Hey guys! So this is my first Young Justice story and I hope you like it! It's inspired by The Hunger Games! I wouldn't call it a crossover though. Thank you so much shadowtail43! I would never have posted this without you! After reading this story you guys should read her stories because they're awesome! Shadowtail43 has helped me so much!
Disclaimer: Seriously?
And now for the story! Enjoy…..
(Robin POV)
Life is like a rollercoaster. Things could be going great one moment and then horrible the next. That was like my day. It was the middle of October in the afternoon. The sky was grey and the air was cold. It was a weekend so there was no school. Bruce was at a Justice League meeting and Alfred was cleaning as usual. Wally texted me saying that everyone was at the mountain hanging out today so I decided to go. I put on my shades, said goodbye to Alfred, then transported to the mountain.
When I stepped out of the machine I immediately smelled M'gann cooking brownies and heard Artemis and Wally cooking in the living room. No one heard me enter the room. Not even Superboy. He was too busy sitting on the loveseat watching the arguing pair.
"Baywatch give me the remote!"
"Sorry Blondie but I don't think so. We've really gotten to know each other."
"Oh I get it. Every girl in school rejected you so you started dating the remote."
I'll have you know I got 3 girls' numbers this week. I bet you got none. You'll never get a boy to like you with that attitude."
"What did you say?"
Kaldur was sitting on one of the chairs rubbing his temples. It looked like he tried to get them to stop fighting many times but failed. So I decided to step in. "Jeez guys get a room." Everybody jumped at the sound of my voice. Artemis and Wally looked at each other, blushed, than looked away. It always shuts them up. Kaldur looked at me and silently thanked me. Wally recovered quickly and was at my side with his arm around my shoulder in a second.
"Dude you're a ninja don't even argue with me. Anyways glad you got my text! We're gonna watch a movie right now. We're just waiting for M'gann to finish with snacks." I did a front flip onto the couch then made myself comfortable. Wally sat down next to me.
"What movie are we watching?" I asked
"Transformers." replied Artemis who sat down in a chair with the remote in her hand. She gave a smug look to Wally who in return gave a glare.
"It is good to see you Robin."
"You too Kaldur. And you Superboy." Superboy just grunted in response. At that moment M'gann floated in carrying a tray of brownies in her hands and used her telekinesis to carry the popcorn, chips, and drinks.
"Hi Robin I'm glad you could make it!" she said and then she placed the food on the coffee table and passed out drinks to everyone.
"Thanks beautiful." said Wally after being handed his drink. M'gann ignored him though.
"So now that everyone is here and the snacks are done can I press play?" Artemis said while waving the remote in the air.
"Go ahead." I said but then something weird happened. Right when Artemis was about to hit play the electricity in the room went haywire. The T.V screen was static and the lights flicked on and off.
"Robin what's happening?" yelled Kaldur. He was trying to be heard over the static of the TV. The volume kept going up. I ran to my room in the mountain, grabbed my glove and then ran back to the living room. I turned on my holocomputer and then started typing.
"Someone's hacked us!" I yelled back "They seem to be trying to send a video message. I'll try to see who it is but-"but the thing I saw on the screen shocked me.
"What is it?" yelled Superboy. His hands were on his ears since the volume of the T.V was too loud.
"Guys whoever is doing this isn't just targeting the mountain. They're trying to hack every T.V, computer, and radio station all over the world! The Watchtower too!" A look of disbelief fell on the teams' faces. No one has ever done this. Just then everything stopped. The lights stopped flickering and the T.V's screen was blue. Then someone appeared on the screen. It was a man. He appeared to be standing on an alien ship. I wouldn't say he looked normal but he didn't have green skin, gills, or tentacles. He did however have light green hair slicked back (like how I wear my hair for school), a dark green sparkly suit, a yellow tie, glitter gold eye liner, pointy ears, and yellow eyes. If you saw him on the streets you would think he was a colorful game show host or something.
"Hello!" he said a little too cheerfully "My name is Narko! Before I begin may I please ask the Justice League to stand down because we have Earth surrounded with 10,000 ships and they are ordered to blow up this planet if they see anything funny going on. So let us not do anything we'll regret later!" The way he said it so sweetly sent shivers down my spine. Just then the computer recognized everyone from the Justice League.
"Computer show us live footage of the broadcast." said Batman. The League huddled around the screen.
"Batman what are you doing here?" I asked
"Somehow these people shutdown everything in the Watchtower forcing us to come to Earth. They want all heroes in one place." The guy Narko started talking again so we returned our attention to the screen.
"So let me explain myself. I am from a planet called the Capitol Planet. It was surrounded by 24 planets or as we call it districts. Recently it is surrounded by 23 districts. A long time ago there was a war. The 24 districts against the Capitol. The Capitol won and to celebrate, each year we play a game we call the Hunger Games! Each year we would go to each district, pick a place on the district, and then pick a contestant ages 12-18! That contestant will come to the Capitol where the game takes place! The person will go through interviews and training until it's time for the real game to begin. We put the 24 contestants in an arena where they fight to the death until there is only 1 person standing! The arena is different every year! It can be a forest, desert, jungle, wasteland, etc. The winner gets riches for their planet. You see after the war the districts became very poor. This is how we help them! Doesn't this sound like fun!" We were all stunned. This planet was so cruel. And he just had to continue.
"So you must be wondering why we're here. Well sadly one of the districts rebelled and went into chaos so we had to destroy that planet and everyone in it. So to replace that district we came to Earth! Isn't this exciting!" I wouldn't call it exciting. I would call it ridiculous and terrifying. He was basically told us someone was going to fight for their life o a different planet and he was smiling and acting like it was the best thing. I didn't think it could get any worse but Narko just kept talking.
"So let's pick a place shall we!" he then walked over to a big computer. He typed a few things and pressed enter. He then continued.
"So this computer is filled with names of different cities and towns in the world. It will pick a random city or town and then we'll go to that place to pick a random contestant!" the computer beeped and it seemed like the whole world held its breath. Narko walked over to the computer and then walked back with a piece paper in his hand. I looked around and everyone looked nervous. Even Batman. But we all stayed still. We were stiff as boards but still.
"And the location is…..Gotham City in the United States! Everyone who lives there must meet in front of City Hall! Outsiders may come if they like but only kids and teens from Gotham will have the shot at being in the Hunger Games! We'll see you there and may the odds be ever in your favor!" and with that he signed off and the room was silent. Everyone was staring at me with wide eyes and mouths open. However I was only looking at 2 people. Artemis and Batman. An understanding passed between us. Especially between me and Artemis. Even though the chance of one of us being picked is small it's still there. And I have a feeling the odds were not in my favor today. Finally Superman broke the silence.
"Batman what should we do?" he stared at me for awhile before answering.
"There's nothing we can do. It we don't go along with what they say then they will kill everyone on this planet. Artemis and Robin will have to go." the team was shocked by this new information.
"Wait Arty? I thought you lived in Star!" said Wally
"No I live in Gotham with my mom." Artemis didn't say anything else so the matter was dropped. She was hugging herself though and I could tell she was scared.
"Hey Arty remember it's like a 1/5,000,000 chance you'll get picked so don't worry."
"I know Robin but I'd rather it be one of us then a civilian. We'd have a better chance." I knew she was right. We were trained. Then M'gann spoke.
"Robin, I don't know if I'm asking too much but if they call a boys' name I don't want to be worrying the whole entire time if it's you. So can you tell us your secret identity?" I could tell she was nervous of being yelled at for asking but I understood. I looked at Batman and he gave a small nod. I nodded back then stood in front of my teammates. I reached for my mask and slowly took it off.
"Hi I'm Dick Grayson." the team (besides Wally) gasped. Artemis recovered quickly
"Wait ward of the billionaire Bruce Wayne Dick Grayson? The Dick Grayson that goes to my school? That Dick Grayson!" I smiled and laughed.
"Yep that's me!" Superboy spoke next.
"Does that mean Bruce Wayne is Batman?"
"Wow you catch on fast Supey! But yeah you're right." there was an awkward silence between us until M'gann grabbed me and Artemis and cried.
"I know it would be for the best but I don't want you guys to go." She hugged us tighter and soon the whole team was in a group hug. The League stood around us. Some put their hands on our shoulders. I wanted to stay there forever but I knew it was time to go.
"Guys I think we should go." And with that the hug broke apart.
"Robin the League will be there. And the team but they'll be in there civilians." said Batman. I nodded and Artemis and I walked towards the machine. I took one last look behind me and everyone gave me a reassuring smile. I smiled back then the machine beamed us to Gotham.
When we got to City Hall I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It was very crowded. The kids and teens were separated from the adults, observers, and kids that were too young. There was a stage in front of the building with 2 big screens on each side. I immediately saw Narko with his stupid grin. I looked at the adult and observers section and spotted the League and the team. Wally caught my eyes and he waved to me. I waved back then looked at Artemis. We smiled at each other then walked towards 2 lines. One was for girls and the other was for boys. Artemis and I hugged each other before going our separate ways.
The line was moving slowly. It took awhile but it was finally my turn. A woman pricked my finger with a needle and then smeared the blood next to my name on the sheet. I then walked over to the boys section. After waiting for an hour Narko finally stepped up to the microphone.
"I am delighted that everyone could make it!" his sickly cheerful voice made me want to gag. "This is called the reaping! Now before we choose the contestant we'll watch past Hunger Games!" Narko walked off the stage and sat down in the front row where I just realized other people were sitting. Each person was sparkly and colorful like Narko. Narko then pressed a button on a remote and the 2 screens turned on.
I can only describe the video in one way. Terrifying. There was so much blood and death. People were dying from dehydration, hyperthermia, stab wounds, infections, one kid even beat another with a rock. I heard people vomiting in the crowd. I almost did too. I looked over at the team and League. They all had horrified looks on their faces. M'gann was even crying. I was so glad when the video was over. Narko came back on stage and was actually clapping.
"Didn't you just love that! I could watch it a thousand times! Now the moment you've all been waiting for." he walked over to a big bowl in the middle of the stage. In the bowl there was millions of the stage. In the bowl there were millions of slips of paper each with a name on it. It was nerve racking to know my name was in that bowl. Narko reached into the bowl. Nobody moved or made a sound. You could only hear the wind and rustling of paper. I however could only hear my heart beating as Narko took his hand out of the bowl. He showed everyone the piece of paper and then walked back to the microphone painfully slow. He carefully unfolded the paper. He stared at it for what seemed like forever but in reality was only a minute. A creepy smile formed on his face and I will never forget what he said next.
"…...Congratulations Richard Grayson you will participate in the Hunger Games! Come on up here!"
Time froze. My heart stopped. People were staring at me. I couldn't meet the eyes of my family and friends. I just starred ahead to shocked to do anything. Finally someone took my arm and pushed me towards the stage. Once I got up there Narko put his arm around my shoulder.
"Richard Grayson everybody!"
(A/N this part was written by shadowtail43) But no one clapped. They all had sad expressions on their faces. I looked over to the others as if they were going to do something. But they were as shocked as I was. I could see all the Leaguers and the teams' faces. But it didn't matter. It wasn't like they were the ones chosen to die.
I hoped you guys liked reading it because I enjoyed writing it! So please review and tell me what you think! Should I continue?
