The Story So far... [Transcript 4] Part One...
The Story So far...
((I'm a crazy person... that's the only explanation for why I offered to do this...
Robin
Being ushered foreward, Robin headed towards the staircase, feeling around somewhat so he didn't go toppling headfirst down the staircase. "I'm sure Slade has his ways," he replied to Jinx.
Finding the step without faltering much, the boy wonder took careful steps down the stairs, fingers curling into the palms of his hands. Slade was going to pay for this. For what he had done. Everything.
Cyborg
Cyborg pulled himself up into a narrow, unfamiliar hall...
"Looks like I'm not in Kansas anymore..." He muttered, peering around. "Now, I know this isn't the cell I was in..." Popping up his shoulder light, he shone it down the corridor. He could hear footsteps approaching...
"--has his ways."
Cyborg let out a sigh of relief and stepped out into a small stairwell.
"Man, am I glad to see you..."
Raven
Raven was feeling oddly skiddish. So when the voice echoed out of the hallway, she jumped and slammed the shadowy figure against the wall, not realizing that it was Cyborg for several more seconds.
"You shouldn't do that." she said, her voice emotionless as she released him. However, a small note of relief was obvious, now matter how she tried to hide it.
Robin
Pacing foreward, Robin was already keeping full alert, ready to attack the voice, but he had managed to recognized the voice faster than Raven had. He cringed slightly when he heard Cyborg hit the wall, but he assumed his confident tone again, "Good, we found you...now we have to find Starfire and Beast Boy; we could definitely use that light, Cyborg."
Robin glanced towards the taller Titan, relief flooded over his face that he turned out all right. He just hoped they were be as fortunate with their other friends.
Cyborg
Cyborg greyed out for a second, having trouble processing what had just happened. He rubbed the back of his head and glared half-heartedly at Raven... he was too relieved to really be angry. As his light swept over them, his eyes widened.
"Picked up a couple of hitch-hikers on the way?" His brow furrowed at the sight of Terra and the strange kitten on Robin's shoulder, but his surprise was nothing compared to that which sank slowly through his mind when he noticed Jinx...
Raven
She glanced away, embarresed.
"You could say that." she mumbled, glancing at the three non-titans. She noticed Cyborg glance and rolled her eyes. The last thing they needed was for him to start babbling just because Jinx was helping them.
Jinx
She glanced away some, but couldn't help but smile a bit; not a smirk or anything, but a smile with sincerity. "And you guys were worried. Looks like someone can take care of himself." Her gaze returned to him, quickly changing the subject, "So... are the cells down there? How did you get away?"
Cyborg
He blushed faintly, laughing and waving his hand at the break in the wall where he had emerged.
"Not unless you want to fall in a hole. Not that you would. I mean... No." He pulled himself together, remembering that BB and Star were still in trouble. "I was in a cell, but when Slade came, I shot him--" He shook his head. "Point blank with my cannon and he just got up and shrugged it off." He shuddered at the memory of Slade standing and cracking a spine that should have snapped on impact... "Anyway, after that, the floor of my cell fell out and by the time I climbed out again, I was here..."
Katze
"I told you. The traps move. The corridors shift. Everything..." Silvestri said, impatient to be moving again.
Cyborg
Cyborg's eye widened and his jaw dropped.
"You talked?" He looked closer, making sure that Robin's feline passenger wasn't green. Not that he could remember BB ever speaking in English while he was transformed...
Jinx
"Not like we were accusing you of lying," she muttered somewhat coldly to the shapeshifter. Her eyes widened a bit at the statement Cyborg made, wondering if they were really going to be capable of harming Slade at all; She shook that thought out of her head; now was not the time to start losing confidence. Even if she couldn't help much, she knew (but wouldn't admit it out loud) that together the Titans would probably be able to handle him.
"Well, I guess we should turn around?" she asked, glancing at the others. "If Cyborg just came out of a trap down there, maybe the cells are somewhere else."
Robin
Standing there for a long moment, Robin took in everything that was being said, masked gaze narrowing by the moment. He seemed to be somewhat preoccupied with his own thoughts at the moment. "Alright Titans, it's obvious Slade is up to his old tricks again. Raven, we'll need your powers to phase through walls. We don't have time to wander through the hallways, and I'm not risking us splitting up. If Silvestri can pick up where we are when we get past the walls, then we'll be on a good start to find the cells. Got it? Stay on your toes and whatever you do, if we get split up somehow, don't let anyone or anything get the best of you."
That was coming from the heart, and there was quite a bit of determination flooding through his tone. His last sentence was something he usually didn't mention, but something seemed to have reflected that thought on his mind.
Katze
He nodded and leapt easily to Raven's shoulder.
"Sounds like a plan... if you can get me to where I recognize the layout, I should be able to guide you again..." He opened his mind without being asked. "Until then... just take what you need."
Raven
Raven stood behind them, her face carefully blank, and listened to all that was being said. She usually didn't talk much; it was mostly a worthless activity. This was one of the moments where she felt it would be better to sit back and listen, and because of that she didn't jump when Silvestri jumped onto her shoulder. She joined with his mind easily. They had done this two times before in one day; it was starting to feel as comfortable as her own.
"Alright." she said coolly, then wrapped all of them in her power and teleported them through the nearest wall. She paused and glanced at the cat, waiting to see if he recognized it.
Katze
He focused, melding his mind with Raven's. It felt safe, somehow... less lonely than being alone in his mind, but more secure than sharing it with anyone else.
"Left here... it should spiral downward for a few minutes." Something jumped on the periphery of his awareness and he turned Raven's power toward it without realizing what he was doing. "There... another trap." He focused deeper, widening their shared perception. "The floor is wired with explosives... I think there's a way to bypass it..."
Raven
She felt him use her power and frowned slightly. He shouldn't be that skilled...she had joined with his mind, and yet they were sharing to the point that he could use her powers. She would have to figure out how that worked later, and how to stop, or at least control, it.
"Of course there is." she said, then teleported them to the other side, using his knowledge to make sure they were safely away.
Katze
"Now, why didn't I think of that?" He murmured, laughing mentally.
-I won't do it again, Raven. I didn't even mean to do it this time... and this isn't the first time I've had someone in my head. Maybe the most pleasent time, but certainly not the first...- He winced internally, unable to keep the bitterness he felt in his heart from leaking into his thoughts.
"It should be just a little further..."
Raven
"Because you're worried." She said softly, trying to make sure only he heard. She was upset, but he had let her into his mind willing three times now. He obviously wasn't lying, at least not at the moment, or he wouldn't have done that. But they needed to talk at some point...
-Just be careful. If you take to much of my power, you might hurt some one. You don't know how to control it.-
She sensed the bitterness, but that too would have to be saved for another time.
"Good."
Robin
While Raven and Silvestri were navigating, he stayed close behind, but far enough to make sure they weren't being tailed by something or someone. Most of his attention was focused on the rear of the group to serve as a sort of guard there, just like he had earlier. Even no matter how many times he'd been apart of that teleportation power, it always seemed to feel weird to him. Perhaps because it was bending reality? Shrugging it off mostly, he was subconciously wrapping his fingers around a birdarang at his belt...expecting something, as it were.
Robin trusted Raven, so he didn't turn his head very often to see where they were going. No, he was going to make sure they didn't get ambushed from behind without a proper warning. He wanted to ask how far, but he didn't need to break Silvestri's concentration, that could jeopardize things.
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Slade
Slade smiled to himself, inordinately pleased that he hadn't misread Robin... the boy hadn't changed in the slightest.
He hit a key on his command console just as the rest of the group cleared the trapped corridor... and a forcefield activated, separating Robin from his team.
Another keystroke and the boy wonder was whisked to another of the interchanging halls. There was only one way out of the hall... through the door that lead to the command room where Slade sat, watching Robin's approach.
-He wanted to know where I was...-
Robin
Too far... Robin, too far!
His instincts hadn't knocked him out of his guard until it had been too late, and he'd partially separated himself from his team by trudging behind only slightly.
Unfortunately, he hadn't realized this until the forcefield had separated him from the team and shifted him into an entirely different hall, and he'd almost stopped walking entirely. "Titans!? TITANS!" he cried, turning about to see he was in an entirely different hall.
With only one 'way out'. "Slade..." he slowly growled almost beneath his breath.
Was he watching them? Of course he is... His eyes narrowed steadily from behind the mask, turning completely to the only door in the room. That was where he had to go; there was no other way out. Approaching the door, his stomach tensed and wrenched, only making his expression turn moreso into a scowl. Keep on your toes, he thought.
Trying the door, it opened easily, and for some reason that really surprised him.
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Jinx
"What the..?" When she turned around, she almost dropped Terra as the force field came up, but yanked her back as she took a step backward. When the next trap activated, causing Robin to seperate from the rest of them, she stared blankly for a moment before muttering "Well... That's bad." She glanced back at the others, wondering what they'd do without there leader. "Do we keep going? Or should we try to find him first?"
Raven
Raven froze, then spun gracefully, putting a hand on Silvestri's back to keep him from falling. Her eyes narrowed to slits and she disappeared. Then re-appeared.
"I can't get through." she snarled, confused and worried. He had seen this coming...he had been watching. He had gotten Robin now...and none of them could help. At least not yet. She floated back from the barrier, removing her hand from Silvestri's back as she did.
Katze
Jumping to the floor, he transformed, laying a hand lightly on Raven's shoulder and frowning.
"Calm, Raven... this is just what he wants. He wants us to get confused and angry so that we start to make mistakes. He wants us to get careless." He caught her other shoulder, turning her to face him, not even remembering the others around them. "You have to focus on finding Beast Boy and Starfire. Robin can take care of himself... for a while." He dropped his hands to his sides and half turned away from her. "Slade won't kill him... if that was his goal, he'd have done it long before now."
-You have to trust me.. and Robin. He'll be okay until we can find a way to help him... because he has to. Because that's what you do. All of you.- He thought to her, knowing that she would hear him, even without direct contact. It hurt to know that he was not included in their bond, and that he likely never would be.
"The good news is that Slade will be preoccupied, so freeing the rest of your friends won't be too difficult..."
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Slade
"Welcome, Robin. I trust you're enjoying your tour of my new headquarters?" Slade asked, swiveling his chair around to face Robin. "Too bad that you won't get to continue with your group... and it was just about to get interesting..." He shook his head slowly. "Tsk, tsk... you really shouldn't have wandered away..."
Robin
Stopping a short ways from the door once he got inside, his hands began to clench slowly into fists, watching Slade cautiously as the chair spun around and he turned to face him. "What are you planning to do to them?" he inquired in an icy tone.
It was apparent Silvestri didn't know all of the tricks around here, otherwise this one would have been avoided. With that thought being apart of his conscience, it made Robin worry about the well-being of his friends. And the way Slade worded some of his sentences only put the boy wonder on edge to suspect he was planning on putting them into a trap that even Silvestri didn't know about. He could only hope he wasn't right.
Slade
Slade reached over and hit a key on his console. The screens shifted to a constant view of the Titans as they approached the cell level.
"Really, Robin? Haven't you figured it out yet?" He paused, his eye widening mockingly. "No? Then don't let me spoil the surprise..."
Robin
Robin didn't dare take his guard off enough to glance but for a second to the screens, his teeth baring slightly. Even letting your guard down for a second could be deadly against Slade. Lowering his hand down quickly, he snatched upwards a couple birdarangs, "I'm not going to let you hurt them, Slade! You tricked me before, but it won't happen again."
Withdrawing his arm back briefly, Robin shot his hand forth to release the birdarangs towards Slade, ready to move at any given second.
Slade
Slade chuckled as he blocked the projectiles with one hand, breaking them easily.
"Please, Robin... when have those ever worked against me?" He shook his head. "No, you'll have to think up a new trick..." He hit another button on the keyboard and an orange shield sprang up around Robin. Slade stood and circled the captured Titan slowly. "Really... you should know better." He stopped behind Robin, crossing his arms behind his back and watching as his 'guests' progressed in their search...
Robin
Snarling briefly, Robin had been ready to charge foreward and attack. Slade was right, they never worked, and he'd only wanted them to be a distraction, but once he'd started to charged foreward, a shield had blocked his way. "No!" he cried, slamming his fists in the shield for a moment.
Turning towards Slade for a second, his glare only became more intense than it had been, he almost said something, but his gaze followed through to the screens. Terra was awake again! Robin was already blaming himself for anything that was going to happened to the Titans, and he couldn't stand being trapped here...being helpless.
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Raven
Raven took a deep breath and nodded, then glanced at the barrier. Robin was the leader for a reason. He could take care of himself. She moved them into the next hallway and glanced around, her eyes dark and brooding. She glanced at Silvestri, frowning slightly.
"Well?"
Katze
He closed his eyes and then pointed.
"That way is down... it's all I have to go on here... sorry." He added, opening his eyes an walking down the hall. "He will be alright, Raven."
Cyborg
Cyborg followed Raven and the strange cat boy slowly, not sure what to make of Robin's disappearance... he glanced at JInx, who was still struggling with her burden... Just for something to do, he reached down and took Terra from her.
"Stay close to the others... no tellin' what Slade's up to..." He said, just to say something to her...
Jinx
She jumped slightly when he took Terra, but regained her composure automatically when she heard his voice. "Yeah," she replied simply, and nodded her head, stil following them, feeling like she could keep up better now that she was no longer carrying the other girl.
Raven
She walked down the hallway slowly, cautiously, making sure not to fall for any of the numerous traps. She used his knowledge to make sure that she didn't make any mistakes, stopping now and then to make sure the others were alright. She heard Cyborg talking to Jinx, but could not make out the words. Though she had the strangest feeling that it was unnecessary...
Looking back at the shapeshifter she speeded up till she was walking next to him.
"How much farther?" She asked him softly, still glancing around cautiously.
Katze
He laid his palm against the wall next to him, closing his eyes and reaching out to take Raven's hand. He drew on her power just enough to confirm his suspicions.
"We're there... just on the other side of this wall."
Raven
Relieved, she pulled them all through into the next hallway, then glanced around. It was a long hallway, dark and dank, and two large iron doors were set into the far wall. She walked forward and look through the window in the first door and paled even more. Her power wrapped around the door and slammed it against the wall, revealing Starfire. She appeared to be unconscious, but still breathing.
Raven rushed forward and pulled the shackles form her friends wrists, even as she yanked the door off the other room.
"Some one get Beast Boy."
Jinx
"Got it," Jinx said, heading into the cell as soon as Raven disposed of the door. She didn't really want to carry someone else, but since Raven was getting Starfire and Cyborg was already carrying Terra, she figured she might as well. Her fingers sparked with a pink glow, getting the shackles off of Beast boy and held him up, slapping his face, but very lightly, trying to wake him up.
Starfire
Starfire opened her eyes, groaning slightly from being moved and having the shackles taken off suddenly. She put a hand to her head, her body still exhuasted from the shackles absorbing her powers before, and her head felt like it would split at any moment. Despite this, she smiled, looking up at her cloaked friend. "Thank you, Raven." She got up with some assistance from her friend, and smiled some, seeing Cyborg too; but her eyes widened a bit at two things; Terra and Jinx. "What's going on?" she asked, her face looking confused.
Cyborg
He moved to Jinx's side after a moment of indecision... the shape-shifter had followed Raven, so he didn't feel too terrible about not checking on Star right away...
Looking at BB's limp form, he felt only rage and guilt.
Slade was going to pay. The only question was how...
"BB..." He said gently, scanning his friend... as far as he could tell, Beast Boy was unconscious but unharmed. "BB." He said more forcefully, but it had no effect. With the cuffs off, it would stand to reason that he'd wake up...
-Since when do Slade's plans have to 'stand to reason'?-
"Why won't he wake up?" He asked no one in particular, his voice less controlled than he could have hoped...
Terra
"Because he can't!" Terra cried, leaping out of Cyborg's grasp and into the air, tranforming into a small bird until she was out of range. "I have his power... his soul!"
Anyone listening closely enough would be able to tell that something other than the obvious was wrong... Terra didn't sound like herself, wasn't acting like herself. Even when she had joined with Slade before, her underlying personality hadn't changed...
But this Terra was different...
Raven
Raven's eye twitched and a thin string of black light, much like the power that had attacked Jinx in the tower, wrapped around Terra's midsection and contained her. She heard a slight difference in the girls voice, but it didn't even begin to register enough for her to think about it.
"Give. It. Back." She said in a calm, even voice. She knew that the other girl atleast would understand, even if the other didn't realize that she meant the boy's spirit. She turned slowly, her face shadowed, seemingly in complete control of her emotions. Which she was, for now.
Terra
Terra's eyes glowed yellow and a chunk of the cieling pulled itself loose, hurtling straight toward Cyborg, BB, and Jinx. Raven had no choice but to release her... if she wanted to save her friends.
"Not a chance, Raven... I like his powers."
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Slade
"An extremely versatile girl..." Slade said conversationally, gesturing to the image of Terra as she commenced her attack. "A little careful mind control, a few discarded memories... she was like putty, Robin... and you can't save her anymore than you can save the rest of your pathetic little team..."
Robin
Frustration was all over his face, his thoughts almost readable from the look on his face... I could help them if I were out there! Damnit!
Taking in Slade's comments, they only made his angrier. Was that what he was really aiming for? To make Robin angry at Slade? At himself most of all? "No..." he snarled, turning to Slade, "you're wrong! I can save them! I will."
Robin seemed to almost ignore the fact that he was stuck in something he seemingly couldn't get out of. Or maybe it was just that he didn't want to acknowledge it, he wanted to know there was a way out. That he could get out. Somehow...
Slade
"Or maybe..." Slade mused, watching Robin's reactions more closely than the fight unfolding floors below. "Maybe you don't want to get out. Maybe you want someone to save you for once." He stepped out in front of Robin again, blocking his view of the monitors just as it seemed that the Titans were getting the upper hand... "News flash, Robin..." He said flatly. "They can't save you. They can't save themselves."
He could see his words working on Robin's mind like a poison...
"Best to just let them go..."
He had long ago realized that the illusion of hope was more effective than threat of direct harm...
-Still a child, after all you've been through...-
"You work better on your own anyway..." Slade smiled again. "With a little careful guidance, of course..."
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Jinx
Before Jinx could say anything to Cyborg or Terra, Raven had gotten to her first. When she felt the ground start to shake, she looked for whatever Terra was trying to attack them with. She only looked up just before the ceiling came loose; that's what was shaking, not the floor. "Move!" she yelled, and still holding Beast boy, she dropped him into Cyborg's arms before shoving both of them out of the way. As the chunk of the ceiling made it's way down to crush her, she cartwheeled backwards, and as she reached her feet and her hands lifted of the ground, the glowing hexes shot out from her hands in two long streams, slicing the large chunk of the celing into 3 pieces that fell to the ground and crumbled. With that done, her attention turned to Raven and Terra. "Don't let her go," she snarled at Raven, though her anger and her gaze were on the blonde. "If she likes playing with rocks and dirt so much, she won't mind getting dirty and scratched up." Her eyes and her fingers began to glow pink, holding herself back from attacking long enough to say, "I think I liked you better when you were knocked out."
Raven
Raven sent Jinx a quick look of gratitude, then turned back to Terra.
"It's not yours." she hissed, pulling the thread tighter. If she pulled it any more, it would break the skin. And for some reasons, she didn't feel bad about that at all. She began to pull Terra towards the ground, hoping some one would have the sense to take off her shackles.
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Robin
Robin hadn't seemed to notice that Slade had blocked the view to the monitors. No, his attention was far from his friends now, it was on Slade. Watching him move around the boy wonder's prison like a vulture on it's prey, his fingers pressed into the shield that entrapped him. "Never...I'll never let them go! They're going to win. And when they do, you're going down!"
All of this was pure confidence, or was it? Slade could see the words twisting his mind in various ways, but Robin himself was ignorant to it...
Slade
"Somehow," Slade said, shaking his head. "I doubt that."
Robin
A brow cocked from beneath the mask slightly, his expression becoming grimmer, "Well your obviously making a mistake by doubting it," Robin replied bitterly, "I'd never forget my friends. And they'd never forget me."
Slade
"This is not a question of memory, Robin... but rather, one of competence." Slade drawled, looking over his shoulder at the screen just as Terra was about to break free of Raven's hold. "Which they seem to have in short supply..."
Robin
This apparent 'competence' wasn't the only thing is short supply, it was also Robin's patience. It was then he realized Slade was blocking his view of the monitors, and he couldn't find any way to look past him. "What's happening?!" his voice rose suddenly again. The image of his team being beaten down kept recircling in his head, even if he kept telling himself they were winning... but the unknown was breaking down on his mind, of what could be happening to his friends right now.
Slade
Slade stepped closer to Robin, staring down at his prize... it disgusted him to see Robin this way. Helpless, vulnereble, beaten... those were fine. However, this air of desperation, of fear... those things were not desireable in an apprentice... nor had he ever seen them in Robin. Not to this magnitude.
"It doesn't matter, Robin. Even if you could see, what good would it do?" He was tempted to let the boy watch his friends be destroyed... but there was still the chance that they would turn the tides...
Robin
A growl parted from him slowly, watching Slade take a step forth; perhaps all of these meetings and beatings from Slade had finally started to take it's toll on him. The past two times he had taken a severe beating from the man, and it boiled his blood to think of how pathetic and weak he must have looked. It was effecting him more emotionally this time, and he didn't realize how it was making him look...to his teammates and to everyone else. Not talking to anyone about it...nothing. "They're winning," he said simply, as confident as his tone could bring out. "And you just don't want me to see it! Is that it?"
-They have to be...-
Slade
Slade shook his head. "Hardly..." He stepped aside enough for Robin to see the large piece of stone flying toward his team-mates before moving close again. He let the forcefield drop suddenly, his hand lashing out swiftly to catch Robin by the throat. He slammed him against the door, annoyed by how easy it was to take him unawares...
Robin
All Robin had seen was a large rock hurtling towards his team and then suddenly he'd stopped breathing. The pressure around his throat only adding up to the pang the vined through his spine when he was slammed into the door.
-Not again...!- was the first thing to cross his thoughts, but barely. It was simply a whisper in his mind compared to his struggle and want for air. Lifting up a booted foot, he thrust it foreward, trying to center it towards Slade's chest...what he didn't realize was that he was already working to fix the mistakes he'd made in his previous conflicts.
Slade
Robin's foot caught him in the sternum, just above his solar plexus, driving a grunt from his lungs. He pulled Robin away frm the door and shook him once, savagely, tossing him to the floor.
"Good, Robin... I was almost surprised." He landed a kick solidly to Robin's ribs, sendng him into the wall. "Now... again."
Robin
The squeal of his body against the floor as he hit it and slid slightly emanated into his ears, and then a rough boot to his torso knocking him up against the wall all seemed to happen quicker than seconds themselves. Pulling himself to one knee, and then on his feet, determination flickered over his face. Pushing himself towards Slade, he propelled himself into the air to swing a balled fist towards the face; and if he connected, it was usually a hit that would bruise the knuckles because of the metal...but at this point, he couldn't have cared less.
Slade
Slade caught his wrist and tossed him aside again, watching as he spun the chair slightly with his impact. For a moment there was no sound but for Robin's ragged breathing... Slade watched closely, unsure if the boy had the strength to rise again.
"A pity... you were doing so much better..."
Robin
Sliding over the chair, only to topple over on the other side, Robin lay there for a second, frusteration pounding within his mind. You're not staying down; you can beat him. Get up. Now.
Lifting his head up, the gears in his head suddenly turning, as his gaze flicked to the chair that he was lying before, and suddenly he got an idea. Tensing barely, he pushed himself up with the strength in his arms, going over everything in his mind within the next two seconds. Grasping the chair, with an abrupt burst of adrenaline, he shoved it towards Slade, quickly getting to his feet as he did so. Timing it in his head; any mistake at this point was deadly, he charged at the chair, springing into the air, Robin leap-frogged the back of the furniture, pushing his weight towards the masked man, to hopefully land a kick.
Luckily enough for him, the chair was heavy enough to support his weight as he leapt over it. That was a definite good sign.
Slade
Slade watched as Robin regained his feet, his admiration for the boy renewing. He made no attempt to move out of the way, but then, Robin's kick made little impact... he stepped backwards with the strike, holding Robin's ankle so that he fell upside down.
"Tsk, tsk, Robin... you always--" He swung the boy upward, releasing him and letting him fly up through the air. "Over-commit!"
Robin
Almost prematurely thinking the kick actually landed, the feeling was quickly washed away as he found himself flipped over upside-down. Robin half expected to have deja-vu at this point and say hello to the wall and floor again; instead, he found himself flung in the air. Twisting himself in mid-air, he allowed his feet to curl over himself just enough to land on his feet, sliding barely. Pressing his fingers down to the floor to hold himself up, his masked gaze narrowed; he wasted no time to dash foreward. He had no intentions to replying to those comments; for the most part, he ignored them...they only riled him. Then again...that was probably what Slade wanted.
Almost ducking down, Robin balled a fist and swung it upwards in something of an uppercut towards Slade.
Slade
The move actually caught him offguard. Not that he didn't see it coming... it was the ferocity and power behind it that surprised him.
He staggered backwards into the door, a loud 'clang' ringing through the small room. He put one hand to his head as a wave of vertigo swept through him... he wasn't completely recovered from the blast that Cyborg had delivered earier, and it was beginning to wear him down...
Robin
Slade didn't seem to be the only one surprised, Robin had almost stopped when he saw the man back into the door. He almost wondered if his punch was that adrenaline-packed or --
Cyborg. He said he hit Slade straight on with the cannon.
With the little advantage (or so he hoped) that showed itself suddenly, Robin found it best not to let up. Pushing himself foreward, the boy wonder sprung towards Slade, unleashing a swift round-house kick to the orange-and-black clad man.
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Katze
His eyes cut toward Raven, catching the ghost of a thought in the periphery of his mind...
-... take off her shackles...-
He knew it was risky, having helped with the production of the cuffs in the first place, but he also knew that it was necessary.
-And that I can't let her do it...- He thought bitterly, setting his teeth. -It's too dangerous... they need her...-
Transforming, he jumped up, vaulting over one of the falling blocks. He flipped in midair, turning back to his human form and catching Terra around the waist. They both went crashing to the floor, Raven's hold broken by the impact. He pried one cuff from her thrashing wrist, and clamped it around his own, holding it up for her to see.
"Terra... you don't want to hurt them. They're your friends..." He focused, sending his half of Beast Boy's soul back to his body. He glanced over to where the others stood, clustered around the feebly stirring shape-shifter. "Give it back..."
Raven
Raven took a step foward, then stopped. She knew already that Terra's shackles were different; they had to be, for no other reason then they absorbed other's powers. She wanted to help, but had no idea if she would even be able to remove those shackles. So she stood, and watched, her heart in her throat and her powers at the ready in case Terra tried to throw anything else.
-...can't let her...they need her...-
Raven caught part of his thoughts and winced. Why was he doing this?
Terra
She closed her eyes and then kicked Silvestri off of her. Glaring at them all, she smiled cruelly.
"You don't know what you're doing, Katze..."
Katze
Slightly stunned from the impact with the ground, he wiped at a trickle of blood running from his lip as images flashed through his mind. They were too quick and varied to make much of an imprint, but they were distracting and certainly from another mind. The beginnings of a plan formed underneath the static noise of Terra's mental assault.
"I know better than anyone..."
Terra
"Better than our Master?" Terra asked, her eyes beginning to glow, all of her attention focussed on Silvestri. "Even you know better than that..."
Katze
Keeping his eyes trained on Terra's, Silvestri reached out for Raven's mind.
-Raven! Make her remember! Give her the memory of who she was!-
The static in his mind built as his wrist began to ache and burn underneath the cuff.
-Hurry!-
Raven
Raven hesitated, then went inside herself. Beast Boy should have been the one to do this, but he couldn't. So she dredged her own memories. Their first meeting, the day Slade tried to sink the tower, hanging out at the park, fighting side by side...she found these, and began to feed them into Terra, hoping that it would work.
That it would save them.
Katze
He felt more power and memory flood his mind, obscuring his sight completely... but still he held his mind open, convinced that this was the only way.
Terra
She faltered, the glow fading from her eyes...
"What-- ?" Her eyes narrowed and she lifted the block of floor that Silvestri was kneeling on into the air. "That's not going to work and you know it..."
She fell to her knees suddenly, clutching her head.
"Master! Where are you?"
Raven
She finished sending the memories, then broke her mind away from Terra's, breaking Silvestri's connection to her in the process. She had to be alone when those hit...trying to cope with lost memories as well as sharing her mind with another would probably just drive her farther over the edge.
-Thank you. I couldn't have done it without your help, Silvestri.-
<>
Slade
Several floors up, sprawled against the wall from Robin's latest attack, Slade had the sense that something was going terribly wrong...
He pushed himself to his feet, using the wall for support. Swaying slightly, he clapped his hands.
"Bravo, Robin... a little sloppy, but much better..." He winced, but gave no other outward sign of injury. "Then again, if your robotic friend hadn't shot me earlier, you wouldn't stand a chance..." He smiled grimly behind his mask. "I am... proud of you, though... you've been utterly ruthless..."
-..ere are you?...- Terra's voice cried in the back of his mind and he looked up at the screens... she knelt in the middle of the corridor outside the cells, obviously losing the fight...
o__O The post was too large...))
((I'm a crazy person... that's the only explanation for why I offered to do this...
Robin
Being ushered foreward, Robin headed towards the staircase, feeling around somewhat so he didn't go toppling headfirst down the staircase. "I'm sure Slade has his ways," he replied to Jinx.
Finding the step without faltering much, the boy wonder took careful steps down the stairs, fingers curling into the palms of his hands. Slade was going to pay for this. For what he had done. Everything.
Cyborg
Cyborg pulled himself up into a narrow, unfamiliar hall...
"Looks like I'm not in Kansas anymore..." He muttered, peering around. "Now, I know this isn't the cell I was in..." Popping up his shoulder light, he shone it down the corridor. He could hear footsteps approaching...
"--has his ways."
Cyborg let out a sigh of relief and stepped out into a small stairwell.
"Man, am I glad to see you..."
Raven
Raven was feeling oddly skiddish. So when the voice echoed out of the hallway, she jumped and slammed the shadowy figure against the wall, not realizing that it was Cyborg for several more seconds.
"You shouldn't do that." she said, her voice emotionless as she released him. However, a small note of relief was obvious, now matter how she tried to hide it.
Robin
Pacing foreward, Robin was already keeping full alert, ready to attack the voice, but he had managed to recognized the voice faster than Raven had. He cringed slightly when he heard Cyborg hit the wall, but he assumed his confident tone again, "Good, we found you...now we have to find Starfire and Beast Boy; we could definitely use that light, Cyborg."
Robin glanced towards the taller Titan, relief flooded over his face that he turned out all right. He just hoped they were be as fortunate with their other friends.
Cyborg
Cyborg greyed out for a second, having trouble processing what had just happened. He rubbed the back of his head and glared half-heartedly at Raven... he was too relieved to really be angry. As his light swept over them, his eyes widened.
"Picked up a couple of hitch-hikers on the way?" His brow furrowed at the sight of Terra and the strange kitten on Robin's shoulder, but his surprise was nothing compared to that which sank slowly through his mind when he noticed Jinx...
Raven
She glanced away, embarresed.
"You could say that." she mumbled, glancing at the three non-titans. She noticed Cyborg glance and rolled her eyes. The last thing they needed was for him to start babbling just because Jinx was helping them.
Jinx
She glanced away some, but couldn't help but smile a bit; not a smirk or anything, but a smile with sincerity. "And you guys were worried. Looks like someone can take care of himself." Her gaze returned to him, quickly changing the subject, "So... are the cells down there? How did you get away?"
Cyborg
He blushed faintly, laughing and waving his hand at the break in the wall where he had emerged.
"Not unless you want to fall in a hole. Not that you would. I mean... No." He pulled himself together, remembering that BB and Star were still in trouble. "I was in a cell, but when Slade came, I shot him--" He shook his head. "Point blank with my cannon and he just got up and shrugged it off." He shuddered at the memory of Slade standing and cracking a spine that should have snapped on impact... "Anyway, after that, the floor of my cell fell out and by the time I climbed out again, I was here..."
Katze
"I told you. The traps move. The corridors shift. Everything..." Silvestri said, impatient to be moving again.
Cyborg
Cyborg's eye widened and his jaw dropped.
"You talked?" He looked closer, making sure that Robin's feline passenger wasn't green. Not that he could remember BB ever speaking in English while he was transformed...
Jinx
"Not like we were accusing you of lying," she muttered somewhat coldly to the shapeshifter. Her eyes widened a bit at the statement Cyborg made, wondering if they were really going to be capable of harming Slade at all; She shook that thought out of her head; now was not the time to start losing confidence. Even if she couldn't help much, she knew (but wouldn't admit it out loud) that together the Titans would probably be able to handle him.
"Well, I guess we should turn around?" she asked, glancing at the others. "If Cyborg just came out of a trap down there, maybe the cells are somewhere else."
Robin
Standing there for a long moment, Robin took in everything that was being said, masked gaze narrowing by the moment. He seemed to be somewhat preoccupied with his own thoughts at the moment. "Alright Titans, it's obvious Slade is up to his old tricks again. Raven, we'll need your powers to phase through walls. We don't have time to wander through the hallways, and I'm not risking us splitting up. If Silvestri can pick up where we are when we get past the walls, then we'll be on a good start to find the cells. Got it? Stay on your toes and whatever you do, if we get split up somehow, don't let anyone or anything get the best of you."
That was coming from the heart, and there was quite a bit of determination flooding through his tone. His last sentence was something he usually didn't mention, but something seemed to have reflected that thought on his mind.
Katze
He nodded and leapt easily to Raven's shoulder.
"Sounds like a plan... if you can get me to where I recognize the layout, I should be able to guide you again..." He opened his mind without being asked. "Until then... just take what you need."
Raven
Raven stood behind them, her face carefully blank, and listened to all that was being said. She usually didn't talk much; it was mostly a worthless activity. This was one of the moments where she felt it would be better to sit back and listen, and because of that she didn't jump when Silvestri jumped onto her shoulder. She joined with his mind easily. They had done this two times before in one day; it was starting to feel as comfortable as her own.
"Alright." she said coolly, then wrapped all of them in her power and teleported them through the nearest wall. She paused and glanced at the cat, waiting to see if he recognized it.
Katze
He focused, melding his mind with Raven's. It felt safe, somehow... less lonely than being alone in his mind, but more secure than sharing it with anyone else.
"Left here... it should spiral downward for a few minutes." Something jumped on the periphery of his awareness and he turned Raven's power toward it without realizing what he was doing. "There... another trap." He focused deeper, widening their shared perception. "The floor is wired with explosives... I think there's a way to bypass it..."
Raven
She felt him use her power and frowned slightly. He shouldn't be that skilled...she had joined with his mind, and yet they were sharing to the point that he could use her powers. She would have to figure out how that worked later, and how to stop, or at least control, it.
"Of course there is." she said, then teleported them to the other side, using his knowledge to make sure they were safely away.
Katze
"Now, why didn't I think of that?" He murmured, laughing mentally.
-I won't do it again, Raven. I didn't even mean to do it this time... and this isn't the first time I've had someone in my head. Maybe the most pleasent time, but certainly not the first...- He winced internally, unable to keep the bitterness he felt in his heart from leaking into his thoughts.
"It should be just a little further..."
Raven
"Because you're worried." She said softly, trying to make sure only he heard. She was upset, but he had let her into his mind willing three times now. He obviously wasn't lying, at least not at the moment, or he wouldn't have done that. But they needed to talk at some point...
-Just be careful. If you take to much of my power, you might hurt some one. You don't know how to control it.-
She sensed the bitterness, but that too would have to be saved for another time.
"Good."
Robin
While Raven and Silvestri were navigating, he stayed close behind, but far enough to make sure they weren't being tailed by something or someone. Most of his attention was focused on the rear of the group to serve as a sort of guard there, just like he had earlier. Even no matter how many times he'd been apart of that teleportation power, it always seemed to feel weird to him. Perhaps because it was bending reality? Shrugging it off mostly, he was subconciously wrapping his fingers around a birdarang at his belt...expecting something, as it were.
Robin trusted Raven, so he didn't turn his head very often to see where they were going. No, he was going to make sure they didn't get ambushed from behind without a proper warning. He wanted to ask how far, but he didn't need to break Silvestri's concentration, that could jeopardize things.
<>
Slade
Slade smiled to himself, inordinately pleased that he hadn't misread Robin... the boy hadn't changed in the slightest.
He hit a key on his command console just as the rest of the group cleared the trapped corridor... and a forcefield activated, separating Robin from his team.
Another keystroke and the boy wonder was whisked to another of the interchanging halls. There was only one way out of the hall... through the door that lead to the command room where Slade sat, watching Robin's approach.
-He wanted to know where I was...-
Robin
Too far... Robin, too far!
His instincts hadn't knocked him out of his guard until it had been too late, and he'd partially separated himself from his team by trudging behind only slightly.
Unfortunately, he hadn't realized this until the forcefield had separated him from the team and shifted him into an entirely different hall, and he'd almost stopped walking entirely. "Titans!? TITANS!" he cried, turning about to see he was in an entirely different hall.
With only one 'way out'. "Slade..." he slowly growled almost beneath his breath.
Was he watching them? Of course he is... His eyes narrowed steadily from behind the mask, turning completely to the only door in the room. That was where he had to go; there was no other way out. Approaching the door, his stomach tensed and wrenched, only making his expression turn moreso into a scowl. Keep on your toes, he thought.
Trying the door, it opened easily, and for some reason that really surprised him.
<>
Jinx
"What the..?" When she turned around, she almost dropped Terra as the force field came up, but yanked her back as she took a step backward. When the next trap activated, causing Robin to seperate from the rest of them, she stared blankly for a moment before muttering "Well... That's bad." She glanced back at the others, wondering what they'd do without there leader. "Do we keep going? Or should we try to find him first?"
Raven
Raven froze, then spun gracefully, putting a hand on Silvestri's back to keep him from falling. Her eyes narrowed to slits and she disappeared. Then re-appeared.
"I can't get through." she snarled, confused and worried. He had seen this coming...he had been watching. He had gotten Robin now...and none of them could help. At least not yet. She floated back from the barrier, removing her hand from Silvestri's back as she did.
Katze
Jumping to the floor, he transformed, laying a hand lightly on Raven's shoulder and frowning.
"Calm, Raven... this is just what he wants. He wants us to get confused and angry so that we start to make mistakes. He wants us to get careless." He caught her other shoulder, turning her to face him, not even remembering the others around them. "You have to focus on finding Beast Boy and Starfire. Robin can take care of himself... for a while." He dropped his hands to his sides and half turned away from her. "Slade won't kill him... if that was his goal, he'd have done it long before now."
-You have to trust me.. and Robin. He'll be okay until we can find a way to help him... because he has to. Because that's what you do. All of you.- He thought to her, knowing that she would hear him, even without direct contact. It hurt to know that he was not included in their bond, and that he likely never would be.
"The good news is that Slade will be preoccupied, so freeing the rest of your friends won't be too difficult..."
<>
Slade
"Welcome, Robin. I trust you're enjoying your tour of my new headquarters?" Slade asked, swiveling his chair around to face Robin. "Too bad that you won't get to continue with your group... and it was just about to get interesting..." He shook his head slowly. "Tsk, tsk... you really shouldn't have wandered away..."
Robin
Stopping a short ways from the door once he got inside, his hands began to clench slowly into fists, watching Slade cautiously as the chair spun around and he turned to face him. "What are you planning to do to them?" he inquired in an icy tone.
It was apparent Silvestri didn't know all of the tricks around here, otherwise this one would have been avoided. With that thought being apart of his conscience, it made Robin worry about the well-being of his friends. And the way Slade worded some of his sentences only put the boy wonder on edge to suspect he was planning on putting them into a trap that even Silvestri didn't know about. He could only hope he wasn't right.
Slade
Slade reached over and hit a key on his console. The screens shifted to a constant view of the Titans as they approached the cell level.
"Really, Robin? Haven't you figured it out yet?" He paused, his eye widening mockingly. "No? Then don't let me spoil the surprise..."
Robin
Robin didn't dare take his guard off enough to glance but for a second to the screens, his teeth baring slightly. Even letting your guard down for a second could be deadly against Slade. Lowering his hand down quickly, he snatched upwards a couple birdarangs, "I'm not going to let you hurt them, Slade! You tricked me before, but it won't happen again."
Withdrawing his arm back briefly, Robin shot his hand forth to release the birdarangs towards Slade, ready to move at any given second.
Slade
Slade chuckled as he blocked the projectiles with one hand, breaking them easily.
"Please, Robin... when have those ever worked against me?" He shook his head. "No, you'll have to think up a new trick..." He hit another button on the keyboard and an orange shield sprang up around Robin. Slade stood and circled the captured Titan slowly. "Really... you should know better." He stopped behind Robin, crossing his arms behind his back and watching as his 'guests' progressed in their search...
Robin
Snarling briefly, Robin had been ready to charge foreward and attack. Slade was right, they never worked, and he'd only wanted them to be a distraction, but once he'd started to charged foreward, a shield had blocked his way. "No!" he cried, slamming his fists in the shield for a moment.
Turning towards Slade for a second, his glare only became more intense than it had been, he almost said something, but his gaze followed through to the screens. Terra was awake again! Robin was already blaming himself for anything that was going to happened to the Titans, and he couldn't stand being trapped here...being helpless.
<>
Raven
Raven took a deep breath and nodded, then glanced at the barrier. Robin was the leader for a reason. He could take care of himself. She moved them into the next hallway and glanced around, her eyes dark and brooding. She glanced at Silvestri, frowning slightly.
"Well?"
Katze
He closed his eyes and then pointed.
"That way is down... it's all I have to go on here... sorry." He added, opening his eyes an walking down the hall. "He will be alright, Raven."
Cyborg
Cyborg followed Raven and the strange cat boy slowly, not sure what to make of Robin's disappearance... he glanced at JInx, who was still struggling with her burden... Just for something to do, he reached down and took Terra from her.
"Stay close to the others... no tellin' what Slade's up to..." He said, just to say something to her...
Jinx
She jumped slightly when he took Terra, but regained her composure automatically when she heard his voice. "Yeah," she replied simply, and nodded her head, stil following them, feeling like she could keep up better now that she was no longer carrying the other girl.
Raven
She walked down the hallway slowly, cautiously, making sure not to fall for any of the numerous traps. She used his knowledge to make sure that she didn't make any mistakes, stopping now and then to make sure the others were alright. She heard Cyborg talking to Jinx, but could not make out the words. Though she had the strangest feeling that it was unnecessary...
Looking back at the shapeshifter she speeded up till she was walking next to him.
"How much farther?" She asked him softly, still glancing around cautiously.
Katze
He laid his palm against the wall next to him, closing his eyes and reaching out to take Raven's hand. He drew on her power just enough to confirm his suspicions.
"We're there... just on the other side of this wall."
Raven
Relieved, she pulled them all through into the next hallway, then glanced around. It was a long hallway, dark and dank, and two large iron doors were set into the far wall. She walked forward and look through the window in the first door and paled even more. Her power wrapped around the door and slammed it against the wall, revealing Starfire. She appeared to be unconscious, but still breathing.
Raven rushed forward and pulled the shackles form her friends wrists, even as she yanked the door off the other room.
"Some one get Beast Boy."
Jinx
"Got it," Jinx said, heading into the cell as soon as Raven disposed of the door. She didn't really want to carry someone else, but since Raven was getting Starfire and Cyborg was already carrying Terra, she figured she might as well. Her fingers sparked with a pink glow, getting the shackles off of Beast boy and held him up, slapping his face, but very lightly, trying to wake him up.
Starfire
Starfire opened her eyes, groaning slightly from being moved and having the shackles taken off suddenly. She put a hand to her head, her body still exhuasted from the shackles absorbing her powers before, and her head felt like it would split at any moment. Despite this, she smiled, looking up at her cloaked friend. "Thank you, Raven." She got up with some assistance from her friend, and smiled some, seeing Cyborg too; but her eyes widened a bit at two things; Terra and Jinx. "What's going on?" she asked, her face looking confused.
Cyborg
He moved to Jinx's side after a moment of indecision... the shape-shifter had followed Raven, so he didn't feel too terrible about not checking on Star right away...
Looking at BB's limp form, he felt only rage and guilt.
Slade was going to pay. The only question was how...
"BB..." He said gently, scanning his friend... as far as he could tell, Beast Boy was unconscious but unharmed. "BB." He said more forcefully, but it had no effect. With the cuffs off, it would stand to reason that he'd wake up...
-Since when do Slade's plans have to 'stand to reason'?-
"Why won't he wake up?" He asked no one in particular, his voice less controlled than he could have hoped...
Terra
"Because he can't!" Terra cried, leaping out of Cyborg's grasp and into the air, tranforming into a small bird until she was out of range. "I have his power... his soul!"
Anyone listening closely enough would be able to tell that something other than the obvious was wrong... Terra didn't sound like herself, wasn't acting like herself. Even when she had joined with Slade before, her underlying personality hadn't changed...
But this Terra was different...
Raven
Raven's eye twitched and a thin string of black light, much like the power that had attacked Jinx in the tower, wrapped around Terra's midsection and contained her. She heard a slight difference in the girls voice, but it didn't even begin to register enough for her to think about it.
"Give. It. Back." She said in a calm, even voice. She knew that the other girl atleast would understand, even if the other didn't realize that she meant the boy's spirit. She turned slowly, her face shadowed, seemingly in complete control of her emotions. Which she was, for now.
Terra
Terra's eyes glowed yellow and a chunk of the cieling pulled itself loose, hurtling straight toward Cyborg, BB, and Jinx. Raven had no choice but to release her... if she wanted to save her friends.
"Not a chance, Raven... I like his powers."
<>
Slade
"An extremely versatile girl..." Slade said conversationally, gesturing to the image of Terra as she commenced her attack. "A little careful mind control, a few discarded memories... she was like putty, Robin... and you can't save her anymore than you can save the rest of your pathetic little team..."
Robin
Frustration was all over his face, his thoughts almost readable from the look on his face... I could help them if I were out there! Damnit!
Taking in Slade's comments, they only made his angrier. Was that what he was really aiming for? To make Robin angry at Slade? At himself most of all? "No..." he snarled, turning to Slade, "you're wrong! I can save them! I will."
Robin seemed to almost ignore the fact that he was stuck in something he seemingly couldn't get out of. Or maybe it was just that he didn't want to acknowledge it, he wanted to know there was a way out. That he could get out. Somehow...
Slade
"Or maybe..." Slade mused, watching Robin's reactions more closely than the fight unfolding floors below. "Maybe you don't want to get out. Maybe you want someone to save you for once." He stepped out in front of Robin again, blocking his view of the monitors just as it seemed that the Titans were getting the upper hand... "News flash, Robin..." He said flatly. "They can't save you. They can't save themselves."
He could see his words working on Robin's mind like a poison...
"Best to just let them go..."
He had long ago realized that the illusion of hope was more effective than threat of direct harm...
-Still a child, after all you've been through...-
"You work better on your own anyway..." Slade smiled again. "With a little careful guidance, of course..."
<>
Jinx
Before Jinx could say anything to Cyborg or Terra, Raven had gotten to her first. When she felt the ground start to shake, she looked for whatever Terra was trying to attack them with. She only looked up just before the ceiling came loose; that's what was shaking, not the floor. "Move!" she yelled, and still holding Beast boy, she dropped him into Cyborg's arms before shoving both of them out of the way. As the chunk of the ceiling made it's way down to crush her, she cartwheeled backwards, and as she reached her feet and her hands lifted of the ground, the glowing hexes shot out from her hands in two long streams, slicing the large chunk of the celing into 3 pieces that fell to the ground and crumbled. With that done, her attention turned to Raven and Terra. "Don't let her go," she snarled at Raven, though her anger and her gaze were on the blonde. "If she likes playing with rocks and dirt so much, she won't mind getting dirty and scratched up." Her eyes and her fingers began to glow pink, holding herself back from attacking long enough to say, "I think I liked you better when you were knocked out."
Raven
Raven sent Jinx a quick look of gratitude, then turned back to Terra.
"It's not yours." she hissed, pulling the thread tighter. If she pulled it any more, it would break the skin. And for some reasons, she didn't feel bad about that at all. She began to pull Terra towards the ground, hoping some one would have the sense to take off her shackles.
<>
Robin
Robin hadn't seemed to notice that Slade had blocked the view to the monitors. No, his attention was far from his friends now, it was on Slade. Watching him move around the boy wonder's prison like a vulture on it's prey, his fingers pressed into the shield that entrapped him. "Never...I'll never let them go! They're going to win. And when they do, you're going down!"
All of this was pure confidence, or was it? Slade could see the words twisting his mind in various ways, but Robin himself was ignorant to it...
Slade
"Somehow," Slade said, shaking his head. "I doubt that."
Robin
A brow cocked from beneath the mask slightly, his expression becoming grimmer, "Well your obviously making a mistake by doubting it," Robin replied bitterly, "I'd never forget my friends. And they'd never forget me."
Slade
"This is not a question of memory, Robin... but rather, one of competence." Slade drawled, looking over his shoulder at the screen just as Terra was about to break free of Raven's hold. "Which they seem to have in short supply..."
Robin
This apparent 'competence' wasn't the only thing is short supply, it was also Robin's patience. It was then he realized Slade was blocking his view of the monitors, and he couldn't find any way to look past him. "What's happening?!" his voice rose suddenly again. The image of his team being beaten down kept recircling in his head, even if he kept telling himself they were winning... but the unknown was breaking down on his mind, of what could be happening to his friends right now.
Slade
Slade stepped closer to Robin, staring down at his prize... it disgusted him to see Robin this way. Helpless, vulnereble, beaten... those were fine. However, this air of desperation, of fear... those things were not desireable in an apprentice... nor had he ever seen them in Robin. Not to this magnitude.
"It doesn't matter, Robin. Even if you could see, what good would it do?" He was tempted to let the boy watch his friends be destroyed... but there was still the chance that they would turn the tides...
Robin
A growl parted from him slowly, watching Slade take a step forth; perhaps all of these meetings and beatings from Slade had finally started to take it's toll on him. The past two times he had taken a severe beating from the man, and it boiled his blood to think of how pathetic and weak he must have looked. It was effecting him more emotionally this time, and he didn't realize how it was making him look...to his teammates and to everyone else. Not talking to anyone about it...nothing. "They're winning," he said simply, as confident as his tone could bring out. "And you just don't want me to see it! Is that it?"
-They have to be...-
Slade
Slade shook his head. "Hardly..." He stepped aside enough for Robin to see the large piece of stone flying toward his team-mates before moving close again. He let the forcefield drop suddenly, his hand lashing out swiftly to catch Robin by the throat. He slammed him against the door, annoyed by how easy it was to take him unawares...
Robin
All Robin had seen was a large rock hurtling towards his team and then suddenly he'd stopped breathing. The pressure around his throat only adding up to the pang the vined through his spine when he was slammed into the door.
-Not again...!- was the first thing to cross his thoughts, but barely. It was simply a whisper in his mind compared to his struggle and want for air. Lifting up a booted foot, he thrust it foreward, trying to center it towards Slade's chest...what he didn't realize was that he was already working to fix the mistakes he'd made in his previous conflicts.
Slade
Robin's foot caught him in the sternum, just above his solar plexus, driving a grunt from his lungs. He pulled Robin away frm the door and shook him once, savagely, tossing him to the floor.
"Good, Robin... I was almost surprised." He landed a kick solidly to Robin's ribs, sendng him into the wall. "Now... again."
Robin
The squeal of his body against the floor as he hit it and slid slightly emanated into his ears, and then a rough boot to his torso knocking him up against the wall all seemed to happen quicker than seconds themselves. Pulling himself to one knee, and then on his feet, determination flickered over his face. Pushing himself towards Slade, he propelled himself into the air to swing a balled fist towards the face; and if he connected, it was usually a hit that would bruise the knuckles because of the metal...but at this point, he couldn't have cared less.
Slade
Slade caught his wrist and tossed him aside again, watching as he spun the chair slightly with his impact. For a moment there was no sound but for Robin's ragged breathing... Slade watched closely, unsure if the boy had the strength to rise again.
"A pity... you were doing so much better..."
Robin
Sliding over the chair, only to topple over on the other side, Robin lay there for a second, frusteration pounding within his mind. You're not staying down; you can beat him. Get up. Now.
Lifting his head up, the gears in his head suddenly turning, as his gaze flicked to the chair that he was lying before, and suddenly he got an idea. Tensing barely, he pushed himself up with the strength in his arms, going over everything in his mind within the next two seconds. Grasping the chair, with an abrupt burst of adrenaline, he shoved it towards Slade, quickly getting to his feet as he did so. Timing it in his head; any mistake at this point was deadly, he charged at the chair, springing into the air, Robin leap-frogged the back of the furniture, pushing his weight towards the masked man, to hopefully land a kick.
Luckily enough for him, the chair was heavy enough to support his weight as he leapt over it. That was a definite good sign.
Slade
Slade watched as Robin regained his feet, his admiration for the boy renewing. He made no attempt to move out of the way, but then, Robin's kick made little impact... he stepped backwards with the strike, holding Robin's ankle so that he fell upside down.
"Tsk, tsk, Robin... you always--" He swung the boy upward, releasing him and letting him fly up through the air. "Over-commit!"
Robin
Almost prematurely thinking the kick actually landed, the feeling was quickly washed away as he found himself flipped over upside-down. Robin half expected to have deja-vu at this point and say hello to the wall and floor again; instead, he found himself flung in the air. Twisting himself in mid-air, he allowed his feet to curl over himself just enough to land on his feet, sliding barely. Pressing his fingers down to the floor to hold himself up, his masked gaze narrowed; he wasted no time to dash foreward. He had no intentions to replying to those comments; for the most part, he ignored them...they only riled him. Then again...that was probably what Slade wanted.
Almost ducking down, Robin balled a fist and swung it upwards in something of an uppercut towards Slade.
Slade
The move actually caught him offguard. Not that he didn't see it coming... it was the ferocity and power behind it that surprised him.
He staggered backwards into the door, a loud 'clang' ringing through the small room. He put one hand to his head as a wave of vertigo swept through him... he wasn't completely recovered from the blast that Cyborg had delivered earier, and it was beginning to wear him down...
Robin
Slade didn't seem to be the only one surprised, Robin had almost stopped when he saw the man back into the door. He almost wondered if his punch was that adrenaline-packed or --
Cyborg. He said he hit Slade straight on with the cannon.
With the little advantage (or so he hoped) that showed itself suddenly, Robin found it best not to let up. Pushing himself foreward, the boy wonder sprung towards Slade, unleashing a swift round-house kick to the orange-and-black clad man.
<>
Katze
His eyes cut toward Raven, catching the ghost of a thought in the periphery of his mind...
-... take off her shackles...-
He knew it was risky, having helped with the production of the cuffs in the first place, but he also knew that it was necessary.
-And that I can't let her do it...- He thought bitterly, setting his teeth. -It's too dangerous... they need her...-
Transforming, he jumped up, vaulting over one of the falling blocks. He flipped in midair, turning back to his human form and catching Terra around the waist. They both went crashing to the floor, Raven's hold broken by the impact. He pried one cuff from her thrashing wrist, and clamped it around his own, holding it up for her to see.
"Terra... you don't want to hurt them. They're your friends..." He focused, sending his half of Beast Boy's soul back to his body. He glanced over to where the others stood, clustered around the feebly stirring shape-shifter. "Give it back..."
Raven
Raven took a step foward, then stopped. She knew already that Terra's shackles were different; they had to be, for no other reason then they absorbed other's powers. She wanted to help, but had no idea if she would even be able to remove those shackles. So she stood, and watched, her heart in her throat and her powers at the ready in case Terra tried to throw anything else.
-...can't let her...they need her...-
Raven caught part of his thoughts and winced. Why was he doing this?
Terra
She closed her eyes and then kicked Silvestri off of her. Glaring at them all, she smiled cruelly.
"You don't know what you're doing, Katze..."
Katze
Slightly stunned from the impact with the ground, he wiped at a trickle of blood running from his lip as images flashed through his mind. They were too quick and varied to make much of an imprint, but they were distracting and certainly from another mind. The beginnings of a plan formed underneath the static noise of Terra's mental assault.
"I know better than anyone..."
Terra
"Better than our Master?" Terra asked, her eyes beginning to glow, all of her attention focussed on Silvestri. "Even you know better than that..."
Katze
Keeping his eyes trained on Terra's, Silvestri reached out for Raven's mind.
-Raven! Make her remember! Give her the memory of who she was!-
The static in his mind built as his wrist began to ache and burn underneath the cuff.
-Hurry!-
Raven
Raven hesitated, then went inside herself. Beast Boy should have been the one to do this, but he couldn't. So she dredged her own memories. Their first meeting, the day Slade tried to sink the tower, hanging out at the park, fighting side by side...she found these, and began to feed them into Terra, hoping that it would work.
That it would save them.
Katze
He felt more power and memory flood his mind, obscuring his sight completely... but still he held his mind open, convinced that this was the only way.
Terra
She faltered, the glow fading from her eyes...
"What-- ?" Her eyes narrowed and she lifted the block of floor that Silvestri was kneeling on into the air. "That's not going to work and you know it..."
She fell to her knees suddenly, clutching her head.
"Master! Where are you?"
Raven
She finished sending the memories, then broke her mind away from Terra's, breaking Silvestri's connection to her in the process. She had to be alone when those hit...trying to cope with lost memories as well as sharing her mind with another would probably just drive her farther over the edge.
-Thank you. I couldn't have done it without your help, Silvestri.-
<>
Slade
Several floors up, sprawled against the wall from Robin's latest attack, Slade had the sense that something was going terribly wrong...
He pushed himself to his feet, using the wall for support. Swaying slightly, he clapped his hands.
"Bravo, Robin... a little sloppy, but much better..." He winced, but gave no other outward sign of injury. "Then again, if your robotic friend hadn't shot me earlier, you wouldn't stand a chance..." He smiled grimly behind his mask. "I am... proud of you, though... you've been utterly ruthless..."
-..ere are you?...- Terra's voice cried in the back of his mind and he looked up at the screens... she knelt in the middle of the corridor outside the cells, obviously losing the fight...
o__O The post was too large...))