Disclaimer: TROLOLOLO I don't own Teen Titans or DC Comics.
A/N: Should I be reading Richard III? Why yes I should be. Am I going to? Later. This is more important.
I'm on a roll! I actually had most of part 5 written beforehand, which helps, but I'm still writing madly to finish on time. Look out for speedy updates this week. My roomie is cheering me on! WHOOHOO!
"If you want to get out alive,
Run for your life."
-Three Days Grace "Get Out Alive"
Chapter 26: Jokes
-AK-
10:36pm
Jump City, California
Main Street
The city was thrown into chaos.
Adeline and Jericho drove into town well past the speed limit. Not like there was anyone in their way. By now those who wanted to get out of the city were already out. They sped past intersections and stop signs without even bothering to slow down. It wasn't as if a cop was going to pull her over now, not with all of the villains running around.
Her cell phone rang. Jericho rummaged through Adeline's purse and took out the phone, glancing at the caller id before signing to his mother.
"This call is originating from Titans Tower," he said.
She snatched it from him and flipped it open.
"Hello?" Adeline asked. "Who is this?"
"This is Raven, a Teen Titan," a female voice replied. "Robin told me to contact you."
Adeline searched her memory for the one named Raven. She was the quiet one with the dark powers. Unlike the other Titans, she knew almost nothing about the girl. The memory of her last encounter with the Boy Wonder floated to her mind.
"What's going on?" Adeline asked. "Where are the Titans?"
"We've got a problem," Raven replied, "everyone's been infected with the same dust that almost drove Robin insane last week."
Her head began to buzz with theories. She knew that Robin came to her looking for the identity of the perpetrator, the malicious person who triggered the dust to the chemical reagent in Slade's mask. Although she honestly had no idea who was behind it she told him that anyone could benefit.
Anyone could benefit.
Well, if anyone could benefit, then who was the perpetrator behind these attacks? Were they simply running in circles while the perpetrator watched with glee?
"I'm in the city," Adeline said, "I told Robin to contact me if things got too hot."
"Why does he trust you?"
The Titan's tone was sharp and wary. Adeline held the cell phone a few inches away from her face, wondering how to reply. Why did Robin trust her? She freely admitted that she used to be married to his arch-enemy, a man who verbally, physically, and mentally abused him. He had every right not to trust her, but he did anyway.
That said a lot about Robin's character.
"Look, I gave him some advice. We had a…uh…mutual friend from his past."
Should she be more specific? It seemed as though Robin didn't share the information about her former husband with the other Titans. He respected her enough not to share that rather sensitive piece of information with them. At least, as far as she knew.
Raven stayed silent for a moment, considering Adeline's words.
"Look, I'm at Titans Tower now. I meet you in the city in a few minutes."
"Fine."
Adeline stepped on the gas pedal and sped towards her destination. Since the Titans were all infected with the dust every single second counted. Once they reached the rendezvous point she put the car into park and sat in the car, waiting. Jericho sat in the passenger seat beside her.
"What do you hope to accomplish, mom?" he asked. "And why are we helping them?"
She looked down at her son. She knew that he, unlike Slade or Grant, was one of the kindest people one could ever meet. He wasn't angry, just curious.
"I know this isn't our problem, Joey," she replied, "but now you've seen firsthand what your father was capable of doing. The Titans do not have this situation under control."
And it wasn't as if they could help it. Yes, they were all young, but as far as she knew those kids had experienced more hardships than anyone their age should go through. Of course, Slade had lied about his age when he joined the army. She shook her head, trying to rid her thoughts of her former husband.
The Titans were capable of many things. They even managed to defeat Slade when things seemed hopeless. Yet whoever was behind this business with the dust knew how to screw people over well. Things had gotten bad enough for the Justice League to get involved somehow.
A young woman appeared out of nowhere in front of the car. At once Adeline got out of the car and headed towards the Titan. The young Titan's eyes gazed at Adeline suspiciously, her violet eyes brushing over the gun hanging on Adeline's hips. The older woman didn't care about how she appeared to Raven. She was ex-military and was proud to act like it.
"Raven?"
"Ms. Kane," Raven replied in her deadpan voice.
"Call me Adeline."
"Right," Raven said, not sounding enthusiastic at all. "Robin told me to contact you, so I did."
Her eyes glanced towards Jericho, but she said nothing about the brightly-dressed young man.
"The situation's bad," Raven said, "I managed to contact Robin, and even though he knows that he's hallucinating he might not make it. And to top it all off Batman's been infected with the same thing."
A shiver went down Adeline's spine at this. Those infected with Slade's dust drove themselves insane to the point of death. The thought of the man she used to love doing this to a bunch of teenagers sickened her. Doing this to the Titans…but why Batman? She thought about this for a moment. When she talked with Robin she remembered correctly deducing that Slade knew Robin's secret identity as well as that of Batman.
"I've sent out a distress call to all surrounding heroes," Raven said, "Aqualad and Speedy should be coming to help."
Adeline searched her memory. Those names sounded familiar….ah yes, Aqualad and Speedy used to be the sidekicks of Aquaman and Green Arrow. Had she really gotten that old already? She remembered when all of these kids worked with the bigshot superheroes. Now they were growing up and becoming their own heroes…and when their mentors retired would they all take up the mantle?
Those were strange thoughts.
"My son is here. He will assist the JCPD in rounding up all of the criminals."
"Your son?"
"Because of my husband's…inference…my son has powers. He can help you."
Jericho nodded, smiling encouragingly. Raven merely looked at him. Perhaps Adeline should have been more specific about what Jericho could do.
"Fine," Raven said, "the Justice League should be arriving any minute. If your son wants to help then he should talk to the chief of police."
Jericho nodded once in understanding and ran down the dark street. Adeline hoped that her son would stay safe as he helped the police round up the escaped criminals. She didn't think she could bear it if her other son died as well.
Adeline looked down at the younger woman. As always, Adeline was always neutral on the idea of vigilantism, but when she thought about it hardly any of the Teen Titans were above the age of eighteen. Cyborg must be oldest while the changeling was obviously the youngest. How could such young children be allowed to fight dangerous criminals like her husband? It wasn't a matter of whether they were skilled or not—because all of them were—it was just a matter of common sense. Adeline thought of Joey.
"Raven," Adeline said suddenly, "are you alright?"
Sweat poured down Raven's pale face. A gush of cool air whipped Adeline's brown hair across her face as she looked down at the younger woman. The Titan looked visibly unsettled.
"I've been infected with the dust," Raven explained, "and even though I can handle the visions I'm still in the darkness. They won't go away."
What kind of man was her husband? Adeline said that she loved Slade, but at the same time she didn't know who he was. He lived a second life that she knew nothing of until her children got hurt because of it. Would she had approved even if Joey didn't get hurt? If Grant hadn't died?
Adeline didn't know.
"So, what's the plan?" Adeline asked.
-S-
10:40pm
Jump City, California
Location Unknown
She screamed.
Two Gordanians held her down as a third held a sizzling electric spear over her. One tied a blindfold over her eyes so that she could not use her starbolts. She could feel the hot sparks burn her skin as it came closer and closer.
"This is for the Citadel," he said.
There was nothing she could do to stop this. She closed her eyes and wished that this was not happening. If anything, this was worse than before. Try as she might she could not wriggle her way out of the Gordanians' tight grips. Starfire was not sure what hurt her more: the fact that the Gordanians were about to torture her or the fact that her sister made a deal with them. Her body twitched in convulsions as electricity shot through her body. Strands of hair sizzled and burned as her skin tingled. How long were they going to torture her like this? Were they even going to take her back to the Citadel?
She was ready to give up.
Starfire lay curled on the floor, unable to move out of fear and pain. She knew that she wasn't weak, but a person could only take so much pain. Everyone had their breaking point, and Starfire felt as though she was reaching her own.
Perhaps Blackfire had been right when she accused Starfire of being the weaker fighter. Was Starfire weak because she couldn't handle the pain? Tamaran could not afford to have a weak leader, a leader who could not even fight off the Gordonians. If she could not save herself, then how could she possibly lead Tamaran?
She tensed as the door to the ship opened. Lifting her head slightly, she fought back tears of pain to look at the newcomer. To her surprise Slade walked in, dragging an unconscious Robin behind him by the cape.
"Robin!" she shrieked. "ROBIN!"
Everything was going horribly wrong. It was one thing to have the Gordanians capture her and torture her….but quite another for them to collaborate with Slade so that the other Titans got hurt. The mercenary dropped Robin unceremoniously to the ground and turned his attention to her.
A shiver went down her spine as she stared straight into his one eye. She had never been this close to the man before. Now she could understand why Robin felt so afraid of him. Starfire felt a sudden urge to shrink back, but her stubborn Tamaranean personality held her still. She would not allow this man to scare her.
"Princess Koriand'r of Tamaran," he said in his horridly smooth voice. "My, my…I didn't know you were a princess."
At once she forgot her pain as rage filled her. Sure, the Gordanians could hurt her all they wanted. She was a Tamaranean princess, she could handle whatever they threw at her. But if they decided to hurt Robin…then she would do everything in her power to protect him. Even if that meant enduring more torture at the hands of the Gordanians. And Slade…Slade was supposed to be dead. She cocked her head to the side in confusion.
"What do you want with him?" Starfire demanded.
Robin moved slightly as he came back to consciousness. He began to cough as he curled up into a ball. Waves of fury rushed through her. As he murmured something Slade kicked him in the head, effectively silencing him. Starfire's hands formed fists inside her shackles as she glared at Slade.
"It's not about what I want with him that matters," Slade replied. "Once I realized who you were I decided to contact the Citadel."
The more she thought about it, the more it began to make sense. Of course, there was still the fact that Slade was supposed to be dead to deal with, but given Slade's track record…
"You don't benefit," Starfire said.
"Of course I do, my dear," Slade replied, smirking. "You see, I immediately knew that Robin had feelings for you once he refused to shoot you on top of Wayne Enterprises."
Robin had…what…? Starfire vividly remembered the incident, but after Robin came home she thought nothing more of it. But now that Slade mentioned it, it made sense. When she and the others came to the haunt to find him she knew that they were fighting. What were they fighting about before the Titans arrived? Could it have been precisely about that?
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"My dear, I would never do anything without considering the benefits. You see, for some time I have allowed Robin to live his life freely as a Titan. Unbeknownst to you and the rest of the Titans, I held him by another leash: his secret identity and that of the Batman.
"So I came up with a plan: using you and the Bat's identity, I blackmailed him into coming with me. He knew, but he's too stubborn to admit that I knew his secret identity. So he never told you until now. Strange, isn't it, how desperate your friend has to be to admit something like that to you?"
She allowed her normally cheerful face to frown. Starfire did not like to be constantly reminded that she had never seen Robin's face while Slade knew everything about him. Why was that? She knew Robin better than any of the other Titans and she felt that she understood Robin better than Slade ever did.
"But he would never—"
"Betray you?" Slade snickered. "Not like I left him any other choice."
Starfire felt so confused. Not only was Slade was supposed to be dead, but Blackfire was allying herself with the Gordanians. If Slade was alive and blackmailing Robin again, then why did Robin betray her to the Gordanians? Nothing made sense.
Her eyes dropped back down to Robin, who opened his eyes as he came back to consciousness. He was beaten so badly that he could barely move. Robin did not even bother looking up at Starfire. Was he too ashamed to look at her or too afraid to look in front of Slade?
"Star…I'm sorry…" he said in a low voice.
There was so much going on that she didn't know what to focus on first. She began growl in anger Slade turned away, nudging Robin with his foot to get him moving.
"You will release him at once!" Starfire shouted. "If you do not wish to be destroyed!"
The mercenary paused, amusement evident in his single eye.
"I do not think that you are in a position for negotiations, princess." He looked down at Robin. "I told you to move, young man."
Robin's arms shook as he forced himself to get up. When he failed to push himself to his feet Slade stooped down and picked up him by the collar. The mercenary proceeded to half-drag Robin out of the room, with Starfire screaming all the while.
-Rae-
10:48pm
Jump City, California
Main Street
"The plan?" Raven looked down at her hands, which were glowing again. "I don't have a plan. I don't know what to do."
She closed her eyes and tried to remember where she found Robin. All she remembered was the large outline of a tent before her soul-self plunged into the underground room.
As much as she disliked it, Raven had to be the leader. She alone could guess where the other Titans were being held. With all of the craziness happening and in Gotham City even Superman looked to her for advice.
"I don't know who's behind this," Raven said, "and I don't know if the perpetrator revealed himself to Robin or the others."
She wanted an answer. Raven looked up again at Adeline, still puzzling over the woman. Robin barely mentioned the woman after his meeting with her. Even Starfire, who was normally loquacious, kept uncharacteristically silent about the subject. The older woman gazed down at her.
"We found you!"
Raven turned to find the Flash and Zatanna standing behind her. Zatanna looked a little worse for wear. She smoothed down her long black hair and placed her top hat back on her head. Raven felt annoyance emanating from the woman over Flash's unceremonious rush to Jump City.
"Thank God we're not five minutes late," Zatanna said.
Although Raven knew that Zatanna was part of the Justice League, she had never met the woman herself. Now she felt a little wary of the magician. If there was anyone else who could sense the demon inside of her, then it would be Zatanna.
"Hey," Flash said, "I'm not always five minutes late."
There were so many people trying to work through this mess. She didn't like having to communicate with so many people at once. Robin was always the most comfortable speaking to the Justice League. It was hard enough for her to trust the other Titans. Now Raven was being forced to act as a leader in lieu of Robin. Whether she wanted to or not she had to learn how to trust the Justice League.
"What should we do?" Flash asked.
"Adeline and I are going to try to find Robin first," Raven said, "I know the general area of where he's being held. Criminals are running all around the city. Speedy and Aqualad will help you round them up."
Flash nodded. "How many escaped?"
"I don't know." Raven shrugged. "All of them? You'll have to ask a cop."
How did Robin handle all of this responsibility? Sure, he made a few mistakes in the past. But right now Raven knew that she couldn't afford to make any mistakes. She could never forgive herself if she allowed everyone to wallow in their own despair and die before the sun rose.
"You say that everyone is infected with the dust," Flash said, "what do you plan to do once you find everyone? Keep them tied down until sunrise?"
"Hopefully not," Raven replied. "What time is it?"
"It's almost eleven."
Raven swore under her breath. There was too much time to spare. While it would be good to have the JLA's help locating the missing Titans, there was just too much going on for them to spread them out. Flash clapped his hands together.
"We'll start rounding them up," Flash said. "I'll go right away—"
"One moment," Zatanna said.
Zatanna stepped closer to Raven. The younger woman wanted to shy away, but thought better of it. Getting on the bad side of a JLA member was the last thing she wanted to do, especially since this was Zatanna she was dealing with.
"I sense a great evil within you," she said quietly, "one that is threatening to be released now."
"I try my best."
"Try harder."
Raven looked up at her.
Zatanna flung out a hand. "EZEERF!"
A group of thieves hurrying away froze. Despite herself, Raven was impressed. Robin never talked that much about Zatanna, but Raven could tell that she was dangerous herself. She sensed a different kind of magic deep within the magician, one that was not dependent upon an evil demon. Zatanna gazed down steadily at Raven.
"Go find the others."
Nodding, Raven drifted away towards Adeline Kane as Zatanna and Flash moved. While she knew next-to-nothing about the woman she knew that Robin trusted her. She also trusted her internal senses. Adeline was a good woman. What was her connection to Slade? All she knew was that William Wintergreen, once Slade's butler, gave Robin the name. Before Raven called Adeline she barely glanced over the information about her on the main computer. Her son was also a mystery as well. Did he have powers? How was he going to help?
A sudden memory attacked her.
She looked up at Arella, her mother, who looked almost exactly like Raven. Arella looked away from her daughter, her dark long hair blowing in the slight wind. Several times through her life she asked Arella if there was anything she could do to stop Trigon from coming.
Why didn't the monks of Azarath just…kill her? If they knew that Trigon sired Raven for the purpose of using her as a portal, then why was Raven allowed to live? And if she was to be the agent to the end of the world, then why did the monks tell her so?
Really, Raven preferred not to know.
There were things her mother taught her to help her control the demon inside of her. There were meditation and mantras to help keep her emotions under control. Although she couldn't see the symbols etched on her skin she knew that they were they.
Life in Azarath was pleasant, but rather lonely without other children her age around. She mentally cursed Trigon for bringing her into existence. Raven hated the fact that her future was set in stone for her.
"Raven?"
Raven snapped out of her vision. Why had she flashbacked so suddenly? She shook her head and tried to think again. How would Robin solve this? How would Batman solve this? How could anyone solve this?
Hmm.
"I have a vague idea where Robin is," Raven said, "before I broke contact with him he asked me to look for the others first. But I don't know where everyone else is. He's the only lead I have, so we're going to go after him first."
Raven raised her hands and a dark shield of energy surrounded her and Adeline. The older woman looked unsettled to be traveling by magic, but Adeline didn't complain. A swell of determination rose within Raven.
They were going to fix this.
-BW-
11:59pm
Gotham City
Wayne Enterprises
He coughed as he regained consciousness. To his surprise he found himself lying on the floor of Wayne Enterprises with a pounding headache. What just happened? The last thing he remembered was following the Joker into Wayne Enterprises.
He found his cowl lying a few feet away from him on the floor. Bruce put a hand to his head and found that his face was bare. A fresh wave of panic came over him. Did the Joker do this? How did he let this happen? Bruce knew that he was better than this.
"Hello?"
No one answered him.
Bruce picked up the cowl and pulled it back over his head. Although it felt good to have his face masked again it bothered him that someone obviously pulled it off of him. The Joker knocked him out with a crowbar…so it was probable that the Joker had seen his face.
Cold, maniacal laughter echoed loudly in the empty hall. Bruce's heart nearly stopped in his chest as he recognized the laughter. All at once he remembered what happened before he blacked out.
There's no way in hell, he thought, pushing himself to his feet, that the Joker could have gotten in here.
He followed the laughter all the way down to the basement of Wayne Enterprises, down to where he kept his Batman gear. Bruce was at an utter loss to explain how the Joker managed to get through all of his security. He had to stop at every door and type in the code before going inside.
Bruce froze.
The Joker still stood there, a crowbar in his hand. For some reason Bruce found himself unable to step forward and fight the madman. What was holding him back? Why couldn't he just step forward and beat the man to a pulp?
"Why hello there," the Joker said. "How's your head?"
His arch-enemy spoke in a pleasant, conversational tone. He was toying with Batman, just like he always did. As a matter of fact, his head hurt like hell. As he glared hard at the Joker an unpleasant smile crossed the latter's face.
"Fine? Well, I hope so. I decided to play doctor while you were out just to see how damage I did. Took a little peek underneath that little mask of yours." A small chuckle escaped the Joker's lips. "Well…well…the Bat unmasked. I imagined you…different. Not quite so cocky now are you, Brucie?"
Bruce found his hands forming into fists. This didn't change anything. In fact, this only fueled Bruce's desire to bring him behind bars again. Before he could snap back a reply the Joker continued to speak.
"I was afraid that I hit you rather hard…only because I wanted you here to see the show."
"What show?"
A wicked smile crossed the Joker's lips. Even before the Joker spoke Bruce knew that he wouldn't like the answer. With a dramatic wave of his hand the Joker stepped back and pulled back the cord of a curtain.
Bruce saw Robin lying on the ground with his hands tied behind his back. Blood pooled beneath his unconscious figure and flowed from several gashes all over his body. Robin squirmed as he came back to consciousness. Cold fear raced down Bruce's spine as he gazed down at Robin's broken figure.
How long had Robin been held captive? How long had the Joker been beating him like this?
"Ain't this so much fun?" the Joker asked, tapping a crowbar lightly against his open hand.
To his horror the Joker lifted the crowbar and slammed it against Robin's face. Dick's head snapped backwards as the crowbar hit his face.
"ROBIN!" Bruce yelled.
NO!
He couldn't let Dick die. He couldn't let him die like the Flying Graysons. Now infuriated, Bruce rushed towards the Joker and threw a punch. Joker dodged and whammed the crowbar hard into Bruce's side.
"Now I can't let you spoil the fun, can I?" Joker asked. "Don't be a party pooper."
That blow had knocked the wind out of him!
Bruce found himself struggling to his feet. The Joker wasn't much in the way of muscles. That's why he used guns and acid. Robin screamed again and again as the Joker continued to beat him with the crowbar. Blood splattered the clean tiles and the Joker's face, which was twisted in sadistic glee as he swung the crowbar up and down.
"Bruce…" Robin murmured. "Help…"
Pieces of Robin's opaque mask had fallen apart. One of his blue eyes stared back at him, silently pleading for help. A terrified yelp escaped from his trembling lips as the Joker hit him with the crowbar again. Robin doubled over. As Bruce lurched forward like a beached whale the Joker swung the crowbar and hit him in the stomach.
"What makes you think you can save him, Batsy?" Joker asked, kneeling down to poke Bruce with the crowbar. "You couldn't even save him from Deathstroke, could ya?"
Bruce's head snapped up at this comment. How could the Joker have known about that? If it was even possible, the Joker's smile widened. Robin groaned, although whether it was about Slade or the pain Bruce didn't know. A burst of insane giggling escaped from the Joker.
"Even I have to give the man points. Blackmail, destruction…it's just his obsession with kids in tights that I don't understand. Of course, I could ask you the same thing."
Blood dripped Bruce's face as he struggled to face the Joker. With a lazy push the Joker managed to bring Batman back to the floor. The Joker knelt and placed the crowbar across his knees. Dick's blood stained his purple pants, but the Joker didn't care. In fact, he seemed to revel in it violence and gore.
"I heard that Deathstroke wouldn't kill the kid," the Joker said, "nah, he just liked to make him suffer. Kind of like what I'm doing to you, eh Bats?"
"I'm…going…to…" Bruce muttered, forcing each word to out.
"Do what? Kill me? Nah." The Joker chuckled. "I'd really like to see ya try, though."
The Joker patted him affectionately on the cheeks before turning away, placing his hands behind his back. Bruce tried to form words, but found that he couldn't. He had failed to save Dick. He had failed to save Gotham.
Above all, though, Bruce failed to save himself.
"What do you consider your biggest failure?" The Joker asked. "How I came to be? The fact that you can't even keep your own kid safe?"
Batman couldn't think straight. He hated the Joker. He hated Deathstroke. He hated all of the criminals out there who made his life and that of other heroes' miserable. His hated burned inside of him like a roaring furnace. How could he let the Joker get into his head? The Joker was never a master of psychology…he was just insane.
"I know you won't kill me, Batsy," the Joker said. "But Deathstroke…now he's quite villain. Now if I kill your little baby-bird, what would you do, Brucie? Would you kill me?"
The thought had crossed his mind once or twice. Bruce knew that he certainly had the power to kill anyone. He just chose not to. But what if the Joker did kill Robin? Would he have the willpower to actually commit the killing? What if it was the only option left for him to do? When Bruce didn't answer the Joker continued to speak in his gloating voice.
"You wanna know the punch line? He goes to see the Big Man in the sky," he said, "Ain't that hysterical?"
He couldn't help himself. The Joker threw back his head as he began to chuckle. The Joker's insane laughter filled Bruce's ears to the point where it was the only thing he could hear.
This was one bad joke.
-C-
10:53pm
Jump City, California
Location Unknown
Cyborg was losing.
Debris fell all around him as he continued to shoot at Brother Blood with his sonic cannon. The HIVE headmaster dodged Cyborg's shots with chilling efficiently. Now that Cyborg thought about it, Brother Blood probably became the new headmaster for a reason. Perhaps Brother Blood had been holding back.
"What do you hope to accomplish from this?" Brother Blood asked. "I thought that I taught you better."
"You didn't teach me anything," Cyborg growled. "I learned nothing at your school!"
Brother Blood dodged Cyborg's fist and slammed his own against Cyborg's chest, right against his central power core. If Brother Blood could punch through steel, then he would be in trouble if Blood knew where his central power core was.
Cyborg was afraid of so many things. If Brother Blood knew his secret identity, then what else did he know? Did he know about his father and STAR labs? Or what about the school of handicapped kids?
"I beg to differ," Brother Blood said, "I distinctly remember you being the top student of my class."
A growl escaped from Cyborg's lips.
"I only pretended to be your top student so that I could bring you down!"
The older man burst out laughing. Cyborg didn't see what was so funny about this. This was just another reason why villains like Blood were insane.
"Stop lying to yourself," Brother Blood said, "from the very beginning I knew that you were one of those pesky Titans, but I allowed you to join my school. I wanted to see what you would do."
"Why?"
"Because I can always use people like you. I thought I could take a page out of Deathstroke's book and see what would happen when I allowed a hero to work for me."
Why did the villains just love to screw with the heroes like this? It seemed as though the only point of their existence was to do exactly that. It wasn't just enough that they committed criminal acts—no, they just had to find ways to make the hero's skin crawl.
"Well guess what, Blood: you're wrong." Cyborg threw a couple more unsuccessful punches towards Blood's face. "Now where are my friends?"
"Do you really believe that I'm going to tell you that?" Blood asked, laughing. "Why should I?"
"Because the good guys always win."
It was a lame answer, to be sure, but Cyborg couldn't think of anything clever to say. Brother Blood was just wasting his time. If Cyborg didn't get an answer soon then all of his friends might just die.
"Tell me where they are!" Cyborg growled.
"I don't think that's such a good idea," Blood replied, smiling. "As far as I can see, Victor, you have two very difficult options to choose from."
Brother Blood shoved Cyborg away. The younger man paused, wondering what Blood was going to say. What did he mean by that? The HIVE headmaster lowered his fists and let them fall to his sides. A smug smile crept across his face, as though he knew something that Cyborg didn't know. When Cyborg didn't say anything Brother Blood decided to break the uneasy silence.
"I know all about you. All about your friends, your family, even the little kids you spend your time with on the weekends coaching Little League. So here's the deal, Cyborg: you agree to surrender here and now or I'll blow up STAR labs. I can't say anything about the other Titans, but you wouldn't want those deaths on your conscience now, would you?"
A pang of fear shot through Cyborg. So not only were his friends in danger, but also everyone he was connected to. Was this how Robin felt when Slade revealed his nefarious plot to destroy the Teen Titans?
"You're bluffing—"
"Am I one to bluff?"
Brother Blood reached into an inside pocket and pulled out a trigger. Despite himself, Cyborg found himself at a standstill. If Brother Blood wasn't bluffing, then it would be suicide to attack him now. Then again, if he was bluffing, then he should attack him now.
"So why I am being kept here?"
"Oh, for many reasons. As my agents bring down the rest of the Titans and slowly crack their minds I'd thought it would be nice to get to know each other. I did tell you once before that I wanted to get to know you better. Just you and me, Victor."
-R-
10:54pm
Jump City, California
Location Unknown
"Adeline…" he murmured.
Robin tensed, waiting for Slade to hit him again. To his surprise he felt nothing. Nothing except the throbbing pain. He could feel purple bruises forming all over his body from where Slade had hit him with the bo-staff. He didn't know why he said Adeline's name. Robin felt Raven leave him and float away with the instruction to contact Adeline Kane.
Faint memories and thoughts bubbled in his fuzzy mind. He remembered going with Starfire to find Adeline Kane, the former wife of his arch-enemy. She had offered him encouragement. It was so hard for him to fathom his arch-enemy as a married man.
"What did you say?"
He dared to lift his head to look at Slade. The mercenary stood shock still, his one eye wide with surprise. A pang of fear and disgust tightened Robin's chest as he saw that Slade's bo-staff dripping with his own blood. Had Slade already beaten him that badly? Robin touched his face and felt blood. Why was—then it hit him. An idea popped into his mind. Wiping blood away from his face with a sleeve, Robin pushed himself to his feet. He puffed out his chest.
"Adeline," Robin repeated, saying it louder and more firmly. "Adeline Kane. Maybe you know her?"
Robin thought back to his meeting with Wintergreen. Had the butler known all along that this was going to happen? Perhaps he may not have been privy to all of the information regarding this dastardly plan, but perhaps he knew enough to give Robin an advantage.
He looked down at the hated uniform. Was he, perhaps, imagining things? Was he so frightened of Slade and everything connected to him that all of his fear manifested in this hallucination. Perhaps he was only imagining that he was here in this uniform in front of his worst enemy. Perhaps he didn't need to fight Slade.
Perhaps he only needed to talk.
"What are you afraid of, Slade?"
The mercenary looked surprised by the question. To be perfectly honest, Robin surprised himself by asking the question. It just seemed…natural.
"Afraid of? Dear child, I am the one you should be afraid of."
Robin searched his mind for something to use against Slade. Just the mere mention of Adeline caused him to become uneasy. Would the real Slade act this way? If so, then why was he so afraid at the mention of Adeline?
"He never mentioned—" Robin began.
"That he had a family?" Adeline finished. "Why would he?"
There was the answer, plain as day in front of him. The reason why Slade never mentioned that he had a family was because he still loved Adeline. He still loved his son. But his logic was so twisted and warped that he expressed his love in different ways. Ways that were not acceptable to Adeline or anyone else for that matter.
Like everyone else, Slade was just another human being. Why did Slade want an apprentice? Because he lost his own son…lost his family…and in his twisted way he tried to bring that back. A twisted kind of fatherly love. Although Slade was a master of psychology he didn't seem to understand how to relate to people. He once told Robin that he would learn to like being his apprentice. That part Robin never understood. Slade did nothing to convince Robin that he would like living with the man…
"Starfire loves me, and even when I worked for you she never doubted me. Adeline…well…she shot your eye out when she found out, didn't she?"
It was Slade's turn to step back. Suddenly Robin understood. The dust may have infiltrated his nervous system once again, but that didn't mean that he couldn't fight back.
During all that time as Slade's apprentice Robin allowed Slade to get to his head. The man could manipulate him so well because he knew his secret identity. Well, for once Robin knew something about Slade. Robin realized that he would never be able to physically beat Slade (at least, not yet) and that the last time they truly fought Robin used psychological warfare on him. It worked.
"How did you find out about Adeline?" Slade asked, sounding uneasy.
The Boy Wonder peeled off the spiky mask and wiped sweat away from his eyes. He held the mask loosely in his hand. Here they were: just Dick Grayson and Slade Wilson. Now both of them had their secrets laid out before the other. If he was truly going to face his worst nightmare then he needed to face it without the mask.
"Does it matter how I found out? She seems pretty eager to finish what she started."
"This business is between us only, Di—"
"You know what?" Robin interrupted, now beginning to circle Slade. "This isn't just about me. It's all beginning to make sense now."
Slade suddenly turned and rammed a fist into Robin's stomach. Fighting back to urge to counterattack, Robin forced himself back to his feet. He had to take the offensive and make Slade uneasy. He sucked in air through his clenched teeth and continued to circle Slade.
"She hates you, Slade. Now I see why you mentioned Starfire to me. Does it bother you, Slade, that she still believed in me even when I worked for you? Does it bother you that your own wife felt betrayed enough to shoot you in the face?"
The mercenary's fist grazed the side of Robin's face as he became more enraged with Robin's every word. Robin found himself barely able to dodge Slade's next flurry of attacks. Even though he couldn't be sure that Slade knew about his crush on Starfire in real life, this faux Slade knew about it. He knew it because this Slade could delve deep into his thoughts.
"You know, you were right when you told me that I would do everything I could to find out your true identity. Your man Wintergreen told me about Adeline. I found her and she told me the truth. I met your son. And you know what, Slade? They both hate you."
That certainly hit a nerve.
The Boy Wonder successfully dodged Slade's new attacks. Instead of feeling tired and beaten Robin found a new cache of energy deep within him. Something was finally working. He could do this.
"Does it bother you, Slade, that I know who you are now?" Robin asked, allowing his voice to become snide. "Both of us know that you never really wanted me to follow in your footsteps."
One. Two. Three swipes with the bo-staff. This was beginning to feel like their old training sessions back in the haunt. Although this fight seemed incredibly one-sided Robin knew that he was beginning to take the offensive by getting under Slade's skin. He was perfectly aware that this entire conversation was taking place inside of his mind. For the past week he had been avoiding the monster inside his head…allowing it to consume him from the inside-out. Now he was confronting the monster again.
But this time he was prepared.
"It doesn't matter," Slade replied, taking out his bo-staff. "Knowing my history won't stop me from finishing you."
Slade swung his bo-staff towards Robin's face. Without even moving Robin reached out and caught the bo-staff before it hit his face. His muscles strained as he managed to hold off Slade, his teeth gritting as Slade's eye widened in surprise. Robin allowed a small smile to caress his lips.
"Face it, Slade: you don't have any friends."
Gathering up all of his strength, Robin threw a punch to Slade's face.
A/N: Okay, so I lied early on when I said that I wouldn't discuss what Batman saw under Scarecrow's gas/ Slade's dust: in the comics he sees Jason Todd being murdered by the Joker. So this is a little tribute to A Death in the Family.
And LOL, I love how Robin's talking to himself. Starfire's section was hard for me to write, as well as Cyborg's. Those two were originally included in the last chapter, but then I moved them to this chapter. Bruce's section was heavily influenced by my viewing and obsession with Batman: Under the Hood.
I am also aware that a lot of people are seeing Robin getting beaten up…oh well. I'm gonna go finish my Shakespeare reading now.
Go review!