"Who exactly are our enemies Master..." Robin asked as he tried to keep up with Slade.
"They are about your age...there are three of them...One of them is covered in cybernetic implants, the other has green skin and can morph into any kind of animal on earth, the other is a girl who has a tremendous amount of dark power she can also fly...they are the ones who harmed you...they also intend to harm that girl you met, they are using her...so I've heard..." Slade grinned behind his mask.
"What...no...I won't let them..." Robin growled.
"I know you won't..." Slade smirked as he continued to lead the way towards a cave.
Entering a secret room within the cave, Slade threw Robin a new black and golden uniform along with armor and new weapons, amazingly Robin remembered how to use them. "Prepare yourself, they should arrive shortly..." Slade told him wanting to know how he'd fare in strength when he'd face the Titans physically as well as mentally then left the room and waited for him patiently at the cave entrance, Robin inspected the uniform and with a small smile put it on.
Walking up to his master in his new attire Robin frowned, "Master?"
Slade turned to his apprentice, quite pleased with the new uniform the boy was wearing, he was looking forward to the look on the Titans faces when they'd see their leader had switched sides...again, "What is it?" he asked a bit curious.
"If they are so powerful, how am I supposed to stop them...I was injured...I could hardly keep up with you on our way here..." Robin grimaced.
Slade chuckled, "Do not worry my young apprentice...you will not fight alone..." he assured as he motioned for Robin to look behind him, two dozen droids stood awaiting Slade's orders, "They shall be at your side...as well as I...now rest yourself for awhile, regain the little bit of strength you lost...I'll have one of them come get you when our enemies arrive..."
Robin smirked and turned, entering the secret room and lied down on the bed, slowly Robin closed his eyes and smiled as thoughts of his enemies being bruised, bloody and beaten, plagued his mind, although he had a feeling that something was definitely wrong Robin fell into a deep sleep.
Starfire hurriedly flew through the skies desperately trying to find the Titans fearless leader, "Starfire wait up..." Beast boy yelled, as he caught up to her.
"No...I cannot lose him again..." she yelled back and flew faster.
"..." Beast boy sighed as he followed her through the trees, then suddenly stopped and looked around. "Oh great..." he huffed. "...STARFIRE...WHERE ARE YOU..." he yelled out, then pressed on his communicator, "Cyborg...I lost her..." he growled out.
"Don't worry she still has her communicator, I have her signal we'll find her..." Cyborg answered.
Starfire flew for almost an hour when she noticed a cave ahead. Touching down she looked around hoping to find him. "Robin?" she called out. When she didn't get an answer she screamed out, "ROBIN...PLEASE ANSWER ME..." she nearly had tears in her eyes.
"Starfire?" she heard, quickly turning Starfire gasped.
"Ro-bin..."
"Are you alright, they didn't hurt you did they?" Robin stepped forward, looking her over.
"Who would hurt me...Robin why are you wearing that?" she trembled.
"Master said that our enemies should arrive soon, that they were going to hurt you, that they were using you...don't worry I'm not going to let that happen..." Robin assured, then frowned when he noticed three figures emerge from the woods. "There you are..." Robin growled and pushed Starfire behind him and gave the order for the droids to attack, Starfire looked on in horror. As the Titans did battle with them.
"Robin you must stop this..." Starfire shook his arm.
"Why they're getting what they deserve after what they've done..."
Starfire looked at him confused, "What have they done?"
"Master said that they're our enemies..." Robin looked behind him as he still had a hand on Starfire.
"Master...you do not have a master Robin..."
"Yes I do he told me to stay with Cid until I got better, that's how I got hurt by fighting our enemies...them..." Robin pointed towards the Titans, "They're the ones who shot me..." he continued to explain.
Star grasped his hands, making sure she had his attention, "Robin they are the Titans...your friends...the ones I told you about at the cabin do you not remember?"
Robin frowned as he looked at her confused, "...No..." he whispered and slowly took a few steps back. He did remember the conversation but he could not believe that they were the ones she spoke of, then it hit him...they were using her...to get to him...that had to be it. "No..." he repeated.
Robin tilted his head to the side, They've already turned her against you Robin...return to the cave at once... Slade instructed through Robin's earpiece. Two droids landed beside Robin as he slowly shook his head and stepped back a few more steps looking at Starfire one last time, he just couldn't believe it. The droids attacked Star in order to give Robin enough time to escape.
Yet Robin still hadn't moved, breathing deeply he suddenly felt a small ache in his chest closing his eyes he leaned forward and grimaced. Star destroyed the droids then seeing Robin in pain approached him slowly. "Robin?" she whispered.
Starfire never noticed the figure behind her. After grabbing Star from behind she growled as she tried to free herself, Slade grasped her communicator and with a swift blow to the head knocked her out. Slade seeing Robin about to fall forward grasped the teen by the shoulders, Robin panted as he looked up, his face was deathly pale. "Come Robin we must go, you need training and rest..." Slade ordered.
Slowly nodding Robin regained his balance and stood up straight staring at Starfire's unconscious body that lay on the ground.
Noticing that the boy was not following him Slade turned to his apprentice, "ROBIN..." he yelled out, shaken from his reverie Robin looked up and followed Slade into the shadows, the Titans confused at why the rest of the droids retreated so early in battle searched for their two missing friends, finding only Starfire.
Robin quickly caught up to him then looked up breathing deeply, "What...why..." he coughed.
"Calm yourself Robin..." Slade gestured for him to enter the cave, which he did.
"Starfire said that they are my friends, that they are the Titans, according to her I'm supposed to be their leader...she also said that I don't have a master..."
"As I've said my dear apprentice, they have turned her against you, the Titans are your enemies, the proof lies on your chest where you were shot, it could only have been Cyborg with his weapons or Raven using her powers to launch the projectile towards you."
Robin was still very confused, "You need to rest...don't worry it will all come back to you..." Slade assured as he led his apprentice through another secret passageway out of the woods.
Searching the area for the rest of the night the Titans returned to the tower again without their leader. Sitting in the game room Starfire sighed, "This is all Slade's doing he has managed to turn Robin against us Robin thought that you were the ones who harmed him, he thought that the Titans were his enemies." She rasped.
"Man this bites..." BB huffed as he slouched down in his seat.
"So how do we find him?" Raven asked looking rather grim.
"Well we didn't find your communicator Star...maybe Robin picked it up before he was taken..." Cyborg hoped.
"He was not taken Cyborg he went willingly..." Starfire whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek, "He seemed confused..." she continued.
"So we find him and make him understand that Slade is the enemy and not us, we drag him here we show him his room or something..." BB yelled annoyed with the fact that Robin would purposely stay with Slade.
Feeling their green friend's frustration the Titans retreated to their rooms, Raven meditated, BB turned into a wolf and prowled from one end of his room to the other, Cyborg tried to hone in on Robin's position, while Starfire entered Robin's room and sat on the bed hugging her knees deep in thought.
The worst part was that while fighting crime and trying their best to calm each other especially Starfire as they continuously searched for days on end, the Titans would not see their leader until a few months later. (I'm mean aren't I)
Slade led his now sick apprentice into a maze of tunnels under the city, Robin was covered in sweat and grime as he kept stumbling in the murky water, coughing and sometimes gasping for breath, yet Robin never complained or said a word. Slade knew how sick the boy was but could do nothing about it until they arrived to his lair, hearing a splash Slade turned to find Robin passed out on the ground. Sighing he made his way to his apprentice and lifted him over his shoulder, then continued his way to his lair.
Laying him down on a table in his lab, Slade began to strip the boy of his uniform, "Well it's about time you got here, I was beginning to worry...and what the hell happened to him?" Slade didn't even turn to see who was speaking to him. As he inspected the wound on the boy's chest.
"He's sick...take care of him..." Slade ordered as he turned to leave.
"Can't you ever bring home anything healthy..." Cid smirked.
Slade turned to him, "Don't ever talk to me in that kind of tone again...or I'll have you disassembled..." he growled, suddenly wishing he hadn't put in that prototype personality chip he had invented. "You sound like a wife..."
Cid chuckled as he turned to Robin, assessed his injuries and cleaned him up, while Slade left the room.
An hour later after Robin was resting comfortably in a bed, Cid made his way to Slade's lab, "How is my apprentice?" he asked, not looking up from his work.
"Not too good, he's got pneumonia and it's bad...it'll take a while for him to heal..."
Slade chuckled, "He'll be on his feet within the end of the week..." he assured.
Cid looked around a bit confused, "Eh...no he won't..."
"Yes...he will..." Slade answered as he picked up a syringe.
"What are you nuts...the kid's really sick...he could die if ya rush him like that..."
"Don't be a fool I'm not going to kill off my apprentice..."
"Oh and pumping him full of drugs. Until he's so out of it that he'll be crashing into walls is good for him?"
Slade sighed as he stood and slammed Cid into a wall, "It will help speed up his recovery, after that he will go through vigorous training..."
"You're gonna kill this kid when you're through with him...ya know..." Cid drawled, as he followed his master back into the lab, then watched as Slade injected Robin full of experimental drugs.
The first few days as his body reacted to the drugs Robin breathed heavily and shaked uncontrollably, his face was deathly pale and he had started having convulsions because of the drugs, once in awhile he would moan out Star's name.
A few weeks later Robin was conscious but dazed his eyes were bloodshot although wearing a mask who could tell. Sitting up in his bed and looking around the room he suddenly felt closed in and started panicking. Although Cid was always nearby Robin would still freak out. "How ya doing kiddo?" Cid asked as he checked the boy's vitals.
"I want out of this room..." he growled. A few days ago Slade had started training his apprentice, a few hours later after getting his ass kicked by his master. Robin was unconscious in the med lab, covered in gashes, bruises, and now barely able to stand up straight.
"Alright just hold on a minute...you're still hooked up to these IV's..." Robin was losing patience, he wanted out now...glaring at the tubes he grabbed them and ripped them out of his arms, "Hey...the last thing you need is to bleed to death or get another infection...RELAX ALREADY..." Cid growled as he pushed Robin back down on the bed, taking care of his arms, wrapping them up when he gestured for the boy to stand Robin bolted out of the room. Meeting him in the hall, Cid asked, "Ya alright?" Robin didn't answer as he walked down the hall, his left hand sliding across the cool surface of the wall.
"My we're impatient aren't we..." Slade mused as he spotted Robin entering his lab the boy's arms's wrapped up, "You need to rest Robin...we will continue your training in the morning..."
"What the hell am I training for anyway..." Robin growled.
Slade chuckled, "You my boy got yourself injured, obviously that means you need more training..."
"But..."
Slade took out his staff twirled it with his fingers then leaned against it, "Do you really want to disobey my orders..." he smirked. "Don't you want revenge for what the Titans have done to you?"
"Yes but..."
"But what..." Slade approached, "Don't tell me you still want that redhead...even after she's betrayed you?"
"They had to have been using her...and..." Robin growled.
"More reason why you must train harder...you must learn to use your anger against them Robin..." Robin looked at his master's masked face and nodded his head, "Good we'll begin in the morning, now return to your room..."
A month later Robin stood at the center of a dark room, waiting for the moment he would hear that little whoosh sound, hearing it he back flipped in the air, avoiding the blades sent his way, taking out his staff he protected himself twirling it deflecting the objects thrown his way, kicking and hitting the dozen robotic foes who were attacking him full force. Robin threw explosive disks at them, and launched himself above them flipping in the air, he landed on their heads crushing them then gracefully landed on the ground facing his master.
"Perfect..." Slade praised, clapping his hands a few times, "Now...your ready..." Slade chuckled. Cid watched from afar and grimaced at the smile that graced Robin's lips.
"I don't believe this Slade's played us again...another dead end..." Cyborg growled. For nearly two months Cyborg would suddenly get a reading on Robin's whereabouts, and every time they'd get to where the signal was they'd only be lead to dead-ends, only this time they followed three of Slade's droids. Cyborg glanced over at BB, "Hey what's the matter?"
"What do you think's the matter Slade's had Robin in his clutches for almost two months now...these droids are making us chase them to keep us busy for a reason..." he seethed.
"Yeah I know what ya mean...he's planning something and Robin's stuck in the middle of it...hopefully when it happens we'll be able to bring Robin back to our side..." Cyborg sighed giving a small smile to try an assure his friend.
Raven kept an eye on Starfire, after being separated from Robin for so long she was no longer her innocent happy self, she grew cold, she hardly ever talked, unless in battle, she was so determined into making Slade pay for taking Robin and turning him against them, she'd fly off to help the innocent, beat the living hell out of the enemy then returned home, again as always sleeping in Robin's bed. Raven sighed as she followed the redheaded Tamaran princess.
"Starfire…can I come in?" she asked entering the room even if she wasn't welcomed, "Look I know your heart broken but we will find Robin…" she tried to smile.
"You have been telling me that for nearly two months and still no Robin…" she whispered.
Raven took a deep breath, "Yeah but…"
"Raven…Starfire…head over to the pizza place now…we've got Robin on the run, we're trying to get him over there…" they suddenly heard on their communicators.
Starfire's eyes widened as she bolted out of the room followed by Raven.
A/N sorry took so long, working on my other stories while doing this one and brwin refuses to work...hehehe