To quote Robin from Young Justice, I am totally Whelmed at how interested people are in this story. I admit, I wasn't expecting much. The Teen Titan comic section seemed to be fairly quiet compared to the other DC sections. So a huge thankyou to everyone who reviewed and took an interest. I hope this next chapter is up to standard.
Tim awoke with a start, jumping to his feet and gasping heavily as he looked wildly at his surroundings. He was in a small white room. The floor was white, the walls were white, the ceiling was white, even the sheets and frame of the bed which he had been dumped carelessly on was white. Even Tim's clothes were white, his costume gone while he was asleep. In fact, the only bit of colour in the room was coming from the large mirror affixed to one of the walls. Tim stared at it. The reflection showed a skinny teenager, dressed in oversized white shirt and pants, with sweaty black hair and wild blue eyes staring back at him. His wild blue eyes!
Tim reached up for his mask, already knowing that it wasn't on his face. Someone had removed his mask as well as his costume. His true identity, exposed to the world.
There was something rubbing on his left arm. Tim looked down. A piece of cotton was taped to his wrist, just above a vein. A strip of plastic was wrapped around his wrist and rubbed against the cotton as the teen wonder moved. Reaching down, Tim pulled the tape off, watching as the cotton fell off with it. He examined the cotton. There was a spot of blood on it, matching the puncture wound on his arm. Someone had taken a blood sample. Tim wasn't an idiot. He knew what could happen if someone had access to his blood. Epically highly payed scientists working for an organisation interested in controlling him.
Looking back at his wrist, Tim examined the plastic, trying to take his mind off the blood test. The plastic was a standard hospital band, a barcode printed across it, as well as Tim's alias, Red Robin and a date. The date of Tim's capture.
Slowly, Tim sat back down on the bed, the metal frame groaning under his sudden weight and the rough white sheets shifting under him as he lifted his bare feet off the floor. Tucking them under himself, the teenager looked around at his cell, his detective mind working as he analysed his surroundings. There was a white door next to the mirror, almost hidden by its colour. Not moving from his position, Tim looked at the lock. It was basic, but still impossible to pick without the young hero's arsenal of tools. Once again Tim turned to look at the mirror. From its reflection, Tim could see the security camera on the ceiling. The red light flashed as the device recorded the teenagers every movement.
With a small sigh, Tim rested his head against the white wall, trying to look anywhere but the mirror in front of him. Despite the clear presence of the security camera, Tim was still aware of the eyes on him, watching him. It was an unnerving feeling, one which Tim couldn't help but think he would have to get use to.
"So, he's finally awake, is he?"
The question came from Rose Wilson, the young mercenary walking through the door and strolling down the corridor towards Templar as the man continued to stare through the glass at N.O.W.H.E.R.E.s latest catch. Red Robin was sitting on the uncomfortable bed, looking at the ceiling, seemingly unaware of his surroundings.
"Huh!" Rose muttered as she stepped closer, standing beside her boss as she looked through the glass. "Don't they normally shout and carry on when we put them in there?" she asked.
Again Templar didn't comment, instead moving slightly, trying to block Rose out. Rose rolled her eyes.
"He's good. Too good. You will need someone to watch him unless you want him to escape and embarrass you again." As she said this, she casually rubbed her chest. Despite the Kevlar vest she habitually wore under her uniform, the kick Red Robin had delivered back in the Titans HQ had hurt badly.
Although she would never say it out loud, she couldn't help but admire such a skilled fighter. Red Robins style of fighting was the sort of fighting her father would love to test. As it was, his fighting abilities had put Rose to shame. She was the handler of Superboy, the greatest weapon ever created. She was one of the best fighters in the world and the only person N.O.W.H.E.R.E. believed could take down the Superman clone, should he betray the organisation.
And secretly, Rose hoped that one day she would get to test her skills against the hero again and this time, give him the ass kicking he deserved.
With a sigh, Rose crossed her arms and stared through the glass, playing the silent game in the hope that Templar would finally start to talk.
Behind both of them, a door slid open. Dr Caitlin Fairchild, Rose's best friend and head scientist in charge of the Superboy weapon stepped through. She had several folders in her hands. Templar turned towards her.
"Fairchild." He nodded. "Do you have the information?"
The red head looked nervous.
"Well, yes sir….but you are not going to like it."
Templar looked over his glasses at her, holding his hand out expectantly. With great reluctance, Red handed the files over, watching as Templar opened the first one. The man was silent, reading quickly before opening the next file. Then he opened the next. His face slowly turned red.
Tucking the files under his arm, the man glared once more through the glass as if thinking of killed the room's occupant before turning on his heels and stalking towards the door, pushing past Caitlin. Rose raised an eyebrow at Caitlin. The redhead looked at the floor.
Realising she was about to let Templar escape without answering her question, the female mercenary shouted at her boss.
"What about him?" she asked, nodding towards the glass.
Templar didn't even look at her.
"Send the weapon to do it."
The door slid shut behind him, blocking him from the two women's view. Slowly, Rose turned to look at her friend.'
"Red, what was that about?"
Caitlin sighed and looked over at her friend.
"It seems that Red Robin has once again managed to beat us." The scientist replied, turning away.
He was sitting in the classroom again, watching as the teacher wrote a complicated equation on the blackboard. Beside him, Rose was writing on a piece of paper, seemingly bored from the lesson. He was not surprised. Virtual Reality was boring, even for the programs.
He always knew when he was in VR. It was the only time he ever got bored. Boredom was such an unusual thing. It was something which the Superboy was still not sure how to handle. Besides him, Rose finished writing and passed a note to him. Quickly, Superboy looked down, reading the note before hiding it in his desk.
'Bored?' it read.
Knowing Rose was watching him, Superboy nodded. Somewhere in the real world, the scientists broke their habitual silence, talking just below the weapons hearing. The Red haired woman had entered the room. Superboy always knew when she was there.
Ignoring both Rose and the teacher, Superboy looked around, wondering what new thing the woman had added to his virtual prison. Scanning the class, Superboy finally noticed what was new.
At the back of the class, sitting by the corner desk was a dark haired boy. The boy was writing in a notebook, seemingly absorbed in the lesson. Even as Superboy watched, the boy looked up at the teacher before slowly turning to look at the weapon. Blue eyes looked him up and down, seemingly studying Superboy for a minute. He smiled slightly before turning back to his work. Superboy blinked. That had never happened before.
Somewhere in the real world, the red haired woman started to talk.
"Who is he?" she asked, just within the clones hearing.
"Who is who?" One of the other scientists asked.
Superboy continued to watch the boy as the boy kept working, seemingly ignoring the weapon.
"That boy?" Red asked out in the real world.
"Don't know. We thought you added him." Was the reply.
The bell rang, signalling the end of class. Besides Superboy, Rose climbed to her feet, complaining loudly even as the teacher disappeared out of the room. She started talking to Superboy but the weapon ignored her, instead standing up and walking towards the boy who was still writing in his notebook, copying down complex sums which Superboy didn't think he could ever understand.
"He's not mine. I don't know how he got there."
He paused in front of the boy, watching as the teen put his pencil down before looking up at him.
"Hello." Superboy said. "Who are you?"
The boy smiled.
"I don't know." He replied, his blue eyes meeting those of the weapon. "Who are you?"
"Cut the program. I have a job for Superboy." Red said.
Superboy returned the smile and held out his hand. "I don't know either."
The boy accepted the offered hand, allowing the weapon to shake.
Reality started to dissolve around the weapon, erasing the programs which made it so real. Keeping a grip on the teen's hand, Superboy closed his eyes and allowed everything to disappear.
Slowly, he opened his eyes. Several scientists were watching him. The weapon looked down. His hand was raised, as if greeting a friend who didn't exist. The red headed woman was standing in front of him, staring up at him. The real Rose was behind her, watching with distaste even as the scientists moved around her, running their tests.
The whole scene reminded Superboy of only a few days before, when he had been pulled out of VR to help collect the 'Red Robin'.
"You have a new job." The red head said.
Stepping down from the platform, the clone obediently followed the scientist out of the room and to his new assignment.
