I can tell you this with absolute honesty that I actually forgot about this story until I opened my hotmail and found a review for the last chapter. Oops. Sorry, you guys, but I've been so preoccupied with "Blast to the Supposed Past" and "Allow Me to Live Like You" That I have had ZERO time to work on this one. That's why you'll have to excuse me if these are short. I'll have more time on my hands to make them longer after I'm done.

Anyway—enjoy!

Chapter Three: An Odd Feeling:

True to his word, the warehouse was hard to find, and an absolute maze inside—when you found the bloody entrance to the place. Raven and Starfire were attacked by more icemen, but Slade's robots aided them in taking them out in record timing. Cyborg and Beast Boy came shortly after and the fourteen of them stood in silence at the break in the dark, icy passageway in. There were two choices for directions and both appeared the same.

"Well, good luck, y'all." Cyborg said, still seated atop Beast Boy. The two boys and their five robots headed down the passageway to the right, leaving only one choice left for the girls.

"I hope we find Speedy's friends soon." Starfire whispered. "This place is creepy." One of her hands glowed in response to her fright and she held it up above her head to add extra light in their direction.

They started down in the dreadful silence, the passageway growing darker with each step regardless of Starfire's light. The Slade-bots' eyes began to glow and added to their light, but they failed to outshine the growing fear in the alien girl's heart. She was worried they would get lost, but she was worried even more about something else.

Robin.

She did not trust Slade—she just knew the two would battle before their job was done. Perhaps she should have teamed up with him instead? Perhaps they should have never teamed up with the villain.

No. They…needed him to defeat the Ice King. Starfire could only imagine how this was eating away at Robin from the inside out. Being sick was one thing—teaming up with your worst enemy was another. The Titans were only lucky Raven had prevented any earlier fights—

"What if Robin and Slade begin to fight now?" Starfire suddenly asked Raven.

Raven and the robots halted.

"Who—each other?"

"Yes…" Starfire bit her lower lip. "They are worst enemies. On my planet, it is hard to put old feuds behind and worst enemies never cease to fight unless one has complete victory. It is a rare thing to happen, but each one has been recorded in history."

Raven sighed and shook her head. "And what would be complete victory in this case?"

"Well—Slade or Robin might kill one another."

"Murder is something Slade is capable of, but I think he enjoys torturing Robin too much to kill him yet." Raven explained. "Besides, Speedy is watching his back. And Robin—no matter how much alike he might be to Slade—does not kill. Maybe accidentally—but never intentionally. He might be tough, but he's a hero at heart and heroes do not take lives for any reason whatsoever."

That seemed to help Starfire to relax. Raven was right—Raven was always right when it came to things as deep as this. Slade could not hurt Robin with Speedy watching his back and Robin would not intentionally kill Slade. Even if they did battle, Slade would probably flee to fight the Titans another day. He always did that no matter how annoying it was for Robin.

Smiling, she continued onward and the Slade-bots followed quietly. Their eyes continued to glow as they went over what they just heard. It was odd for them to comprehend why Slade wanted them to help the Titans, but an order was an order. They would follow each order given, to carry them out at the appropriate times.

-

The underground entrance turned out to be the underground subway. A hole had been created in one of the walls, a large tunnel leading slightly upward toward the warehouse. The third group walked up this one without running into any of the Ice Man's minions at all, a silent bunch that weren't in the mood for a battle anyway.

Robin's cape and scarf flowed out behind him as he brought up the rear of the group. Slade took the lead and all Robin dared to do at the present moment was stare a hole into the back of his metal-masked head. He wanted to tear it off and take a good look at who had taunted him for so long, but five of Slade's goons and a sensible Speedy stood between him and that wishful goal. He feared he would never figure out his identity before his death.

One of Slade's robots carried a rather large piece of machinery in its arms, two others holding miniature versions of it. Robin spent most of the quiet journey trying to figure out what they were until Speedy popped up the question.

"What are those anyway? Explosives?"

Slade continued to walk, but glanced over his shoulder to respond. "Not exactly. Think of fireworks. They don't harm you, but they set off one hell of a light show."

Speedy stared at the largest one. "What do you mean?"

Slade fell back slightly to walk abreast the young hero. "When detonated, they will release the minimal amount of heat required to melt the ice in this city without causing damage to anything else. All life should be evacuated, but when the people return at least everything will still be intact. The Ice Man should be murdered in the process, but what of it?"

"No. He'll be arrested." Robin corrected, and both teammates glanced over their shoulders at him.

"Oh? And why is that?" Slade asked in an interested voice.

Robin frowned. "Villain or not—killing him doesn't make it right. He was given life to live it—even if he spends the rest of it behind bars."

"Oh? And wouldn't you jump at the chance to kill your worst enemy?"

Robin frowned even harder. "No—just beat him to a bloody pulp—then arrest him."

Slade chuckled. "Is that even possible? You're good—but you're not perfect."

He had no idea what was keeping him from lunging at Slade and slapping him across the face with his Bo-staff, but somehow he controlled himself. He was too ill to fight back seriously anyway, but the words brought back bad memories. He had been such a fool to go after Slade by himself the first time. How could he have been so stupid as not to release it was all a trap? Slade won an apprentice—even if it was for a short while. Slade had won…

"No one's perfect." Robin answered plainly. "I see you've been hiding for a while. Why fake your death? You're not afraid of a bunch of teenagers—are you?"

Slade's one eye narrowed. "If you're looking for a fight, I can assure you my schedule is free for the next little while after this whole ordeal is over and done with."

"I thought you were late enough already—but I'm looking forward to it."

Speedy sighed heavily, loud enough for both of them to hear. "Save your strength for later."

Slade ignored him. "You'll pay, Robin. The last laugh is mine. Besides—I think it's about time I taught you a thing or two."

"We'll see about that. Can't laugh behind bars—but I guess you could. Only insane people would do such a thing."

"Later!" Speedy exclaimed before Slade could rebuttal. "Let's just get this done—then you guys can hack away at each other with whatever weapon you get your hands on. I don't really care!"

They fell silent, but fury still lingered in the air.

-

Cyborg danced aside with a yelp, dodging the man sized icicle before it came crashing down on his head. The place he last stood was now a hole in the ground when the vicious point of the icy weapon pierced the ground. The icemen Starfire had spoken of were sure bigger—twice the size of Cyborg crouching. He had taken out two already with his cannon, but there were at least five left to deal with and they weren't as stupid as one would think.

Beast Boy was a T-rex on the other side of the room, chomping down on whatever he could get his mouth on. The hardness of the ice hurt his teeth and his gums were beginning to numb, but he kept at it. The icemen didn't stand a chance when they came too close to him.

Cyborg took out another iceman with his cannon, ice spraying everywhere as the others retreated down the hall. Two didn't make it, swarmed over by the Slade-bots sent by Slade to assist them. They weren't fast, but at least they could handle an iceman on their own.

Cyborg squinted. The end of the passageway was light, meaning only one thing—

"I think we've made it!" Cyborg called to Beast Boy as he transformed into his normal self. "Just a little further and we'll take down this dude in no time."

"Yah…" Beast Boy rubbed the back of his head. "But this is a little…simple. I mean, Speedy's team had one heck of a time trying to even step inside the place and here we are beating them left, right, and center."

"Hey, they're new to this kind of thing. Maybe they were caught by surprise."

Cyborg started down the passageway toward the light followed by the five Slade-bots. Beast Boy hesitated before following, moaning in worry at what lay ahead of them. Nothing seemed right—and yes, he was usually the one with all the wrong answers, but this was something different. He had the same feeling in his stomach when he left Terra to stop the volcano by herself, and that was something he still couldn't forgive himself for.

This was all wrong.

-

The icemen fled as soon as Raven's hands began to glow again. They stomped down the passageway toward a light at the far end, the five Slade-bots in hot pursuit of the enemy. They were berserk little androids, but they fought well.

"We have reached our destination!" Starfire exclaimed happily. "Oh joy! Now we can stop this new villain and assist Speedy in freeing his friends!"

"I don't know…" Raven said in her monotone voice. "Doesn't this feel a little…easy to you?"

"It does…but maybe the icemen are just as mindless as Cinderblock. They fight when they can and do not think with strategy. They may flee now in fright."

'Didn't look frightened to me.' Raven thought, but she glided after her beaming friend, a sick feeling growing in her stomach. Something was definitely wrong and she was going to find out what it was.

-

They had reached the place—the basement of the icy warehouse. There was nothing special about it—just the fact that it stretched out into a seemingly endless darkness.

The robot holding the largest machine placed it gently on the ground. It stood about chest height to Robin and the moment Slade pressed a couple of buttons the area warmed up. It became so warm, Robin was tempted to take off his scarf and jacket, ice melting quickly to water at the base of the machine.

Slade turned to Speedy and one of the robots holding the second machine. "I have many of these set up earlier in the city by my androids. Follow the android and set it up where it puts it down, then return so we can leave and get the others."

"How will you set these off?"

Slade showed him his wrist. "With the push of a button."

Robin shivered internally. All those bad memories came flooding back into his mind…

Speedy walked after the android into the darkness and Slade left with the third bomb in the opposite direction. Robin was left alone with four of his goons, but they were all as stiff as stone.

He then took off his jacket and scarf and placed it on the ground beside the machine, wondering what possible reason he had to have tagged along. Nothing out of the ordinary was happening so why was he…

He paused. Was that the sound of sloshing water?

Starting off into the darkness, he pulled out a small flashlight from his belt and moved forward for a short distance. He came to what appeared to be an underground dock leading to a large water tunnel deeper into the ground, small waves bouncing off the side of the dock to make the noise. Who knew where the tunnel ended?

Why was it that the whole city was trapped in ice when the villain's lair contained an underground water system? There was even a rather large motorboat docked, ready to go whenever.

Robin recalled during Speedy's briefing back at the T-tower that the Ice King's machine was something too large to move with ease. Why would the Ice King leave such a perfect hideout—and how, if he were to take his machine with him? The only other explanation was that it was meant for someone else to use by permission of the Ice King.

His partner.

Robin began to wonder. He was close now to finding the Ice King's partner—a second villain to throw away behind bars.

But something was amiss… What was the Ice King doing in return for his partner…?

Weird, eh? I guess I should hunker down and get typing. I have to write the next chapter for this one, for another story, and I have to find my planner book for "Not Again." I kinda forgot about that one, and you could also expect another story from me soon. Writing is my life, but I don't like to keep my readers waiting.

-Thanking you for your patience

-Alexnandru Van Gordon