Oh dear oh dear oh dear…
Here we go again.
Well, my hearing is totally up the left because I went to see My Chemical Romance in concert last night at Cardiff International Arena; I failed my Car Theory Test AGAIN by one lousy measly friggin' point… AGAIN… Oh god, I don't even like driving anyway, so this isn't helping; I also wasted my Saturday night at a party which, in principle, sucked, especially after I ran out of people to bitch about – I could have used that Saturday night to write Noir (new Elseworlds TT fic of mine, set in the 40s! Check it out!); oh, and according to TitansGonet, last Monday (19th March, 2007) Arnold Drake passed away.
Who was Arnold Drake?
A long-time DC comics writer, notably the creator of the Doom Patrol… and Beast Boy. Still, at least he got to see BB's animated counterpart; as did, obviously, Wolfman and Perez get to see Starfire, Cyborg and Raven. Bob Kane, who died in 1998, never got to see Robin… not that there haven't been like a gazillion other versions for him to see, in all fairness… In fact, the Teen Titans version must be about the only version he didn't see… O.o
Anyways, R.I.P to Arnold Drake.
Thankyou to; Quinn and His Quill (also known as The Sombrero Man; well, excuse me – I'll try and make the rest a little more mind-bending for you…); Me (I think you will be the first to read this, dude. And yes, Starfire IS better than Gizmo. Infinitely.); Guardian of Azarath (yes, Slade is here… hurrah!); Dark Austral (nyes, a sever situation indeed. There is a lot more Dick Grayson-ness a bit later, including some flashbacks! Yay!); CrazyInsomniac (I am glad you think so, anyway. Senators? Perhaps. And perhaps not.); Anonymous (okay, I'll update, whoever you are… O.o); Kami-Elf (I know, I know… he didn't do the dishes either. Let's face it; Robin sucks. I am sorry about your "boring" spring break, BTW…); Simmie (yes, Slade was would most certainly deserve getting killed…); TheFallenAngel67 (of course I know about Static Shock! I love it! I used to prefer it to TT, but not now… As much as I love Static, TT is a much better quality cartoon, can't be denied…); LoopyLouise123 (more trivia for ya up there – including the fact that apparently me driving is not gonna happen… And the death of Arnold Drake, of course); and TheLon3Wolf8986 (you'll get to see what Robin does right now…).
Other notes; the main fight scene here was replicated for the Remember the Titans teaser chapter at the end of Black Magic. It's a little… "technical", since I actually did a ton of research on martial arts to write it. I can't remember what half of the moves look like now, but when I wrote it, I did "choreograph" it correctly. So… this is my most accurate fight scene ever. Yay. Uh, a kobujutsu staff (shortened here to just kobujutsu) is like a bo staff, but a lot bigger. You know the big staff Katarou thieves in The Quest? That, to the best of my knowledge, is a kobujutsu fighting staff. And tonfas are… difficult to describe. Robin has them in one episode of Teen Titans – Deception, I think. They're like wooden bars that go down the length of your forearm, and they have another shorter piece of wood jutting out to hold on to…
Wow. Great job there…
You Never Were
Leaving Terra and Arsenal a few steps behind him, Robin paused, looking around. The room he now found himself in was very dark and smelt of dust and dry rot.
"This place is giving me the creeps," Terra whispered as she and Arsenal approached Robin from behind.
"Come on, T," Arsenal snapped, sounding irritated. "We goin' the right way or not?"
"We are," Terra pressed, sounding equally pissed off. "I can sense every step he takes vibrating through the ground. I think he's pacing, probably waiting for midnight."
She pushed between the males and started across the room. She froze dead as the distinct sound of grinding gears became audible to all three of them, whispering through the shadows.
"What was that?" She hissed, hurriedly backing up against Arsenal.
"Dunno," Arsenal responded quietly, his voice savage. "But I'm guessing it's not the Welcoming Committee. You know, "Hi there! Welcome to Slade's Evil Domain! Enjoy your stay, and please deposit all trash in the litter baskets provided!". I mean, handing out pamphlets and stickers reading "I broke into Slade's Megalomaniac Ruler-of-Gotham Lair and lived to tell the tale" really isn't Slade's style."
"Roy, shut up," Terra whispered. "You're talking crap… as usual."
"Well, excuse me for voicing my opinion," Roy muttered darkly, placing one of his prized steel-alloy tipped arrows into his quiver and pulling it back.
Robin ignored the pair of them, trying to concentrate. Since gaining his new powers, he seemed to be able to sense electrical charges, and he could sense them now – hundreds of them.
And that told him that the three of them were no longer alone.
He was proved right as light suddenly flared, lighting up the room, and exposing the masses – the entire army – of amber and black robot commandos that promptly launched themselves at the trio.
"Pardon me for stealing your line, kid," Arsenal cried as the three of them sprang into action, "But… TITANS, GO!"
Robin and Terra obeyed him immediately, not so much because of his order, but the mere fact that they knew they would be slaughtered where they stood if they didn't.
Moving with the strength and power of lightning, Arsenal gut-slammed one of the robots and threw it into another, sending them both to the concrete floor where they lay in a tangled sparking heap. Almost sensing another one behind him, he spun into a powerful roundhouse kick (taught to him by Nightwing, but nobody needed to know that) and decapitated it with the sheer momentum of the blow. All this time, the arrow was still taut in his bow, and he used it now to stop a fourth commando in its tracks as it leapt for his head. Pulling three more electrically-charged ones from his pack, he aimed them skyward and shorted out an additional three pouncing headlong at him from an overhead metal-and-concrete balcony. He whipped around—
-And was sent to the floor with a cracking blow to his jaw. Arsenal landed on his back, his arrows digging into him sharply, and struggled to keep his grip on his quiver. He sat up, tasting blood and feeling the salty liquid spilling from his mouth, and was kicked in the ribs by the same commando. He crumpled, clutching at his ribcage, choking on blood as he tried to cough-
A thick pillar of rock exploded from beneath the commando that was looming over him, preparing to finish him, sending it sky-high and smashing it against the ceiling of the storage facility. Across the room, two more met the same fate, while an additional seven were crushed beneath a single boulder. Arsenal sat up, now finding Terra standing over him. He took the hand she was offering him and allowed her to help him up.
"I love you," he said matter-of-factly, clasping her small hand in both of his. "Let's get married and have thirty-seven children."
In response to his statement, Terra threw a punch at his face; too late to block, Arsenal merely cowered… and heard the crunch beyond his ear. He gingerly opened his eyes to see that Terra had once again just saved him, this time from being clubbed over the head by the minion standing right behind him. Said minion collapsed, sparking, its blank metal face smashed in.
Turning back to him, Terra raised her eyebrows.
"Why is it," she asked him dryly, "that you only ever say that whenever I save your sorry ass?"
Arsenal was caught off guard and subsequently floored. As he floundered for a response, Terra spotted the five other commandos already heading for them and went into action, leaving him standing there.
"Heads up, Roy, or you won't have a head at all!" She called cheerfully, crushing four minions in one easy sweep.
Muttering something that sounded distinctly like "Women", Arsenal took heed of her example.
A few feet away, Robin was having the easiest time he had ever had facing Slade's minions. Contrary to being mauled as was the usual procedure, he was simply moving in one long, smooth, unbroken movement; kicking, punching, and then shorting out with the tiniest flick of his fingers. However, although it was in no way a taxing practice, he could sense that his electricity flow was diminishing, and there certainly were an awful lot of them. If he took down one, there were another two in its place; if he shorted out five, another ten were already pouncing at him. He had never seen so many of them together, not even during the siege of Titans Tower a few months ago during his own time, the night of Terra's betrayal.
He decided to cut down on the electricity for a little while, hoping to replenish his supply, and instead took his staff from his belt to fight manually with. However, he had no sooner extended it when he was kicked in the stomach. He collapsed, surprised and thoroughly winded, and as he curled up to ease the pain he saw them all close in on him. He forced himself to his knees, placing his hands on the floor to ground himself, and sent a surge of high voltage ricocheting through them all. He staggered to his feet as the wall of them fell away, sparking and twitching, and saw Arsenal running towards him.
"It's okay, Arsenal," he said breathlessly, rubbing his stomach. "I'm fine…"
"With all due respect, kid, I'm less than worried about you," Arsenal replied in a business-like manner. "Come on, we have to get going, it's only seven minutes until midnight…"
Robin nodded, stiffening imperceptibly as Arsenal said it.
Terra joined them, pushing her hair back, and nodded. Arsenal caught it and was about to speak again-
As though the very corners of the room had suddenly exploded, hundreds more commandos were suddenly spewed from the shadows, an entire sea of black and amber…
Arsenal screamed several expletives in frustration and whipped around, taking Robin firmly by his shoulders.
"Alright, listen, kid," he said, his voice quick and hushed as Terra began the battle without him. "We don't have time for this shit, okay? Terra and I will handle this here and join you ASAP. But for now, you're going to have to go on alone…"
Robin paled, his blue eyes behind his mask becoming huge with fright. Arsenal frowned and sighed.
A little boy.
That's all he was, really. A child. He was giving these orders to a child.
But Robin was a child with a destiny – one that had to be fulfilled within the next seven minutes – and that made all the difference in the world.
"Straight ahead, Robin," Terra added breathlessly, coming to Arsenal's side. "Beyond this room is a corridor, and at the end is the room where Slade is—" She ducked a swipe from a commando and spun into a kick, getting rid of it momentarily. "But you have to hurry! Go now! Roy and I can handle this no problem!"
Robin stared at them both for a little while longer, not truly believing that his destiny was finally upon him…
"GO!" Terra screamed at him, tearing up the floor as she spoke; next to her, Arsenal pulled back his bowstring…
Robin turned and ran without a backwards glance, his staff clutched tightly in one hand. Whenever a commando got in his way he launched himself at it and floored it, but he did not pick fights if they simply got out of his way. The doorway was ahead and he ran and ran and ran…
But they were chasing him now, losing interest in Terra and Arsenal now that they could see the Avenger attempting to escape. Yes, all of them; a seething mass pursuing him like an entire stampede, and he knew that if they caught him they would literally, physically rip him apart…
…After all, that was what they had been ordered to do…
Beneath his feet he could feel the floor beginning to shake, see cracks spreading like ripples on water, but still they chased him, even though plaster and chunks of stone were beginning to fall as the ceiling caved in. He quickly looked over his shoulder and saw that Terra's eyes were glowing gold; she was bringing it down, trying to give him a chance to escape…
He was less than a metre from the door-
"ROBIN, DIVE!" Terra screamed at him from across the room.
He obeyed, diving through the doorway and tumbling into a roll that was non-too-graceful. And just as he landed the entire doorway collapsed, a mountain of rubble from the ceiling closing it off, smashing the doorframe…
The commandos were now locked into the storage facility with Terra and Arsenal; at the mercy of Terra and Arsenal…
Robin gingerly got to his feet. His brow-bone above his left eye was numb and he could feel blood trickling down the side of his face, and decided that he must have hit his head when he had landed. It was, however, far too dark to inspect the damage, and anyway, he didn't have a mirror.
Or a torch, for that matter…
From what he could see, the corridor was utterly demolished, rubble and twisted metal and the like lying everywhere. There was little to no light, and he clambered awkwardly over the many obstacles as quickly as he could, falling more than once.
Further down, the corridor fell into pitch darkness, but Robin knew that he was running very short of time and attempted to hasten his pace. This, unfortunately, proved to be a bad idea, as he discovered when he attempted to leap a boulder, completely misjudged its location and consequently ended up in a heap.
He landed on top of a twisted piece of metal girder and had to bite his lip to stop from screaming at the initial contact. He lay there for a few seconds, rigid with agony, then rolled over, moaning under his breath. He struggled to his feet and the entire piece of metal shifted and slipped, clanging loudly. From high above him came a sudden flurry of wings – a sound that was very familiar to one such as Robin the Boy Wonder – and suddenly he found himself surrounded by frightened, unsettled bats, all squeaking and screeching and beating their tiny leathery wings and scratching at him as though it was his fault. He put his arms up to protect his face and instead they tore at the sleeves of his leather jacket as he moved forwards; there were so many of them and they were smothering him, as though deliberately, and truthfully he never had liked bats all that much…
He came to the door with a sense of almost-but-not-quite-relief, still with the macabre swarm of bats around him like a cloud, as though he himself was Batman.
But he wasn't; he knew he wasn't.
He was Robin; Richard Grayson; the Boy Wonder; the Teen Titans' leader.
The Avenger.
And he knew what he had to do.
He grounded himself and kicked the door in; weakened with age and disrepair, the steel-riveted door fell away and clanged noisily on the floor of the dimly-lit room beyond. Clutching his staff, Robin stepped through, and the bats, now given sudden extra space, left him as one single unit, flitting for the rafters of this new room.
The room was fairly small, dark but lit with many candles scattered all about it – and on every given surface, not to mention the floor – and in the very middle of the floor was a huge circle, drawn with a blood-red powder. Magical, definitely, with strange runes and symbols around the edges. In the very middle, surrounded by red candles, sat the Orb of Azarath, glittering in the candlelight, as though mocking him, daring him to take it.
However, as he looked around again, there was no sign of anything that he would have thought to be the key.
Nor, indeed, was there any sign of Slade.
Fine, if he's not even gonna show…
Robin briskly made for the circle, his primary attention on the Orb of Azarath, slipping his retracted staff back into his belt. He had since come up with an infinitely better plan than the original "Kill-Slade-and-fulfil-his-destiny" one – swipe the orb and leg it. No fuss, no blood, and no getting his ass kicked…
He stepped into the circle and walked right across it towards the orb; looking down, he recognised the symbols to be Azarathian lettering. Well, that figured, and although he certainly had no idea what they said, he had a feeling that he didn't want to either…
"Now, Robin… Surely you didn't think it was going to be that easy, did you?"
Robin froze right in the centre of the magical circle, recognising Slade's voice. The Orb of Azarath momentarily forgotten, he whipped around to see Slade leaning with his arms folded against the far wall. There was a heavy gold pocket watch clutched in one hand. He looked no different at all, even fifteen years later, for even his costume had not changed in the slightest, but that was not what surprised Robin. It was the fact that Slade did not seem in the least bit surprised to see him; the fifteen-year-younger version of the man he had shot to pieces not even three years before.
"What?" Slade chuckled slightly, the sound chilling. "Don't look so surprised; I have, after all, been expecting you."
Robin blinked, again words failing him.
Slade unfolded his arms and approached him; and, from the shadows, Robin saw emerge a frail old woman, her wild iron-grey hair loose and straggly down her back and over her shoulders, and she wore crimson acolyte's robes.
The seer.
His heart skipped a beat.
Her eyes…
Brilliant glittering emerald green. Just like the Master of Time's, just like that biker guy's, and just like Seth Elliott's…
Coincidence?
He was seriously beginning to doubt it…
She came to rest at Slade's side where he stood beyond the circle, the gaze of his solitary icy grey eye fixed on the boy he hated so much.
The boy that, despite meeting his end in this time three years previous, still stood before him now, restored to the form – a teenager, and a Teen Titan – that Slade despised most of all.
The form in which he had failed to corrupt him, and failed to destroy him.
Robin; not Nightwing.
"You are cutting it rather fine, however," Slade went on lazily, consulting the intricate gold pocket watch in his hand. "Only three minutes to midnight. I must admit that I feared you were not going to show up at all…"
Robin forced a laugh.
"What, and miss this? Not a chance!"
"Indeed." Slade discarded the watch unceremoniously, his gaze still fixed on Robin. "No matter; three minutes is more than enough to dispatch you once and for all, sweet Avenger…"
Fifteen years had not eroded Slade's fighting technique, heightening it beyond proportion instead, as Robin soon discovered; Slade moved faster than Robin could follow – although maybe the shadows of the room helped – and leapt into a flying roundhouse kick. It caught Robin full-on in the chest and threw him so far backwards that the boy couldn't quite believe the distance he had enthused when he painfully staggered to his feet. He clutched at the diamond, trying to straighten up.
He was losing already.
With three – probably less than that now – minutes until midnight, Slade certainly wasn't in a mood for toying, as he usually was. As he had so clearly stated, the need to dispatch the Avenger ASAP was painfully prominent, and for whatever else he was, Slade was a man who got things done.
Slade was upon him again, but this time Robin was ready for him, snapping an axe kick at the villain's head. For once his short stature worked for him – his heel caught Slade squarely in the chin, snapping his head back. Using it to his advantage, Robin spun into a back kick, using his heel again – and the sharp, heavy edge of his steel sole – to catch Slade in the solar plexus. Slade stumbled and doubled over, able to do little else. Robin spun again, 180°, into a reverse kick, knocking Slade right off his feet.
Karate. Taekwondo.
Robin handsprung right over Slade's fallen form, darting towards the orb again. Slade swore obscenely at him, already getting up. Robin ignored him, his attention on the Orb of Azarath—
-And suddenly the seer was in front of him. Robin attempted to sidestep her, but found it quite impossible; she seemed to know which way he was going to move every time.
"Get out of the way!" He snapped at her, frustrated and desperate beyond belief.
She smiled indulgently, shaking her head.
Furious, and very out of character, he snapped a hook kick at her head. She raised her arm, taking the blow, then twisted her hand over and grasped his ankle, the movement faster than his eyes could follow. She held him there for a few agonizing seconds—
-Then threw him to the ground, where he landed painfully on his back.
"This is the first time I have met you, Avenger," she said, smirking, as she leaned over him. "But already I have decided that you are insolent, and that you are terribly impatient, and that you are exceedingly arrogant. I don't like you very much at all, dear boy. Isn't that a sin; for me to dislike you already, when we have only just met?"
Robin propped himself up on his elbows, his gaze meeting hers, blue penetrating green; a green that he had seen before…
"I doubt that," he spat in reply.
Her smile only deepened as he got to his feet. He stood facing her, and only the slight raise of her eyebrows informed him that Slade was behind him. Instinctively he whipped around, taking the hammer blow aimed at his head on his forearm in a knife block. He snapped a switch kick at Slade's stomach again, hoping to get him where he was already weakened, but Slade deflected it, instead bringing his knee up to meet Robin's chin with a sickening crunch. The Boy Wonder was thrown back to the ground, landing a few feet away.
Robin got to his knees, almost retching at the taste of blood in his mouth. His jaw was screaming with pain, but he could still move it, so he knew it wasn't broken. The blood streaming from his mouth, however, would have given anyone the impression to think otherwise. He wiped it away and spat onto the floor, astounded at the amount of blood. The cut above his left eye still bled too, although it was beginning to slow and congeal.
Slade started for him, cracking his knuckles, but the seer intercepted him.
"What are you-" Slade started furiously.
"Silence, boy." From each of her wide crimson sleeves the seer magically drew two beautifully decorated kobujutsu staffs, like a magician draws a string of coloured handkerchiefs from his empty hat; both crafted from shining wood, one a darker shade than the other, one with crimson and gold details at either end, the other with black and silver, these staffs were longer than Robin and Slade's favoured bo staff, and required more masterful and complex use.
The seer roughly slung one – the darker one, with black and silver detailing – at Slade; she threw the other, the lighter red and gold one, at the floor next to where Robin was struggling to his feet, repeatedly wiping his streaming chin.
"One minute until midnight, boys," she said, the gold watch materialising in her hand. "Make it good."
She stepped back, right into the middle of the magical circle, watching happily as the Avenger got to his feet, his kobujutsu staff clutched uncertainly in one hand; watching happily as Slade closed in on him, holding his own staff with much more confidence.
Robin was only sixteen; Slade, in this time, was well in his forties, although his physique did not show it.
Of course he had more fighting expertise; he had been around much longer.
Robin struggled with the kobujutsu; still only a teenager, and untrained in the art of it, he was unable to use it properly. It was only his knowledge of how to use a bo staff that saved him from being completely battered by Slade, who was much more able with it. He used basic blocks and defences, but his strikes were clumsy and mistimed because it was much bigger than what he was used to. Every time he tried to ditch it and go to his belt for his own retractable staff Slade would swing at him and he would be forced to block; until, finally, Slade kicked straight out at him—
-Robin blocked it with the staff but the momentum of the kick was such that it snapped the wood right in half. Slade recoiled his leg, still clutching his own kobujutsu, and Robin found himself standing backed against the wall, one half of his own crimson and gold staff grasped incredulously in each hand.
Slade smirked beneath his mask and moved in on Robin, striking at him mercilessly with his own unscathed kobujutsu. Robin ducked and dodged, using his acrobatic ability to twist into the most impossible of positions to avoid being smacked over the head by Slade's heavy wooden staff, and eventually saw an opening. He darted behind Slade, suddenly having much more room.
"Richard Grayson!"
The seer called his name sharply and he turned to her automatically. With a flourish she drew two more weapons from her flowing sleeves; beautifully crafted solid oak tonfas. She threw them to him and he caught them almost involuntarily.
Slade, distracted somewhat by this sudden act of charity, stared at her.
"Whose fucking side are you on, woman?!" He yelled at her.
The seer turned her stony green gaze on him.
"Don't use that disgusting language, boy," was all she said.
Robin turned away from her to Slade, dazed; for someone who thought him insolent and impatient and arrogant and all-over detestable, she was certainly being very nice to him…
Slade came at him full-force, enraged beyond belief now, and Robin gripped the tonfas confidently; now these he did know how to use…
Robin felt the force of the blow of Slade's kobujutsu as he took it against the tonfas, their hard wood reinforcing his forearms ten-fold. He spun into a roundhouse kick as Slade drew back for another strike, breaking the momentum of the blow. Slade twisted the angle of the kobujutsu and Robin blocked again, taking it on his left tonfa. He followed the block through, jabbing his elbow downwards, driving the part of the tonfa that extended beyond his elbow into Slade's gut. Slade cursed and doubled up, already weakened by the kick to his solar plexus. Robin paused, bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet; analysing, debating…
Slade threw himself into the hesitant Boy Wonder, knocking him heavily onto his back and pinning him there. The kobujutsu went like a bar across the boy's throat, strangling him, and pinned to the floor, Robin was unable to retaliate. He pushed against the heavy staff with his tonfas but he simply wasn't strong enough to heave Slade off him.
Being sweet sixteen really wasn't all it was cracked up to be…
"Goodbye, Robin," Slade hissed. "See you in Hell…"
And suddenly, as his vision slowly blacked, as Slade exerted more pressure on the kobujutsu, the ground began to shake.
Terra?...
Air flooded into his lungs as Slade suddenly removed the kobujutsu, and Robin sat up, coughing and massaging his throat, his jaw still spilling blood. He froze up as he saw that Slade was straddling him, his knees on either side of his teen arch-nemesis' hips, and their crotches were way too close for comfort, but in truth Slade wasn't even paying any attention to him. He probably didn't even realise, Robin reasoned, but that still didn't make him feel any better…
Certainly Slade was preoccupied from murdering him, and the ground was still shaking, and from out of the corner of his eye Robin could see red light spreading to his right. Forcing himself to ignore Slade – and their… interesting position – Robin looked to his right.
The old woman was standing in the middle of the magical circle, which was now glowing crimson, a glittering red forcefield around it that was spreading, filling the entire room with that blinding scarlet light… She was smirking as her iron-grey hair whipped around her wrinkled face, and in one hand was the heavy gold watch.
The face showed that it was midnight.
As though suddenly being released from a state of suspended animation, Slade was off Robin faster than the Boy Wonder had ever seen him move before, darting towards the circle, still absently clutching the kobujutsu.
Oh no you don't…
Robin shot a spark of electricity at him, catching the villain on his left heel as he bolted for the circle. Although it didn't hurt him, it certainly startled him enough to make him lose his balance and send him sprawling.
Landing flat on his masked face, Slade rolled over just in time to see Robin leaping headlong at him, swinging his right elbow – armed with a reinforced tonfa – at his face. Slade swung his feet up and cracked the boy in the chest, throwing him backwards before the blow could connect.
Robin landed painfully and tumbled over and over, eventually scraping to a halt but minus both his tonfas – they were lying discarded in opposite directions. He struggled to his knees, spitting out more blood, and watched helplessly as Slade reached the magical circle.
However, as the villain attempted to enter it, the blood-red force-field sparked and crackled and seemed to explode outwards at his touch, throwing him clear across the room. He landed in a crumpled, smouldering heap a few feet away from Robin.
Utterly astonished – and now even more terrified – Robin looked back at the circle. The red glow now seemed to encompass the entire room, and was such that Robin had to shield his eyes; he could, however, see the old woman laughing, even though he could not hear her screams of malicious mirth.
In her hand, the minute hand of the watch moved in a tiny ticking movement.
It was midnight no longer.
The glow died, seeming to be sucked inwards, back into the powdered markings of the magical circle. The wind that had whipped the seer's hair had died too, as had her laughter – now she simply smiled at them both, the watch still in her withered hand, the Orb of Azarath glittering at her feet.
Robin shakily got to his feet, his breath barely coming at all, so that he felt light-headed. Inside, he felt numb, not sure whether he should be utterly elated or seriously terrified. What did this mean? Was it… over?...
The seer was gazing at him, her glittery-green eyes boring into him.
Waiting for him to speak, to move…
To question.
Robin wiped his mouth slowly, his black leather glove coming away wet and shining with blood. Behind his mask, his blue eyes met the gaze of her green ones.
"I'm not the Avenger anymore," he said finally, his voice firm, sounding far more confident that he felt.
Her reply, however, threw him completely, igniting a million questions within him, all demanding answers, all demanding a reason…
She smiled lazily at him, taking him in; his entire slight, pale, blood-soaked, black leather-clad form.
The Avenger…
…Or not…
"Dear boy," she said softly, "My dear, sweet Richard… You never were…"
TT
Okay, time to come clean:
I've been throwing you for a loop about a lot of stuff so far.
The above included.
Heh heh.
RobinRocks xXx