Teen Titans Presents – Robin; Torn Legacy of a Prodigal Son

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Chapter 22: Hanged Man; Bee To a Crying Face

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Japanese saying for something that continues to be painful despite already being. Hidamari sketch made a joke of it in 4 koma. Looked it up, so this is what we shall use. Dick is no longer in control, or is that Slade's plan? A robot for a protégé? Find out! And warning for brainwashing, torture, mind manipulation and gas lighting I believe. A death is sure to come. So, don't wait up!

/

"You'd stand against me while I hold everything dear. You've just made an even bigger mistake than the first time…. Robin."

Dick saw the lights as they shot on. His body was still against the ground, just moved to a different room. A somewhat cooler floor.

"He tricked you, apprentice. Your own brother sold out the bat to save himself the trouble of giving Wayne all of that credit."

" RICHIE!"

Dick's eyes flew up, bloodshot.

"Jason…??"

" DON'T LISTEN. AL…. trick…. stop! -

The frequency was fuzzy from within the walls, inside a chamber of his many faults.

"You had no choice; the bat already knew, and I'd eventually have uncovered the truth of Todd's mysterious new look."

Slade's boots tapped against the room's grey stonework. Dick was in trouble and he knew why too.

Slade wanted his soldier, post haste. And Renegade's reasons were pure crap if he dared to negotiate another deal with Deathstroke, to his face.

"You showed plenty of promise from the start, so I took it upon myself to add someone else to this deal. To free them, as you've not the Titans or my puppet. Terra knows her place." Spat the man as Dick gritted his fists, eyes still unable to drown out his failed attempt. How Red X had….how Slade had let him fall off that cliff.

"There is a way to fix this; become my right hand for good, forsake them. Do as I command, and I'll free just one. Just, one hero."

A, promise like that…it was a threat in his eyes as Dick's mouth couldn't form the words.

"ME."

Slade cocked his head. "Repeat that, Richard?" He replied.

"Add…me. To your wall. Inject them into me."

Those words. So desolate. There was no way they were the former boy wonder's.

"Are you sure that's what you want; to be taken for granted, to die a slow and painful death at the hands of your "enigmatic" enemy? What if the bat were to find out. I'd gladly make it public. That you failed them. Your city." Slade spat this string of insults as Dick's body refused to move from the floor. Hands and knees, where Slade believed he belonged.

"Kill a few no - names, take my orders as far as they'll go and the Titans will live. Was that so hard, Dick? Did I have to add more to that plate of lies you've fed yourself –

"I'm not!" Dick felt his jaw unhinge. "I'm not losing them, this way…Terra's free to –

"I can do what I want to any of them. Dissolving our agreement, all because you won't cooperate."

Slade stepped closer, pulling the boy to his feet, trigger up in front of Renegade's eyes as those orbs remained so tired of fighting back. Having to, like he'd been taught by Bruce. For doing what's right.

Sometimes, he just wanted to let it all go.

Then, only then…Richard imagined the screaming. The painful, spirit - crunching agony that everyone else had to face but, not him. How fortunate he was to be here, still alive. Still facing this one-eyed psychopath proudly with all of his remaining spirit.

"Y…. you want me to face Bruce, to destroy him –

"No."

That wasn't it. Dick bit his lip.

"To…. call. You, master –

"Not even close. Try again." Slade's eye narrowed as Dick's stayed without breaking from his train of thought.

Trigger.

Then…

"The, Titans…" He gulped, recalling how he'd stolen the device from the haunt. He'd almost gotten out, but…

Slade had changed his view of the world. He'd killed in order to save himself.

Only a merc thought that way, someone afraid of their own shadow or being locked away for life.

He was a criminal now, not a hero.

"Then, the trigger. You want me to…"

"Go on." Slade coaxed, enjoying how the kid's brows furrowed while Jay's yelling was long since forgotten.

"To, hurt them. With your probes..."

A bucket of ice water formed in the center of his gut as Slade's arm reached over to show the device to Dick. To hand it to him.

"I…. I…." He couldn't do it. It was a test and he couldn't –

"Would you rather I send Terra out to demolish their tower, now? I can." He seemed to go on, not caring for a couple of broken dreams along the way, trampled under those steely boots.

"I can just as easily warp that promise to keep them safe by taking everything they have left. Even this city, Renegade. You'll pull it. The trigger is now for you to command –

"It won't work –

"WHY?"

"F-fingerprints!" Dick sputtered. "You said I can't activate it. It has a security measure. Only your prints will work."

Slade snorted, then let out a chuckle. Dark and full of deceit. "That was a lie to keep you from trying anything stupid, boy. It was on a lock, so yes. You couldn't have done anything then."

Dick realized it. Slade wasn't kidding. He was going to have to do this.

"Now, press it."

"This isn't right –

"Terra and Rose would be happy to spell it out for your former friends… Should I take out that alien for you to watch die, first?"

"No!"

"THEN. DO. IT. Make me SEE." Slade hissed by the boy's lobe; voice as venomous as the last fight to stay alive. "Press it, and see what they think of you, then. Boy wonder…"

/

Bruce had to get to Tim. He'd gotten a distress signal that was faint from one of his onlookers.

Jason had been caught, and now Bruce was afraid that this was going to be Joker's revenge, take two all over again.

"Alfred! Did you see Tim run off to th-

"He was in the manor looking into a matter of his own; investigating his brother's whereabouts." Answered the butler as he knew keeping secrets of this sort were uncalled for. Not at all wise, while Bruce worried by how Tim was still a fledgling in the role of the dark knight's side kick.

"I have to tell him; he can't go after them alone."

"Did something happen, B?"

"Master Timothy! We were both worried sick." Alfred scolded the lad as he made his way…was that the same hall?

Bruce took a moment to pause before Tim walked up to holding something in his hands. "My brother was taken by a psycho. You didn't tell me he was still visiting before I became –

"It was a process; Tim. Dick is a very private –

"He was targeted and that…that he's obsessed! He's gonna end up dead like Jay –

"JASON IS STILL HERE." Bruce clenched his jaw, the words spewing as the memories of blood shed were a warning not to unlock that door. Not even for poor Tim, who aspired to help others as much as Dick and Jason…still.

"You…. how come you never told me. Don't you care, B?"

"I do, Tim. But this…this man is League business. He's too dangerous and Jason was able to get away with escaping his own captors just before…

/

Guns were going off left and right as Todd dove into the ocean, his body sinking before he caught a glimpse of a tank. He got it, got back up to the surface.

Right before Lazarus island's beaches turned to a sea bed of flames before his swollen sockets.

Drifting off to port, Jason took on the world on his own, got out of one country to another before seeking some alone time in a Lebanese eatery.

Sitting a few feet away, was a tall man with one eye and white hair.

Thankfully, Talia had searched for her lap dog on the down low for a month, so he was free to stay and gather enough stolen change to go back to Gotham. To tell Bruce about Ra's and the Joker, to see if he was even wanted back.

"Will, are we all settled in the new base. Tell me it's good news this time."

He had a cell, a burner – which made Jay wonder, if the man was CIA or more than he appeared.

"The files on our target were enough. I have to thank you for booking the best room out. Impossible with tourism this season…. oh, the heroes? I took the liberty of getting as much dirt on them as I needed. Turns out one is royalty. Who would have imagined."

A Villain by that outfit, Todd kept his head down and ears and eyes wide open.

"I am still in need of some help, yes. Were there any take – None? Sigh*….so hard to recruit anyone. If you –

Todd waited, but then he froze.

Did the man know??

He was getting up.

"Call you back Will, private matter to attend."

The cell flipped shut as the white-haired man's eye roamed, sensing a rat if not last night's left over stock.

Jay kept his menu up, still going over the cheapest thing he could –

"Can I help you?"

The man's frame set a shadow to cross over the table top, Jason being ready to run if he'd had a shot at doing so.

"Sorry, no."

"I wouldn't mind…if you'd not eavesdrop on my important work. You have a knack though, I see."

H…how did he??

"I may be impaired in sight, yet never of mind. Got a name, kid? A job?"

And that, was how Jason lost his bumpy cot, used his good intent to aid in killing to stay alive and was hopeful of his return to Bruce's manor becoming a reality by the next few months that had followed.

He did send word eventually, yet that was only after, when Rebel Yell had baffled the bat.

"I fought back, Bruce." Todd laughed into the camera set up inside his lofty apartment. "I got into this guy's life to get you back and it worked! I can't be that red bird you barely trusted, so let me save one of our own before I let you go again."

/

"Slade, recruited X who was…."

"Robin's suit was taken after the Titans were infected. There was no mention of when, but it made sense that Robin was Slade's distraction as much as he was Jason's way to get back to me."

"And to Dick." Nodded Timothy. "I still want to do what I can." Tim was determined, yet Bruve shook his head. Decision made before it began.

"No. I don't want anyone else to die or suffer under my authority. I'm sorry; you'll be in the cave monitoring the mission and helping the Titans from a safe distance."

Questioning the boy's glance, Bruce knew better than to question Timothy 's level of skepticism. Just as your average boy genius, Tim had deduced om his own to Bruce how he had to be the unmistakable bat at age twelve. Just as Bruce's kids had their quirks, they also carried traits of Bruce's not so positive outlook on the rest of the world.

"I'll do what I can from here, but you need a partner as much as I need my mentor to quit blaming himself for what happened." The boy told his allies with arms down, face turning for the hall to his own bedroom to deduce more than Bruce could follow.

"We begged you to take on the foes we face today, and you were right to not stop them. The hardest teacher is experience. If Dick gets back with Jay out of this, alive, they'll know you were right. And I'm glad you care enough to shower your trust on me like you did them-

"Master Timothy!" Alfred pointed for the boy to wizen up or walk away. His choice, right?

"You are not to ridicule Master Bruce's teaching methods. He's worked more times than none tp keep his entire family from the court, the joker, and even from a lifetime inside Arkham. You march to your room this instant, and do not leave until I have spoken with your father about –

"That's just it, Al!" Snickered Tim with a shake of his head.

"None of us never got the title as anything other than ward or side kick…in fact, take me out of the ring. Because, I quit !"

/

"Is he settled down inside, Master Bruce."

Bruce clicked the door to a brooding Timothy's room shut and carded a hand roughly through his own ebony hair. "He did that to get out of being under total surveillance, Alfred." Bruce said with his eyes on the knob. "He wants to solve this case, on his own. Like a real detective shouldn't. He made a perfectly reasonable argument –

"That you and I don't care what happens to the young men in some villain's clutches, is that all? Do you not recall the night of my seventy – fifth birthday party. Young master Dick swore that an intruder was in the house. He waited around until the candles had been lit and snuck out of the front door to meet with none other than Mr. WILSON BAILEY."

Bruce blinked. That was maybe Dick's second run in with Slade's alter, code name. Slade J. Wilson. A deadly hunter and mercenary for hire who'd come across some funds to try for his own independent branch.

Yet, the business practices kc that…. criminal was far from noble by name alone.

Maroni being at the top of the Bat's list.

"He'd gotten just a whiff, and now look at what that curiosity has done to your family. To my dear allies as well. You must tell him."

"He'd stop at nothing –

"Master Bruce." Alfred stopped the other with a white gloved palm upwards. "I had wanted to avoid it, yet a message was received. From, California."

/

Rose left the brainwashed geo – user to her containment, while she listened in on whether her competition would give into the slightest demand for perfection from her idiot father. He was a crude soul, looking for that gem as a crow to a pile of rocks in a mine shaft. She saw only willingness to undo the damage; a minor threat to their legacy as Rose Wilson sharpened her blades. Waiting for the boy to crack under pressure.

~ Do it, before I consider your oath null and void. Do it, if not for them, for you to go on. To take my crown and bare your fangs. Never, give in. ~

Was he lecturing the runt?? Rose's jaw dropped as she stabbed a wall while getting tired of waiting to cut Jay's cord.

Do it already!

Tick – tock…

His time…was wearing them all, thinner.

Very, paper thin.

/

"Choose."

Silence haunted him. World and all, a grandfather clock formed as a flashback took over…

Dick saw himself confronting Bruce in his mentor's study. Back to the man as he stormed out; echoing the words that would brand him as a lesser being of Lady Justice.

/

~ Stay out of my life! I'm not staying so find some other kid to call your side kick in your car. I don't care if you take away my right to stand up for myself... You NEVER respect what –

Bruce turned to the boy; both still in uniform, faces uncovered. ~ I don't want you getting killed in the line of duty! Dick; don't you walk away. You are not to step foot outside this house until we talk about –

~ You're not my father, Bruce...or, Mr. Wayne. ~

Richard sniffed and whipped his eyes around.

Bruce didn't step forwards to stop the kid, he needed help…

Bruce, needed someone to tell him that Dick wasn't right.

He couldn't say it, that would be, just wrong. He was only fourteen. Too much like a teen should be.

All rebel from the inside out.

~ Whoever you think you are, I'm just a charity case. ~ The boy shot with his hand to the knob of the only exit in the room, minus the secret passages inside the manor's many walls.

~ You never gave ME a chance to prove anything to you! So, this may as well be, goodbye…~

(Condensed, so don't flip. Not how it happened, yet hinting on happenings.)

"Are you ready; the clock is ticking. Tick – tock, boy." Slade placed a hand on Richard's shoulder as the visions of the past faded away silently.

"I…w…."

Slade raised a brow, hand moving in swiftly as he made Dick clutch the device, made him hold it as a candle in the wind. Trying not to let the flames go out.

"You're wasting your breath. There is nothing left to think about." Yet Slade kept pushing for his apprentice to make good on his word. How could Richard refuse him if his family was roped into his short comings.

~ You're not my father! ~

He gasped, finger going slack as he felt lightly the button with such little effort. The debris would fall. The pain of rot from the inside. As he killed them…. he clutched it and screamed. Screamed for this all to just be another hallucination. A time that had already happened…

/

" N….no…no….no…. stop….no….no…"

"Think we blew a fuse. That can be remedied, dear boy." Slade took the device from the kid, yet his clutch was strong, so much that the tears being shed had Slade in a bind.

Yet all bindings could be loosened or cut. He gave one final yank as the boy wonder fell to his knees, disturbed by what he believed he had accomplished.

" Slade…. stop…. leave it…. they –

"You think that was the end, child?" Slade let the screens behind them light up as Dick threw his hands to clutch to his skull, head trying to steer itself away towards the ground.

"Apprentice. I want you to see; look up."

"No….no…. dead….no…"

He shook his head, lip trembling before Slade yanked the boy to look at him by the scalp. With a yelp, Richard's face remained still as juvenile as his actions. "I do not want a weakling for an heir, I know you know better. Now. Look UP." His skull was turned to see…

Alive…it…. wasn't true.

Shaking his head in disbelief, there was one more that had the kid sobbing out.

" No !"

Jason Todd. Red X, had been added to the score board as Dick blamed himself for all of it. For not going the extra mile for his friends before, in the last haunt. For not stopping his enemy so that Terra could survive. For not telling Bruce that what he said was only a child's tantrum. That now, he wanted him here more than ever to sweep away the ret with that legendary glare of the Batman's.

He didn't deserve it as Slade let the kid down, his aching, tingling scalp rubbed as if he had been shot. As if there was blood, he couldn't wash off.

And at that first trick, that very first…instead of striking Slade.

He went into a mental breakdown and tried to smash his stone against the tile.

~ Loser…. I killed them. I need to go, before I become his –

" Apprentice!!" Slade brought out another item on his arm and with a click –

The hit to his skull, was altered as Dick rolled onto his side. Electricity encasing his veins and limbs in a wild fire of heat from deep below. Under his skin, his battered wounds were fragile. Yelling till his voice cracked, Dick panted, unable to crawl.

Yet Slade had seen it, that Dick was with a tendency to become suicidal.

That, had to stop.

"If you want to die, I can always grace you with an even better option. Though, you'd have to earn it."

The kid growled in a response as his teeth gnashed by the sparks and pain.

"It's just a shock collar treatment, for my unruly lap dog to finally learn his place…" Richard's eyes narrowed dangerously at the mad man, his lips ready to bleed by all of that built up tension.

"You can have some of my immortality, if you are able to best my best fighters in combat. If you do as I command without fail, you will have more power to forget your shortcomings, than you could ever dream. I want you Dick, to become my true successor." He came upon the boy and gripped his chin tightly to say it once more. "And I'll make damn sure that no one tells us otherwise…"

Dick's eyes lost their desire to bite as soon as those words…

Fell from his master's, masked lips.

His chest felt tight, too tight as bags formed under the boy's blue eyes.

"Don……don't do this…why…. why me??" He begged, not having the courage to speak any louder. Nothing but a croak as the mighty fell, hardest before the conqueror.

"You ask this again and again of me, my sworn protégé, and every time I give you the same answer." Smirked the man as he ruffled the kid's hair for good measure, feeling the sweat as it caked. "You need to get cleaned up. I'll have Wintergreen and my bots come and fetch you. No prodigy of mine will remain covered in blood, child."

The armored steps of Slade bots of two; and will, who looked to not hold any new sentiments in the least, all of them had Richard in a panic as he was flung into the robots' chests. Fighting to speak and to breathe.

"No…no, why??? Tell me! Why me!? Slade! You – y- you're! It's not me! It's…. not, me !!"

Down the hall, the voices downed and a face returned to grace the merc's presence.

Firstly, he'd thought.

Two, in fact.

"Rose."

"Daddy." She batted her eyes with a smirk. White hair over her left eye.

"Terra, as well?" He pointed to his newest weapon in the corner, brain turned off while the adults talked.

"As you wanted. Completely empty of any extra thoughts, except world domination –

"A bit over the top." Slade shrugged off the girl's mood swings and made his way to the door, heading a few halls down until they'd entered the main room.

"So, are they –

"I would suggest you to not speak unless spoken to." Slade snapped at his daughter, Terra listless with her glassy blue eyes, paying little attention to the domestic squabble.

"Yes, sorry sir."

"You'll find out for me, how far the damage has taken by its toll." The cameras in the city revealed a most unpleasant outcome of Cinderblock and Plasmus with Overload teaming up. The Titans were one set of kicks short.

He smirked, eyes on the prize as they remained as they'd been. How Dick's frustrations had made him do nothing. Not unless Slade had wanted them dead, that was hardly fair. After all, he was a man of his word.

Until there were rules to be broken, then the deal had hit its zenith. It's snipped conclusion from the cycle, ever winding. Robin; the stubborn gear that would not budge, and if one did not use enough caution when bringing it back to its glory…

"Go into the city, and eliminate the Teen Titans."

The whole structure could collapse. Measures had to be taken, so Slade gave his near - final order as his unruly heir was groomed further to become a force, unforgiven.

"Oh, and one more thing; bring me back Starfire, alive."