Teen Titans Presents – Robin; Torn Legacy of a Prodigal Son
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Chapter 33: Holy Shocking Conclusion, Batman!
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It was almost the end of November in Jump, yet Kori had called the heroes to order not to her tower.
But to Bruce's manor, as he had allowed them to hold a thanksgiving adjoined. Dick was out there, but Grant had yet to pinpoint the new estate Slade was hiding his pr –
"The man of the bat?"
Kori swept over with a soft expression, so very calm despite the probes and not one person knowing how to deactivate them. "You are requested by Mr. Pennyworth; there is a guest in the –
He rose from the dining room hall, right into the foyer as a child wearing a set of bright purple and blue boots in a largely oversized coat stood by the door, Alfred keeping him halfway through until Bruce had permitted the boy entry. He was short, maybe about thirteen and Beastboy's frame could compare with a lack of muscle…. he did however, seem to understand what was happening. "The boy…. I'd like to clarify; he replies only through sign language."
The other Titans had clustered over from the den with Tim and Babs.
"He, is not a talker, huh? Why not -
" Ow!"
Babs and Raven, both bonked BB, both teens sighing too as the bat of the manor's main head of household just looked the kid through, not at or over. He started to move his hands, as Bruce watched; he recalled this manner of communication, though he only knew on an intermediate level at best. Dick was better than he had been due to his communication skills.
"I can help." Raven put a hand up as the boy shut his big green eyes and then blinked, a cat like expression as Raven lowered her arm.
"What did -
"WAIT FOR IT." Bb crossed his fingers, having seen this trick before.
The boy lowered his coat hood and took out a breath, but not through speak. Starfire marvled at his eyes and Cy, his blonde fro…
The boy then spoke, but….
Telepathically.
~ Wha…. I see, you can use a power like that. I'm actually glad. ~ He gave a small smile in thanks. ~ I came a long way from Germany to find you. ~
" Who are you." Bruce asked, hearing it yet still her power could rival Constantine's or Zatara's to a degree. She was a cambion no longer on the side of evil. Born to it, yet part human as well.
"Ah…and you have a pretty interesting…. Suit?" Cy pointed to the kid's costume.
~ Thanks, I'd hardly call it anything special. Oh! You do know then; I was here to ask, Grant. You must know him. The news can't lie –
"WHO are you. I won't say it again." Bruce was strict about a lot of things. The Joker's mind games. Two face's indecisions, Riddler's giggling and Penguins' awful banter and whining over a petty loss. Still, this was a child, and not just any child.
"Your name, or I'll tell the Titans what you've refused too so far."
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~I…oh, sorry, I was being very rude. My mind got so flustered…. ~ The kid was almost delicate as his smile became one of something pained a little.
"Batman was the rude one…" Gar grumbled as the two kindred heroines again gave the younger teen hero a bat glare.
~ Oh, ah, my name is Joseph Wilson Kane. ~ His eyes lit up as he recalled why he had come. He also had to recharge his power a bit. Getting to the states as meta and a minor behind his mother's back wasn't easy.
Bb gasped; Kori almost dropped the tray of au derives(typo) on her way in, and of course Raven put up her hood.
~I'm sorry! My brother was wrong for what he did, as was my half-sister and –
"Whoa…. wait…you are…" Babs pulled up her file on Slade and Cy's eyes with his team's, popped.
"SLADE'S OTHER KID??"
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"You…. look nothing like –
I'm getting Jason on the line. Stay here." Batman instructed the heroes and Alfred. "Barbara. Tim. You're in charge until I get back."
~Am I…in some sort of trouble? ~ Joey was too naive, yet he could be a spy and anything that went wrong by now, would certainly be a trouble for the dark knight's temperament.
He hated Slade for hurting his sons, yet the audacity. That he'd kept his code intact through keeping them…. alive?? IT was a catch twenty-two in Deathstroke's new rulebook. Also, how DID Barbara snag that top secret file on Deathstroke's past? That was from his bat –
Bruce kept on a steady pace to the next hall and the grandfather clock. The cave could give him plenty, he wondered if she kept tabs on everyone – or even had Jason and Grant on speed dial…
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The clock in THAT room did tick, yet down below in the underground, the cave buzzed to life. Nearly anything but silent as Bruce staked his claim on the right key. A face popping up as it chewed on some plate piled high with –
~ Hr…. b! ~ The dark haired, goofy teen grave a grin with a full jaw of stuffing. Bruce didn't bat an eye.
"Jason; where is Grant." The dark knight demanded, losing his appetite while Red Hood's alter was forced to swallow without accidentally choking.
~ Cough! Cough! Warn a guy –
"I'm tired of you avoiding my messages, I need Grant. WHERE." Bruce pushed again.
~ GAH! ~ Jason pounded his chest, fixing his lungs up as he explained a bit further in detail. ~ Said he was on his way….to talk to you, you didn't know? He's got a lock! But we had someone ELSE send it. ~
Bruce got the call as Alfred alerted the man via his extra link.
~ Sir, another guest has just arrived. Shall I tend to the matter until you are available. ~
Jason shrugged his shoulders on the one screen, Bruce grumbling as he sighed, the kid saluting him before going back to his marathon eats.
"Won't be necessary Alfred, lead him to where the Titans have Joseph." He replied. "They'll understand the rest when I get there."
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The sun was up, right over the Serengeti. The birds were in flight, all things were as one family. One bird walked about, a crown atop its skull, searching for a place to call home.
Dick crouched low in the tall grasses on his hands and knees, filthy and saw lion cubs rolling about. Elephants were drinking from a pool of crisp water; a cheetah was batting flies with its tail as –
This was a dream, he saw the cheetah fly forward, right after a….
No, that wasn't right! It wasn't a child; it was a boy…. black hair and bruised from someone…. why?
A - and the cheetah wasn't that. He blinked away the sun from his eyes, the face unmistakably…. It was…a man, and a gun?! The, child was –
He called out, the whole world exploding as the man fired the trigger.
This perfect paradise.
Lost, as the dream came to a close.
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Dick's eyes shot open as his body bent up, his face beaded with sweat.
"Dream…" He heaved out, the heat not the issue, the message clear was there.
"Can't go… -
"Risen yet, soldier?"
Dick turned his head to the doorway. Didn't the man ever knock?
"You look like crap, hop in that shower and dress accordingly after." Slade recited in that order. "Wintergreen put everything else out on your dresser." Slade's unmasked chin pointed to the folded and neatly kempt camo gear.
More sweating, Dick grimaced under his chin.
"Meet me downstairs after you've finished. The park should open in twenty more minutes; plenty of time to wash your face off." Slade left him guessing; not asking about the boy's shaken appearance or that Dick had manifested himself as a defenseless kid getting killed by a wolf in sheep's clothing that WAS THIS KILLER IN HIS ROOM! AND –
Just even better! Slade or super – goon had dressed him night clothing and taken him to his borrowed bed upstairs. No wonder he wasn't freezing anymore…
Dick grumbled a single question as Slade stayed to see the kid's groggy eyes try to look at him with all seriousness. "What, time is it…?"
"About, four thirty." The adult answered briskly. "Up and attum, you'd best get a move on." Slade waved his protégé off, a change in that tone so far. The man now gone Dick let out a low groan, exhaustedly.
"Slade…" He ran a clammy hand over his face, those eye bags growing twice as heavy with that dream to drag him from his stubborn nightmares. Dick relented and grunted to himself that he had to move, as he climbed groggily out of the large bed. He saw a glass of water and the pitcher there in the room on the dresser as well beside his new duds.
It was going to be his kind of day; he just knew it. Slade was so excited, an almost loathsome feeling of irritation buzzed in the back of Richard's mind. The fabled ex hero almost shook with rage before composing himself, face falling and lips to a flat line as he poured himself a glass of cold water and waited to feel any better about his situation.
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Slade was there with what looked to be a shotgun or rifle over his shoulder, swung there like the many dead beautiful creatures Slade had previously plastered to his walls. Dick suddenly felt weak, his eyes not the issue as his head ached, tongue dry and the nausea –
He stuffed it down with a gulp and Slade motioned to Will to bring a type of herb for Dick to chew on for the nausea and the post trip's trauma to his gut. "It'll pass, come." Slade brought a hand to the door, the other outstretched to have Dick take his arm while the medicine did its job. "He's fine, Wintergreen. We'll send you word if we should be back earlier."
"Of course, and Slade? Be careful. It's his first time on a hunt. Even a faux attempt at one…"
Why did it seem to be something else he'd wanted to add –
"Dick, use me if you need to. The leaf takes about twenty seconds to activate from your saliva. Just keep chewing, alright?" A minor setback, he decided. There was no way Dick was going to put off his training today. There was no one for miles that he knew to contact, Slade had the other rooms locked up here and the roads were no place for children to be without adults by their side. Besides, that was also a leaf used to ease anxiety as well. The kid would be in the palm of his hand, begging to make his master proud in no time.
Dick was after all, still a minor yet with a slew of potential yet to tap into.
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The two; master and apprentice got to the reserve gates as Slade got out to show his license and Dick would not be doing a kill, it was a language that wasn't similar exactly to Beira in the city, but a might older. Slade returned to the car as they put it in a place to park, walking the rest of the way while Dick chewed the anti – nausea leaf continuously, until he had regained his composure. (He basically has a pain reliever and you'll find out why in a bit.)
As long as he did when the time came, as long as Slade didn't force a shot…
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They came across tall dry grasses and a tree that overlooked a watering hole, almost identical to Dick's dream. He gasped, trying to stay upright as Slade brought out the darts. "You'll need to start with knowing how to grip it; the recoil is a beginner's plight…. Dick? Are you listening to me?"
"Ah, y – yes." Dick bobbed his head, sipping on the water in his canteen, wishing it were a sleeping potion that took you back in time instead. Kori could survive this heat, but he? No way.
"Here." Slade pulled out of one of his assorted pouches another leaf. Dick was reluctant to take it. Wasn't that enough?
"You'll be fine. The dose doesn't exceed five leaves. I don't want a drug – happy kid hitting buffalo or a human –
"Sorry!" Dick snatched up the leaf and shoved in his mouth quickly, his stress lessened by whatever this thing held sway over. "R- read…ready. So?"
"Oh, well then..." Slade moved the fun toy into Dick's hands as he tried to make it butt against the earth and not Slade's leg.
"If you shoot that at me, I won't go down." The man said by the kid's ear. "I'm immune to most forms of torture and drugging. Might be a real drag to see me with pins in my back…but, anyway?"
Slade's threat after that had Dick seeing through the scope of someone else's vision. If he wanted to stop Slade, this was it. He had to hold this murder weapon up high. Bash his head? No, he could hit all of the –
" Focus." Slade drawled out, his eye on the tree and a gazelle in the way.
"Try to breathe…then, rest it just…. Here, that's it…" His top-notch instructions built up Dick's nausea as the heat beamed over them. Hotter and hotter, seeing double…
He fired and the gazelle fell down, Dick dropping the gun as Slade caught it and his protégé. "Well done, first shot too." Slade slipped by the kid's ear. "The bat didn't have you miss a lesson, on how to stop a gun, did he?"
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Dick shot again, detached from his pain as his darkened eye – bags only grew. He shot and they slept. Those marvels of natural order left the world with their bodies this close to something else plucking them up. Jaws, claws, human hands…. until Slade swapped the darts for just one, bullet.
Dick froze, the gun placed there into his grip again as one last animal was in his scope. A crane. A crown atop its head as different as east and west's variety. Dick breathed, Slade doing the best he could to keep that arm from not rejecting his aide.
"Last shot, this one's all yours." He let go, and with the shock of the man leaving him, Dick turned and instead –
Instead, he shot AT Slade who dodged and tackled Dick to the dirt, the gun out of ammo.
And Dick, without a prayer.
The large bird having flown away, just like in his dream. (NOT A SLASSH!! ANALOGY!!)
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