Ghosts of the Past
Alexnandru Van Gordon
Alex: (Rubbing temples.) This. Is. So. Un. Fair…
Victor: Man—special thanks go to Slade Wilson – Deathstroke for making my day and tormenting poor Robin (Alex) to no end.
Alex: Can I hit you?
Victor: I don't know—can you?
Smack!
Alex: Huh…guess so.
DISCLAIMER:…Come on! Do I seriously have to repeat myself after forty-six chapters?
CHAPTER SIX: Starting plans…
There was a ringing noise in his left ear when he woke and he could taste pennies in his mouth—chloroform no doubt. He had been a victim of it before, so he knew exactly what was going to happen from here on out. It would be a slow recovery to fully awake, but that made it all the more easier for his captors.
Wouldn't they have a ton of fun now…
He was lying on his side when he finally came too, his eyes narrowed from the bright light above. He was on the floor in what so far appeared to be a small room and someone just walked past him in front of his eyes…There was someone else sitting, leaning up against the wall, and by the looks of things he was either dead or unconscious…or too sore to move. Either way—Robin pitied the poor fellow who also ended up as another one of Slade's captive.
It wasn't a fun ride.
Vision gathering, he blinked a couple of times behind his mask as the blurry objects came into focus and the man against the wall suddenly revealed himself to be a boy—a bloody and broken Vincent, actually. But the kid was breathing and that was good enough.
"What took you so long?" A familiar voice asked in a harsh voice. It was…Wintergreen? He was still alive and kicking?
"I had to see the Titans, remember. Now even Red-X believes that Robin is insane. You should have seen how disappointed he looked when I told him."
Now that sounded like Vincent, but Robin knew it couldn't be Vincent…What the heck was going on...?
Still in the straitjacket, Robin didn't bother trying to stand up. He was too dizzy and far too weak to push himself up, and he'd probably only have to lie down again after using all that energy. Whatever that guy had given him, it most certainly wasn't just chloroform. And where was he again? He couldn't remember…
Oh yes—Slade's newest lair.
Robin bit down on his tongue hard and shut his eyes tight. How many times would he have to go through this before either he or Slade gave up entirely? Robin sure as heck was going to…but Slade was hell bent on winning.
This was what happened when you had two over-obsessive people on opposite teams, both trying to defeat the other. The circle just keeps going around and around and around…
"Hey…wake up, kiddo." Someone tapped his back with their foot, the one who sounded like Vincent. But didn't Vincent have a twin…
Possibly, then, that meant—
"His patience only runs so thin." The kid continued, stepping over Robin and kneeling before him. The boy was an exact look-alike to Vincent, smiling nicely like his brother. If it wasn't for the fact that the boy was working for Slade, Robin would have quickly mistaken him as a good kid. He didn't look too threatening…
The kid slipped a hand under the arm against the floor and sat Robin up, keeping a second hand on his back to keep him sitting. "Damn you wake fast—I must have given you at least five shots after I gave that blow to your head…" His eyes moved to robin's temple. "And no bruise…figures."
"Leave me alone…" Robin muttered, blinking a few times more and shaking his head a little to clear it. "Why are you doing this?"
"I don't know." The kid shrugged, still grinning. He looked past Robin at Wintergreen. "Why is this guy here? I don't see him getting any younger."
Wintergreen, moving to lean against the wall in front of Robin, gave a small snort of disagreement and frowned slightly. "And you have no experience."
"We all have our bads—you don't see me complaining. Though…" He glanced over his shoulder at Vincent, the boy seemingly out-cold for now. "I'm guessing Vince would beg to differ. I always told him that shy tongue of his was going to get him into trouble one of these days."
"You…" Robin frowned and wanted to move away from the boy, but he was powerless to do so. "You did that to your own brother…You're mental…"
"Ha! Runs in the family. You remember Joyce and Jacob, don't you?"
The memory was bitter in his mouth, the sight of their bodies in the underground water way. Joyce was…not too easy to recognize, and Jacob had that bullet between his eyes. Insanity led the two to their demise, but Slade was insane and somehow he was still alive and kicking…It was quite unfair when you thought about it. And look at how quickly the tides had turned—first Slade was in the asylum, hiding from society, and then Robin switched places with him.
Luck was odd in that sense…
"Well…enough about family memories…" Kyle…yes…his name was Kyle—said and Wintergreen came over to the two, kneeling beside Robin and picking him up, one arm behind his knees and the other supporting his back. "The boss wants to talk to his kid, and I don't dare keep him waiting any longer." He snapped his fingers in front of Robin's face, frowning in worry. "I know you're tired—but try to stay awake. Listen to what he says, and then you can sleep again."
He didn't understand why they weren't being rough or horrible toward him, but now he felt uncertain. Maybe he was hallucinating this all…
Despite how heavy his eyelids were behind the mask, he forced himself to stay awake. He had to see for himself that Slade was really behind all this. There was no way he could have gotten through all of this without worry…
And what was his master plan for the city this time? There was no offense meant, but all the villains either wanted to steal, destroy or take control…It was getting…boring.
But he really shouldn't be complaining. Slade was going to prove more of a trouble than he could handle. He always did and always would for as long as he gave breathe, and Robin was the lucky one fated to take it from that—either that or try dying, but that came in the job description.
He felt Wintergreen halt and then he was lowered to sit in a chair. The old man held onto his shoulders to keep him sitting up, but his head fell forward as he closed his eyes. It was becoming a real trouble to keep them open. They were stinging like crazy.
"It's nice to see you again, Robin. How long has it been since we last visited?"
Honestly—Robin lost count. Usually he would be so worried about having Slade on the loose that he'd curse every day passing without finding the sociopath. He'd been so caught up in the asylum that he didn't even know how long he was in there. Maybe sometime around three weeks at the least…it was a wonder he didn't turn out as crazy as Slade. Then again, even though Slade spent two months there, he had always been insane. He had just mastered it by now.
He opened his eyes slightly and could see Slade's shadow. They were in what looked like an old office, the only light coming from the window, and that was supplied by a streetlamp outside. Slade stood in front of the window, hands behind his back as Robin faintly made out his own eye pinned on the Boy Wonder.
Truth be told—he wished he would have fainted. At least then he could prolong his conversation with Slade.
"Too long." Slade answered for Robin, seeing that he wasn't in the mood or in the physical condition to answer every question fully. "How was the asylum? I trust you had a fun time."
"Just wonderful." Robin growled, gathering enough strength from Slade's comment to snap back.
"Well, I know what it was like, so I agree entirely. I hope your friends visited…"
Robin didn't want to talk about that. While Slade was visited by Robin at least once every week, Robin maybe saw his friends once since he was locked up there—and that was on the third or second day. He couldn't exactly remember.
He could hear the smile in Slade's voice as the man continued without him. "They didn't visit you—did they? Strange…the supposedly care for you and yet they rarely come—while you hate me with every fiber of your body but you made the effort to check up on me. Something seems out of place here, don't you think so?"
"Shove it, Slade." He growled, head spinning for a moment as he tried to collect himself. He was still under the heavy influence of whatever drug knocked him out—barley even remembering being knocked out in the first place. "Cut to what's important."
"Hm…nothing much, actually. Now that I have you, I can take as long as I like to do whatever I want. I just called you down to see how my apprentice was doing. Seeing that you cared enough to spare me and saw to it that I kept my sanity in prison, I suppose I owed you a little more respect than what I was already showing you. Is that a good enough explanation for you, or are you still confused."
"I have questions."
Slade didn't seem to mind—interested if anything at all. "Then ask. As I said before—I have all the time in the world."
Considering that he was an immortal that was true to the bone.
"How'd you escape?"
Slade gave a small laugh. "I was wondering if you would ask that. Well, you know the twins, do you not?"
Robin gave as much of a nod as he most possibly could.
"Kyle is something of an illusionist, also possessing his younger brother's selective intangibility powers. Wintergreen found him, sent him in to ghost me out of the asylum, and waited there the entire time until you came to visit. Someone was in that cell with you—he just made sure you couldn't touch him, creating the false illusion that he was a hologram of sorts you were conversing with."
That explained Robin's hand going through him when he began to panic. He knew there was something about that—there was no way Slade could have planned out everything Robin would say to him. The "hologram" answered questions that came out randomly—demolishing the idea that Robin was talking with no one. It was too strange, but Robin had tossed it aside as he worried more about Slade's escape.
That also meant Kyle was probably the HW and Jacob Robin saw. That explained so much now…
He felt like such a fool now. Some detective he was…He was exhausted from playing this game for so long that he let a part of his guard down—and that was more than enough to destroy him. Now here he was—back to straw number one…Slade's apprentice…
If he ever got back to the tower, he would find the dictionary and rip out the page that had that word on it. He was going to learn to hate it a lot by time his life was over on the earth…
"Don't look so glum." Slade said, stepping forward and lifting Robin's chin with his hand. Robin couldn't fight him and only waited as Slade lectured him. "Now…I think it's time I re-taught you the rules of my game…"
"Like this is a game." Robin snapped, eyes narrowing at his enemy.
Slade ignored the rude interruption. "No friends…no disobedience…no leaving my sight until they think you're dead."
"Correct me if I'm wrong—but the last one is somewhat new."
"Indeed." Slade released his chin. "But it seems that every time your friends find out you're alive, they go through heaven and hell to get you back."
"And what do you expect to do about it?"
"I don't know…maybe stage your death…"
-A-
Alex: Don't worry—Slade has other plans besides annoying the hell out of Robin like he usually does.
Victor: Why did you have to hit me so hard?
Alex: I was hoping to knock you unconscious, but I guess my arm is a little weak. I've been stuck in bed all week, sick.
Victor: And tell them about the delays.
Alex: Oh yes—there might be a delay for a short while, seeing that I'm entering into this writing challenge. But I promise to update as often as I can—so have no fear!
Victor: And yes—you will get to see what the other Titans are up to in a short while. Just hold on…
Until Again,
Alexnandru Van Gordon,
And
Victor Van Heiring