. Not surprisingly, it wasn't the only thing in the room. Stepping into the light was a tall dark figure covered entirely in black with armour protecting certain areas. In the center of its face were an orange circle and two narrow white eyes pinned on the microchip, the reason for it being there. Reaching out to grab it, it halted in surprise as a boy with raven black hair swung to hang upside-down on the other side of the suspension field.
"Tell Slade if he wants this, he can come get it himself."
In the darkness of his headquarters, Slade laughed. Get it himself? Why? So he can get caught? Not that he would, but he enjoyed watching Boy Wonder struggle in the dark as he searched for his arch nemesis. It must have been eating him alive from the inside out.
Highly amused by the sudden guest appearance, Slade continued to watch as the meeting became a war.
If simply dropping down wasn't enough for Robin, the young hero added a kick to his flip and knocked Slade's commando back from its stance just as the lights of the room flickered on. Evidently Robin wasn't the only one to keep an eye on the chip for behind him stood the rest of the Titans, all ready for action.
"Attack them." Slade ordered into his speaker and watched as Boy Wonder jumped away from his spot just as a laser beam tore through the ceiling and nearly missed his body. Part of the ceiling fell to the ground and a number of Slade's commandos dropped in to complete the task he sent them out to do.
The battle was quite fascinating, but still the Titans worked as a team. There really wasn't much else for them to do considering everyone in the room was after the same target, the red microchip. Robin did his back flips in avoidance of one of Slade's robots with a laser gun. He ended the little game with a good roundhouse kick to his enemy and ran to the aid of the alien girl as one of the projector lights fell from the ceiling toward her. His timing was right, and he saved them both from a nasty blow just as the dust began to settle and the battle raged on. Many of Slade's commandos were knocked off their feet by the one called Cyborg as he tore supercomputer cabinets from the wall and plowed them over in a single toss.
In the end, Cyborg was the closest to the microchip and was about to grab it when a commando bounced off a wall, sailed toward the chip, and snatch the prize as it landed and bolted for the door. Seeing this, Robin pulled out a birdarang and sent it flying toward the thief with accuracy, whipping the chip from its hands.
"Mine!"
The green changeling transformed into an anteater—Slade watched this with interest. The one thought that currently went through his mind was: Why an anteater?
Answering his question, Beast Boy proved that he wasn't as stupid as most people thought when he lashed out his tongue and folded it around the chip as he skidded to a halt by the far wall. Stopping was a mistake, and he soon learned that when a commando stomped on his tongue and grabbed the chip just as it was released from his possession. Then, wasting no time, Slade's commando raced toward the exit where the last four surviving robots pulled out smoke grenades and tossed them to the ground.
Slade laughed again. He had, in fact, expected more from the Titans…and even more from one of them in particular. But he couldn't really blame Boy Wonder for their loss. He was their leader all right, but he looked…fatigued, as though a late night project had been keeping him awake. Either the fact that Slade was on the loose was haunting the child's mind, or he was up to something different.
Slade considered both.
"Split up!"
Slade can hear Robin's voice clearly, a warning sign that he and his team weren't too far behind the commando with the chip. Trying to make as little noise as possible, the thief paused and waited. Sounds above led Slade to believe that the Titans split up down the main level paths, but the sight of Robin dropping down for the tunnel ladder proved otherwise. Startled, his commando took off once more and was attacked with two of Robin's birdarangs, almost successfully losing the chip. But the chase doesn't end there. Robin continued onward but stopped when a grenade was tossed back at him. Upon exploding, it blocked almost the entire path, but there was still a gap from Robin to see through.
Taking out its laser gun, Slade watched through the camera on his commando as it aimed at the wall of the dead end it reached. Tracing a door shape, piece of the wall was knocked down to reveal the outside of a mountain.
It also revealed the alien girl.
Anticipating your enemy's next move…So maybe she was a little smarter too…
"I am asking you nicely to stop running and—"
ZAP!
…Okay…maybe not.
As she plummeted downward, the commando jumped after her and switched the jet boosters on its feet on just as it lowered a little farther before zipping toward the sky. It was then that Slade thought it had been over, but Boy Wonder proved him wrong again. His commando jolted to a halt as it was tugged downward and decided to take a look at what was happening.
With two grappling hooks, Robin caught one around his girlfriend to stop her descent and the other to grab the commando as it sped away upward. Carrying a new weight, the commando was thrown off balance slightly and decided suddenly to dive for the water below, Robin and Starfire in tow as the glided just above the water's surface toward shore. Not prepared for such a task, Slade cringed a bit when his commando and the two heroes crashed and tumbled across the sand. The girl remained in the water, visibly unharmed, but Boy Wonder proved to be full of energy as he grabbed Slade's commando and gave it a shake, demanding answers.
What a shock he received when the face came off and Slade stood on the screen to speak with him.
"Excellent work, Robin." Slade complimented with his cool, calculating voice. He was impressed with the day's show of action. He never thought Boy Wonder would take a dive off a cliff and attempt both to save a friend and catch the bad guy at the exact same time.
"Slade!"
The screen flickered for a moment at the sound, already damaged enough with the water, sand, and impact of hitting the ground face first.
What a temper.
"Really, I think your skills are improving." He continued; both meaning it and just saying it to get on his nerves. It was just so easy to push Boy Wonder's buttons.
"No more games—what do you want!"
Slade was almost tempted to tell him right then and there, but that would take all the fun out of it. Robin was strong, determined, smart, agile, skilled…the list went on, but his obsessiveness to find the answers and win the game were what made him so easy to manipulate without him even knowing he was being played.
Robin is the one.
The thought came to him suddenly and he smiled behind his mask at the idea. It was hard to say no to it when he knew it was absolutely right.
Robin was going to be his apprentice, his successor.
Continuing to smile, Slade gave him a half-answer. "But you do lack patience…If you're really so curious about my intentions, perhaps we should meet—face to face?"
'Tell me where you're hiding and I'll be there in a heartbeat!"
The screen flickered again.
Yes, Robin, come…Come and you'll regret it for the rest of your life, because once you do you will never leave my side…
Holding back his excitement, somehow Slade refrained from telling Robin that and gave him a more tormenting answer.
"Patience, Robin…" There was another flicker and Slade knew it was time to end their conversation. "Patience…"
The screen went blank and Slade simply stood there as he thought things over—mostly his decision concerning Robin. Was that really what he wanted?...
No doubt about it. After monitoring the Titans for so long, Slade finally reached a conclusion—Robin was one of the top child heroes out there. Slade actually doubted there was any kid who could beat him—and maybe even some of the pros would have difficulty with him too. After all, he was taught by the Dark Knight and worked in that hell hole the world liked to call Gotham City.
Slade sat down in his chair and drummed the fingers of his right hand on the armrest. There was something else he noticed…Despite his childish ways and the cloak of innocence he liked to hide behind with his friends, Robin was just…like…Slade. Smaller, in denial, and lacking a little patience—but Robin was, in fact, exactly like his worst enemy.
Pondering on that discovery, Slade suddenly stopped in his thinking and listened to the cold silence of the warehouse.
Hating to admit it to himself, Slade actually felt…alone…terribly alone…
But perhaps not for long.
Unable to bare the silence, he stood up and stalked off to work on his nanotechnology. Chips or no chips, he had to continue with his invention. Perhaps later he would find a way to steal microchips containing the information he needed to complete his project…
-break-
Robin wasn't the guy to usually lose his head over one bad guy, but somehow Slade supplied salt to his opened wounds. It was annoying the hell out of him…actually, it was doing more than just that. It was pretty much killing him, like how the fact that the Joker kept slipping away killed Batman.
He wasn't obsessed…was he? He saw what it did to Batman and that led to a lot of unpleasant memories, including one of a certain bullet wound to the heart.
Robin frowned at the memory and tried to ignore the phantom pain in his chest. That was in the past—leave it there.
Trying to ignore that only ended in a circle for him and led him back to his questions of Slade. One, however, stood out above the rest…
Who are you?
-break-
Slade was interrupted from his work when his wrist monitor began to beep. Interested, he made his way back to the main room and turned on the screen, and, to his great surprise, his secret cameras detected someone back at the lab.
Currently, all he saw was the red microchip back in its place, guarded by two men. Ha! Like that was helping much! But Slade kept his comments to himself and watched as the alarms in the building went off looooonnnnnnggg after his did. The two guards ran toward the door, laser guns humming to life as they prepared fro an attack…But none came. They waited and looked around, but no one was there.
Then the doors slammed shut behind them.
"Hey!"
The lights continued to flash and the alarm was muffled by the door as a new figure suddenly appeared into thin air and strode slowly over toward the microchip.
Slade's one eye narrowed as he inspected the newcomer, certainly not someone he had seen before…
The thief (or so he assumed) wore a skin tight black suit with a crimson red 'X' crossed over his heart, one stroke extending to cover his chest. The figure was also adorned with gray gloves, black boots, and a tattered cape that looked like it had seen War World II. Finally, a black cloth mask was pulled over the head, another skull mask covering the first to hide the person's face. On the mask was another red 'X' with a stroke extending over the right eye.
Slade looked closer at the newcomer and stared at the gray belt that hung slightly lose around the figures waist…but his eyes snapped to the thief's hand as he reached out and took the microchip from its place.
The door was blasted open at that exact moment and the guards opened fire on the new thief. Much to Slade's astonishment, the dark figure leapt up into the air and disappeared into the shadows of the ceiling. No trace left of him in the room…
Wasn't this something…
Slade strolled rather quickly to his control panel and began typing in the codes to his other hidden cameras. He didn't know what to think. He was angry that someone else stole the microchip he needed, but he was also fond of the thief's movements. Stealthy, the boy sneaked in and took the chip in a heartbeat, keeping his job short and sweet without receiving a scratch.
Looks like someone else wanted to play in the ballgame.
His sensors suddenly picked up the thief and Slade's other cameras turned on to show him the boy. The figure was running down a dark corridor toward the fire exit to the roof, the chip in hand. Pulling up his mask so that his mouth was visible, the thief bit on the glove of his free hand and pulled it off to reveal a type of communicator on his wrist. Somehow holding onto the chip, he punched in some sort of code with a free finger and Slade's turned up the volume on his cameras as they continuously changed to keep up with the thief.
The thief spat his glove out into the hand with the chip and continued running as a recording began.
"I'm working a Slade lead on the far side of town. Sure you guys can handle this without me?"
"No problem." Came the reply of Cyborg. The other voice belonged to Robin, but…
The boy slipped his glove back on and grinned before pulling his mask back down over his mouth. "Sorry, Cy." He said to himself. "I promise to return this later. Just not tonight…"
Slade's one eye narrowed even more, if that was at all possible, and the gears in his head started turning. He had a hunch, but he wasn't going to jump to conclusions just yet…
The cameras switched again as the thief broke through a skylight to the roof, bursting out into the night air where the Titans (except for their leader) stood waiting for him.
The mechanical man fired up his cannon arm and took aim at the thief, grinning as he prepared to fire. "You working for Slade, tough guy?"
"Red X works alone."
The voice was masculine and heavily distorted by some sort of mechanism, something dark and sinister, yet young and free spirited at the same time. Sounded like a thief…
A fight follows after the choppy introduction and Red X seemed not only to having disappearing abilities built into his suit. On each palm was another red "X" and from which shot out the red shape at the Titans either in a sticky, gooey from, or a sharp, flat form. By the end, Starfire was tied up and on the ground, Raven's mouth was covered with an "X", Beast Boy was stuck to the roof in a pile of the sticky red substance, and Cyborg was lying flat on his stomach with the wires on his back sparking—all that work completed in a heartbeat.
The figure jumped off the side of the roof and disappeared from the view limit of Slade's cameras. Left with nothing to watch besides Beast Boy and Starfire wriggle out of their bonds to help the others, Slade turned off his screen once more and thought in the darkness.
This was becoming very amusing…
Turning around, he began to pace around the room. Could he be right?...But Boy Wonder didn't do those types of things. He was determined, but posing as a thief to get to someone was only making him out to look more like Slade. Robin wouldn't…
But he had the capability to…
Wondering many things, time seemed to fly away unnoticed until he was torn from his thoughts by his main computer turning one. Walking over to the piece of machinery, he stood before it with his hands behind his back and came face-to-face with the new criminal in town. How he got his number, he didn't know, but it was obvious this newbie wanted something important to bother someone as busy as Slade…
The first thing Red-X did was hold up the red microchip, a sign that he was here only to do business.
Good. Slade liked that in a person.
"Rumor has it, you're interested in this."
Yes. The six o'clock news made sure everyone from here to Gotham knew he was hanging around Jump City thanks to the clumsiness of his robots.
"I'm interested in many things, Mr…"
Truth be told, he was more interested in finding a way to capture Robin, but that could wait for just a moment.
"X…Red-X." The criminal said, sounding almost hesitant to give out his name.
"Hmmm…Catchy. So, are you proposing a sale or a gift?"
He knew the answer to that, but it was always nice to see how people reacted to the simplest of questions.
"A partnership." The thief said plainly. "I give you the chip, you cut me in on your plans."
That was a trade…Red-X would get a lot out of knowing Slade's plans.
"Partner? My, my, we are ambitious." And it was good that the young criminal said what needed to be said right up front instead of fooling around and getting on Slade's nerves. It was a smart move on the newcomer's part. "But an alliance cannot be forged from one small chip."
He knew the gears in the criminals brain was working. It was a risky move to make a deal with someone as insane as Slade—especially when Slade was the one who was making the terms.
"If you're going to win my trust, I'll require more…"
Red-X needed no time to think that over.
"Just tell me what you want."
-break-
He made sure to send some of his commandos out to set up new cameras before night fell as he waited and watched the screens. He was going to monitor Red-X very closely now to settle the uneasiness in his mind. If Boy Wonder thought not knowing someone's true identity drove him nuts, he should see the discomfort it caused Slade.
When night was actually upon the city and everything was cold and quiet, the Titans suddenly showed up…without Robin.
Again, there was that uneasy feeling. All he needed was one look and it would end his curiosity—one mistake on Red-X's part and Slade would know who it was.
There was his hunch…
THERE!
One of the cameras in the alleyway picked up someone moving. It was a figure running into the alley toward a doorway in the side of a building. He was scrambling to put his mask on—
Robin…
Or should he say…Red-X.
He laughed, hands behind his back as he watched the Boy Wonder enter the building as his alter-ego and disappeared from Slade's ever watchful eye until he reappeared on another camera on the same roof as the other four Titans. Slade noticed that he three a small sphere behind himself that projected a hologram of Robin chasing him, until he was supposedly caught in a net.
Genius.
"I'm fine! Get X! Go!"
What a show—and to think, the other Titans didn't have a clue.
This brought upon a new realization to Slade—actually it was a slightly old one that he passed aside too quickly. Robin would go so far as to lie, steal, and team up with a mastermind criminal just to catch the bad guy.
Boy was he in for a rude awakening when he was the one getting caught. Robin was playing himself into Slade's hands, and only if he knew what Slade planned to make of him…Maybe then he wouldn't be so eager to chase Slade down on his own. Oh well—it was too late for going back.
Robin was as good as his.
The screens continued to change as it chased the five—correction, four heroes all the way to a subway, switching the real security cameras that Slade hacked into earlier in case they came to such a place. Robin slid into the shadows, something in his hands…
Slade didn't notice it until now, but Robin had already stolen the next microchip, a blue one. He waited in silence, slowly becoming invisible as the others ran down into the underground subway. They all waited, unsure what to do, but Cyborg seemed to be prepared for the worst. Fiddling with his robotic arm he set up some sort of sensors, and—
—was sent flying backwards from an invisible force. Suddenly, Robin appeared out of thin air and landed on his back, attempting the same trick as last time. This time it doesn't work…
In a quick summary, the meeting leads to yet another battle between the Titans as they fight their disguised leader without the slightest idea of who it is. One thing that caught Slade's attention was the little hit that sent Beast Boy flying onto the train tracks just as a subway was speeding toward him.
Heh…How was Robin going to pull this one off? It wasn't going to be easy explaining his actions after he accidentally killed one of his teammates.
"Red-X" Actually came to Beast Boy's rescue, hurtling them both onto the platform on the others side of the tracks.
Very risky…and very impressive…
"Dude, did you just save me?"
How was Robin going to get out of it this time?
Kick!
Oh…How plain.
Seeing that it was just to difficult to beat his team without killing them, Robin fled with the chip up the subway stairs and left the Titans with their bafflement.
This was becoming too much. As much as Slade enjoyed watching Robin hurt his friends, he was disappointed that the boy wouldn't ever truly cause them pain. He only fought them when they got on his tail, and even then he showed mercy.
Mercy was for the weak, and weak didn't seem to fit Robin.
But that was something Slade could work on in the future when Robin was in the position to be perfected.
-break-
As he suspected, Robin called him up the moment he was away from the Titans, still dressed in his Red-X suit though Slade knew who he really was.
"Impressive, Red-X. I tapped into the security cameras to catch your performance…You treated the Titans to quite a show."
He knew he enjoyed it.
"Glad you enjoyed." Was Robin's plan reply. He held up the red and blue chip, cutting to the chase. "Is the audition over?"
"Patience…" Slade said coolly, knowing the word sent shivers down the boy's spine. "Trust is easy to destroy—but it takes time to build."
Hands behind his back in his usual stance, Slade pressed a button on his wrist and a small white screen showed in one of the top corners of the screen, revealing the third and final chip.
"Prove yourself and we'll meet to discuss your…future…"
The screen went blank and Slade went over the plan inside his head once more.
To put it plain and simple—Slade could have stolen the chips on his own if not for his plan to grade the Titans. Now that he had made his choice, it was time he intervened to get exactly what he wanted.
Robin was going to go and steal the last chip—and when he did, Slade would steal him. An ambush was on call for and once Robin was captured, Slade could take as long as he wanted to break that hero spirit of his to make him the perfect apprentice. There was no way he was going to let Robin get away.
Robin was walking straight into a trap…
Soon…
-break-
Robin began to run. This was it…Once he had all three chips he could meet Slade face-to-face and that was when he'd beat the living-daylights out of him. Out of all those days without sleep or food, now his stress would be gone and he could breathe again.
Soon…
-break-
It didn't take him long to take out just about every security guard and set up his commandos everywhere. In the darkness of the room, none of them could be seen unless that main lights where turned on. The only thing that could be seen was the final chip, levitating in a thick beam of light much like the first chip had been. Slade could take it now, but where would the fun be in that unless Robin came?
Sure enough—there was the criminal in making.
Dressed as Red-X, Robin came into view of the light and took the chip simply, inspecting it closely. He knew something was wrong, and Slade could sense it.
Of all the things in the world that you can be, never aim for something you don't want if your real objective is in the other direction. That was something Slade learned long ago—that once you started to change yourself, even for a while, something was bound to keep you that way unless you liked it or not.
If Robin was going to become a criminal, his fate was as good as sealed.
A second beam of light entered the room and Robin turned to stare at it, startled by the change.
"Excellent work…" Slade said as he slowly stalked out into the light.
This is it, Robin. You're coming with me.
"Honestly, I couldn't have done better myself."
"So, do we have a deal?" Robin asked, not seriously meaning what he said. His voice was still heavily distorted by his mask, but, now that Slade knew who he really was, Slade could pick out his voice in the madness.
"Indeed. You and I are so very much alike…" And he meant that. He wouldn't be surprised to discover if Robin was as insane as he was. Sure seemed like it… "It seems only natural that we should be partners…"
Robin pulled out the other two chips from a small pouch and held them up with the third one. "What are they for? I need to know what we're planning…partner."
Slade knew he was trying to sound cocky, but even his mask couldn't hide the venom in his voice when he said that last word. All in all, Robin despised the thought of working with Slade.
Just wait until he found out he was his apprentice. He'd be doing more working for rather than working with.
Now was the time to catch Boy Wonder and give him the scare of his life.
What fun.
"Patience…" Slade replied, smiling behind his mask. "You can't expect me to trust you with such sensitive information right away, can you…Robin."
Even he heard Robin's breath catch in his chest, and then one of the commandos behind Robin shot out a net which caught the chips and sent them over to Slade. The next net was meant for Robin, but first the lights flickered on to reveal the ambush he set up earlier, slowly closing in on the young hero…or rather, the young criminal.
It's too late now, Robin. You're mine…
Right then there was an explosion and they were interrupted by none other than the Teen Titans. Never before had Slade been so furious to see them. They usually came when he wanted to see them, but now was not one of those times.
He needed to see Robin alone.
Spinning around, he did something he didn't usually do—fled. But of course, Robin was sure to follow.
That was something else he had foreseen.
Just as he ran through the building, he rounded a corner and slid to a halt, activating the decoy with his wrist controller. Sure enough, further down the hall, a commando that looked just like him sped out form the shadows and started down the hall at a sprint. Slade was just missed by Robin was already had his mask off and was undoing the top of his X suit to show his regular red shirt.
-break-
The night had been an interesting one. Slade was back in his hideout, rewinding his tapes as he re-watched the battle between his decoy and Robin. He actually made it back to the warehouse just in time to see the risky leap Robin made from one building to an even farther one. Slade knew he himself could make a jump like that because he was trained and advanced beyond human limits, and his decoy could make it because it was a robot…but Robin? Hmmm…probably didn't have a fear of heights.
Figures, for an acrobat.
Robin didn't give up easily, even after the rough landing that followed after the jump.
"Careful, I wouldn't want you getting hurt." Slade said into his mouthpiece which was projected from his decoy so that Robin could hear.
"I'm not the one who's going to get hurt. Now hand them over!"
Still the temper.
"Robin, I thought we had a deal…"
The decoy and Robin began to circle and Slade grinned to himself. Oh, they made a deal alright, and Slade was going to see it through…
"Sorry, I have strict rule against giving stolen technologies to psychos."
A psycho, eh? Was that meant to be an insult, because it didn't hurt Slade in the least. He wasn't insane.
The rest of the world was.
"How very noble of you." Slade mocked, his decoy still circling with the boy. Now was as good as any time to snatch Robin, but something told him that he would need something like blackmail to make someone of Robin's personality cooperate. "But stealing in order to trap me? That wasn't so noble. Two wrong s don't make a—"
"Don't ever lecture me! Whatever you're planning, Slade, it's over!"
Uh oh, looked like he hit a sore spot. Head for the hills…or not.
"Oh, on the contrary, Robin." He whispered and his grim grew into a victorious smirk. If only Robin knew… "It's just begin…"
The fighting followed and Slade observed every move. Despite being small and blinded by fury, Robin did rather well. In fact, he did better than what Slade expected. But when fury blinds you, it keeps you for seeing the simplest of attack and that was why Robin fell over the edge of the building.
Slade paused.
That wasn't supposed to happen.
Punching in the commands, his decoy ran to the edge of the building and grabbed Robin's arm just as his grip slipped. Funny…he kept joking about how Robin (as Red-X) was going to explain saving Beast Boy without giving away his true intentions. Now it looked he was in the same predicament.
Mental note—no more mocking in that sense. You'll only end up jinxing yourself…
"You…saved me?"
"I'm not through with you." Was all Slade could think off to say as he twisted himself and threw Robin hard back onto the roof. With abilities like his, Robin twisted his body in the air and landed rather nicely on one of the upper beams. Then Boy Wonder jumped back at him and the brawl began again, this time ending with Robin as the victor. He successfully knocked the chips from Slade and strode right up to Slade.
"This ends now!" Robin shouted as he grabbed the front of the mask—
And was utterly disappointed with a screen.
"Patience, Robin…We'll meet face-to-face another time." Hands held behind his back, he fiddled with the buttons on his left wrist before he found the one he was looking for. "Oh, and speaking of time…"
Five…
Four…
Three…
Two…
Goodbye for now…
One…
…
Apprentice.
-A-
(Still floating around upside-down with no help from gravity in Slade's mind, absolutely exhausted.) That guy sure does tire a person out. Having the stomach flu—AGAIN—I was stuck home all day, so I did some research on the episodes and made it more descriptive for you guys. It took me soooooooooooooooo long to write this, I better get no more comments on having short chapters! Sorry…I'm in a crabby mood because I am drained off energy and I've given up on trying to find my way out of this place. To think, this chapter was more than four times as long as my other chapters to this story and the longest chapter I've written for any story yet. And if Masks was long…Yikes…Just wait until I get to Apprentice. I think I'm going to make that into a two piece… Oh—and I'm sorry if I didn't do much of Slade's thoughts, but I will do much much much much more in the next chapters. I was just too tired to think up of a thought for every seen, that and it would have taken me twice as long to write…
(Heavy sigh.)
I was going to work on my next chapter to Not Again tonight, but I'm just so drained. That, and I can't seem to find my way out of this creepy place. (Pushes off a column with his feet and starts looking around again.) But while I'm here, I might as well start looking for his memories for Apprentice. Poor Robin, eh? But I hope this chapter explained some of your questions.
And by the way, I am not a girl/lady/woman—I am a sixteen-year-old guy who just happens to like writing. I know a lot of writers on this site are girls, but I for one am not. Sorry, I just had to clear that up because at least one review in each story, someone says something to me like "Hi there, girlfriend." Or "You go girl!" Sorry. I'm a guy.
Sinking away into darkness
Alexnandru Van Gordon
