Teen Titans Presents – Robin; Torn Legacy of a Prodigal Son
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Chapter 16: Bird Man of Alcatraz
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His newest boot camp begins here, but will Dick fly the coop? Find out!
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Slade, was going to be gone for a few days.
Robin was put back to doing his daily "chores." His robotics lessons had been however, put on hold. After hacking the bots and being bolted to a medical table by said bots, he'd blankly said not a word against this new form of treatment.
He was being babysat by Slade's daughter. That was his punishment, apparently.
Dick scowled under his collar as his above – classman was….
Ravager, his new superior; whereas Grant had failed.
And yeah, Slade was actually relieved of the fact!
He'd been a bully to his own son, while this new face had even higher expectations. A conquest, a code she could not break. She had her swords out, and Dick was going to learn a new technique as of today.
One day, Slade would teach him how to properly cross the line...
On how to kill…
"Slade wouldn't approve of this lesson." Dick moved on his feet while Rose seemed to stand her ground just fine.
"We'll have to just make it look interesting. This fight; you favor a bo staff." Rose ignored her pupil's complaints. "The same kind as my father's." Rose instead chuckled by how the sameness of the two sounded less than appalling to the former boy wonder.
"Mine wasn't made for killing others, in cold blood."
"Now it can be, and you don't have the option to back out." She reminded the hero.
Oh…no, did she?
"He told you about them." Dick growled under his breath. "He, told you about the Titans! –
"He told me that you are a bit of an escape artist." Rose tugged at a strand of her white hair, letting it fall off towards her right side of her shoulder.
"He can make you into something better than a hero, but only I can kick your butt and stop him from considering the option."
"It would mean killing you, or defeating you in combat." Dick bit the inside of his cheek, getting back into a defensive stance.
"You'd lose, instantly." Smiled the strict girl in front of the other male teen.
Dick gritted his fists, being honest since she wouldn't pity him anyway. "How can you tell I will go easier on you. I didn't hate myself; I hated Slade for changing what I wanted. I wanted to help him, not hurt more people by –
"I'm not up for self – loathing ex – heroes talking about their "serious" faults." Rose let her blade dip, asking to face Richard as she let out a low yawn. "My father likes you; I'd stay on his good side, get a little bit closer and have some of that pie for yourself."
"I'm not doing this for a reward." Dick sniffed at the meta – child. "I made a promise, that I'd stop him by joining him."
" Hah!" Rose threw back her head with a sharp laugh. "You are waay to naïve, blunder - boy." She continued to work with her blade, honing the perfect measure with a swing through the air.
Slicing it as butter to toast.
"Get ready to fight. I won't say no; you'll have to find out WHAT I can ravage on my own, instead!"
/
As for the fight, Robin had been whooped by Cy and Starfire in the gym plenty, yet Rose…
Was as ruthless as he'd not expected. She had a build of armor covering over her heart and words. Nothing of a quip could break through that heavy material. She had to have a weakness, yet with most precognition uses, you had to be sneaky. Off plan, spontaneous.
Dick was flexible, but he wasn't Beast Boy.
He'd eventually tried that tactic and it had landed him back in a fit; crates falling over him as she batted them back like flies to rhino dung.
Or a future corpse.
"You're too respectful to your enemies. That's gonna cost you your head, blunder boy."
She'd been very clear and never took his hand to help the hero stand. She didn't need anyone, as long as Slade was her former mentor.
"I was taught to fight with the honor of my creed; protecting my father's reputation isn't enough. I can lose so much more than during a serious fight." She sighed. "It's what I am that makes me a target, so no one can be trusted."
/
A few minutes later, Dick was given a thirty-minute break. He wandered off and slumped into an unlikely pile.
He currently sat up beside a mound of clicking gears, the robots scuttling around in the background. They were mechanics, simple and stealthy. A few feet away on the catwalk, Rose held her staff in hand and ordered them to do as her father might, and Dick felt it…
This, had become his punishment long enough.
~ If I stay and lose myself to her radicalized teaching methods, I'll basically be getting reprogrammed. ~
He bit his lip, seeing an opening by the computer screens. He could tattle…maybe lie. Tell Win –
Actually…
Dick thought, where was the butler?
"You are getting on my nerves again, private."
/
He gasped up as she just…appeared! Like he had in the fight before…
Before the Titans had lost.
"Your master and my employer will be back at the end of the week and you still wanna crawl under a rock?" She threw a hand to her temples, groaning. "If I fail, I may lose my credibility, or his respect."
"Don't care. I made a plan to follow Slade to save the Titans. You're not my friend. You don't even want to be here right now." He crossed his arms and turned to go back to his room. "I don't even have to take your orders that seriously."
Why did he do that? Was the stress finally bubbling up??
"Fine." She shrugged, a tactical move that bordered on using reverse psychology.
Child's play.
"You, sure?" Dick was swimming in deep as he turned to raise his masked brow at her.
"I'm right here, if he…I just want to see them."
"Why."
Oh, right. Soldier trained since birth.
"Because…" Dick grit his jaw, realizing she was just as much a victim of Slade's scare tactics as Terra was.
She was safe, though. They all were still…
"Having friends, isn't a weakness."
"Did Batman have any friends."
Oh, so she had a bone to pick with a leaguer?
"How about we play a little game, play this talk out and learn something new while doing it." She snapped her fingers as a bot's arm had nearly spooked Richard. In its grip was a metallic bo staff. Dick looked at Ravager and knew she was more cunning if not as sly. And maybe, she wanted him to spill some secrets…
Robin had the right to say no, to get beaten and go to bed hungry.
But…
~ I couldn't save Grant. Terra saved us, so later I have to thank her. ~
"What's the game." He said with a lack of feeling in his voice, masking uncertainty as well as his suspicions of her.
" Hmm…. oh! So, you ask a question, we fight. If the person answers incorrectly, you get a hit in."
"That's, a punishment game!" Dick exclaimed. "I'm not revealing any secrets to anyone."
"Then, how can I know how to trust that you want what's best for me? Or for anyone else?"
She had eyes so coy now, now as her mask was removed with a soft pull of it from over her head. "I could be your friend, and we could get away from him."
"You're lie –
"What? You can't be a hero AND a hypocrite?? I'm a kid who's never had what you got, so…" She twirled her long staff. Blue eyes shone back curiously. "Show me, bird boy. What's your real mission? Save the Titans, or change us?"
/
He agreed to it in the end, and would live to regret every word. Heart pumping like mad before the gong was struck, she didn't change how she looked at him.
Puny, easy.
"You go first. Wisdom before beauty." She giggled and watched the boy redden by her slight teasing.
"Fine. Why did you become an assassin?"
"Easy; I was trained to." She chirped. "I have half of dad's abilities, minus the healing aspect. I didn't see him until I was old enough, and then I learned about him. His…lessons! My heritage!"
She pulled back with her bo staff, as Dick jumped away, knowing the answer was partly right. She passed.
"My turn!"
His eyes grew to narrow a bit. She would dig around, but he had to be ready.
"What is your full name; your civilian identity. And if you can't disclose it, I get to punish."
"Can't." Dick slumped as she resided to kick his chest, meaning to hold back only a bit.
His felt spots dance in front of his eyes until they'd stilled again; coughing life back into his lungs, Rose stood over him, wondering why he was taking this long…
"Slade never taught you to take a hit, did he?" She smiled. "You don't get it. He only teaches his favorites the BEST moves. You're not going to get another question until you answer mine. My turn, again-
"Those weren't the rules!" Dick gasped up at the killer.
"Oh, did I forget? Silly me, but yeah. If you DON'T answer a question, you get hit until you do." She hissed at the boy in a demoralizing way, the mean girl in her finally rearing its ugly head.
She raised her staff and hit his side this time, somewhat even holding back as he tried to rise, yet her body straddled him to the floor as she leapt over, pining Dick to his fate. Keeping him below her until he was ready to cooperate.
"My. Turn. Next; What city did you grow up in?"
He could lie on this one. He had to…
Wait….
Dick's face fell again, his hopes dashed.
He was born on the road, with Haley's circus.
He couldn't answer it, so he conceded with the same word.
"Can't."
/
She got him in the shoulder, the foot, but not enough to injure him so that he'd be useless by tomorrow.
Good killers knew weak points. Heroes tried to avoid this sort of thinking unless the perp had to be stopped.
Stopping Rose, was a bad idea regardless.
"I go again, until I hit a nerve…" She smirked and made a "pincer" look with her gloves hand.
Dick just let the sweat drip, groaning as his eyes began to water from the treatment.
Slade would not approve. He couldn't, not like this…Right?
~ You're nothing special to him. ~
Why would that matter? She was not …
If he lost, he lost them.
But…
"I can tell you now, since you're all scuffed up; I know your bio. I'm not an idiot." Dick looked up, mouth set into a firm line.
That, was dirty.
"Dick Grayson, right? Acrobat – brat? Bat brat –
"How –
She pointed to her skull, a real marvel when messing with the mind of others. The staff was still in her grip as she removed herself from his back.
Stupid chimp…
"I'm a world class people – murderer! Duh." She chuckled. "Did you think daddy was the one guy who had a file on your past? Wayne has it too, and they have on each other! He always knew Slade was itching to find a decent replacement for my dumb brother."
"Why, me." Dick grunted and held his ribs in a slight limp as he stood. "Why not you?"
"Still not a great choice to be handed the keys to his empire, I'm a bit unpredictable to pops." She shrugged and seemed too casual to be a monster. "I can't always be there to help out, but I want you to have a fighting chance. I respected my pop's equals once." She grinned at him as Dick squinted at her vague way of showing praise. "You have a weird way of showing it." Dick sniffed and leaned against a pillar in the room, gears wiping out the noise in the back of his mind.
The sheer black – out pain he could feel if this had gone on.
"Wanna continue? I'll give you a –
"No, you…you made your point. I just, have to rest…" Dick sighed and hobbled to his room down the hall.
Without Wintergreen, it would be twice as hard to locate on his own. Rose just stood there in the center of the room, steam billowing down while she scratched her chin. "Have it your way, blunder boy."
/
Dick made his way to the hallway, seeing that it looked so different without a guide. He was supposed to stay away, seal his secrets from Slade's little helpers…
She was worse! As if he'd ever want her on –
A creaking, swinging sound traveled from above.
Vents. Dick saw them and…
A shadow crawling. A piece of paper fluttering through the grates as he reached up to catch it.
Dick broke his fall with the wall's help, grunting as he came back down. A sticky note? He turned it over.
A note, and faded by the moisture of a sewer's treatment, it read…
~ Go back to the place where a Knight was born. You'll be safe there. ~
~ Signed; X ~
Dick bit his lip and walked gingerly up to his door, then he turned and ran to another part of the hall. Up to another door labeled off limits as it was let to slide by his hacking prowess seconds later.
"Where."
Dick became desperate. "Where…"
He panted, hoping he was getting out, hoping his wounds could heal enough to let him fly free.
He saw a file packet, checking the contents.
How old was it if it said this month…
~ Not it. ~ He opened other drawers, dressers, his eyes scanning the contents of his…
Room, this abode that wasn't his.
"Where is –
He felt his gasps get caught in mid – release.
There …
It was, too easy…
Slade was not going to carry his tech around and lose it in another city or from another hostile situation.
Wintergreen wasn't here to hog tie the apprentice of Deathstroke.
Rose was still stretching her muscles and purring like content kitten that she might as well be.
He snatched up the device, a red button and wrists holster in his sights as Robin felt his joints relax and he bolted.
~ Go back to the place…~
He panted, seeing the cameras on standby as he had done earlier to them. As Slade wouldn't need to know where he was going. He used his own tools; rangs to dislodge the vent grates in place. Slipping by, he went in the direction the shadow had come from, an exit.
The boy hit his end result as the outside was…just a hatch away. He turned it, motions still in his now toned arms, armored feet stepping onto wet cracks in the sewer's layout.
One slip, he'd lose his chance.
A round of something sharp caught him off guard as a few lovely robots had meant to say bon voyage.
With throwing stars.
Dick didn't give them the time.
Before they went after him, his adrenaline preventing the throbbing from returning as he tried to lose his metallic pursuers with a much understanding of the city's layout. He was a prodigy to the hero community. He could get away; he knew how...
Had Terra also…
Getting bold enough to shake the bars of his cage, Dick used the other, last rang to cut through the bars that led to the sewer main exit. Paths were set before him.
While a few feet away, the robots had already picked up speed.
He ducked and found another hatch upwards. He was in Jump, he knew it. He had to get up there. Stop this menace from taking over his life again.
From taking his life from him.
Why was…oh, right.
Rose had activated the robots, and then she had to be close.
/
He climbed and didn't stop. They were in Jump, and he was still in danger. He'd stolen the device. He'd taken the device for the probes from Slade's bedroom!
~ But that file I saw…it was freshly printed out and it had the latest data on Terra…. that would mean… ~
Dick would send a message to his team once he figured out how to disable the trigger. To make it useless as his master's lackey was being to throw him off his guard again.
Slade would pay later. Right now, he had to go back to the city where it had all began.
Where there was still a chance to save four and now, five…very significant lives from ending up in the ground.
He hoped, as Richard Grayson removed the manhole cover in his haste, not turning to see Rose from the shadows with her twin katana in hand.
"Wrong move, friend. Thought we had a deal…"
"You thought wrong." Dick threw his best show of pellets as Rose swung to get the smoke to clear.
He had already made it to the surface, as she stomped away and made one call that boy would live to regret.
"No one gets back at me like that. No one. Boy – blunder…" She hit a wall with a powerful, gloved fist as it shattered under her enhanced abilities. "Fan out; track him down and make him talk. He has it." She bit her lip. "He has the only ball and chain that can break my dad…."
/
So, puddle of mud won't be like the other. Going to extend it a bit. How did Dick crash a plane and hitchhike it to Gotham? Is Jay really on his side and Bruce's? Is Rose really unstable? Is she as bad as Grant? Find out!