Regressing For The Enemy

Chapter 9

    "Pardon my language, but I guess you'll just have to make me." The two opposing sides sparked together like a ferocious flame dodging its way through a tank of gasoline. Slade growled, thrusting his metallic muscles through the air with the weight of a freight truck. Robin, light and quick as the bird he was named for, skillfully dodging and leaping out of Slade's reach. It would take just one good hit to knock Robin out of the game. He knew this. But as long as he was quick as his opponent, quicker  even, Robin was able to get in counter strikes like a viper dodging back and forth to masticate it's prey. Leaping forward and leaping backwards. Robin had to be careful. Slade was giving this fight everything he had. Was this Slade's big final move? The death dropping finale to his wicked show?

    Suddenly Slade sprung forward, popping Robin straight in the jaw. *Crack.* The pair froze for only a moment, before Robin flipped backwards, hands over feet, gaining several feet on the villain before stopping. Slade eyed the young hero up and down, intuitively looking for any clear signs of injury or distress. He saw none. "Come now, Robin. Is that all the sparing you can handle? All the teeny tiny titan's leader can take ?" Robin ground his teeth in anger. Fuck it.  If Slade was going to give this fight everything he had, Robin was naturally going to do the same.  "AUAGAHH!" Robin sprinted forward, slicing through the air like a haywire torpedo. The pair clashed, both at their maximum speed and force attainable. If anyone were to come across such a scene, the fight would have been barely visible to the human eye and nearly impossible to follow. 

    "You're getting sloppy, Robin." Slade carefully dodged a punch headed straight for his eighth rib. It's true. While Robin's punches held more power behind them, he was in fact, getting sloppy. His swings were slower and easier to out maneuver, as Robin was putting in more effort to his physical strength, rather than speed. Just as a blow was headed for the left (aka blind) side of Slade's face, the older man struck forward, catching the punch, and using a pressure point on Robins palm turned the young boy to his knees. "Truly Robin, you disappoint me." Robin struggled beneath the hold but the longer he resisted, the tighter Slade pinched. "Shuddup! Shuddup Shuddup! Shuddup!" Slade narrowed his eyes, pinching the nerve tighter as he did so. "You will learn to respect me, boy." Tears pricked in Robin's eyes as he struggled relentlessly. "Give me one good reason why I'd ever do such a stupid thing like that!" It was silent for a moment before a sinister chuckle rang out through the empty air. "Because, I know your secret, Richard. "

    Robin's body went stiff as a board before falling completely limp, his dead weight hanging lifelessly in Slade's hold. "How- how do you know." His voice came out in a hoarse whisper. Slade's eyebrows rose in momentary shock, before returning to his normal expression. "How could I not? I know everything about you, Robin. What you like, what you dislike, your past, your present, your fu-" Robin choked back a gasp for air, his peripheral vision becoming blurry with panicked tears. Was he having a panic attack? "Future. I know everything about you and your "troubled past" and I must admonish you for going through such a terrible tragedy, I really must." Robin bit his lip as tears fell, hiding his face from Slade's view, not allowing Slade to see his weakness, even for a second. "I know everything about you, Richard. From your little hobbies to your little  hobbies." Robin's eyes widened, the air getting stuck in his chest. How did he know so much information? Was there a leak in Titans tower? No, impossible.  "And you will learn to express the same respect and tolerance that I have showed you. All come in due time." Respect? Tolerance? What kind of bullshit was he sprouting now? "What the hell are you talking about?" Slade squeezed tighter on Robin's wrist. "Language, Robin!" He took a calming breath in, regaining complete and utter control. "For some time now, I have been searching for... an apprentice. Someone to follow in my footsteps. And, Robin, I've chosen you . Congratulations. You are going to become an apprentice, a son, a ward , to me." Robin shivered at the word 'ward', remembering it's bitter flavor from his time in the manor. Was it possible that Slade knew about Bruce, too?  "To me. And you will serve as my apprentice until I, your leader, say otherwise." Robin couldn't help it. "And why the hell would I ever do something as incredulously ridiculous as- as that?!" Slade didn't pinch his hand tighter that time, in fact he did something that surprised Robin. He let Robin's hand go as it dropped to the floor. 

    "Because, Robin. See your friends there? That gun there, just fired Nanoscopic Probes into the blood systems of each and every single one of your little Titan friends. The probes, when activated, can kill the person who has them in their blood. If you join me, if you swear to serve me, if you never speak to your friends again, I will allow them to live. But, if you disobey, even the smallest request, I will annihilate them, Robin, and I'll make you watch. I know it seems bad now, but trust me. You'll learn ... learn to like it." Richard was speechless. Completely and totally speechless. "Of course, there will be perks on your side. A father figure, for instance." It was at this point that Robin completely  tuned out. He had no idea what to do. What could  he do? What the hell was going to happen to Robin?