Chapter 21- Dual of the Fates

"Robin," Starfire called out as she poked her head into the gym in hopes of finding him. "Robin, I wish to locate you…"

He was not there.

With a disappointed look on her face, Starfire walked back to the elevator and came to the main floor of the tower where Cyborg was phoning in an order for pizza, Beast Boy was playing video games, and Raven was sitting on the couch reading her book but there was no Robin in sight. She thought for sure she'd find him here and that he'd be hungry considering they hadn't eaten anything all day on account of their little "class session" with Mad Mod on the drilling station earlier.

"Please, friends, have any of you seen Robin," Starfire asked.

"Can't say I've seen him," Raven said without looking up from her book.

"He was in his room a little while after we got back, but I haven't seen him since," Beast Boy said in a labored voice trying to make a tight turn in his game.

"Oh," Starfire said in a defeated tone. She strolled over to Cyborg and tapped him on the back of the shoulder even though she knew he was busy at the moment. "Cyborg," she whispered to him, "Cyborg?" He did not answer but she continued pestering him. "Cyborg…Cyborg?"

"How do seven large pizzas total out to be $300 dollars," the bionic man yelled angrily into the phone.

"Cyborg…I was wondering if you had seen—"

"Well maybe you should get your money back from The School of Minds then Einstein! It doesn't cost $300 dollars for a couple of pizzas!"

"Um, Cyborg…"

Cyborg's skin grew red and his frustration with the pizza man and Starfire had boiled over. "WHAT STARFIRE," he turned and shouted at her.

"Um…I was wondering if…you had…seen Robin," she said timidly.

"NO, I haven't seen him," he said in a very stern voice with a vein bulging out of his forehead. "Now can you please leave me alone so I can order dinner!"

"Please forgive me," she said sheepishly as she walked backwards out the living-room and headed for the rooftop.

Even though she desperately wanted to see him, she wasn't exactly sure why. Maybe she wanted to thank him for saving her from being squashed in Mad Mod's "class room," or, maybe she just wanted to be near him; to see his handsome face, and hear his charming voice.

She climbed the flight of stairs and opened the door that lead to the roof and walked out onto it. She looked around and did not see him at first, but at the very far corner, there sat Robin starring off into the distance as the sun was setting over the horizon of the ocean in front of him. She strode closer to him, careful not to startle her secret love and starred at his back for a moment.

"Robin," she called to him in her soft angelic voice.

Hearing his name he looked back at her but did not answer, and without saying anything he returned his gaze to the horizon.

She was somewhat taken by this. He had never acted that way towards her before and she thought he might've been upset with her, but for what? She decided to see what was wrong and came to his side and sat next to him on the roof.

"Please Robin," she said sympathetically. "Something troubles you?"

He still did not answer.

Feeling somewhat defeated she let out a quiet sigh and scanned his body. He was stiff as wood with an intense focused look on his face that showed he was deep in thought, but about what? Perhaps he was thinking about whom this new villain Mad Mod was and what he really wanted with the Titans, or maybe he had the Tamaranean illness grilpnark where loud strange noises come from your butt. Either way Starfire wanted to know; she didn't like seeing him in distress. She was about to ask him again when out of the corner of her eye she noticed something in Robin's hand. She squinted her eyes to get a closer look at it and immediately recognized what it was. It was a mask, but not just any mask…Slade's mask.

"Robin please," Starfire pleaded in a more urgent voice this time. "What is the matter? Why have you the look of distress on your face?"

"Because Slade is still out there," Robin finally answered, "and after everything I put us through, I still have no idea what he's planning."

"Robin, do not beat upon yourself. Your error, it is in the past and we have forgiven you. We are your friends."

"But I still haven't forgiven myself.

"Robin—"she said tenderly but was interrupted by him.

"I couldn't catch him, I wasn't strong enough and because of that I failed. Who knows what he'll do, or what he'll do to the city."

"Or you," Starfire said.

Robin turned to look at her, intrigued by her statement.

"Robin, I worry that perhaps it is you the Slade is after. That perhaps he will do something to harm you…or even us…"

Although her head was hung low Robin leaned in to look her in the eyes and put his hand on her shoulder. She met his gaze and the two starred at each other for a brief moment before Robin said;

"Starfire, as long as I'm around, I'll never let anything happen to you…I promise," in a tone that she knew he meant it with all his heart.

Flattered by this and grateful to know she had a protector in this world, she couldn't help but blush and smile at him. Robin did the same and they both turned their heads away to conceal their faces from one other.

"Yo Rob, Star," a familiar voice behind them called. "We're going out, ya comin' or what!"

"We'll be there in just a sec," Robin called back to Beast Boy then turned to face Starfire again. "Come on Star," he said with a smile. "Let's get out of here. I don't know about you but I'm starving."

With that the two got up and headed for the rooftop door and down to the living-room to rejoin the others before they headed out.

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There she was, the fallen angel with red hair and gold skin, still lying unconscious on the beach from the exhaustion of her wounds. The sound of thunder crackled through the air followed by a huge bolt of lightning that caused her to stir. Her eyes fluttered just barely open and there was movement in her arm as it glided across the soft sand. She had mustered more strength this time around and sluggishly pushed herself up and crawled on all fours towards a huge boulder on the beach close by. She rolled over and rested her back against the hard ruff surface and let out an aching sigh. Her side, it hurt so badly, what was wrong with it? She ran her tender hand and fingers up her stomach until she felt something that obviously shouldn't be there; a huge jagged lump in her skin. One of her ribs was broken, and she had to push it back down before it came up any further. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath as she put the firm palm of her hand over the rib and braced herself for what she was about to do. She clenched her jaw shut and counted to three.

One…

Two…

Thr—

She stopped herself as her gaze fell on the war torn Titans Tower off in the distance which she thought to seek refuge in. Feeling the most dismal sense of renewed hope, she somehow managed to get to her feet, using the rock for support, and flew sluggishly towards her practically destroyed home.

After a few minutes of floating across the water and nearly passing out again from exhaustion, Starfire came to the blown open front door of the tower and went inside. Although the place was nearly demolished, she felt safe here and found comfort in knowing she was home. She walked down what once was the entrance level of the tower and headed towards the elevator. She pressed the button but it did not respond, and for some reason it was all the way up on the top floor. Disregarding this, she managed to conger the gloomiest starbolt she had ever made and blew down the door. She glided in and flew up the elevator shaft, using what little energy she could find within her to decimate the door to the first floor she needed to visit just under the main one.

Starfire came into the hallway and shuffled down it until she came to an entrance marked "sick bay." The entrance was halfway open so she walked sideways through it to get inside. The room looked like it had taken a trip through a blender. The cabinets were propped open, the drawers were out and some were on the floor, and there were bottles, boxes, and bags all over the floor. There were a few fires here and there, but the rain had put most of them out. Starfire proceeded further in and looked through what was left of the medical supplies. She found a few syringes, thermometers, band-aids, Pepto-Bismol, ointment, rubbing alcohol, and a bottle of ibuprofen. She took up the pain-killers with eager hands and chugged the entire bottle, hoping it would dull some of the agony she was going through with her rib. Starfire finished chewing the pills and dropped the bottle carelessly on the ground then headed towards the window that had been completely blown out. She formed a cup with her hands and stuck them under the dripping water from the window sill until they were full. She pulled them back in and buried her face in the water, drawing in the cool wetness with her dry lips to quench her throat. She continued doing this over and over again until she had her fill then, feeling rejuvenated, headed out the door and up to the main level of the tower.

Starfire blew the door, as well as the elevator, down and stumbled into the living room with her hand on her side. She nearly tripped down the pair of small steps but disregarded the inconvenience for she was more focused on her destination; the kitchen. She went to it, using one of the counters for support, and came to the refrigerator with an empty stomach, craving nourishment. She opened it and to her surprise the light came on and illuminated all that was inside. Most of the food had either been knocked over or spilled, but she didn't care, anything looked appetizing when you were starving. Starfire reached in and took the first thing she saw, even though she didn't know what it was, and dug her face into it. In a matter of seconds the sustenance was gone and she was already reaching for something else. She consumed everything in the entire fridge, nothing was left not even the tiniest of crumbs, and she considered eating the racks but knew she would get sick from them. Feeling satisfied, the alien girl chugged the last soda and discarded the can on the floor then headed for what was left of the sofa.

Starfire came around it and sat down, careful not to aggravate her injury, before finally propping her feet up. Resting there, she realized that this was spot where she and Robin were lying together earlier, however long ago that was. She placed her hand over her side and leaned her head on the soft cousin. She closed her eyes as she thought about the last few moments she and Robin shared together; his voice echoing in her head.

"It'll be okay Star," he said in a soft comforting voice. "We're gonna be okay. I'm here for you Star. I'll always be here for you."

She raised her head off his chest and looked up at him, her eyes still filled with tears. "Robin…I don't want to…I don't want to—"

"I know Star," he interrupted. "And I won't let that happen. I won't let anything happen to you." He moved a few hairs away from her face and looked deep into her eyes then said something that brought Starfire the inner peace she so desperately needed.

"I promise…"

Her mouth began to quiver and a tear ran down her cheek as she started sobbing at the thought of her lost love.

"Robin," Starfire whispered under her breath. "You…promised."

She rolled her head to the side and suddenly, she stopped crying and was at attention. Although she didn't notice it before, she did now. A message or rather, a conversation displayed on the T.V. screen that read:

"What do you say we meet, face…to face? A final show down, what do you say?"

"You already know the answer to that…"

"Well then in that case."

"The steel factory on the outskirts of town. Midnight, tonight, don't be late or you'll be in for a VERY big surprise."

"I'll be there."

Starfire's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open at the sight of this. Could this mean…he was alive? Was he alive after all!

"ROBIN," she said in a frantic voice before jumping to her feet.

Forgetting about her injuries on account of her excitement, she rose too quickly and became very dizzy. She fumbled around a bit while cradling her head until finally, she collapsed on the sofa and fell unconscious once again.

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"AAAAAWWWWWWWWHHHHHAAAAAAAA EEEERRRRRAAAAHHHHH AAAAAHHHHHHHH," Robin cried at the top of his lungs from the overwhelming pain in his chest.

He grabbed Slade's wrist and tried to pry him off as he burrowed his fingers deeper into his flesh, but he was far too strong. This was it, he guessed. This is how it would all end; dieing by the hand of his foe. All he could think about now was Starfire and the promises he made that he would always be there for her, that he would never let anything happen to her; but he failed. Now, she was dead, all of them were dead and what did he have left to live for? Giving up hope, he loosened his grip around Slade's wrist and braced himself for what was inevitably the final stroke of death. He turned his head away as to not meet Slade's deathly gaze and squeezed his eyes shut as tight as he could, making sure that the last thought he had in this life, were of the girl he loved so dearly.

Slade smiled at the dieing Boy Wonder from underneath his mask, taking pleasure in watching Robin suffer as he prolonged his demise. The age of heroes was over; the times of truth, justice, and righteousness were of no consequence anymore. His blood rein of evil, tyranny, and destruction would cumber all the parts of this world with Ate by his side, and nothing would stand in his way (Ate is the goddess of discord in Greek mythology). At that moment, Slade was nearly startled as he felt something cold and hard fall on his shoulder.

Robin opened his eyes and looked back at Slade. For some reason, the depraved madman stopped and was looking over his shoulder. Robin followed his gaze, and saw that there was something there, but not just anything though. It was a hand, a shimmering silver metallic hand that he clearly recognized and could identify whom it belonged to.

Without warning, Slade was torn away from Robin and his fingers ejected out of his chest as he was tossed to the other side of the scaffold like a piece of garbage. Robin fell to the ground and landed on his side. He immediately put his hand over his left breast and felt the intrusions in his muscles. Somehow or another, Slade didn't manage to break the skin but there were five deep indentations though that hurt like a beast. He'd have a heck of few bruises, but he'd be alright, if he lived long enough to see them. He planted his other hand on the ground and used it to brace himself on as he pushed his upper body up and looked to see who his savior was.

Slade landed on his back and finally came to a screeching halt. The instant he stopped, he shot his head up to see who had pulled him away from victory and would have gasped had he not been a cold blooded killer at who was standing before him.

Robin was in utter disbelief, he should have been dead, but here he was still war torn from his battle with him earlier.

"How the—"he said looking up and down Brother Blood's scarred body.

His former opponent turned and starred at him with that red glowing eye of his before saying, "Sit tight Robin. I'm not finished with you yet."

"And I though he had trouble staying down," Slade interrupted as he rose to his feet. He scanned Brother Blood's body taking note of all the damage he took from his previous encounter with the Boy Wonder. "Impressive my friend. I thought for sure the shock charges I placed throughout your body would scramble your hard-drive and render you useless, but it seems you're more resilient than I thought." Slade noticed his severed limb and said, "I'd give you a hand, but—"

"SILENCE," Brother Blood shouted, angered by Slade's mockery of his missing arm. "I WILL NOT BE HAD BY YOUR INSOLENCE!"

"Heh heh," Slade chuckled in a sarcastic voice. "Whatever you say…partner."

"How dare you speak of alliances in wake of your actions! You played me for a fool and had me to believe that we were brothers! Into what dangers would you lead me, Slade, That you would have me seek into myself for that which is not in me!"

Slade tilted his head to the side and looked at him with an emotionless stare and said, "O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth."

"CURSE YOU," Brother Blood shouted.

His eye glowed red and he shot his remaining arm out to the side as if he were reaching for something. From out of no where, a huge pipeline came flying towards Slade and, unbeknownst to him, struck him in the back, sending him stumbling forward from the blow. Brother Blood reached out in another direction, and once again he was bashed by a large piece of debris but this time in the side.

His anger was boiling over and once Slade regained his ground, he shot forward at his new opponent with a fist cocked behind his back. With little effort, Brother Blood raised his hand to the oncoming Slade before the rampaging maniac could deliver his blow. He was shot back and into a huge symmetrical container and crashed into it with incredible force. Before Slade could regain his bearings and shake off his dizziness, Brother Blood was already standing over him and grabbed his collar then tossed him back onto the scaffold over an enormous pool of molten steel. Brother Blood looked back at Robin one more time, still resting in the same spot, before he sauntered up the short flight of metal stairs and went after Slade.

He was being pushed around like a defenseless child by the schoolyard bully. Brother Blood was practically having his way with him. Slade was used to being the one who does all the taunting and bullying around here; this was absolutely degrading to him. He got to his feet but as soon as he turned around the robotic criminal was already there and landed an iron fist across his face. Slade stumbled back, and another one was planted in his stomach followed by a kick to the side that nearly knocked the wind out of him. Slade quickly shook it off and drew his arm back to retaliate but Brother Blood moved out of the way as he swung and elbowed him in the chest then grabbed his neck and face-planted him into the ground.

Robin couldn't believe the vicious beating Slade was taking. He thought of how nice it would be to get in on the action and throw in a few punches, but his chest hurt immensely and he felt too weak to move. Besides, he was coming up with a plan.

"Perhaps it's time I teach you a lesson or two on what happens to those who betray me," Brother Blood yelled as he picked Slade up off the ground. "LESSON ONE…YOU WILL PAY!" With that he tossed Slade like a volley ball then jumped up to meet him and planted a round-house kick across his chest in mid-air. The limp defenseless body was instantly shot across the pool of burning hot steel and onto a parallel catwalk. Blood went after him and as soon as he was standing over Slade again, he picked the helpless man up off the ground and continued "teaching" him.

"Lesson two," he said as he let go of his collar and let him stand on his own. "YOU WILL BE PUNISHED!"

With all his anger and might, he formed his hand into a tight ball and landed an upper-cut on his masked foe's chin that sent him soaring up through the air and onto a catwalk high above them. Brother Blood leapt up onto it and landed gracefully on the framework. He eyed his opponent's body draped over a pipeline at the end of the walkway, hanging there motionlessly with his back turned to him.

"And now…lesson three," eh said as he drew closer and flashed his razor sharp fingertips. "You won't live to do it ever again."

As he came to his back, Slade's eye shot open unbeknownst to Brother Blood who still thought he was unconscious. His dilating pupil advertised his murderous intent as he baited Brother Blood into a trap. He listened for the sound of his footsteps to come in range, and then, he struck.

Without warning, he spun around and clubbed Brother Blood in the side of his head with a heavy fist. The cybernetic man stumbled backwards and landed on his butt, startled by his adversaries' retaliation when he thought he had him beat. Slade got off the pipeline and turned around to face him. His neck crackled as he stretched it from side to side then brushed his left shoulder off with his hand. He drew his arms behind his back in the pose he was so accustomed to and starred the half-manned robot down in absolute silence, waiting for him to say something.

Brother Blood examined his foe's body. Even after everything he had done to him, Slade was completely unfazed from his beating and looked as though he were ready for more.

"How dishonorable of you," Brother Blood said as he got to his feet. "You shouldn't strike a man when he's off his guard."

Slade didn't answer; instead his hand came up and fingered the air in a motion for him to bring it on.

"Very well then," said Brother Blood confident in Slade's defeat.

He let out a charging roar and came at him with an open palmed hand behind his back ready to slash. He swung, and to his dismay, hit nothing but air. He swung again, and again, and again, but Slade effortlessly stepped out of the way from each attempted strike with hands still behind his back. Brother Blood tried kicking him, but he easily evaded that too. The Cyborg thought he could take him by surprise now and unexpectedly threw a punch, but Slade caught it with little endeavor and twisted it in an unnatural direction. The mechanical parts and circuits of his wrist made a loud crackling noise, like the sound of fracturing metal and before Brother Blood could even scream, Slade punched him in the face and sent him falling backwards.

The masked villain showed no mercy and began savagely beating him as every punch, kick, and swipe made contact with every part of Brother Blood's body. Slade shot the weary bionic man a deathly gaze for a brief moment in time before jabbing the exposed power cell inside his opponent's chest. Brother Blood looked as though he had just seen a terrible image, but he wasn't scared, it was an involuntary spasm caused by his power cell buckling from its' socket after the incredible blow it had just received.

He fell to one knee and immediately put his hand over the battery inside his metallic ribcage. Even though he couldn't feel pain, he still felt the affects of his draining energy supply taking its' toll on his body as he knelt there trying to catch his breath. His enemy was incredibly strong; much stronger than him, even with his robotic implants enhancing his powers and he was slowly reaching his end.

Slade stood over him and gazed at the beaten Cyborg like a vicious beast hungry for blood with fists ready to strike. Brother Blood followed the trail up his body, passing his muscular legs, abs, and chest until he fell on his eye. He starred at him for a moment, hoping he would show the smallest sign of mercy then looked back down at his feet. Suddenly without warning, Brother Blood leapt out from under Slade and onto the scaffold parallel to where he once was resting. As soon as he landed, he shot his arm out in front of him in his masked foe's direction as if he was reaching for him and his eyes began glowing red.

Slade shot an eerie stare at him until the foundation of the catwalk underneath his feet began to rattle violently. He stumbled from side to side as nuts, bolts, and columns were pulled from their places causing the platform to buckle due to the lack of support. Even though the bridge showed signs of breaking, Slade did not make any attempt at escape. The last bolt was removed and the scaffold started to collapse. Brother Blood never took his eyes off of Slade as he and the framework fell into the burning hot pool of molten steel below.

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A/N:

Not exactly where I was gonna end it, but this'll due. I know, another Cliff hanger but come on, honestly, you know you like em!' You look forward to the next chapter after each one them and it enhances the beginning. So who noticed those little tid bits of Shakespeare I put in here an there. The lines: "O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth," and "Into what dangers would you lead me, Slade, That you would have me seek into myself for that which is not in me," are both from the play-write Julius Caesar. There'll be more in the next chapter(s) so keep an eye out for em.' The beginning of this chapter, if you didn't figure it out, was directly after everything that happened in "Mad Mod," since I think that was the episode that aired right after "Masks." So yeah, Brother Blood is still alive! Wow I'm throwing all kinds o' twist at you, but I warned you though, I told you I'd have a lot of cliffhangers and shocking twists towards the end of this story. Speaking of which, someone mentioned to me that they were glad that I didn't end my story at…I think either the "The Face of my Foe," or "The Fury of the Puppeteer." I've been contemplating this lately, and from what I've pieced together and after reviewing where I'm going with this, I foresee there being either three or four chapters left in this story. I know, I know, you don't want it to but all good things must come to an end. It all depends on how long I drag this all out and where I end each chapter, for instance like this one where I didn't end it where I wanted to but I also didn't leave that much out which brings me to this.

I want to know, from you the audience, what you would like to see. Would you rather have me A: write longer chapters and end this sooner, or B: write shorter chapters so this story will last longer?

I figured the last chapter would be REALY long, but I could shorten it, that is…if backed by popular vote, you'd want me to. If I don't get any answers to this I'm going to go ahead and end it within 3 chapters with the last one being the longest. So please, give me your input!

So anyway, next chapter: "Never Say Never Again."

RobinLover- Well, I did as you asked and I updated. I kid you not when I say this, but I was actually in the middle of updating when I saw that I had another review. So, I had to stop what I was doing to get you in here. LOL, thanks for the AT THE LAST POSSIBLE MINUTE review.

BlueGecko- First of all your name is too long and hard to spell, none the less write out, but still it's cool to see a new reader though. Well, what can I say, you're absolutely right. Everyone will just…come back from the dead, blue skies will be shining on everyone, and they'll all end it with a nice musical number like in "Westside Story." How, bout…NO! LOL, J/K. I'M NOT TELLING YOU HOW IT ENDS, YOU'LL HAVE TO READ ON TO FIND OUT! Thanks for the review though, and welcome to my tale of thrills and chills. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!

Snowfeather- LOL, sorry, No…Brother Blood isn't dead, at least…not anymore, hehehehehehe. That must've boiled your blood when you found that out, none the less after he killed Slade the same way he was by Terra. Please don't hurt me for that though, or for ending it at a part where Brother Blood takes over the situation and showdown with Robin. Thanks for the review.

DD of Courage- Well…guess ya can't say the choice Brother Blood made cost him his life…cause he's still alive. Anyway, happy you liked the chapter so much though. Yeah this was pretty shocking, but it's going to get worse as I progress and I think I'm really going to be pushing the envelope with my PG rating in the next one with what I have in mind. Yeah, Starfire survived, and did somehow manage to make it back to the tower but like you said is still incapable of helping Robin right now. Besides, he's got Brother Blood with him and he just killed Slade, maybe he'll be able to get out of this one alive after all. OH, and yes, this is nearing its' final chapter, but I'll promise you this…I'll go out with a bang and have been thinking about a sequel to this or maybe even just writing several alternate endings. Thanks for the comment.

Deathstroke- So…you're leaving for six months…you goin' somewhere or something? Anyway, when you say the characters are as they should be, are you saying that I've done a good job…I guess portraying them and giving them dialogue that would sound like something they would say? If that's the case, then thank you, I really appreciate that. So what did you think of Brother Blood returning to kill Slade? Maybe Robin will be able to pull a grand escape out of this one and take down Brother Blood and he and Starfire will live happily ever after. Thanks for the review.

Aries-Raven- Glad you liked and caught onto the name of the chapter, all of my chapters have some form of deeper meaning to them, but anyway. Yeah, the whole idea of Slade coming back to make Robin his apprentice again was something I just wasn't feeling and am glad you agree. So many others have done something like that, and I wanted to steer clear of that idea. I figured something along the lines of revenge and destruction sounded cooler and from what I've read has worked out nicely and I also wanted to do something different. So what about the ending of this one, was it too gross for you, or was it okay? And are you sure Starfire will be there to rescue Robin? Hehehe, thanks for the review.

KaliAnn- Yes my friend, Starfire is alive. She's still alive because she's a Tamaran, and they're more…durable. Someone else mentioned that, I forget who, but that's why. Yeah Slade is pretty confident for wanting to destroy the world but…that's just him, because he's a total bad ass. Yeah I wanted to make everyone think he'd cave in with the offer Slade made him since like you said everything has been taken away from him. Now the weird spell you were talking about, did you mean the "Grayson Virus," or something else? Cause that's a virus not magic if that's what you were getting at. As for your question about what Robin will do…I don't know what to tell you because Brother Blood just killed Slade. Maybe in order to survive he'll become his new student, and Starfire will come to rescue him but it'll already be too late. Anyway, thanks for the review. Oh, and thanks for your concern about my Prom, but it's alright. My date was being a bit of a bitch (pardon my language) but it's cool now.

Infamous One- Yeah I think it'd be best if you left the kissing to your sister, but anycrap. I asked my dad what throttled meant cause he has a motorcycle but he didn't know what that meant either…and he's 47…so does that mean you're like…way over the hill or something? Lol, J/k. Glad you liked the fight scene though, but how bout this one with Brother Blood and Slade. I always thought it'd be FRICKIN' AWESOME to see those two go head to head. So are you saying you don't like the idea of world destruction? It sounds pretty Sladeish to me. Thanks for the review.

Lance Arkel- Glad you liked the chapter so much. So do you think the flashbacks in the beginning were a little much, followed by the revelation of Starfire finding out about Robin? I actually didn't have the intent of putting that in, but I thought maybe it'd make everyone think Starfire would be the one to save Robin when in turn it was actually Brother Blood. When I used Thor in the chapter, I wasn't actually referring to the superhero, but rather the God of thunder, I think he is, in European Mythology. Either way though, they both work, I just thought I'd specify. Anyway, I'm glad all the time I took for the Slade/Robin dialog paid off, because really…you have no idea how many times I wrote and deleted everything I had in order to get it just right, and yes I agree Ron Pearlman was by far the best choice for the character of Slade, his voice just sounds so sinister! The part where Robin still thought that Brother Blood was screwing with him was actually one of the key parts to this chapter. I wanted the readers to know that Robin still hadn't gotten over the incident with his hallucinations, and I think it modified the parts where Slade pushed Brother Blood's body off the edge of the catwalk and then where Robin actually managed to lay a good punch on him. In some ways I was actually alluding to the episode "Haunted" where Robin made the comment of how Slade's beaten the crap out of him, but Slade didn't even have a mark, thus proving he wasn't real. Yep the Justice League is dead and Robin's world is indeed falling apart, considering it was already practically shot to hell in the first place. Yeah I agree with you too on the premise of Slade never lost interest in Robin, and that's why he gave him that chance, but I still wanted to steer away from the whole apprentice idea; in my opinion it's been overused too much. I know the dialog did drag on a bit, but it really was necessary in order for me to explain everything because I couldn't just leave all the questions unanswered. So now that Brother Blood has come to the rescue, figuratively speaking, in order to take out Slade for what he did to him, what do you think Robin's fate will be? He'll have to deal with Brother Blood now, but in his current condition that will be no easy feat. And about where I'm going with this story, don't worry; I'm going to finish through to the end. I think the end of this is the best part, but like I told you before I will have more twists; like Brother Blood returning as being one of them but I still have a few more chapters to go. Like always I love the suggestions you give me, but because of what I want to do, all they can really be at the moment are suggestions. There's a VERY GOOD reason why I can't use the window idea or the shadows vs. light thing…and who says Robin will win this battle anyway (evil grin)? But I do appreciate the suggestions, and maybe I could incorporate them in later chapters. So yeah, hope you got my email and keep the whole moon thing in the back of your mind. Thanks for the review and hoped you liked this chapter.

VanGordon- So I just now figured out that your last name was spelt with an "O" at the end, and not an "A," LOL. Sorry, so anyway, yeah I know I took too long, sorry, but life was boggling me down with crap, but that's all said and done. Yes I did indeed get your letter on Deathstroke and am still not sure of what to think of the whole thing. I don't think I could write another Fan Fic to be honest because this one has taken long enough and had in fact gotten the way of things, but I have considered it. Glad you liked the heart part so much, I really wanted to show just how evil and merciless Slade is and how could you think I would end my story there! I've got so much I want to do still, I've got twists up the ying yang with this story, so how could I finish it now! Glad you liked the dialogue because it was a real bitch to write, let alone explain with all the blank spaces I had to fill. Where do you get off saying my story is better than both of yours young man! Yours' is WAY COOLER MAN, what are you talking about? Anyway, I really have been thinking about a sequel to this and I'll tell you all about it when I'm done with this one, so not to ruin the ending, but this has taken up a lot of my time and with college n' all coming up, time will be a precious jewel for me. So come on I let you in on the secret of the dual between Brother Blood and Slade, so now what did you think of it? Brother Blood really did give Slade a butt whooping, and then he killed him none the less; I bet you're not too happy about that. LOL, anyway, thanks for the review.