He had dreamt about last night. How could he not? He still heard her screaming when Slade forced that needle in her throat. He heard her even now, yelling curses and mentally attacking him with her mind. He had made a thin barrier against her to help with the pain but it only proved unsuccessful. Even with the drug, Raven's mind was much more powerful than his was and it easily swipe through his defenses as one would swipe a spider web away.
He got used to it though. He stopped trying and slowly let the numbness take over his brain until every movement, every memory, every thought was of her. The numbness slowly sunk down to his body making his steps as slow and heavy as his heart was. His only comfort was that Slade felt and heard a part of what was going on inside him.
"Wake up Apprentice. We have lots of work to do."
He grunted in response.
"Head to Death Valley. I will give you briefing on the way."
Death Valley. The hottest place known to man. Especially when you have almost 20 pounds in clothes and armor. But Robin didn't feel as much. He was doing what Slade told him so that he could just get home to get his next mission. By home, he meant that small cell with a torn blanket and a 'bed' that was about 3 times too small for him.
"Go southeast. There you should find a small factory."
Slade was right. It was almost invisible but there it was.
"Here's what I want you to steal…"It was handcuffs of the sort, almost like the ones when he had first met Starfire. In fact that's were they had gotten the invention but they had altered it. These were supposed to absorb energy, positive and negative. Robin could see why he wanted it. He guessed that Slade couldn't get a hold of his poison so he needed another way to subdue Raven.
"Oh, and Robin…please try not to get caught again."
Yeah, like he was paying attention to Slade. He was already in the laboratory. Lasers, easy. Guards, easy, now he was stuck. After crawling through the vents, he had reached to room. However, pressure sensors lay on the floor made it almost impossible to get the handcuffs without touching the floor.
Almost. He used his grappling hook and fired it across the room. Tying it to a pole found in the inside of the vent he slowly made his way across the cable. He was almost glad now for being in the circus, as he had no problem getting to the other side. The problem was that he would have to hang upside down to get his prize. But, even though he didn't notice it, he had been sweating profusely and hanging up side down would cause the sweat to drop on the sensors, which would trigger the alarm. So, he'd have to…
Pain erupted in his brain and fell off the cord, barely able to grab it inches before he fell.
"Traitor," Raven's voice hissed, "betrayer, deserter. I hope you die there Robin. I hope you die there and rot in the seven circles of hell!"
He swung back up on the wire and kept walking foreword trying to ignore her voice tormenting his brain.
"It'll be all your fault Robin. Slade's going to destroy your team all because you had to play the hero. For what Robin? To get all the glory? The honor? For what?"
Usually he ignored her threats. Maybe it was the heat. Maybe his mind couldn't handle it. But for one reason or another, he cracked.
"I did for you Raven! I did it so you wouldn't have to go through when you father ruled! I've been to the seven circles of hell Raven! I've been there! And it was for you!"
She was silent for a while. "No Robin, you did that for yourself. You wanted to save the damsel in distress. You wanted to be known as Robin the Great. The one who stopped the end of the world. Well, you got your wish Robin, now go make your reputation to be the worst friend in the world. Not even a friend. The worst human. The worst thing."
The words stung him almost as much as the mental attacks were. He was sick of it. He was sick of fighting for Slade, he was sick of acting like Slade, he was sick of the voice of his best friend torturing him with insults. It was like a mental torture chamber and he wouldn't handle it. So he did the only thing he could think of the get the voices out of his head. He slammed his head against the wall.
"Get out of my head!" he yelled as he slammed his head against the wall again. Blood began dripping from his head and onto the ground…
"Hey! You, put your hands up where we can see them!"
Robin slowly let go off the rope so that he was hanging from the cable with his legs.
"Get down from the rope," the man ordered.
Robin dropped from the cable and as he did he grabbed two knifes from his belt and threw them at the guards. Their gun's fell from their hands and they backed away.
"Call the Teen Titans!" One guard said turning on his radio.
"Wait, isn't that Rob-," the man was knocked out as Robin sent a blow to his face. The other guard tackled robin to the ground.
He flipped the man off of him and kicked him into the wall.
"Robin!"
He sighed. Not now…
"Starfire…"
He turned only to be blasted by a starbolt sending him to the ground. No sooner had that happened he got up. For some strange reason pain didn't affect him. The numbness of his mind had altered his body as well.
He grabbed the heavy handcuffs from behind him and charged at the Titans, swinging them at Cyborg, jumping over Beastboy and finally getting to Starfire.
"Robin, you don't have to do this," she pleaded with him.
"Yeah, Starfire. I do." With that he clamped the cuffs on her wrist and turned to fight Beastboy who had turned into an eagle and was diving down at him with his claws.
"Stop Robin. We know why you are fighting us!"
'Lie.' Slade's voice echoed in his brain, 'I know what you did, now lie about it.'
What," he sneered at them, "just because I gave you a piece of metal? Slade told me to give that to you. I can't believe that you guys fell for it. Actually, Starfire, I can believe that you feel for it."
She snarled and tried to fire a starbolt at him. However, much to her dismay, the handcuffs absorbed her blast. So as a last resort she tried smashing the metal into Robin. But he was too quick. He easily grabbed her arms and pulled her into a lock.
'Robin,' Slade's voice drawled in his mind, 'you are no longer boyfriend and girlfriend anymore. Why aren't you hitting her?'
'Unlike you Slade, I was taught never to hit a girl.'
'Girl?' he laughed, 'she's not a girl, she's an alien.'
Anger welled up inside him and he bombarded Slade with all the pain and force he could muster.
Slade flinched. Flinched. That's it. And it wasn't long before Slade's temper rose higher than Robin's.
'You're trying to attack me? You should learn this lesson Robin. Never fight a battle that you can't win.'
It felt as if a red-hot power drill was slowly going into his brain, setting fire and exploding anything it touched. With Starfire forgotten, he fell to his knees holding his head, shouting.
"Robin?"
"C'mon Star, we have to get these off of you." Cyborg took to work on her handcuffs as Robin writhed in pain.
Suddenly, the pain stopped. Disappeared. Vanished, as if it had never been there.
'Raven?' Sure enough, she had created a field around his mind.
Slade growled in frustration. 'Get the handcuffs and go…now.'
With a click the cuffs fell from Starfire's hands only to be taken by Robin. He pushed past a startled Cyborg and ran out the door.
"Get him!" Cyborg yelled.
But as Beastboy ran into the hallway to find him, he stopped. Robin was gone.
'Raven…' Robin called. She had to hear him, she was just in his mind, 'Thank you.'There was silence.
'This doesn't change anything,' she finally said, I still hate you.'
Well, there it is…It took 1 ½ months but there it is. Now to all my faithful, loyal, wonderful reviewers who have put up with my lateness…
Zarola: Yes, a very easy name to write. Thank you. Yes, yes, it is fun to turn everyone against Robin. Serves him right.
Insanity 101: Aw, you guys don't have to review for every chapter, I don't want to make it a hassle. Especially when I take forever to update.
1x1pEngUIn89: Yeah, I'm starting to call the guy that wore that shirt Penguin now. Hehe.
Bunnyraven: Yeah, or when she turned 'breakfast into a battlefield.' Sorry I couldn't update sooner, lots of stuff happening, like finals and one of my friends went to the hospital…yeah.
Teraldanielle: Oops, sorry for the grammatical errors but…it's all my computer's fault. Nah, just kidding…thanks though.
HauntedWhisper714: Wait, do you hate me or Slade? Or do you hate because of Slade. Sorry about Degrassi but I've heard of it but never watched it. But I'll be excited anyway! Hope you get those projects all done.
Bunnysquirrel: Yeah, I was laughing when I wrote that. Phil, huh? Yeah, I knew it was something with a P but I don't know. I don't usually memorize gopher names…hehe.
You know, that theory is probably the best theory I've heard so far. Not to make fun of you Freds out there, but that would be the perfect explanation for why Slade would want to kidnap Robin and Raven, then plant mind chip thingies into their heads and listen to every thought and action that they do…its perfect.
Sanctuary…wow, I can't tell you how much I've heard that song in English and Japanese. My friend is a KH fan (it does come from Kingdom Hearts doesn't it?) and so she's kinda got me hooked on it. Too bad I couldn't play the game, I'm kinda short on a PS2…oh and the quote, easy. It's the villainous, traitor, Terra. (You know, it's never just Terra anymore. You always have to put some evil adjective before it. Like Villainous, evil…)
Sunset15: Sorry I've made you wait for so long. Yay Jesus! Oh I went to the Spirit West Coast last weekend at it was totally awesome!
Kissa123: Yeah…Sure…Starfire…Starfire will come to the rescue…
Chica de Los Ojos Café: Hey, that exactly how his heart feels. I should've used your description…Ah, sneaky one, just so you know, there might only be a few chapters left so, I'll try to make them good…
Infamous one: Wow, I didn't think anyone caught that…Very good. Chica De Los Ojos Café, there's your hint…
K.C. Raven: Ok, recap. Slade takes Raven. Robin gets mad. Becomes apprentice to save Raven. Chip is inserted by Slade. Robin gets more mad. Raven gets mad at Robin. Star gets mad at Robin. Robin gets mad at all of them. So Robin beats up his team and goes to save Raven who is still mad at him. So point of this story? Robin's just mad at everyone.