They emerged from the training room blood spattered and soaked in gore and sweat, but in record time both Robin and Wren were clean and adorned in their uniforms.
Burnt orange and silver metal plates layered over black kevlar, emblazoned with a bloody R over the heart that looked like it had been cut with a knife. Wren's was identical, like their physical look, but her uniform sported a slashed blue W. The malevolent mark of Slade glimmered on their belts, packed with hundreds of deadly tools and weapons.
They entered his room at the same time, close enough to be seen as together but not touching.
The control room was covered in surveillance screens that moved and flickered, feeds from all over the city and others. Jump, Gotham, Star, Metropolis, Bludhaven...there was Titan Tower, and Mt. Justice. Some of the images were unknown.
Slade stood in the middle of it all, a calm warlord watching his kingdom. He had his hands clasped behind his back, and his one bright blue eye was staring unblinkingly at the monitors. The lights flickered off of his slitted mask, and his muscles bulged through his suit. Robin and Wren stopped about three feet from him, heads bowed respectfully. Slade didn't turn or even acknowledge their presence, but they knew much better than to talk until he did.
"I was watching the training videos." he said finally, his voice dripping quiet menace and power that was nearly taste able. "You are getting sloppy, Wren." The comment was casual, offhand, but she still shivered at the implication. "It's nothing, Master. I miscalculated my jump, and-"
"No excuses." She shut up immediately. There was a longer period of silence this time, and Robin shuffled uneasily.
"There is something that I need the two of you to accomplish for me, but I only want you to do it if you're at your top conditions. That means no mistakes, no errors, and no...miscalculations." Wren swallowed and ducked her head. "Yes, Master."
Slade gestured at one of the screens. "Three days from now, an expo will be held at the Gotham Science and Space exploration museum. They plan to exhibit a very rare and important artifact that I require. Tonight, this artifact is being moved from Metropolis and stored in a high security facility. You two will retrieve this artifact either from the convoy or from the facility. Succeed, and you will be rewarded. Fail.."
He didn't need to finish. Recently, Super Man and his clone had demolished one of Slade's primary factories, and they hadn't been able to stop him. The consequences had been brutal.
Robin dipped his head. "We won't let you down, Master." He flashed Wren an excited grin, which she returned. Their adrenaline surged at the very mention of a new mission.
"See that you don't, my apprentice. Dismissed..."
***
"So, what do we have, Robin?"
Robin hunched over the tablet device in his room, reading their mission notes and objectives. "It's pretty simple, actually. A high security convoy is transporting an unknown payload from Metropolis to Gotham in twelve hours. I've hacked the files and downloaded the route to our GPS." Wren giggled. "Robin Deathstrike, hacker extraordinair!" Robin rolled his eyes and continued. "Certain members of the Leauge have been recruited to protect the truck, so...it'll probably be best if we just follow it and retrieve the artifact from the facility later." Wren shrugged and strapped on her arm brace. "Fine with me. Is it fragile?"
"Super fragile. Like, insanely fragile. And extremely dangerous, so the usual deal." Robin touched something on the pad. "Oh, Wren...Super breath's not going to be there. He's not part of the convoy..and neither is Baby Super Breath. That's weird." Wren peeked over his shoulder at the data. "That is weird...but it's good for us."
"Yup." Robin tapped the tablet, and it went dark. He stood up and stretched, running a hand through his messy black spikes. "Well, we better make for the bridge if we want to get there by nightfall. That's when the truck rolls out." Wren nodded and plucked the tablet out of his hand. "Yeah, just...just one second. I have to..."
Robin grimaced and crossed his arms over his steel covered chest."Ooh...are you calling your girlfriend?" he called. Wren ignored him and activated the program. She smiled as a face surrounded by a halo of blonde and magenta hair appeared, with mismatched eyes and a puggish nose. "Hey, Bailey."
Bailey snorted and leaned away from the screen. "That is so not my name anymore, WYLLOW. My villian name is Clairvoyance." Wren rolled her masked eyes. Bailey Cross had been her roomate at H.I.V.E Academy for young villains, where Slade had forced them to live for two years after Wren had killed Terra. She was almost as good a fighter as Robin, aided by her precognition and ability to see the immediate future.
"Sure thing, Bailey. I'll call you Clairvoyance when you finally graduate." Bailey laughed and pointed her finger into the screen. "Hey, some of us have to work for our evil diploma. We can't all be Deathstrike's kids. Um, Wren...is R-Robin there?" Wren grinned knowingly. Bailey had harbored a crush on Robin since they walked through the Academy's front door.
"What's going on, Bailey?" Robin laughed, waving over his sister's shoulder. Bailey blushed and waved back. "You guys look all suited up. What's happening?"
"Top secret mission, Bail. Even we don't know what we're doing yet."
"We gotta go, sis..."
"Oh, fine...Bye, Bailey...ooh, wait, sorry...Clairvoyance." Wren snickered. Bailey waved, and the transmission cut off. Wren's eyes turned wistful. Bailey was her best friend, besides her brother. If Slade knew she was still talking to her, she'd be punished, but she couldn't help it. She was her only link to a semi normal life she had left.
"You ready?" Robin asked, putting on his cycle helmet and flipping the visor down over his face. Wren nodded and grabbed her own. "Yeah...let's go rip off an armoured convoy."
***
There was a rainstorm brewing in Gotham...go figure. The front and back tires of the sleek black motorbike with the orange insignia kicked up fountains of smelly water as it sped through the streets. It's riders-Robin in front, Wren in back-seemed untouched by the heavy drops. Wren pulled one arm away from Robin's waist and turned on the com link built into her helmet. "Are we there yet?"
Robin smiled through his visor as they blew across the Gotham bridge. "Almost, kiddies. Just sit tight."