A/N: Sorry for the longer than usual delay...work. So do I make up for it with a great chapter? No...I had more trouble than you can imagine writing this chapter and truly don't like it, but it needed to get written so I could move on. In no way could it have lived up to what it should have been. Hopefully I'll make up for it on the next one. So forgiveness please. Oh yeah, passed my 400,000 word written with this chapter...that will probably be my last landmark.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, but hey, I think we all knew that already

Trying to Do the Right Thing

Chapter 37: Truth Skewed

By: Finalitylife

"Speedy! Come in Speedy!" Raven's voice sounded as close to yelling and panicked as she would allow, doing her best not to lose control of the situation any further. However, the strain of it all could be seen barely within her eyes, though only to those who knew where to look.

"Cyborg...I can't get any signal."

"Dammit! Its being blocked somehow...the signal to our communicators is being jammed, and I'll give you only one guess as to who would know that exact signal to accomplish something like that." Robin's name came quietly off everyone's lips though none audible.

"I'll work on getting the signal through. It will be easier once we get a little bit closer, and the signal becomes stronger." Cyborg began punching in numbers furiously onto a keyboard that had come out of the dashboard of the T-car, working on the new problem. They had to warn Speedy, had to warn him that Robin was most likely coming after him and it wasn't to catch up on old times.

Starfire and Beast Boy sat in the back seat quietly with their hands folded in front of them looking down at the ground, unsure of what to say or do at this moment. Neither of them wanted to have to face Robin, especially if he had truly become what they feared he had. Of course they also were keeping their heads down because the speed and recklessness that they were traveling at was rather disturbing.

Rose drove the T-car with a smile of total ecstacy, well over a hundred and fifty miles per hour, weaving in and out of the on-going traffic and even the on-coming traffic when the situation warranted it. Her moves were precise and flawless, avoiding every obstacle even as traffic increased as they moved closer and closer to the city. She seemed completely oblivious to the winces on Cyborg's face every time it looked like something would hit his car as well as Raven's voice as it continued to plead in futility with the communicator to work so that Speedy could be warned. While the rest of the car was worried and frustrated, Rose was having the time of her life.

"Dammit all." Cyborg slammed his fist on the dashboard. "I still can't get through. We need to be in the city limits for my idea to work."

"Well then I guess we'll just have to get there faster won't we. I'm sure your car has some type of booster. I mean what superheroes car wouldn't." Cyborg smiled only slightly.

"Oh its got it...I just hope you can handle it." Rose smiled as she leaned her head side to side bringing out a crack each time she did it.

"Cyborg...I can handle anything." Cyborg ignored her gleeful laughter as he turned his head toward the other three Titans.

"Guys...buckle up and if you can do a little praying. This is gonna be crazy." Cyborg turned back toward Rose.

"Alright girl...here we go. Cyborg pushed a large, concealed red button and instantly the car shot forward at amazing speed. Rose smiled wider though her mind was a pinnacle of concentration as she tried to draw on her power, almost ghost-like images appearing before her on the road before the cars or objects would. Of course she couldn't help but think if this would be a good time to tell the Titans that her powers were unstable, and she couldn't always use them even when she wanted or needed to. The thought drifted away quickly as she swerved out of the way of a massive truck that blared its horn as they zoomed past.

--

The atmosphere in the alleyways was beyond tense, even Speedy feeling the smallest beads of sweat beginning to form on his forehead, and Speedy was always cool, calm, and collected. Robin dressed completely in his apprentices uniform stood menacingly in front of him, still holding the arrow in between his fingers as if it was nothing but a toy. Speedy immediately noticed that Robin had grown to be slightly bigger than he was, but it was his 'aura', the feeling he got from him that had changed the most. Robin had always had an overly serious aura, but had always had a soft edge to those that knew him. However, the person standing in front of him radiated nothing but hostility and danger. This was not going to end well.

"How foolishly you came running into this alleyway my friend..." Friend was said with a cold, sinister sneer that almost made Speedy cringe.

"You just have to save women, just have to play hero...add another notch to your belt...so predictable." Speedy stood there, prepared for anything, his voice caught in his throat unable to form coherent words.

"Was it she who went to you or was it you who went to her...though I guess it does not really matter. In the end, you've all abandoned me." Speedy was now even more confused.

"She? Abandoned? You're not making any sense man."

"Lies...nothing but lies. I've seen the truth Roy...the Titans left me to suffer and Raven...she lies the most, ran so easily to your arms...did she tell you she loves you Roy...did she moan for you..."

"What the hell are you talking about? Man what the hell did Slade do to you...I'm going to kill that bastard."

"I imagine you have more concerns right now at the moment Roy..." With his final word echoing into the hallway, Robin shot forward at Speedy, the archer barely being able to deflect a powerful kick with his bow. However, the impact still caused him to be pushed back, realizing that Robin had indeed become stronger than he had been when they had fought during the competition set up by the Master of Games.

Robin's attacks came relentlessly, Speedy managing to just barely avoid most of them, though a few grazing hits were beginning to land, and Speedy still got the feeling that Robin was holding back. Of course Speedy also knew that being trapped in a dead-end alleyway was not exactly the best environment for an archer to fight in and realized he needed to get to the rooftops or at least more open space if he really would have a chance here.

Speedy allowed the next kick that was thrown to make a little more solid impact into his mid section which pushed him pack far enough to create distance between him and Robin. Instantly, Speedy had drawn an explosive arrow and fired it directly at Robin's feet and without hesitation had fired another grappling arrow up to the roof of the building above them. The arrow stuck, and Speedy was jerked up away from the explosion toward the roof, flipping on to it gracefully, grabbing for his communicator now that he had a moment. Speedy only found static when he tried to contact the rest of Titans East. This was not good. Speedy looked over the edge for Robin, finding only some smoldering garbage where he should have been.

"Really now Roy, you'll really have to do better than that if you hope to survive this fight." Speedy's eyes went wide underneath his mask and spun around as quickly as he could to the figure behind him, only receiving a solid punch to the jaw as his head turned, causing him to see stars for just a second. Speedy rolled with the impact, notching another energy arrow as he got to his feet, finding that Robin was not attacking, only standing there though no less menacing.

"Well now that you have more open space Roy, you shouldn't have any other excuses to why you lose. Let's be honest Roy...you can't beat me."

"Robin...Robin listen to me! You have to stop this. Slade screwed with your head. I'm your friend, not your enemy. Let me help you." A dark, cold laugh was Robin's response.

"Help me? Yes you've done a great job of helping me. Picking up random women of the city, living in my home, holding Raven in MY room, on MY bed...do I need to go on?" Speedy could almost feel his eyes bug out of his head. He'd only seen Raven once since the Titans had gone searching for Robin, and what Robin was saying...how had he seen that...how did he know?"

"I seriously don't know how you know what you know but you're just completely skewed on what's been going on. The Titans East and I have been protecting this city while your Titans have been searching for months for you without stop. And Raven? She is so completely and desperately in love with you...she's hurting without you man. Do you really think that she's the type of person to just completely forget about you and come running to m..." Speedy's words were cut off by his communicator coming to life, though only a gargled and staticy message could be heard.

"Speedy...shhhhh...its Raven...shhhh...coming to you right now...shhh..." Speedy could hear Robin growl as he understood the broken message would not be aiding him in explaining things to this obviously disturbed Robin in front of him.

"Aww crap." Speedy again only barely managed to avoid the vicious strike by Robin, jumping away while firing three energy arrows at Robin who managed to avoid two but a third hit him in the shoulder causing him to growl again though there was no other indication that he had been hit.

"She comes to you as we stand here this moment Roy. Will you still try to lie to me?"

"Robin...I'm not lying. This isn't what it appears like man. It isn't, I swear..."

"Indeed..." The attacks came again, and all Speedy could do was defend. It wasn't that he didn't want to fight back, but simply that Robin was just too fast. An explosive disk along with some smoke pellets landed at Speedy's feet as he hoped for a brief second to catch his breath, doing his best to dive out of the way of the exploding object. He managed to avoid the explosion, but soon found the roof covered in a blanket of smoke, obscuring his vision.

"Damn...where is he?" Speedy notched an arrow looking for some type of movement but only was greeted with Robin's voice from somewhere within the smoke.

"Its probably not a good thing for you Roy that I can still see you perfectly even with the smoke." Speedy felt a small bit of creeping panic as he could in no way figure out where the voice had come from.

"Well I guess its time to get a little bit desperate." Speedy smiled before firing arrow after arrow into the area in front of him, hoping to at least hit something or to flush Robin out. He could barely hear Robin's movements as he dodged the barrage and was in the process of drawing another arrow when Robin came charging at him from the smoke. Speedy barely had time to react, let alone notch the next arrow, acting completely on instinct as he dodged Robin's punch, it grazing right across his nose.

Speedy took the opportunity to lash out his bow at Robin's head who was slightly off balance, his former ally pulling back just barely as Speedy had though not fast enough as the edge of the bow caught Robin's mask ripping it from his face, causing Robin to only growl once more. Speedy however, found himself only able to stare in shock and horror, as the eyes that stared back at him were no longer blue like he knew them to have been, but instead were now cold, cybernetic, and lifelessly burning red in his direction.

"What the fu..." Robin screamed in rage as he attacked again, Speedy dodging back just barely from the punch, only to find that his balance was gone and that the edge of the building was the only thing on his other side. Speedy tried to regain his balance, but he quickly realized he would not. However, he was saved when Robin grabbed him by the front of the uniform, pulling him back. Speedy looked at Robin for a second who had an emotionless expression, ready to instinctively say thanks to one of his best friends but instead was met with a vicious elbow straight to the face, shattering his nose with a spray of blood.

Speedy completely lost vision and coherence from the impact, but instead of falling down, Robin held him there on his feet as Robin kicked down on Speedy's kneecap, creating a painful pop as Speedy's knee bent back in a way it was never meant to, ligaments and tendons tearing with ease. Speedy's scream was cut off with a headbutt, further rattling his mind, and finally Robin dropped him to the ground as blood continued to poor from his face.

"Pathetic Roy...absolutely pathetic." Roy tried to move, finding his eyesight refusing to straighten out as he gurgled up more blood on to the rooftop.

"Remember, you only brought this on yourself. You betrayed me, turned your back on me like those I considered family, and you will pay for it." Even in his current condition, Speedy realized he heard another voice, just barely but Speedy managed to hear it, Slade's voice speaking into Robin's ear.

"Good my apprentice...remember how they forgot about you...remember what you saw."

"Robin...stop...you need to stop." Robin laughed darkly at Speedy's weak protests.

"Not that long ago, I would have agreed with you Roy, but that was until I realized how easily people forget, how easily people turn against you...friends were nothing but an illusion...nothing but an illusion even after everything I did for them, after all I sacrificed for them...all for nothing." Robin placed his steel toed boot on Roy's destroyed knee, pressing down his weight, twisting his heel into the knee as he did, causing Speedy to scream more.

"And you Roy, you had to take her too...had to take Raven...she lied...she lied..."

"Robin...stop...stop please."

"I would never had thought you would be one to beg Roy...underneath all that bravado and arrogance, it seems you really just are like everyone else...so afraid to die...too bad Roy...too bad."

"Get away from him Robin." Robin's entire body tensed up immediately as the booming voice of Cyborg made a demand of him. He turned toward them, eyeing each of them with his cold, metallic gaze as everyone could look on in shock as they were presented with the reality they all knew to be. Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven felt their shoulders fall as their leader looked upon them with anger and hate, Raven's empath abilities causing her body to quiver ever so slightly from the massive amount of those emotions that were directed upon her. This was not the Robin they had wanted to find.

"Apprentice...this is not the fight I want for you at the moment. It is time to disappear." Robin nodded to the words coming electronically into an earpiece, reaching down to pick up Roy.

"Well I would love to catch up on old times, but I really must get going. See you sooner than later I'm sure." Robin tossed Speedy forward, his body landing in front of the four Titans, Cyborg bending down to check on his friend only to realize something else had been tossed with Speedy...a device with a blinking red light that Cyborg instantly knew what it was.

"Everyone get down!"

The Titans only had a moment to react as the red light on the disk blinked once more before a violent explosion rocked the roof, shaking the ground beneath them all. Cyborg covered Speedy's prone body with his own from the explosion as a few pieces of debris bounced off his back harmlessly. When the fire and smoke finally dissipated, there was no Robin left on the rooftop, but also...Raven was gone as well.

--

The dark figure ran across the rooftops, moving at an amazing pace as he leapt from one ledge to the next without any hesitation or break in speed. He landed nimbly on another rooftop only to finally stop as he felt a tingling within his mind spring to life, seconds before a black raven rose up from the rooftop, slowly morphing into a dark young woman in a blue cloak. Robin instantly went into a defensive stance as the young woman lowered her hood revealing her emotionless face.

"What are you doing here? Do you truly wish to fight that badly?" Robin caught a barely noticeable wince from Raven from his words as he continued to glare at her with fake eyes, noting the fact that she refused to meet his gaze...refused to look at what she and the rest of the Titans had allowed to happen to him.

"Well answer me or get out of my way. Or perhaps you really want to be beaten down, put you in the hospital right next to your precious Speedy." Raven still refused to look upon Robin's face.

"What has happened to you Robin? What did Slade do to you?" Robin laughed as Raven spoke quietly.

"What...you think you're innocent in all of this Raven? You and all the others abandoned me like I was nothing, left me to fend for myself, but still you betrayed me the worst. All your actions, all your proclamations of your feelings for me...everything...everything was only a lie...you betrayed me bitch..." Finally Raven looked up, determined, sad yet confused all the same.

"Robin...we didn't abandon you. All we've ever done is search for you since you were taken...we would never forget about you. We all care for you so very much, and I...I still love you Robin with every fiber of my being...this is the truth Robin...not what Slade has told you."

"I know you lie Raven...I have seen the truth with my own two eyes..." Robin tapped his finger on the side of his head right next to his eyes, emphasizing his point, and only further causing a deep sadness and pain to creep through out Raven as she stood face to face with a man she knew through and through yet was having difficulty recognizing...felt sick every time metal stared back at her rather than the most beautiful blue she had ever encountered.

"I won't give up on you Robin. I love you, and I will help you no matter what. I will show you the truth that you've lost" A whistle cut through the air grabbing Robin's attention while Raven realized this was the perfect opportunity to start quietly chanting magical words. Robin's gaze fell upon an attractive one-eyed, white haired girl sitting on the ledge of the rooftop as casually as possible with a smile on her face.

"So this is the one...some odd reason, I thought you'd be taller...though honestly, you are gorgeous my friend. How about we forget everything for a moment and go somewhere private? Might as well try to have a little bit of fun before all this comes to an end."

Robin couldn't help but feel like he knew this person though he was also positive he had never seen her before. It was just something so very familiar. Robin looked into her one eye, studying the cold and deadly stare that contradicted her flirtatious and friendly tone. Only a few more moments of looking into that eye and then the vague recognition became completely clear. Robin's realization however, was broken as Raven yelled out a final word and a black silhouette of herself burst from her body entering in to the surprised Robin who instantly gripped his head and started screaming.

Raven's body stood standing there though completely motionless, her eyes having turned black and empty. Robin fell to his knees as emotions flooded his mind, hundreds of different feelings and thoughts from Raven but also those of his friends during their time trying to find him. Scenes flashed like a blur through his mind, months of searching, Batman, the sadness and the pain, but never once did they give up hope, never once did they ever ponder giving up on him. Finally, the moment that had transpired between Raven and Speedy was made all too clear, and just like that, everything stopped.

The images and feelings disappeared, and Robin was Robin again, though his realities of what was real and what was false continued to clash within his dazed mind. He did not know what to believe, did not understand what was going on, let alone what he was doing. Slade's voice commanded him in his ear to return now, and the tendrils of dark magic that wrapped tightly around Robin's soul compelled him to move from his spot, running past the weary Raven and disappearing into the night. Robin was obeying the command though he had every intention of confronting Slade on a few matters every step consuming him more with guilt and regret for what he had just done to Speedy, what he had said to all of his friends. Someone would pay for all of this, even if that person had to be him.

Raven pulled her soul self back into her own body, her eyes immediately focusing upon the dark figure just barely seen running off into the night, her heart and mind screaming for him to come back though her voice remained silent. Soon after, Rose's near silent footsteps approached Raven behind announcing her presence with a curious hmm.

"Well that was rather interesting Rae-Rae. I mean you could have fought him initially as well as probably done more to ensure he didn't leave this place. Very strange if you ask me...what are you planning?" Raven did not look at Rose who was now standing next to her, only continuing to stare out into the night.

"I could ask the same of you Rose. Not once did you truly directly confront him. What is it that you are planning?" Rose giggled mischieviously.

"Oh I think this is all going to be so much fun Rae-Rae, secrets always create so much fun...don't you agree?"

"We're going back to the others. Speedy probably needs my help." With a swoosh of her cloak, Raven formed into her soul self, flying back toward where she could still feel her friends sadly noting that in no way could she feel any traces of Robin anymore. Rose stood there smiling for a few more moments, pulling out a small piece of electronics that had a moving red light on a small computer screen.

"Well I guess there is no rush to follow you just yet apprentice, and the Titans don't need to know just right now about this. I really am having too much fun with the Titans and Beast Boy to end it so quickly. Soon enough though, soon enough both you and Slade will see my smiling face again... right before I kill both of you."