Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plotline and any original characters (but this chapter is taken almost entirely from the episode Apprentice Part One). Everything else is owned by DC Comics.
Chapter Fifteen:
Malchior and Jinx pace in the Tower. "He's going to hurt her," Jinx whispers, referencing Slade. "We know that, but Raven believes Slade is going to target Robin. She'll think that she is immune to him."
"What are we going to do? Should we call Rorek?"
"No, Rorek relinquished all claims to Raven when I beat her in the duel. My brother has to focus on protecting Azarath. It's up to us to protect the Princess."
"And when she won't let us?"
"I don't care if she doesn't want our help, Lorna. I am in love with her. I'm not letting her die."
"Why the sudden change of heart? Shouldn't you be happy that she may die but her blood won't be on your hands?"
"Raven explained some things to me. She has to fulfill the prophecy. I'm not Azar. I'm not Raza. I am not a god, nor any other form of a deity. Just because I'm an immortal doesn't mean I'm allowed to meddle with Destiny. We can't let her die."
Jinx stares at Malchior. "You really do care about her, don't you?"
"I love her."
"Yeah, so do I."
The Titans stand in a sewer tunnel. Starfire unleashes another powerful sneeze as she trudges forward through water. "I believe it is this way," the congested alien says.
The Titans begin to follow her, Robin bringing up the rear. "Look, guys, uh about earlier." The Titans all stop moving. "It'll have to wait," Raven says. She points forward. In front of them is a small speedboat. The detonator sits in the back of it, and a small group of robots guards it.
"Titans! Go!" Robin orders. Beast Boy shift into a hawk. The robot turns the boat on and it flies down the tunnel. "Quick! We can't let them get away!"
His orders and their charge are interrupted by the explosion of the wall next to him. A stone hand grabs him, dragging him through the hole. "Robin," Starfire gasps out a yell. The others realize Robin is now fighting Cinderblock. They move to help, but their leader orders them to go after the detonator.
Everyone but Starfire obeys the order. Cyborg grabs her, pulling her along. "Star! You heard the man!"
The team follows the boat. Cyborg runs through the water. Beast Boy flies as a hawk. Starfire and Raven chase after it in the air.
The robot presses a few buttons on the boat. A computer voice announces that its defense mode is activated. Two lasers begin firing off shots, forcing the Titans to dodge all of them. Cyborg stops in what would be a blind spot for the lasers. He pulls out his canon. "I will not be having attitude from a boat!"
Slade watches the chase from his lair. The Titans continue in their pursuit. Slade watches this from different angles.
"Hurry, young Titans, your time is running out." A door is blown up from behind him, but Slade doesn't even flinch. As the smoke clears, it reveals Robin.
"Actually, we just went into overtime."
"Robin. Welcome. I've been expecting you for some time." Robin drops down from the catwalk to land on the same platform that Slade stands on. "I was beginning to wonder if Cinderblock was too much of a challenge."
He turns to face Robin and holds up the remote. "Looking for this?" He waves it in the air. "Well…" He sets it down on an area of floor that has a spotlight on it. "…here it is. If you want it, come and take it."
Cyborg and Starfire stand on the speedboat as Beast Boy and Raven dispatch the robots. "How does one halt this vehicle?" Starfire asks. Cyborg thinks for a moment. His only idea is to open the computer panel and rip out all of the wiring.
The boat comes to a stop in an open chamber. Starfire smiles and Cyborg looks over the destroyed wiring. Raven and Beast Boy land on the deck. The green hawk shifts so they're looking at the gangly, teenage human.
"Please tell me that's not how you're planning to stop the detonator," Raven pleads. Cyborg looks at her surprised. A bead of sweat rolls down his forehead and he blushes a little. "Nothing to worry about. I'm only trying to dismantle a machine that could stop time for the entire city."
"You don't know how to stop it, do you?" Beast Boy questions his best friend. He recognizes the look of 'What the hell do I do now' that's evident in his friend's eyes. It appears in his own eyes quite often. "How hard could it be?" Cyborg responds, completely in denial.
He examines the control panel of the detonator. "Ooh," he says as he realizes that he really is in over his head. "Whatever we're going to do, we should do it before Slade decides to trigger this thing." Raven kneels next to Cyborg. She's the one that works with him on all things technological, but she isn't delusional. If Cyborg doesn't know how to dismantle it, there's no way she'll be able to figure it out.
Raven pulls out the screws holding the square panel at the heart of the detonator core in place. Cyborg removes the panel. This movement reveals a red sphere.
"The chromium core. Very unstable. No sudden movements." Beast Boy takes the form of an octopus. He takes the panel from Cyborg and carefully sets it aside.
Starfire's sneeze is deterred by a shield Raven throws up around her. Raven allows the shield to dissipate after Starfire sneezes. The Tamaranean's hair is wild from the force of a suppressed sneeze. "Please, continue," she says softly. Beast Boy shifts back into his human form.
"Okay." Cyborg makes his robotic forefinger form an acetylene torch. "Now all we have to do is decouple the-"
The sphere beeps and rapidly rotates as soon as Cyborg uses the torch to sever a single cable. "Well, that doesn't sound good." Raven swallows. "I don't think one of my shields will stop that." Beast Boy's teeth chatter. The girls look over Cyborg's shoulders.
"Moment of truth, y'all. Everybody ready?"
"I can't watch!" Beast Boy buries his face in his hands, but he parts his fingers. The parting allows him to clearly see what's going on. Cyborg moves his flame across two more cables. The core stops. The red glow fades. A metal ball with a normal and ordinary appearance sits in front of them. All but Starfire sigh loudly and show relief on their faces. The alien just smiles.
Their moment of relief and happiness is short-lived, because the core is active again. An alarm sounds, causing the Titans to gasp and stare wide-eyes at the core. Beast Boy releases a girlish, shrill scream. "We blew it! We'll be frozen in time forever!"
The piercing alarm becomes a steady drone. Beast Boy's terrified shaking stops as the device shorts out and falls apart. "Um…why are we not frozen in time forever?"
"Because this wasn't a chronotron detonator. It was a fake!" A beam appears. The staff makes a sweeping motion, knocking all four Titans overboard. One by one, they reappear over the surface of the water. There's no visual damage, though Beast Boy is revolted.
"So aside from the nasty taste of sewer water in my mouth, I think I'm okay."
Cyborg checks the panel on his robotic arm. "Diagnostic sensors say I'm just fine." He tilts his head side to side, allowing water to pour out his ears.
"Whatever that beams was supposed to do, it didn't do it," Raven muses. Starfire examines her team. Her eyes are exhausted and her hair falls limp when wet. "Then…we are victorious?"
In Slade's lair, the tissues of all four Titans are shown on screens. The top of each screen reads the name of the Titan whose body is displayed. A chart at the bottom reads off their vital signs. The cells of the Titans have all attached to small metal spheres; each and every sphere is marked with Slade's sign.
"Nanoscopic probes," he says. "The chronotron detonator was merely the bait for a much larger trap." As he speaks, a small device settles in his hand. The device has a single button on it. The device is ominous. It looks like the buttons that are depicted in cartoons where government officials can set off bombs with a single push of the aforementioned buttons.
"You see, with a push of the button my probes will destroy your friends from the inside out."
"You can't control them. No matter what you threaten, they'll never obey you," Robin says calmly. Slade paces around the Boy Wonder. "This isn't about your friends, Robin. It's not even about the traitor you're harboring, or the dragon, and yes, I know about them. It's about you. It's always been about you."
"What?" Robin asks shocked. He can barely comprehend that Slade knows about Jinx and Malchior, let alone that this entire thing was orchestrated to get a hold of him.
"Sending trouble your way. Leaving cryptic clues for you to unravel. I was testing you. For some time now, I have been searching for an apprentice. Someone to follow in my footsteps." Slade looks down at Robin, and leans in so their faces are inches away from each other. Mask stares into Mask. "And, Robin, I've chosen you. Congratulations."
"No way would I ever work for-"
Slade holds up the button. His thumb rests next to it. Robin becomes quiet. What is the greater of two evils? To betray my friends and save their lives? Or leave my friends to their deaths but remain a good guy? How does someone make that choice?
"If you join me, if you swear to me, if you never speak to your friends again, I will allow them to live." Robin stares at Slade. Fear is evident on his face. "But if you disobey even the smallest request, I will annihilate them, Robin. And I'll make you watch. So, do we have a deal?"
The Titan is silent.
In the nighttime, the Titans are searching for their leader. Malchior and Jinx are back at the tower, examining the computers. Well, Jinx is examining the computers. Malchior is pacing, worried about Raven, and casting the occasional locator spell.
"Robin?" Starfire calls out. Beast Boy climbs up out of a sewer with Cyborg's help. Starfire is speaking into the communicator in her hand. "Robin? Robin, please respond!"
She turns to her teammate. "Why does he not answer?"
Cyborg frowns, searching for the signal from the GPS chip in Robin's communicator. "His locator's been deactivated. We have no way to find him." Beast Boy turns into a dog and shakes. When he becomes human again he's completely dry. Raven stands in the shadows on the sidewalk.
"Not good," the changeling says. Starfire is now frantic. "Robin, please. You must answer. Robin!"
Raven allows Starfire to continue shouting for their leader. In her heart she's hoping Robin can be saved, but her head says otherwise. There's nothing they can do. It's obvious to her if not to the others.
The chronotron detonator was a distraction. Slade needed Robin's attention; he was after Robin this entire time. Robin is detained. Raven fears for him. She knows what it's like to tangle with the dark side. For her there was redemption in the form of her family and her destiny. But for Robin? What would redeem him?
Then again, if the light saw fit to reclaim Raven after the things she did, than there would be no reason for Robin to be turned away.
"But the light never really reclaimed me," she whispers. "I still have to fight, day after day, to be good. I've had to dedicate my existence to fighting darkness. That doesn't mean I'm light. I don't think the light has ever really reaccepted me. I don't think the light ever accepts someone that's turned away from it. It just tolerates those that seek redemption. The Fates have their own agenda. I just have to hope that Robin isn't on their bad side."