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

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Chapter 26: Don't Know When to Quit – Time Bomb Zone

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Borrowed last title from The Prodigy song "Time bomb Zone; very electric. On with it!

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The five stood off against three; Team Slade and Team Titans.

Starfire raised her fists and flew at Terra, who was unable to control her powers – as if Slade's cohort Ravager number one had the geo – user a bit buried beneath even more lies and secrets. Starfire tried to aim for Rose, not her tool, Terra was still a Titan and afraid of Slade's wrath.

Of Robin being punished if she lost to her enemies, the Titans and the Batman.

Bruce went to keep an eye on Grant. He still sensed something off about the teenager. He was far too sneaky and Slade's enemies had dual natures most of the time, even his allies.

Slade had to be in this city and if not, he'd made sure to slow down the heroes from ever finding his new location in time –

Grant started to fidget with his suit, and that's when Bruce raced agianst the clock to stop another counter blow.

"No!" He shouted at Grant, who was pulling out a device that looked to ACTIVATE the Detonator that had frozen all of Jump city.

"He's got the trigger?? All this time??" Cried out Gar as Terra was held down, while Rose spun into a kick and knocked Raven away from stopping her plan to blow up their tower.

"They're working…. together??"

"She's my dad's third, but Rosie a'int a fool. I sure as hell won't go to the side you want me to be on. I like it here! And now? I'm gonna do what daddy'll see as a reason to take his crown!" The freaky merc barked out as Rose groaned, her impatience in how nuts Grant was…well?

"I'm retreating." She muttered, not realizing that behind her back, Raven had already gotten Terra to see her attackers as allies, not the other way around.

"You…. won't hurt my friends….get away !!!" She raised up her hands, glowing in bright yellow, the earth moving as Rose felt her feet shift in her boots. She ducked an attack to be captured by –

Cy tackled and BB only decided to help.

However….

Grant still had the detonator.

A ticking Time Bomb of possible ends, and the tower…

Was going way, down.

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"She took her eyes off of Terra." Slade sighed and turned to the bruised and beaten face of his ornery protege. His very last, and fortunately, the most capable to defeat him.

"We'll see what becomes of your "former teammates and the Batman" in a while. In the meantime,…" Slade had Dick removed from the room by force as the kid narrowed his unmasked gaze at his keeper.

"Rose and Grant have obviously lost, so that gives us more time to work on your future abilities at my side. A polished blade, just as you'd promised since the very beginning." Slade waited or Dick to spit, but his only response was a worn growl from a face marred in beatings and bruise indentations.

"I'll speak to you within the hour, apprentice." Slade nodded to the bots as they collected Slade's trophy and took his butt off to the boy's cell. For now, it would feel like one. He was being punished for trying to spit in the man's direction. So, rude…

Too bad really.

Dick and his kids, along with Terra would have made an excellent force of injustice to add to that bucket list, as Slade went back to his new throne to sit and wait for Titans Tower to fall to the ground.

While the whole city had just woken up from a dream, no one under the spell of Hypnos and the gods of the night.

No, no. Time, for a chronological perspective, was as it should be again.

The distraction for now, had done its job.

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Outside, Bruce was furious, while the young heroes remained for the moment, Tower -less.

Batman saw how Grant was willing to pull it, and he had, yet not to get killed or ruin them.

Yet, to undo the detonator's effects for good as he let Batman punch the kid square in the jaw.

"You…. you made a scene! How could you? –

"It was a feint to her ! She's flown off, see?" Grant cockily grinned and tossed the stolen device to Bruce, while Terra and Raven tried to protect the tower.

But it was already too lost to salvage.

"We have to move, get away from Rose if she decides on a round two. We're all not prepared to face Slade an' the probes are still active." Cy knew Rose had fallen into the water and was probably licking her wounds back to Slade's base. She was ashamed for sure, while Grant had done this all to prove himself as a team player.

As destructive a team as it was, Terra cried into Beastboy's shoulder and Raven attempted to break the bond between Terra and her suit, yet Cy had to shake his head with Batman.

"It needs to come off in a lab, if Terra wants to come back to the cave." He offered. "I can try to remove it and find a cure to her distress."

"There is nothing anyone can do." Sniffled the geo – user with a whimper. "He's going after my brother Brion! I promised I'd keep him safe…I have to –

"And we just are gonna lose you again to that creep? No way, Terr!" BB hugged her harder. "Not alone, you're not going back without us bein' there to help…"

"Count on it, but we have gotta regroup. The tower may be down an out, but I can still rebuild." Cy frowned as they watched the sun changing with the rest of Jump's reverting time.

"Then, there is truly hope in our unlikely predicament?" Starfire, asked her teammates.

"You can all stay in my city. It'll be a while before –

"No, but some of us have gotta stay an' scope out the one responsible." Cy replied, for all of their sakes.

"I can go!" Bb raised his arm eagerly. "If it's to be by Terra's side, I have to stay. I can't let her get taken away while those crooks are still loose…"

"Fine. Raven? Will you need to have an extra place to meditate? Maybe you can have that and find out Robin's location within a proper setting."

"I could use a recharge, sure…" She would need it, and being so close to Dick's home might boost her overall chances at finding the boy wonder. Wherever he was now…

"I shall remain and aide Cyborg and the Ravager –

"Grant is cool, just call me Grant." The anti – hero pulled off his mask as a mess of dirty blonde and green eyes met the heroes.

"Grant Wilson." Bruce spoke up. "Your father is responsible for this. Why."

"He wants an heir and Dick was a volunteer to the positiion. Or, we are supposed ta fight for that post and one of us reamins standing."

"So, that is horrible!" Starfire gasped. "Robin would never agree to –

"He's telling us the truth, Starfire." Raven lowered her eyes. "He wanted to stop Slade, and his only way was –

"To become his right hand." Terra rubbed her eyes and finished. "I was warned that I'd never have a shot, just some stupid object to use and…Dick tried to protect me…why was he ever in there in the first place?"

"Probes, inside all of us." Cy responded grimly, looking at his metal arms and clenching his fists determinedly. "They can kill us if we fight back, or Robin steps outta line…"

"We will not survive." Starfire put her head into her hands and tried to block out the feeling of fie eating her from the inside out.

"A deadly weapon…" Bruce's eyes widened. "That's why we couldn't find anything. And now –

"Poor Jason T is possibly another test subject…I couldn't get to him in time." Grant gripped his arms to his chest and bit his lip. "I'm…sorry for –

"You made my son fight you instead of…what does he have on you?" Bruce didn't like how Grant all of sudden sounded so torn up.

"What leverage does Slade have on his son and daughter??"

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~ Rose, was just looking to belong. ~

Grant told the heroes while Rose pressed a few buttons and found herself back in a dingy warehouse.

She still had Terra's suit to hear far too much as her chest tightened.

~ She just wants to have a place, since her family wasn't…that accepting of who she was. Dad was a soldier and Rose's mom was called Lilian Worth. From Cambodia, she was a brothel owner and Rose was raised….to do some things she'd not let her mother see today once Slade got ahold of her. Lil is dead, but she was gone during a war. Dad was…different then, but now? He's looking to keep a legacy going at all costs, even if he has to lie and cheat his way to the top. ~

Rose knew that story, she didn't care as the doorway fell open to reveal a hidden staircase and below it, an elevator shaft.

Gingerly, carefully, she took her time and got down to the last level, the heat there enough to make you nauseous.

She saw a rail and followed it, until as she did, another craft was there. A key in the ignition.

~ He's gotta be hiding, but not here. Rae? ~

~ In another city, I don't sense them or Rose… ~

~I can do a search by a few hundred-mile radius at the cave and in the Batwing. ~

"Yeah, just try an' follow, tough guy." Rose clucked her tongue and got on, to find a Slade bot ready to wake as her driver into the lowest parts of this underground rail way. With a smile, she let the bot take her home.

To another place that she really should run from altogether.

~And if we do locate the missing criminals? ~ Starfire asked her eldest teammate as he looked ready to make a declaration of war.

She couldn't have been more on the ball as Cy clenched his fists and wasn't about to lose his drive before the tower was up and running again.

~We show them that no one messes with the Teen Titans. ~

That metal chump made her laugh as Rose attempted a cat nap.

"Next stop? Steel City…Wake me in an hour…."

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Cut it short to space it out – been load issue on AO3. Won't open to read fic but can go over on . might be corrupt file or a bug. Anyway, hoping to put this back. Lucia Cloris is now moving on, but this story is still going strong!