A/N: I am on a roll tonight, thanks to Batman Begins and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith music to get me in the mood to write these fight scenes. And considering how you guys have been all hyped up, I just finished finals and now getting ready to pack. So to celebrate the beginning of summer vacation, here's another chapter! Double post this week as well. Well, enough blabbering.
Ch.30 Like Achilles and Hector, like Obi-Wan and Anakin SkywalkerRobin kicked Mikhail's body to the side, creating an open space. He would need all the space to fight the Titans. Shock and disgust passed over Starfire and Cyborg's faces. Beastboy cawed and flew straight like a bullet towards Robin.
"DUDE SO NOT COOL!" yelled Beastboy as he morphed back into himself, falling from the sky sending his fist at Robin's face.
Robin slide into a defensive position, catching Beasboy's fist and tossing him over his shoulder hard into the sand and rocks. The younger boy rolled on the ground, the force of the crash making his whole body ache.
Turning around, Robin sprinted to the side dodging the blue blasts from Cyborg's canon. Starfire dropped Cyborg and floated over to Beastboy.
"Are you ok, Friend Beastboy?"
Beastboy rubbed his shoulder, "Peachy."
Cyborg landed softly on the ground and pointed his canon at Robin's still form. "Don't make me hurt you, man."
"That sounds familiar," stated Robin. "Too bad I guess, I was hoping you would want revenge after what I did to Sally."
Pain filled Cyborg's face and he shot at Robin. The other man smirked, pulling out a familiar round disk with an S insignia on it. Throwing it at the blast, the disk lit up with red dots and exploded when it made contact with the blast. Light erupted on the beach, blinding the Titans. Leaping forward, Robin slammed a hard kick on Cyborg's neck near the shoulder.
Yelling out, the older man drove his fist hard into his attacker's side feeling a rip snap, but Robin showed little pain and instead flipped and touched Cyborg's back. Electricity sparkled across the back and Robin landed a few feet away. Cyborg eyed Robin carefully; "Don't think you can pull another Red X stunt on me, Robin."
Touching his side, Robin touched the broken rib and eased pressure off of it. Not wanting to give Cyborg the satisfaction of seeing him in pain, the boy smirked emotionlessly, "I already did." His dark blue gaze narrowed into slits as he leapt into the air dodging the snapping jaws of a crocodile. Flipping in the air, he landed on a rock and stared hard at the two male Titans, coughing lightly as blood trickled out of the corner of his mouth.
Beastboy growled and morphed into a tiger attacking Robin. He leapt to the side but a blue blast hit the rock near his feet sending shards up into the air, cutting his face. Backing up, Robin realized his mistake and spun around but it was too late. A massive claw ripped through his shirt, nicking his chest but sliced through his upper arm. Biting his lip to prevent the scream, Robin held his breath as he pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it into Beastboy's eyes.
The smoke erupted and he heard the painful roaring. Tumbling out of the smoke, Beastboy clutched his eyes, which were stinging like hell. Tears were streaming down his face and his lungs were racked with coughs.
Robin bolted through the smoke and rammed in to Beastboy sending them both crashing into the water. The water washing over Beastboy's face, the changeling glanced up to see Robin straddling him. Raising his fist, Robin looked down at the youngest Titan letting pure hatred seep onto his face. Without a word, he slammed his fist into Beastboy's face, followed soon by another and another.
Cyborg ran to the edge of the water skidding to a halt, his mouth dropped open by mere shock at seeing Robin punching Beastboy with such ferocity. He was eerily reminded of the time when he had stood back and watched Robin beat the crap out of one of Slade's bots in a warehouse. Blood began to taint the water. Raising his arm, Cyborg aimed right at the center and powered up.
Robin was about to send another punch when Beastboy morphed into a viper and snapped at his hand. Pulling back with just a hair's breath of distance, Robin jumped away from Beastboy. The changeling morphed back into a human, and now was resting hunched on all four limbs, blood pouring out of his mouth, one eye swollen shut while the other was blood-shot red from the smoke.
"Is-is this…what…"Beastboy gasped than spit out a mouthful of blood, "what…y-you did to Raven?"
Robin frowned, "No, she got the easy treatment. You're going to wish you were dead before I'm done with you."
"W-why?"
"Because," with that Robin dodged forward, grabbing Beastboy by the upper arm. Beastboy yelped as Robin pulled and spinned him out of the water and in front of him. Soaking wet, the changeling screamed as Cyborg's blast hit him straight on. Sizzling, his head rolled forward, wheezing breaths hissing out of his mouth.
Robin leaned forward, his back pressed to Beastboy's burnt body. The boy arced in pain with the sudden contact. Whispering into his ear, Robin told the truth. "You are going to get the worse treatment because you defeated the Brain and the Brotherhood of Evil. Even if it was for a short time, you humiliated…embarrassed me Beastboy and you are paying for that right now."
Gripping him harder, Robin ignored Beastboy's screams and kicked the boy hard in the side, sending him skidding onto the course sand and into unconsciousness. With one Titan down, Robin eyed Cyborg before flickering for a second his gaze at Starfire's frozen form.
"WHY? WHAT THE HELL!?" Cyborg's voice was on the verge of cracking, the shock that his blast had hit Beastboy instead of Robin turning quickly into guilt. Beastboy was in pain, might even be dying because of him. "No…because of Robin."
Gritting his teeth, Cyborg powered up another blast. "He was right! You have betrayed us!" Firing up a powerful blast, he watched as Robin locked an icy stare at him. "You're not Robin."
"Preciously."
With that Cyborg shot his blast off. In the background he heard Starfire screaming at him to stop. Waiting to feel the familiar relief as a blast left his canon, Cyborg realized that that moment had passed and he still was in possession. Something wasn't right. Glancing down he watched as his arm began sparking before the power build up exploded. Screaming, the ebony superhero clutched his upper arm, the lower forearm blown off and now laid sparking on the sand. Staggering backwards, he fell to his knees, his mouth open, the screams choked back by utter pain.
He heard a small patter and gazed up as Robin made his way to stand before him. "Remember a certain night not too long ago in the Tower…"
Cyborg's black eye widened. "Don't think you can pull another Red X stunt on me, Robin." "I already did."
"You…you were the one…that night…"
Robin nodded, all the rage that was present frozen. "Yes, I'm the one who attacked you that night and left you lying on the ground to be drained to death. But as you can see that wasn't my only intention. You can feel the virus can't you. It becomes active when someone tries to touch your back again."
Cyborg just looked awe-struck at the man before him. Feeling the virus course through the computer part of his body, he felt himself shut down, his heart slowing down, his mind falling upon itself. Falling face forward, he summoned his last strength to gaze over at Star's teary form. "…star…"
Realizing that Cyborg was out of the picture, Robin sighed and turned to face Starfire. "Starfire."
"Robin…why are you doing these things? Did Slade blackmail you again?" The desperate tone made him realize that the girl wished it all one big nightmare. She did not want to believe that what she was witnessing was reality.
"No."
"Then why?"
Robin walked up to Starfire and tilted his head, allowing black bangs to brush against his forehead. "Why not. You are a threat to the things I wish to accomplish. I want you to hate me, Starfire, all of you. If you hate, than it will be easier for you."
Starfire eyed Robin like he was a total strange, "What are you talking about? Accomplish what? Are you talking as Slade's apprentice…to take over Jump City like he did with Terra?"
The man shook his head, "No, Star. My goals go beyond Slade, beyond Jump City."
"Then tell me please!"
"You wouldn't understand." Guiding one hand behind his back, he pulled out one of his three 6s blades.
Starfire sniffed, "Of course I would understand you! I love you and you love me!"
"I never said that."
The blunt tone caught the alien princess of guard. Taking a step back, she eyed Robin with surprise. "What? You said-"
Robin scoffed, "I said I realized something and you said something I feel and I said Yes."
Starfire waited. Robin lowered his arm, hiding the blade. "You're a naïve little girl who still lives in a fantasy and that…Princess, is something that turns me off greatly." Without a blink of an eye, he lunged forward slicing at Starfire's body but she blocked the blow out of pure instinct. In an arm lock, Star's green eyes gazed with fright into Robin's emotionless ones.
"…Robin…"
A gust of wind drowned out her word. Breaking the lock, Robin gazed up to see the Bat helicopter hovering above him. He spotted a familiar white-headed man in the pilot's seat, "Alfred?"
The helicopter door slammed open and Batgirl dropped down, raising her fist. "Robin!"
Robin growled as was about to block the fist like he did with Beastboy, but Batgirl flipped and drove a kick his shoulder dislocating it. Flying to the side, he skidded to a halt and taking a deep breath, quickly popped his shoulder back into its' socket, fixing his pain filled, bordering on anger gaze on Batgirl.
"What are you doing here?" Robin snarled, spitting out blood while shaking off excess sand.
Batgirl slides into a defensive stance, the sand blowing behind her as Alfred guided the copter down the shore, trying to find a place to land. The female warrior regarded the man whom she once had a crush on, her once close companion. "I got a call from Starfire. It seems you need a little lesson on which side you belong. God, Robin, what the heck are you thinking? Have you lost your mind?"
Robin sneered, "Maybe."
With that he pulled out his bowstaff and ran towards Batgirl, the woman pulling out two small bat-a-rangs. Raising one above she blocked a swing to her head. "Man, what is your problem?"
Robin did not respond and drew back, twirling his staff before snapping it in half and drove at Batgirl swing after swing with the sticks. Batgirl felt herself being drawn backwards blocking each blow, but she could feel that each one the blow was faster and stronger. Clenching her teeth, she fought on, pushing back the pain that was arising from her injured body. She knew Batman would kill her, but when Starfire had called her about Robin, she knew something was up and went despite the protests of Alfred. After some convincing that she would fly the copter by herself, Alfred begrudgingly decided to fly her there to at least prevent her from crashing. They were on their way to the Tower when they had picked up a fight on the beach.
Blocking an attack, she felt herself cave in slightly as Robin leaned into the block. Seizing his opportunity, he placed his free stick underneath her pounding wrist and pushed it back ever so slightly. Pain flew through her arm and Batgirl fell onto her knees dropping her weapons. Grunting, she picked up a rock and slammed into his left. Robin hissed and he let go of her wrist. She watched as he tenderly touched his wound.
"Odd," though Batgirl, "That's almost the same place I got Reaper at."
"You little-" A blast of sand stopped Robin as he raised his head to protect himself. When the dust cleared, Starfire was hovering behind Robin, a blast aimed right at his back, so close he could feel its' heat.
Starfire took a deep breath, "Please, stop this and come with us."
Robin turned, "You're annoying." With that he rammed the butt end of his stick into Star's stomach. The alien doubled over, her mouth gaping wide open as she felt as if she had just been impaled. Falling her knees, she cradled her stomach. "Ro-Robin…"
Robin sighed and focused back on Batgirl who stared at him with saucer eyes.
"Reaper."
The man smiled softly and nodded.
Batgirl could only stare at the man who had beaten her up on the highway. She couldn't believe that her Robin was Reaper. It just couldn't be but still…
The injured left side, those words said in the same manner…his now dark blue eyes moving off to study the water where the sound of a jet ski was rocketing towards them.
There was no denying it; all the facts were present. Robin was Reaper. Robin was a villain. And Batman knew about it, but still didn't tell her. She felt her heart break. Of course, Batman wouldn't tell her, he would try to save Robin by himself and prevent her from suffering any pain. But the moment, she had fought Reaper…Robin…he should have told her, but he hadn't….
Fighting back tears, Batgirl rose to her feet. "How could you betray the oath we took? How could you turn your back on us family!"
Robin frowned, "Because you did the same."
"What?"
"I was gone for years, Babs. In my place was a robot replica of me to fool the Titans and everyone else in the superhero community. But, the Titans knew and soon Batman and a couple members of the League did too. Yet, they kept the charade up, right Starfire? You guys continued to fool the public, make them believe that the leader of the Titans was the real one."
Starfire gasped, the pain slowly ebbing away, "Yes."
The man continued to watch as Batman turned off the Jet Ski and marched his way over to the trio. "You lied to Jump City…to the world…"
"Yes." The redhead sounded like a broken record. Her soul was too tired; her heart did not want to handle the pain anymore.
Robin tilted his head, "This is why I am sick of being a hero, because of all the lies."
Batman bent over Cyborg and Beastboy, checking their vitals before halting in front of Robin. The two stared each other down.
Batgirl shook her head, "Then where is this robot replica?"
Starfire felt new tears well up, "He is dead. The General killed him."
Not breaking his gaze, Robin smiled genuinely for the first time, "No Star, I killed Robin. A fierce fight in the room, the stairs and up on the roof, a shot in the palm and lastly another dead center in his forehead finished off the hero."
Star wrapped one hand around her stomach, the other clenching her hair. "…no…"
Batgirl felt sick as she stared up at the smile. "You're proud of it!"
Robin nodded, "It's not everyday you can beat yourself and know that you have truly improved in life. It's a wonderful feeling."
The boy narrowed his eyes and spotted the sand beneath his feet glow green. Rolling to the side, he dodged a powerful blast. His bleeding arm was immediately cauterized with the mere heat that was emitting from it forcing the claw marks to forever to scarred upon his skin. Batman jumped out of the way as the blast drove past him. The blast continued until in the far distance they saw it make contact with the rocky shore of Titan's island with a massive boom.
Batman rose off the sand and turned to watch Batgirl try and grab the renegade hero. Robin slammed his elbow into Batgirl's face, blood flying out of her nose. The female hero crashed backwards, Starfire lunging over her trying to get a grip on Robin. The Dark Knight gritted his teeth and pulled out a sharp bat-a-rang but before he could throw it, Robin locked his two sticks together recreating his staff and sliding it underneath Starfire's arms, pulling them back as he stood behind Star's form.
Yanking the broken alien to her feet, Robin peered over Starfire's shoulder, pulling her arms further back. "Now, Batman, let us play fair here."
"Fair? You call this fair?" snarled Batman.
"Yes, considering I am only a human and the Titans are…were…metacreatures." As if making his point, Robin yanked further back, dislocating both of Starfire's shoulders. Her scream bounced off the rock. Robin pulled his staff out from under Star's shuddering form and pushed her towards Batman and turned to bolt away from the beach.
The Dark Knight lunged forward and caught the princess. Lowering her gently on the ground, he chucked the rang straight at Robin's feet. The rang embedded itself in the boy's lower leg and he staggered around to face Batman, snapping the metal in half to keep his leg from bleeding more but not enough to hinder his movements.
"Fine."
"Fine."
With that the two eyed each other once more, but this time they knew that words were going to be futile. Only one would be walking away alive or handcuffed.
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A/N: Well enjoy the fight and the next one will be Robin verses Batman. And as a little montage to Nightwing, for he will never exist in this story, I made Robin use those sticks that Nightwing uses in the comics. So yes, enjoy. Later!
