A/N: Nothin to say here except it's back to my two favorite characters: Robin and Slade! Let's dive in, shall we?
Interdimensional Intermission
When Robin came to, he found himself flat on his back, blinking blearily at the sky that was the same hue as a bright pool, and surrounding him from above were a puzzle of abnormally cheery colorful trees that didn't quite mesh together. He pushed himself up with one arm, feeling a surge of panic spike through him. Where was he? What the hell was happening? Why was he in the middle of a mystical forest?
The boy's masked eyes narrowed in thought as he started recollecting fractured snippets of memory within his muddled mind. A familiar voice that made his skin crawl yanked him out of his musings.
"Well," Slade drawled, glancing with disdain at the chipper, colorful aura that surrounded him and Robin, sporting a grimace under his steel-plated mask. "This certainly wasn't what I had been expecting."
Robin crossed his arms as he studied his arch-nemesis with a hard glare. "Well, what were you expecting, Slade?"
He wasn't surprised in the least when Slade looked down at him and gave him an infuriatingly vague answer.
"Not this."
Robin muttered something foul under his breath as he tried to reign his frustration back and compose himself. It wasn't really working in his favor at the moment. A masked eye twitched minutely. Great, just great," the boy wonder griped sourly, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation as he paced next to the criminal mastermind in a fury. "We're stuck in this dimensional disaster until we can find a way back and its--" Whirling to meet the man's chilling eye, Robin jabbed a finger at his longtime rival dangerously, seething with annoyance, rage, and ire as his voice rose in volume and intensity. "--all. Your. FAULT!"
"It could be worse, Robin."
The teenager snarled and clenched his hands into fists, "That's not the point!" he snapped through gritted teeth. Masked eyes searing with wrathful irritation counterbalanced Slade's sharp gray orb of patient tranquility, though a cold glint of annoyance was present as the mercenary stared down at his former apprentice who looked ready to punch his lights out. Slade gave him a chilling glower as though daring Robin to strike and the fuming teen faltered slightly, considering the urge briefly for a tempting, tantalizing second before he decided better of it, whirling away from his biggest lifetime regret before stalking off into the nauseating rainbow woods with a bitter huff.
Slade sighed heavily as he watched him vanish into the sickening spirl of blinding colors. Even though he was technically immortal, he was sure that kid was going to be the eventual demise of him someday--it was just a matter of when. Resigning to the cruel consequences of his own actions, he plowed forward, following his stubborn apprentice into the maze of painted leaves that loomed overhead.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Robin strode through the bright happy forest with a permanent scowl as he dragged his feet forward in a steady pace, stomping on the vile neon-green grass. Slade was just so infuriatingly impossible. The sun glowed like an angels chorus and he hated it. The sooner he could get out of this-- this exotic prison, the better.
Everything was too bright and joyful and glorious; Starfire would love a place like this, she'd be ecstatic, but as for Robin? He just wanted to vomit.
He felt like he was walking in circles; he was sure he had passed that stupid orange tree about seven times by now. He had been walking straight with no sense of direction for the past ten minutes. Was there an actual end to this damn colorful mirage or was he somehow being teleported backwards every time he reached a certain strip of trees? As if a relevation occured to him in that instant, Robin halted his stride and stood still, inspecting the trees for any hidden clues.
Oh, who was he kidding? They looked as normal as any other tree expect for the rainbows sprouting out of them. He felt like he was doomed to be stuck in this vile maze forever. Best keep moving he supposed.
He took a stride forward and was immediately taken back as the nearest tree magically leaned towards his face, almost touching him as he continued to crane his neck backwards, horrified. For a moment, time seemed to freeze like a broken clock as the universe iced over. The tree remained frozen and Robin thought it looked similar to a still-life painting of a hurricane tearing through the streets uprooting trees and homes in its devastating wake.
The icy realism of reality returned in an instant and Robin scrambled away with wide eyes: apprehensive, floored and fearful. The tree regarded him for an uncomfortable heartbeat before motioning a twig from its trunk, offering a bundle of berries to the stricken child who looked ready to pass out from lack of oxygen.
Robin was a person who operated on logic and factual evidence. This was neither of those things. This was witchcraft as Beastboy would've probably--and most accuratly--put it if he were here.
Robin could do nothing but stare at the berries in disbelief as his brain snapped in half and fused itself back together within the same instant. Were they poisonous? What even were they? Hoping that what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him, he hesitantly rose a quivering hand to accept the offering, eyes glued to the tree in wonder and uncertainty. The tree swayed again in response, prompting a line of trees on either side to move with them as if guiding the lost child.
Rising unsteadily to his feet, Robin raised an eyebrow, turning back to the path with a long stare of contemplation before he took their advice wordlessly with an offhanded shrug, deciding to try and not think too hard about what had just transpired. He nibbled on the berries and found them surprisingly sweet, like a strawberry mixed with a raspberry. It tasted fulfilling and juicy, fueling his tastebuds with a radiant, positive energy he didn't know was possible to possess. He grinned for the first time since arriving in this magical mayhem.
Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad after all...
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
If there was one thing Slade dearly wished he had right now, it would be a very large axe so he could obliterate these blithering roadblocks out of his path. Weaving his way through tree trunks in an endless charade was not his idea of entertainment.
His dark glare intensified as he observed the colorful brightness around him, wanting nothing more than to burn it to the ground with a flamethrower. He wondered how anyone could stand being blinded by trees for more than five minutes. He was already half blind thanks to his ex-wife; he really didn't want to live out the rest of his days wearing two eyepatches under his mask. Just dealing with one was bad enough in itself.
Slade and Robin never agreed on anything, but if there was one thing they could both come to a similar conclusion on, it was probably the strong desire to get the hell out of here.
A straight, endless path opened up for him and he mentally groaned while the stretching horizon seemed to taunt him way back in the distance. Of course, the nauseating colors and bleak brightness that blared through his retinas were bad enough, but now he had to trek blindly in the dark with no clue of where he was going to end up. Robin was probably long gone by now, Slade realized. He cursed under his breath as he picked up his pace.
Dammit, Robin. You better not be dead. I'm not paying your life insurance, you insufferable brat.
The madman continued straight at a steady, brisk pace, wondering if this whole trip was actually worth his time. After all, he hadn't been the idiot who stormed off recklessly into some supernatural forest. He'd thought Robin would've been a bit more perceptive than that after all their encounters. Hadn't the child learned anything from him? Hadn't he gauged the gravity of their situation it all?
Hadn't his former apprentice assessed even the slightest notion about--oh, perhaps--treading with caution and actually being aware of your surroundings in an abnormal predicament with a potentially hostile environment?
Apparently not, from what the teenager's rash actions conveyed.
Something moved out of the corner of his eye and Slade swiveled around as a renegade branch teetered dangerously close to his masked face as if it had a mind of its own. His gaze simply narrowed as he remained undaunted by this abnormality of nature. This wasn't the strangest occurance he had witnessed during his eternal existance and he had a prediction it wouldn't be the last.
Time stood still and as if a silent conversation had taken place within the span of a few moments, the line of trees leaned forward as if possessed by a ghost, unraveling a path that stretched for miles. Slade said nothing as he carefully, yet casually strode forward, intent on giving Robin a piece of his mind when he caught up with the arrogant, impulsive Titans leader. How Robin and his crazy band of misfits had made it this far in their youth, the mastermind would never know.
A sliver of a smile ghosted over the man's lips, concealed by the daunting mask he wore. The infamous criminal could still twist this situation in his favor somehow. Anything was possible; it was just him and Robin against the risky depths of an interdimensional reality. Perhaps a new dynamic had the potential to spark between them, despite the current animosity the two had accustomed throughout the years they had known each other.
For flitting fortune or for miscalculated fate, neither would ever be certain.
A/N: That's a wrap for this chap! I am (very) late on my deadline, but I've had a busy week with graduation cerimonies and parties as well as filing scholarship letters. Fun stuff. Yes, that was highly and dramatically sarcastic and no, I'm not apologizing for it.
Peace, yeast and make a feast!
-Void
