NOTE: I wrote this early one morning (5 AM) when I was spending the night at a friend's house. See, I have this thing… When I'm at a sleep-over, I don't sleep more than 4 hours. My usual is 2 hours, and it feeds me for another 24 hour binge. Useless information, yes. Getting somewhere, yes! BLAME THE TIME OF DAY ON WHY THIS IS SO BAD! All I did was edit and elaborate.
Legalities: Young Justice, along with all other names and trademarks are property of DC Comics. (Hi guys! I'm gonna try to work for you one of these days! Hope ya don't mind!)
Rating: PGish… PG-13ish…
Summary: It involves the YJLA, must I say what it's about? I'll say THIS much: It takes place between issues 4-7 of YOUNG JUSTICE. I'd also say this is AFTER my story "Nowhere Near April", like, a week after.
Weight
By: Carmen Wayne
Dedicated to: Jessica. This is because I'm a crappy friend that got writer's block on all other stories but this idea, and that keeps forgetting to drop an E-Mail every once in a while and I hope to God this is going to motivate me to DO SO.
10:07 PM:
"Impulse! Get that bomb out of here! Superboy, get Arrowette to the Super-cycle, now! Wonder Girl, go with them since you know where it is, and then stop the rioting! Secret, there's innocents in the middle of this, you have to get to them!"
"Robin, what about you?!"
"I'm getting to the bottom of this, Wonder Girl. Even if it KILLS me! When you reach the Super-cycle, establish verbal contact with me. BREAK!"
****
1 AM:
'It was so simple. But, I'm an IDIOT. Just as it was getting worse, and the need for teamwork was obvious… I divided the forces and went after the head-game myself. They say I did the best I could. But Batman doesn't see it that way, and neither do I. This time it wasn't Young Justice against APES or Harm… But… against an enemy of MINE. Of Robin's. And… They just don't *realize* the real story…'
****
9:35 PM (the previous day):
"Fifteen people hostage?" Superboy asked.
"That's what Wonder Boy said," Arrowette replied.
They stood atop a building across the front-side of a bank in Gotham City, just outside of town. With Batman being a no-show and the other Leaguers in a huge disaster of their own, the Young Justice League was called out by Robin. Across from them, on surrounding rooftops were the figures of other members of their team. To the left, Impulse. The right, Secret. And covering the back side was Wonder Girl.
"This bites. Why don't we just bust in there?"
"It's a hostage situation, Kid. Our fearless leader is ordering us to stay put until we see an opening."
"'Fearless'?! The man is off somewhere dictating to US where it's probably OH so much safer!"
"Yeah, well, only Cassie knows because she's the only one he's talking to right now."
**
9:37 PM:
Wonder Girl tucked a black lock of her fake hair behind her ear. She shivered at the cold chill and pressed the earphone closer to her.
"The others are getting as antsy as I am right now, Boy Wonder."
"I know, and you know I'm sorry I can't be there right away. But there's something wrong where I am…"
"And where are you?"
**
9:38 PM:
Robin sat in the apartment of Oracle. He watched as she tended to the heavily wounded Batman, along with the aide of Doctor Leslie Thompkins. Suddenly, Batman exploded into a huge cry of agony, arching his back.
"Hold him!" Leslie cried. "It's another one!"
"Who's that? What's wrong?!"
"Keep me posted, tell me the MINUTE something changes!"
"But, Robin! What--"
*Click*
**
9:40 PM:
Superboy, who was hanging upside down in the air, saw the doors shift down below. Slowly turning around, he spotted a little red ball bounce out.
"Ciss," he hissed. "Look!"
"I see it, Kid," she responded.
The ball rolled quietly to a stop. It began to beep to a clown-like theme. The two had heard it before, somewhere. They watched as the ball began to flux in a dim red light. Frowning, Superboy stood on the edge and watched it closer.
Bright red shot through the sky. Arrowette and Superboy fell back onto the roof, blinded by the flash.
"ARGH! I can't see!" Arrowette cried.
"All I see is red!" Superboy hollered, trying to get on his knees.
Across the way, the three others gasped at the beginning of action. Gun fire reigned down inside the building, and the three swooped down from their "perches". They busted in to see three men in all black firing on people. Wonder Girl immediately took charge.
"Secret! Get to Arrowette and Superboy, see if they're alright! Impulse, get people out of here, I'll take those guys out!!"
Secret flew out quickly, and Impulse shot for the people and Wonder Girl sailed for the men, establishing a link with Robin.
"Wonder Girl?"
"Something just changed!!!"
**
10:01 PM
Cops surrounded the bank as people, dead and alive, were taken care of. The five members of Young Justice stood, talking with Commissioner Gordon.
"Thank you all for being there," he said.
"You bet, Commish!" Superboy grinned. Then he frowned. "I just wish people didn't hafta die because of it."
Gordon nodded his head remorsefully.
"Agreed. But Batman has been a no-show for several days, and these attacks keep coming. All with similar devices to throw the enemy off, like that ball you told of," he explained.
"Any idea who it might be, sir?" Arrowette asked.
"It could be any number of the Rogues in Arkham. We're working, trying to figure it out, but no such luck. All the Rogues as of this morning were accounted for, in their cells."
Tires screeched and they turned as the Red Bird sped up from around a corner. It slammed to a stop and Robin got out, walking over.
"Sorry I'm SO late," he apologized.
"Any word on Batman, son?" Gordon asked.
"No, Sir. Haven't seen him at all," Robin said. His eyes looked across his group a moment, and then back to Gordon. "Is this the end of this matter?"
"Yes--"
"Commissioner!" Renee Montoya called, running up. "They've just located a bomb in the building!"
"Good Heavens," Gordon breathed. "How big?"
"Not big, but it's packing a huge blast! The experts say it's got to be detonated by a controller, and it's within a two hundred yard radius!"
A car sped towards the mass of people, two men hanging out the sides, and began to open fire by use of Tommy guns. People screamed and scattered, and police took cover to fire back. Robin waved his colleagues into an alleyway. Arrowette cried out as a bullet went through her leg. Superboy caught her and helped her in the rest of the way, Wonder Girl scowling mentally. Robin checked his watch, which read '10:06:44'.
"What do we do?!" Superboy exclaimed.
"Impulse! Get that bomb out of here! Superboy, get Arrowette to the Super-cycle, now! Wonder Girl, go with them since you know where it is, and then stop the rioting! Secret, there's innocents in the middle of this, you have to get to them!"
"Robin, what about you?!"
"I'm getting to the bottom of this, Wonder Girl. Even if it KILLS me! When you reach the Super-cycle, establish verbal contact with me. BREAK!"
Impulse shot towards the building and vibrated through the walls to get inside. Secret wasn't too far behind, trying to get to people that could be injured. Superboy picked up Arrowette and flew off with Wonder Girl. Robin shot a rope up to the building across the street and pulled himself up that way. Standing on the edge, he looked around at all the neighboring buildings that were larger than that one. Something caught his eyes on a ten story building. Two figures, watching the onslaught casually.
"Oh, no you don't!"
**
10:08 PM:
Letting out a squeak of happiness, Harley Quinn did a twirl around the Joker, who watched the killings like a game show.
"This is FUN, Mista J!" she laughed.
"That it is, my dear. That it IS," he agreed. "Especially now that the boy of the hour has shown up!"
He turned to where Robin stood in the shadows behind them.
"People are dying… And you hurt Batman. WHY?!" Robin demanded.
The Joker looked at Harley.
"Second World's Greatest Detective here," he smirked. He looked at Robin. "Why else? To get to YOU."
"Me?! Why?!" Robin exclaimed.
"I killed off thye other two Robin's in a mere twist of fate and an opening that I couldn't refuse. I figure… I'll go all out and plan this one! And Harley-dear is going to help me. Harley?"
Harley leapt in and punched towards Robin. Robin backed from it, hearing his ear intercom click on from Wonder Girl switching it on speaker, and he could hear them trying to help get things under control, but he couldn't talk... Robin swatted Harley's fist away with his bo-staff. Leaning on it as a base, Robin went down and swiped her feet from under her. She fell to the side and Robin stood straight. Before he could react, the Joker slammed his hand buzzer into Robin's arm, electricity surging through him.
"YEAARRRGH!!!"
**
"Rob!!" Superboy cried, still holding Arrowette.
"WOOHOO! Way to go, Mista--no!"
**
*WHACK*
The Joker hit the side of the building. Panting, Robin held his staff behind his arm and the other hand in front of him, that was bleeding and burned.
"You… may have got them…" he panted slowly. "But… I'm… DIFFERENT."
Harley side-kicked him in the ribs from behind by surprise. She grabbed him by the hair and pulled him back. The Joker stood and pushed the acid lever that was on his suit flower. Some of the acid hit Robin's arm, on the wound that was all ready there from the buzzer, and he stumbled back as Harley let go. Harley, now in front of him, twirled on her toes like a ballerina. A swift kick went to the side of his jaw. Robin winced as one of his molars flew out in a spurt of blood and hit the ground. Using the staff to keep his balance, he back kicked her in the stomach. She doubled over and went to her knees.
The Joker immediately came from the side and slammed a backhand into Robin's mouth, and blood spilled from the broken skin, over his tongue. In the Joker's other hand was a knife that he swung into Robin's side hard. Robin fell back onto the roof, the bo-staff rolling off and to the streets below. The Joker cleaned his own hand that had Robin's blood on it and walked over, where Robin laid, semi-conscious.
"I must say, Mister Blunder. Your moves are QUITE impressive! Much better than the other two. And you're good with that little STICK."
Harley walked over, holding her ribs. She came next to the Joker.
"What are we gonna do with him, puddin'?" she asked.
"First…" He bent down and pulled the ear device from Robin's ear and spoke into it. "Testing, testing!"
**
10:13 PM:
"Justice Brats, come innnnn!"
"We HEAR you, Joker," Wonder Girl scowled, Impulse and Secret now with them. They all sat in the Super-cycle, in an alley. "Where's Robin and what have you DONE with him?!"
"Wouldn't YOU like to know? I suggest you worry about skies and waters first!"
They winced as there was a crack sound and silence.
"He destroyed the com," Wonder Girl announced.
"'Skies and waters'?" Superboy asked. "What's that mean?!"
"I think that means where Robin's going to be," a dark voice said. They turned and gasped, seeing Batman and Nightwing standing there. "I suggest you start scouting the skies, Young Justice. We'll cover the water."
"Hey, man! Don't dictate to us!" Superboy hollered. "If you had been AROUND we wouldn't HAVE to scout the skies!"
"Do as I say," Batman said.
Wonder Girl started up the Super-cycle. Superboy glared at the two just before they went up in the air. After they were gone, Nightwing looked to Batman.
"Are you sure you want to be running all over, Batman?" he asked gently.
"They have Tim, Dick… I need to save him and stop those fools."
**
10:59 PM:
"Unnngh…"
"Mista J! He's coming to!"
"Goody!"
Robin breathed in deeply. The air was damp and cold.
'Rain?' he thought. 'Can't be… Wasn't a cloud in the sky before I blacked out…'
He tried to move his arms away from his body, but couldn't. Eyes snapping open, he found himself laying on the deck of a boat in the middle of a body of water. Unable to sit up, he couldn't see WHICH body of water. He looked down to see they chained him up and tied the chains to a purple and green concrete block.
"Wha--?!"
"I shot number one on a building," the Joker said, kneeling by him. "I beat number two down on the ground. Now, I throw you, number three, into water. The next, I'll light on fire!"
Robin didn't respond. He just glared at him as he ran his tongue across his teeth. There was a gap, and then all the other teeth were incredibly loose. He was sore all over and knew he broke something.
Testing the bindings, he noticed they first wrapped his arms individually, and then chained them to his body, and then continued to wrap and bind his legs. And it didn't take a genius to figure out that they had no plans to call Batman.
'This is IT, Wonder Boy,' he thought. 'At least you fought all you could, right? No. You're an idiot. You shouldn't have taken them ON alone!'
"I think we've waited long enough, Harley dear," the Joker said passively.
"Why ARE we waiting anyway? Why didn't we just pop him earlier?" she asked.
The Joker glared at her angrily.
"We've been THROUGH that before! Their deaths must be nothing short of masterpieces! Now, lets get him over to the side of the boat."
Harley grabbed the cinder block with all her strength and just barely was able to get it off the ground. The Joker calmly grabbed Robin by the chains and pulled him towards a gap in the railing around the boat. Harley "huff"ed as she dropped the block halfway over the edge. The Joker made Robin stand and slung an arm around his shoulders.
"Just think. You're supposedly the bestest Robin to exist, and just as you're the bestest Robin, you get the bestest death! The most treatment and everything! Farewell to thee, Robin. I knew you well!"
He kicked the cylinder block off and it went down. Robin cried out as he was sucked down into the water with it. Just before going under, he had managed to suck in a final breath of air. The Joker saluted towards where he fell and sniffled.
"It's time for me to mourn for eight minutes, Harley…"
They turned and headed for another part of the boat.
**
Arching back and twisting around, Robin tried to get free from the chains. Every move he made sent pain twisting through his bones, but his mind was divided between that and getting free. As he fought, things flashed through his mind…
~~--"Stop acting so mature, Robin. You act TOO mature."
"Superboy… Kid, what do you expect? I've GOT to act like this. Unlike you, who can make mistakes and easily correct them, a mistake with me could cost my life and many others."--~~
~~--"Stop whining! It's only *life*, Bird boy junior."
"Only life?! Nightwing, aren't you concerned about death at all?!"
"Of course I am. I'm too cute to die!"
"One of these days you're going to be forced to learn that this isn't a joke!"
"I've known for a long time it isn't a joke, Robin. Too long. It's the jokes that help me keep my sanity."
"But they don't save your life."--~~
~~--"You're so concerned with lifting the weight of the world, Rob. Try to relax and let someone else take the job for a while."
"Wish I could, Kid. Unfortunately, Batman would never allow it."--~~
His darkened vision of the water around him changed into purple and green, which soon transformed into blue and yellow. The colors told him he didn't have much time left before he passed out…
Through the colors running in his mind and vision, he saw a beam of light run over the water and cut through the muggyness. Unfortunately, he was all ready 30 feet down…
**
Batman slammed the Joker against the side of the boat hard. In the background, Wonder Girl was flashing a light around at the different buoys and ships around the huge harbor.
"Where is he?!" Batman roared.
"Like I'll say," the Joker mused.
"You better!" Superboy hollered behind them. "Or else Batman and I will BOTH have a piece of you!"
The Joker grinned darkly and looked out across the water.
"We had him walk the plank," he said.
Batman let him go and walked to ask Wonder Girl if she had found any sign of him. Superboy looked at the tiny pool of blood that was smeared clear to the edge of the boat, where there was a gap in the railing.
"You pushed him?" he asked, not facing the clown.
"Yep!" the Joker grinned. "With chains and a cement block!"
Superboy and Batman both swung around and looked at the Joker. Superboy immediately shot into the air. Grabbing the light from Wonder Girl, he dove into the water.
The Joker tried to run, but Impulse and Secret were there. Floating behind them in the Super-cycle was Arrowette, who had a arrow aimed right for his chest.
"Don't move," she ordered.
**
Superboy glided through the water quickly. He ran the light over the seaweed and fish that were all around, and forced his way through with his tactile telekinesis. But then he froze as the light ran across something shiny. He swam over closer to see it was Robin. He hung there, unconscious and floating just enough as the chains allowed him to. Superboy tossed the light to the side and let it fall downwards. He touched the chains and his hands lit in blue. Soon enough, they fell apart around Robin. Robin's body drifted a little before Superboy grabbed onto him.
**
Wonder Girl yelped as Superboy shot from the water quickly and went for the boat. She flew after him, seeing Robin limp in his arms. Superboy crashed on-deck, onto his knees. Batman ran over from where the Joker was out cold and hog-tied and knelt on the other side of Robin. He checked for a pulse, and realized there was one. Faint, but it was there.
"Wonder Girl, breath into his mouth when I tell you to," he ordered.
Wonder Girl was there in an instant, and was ready to do as told. Batman pushed Robin's chest in and water came from his mouth. On command, Wonder Girl held Robin's nose and breathed in. She backed off as Batman shoved down again and more water came out. Again, she breathed in and moved so he could push more water out.
Screaming out in pain, Robin's eyes flung open and he sat upright. Batman grabbed one arm, and Superboy the other.
"Rob, calm down!"
"It's a natural reaction to near-drowning, keep talking to him!" Batman ordered.
"Robin, please, you have to calm down!" Wonder Girl begged, coming in front of him.
Robin lunged into Batman's arms and clung to him for dear life. Batman's cape fell over him from the sudden movement, but Batman could tell he was crying. Batman embraced him stiffly, but gently enough to try to calm him down.
"Robin, are you all right?" he asked gently.
"I'm so sorry…" Robin whispered through his tears. "I-I let you down… I should have taken someone with… people died…"
Batman looked saddened that this boy, who could never be a son, was clinging to him like he was his father. He glanced up, expecting humored looks on the faces of Wonder Girl and Superboy. Instead, they both had concerned looks that were full of a feeling he never expected they would have for the Dark Knight's apprentice… Devotion.
Looking from them, he slowly pulled Robin away, which wasn't easy because all he wanted to do was hide. He was shaking from both loss of blood and anger at himself, and fear. His normally light blue eyes were dark and his skin pale and cold. Batman stood and Robin tried to follow, but didn't have the strength. Wonder Girl and Superboy were at his sides in an instant, helping him up. Batman looked at them, and then to Robin once more. He gently took him from them and led him over to where the Batjet was. Robin pushed backwards dizzily, not wanting to go to the side of the boat.
"Lets get you home, Robin," Batman said. "Just hang on… And trust me."
**
1:00 AM
'It was so simple. But, I'm an IDIOT. Just as it was getting worse, and the need for teamwork was obvious… I divided the forces and went after the head-game myself. They say I did the best I could. But Batman doesn't see it that way, and neither do I. This time it wasn't Young Justice against APES or Harm… But… against an enemy of MINE. Of Robin's. And… They just don't *realize* the real story…'
Tim Drake felt a hand touch his cheek. It was warm and gentle as blankets were brought over him. He lay safely in his bed in his house, bandaged and taken care of to the best of the abilities of his mentor. Working as quickly as possible, they stitched and bandaged and transferred blood. The missing tooth would have to wait, confided the Dark Knight.
He watched as Tim fell into a deep sleep. Nightwing had left to comfort the team Young Justice down at the GCPD, leaving Batman to stare at Tim.
'He might wake up during the night,' Batman thought. 'Finding himself alone… God, he fought well. I know he did--I saw the bruises on Harley and the Joker. The others mock him when he states the obvious. I honor the fact that I can work with such a brilliant young man…'
Backing towards the window, instead of leaving, Batman sat down at the open window as a cool breeze came in. He was determined to stay there with Tim and he wasn't going to let him fight it out alone.
'I won't let you down. No matter what weight pulls at you, I'll be there to bring you up… I swear it.'
NOTE: I wrote this early one morning (5 AM) when I was spending the night at a friend's house. See, I have this thing… When I'm at a sleep-over, I don't sleep more than 4 hours. My usual is 2 hours, and it feeds me for another 24 hour binge. Useless information, yes. Getting somewhere, yes! BLAME THE TIME OF DAY ON WHY THIS IS SO BAD! All I did was edit and elaborate.