A/N: Thanks for the Christmas greetings ya'll, I hope you had a great Christmas and hopefully a happy New Year! So here's the new chapter, I had some difficulties writing it but I think it came out quite nicely if I do say so myself ... Enjoy.
Part 3 – The stand off
Slade's mind tricks worked like a charm managing to demoralize three of the captive titans. He came back at Rage and Cyborg for insulting him, he made Beast Boy and Raven's relationship take a turn for the worst and he still had Robin to take care of. The strange thing was that he knew facts about the titans that even some of them didn't know about each other. The truth was that during their time apart Slade really did his homework, that was the thing that scared them the most, but none the less they had to resist the pressure, it was the only thing they could do.
Slade turned around and left Beast Boy and Raven watching each other with regret on one hand and distrust on the other. These new facts that Slade pointed out shocked BB who thought that his relationship with Raven was going along well and that they were both perfect for one another. He didn't know what to believe but what Slade said did make sense at some level. He wouldn't have ever imagined to be listening or trusting Slade, but seeing the situation at hand he had to recognize the obvious … Raven hadn't been true to him and kept things from his knowledge, things that were rather important to him. After all they've been through, after all the sacrifices he made, after all the faith he had in her, five minutes of Slade talking and yakking around made him want to have never loved Raven in the first placed.
Raven couldn't even speak; she wanted to talk to her loved one and tell him that he had nothing to worry about but couldn't say anything. She was both confused and shocked of what Slade said and couldn't believe that this was happening to them. She just stood there watching Beast Boy gasping and at the same time observing Slade.
The others didn't understand what was going on and just watched Slade enjoying the fruits of his doing. He turned around with his hands crossed and his head tilted backwards and started chuckling, a chuckle that soon degenerated into a frantic frenzy of psychotic laughter. The sight was not a pretty one as far as the titans were concerned; in fact it was highly disturbing and made them ask their selves what tricks he still had up his sleeve.
With an almost sadistic pleasure Slade turned around and triumphantly walked towards Robin. The sheer sight of him in this position would have made many loose their cool, but not Robin. He remembered his training and also what Rage told him about Slade and realized where his enemy was going with this; he wanted to mentally harass him and break him from the inside out.
"So what now Slade? Are you going remind me something from my secret and dark past that will make me crack?" Robin asked sarcastically as his nemesis approached him.
"Not quite Robin" Slade answered while circling him like a vulture "I am not as stupid as you may think I am. I know you've prepared for this; I know that you came to accept your mistakes and that you're now at peace with your disturbing past. Such tactics won't work on you, and to be honest I was actually counting that you wouldn't be ready for such a treatment. Indeed I am disappointed, but at the same time I have to congratulate you on such a great achievement".
"So I guess physical torture is the only way you can make me suffer, right?" said Robin. Of course Robin was only sarcastic and wanted to prove to Slade that he was ready for anything he got but if he would have paid more attention to what went on he would have realized that Beast Boy was also sarcastic and things turned out bad.
"Wrong" replied Slade "Even thought beating you to death would definitely tickle my fancy it would still not be enough to quench my thirst of revenge. And further more, why should I take you out on the spot when I can torture your soul and make you wish that you were never born?"
This last sentence made Robin wonder what Slade had prepared for him. He couldn't mentally harass him and he said that he didn't plan on killing him, preferring to "torture his soul" rather than take him out. At first it didn't make any sense but from his experience Robin knew that Slade wasn't joking.
"And how are you going to do that?" he asked trying to hide the fact that at some level he actually did panic.
"I'm glad you asked that Robin" Slade replied and took out a remote control from the back of his pocket.
He held up the remote near his right ear and pushed one of the buttons in a nonchalant manner. All of the sudden the floor in front of the titans slid open and from underneath came up a glass chamber. Also, because of the show Slade tried to put on, the lights got brighter and the titans couldn't see what was in the glass chamber in front of them. It wasn't until another ten seconds that the titans finally saw what Slade had installed for Robin.
The lights dimmed, Slade moved aside and they could now see what was in the glass chamber. The sight utterly shocked everyone and Robin's heart almost stopped beating. Starfire was inside the chamber, apparently dead or unconscious but none the less helpless.
It was a plan brilliantly thought up by Slade. After seeing this Robin realized that nothing could have ever prepared him for such a thing and that his archenemy was indeed clever, criminally clever.
"How did you get pass my security system? How did you break into the safety room?" Cyborg asked being just as shocked as Robin. It was actually a rather stupid question seeing how Starfire should have been the center of his concern (not that she wasn't), but in times of crisis people usually do or ask stupid things.
"Never underestimate my knowledge of espionage and technical skills" he replied "I've been listening to you ever since we had that encounter a few months ago. I've heard what you've been talking about and planning all along; and Anton was indeed right, for all you knew I actually was keeping a close eye on all of you. When you left the tower all I needed to do was break in and gas the safety room your little friend was enclosed in, and to be honest you still have a lot to learn about security systems Cyborg".
"Slade you son of a bitch!" Robin yelled out while struggling trying to break free again "If you did anything to Starfire I swear to God I'll … "
"Starfire isn't dead Robin, relax, knock out gas can't kill you" Slade replied "She's only asleep, that's the way I wanted her to be"
"What for?" Robin asked furiously.
Slade turned around towards Starfire and took out a gun from a side holster on his belt.
"Let's see now, if I correctly recall you've loved Starfire for a long time. In fact, you've loved her ever since you two first met. For two and a half years you couldn't tell her how you truly felt but finally gave in a few months ago. Since then your life has been perfect, Starfire became the most important thing for you and …" he said while tapping the glass near Starfire's womb "… the fruit of your love is to be born in seven to eight months".
"What are you going to do?" Robin asked while trying to break free from the cuffs that separated his hands from Slade's neck.
"I'll make you regret the day you were born" Slade replied while taking out a dagger from the side of his boot "After I shoot her in the womb I'll disembowel her and show you the child that you will never have. You won't be able to save neither Starfire nor your unborn child. Take one last good look Robin; it will be your last".
Slade went forward and pointed his gun at Starfire's stomach just as he said he would do and cocked the safety on his gun. "How does it feel to lose the one you care most for Robin? You were right back there, on the roof of the tower, you are nothing but a failure".
"STARFIRE NOOO" Robin shouted in despair as Slade prepared to shoot.
"Say good night princess, your fairy prince can't do anything about it" said Slade silently, almost whispering, as he slowly pulled the trigger.
All hope was lost. It seemed that there was nothing anybody could do to save her. Slade planed this for a good couple of years and now his hard work finally paid off. He felt the gun weld to his hand and his adrenaline rushing through his veins at maximum speed. He touched the trigger and was ready to pull it all the way back but just as he tried to do so he felt a cold piece of metal pressing down on the back of his neck.
"If you push that trigger I swear to God I will blow your brains out and feed your corpse to the dogs" a violent voice was heard.
It was Rage, he held a Desert Eagle hand-gun to the back of Slade's neck pressing down and his eyes were blood red as never before. His posture and voice made everybody realize that he wasn't joking. Cyborg watched him sneak behind Slade and putting the gun to his head and also remembered that when Rage asked for weapons and ammo he didn't ask for a gun. He looked closely and saw that his friend's gun had a strange marking on its side. It was the symbol of anarchy. This reminded him of the time Rage helped the titans defeat Team Anarchy and he remembered that they had the same symbol on their weapons. There was no doubt about the fact that Rage kept one of Team Anarchy's guns for himself, probably as a trophy or because he had a premonition.
"How did you … -"
"Escape?" Rage answered "Did you think I angered you just because I like teasing people? The cuffs were already loose when your henchmen locked me. I realized that I could not break free so I made you hit me so that the impact of your blows would loosen the grip on my hands even more … And it worked".
"Bravo Anton" replied Slade after a moment of hesitation "You have out done yourself, but what if I still decide to shoot her, what then?"
"Do not play dumb with me Wilson! I know that you would not risk your own life and that you crave to see all of us dead, hanging from the wall like hunting trophies. And call off your commandos, I can hear them approaching behind me from a mile away. Do it slowly and remember that I will not hesitate to shoot you".
Slade complied to Rage's request and pushed a button on his belt buckle that deactivated his robot commandos making them fall to the ground with a loud thud because of their metal exterior.
"Good!" Rage exclaimed "Now slowly put the gun down, kick it towards Cyborg and put your hands behind your back".
Again Slade did just as Rage said but after he put down the gun and kicked far away from where he was standing he tried to stab Rage with the dagger he had in his other hand. Rage reacted quickly and immobilized his opponent putting him face down to the floor and taking his dagger and placing it to his throat. This was the chance to finally get rid of Slade once and for all, but for some peculiar reason Rage hesitated.
"Well, well … isn't this an interesting situation" Slade grunted as his opponent slowly tightened his grip around his arms and neck.
"Yes, it would appear that the tables have turned. You no longer have the upper hand! All I have to do is cut your throat and you will die?"
"Then why am I still able to speak?" Slade asked rhetorically hoping to catch Rage of guard.
"Death is too good for the likes of you. For what you have done you deserve to be imprisoned and beaten for the rest of your miserable life. Death would only be your way out" Rage replied with a calm voice that was filled with anger and at the same time with a sense that justice was about to be served.
"Take him out Rage, show him no mercy!" all of the sudden Robin yelled out.
Seeing how he was still cuffed to the wall there wasn't much that he could do about it, but even though he still wanted to be the one that got rid of Slade he decided not to play the hero and that no matter who takes him out Slade had to disappear for good one way or another.
"No Robin, a life time of permanent seclusion and pain will be much worst than what death has to offer him".
"No, take him out … snuff him now!"
"Oh snap out of it already, you are practically taking his part. Remember when he said that he wanted to make you regret the day you were born? It is time for your revenge Robin … and ours also".
Rage's words did in fact make sense. Why offer him the easy way out when he wanted to torture him and kill those that he loved? This was Robin's opportunity to get back at Slade for everything that he had done to him, his friend and his city these last years, but before he could say anything Slade interrupted.
"Very wisely put Anton, I'm impressed, but alas, you were always a fast thinker, a good leader and an exceptional warrior"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say" Rage replied giving no importance to Slade's pathetic suck up's and scanned the base around for a rope.
"To bad your superiors and your comrades didn't think so …" said Slade, who because of his last statement got his head smashed with great fury and anger into the concrete floor of the base. For some reason this had angered Rage even more than usual as he even shouted will punishing Slade, a thing he usually didn't do while fighting.
"You can mock me, you can mock my traditions and you can even mock my country … but when it comes to my comrades do not ever speak like that again or I will do just the opposite of what I am already planning, only slower and more painful".
"Did I lie Anton? I think not … After all, you were always the best soldier in your platoon and envy was never far away because of this".
"Shut up, what do you know about the ones that envied me, huh? Mostly nothing!" Rage replied and tried to make Slade shut his mouth.
The titans saw this and remembered about Rage's explosive temper and how he acted back at the tower with Robin, BB and Raven a while ago. Needless to say Rage acted violently towards them because of their almost insignificant interference in his private life but now Slade was talking bollocks about his comrades. They all knew what this meant, Slade was in for a good beating, but Robin realized that Slade was using the "two sides of the blade" tactic to his advantage and this made him wonder how their verbal confrontation would end. Of course, it now depended on what Slade knew about Rage.
"Mostly nothing? That's what you think!" Slade replied calmly "You're superiors used to beat you, they used to work you like a dog, kick you for the most minor mistakes and you got nothing in exchange".
"It was the army not a Boy Scout club … and even so I volunteered, what did you expect to happen?" Rage asked rhetorically.
"This is not about what I expect; it's about your personal expectations".
"I went to war, I killed people, I protected my land … those were my expectations when I volunteered. End of story" said Rage in a rather laconic manner.
"What about respect? You were the leader of your platoon and yet Vlad and Andrei still disowned you".
"True, but in the end they respected me …"
"If they respected you then why didn't they follow your orders that faithful night?" asked Slade who seemed to be enjoying this "They had no respect for your word, they considered you a fool and they ended up shot in the head, the stupid weaklings".
At hearing this Rage picked up Slade and smashed him to the ground, an act the titans didn't think he was capable of seeing how Slade was in fact larger than him.
"They were my friends you mongrel!" Rage yelled out while punching Slade "You executed them with no remorse!"
After throwing another good couple of punches Rage stopped hitting Slade preferring to twist his arm to his back. Slade silently moaned and grunted from the pain but didn't sees talking.
"Vlad and Andrei were true fighters, it's a pity that I did what I had to do though … Too bad I can't say the same thing about Ivan, Vali and Robert" Slade continued.
Again Slade managed to anger his opponent, only this time Rage threw Slade's dagger into the underground river that streamed along the side of the base and hid the gun behind his back. All of the sudden Rage started kicking and brutalizing Slade like never before.
"They were my comrades you animal!" he yelled out.
"They were weak and didn't follow orders, they were nothing like you" Slade replied thus fueling his opponents anger even more.
The kicks and blows that Rage submitted his enemy to got more intense, his eyes almost started to glow red because of the anger and his fists started to bruise and bleed even more. Slade continued taunting and Rage continued beating his opponent while calling him an animal, murderer and other such names.
From what Slade said the titans now found out more things about Rage but still didn't know what it was all about and how Rage got to know Slade. They found out that Slade killed a couple of friends from his platoon, they found out he really had been in the army, that his superiors used to punish him and that some of his comrades even envied him. Even so they didn't understand why Rage would respond to such provocations as long as his friends were seemingly against him and his superiors acted like thugs. From what they had observed Rage wasn't the type that took crap from anyone and were rather surprised to find out that he was once exactly how Slade depicted him.
How did they know Slade was telling the truth? Simple, because of Rages anger.
After about five minutes of relentlessly beating up Slade, Rage picked him up and threw him into one of the metal walls. He stood in the position he was and tried to catch his breath while watching his opponent. Slade silently grunted and seemed to be in much pain all to the titans' satisfaction.
"Do not ever talk about my comrades that way" Rage sighed.
They thought it was all over, that Slade will faint and that Rage will free them, but they were wrong. As Rage caught his breath and apparently tried to walk towards Robin and take his shackles off Slade rose to his feet looking as though nothing had happened.
Seeing this, Rage stopped in his tracks and took out his gun pointing it towards Slade. "Stay where you are and do not say anything!" he ordered.
"Anton, Anton…" Slade said as he walked up to Rage "Why do you live a lie? Why don't you just admit that I was right?"
"Because you killed them!" he said while still pointing his gun towards Slade. But something wasn't right; Rage's hands started shaking as though he was nervous, a strange fact seeing how he had the upper hand in this situation.
"I only did what I was supposed to. It was either me or them, I'm sure you understand the rules of war by now" said Slade as he continued walking up towards Rage while the other seemed very nervous "And even so, why should you feel sorry for them? Admit it! You know you deserved a better treatment and more respect. Vlad and Andrei despised you, they acted as though they were your friends but they weren't. Your superiors never cared about you. For them you were only another piece of army equipment, another experiment; to them it wouldn't have mattered if you've died while training or on the battlefield. And the rest of your platoon, let's face it, if they would have respected you they wouldn't have followed Stefan and Andrei to certain failure"
"Yes but … that is not how …" Rage mumbled in astonishment
"… it happened?" Slade interrupted as he stood only two feet away from Rage's gun barrel "No Anton, that's exactly what happened! You were always the best, you gave 110 of your maximum potential, you were the most powerful, but always got less then you bargained for! Betrayed, lied to, disrespected … face it Anton, you've been taken on a suckers ride all along".
Rage started shaking franticly and sweat poured down his temples and neck while breathing hard and clinching his teeth. The finger he held on the trigger of his gun was tensed up and seemed to be one moment away from clinching all the way back. With Slade right in front of him and his weapon, Rage was so tensed up that a spark could've ignited an explosive reaction of gun shots.
He hesitated for a while and looked around him noticing his friends who were tied up and Starfire who was imprisoned in the glass chamber. He swiftly directed his attention towards Slade and raised his gun into the air and shot round after round into the wall while screaming as if something had impaled him. After this moment of high emotional energy Rage fell to his knees and yelled out in anger.
"Damn it! Those bastards! You're right Wilson! I can't believe it, you're right!"
Slade approached Rage and lifted him up to his feet. He placed a hand on his shoulder in sign of compassion and watched him as he held his gun being visibly frustrated.
"I know how it feels Anton. I'm the only one who does"
"You have no idea how it is!" Rage protested vehemently.
"On the contrary, I've been betrayed many more times then you have been … You know that, you've probably read my file".
"Yes" Rage sighed and paused for a moment "I can't believe it, all this time I searched the whole world to kill someone who was actually in the same condition that I am. God, how could I have been so stupid?"
"Rage snap out of it man" yelled Cyborg "Don't listen to him, his messin' with your mind"
"Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about" screamed Rage.
"It's not your fault Anton, you can't blame yourself for this. You were blinded by furry and people do stupid things in these conditions. The ones that you have to blame are actually the titans. They were the ones that manipulated you, they were the ones that used you as their butler, they were the ones that misled you and made you think that they were on the good side"
"Slade you creep! Stop it!" Raven ordered as she struggled in her chains.
"No … He is right! He is right about you!" said Rage with a calm voice as he turned to face the titans "You used me, you never told me the other side of the story. You were the ones that kept things from me and were not truthful, not the other way around".
"Don't listen to him, he's been manipulating you! You're not thinking straight man!" said Beast Boy.
"No, in fact he enlightened me. He made me see the truth, everything he said was true and truth is my only honor"
"That's right Anton, and aren't you mad about them lying to you?"
"Of course I am!"
"And what do you crave most?"
"Revenge!" Rage exclaimed.
Slade picked up Rage's weapon and threw out the empty cartridge, replaced it with a new one and loaded his weapon. He handed Rage the gun and turned his attention towards Starfire.
"Then you know what to do!" said Slade as he pointed toward Starfire.
"No, not her! I want him!" replied Rage as he pointed towards Robin making him gasp and struggle even more.
"I thought you wanted revenge, shoot her and you'll make him suffer even more" instructed Slade who seemed to hate Robin even more then he knew.
"She was not dishonest towards me, she does not deserve to die" said Rage "After all, he will die along with the rest of them and I will have her all to myself. I will lie that I could only save her and she will be forever thankful"
"Rage you bastard! Don't be a psycho like he wants you to be, remember who your friends really are"
"You suspected me of wanting her before, how is that for friendship … And you know what? Maybe I will just keep her as the payment I never received!" said Rage as he pointed his gun towards Robins head.
"I like your way of thinking" said Slade as he congratulated Rage "Why didn't I think that?"
"Because you were blinded by fury" replied Rage, using Slade's explanation that he used towards him.
"Check mate!"
Rage pointed the gun between Robin's eyes and was visibly blood thirsty. He had an almost demonic expression on his face that scared not only the titans but also Slade. The others tried to protest and tell Rage that Slade was a fraud and that he manipulated him but to no avail, it seemed like Rage just wouldn't listen.
"How does it feel Robin? How does it feel that the one you have double-crossed will now put an end to your miserable existence and have Starfire all to himself?"
"You can't do this Rage! I was your friend … Ugh … Starfire will never believe you, she's to smart!"
"On the contrary, she is in fact rather naïve. She will believe anything I tell her, I am her friend, remember?" said Rage as he grinned and seemed to be getting a sadistic pleasure out of this "Before you die, think about this: Me and Starfire together and your child calling me 'father'!"
"That ain't ever going to happen!" shouted Robin as Rage now fixed his aim and was ready too shoot
"Any last words before you die?" asked Rage.
"I'll get you for this. Whether it's in hell or heaven, I swear I'll get you for this!"
"Nice threat, but before you die keep this saying in mind: Go the right way!"