Robin was running after Slade on what looked to be a completely different planet than Earth. Both enemies jumping from rock to rock never seeming to slow down. Slade jumped down onto the ground with a thud and Robin followed right after him. Slade jumped once more and Robin followed landing with a roll to make sure he didn't accidentally hurt himself.
The hero looked all around him at the large rock formations trying to figure out where his enemy had gone. Slade made himself known as he walked from behind one of the rocks.
"Dangerous behavior, Robin. You must be very eager to see me." Slade said in his usual deep and serious tone as he walked towards the teen. "I'm flattered." Slade said making Robin's jaw clench in anger. "I'm not here to see you. I'm here to stop you." Robin said determination flowing through his every word. "Hmm...but how can you stop me when you don't even know what I'm planning?" Slade asked as he walked behind one of the rocks. Robin followed his every move with an angry glare. "Like this." Robin said before running to attack Slade.
Robin threw multiple punches and kicks towards his enemy, but Slade was able to dodge every single one while Robin only hit the rocks around them. Slade started fighting back, and Robin managed to dodge his attacks. The same back and forth went on for awhile before Robin pulled out his birdarangs. He threw them at Slade only for him to deflect them. The weapons managed to hit two of the large rocks and they came crumbling down to the ground knocking the other large rocks down with them.
Robin looked around waiting for the dust to clear as he searched for Slade. "Excellent, Robin. We appear to be evenly matched and equally ruthless." Slade's voice came from within the thick layer of dust. "Not surprising. You and I are so very much alike." Slade said as he snuck up behind Robin.
"I'm nothing like you!" Robin yelled as he turned around landing a solid blow to Slade. The villain fell back and Robin was quick to pull him up by his suit collar. "You're a criminal, a psychopath. All you care about is destruction." Robin said as his glare towards the man was as harsh as his tone.
"And all you care about...you destroy." Slade said gesturing to the side making Robin look over. What caught Robin's eyes was broken stone versions of his friends. His eyes trailed from Cyborg, to Raven, Beast Boy, and Starfire until only one was left. Robin felt his eyes shaking in disbelief as he stared at a broken stone version of Perci.
"No...who are you?!" Robin yelled as he ripped off Slade's mask. His eyes didn't believe him as he stared at himself letting out Slade's manic evil laugh.
Robin suddenly woke up with a gasp covered in a cold sweat. He took a few shaky deep breathes before the door to the newspaper covered room opened. "It's him." Robin looked over to see Cyborg leaning in. "It's Slade." With a soft nod, Robin followed Cyborg into their living room.
"Good morning, Teen Titans." Slade's voice came through their system as his face was displayed in front of them. "I do hope I didn't wake you." Beast Noy came into the room with a yawn as he stretched. "What are you? An insomniac? Who calls at 5 in the morning-ow!" Beast boy said as Raven nudged him hard with her elbow.
"What do you want?" Robin asked wanting Slade to get to the point of his call. "Well, that's precisely what you've been trying to figure out, isn't it? And in spite of all your efforts...you're still in the dark about my intentions. Disappointing, Robin." Slade said making Robin's glare turn down as he was disappointed in himself. "I expected a little more from you." "Like I care what you-" "But since you've been unable to discover my plan, I supposed I'll just have to reveal it myself." Slade said gesturing to something covered in a cloth behind him.
The robots with Slade quickly removed the cloth revealing a machine of some kind. "I'm sure you're all familiar with the concept of a Khronoton Detonator." Slade said as the machine opened up. "No!" Cyborg said as he stared at the device followed by a gasp from Starfire. "Uh-oh." Raven said with a sliver of worry in her voice. "No way!" Beast boy said before turning to Starfire. "Um...what's a crouton detonator?" He asked getting the name wrong.
"It eradicates all khronotons within a localized area utterly destroying the temporal component of the space time continuum." Starfire explained making Beast Boy even more confused than before. "It stops time...permanently." Raven quickly explained making Beast Boy freak out.
"If he triggers that thing downtown it'll freeze frame the entire city." Cyborg told Robin. "Tell me where!" Robin said. His voice had become even angrier as he glared at Slade. "You're a clever boy, Robin. I'm sure you and your little friends can figure it out." Slade said making Robin clench his fists. "However, since I control the detonation, time...is not on your side." Slade said and the feed cut out.
Robin slammed his fist against the keyboard in front of him as he took a few deep breathes. "Fan out. Find it. Shut it down!" Robin yelled as he turned around about to search for the massive weapon when Cyborg and Beast Boy stood in his way.
"Hey, uh, maybe you should stay here and coordinate the search." Beast boy said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "What?" Robin asked when Cyborg took over. "Man, when it comes to Slade, you've got issues. It might be better for the team if you sit this one out."
Robin didn't even take the chance to think about what his team was telling him. "No. There's too much at stake for me to-" "Robin." Starfire's soft voice made Robin stop in his tracks. "We have not forgotten the last time you faced-" "I made a mistake, Starfire! It won't happen again." Robin said making Starfire sigh. "Perhaps you should talk to friend Perci. She seems to understand you in a way that we can not." Starfire's said and Robin turned away. "I can handle it, I promise." Robin said as he started to walk away.
"Would you at least like to know where to look?" Raven asked making the rest of the team look to her. "Slade gave us more information than he realized." Raven said as she zoomed in on an image from Slade's call. "Here...in this reflection." "Oooh, squiggly lines...way informative." Beast boy said sarcastically making Raven glare at him. She quickly typed on the keys in front of her as the image was enhanced revealing letters that she turned around. The reflection said 'pier 41'.
"Pier 41!" Starfire said happily. "The docks." Robin confirmed while Raven crossed her arms at Beast boy. "Should we give Perci a call? Maybe she has more information about what's happening and how to stop this weird time stopping thingy." Beast Boy asked the group. All of them looked at each other before glancing at Robin.
A hard sigh left his mouth as he rubbed his temple. "She's probably sleeping. We don't need her for this anyways. She's not a Titan." He said, but it was too late. Starfire had already started contacting the girl. The phone had rung only twice when she picked up. All of the titans were a bit surprised to actually have her answer.
"Hey, Kors! What can I do for you, bestie? Wait, oh my gosh! Did you change your mind? Are you actually coming?! Wall's! Wally! WALLACE! I think she's coming!" Perci's voice came through sort of rushed and the group could hear the smile and excitement in her voice. Her last sentence was followed by a loud 'woo!' from who they assumed was Wall's in the background.
"Bloom, we need to know-" Cyborg said before getting interrupted by Perci. "Oh, it's all of you guys." She said her voice lacking every ounce of enthusiasm it had a couple seconds ago. "I guess you all can come, if really you want too. But just so you know it is BYOS. I'm not really sure if you guys have-" "We're not calling to see if we can hang out, Perci!" Robin practically yelled at her and the group glared at Robin. Perci took an annoyed deep breath, but it was soon cut off by her laughing.
"Dude, back off! Yes! It is important!" Perci's voice came slightly farther away and the group could hear loud music playing in the background. "Eat my dust!" The voice of a guy came from the background. "In your dreams, Sonic wannabe!" The girl said with a laugh. "If I'm Sonic, you're Shadow!" The same voice said with a laugh. "Good! Shadow is a million times better than Sonic! And I'm a million times better than you, loser!" Perci yelled to whoever she was talking to. "Oh yeah?! How is Shadow better than THE Sonic the hedgehog?! Shadow being better than Sonic is just dumb, you dumb dumb." "Shadow is better in every way that matters, you silly little guy!" Perci yelled.
A soft gasp made the titans raise their brows. "Oh my god...if you're Shadow and I'm Sonic...that would make us Sonadow!" The unfamiliar voice said with excitement only to be followed by a loud smack. "I swear to fucking god, I'm either gonna kill you or myself one day." Perci said making the group think the smack was her facepalming. "That sounds like something Shadow would say!" "Changed my mind, I'm just gonna kill you." Perci said while a gasp from the other person followed her statement.
"S-sorry about that. What do you guys need? It better be really important, because I'm not losing a race for something that's not important." Perci said as her tone became harsher at the end. "Slade, any new information?" Robin asked his voice still as harsh as before. "Ooh, last time I checked Robin, Slade wasn't my enemy. He's yours." Perci said to Robin giving him as much attitude as he gave her.
"If you really truly need something from me because I'm your absolute last option, let me know. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to enjoy winning and making this LOSER JEALOUS OF MY NATURAL SKILLS!" Perci yelled to whoever she was with. "WHAT?! NATURAL SKILLS MY-" The other person yelled back to her as she hung up.
"Are we going or was there another hero you wanted to call?" Robin asked his team with his arms crossed over his chest as they all glared at him. With that, all of the teen heroes were heading towards pier 41, but not before Starfire sent Perci their location...just in case.
The team made it to the pier and busted into one of the warehouses only to be met by Slade's robots and no signs of the detonator. Robin's anger ended up getting the better of him as he used his rage to fuel him in his fighting. He ended up taking out every single one of the robots not letting his team help at all.
All of the Titans stood stunned as they watched Robin massacre the robots around them. As they were watching, they noticed someone else arrive. She made her way to the others with a brow raised at Robin. "Uh...did I miss something?" She asked while the other titans stared at her confused.
"Uh...Perci...what the hell are you wearing?" Beast Boy asked as he pointed down to her feet. The girl was wearing a pair of green roller skates with soft pink wheels, laces, and heart shaped stoppers. "Hey! You're the ones that called me and wanted me to come down here!" She said as an annoyed vine popped out of her forehead. "You guys really should come to the next one. It's really fun. Roller rink nights are always my favorite." Perci's face was all smiles as she talked about what she'd been doing. "For future reference of you come, it is BYOS. Bring your own skates. I'd rather die than deal with like ten different smelly skates." Perci said crossing her arms over her chest as vines wrapped around her legs placing her back in her normal attire.
"Why are you roller skating at 5 o'clock in the morning?" Raven asked the question all the other titans were thinking. Perci only looked at all of them extremely confused. "What are you guys talking about? It's not 5 am...is it?" Perci asked before pulling out her phone from her pocket and glancing at the time. "Holy shit...its 5:30...oh my god I've been roller skating for close to six hours. No wonder everyone else left." Perci said as she realized why it was only her and her friend. "You're mental." Beast Boy said and Perci shrugged her shoulders. "You know, at this point I wouldn't even be surprised"
"What are we to do about Robin? He seems...disturbed." Starfire said pointing to the man continuously attacking the robots. "Uh, Robin, I think you got him." Cyborg said to Robin who wasn't stopping. "Yes, please. You may stop now. We are victorious." Starfire pleaded for him to stop. Slight worry filled Perci's system as she stared at Robin. The anger in his system felt somewhat familiar.
Perci walked over to Robin as she made her way behind him. She watched for a few seconds as Robin beat the robots face in with his staff. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder as her other grabbed hold of Robin's raised one. Robin's masked eyes immediately turned to glare at the teen.
"We need you to calm down, Robin." Perci's voice came out a lot softer than any of the titans had heard before. Robin let out an angry growl as his gaze moved to his weapon as he tried to pull his hand away, but Perci refused to let go. She crotched down next to him and tugged the weapon closer to her making Robin's masked eyes meet hers again. "Take a few deep breathes, and think of what you're doing. You're unnecessarily wearing yourself out. You can't waste your energy on robots when you have a bigger fight ahead of you." Perci said just loud enough for him to hear before standing back up.
What confused the others was when Perci's hand ruffled Robin's spiked hair messing it up slightly. Robin was also slightly confused as he felt his cheeks heat up slightly from Perci's actions. In Robin's slight state of confusion, Perci was able to easily pull the weapon from the hero's previously tight grip.
The moment the weapon left Robin's hand, he came back to reality. He stood up just as Perci had walked back over to Starfire as she handed off the weapon. "Slade's got his finger on the button, and we've got nothing! Does that sound like a victory to you?" He asked referring to Star's previous statement before he started walking out of the warehouse. Perci let out a soft sigh as she rolled her eyes. She knew exactly where Robin had picked that kind of attitude and anger up from.
"Okay. We know the khronoton detonator was here. Now, we just have to figure out where it went." Cyborg said as the Titans and Perci all made their way back outside. "No problem. We should split up and-" Beast Boy started to say just for Raven to interrupt. "Waste our time searching only to come up empty handed?" She asked making Beast boy rub the back of his neck. "Well, when you say it like that." "Raven is right. We must find some way to track the device." Star said making the others nod.
"Looks like you guys have got this covered." Perci said as she pushed herself off the wall she'd been leaning against. "Good luck, don't die, get home safe, all that good stuff." Perci said as she was about to head home.
"Freeze!" The group heard Robin yell and Perci turned around pointing to herself confused. She was even more confused when Robin ran past her. Only then noticing a man across the way. "Oh you've gotta be kidding me!" Perci said to herself as she ran after Robin.
The hero was faster than her as he cut the man off throwing a birdarang at him. The man became distracted by the device long enough for Robin to take him by surprise as he was thrown against the wall. "Tell me everything you know about this!" Robin yelled as he showed the man Slade's signature metal S. "I-I-" The man stuttered out. "Answer me! Now!" Robin yelled. "Robin! Knock it off!" Perci yelled as she got in between the two. "I-I've never seen it before! I don't know anything! Honest!" The man yelled out as he coward behind Perci.
"Get out of my way!" Robin was seething ready to shove Perci aside. "Oh, I have a better idea. Why don't you make me, baby boy? Do it, Robin. I dare you." Perci said with a cocky smirk ready to physically knock some kind of sense into Robin. The hero looked like he was about to go ballistic on Perci when black magic surrounded his body sending him flying back onto an adjacent wall. The rest of the titans moved so they were in front of Perci as they all stared disappointingly at Robing.
"You said you could handle it." Raven said as she released Robin. "You promised." Starfire said with the most disappointment in her voice. Robin simply brushed them all off as he glared at them. "We're wasting time." Robin said as he started to walk off.
"You know, just cause we're trying to catch Slade doesn't mean you have to act like him!" Beast Boy yelled. "Don't you ever compare me to him." Robin said as he turned around to confront Beast Boy. "He's trying to destroy the city. I'm trying to save it." Robin said making Perci let out an unconvinced tsk at his words.
"Is there something you want to add?!" Robin yelled at her. "Yeah, I really do. I know exactly who you're acting like. And, now this will be a surprise to everyone. It's not Slade." Perci said as she walked towards the hero. "How you're acting is exactly how he acts." Perci said with a laugh. "The main reason I left Gotham and maybe even the reason you left Gotham." The teen had venom dripping from her words as she told Robin the truth about his current actions.
Perci walked up to Robin close enough so she could whisper in his ear. "We both wanted to leave the bat soooo badly, yet here we are. I escaped. But you, Robin? He still managed to make you into a perfect replica of himself. Hatred and all. I hope you're proud...I'm sure he is." Perci's words rang through Robin's mind as she walked away.
"Later Titans...good luck doing whatever it is you do...you're gonna need it." With a wave and tangle of vines, Perci was gone.