"This device is used to find your biggest weakness," Batman began, gesturing to the strange black oversized box behind him, its insides blocked by a heavy red curtain.
Robin shot his hand up in the air patiently. Batman turned his way. Robin's hand went down.
"Why do you need to know our biggest weakness?" he asked, curious.
Batman turned his attention to the whole team.
"If we can figure out what you break at, we can train you harder at not breaking so you're never vulnerable on a mission. All you do is walk in and sit on the chair available and slip on the helmet that's almost like a bike helmet, only it has a welding mask front and you can't remove it until you break or unless I press the button that releases it. Only you will see what it shows you and the curtain will dampen your reaction to the rest of the team," Batman explained, striding over to the box and pulling back the curtain.
Everyone peered inside to see a plain black bench with a red and white helmet sitting on it. Batman let the curtain fall, only to see Wally's hand up. He sighed gently.
"This isn't a classroom," he reminded the red head.
Wally dropped his hand.
"Can I go first?" he asked, eagerly.
Batman raised an eyebrow from beneath the mask, but only Robin took notice because only the Boy Wonder knew his mentor's expressions by heart.
"I figure that since it'll take so long for the machine to crack me, seeing that I have no weaknesses, I should go first," he said smugly, a grin playing on his lips.
Robin clapped a hand over his mouth to muffle an amused giggle. He was pretty sure that Wally would be the second to crack, the first and quickest being Megan. Batman smiled slyly and reopened the curtain. He shared the same thought as his protégé and he wanted to see just how fast it would take Wally to crack. The red head sped into the box and slid onto the bench, scooping the helmet into his hands and sticking it over his hair, a grin still visible on his lips as the curtain closed. Batman folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the edge of the machine, listening closely.
"I give him two minutes," Superboy said bluntly, walking out of the room.
Megan looked tempted to follow him, but she stayed in the room, her eyes on the box.
"I give him fifty seconds," Robin smirked, gently cracking his knuckles.
Batman who usually was silent when the team placed bets simply kept a small ghostly smile on and just simply said, "Thirty seconds."
Artemis had just a bit more hope in Wally than Robin and Batman, but less than Superboy. Kaldur was always silent in the matter, being as civilized as he was. Before Megan could even think of a bet, a scream cut through the air and the sound of thrashing filled the box.
"No! Leave him alone!" Wally sobbed furiously.
A sharp hiss blasted through the room and Wally was sent flying from the box. Robin scrambled to stop him from colliding with the wall and succeeded, sending the two tumbling to the ground weakly.
"Thanks," Wally whispered weakly, getting quickly to his feet and turning his back to the team as he scrubbed tears from his red stained green eyes.
Robin nodded and took Wally's extended hand to pull himself to his feet.
"No problem; you okay?"
Wally shook his head.
"That's an evil box," Wally confided, wiping harder at his eyes. "How long did I last?"
"Not even a minute," Robin shrugged.
Wally winced. "Really? It seemed like hours…"
"Who's next?" Batman cut in.
Kaldur offered to go. Batman allowed him and they all waved weakly to him before the curtain closed on him too.
"I'm going to go get some popcorn. You want some?" Robin asked Wally.
Wally shrugged. "Yeah, but only if you butter it. None of that bland shit."
Robin smiled. "Got it."
He jogged off towards the kitchen, brushing past an angry Superboy who stormed back into the room with the team. Robin's head turned and he watched the clone walk on, his own personal invisible storm cloud brewing above his head, drenching him in its content. Robin who usually wasn't one to probe continued to walk on until he was safely inside of the kitchen where he began to rummage for the hidden stash of popcorn. He pulled a bowl from the top counters and aimed to set it on the kitchen table.
-Hey Robin?- a voice sounded, foreign to his mind.
With a wince, Robin dropped the bowl and collapsed to his knees, clutching his ears irritably. The bowl let out a loud clatter that echoed around the kitchen, adding to his pain. Not able to rise from his knees, Robin thought back.
Megan! STAY OUT OF MY HEAD he thought angrily, his temples throbbing.
He crawled forward and picked up the popcorn bowl, wincing at the huge crack he had put down its side.
-I'm sorry Robin, but this is important- her voice cut in.
He gritted his teeth furiously and got shakily to his knees, setting the bowl on the counter.
What can possibly be important enough for you to go against one of the first rules that we set for you? Robin growled the best he could with his mind.
He walked cautiously through the kitchen, his head suffering for the telepathy. He had never much liked it. He opened the cabinets and spotted popcorn along the top shelf.
-Do you know why Superboy is upset?- Megan asked.
No Robin thought back.
And with that, he leapt onto the counter and snatched the popcorn, craftily leaping back to the ground and sticking the popcorn in the microwave, hitting the popcorn button. He sat there, watching the bag inflate when he heard quick footsteps. His head turned. Wally was walking in.
"Dude, Kaldur and Megan just finished and Superboy's going right now. Artemis won't last long, so I recommend you get in there, just in case. I'll get the popcorn," Wally told the boy, noting how angry he seemed.
He knew better than to question the Boy Wonder though, so he just watched on as his friend quickly jogged from the room without another word.
XxXxX
Artemis was sent sprawling from the machine. She wasn't in tears, but she looked close to it. Wally looked as if he wanted to go comfort her, but he didn't move from his bowl of popcorn.
"Last but not least," Batman motioned for Robin to enter the box.
Robin swallowed hard and exchanged glances with his mentor before walking into the box and sitting on the bench. He shot a final glance at Wally who shot him a weak thumbs-up before he slipped the helmet over his head. He immediately became engulfed in darkness.
XxXxX
Robin became aware of a person in front of him before he was even aware of himself. The person's body was the same dull gray shade of the background of the concrete room he was in. In fact, the only thing about this person that stood out was his bright red eyes and his literal crooked grin. Robin got to his feet and looked the man up and down, a frown on his face. He folded his arms over his chest.
"I'm not impressed," he thought aloud.
The man shrugged. "I'm not here to please you."
His voice was a mixture of nails on a chalkboard and someone yelling into a fan, the two sounds clashing to make a queer mixture.
"Then why are you here?" Robin questioned, looking around the room.
It seemed to be just a concrete room with no doors or windows. It was ever so dull. The man's smile widened.
"I'm here to make you crack. I'm your mind, your inner secrets, your betrayal…" the man cackled.
Robin raised an eyebrow. "You are my mind? Man, I need to see an orthodontist then… and maybe get some allergy medicine for those nasty red eyes of mine."
It was the gray man's turn to look unamused.
"Well, what did you want me to look like? Would you rather me be a fat, cigar smoking, Italian gang boss?" he asked.
"Who?" Robin asked, confused by the question.
Almost instantly, the man faded to Tony Zucco, the only difference being that this Tony had shock red eyes compared to the original.
"Alright… you know about Tony? I'm not impressed still. What are you here for?"
The man sighed and faded back into his original gray silhouette.
"I'm here to break you by finding your weaknesses."
Robin continued to glance about the room, looking for something that was supposed to scare him.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but you don't scare me, I'm not claustrophobic and I don't fear concrete, so try again," he told the man, clearly enjoying this.
The man growled and suddenly, the room turned into a circus tent, the netless trapeze appearing above Robin's head. Robin felt as if he had been backhanded. He smiled still though.
"Nice touch," he told the man. "I like the color and I've missed using these. Can I try it out?"
The man stared at him, confused for a moment, but nodded. He watched as Robin climbed the ladder to the platform before grabbing onto the trapeze bar and gliding gracefully through the air, making it halfway across before he failed to reach the second bar, instead choosing to swing backwards through the air and landing back on the platform.
"It's nice," Robin called down, "but it'd be nice to have a partner."
The man set a gray hand to his forehead, a plan devising in his brain. He watched as Robin scaled down the ladder and approached him again. He faked a sigh.
"Alright, I get it, I'm not breaking you. In fact, this is getting rather bored to me. Let's make a deal," the man began.
The room faded to a living room and a sofa appeared behind Robin. He happily collapsed into it, snuggling into the pillows. The man sat down in a maroon armchair, now clearly visible.
"Let me hear it," Robin probed, tapping his fingertips together.
The man gently began to crack each finger delicately, listening to its small responses with pleasure.
"I'm already getting sick of this job. If you find a way to get me out of here, I'll make any of your biggest desires come to life."
Robin raised an eyebrow, his heart skipping a hopeful beat.
"Any desire…?" he repeated. Then something else came to mind. "What's the cost?"
The man held up his hands in surrender.
"Who said there would be a price?"
Robin's eyes narrowed.
"Fine, it'll cost you the thing you treasure most, but you'll get something to replace it even better so it'll be worth it."
Robin tried to think of what he treasured most, but he had no idea. He was curious though.
"Go on…" he rolled his hands.
The man smirked.
"I could bring your parents back to life," he offered.
Robin's smile left his face and he felt something rise up in his throat. He thought hard on it.
I could have mom… and dad? I could have a family again… I could have parents! Oh, but it's never that easy! In the Deathly Hallows, when that one man restored the one he loved, he only ended up killing himself because she was restored in the same state she died in and I don't want them back all broken…
He shook his head hard, swallowing.
"No… you'd mess with something and they'd be… in pain… and even if they weren't, they remember their son as a nine year old hopeful blue eyed boy. They remember being parents to Richard Grayson. I'm not Richard Grayson."
The gray man chuckled. "Okay… I could make Bruce appreciate you more?"
Robin shook his head almost instantly.
"Bruce wouldn't be Bruce if he loved me," he said, remorse in his voice, but his eyes remained dry.
His thoughts were still on his parents. This sort of angered the gray man further, but he hid it with a grin.
"How about… I could give you powers so you could be just as equal as your team?" the man offered, his grin widening.
Superpowers? I wouldn't be mortal… they wouldn't look down on me… I could be just like them…
Richard surprised himself with his reply.
"No. You'd give me some power that would be useless like mood ring eyes or invisibility when my eyes are always hidden and I can disappear on my own," he declined.
The gray man frowned this time, peering deep into Robin's mind. He must've been missing something. Then he got the idea.
"I could send you back in time to the day when you found out that some men were going to kill your parents and I could warn the police so they could protect the wires and stop your parents from dying in the first place."
That silenced Robin. His eyes got hard and he said nothing for a long while, so the gray man continued.
"You could still have parents… they could tuck you in at night and set your clothes out for you and cheer you on at your Mathlete competitions…" he continued, feeling Robin starting to break gently.
Robin shook his head firmly.
"No. If my mom and dad hadn't died, I wouldn't have met Batman. I wouldn't be a sidekick. I wouldn't have met Wally. I wouldn't even be a Mathlete," he argued, determined not to break.
He wanted to beat the machine. The gray man slowly applauded Richard.
"That's all I have on you boy. You're a tough nut to crack. You don't want your parents, you don't want to be loved and you always want to be looked down on. Such a shame. I thought I could help you…"
Suddenly, the room shot bright white. Richard looked around wildly, terrified now. Then he saw them. A smile broke out over his face and he felt happy tears fall from his eyes. He hadn't been broken. He had been saved.
XxXxX
The team stared at the box. Wally had finished his popcorn an hour ago and was now passed out and asleep on the floor. Artemis was poking him with her arrows, clearly amused. Batman, finally unable to take it, ripped back the curtain and looked down at his protégé. Robin was laying on the ground, curled up in a ball, the helmet still tight to his head. Tears fell slowly from his hidden eyes, his face rid of any emotions. Batman knelt beside his boy and took the helmet gently from his head, tousling the black hair and returning it to how it originally looked. He dragged Robin from the box and out on the floor.
Everyone crowded around, even Superboy, looking at the slumbering youngling. Batman shook Robin forcefully until the blue eyed boy stirred. He smiled widely and wiped at his eyes. Everyone stepped back to give him room.
"Rob, are you okay?" Wally asked, worry in his voice.
Robin nodded and wiped at his eyes, his smile widening into a grin.
"What are you so happy about?" Batman questioned gently.
Robin turned to his mentor, his blue eyes sparkling and a soft giggle hiding within his throat.
"I saw them Batman," he whispered softly.
"Them?" Batman repeated.
Robin just kept grinning and he laughed gently, bringing his fists to his heart and shaking slightly from happiness.
"They were there… they miss me… they told the stupid gray man to go screw himself and they protected me," he continued to ramble, excited.
Batman steadied Robin by placing his hands on his shoulders.
"Robin, who are 'they'?" he asked again.
"My parents," Robin mouthed.
Bruce pulled his hands back as if Richard was covered in poisonous barbs.
"Impossible," he said simply, getting to his feet and walking away.
Robin's grin faded and he raised an eyebrow, the peak of them shown above his mask.
"It's what I saw!" he insisted, anger in his voice. "They were there after the gray man tried to get me to break!"
Batman stopped and shot Robin a glare.
"You just passed the test and fell asleep. You were just dreaming," he told his protégé, not amused.
Wally laughed and patted his friend on the back.
"Good job dude," he congratulated the ebony haired boy.
Robin smiled back, but his mind was set on the two brunettes that had approached him from the blinding white light. Was it a dream? Was it the gray man's ploy to break him? Was it real? He shrugged simply. He had beaten it. Simple as that. Why did he care about what that helmet had shown him? Maybe his parents were his weakness, but no one knew the facts to them besides him and Batman at the moment, so he was fine with that. His own words kept echoing back to him though.
'They remember being parents to Richard Grayson. I'm not Richard Grayson.'
He shrugged.
I'm not Richard Grayson. They wouldn't recognize me even if I was… it had to have been a dream…They really are my weakness. How disappointing.
He accepted Wally's hand and was yanked to his feet.
"What was that about?" Wally asked, his eyes on the retreating figure of the Caped Crusader.
"Probably his time of the month again," Robin muttered beneath his breath to his friend.
Wally laughed and threw an arm around his best friend.
"With him, I wouldn't be surprised."
The two walked on back to the house to do whatever they did to pass the time. Batman's mind was on Robin. He had seen his parents? The machine was designed to seek out current weaknesses and his parents had been dead for four years now. He made a note to fix the machine and headed towards the exit of the cave to attend to his duties.
"God bless you." "Now go to Hell." Thank you, my dearest Kameron, for making my day better. So yeah, vote on my poll, if you want… it's on my profile. Review if you want. This took a long time to type!
-FrankandJoe3