Pieces of the Puzzle

Alexnandru Van Gordon

(OUICK NOTE: Read the last two chapters before you read this one because I was unable to submit all of them until today. Go to chapter seven and begin reading from there)

I'm here alone again because Victor went home an hour ago to help with the unpacking. If you ever wanted to know why he was visiting me at a no-vacation time of the year, it's because he was moving from America to little old Canada. He just came over here before his parents did so that he could start school and settle in. I just hope he doesn't decide to help me with my other stories.

Okay, so last chapter I introduced you back to our good old friend Grayson. I'm not going to introduce the "other person" until later on so don't think I went and forgot about that. You'll see who it is soon enough. Also—No, I did not forget about anyone else. I can't have everyone talk from their POV in each chapter because they would be way too long and I have to sometimes wait to Q them in at certain times.

If I forgot to tell you anything I'll tell you at the end, but I know you're here to read the story, not to hear me ramble all night and day. As usual, please enjoy.

DISCLAIMER: That would be neat, but I don't think I'm capable of owning such a popular show. The only things that belong to me are HW, Jacob, and this plot…but not for long…

CHAPTER NINE: Why

It was odd not to see anything or hear anything too. There was just a black void surrounding you, blocking out all light and sound from your numb body. Sometimes you think you saw something and other times you believe you heard a word spoken no higher than a whisper somewhere in this great black hole. It was a terrible punishment, but you can't help but wonder if it was punishment. Here you are safe. Here you have time to heal.

Here you know nothing and are left utterly alone.

There was a voice at one time that sounded muffled one moment and as clear as crystal the next. But you couldn't catch any of the words. So you listened because it was soothing and tried to imagine what the speaker looked like. It's too bad your imagination is so weak here. You can't imagine anything because you don't know what to imagine.

"…Ro……ki…ped…hol…ut…Raven."

There! A full word, not the specks you usually heard. Raven! You're name was Raven…You remembered that. Despite this void, you remembered that…

There was a flooding of light and a rumble as loud as the waves of the sea crashing against a cliff. Your chest felt heavy and you r limbs were too sore to move. Somehow you sat up and opened your eyes—opened your ears to the speaker and looked to the little green boy with his head wrapped up, sitting next to your bed. It comes back to you and you know everything.

"Beast boy, what did you say?"

R-

He was out before anyone noticed; something quite odd when you considered the fact that Slade had him locked up. If HW hadn't visited him before she left, he would have never received the dagger from her and cut his bindings. The room was easy enough to get out of too through the ventilation system, the oldest escape route he knew in the book, and he found himself outside quicker than you could say Jack-rabbit.

But then he began to wonder where Slade had sent HW.

The moment he was out into the evening air he shivered. The hand on his shoulder almost made him jump out of his skin, but when he turned around he could have never been happier. There, smiling the heavens to shame, was Starfire.

He was captured in a tight embrace he before he could inhale a deep breath. Face turning red, she released him soon and could barely contain herself from jumping around with joy.

"HW said I was to wait for you and take you to your father once you came out." Starfire whispered, still smiling the stars away. "Is this not glorious?"

"It's wonderful." He said with a sigh, pretty glad himself things were finally looking up. "But where is HW going?"

Starfire shrugged, looking thoughtfully up at the sky. "She said something about Overload and down town, but I do not understand. She consumed Overload long ago. Slade has sent her and said he would be watching."

That couldn't be good.

He grabbed her gently by each shoulder and sighed again. He knew HW was slightly mental and he didn't quite know what she would do if Slade was testing her.

"Starfire, I need you to fly me to downtown. After that, I wan you to get Batman and the others—tell them where I was being held. I'm going to make HW doesn't do anything she'll regret."

"What do you mean?" She asked; eyebrows rose in surprise. "HW would never do anything horrible."

"The HW we know wouldn't, but the HW she wants Slade to see will."

"Robin…explain…"

He shook his head, shoulders slouching. "When you act like something you're not, you can sometimes really get into character. I should know. Acting as Red-X almost cost me everything I cared about."

It was the frightening truth. If Robin had trouble controlling himself when he acted as a villain, who was to say an insane person wasn't going to further?

RX-

Given a small communicator from Batman, he held it ready in case he saw anything. While old Bats went to check out the old factories, Red-X was sent to watch over the city. It wasn't it wasn't exactly his cup of tea, but who could complain. First off, he wasn't going to get arrested and secondly, Slade was on the loose. No one was safe with that lunatic up and about again.

Sure enough, his communicator beeped and he answered with a sigh. "Found anything?"

"Actually, yes. I got a call down to the prison and I'm guessing Slade is gathering his forces again."

"What do you mean?"

"Overload's chip has been stolen, the security cameras fried."

Oh boy. That wasn't good.

"Do you know where the thief is heading?"

"Nope but—"

There was a loud explosion and a flare of brilliant light from the streets below. Red-X was on top of one of the tallest buildings in Gotham, staring over the edge carefully to see what had happened.

He held the communicator back to his lips again. "Scratch that last question. I think we've found our crook."

HW-

People were screaming and fleeing like there was no tomorrow. She almost stopped herself numerous times and hesitating in bringing Overload back to life. She was scared to die, and was really worried if she was doing that right thing. The lives of many could end this night. But then again, what was the purpose of Life…?

That was an old argument she had with herself when she was younger. It was stupid and she would focus on it later when she was finished her job.

The moment she was out of the alleyway, she ran straight onto the street, the oncoming cars screeching to a halt. The car nearest to her blared its horn, silenced suddenly by a stream of lightning coming unintentionally from her hands. She was storing too much energy again.

Maybe releasing Overload wasn't such a bad idea.

Thinking that it was either now or never, she took the chip into her hand and tossed it out into the center of the street. Some people were watching her while others grew wary and decided to run. They were the smarter half. When she raised her hands, cackling with energy, and thrust them forward toward the chip she released more energy than she ever allowed herself before and created a gigantic burst f light. Anything nearby was burned, whether it be inanimate or living, but somehow she remained in one piece.

She was blown back into a car and ended up rolling over it onto the other side, landing painfully on the road on the other side. She gave herself a moment to breath past the pain in her chest as her heart struggled at an odd beat. A rib was broken, but she barely felt it over the flaming sensation flowing throughout her whole body. She cried out in agony once or twice but fell silent as Overload inhuman roar drowned out her shrieks.

Someone managing to stand, she leaned against the vehicle and stared at her creation. She felt almost empty, but it was impossible for her to be out of electrical energy. It was something strange she couldn't explain.

She said and did nothing as Overload shocked anyone he could see. Many people were dying…and strangely, she didn't care. Death was the sweet freedom with the cruelty of life, the ultimate act of mercy. Why did they run? Why did they strive to live?

What was the purpose of Life?

Red-X dropped into action and she was suddenly shaken from her world of growing insanity. She still had a job to do and Red-X was going to ruin everything. And since when did he get back? She thought he was in Antarctica…

"Hey."

She jumped—half from surprise, and half from the pain it cause her when Jacob put his hand on her shoulder. And what was he doing there?

"I came to watch you for Slade." He said, answering her unheard question. "Impressive…I never though you had it in you, cous."

She didn't say anything. Knowing he was there, she allowed herself to faint and he caught her as she fell.

What had she done?

S-

One thing after the other! This was just great!

The bot that reported Robin missing was lying on the ground with a dent in its face and a hole in the chest where sparks flew everywhere to show the damage. Wintergreen stood next to the robot and gave it a small kick in the side as he stared down at the mess. "I thought you were all about patience." Was all he said.

He took a couple of deep breaths and watched the camera screens along the wall. They showed numerous areas downtown and what was happening—and currently almost every police officer in Gotham was trying to stop Overload.

So she did have the guts to do it.

Although he was somewhat pleased with the death and destruction caused, he had to resist the urge to spit when he saw Red-X in the corner of a camera. He was helping the police! And Slade thought he was in Antarctica…what had driven such a respectable criminal to swing to the other side of law.

Then again, Red-X wanted revenge, and revenge was something that would drive a man to unthinkable lengths…even to act like a hero.

"This world is so damn backwards, it makes me sick to my stomach." He spat, turning his back to the monitors. His eye fell on the broken robot and with a small wave of his hand two more came from the darkness to drag it away. "I think Armageddon is past due for this world."

"So one would think, but it is rather entertaining to watch them struggle."

Humph! "Sometimes it's entertaining, but right now it's just annoying."

Wintergreen simply shrugged, not one to argue with Slade having known him for years. "And the boy? He's quite the amount of trouble. Wouldn't it be easier to just kill him?"

Slade shook his head. "Can't…and won't. I will bring him back to me even if I have to chase him down myself. Gotham may be large, but there are few places for him to hide. Besides, as much as he would love to run, it has become his Life's purpose to take me down."

"And what exactly brought you upon the Boy Wonder?" Wintergreen asked. It was a question he had meaning to ask for a long time. "Surely there are certain individuals out there that can defeat him on their own. What is his purpose to you."

Slade never did anything unless it affected something greater in the future. He did not bother himself with the smaller things most people worried about. It was nonsense.

"I assure, there are none."

"None?" Wintergreen asked, a hint of shock evident in his voice. "Knowing you, you've probably searched everywhere over the globe. Tell me what your plain is for this child and why you chose him in the first place."

"That's just it." Slade strolled over to a chair by the table and took his seat. Wintergreen followed and sat across from them as they waited for the return of Jacob and his cousin. "I went to him last."

"Last?"

"You know why I need an apprentice, correct?"

Wintergreen sat back and crossed his arms. "Because while you live forever, there will be times when a rebel would come to kill you. You need someone to take care of things while you are in…a healing state." His gaze fell on the table near the corner of the room where Slade kept some of his many experiments, including one he did not create—the serum that gave him his immortality and advanced human abilities. "You would give them a dose of your medicine to make sure they didn't just die off on their own."

Correct. Wintergreen had been given the offer, but it was too late to advance his old, dying body. Besides, Wintergreen felt ready for the peace of death even if it meant hell for helping Slade.

"Indeed…" Slade stared at the table for a while before continuing. "It wasn't until after the Justice League supposedly killed me that I realized I needed an apprentice. I let them believe I was dead also that I could travel in piece. And so my search began…"

And what a search it was. He went around the world and watched, learning new tricks along the way, many of which he picked up in the orient. How disappointing it was…

"I observed any youth that had potential, but they were all weak in the end, both mentally and physically. I find the girls cry too much after they're beat or hurt too badly, giving up too easily, and the young men embrace defeat as more of a lesson than a bruise on their pride. And their skills? Ha! What a joke! I think it's harder for them to realize their own mistakes and correct them than it is for them to breathe. How pathetic…"

It truly was pathetic. Sometimes, while watching, he would close his eye and shake his head as a student of the martial arts took a blow without remembering how to block. And then they would make the same mistake over and over and over again until Slade almost stomped out of his hiding place and beat the living daylight's out of him or her.

"News of America travels everywhere quickly." He continued, fighting the migraine of memories. "I hate the Dark Knight, and you know why. So when I heard he had something of an apprentice who was fit to be called a hero, you can probably guess how upset I was. I was willing to put my search on hold just to get my revenge on him, just to kill both the Dark Knight and Robin. Don't ask me how I controlled the urge.

"Besides news of that, I continued my search and was given a list of potential apprentices by my sources years later. Seeing that all names were from America, I came over to the U.S. quickly and began again. HIVE was interesting and many of the young heroes and villains didn't do so badly. It was easier here than anywhere else, because it seemed children liked to team up a lot and so I didn't have to travel as much. However, I kept an ear open for the JL and learned the Dark Knight was letting his student go after a little disagreement between them, something of a life or death situation Robin was stuck in. The Joker shot him and I thanked the lunatic silently."

Wintergreen was very interested and was frowning with curiosity. "I see—and so you followed him then?"

"Like I said before, I came to him last." He shifted in the chair to get comfortable and thought back to that time. "Speedy was the second last, and he wasn't half as disappointing as the others. I could see he had motivation as a lone hero wandering around America, searching for a purpose and striving to the best he could be. But I soon learned that he didn't have much confidence in himself. He was once compared to Robin and, despite his strength, speed, agility, and intelligence, Robin was said to have been smarter, faster, stronger, more agile by a long shot, and twice as skilled. It became his goal to train and one day head Robin off in battle, praying to win. That impressed me and so I finally traveled to Jump City to watch the Boy Wonder and his newly started Teen Titans."

"Then what?" Wintergreen asked. "Did it take you long?"

He frowned and nodded. "Yes—longer than what I wanted it to take. HIVE could only deliver a message to me, and even then the Boy Wonder didn't worry about me as much as I would have thought. It wasn't until I almost burned own Jump City that he finally paid attention. It shocked me completely when he masked himself as the first Red-X to get to me through deceit. It amazed me at the risks he would take to achieve his goal of taking down crime, and I found that all rumors of his superiority were true. He was a child with no powers, no living blood relatives, and no one to lead him by the hand. I almost laughed at the thought that he had been the last person on my list and ended being the only one I wanted.

" I realized I could give him the serum after a few years of training and that would make him unstoppable to the heroes of this world. So, I set up a trap and lured him in by the lives of his friends. He understood the blackmail and I finally had what I wanted—an apprentice. Not only that, but my revenge against Bruce Wayne was finally fulfilled by taking his surrogate son and making him my own."

"Too bad it didn't last." Wintergreen muttered. He knew how hard it was to spend years striving for something, only to find bitter defeat. "And now I understand why."

Yes…That was another thing Slade and Robin had in common. They both hated defeat, and never gave up unless for the better of their cause. It was a long story, but it was true. Robin really was the only person in the world who was fit to be his apprentice, ad he would see to it that is plan was fulfilled no matter how long it took. He had years left to complete it.

The alarm sounded and both men stood. The screen changed to the security cameras of the building, a secretive Batman barely noticeable on the tapes. Wintergreen probably didn't see him, but Slade's one hawk eye picked him out from the shadows. Robin was just like his old mentor.

Now that he was going to have revenge against the Dark Knight, he might as well have revenge against his apprentice.

Strolling up to the table, he picked up a small syringe and tested it for air bubbles. Inside was a very pale blue liquid, something special he created himself that affected the mind greatly.

"If people think I'm insane…" He whispered to himself with a small smile. "Wait until they see the darker side of their noble knight."

Revenge was sweet.

A-

I've written these last three chapters over the course of the week. The first was written last Saturday, the one where Victor informed you my leg was somewhat broken was written on Tuesday when I feel down the porch, and this one was written on Friday. That's to clear thing sup if you read my little introductions and skits. I'm just so happy that tomorrow I can update everything! Hazzah!

HW: (Angry.) Why did you have to tell everyone that I was insane?

Alex: Oh…hi…Umm, because I needed to reveal that for future purposes. I need you in this story for only two reasons, and one of them you really aren't going to like…

HW: Tell me!

Alex: O.O…Okay…just let me finish saying goodbye.

HW: And what about Grayson? Who is he going to bring with him?

Alex: Don't know—I haven't gotten any reviews yet. Tomorrow or sometime this weekend I will find out from the readers. I just hope they don't forget to cast their vote.

HW: Who are possible candidates?

Alex: Let's see…Raven, Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy, someone from the Titans East, someone from the JL…umm, just preferably not Terra, Slade or Batman. If a lot of people ask me, I could, but the chosen person isn't supposed to make such an impact on the story. Bringing Terra back will bring up a lot of questions about the Terra in this dimension, Slade would only tip the scales so that the real Slade wins no matter what, and Batman…is too much. Not to mention they all have a grudge against the Slade from this time. I don't want them to be focused on revenge—just to get the job of saving the world done.

HW: He he…I know who I'm voting for!

Alex: O.o? Oh really? Who?

HW: (Smiling excitedly.) LARRY!

Alex: Good Lord—I never thought about that! He would really change everything around…Oh no…

HW: Yes! Everyone vote for Larry! He'll cause utter mayhem!

Alex: You are insane! Larry would screw me up! Somebody save me! Whatever you do, don't—

HW: (Pulling out gun, aims at Alex's head.)

Alex: (Sweat drop.)

HW: I am here on the behalf of Slade. If you want your little writer to live, you better pick someone that will be no challenge to dispose of in this story.

Alex: What! You can't—

HW: Shut it, preacher boy. By the way, I'm killing off half your cast. Let's see. I can have Raven bleed to death and Starfire could get shot for real…Hmmm…

Alex: Don't you dare touch my story!

HW: I won't. On one condition…(Pressing gun to Alex's temple. To readers:) It's your turn to play hero, ladies and gentlemen. Answer me this question and I won't touch a hair on Alex's head or a word in his story. That means I'll be reading the reviews.

Alex: That's unfair to them!

HW: (Ignoring Alex.) Here it is—What is the ultimate purpose of Life? If, after I read the reviews for this chapter, I don't find a satisfying answer, it'll be 'splatter-time' for preacher boy, and you can call the cops to clean up the pieces of bone and brain lying next to his dead body. And complaints?...No? Thought so. (Wicked smile.)

Alex: (Sadly) But, HW…why?

(Currently unavailable),

Alexnandru Van Gordon