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Take your Medicine	By : Imaginary Category: DC Verse Cartoons - Teen Titans > Slash - Male/Male > Robin/Slade Views: 8215 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, nor the characters of the series, nor do I make any money or profit from this story.

Chapter List
- 10
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AN: Hello my dear and loved fans! I have some good news for you all! You have been waiting for this chapter eagerly, I bet, and now you have been granted! I have written the story to chapter 27 already, and there is one more chapter to go before it's finished! You hear me right, the story is ALMOST FINISHED! Now we'll only have to do some mass load of editing, and we may be even able to keep a weekly or at least somewhat regular updating pace going on! Me and SladinForever are on the editing so you can have this story! Though, we'd appreciate some help in editing *wink wink* Seriously, are there anyone willing to help us edit these chapters?

Once TYM is written, I'm plannning on starting another, more easy going, story for you all, but we'll talk about this later.

Also, some warnings: Let's ignore the disclaimer, everyone knows I don't own anything. But, I would like to warn you now, even if there may not have been too much of M material so far, it's coming in the future chapters. So I warn you if anything of these themes makes you feel uncomfortable, blease back off NOW while you still have the chance: nudity, sexual acts, graphic gay sex, body hair, a human body part called foreskin which you poor americans haven't heard of, wanking, I like Starfire as a characters so I wont bash her, No sugargoating some of those things your usual fics leave unmentioned, oh, and I guess we have violence and some dead character here and there... and an OC which I hate bloody much and am intending to kill in very painful way if I'd only know HOW. oh, and there might be a mention on cross dressing? yup, that too. and what else? While you have been tapping you foot on the floor waiting for updates I have been slaving my ass of to write this damn story. And when I had no critic or a fan screaming at me "YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" I went and did it ALL. no-voices in my head went "Hay, Kaz, that may be a bad idea..." so heh, you'll just have to wait and see. Be afraid, be VERY afraid.

I just wish to remind you that this story is M for a reason, and it is going to have Slade/Robin pairing in it. And I seriously hope that it will be worth it since some of the contect was rather challenging to write and I hope that it turned out right.

With much love: Kazhiru; I hope you enjoy the story.

Robin was in an unknown room. The nervousness crept under his skin, like ants marching in his veins. It felt as if someone was poking him with millions of small, sharp needles, impaling his fingers, toes, and the very tip of his cheekbones. They crept upwards and he soon felt them on the back of his neck, along his spine, and on the very back of his skull. Robin couldn't quite place if the nervousness was entirely because of the test or Slade himself. He had told him to meet him there and the time he had set was only five minutes away. But Slade himself hadn't entered the room. Robin wasn't quite sure why he felt so nervous in the first place. This was one of Slade's meaningless, stupid tests and Robin didn't need to prove anything to him.

Then why was he feeling so nervous? Why did he feel as if he needed to be on his toes and perform as well as he could to not disappoint Slade? Why was he here in the first place? One small voice in the back of Robin's mind told him it was because he secretly wanted Slade to admit he was talented. The other small voice told him that he shouldn't listen to anything that he was told. Slade was evil, bad, and on the wrong side of the law. Robin should have nothing to do with him. He should make a stop to anything he might be up to. And the most important thing was to not listen to anything he might say, and never, ever, bend to his will.

He felt wrong for being there. He felt as if he was in the wrong place and that he was currently doing something he shouldn't. And yet he was, dare he say it, eager to know what was coming. Yet Slade had not shown up. It made him anxious. He had checked the room multiple times in the small amount of time he had already spent there. The room looked like a normal, but spacious hall. It was obviously meant for gymnastics but was stripped bare of any kind of exercising equipment. The room was wider than a basketball court, but much smaller than a football field. It was somewhat overwhelming to think that Slade had such multiple wide rooms and huge headquarters somewhere all around Jump City. Hell, maybe even all around the world. Robin didn't know where they were, how big they were, or what they were for. Even this, which he currently vacated, was huge enough to fit a small military. Yet, he barely explored it at all. The only man who would know about any of this would be Slade and everyone knew that he wasn't giving up any kind of information about anything that he considered his.

And now that he was back on the subject of Slade, where was he? He should have been there already. It was a minute to the set time and Robin was nervous, anxious, and not to mention slightly peeved. And then the doors opened. He could hear the sharp hiss of air as they did. With long, strong steps, Slade walked to the middle of the room where Robin was already waiting.

"Good morning again, Robin. Punctual as always." Slade cracked his neck to get rid of all the kinks.

"Unlike some people…" Robin muttered under his breath.

Slade heard it and remarked, "No, Robin, I'm perfectly on time. Not one minute late, not one minute early." Slade held his hands behind his back and stepped chest-to-chest with him. "But I have not requested you here so that you could bicker, but to perform a test." Robin could bet that Slade played out the s of the word "test" as he said it. Somehow imagining him doing anything similar to it seemed, well…not Slade like. Or maybe this was the other side of him that he refrained to show others. Robin didn't know, but now that the perfect opportunity to put his investigative skills presented itself to him, he couldn't just say no to the offer. Humming his agreement to Slade as a sign to continue, he soon started to fill in the facts. "This test is, among other things, supposed to determinate if you can be sent outside this base or not." Robin nodded to this, having heard this before. "In other words, you are to perform a small track course I have set for you, which will take place in this very room. Judging by your performance, we'll see if you can be trusted to be let outside of this base. I personally hope that you will show some…ah…promising results. I hope you can play by the rules."

"What rules?"

"Just two. One, use your ears to listen for any kind of helpful sounds and voices and, two, do not hesitate."

Slade started to pick inside his pouches of his belt while Robin nagged about the first rule. "What do you mean listen to your surroundings? I have eyes you know. And what could possibly be there to hear but not see?"

Completely ignoring him, Slade held something in his hand while hiding it from view. "Robin, could you take a look at this? I need you to examine it for me."

As curious as Robin was of the item held in Slade's now open palm, he took a step closer to take a good look at it. It was small, barely the size of a marble. It looked like a small gray ball with a black, camera-like lens in the middle of it. It seemed as if something was carved around the lens. Having to take a closer look to read what it was, Robin reached for the marble and held it close to his eyes, almost touching the marble with the material of his mask.

"There's small text on it that says…"

Robin couldn't finish. His eyes suddenly started to hurt and a white light filled his vision. He had to close his eyes to block it. And goddammit did it hurt. His eyes were tearing up under the mask, feeling itchy and dry. It felt as if his eyes were suddenly full of dirt and no matter how much he tried to blink, the feeling didn't go away. At first his eyes had gone dry and itchy. But the more he blinked, the more his eyes seemed to tear up. He had to use his hands to try rubbing them through his mask, to settle down the uneasy feeling. He could bet that his eyes were red and bloodshot. He tried to rub them the best he could, all the while feeling his tears absorb into the depths of his mask. Some had even managed to slip their way under the edges and were now pouring down his face. He tried to wipe them off the best to his abilities, not wanting Slade to see him in such a state. He couldn't believe how easily he had fallen into such an obvious trap. He had taken it like an offered piece of candy!

Regardless of all his efforts, Robin couldn't shake off the itchy feeling. The only thing he could still see was white, which was slowly starting to fade to black with a dark, purplish hue. He had to rub his eyes through the material of his mask to get the black and purple blur to set in on solid black. Once he opened his eyes, he saw nothing. His sight was as dark as if he was standing in the middle of a pitch black night. Not a single outline, shape, movement, or even a blink of light could be seen and he was starting to panic. That was low, even for Slade. Especially for him.

"How dare you! How dare you blind me! You bastard, what is this about!" Robin demanded, yelling at Slade, wherever he thought he stood.

Robin even expressed his extreme disapproval by scowling and swearing. A deep laugh filled the hall, which was once filled with the bright light. Robin had to stop his cursing so he could hear him out, now that he couldn't see him. He would need to use his other senses to read Slade, even though he couldn't normally, eyes open or not.

"Robin, Robin, Robin. This is all part of the test. I knew there wasn't a way to make you blind just by politely asking…"

"Damn right there isn't!" Robin cut in, but Slade quickly overpowered him with his own voice.

"Yet, now that it's over and done with, we may proceed." Robin could hear a faint ruffling of clothes, probably Slade stepping forward. Soon, a soft, silk-like material was laid on Robin's eyes. Before the cloth could be tied behind his head, a thought crossed his mind. He wanted to jump backwards and claw Slade's eye out, now that he was close enough, but he held himself back, not wanting to show Slade his uncertainty. So he merely nudged his head backwards. "No, no Robin, let me tie your eyes. Just to be sure you won't peek."

Slade laughed as he finished off his sentence, sounding evil and even smug as if he knew darn well that Robin couldn't see anything, no matter if he had the blindfold on or not.

"I hate you," Robin said, sounding stern, sharp, and with passion in every word.

"Well isn't that a shame," Slade mumbled.

When the knot was finished, Slade stepped back. By the sound of fading footsteps, he was also walking away. Robin growled.

"Where are you going? Don't leave me here!"

Soon the steps stopped and the room was completely silent. Was Slade gone? Did he leave? What was going on?

"Let the test begin," Slade announced, the room starting to come alive.

Robin would never admit that he was afraid of what would happen. The noises around him made him jump to the tips of his toes, ready to sprint the moment the floor under him started to move. They were loud, screechy, and booming. It sounded as if something was being dragged on the metal floor. It also sounded like something really heavy was moving around and, to boot, the floor was shaking. All around him he could hear the sound of air whooshing as the pressure was released and once again sealed. Soon, he felt a powerful wind, which was accompanied with a loud hissing sound as the air aimed straight at his cheek. He would never admit that he jumped at least ten feet to the side when he felt it. Not even if Slade had millions of security cameras with more than enough proof that he had done just that. His heart was stuck in his throat the whole time.

Soon, the most horrible noise of them all, a metallic screech, like something similar to a huge metal valve beginning to turn around, released a huge amount of air. With a loud bang and a hiss, he heard what sounded like two clocks and, not soon after, a noise like someone was hitting a metal bar against a wall. Then it sounded like something was falling. Air swooshed as it moved at a high velocity. Then two similar screeches were emitted, both sounding like nails scraping against a chalkboard, and then the falling sound again. Robin's brain quickly acknowledged what it was: a pendulum. A huge godforsaken pendulum. Robin didn't have time to listen to the sound for long as something to his left made a noise that reminded him of someone taking the pin out of a grenade. The noise that followed was an exact match of someone welding two metals together with heat, just like a flamethrower. The radiating heat licked the left side of his torso and made his hair fry slightly and smell burnt. He could feel the heat on his skin and it felt as if he was standing too close to a bonfire or holding his hand mere millimeters away from a stove.

Instinctively, Robin jumped away from the fire and started to fuss with his hair to see if it was still intact, only to get startled by the pendulum coming back down and making him jump again, this time slipping on the edge of a platform and falling. He could feel as if all the blood in his veins stopped or rushed right into his ears. It felt as if he was falling several feet. He was prepared to hit the floor and break his legs, only to notice that it had barely been a one foot fall. Still, it was enough to get him tumbling off his feet, falling on his side like a toddler that still couldn't walk properly. He was ashamed of this. Then the platform fell five inches. He was now in a starfish-like position, holding onto the platform for dear life. Once again, he heard a puff of wind and the platform started to travel downwards. It was moving down slowly and steadily, like an elevator.

Goddammit, it probably was an elevator. Robin was probably lying on it with limbs spread out and nails digging into the metal surface. Even his heart was in his throat. Slade must have been so amused by this. He was probably having the time of his life, filming all this on tape and laughing while doing so. "Best apprentice ever", that's who he was. Robin wanted to scream and rage, but, at the same time, he didn't want to give the man such a pleasure.

Swallowing a huge lump of worry and nervousness down his throat was Robin's first step of collecting himself. He soon lifted himself up to stand. He felt ashamed at how badly his knees shook. It was so weird not seeing what was going on. It seemed as if his balance was off. The fact that the platform he stood on was moving didn't help at all. When the platform stopped, Robin's knees almost gave way again. He managed to hold himself upright, only giving way half an inch. He so hoped that Slade hadn't seen that.

"Your mission is simple. All you have to do is get to the end of the course. It isn't all that long or difficult, really. It's all up to you on how you will survive," Slade explained.

His voice seemed to come from one set location, which was two feet above him and one foot to the right. Also, a small whirring noise emitted close-by. Robin's best guess was that Slade used some kind of small electronic device to watch over and speak to him. Robin wasn't quite sure if he should feel glad that he didn't have to do all of this alone or if he should feel annoyed that he was tricked into doing this in the first place. All he got was a small piece of scrap metal to babysit him. But, for once, Robin couldn't lie to himself; he had never been more grateful to hear Slade's voice.

"You better start now. You have thirty feet of plain ground ahead," Slade informed him over the transmitter. There were still more than enough noises all around him and Robin could still hear the pendulum ahead and the fire crackling behind him. There were so many noises that Robin expected almost anything around him to jump on him, slice him and dice him, and cook him up if he let his guard down. It definitely wasn't an all too encouraging setting. "Proceed straight ahead."

Robin could hear the small device floating over his head. It stopped somewhere ahead of him, not too far away. He was thankful that the machine hadn't gone wandering on its own and leaving him there alone. Robin had to gulp again. The only way for this hellish experience to end was to live through it. The faster he got it done, the faster it was over. And with this as his objective and reassurance, Robin took his first step.

To be quite honest, Robin had expected something terrible to happen the moment his feet landed on the floor. Something like the panels moving or triggering a hidden switch, which would let bullets shoot at him or some random flamethrowers appearing, but nothing happened. Everything was the same as it had been before. Robin shook his worry from his shoulders. Maybe this track course was easy. Maybe it just had sounded bad; maybe he was just imagining things. Without his eyes, he could never be too sure on what was real and what wasn't. Thus he took the next step. It was safe, so far. Even if he had taken baby steps on this small incline, it seemed like he had made some great progress. So far nothing had happened, so maybe he was safe.

Robin took a small mental pause to collect himself and drop his defenses a little. To be honest, all this nervousness was getting to him. So, putting it all aside, he took his tenth step. Just as his boot landed on the metal surface, a loud hiss emitted from his left and a turret of air hit him, making him jump to the right in surprise. Just as he did so, he noticed that there wasn't any floor to land on. Surprise and panic came back twice as hard. Robin tried to turn himself in mid-air and extend his hands in order to grab something, anything. Thank god he managed to grab hold of the platform he had just been standing on. "Oh shit" had formed into a mental mantra, repeating time after time in Robin's mind.

"Slade? What's going on!"

"Help" was a word Robin would never say to Slade, but right now, it was on the tip of his tongue.

"I told you to go ahead."

Robin was starting to lose his nerves and his grip was starting to slip. "You told me there was thirty feet of plain, solid ground ahead!"

Robin only received a deep voice with an I-told-you-so edge to it, repeating, "Ahead, Robin. Ahead."

Slade's expression was now probably something between 'I'm highly amused' and 'shit this kid is stupid. I wonder if I can get him to jump if I ask'.

"Fuck you Slade, just, fuck you!"

Robin started to pull himself up. He didn't know, nor did he want to know, what was below him. He had been shoulders deep in that pitfall from a few days back. If he couldn't feel any floor under his feet, it probably was far enough of a fall to break his neck.

"Well, seeing the situation-" Slade began, but Robin had had his share.

"Just shut up with your snide, clever remarks! Save it until I get out of here! I don't want to hear it!"

Robin soon managed to pull himself up on all fours on the platform.

"Now, now, no need to be aggressive. Proceed to the right," Slade said plainly.

Robin was glad that he had managed to shut him up. The situation he was in was bad enough. Robin was still on all fours and he reached with his hands to see if he could measure the area he had to walk on. It was no more than four feet. Usually it would be more than plenty, but now it seemed like way too little. Robin closed his eyes and shook his head slightly to get rid of the nervousness again and then proceeded to walk on. He hoped that he wouldn't start to walk slightly to the side. Once again, a step triggered an air blast to hit him. The air wasn't strong enough to knock him down or even hurt him, but it was enough to make goosebumps form on his skin and to make him lose his balance only so slightly that one wouldn't even notice he had stumbled in the first place. It wasn't too bad, Robin decided, and started to walk onwards, hands spread to his side for extra balance. This, of course, meant that the gusts could hit him in the ribs and make it ticklish or have a poking feeling. Other than that, it wasn't half bad, now that he knew what to expect at least. Robin had to wonder, though, about his destination. He was finally at the end of his plain ground, as Slade had put it, having walked a slick uphill the whole time. It kept going as Slade instructed Robin to proceed to the right.

"To proceed, you will have to take a huge leap. The other platform is quite far," Slade instructed. Robin gulped. He knew that he could jump, but it was hard to gain the confidence to do so when you couldn't see when or where to leap to the next platform. Was it high or low? Was it really far away or could he get there by taking a long step? What if the platform was slightly to the left? Would he land on the edge and roll off? "There is some space ahead of you. You may want to run if you're nervous of missing the platform." Just to be sure, Robin pointed straight ahead of him to confirm the exact way. "I will tell you to jump once you are at the edge. Now go."

At a slow pace, Robin accelerated to a rather slow paced run. To be honest, he didn't dare run at too high a speed. What if he couldn't jump in time once the order to jump came? What if he fell? What if he kept running to the side slightly and ran straight off the platform? What if there was some kind of obstacle on the floor and he would either hit it or trip on it?

"Robin, your speed is not going to be enough. You'll need to run faster." Robin quickened his pace, but only slightly. "You'll never make it if you can't go faster." Robin wasn't exactly jogging anymore, but it still wasn't a clean run either. "Robin, your speed is nowhere fast enough," Slade repeated. Somehow, Robin could imagine a small hint of worry in his voice. That couldn't be right. "Run faster, Robin." Slade was kidding, right? He couldn't be worried, could he? "You're not going to make it. Sprint, sprint now!" He wasn't kidding, now, was he? Shit, he probably wasn't. Oh god, he really wasn't going to make it, was he? Robin's heart was suddenly back in his throat. He started to run as fast as his lungs allowed him. He had to make it, he had to get to the other side. Maybe it would be best to reach forward with his hands, to be prepared to grab a ledge? "Run fast. Now, jump!"

The moment Slade's order shouted out of the small device, Robin all but leaped from his spot and, with hands spread forward, was ready to grab a hold of whatever it was that he was going to hit. He was sure that he was going to smash against something bad at any moment now. But, instead of getting smashed, Robin felt the floor under him. He had fallen straight onto his stomach and the air in his lungs were knocked out as he landed and slid on the floor for four or five feet. He tried to dig his hands into the floor to stop himself from sliding and falling off a ledge to certain death. Soon, the sliding came to a halt and Robin gasped in air as hard as he could to get the air back into his lungs once again. It hurt, as if someone was hammering on his chest with a steel-head hammer. He could taste iron in the spit in his throat and it hurt to breath.

"Quick, Robin, get back to your feet. You can't stay there," Slade announced. Robin forced himself to stand. "There are spiraling stairs to your left. You must quickly run up there."

"Seriously, what is it with the hurry?"

Robin took a step, panting. He still had adrenaline pumping hard in his veins and the banging in his ears was almost drowning out the pendulum further away. The sting in his lung wasn't giving him any slack. Out of nowhere, the step under him collapsed. Robin had to leap forward to the next step on the stairs, only to have it collapsing too. He seriously had to leap again and start running if he ever wanted to get to the top of the stairs before the top came down on him. Once again, the mantra of "oh shit, oh shit, oh shit" was urgently back on his mind.

"Keep running, Robin," Slade encouraged.

Robin let go of his chest in order to climb the stairs on all fours, dragging himself upward. Climbing was even harder, now that the stairs went in a spiral.

"Seriously, Slade? Are you trying to kill me?"

Oh god he wished he could see so he could grab that small device of Slade's, crush it between his fingers, stomp on it, then let the pendulum slice and dice it, and then grill it with the flamethrowers.

"No, but the room just might. You are almost to the top."

The stairs under his feet and knees just gave way and Robin was sure that he was going to fall. Luckily, the adrenaline forced strength into his limbs, allowing him to pull himself back on the stairs and keep going.

"You better be right about that!" Robin yelled, as he continued to climb for his life.

"Four more stairs left." Robin decided to fuck the stairs and just leap onto the next platform. With all his might, he managed to land his upper body on said platform. Only his feet were hanging off the edge. He almost lost his hold on the floor due to the fling as his feet suddenly slacked down. Oh how he wished that he could see and grab something for a good grip. No one had any idea on how hard it was to pull their body up onto a surface if they couldn't get one knee or leg on it. But thank god he was flexible enough to fling his leg up and land his heel on the floor. He pushed and pulled himself up the rest of the way and then stood up. By now, Robin was panting hard. It must have been because of the adrenaline and the burn out that came after it. "Now Robin, there is a round, circular-shaped wall ahead of you. A small hole is in it, so you need to crawl through to the room beyond."

With a tired nod of his head, Robin complied. It took him a while to find said hole in the wall, but, in the end, it had been straight ahead of him. It was large enough for him to easily crawl inside the room. The walls were at least twenty centimeters thick. By the feel of it, the walls were made out of the same steel as the platforms. He heard a loud whoosh of air traveling through a pneumatic air tube and the door behind him closed off. At first Robin started to panic. He tried to pry the door open and slam his fists on it, but it didn't budge. He was trapped now. He was just about to start shouting when he smelled something familiar, something weird even. It smelled of mustard and something sweet, of chocolate and dust, cold air, and pretty much everything, all at the same time. And it was such a distinctive smell too. Usually one couldn't smell that scent anywhere, especially not at the same time. You would have to know Starfire to- Starfire! No, it couldn't be; she wasn't there. She was at the tower, like everyone else. Unless Robin was somehow there too? He had been climbing up, after all. Maybe he was somewhere close? No, he couldn't be. That was insane.

"Friends, we should get back home. Silkie must be missing us."

No, that was Starfire's voice!

"Cy, I'm so going to beat you once we get back to the tower!"

"Ha, like that is ever going to happen!"

It was Beast Boy and Cyborg!

"Could you two stop?"

Raven? Yes, they were all there! Robin was ecstatic. He started to blindly travel further into the room, trying to get to his friends.

"Guys, it's me! I'm here!"

"Robin, do you hear me? You need to get out of that room," Slade said, making Robin stop.

He was still on the track course with Slade, so his friends couldn't be there, could they?

"Friend Robin, is that you? We have missed you so much!" Starfire said.

Robin lifted his head to the voice, trying to find his way to it. "Starfire, I'm here. Can you see me?"

"Robin, you must come with us."

Robin stumbled on until he hit a wall.

"Robin, you need to get out of that room, now. It isn't safe!" Slade said, but Robin shook it off.

"Starfire, where are you?"

"I'm right here, Robin."

It was Starfire again. This time she was to the left.

"Robin, I need you to get out of there, now!" Slade yelled.

Robin was too concentrated on his friends' voices to listen to him. It seemed as if his friends were walking away, their voices getting further away.

"Guys, you are going the wrong way! I'm behind you!" Robin yelled, trying to gain a response.

"Robin, you need to listen to me," Slade said. "You only have a minute left. Get out!"

Robin wasn't listening. "Starfire?"

"Robin!" The yell didn't come from Starfire, but an angry Slade. His friends, they must be in this very room, but he couldn't see them! He could hear them, he could smell them… "Get out of that room! It's extremely dangerous!" Dangerous his ass, nothing had happened yet. But on the other hand, Starfire would already be with him if she knew Robin was there too. Something wasn't right. "Robin, you're wasting time. Get out of there this instant!"

There was a certain urgency in Slade's voice, but Robin didn't care. His friends were talking, he couldn't even hear voices outside of the room anymore. The only sound was of his friends. But, soon, he felt something pressing against the top of his head. It was cold and heavy. He lifted his hands to feel what it was. Everywhere he felt, the only thing he could feel was the roof of the room. The roof… Shit, it was coming down on him!

"Robin!"

The shout came from two places at once. From Starfire's voice directly to the right of him and from Slade on his left. The roof was coming down at an alarming speed and he only had two ways to go: his friends and Slade.

"Robin, we have missed you the most."

Robin already reached for her, but it soon dawned on him. He needed to get out. Suddenly, Slade seemed more real. He couldn't see Starfire and she didn't seem to panic at the situation at all. This was a test, he was still on Slade's course, and he was failing. Fatally.

"I'm sorry Starfire!" Robin yelled, turning around and starting to crawl in Slade's direction.

"Robin, where are you going? Do not leave us behind," Starfire begged.

Soon, the other Titans were begging too. Everyone wanted Robin to turn around, pleading him to come back to them.

"I'm sorry, guys. I'll see you in half a week," Robin whispered, feeling for the way out.

He was already on the floor on his stomach and he could feel the roof against his back. He only had seconds before it would fully start to squeeze him into a pancake.

"You left us for him!" Starfire screeched just as Robin felt the door. Goddammit, the walls were twenty centimeters thick. He would have to crawl forward for twenty more centimeters in order to grab onto something if he ever wished to pull himself out in time. "You have betrayed us!" Robin had to seriously worm his way forward to reach for any sort of leverage. "You chose him over us! How could you!"

Robin gained his escape just as the wall started to pin him against the floor and the wall itself. "I'm sorry," he murmured and started to pull himself forward.

His chest was literally pinned against the floor and claustrophobia was settling in. He had yet to pull his legs out of the room. Oh god, he wasn't going to make it. Robin tried to kick the floor, pushing and pulling his way out with his hands and feet as hard as he could, his bones on the verge of cracking. Unfortunately, his feet just kept slipping on the metal floor.

'I'm not going to die here, I'm not.'

"Dammit, I'm out of here!" Robin yelled, almost like a battle cry.

Robin pushed with all his might. With a horrible scrape, he managed to pull his legs out of the room. Unfortunately, his feet were pinned. But luckily he wasn't going to die there. He bit his tongue and yanked his feet free, which threatened to break. Right as he was fully out, he heard a loud, heavy bang as the room shut. Robin gasped in lungfuls of air, only now realizing that he had been holding his breath when trying to pull himself out of the death trap. He lay on the floor for a while, trying to regain his strength and breath. Once he could breath normally, he felt red hot blood seep from wounds that he hadn't realized he had received. His body hurt like a bitch because it had almost been flattened. His pelvis ached and stung. He made sure nothing had broken and he wiggled all of his toes to make sure they were okay. They ached but were otherwise fine. He was sure his knee was bruised from the hard floor, but at least he was free. Hurting angrily, but free nonetheless.

Brain functionality soon set in and Robin grinned to himself. He made it out! He wanted to full out laugh, but he only managed the first attempt at a cry as he was, once again, reminded of his almost crushed legs and bruised knees, pelvis, and chest. He grimaced at the pain, but ignored it as he forced himself back up. These were only small bruises, Robin tried to remind himself. None of his ribs were actually broken, as he felt each one of them, just to be sure. It was only the smarting that made him feel this bad. And maybe the fact that he had just turned his back to his friends, no matter how artificial they may have been.

"Slade! Slade, I made it! I'm still in the game!"

"Yes, barely," Slade admitted, sounding sour. "Shall we continue?" Robin's face almost fell. There was still more? At least he hoped that they were close to the finish line by now. "There are platforms scattered all around. To reach them, you'll have to jump in the right direction."

Robin sighed. They had to be close. Besides, since when had Slade been wrong about this?

"Where is the first one?" Robin asked in defeat.

"Right in front of you."

Robin felt the floor in front of him and then noted that the panel he was now standing on ended after one foot. "How far is the jump?" Robin questioned, placing himself so he could jump off with his right leg. The left still felt slightly mangled after the previous room.

"Three feet. The rest are the same," Slade said. Without further ado, Robin jumped. And, surprisingly enough, the next platform had been three feet away. Robin, of course, took the chance to examine the platform with his feet. It wasn't huge, for one. Five feet long or slightly more, shaped like a square. He would need to calculate his jumps to avoid overdoing it. "The next one is ninety degrees to your right." And so it went on. There wasn't a specific order to the platforms, nor a specific amount of them. As far as Robin knew, they were there only for the sake of practice. "The last platform is on the left." Robin managed it just fine. "Good job, Robin. We are almost to the end. Can you guess what's up next?"

And, to be honest, Robin could. Judging by the sound of something falling, screeching, and wind blowing again in multiple directions… Yup, the pendulums. He was already wondering when they'd come.

"We'll need to time this one just right. Are you ready?" Robin nodded. He knew that he might not be the most eager person to meet the pendulums, but he would never be anymore ready to face them than he currently was. He just wanted to get this course done with. The sound of the pendulums swinging was a scary thought. It sounded like they were huge, enormous even. The metal blades barely scraped the floor every time they moved, making Robin's ears ring. It wasn't a pleasant sound. "Jump forward." And Robin jumped. Just as he landed back on his feet, he heard a huge screech behind him. No matter how ominous it sounded, he was glad that he heard it. It meant that it hadn't hit him. "To the right, fast."

Robin needed to make a jump and then somersault right after to avoid the blade. He felt the wind on his ankle as it passed him. That had been a close one. This must have been like playing a video game for Slade. Robin could only hope that he remembered that he only had one life.

"Where to, Slade?"

Robin could already hear the closest pendulum. It was right ahead of him and it was coming fast. It would hit the floor any moment now.

"Forward!" Robin was about to reflexively jump backwards to avoid the blade, but after a millisecond of consideration, he jumped forward instead, just like Slade had instructed. Soon, he heard two blades hit the floor, one on either side of him. The moment they had moved away, a blade hit behind him. By the sound of it, it would have hit him if he had decided to jump backwards instead. How had he not managed to hear it? All he had heard were the two oncoming blades. Thank god he had listened to Slade instead of his own brain for once. Wait, he hadn't just thought that. "Left!" Robin didn't have time to wonder his decision as he was already jumping that way, just barely avoiding double blades. "Robin, sprint forward."

Robin rose back onto his feet, forgetting the whole somersault technique and running for his life. He could hear the blades screeching behind him, one after another. They were coming down closer to him every time they landed. When was this over? How fast did he have to run? He almost ran full speed by now.

"Stop!"

Robin almost flew forward, could have possibly even smacked his face on the floor if he had fallen, by the sudden halt of his movement to stop in time. Just as he managed to straighten his back, the pendulum whooshed right in front of him. He could feel the floor shaking slightly beneath his feet. The iron floor even heated up momentarily, that's how close the blade had been to him. The wind rushed so close to his face that he could smell the metal of the pendulum. He started to doubt if he could ever will his heart back to where it was supposed to be. It was once again in his throat and the blood was rushing to his ears to the point that he almost missed the jump command. He leaped forward quickly before the pendulum whooshed back. Thank god it was behind him for now. Never again. He would swear it, never, ever, again.

"You're almost there. You'll only have to climb up those ropes in front of you," Slade informed him.

Robin reached forward with his hands, feeling the wall in front of him with his fingers. Sure enough, he could feel a thick net on the wall. This he could do. Easy peasy. Robin took a firm hold and started to climb upward. He pushed himself with his legs and pulled himself up with his hands. He didn't need to see to do this, he could just feel the places for his hands and feet as he went. It was easy and almost came naturally to him. Besides, it was just a rope net, he could climb up easily. Right on his judgment, the wall had only been about twenty feet tall, so he reached the top rather fast. Of course his legs and arms were hurting and his wounds were smarting because of the sweat that had entered them, but other than that, he was okay. It was really surprising, wasn't it? He was blind and hadn't seen a thing, but he still managed to get through the course. Hah, easy as pie. Next time, he'd do it with his hands tied behind his back.

Robin was at the very top of the place he stood. He could feel how slight the wind was blowing. He had been climbing upward the whole time, so he must be somewhere really high. The wind wasn't really gusty, but it was enough to make the tower-like platform he now stood on sway slightly. It didn't sway too bad, more like a few centimeters from left to right. It was enough to make him feel dizzy though. He even had to stand in a better position with his legs outspread some more, to keep himself balanced out.

"Congratulations Robin, you have done it. There is only one thing left for you to do."

Robin couldn't hold back a small smile. He had been blindfolded, but had still been able to do it. Also, it felt good to be praised for it at least once. More than that, however, he felt proud. But he couldn't celebrate yet. He had one thing more to do, right? Maybe he could take a small break after?

"What is it?" Robin asked, placing his arms around his torso to shield against the wind; his wounds smarted even more when it came into contact.

"I need you to step onto the edge of the platform." Robin felt the floor ahead of him. The platform was the same kind of metal that the others had been and he could feel the edge with the tip of his toes. He stepped forward so that they were just barely on the platform. He couldn't wait to get down and get his wounds tended to. Maybe he would have a glass full of water while he was at it. "Now, I want you to jump."

Robin's smile dropped. What? He must not have heard right. He was not going to jump! He was at god knows how high up! He could be standing on top of a damn pillar for god's sake! For the entire course he had climbed upwards; a steep hill, the stairs, everything. He must be really high by now. Surely a drop this high would crush his bones to pieces. But what would the advantage for Slade be if he had a crippled apprentice? What was the catch?

"Slade?" Robin wasn't sure if he had heard right. Maybe he was to…jump back down the way he came? Now why would Slade have instructed him to stand at this edge if he wanted him to jump in another direction? Maybe he just didn't hear him the first time. Also, why hadn't Slade answered yet? "Slade!"

There was no answer. He wasn't meant to be answered. Robin swallowed. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He was really nervous and not at all sure about what he should do. He slowly lifted his hands to the silky cloth that was still tied around his head to cover his vision. If only he could see. But he couldn't. And he probably never would if he couldn't get down. He would have to do this. Hell, he could do this. He would do this so he could have his vision back and to eventually get back to his friends. He had hand climbed all the way there and now it was time to get down. He could do this! And he would too!

One.

Robin shifted his weight again before covering his face. "Please, don't let anything hit my face," he mumbled under his breath, continuing to count mentally.

Two.

Robin spread his right leg over the side of the pillar, ready to step over.

Three.

Robin then stepped over the edge and fell.
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