A/N (09.10.14): This chapter has been edited and altered as of today.
Happy Mother's Day everybody! Again, sorry for another chapter that you've had to wait a lot time for. I just can't see to find time anymore and it's getting harder and harder. I don't know if summer is going to be any easier either because out schedule is so packed with baseball and softball between my brother and I. So please don't bite my head off if an update doesn't come as soon as it should.
Anyway…back to the story! Hope you'll like it I did all I could to rearrange it.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Titans.
Chapter 16: Apprentice Pt. 1
Robin was running after Slade in a desolate area, trailing about five feet behind him and trying to catch up to the masked villain. After jumping, dodging and leaping they stood face-to-face.
"Dangerous behavior, Robin. You must be really eager to see me," Slade spoke.
"I'm not here to chat, I'm here to stop you," Robin replied, some edge in his tone.
"How can you stop me when you don't even know what I'm planning?" he questioned the Boy Wonder. They began circling one another.
"Like this," he quickly told Slade as he lunged at him, the two beginning to fight. After a while of relentless back and forth succession, Slade spoke again.
"It appears we are equally matched. You're so much like me."
"I'm nothing like you!" Robin shouted, punching Slade down. He picked him up by his collar, glaring at the masked villain. "You're a murderer, a psychopath, all you care about is destruction."
"And all you care about, you destroy," Slade simply said, motioning towards the pillars they had knocked down. Robin saw and noticed that they looked like all of his teammates.
"Who are you!?" he yelled upon looking back at Slade and ripping off the mask, only to gasp.
He was staring right back at himself, cackling evilly.
Robin woke up with sweat beading down his face, breathing heavily, just as there was a knock on his door. He turned his face to see Raven.
"It's him Robin," she said quietly. "It's Slade."
Robin's eyes widened, quickly rushing out of his room past her and down the hallway, Raven right behind him as he burst through the Main Room doors. The other Titans were already in front of the TV, Slade on it.
"Morning Titans, I do hope I didn't wake you," he sneered. Robin glared as he approached the scene, Raven at his side.
"What are you an insomniac? Who calls at five in the morning – ah!" Beast Boy started, before Cyborg elbowed him.
"What do you want?" Robin asked, addressing Slade.
"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," Slade told them coolly. "I'm disappointed, Robin. I expected a little more from you."
"Like I care what you –"
"But since you've been unable to discover my plan," Slade went on, cutting Robin off. "I suppose I'll just have to reveal it myself." Slade motioned over to his right and the camera shifted over to a large object in the center of the room. "I'm sure you're all familiar with the concept of a Chronoton Detonator."
Everyone's eyes widened, a chorus of gasps emitting from them.
"No way!" Beast Boy shouted. He turned to Star who was standing beside him. "Wait… what's that?"
"It eradicates all chronotons within a localized area, utterly destroying the temporal component of the space time continuum," Starfire said. Beast Boy's face was blank with confusion. Raven clarified.
"It stops time… permanently," she said. Beast Boy gulped.
"If he triggers that thing downtown it'll freeze the entire city," Cyborg put in.
"Tell me where!" Robin ordered.
"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." With that being said Slade's face disappeared off the screen and it went black.
"Fan out, find it, shut it down!" Robin told the team, stomping towards the Main Room doors. Beast Boy and Cyborg stepped in front of him quickly.
"Hey… uh… maybe you should sit here and coordinate the search," Beast Boy suggested sheepishly. Robin looked at him confused.
"What?"
"Man, when it comes to Slade, you got issues. Might be better if you sit this one out," Cyborg put in. Robin pushed past them and started walking towards the door once more.
"No, there's too much at stalk for me to -"
"Robin?"
Robin stopped in his tracks and turned back to look at Raven.
"We… we haven't forgotten the last time you faced –"
"I made a mistake, Raven. It won't happen again, I promise," he reassured, walking again.
"Should we not figure out where to search first at the least?" Starfire told them all. Everybody turned to look at her as she pointed to the screen with the detonator again. Cyborg quickly ran over to the computer and began typing, getting a closer look at the detonator on the screen.
"He left us more clues then he realized," he said.
"Oh, squiggly lines, that's real informative," Beast Boy joked.
Cyborg flipped over the blob he'd revealed. It read 'Pier 41'.
"The docks," Robin said, and the team headed out.
Cyborg blasted through the garage door that led into the building on Pier 41 and the team charged in, taking a battle stance.
"Empty?" Starfire questioned.
"No way," Beast Boy said aloud, confused. Just as he said this, Slade drones from everywhere fell upon the building and surrounded the team. Beast Boy sighed. "Great, now what do we do?"
Robin took his bo–staff out and took his fighting stance beside Raven and Beast Boy.
"We fight," he told them. "Titans, GO!"
Robin immediately began to smash, bash, punch, and kick at every robot he could get his hands on. One after another, he cleared them out, launching himself, the team stopping their own attacks one after another as he got in their way.
Raven stood there shocked as she watched him dive with his staff in front of her, making her recoil back and join the team at the side of the room, watching as Robin became a one-man-wonder. He destroyed everything that moved around him left and right. Finally, when he had reduced them all to nothing and was left continuously bashing one robot with his staff angrily, the team swiftly approached. Robin felt a hand on his arm mid-smash and looked over to see it was Raven.
"Please stop," she whispered.
"Yes," Starfire added. "We are victorious."
Robin stood up and Raven backed up away. "Slade's got his finger on the button and we've got nothing. Does that sound like a victory to you?" he asked his team as he headed out.
"Alright, we have to figure out where that detonator went." Cyborg said, typing some things on his arm.
"We could split up and search around –"
"And waste our resources only to come up empty handed?" Raven cut off Beast Boy who huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Well we must find some way to track the device," Starfire said, flying over to them. Robin looked around, searching for any signs. His eyes fell upon a man walking down the sidewalk and he jumped up.
"FREEZE!" he yelled at the man, who in turn began to run away. Robin swiftly ran after him and the team stared after, mortified as they finally followed.
Robin caught up and pinned the guy against a wall. "Tell me everything you know about this," he said, holding up the Slade symbol to the guys face. The man stammered, clearly afraid. Robin hit him back against the wall, trying for a real answer.
Suddenly, Robin felt his body jerk backwards and he found himself back against the opposite wall, unable to move. He looked to see his body surrounded by Raven's black aura, the dark girl walking towards him with her hand outstretched and the team behind her.
"You said you could handle it," she said to him, letting him down.
"You promised." Starfire added.
"We're wasting time," he merely muttered, ignoring their words and walking away.
"You know, just because we're trying to find Slade doesn't mean you have to act like him!" Beast Boy called after him, mad. Robin stopped dead in his tracks and turned around to face his team, standing right in front of Beast Boy.
"Don't you ever compare me to him. He's trying to destroy the city, and I'm trying to save it!" he yelled. Just then Starfire sneezed loudly, the power from it hitting her teammates in the face.
"Bless you," Raven said, pulling her hood back up after it'd fallen.
"Forgive me, I am allergic to metallic chromium. There must be some near… near…. ACHOO!" Starfire tried to get out. Everybody left the area this time before they could feel the explosion from their friend's sneeze.
"Sorry," she mumbled as Beast Boy got out of the trashcan. Cyborg approached the alien girl.
"Interesting…"
"Not really. On my planet chromium allergies are quite common," Starfire managed to get out.
"No, not that. The key component of a croton detonator is a metallic chromium core, which means…"
"Starfire can track it," Beast Boy finished for his metal friend with a smile. Starfire sighed.
"ACHOO!" Starfire sneezed for about the millionth time since they had been following her in the sewers. "I believe it is this way," she instructed, going forward.
Robin cleared his throat. "You know guys, about earlier…"
Raven cut him off when she looked farther ahead. "It'll have to wait." She pointed and everybody turned to see a ship with the detonator on it in front of them.
"Titans, GO!" Robin ordered and the team took off after the now speeding boat with two Slade drones in it. "Quick, we can't let it get away – AH!"
The wall beside Robin broke open without warning and Cinderblock grabbed him, pulling him to fight.
"Robin!" Raven called after him.
"Get the detonator, go!" he told them. Cyborg, Beast Boy and then Starfire flew off immediately. Raven hovered in the air for a moment before disappearing with her teammates.
After a while of beating fighting Cinderblock, Robin finally managed to take him down.
"Where is he? Where is…" Robin started to interrogate but then saw a small device in the villain's hand. He picked it up and it seemed to be a map. He examined it more closely and saw one blinking dot that must be where he was, the other having the Slade symbol on it.
Robin grinned. He'd found him.
"Hurry Titans," Slade said from his lair as he watched them on a TV screen. "Time is running out."
There was an explosion from a wall above and Robin stood there. "Actually, we just went into overtime."
"Robin, welcome. I've been expecting you for some time. I was beginning to wonder if Cinderblock was too much of a challenge," Slade told him, pausing. Finally he brought out the controller for the detonator. "Looking for this?"
Robin stood there motionless as Slade put it on the floor, walking away from it. It stood right in the middle of them. "There it is. Go on and take it," Slade told him. Robin glared back for a while before jumping out and attacking.
Cyborg and Starfire finally managed to catch up to the speeding boat and she dropped him down on it. Raven and Beast Boy quickly followed and flew above with Starfire, watching as Cyborg took out the robots and ripped out the control box, making the ship come to a stop. The rest of the team flew down and joined him as well.
"Please tell me that's not how you're planning to stop the detonator," Raven pleaded to Cyborg. He looked at the ship's control panel in his hand and grinned sheepishly before placing it aside and approaching the detonator. He pressed the side of it and it popped up, revealing many red buttons and wires inside.
"Whoa." Cyborg breathed. The other Titans gathered around him.
"Whatever we're going to do, we better do it before Slade decides to trigger this thing," Beast Boy told them with a worried expression. Everybody nodded their heads in agreement.
Robin flew at the controller for the hundredth time only to be kicked in the stomach by Slade. He flew back and regained his balance, Slade stalking back in front of him.
"Now, now Robin…" Slade said as he approached. "You'll have to do better then that." With that said he jumped up into the air and kicked Robin once more, teetering him back. Slade continued his assault, Robin matching him and dodging until he was hit back once more, sending a glare at Slade. "Good, but not perfect," Slade said aloud, laughing overhead.
Raven carefully used her power to take the four nails off of the tiny switch box on the Detonator, allowing Cyborg to take the plate off it to reveal a spinning red orb inside.
"The core," Cyborg told them. Raven peered over Cyborg's shoulder, Starfire and Beast Boy standing beside her. "It's very unstable," he continued to explain in a whisper. "No sudden moves."
Cyborg handed the cover to Beast Boy who had turned into an octopus. Suddenly, Raven turned her head to notice Starfire sniffling and put a shield around her head just in time to catch her sneeze. Everyone stood still.
"Please continue," she whispered with a sniffle. Everybody went back to looking at the detonator. Cyborg cut one of the wires after careful deliberation, leading to a sharp noise emitting. Beast Boy cringed.
"That doesn't sound good," he said.
"It's over, Slade," he confidently stated as he loomed over the villain, controller in hand. Just then though, the controller sparked and was destroyed in his hand. Robin's eyes widened.
"On the contrary, Robin," Slade started, "It has only just begun."
"Where's the real trigger?"
"There is no trigger," Slade sneered, "because there is no detonator."
"Moment of truth, ya'll. You ready?" Cyborg asked his friends, about to try and stop the detonator one last time. Beast Boy shut his eyes as Cyborg carefully cut one of the middle wires, the red orb turning blue. Just as they sighed in relief, the detonator began beeping, wide eyes replacing their relief. Red lights lit up all throughout the detonator, Beast Boy panicking.
"Oh no! We blew it! We'll be frozen in time forever!" he screamed. Just then all of the lights went off and it sat there in a heap of metal. Beast Boy stopped panicking and looked over at it. "Um… why aren't we frozen in time forever?"
"Because this wasn't a real detonator. It was a fake," Cyborg realized.
A ray gun suddenly appeared from the fake detonator, glowing red and blasting the four Titans. They shrieked as they were hit and fell into the water around the boat. Everybody surfaced quickly again, disgusted.
"So, aside from this nasty taste in the sewer water, I think I'm okay," Beast Boy joked. Cyborg pressed a few buttons on his arm and nodded to confirm he was all right as well.
"Whatever that beam was supposed to do, it didn't do it," Raven stated aloud, a question hanging in her thoughts and slight suspicion.
"Then, we are victorious?" Starfire asked her friends.
"Nanoscopic probs," Slade said to Robin, pictures of all his friend's insides shown on TV screens, showing each of their blood stream. "The detonator was merely the bait for something much larger. You see…" Slade continued, showing a small piece of metal and putting his thumb above the button. "With a push of a button, my probes will destroy your friends from the inside out."
"You can't control them," Robin argued. "No matter what you threaten, they'll never obey you."
"This isn't about your friends, Robin," Slade explained further. "It's about you… it's always been about you."
Robin's masked eyes widened in surprise. "What?"
"Sending trouble your way, leaving cryptic clues for you to unravel…" Slade said, walking around Robin in a circle. "I was testing you. It's been a while now that I've been searching for an apprentice, someone to follow in my footsteps. And Robin… I've chosen you. Congratulations."
"No way would I ever work for…" Robin started before noticing Slade's hand on the trigger suddenly, stopping mid sentence.
"If you join me and swear to serve me, you must never speak to your friends again," Slade said. Visions of Starfire, Beast Boy, Cyborg, and finally Raven flew through his mind. "But I will let them live. If you disobey even the smallest request, I will annihilate them, Robin. And I will make you watch. So, do we have a deal?"
"Robin? Robin, answer," Raven said into her communicator. She turned to her friends, a worried look on her face.
"Why does he not respond to you?" Starfire asked Raven.
"His locator has been deactivated, there's no way to find him," Cyborg told them.
"Robin, you have to answer…" Raven trailed off. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, not needing the empath part of her mind to realize that something definitely wasn't right.
Robin looked at himself in the mirror, totally transformed. He glanced back over at his costume and heard Raven's voice coming from his communicator, the team trying to find him. He approached the device and looked at it.
"Robin, where are you? Please…" Raven's voice trailed off. Robin's eyes closed and he sighed.
"I'm sorry," he whispered as Slade walked past him, an evil grin plastered under his mask as he left his new apprentice be. Robin was left alone in the darkness, only to hear the voices of his teammates.
End Chapter
Ok, so I cannot wait to write the next chapter because I'm going to make it VERY Rae/Rob centered with the fighting and things like that.
Next Time…
With no sign of Robin, the four remaining Teen Titans search the city for their missing leader. But their search is cut short when the Titan signal alerts them to a new villain in town: it's none other than Robin himself, wearing a new Slade insignia villain costume! Unaware that Robin is only serving Slade to save his friends, the bewildered Titans think Robin has gone over to the other side. Raven especially begins getting worried and her normal monotone façade vanishes for a short period of time when he confronts them. How is she going to handle thinking he's left them?
DarkGirlRavenGrayson