Richard Grayson – AKA Robin – January 21st, 2010 – 2:32pm
It wasn't the first time Dick Grayson had woken up in pain. Being the ward of a billionaire as well as the Boy Wonder, Dick had a nasty habit of finding himself in dangerous situations. Although, typically he would wake up either in the hospital or the Batcave… not in a pile of metal and ash, surrounded by the red blaze of fire and the sticky ooze of blood. As far as he could tell, he hadn't broken any bones, but the sting of open air called attention to the various scrapes and cuts that littered his skin. The sharp tear across his abs told Dick he wasn't protected by his Kevlar – whatever happened, it must have been Dick Grayson as the target, not Robin.
The young teen groaned in pain and forced his eyes open, only to find himself in total darkness. He reached a clumsy hand to his face and felt the familiar frames of his shades in place. His earlier assumption had been wrong; he wasn't Dick Grayson… he was here with his team. The thought brought a new sense of urgency to the young teen and Dick pushed himself up to his knees and looked around. His head was pounding and his eyes stung from the swirls of smoke that filled the air. Scraps of metal littered the dirt and the violent blaze of several small fires surrounded what appeared to be the mangled remnants of the Bioship. The violent scene only added to the fear growing within the Boy Wonder. He opened his mouth to call for his team, but managed only a weak, scratching whisper from his parched throat, before a fit of coughs rendered him silent.
"M'gann? Miss Martian, are you there?" The psychic link was down. It was hardly a surprise with the draining heat of the flames and the obvious trauma of the crash, but still no less of a concern. Either M'gann was unconscious, out of reach, or…
"No!" Dick hissed aloud refusing to believe the alternative. If he survived, then his team must have survived to! They all had superpowers, aside from Artemis and she was more than capable of taking care of herself. They would be fine. They would be fine.
A heavy thud shook the ground behind him and Dick suddenly felt himself being pulled to his feet by a set of strong yet shaky Kryptonian hands. Dick's eyes followed the soot-covered arms up to Conner's singed and torn Superman shirt, and finally came to rest on the clone's ghostly pale skin and wide, frightened eyes.
"Robin! I almost didn't hear you! Are you ok? You're... you're bleeding…" Conner's hands left Dick's arms and hovered uncertainly over the seeping scratches that covered the younger hero's body. He looked visibly shaken, which was something Dick was not accustomed to. It took a lot to scare someone who was virtually indestructible.
"I'm fine." Dick scratched out, triggering another coughing fit. By the time he was able to catch his breath and clear the searing smoke from his lungs, Dick's chest was aching from the effort, but at least his voice was a little clearer. Conner stood there helplessly, looking as if he'd never felt so useless in his life.
"I'm fine, Conner, really. The others… have you found them yet? Are they ok?" Dick was far too concerned about the rest of the team to worry about his own minor injuries. Atlantians and Martians were vulnerable to the heat, Artemis had no abilities to protect her from the crash, and Wally would be just as fragile if he hadn't eaten recently. Dick's previous optimism was struggling under the weight of his concerns. He needed to find his friends now! He needed to be sure they were alive!
"Kaldur's in rough shape and M'gann was still unconscious when I left her. They're down by the beech, as far from the fire as I could get them. Kaldur's trying to contact the League but so far, no luck." Conner reported, knowing Robin's next question even before the younger boy opened his mouth.
"Still no sign of Wally or Artemis, but I'm still looking. I'll take you to the beach, then come back and…"
"I'm not going anywhere Conner. Not until we find them." Dick's stated in an inarguable tone that made Conner bite back any of his objections. The clone waited long enough to ensure Dick was steady on his feet before returning to the heaps of rubble in search of their missing teammates. Compared to the fire-resistant Kryptonian with super hearing and x-ray vision, there wasn't a lot Dick Grayson could do to help, but he couldn't bring himself to leave knowing that two of his best friends were somewhere among the shattered remains of the Bioship.
Agonizing minutes crept by as the two dark-haired teens sifted through the burning heaps of metal that surrounded the crumpled skeleton of the Bioship. The pain and exhaustion from the crash were weighing heavily on Robin's shoulder, but his sheer determination and personal drive kept him focused on the task at hand, all the while repeating phrases in his mind like a mantra:
They're both fine. They're both alright. Wally is alive. Artemis is alive. They're both fine. They're both alright…
What seemed like hours later – in reality, a mere 20 minutes of so – Conner's head snapped up from his pile of rubble, drawing his eyes to the decimated frame of the Bioship that sat in the center of the ring of scattered metal. Dick could see the flash of hope in the clone's eyes as he covered the distance in one great leap, landing near the crumpled frame. He tore a huge strip from the ships' side and tossed it behind him like trash. As soon as the hull was ripped open, the muted cries from within were finally able to escape into the open air. The sound made Dick's blood run cold and pushed his feet as fast as they could move in the direction of the screams.
"Wally! Wake up! Wally! Somebody! Someone help us! Wally!" The voice, hoarse from the smoke and the constant screaming, carried with it the worst of Dick's fears. Artemis and Wally were inside the hull! They were trapped within that twisted, contorted, burning hunk of metal and Wally wasn't waking up!
By the time Dick reached the Bioship, Conner had dug his way through to Artemis. She was trapped within what used to be the cockpit of the Bioship, now just a mangled mess that had caved in on top of her. A flare of red hair and soot-covered, freckled skin was beside her. It looked like Wally had tried to shield Artemis from the crash, taking the brunt of the damage himself. The blood dripped down from his scalp, mixing with the blackened ash on his face and making the Speedster hardly recognizable beneath the grime.
"Conner! Robin! Thank god! You got to help him! He's not waking up!" Artemis called wearily to her team. One uneasy glance between Dick and Conner proved it wasn't that simple. The frame of the Bioship was unstable. Even with Conner lifting the rubble up enough for Dick to pull them out, shifting either Artemis or Wally would cause a cave in that would bury whoever was left behind!
"We'll just have to be fast." Dick stated, trying to sound more confident than he felt.
"We can't… it's too much of a risk." Conner argued back, his eyes still just as wide and fearful as they were when he found Robin.
"If we leave them in there, we'll lose both of them!" Dick argued back, cringing at the harsh truth behind his words. Conner heard it too… We'll lose both of them… as opposed to now, where we would be lucky to only lose one.
"Wait!" The voice cut through the smoke and dread, giving the heroes that sliver of hope they were so desperate for. With weary, sluggish movements, Kaldur'ahm staggered towards the Bioship, supporting an equally frail-looking M'gann. Neither were in any condition to help, especially when their friends were trapped in the center of a mangles mess of metal and flame, but neither hero seemed willing to let that deter them.
"Superboy and I can hold the frame away from Kid Flash and Artemis. Miss Martian can stabilize the rubble as much as possible. Artemis, as soon as you are free you must help Robin drag Kid Flash away from the Bioship. Work quickly; I am not certain how long Miss Martian and myself will be able to keep our strength." Kaldur admitted, proposing the only plan that had a chance of each of them getting out of this alive. Dick, Conner, and Artemis were quick to agree, knowing that the small chance of saving Wally's life was worth the risk the rest of them would be taking.
With the two super-strengthed heroes at either side of the Bioship's mangled frame, M'gann using the last of her telekinetic strength to stabilize the hull, and Dick crawling in as close to his trapped teammates as he could get, the team commenced their rescue. Dick grabbed Artemis' arm and braced himself against the hull, weighting for Aqualad's signal before pulling with all his strength until the blonde was pulled free from the wreckage. With their teammates straining from the weight of the rubble, both Artemis and Dick grabbed one of Wally's arms and pulled, only to hear an agonizing shriek rip through the unconscious speedster's lips.
"He's stuck! His left leg is pinned between two of the ship's support beams!" Dick called out, able to see the twisted mess of blood, flesh, and metal.
"M'gann, can't you talk to the ship? Get it to release Wally?" Artemis pleaded in desperation as both the Martian and Altantian were losing their stamina.
"B-bioship is unr-responsive! And I c-can't move it m-myself without dropping th-this whole thing on t-top of him!" M'gann strained under the effort of stabilizing the wreckage.
"We can't hold on much longer. Robin… Do it." Kaldur ordered, sharing a hard glance with Dick as the younger hero crawled back into the hull beside his best friend.
"Sorry Walls…" Dick muttered sincerely before grabbing the Speedster's trapped leg. With a sharp twist, the unconscious Speedster released an inhuman cry of pain. His knee dislocated with a sickly snap, and Dick was able to contort the limb around the beams, freeing the redhead from the wreckage. With Wally's leg free, Dick and Artemis were able to pull him out of the hull and away from the bioship in time for the other, exhausted members of the team to drop their burdens and retreat.
Dick was instantly at Wally's side, checking his vitals and looking over his condition. The Speedster had a deep gash along his scalp, his wrist was swollen – likely sprained – and his back was shredded from the hull caving in, not to mention the 1st and 2nd degree burns that littered his exposed skin. He needed food, rest, and somewhere safe to recover far away from here.
"Conner, get him to the beach and straighten his leg as much as possible. He's not going to like it, but trust me, it'll hurt him a lot more if it doesn't heal properly. We'll meet you there." Dick advised, trusting the Speedster in Conner's hands. The Kryptonian didn't like the idea of leaving the group behind, but he didn't argue. That fear was still alight in his eyes and Dick realized this was probably the first time Conner realized how fragile the rest of them were in comparison to him.
"We'll take care of our injuries first, then we'll figure out where we are and how we can contact the League." He suggested, pulling Artemis's arm over his shoulder so he could support her on the walk to the beach. Though her injuries were nothing compared to Wally's, Artemis certainly hadn't escaped the hull unscathed. Kaldur and M'gann followed close behind, leaving the remnants of the ship to burn themselves out.
"I was not able to get a signal from our coms. It appears something is blocking our transmissions."
"Whatever it is, it's blocking all incoming and outgoing signals. That's why we crashed. As soon as we flew over this island, the Bioship stopped responding to my commands. She just… fell." M'gann admitted, no doubt feeling that all of this was her fault.
"We'll worry about that later. Right now, our priority is making sure everyone's alright." Dick stated, trying to push the troubling thoughts about their situation out of his mind with little success. Almost every member of their team was injured or weak, their link to the League was blocked, and their only form of transportation was lying in ruin in the middle of an unfamiliar island. No one knew where they were or how to find them; they had no food, fresh water, shelter, or supplies. There was only one thing that could distract Dick from how utterly hopeless their situation seemed: the shattering scream that cried out from the beach. All four heroes stopped dead in their tracks, sharing a look of horror before sprinting towards the sound of the cry, with one name on their minds:
"Wally!"