Raven gasped for air as she ran, but she couldn't stop.
She dared not stop.
Her pursuer didn't even seem to be running, his footfalls sounding at a leisurely pace, but even running flat out, she couldn't seem to lose him.
The corridor she was in was dark, and shadows flickered everywhere. Forks and turns turned it into a nightmare-ish labyrinth, and try as she might, she could find no way out.
Suddenly, found herself in a dead end. She spun and watched the figure approach.
"Who are you?!" she demanded. "Slade?" she guessed.
"No," came an eerily familiar voice. "No, Raven, not Slade." He stepped out of the shadows.
"No..." she shook her head in denial.
"Did you really think you could hide what you are from me?" Nighthawk asked.
"NOOO!" Raven bolted upright. She blinked as she fought to catch her breath.
*A dream,* she thought. *Just a dream.*
She looked up as an alert sounded.
*Now what?*
Synchronized yawning came from both Nighthawk and Beast Boy.
"Man, what's a guy gotta do to get a good night's sleep around here?" Nighthawk complained.
"Good morning, Teen Titans. I do hope I didn't wake you."
Xander's eyes widened as he recognized the man on the screen: Slade.
"What are you, an insomniac?" Beast Boy asked. "Who calls at five in the morning?"
"What do you want?" Robin asked.
"Well, that's precisely what you've been trying to find out, isn't it?" Slade taunted. "And in spite of all your efforts, you're still in the dark about my intentions. Disappointing, Robin. I expected a little more from you."
"Like I care what you-..."
"But since you've been unable to discover my plan," Slade interrupted, "I suppose I'll just have to reveal it myself."
Xander watched as Slade revealed a large, tarp-covered object behind him.
"I'm sure you're all familiar with the concept of a chronoton detonator," Slade said as his minions withdrew the tarp.
"No!" Cyborg said.
Starfire gasped.
"Uh, oh," Raven said.
Xander nodded. Oh, no, he wasn't likely to forget this, though Raven seemed a bit off this morning.
"No way!" Beast Boy blurted out. He paused and turned to Starfire. "Um, what's a crouton detonator?"
"It eradicates all chronotons within a localized area, utterly destroying the temporal component of the space-time continuum."
"Hmm?"
"It stops time," Raven clarified. "Permanently."
"Ahh!" Beast Boy collapsed.
"If he triggers that thing downtown, it'll freeze-frame the entire city," Cyborg said.
"Tell me where!" Robin demanded.
"You're a clever boy, Robin," Slade replied. "I'm sure you and your little friends can figure it out." He held up a transmitter, "However, since I control the detonation, time is not on your side."
Robin slammed his fist into the console in frustration as the transmission ended. "Fan out! Find it! Shut it down!"
Beast Boy and Cyborg moved to block Robin's departure.
"Hey, uh, maybe you should stay here and coordinate the search," Beast Boy suggested.
"What's with Rob?" Xander asked Raven quietly. It would've been a little suspicious if he didn't ask.
Raven started, "Um, i-i-it's Slade. Robin... tends to act irrationally when Slade's involved. Excuse me." She turned to the computer, and Xander blinked at her.
What was _that_ all about? When did Raven turn into Tara?
Across the room, Cyborg was talking to Robin, "Man, when it comes to Slade, you've got issues. Might be better for the team if you sit this one out."
"No," he stormed past Cyborg and Beast Boy. "There's too much at stake for me to-..."
"Robin..." Starfire called out. He stopped, and she spoke again, "We have not forgotten the last time you faced-..."
"I made a mistake, Starfire. It won't happen again." He started out again, "I can handle it. I promise."
"Would you at least like to know where to look?" Raven asked. Once she'd gotten everyone's attention, she continued, "Slade gave us more information than he realized." She zoomed in. "Here, in this reflection."
"Ooh, squiggly lines," Beast Boy deadpanned. "Way informative.
Raven tapped in a few more commands, and the image resolved.
"Pier Forty-One!" Starfire read.
"The docks!" Robin said.
"You guys go on ahead," Xander said.
The Titans turned, and Cyborg asked, "What?"
"Whatever this 'Slade' guy has planned, I doubt he intends to freeze himself. I'll stay here and... try and figure out his escape route."
"Good idea," Robin nodded. "We can't let him get away this time."
"All right," Xander murmured as he watched Robin's tracking beacon settle in place. "Perfect."
He rose to his feet and headed out.
"Nanoscopic probes," Slade said, explaining the monitors. "The chronoton detonator was merely the bait for a much larger trap." A transmitter flicked out from under his sleeve. "You see, with the push of a button, my probes will destroy your friends from the inside out."
"You can't control them," Robin said. "No matter what you threaten, they'll never obey you."
"This isn't about your friends, Robin. It's about you. It's always been about you."
"What?"
"Sending trouble your way. Leaving cryptic clues for you to unravel. I was testing you. For some time now, I have been searching for an apprentice. Someone to follow in my footsteps." He leaned in to Robin's face, "And Robin, I've chosen you. Congratulations."
"No way would I ever work for-..." he trailed off as Slade held up the transmitter, his thumb just barely clearing it the button.
"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. So, do we have a deal?"
Robin shuddered, and after a long moment, he spoke, "There's still someone left who can stop you." It was small, pitiful little act of defiance, and Robin knew it, but in the face of this, it was all he had.
"Ah, yes," Slade nodded. "Your new recruit, Nighthawk. Where is that little errand boy, anyway?"
Shink!
Sparks flew from the transmitter in Slade's hand. A throwing blade was embedded in it.
"Right here," Nighthawk answered as he dropped out of the shadows into a crouch on the floor. "And Robin, for future reference, it's a bad idea to tell the bad guy what he's forgetting."
"You destroyed the controller," Slade noted. "Impressive."
Nighthawk rose, "Not really. I was hoping to pin your hand to the wall."
"Ambitious, too."
"No one messes with my friends," Nighthawk said, "not even you... Deathstroke the Terminator."
Drawing on his comic knowledge was a gamble, and Xander knew it. He just hoped it was accurate... and that it would be enough to throw Slade off his game.
"Well, well, well," Slade murmured, intrigued. "I haven't heard that name in a long time, boy. What do you know about me?"
"A lot of things," Xander replied. "Your name is Slade Wilson. You are -- or were -- a mercenary. You're deadly in hand to hand. You're brilliant, maybe even smarter than Batman."
*Oh, hell,* he thought. *Might as well go for broke.*
"And you're usually not careless enough to dismiss an unknown factor like me. What's the matter? Getting too old, desperate to make sure you don't keel over before you finish teaching your successor?"
"My, my, you _are_ well-informed," Slade said, seemingly unfazed. "And yet... you never shared any of this with any of your friends. How... _fascinating_. I underestimated you, Nighthawk. A mistake I won't repeat."
"Yeah... well..." Xander said, "there's one other thing I know about you, the most important thing."
"Oh?"
"I know you're human..."
BLAM! BLAM!
"...and that means you're not bulletproof."
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
Ting ting! Ting ting ting ting!
Slade blocked the .45 slugs with his arm guards, "Perhaps not, but I don't need to be."
He suddenly dashed forward before Xander could react, and with a swift kick, he sent the Colt flying. Beneath his mask, he smiled.
"Let's see how you do up close."
*Uh, oh.*
Slade launched into a furious assault, sending Xander dancing back to stay intact, and as he started going faster and faster, Xander found it harder and harder to avoid his blows.
*Can't keep this up forever,* Xander thought and went on the offensive, using every trick he could remember. Slade easily deflected his first punch, and the second missed by mere inches.
"Simple," Slade commented.
Xander dropped and brought his leg around, but Slade jumped over the leg sweep and backed away from the uppercut that followed.
"Brutal," Slade nodded.
He lashed out with a high kick, but Slade caught his ankle, stopping it inches from connecting with the side of his head.
"Efficient," Slade finished, hitting Xander in the chest with an open palm strike that sent him flying. "I'm impressed. Your technique could use some work, though."
*He's _testing_ me!* Xander thought. *All right. Fine. You wanna know what I can do? I'll show you!*
With that thought in mind, Xander charged. Ten years of fighting the darkness, instincts from a beast he'd rather not think about, and training he'd never been through... all of it slowly resurfaced as he threw everything he had against Slade... and then some.
Slade caught the double-axe-handle and looked at him curiously, "Now where did someone your age get special forces training?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Xander snarked. He kicked at Slade again, then suddenly tried to regain his balance as Slade yanked his arms around and hurled him across the room.
Xander hissed as pain shot through his side. He reflexively reached down with his left hand and felt warm liquid and sharp metal in his right side. Some of the junk lying around must've cut him open. After carefully extracting the shrapnel, he looked around and spotted a ladder leading to a catwalk above.
He glanced back at Slade and flung a pair of throwing blades from his boots, then scrambled up the ladder.
It might at least buy him enough time to bind the wound.
And where the hell was Robin?
Xander's gaze swept across the room, and he saw Robin duking it out with some of Slade's minions.
*Well, that answers one question. I guess Slade wasn't as confident as he made himself out to be.*
The catwalk trembled. Xander rose and spun to face Slade. The cut would have to wait. He lunged.
Slade backed away, easily deflecting and dodging his punches and kicks. The two suddenly froze after he blocked an overhand strike.
"Interesting," Slade murmured. "A wooden stake, hmm? _Very_ interesting."
Xander blinked. He hadn't even realized he'd drawn the weapon.
Suddenly, Slade shoved him back, and the younger man stumbled, dropping his stake and clinging to the catwalk's railing. He blinked and tried to shake his head clear even as Slade hauled him off his feet and swung him over the railing.
Xander looked down. Scrap. Sharp, pointy, metal scrap.
"You're quite good, but not good enough," Slade said.
"Screw you, asshole. Ungh!" Xander doubled over from the punch to his gut Slade had just delivered. He fought to catch his breath even as his left hand reached for the back of his right glove.
He straightened up and shoved the derringer into Slade's chest.
"Block this!"
BLAM! BLAM!
"Shit!" Xander swore as he fell. He dropped the gun and grabbed for the railing and caught one of the support struts with his right hand. "ARGH!" he cried out as he felt his shoulder dislocate.
Xander ground his teeth as he grabbed the railing with his left hand. His right hand dropped limply to his side. His breathing was now coming in short pants as he tried -- and failed -- to pull himself up.
"Shit," he swore again. His gloves, slick with his own blood, simply didn't have the traction. Slowly but surely, his grip was slipping.
As he lost his grip completely, he felt his stomach lurch from the sudden -- and abbreviated -- drop as a strong hand gripped his forearm. He looked up in confusion.
"You intrigue me, boy," Slade said. "Perhaps we'll meet again." He pulled him up and left him on the catwalk.
Xander grunted as he tried to pop his shoulder back into place. He carefully ran through the last few minutes in his head. He _knew_ Slade's body armor wasn't that good.
He _saw_ him bleed when he shot him. Slade had taken two forty-four slugs to the chest at point-blank range and come back practically unhurt.
"Nighthawk!"
"Robin..." Xander looked up and jerked his head over.
"You're hurt."
"I've had worse."
"And Slade?"
Xander closed his eyes and hung his head, "He got away." He looked up, "And apparently, he regenerates. Really fast."
"Hey, guys," Xander said as he and Robin entered the operations room.
"We got your message," Cyborg said. "We got rid of the nanoprobes."
Robin looked at Xander, "Message? What message?"
"He left a message for us before he left," Cyborg replied.
"'Before'...?" Robin turned to Xander. "How did you know? And how did you know all that stuff about Slade?"
Xander sighed, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try us," Robin said.
"Okay, it's like this..." Xander said, and he began to explain.
To explain how they and their world and everyone they knew... was a comic book and a cartoon.
Story downloaded from
http://www.grandt.com/XanderZone/stories/read.php?story=TheNighthawkChronicles-03-Apprenticeship.html