Rude awakenings come with the job description when you're a super hero, so when Wally West pried open his exhausted eyes to find himself in a human sized tube filled with a green tinted liquid; he knew to take it in stride.
He could pretty much assume he wasn't in Kansas anymore. Then again he had never been to Kansas before, for all he knew immersing your guests in body tubes of only-god-knows-what might be a customary greeting there.
Jokes aside, he tested the restraints holding his arms and legs stationary.
Nothing.
He couldn't cry out for help without the risk of disturbing the oxygen mask preventing him from drowning in the claustrophobic's nightmare.
So, unable to call out with his voice, he opted to do so with his mind.
Hey! Miss. M! You there?
Hm?...Wally? her dazed voice sounded over the team mind link. Where are we? What's going on?
Wish I knew. Can you find the others? he asked trying not to jar her any more than she already was.
Hello Megan! Of course I can! she thought, her mind finally clear enough to remember her training.
Anyone there? asked Wally after waiting a few seconds.
I'm here. announced Artemis sounding like she just woke up.
I'm present as well. offered Aqualad sounding a lot more put together, but concerned nonetheless.
Wally didn't think it was possible for someone to grunt over a mind link, but that's exactly what Superboy did to alert the rest of them to his presence.
Wait! Where's Robin! Wally suddenly asked. They're probably torturing him right now, just because he's the youngest and a non-meta!
Wally! Calm down. He wasn't with us when we were nabbed, remember? asked Miss. Martian patiently.
Oh yeah… he thought feeling embarrassed for getting so carried away.
Wait a second! Miss. Martian thought suddenly. I can feel him! It's faint, but he's about a mile away from here and moving around.
We're probably in Gotham, then. Artemis thought.
Cadmus has branches in Gotham. Superboy mulled in an almost annoyed way.
If Cadmus is truly to blame, then why are we being detained in this manner, as opposed to the way we were last time? Aqualad inquired. Not that I'm complaining about the additional fluids.
I don't know. Can't say I prefer the involuntary bath time over the nipple shockers. Wally chipped in.
Come again? asked Artemis bewildered.
*INITIATING FINAL PROCESS* a robotic voice sounded all around the building.
Anyone wanna hazard a guess as to what the "final process" is? asked the concerned speedster.
We're in cloning tubes. Superboy suddenly contributed.
A stunned silence followed.
Wait! What? Are you sure? Wally was the first one to recover.
I've seen enough cloning tubes in my time to know. Superboy thought darkly. From the inside and outside.
Ah… Sorry. Wally offered, he wished his hands were free so he could rub the back of his neck awkwardly.
But what does that mean? Are we… clones of ourselves, implanted with our-their memories? asked a horrified Artemis.
We've only been out for a few hours and it usually takes a little longer than that. thought Superboy judging by the clock on the lab wall, which he had to twist awkwardly to see.
You have clearly been watching too many scifi original movies. Wally quipped.
Artemis didn't even bother forming coherent words and just sent her feelings of resentment over the mind link.
Why Artie, if you're not careful I might start to suspect that you're not particularly fond of me.
In any event! Aqualad interrupted. Don't you think our efforts would better spent trying to figure a way out? Grumbles of agreement came from the two hot heads.
I'm not sure a way out is an option. Miss. Martian thought pessimistically.
Aqualad was about to attempt to reassure Miss. Martian and boost moral when he felt a sudden jolt of pain in his head. The pain spread throughout Aqualad's whole body, he tried to call out to his friends, but felt his consciousness slip. His last thoughts were with his teammates before he blacked out completely.
While all of this was going on, a young Dick Grayson swung through the streets of Gotham City, totally oblivious to the distress of his friends.
Robin clicked the piece in his ear to open a channel to his loyal butler Alfred Pennyworth for an update.
"What's my status, Alfred?" he asked warily. "And if it's not: "Mission accomplished, Sir, come home and sleep for a year!" than I don't want to hear it." He grumbled only half joking.
"I'm sorry Sir, I know you're spread awfully thin, what with The Master being gone for the week for The League summit and all, but I'm afraid you have one more mission."
"I haven't slept in 51 hours and 42 minutes." he griped. "I'm running on caffeine shots and windfall!"
"I am sorry, Sir. I know we ask too much of you." He said genuinely. "But, if you would just check on this last disturbance and I'll call you in sick for school tomorrow, and then you can sleep all day." Alfred bargained with the boy.
"Alright, alright, what's the trouble?" Robin relented.
"Major energy spike down by the docking district. Specifically, at a warehouse supposedly abandoned years ago. Probably nothing to worry about but it raised a flag on the Bat-computer's city power grid scans." He explained. "Just go see what the matter is. Don't engage if you're not up to it." He ordered carefully.
"Fine." Robin agreed heading off to the location Alfred had just uploaded on his holographic map of the city.
Robin slipped through a lose panel on the roof of the building and dropped down to the floor of the warehouse only to find it far better furnished and kept than it had any business being. At the same time it appeared that whoever was using the place as a lair had been gone for a few days. The way the whole place was set up Robin almost worried he was being-
"TRAPPED!" a mechanical voice sounded over the loudspeaker. "WELL, WELL,WELL, IF IT ISN'T THE JUSTICE LEAGUE. MY NAME IS DR. MARK DESMOND AND YOU AND YOUR KIND HAVE BEEN RUINING MY PRECIOUS WORK FROM THE VERY BEGINNING. WHETHER IT BE THE CLONES OR SUPER CLONES, YOU CONTINUE TO FOIL ALL MY BEST EXPERIMENTS. IT'S GOTTEN TO THE POINT WHERE I'VE EVEN BEEN FIRED FROM CADMUS LABS! WHY CAN'T YOU APPRECIATE THE WHAT I'M TRYING TO DO? MY CREATIONS WILL BETTER THE WORLD! AND YOU PEOPLE WILL DISRUPT MY WORK NO MORE, AND I'LL BE SURE OF IT WITH MY NEWEST WEAPONS!"
"I have a sinking feeling that this little shindig wasn't meant for me alone." Robin muttered.
The five cloning tubes in the corner illuminated reveling Robin's teammates. He almost called out to his them when he was struck by a horrible realization: Those aren't my friends. They're Dr. Desmond's "newest weapons!" That psycho must have grown himself his own personal Young Justice nix the pesky free will and morals.
This was evident in the furious and aggressive looks on the face of each of his teammates. The first pod slid open allowing the clone juice to spill out on the floor, as Miss. Martian stepped out to fight.
Maybe it was because Robin hadn't slept in 52 hours now, maybe it was because he was so emotionally drained by the whole situation, but it was in that moment, when Robin saw his teammate… his friend glaring towards him, intent on ending him, that The Boy Wonder finally snapped.
Well, switched to auto-pilot would be a more accurate way to describe his mental state. But whichever it was, Robin seemed to have left himself there on the floor, and began operating solely on Bruce's training… and adrenaline, lots of adrenaline.
He heard Bruce's voice in his head:
Martian: As if the telekinetic and shape changing powers weren't enough, their race is also equipped with astounding physic power. But that doesn't mean that they are without their weaknesses. But the Green Martian's greatest weakness by far is fire…
Robin swiftly switched on the physic scrambler on his belt when he felt the green girl try to invade his mind. She immediately withdrew as she clutched her head which undoubtedly felt like it was being forced open. The physic scrambler, courtesy of Star Labs from one of their more paranoid phases, would only last five minutes if he was lucky, so Robin made no hesitation in his next move.
Robin reached into the back of his utility belt in a pocket that was awkward to reach. He had it arranged this way because he never thought that he'd have to use its contents.
He withdrew the specially equipped Batarang and with the arm motion he had practiced time and time again, he threw it towards Miss. Martian.
The Batarang bursted upon impact with the green girl, and she flinched away. After a second of nothing, she looked up to find nothing but a fine metal powder had gotten on her clothes. She assumed it was a misfire and with the effects of the scrambler finally gone she used her telekinesis to pick up the tiny human, she then wrapped him up in a physic cocoon and began to squeeze. Robin gasped at the sudden pressure as he started seeing black spots in the corners of his eyes.
She paused as the metal dust from the failed Batarang started to buzz faintly.
"Matter converting nanites." Robin choked out. "Busy at work converting your skin into pure magnesium."
Miss. Martian stopped squeezing but still held on to Robin as she cocked her head to the side. That word meant nothing to her in her brain washed state.
None the less, she looked down at her skin and stood entranced at its changing properties. She was accustomed to changing her chemical makeup whenever she transformed, but even in an altered state of mind it felt plain strange when something else was converting it, and into something inorganic, no less.
That's when her eyes widened.
"And we all know what happens when magnesium is exposed to the air, right?"
Her skin started to glow. Subtly at first, then like a crash of lightning, Miss. Martian erupted into flames.
"H'ronmeer!" she cried out in agony, dropping Robin and falling to the ground herself.
Robin managed to roll and land safely, Miss. Martian was not so lucky, she hit the concrete floors hard enough to crack them and started thrashing around in a feeble attempt to stop the flames. As she did so she seemed to lose control of her shape shifting abilities too, as the length and color of her hair kept changing, just before that became engulfed in the flames as well.
Her Martian skin, being incredibly weak against combustion, was soon burnt through, and her agonized screams became even louder as the flames began to burn her on the inside too.
Miss. Martian: Neutralized
Aqualad stepped up just then.
He planted two feet firmly on the ground as he seemed to concentrate with his entire being. Then, with a grunt of effort, a Gotham City water main burst through the concrete floors of the warehouse, water gushing from it.
Aqualad quickly took advantage of the sudden presence of his own element and used it to douse the suspiciously silent Martian girl. The addition of hydrogen didn't help much, however, but all the magnesium soon burnt up. As soon as the flames dissipated, he wasted no time shooting a stream of water towards Robin, who was trying to catch his breath.
Atlantians: The voice returned. Not the most threatening of all Meta-humans you'll face but should not be taken lightly either. Just remember: "If you can get a fish out of water it's as good as caught"…
Robin flipped backwards to avoid the attack then another and another, as Robin was forced on the defensive. Aqualad did not seem pleased with the constant evasions and turned his attention to the floor, which was now flooded up to their ankles.
Robin landed gracefully once more and was about to take an additional step to steady himself, but found he couldn't. He looked down to find his ankles trapped in 5 inches solid ice. He followed the trail of ice that lead directly to Aqualads's hands.
With Robin immobilized, Aqualad took his time, floating an orb of water immersing Robin's entire head.
Robin tried to disrupt the floating orb with his hands but did little more than splash a bit. Aqualad seemed determined to see the boy drown on land.
Robin thanked his stars that Aqualad had secured his legs but not his arms, no doubt assuming there was nothing he could do in the face of his immanent drowning. With a light head Robin once again reached towards the back of his belt.
What he withdrew was a particular item that he never really felt right about using, it was a tiny can labeled:
DR. CRANE FORMULA III.
Yes, that Dr. Crane. The formula was almost directly confiscated from the hands of a deranged mad man using it as a weapon
Before he could confront his moral dilemma any further Robin chucked it above Aqualad's head where it burst and let a green mist disperse above him. The orb around his head fell on the sheet of ice with a splash Robin fell to his knees (well as much as he could with his ankles locked in place like that) the lack of oxygen finally getting to him.
But he couldn't breathe yet, he reached into one of the easier accessible pockets on his handy-dandy utility belt and pulled a Bat-Gas Mask over his face. He finally gasped for air and took deep breaths and tried to get as much oxygen as he could into his abused lungs. Just as soon as he stood up to assess the situation the mist began to clear.
Robin may have been the one thoroughly iced to the floor, but at that moment Aqualad was frozen.
He had the infamous Dr. Jonathan Crane, better known as The Scarecrow, to thank for this one.
A couple years ago Batman decided to take the terrifying Fear Toxin that he had been on the receiving end of so many times and reverse engineer it, than reconstruct it with his own tweaks here or there. For instance, it's not quite as strong as The Scarecrow used to brew it and he designed it specifically to target certain fears in people. FORMULA I of course induced nyctophobia (fear of the dark), followed by chiroptophobia (fear of bats), but FORMULA III was the one the reserved for hydrophobia.
Aqualad stood petrified, with a look of pure terror on his face. He looked down to his immersed feet he tried to pull one up only to be startled by the sound of splashing
Interesting. thought Robin as he picked up a loose ice chunk nearby and tossed it directly towards the water by Aqualad's feet, splashing his legs a bit.
Aqualad stumbled backwards and fell on his ass; he looked around at himself now sitting in the water. The feeling of being in what was once as what was once as natural to him as his own limbs now horrified him to the point of nausea. So when another ice chunk landed near by the still petrified young Atlantian and water splashed on his face, he got on his knees and expelled anything and everything that was in his stomach at the time.
He let his cool exterior fall as his true terror take over
"No... NOOOO! GET IT AWAY FROM ME!" he shouted running from the broken water main that was still gushing water, he tried the doors nearby but it wouldn't budge. In his desperation he climbed on to some crates stacked high in the corner of the warehouse, pulled himself into a tiny ball and just sat there trembling.
He wasn't technically unconscious but Robin thought it would be okay to deem this one neutralized. He knew that if he kept it up, in a couple hours Aqualad would be dehydrated anyway, so Robin decided it was safe to turn his attention away.
Aqualad: Neutralized
The next pod opened up and Robin peered inside from where he stood, stuck.
To his dismay the pod was already empty as the glass door opened up. He reasoned either Artemis or Superboy figured out how to go invisible, or Kid Flash was already zipping around the room.
And sure enough as soon as he thought that, he felt a sudden pain along with a rush of wind.
Because of his planted feet he couldn't roll with the blow either, so he ended up taking it on full force. The hit also had enough behind it that it could have knocked him off his feet but because that was an impossibility, he just fell back bending at the knees to do so because his ankles were frozen in place, with all the kinetic energy going to said abused knees. He hissed in pain sure that something had torn.
But he had no time to register this as in an instant a bright yellow and red blur was straddling his torso and punching him so fast his fists broke the sound barrier several times. Robin was able to count 76 hits before Kid Flash finally rolled off and started to kick him in a similar manner.
He started running again probably to give the other side of him the same treatment. But he slipped slightly on the ice and fell forward; the crack of his head hitting the ice sheet was heard across the room.
Robin spat blood and two teeth from his mouth and looked through the eyes he knew would be swollen over in a few hours, he didn't even bother to get up instead he quickly twisted his body to reach for that back compartment on his utility belt, cringing at the pain of at least three broken ribs.
He got what he wanted though, as he turned back to see his friend getting up off the ground rubbing his head.
Do it now! Bruce's voice screamed.
Despite the pain he had just endured, staring into the face of his best friend, Robin did what he swore he'd never do.
He hesitated.
And that mere second of hesitation was all KF needed, he was on his feet again. Robin expected another onslaught of super speed punches, even covered his face reflexively. But the pain didn't come from the typical target areas; instead he felt a light pressure on his knee which was still vertical.
He opened his eyes and looked up to see his tormentor smirking at him with a foot rested lightly on his knee. The speedster's smile grew even wider as he shifted his weight and leaned on Robin's leg more and more, nice and slow like a true arrogant villain.
Get it together! You have to think of a plan! Think before-
"Ahhhh!" Robin cried out in pain as he felt a snap in his leg. Blindly he dropped the special device in his hand.
He reached into a pocket and tossed a liquid nitrogen Batarang, of course Wally-clone just dodged it and leaned in more.
The throwing weapon made a strange noise on impact behind KF and froze the ice sheet behind him without his noticing.
Robin didn't give the speedster time to investigate though, as he rapidly tossed yet another Batarang, kidflash just managed to dodge that one.
So Robin was able to reach for his one last throwing weapon, but he didn't throw this one instead he activated it and held it up. The device beeped in the young human's hand and Kid Flash's eyes widened in recognition he immediately ran backwards to avoid being blown up only to find that the ice sheet had expanded and the area behind him that he had counted on being water was now frozen solid.
He lost his footing once more. And Robin didn't hesitate this time. He quickly reached for the discarded device at his side and fired.
The tazer-like device shot out and imbedded the flying tazer piece right in the speedster's neck. Robin flicked the switch on the hand-held part of the weapon. Instead of pumping watts after watts into Kid flash's body, the imbedded device began to vibrate. The fallen boy tried to get up but found he couldn't as his body started thrashing, a few more moments passed and soon Wally was experiencing epileptic seizures at light speed.
Kid Flash: Neutralized
Robin wasn't sure how long he had until the next pod slid open. So he ignored his injuries and got to work on getting out of the foot holds. Luckily the Ice around his leg had been melting some since its original formation, so after a bit of struggling Robin was able to work his way out, having to leave his boots behind as there hard soles still wouldn't fit through the ankle holes. The water was still up to his ankles and rather cold thanks to the ice chunk, but Robins aching body actually relished in the numbing cold.
Robin finally worked his way out of his icy prison and put all is weight on a single wobbly leg just as the fourth pod slid open.
Please be Artemis, Please be Artemis, Please be Artemis! pleaded the Boy Wonder internally. A booted foot kicked through the half-open pod door and Superboy stalked out. Of course not!
Kryptonians: Be wary. Incredibly so. Strike first and strike last. Luck gave us the tools to defeat them and the cold hand of science allows us to forge those tools to create weapons. You may have your doubts: the S-shields do nothing but fly around fighting for truth, justice and the American way. But if they ever lose control or turn against us… Mankind wouldn't stand a chance. Just remember: Electricity, Magic, and Kryptonite, Robin. Especially Kryptonite.
Superboy put up his dukes and ran towards the Boy Wonder. Robin was just able to leap off to the side and thank his lucky stars.
Superboy dislodged his fist from the wall and whirled around.
Robin reached back to the back pocket of his utility belt once again. And pulled out a lead box, he quickly reached inside and pulled on the green glowing ring inside over his glove, allowing the lead container to clatter to the floor.
Robin turned around to see Superboy flying at him once more. He held his hands out in front of his face reflexively.
But the impact never came. He opened his eyes which he had just realized he had closed out of fear and saw that Superboy's fist was mere inches from his face. Robin looked past the fist and into the clone's face.
He was all but green, Superboy looked so damaged by the Kryptonite and Robin was actually afraid that Superboy might puke on him more than he might kill him. But before the clone had a chance to regain his senses, Robin delivered his best right hook to The Boy of Steel's jaw.
He recoiled almost like a regular person would, except for the part where Superboy didn't get up afterwards.
Superboy: Neutralized (?)
Robin wasn't sure what to make of his swift victory against the Meta-human he had assumed would be the most dangerous of them all.
Gotta love that kryptonite I guess.
"Gah!" Robin's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden and searing pain in his shoulder. He looked down at his shoulder which had two green barbed arrows impaled in it. He turned around only to find three more arrows flying at him. Robin leaped to the side as Artemis knocked three more. Suddenly three key lessons flooded the boy wonder's mind as he dodged.
Archers: The most dangerous aspects of combat with an Archer is their deadly accuracy and skills of their namesake weapon. But another worrisome aspect, often overlooked by others, is their almost inhuman upper body strength that they gain through years and years of tireless training. If it comes to a close quarters fight, focus on out-maneuvering them.
Range weapons: Should be used as intended: From a distance. I can't tell you how fools will put a gun to your head and then be surprised when you whirl around in relieve them of it. The same can apply to arrows try to safely get in close and disarm.
Body armor: Any practical body armor will have parts of it that are thinner or weaker, to allow maximum flexibility and maneuverability. Some places body armor's weakest is around joints, like the knees and elbows. In addition, something to note about female body armor is that a lot of time female "costumes" whether they be costumed heroes or villains, will sometimes go against practicality and not wear protection on their navel, cleavage, legs and arms. You should have no reserves about exploiting these serious lapses in judgment.
Keeping all of that in mind, he ran towards the girl, who was still firing at him. He hissed in pain as he was undoubtedly making his broken leg worse. Robin dodged two arrows and caught the third mid air. He closed in on her and she stalled for a moment not expecting the brash rush. She managed to get one arrow off the string and straight into Robin's shoulder. He was so hyped up on adrenaline that he managed keep moving despite the point-blank shots. Robin in return ran straight up to Artemis and plunged he arrow he had snatched from the air in her stomach, below her body armor and ribcage. Her eyes widened as she cried out in pain. But he grip only increased on her bow.
That's no good. He thought unsympathetically as he twisted the arrow. Artemis howled in pain and dropped the bow so both of her hands could fly to the arrow in an attempt to stop the twisting.
Robin let go of the arrow and dove for the bow. He grabbed the weapon and proceeded to break it over his knee. He looked back to see Artemis on her hands and knees, hacking and groaning.
Robin finally stopped to thank God that it was finally over.
He wandered over to a nearby broom closet and walked inside of it, looking around for supplies. Water from the rest of the room came pouring in but luckily there didn't appear to be any electrical outlets in the closet. He grabbed a bottle of rubbing alcohol, a few clean paper towels, and a pair of pliers. Robin leaned up against the wall and stripped his shirt and armor off and used the pliers to cut the exposed part of the arrow away.
Robin tried not to cry out as he removed the remainder of the arrow from his shoulder, disinfected and dressed the wound. He looked down at his armored shirt in his hands and silently thanked Bruce for sparing no expense on all of their gear, otherwise that point blank shot could have been monumentally disastrous.
Speaking of which- Robin's head snapped up as he heard the door clamor open.
He turned around only to see a fist flying at him and connecting solidly with his face causing his head to snap back and banging against the wall he was leaning on. Working on instinct, he returned the favor and punched her solidly in the jaw.
He cursed himself silently for underestimating Artemis, not making sure she was out of commission before declaring: Mission Accomplished and for getting himself into a situation where he had to fight someone with a lot better upper body strength in very close quarters. She once again displayed that awesome upper body strength that came along with the many years of rigorous practice with the bow and arrow and went for another double impact punch.
Robin decided to play dirty, and went to hit her injured stomach. Artemis predicted the move however, as she dodged the attack and kneed the young boy in the stomach. Robin was grateful that her kicks were not as strong as her punches but he had the wind knocked out of him nonetheless. Robin hit the ground that time and naturally Artemis took advantage, and kicked him in the stomach.
Thinking fast, Robin grabbed the bottle of rubbing alcohol he was using before, from nearby and tossed the open bottle straight at her face. Artemis shrieked and staggered backwards, rubbing her burning eyes.
Robin didn't waste any time, he kicked her legs out from under her, leapt to his feet, and forced her face first into the ground putting a knee on her back to keep her down. However he knew that if he didn't hurry she would be free soon.
Robin quickly wrapped the bowstring (which he was thankful that he had left intact) around the blonde girl's neck. Her continued struggles were becoming problematic so Robin tightly gripped both pieces of the broken bow and gave a sharp yank.
And he didn't relent until the young arrow at was choked out by her own bowstring. When she fell quiet he quickly removed the string for the girl's neck. Absently noting that she was still alive, he quickly zip-stripped her arms behind her back and did the same with her legs.
He went to cut her bowstring so it could not be used against him. Unfortunately the only Batarang he had left was the explosive one he had used to bluff with Kid Flash, so he had to be careful not to disrupt the structural integrity of the device and cause it to explode.
He dragged Artemis out of the closet by her feet and laid her unconscious body down on the ground next to Miss. Martian's. He would have checked to see if she was still alive but didn't bother, because his own lacking in knowledge of Martian physiology.
He carefully pulled Kid Flash, who was still thrashing around violently, next to the two girls. He insured that Aqualad was still in the fetal position off the water. And that Superboy was still…
Okay where the hell is Superboy?
Robin looked around and went into his pocket one more time and pulled out the final item in the hard to reach pouch.
So when Superboy jumped down from where he was waiting on the ceiling. Robin was ready, he held the stone out and let Superboy feel the full extent of the stones radiation.
At the sight of the red crystal in his face, Superboy, once bitten twice shy, leaped backwards to get away from the haggard boy and his second freaking chunk of kryptonite.
He stopped to asses himself; he felt a sudden jolt, not like to other time when the green death assured that all he knew was pain. This time he actually felt pretty good. He felt like his power and energy levels were actually rising, like somehow he was able to absorb even more yellow sun light radiation than when he wore the white onesie back at CADMUS.
He looked down at his hands only to discover that he could see his muscles, not like he could see how strong his hands were, but he could literally see the red masses of tissue surrounding his off-white bones.
Why would my X-ray vision manifest itself now? Was it possible that whatever Robin had done had made me even more powerful? Superboy pondered through his brainwashed state.
All of a sudden Superboy looked up. His head whipped back and forth searching in no direction in particular. He was trying to find the source of the strange buzzing in his ears. It was a futile effort, as they just progressively grew louder and louder, and he was soon able to tell what the buzzing was: Voices.
From all over the city he could hear them talking, shouting, whispering, driving their cars, operating construction equipment playing in the park, and generally giving him a migraine. It wasn't long before Superboy could make out individual voices, too.
People were bitching about the air pollution, people were bitching about how dangerous the streets were, people were bitching about how high the taxes were, about how corrupt the police were, how the mayor accepted bribes, the poor people, how the scarecrow escaped prison again, the crowded streets, Two face-due dates-small apartments-the DMV-The joker-sexual harassment-cliques-homelessness-rude people-the subway-expensive coffee-late for work-dumb kids-traffic-loudmusic-Liars-Dumbbosses-notenoughsleep-hypocrisy-noise-
"SHUT UP!" Superboy wailed in agony. He then flinched at the sound of his own bellowing voice. He quickly covered his ears in a futile effort to block out the sound. Never before in his life had he ever been in that much pain.
And then the smells came.
He found himself hating Aqualad for yanking up the water main as the scent of rust assaulted his senses, as did the scent of blood coming from all of his friends the salt from the nearby docks made him dizzy.
And the pollution. Oh dear god, the pollution. Out of all of the most filthy cities in the US: LA, Pittsburg, Atlanta, and Detroit, Gotham city trumped each and every one of them. And now Superboy could smell and taste almost every square inch of smog, smoke, and chemicals that entered Gotham air space. He almost passed out from the sensory overload.
He was trembling, he fell to his knees and wished he could just burry his head in the concrete floor.
Robin, who had lost the strength to walk, crawled toward Superboy whom he presumed to be unconscious. As soon as Robin reached forward to check if he was alive, Superboy's hand shot out and grabbed the bird boy's forearm. He snapped it in one fluid motion as easily as one would break a tooth pick if they weren't paying close attention. Robin screamed and Superboy was forced to release him to cover his ears.
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO ME?" He demanded the writhed in pain at the sound of his own voice again.
Despite the horrible time he was having concentrating Superboy was able to get a good look at the boy, and was pleased with what he saw. Robin was on his last legs, figuratively speaking as he was on his knees, he was swaying and looked to be having trouble staying upright, his mask had fallen away and he could see his swollen, blue eyes, he looked like he was blinking in and out of consciousness, and was bleeding profusely. Then he realized something else.
"Why can't I see through you?" Superboy asked weakly. He looked down at his hands; he wasn't using his X-Ray vision. His skin was transparent. "So this was the effect of the red stone? Couldn't you have just killed me?"
Then Superboy saw red.
He found that odd seeing as he wasn't angry. He was in too much pain to be angry.
It was as if the whole world had a red film over it. And his eyes themselves felt… tingly. When all of a sudden his eyes seemed to erupt and the pile of garbage he was staring at, off to the side seemed to explode.
Heat Vision? Why Heat Vision? And, Why now? To avoid hitting any of his other team members Superboy averted his eyes to the ceiling. He realized his mistake, too little, too late.
A large hole melted in the ceiling and the bright yellow sun light poured in. As soon as it touched his skin, Superboy felt like he had been engulfed in flames.
He could now see individual atoms making up the boundless network of existence. He could see the entire color spectrum, and heat waves wafting of all the living things in the room like a furnace.
The sounds so loud and unbearable that he knew if he didn't stop them soon he would be driven utterly insane. He could now hear voices coming from all over the world, different languages, different dialects, but the same complaints.
Superboy then became distinctly aware of the Gotham City sewage treatment center located 7.4 miles away from them. Superboy's mind could no longer take the assault of senses and mercifully shut down.
Robin clawed his way over to the unconscious clone. He took the red kryptonite and placed it on the Superboy's chest so the effects wouldn't wear off like last time. He then crawled over to the corner of the room.
"Almost done, Robin. You're almost done. Don't pass out yet. A little longer. You can sleep when you are done. Just a little longer still." Robin said to himself. He settled down and wondered how in the world his computer glove didn't get damaged in the fray.
He instinctively started to dial the number to reach Batman but stopped himself. He didn't want to call Batman while he was in a meeting, that would just make him look bad, not to mention the League's assistance was going to be required for this clean-up job.
He might as well call them in now.
Not to mention that addressing the entire League during one of their super-secret-important-meetings was bound to turn a few heads and get a more immediate response. He dialed the number for the Justice League Top Priority Emergency Line. The signal connected and Robin found himself looking into a large conference room containing the Top Leaguers.
Everyone looked up at the monitor surprised; they weren't used to being interrupted during their top priority meetings. And defiantly not by some strange kid. Some strange kid who looked like he had been relentlessly beaten, no less.
Robin took a deep breath to begin. "I-"
"Who are you? And how did you get this number?" Superman demanded of the child. Robin wheezed having a very difficult time getting air in his lungs. He couldn't believe he was going to get this far and then die on the line with his would-be-saviors all because they didn't recognize him without his mask on.
Batman however stood up allowing his chair to fall over behind him. "Robin, what's wrong? What happened?" Everyone else in the room gasped. They had never seen Robin mask-less before, but was even more shocking was Batman.
The legendary Dark Knight's usually cold and detached voice was replaced one concerned and dripping with fear.
"I-I was on patrol wh-when I…" Robin's head fell and every one gasped again as it appeared the young boy had drifted into unconsciousness. Echoes of:"Poor kid." "Oh my god." "What happened?" were heard all around the conference room.
Batman, however, was a lot less put off.
"Robin! ROBIN! HEY! Don't you lose consciousness yet! You hear me? Robin! Finish the briefing and then you can pass out!" Batman's words rang through the room. The other leaguers were going to speak up when Robin lifted his head back up.
"Sorry I-"
"Don't waste your time on apologies."
"Waterstreet, by the docks, abandoned warehouse. I was investigating some suspicious activities. I came across a secret branch of CADMUS Labs, I faced off with their new projects."
"Which was?" Batman pressed.
"Clones."
"More failed Superman clones?"
"No, Exact copies of The Team. Complete with phony gear, equipment, moves, voices, and mannerisms."
"Including you?"
"No." He coughed violently.
"Status?"
"Their's or mine?"
"Both." Batman said impatiently.
"I followed your pr-protocols exactly. Every ones alive j-just neutralized."
"And you?"
"I-I'm not doing great. Some busted ribs, I think my lung has collapsed. My arm was severally broken. Both of my legs are broken or at least sprained. Multiple concussions or worse. I..I can't see!"he realized terrified.
An alarmed Batman turned to leave the conference room. "I'm sorry but you can't pass out just yet, Robin, or you might fall into a coma. Can you hang on just a little longer? I'm on my way now."
"Batman?"
"Hm?"
"Please hurry." He barely whispered.
"We all are." Flash said as he and the other present members of the league stood as well.
"This mission does not require all of us." Superman objected. "What if something catastrophic were to happen in our absence?"
"There is a child in peril. I don't know why we're even discussing this." Wonder Woman said as she stormed out of the room, The Flash followed and as did the rest of the present leaguers. With the exception of Batman who had already left as soon as Robin had finished speaking.
It made sense that Green Lantern would arrive first. Hal Jordan didn't have to waste time with teleporters like the other heroes, as he could just fly right through the vacuum of space like it was one of his test courses. So Robin wasn't surprised when he heard the barely familiar voice of Hal Jordan call out to him.
"ROBIN?" Hal asked desperately, as a soldier he was not unaccustomed to losing people on the field. What he was unaccustomed to though, was losing a child on the field. "This is why there is no 'Kid-Lantern'." He muttered bitterly.
"I-I'm here." Robin managed weakly.
"Oh, thank God." Hal sighed. "Here" He said as Robin was able to dimly make out the faint glow of the power ring. All of a sudden he felt the familiar sensation of being on a medical cot. He felt the blood and grime be brushed away from his face, as bandages wrapped themselves around the damaged areas on his head. He could also feel bandages being placed on his cuts and casts forming around his legs and arm and torso.
"Some of the gashes will have to be stitched up." Hal informed him. "Sorry, I don't feel comfortable doing that with a construct."
"It's okay." Robin assured him. "Could you make me a mask?" he asked meekly.
"Of course." He said and Robin felt a familiar feeling on his face. Robin yawned and felt himself drifting off.
"Ah, ah, ah! You heard the Bat, Kiddo, no coma for you!" Hal said. He knew he had to keep the kid awake and talking. He suddenly wished he had Barry there, the Flash was the best motor-mouth he knew.
"So, How about them Gotham Knights, huh? What are they even thinking with that line up, am I right? I'm sorry, but your whole coaching staff is-"
"Kryptonite." Robin gasped.
"Huh?"
"Two pieces in the area… a red rough stone and a green one…like a ring. I thought if Superman were coming…" he struggled to communicate.
"Ah of course!" he scanned the area with his ring and quickly located the two pieces. "I got 'em here. Is that it?"
"What if the Superboy-Clone wakes up?" Robin tried to sound alarmed but just sounding exhausted.
"Then I'll trap him in a glowing green cage." Hal brushed off. "So how's school?"
"My team."
"What's that?"
"Can you call my friends on Young justice? I want them to know what happened so they won't worry when I don't show up at the base tomorrow." He requested, achieving a surprising amount of clarity when worrying about his friends.
"Not a problem kid." Hal said as he whipped out his JLA Communicator and typed in the unfamiliar number. He waited a few seconds, then he heard a soft buzzing, followed by several loud beeping noises came from the belts and equipment on where the defeated "clones" lay.
"Oh my God."
"Oh dear God."
"This is Hal Jordan to Justice League! Hal to league!"
It seemed like every one was caring for an injured young person.
Even those without protégé's were helping with bandaging and carrying them to get help. Caption Marvel took the liberty of carrying the still unconscious, still transparent Superboy with a concerned Black Canary following behind telling him to be more careful. She had placed her jacket over his face to spare him as much yellow sunlight radiation as they could.
Green and Red Arrow had gathered up Artemis and were heading to the league's jet. It was the first time in a long time that any of them had seen Roy not grumbling.
The plan was to take the injured kids to The Hall so they could be teleported up to the watchtower, which was the finest hub of Meta-Human medical care the world over.
The Martian Man Hunter, however , insisted on taking care of his niece alone and shot down anyone else's offers of help as if he was guarding some great secret.
"Kaldur'ahm… Please." pleaded Aquaman to the still resisting Aqualad.
"NO! GET AWAY!"
Aquaman stepped back, relenting. He sighed and turned to Wonder Woman.
"Would you mind?" He asked gesturing towards the hysterical young Atlantian.
"Of course." She said sympathetically, as she disappeared in a patriotic colored stream. She suddenly reappeared behind Aqualad and after a well placed chop to the back of his neck, he fell back unconscious.
He fell right into the waiting arms of his king who gently kneeled on the still flooded ground and placed the boy on the floor to let his body absorb the much needed water.
Flash had super-sped Wally to the ship and was waiting not-so-patiently for the rest of the team to join them. In the meantime he attempted to coax his nephew into consciousness again.
"Wally? Come on buddy I need you to wake up." He cooed shaking the teen gently. The red head's eyes opened slowly dazed for a moment then immediately focused on The Flash.
"Uncle Barry!" he choked eyes filling with tears. He immediately latched on to the older speedster, trembling as he did so.
"I-I missed you…" He muttered weakly his haunted eyes staring forward.
"Missed me? Wally, you were out for an hour, two at most." Barry said confused.
"No." he disagreed sobs racking through his form. "The-the thingie, it excelled my speed." He choked out. Barry felt his own face drain with horror. Wally's relativistic speed must have made the experience last considerably longer.
"My god." He breathed. "How long were you seizing?" he asked afraid to hear the answer.
"It must have been months." The PTSD stricken boy cried. "Months and months and months an mo-"
Suddenly Barry felt like crying himself. Instead he wrapped his arms around his nephew and rocked him gently while making shushing sounds.
Under normal circumstances being held like a small child would mortify the young speedster beyond belief. But after months and months of excruciating pain and devastating isolation Wally found it almost too much to even be conscious so he allowed himself to be soothed to sleep. Or perhaps it was hunger and exhaustion that did it, Wally also hadn't eaten or slept in the relativistic time he spent seizing. When this occurred to Barry he took up his nephew and super-sped him to The Hall, himself.
Outside the jet Batman, knowing his ward did not require the meta-human facilities in the watchtower, opted not to wait around and called the Batplane.
"Bruce!" A very wound up Superman shouted, floating over to the Dark Knight. "We need to talk."
"I have an injured child to take care of." Batman said glaring. "But then, you wouldn't know what that's like, would you?"
"That injured child managed to single-handedly defeat four very powerful and well trained meta-humans. Care to explain why your protégé has been specially trained to defeat his own team?"
"Please, Clark," Bruce said sarcastically. He didn't turn around to look at the Man of Steel instead kept walking towards the Batplane. "I did not train my ward to defeat Young Justice."
"Then how do you explain the-"
"You didn't let me finish. I did not train my ward to defeat Young Justice. I trained him to defeat the league itself." Bruce said as he gingerly tucked Robin into the plane's passenger seat and fastened the safety harnesses around him. He climbed over to the pilot's seat only to feel a firm grip on his shoulder.
"Bruce." warned Superman.
"I have to go." Batman said coldly.
"And I'm sorry. But it was your sidekick using your methods that did this. Your kryptonite! Your phycic scramblers! Your fear gas! Your vibratory projectile! Your responsibility!"
"None of the effects are permanent. The effects of the scarecrow gas and red kryptonite will wear off in no time and Kid flash should be fine mental injuries notwithstanding."
"We don't have full comprehension of how this new kryptonite of yours works, we do however know that the scarecrow gas has an antidote. Not to mention-"
"Fine." Interrupted Batman as he typed commands onto the Batplane's computer, it swifly sealed the passenger department and took off.
"Alfred? I'm sending Robin to you. Be on standby. He needs emergency medical care." Batman barked into his ear piece.
"Let's go." An impatient Batman said as he walked past Superman. He climbed on to the jet behind the Atlantians and took a seat next to Hawkman in the cockpit. Superman climbed on next and closed the door behind them. The jet took off immediately.
Batman didn't even have to look to know that every conscious person on the jet, who wasn't the piloting of course, was glaring burning daggers into his back.
It was close to midnight when Bruce finally pulled into the secret garage that connected to the Batcave. He leaped out of the vehicle and ran up the large stair case that led to the rest of the house.
He was breaking one of his own rules not to wear uniforms in the actual manor but at this point he didn't have time to change. He had received calls from Alfred telling him that Dick was more or less stable but Bruce had to see it with his own eyes before he could relax.
He ignored the prepared meal and note left out for him and made a beeline for his young charge's room. Bruce entered the teen's room as silently as he could but Dick still stirred in his sleep and turned around to see Bruce standing there looking all too relived.
"Hey, Bruce." Dick said drowsily.
"How's it going, kiddo?" he asked gently.
"Not great."
"Do you need-"
"How are my friends?"
"Dick, you need to understand, you were set up." Bruce tried to comfort. "The Ransom notice intended for the league, was discovered a few hours ago. Desmond intended to fool The League into fighting their own protégés. There was no way you could have known-"
"You're avoiding my question."
"…They'll be just fine."
"They're never going to forgive me, will they?" Dick asked miserably. Bruce didn't say anything.
"How will this affect how I work with the team from now on?" Dick asked, more to himself, sounding terrified at the prospect of facing his friends again.
"It's presumptuous of you to assume that they'll let you back on the team at all." Bruce said honestly.
"I'm not like you. They're more than just my co-workers they are my friends." Robin said but at that point he was trying to convince himself.
"Which only makes your interpreted betrayal that much more biting." Bruce responded, ever the herald of pessimism.
"Will my actions hurt your work with the league?" Dick tried changing the subject away from the friends he had probably lost.
"It will be my "defiance" to the Big Blue Boy Scout and general lack of contrition that will hurt my chances with the league." Bruce informed him.
"I'm sorry." Dick said simply mainly because he was just too tired to say any more. Noticing this, Bruce began to inch towards the door to leave the boy to his much needed sleep.
"Don't be. In your place I would have done the same thing." Bruce assured him. "Besides, if you hadn't done what you did, you wouldn't be alive for me to be consoling right now. And don't ever be sorry for that."
"Thanks, Bruce." Robin smiled slightly, it was little more that a twitch of his lips.
Bruce smiled in return and shut the door behind him. "Good night, Dick."
A/N: Thank you for taking the time to read this! I would really appreciate some feedback.
I wanted to practice writing fight scenes and was generally sick and tired of the "Robin gets hurt! Poor baby!" trope that was fairly common among the fandom when I wrote this earlier on in the show (which is why Zatanna and Roy weren't there and SB was grumpier).
I wanted to see a story that showed Robin could hold his own but that he had to work hard to do so. Let me know if I conveyed that.
This fic pays homage to the "Tower of Babble" JLA story line most of the take down methods are more or less from there, same with the title.
I might continue if anyone wants me to, I have some ideas of everyone trying to pick up the pieces from this incident the personal impacts and healing process and what not, again, drop me a review if that's something you'd be interested in.
Dedicated to my brother. Thanks for always letting me bounce ideas off of you. I'm gonna miss you.