Fan Fiction ❯ Three Way Mirror ❯ Chapter 1

Three Way Mirror

Written By: Teno Hikari

email: teno_hikari@yahoo.com / tenohikari@cs.com

Summary: Takes place in the 'Aftershock' episodes. Slade has taken over the city, and all the Teen Titans, except Robin, has fallen. Can the boy wonder stop Slade alone? Or will Terra clip his wings? (Slade/Robin)

Disclaimer: Well you know what I'm gonna say, I own nothing. That includes the Teen Titans. ::walks off to go sulk in the corner::

Warning: Spoilers for the show - at least for the 2 seasons.

Slash, Yaoi, M/M pairings. Adult situations. Mature readers only.

--------------------------

Prologue

My name is Terra, and I've done horrible things. Betrayal and murder, are the most notable. I've done it all in the name of my Master, Slade. He has taught me well over the past months after taking me in. No longer will I have to drift around and search for a place to call home. No longer do I feel guilt over my past mistakes caused by uncontrollable powers.

I've learned to control my abilities that had once been both a blessing and a curse. Master Slade has offered me everything I could want. All at the cost of my former friends: the Teen Titans.

It was an easy price to pay.

They had accepted me as one of their own. I loved them for that... and yet, at the same time I loathed. They would never understand me. As soon as I stepped out of line, they would abandon me. Reject me. Just like everyone who came before.

I don't need them. Not even Beast Boy, my closest friend among the group of do-gooders. Now, four of the five Titans haven been taken down. Cyborg, Raven, Starfire and Beast Boy, all of them are in Master Slade's private collection. Frozen forever in a crystalline statue. A fitting end for those trusting fools. They're nothing but life-sized trophies now.

Heh, I wonder what Robin would think of that when I tell him. Yes, Robin, the Titan one who got away. Master Slade will not be satisfied, not even with the city in his control, until his former apprentice is brought in. Alive.

'Oh, Robin, Robin, Robin... Why do you have to be so stubborn?' Master Slade would murmur in the dark. I have to agree, it's kind of pathetic. The odds are against you, lone Titan. Do you think you can hide from both me and Master Slade, forever? You can run, but you can't hide...

In less than a week, I have taken down any who stood in the way, and brought the city to our mercy. Everyone has evacuated. The streets have been combed out and all buildings have been searched. Security cameras monitor each sector. It's only a matter of time, Robin.

Other than the constant marching of Master Slade's army of androids, it's so quiet now. Almost like a graveyard. That is until I pick up the sound of a motorcycle.

I can't help but smile, while quickly dodging blaster fire as it takes out the nearest androids closest to me. Come on, Robin, you have to do better than that. Using my powers, the ground shifts and breaks apart.

Robin quickly skids the bike to a halt, while the earth under my feet becomes a pedestal, raising me up. I have to admit it feels great, looking down on him. Towering over the leader of the Teen Titans. Master Slade's first choice.

"Wow, Robin," I greet with a friendly, yet false, smile. "You actually had the gall to come out of your little hidey hole and fight me!"

The eyes slits in Robin's mask narrow. I could understand that he was pissed. But really, riding up to fight me and an army of androids at my disposal, alone? How dumb can you be?

"I didn't come to just fight you," he says with his usual fierce determination. "I came to stop you."

Was he joking?! I break into a fit of laughter, holding my sides. "S-Stop me? Robin, in case you haven't figured it out yet. You don't have a chance. But... thanks for sparring me the time to hunt you down."

He charges at me and my powers wrap around my fists like boxing gloves. Come on and fight me, Robin. I can't wait to complete Master Slade's "Teen Titan" collection.

--------------------------

Chapter One

The street was littered with the robotic corpses of Slade's androids, as the two remaining Teen Titans stared each other down. Angry storm clouds had gather above them, and lightning strikes without warning. It begins to rain, drenching them both, but neither of them pay any attention.

"Not bad, Robin," Terra admitted with a small hint of admiration, brushing her damp blonde hair from her eyes. It was easy to see why Master Slade had wanted Robin. Still wants him. The "Boy Wonder" certainly lived up to his title.

Bo-staff clenched tightly in one hand, Robin strained himself to keep focus on the enemy before him. His enemy. It was only a month ago they had worked side by side. Only for a short time, but he and his other friends, had accepted Terra as one of their own.

He should have known, nothing is ever what it seems.

Robin remembered all those times they hung out together. She had fought alongside them, and earned their trust (Including Raven's). They adored her, as did Beast Boy, who's last request was to give Terra a second chance.

It was all a lie. She had been working with the enemy, and was determined to destroy them. One by one, she and Slade's other cronies had picked off his friends. Robin, no longer saw Terra as the innocent girl he wanted to recruit. Now, she was nothing but a traitorous, murdering, bitch.

Growling, Robin charged suddenly - feigning to the left and attack from the right. He whirled his weapon over his head and struck her down. The earth-mover cried out in shock as she was knocked off her pedestal.

Hitting the ground hard, Terra's eyes widened when she saw the weapon raised again above the masked fighter's head. Quickly she rolled out of the way before the staff embedded into ground beneath her. The former Titan smirked, and pushed herself up, kicking him in the jaw as she cart wheeled away.

Robin grunted but managed to pull his retractable bo-staff free. Whirling it again, as large chunks of concrete were hurled at him. He used it to strike them down with deadly accuracy, while slowly walking toward her. At the same time, using his high-density polymerized titanium cape, to shield him from the debris.

He kept advancing as Terra continued her assault, launching more and more rock projectiles at him.

"You can't keep this up, Robin," the girl shouted over the sound of crumbling rocks and dirt. "Sooner or later, I'll get you."

'Not if I get you first.'

Robin continued to move, remembering his excessive training in situations like this. It was best to stay on one's feet no matter what. Once you were knocked down, you were out.

Her large blue eyes followed the boy as he sprinted away, dodging, flipping over, and rolling away from her attacks. She ground her teeth together in irritation, before switching to another method. Concentrating hard enough, the entire ground underneath Robin's feet, was lifted high into the air.

She grinned as stone projectiles swarmed around her target. "Gotcha now."

Dodge-rolling out of the way as the rocks came crashing down over his head, Robin said nothing. Instead he quickly selected a bird-a-rang from his utility belt. He did a running leap off the large slab of floating side walk, before hurling razor-tipped boomerang towards Slade's apprentice.

'Gotcha.'

Terra screamed in pain as one of the razor sharp tips cut the side of her face, drawing blood. Her concentration broken, all the rocks that had once been levitated, crashed to the ground. Falling to her knees, she held the side of her face with one hand, shooting Robin a glowing amber death glare.

"YOU...!"

Catching his bird-a-rang in one hand, Robin gave her a small, satisfied at the crimson fluid that covered her fingers. "That's nothing compared to what you did to my friends, traitor."

Growling with rage, she extended her hand out and ripped another piece earth from the ground. She levitated the large rock over Robin and released it. The part of the city that served as their battle ground, was beginning to look like a huge ditch. Buildings began to topple around them, crashing into other buildings like a set of dominos.

"DIE!"

There was suddenly a blinding flash of light that erupted out of nowhere. Terra quickly raised her arm and shielded her eyes. She heard the rock slam into the ground before it shattered apart.

"Apprentice, report!" Slade demanded over her comlink.

When the light died down, Terra slowly made her way to the large pile of rubble, hoping Robin's battered body lay beneath it. She made the small stones part and began to dig. Her victory was short lived, as she couldn't spot a trace of the older teenager.

"He got away..."

--------------------------

'He got away...'

Slade's visible eye narrowed dangerously at those words of failure, from his new apprentice. There was clearly much he had to teach her. Had it not been for her amazing, earth moving abilities, he wouldn't have wasted his time.

"Terra."

"Yes, Master Slade?"

"Return."

The real prize had slipped through his grasp once more. Even without the aid of his little friends, the Titan leader could still possibly pose a threat. Almost a year ago, Robin had been his apprentice. His almost perfect little servant.

While he taught the boy patience; Robin had taught Slade a lesson as well. He had underestimated his opponent. Believing he had Robin and Titans right where he wanted them. His former apprentice had turned the tables, playing on what they both had in common: neither of them could stand to lose. Slade had almost lost completely that day.

The masked criminal mastermind, had been close, very close to loosing Robin forever. Watching the boy put his own life on the line by infecting himself with those lethal nano-scopic probes. It was a lose-lose situation.

He had to give Robin credit for that little victory. But never again. Slade vowed he would have his true apprentice at his side once more. Nothing would part the two of them again, not even death.

--------------------------

Robin returned to his lair before dawn, after he had managed to escape Terra and the rest of Slade's androids. He padded stiffly over to an enormous instrument panel, pausing to stretch and wipe the remnants of sleep from his eyes. As he sank into the leather chair, he reached out and tapped a few commands into his computer and waited.

This computer system was rather out-dated compared to the technology he had access to in the Tower. He never expected he would be using it again. Or living here again either. "Sanctuary" he had named it a long time ago.

Leaning back in his seat, Robin spun around once and frowned distastefully as his new home. It was too dark, and far too quiet. The only noise he ever heard was the rustle and squeaking of the bats that also lived there.

Before founding the Teen Titans, Robin had once been a loner after leaving Gotham City. He had adopted the same kind of dwellings as his former teacher, living in the darkness of a bat cave. Accustomed to spending his time alone to brood, when he wasn't stopping criminals. He had pushed away people before they got to close.

He was Robin, after all, a close associate to the legendary Batman. His secret was not his own. If anyone were to learn his identity, it wouldn't take much to expose his mentor's to the public. So he swear to himself he would never tell anyone, or let anyone see his face behind the mask.

When he moved into the Tower with his other teammates, everything had changed. Robin himself had changed. It was the first time he had friends close to his age, whom were perfectly fine with the fact that he wear a mask. The first time, he allowed himself to 'act his age' so to speak. Playing video games, going out to dance clubs, hanging out; these were all things he never had back in Gotham.

Then... just like that, everything had been taken away from him. Again. First his parents, and now his friends. Robin regrets keeping his identity from the other Titans. They were his family, he should have at least trusted them. Batman would have understood. Instead, they died never knowing his name.

He knew they were dead even though he never saw their bodies, he could feel it somehow. They cried out to him, maybe they even blamed him. Why hadn't their leader protected them like he should have?

Before his mind could spiral even further into his grief and guilt; his computer beeped insistently. Turning back to his screen, Robin wiped away the thin film of tears. Enough. He promised himself he wouldn't open himself up to grieve until he avenged his friends.

Sitting up, Robin read the results with some satisfaction. At least his small and rash attack on Slade's new apprentice, wasn't a total failure. She was right about one thing, Robin alone didn't have a chance. No, defeating the Titan traitor had not been his objective that night.

Terra wasn't Slade, but she was just as ruthless as him. The girl wasn't that great at hand-to-hand combat, but she made up for it with those damned geo-kinetic powers of hers. Had he not equipped a blinding grenade in his utility built, she would have stoned him to death.

"I won't die," he swear to himself. "Not until I make them pay."

--------------------------

Author's Notes: Review, please?