Chapter 9: Apprentice pt. I
Running, why did it always have to involve running? Why could it never be a simple fistfight when heroes and villains met? But no, the villain always had to run away and start an irritating chase sequence.
Though Robin was not even asking those questions here, his whole mind was devoted to one single factor. The thrice accursed villain that Robin was currently chasing. The psychopath that had eluded him for God knows how long.
Slade.
The one eyed villain was just ahead of Robin, always staying a step ahead of him. But Robin never gave up, he pressed on no matter what. Over ravines, through cliff faces, past open fields and everything in-between. He would not let the madman get away, not this time.
Finally, with one final leap, Slade landed on a stone plateau with four natural rock pillars on it. Robin was not far behind. But when Robin landed, he found to his great anger that he had lost sight of the madman. His eyes traveled in every direction, but there was no sign of his hated quarry.
Though he did not need to look for long, as suddenly Slade stepped forward from behind one of the stone pillars, looking as calm as ever.
"Dangerous behavior, Robin. You must be very eager to see me. I'm flattered." He said with a voice devoid of any emotions. Just hearing him speak made Robin's blood boil with rage.
"I'm not here to see you, I'm here to stop you." he snarled back in anger as he assumed a fighting position.
"Hmmm, but how can you stop me when you don't even know what I'm planning?" Slade questioned as he began circling Robin. But Robin had had enough of talking with the madman.
"Like this." Was all he said before he leapt to attack. A kick that missed, a punch that hit a pillar, a somersault over his opponent, a counter kick from his opponent. It was almost like a rehearsed dance to them.
Slade threw punch after punch, but Robin dodged them all. An attempt to land a hit on Slade only resulted for Robin in his fist getting caught, followed by a blow to the stomach and a judo throw over Slade's shoulder.
Landing on a stone pillar, Robin utilized it as a springboard to launch himself back at Slade. Another punch, another kick, yet another punch, again a punch and finally another kick. All of which Slade easily dodged and ended up hitting the pillars instead.
Slade suddenly countered with a roundhouse kick that sent Robin flying. Another punch followed that Robin dodged. Robin countered with a barrage of punches, but Slade deflected them before delivering a devastating punch that sent Robin crashing down hard to the floor.
But Robin merely ignored the bruises and staggered back to his feet, a pair of birdarangs in his hands. With deadly precision, Robin threw them at Slade. But they merely ricocheted off his armor and instead hit two of the stone pillars.
And for some unexplainable reason, a single birdarang that is about the size of a hand was enough to fell an entire pillar as both that were hit crumbed like dust, taking the other two pillars with them. Dust enveloped the entire battlefield, making it impossible to see farther than a few feet ahead.
Needless to say, Robin quickly found that he had lost sight of his nemesis in the dust clouds. And as he staggered blindly about, he could just feel Slade's eye drilling into him from somewhere within the dust.
"Where are you?!" Robin shouted out in anger. A cold laugh echoed from all around him in response.
"Can't find me?" Slade taunted him, sounding so close yet at the same time so far away. Robin gritted his teeth as he spun around wildly, throwing kicks and punches everywhere in fear of being snuck up on.
"Hiding like a coward, Slade?!" Robin spat out. Yet another bone chilling laugh rang around the battlefield.
"No such thing. I'm merely surrendering the dance floor to your next partner." He answered cryptically. Robin raised his eyebrow in confusion over that. 'My next partner?'
But even in such a confused state, his instincts and battle reflexes were still as sharp as ever, and that was the only thing that saved him from being cleaved in two down the middle as a broadsword cut through the air where he had been standing just a second earlier.
Twirling around in shock, Robin had just enough time to bend backwards to avoid getting skewered by a vicious thrust before he leaped clear of a downward slash.
Landing a good distance away from his new opponent, Robin finally got a good look at him, or rather her. Not that he had needed to see her, he had guessed her identity the moment that blasted sword had entered his field of vision.
"You again?" Robin questioned irritably, clearly not liking being disturbed right in the middle of a battle with Slade. Raven merely smirked back at him.
"Unfinished business, homeboy." She said before she charged with a vicious slash at his legs, seeking to unbalance him. He jumped over it and drove an elbow into her face. As she stumbled back, Robin gave a ferocious battle cry as he pounced on her.
His mind became clouded with single-minded rage. For a few moments, he did not see Raven in front of him, but Slade. And in a blind fury, he rained down blows on her mercilessly. But Raven managed to get a kick in on his chest, knocking him back.
She wasted no time and rushed with a flurry of sword strikes. Slash, slash, stab, slash, spin, stab. She was relentless, never giving Robin time to counterattack. He kept dodging back and forth, desperately trying to get under her guard. But that damned sword was everywhere!
But as Raven came at him with another downward slash, Robin made a snap decision and retrieved two birdarangs from his belt. The clang of steel hitting steel echoed around the field as Robin used his improvised weapons to block the sword. For a few moments, both combatants strained against each other, trying to overpower the other.
"This ends now!" Robin snarled at her as he suddenly pushed Raven's blade aside and drove a steel tipped boot into her gut with all his strength. Raven got the wind knocked out of her and even dropped her sword. She staggered to the edge of the plateau to recover.
But Robin would have none of that. Before he even knew what he was doing, he had snatched up Raven's sword and charged her with a savage battle cry. The next few seconds was a blur to Robin. One moment he was charging Raven, the next he was standing right in front of her.
Raven was looking at him in shock, as if she could not believe what she was seeing. Robin at first looked confused by her reaction, but when a trickle of blood leaked out of her mouth Robin became aware of the sword handle gripped in his hand.
Slowly looking down, dreading what he would find, Robin felt his breath leave his lungs at the sight of Raven's sword gripped in his hands while the blade was piercing Raven's stomach.
He could not believe it! He had just done the thing he had sworn never to do. This could not be real, it was impossible!
But there was no denying what his eyes were seeing. There was no lie, it had happened. Cold dread gripped his stomach as Robin staggered back from Raven, too horrorstricken to do anything else.
Raven gave him one last shocked look before she fell backwards and plummeted into the abyss. All the while, Robin did nothing but stare in disbelief. What had he done?
"Excellent, Robin." Slade cold and silky voice cut through the still air like a knife. "We appear to be evenly matched, and equally ruthless."
Hearing his nemesis speak again, Robin found a target for all his anger and guilt. Any feelings of remorse and disbelief washed away from his mind like words written in sand. Slade was going to pay for this; that was all that mattered to Robin.
"Not surprising, you and I are so very much alike." Slade's haunting words came again, but this time Robin could pinpoint their location.
Right behind him.
"I'm nothing like you!" Robin countered angrily as he spun around and delivered an uppercut to Slade's chin, knocking him off his feet. Robin swiftly strode up to the villain and grabbed hold of the front of his shirt to drag him right up to his face.
"You're a criminal, a psychopath. All you care about is destruction." Robin snarled with venom right into Slade's face, who for his part looked completely untroubled.
"And all you care about you destroy." Slade countered as he gestured to the pillars Robin had destroyed earlier.
Except they were not mere stone pillars, they were statues of his friends. In his blind rage against Slade, he had never realized that and had ruthlessly destroyed them. They were not his real flesh and blood friends, but the meaning behind their destruction was not lost to Robin.
"No! Who are you?!" Robin demanded as he tore the mask off Slade's face. But what he found was something that terrified him more than his killing of Raven. The one underneath that mask… was himself.
His double began laughing maniacally into the air as Slade's words were proven true. They were alike, in more ways than one.
For a second, Robin closed his eyes. And when he opened them again, he bolted upright from his desk back at Titans Tower with a terrified gasp. Sweat poured from his brow as he struggled to control his breathing while his eyes frantically looked around his small study.
A dream. It had only been a dream.
But he was given no reprieve as suddenly the doors opened and Cyborg stepped in to deliver the news he wanted nothing else but to never hear again.
"It's him. It's Slade."
Now as I stated earlier, criminals of every kind always felt like running at some point. That was a fact that never changed no matter where in the world they lived. In this case, we have quite a fat criminal wearing an expensive suit running for dear life through the alleys of Jump City.
Though you had to give the guy credit. He looked like he had eaten a horse for breakfast and yet the guy was running as if he was trying to win the Olympics. The reason? Well, someone had busted his drug shipment for the day and beaten up all of his goons and this mysterious vigilante was now hot on his trail.
Bu as kept on running through the alley, he failed to notice a small noose placed out in his path. And like a panicked deer fleeing from a predator, the fat man stepped right into the trap.
The moment his foot landed in the noose, it tightened around his ankle and before he even knew what had happened he was hoisted into the air. The poor man screamed like a little girl as he was dragged towards the roof with the speed of an express elevator.
When his little horror trip finally came to an end, he found himself in an even more frightening situation; he was dangling by his leg over the edge of a thirty story building. And did I mention that he was extremely afraid of heights?
Though he temporarily forgot his fear when an armored boot appeared in his line of sight.
"Tyler Brandon. The biggest shipper of cocaine and heroin on the west coast and known for your indulgence in French vine and American fast food. I would normal say that it's an honor to meet you, but I think we both know that's a lie." A dry and feminine voice said.
Letting his eyes wander over his assailant, Tyler could not find very much about her. She was holding an AUG Assault Rifle in her hands and had a broadsword strapped to her back. the rest of her body was concealed by a blue cloak and hood.
"Who-who do you think you are?!" Tyler shouted indignantly, trying to sound intimidating even though he was scared shitless at the moment. He could not see the assailant's face, but he was pretty damn sure that she was smiling at him now.
"The one who's going to put you out of business." She answered as she delivered a vicious kick to his head, knocking him out cold.
With the deed done, Raven retried a cellphone from her belt and dialed a number.
"Raven here. Mission accomplished." She said.
"What? Already?" an elderly voice asked in surprise from the other end. Raven could not help but smile triumphantly.
"Yep. The drug shipment was busted and evidence has been planted in plain sight for the cops to pick up. Once they find Tyler himself, he'll be going straight into a cell to await prosecution." She answered smugly.
"And you're certain that no suspicion will land on me?"
"Positive. With the Teen Titans present in the city, they'll assume it was they who busted him. If not they'll suspect some other vigilante." A chuckle was heard from the other end.
"My son was right about hiring you. If only I had ten more of your caliber. Say, you wouldn't be interested in a permanent employment?"
"Sorry, not my style really. I can consider a part time employment for a few months, but nothing permanent." Raven answered.
"Pity. Oh well, it was a pleasure doing business with you. Your money is being transferred to your account as we speak."
"Likewise. And just give me a call if you ever need my services again." with that, Raven hung up on the call. All in all, this had been a very productive work. Easy to accomplish, and it had earned her a really nice paycheck. Nothing like a feud between drug lords to push up prices.
But what was she supposed to do now? With the feud over, work would probably diminish in the area. Maybe it was time to move on to another city? Maybe even another country?
No. she could not do that yet. She still had one unfinished piece of business in town. Robin. As long as he was alive, her mission was a failure. True, she did not need the H.I.V.E. anymore since she had established herself as a skilled mercenary in the criminal underworld.
No one really cared that she never graduated from the academy. She got the job done and that was all that mattered to her clients.
But this was not a question of grades, this was a question of reputation. Raven could not just walk away from an assignment just because she was having a tough time with it, because then she would look like a cheap punk!
Raven could not walk away from this, Robin needed to die here.
Speak of the devil, her bug within the Titans' communication network was going off. Someone was contacting them. Quickly, she activated the phone tapping, allowing her to hear their conversation.
"Good morning, Teen Titans. I do hope I didn't wake you." the unmistakable voice of Slade spoke. Raven's full attention was instantly locked onto the conversation. If Slade was involved, then it was guaranteed to be big.
"What are you, an insomniac? Who calls at five a.m. in the… ow!" that was undoubtedly Beast Boy being his idiotic self and Raven paid him no heed.
"What do you want?" Robin was the next, direct and straight to the point as usual. 'Yes, what is it you want, Mr. Cyclops?' Raven thought suspiciously.
"Well that's precisely what you've been trying to find out. And in spite of all your efforts, you're still in the dark about my intentions." Of course, the egomaniac had to roll on with some taunting monologues. Boring as hell.
"Disappointing, Robin. I expected a little more from you." though Raven had to admit, the guy was good with the mind games. Here he was, conversing with the enemy, and he made it sound like he was a bloody schoolteacher reprimanding a bunch of unruly students.
"Like I care what you…"
"But since you've been unable to discover my plan, I suppose I have to reveal it myself." Right now Raven wished that she could have hacked into the visual feed as well, since she had a strong feeling that something important was displayed on screen right about now.
"I'm sure you're all familiar with the concept of a Chroniton Detonator." Okay, now she was glad she had no access to visual feeds, because she sure as hell did not want to see that.
"WHAT?!" Raven burst out in shock and outrage. The guy was planning on freezing time permanently in Jump City?! Thankfully her bug in their system only allowed her to eavesdrop, not communicate. If it had been otherwise, Raven would have revealed herself from that one outburst.
"A Chroniton Detonator?! Is that guy insane… wait, dumb question, of course he is." Raven mumbled to herself. Apparently her outburst had caused her to miss a portion of the conversation as she only snatched up the end of Cyborg's sentence.
"Tell me where!" Robin snarled at him. Raven could not help but shake her head. Was he that stupid to think that the enemy was just going to hand out that piece of information willingly?
"You're a clever boy, Robin. I'm sure you and your little friends can figure it out. However, since I control the detonation, time… is not on your side." Those were the last words Slade spoke before he cut the feed and left the Titans to make their next move.
Raven herself also cut the connection, seeing as she had heard enough. Okay, Slade was planning on destroying the entire city, what the hell should she do now? Run away with her tail between her legs? It would be the most logical course of action. Raven had no desire to end up frozen in time forever.
However, Raven had never been a fan of running away from a fight, at least not without trying to win. Besides, Robin was still alive and kicking, something Raven had to rectify. Of course, there was the chance that he would get caught in the blast, at which point her mission would be moot.
But as stated earlier, Raven did not want to throw her life away, reputation or not. She was not leaving this city until Robin was gone, but neither did she want to end up caught in the blast. So how the hell would she do it?
That was when it hit her like a freight train.
"Slade! He's still in the city, which means he's also in the blast zone!" Raven burst out as she slapped her forehead in understand. That was her answer to her dilemma. Raven may not have known Slade that well, but she was sure beyond any doubt that the man would never throw his life away so carelessly.
That meant only one thing, he must have some form of a failsafe to protect himself. So in other words; if she stuck close to Slade, she could most certainly both remain in the city and stay safe.
Great, she now had a plan, now all she needed to do was find the damn villain. Easier said than done here. Raven could not help but give a huff of irritation. Just how do you track that guy down in the first place? The Titans had tried to find him for God knows how long, and they are no closer than what they were when they began.
Maybe she could use… No! Absolutely not! No way was she using her empathic powers again! She had her fill of that infernal power the last time she used it. But what left that for her to use then? There was no way she was going to manually search the whole frigging city.
But then another thought struck her. She could use the bug planted in the Titans' communication system to track Slade's signal back to the source!
That would alert the Titans of their breach in security, but in the long run it was probably worth it.
"Well, no time like the present. Better get to work." Raven mused to herself as she headed off.
"Don't you at least want to know where to look?" Argent asked impatiently of Robin. 'Seriously, he can be so pigheaded sometimes.' She thought to herself as she rewound the message sent by Slade.
"Slade gave us a bit more information than he intended." She explained as she zoomed in on the device. "Here, in this reflection."
"Oooh, squiggly lines. Way informative." Beast Boy deadpanned sarcastically. Argent merely pressed a few other buttons and the writing was cleared up and turned in the right direction.
"Pier 41!" Starfire burst out as she read what was written.
"The docks." Robin concluded. Beast Boy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as Argent gave him a pointed stare. Robin was about to yell his usual catchphrase when suddenly the alarms on the computer went off.
Argent immediately backed off in confusion as Cyborg promptly stepped forward and took her place at the keyboard.
"Dude, what's going on?" Beast Boy asked in confusion. Cyborg ignored him for a few moments as he frantically typed away at the keyboard.
"I don't know yet, something's messing with our system." Cyborg said in such a rush it was a miracle that anyone even had time to register his words. But suddenly his eyes widened in shock as he finally found the problem.
"Aw man! Yo Rob, you better come take a look at this." He called over his shoulder. Robin quickly strolled up next to his friend.
"What do you got?" he asked.
"A bug in our system, specifically our communication system. This is bad, someone has been eavesdropping on us." He explained angrily. Not that you could blame him, the guy had a very protective attitude when it came to the tech he had developed.
"Who?" Robin asked heatedly. No one messed with their system like that. Cyborg merely shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know, but I can tell you what they're doing. They've hacked into the feed from Slade and are tracking it back to its source." Cyborg explained before his fingers began dancing over the keyboard again. "But that works both ways. I can easily hack the signal and trace it back to its source, and then we can…"
"No." Robin cut him off harshly. "Our priority is Slade here. Everything else can wait."
Both Cyborg and the team looked skeptical about that. Sure, Slade had a Chroniton Detonator, but was it really safe to ignore a possibly hostile factor like this?
"We're wasting time here. Let's go." Robin ordered and without even waiting in case anyone had something to say on the matter, he strode out of the living room.
That guy was talking life way too seriously.
The Teen Titans were not the only ones aware of this new player. From his lair, Slade eyed the red dot blinking on a map over the city, indicating the location of his newest hunter. Despite the situation, Slade could not help but chuckle.
"A computer bug planted in the Titans communication system? Dear child, you certainly keep on surprising me here." He commented with that chilling voice of his. Slade could have easily sent a scrambling signal back at her right about now. That would knock her off his trail.
But he did not, instead he set his system to broadcast on a small level, making it easier for her to track him.
"I've left breadcrumbs for both of them now. Time for Hansel and Gretel to come home." Slade commented jokingly to himself.
Reaching Pier 41 was obviously the easy part for the Teen Titans. They lined up at the ready outside a warehouse while Cyborg stepped forward. With one blast from his sonic cannon, the door was blasted apart and the Titans stormed inside, ready for battle.
Only thing was, there was no one there. The place was deserted.
"Empty?" Starfire asked dumbfounded.
"Aw man!" Cyborg complained as he and the rest of the team began lowering their attacks.
"I don't believe this!" Robin snarled in anger. He was so close to get Slade, but yet again that slippery villain was one step ahead of him.
But as they suddenly found out, the place was not as abandoned as they had first come to believe as dozens of Sladebots jumped out of the shadows to surround the team.
"Great, now what are we to do?" Beast Boy asked as he cautiously eyed the large number of opponents. Robin however seemed to be undeterred by their numbers.
"We fight." He answered as be brought out his bo staff, though he did not fold it out to its usual length.
"Titans, go!" he shouted and as one, the team leaped into action. Though it seemed that Robin had a hell of a lot of pent up anger in him as he ruthlessly decimated the bots he was facing before rushing off to find more targets.
Cyborg meanwhile began to charge his opponents, intending to pound them into the ground. Robin beat him to it and with a few kicks and punches had knocked out Cyborg's opponents before moving on.
"Hey, I was gonna do that." An indignant Cyborg complained, but Robin merely ignored him.
Starfire found herself surrounding by three enemies. She powered up her starbolts and made ready to launch them at her opponents. Out of nowhere, Robin dived in, bouncing from one enemy to the next with lethal efficiency. Starfire was left gaping in disbelief in his wake.
Beast Boy too found himself surrounded by four enemy combatants. He in turn morphed into a bull and was just about to charge at the nearest one when Robin jumped in and delivered a double kick to two bots before leaping at the other two. They did not last much longer.
Argent meanwhile had formed a huge drill out of her crimson energy but never got a chance to use it as Robin jumped right in her way and leaped straight into her opponents. Argent could only stand there and gape as Robin crushed the bots with brutal kicks and punches.
The fight quickly degraded to the point that it was just Robin alone who fought the Sladebots while his team merely stood on the sidelines and watched. Sure, they wanted to step in and help him. But judging from how brutally he literally smashed the bots to pieces, they felt it was safer to just let him vent his anger on the Sladebots.
Better them than me. That was what the whole team thought as Robin tore into the enemies like a berserker.
Finally, with one last punch that shattered half the face of a Sladebot, Robin had dealt with all the enemies. Though it seemed that the man himself was not done yet as he promptly straddled the bot he had just demolished and began to mercilessly beat it further to pieces.
"Uhhh… Robin, I think you got him." Cyborg awkwardly pointed out, though it seemed like Robin had not even heard him.
"Yes, please, you may stop now." Starfire leaded as she stepped forward and grasped his arm just as it was about to land another blow. "We are victorious."
"Slade's go his finger on the button, and we've got nothing! Does that sound like a victory to you?" Robin heatedly retorted, sounding for a moment like he was going to attack her, before promptly stomping away towards the exit.
The rest of the team saw no other alternative than to follow their leader and regrouped outside of the warehouse.
"Okay, we know the Chroniton Detonator was here, now we just have to figure out where it went." Cyborg reasoned from where he stood next to Beast Boy.
"No problem. We should split up and…"
"… Waste what little time we have left searching only to come up empty-handed?" Argent interrupted Beast Boy with her brand of sarcastic truth.
"Well, when you put it like that…" Beast Boy admitted while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Starfire soon joined in on the debate.
"Argent is right. We must find some way to track the device."
But Robin was paying no mind to his team, he was looking for a solution on his own. His eyes scanned furiously over the area in search of something, anything. Suddenly, he caught sight of a dock worker, probably just beginning his shift.
The thought of whether or not the man was even involved in this matter never seemed to occur to Robin. The man was close to a place that Slade had been in, ergo he must be involved with the madman. It was that simple to Robin.
"Freeze!" he called out as he chased after the man. Needless to say, the man found the thought of listening to an angry and violent teenager not in his best interest and made a run for it.
Sadly, he did not get very far before a birdarang embeds itself in his path. Before he thought about just running past it, Robin slammed into him, pinning him harshly against the wall.
"Tell me everything you know about this!" Robin demanded as he held up Slade's symbol for the man to see. Of course, the poor man was scared shitless and all that came out were a stream of incoherent babbles and stammering.
"Answer me, now!" Robin persisted as he slammed the man against the wall for emphasis. He was not messing around today. It seemed that Robin's persistence gave the man enough motivation to at least answer him.
"I've never seen it before! I don't know anything, honest!" he desperately pleaded with Robin. But that seemed not to be the answer Robin was hoping for as his face scrunched up in fury.
But before he had a chance to go any further with his interrogation, a crimson fist grabbed hold of him and slammed him into the opposite wall, pinning him in place. It was not long after than he found himself surrounded by his own team.
"I thought you said earlier that you could handle it." Argent stated as she released her hold on him.
"You promised." Starfire added in a hurt tone, clearly displeased that he had broken his word. But sadly, Robin was all but deaf to their words. There was only one thing that mattered to him at the moment; catching Slade.
"We're wasting time." He stated angrily as he began to stalk away. But Beast Boy had had enough of his attitude by now.
"You know, just because we're trying to catch Slade, doesn't mean you have to act like him." he said irritable. That got a reaction out of the Boy Wonder, and not a positive one. His whole body froze up momentarily before he whirled around to face Beast Boy.
"Don't you ever compare me to him." he practically growled as he walked right up to Beast Boy with a furious expression. "He's trying to destroy the city, I'm trying to save it!"
The situation looked like it was about to devolve into a fistfight at this point, and no one on the team knew how to avert it. Salvation came in the least expected form from Starfire.
"ACHOOO!" it might have been a harmless sneeze, if it was not for the fact that it was powered up by Starfire's starbolt power. The Titans therefore got a firsthand taste of how many of Starfire's opponents felt after a battle.
"Bless you." Argent said in a dazed state.
"Forgive me, I'm allergic to metallic Chromium. There must be a source near…" that was about what she got out before another sneeze became imminent. With fearful eyes, the Titans scattered in every direction to avoid a full-on blast of it. A wise course of action, considering that one sneeze created a mushroom cloud from the explosion.
As things settled down again, the Titans began to carefully poke their heads out from their covers.
"Sorry." Starfire awkwardly apologized just as Cyborg approached her with a curious expression.
"Interesting." He commented mostly to himself.
"Not really. On my world Chromium allergies are quite common." Starfire explained.
"No, the key component of a Chroniton Detonator is a metallic Chromium core, which means…"
"… Starfire can track it."
It seemed things finally began going the right way for the Teen Titans.
"Why, out of all the places in this whole goddamn city, did Slade have to set up in THE BLOODY SEWERS?!" it was not a good day or Raven. First the city was threatened with imminent destruction, then she had to unveil her bug in the Titans system and now she had to trudge through sewer water to reach her target.
Definitively not how she had planned to spend the rest of the day.
But, as they say, beggars can't be choosers. If she wanted to find Slade, then trudging through sewers she had to do. But this had better be worth it in the end. Even if the signal was easy as hell to follow, the sewer system was like a damn maze. It kept twisting and turning in every which direction.
And with every minute wasted trying to find the shortest route, the greater the chances of Slade deciding to trigger his bomb. Though thankfully she had come prepared for a battle. Not only did she carry a huge variety of weapons on her persona, she also carried a duffel bag packed to the brim with all manner of little goodies. Raven was just about to round another corner when…
"ACHOOO!" the noise was accompanied by an explosion that shook the walls around Raven. Frantically, she slipped behind the corner and turned the safety off on her AUG Assault Rifle. What manner of creature could cause such an explosion with just a simple sneeze?
"I believe it is this way." Never mind. When a Titan was involved, all sorts of crazy stuff always seemed to happen. Raven pressed herself deeper into the shadows as she saw the Teen Titans walk right past the sewer line she was hiding in. but something was a little different here, there was an underlying tension between the Titans.
Something had happened earlier, and Raven was willing to bet that the cause was Robin, who was at the back of the group instead of his usual spot at the front. Carefully, Raven took aim at Robin's back. If she killed him here and now, then she could just hightail it out of here.
"Look, guys, about earlier…" Robin began to softly explain to his teammates, unaware of the imminent danger lurking behind him. Raven had a clear shot now, but something she caught sight of just ahead of the team made her hesitate.
She was not the only one who had spotted it.
"Whatever you want to say, it'll have to wait." Argent stated as she pointed ahead of them, where a motorboat was lying in the water. But it was not the boat that caught their attention, it was its cargo.
The Chroniton Detonator.
A single Sladebot was guarding the device, and upon catching sight of the team was quick to put full throttle on the boat, racing away.
"Titans, go!" Robin shouted as his team set off in hot pursuit. However, Robin himself never got very far before a concrete hand burst out from the wall and dragged him into another room.
"Robin!" Starfire cried out in horror as she and the rest of the team rushed to the hole in the wall to see Robin fighting against Cinderblock.
"Get the detonator! Go!" he shouted as he dodged a wild swing from Cinderblock. Though at first hesitant, the Titans finally decided to follow their leader's orders and took off in pursuit of the boat.
The moment the Titans were out of sight, Raven silently made her way up to the hole. Peering inside, she could not help but be somewhat impressed. Robin had no superpowers whatsoever, and yet he was holding his own against Cinderblock.
Still, as much as she would love to watch this, time was ticking away. That bomb could go off any second now and Raven liked to be in synch with the rest of time. Besides, the signal was stronger from within here, meaning she was getting closer.
So with that in mind, she slowly edged around the two combatants. Thankfully they were too busy fighting each other to notice her. Who knew, maybe Raven would get lucky and Cinderblock would squash that little pest for her.
As Raven made her silent escape, Robin was giving the pain to Cinderblock. Assuming that the lumbering pile of concrete could even feel pain to begin with. Rage was fuelling Robin at this point, giving him near superhuman strength as he mercilessly pounded away at his opponent.
And at last, Cinderblock could take no more of the beating and collapsed. Though the fact that Cinderblock was now thoroughly knocked did not apparently register with Robin as he leaped on top of his chest.
"Where is he?! Where's…" before the whole question had left his lips, Robin noticed that Cinderblock was clutching a device in his massive hand. Gingerly picking it up, he found a digital map on screen with two locations being marked out.
The first location was the one he was currently standing in. However, the other location was truly what caught his attention. It was marked with a constantly bleeping "S" symbol.
Robin was practically hypnotized by that one symbol constantly bleeping. For how long he just stood there wide-eyed, Robin was not certain. But finally, his daze like state was shattered as a triumphant smirk split his face. 'Gotcha!'
From his lair deep underground, Slade was calmly observing the Titans' futile chase after the Chroniton Detonator on his massive computer screen. Fools, they had already lost, they were just too stubborn to realize it.
"Hurry, young Titans. Your time is running out." He casually remarked, as if he was expecting them to hear him. His statement however was swiftly followed by the door to his lair exploding. But Slade never so much as twitched. In fact, he looked like he had been expecting that to happen the whole time.
Stepping through the smoke and debris, Robin glared hatefully at Slade's back. The bastard had not even turned around to acknowledge him.
"Actually, we just went into overtime." Robin snarled venomously at him, his whole body tensed up to strike at a second's notice. Slade still looked as calm as ever.
"Robin, welcome. I've been expecting you for some time." Seriously, was there anything this guy was not expecting? "I was beginning to wonder if Cinderblock was too much of a challenge."
Robin had meanwhile taken the chance to descend to ground level in preparation for an attack. And at last did Slade turn around to face him while holding up the trigger in plain sight.
"Looking for this?" he asked tauntingly. "Well, here it is."
With those words, Slade placed the trigger in the space between the two of them before backing off.
"If you want it, come and take it."
Both combatants at first just silently observed one another, daring the other to make the first move. Robin was barely restraining himself, his whole body already tensed up to strike at a second's notice.
Slade on the other hand was the very epitome of calmness. He had not even assumed a fighting stance; he just stood silently where he was, hands folded behind his back. It was as if he did not plan on fighting in the first place. And that aggravated Robin.
"Aren't you going to fight me?" Robin practically snarled at him. Slade however merely chuckled.
"I'm not the one you need to worry about at the moment." He answered humorlessly. It was not until Robin noticed that Slade was looking at something behind him that he realized the meaning behind his words.
Slowly turning around, Robin had to admit that he was not that surprised to find Raven there. She was currently aiming an AUG Assault Rifle at Robin while glancing suspiciously between both Robin and Slade.
"Am I interrupting something important here?" she asked sarcastically. Robin narrowed his eyes furiously at her. Out of all the times and places, why the hell did she need to show up now?!
"Why are you here? Don't you know what's at stake here if Slade's not stopped?!" Robin demanded furiously of her.
"To answer in that order; I'm here to kill you and I know that Slade has a Chroniton Detonator that he plans to detonate if he's not stopped." Raven calmly answered. But while she may have appeared calm, she was a bit worried.
Last time she had tried to kill Robin, Slade had stepped in and stopped her. She was worried that he might do something similar here. A three way battle was not something Raven relished.
"If you know that already, then why did you stay?" Robin's question brought Raven out of her thoughts as she returned her focus to him.
"Because he's still here." Raven answered while giving Slade a pointed stare. At Robin's confused stare, Raven gave a tired sight before elaborating.
"This place is still within the blast zone of the Chroniton Detonator, so if Slade triggered it here he would be frying his own ass along with the city, unless he had some kind of protection. And seriously bird boy, does he strike you as a kamikaze guy?"
Now that Robin thought about it, Raven was right. Slade would not throw his life away like this, would he? It just would not add up to the image Robin had developed around his nemesis. A humored chuckle from Slade all but confirmed it.
"Perceptive, dear Raven. Very perceptive." Slade complimented. "Neither of you has anything to worry about. I can assure you that we're quite safe from the Chroniton Detonator here."
Internally, Raven let out a relieved sigh. There had been a small part of her that had been constantly worrying that maybe she had miscalculated. Now with that cleared up, she could focus on the task at hand.
However, there was still a chance that she would be forced to contend with Slade as she tried to kill Robin. She tried to keep a critical eye on the both of them as discreetly as she could.
"No need to worry about me, dear child. I'm quite content to merely observe." Slade reassured her with that damnable icy voice of his. It would seem Raven had not been a discreet as she had thought.
Nevertheless, Slade's answer was all the motivation she would ever need. A smirk split her lips, setting Robin on edge.
"Good enough." She remarked before she let loose with the full automatic system.
There were many things in life that Cyborg hated for one reason or another. One of them was chasing a boat through a sewer. But there was one other thing that Cyborg hated even more; chasing a boat that carried a doomsday device through the sewers while being carried through the air as an invalid, all the while being under fire from the aforementioned boat.
He had to at least give Starfire some credit. Even while carrying his bulky form, she was still able to skillfully avoid the barrage of energy bolts being fired from the boat. Still, those energy bolts were becoming quite a pest to the whole team. So with two precision shots, Cyborg knocked out the guns.
With that obstacle gone, Starfire was able to close the gap unhindered. Even the boat's driver's attempt to speed ahead of them proved fruitless. In just a few short seconds, Starfire had caught up and was hovering above the boat.
"Thanks for the lift!" Cyborg called over his shoulder while giving a thumbs-up. Starfire promptly dropped him on board the boat. The driver, having noticed he had an unwelcomed passenger on board, pressed a series of buttons on a control panel.
The driver suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, and looking back he found Cyborg grinning cockily at him. In this instance, there was only one word that could summarize his position; crap.
The poor driver was quickly relieved of both the boat and the detonator as Cyborg sent him sailing into the sewer water.
That left only one problem for Cyborg; how to stop the infernal boat. He tried gripping onto the wheel, but the boat was on auto-pilot and would not yield to his demands. He ended up tearing the wheel off in his haste to stop the boat. At that point, Starfire joined him on the boat, but she could do nothing else but stand awkwardly on the sideline.
Cyborg quickly grew desperate and tried to press in a series of random codes into the control panel, hoping to score a hit there. All he received for his troubles in response was a computer voice announcing "Invalid code".
The boat now began to swerve wildly from one side to the next, as if it was trying to shake off its passengers, who for their part clung to whatever they could for dear life while screaming in terror.
Finally, Cyborg had had enough and simply tore out the computer system from the boat. With its system knocked out, the boat came to a lurching stop at an intersection. Both Starfire and Cyborg were promptly joined by the remaining two members.
"Okay, I sure hope you ain't planning on stopping the device in the same way." Argent remarked as she eyed the torn out device still gripped in Cyborg's hand. Casting a surprised look at the device, as if he only noticed it now, Cyborg blushed in embarrassment.
"Uhm…" he offered lamely while smiling sheepishly. Needless to say, it did not inspire confidence in the other Titans.
"You do know how to stop it, don't you?" Beast Boy asked in what could possibly be alarm, not that you could blame him.
"How hard could it be?" Cyborg reasoned as he threw the device he used to clutch over his shoulder before walking up to the Chroniton Detonator. Kneeling in front of it, Cyborg began to carefully inspect it in search of something he could work with.
He nearly got a heart attack when the device sprung up like a jack-in-the-box.
"Oh…" was all he could say as he eyed all parts of the device.
"We're standing on ground zero here, folks. If we're gonna do something, I suggest we do it before Slade tries to trigger it." Argent urged Cyborg on. Time was running out for them. All they could do was hope that whatever it was that held Slade's attention at the moment would keep doing it for just a little while longer.
The clanking of cogwheels was usually the only sound present in Slade's lair. Today, that sound had competition in the form of machine gun fire, originating from Raven who was standing on top of a cogwheel. She was walking in a calm pace on it while aiming at the cover Robin was hiding behind.
Another burst of fully automatic fire was let loose as Robin tried to peek around the corner. Cursing under his breath, Robin desperately tried to find a way to break the stalemate.
"Come now, Robin. You'll have to do better than that. Raven hasn't even broken a sweat yet." Slade announced from the sidelines. Gritting his teeth, he sent a scathing look at the madman. This would have been a whole lot easier to endure if that psycho did not act like he was a bloody referee.
Robin suddenly pulled out a birdarang from his utility belt. Taking careful aim, he threw it like a boomerang around the corner. Raven reacted on instinct and turned her sight on the fast moving target and with a precision shot blasted it out of the air.
But that was all the time Robin needed as before Raven could aim at him again, Robin had popped a smoke bomb, obscuring him from view. Raven cursed out loud.
"Where the hell did he go?" she asked furiously. Her answer came in the form of a grapple gun that embedded itself above her before Robin was dragged up and landed on the same cogwheel as her.
Robin was quick to charge at Raven, who managed to block an incoming fist with her gun before her legs were swept out from under her. But Robin was given no chance to strike again as Raven pulled out one of her Desert Eagles and fired wildly at him.
As Robin jumped back, Raven threw a grenade at him before leaping off the cogwheel just before the grenade went off. While Raven managed to land on her feet, Robin landed painfully on his back.
"Good reactions, Raven. But your martial art skills leave much to be desired." Slade commented yet again. Now it was Raven's turn to grit her teeth at him.
"Will you just shut up?! What are you, our coach?!" though she was more vocal that Robin concerning her displeasure. Slade merely chuckled at her.
"Just offering some advice that may serve you well in the future." He answered. Raven however was not listening anymore as her focus was back on Robin, who was charging right at her with a fierce battle cry.
Raven was quick to reach inside the duffel bag she had brought along. And as Robin came within a few feet of her, Raven pulled out a M1014 Combat Shotgun. Robin had enough time to widen his eyes in shock and dive to the side before Raven began to furiously pump out scatter shots at him.
"Eat this, bird boy!" she shouted furiously as Robin tried to desperately avoid the deadly hail of scatter shots coming his way.
Taking a chance, Robin somersaulted right over Raven as she was just about to blast his legs off. Raven tried to swirl around and get a shot off, but Robin was faster and kicked the weapon out of her hands before delivering a roundhouse kick to her.
She hit the floor hard, but quickly rolled over so she was facing Robin again as she pulled out an Uzi from behind her back. This time, Robin had no time to dodge as the Uzi spit out dozens of rounds per second at him. Several impacted against his chest, but thankfully the Kevlar held. Though he was sure those areas were going to sting later.
Biting back the pain, he threw a birdarang that disarmed Raven before rushing in with his bo staff. Rave sidestepped the first swing and dodged under the second, but was not fast enough to evade a vicious jab into her chest that knocked her back.
"Good technique, Robin." Slade complimented, being ignored by the two combatants. Robin tried again, but this time Raven was prepared. As he tried hitting her with the bo staff, she blocked it with a bowie knife she had retrieved from her belt before she stepped inside his guard and delivered a fist right into his face.
The bo staff was knocked aside as a knife slash to his chest followed, along with a boot to his gut that knocked the wind out of him.
"Good, but not perfect." Slade added.
Robin growled threateningly as he got back on his feet and charged again. Raven tried to gut him, but he grabbed her hand and twisted it until she was forced to let go of the knife while crying out in pain. A fist coming towards his face forced him to let go and back off.
Raven took the chance to make a dash towards her discarded duffel bag. Robin tried to catch up with her, but was not fast enough before she reached it and retrieved a P90. Using a grapple gun, Robin managed to drag himself above the hail of bullets that quickly followed.
"Excellent strategy, Robin." Slade commented yet again from the sidelines. But Raven was fast to ground him with a single shot that severed the rope, causing him to plummet back to the ground.
"Perfect aim, Raven." Slade complimented as Raven let loose with her last bullets at Robin. A few grazed him, but for the most part Robin managed to dodge. Hearing the telltale sound of a magazine running dry, Raven discarded the P90.
Both combatants took a few moments to catch their breaths and analyze their opponent. Both were worn out by now, and Raven was starting to run out of guns to use. But it was obvious Raven held one advantage; time.
If necessary, Raven could wait him out and take her sweet time. Robin had no such luxury. With every second he wasted fighting Raven, the chances grew of Slade deciding to trigger the Chroniton Detonator.
But fortunately for Robin, Raven was not particularly patient when it concerned matters like these. That was exemplified by Raven grasping the hilt of her broadsword and began to slowly draw it out of its scabbard.
"You know what? I'm starting to get bored by this dragged out fight. I say it's high time we ended this." She stated as she pulled out her sword the last bit before expertly giving a few experimental swings with it. She pointed the sword straight at Robin, a wicked grin plastered on her face.
"Your move, bird boy." she said amusedly. Robin narrowed his eyes in anger at her. Nevertheless, he decided to comply as he brought out two birdarangs. Before Raven could wonder what he was planning to do with them, he slammed them together.
That was just the confusing part, the surprising part was when they together formed into a sword for Robin to use. Despite the situation, Raven could not help but grin in anticipation.
"Seems like you've learned a thing or two from fighting me earlier, eh?" she questioned. Robin merely growled at her before he leaped forward with a downward slash.
"Less talking, more fighting!" he shouted as Raven blocked the swing before sidestepping and driving a fist into Robin's side. He staggered back but still tried another attack. He slashed, he stabbed, he thrust, he slashed again. But Raven was far more experienced in sword fighting and was constantly blocking or dodging his strikes with a smug grin on her face the whole time.
As he tried another thrust, he accidentally overextended himself. Raven was quick to knock his blade aside and went in for the kill. Robin managed to sidestep a slash, but was caught unprepared by the pommel nailing him in the gut.
He doubled over from the blow, feeling like vomiting here and now. Though he still had enough sense to roll clear of a stab that would have severed his spine. But as he got back on his feet, he barely managed to get his sword up in time to block a strike from Raven.
He tried getting in a swing of his own, but Raven would have none of that and pushed on. She delivered one brutal strike, then another, and another, and another, and another, and another. The blows kept raining down to the point that Robin's arms began to grow numb.
Then, as their blades became locked again, Raven twirled around his body until she delivered a devastating strike with the pommel of her sword to the back of his head. Robin fell forward, his head spinning like a roulette from that blow.
He was only faintly aware of his body hitting the cold floor as his senses were still spinning wildly. A weak groan escaped his lips as his senses began to slowly return to him. He tried standing back up, but the dizziness made him want to puke… again.
Though eventually his head stopped moving around like a crazy roller coaster, but he still had a nasty headache. Frustration quickly blew away any remnants of dizziness as he slammed the ground with his fist in anger. ow the hell could Raven be that skillful with a sword?! It was just not fair!
"I understand your frustration, Robin. You hate losing as much as I do." Slade's cold and analytical yet at the same time taunting voice reached Robin's ears. "One of the many qualities we have in common."
Hearing his nemesis speak as if they were the same caused Robin's already massive anger to boil over. A guttural growl tore its way from his throat as his hatred demanded that something must suffer pain now. The feeling of cold steel pressing against the side of his throat gave Robin a target to focus all his anger on.
Faster than Raven could react, Robin whirled around with a savage roar and a vicious slash aimed at her. She barely managed to jump back to avoid getting cut in two.
"Still got some fight in you? Well ain't that a sur…" she never further than that as Robin charged her again. Raven was not even given a chance to retaliate as Robin let loose with a flurry of brutal strikes at her. There was no finesse to his attacks, no skill, just raw anger and strength.
It was obvious he was not thinking straight anymore and simply sought to overpower her. a risky gamble that could very well cost him his life. Assuming Raven could actually get a chance to land a hit on him of course. Right now all her focus went to defend herself.
Raven meanwhile was staring wide eyed at her opponent. This was not the Robin she had hounded for months now, this was a raging beast out for blood. Her blood to be precise. And as much as she hated to admit it, she was a bit frightened by his berserk-like behavior.
But suddenly she found an opening as he overextended himself yet again. With a flurry of blows, Raven managed to disarm her opponent before knocking him over. Raven tried to skewer him on the floor, but he performed a backflip that landed him on his feet again, causing Raven's sword to get embedded in the floor.
Raven was never even given the chance to retrieve her weapon before Robin, with all his strength, brought his foot down hard on the blade. And shattered it. All that came out of Raven was a gasp in disbelief before a fist smashed into her gut.
It was quickly followed by an uppercut to her chin, a blow to the left side of her head, a blow to the right side, a kick to the stomach, a blow to the chest, another blow to the stomach, yet another blow to the head and finally a backflip kick to the underside of her chin again that sent Raven flying straight into a wall.
Now it was Raven's turn to feel dizziness. Her whole vision kept spinning to the point that she could not tell what was up and what was down. Her whole body felt like it had been trampled by an elephant and she wondered if a rib had been broken as well.
With a weak groan, Raven slipped down to the hard ground, not even having the strength to stand up anymore after the brutal beating she had just received.
Robin paid her no further heed as he strolled over to where the trigger was still lying unclaimed on the ground. Picking it up, he gave Slade a triumphant grin. He had finally bested the villain.
"It's over, Slade." He stated. Though for some reason Slade looked as calm as ever, as if the fact that Robin was holding the control to his master plan did not bother him in the slightest. It made Robin nervous.
"On the contrary, Robin." Slade countered as the trigger began to sparkle before it disintegrated in his hands. Robin could do nothing but stare in disbelief. So close! He had been so close!
"This is only the beginning." Slade concluded smugly, arms folded behind his back. Robin at first merely looked at him in disbelief, before his look turned into one of anger again.
"Where's the real trigger?" he demanded of the one eyes madman. If he would have to tear this whole place apart to find it, he would.
"Trigger? There is no trigger, because there is no detonator." Slade revealed calmly, with a hint of smugness to it.
Time was ticking away. The bomb looked like it was ready to go off any second now. There was no more time for debate, Cyborg needed to act. Now!
"Moment of truth, y'all. Everybody ready?" he asked as he raised is forefinger turned blowtorch. Tension was high, everyone was preparing for the worst. Beast Boy was practically chewing his nails off.
"I can't watch!" he announced as he slapped his hands over his eyes, though in contradiction to his earlier words he opened up a gap between his fingers to look. Quickly, before he could start second guessing himself, Cyborg cut off three cables. The detonator promptly shut off.
All the gathered Titans let out a collective breath of relief… that immediately turned into a unified gasp of horror as the detonator powered up again, sounding like it was making ready to detonate.
"AHHH! We blew it! We're frozen in time forever!" Beast Boy burst out in despair. But without warning, the whole contraption sagged together as smoke rose from it and it gave off what could be described as a dying groan. It took a few seconds for Beast Boy to realize that time was still moving as usual, at which point he just looked confused.
"Uhm… Why are we not frozen in time forever?" he asked in confusion.
"Because this wasn't a Chroniton Detonator, it was a fake." Cyborg answered. Unseen by anyone of them, a section of the boat opened up behind them and a strange looking cannon poked out. It was quick to blast all four Titans with a red energy that sent them flying off the boat and into the sewer water.
"So, aside from the nasty taste of sewer water in my mouth, I think I'm okay." Beast Boy announced from where he was floating.
"Diagnostic sensors say I'm fine." Cyborg stated as he made a quick check-up of his systems.
"Kind of weak weapon then if this was all it could do." Argent remarked condescendingly. Slade must have really underestimated them if this was the best he could think of.
"Then… we are victorious?" Starfire asked hopefully.
Starfire could not have been further from the truth with that question. Unknown to them, that energy cannon was never meant to kill, it was meant to infect them with a new toy Slade had developed.
"Nanoscopic probes." Slade clarified as he stood in front of a huge monitor, displaying the vital signs of each Titan infected. "The Chroniton Detonator was merely the bait, for a much larger trap."
As he explained, he held up his right hand, where a new detonator was fastened around his wrist and extended into the palm of his hand.
"You see with a push of a button, my probes will destroy your friends. From the inside out." Now that would be nasty way to go. But Robin seemed to not be intimidated just yet.
"You can't control them. No matter what you threaten, they'll never obey you." he stated venomously. Slade looked, as always, completely untroubled.
"This isn't about your friends, Robin. It's about you; it's always been about you." Slade clarified to the young teen as he began circling him.
"What?" Robin asked in disbelief.
"Sending trouble your way, leaving cryptic clues for you to unravel. I was testing you." Slade revealed as he faced Robin. "For some time now I've been searching for… an apprentice. Someone to follow in my footsteps."
At this point, he walked right up to Robin and bent down until his face was mere inches from his.
"And Robin, I've chosen you. Congratulations."
Of course, Robin was in no way thrilled by that announcement.
"No way would I ever work for…" his protests died on his lips as Slade held the detonator up in plain view, with his thumb poised to push the button.
"If you join me, if you swear to serve me, if you never speak to your friends again, I will allow them to live. But, if you disobey, even the smallest request, I will annihilate them, Robin. And I'll make you watch." A truly frightening ultimatum; join your most hated villain or see your friends die.
"So, do we have a deal?" Slade inquired, even though both of them knew what the answer would be. Robin may hate Slade more than anything, but he would never be able to live with himself if he allowed his friends to die now.
His body, that just moments ago was tensed up and filled with fighting determination, now sagged together as he lowered his head in defeat, a nonverbal way of saying "yes" when he could not trust his voice to break from sorrow or anger.
"Excellent." Slade said as he turned around. But seemingly unnoticed by either of them, Raven had managed to rise back to her feet, a determined gleam in her violet eyes. Robin had his back turned to her now, and his guard was down as well. She would only get one shot at this, but that was all that she would need.
Careful not to make any noise, she withdrew her last Desert Eagle and took aim on Robin's head. 'Apprentice or not, I'm finishing you here and now.' Raven thought with grim determination.
"Oh, I almost forgot." Slade suddenly commented offhandedly. Before either Raven or Robin could react, Slade whirled around and threw a disc at Raven. it knocked the gun right out of her hand just as she fired one bullet that sailed harmlessly past Robin's head.
Raven looked at where her gun clattered to the floor in shock before she turned her eyes back forward. She nearly had a heart attack when she found that Slade had closed the gap between them. One powerful blow to her stomach later, Raven was left gliding off Slade's fist as she tried to suck in the precious oxygen that had been knocked out of her.
As she sat on her knees, wheezing for breath, Slade loomed menacingly above her.
"Now now, Raven. Can't have you killing off my apprentice just after I got him." he stated. Raven just glared heatedly up at him from her position on the floor.
"Like I care. I got kicked out of H.I.V.E. Academy because of him, and he's my ticket back in." she growled at him. If she would have to fight Slade to succeed, so be it. Not like she had anywhere to go now. To her surprise though, Slade chuckled at her.
"Dear child, that would be as far away from the truth as you could get. You were never expelled, you graduated." He explained in that damned icy voice of his. Taking not of the confused look he drew from her, Slade elaborated.
"When I sent your team to destroy the Teen Titans as a final exam, I had merely intended to use you as messengers to the Titans. But as I watched your fighting skills, your ingenuity and your boldness, I realized you could be of further use to me."
He paused for a few moments to allow it to sink into Raven's mind before he continued.
"So immediately after you had made your escape, I made an arrangement with your headmistress were you would enter my employment. Part of the arrangement was for her to make it appear as if you had failed and therefore been expelled, and your only way to get back in would be to kill Robin."
"But why would you do that?" Raven interrupted in confusion. Even Robin was listening intently in the background, his own horrifying dilemma temporarily forgotten as he was finally given an answer as to why Raven had been after him for so long.
"You were meant as another test for Robin. By pitting him against an opponent who had nothing to lose but everything to gain from his destruction, you were meant to test his endurance and will to survive." Slade revealed, to the shock of both teenagers.
"I had anticipated that the Titans would defeat you in the end. However…" both Raven's and Robin's attention were immediately back on Slade. "… You far exceeded my expectations when you not only escaped captivity, but actually pressed on and tried time and again to fulfill your mission."
Raven could not help but feel proudness swell up in her chest from his words.
"I realized then that you were worth more than a simple pawn to be discarded on a whim, and that you could be of greater usage to me." Slade concluded at last. By now Raven was giving him a suspicious look.
"You aren't planning on making me your apprentice as well?" she asked defensibly. Slade merely chuckled at her… again.
"No such thing. I only train one apprentice at a time. I was thinking more of an employment as an agent under my control." Slade clarified. At this, the guarded look in Raven's eyes vanished and a more calculating one took its place.
"Well…" Raven began as she stood back up on her feet, all business-like. "… if I'm gonna work for you, we need to discuss payment. My services don't come cheap, you know."
"I'm sure we can work out an arrangement." Slade answered before he turned his attention back to Robin. "But first, I think you're in need of a new uniform."
The remaining Titans had by now reached topside, but they had lost all connections with Robin. And it worried them.
"Robin? Robin? Robin, please respond!" Starfire desperately pleaded into her communicator, receiving nothing but silence from the other end.
"Why does he not answer?" she asked in confusion to her friends, who were just as clueless as she was.
"His locator has been deactivated. We have no way to find him." Cyborg stated in despair. He did not like leaving his friend like this.
"Not good." Beast Boy stated the obvious.
"Robin, please. You must answer. Robin…" Starfire continued unabated to call her friend and teammate. She would not abandon him.
Deep underground, Starfire's pleas echoed out from Robin's communicator, lying with the rest of his discarded uniform. Robin himself was standing in an overhanging light, just finishing putting on the uniform given to him by Slade.
It was modeled after Slade's own suit, except Robin still had his domino mask and the upper body section was half black and half orange. Just wearing this uniform made Robin feel disgusted, as if its very existence was an affront to nature itself. But he had no choice.
If he wanted his friends to live, he would have to play Slade's game. No matter how much it pained him. Speaking of Slade, said man just walked into the light himself.
"I know it seems bad now, but trust me… you'll learn, to like it." Slade offered to his new apprentice, who would like nothing more than to strangle the man with his own intestines.
"Raven, would you be kind enough to show Robin to his new quarters." Slade called over his shoulder before he disappeared into the shadows. Raven quickly emerged in his place and with a simple flick of her head indicated for Robin to follow her.
Down a corridor they went, Raven leading the way while Robin followed like a quiet shadow. Finally they reached an unmarked door and Raven pressed a button on the wall, causing the door to open up. She then stepped aside, allowing Robin to enter.
The room was not much to look at; a simple bed and closet with a small desk in a corner. Comfort was apparently not something that Slade valued highly.
But it was then that Robin became aware that Raven had not left, and was still standing at the doorway. He turned around to regard her coldly, too tired to give a scathing comment to her. But he became confused by the unreadable expression she had on her face. It looked like she had something to say, but was uncertain on how to formulate it.
"For what it's worth, I know the feeling of being trapped like this." She suddenly said, in a surprisingly cold and monotone voice, no trace of the usual sarcasm or wittiness. In fact, it sounded almost like she was trying to cover up her emotions. Before Robin could say anything, Raven had vanished back down the corridor, leaving Robin alone in this new prison of his.