Our Time in Reverse- What it Takes Chapter 34, a teen titans fanfic

Our time in Reverse – What It Takes-

Chapter 34: The Real Puppet Kings

The light ended, a dank drop of water ever four seconds was the torture he'd never known. Seated on his knees, mask on, Robin number one, Dickie the hero had pushed too far to be left in the dark.

Someone's steel toed boots tracked over, tapping concrete as they did so to the best of the dripping water from a busted pipe.

"You were going in the wrong direction, Renegade."

The boy's mouth ran dry. He put his head lowered, his humility nit enough as the man gripped the back of his skull with that full head of locks, and tugged tight.

"You dropped your unit; what's worse, you helped the enemy and were almost motivated to avoid my direct orders BACK at your precious tower…you have forgotten your oath. I should have you repeat it in –

"I'm sorry! Sir, I-

The boy was kicked by that same boot to come crashing to the floor. He realized his arms were tied behind his back, his ankles done in a similar fashion to not get away. He'd promised, and had done something careless to almost compromise his…

Swallowing, the man's boots tapped to stand directly over that sniveling face in front. "You want to prove that you can go back out? Like a good soldier, I'd allow that? What are you going to do if I say 'yes.' Will you go back to them, help them and defy me again??"

"NO! NO, SIR"

Slade hit him in the ribs with that same boot before lifting the child to look him in the eye. "You won't disobey again, apprentice. If I tell you to stay put, you don't budge. If I tell you to draw your blade?"

"I draw it, master." Roughly, the words hurt to add as Slade caught that with a wide eye. "Do you even want my praise any longer, child? What about that title you've longed to have, hum? I could always give it someone else. Set you loose. Back to the bat."

Robin shook his head, wildly guessing the man would dare dissolve their contract …. he…. he wouldn't.

"I'm loyal only to you, I didn't act as you wanted and, should be punished –

"Why do you hesitate, then." Snipped the madman as he dropped the boy back onto his face. "Alright, boy. You'll get to choose. For your disobedience, what do you believe is an objectively fair punishment?" Robin bit his lip and couldn't help but stare at the floor until Slade lifted that gaze with a single thumb and forefinger. "Go on, and do tell your master what YOU think is worth the price of your disobedience?"

Starfire as Raven used her powers to put the bots into the wall, while Raven as Starfire teleported them both in a wave if black magic to the outer areas if the city. Just before the bay, Starfire tried not to sob and get mucus all over Raven's cloak.

"Star, we'll find him. We just have to get the others back in their right minds, and us." Raven frowned. Starfire as Raven pulled her hood down and scrunched in her legs in the dirt. The comm unit crackled with a voice that sounded too gravelly and young to be a fellow Titan.

~ Y'elo? Can any…one…. here…..hear…..pier….got….~

"Might it be??" Starfire gasped and blinked back her tears, while Rven took the device and started talking in Star's body at the lone voice on the screen. ~ Got…. ambush…. know…who…find…S –

The thing crackled out as Raven gave the device back and headed for the shore. "Come on. We might be able to save one life if we try. Starfire?"

The empath as the alien got back up and smiled, tears still at the corners of her eyes. "I believe so, that we still are strongest, together."

She didn't stop the earth from getting a mild crater as Raven chuckled by how little control the alien had. They both laughed as Raven revised a lesson plan just so that Kori would not give them away.

Jason's head knocked against a wooden crate as Wintergreen made sure the bots had the boy in it. "He should arrive by midday. I swear, this grunt work is a horrific trouble to undergo…you old twat." The butler grunted as Slade talked through his earpiece. ~ This "twat" just got a signed confession without lifting a pinkie. Is the bird ready for his trip? ~

"Of course. And your significantly less bruised, protégé? Is he able to lake the rest of his time to locate the girls?"

~ He's already been set loose, with less bruises I'd like to add. More exposure to the serum was the plan eventually, Will. Just sit back and enjoy the ride, won't you? ~

"If I had ten dimes fir every time I'd counted that one liner – Slade! These are still children, and by damn if you think this will make him loyal through, a bloody beat down? He trusts you to do the right thing, here. Have a heart some, man –

~ I offered a conclusion up. ~ The mastermind added. ~ The boy will be spending the night in a day or so. I need to tend to his wounds, and try to pick out any new information while the deal is still fresh in his mind. What's a time to bond between caregiver and caregiver, Will? ~ Chuckled the merc. ~ I have this all under control. You're worrying about nothing at all. Set Robin number two back to where he belongs, and I'll…watch out for the very first addition. In kind. ~

Robin trudged away as he was shoved out of the stalking vehicle. A black car, as the man and bots had the boy get up before they pointed the blame in his direction the injection this time BURNED. Robin had screamed while Slade made sure that he was tuning out the noise. Right in the infirmary, the child had earned his punishment. The healing was a halfway job like before, only he could still move. Despite the sting at the back of his neck (very important) he still wanted the metaphorical trophy in hand. The man was treating him this way to get tough. In his mind, he couldn't understand it. Robin was abused by the bad guy, not Renegade. Renegade preferred a hands-on approach. Slade had even said he'd come find him so that they could recap on the events thus far.

A budding level of guilt made Robin's head itch. It had to be the serum that had saved him yet again. No fractures. Just…bruises, to be reminded that he still had trials to complete before coming home.

He pretended to limp into view of his teammates. Robin's, as Starfire not within her own body, flew over to check on her wounded ally. "You are safe! What…where were you, what did those clawed robots-

She gasped as Raven directed Star on how to heal others by magic. "Concentrate on every cell. On every breath. It's ok." She pulled away and tried to ask carefully, "How are you doing now? Did it work?"

"I feel less achy, yeah. I fought back. Then, they tried to take me underground. I…I'm sorry –

"You are not the one who should be." Raven as Star shook her head. "We failed in protecting you. We all promised to keep him away. That was his insignia, wasn't it."

"Friends!" Starfire whispered and pointed at three figures walking towards the one spot by the city they'd found together. The old theater house.

"Cy…they're under the creep's control, still? What about –

"Your puppet is still there. Look." Raven stayed back as the three hid behind a wall of brick to not be spotted by their own friends.

"We are ready to start and end, the final act. My puppets, come." The puppet king ushered his servants into the play house as the three others waited by for their chance to charge the roof skylight.

"We must be very quiet." Starfire put a hand up to her lips as Raven smirked and shook her head. "I'll get us to the roof; you can break the locks. That involves my mantra, so not for you it doesn't require "peace and quiet."

Slade was sure Tara was resting, as she should be. He set his little big cameras over the other Robin as the gasps of his lovely butler were music to the mad man's ears.

~ Master Bruce! Come quickly! ~

Directly to his front door, was a drugged down and out Jason Todd. Slade made sure to tear the R from the boy's suit as a statement as he put the little disc in the kid's jaw like the good dog he was to play "fetch."

~ Jason…??~ Instantly, the swap from mentor to father made the enigmatic killer, chuckle. ~ You…. Bruce….I... ~

~ Rest, we'll get to the bottom of this. We'll talk in the morning. ~

Slade turned to the other screen to see the switched two working together, while Robin made sure to take an extra wide to himself just in case he needed to be reminded thrice. That wasn't even the best part as Will came in while dusting his hands of the job entirely. "Don't you ever tire of ruining your last bit of vision; day in and day out, it must be a chore to have these screens reflecting back always."

"Not always, old friend." Slade said somewhere in between then and now. "The boy, for his reward later wanted a sit-down supper and a film on. I think we can indulge on to something smaller, can't you?"

"If the boy doesn't talk some sense into that skull, I've utterly failed as your conscience for tonight." Sighed the older man. "I'll be turning in for today. Oh, and Tara responded rather differently while you were away. She asked how much it would be for the luxury of finding her captive brother. Should she take to your "generous" offer, Slade."

He left Slade to wonder too if Tara had it in her to push a few limits. To test others as he intended to test the extent of her geo – kinetic powers. This city would fall eventually, anyway. Robin had to stand tall to the shakes that were bound to rock the entire west coast. He just had to try a little harder on the next mission. All by himself.

"My puppets, get them! Stop them from halting the ceremony!".

The puppet Cy and Bb got the courage to ask while clutched by the Puppet king. Their own bodies seemed to not respond as the two drones fought Raven and Robin, while Raven as Star waited for the puppet to speak again to reveal his frightfully ingenious plan.

"Ceremony?" Puppet Cy asked.

"Puppet Bb chimed in. "What ceremony??" (I changed it )

"THIS event, will make your bodies mine forever. You will cease to exist, and I…. -

" HHYYAA !!" Robin swung out a rang as Star as Raven took the puppets up into her arms. Star hit the cauldron with a bolt and then the control the mad puppet had used. It flew up and into the tilting, teetering pot. Dead on, the room began to glow with magic as they'd just broken the cursed spell.

"NOOO!!" The puppet king watched through his big orbed eyes as the power he no longer carried, was transferred into the cauldron. The souls of the people the Titans cared for reverted to their own bodies. That, which included Raven and Starfire bonding on their own before finding each other back in their own bodies. Robin had nothing to fear as he saw the fake puppet of himself collapse with the others by the time they were locked up in the evidence room at the tower. "Alright!!! You got em hard, and we couldn't a done it any better ourselves, right Bb?"

"You go, mamas!" Bb whooped as Raven blushed, while Starfire was all grins at the praise. She hugged Raven as the empath allowed it for a brief second. Robin leaned in the door as everyone called him over for a group hug.

While he was being hit in every space left to hit before, Slade had told him. Face to face.

"That evil dummy is my connection. Some man in Gotham lost his wits and the thing got my ear about getting a chance to have his own servants. Imagine my luck when he had volunteered to do just that. So, what is the first thing he'll want if he likes his position enough? Answer that, boy. Ten seconds. Go! What is the puppet king's main goal?"

"He…wants…. your alliance…. cough...to work for you both…. sir…" Robin sat up even as his bruised ribs screamed out. "If we defeated him, he still has a circle to protect him…. here in this city."

"Correct. It's his way like Dr. Light's of showing off. I told you about that. That if one pillar falls…"

Arthur Light ( changing it) was a brilliant madman who became even greater in his tenacity to do no wrong under his new alias. He however was too quick to quip, too cocky as Slade put it. His fear of the dark was canon to his character which made him into an insect. Yet, he did understand a very special type of tech that Slade wanted to test out in the future.

"Another comes up in its place." Robin responded, earning an honest hum from his master's masked lips.

Slade ruffled the kid's hair as Robin bit back a happy sob. "You're then forgiven. Don't forget. Don't lose touch. Now, let's go and treat those wounds together, shall we? Apprentice?"

Robin tried this time to wait on a bot to cloak him, to get him to the docks and underground. He'd have to be careful since this city was a terror all on its own. He would soon have enemies to face. Slade stood at the front of the hatch with his mask taken off.

His all-knowing eye made Richard raise his head for that validation. "Come. Let's get you dried off, Richard."

Down the heated passage, Richard didn't speak a word until it was customary to do so. Slade appreciated the boy's patience and the kid was rewarded with clean cloths and a shower in the en suite of the other side of Slade's little hide away. All of the places that he remembered were still where he recalled them. Minus more screens in the main room, the dais looking a foot taller than he'd last remembered. "We'll be eating in the dining area. Unless, you'd rather the table be moved, elsewhere-

"No, thank you sir. I'd prefer to have a similar set up. So, I don't forget anything else."

The man smiled and pushed the lid into the other room. There, was an adjoined kitchen and living area. The television was not too close or far away while they had what looked to be Bouillabaisse. (Joke from DC super hero girls.)

"Wow. That must have taken will –

"Not, his recipe." The man coaxed the kid to sit as he was served like old times. The man even had fresh bread for dipping into the red and orange in his soup bowl.

"This… mm!" The kid swooned over the first bite. "Sir, this is delicious…you honestly didn't have to go through all of –

"This is a happy occasion for us both, and I wanted to. Been awhile since I gave Will the night off. What's on your mind to watch? You've been trapped with a video – centric movie goer, a jock, a goth girl and an alien princess." The man counted off as Richard smiled by the joke between them. "What does Dick Grayson want to watch tonight during our supper?"

"You…got it? Are…this is not a simulation." Dick bounded up and switched the remote to set the box up. "This one we saw the preview of. Bb….um, we recommended it to go see later this month but…. you got it before it came out?" He gaped at the title.

The load screen cane on and he felt like a kid again. "You know I grew up to that, sir. Never missed a viewing until they set me up on the high bar. You really out did yourself if you remembered it!"

"Here." The man handed the bowl of rainbow sherbet to the kid. "I would have had Gelato frozen ahead of time from scratch, but the contents needed to keep a bit longer. This was quicker. Don't find too much from it. Sit down." He sounded like a father talking to a sugar crazed kid. Dick smiled widely and did as he was told.

The man wouldn't indulge the kid more than was allowed of their agreement. "I'll burn it off after we settle. Can we spar, maybe after the first part of the movie?"

" May we, you meant to say, boy."

Dick's head lowered as he muttered his apology. Slade let it slide, for tonight. Richard couldn't have been more enthused if he tried.

They had chosen an unreleased film about explorers getting trapped in a more horror and thriller driven Atlantis with a bunch of alien inhabitants. Slade had given it a three and a half stars, while Robin drank up the last of his desert from the bowl before half of the film was over. "Sir?" The kid looked up expectantly at his teacher. "May we go now? I couldn't do for seconds." He joked.

"As you wish." Slade put away their dishes in the sink and nudged the boy to get a move on before he passed out on the sofa to some mediocre monster movie (this will be fun because deep six will be up soon.)

Even as the kid rested peacefully in the dais seat that was meant for him, Slade had a job to do. He summoned the bots to take the boy back. Yes, to the tower with a head full of inflated dreams and worldly aspirations. And, sherbet.

God, he'd toss that foul colored carton out later after the kid had been sent back to the hero's sloppily designed tower. (Showing Slade as a narcissistic ass.)

Hopefully, the super computer Titan was sleeping in since he'd not been in control of his own mind for a couple of hours. Slade swapped over to the screens again and saw as Robin was placed on his stomach into the sheets of his twin sized bed. His room. It made Slade wonder if he'd have to gain more of an idea about what the boy liked as a kid…ehem…besides the name of his favorite cold dairy treat.

He knew a lot more than the bat, of course. The boy had immediately opened up to him since day one ….

"Sir." Will came into the main room, quick as his slipper clad feet could comprehend. "Tara has awoken." He panted a little. "Go to her, please."

Next is…. based on the one - shot called "Tick Tock Tango." Same premise, different motivation and set up for this story. After. Is deep six and then Red X is introduced!! Whoo- hoo!!

Find out!!

Also, this Dick's dialogue is more like Richard from Young Justice and how he is with his team and Bruce. Only when Dick is with the Titans during a crisis does it slip into 03 territory at times. And soft moments like a group hug. Aww. I miss those moments…sniff.