Chapter 1: Alley Boy
Creepy laughter filled the air as Robin chased Two Face's men across Crime Alley.
He and Batman were out patrolling the city when they received word, via bat in the sky, about a gun exchange happening at the docks.
When they had finally found the location of said exchange they had noticed that it was between Two Face's gang and some other low scale one from Star City.
Story short, the Dynamic Duo crashed their little exchange, tied up the Star City gang, and was now chasing after the rest of Two Face's.
Two Face didn't show though, which became apparent the moment they began fighting, so the exchange was probably nothing important. Hopefully.
The duo chased the group until they reached a dead end behind a nightclub whose music vibrated against the walls of the alley. The four of them turned around, fists up, ready to fight when they noticed that Robin was missing. An eerie cackle replacing the brightly colored bird as they shivered at the creepiness of it all.
That's when Batman gave the signal.
The duo charged them, Robin from above and Batman from in front, knocking them out in seconds. They tied them up and alerted the GCPD. They were about to continue patrol when Robin's Gotham Instincts suddenly kicked in.
Something's not ri-
Robin was cut off from his thoughts by a strong sense of vertigo and the power going out.
For about ten seconds Gotham was consumed by the shadows it tried to hide.
Once the lights came back on and the vertigo subsided, Robin looked at Batman, who was looking at him.
"Err, what just happened?" questioned Robin as he looked around him.
"I don't know," replied Batman looking pissed off that he didn't.
Robin was about to comment on the weirdness of it all, the main thing being that even the world's greatest detective didn't know something, when his holocomputer started going off.
He opened it up and began analyzing it, only to notice that one setting in particular was fluctuating exponentially. It was the setting that indicated particle acceleration and usually only contributed to the speed force. Looking at it now though it seemed as if something different was happening.
Robin feels Batman's presence over his shoulder and shifts slightly to get his attention.
"These readings indicate a huge disruption in energy," he begins to explain to Batman. "The energy pulses are surging from a certain area but it keeps fluctuating from one place to another. We'll probably have to wait until the the map can better identify the exact location of the pulse's origin."
It turns out they didn't have to wait long.
The energy signals had stopped at a point north of Crime Alley, in an alley near Wayne Enterprise.
"Well let's g-" began Robin only to see that Batman was already gone. "-o."
Robin quickly got up and followed him. The two made quick progress, taking routes only those that patrolled the city would know. When they reached their destination, they noticed a body on the ground, whose silhouette was seen through the unusual brightness of the alley. And if the strange static that surrounded the body was anything to go by, the cause of this strange phenomenon.
Batman crouched down to inspect the boy and, after a couple seconds, quickly stood up and took out his communicator.
He turned to Robin and gestured to the boy on the ground.
"Watch him." Batman ordered as serious as ever. "I'll be right back."
With that Batman walked out of earshot, leaving Robin with the glorious company of an unconscious kid.
No, not kid. Thought Robin upon further inspection.
The boy was a little older than him, about 15 or 16 and looked as if he had just come from a slaughterhouse. His jeans were torn in several places and his orange tee shirt was barely hanging onto his body. He had cuts, no gashes, on every part of visible skin, not to mention the truck loads of scars littering his body.
What happened to this guy? Thought Robin as he stared incredulously at the torn up teen.
He looked to the boy's face, only to grimace at how the blood and sweat caused his raven hair to plaster against the abnormally pale skin of his forehead, making him almost glow against the blackness of the alley way.
Yeah, he looks like crap
The sound of light, trained footsteps alerted Robin to Batman's presence.
"So what's the plan, B?"
"I talked to Black Canary and we both agreed that it would be best to take the boy to Mount Justice to treat his injuries."
Robin opened his mouth to argue; wanting to ask Batman if it was such a good idea to bring a kid they knew nothing about into their secret headquarters, when a thought struck him. Not once did he perceive this boy a threat. His usual caution and wariness (which he contributed to being his Gotham Instincts) no longer seemed to play a role in his and Batman's encounter with the unconscious teen. It was as if his mind had already deduced the teen to be non-threatening and his body had somehow relaxed, marginally, in his presence.
Robin looked at Batman only to see the same look of confusion on his face as he regarded the comatose boy in front of him. Even his stance was slightly less tense than it was, even though Batman is never not tense.
Looks like both of us are confused, thought Robin as he smirked in Batman's direction.
"We need to take him now." Batman stated as he regarded Alley Boy (the name Robin decided to dub him for the time being) and his injuries. "He's bleeding out."
Robin looked at Alley Boy only to find that Batman was right. A large pool of blood was beginning to pool around him from the many gashes he had been inflicted, which Robin had failed to notice on his initial evaluation of the unconscious teen.
Not taking his eyes off of Alley Boy, Robin could only express the situation in one word:
"Fuck."
After being zeta travelled to Mountain Justice, (and lectured by Batman on the use of profanity) Robin found himself next to Alley Boy in one of the beds in the Med Bay.
He was still unconscious, though more from exhaustion than pain, now that his injuries were taken care of. Robin had to stop himself from thinking back to the whole ordeal of treating said injures, less he want to get sick. The darkness of the alley did nothing but censor the horridness of Alley Boy's condition, for when he was brought into the brightness of the Med Bay and stripped of the ribbons of clothing he barely possessed, he not only looked paler, but his injuries looked bigger and greater. Even Batman had to pause in order to take in the sight before him.
The gashes were thicker and longer than what was thought previously; many ranging from one side of his body to the other; some jagged; some clean; and, from the many other cuts and carvings, all deliberate, it seemed.
There were purple-black bruises that covered his surprisingly lean body, giving Robin the impression that he had probably broken a couple of bones in whatever the hell happened.
His back, though, was what really got to Robin. There was barely any skin that wasn't cut. Slash upon slash was carved into the boy in patterns and shapes that could have come from only one thing. This 15-16 year old boy was whipped and beaten to the point that no part of his skin was left untouched.
He was not only hurt, but tortured. That was the only explanation for what he was seeing. Carved into his chest were symbols, words, it seemed, of an unknown language. Was it Greek? Latin? Robin couldn't tell, for while the symbols resembled the two languages, it was slightly different. Ancient maybe?
That was when Robin noticed Alley Boy's right arm. There tattooed into his skin were the letters SPQR, all in black, followed by a trident and a single line expanding on the length of his forearm. From his previous tutor sessions with Bruce (more like high class lecturing on everything and anything) he could remember that SPQR represented the government of Ancient Rome.
Why did Alley Boy have such a tattoo? Was it part of his tradition? If so were the strange symbols Latin? Maybe, but that still seemed off. Then what could it-
The obnoxious sound of his best friend brought Robin out of his contemplation and forced him to turn around to the opening door of the Med Bay.
"Yo Rob!" Wally exclaimed loudly, completely oblivious to the unconscious boy on the bed. "What's been going on here? Batman, Black Canary, and Red Tornado called for an emergency league meeting in the Watchtower and forbade us from coming into the Med Bay, which C'MON would make us want to go more considering we are teenag-"
Wally cut himself off once he noticed that Robin wasn't alone in the room.
He looked to Alley Boy and then Robin, who was giving him a look of passive aggressive patience that only a bat could pull off, before asking, "Uh Rob...who is that?"
A grunt was heard from Superboy who said something under his breath too low for the others to hear, besides Aqualad, who was standing next to him, and who shot him a warning glance before looking to Robin as well.
"Yes Robin, is this boy the reason behind our mentors' sudden worry?"
"Personally guys, I have no idea who this is. We found him in an alleyway covered in his own blood, with a crap ton of injuries. Alley Boy, as I've come to call him, is the reason behind the adults' distress, due to how we found him."
Robin then went into great detail explaining how he and Batman found Alley Boy in an alley and all the strange phenomena that happened before that, and after his explanation, looked to each of his teammates to see if what he said made sense.
Wally, who looked to be vibrating in place, was wearing a constipated expression that could only contribute to him trying to make sense of this strange situation.
Superboy seemed to be fairing better than Wally, but that could be just because he had on the same brooding expression he always had.
M'gann and Kaldur, on the other hand, seemed to understand the situation pretty well, judging from the similar thoughtful expressions they shot each other.
They had all walked across the room to stand in front of the bed beside Robin and all turned towards Alley Boy, who had still yet to show any signs of waking.
"He's really cute," observed M'gann with a faint blush on her cheeks.
"Yeah but he could be dangerous," argued Wally as he inspected the boy in front of him. "and he isn't THAT cute."
"But you do think he's cute," Robin chimed in unhelpfully, laughing at the redness that stained Wally's flustered face.
"N-NO! That's not what I meant!"
"There's no need to fear Wally, we're all friends here," continued Robin amused, cackling at how red his freckled friend was getting.
A grunt was heard from Superboy who was looking at Wally with a confused expression.
"Why are you so embarrassed?" Superboy asked bluntly.
"Yeah Wally there's no need to be embarrassed. It's just an observation," M'gann added sweetly.
"Y-yeah well, if you think that's cute," Wally said in an effort to dispel the awkwardness of this conversation. "Wait 'til you get ahold of the Wallman in action."
With that, Wally began flexing his muscles and giving her what he considered to be a Calvin Klein worthy smoulder.
Superboy, still confused, was looking from Wally to M'gann to Alley Boy. There was a tension in his shoulders that Robin hadn't seen before and a look in his eyes that caused Robin to smirk.
Huh, thought Robin passively. Seems like someone's jealous.
He looked to M'gann who was giggling softly as she watched Wally, and then at Superboy who was staring at her with rapt attention.
Yup. Gotta pay close attention to this development.
"Wow KF, laying it on kinda thick there don't you think?" Said Robin as he watched Wally's efforts in trying to win over M'gann's affections become slightly more ridiculous.
He was literally doing push ups while telling her the many upsides to dating the Wallman.
Dear God, someone please stop this fool, thought Robin as he watched the scene before him while trying not to cringe.
He turned to Kaldur, who hadn't said a word the entire time, only to notice him watching Alley Boy with an intense look that Robin couldn't seem to place.
"Hey Kaldur, you've been strangely quiet," stated Robin.
"Sorry my friend it's just...this boy, he seems...strangely familiar," replied Kaldur as he continued to regard Alley Boy.
"Really? Do you think he's an atlantian?"
"No, not an atlantian," replied Aqualad dismissively. "It's something more. It feels like he's calling to me."
"Not you too Kaldur!" Came Wally's distressed cry.
"Not in that context!" Exclaimed Kaldur. "It's something else, something important, I just can't figure out what."
That's when they notice the movement coming from the bed. They look down to see that Alley Boy has begun moving in his sleep.
Looks like he's having a nightmare, observes Robin as he takes in the the crease between his eyebrows and the twitching of the boy in front of him. A bad one.
He's about to say something to his teammates when Alley Boy's eyes suddenly open.
Vibrant, sea-green eyes meet bright, masked blue ones before the former suddenly jumps up and practically flips over the startled team before him.
He pulls out, is that a pen?!, from the pocket of his medical robe and points it at the team whose members are all in defensive positions.
"Where am I?" demands Alley Boy whose glare scorches the team in front of him. "And who the hell are you?"
He suddenly has a 3-foot long sword and is holding it defensively in front of him.
Where the hell did he get that?!
Robin hurriedly begins to explain to him the ways in which he got there when he suddenly notices how unsteady Alley Boy is on his feet. He begins to sway, but effectively steadies himself before motioning for Robin to continue.
Once he finishes his explanation, for the second time that night, Robin looks to Alley Boy to see him still standing defensively. He's swaying more and some of his injuries are beginning to open, not to mention the fact that the cracked ribs he received were obviously making it hard to stand at all.
"Why should I believe you?" slurs Alley Boy as he assesses the teenage heroes in front of him.
"Because we're superheroes," Wally replies enthusiastically and begins to run around at top speed.
Alley Boy just looks at the blurred figure of KF before sighing and sitting down on one of the beds.
He's still tense, Robin observes silently. But he seems to have accepted our explanation.
"I need some water," says Alley Boy exhaustedly.
Aqualad gets up to get him some while the rest stand around him watching him silently.
"So superheroes," says Alley Boy after an awkward length of silence. "You guys are for real?"
"Of course we're real!" exclaims KF loudly. "I'm Kid Flash, you know, partner of the Flash."
"Who?"
Wally just gaped.
"You don't know who the Flash is!?"
"Uh, no. Should I?" Alley Boy asked confused.
"Should you?! SHOULD YOU!?-" began Wally who was about to blow a fuse.
"KF calm down," intervened Robin to his worked up best friend.
He then turned to Alley Boy.
"So you seriously don't know who the Flash is?"
Shake of the head.
"Or Batman?"
Another shake.
"Superman?"
Shake.
"Wow, so you're not from around here huh?" commented Robin.
"Where is here exactly?" asked Alley Boy, looking more confused by the second.
"Mount Justice, it's our secret headquarters," explained Robin.
"Oh okay," said Alley Boy still 100% confused.
"Hello Megan!" M'gann cried suddenly while hitting her palm against her forehead. "We should introduce ourselves!"
"Oh yeah! Good idea M'gann!" exclaimed Robin as he turned to Alley Boy. "Do you want to go first or do you want us to?"
"You guys can go."
"Okay well I'll go first then." said Robin. "I'm Robin; partner to Batman."
He turned to Wally who had finally calmed down and was smiling cockily.
"As you know I'm Kid Flash; partner to the Flash. My actual name is Wally West though."
Then it was M'gann who gave Alley Boy a sweet smile before saying, "I'm M'gann M'orzz, but you can call me M'gann or Megan or Miss Martian or whatever. I'm Martian Manhunter's niece."
Alley Boy nodded to her before turning to Superboy who was too busy scowling to notice.
Robin nudged him, which earned him a grunt and a glare before he turned to Alley Boy.
"Superboy."
"And I am Kaldur'ahm."
Everyone turned to see that Aqualad had come back with the glass of water in his hand.
"You can call me Kaldur if it's easier. My hero name is Aqualad and I am the partner of my king, Aquaman."
They all turn to Alley Boy expectedly, who in turn was looking at the water as if it was a lifeline.
Aqualad reaches over to hand the glass to the boy, when their hands suddenly touch. Aqualad's eyes widen at the familiar feeling of power and comfort that can't be mistaken for anything else.
He retracts his hand and falls back to stand with the rest of his team, who are all giving him weird looks, before motioning for Alley Boy to begin.
Alley Boy, who has already finished his water, looks up and begins speaking.
"My name is Percy Jackson, and I like blue food."
The other teenagers were about to respond when the doors to the Med Bay suddenly open to reveal Batman and Black Canary.
"What are you kids doing in here!?" came Black Canary's incredulous cry. "We told you to stay away from the Med Bay!"
"Black Canary," said Batman motioning to Percy on the bed.
They both took in his awakened form before signaling for the rest of the teens to leave.
"That's not fair!" complained Wally as he rounded in the two adults. "We have a right to know what's going on! You can't just kick us out!"
Robin looked at All-Percy to see that he had become tense again. He was staring cautiously at the newcomers and began fiddling with a pen that had come out of nowhere. Now that he thought about it where the hell did his sword go!?
Robin turned to Batman to protest as well.
"Wally's right B, we deserve to stay here with Percy."
Batman turned his Batglare on both Wally and Robin. Whereas Robin was unaffected, since he was used to it, Wally was about to piss his pants, and all but supersped out of the Med Bay. Him and the rest of Young Justice left the room, leaving Robin to stand defiantly against Batman.
"Robin, that's an order."
Robin was about to protest again when Percy spoke up from the bed. "It's fine Robin. I can handle this."
He gave Robin a reassuring smile that was slightly strained before motioning for Robin to leave.
Robin looked at each person in turn before reluctantly leaving the room as well. He closed the doors and was about to hack the security cameras when Aqualad suddenly spoke up from the kitchen where the rest of the team were.
"Do you guys recall my initial confusion over Percy in regards to familiarity?" he asked.
"Yeah why?" replied Robin as he made his way over.
"I now know what it is. It's the same feeling of power. The same comfortable and welcoming feeling."
Aqualad looked towards the closed doors of the Med Bay.
"It's the ocean. He feels like the ocean."