I wanna say thank you for all the love and all the reviews and comments and thank you for everyone just reading the story! Now...
ON WITH THE STORY!
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There was a coffee shop that was open late, that coexisted within the general area of the meeting point. So, of course, while they were content to let their team leader duke it out with his former teammates, the anxieties they also had were bothersome. So a late-night cup of joe was apparently needed. They all ordered something fancy, while it seemed that it was Asif alone who preferred his coffee with only a touch of cream and sugar. Kate looked at his cup, "Boring." His eyes met hers. "Alright, Miss fifty thousand calories in a cup." She may have narrowed her eyes at him if not for the tension in the air.
"Do you think he's going to be okay up there?" Ksenia glanced at the top of the tower. The Titans should be arriving by now, and she knew at this moment he was up there, waiting for them. "He promised he'd be fine, its best to believe in him and just let him take care of things." she nodded in agreement with Asif, who tried to reassure her, but she couldn't help but worry. "Nothing much we can do, anyway." Tank held onto his extra large coffee like it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. "He wanted to do this alone, so we gotta let him do it alone. I mean think of it, he's Robin turned Renegade. This." He gestured to the tower then. "This is personal man. He wants to take on the world and its heroes? Fine. Devastating them by taking out any potential Leaguers that could take up the mantle of the JL in the future? Sure, awesome idea. But it's his old team. They went through a lot together so you gotta respect him for what he's doing, and what he's doing is giving them a fast pass outta the game. Because things are just gonna get nastier from here on out. Plus, you know, all the other stuff he said about dwindling out the Justice League and whatnot. I agree with him and I know what he's capable of. We all do. I don't think we have to worry unless he jumps off the tower and Kate is not fast enough to catch him." Discorded sneered at him, but Asif quickly calmed the storm before it happened. He looked Tank right in the eyes then. "Drink your fucking coffee." Tank merely shrugged and took a sip from his cup.
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Most of the power had been cut, making the iconic building appear dark and empty. But Robin made sure that the backup generators would still kick in, giving an adequate amount of electricity throughout to keep the building functional to a certain degree. So in that regard, it only kept important areas operational, such as the vaults, garages, any kind of weapon storage, and simple things like elevators. It wouldn't last forever, and he made sure to make it rather difficult for them when they arrived. There would be no running in and flicking on a switch, no analysis Cyborg could do that would help them in this moment. Everything in the building would only work to his advantage, even the elevator would only get them so far. He wanted their attention and he would have it.
The elevator dinged, and he walked out, knowing the last stretch he would have to do by foot. The hall was barren, and the silence evoked hidden memories, memories which crept around at each corner, recollections that gave the hallway a solemn backwash of emotions. Just as any area of this tower had done to him multiple times in one short evening. And if all went as planned, this tower may never see a rag-tag group of young heroes ever again. No other remarkable victories, no more momentous occasions, no more memories to be made here. And when it stood vacant, what would the city do with it? Leave it abandoned? Let it go to ruin? Considering that the property was labeled as private, he doubted the city would want anything to do with it. It would just become another symbol of another time, another world. And like the heroes it once held, it would rot away.
Soon enough, he left the hallway behind. His boots landed heavily with each step. The metal sounded behind him as he climbed the staircase. It took only moments before he reached the door, and moments more before he found himself outside. He took a heavy breath then. How many times had it been here in the past? So many villains, so many cases, so many mysteries left unsolved that had caused him so many sleepless nights. And while the stress remained, it was another game. But still, the scenery calmed him.
He smiled then. This was it, the very end. He came back to where it all started. He looked towards the door then. He knew they'd be here soon, possibly any minute now. But he supposed they didn't matter as much as the view. He could look at the ocean and the mountains for a bit longer. But he knew he had other responsibilities, another team to get back to, a sense of leadership washed over him then, and soon his eyes found the door again, promising himself that one day he would return to the city, to the ocean, and this view, if anything but to see it again. He sighed. "Don't make me wait too long up here."
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There was a sense of dread that crept into their hearts as they entered the tower, it was dark, and the entire aura had changed, as if the tower itself was robbed of something, as if there was a parasite infesting its once lighted halls. A traitor was amongst them. Raven placed a hand over her heart. Her eyes caught the lingering aspects of his aura that moved around their living room. He wanted her to know he was here. He had tugged at the link only moments before. He was letting them know exactly where he was. She watched Cyborg grow frustrated when he couldn't get the power back on, when he couldn't find the crux of the problem. It was a good thing they had a few backup generators. "There is nothing we can do now." Cyborg had scanned the building, had tried to connect with the Towers control panel, and nothing. "Can you pick up anything yourself?" They all knew Robin had done this. They also knew that Robin would make it very evident if he had remained in the building.
"I'll scan the tower," Cyborg had put in a few commands into his own personal systems, and had a program run that looked for life signs. "But I don't think it's going to get mu-" He looked down at his friends and all motion stopped. "Dude, what is it?" Beast Boy had walked over, as did Starfire, and they all saw the singular red blip on his scanners. Victor lowered his arm, turning the screen off. "He's here. He's on the damn roof."
"Then we remain alert, and we make our way to the rooftop."
"Raven?" One co-leader looked to the other, and Cyborg had to admit, her heart-felt admission spoke volumes of how she truly felt, especially for someone who had to keep their emotions so well guarded. "I'm not going to let him get away with this. Any of this, any of what he has done." Cyborg raised his hands. "I feel you Rae. I do. And I'm with you. You know that, right?" Her only response was a nod. "We are also with you, Friend Raven." The goth turned to see her friends unite around her.
She looked at the elevator, her eyes scanning the area. "Who wants to bet that he dismantled it enough so that it will only take us to the top floor?"
"That would sound like something he would do. Robin was... always very intelligent. But we must face him, or we may never be able to face ourselves in the future." Starfire had floated ahead of them, giving them both a look of concern. She may have been an alien princess with powers, but she watched him first-hand pull off things she wouldn't believe if she hadn't seen him do it. Cyborg groaned. "Sometimes too smart for his own damn good."
"Well, I dunno about you guys." Beast Boy had walked over to the panel and pressed the button to go up. "But I say we go and end it." Raven gave her green friend a nod but reminded them all, "Robin is dangerous. He was always dangerous, even as a Titan. He was our greatest ally, our leader, our friend. But we all know he's no longer Robin. He's just Slade's Apprentice now."
"Renegade." Raven looked to Cyborg and gave him a questioning look. "It's what that guy, the one from the fight at the mall, had said. Like he was letting us know that he changed his name. Like he was just, you know, putting it out there. Like they knew him, like it was old news that he had changed his name. Almost like a gloat." Cyborg rolled his shoulder. "Robin is dead. All that remains is Renegade. He's more than just a menial threat. He knows us, he trained us. We could be walking into our deaths."
"Then we walk together." The team nodded at Starfire's comment. Even if this was the end, they would walk that road together.
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The last climb up to the roof was excruciating, terrifying, and intimidating. A variety of words that could reflect the simple one for 'scary'. The team was not and probably never would be prepared for what they would face that night. However, at the sight of him, it brought her back to the time before the Brotherhood, before Trigon. But she realized it wasn't him anymore that stood there. It was an interesting sight to see him again. It felt almost as if they were all here, all on the same side, all as it once was. As if it was just another night. Raven had found him up here many times, and each time he would be doing the same thing as he was now. Taking in the ocean view and filling his lungs with the evening air. The situation they had found themselves in felt surreal. As if waking up from a horrible nightmare only to find the very person they had been looking for was right on their doorstep the entire time. She looked at her co-leader, who only saw red. "ROBIN!"
For a moment, the boy was brought back to another time when he had last heard his old friend scream out his name with such hatred. He smirked at his old companion's outburst. Cyborg wasn't normally a man filled with anger, but it would seem that on more than one occasion he had given him the gift of animosity. For a moment more, he ignored them and for a moment more, he took in the scenery before him. Saddened that he may not see it again for quite some time. "It's Renegade. The name Robin is pretty useless to me now." His masked eyes kept their gaze on the ocean below, but he could feel Cyborgs cannons aimed right at his head, along with the rest of the team itching to go for his throat. "Yeah! We know. One of your new teammates spilled the beans." He wouldn't face them yet, so instead he chuckled. "Then apparently, Asif did his job." He shook his head before he turned around, his arms crossed as he drank in the sight of his old team, and found himself a bit disappointed. They had remained the same, as much as the tower itself.
The Titans had noticed the uniform. Robin no longer wore his bright colors or had any reminiscence of his time as Batman's protégé. Now the R that was once placed over his heart was replaced by the familiar menacing 'S'. "I have a proposition for you." he began to walk towards them, but the Titans didn't budge. Cyborg's aim remained as steady as ever as he was locked on to Robin's every movement. "Oh, what kind of proposition? Because I'm sure you'll have something good to offer us." Cyborg sneered at him. The rest of the Titans seem to do the same. He flashed them a smile, and for a moment they had almost all folded into the memories of their old friend, but they kept their resolve. "No, it is a good one, I can promise you that much."
"Nothing good has ever come from Slade, and considering you're just his lackey now, I doubt you got anything good to share with anyone." Robin could almost laugh at Beast Boy's attempt to insult him. "Lackey, I most definitely am not, more like the heir to the throne."
"Robin." His eyes met Starfire's as he acknowledged her, perhaps once he may have felt something for her, but now... He felt nothing for the alien Princess, which was another ironic twist considering he wanted nothing more than to be with her at one point. Perhaps in this too he had grown, maybe his taste in women had evolved beyond hot red headed alien princesses. "What is this proposition you speak of?" Regardless, though, he would still grant her the respect one might show an adversary.
"Leave it all behind."
Cyborg swore he misheard him. "What?" The former hero smiled. "You heard me. My proposal is to simply leave it all behind. The hero work that is, Jump City won't be a home to those that call themselves Titans no longer. Go live a normal life."
"We cannot just leave the city to the criminals, the people wouldn't be safe, it would be overrun in no time. We cannot just leave the people to their own devices." Robin shrugged at Raven's retort, "But you can. It's easy really, you just walk away." Angrily, Garfield lashed out. He always was the most emotional of the group. "We're not just gonna stop being heroes! This is who we are, who you once used to be! But it seems like you've forgotten. Or care."
"You think I don't care?" he took a step towards them. "I do care, actually, a lot. I suppose I just see things differently than you all do. I remember when my vision was cloudy, much like yours. But you see, I spent time out there, in the real world. Spent time with people who had everything taken from them, who had so little to live for, and yet they stood strong each day, held fast to their convictions, only to live that nightmare over and over again. They didn't know when the bombs would strike or when the military would waltz in and devastate their entire lives, and so in-between the terror they would find the little things that mattered and grasp onto them. At one point I may have despised the desolate place, but now I think I'm quite fond of it." He smirked in their direction. "However, when I was out there, I also found something much more dangerous than Brother Blood or the Brotherhood of Evil. Maybe even a little more dangerous than Slade. A threat which cannot be ignored, a threat that I'm taking care of. So perhaps you may think I don't care anymore, but you'd be wrong. I just take care of things differently these days."
Beast Boy pointed at this former friend, "You kill people! That's not taking care of anything! Everyone's been thinking about it, but no one wants to admit it. You've been murdering the League members, haven't you?" Robin shrugged, almost as if in admittance as if it really didn't bother him. Cyborgs' mind, however, was focusing on what Robin had said about stumbling upon something more dangerous than their top three in their roster of villains, a threat that couldn't be ignored. His mind raced back to the memory of the red-haired woman that called them up in the middle of the night a few days ago and mentally scolded himself for not informing Batman of the late-hour interruption. There couldn't be a connection, could there?
"Do you know anything about a 'Land of Ash and Ruin'? Something you have to return to?" Robin's masked eyes went a little wide for a moment before his mischievous smile returned. "Did she call you up?" Robin could laugh now. "Did she have red hair, red eyes, pale skin, dressed professionally?" With Cyborg's confirmation, he let out a howl of laughter. Cyborg, however, was not amused. "What's so funny?" Their former friend continued to laugh at their expense, but once he was able to contain himself, he looked at them and shook his head. "Looks like I'm going back to the desert."
Robin let out a sigh before he put himself into a defensive stance. "You wanna square up, right? I'll make you a deal. Beat me, and you can continue on being heroes, but if I win, you gotta call it quits. No turning back, you leave the tower as is and you never return." A well-placed smirk etched its way onto his lips as he waited for them to make the first move. Cyborg just gritted his teeth. "Is it really just gonna come to this?"
Their enemy shrugged. "You could walk away."
"Not a chance," Robin swore his cannon was getting brighter the angrier he became. Was he collecting power inside the cannon? If he didn't fire soon, he may very well damage and pop off his entire arm if he's not too careful. "Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you." the smirk died on his face in that moment, and Cyborg knew then and there, that this entire evening just got far more serious. Robin wasn't playing games, and he had hoped that he was wrong about walking himself and his team to their deaths. "TITANS GO!"
Robin narrowed his masked eyes. "Yea, let's go."
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Next chapter I promise will be the ALL OUT FIGHT! In the meantime pls leave me a review! I'd love to hear from you!
Stay safe out there!
-Fangy