Pieces of the Puzzle

Alexnandru Van Gordon

Alex: Hey people! I edited my friend's chapter so she'll leave me alone for about another month or so until it's my turn to write. Now I have more time for my story! Yeah!

Victor: Yes—and I don't have to talk to her unless we somehow cross paths! Yes!

Alex: o.O? Hello? You go to school with me now…she's in the same grade as me.

Victor: But I'm two grades ahead of you.

Alex: You'll still run into her at lunch and in the hall and at the dances…

Victor: EEK! Someone get me a cross (Runs upstairs to find one.).

Alex: O.o? Ooookaaay…So, where did we leave off…Oh yes! Wayne Manor. I still have a long way to go, but now you get to see Robin and Slade duke it out soon…once…and then a couple of more times. There's no way I'm ending this here. Oh, and about a book four, Victor and I will be flipping a coin at the end of this chapter. I guess I could fit something in, but I don't know why he wants me to continue…

DISCLAIMER: Not in a lifetime.

CHAPTER TWELVE: Back to the drawing board…

She woke with the largest headache in the world. Well…it wasn't exactly the largest in the world, but it was the worst one she had yet. It felt as though she went skydiving and landed on her head.

Sitting up, she held her forehead with one hand and froze to get over the pain of movement. She couldn't see anything for the briefest of moments, but then everything came back into focus. She was lying on the table in the main area and Jacob stood to her left with a wet cloth in hand. He handed it to her and she placed it on her forehead graciously. At least she was alive.

The sight of a newcomer surprised her more than what she would have expected. She wasn't shocked so much from the fact that the person was new to them, but from the fact that he was Robin's father. What on earth was Batman doing here and why wasn't he attacking them? Enough about him—why wasn't Jacob doing anything?

"Ummm…" She pointed to the Dark Knight and gave Jacob a quizzical look. "Something I missed?"

Her cousin smiled and took the washcloth from her as she slid off the table slowly to stand. It took a lot of effort, but she found her balance and limped over to a chair near the table.

"You missed quite a bit before you joined." He explained, taking a seat next to her, watching Batman look for something on the workbench in the corner. "Slade has a ton of these...serums. He was originally going to use this one on Boy Wonder, but I think he wants to teach good old Robin the hard way. He's using on Gotham's hero until he has no more use for him and decides to kill him."

"He's…" HW gulped, having trouble finding the right words. "Under Slade's control?"

"You don't look too happy about that." He frowned, suspicion growing in his voice.

She frowned herself and slapped him on the back of the head. "Don't you see—if we don't do whatever he wants he could use that poison on us! How's he doing it anyway?"

Jacob gave her a thoughtful look before his gaze fell on Batman. "Well, I guess the chemical messes with your reason. Slade tells him something over the communicator and he does it, and so far he's looking for the special serum for Robin. It's some sort of human advancing stuff. I don't know exactly."

She knew. She remembered everything she read about Slade the last time he came after Robin. He was going to use the same advancing serum he had used on him. It was for some sort of experiment to test the resistance against truth serums or something…She didn't even think truth serums could exist. But she guessed she was wrong…

"Where is Slade anyway…?" She peered around, tempted to stand and start looking around the whole building. "And Wintergreen?"

Her cousin shrugged. "Wintergreen went out to look for the kid when he escaped and called us to say he was at Wayne Manor. Slade went too, but now he's been wondering…" Her cousin once more frowned at her. "The alien girl is alive. You're going to have some explaining to do when they get back."

Now she tensed up. That wasn't good! Her whole cover was practically blown!

"She's alive?" She asked innocently, surprised at how…surprised she sounded. "Damn aliens…"

He sat back in his chair and looked at the ceiling. "Yeah…I guess…"

She bit her lower lip and said nothing else.

She knew Slade wasn't that gullible.

G-

Good old Gotham. He was…he couldn't say. It was so…much better than what it was in his dimension. He was lost at words. His Slade absolutely annihilated Gotham in their time when the last of the JL built up a resistance there. But here there was a couple of damages here and there form an attack, but no where near as horrible as what he had seen.

Hopefully Gotham didn't end up like his Gotham.

"It is…glorious…" Kori sighed in awe. Starfire—or Kori, as she liked to be called—was reluctant to let him leave without her. She was afraid of Slade, or, more so, the imprisonment or death of Grayson.

The look on Cyborg's face when he saw her was priceless.

Kori looked just like she did all those years ago, just…older. Her suit was more of a magenta colour rather than purple but that was just about the only real difference. She was still as sweet and asked just as many questions.

"Good old Gotham." Cyborg said; grinning as the chair slowed. "Sorry it took so long, y'all, but that was as fast as I could drive without killing someone on the highway."

Kori smiled and blushed. "It was very fast—but not so fast as to kill us."

Cyborg must have learned how to drive from Bruce.

"Anyway…Where exactly did Starfire say she was?"

Cyborg shrugged and pulled into the next lane. They were headed to Wayne Manor to check up on the Bat. "No idea. All she did was say she was in Gotham and that Robin and HW were with her. Look for anyone dark and creepy and we should find them."

He laughed—it was too true.

He relaxed. It was going to be nice to see Bruce again after so long, and in this time he wouldn't be as harsh. The Dark Knight was serious—and some criminals thought he was the devil, but they hadn't seen the Dark Knight he knew who was hardened by the five years battling against Slade. He couldn't remember the last time he smiled after that serum Slade used on him…

"Maybe that won't happen here." He whispered to himself and suddenly began to pray. This wasn't his past—because this certainly didn't happen—but that didn't mean it couldn't meet a terrible end.

Please don't be too late.

St-

She placed the old man on a bed in one of the larger rooms, locking the door before she left to look for Robin. It was awfully quiet…but that was a good thing, was it not? If there were no sounds than that meant there was no fighting and that meant—

Crash!

What exactly was that?

Taking flight, she soared down the halls and down the grand stairs. It sounded like it came from the parlor.

Silently, she landed and peeked around the corner into the small room—there was Slade…Too bad. Right when things were looking up.

Slade had his Bo-staff and Robin had…nothing. The crash was a glass figure shattered by Slade's feet. It came from the small coffee table in front of Robin who was winding up for another kick. He hit another glass figurine and this one somehow made it past Slade's staff and caught him in the chest. He released a small grunt as he stepped back and brushed the glass from his suit, looking none too happy.

"Don't be such a child." Slade growled, twirling his staff as he advanced. "It's time to leave, Robin."

Righteous fury.

Zap! Zing!

Slade was knocked sideways into the wall, dropping his staff in the process. Robin stared at his dizzy foe before smiling at Starfire, obviously grateful she showed up when she did. But then his smile faded…

"Starfire!"

Something hit her in the back of the head and she came crashing down to the floor in the parlor. An armoured foot stepped next to her head and a powerful hand grabbed a fistful of her hair to hold her up. She shrieked in pain but was actually too dizzy to do anything. Her vision was slowly fading…

"Starfire!" She heard him call once more before he grunted and crashed into the far wall. He muttered something like 'Reminds me of Ra's Al Ghul' before she fell into darkness.

Sorry, Robin. I didn't mean to leave you on your own again…

S-

Ra's Al Ghul? The Demon's Head? What the heck was he talking about?

"Hope I didn't hit you too hard, Robin." Slade mocked, walking from side to side to get around the couch that was now between them. The Boy Wonder was still standing after being thrown brutally into the wall over the piece of furniture, something Slade had expected. "This is the first time I ever heard you talk nonsense after a good blow."

Robin frowned and muttered something under his breath. "Ra's Al Ghul…The Lazarus pit? Don't tell me you never heard of it."

"A fountain of youth? Why did you bring up this legend?"

"Because Ra's chased down Batman." He shrugged. "Don't know…my predicament just reminded me of how you two are something alike in an insane manner."

He shook his head. "You can tell me all about that later. But now—"

He skipped over the couch—the exact same time Robin moved to knock it over. Slade came crashing down onto the wooden coffee table and broke it in half as Robin moved to grab his Bo-staff—falling as Slade grabbed his ankle. He came crashing down onto a small wooden table next to the fallen couch, landing on his elbow in an odd way. He bit back a shout as he tried to kick Slade in the face, fighting for his freedom as Slade grabbed his leg with both hands and started to drag him towards him. Fingers stretched to reach the staff, and he was just about there…

Wintergreen chose to help just then and picked up the Bo-staff before Robin could snatch it away. Then, with a swift twirl, he brought it down with an awful crack on the Boy Wonder's head. Robin lay limp for a moment until he moaned as Slade sat up on his knees and pulled him closer.

Damn child. Just didn't know when to give up, did he?

Just then, Robin turned onto his back and pulled the knee of his free leg into his chest. Slade didn't even have the chance to let go of the boy before Robin's foot connected with his face and sent him swirling into a flash of white and bright colours as he strained to remain conscious. It surprised him how hard Robin could hit after taking such a blow to the head with his staff.

"Brat!" He heard Wintergreen snap, followed by yet another crash. His vision returned to a sight of a fallen bookcase lying on top of them both, Robin sliding out from under it with ease. Back facing Slade, Robin didn't know he was moving toward his enemy until Slade grabbed him from behind around the waist and stood, bringing the Boy Wonder up abruptly with him. Robin struggled of course, even more as Slade slowly crushed him. He tried kicking over his shoulder into Slade's face, but Slade saw it coming. Slade even managed to move his head aside just as Robin rammed his back to hit him, knowing the child's tricks.

"Let…go..." Robin choked, reaching over behind himself to grab Slade. He successfully hit Slade in his one good eye and, despite his endurance through the worst kinds of pain; Slade had to admit that hurt. He had no choice but to release robin as he stumbled back—tripping over h broken coffee table.

Somehow he wasn't blinded long and saw Wintergreen halfway out from under the shelf. He grabbed Robin's ankle just before he reached the alien girl and almost tripped again. He somehow kept his balance and tried to hop away, finding that the action wasn't getting him anywhere

Slade closed him one eye once more. Damn that hurt…

Reaching to his belt, Slade pressed the button on his communicator. It flashed red and caught Robin's attention, sending the boy into wide-eyed panic as Slade stalked closer. "Make my job easy for once." Slade muttered, furious at Robin for hitting him in the eye. "Being a villain isn't an easy job."

Robin stamped on Wintergreen's foot and dashed out from the parlor, Slade hot in pursuit. "You better run!" He yelled after the Boy Wonder as the young hero ran into the entrance, grabbed onto the railing of the main stairway, flipped over it, and sprinted up the stairs. "Because when I catch you…"

Robin did something very unexpected then. Upon reaching the top of the stairs he spun around and jumped onto the railing, sliding down past Slade in the blink of the eye. Then he started running back toward the parlor…

For the girl.

True. The moment he turned the corner, Robin ran right past him again with the girl in his arms, Wintergreen cursing in some foreign language as he chased after the two. What was all this about? Boy was Robin fast…

Shaking his head, he continued in the chase. When he caught Robin…

R-

'Yikes!' He thought as he glanced over his shoulder at the two men after him. Normally he would have turned around and fought until he was too tired to fight anymore, but Starfire was here and she couldn't defend herself. The moment she was safe he would gladly duel Slade, but until then—

Run!

Slade passed Wintergreen with ease, probably none too please with Robin almost blinding him permanently. Killing the guy was one thing because he could come back to life, but blinding him…Robin didn't think he was too happy when he lost his first eye. Losing two would really push his buttons, something robin didn't want to do right now. He just really wanted to get Starfire as far away from them as possible…and try to stay alive after the beating he would surely get once he was caught.

Just as he anticipated—but really hoped wouldn't have happened—Slade caught his cap and he was jerked back with a choke. Dropping Starfire in the process, he bumped back into the villain and was spun around once Slade got a good grip on his shoulders. He was going to kick the man but—doing something that surprised him—Slade covered his eyes with his right hand and lifted him from the ground just by that, fingers digging into his temples.

Robin yelped and tried to kick the man, only to have his knee grabbed with the lunatic's free hand. It was crushed beneath his grasp and even more pain radiated from his temples.

Trying to pry Slade's hand free of the upper half of his face, Robin continued to struggle until his back was slammed heavily into a wall. He saw faint stars over the blackness of Slade's hand and he couldn't think of what to do.

What about Starfire?

"Grab the girl." Slade hissed to Wintergreen, tightening his grip on Robin's knee.

There was the sound of movement and Robin continued to fight against Slade, he tried kicking the man with his free leg but was rewarded with yet another slam into the wall. This time he had to wait a couple of seconds until his head stopped spinning. He hated being blinded. It made him feel so weak—which was probably why Slade was doing it, not to mention the odd feeling in his spin now that gravity was stretching it out. How weird…

"Thought you could run, did you?" Slade said, slamming Robin again out of his fury. "Did you honestly think you could get away? Did you think I wasn't going to come after you?"

Robin gritted his teeth together in anger. "No—I was actually going to drop by again after I grabbed an axe or something. Ever been to Brazil, Slade?"

That smart remark earned him two slams, each pushing him further to the brink of unconsciousness. But he expected as much. There was no way Slade' couldn't be angry at him for chopping him up and sending his pieces around the world. It wasn't exactly a clean death either…

"You've got guts, but you just don't know when to give up…" Slade growled and finally released Robin, he fell to his feet but found it hard to stand with such a dizzy head and a sore knee. He actually almost yelped again from the sharp pain shooting up his leg.

Slade, as usual, was strong.

"If you thought you could save the day this time, guess again." Slade continued, now grabbing him by the front of his shirt to pull his face to face. "If you won't be my apprentice, you won't be the only one to suffer."

"Can't make me, Slade." Robin said, not too happy himself. "You know I won't give in. You know I'll try to kill you every chance I get."

"So you will…"

He was thrown and—was caught. The second person was that Jacob guy who he first saw at the Titans East Tower. He must have had teleportation powers or something of the sort.

"Took you long enough." Slade muttered to the young man "Take him back to our hideout and tie him up. And this time, watch him."

Robin didn't even have the chance to speak before he was suddenly thrown into a dark nothingness where his body was numb and all his other senses were dulled almost completely. When his sight and hearing returned, he found himself in a room so dark he could barely see the young man Jacob. But he had a growing feeling he knew where he was.

Exactly where he started…

A and V-

Alex: Ta-da! I finished it, but I'm pretty upset.

Victor: Why? Is it because only one person reviewed your last chapter or is it because you have to dye your shiny black hair blond—you heard me people—Alex has to go blond for the school play! (Thrown into a fit of laughter.)

Alex: -.- (Upset.) I'm a little upset about the reviews, but it's the hair thing that gets me. I'd wear a wig, except my mom seriously wants me to have my old blond hair back. I'm a natural blond, but I wanted to try something new.

Victor: He he—and I get the honours of dying his hair. Let's go, preacher boy!

Alex: Argh…Just don't make it white like you did to your younger brother. Just plain—if it's possible.

Victor: you get what you get—AND DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW, PEOPLE! I know we don't talk about it a lot, but it's very upsetting to work on a story for so long and do all you can to make it long and interesting—only to get one review! So sad…

Alex: Quite picking on them and let's go. I want to get the horror over and done with.

Victor: (To self.) I'm gonna post a picture on the internet…

Alex: By the way—I heard that. -.-

(Praying that his hair doesn't turn white),

Alexnandru Van Gordon,

and

Bowing,

Victor Van Heiring