a.n. raex18- Yes, when my one friend was reading my little notebook where I write the story, she gasped when Slade slapped Raven. LoL. Exactly the reaction I was going for, so I'm happy. XD; Glad you liked the short chapter. Karusu-hime- -waiting for the penguins to get here- LoL. I was so disappointed to find out penguin is "pengin" in Japanese. :( Takes all the fun out of it. Anyway, this chapter is definitely longer than the last one... I made sure of it! (Yes, a whole sentence longer! j/k) So hold the cheese! (hehe... get it?... like a restaurant order.) darkraven5192- Yay, glad you like it. :D Here's a longer chapter... and don't go too nuts with suspence, 'cause... well, I don't really know... but it can't be very pleasent. LoL. gracefulraven- Yes, he was mean, but he's still protecting her. Gotta give him a little credit for that. X3; I'll check out your story when I can. Hopefully I'll have enough time for that. x.x; VampireSelene- Well, to quote Raven from chapter 18: "I do not work for Slade. This isn't some kind of employment." (Funny how lines fit :D) She'd just really rather be with Slade than with the Titans. She gravitates toward the one she's closer to... ol' two face. :) Zaroloa- Whenever I see that s/n, I think of that movie "Zathura"... LoL. Anyway, yes, she would get mad, but she wouldn't strike back. She really has learned to be more respectful of Slade... I dunno if I've been able to bring that across clearly in my story or not. x.x; But even though she's more powerful, she knows her place...which is what Slade's been trying to teach her that whole time. And that was a really nice offer to help with my class. My only problem is I need to keep up with all the homework and assignments. x.x; I must balance my time better! paprika90- So... when did you turn the big 9-0? LoL j/k. That's over the hill and more. Congrats. :D Thank you for being so understanding with the time! You're so kind. :3 About the pairings. Well... I never really wanted this to be a romantic thing. I was shooting for more of a mental/emotional thing... but it kinda... evolved of its own will. XD; It's ALIVE! ok anyway... If anything, subtle Slade/Raven. Nothing obvoius. I mean, Slade's super old... he might be right around 90 like yourself. Hehe, ok, I'll stop now. X3; lolopixie- I made you hate/like/hate/like/hate Slade? I so take that as a complement. :D LoL Bring me a cookie, too, will you? LoL j/k. I'm glad you're into the story. Moon's Darkness- Writer's block... ooh, been there. x.x; Hopefully it's not widespread... I might catch it again. Eep! -scatters- Tritium- Homework. Evil. You said "don't forget the bombs" and I was just like "... what bombs?" It took me awhile to remember. That's just sad. x.x; And my Myth class is about all these differents stories from all over the world. I was thinking it'd be mostly Greek and Roman, but it's like Indian and American Indian and Biblical (which kinda offends me LoL) and stuff. Despair isn't a happy ending? Dang it! -goes off to rewrite this entire chapter- ...j/k Kendra Chetnova- World Myth is pretty cool. We're looking at Greek and Roman and African and all these other stuff. Right now we're doing creation and destruction myths, then I think we'll get into characters and stuff. It's okay, just time consuming 'cause we have to write very think-y responses to what we read just about every class. x.x;; But anyway, glad you like the story:D It won't be much longer... really. psycicflower- I was watching the Olympic opening thing where all the nations walk through... and when Ireland came in I thought of you. LoL. But I'm so disappointed Jamaica's not in it this year. ;.; Ever seen the movie "Cool Runnings"? Well, at least your hand doesn't need like... amputation... or something. Hehe. And it rocks to miss a day of school. In the story, I might dissapoint your expectations... I dunno. I've already got wild people, a band of penguins, and some cheese coming after me, so I guess any wrath you send won't surprise me. XD; LoL. j/k But still, hope you like the chapter. doombunny- Dang, that s/n rocks. Glad you like the story... hope you like the ending, too. :)
Just a reminder from alllll the way back in chapter 11: This was taking far longer than Slade would've liked. However, he knew he had to be careful with Raven. She would make a strong ally- the man just had to get her to join willingly. Raven had to think that choosing Slade's side was fully her decision. If she had any doubts about it, she would never live up to her true potential as his apprentice.
Chapter 28
Slade stepped out onto the ledge and closed the door behind him. Raven was thinking about following and watching the fight, but a beeping sound caught her attention. It came from the screen. The alarm quickly subsided; it was merely to announce the three minute warning on the bombs. Raven checked the three corner windows, but was dismayed to see only Beast Boy had reached a bomb. There was no audio with the video streams, but the dark girl guessed by his confused expression as he screamed into his communicator and his erratic gestures that he was asking Cyborg what to do.
Almost a minute later, Starfire found her bomb, lifting it right out of a droid driven covered truck. She set it on the side walk as the truck drove on. The alien looked as if she knew what she was doing as she began tearing off the outer steel layer.
But Cyborg was still nowhere around the dock bomb.
Raven's gaze dropped to the control panel and she typed in commands to bring up more screens. This computer was similar to the Titan's and that was the only reason why she had confidence fiddling around.
The girl found the bomb's blueprints, more weapons development screens, a map of the city's water system and power grid, but no way to stop the bombs.
With only a minute left, Raven looked up to the shadowed levels above. "Guys, help me turn these things off!" Immediately, twenty Cyborg blue robots dropped to the floor and quickly approached the screen.
Another beeping sound rang out as the light on the map to Gotham turned a darker color. Starfire had deactivated her bomb. The alien collapsed with a great sigh of relief. In another corner of the screen, Beast Boy was pulling wires like crazy, but the wires kept stretching and stretching so they never actually broke.
Thirty seconds left and Cyborg had just run into view. Guided by the sensors in his arm, he found the bomb attached to a beam between two long docks, one being used by an ocean barge.
Raven's droids were typing seemingly random codes into a small middle screen faster than humanly possible. Two, on either sides of the control panel, were accessing different programs. A moment later, they finally hacked into the right screen that turned off Beast Boy's bomb. Even though the screen was small, the green boy's surprise was clearly visible.
Now the two guards began typing again and the same windows started popping up. Raven's eyes widened.
"You have to go through all that again?" she cried. Her gaze darted from the time remaining to Cyborg's corner screen.
Ten seconds.
The robots hands were flying across the keyboards so fast they were a blur. Cyborg was leaning over the dock, cutting bomb wires and pressing buttons.
Five seconds.
Raven's breath caught. Even though she didn't like the Titans as she once did, she never wanted them harmed. And she didn't want the city harmed by any bombs, either.
Three... two... one.
A bright light washed all color... all picture... from Cyborg's screen, which was quickly replaced by fuzzy tv snow. The camera had been destroyed. The guards only stopped typing when a quick alarm sounded, informing everyone that time was up. In two other corner screens, both Starfire and Beast Boy were frantically talking into their communicators.
Raven leaned on the control panel, still wide-eyed. Her robots surrounded her, questioning looks on their faces.
"Bring up another view of the docks. Hack into government satellites if you have to- I want to know what's going on," she ordered in a quiet voice.
-
Slade stalked along the ledge, watching the pool below. The thick ledge seemed to just float under the door; it didn't reach either corner and it didn't connect with the pool perimeter. It was this surface around the pool that Robin had crawled onto.
"Well, this is it," Slade called to him over the noise of the water pouring into the pool. The boy quickly jumped to his feet.
"This is what?"
"This is the fight to end them all. Right here. If you defeat me, you can take Raven back. But if I win, then the Titans shall become a four-member team. And we won't have to have these little skirmishes anymore. We'll prove right now who the better fighter is."
At that Robin ran forward, shot his grappling hook into the bottom of the ledge- the side Slade wasn't on- and swung all the way up to the top. He drew his fighting staff.
"That's a lot of talk, Slade. But I'll shut you up in the end." The man chuckled.
"You are not my equal, Robin. And I'll prove it to you."
Simultaneously, they lunged for each other, staffs raised. The weapons were brought down against each other so fast that they snapped in half. A moment of hesitation later, the broke staffs were tossed into the pool below.
Robin charged first this time, hurling a fist right for the man's mask. Slade grabbed the hand and yanked it more toward him. As the unbalanced boy followed, Slade kneed him right in the gut. Robin stumbled backward, wheezing. At the last moment he saw a heel flying right for his head. He barely ducked in time.
The boy noticed a small opening and darted through, not stopping until he reached the opposite edge.
"What's your fascination with Raven?" Robin questioned suspiciously. He was already in a fighting position, just waiting. Slade slowly turned to face him.
"What's yours?"
"She's a member of my team," the boy shot back with narrowing eyes.
Slade gave a nonchalant shrug, "She's my apprentice."
"What'd you have to do for that? Brainwash her somehow?" scoffed Robin.
"No need," the man replied smugly. "She's not as committed to your team as you think."
With something resembling a war cry, Robin bolted across the ledge. He flung fists and kicks haphazardly at his opponent, growing more enraged when each attack was blocked. Slade was acting like this wasn't challenging at all. He looked almost bored.
"You're far too rash for your own good, my boy," he said at last when Robin had backed to catch his breath. Slade gave another shrug. "But if you are going to fight like that, you might as well put your back into it."
The boy lunged forward once more, venting another shout. His jabs were much more precise and controlled this round, and Robin stood his ground. He ended up making Slade move back several paces. As Robin sent a heel right or his opponent's head, the man grabbed his ankle and swung him around into the wall. Being so close to the edge, Robin nearly missed grabbing the ledge top as he fell. As he struggled to climb further on, Slade strolled to the other end, silently watching the water pour from the pipe in the opposite wall. He continued to ignore Robin, even when the boy got up and started rushing toward Slade.
-
The two robots at the computer controls were typing in codes faster than Raven could follow. Every couple of minutes, a new picture took over the screen. First, it was a wide view of the earth, with a glint of space beyond, then a shot of the North American continent, then all the way down to a clear view of the docks.
Already Starfire and Beast Boy had arrived and found Cyborg. The bomb blast had taken a sizable chunk resembling a bite mark out of the docks. The huge barge nearby had a dent all along its body, as did all the buildings in proximity. The two long moors on either side of the bomb had been obliterated. Planks and nearby crates and unloaded cargo were burning with a slow fire.
Starfire picked up one of Cyborg's arms, which had landed some distance away from the body, and reattached it. Now Cyborg was only missing the other arm and a leg. Beast Boy jumped into the water, morphing into a dolphin to search for them.
Raven watched with a grimace. At the same time she felt worried and helpless to do anything, yet also detached and somewhat uncaring. Such polar opposites confused her and she could do nothing but watch the screen. The dark girl could send her robots to help if she wasn't going to go... but she didn't want to. Starfire and Beast Boy were capable. And as the moments dragged on, the situation seemed less dire.
A few minutes later, after Beast Boy had resurfaced with Cyborg's missing leg, Raven backed up a step, turning away from the screen.
"I've seen enough," she muttered. As her attention returned to her surroundings, the girl began to wonder what was going on outside the room. However, as she headed for the door, a couple of Slade's robots dropped down from the shadowed level above and blocked her path. An expression of mingled surprise and annoyance crossed her face as she observed their challenge.
"Move," she told them firmly. They did not. Of course they weren't Raven's, but she had though she possessed at least some control over them. Obviously, they had already been given higher orders.
Raven decided not to fight it and returned to her group of robots.
-
Robin and Slade were on the very edge, fists flying, both trying to catch the other off guard. Finally Slade forced the boy away with a hard kick to his chest. Robin grabbed the door frame to keep from stumbling and proceeded to back up. As his opponent approached, the boy withdrew a few bombs from his belt and threw them at Slade. Not toward the ground, but right at Slade. The last thing Robin saw before smoke smothered the area was the man crossing his arms in front of his face. The boy backed up all the way to the ledge's end.
The seconds seemed to stretch much longer as Robin just stood there in a fighting stance, waiting. Moments later, his opponent slowly stepped out of the thick cloud, pulling several wisps of smoke with him. His armored forearms were fire, but the sleeves were tattered and ripped. Also, there was a crack in his mask starting from behind and going diagonally into the black side and under his chin.
Slade tilted his head to the side, cracking his neck. Suddenly he rushed forward with a fist drawn back, but right before he reached Robin he stopped, thrusting his fist forward. It, too, stopped right in front of his opponent's face. As Robin balked, Slade's other fist came around and punched the boy right off the ledge. A splash followed.
Slade watched Robin surface and slowly swim to the pool side. It took him an unusually long time to climb up onto the perimeter, and once there, he took a moment to catch his breath. The man jumped down onto the pool ledge and slowly neared him. Robin got to his feet, still ready to fight, though obviously weary.
"Don't you ever give up?" Slade questioned. He nearly hid it, but Robin could detect he was winded, too.
"No, I don't," growled the boy with narrowing eyes.
"More like me every day," his opponent mused with a tilt of his head. Surprisingly, Robin stayed where he was and wasn't goaded into fighting.
"We'll never be alike, Slade. I have four things you don't."
"Like?"
"My teammates."
If Slade still hadn't been catching his breath, he would've laughed. "Well, then you must've already found a replacement for Raven because she's not yours anymore."
"Pride goes before the fall," Robin quoted, sinking into a lower fighting stance. Slade leaned closer, his eye narrowing.
"Then I expect to see you trip quite soon."
That finally got to the boy and he lunged forward. He was setting up for some grand attack and wasn't aware of how open he was. Slade took that opportunity to reach forward, grab the boy's cape at the neck with one hand and his belt with the other and toss him into the pool.
"This is the last round, kid," Slade called once his opponent had surfaced. With a frustrated growl, Robin fished his grappling hook from his belt and shot it a few feet above Slade's head. It pulled him back toward the wall with amazing speed and the boy barely had time to aim both feet at Slade. Robin kicked the man into the wall so hard that he hurt his own legs. The painful wheeze of breath being forced out of Slade echoed throughout the large room. When the man slumped to the ground, clutching his gut, Robin could see a broken indentation in the hard wall.
He returned the grappling hook to his belt. Panting, he said, "Last round and it looks like you lose." The boy began to step around his opponent when he was hit. Slade had swung his leg around and kicked Robin in the back of the knees. When he fell, Slade grabbed his collar and forced his head under the water.
"I don't like losing," the man growled. After a few moments of Robin struggling, Slade dragged him out and forced his back against the wall. He sent a swift kick to his gut before the boy could move. Not it was Robin who dropped to the ground.
A long silence followed as both fighters gasped for breath. A couple of minutes passed and Robin never got up, though he was wide awake.
"Well," Slade finally said, "you put up a good fight. I didn't expect anything less from you." He nudged Robin with his foot to make sure he had the boy's full attention. "No more battles, remember?" Robin's breathing slowed as he channeled all his energy into a hate-filled glare. He could hear Slade smirk.
"Raven's mine now, so don't bother chasing after her."
"This isn't over," the boy spat, struggling to sit against the wall.
"Come now, don't be a sore loser. You're defeated and no future fight will ever change that," sneered Slade. He leaned forward and tore Robin's mask from his face.
-
Raven was meditating in the middle of her group of robots when Slade returned. He ordered his soldiers to head to another location. When Raven opened her eyes, she saw the man heading for the computer. He walked with a slight limp, the girl thought.
"Who ran over you?" she questioned as she set her feet on the ground. Slade's full attention was captured by the screen and he didn't hear her.
"Only one went off? Pity." He began typing in commands, shutting down the computer.
"So... what happened?" asked the girl, cautiously nearing him. In response, Slade flung Robin's mask toward her. It landed at her feet.
"And what's going to happen now?" Raven questioned in a softer tone.
"We're leaving. Heading for the city. Downtown life is fun once you get used to it." Finally he had finished shutting down the computer and he turned for a control panel near Raven. For the first time she saw his cracked mask.
"Downtown? Right near the tower? Are you sure?" the girl asked with a cynical expression.
"Downtown has been my home for many years now. I've grown accustomed to it," he replied simply. He opened a panel in the wall closest to Raven, exposing a complex switchboard. He began pressing buttons and the sounds of machinery shutting down could be heard.
"You've lived right next to the tower this entire time? But what about all those different lairs of yours?" cried Raven, not even attempting to hide her surprise. Slade chuckled.
"You don't actually believe I would lead all my enemies to my home, now do you? I have many bases of operations in diverse locations. Why else would I keep a low profile for months? I was busy with construction plans." The last button he pressed dimmed the three hanging lights in the room. Closing the panel, he asked, "Well, ready?"
Raven looked from him to the mask laying on the floor. "I guess whatever will keep you from smacking me again."
"Actions- especially mistakes- have consequences. I let things like that slide back at your tower because that was more of a training ground. Now, you've come to join me of your own accord, so I expect you're ready to hack the more intensive parts. But if you're going to whine about my teaching style, then perhaps you're not as mature as I thought. Did I just waste my time and my suit fighting for you?"
With a guilt-consumed expression, Raven glanced back at Robin's mask- but it was gone. Before she could bring Slade's attention to it, he asked if she was coming or not. The girl edged toward him as she glanced about the entire floor for the mask.
Slade led the way out the second room exit. Raven's robots waited for her to walk by and fell in line behind her. Once they had all left, the three lights went completely dark.
-
"Come on, kid, wake up," a mechanical voice croaked, followed by the sound of snapping fingers.
Robin slowly opened his eyes to see X staring back at him. With a fearful expression the boy checked his face and let out a relieved sigh once he felt his mask.
"I really risked my neck to get that back for you, y'know," X said, nodding self-importantly.
Both boys were on the riverbank near the large sewer entrance. The afternoon sun shone brightly, making Robins squint as he surveyed his surroundings.
"Okay, what are you doing here and what do you want?" the boy questioned as he stumbled to his feet.
"I was just in the neighborhood... keeping an eye on Raven. Man, you guys really screwed up."
"What!"
"I went out of my way to get her away from Slade. I assembled a stupid team and everything. Then you guys come back and scare her away. I don't like it when my actions are wasted," X said.
Robin folded his arms across his chest and arched a brow. "So what are you saying?"
"I'm gonna help you clueless guys out with getting Raven back," replied the thief.
"I'm not too sure she wants to come back right now."
"Yeah, well, that's usually where the fun begins."
"This isn't a game!" snapped Robin, eyes narrowing.
X replied with an unbothered shrug, "That's what I thought before, too."
--
THE END!
...I'm serious. It's kinda like the ending episode of the Teen Titans show... it doesn't seem like a real good way to end it at first, but once you really think about it, it makes sense (I needed to find this one guy's review about the show before seeing how much sense it made LoL). So once you find that deeper meaning... tell me what it is. XD;;
Hey, it's better than the ending would've been 2 chapters ago. And if you're still not that happy with it, an epilogue is planned. Check the bottom of my profile page for "Influence News."