Authors note: Hello every body! I'm finally updating! And here is the story I promised a while ago, I hope you guys like it. ^.^
Once again, I thought of this while thinking of my puppy who just recently died. In fact, today is the official two month marker since he passed. Yeah, scary isn't it? He died on 9/11. Really, really sad. ANYWAY! I was still breathing last time I checked so I guess I will survive. *sad smile*
Any who, I think that I rushed though this and some of the scenes seem awkward to me. So, if you have any tips on how to improve or make the story better I would love to hear them.
Summary:You told me you would be back soon, we were arguing so I didn't even say goodbye, the mission was going to be dangerous, but how could you be hurt?
You promised me.
You lied.
Warning! Character Death!
Normally I would just say if you don't like it don't read it however, I think you will like it if you just read it, trust me. ;)
Disclaimer: OK, Let me just say this now because I won't say it again. The only things I own here are my ORIGINAL poem, and my ORIGINAL plot line. That's it. I don't own the characters, the design of the Watchtower, OR YOUNG JUSTICE! OK, I think I made my point. ^.^
Thoughts...
/Link up/
"Talking."
Narration...
Enjoy! ^.^
Falling, falling, drowning in nothing,
Wondering around in the dark, never knowing, always asking,
...
There is nothing I understand,
Nothing at all,
Trying to hold on,
Hanging by a strand,
...
I don't feel anything,
Was there ever a time that I did?
Everything is so numb now,
I can't be strong,
I'm just a kid.
...
I want to forget,
I want to feel,
I want this pain to go away,
I want it to have never been real.
...
All I am is spent,
All my blood drawn,
I don't want to suffer anymore,
Would it just be easier to never see the dawn?
...
I'm drowning again,
In what I don't know,
I can't go on anymore,
Because without you, I am hollow.
Chapter 1 – Along For The Ride
It was a cold night in the dark city of Gotham; a cool wind blew far over head and was only broken by immense sky scrapers towering above. The loud buzz of busying peoples below was muffled and lost somewhere along the breeze; it was a giant mess of bight lights in a world that only opened to the night.
On the top of one of the tallest buildings, far above the distant crowd below, two shadowed figures stood, crouching in the darkness. Being able to see everything in the city at one time from one point was an invaluable resource, the only issue being that the wind may dampen the sound and light, but it only hastens the spread of the foul stench of exhaust and other pollutants.
One of the figures took in a deep breath and then sighed slowly.
"Ahhhh, nothing like the smell of poison in the evenings."
A trademark grin spread across the smaller shadow's face revealing bight white teeth that clashed drastically with the black that surrounded him.
Shifting slightly so as to look at the small shadow the larger figure was found by a pool of light generated by a billboard sign a hundred plus feet away.
"No wise cracks, be serious or I won't let you go."
At that the smaller figure jumped slightly and shifted his position so that he was now also in the spotlight.
"Ok ok, I'll shut up; I just wanted to lighten the mood some."
This child like response earned a raised eyebrow from the dark vigilante.
"Robin..."
"Yes?"
"Take out some of that excess energy down there."
The small boy followed his partners pointed finger and saw yet another gang tormenting yet another sad citizen.
Though it would never ever get tiring.
Robin couldn't contain his excitement, as the grin grew across his now lit up face he looked absolutely thrilled. Even though he had been Batman's partner coming up on five years now, it never got any less exciting and it never made him any less happy when his mentor would volunteer him to handle an incident by himself.
Even if it was just some petty thieves.
He would never admit to that though.
"Already there!"
As he yelled his response Robin leapt off the edge but not before shooting a cable to the adjacent building, with precise aim he attached it to the exact place needed so he could soar to his target with ease.
As he descended closer he started to be able to make out what the thugs were saying, they had at this point surrounded the poor man and with each holding either a club, chain, or a base ball bat, it was obvious what they wanted.
It took him mere seconds to fall from his previous position and silently slip into the shadows, being as big as they were stupid the gang didn't even notice the boy's louder than normal landing. But, going unnoticed wouldn't be any fun now would it?
So, instead of remaining on the wall attached by one of his grappling hooks, Robin chose to fall directly onto the trash bin that was avoiding the light just as he was.
There were seven men total, they ranged from big, to bulky, to just plain athletic, there was one that stood out though. With chestnut hair shaped into a sharp crew cut, the man was clearly in charge and by the way that his confidence and narcissism was almost visible as it fell off him in waves, it was easy to see that he thought he was ten feet tall and bullet proof.
The boy wonder landed with an echoed thump, causing the leader of the group to jump and immediately spin on the spot and start waving the metal bar in his hand around threateningly.
"Who's there? Show yourself!"
He had been shocked at the noise at first but had recovered quickly and was now thinking about his new "victim".
He may have been able to hide it fast enough for his gang to miss it, but the little bird in the shadows did not.
Just like before a toothy grin spread across his face, but this time, not even his form could be made out of the dark alleyway. So, all the thugs saw was a demented looking smile suddenly appear from out of nowhere.
Then, just as soon as it had appeared, the white smirk vanished, only to be replaced by unnerving cackles bouncing off the walls in every direction.
They were all getting shaky in their boots by this point; one even turned tail and ran wailing like a little girl. After a few seconds they had all moved together back to back, it wasn't quite a circle but they didn't care at the moment.
It took only a few more seconds after that for someone to give in, the smallest one of the group was shaking and sweating profusely, his teeth rattling against each other as his eyes racked up and down the street desperately.
"W-who are you?"
As they all stood waiting for a reply a collective jump was shared between them when one of the bigger men yelled and was dragged into the darkness by an invisible force.
Then, everything happened at once.
One by one the entire gang was taken down, weather it be by them disappearing without a trace or by something coming down on top of them in a blur and knocking them senseless. Finally the only man left standing was the leader, and he was shaking like a leaf.
The man was spinning constantly, feebly trying to defend himself from a foe he could not see.
It was just as he spun once again to try to hit his attacker when his feet were kicked out from underneath him.
Slowly a figure slipped out of the darkness, still cloaked in the night his eyes seemed to glow menacingly.
"I am your worst nightmare."
And with that, he lunged, knocking the pathetic thug out like a light and he fell like a stack of bricks.
A triumphant grin spread across Robin's face as he proceeded to tie all of the gang together in a circle.
"Hah! I've always wanted to say that."
After making sure he had tied the knot securely enough he then turned to face the traumatized pedestrian slouched against the wall a ways down the alley.
"Go on, get outa here."
You didn't need to tell him twice. With a nod of recognition and thanks the small man scooped up his briefcase and papers and spared no time in running away.
With glee still etched into his face Robin turned and stared up expectantly at the building far above him.
Meanwhile...
A dark shape was looming over the edge far above, staring down at the scene playing out below him.
With his fingers to his forehead and slowly zooming in and out so he could observe every angle of the fight, the dark knight sighed to himself.
"Cocky, far too cocky."
Batman shook his head back and forth slightly, looking stern as ever, he still couldn't keep the muscles in his mouth from twitching slightly when Robin emerged and served the final blow.
"Adequate."
Retracting his hand from his temple he deactivated the built-in binocular function and without hesitation leaped off the skyscraper. With such practiced and subconsciously ingrained movements, he fell invisibly and silently into the shadow behind his young protégé.
To those who didn't know better he would have appeared to have become one with the darkness and had simply come into being beside them, Robin however, knew better.
Without turning to face the presence now behind him or even bat an eyelid in such a way to even represent any kind of acknowledgment, he began to seemingly have a one sided conversation with himself as he asked the unanswered question.
"So?"
After a brief pause, the Dark Knight emerged from the shadows cloaked by it just as his ward had been not minutes before.
"You may go."
Robin's face lit up with an explosion of happiness.
"OH YES!" He yelled throwing a fast fist pump into the air.
Just as he was about to exclaim once again a raised eyebrow from his mentor silenced him, mutely reminding his partner that they were in fact not on a roof top and they could be seen and heard VERY easily.
His extended arm quickly fell behind his head and his eyes met the ground as he stared at his feet slightly sheepishly.
Without another word just a brief nod between them, Batman streaked off down the alley with Robin trailing close behind.
It was no mere coincidence that they were patrolling this area of the city, being as good as he was, Batman had slowly through the night been bringing them closer to their destination. After all, he had no doubt from the beginning that Robin would be able to go, he had no doubt that his little bird would hold up his side of their bargain.
Within just a few short minutes of his landing, The Dark Night and Robin arrived at a worn down telephone booth. One would think that the object was in such ill repair due to the fact that it was broken, however, the bluish light that was still being generated and slightly pouring into the alleyway that it resided in told a different story.
After streaking right up to it and coming to a sudden stop, Robin couldn't help the scoff that slipped out of his throat. Upon gaining a scowl from his mentor he explained why.
"The last time I went in there I came out only to be ambushed, I just find it funny."
At this he received a look that when translated into their silent language made Robin grin widely once again.
"What makes you think it will be any different this time?"
Understanding what he meant he replied in a voice slightly shaking with laughter.
"With knowing who's on the other side, nothing at all"
After a rare but brief smile on Batman's part he slipped into the booth first.
Robin shook his head slightly, his partner had taken to going in first where ever they went since the said "Attack" on their base. Oh well.
And in an instant, the dark and filthy alley swirled away from Robin as he melted into a sea of blue light.
I will never get used to that.
He couldn't help but think as he rematerialized into a familiar setting.
As soon as his eyes adjusted to the new lighting, he found himself mentally reminding himself to tell Bruce later that he was right.
When Batman had stepped through the Zeta beam transporter he was in fact correct.
They had been ambushed.
But instead of said ambushers being elemental robotic siblings, this time, it was by blurs of red and yellow shapes.
The first to greet his ears was the combined excited squeal from two different owners shouting two different names.
"Batman!"
"Rob!"
Apparently, they had been the last to arrive.
Oh dear.
After several agonizing seconds of blurred red-heads whisking around them and streams of inaudible words overpowering them, they finally stopped.
"'-"[1]
Robin shot his arms out and with years of practice on his side he snatched the speedster by his shoulders mid sentence and mid bounce.
"KF! Calm down, it's OK. We were just delayed slightly, we're here now alright?"
He spoke slowly as if talking to a small child but it worked.
"Oh OK."
Came his small reply, he had calmed down to now just rocking back and forth on his heals and bouncing slightly on the spot, his enormous grin however stayed the same, and it was infectious.
Not more than 5 seconds past before both boys had that grin on their faces and their excitement was now extremely hard to contain.
They wasted no time in doing a giant high five to commemorate the occasion.
Wally then proceeded to grab his smaller friend, wrap one arm around his head and give him a classic older bother greeting.
"Hey!"
Robin exclaimed indignantly as his raven hair was tousled, if not for the boy's laughter and his ever present smile you would probably be out buying flowers for an imminent funeral.
After maybe 2 seconds Robin had gotten Wally off of him and had pinned his offending arm behind his back securely, through the loud cries of "uncle" and the laughter the scene had generated, the young vigilante finally got a good look at the occupants of the room.
M'gann was standing next to Martian Man-hunter, she had her hands clasped in front of her strapless blue dress and was smiling a beautiful smile as she laughed along with every one else.
Conner couldn't care less about the new arrivals. Not that he didn't care about his teammates but he just at the moment couldn't bear to look away from the gorgeous green skinned girl over to his left.
Artamis was doubled over laughing; mentally memorizing every detail of the expression Wally was making for future black mail.
Green Arrow and Black Canary were off to the side of Artamis with similar smiles on both of their faces.
Aquaman and Kaldur were both standing next to each other farther back into the room, both mirroring the same expression of a small but calm smile.
Robin and Kid Flash were in the middle of the room and serving as entertainment for the time being.
And Flash, well, Berry was now conveniently in the kitchen after zipping away from Batman when he had pulled out his batarangs and some of his blades threateningly.
His entire team was there, they were finally ready, and today, really was "the day".
Robin's grin turned to a contented smile and without warning he dropped his friend's arm.
Having been fighting in vain against his restraints, Wally had put a lot of his strength into it. So, when he was suddenly freed, he stumbled, fell, and landed exactly on his face.
After pealing himself off the floor he turned to face Robin.
"Ha, ha, yes very funny. Can we move on now please?"
"Yeah, sure KF."
He smiled widely at his friend, being who he was it didn't take long for him to be forgiven.
Robin then spun on the spot until he had caught everyone's eyes. He especially stared at the mentors, one by one, his team soon followed suit. He turned one last time and stopped in front of Batman, turning serious very quickly, he asked the thing they were all thinking.
"Are we going or what?"
With a curt nod to the members of the Justice League present, he walked back over to the Zeta beams.
"Follow me."
Wasting no time the Young Justice filed in and one after the other, they vanished into an ocean of light as they were whisked off into outer space.
After the feminine computerized voice had stopped calling off names there was a moment of silence and realization then the large room was filled with gasps of amazement and words of awe.
"Wow..." [Robin]
"Oh, Oh my gosh." [M'gann]
"Breathtaking..." [Kaldur]
"...OHMYGODICAN'TBELIEVEIT!" [Guess who?]
"Zip it Kid Mouth! I'm trying to enjoy the moment here!" [I'll give you one guess.]
"Amazing." [Conner?]
Their reactions were met with more smiles and grins from their partners behind them.
"Welcome to the Watchtower."
The deep voice rang out across the room originating from the man standing in front of them. He wore no cowl or glasses like the other people in the room (excluding Black Canary), and he bore an unmistakable symbol of an "S" on his chest.
Superman's eyes swept the room, ignoring the looks Conner was giving him and bluntly avoiding his son's gaze.
He cleared his throat.
"So, shall we?"
Without another word he turned and began to leave the opening room with their group following not too far behind.
The rest of the tour passed slowly but it was far from boring, the whole thing was spectacular.
The room they had entered when they first arrived was in a disk shape or maybe just a slightly flat dome. To their left and right all along the walls or where the walls should be were plates of super thick glass. So that the instant they entered they got an up close and personal view of the moon. Its cold blue surface was enchanting when the sun's light reflected off of it. It gave it the appearance of what a white shirt looks like under a fluorescent light.
Finally, the tour ended in what appeared to be the missions room, it was heavily littered with computer screens and monitors.
Superman turned to face the group once again, he was just about to announce that they had seen everything when the largest of the monitors came to life effectively shutting him up.
"Green Lantern to Justice League! Is anyone there?"
The image was scratchy at best but the link remained constant.
Throughout the entire tour Batman had remained silent, only speaking when he firmly stated that no one was going into his lab despite Flash and Wally's protests. He now completely ignoring Superman marched to the front of the room.
"This is Batman, what's your situation?"
"Batman, good. I'm calling for a full league response! I'm amazed that I was able to get through, all communications down here have been cut off."
"What is happening?" At this moment Superman stepped forward.
"I honestly don't know, this enemy... He is impervious to our abilities. I am here with Hawk man, Captain Marvel, and Wonder Woman, he just deflects us! It's almost like he knows what we are going to do before we do it and how to defeat us."
Everyone's eyes were already huge but at that last statement they were began preparing themselves to leave.
"Keep him occupied, we're on our way."
Green Lantern nodded and his face vanished from the screen being replaced by static and computer "snow".
With that Batman spun on his heals and started quickly marching towards the Zeta beams.
"Justice League, Star City, now." [2]
They all wasted no time in leaving but before they could get any father than the door they were stopped by their partners' voices.
"What about us? What do we do?"
They all looked to their respective partner and told them in their own way that "no you can't come."
Frustrated, but they accepted it.
That is, all but one.
Robin ran up to Batman and began speaking with him in hushed tones.
"Why can't we come? Why can't I come? I can help you!"
"Because you are not needed, we can handle this by ourselves."
"Uh, it didn't sound like it."
Before he could reply Robin cut him off once again.
"What's the point of us being partners if you don't let me actually fight with you?"
"I don't need your help."
"So, what? I would just get in your way? You've trained me for this Batman! I can handle this!"
"No. And that is final. I do not need your help. You are not ready to fight with this team. Go back home and stay there."
Silence met his words until Robin finally opened his mouth and muttered in a hurt and furious tone.
"I thought you trusted me. I thought you cared about me. I guess I was wrong."
Batman visibly recoiled at that. Beyond his cowl, and beyond his deepening scowl, pain flickered across his eyes for an instant. No one else would have seen it, no one else would have looked for it. But after saying those words with the intention to hurt, Robin did see it, and he instantly regretted it.
Batman stood up strait and walked back over to where the rest of the Justice League was waiting, after a few moments of conferring they all made their way to the Zeta Beam with their partners following shortly behind.
Just after arriving at Mount Justice, the League left once again to Star City. All but one.
Before leaving The Dark Knight turned and stared down at his partner who was trying when ever he could to not look at him and ignore him the best he could.
Pretending to be oblivious to this fact Batman spoke in a strait tone.
"I'll be back soon; don't do anything rash, alright?"
The last words were emphasized as he gave one of his infamous bat-glares to his red and black clad ward.
"Fine."
That was the only response he got, even without him turning around the dark knight could feel the anger and frustration emanating off of the small boy. Batman nodded solemnly then spun on the spot and started stalking away from the disgruntled and pouting teen.
"Recognized, Batman, 02"
Robin looked up at the Zeta beam, staring after his foster father.
He hated it when they fought, weather it be an argument or when they were just at odds with one another, he always tried to go out of his way afterwards to apologize or in any way, make it right. He would try even if it wasn't his fault. This time however, it was.
He had regretted saying those things but his anger had overpowered the want to take it back. Now however, he was left to just sit in the grave he had dug for himself.
He felt terrible.
He was going to take it back. He WAS! With a new light in his eyes he turned and started walking to his room all the while developing a plan of action. [3]
Later on that evening, when Batman got back he would apologize. Take everything back. Then, when they went home for the night he would have called Alfred in advance and asked him to make Bruce's favorite dinner. Then, after they ate and Bruce had told him all about the mission he would ask if Bruce would play a game of basketball with him. He had been wanting to for a while but they had always been to busy.
Yeah, that would be great. Tonight's going to turn out fine. I can't wait to apologize.
At that thought he smiled to himself.
Come back soon... Dad.
But he had no idea, how could he? How could he have known what was going to happen? How could he have known that he couldn't be more wrong about what was going to happen next.
Soooooo, you like? Sorry if it was a bit rushed, I was typing like a maniac and only realized after wards that I went a little fast on some things.
TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! This is a story that I personally love and it is going to get so much better, you will see. I know this because I already have the main body of the third chapter written! Yeah I know, my inspiration is very strange. =.=
ANYWAY! Review, review, review! They will make me write faster, write better, and make me extremely happy! ^-^
So, Info...
[1] Grrrrr, I had to put this here because the stupid site would not except what I wanted to write and just kept making it vanish. So, this is what it is supposed to say up there. Just all jumbled together into one sentence. "Oh my gosh why on earth did you take so long we weren't even the last ones here come on come on let's get goin-"
No pause. At all. Ha!
P.S Could anyone please pm me and tell me how to fix this? I absolutely HATE it when it does this so if there is anyway to fix it and or avoid it some help would be sooooo appreciated. T.T
[2] For any of you who are wondering how Batman knew Green Lantern was in Star City even though he never told him. Well, in my version, when ever a call comes into the Watchtower at the corner of the screen it tells you where the signal is originating from. So there you go. ^.^
[3] At this point your probably wondering what happened to the rest of the team right? Well, as soon as they arrived at the Mt. Justice and when all of their mentors left, they vacated as well, being disappointed and upset they all just went off to do their own thing in silence. Shocking isn't it? I didn't put this in because I couldn't find a way to end the chapter how I wanted to with this information stuck in there. So, here it is. :)
Another thing... Did you like my interpretation of what the Watchtower might look like? Also, sorry for not elaborating on the tour, I found that it was taking to long and I was rushing and I wanted to end the chapter sometime this century.
Whoa. I feel like Wally. I'm twitching, talking/typing really fast, and speeding through all of this... Oh well.
IT'S FINALLY DONE! WOOOHOOO! I have been working on this chapter for forever so I'm glad I finally completed it! Now I can move on to the more exciting chappies. Mwahahaha! ;)
So, to conclude... If you liked this chapter than please go check out my other ones. And if you like Transformers than I just wrote a poem that you might like as well.
Alrighty then. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I will try to update as soon as I can!
I hope you have a great day!
~Automail-gHost :D