Hi guys! I want to apologize for updating a week late—last Saturday, though, I was gone the entire day, and I hadn't had the time to work any farther on the chapter (I keep getting sick, which explains my long, annoying absence from Alexnandru: I can see why Naomi would bug you. I know the feelings that run through a person when they find out their younger sibling's being bullied—I practically slugged a guy in gym class once, because he'd been picking on my little sister.) PixieGirl13: Thanks so much! Wow—I'm glad you like this! Creepy, also, that your sister is like Naomi! Eep! To Infamous One: Yeah, I know…(sighs) I just really wish it would stick around a lot longer…this is one of the few cartoons that have come out in awhile that I've stuck with for so long, and it's going to suck to see it go off air. Kaliann and Robinfan: Thanks guys. I hope you both got my email. And Kali—is it really one of the top twenty? I knew it was popular, but I had no idea…well, thanks for reviewing and writing a letter.
Anyway: Here's the update!
Chapter Five:
When he'd first heard of Robin, he'd been interested in the boy for one, sole purpose: He was Batman's brat, stupid enough to break away from the "Dynamic Duo," and head to another city—conveniently opening himself up to any of the villains in Gotham who happened to be especially pissed off at the Dark Knight, and were looking for some way to strike against the hero.
After their first three encounters, Slade had noted that the famous Boy Wonder seemed to be holding back on his full potential whenever they fought. Either he was still on the Bat's leash, or he was worried—or perhaps even frightened—by what he might have the ability to do. It was puzzling to the man, but he disregarded it. If the little hero didn't want to fight as well as he could, it only made it easier for Slade to kill him.
Then the little fool had posed as Red X, in the idiotic hopes of trapping him with the so-called "partnership" they'd arranged. Instead, it had opened Robin up like a book, and Slade had taken the perfect opportunity to flip through the pages and examine what lay inside.
Passion, aggression, denial, rage, terror—hatred. All were tools that could be used against the young man, to bring him to his knees; then there was nothing that the boy could do to stop Slade from murdering him in his weakened state, and leaving the body behind for Batman to pick up.
Of course, the villain did something even more humiliating, a longer lasting punishment that Robin would remember for many years to come.
It was during that time—that brief, satisfying time—, when Robin had worn Slade's colors, had the madman discovered much more about the Boy Wonder's spirit; how fragile and confused it was, the thin border that the youth balanced on to avoid plummeting into the chaos that a criminal's life was riddled with.
He also had realized that Robin's personality had reminded him of someone he'd known once, long ago…
The brat was fortunate: If he hadn't behaved so similar to a little child that dwelled now only in the past and Slade's memories, the mercenary would have left him at the mercy of the bounty-hunters and DeFarge.
On the other hand, this was probably the exact same reason that Wade was hell-bent on capturing the boy.
Slade sighed quietly in exasperation, as he watched the violent scene taking place below; Robin was putting up an adequate fight against the woman and the other one-eyed man. Raven's body was lying to the side, out of harm's way. Every so often, the boy attempted to lunge for his friend—the woman countered him every time, kicking him sharply in the ribs, or delivering a swift, but powerful, backhand that sent the kid staggering.
The mastermind's original plan had been to intervene and drag the child (kicking and screaming if worse came to worse) away; unlike Robin, Slade had faith that the Goth girl would no doubt lose her temper, or give way to fear when she awoke. Both were strong feelings, and from what he had heard about her experiences with these two emotions, he certainly pitied her captors.
But now…
Robin had certainly provided a great amount of struggle, making it extremely difficult for Slade to explain anything. For the moment, he was going to step back and watch the fight. Hopefully, the boy would get considerably thrashed by the two…
Though his smug mirth ruled most of his judgment, a kernel of guilt still lingered in the back of Slade's mind.
-partnership-
Robin spun nimbly out of the way as One-Eye threw a heavy punch at his midriff, before flipping out of the way as the girl gracefully swept her heel through the air, no doubt trying to break his nose. Raven's limp form lay out of the corner of his eye, and he hoped that the blow to her head hadn't been severe. Poor Rae had been beaten up already, not to mention ashamed that she had failed to respond fast enough to save some of the citizens; she didn't need any more stress to cope with.
Stepping slightly near his fallen friend, Robin took out his bo-staff and assumed a defensive stance, silently daring them to come forth. One-Eye hesitated, but the girl merely smiled and ran forward to meet his challenge with a series of violent kicks. The boy neatly blocked each of them, and then twisted around to slam his heel directly into her throat; steel connected with her Adam's Apple, sending her flying over pavement to land a few feet off from her acquaintance.
The man stared back and forth between the girl's motionless form and Robin with appraising eyes. The Boy Wonder, on the other hand, swallowed hard as he worked around the lump in his throat, and his staff clattered to the ground.
He'd killed her.
"Good hit," One-Eye commented, voice carrying undertones of German descent. The male bounty hunter now watched Robin unblinkingly, and the young hero felt as though he were pinned under an x-ray. Slowly, the Titan strode over to the woman's side, heart beating apprehensively at his handiwork…
"But not good enough."
Robin had no time to recover from his shock, before he found himself flying through the air: His back arched painfully as he went crashing into the base of a crumbled office building, and he slumped to his knees, brain still buzzing in astonishment. The girl casually picked herself up and brushed her limbs for any dust—acting as though nothing had happened in the first place!—, then stooped to retrieve his staff that he had dropped.
"Whassamatter, kid?" She hissed wickedly, mouth formed in a devious smile that showed off her fangs perfectly. "Giving up already?"
Robin didn't answer, but concentrated on forcing himself to stand up. How had that woman survived the kick to her throat? He'd learned, during his training with Batman, that the throat was a weak point, and one of the best places to aim for if you were trying to deliver a fatal blow. But…the girl had just gotten right back as if it'd been a minor attack…
How was that possible?
The Boy Wonder was so puzzled by the lack of logic in the situation, that he didn't see the streak of silver come rushing at him until—
THWACK!
Blood roared in his ears like the downpour of a waterfall; bright spots expanded and burst before his vision like multi-colored bubbles, and his head throbbed agonizingly. Robin found himself tripping clumsily over his own feet as he staggered backwards. Meanwhile, somewhere in the distance, the German man was screaming in rage at his compatriot.
"What the hell are you doing?"
The female scoffed arrogantly.
"What do you think I'm doing?"
One-Eye spluttered incredulously.
"It was bad enough smacking the empath around with that pipe!" He bawled. "We're supposed to bring the boy in alive, not his freakin' corpse with a fractured skull!"
Robin blinked furiously, clearing away the incessant watering that was making his eyes swim. He was sprawled a ways off from the vicious argument taking place, a lump the size of a golf ball growing rapidly on the side of his head; his mind was whirling wildly, as though it were a helpless prisoner aboard an insane merry-go-round…but there didn't appear to be anymore injuries that would hinder him.
The German and the girl continued to bicker, momentarily forgetting their target, and Robin began creeping towards the unconscious Raven. If he could just grab hold of her, he'd have the ideal opportunity to throw down a couple of smoke bombs, and use a jump cord to escape.
At the same time, even if he did rescue Rae, there was still the issue regarding the others. This simple fight had given him only a taste of what he was up against, what their new adversary's were capable of…
…Somehow, he'd sort it out…later on, perhaps, when his brain didn't feel so rattled…
"We're paid to do this sort of thing, dammit! Dead or alive—we still get cash."
"The Ravager told us to make sure that we captured this one, while he was still breathing I might add."
The Ravager: There was that name again.
"Why's this little asshole so important?" The girl kept demanding.
"You want to know so badly! Then ask DeFarge when we get back!"
There was an uncomfortable silence. Robin was so close to reaching Raven…one of his hands began creeping down to remove a jump cord from his utility belt…
"All right. We'll grab him and go—hey!"
Crap, Robin thought frantically and lunged for his Gothic friend—
Another slam was delivered to his head, and this time the edge of the bo-staff sliced into his forehead as well: Stars winked brightly at him from amidst the blackened, blood-stained veil that was being draped over his eyes again…
Far, far away, the German groaned:
"You like doing that too much…"
One of Robin's hands stretched out to touch Raven's, but he grew weaker with every passing second; just out of his line of vision, a slight shadow moved soundlessly but briskly near the four…
What's going to happen to us now…? The boy wondered drowsily, blissfully losing himself in the nothingness that came to claim him…
-partners-
"Rest, Robin…rest…"
He didn't want to, but the voice was lulling him back to his dreams…the cut across his forehead and scalp burned; the immense pain caused him to swoon, dipping back into nightmares of the Titans and what cruel fate awaited them with the one-eyed man, and his monstrous, female assistant…
'Robin!' Starfire was shrieking his name, while a faceless evil slit her throat…Cyborg was being overpowered by what seemed like a thousand men; Beast Boy was bleeding from cuts inflicted all over his body; Raven sank to her knees before the two attackers he'd faced—but the female clenched a sword this time, instead of a pipe. She smirked gleefully, and swung the silver blade down in a horrifyingly slow arc—
He was coughing; hacking and gasping as he tried to breathe…his mouth was forced open, and cold liquid—soothing, and yet it seemed to ignite a red-hot flame in his stomach—surged down into him, causing his to gasp for air, and struggle weakly. Hands, enormous by the feel of them, held him still, while the odd medicine—he was guessing that was what it was—continued to flow inside him. He retched for air; someone swore loudly, and a moment later, another kind of potion filled his mouth. It was bitter on his tongue, and he tried to vomit, or spit it out, but only more of the foul drink was poured…eventually, he gave up and drank it without resistance, hating every swallow…
—Bodies were laid in the streets, as a group of ferocious looking men and women marched up and down; they were laden with weapons, and were no doubt responsible for the deaths of all the people. The innocents that remained went screaming, fleeing before the army of villains, only to be shot down as their flesh was pelted with heavy bullets as they were fired from guns—
"Relax, Robin…"
He was slightly aware that he'd been writhing uncontrollably during his feverish, hazy nightmare. The hands were holding him still again, and he released all tension in his body under their grip. He didn't have the strength to fight back, anymore. He was just so exhausted…
"Sleep."
And so he did.
To be Continued…
Okay, okay, I admit: For all the time I took to update on this story, I didn't include much in this chapter. I'm REALLLY sorry. Heh, heh—don't hurt me! (Cowers beneath desk.) Okay, so mainly from Robin's POV, except for that little excerpt with Slade reviewing the situation at hand…which, I guess, was a little pointless, and a little necessary, considering. You'll see. Anyway, next chapter: Robin wakes up and gets extremely pissed off, Starfire keeps suffering; Beast Boy gets a little frantic. Plus, little hints as to why Naomi didn't die (curse it! I hate her too…even though it's my fault for creating her) when Robin smashed her throat in.
See you next time! (Don't flame me for making it short! I'll do better!)
Rebel