After handing them water skeins, we got the whole story from them; which didn't have much to it: they were running and a rock broke and they fell into a lava pit. Still, it wasn't everyday there was a lava room conveniently underground where someone was searching.
"But did you find Slade?" That was my first question. I needed to know where he was. Unfortunately, I was sure of their answer.
"No." Sonic shook his head.
"But there were these weird machines that kept trying to break the rocks." Beast Boy added. "It was breaking the ceiling, and we barely got out of there before it collapsed."
"Y'know, Robin, not every attack on us has to do with Slade." Cyborg added. "We've had a ton of enemies, and new ones appear all the time."
"But it is the first time a being has crossed dimensions." Raven added, looking at Sonic.
"Well, that's not true either." I replied. "We had your father, we have, well, you and Starfire, and that little... fan of me."
"But I only come from a separate planet." Starfire explained. "There were no dimensions crossed to get to neither my planet nor Earth."
Raven examined herself. "Starfire's right, I guess you've got a point about me. But still, Slade saved my life, even if he was after me for a long time. He's out to destroy Sonic and whoever has come with him. Does he have a reason?"
"Are you saying you don't trust me?"
I winced as my stomach fell, and we all looked at Sonic. He stood up, looking at the ground, his face either frustrated, angry, or sad.
"We are just discussing Slade's reasoning, Sonic." Starfire said. If anyone could comfort him, she could. "You have already shown you will help us by saving our friend's life."
Raven's face was full of guilt, but there was no way she would show it to Sonic. It wasn't her fault. She was just stating a fact and a reasonable question... But they were hard to face. Why was Slade so against Sonic being here?
"Er, yeah." Beast Boy added, trying to make it all less awkward, or maybe so someone would say something. "Thanks for that. And maybe we should go home. I mean, after all, it's been a long day, and I almost got burnt to a crisp with this guy, eh?"
"Hey, it was fun!" Sonic replied. We all followed me as I walked toward the exit of the cave. None of us talked, and the tension seemed high, even though Sonic had seemed to relax.
Once we got outside, everybody finally seemed to relax. The sunset was bright and hurt our eyes at first, but was better than being underground for hours at a time. After a few more minutes of walking, we arrived at the T-ship and were able to go home.
The first thing Cyborg and Beast Boy did when they got to the tower was play their silly video game. Beast Boy implored Sonic to join them, and since Starfire was in the kitchen and Raven was reading a book, and I was sort of standing in the middle of the room watching what everyone else was doing... He shrugged, jumped over and onto the couch and grabbed a controller. I was going to go into my room and work on searching for Slade, but...
"Robin!" Starfire shouted, running from her work. I cursed. I usually tried to leave when no one saw me, but that usually wasn't hard.
"What?" I replied as she nearly ran into me.
"You cannot seriously think of going to work after such a long day!" She ordered, trying to look mad. She wasn't really good at that.
"I-I was going to, yeah... Is that bad?"
"We travelled through that cave and spent the day through it. I refuse to let you leave this room so you can work on some silly project!"
I moaned, sitting next to Raven at a table near the kitchen. I stared at her, trying to see if I could strike up a conversation. Cyborg and Beast Boy were okay, but they were also loud.
"No." Raven said after about ten seconds.
"What?" I blinked.
"I said, no."
"What if I grab a book and read it with you? We can be, uh, reading buddies."
"Then I will bite your head off. I'm not in the mood, Robin."
I stood up, walking away promptly. As much as I liked Starfire, I hated her food. So, I sat next to Cyborg and watched them all play video games, and, when I got a turn, I got into it. It was a simple racing game, really. We all laughed and shouted, cheering and making fun of Beast Boy when he lost. Then again, Cyborg was a really sore loser, too.
"What do you mean I lost AGAIN?!" He would shout. We would all just laugh at him, and even though that was probably wrong, we were having a great time.
"Okay, everybody!" Cyborg shouted to the room, even though Raven and Starfire didn't need to hear him. "It's time for the Championships! It's going to be Robin versus Beast Boy and Cyborg versus Sonic! The winners will battle each other to the death!"
"Wait, woah." Sonic said somewhat seriously. "What was that last part?"
The three of us burst out laughing. "It's a joke. We're kidding."
"Oh, Okay."
"Let the Championships..." Cyborg started, "begin!"
The first race was me and Beast Boy, which was a close race until the very end. I just barely got a lead ahead of him, winning the race. It wasn't all that exciting, but the next race was. The first weird thing: both 'racers' decided to play with their heads on the end of the couch, so they were looking at the TV upside down. Then, they picked the hardest course they could with as many loop-dee-loops as possible.
"You're ridiculous." I chuckled. "You are both going to take an hour to finish this."
"Dude." Sonic said, turning to me. "I race for my life."
"I still think you're going down, hedgehog." Cyborg taunted.
"We're already upside down, so I don't see how I can go down..."
They started, and at first, they were both flawless. Then, Cyborg started to lose, and Sonic didn't do so well either. But Sonic soon got his act together, finishing better than any of us would have done without the blood rushing to our brains.
"Hah!" Sonic said as he finished, snapping his fingers. He got back up, waiting a few seconds before moving. He looked like he was going to pass out. "Okay, now that my vision's not red... who's next?"
Cyborg looked strangely unemotional. "No. way."
"Me." I said, feeling like I wanted to avoid his gaze. I took the controller from Cyborg and helped him up, but he didn't move.
"No one... beats me..."
"I've beaten you a few times." I replied. "Actually, a few more times than a few."
"But... He's been here for less than twenty four hours!"
"Maybe try a fighting game next time? You have muscles. He has..." I rubbed my chin. Sonic didn't have any muscles, that was for sure. "Noodle limbs."
"What?!" He yelled in reply. "These are legs of steel."
"Come on, Cyborg. Give up the controller."
After a sort of whimper, he gave it to me, and we selected the same race, the same circumstances. "No putting your head upside down, though." I added. "I don't need a handicap."
He smirked, and shook his head slightly. "You are so going down."
We started, and the entire room seemed tense. I barely noticed that Beast Boy and Cyborg were cheering us on like it was something really serious, Cyborg for me, Beast Boy for Sonic. It was good that Beast Boy and Sonic had seemed to connect, if only a bit. I just didn't want to know what was in store for Beast Boy when we finally got Sonic home. It wouldn't be the first time he went through something like that.
After Sonic knocked me into a wall, I made my mind shut up and focus. There was a curvy street. Turn. Turn again. Drift. Drift more. Turn sharply. Cut in front of Sonic and brake. Chuckle as he rams into the wall and his expression turns grim.
That put him incredibly far behind. He would never be able to get back from something like that. I had won the battle. Or, race, though everyone else would call it a battle.
Finish line comes up. Press the button as hard as possible. Focus, focus, focus. He was coming up fast. Would he make it? I doubted it, but knowing him, anything was possible.
The very last second came up. He couldn't pass me. It wasn't possible.
But he did.
"Woohoo!" He stood and shouted, then ran around the room a bazillion times in the span of five seconds, before Raven made a giant hand grab him from the floor.
"Stop." She said, releasing him. He nodded, then walked back to us.
I let my guard down, and he slipped through my fingers, just like Slade had. No matter how much I had focused, there was still a part of me that was so sure in the race that decided that there was no reason to worry. Did that mean even now there was a part of me that was letting my guard down about Slade?
"Nice game." I said to Sonic, even though I was still thinking about it.
"Of course." He replied with pride. "The fastest thing alive isn't going to lose a race."
My heart was racing. What if even now Slade was spying on us, laughing at the fact that I wasn't looking for him?
I stood up. "Okay, I played the game, I'm going to go now."
"Aww..." Beast Boy complained, turning into a dog with big eyes. It looked more creepy than cute.
"Sorry." I said, rushing to my room before anyone could stop me again.