A/N: Okay, ouch! I went to work with my little sister, Naomi, and my dad and I'm learning how to airbrush stuff by this guy called Ron. I did do this really cool picture on the wall with BB doing "The Face". But that is not the point of this story! I got done early and was in my dad's office and the computer dude asked me if I wanted to be productive. I said yes and he told me to carry this really heavy thing to another place and clean it up. I was carrying it with my little sister and she decided to drop it without giving me any warning. So it crushed my big toe and blood was everywhere. Not a pretty site. I just winced and worried about not being able to go anywhere for the next few days. When it comes to pain I don't really cry. But I'll be at my laptop for the next few days because of that. It really sucks!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans. I'm getting sick of saying that. You guys should be smart enough to know that I don't own them.
Chapter 9 Over the Edge
Robin finally stopped running when he felt sand under his feet and he could see the setting sun. It would be night really soon, and it would be hard to find his way around the jungle in the dark. Robin walked over to the edge of the beach while he thought over what to do. He let his feet soak in the warm ocean water as he watched the beautiful display of colors in the sky as the day ended.
How was he to hide from John? He was a sitting duck out on the beach like this. Robin started to walk down the beach with his feet still in the water to hide his tracks. He kept looking behind him to see if John was there. He finally came up to a bunch of big rocks with the waves crashing up against them and spraying seawater into the air. It was a perfect place to hide from John for the time being.
Robin looked over his shoulder and saw John running after him. He then ran into the jumble of boulders to lose John. The teen could feel the water under his bare feet as a wave came in. Water flew into the air above him. Drops of salty water and mist came down on his head and shoulders. It was starting to cool him off.
"You're very tricky, Robin," John said to the boy while slowly following Robin into the maze of rocks. "But this makes us both open to anything. I could sneak up on you and you could sneak up on me." John kept looking around as if Robin would pop out of nowhere. This was a game of hide and seek. The only catch was that both were "it" and both were "not it". It could be just as confusing or exiting.
"You'll get nowhere if you keep talking," Robin said above the spray of water. He quickly ran away from the spot he was at. John would be trying to follow his voice.
That was what exactly what John did. He flew around the rock he heard Robin's voice from while pointing his rifle out in front of him at the ready. He frowned as he saw that Robin had tricked him. The boy was on the run. He looked around him with confusion. Robin could be anywhere.
Robin was breathing hard already. He leaned his back flat up against the side of the smooth rock. Suddenly a spray of water flew overhead and drowned out any footsteps he had heard. He took a chance and ran out of his cover for another rock. He spotted John as he ran to another rock, but his back had been turned.
"You can't keep this up, Robin," John's voice came from behind Robin's rock. His heart started to race because he was right. Sooner than later Robin would get caught. His best bet was to get out of there quickly and without John knowing.
Robin darted out of his cover because he thought he heard John's voice close to the rock he was hiding behind. What he did not know was that John knew how to project his voice. As soon as he ran out of his cover a shoot rang out into the tense air. Robin ducked with a wince when the rock next to him blew up and sent dust and pebbles everywhere.
"You're trapped, kid," John said while quickly following Robin. The teen speed up his pace and got to a dead end with rocks all around him. He frowned while realizing his tight situation. John rounded the corner and aimed inside the dead end. All he saw was Robin's head dropping over the big rock.
Robin landed in a deep puddle of seawater with a small splash. He was getting close to the edge where the rocks dropped off into the ocean. The waves crashing against the rocks thundered into his ears, and it was dark all around him. He had to rely on the soft moonlight to show him the way through the maze.
Puddles were everywhere, and Robin kept falling into them. He heard John behind him fall into some too. Robin finally stopped behind a huge rock to catch his breath. Another mist of water dropped down on him. He held his breath as he could faintly hear John pass by him. They both could barely see in the dark.
"God, please help me!" Robin whispered while running to another rock as quickly and silently as he could. There it was again. The mention of God. Right now Robin did not care. If he got off this island alive he would know that there was someone out there watching over him.
Another shot rang out over the roaring of the waves. Robin gasped as the rock by his head exploded. He backed up to get out of there but stopped in his tracks as he felt something cold touch the back of his neck.
"No more second chances, Robin," John said with an evil smile on his face.
"I don't need any," Robin snapped back. He did a back flip over John then rolled under him to confuse the man. It worked, and Robin quickly struck with his heel. He was on his back, and his foot kicked John's hand and the pistol flew into the air. John grabbed the front of Robin's shirt and pulled him off the ground.
"I'm not finished with you," John growled at the teen while shoving him against a rock. He saw Robin wince in pain as the back of his head hit the boulder. John then threw him into another rock with an angry yell.
Robin got up quickly even though his vision was fuzzy and his head was spinning. He dodged a punch by jumping up to the rock he had been thrown at. He gave a loud battle yell while executing a hard roundhouse kick to the side of John's head. John fell down and got back up so quickly that it took Robin off guard. He grabbed Robin's shoulder with a vice grip and slammed him face first into a boulder. It knocked the air out of the teen, and he fell to his knees while gasping for air.
John was about to grab Robin again, but the boy turned around sharply and punched the man in the chin. John lunged at Robin, and they both were rolling on the ground in a mad struggle to get up or pin the other. Robin somehow got out and saw the pistol on the ground right next to him. He quickly grabbed it and pointed the deadly weapon at John.
The battle came to a complete stop. Robin held the pistol with two hands. He had all the power now. He could knock out this man so quickly, and everything would be over. He would prove to himself that he could save himself. He did not have to rely on his friends. He was strong.
Robin took a deep breath and shook his head to clear it. John stood there like a statue. He smiled as he saw Robin's face change. He could not bring himself to shoot John.
"What's the matter, kid?" John asked him. "All you have to pull that trigger and all your problems will be gone. But you can't even do that! You make me laugh!"
"I'm not a killer," Robin said with a dark tone in his voice. He looked up to John with his eyes narrowed and threatening. He looked very much like Batman at that moment.
"You can't kill me anyway," John said with a smile. "I would just be knocked out for hours. But I would feel a lot of pain. But you can't even hurt me. What kind of superhero are you?"
"I will not hurt you with this kind of weapon," Robin said while smashing the pistol against a rock. It broke into many pieces that scattered all around the ground next to Robin's feet. "I want this to stop. Please let us end this, General!"
John laughed loudly as if Robin had just told him the most funniest joke. "You silly boy!" he said while calming down. He could see the pleading look on Robin's face in the dime light from the moon. "This game does not end till you are at the third destination or dead. There is no way you are going to stop me!"
Robin took off into the maze of rocks after the news finally sunk in. He could never get John to stop this dangerous game. He then stopped at the edge with a small gasp. He almost fell over it. He turned around and was faced with another problem. John was there with his rifle this time. Robin looked back down into the black pool.
"Don't do it, Robin," John said quickly while noticing the longing look he had on his face while choosing options.
"Why do you care?" Robin yelled loudly over the crash of waves. A spray flew up behind him and soaked the two with seawater. "I'm going to die both ways!" The moon shone down on John's face, and Robin could clearly make it out. It was at this point that he realized that John had two personalities! His good side was begging him not to jump. Prosper was right! John really did not want Robin to die!
"I'll take my chances with the water," Robin said. He then jumped off the cliff. He knew how to survive these kinds of jumps. He straightened out his body and went stiff. He splashed into the dark waters right after he took a giant breath. As soon as he was not sinking he kicked his feet and tried to swim to the surface. He had to move or he would get crushed up against the rock by a strong wave.
Something kept Robin swimming away from the rock. He knew he made it when he did not have that great pull on his body. He looked up to the cliff and could not see anyone there. John must have left. Robin struggled to swim to the beach. He had wasted all his energy by swimming away from the rocky cliff. He had no strength left.
Robin finally made it to the soft sandy beach. He could not even crawl now. Every mussel in his body protested with every move he made. The teen collapsed on the sand and rolled over to his back with a groan, as pain was everywhere. But he had made it! With that last thought, the boy passed out.
The sun was the thing that woke the poor boy up. Robin dared to open his eyes. He was still on the beach where he had passed out. He slowly sat up with a sleepy yawn. It hurt to sit up. He was sore all over his body. Boy, was he hungry too!
He must have been out all night. That meant his friends would be arriving anytime now. It took around twelve hours he guessed to get from Jump City to where he was in either Indonesia or Micronesia. He was finally thinking straight. Before, he would not even think about it so quickly.
Now Robin was faced with a problem. He wanted to help John. The man could not live like this! He needed help, and he needed to stop hunting humans for fun. Robin had a job to do. He could not just leave the island like nothing happened. He felt like it was his duty as a superhero to stop this madness once and for all. The only way to make John listen to Robin was for the teen to beat him at his own game.
"I think I went insane," Robin muttered to himself. "Better get going." He slowly picked himself up off the sand with a small wince. His body was so slow and sore. It hurt to even stand. Once he was on two steady feet and moving like he should, he heard his stomach growl. "First I need food," he said while looking around. His shoulders dropped when he saw only palm trees.
"Yippee," he grumbled while walking over to a tree. "More coconut juice." He sucked it up, and his small body quickly zipped up the tree. He pulled out his pocketknife and cut one down. He then used the same knife to cut the coconut open. The teen sat under the tree cross-legged and sipped the juice out. After that he started to eat the insides of the thing. This whole time his mind was forming a plan.
Robin got up and then pulled out his map. The second destination was at a huge tree in the middle of the island. He set out for it with a sigh. This was not going to be easy. But hey, what part of this was? There was always an easy and a hard way to things, but don't let that stop you from doing things the right way! Robin had learned that lesion a few months back. Right now he knew he was doing things the right way.
John sat down on a deep purple lawn chair on his balcony. He held a drink in one hand and Robin's folder in the other. His face was set into a deep frown. He saw Robin's picture and shook his head. He was way too young to die. John wished so bad he had never thought of the young boy. The guilt was building up on him, and he had no sleep that night.
The man's remaining three robots were searching every beach out there for Robin's body now. He had to wait till the sun came up. Robin had shut down all the others or destroyed them. John did not care, though. He felt like he deserved it all.
John looked at all the information about Robin for the hundredth time. He sipped a little from his drink and gave a sad sigh. He never felt this bad after killing someone. Robin's friends would be here soon. What was he going to do then? Right now he did not care.
John looked up when his watch started to beep. He pressed a few buttons on it, and a screen popped up on it. It said that someone was coming up to the second destination. John frowned. It could be one of the robots or a bug in the system…or Robin. Could it be the skilled boy? But it was impossible!
The man pressed some more buttons and got a live video clip on his watch, which he had created himself. He saw Boy Wonder himself searching around the base of the giant tree. John's eyes went wide with surprise. He then smiled and said, "You're good, kid."
It was just like climbing a cliff. Robin was quickly making his way up the tree, which was maybe two school buses wide and so tall that it was above all the other trees. Robin had looked around the base of the tree for anything useful to him that John said would be there. He had found nothing. The only thing to do was climb.
Robin took a break from climbing when he got to a thick branch. He sat on it and dangled his feet into the air. He was maybe two or three stories above ground and had no problem. He was never afraid of heights even when he was kid. Right now he felt like that little kid again as he fell backwards and dangled there with only his legs holding him up. He used to do this in the circus all the time when his parents were taking a break.
"Having fun?" John asked him. Robin jumped in surprise and looked way down at the small figure that had to be John.
"Yes," Robin yelled back down at him. "Until you came along. What are you doing way down there, John? I thought you would have at least some faith that I would make it. Shame! I guess you underestimated me once again." He let himself express a cocky smile to go with his attitude.
"Something is keeping you alive, kid," John said with a shrug. "Maybe someone above is keeping an eye on you. Or maybe you're just lucky."
"Are you just going to stand there and talk?" Robin asked him with boredom in his voice. "Or are you going to come after me. You can't shoot me from there."
"Who gave you sugar, kid?" John asked him with a smile. "You're a bit hyper. Not to mention annoying."
"Maybe it was the coconut juice," Robin said while returning the smile. He flipped himself up and held his head that was spinning. Hanging upside down for so long can do that to you. He looked back down and saw that John was climbing up after him. "I'll race you!" Robin said while starting to climb more. For some reason he was in a good mood. Maybe it was because he had a very good feeling he was going to survive this whole deal.
"That's not fair," John said while quickly catching up. "You had a head start."
"But you did not have to swim for hours last night," Robin said. He knew that with the attitude he had now was keeping John's true personality out. If Robin could keep John like this maybe he could get him to stop the game. Right now Robin was just enjoying the moment. They were both having fun.
The two raced each other up. Robin could not help himself to get a little bit competitive. They finally made it to a part in the tree where all the branches went out in different directions and had a bowl in the middle big enough to run around in. Something was sitting in the middle of the bowl.
Robin right away recognized his two bird-a-rangs in the middle of the bowl. He ran up to them and picked them up with a smile. He finally had some weapons again for latter use. He put them in his pocket and looked up to John who was standing on the side of the bowl. He had a melancholy look on his face as he stared at Robin with sadness in his eyes.
Robin gave a sigh while looking down to his feet. "Please, John," he said while looking up at the man. "I know that you don't want to hurt me. Then don't do it! I want to help you, but I don't think I can do anything to save you. You need to control yourself."
"That is just it, Robin," John said while looking away from the teen. "I can't control it."
"At least try," Robin muttered while backing up to the other side of the bowl. "Look at me. Without trying I would have never made it through this far."
"Why did you not stay on the beach?" John asked Robin. He took out his rifle and put some ammo in it while waiting for his answer. He glanced up at Robin when he said nothing. The boy was smiling.
"I'll let you make up that answer on your own," Robin said. "Right now I have another place to be. Are you going to stand there and let me win your stupid game I did not want to play in the first place, or are you going to fight? I'm ready for anything!"
A/N: I think this is a good place to leave off. My toe really hurts at the moment. I feel like such a pig because I can't do anything productive besides typing. My dad finally hooked up PS2, so I'll be playing my heart out on that thing. Jak2 is the best game ever! That reminds me. I need to finish typing up my chapter for that one fan fic. Um…I lost my train of thought…okay it is back! The next chapter for this fic will not be out for a while because I'm going to work with my dad for a few days once my toe heals. So please give a review! Thanks!