The following morning the Young Justice team assembled at Mount Justice for training.
The only person who had not arrived yet was Robin, which could hardly be considered shocking after the events they had witnessed last night.
After the Dark knight and his protege had arrived, the team bonding movie night began immediately when it became evident the other heroes still seemed to be in too much shock to say anything to the two bats.
Not five minutes into the movie Robin was snuggled into the chest of Gotham's most frightening creature of the night, eyes closed, sleeping peacefully. All while Flash half-heartedly snickered about DaddyBats, before being shut up by an infamous Batglare.
When the movie ended, Batman stood, tucking his cape around Robin before quietly making his way to the zeta beams and leaving, the echoing female voice having announced their departure, as the remaining occupants of the mountain watched on, some shocked, others sad.
Jumping to their feet when Black Canary came into the room, the team began stretching, after receiving the silent command from their den mother.
RECONGIZED: ROBIN B01
Stopping in the middle of their warmup, the team turned their attention to the zeta beams.
"He can't seriously be here for practice!…Can he?" Artemis questioned.
Shrugging his shoulders, Wally let out a grunt "Rob's been through a lot, he'll be okay." The team turned to look at Wally realizing just how much more he knew about their youngest member, as Robin rounded the corner, hoping on one foot, trying to fix one of his boots
"Stupid boots, told Batman he shouldn't of…oh hey guys, whats up?" Robin said mumbled distractedly, attention on his boots as he continued to fiddle with the shoes.
As the team looked on almost stunned, Canary finally managed to break herself from her trance. Clearing her throat, and thus catching the attention of the team "..umm Robin, if you need to, you could..umm maybe rest up from last night?" She awkwardly suggested.
Attention still focused on his boots, as he tried to fix the laces on his shoes now, Robin said "It's fine Canary, I'm used to not getting much sleep, and I would have been on time tonight too, if it hadn't been for Bats."
"Batman?" Canary asked, knowing Batman wasn't one to approve of others tardiness, must less indulge in it.
"Yeah" Robin said, having given on the boot, and instead just tucking the laces into the side of the boot. "He wanted to assess how our training has been going, it's just that we managed to get a lead on one of the cases. But he should be here any second."
RECONIZED: BATMAN S02
"Speak of the devil and he shall appear." Robin said with a grin, just as Batman rounded the corner.
"Team." Batman acknowledged. "I assume Robin has informed you I will be assessing your performance today?" Batman questioned.
"Young Robin has indeed informed us." Aqualad said, stepping forward. "What will you require us to do for this assessment?"
"No different than any other training session, just do your best, and no holding back." Batman said glaring around the room, as if daring anyone to deny him, before locking gazes with Kaldur. "If I notice your team has fallen behind in their training, you will be forced to step down, until you have received enough training in order to insure your team is competent." Looking around the room once again, Batman let his gaze linger on Robin. "You may begin."
Batman walked to the side of the room, as Canary paired off the team. "Artemis with Superboy, Meghan with
Wally and Kaldur your with Robin. You may begin when you are ready."
Robin and Kaldur began to circle each other, both wary. Aqualad made the first move, jumping at Robin, only to miss, as Robin harmlessly flipped around him, waiting for Kaldur to turn and try to take out the little bird again.
After a couple more minutes of Robin jumping around and Kaldur trying to pointlessly take him down, Robin turned , sweeping his leg out and knocking the Atlantian onto his back, the words FAIL appearing next to his head.
"A good fight Robin-" Kaldur panted as he began congratulating the young Robin before being silenced as the Dark Knight suddenly appeared.
"Why were you holding back?" Batman asked his tone dark.
Robin rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling nervously, as Batman continued to stare. "I wasn't holding back." But Robin knew Batman would pick up on his lie, It had sounded fake, even to his own ears.
The two stared at each other for what seems like an eternity, the rest of the team now watching, as they had finished their respective sparring matches.
"It will do the team no good for you too hold back on them, they need to know what their team mate is capable of, and most of all they need the practice, they need practice for the real world." Batman said as he continued to stare down Robin. "Canary can I please see A one on one assessment of their skills."
Nodding affirmative, Canary asked "Who would you like to go first?"
"Robin." Batman stated before twirling on his heel, and making his way back to the shadows on the side of the cave.
Shoulders hunched Robin made his way over to Canary, who was waiting in the middle of the cave. "Are you ready?" Canary asked slightly concerned over the boy, who although was an apprentice to one elite justice league members was still just a boy.
Robin let out a nod, and with that it began. Hoping to end the match quickly Canary jumped forward swinging her leg out with the intention to sweep the young boy off of his feet, she was quite surprised when Robin flipped over her head, coming to land on the other side of her, punching out at her. Not many people were fast enough to dodge her attacks like Robin had. Just managing to dodge another punch Canary, again, just barely managed to get out of the way as a foot came towards her head. Dropping down to the ground Canary rolled away, as she watched the young boy.
"Stop holding back Robin." Batman yelled from somewhere in the shadows, As Canary jumped back onto her feet, astounded Batman still thought the boy was holding back, Robin was good, that was for sure, but he wasn't that good, well she didn't think so anyway. "You could have taken Canary out with that kick if you hadn't held back." Batman continued from the shadows.
Letting out an irritated huff at his mentor's words Robin dodged the flurry of attacks Canary was now sending towards him, sending in his own jabs here and there, when given the chance. Suddenly Robin sensing a presence behind him, kicked out at Canary with the intention to get her out of the path of the attacker, while also eliminating her as a threat, all while barely registering the words FAIL: BLACK CANARY that echoed around the cave, as he brought his arms up in an X to block the arm that was coming his way.
"Good" Batman said as he took his arm back, from where it had been stopped by his protege. "No more holding back on your team, they need to know what it's like to fight someone who is relentless, that won't stop and wait for them to get back to their feet, before they take the kill shot." The two Bats seemed to stare at each other in what seems to be a silent conversation, before Robin finally nodded his consent, eyes going to his feet as his lips turned down into a frown. Content with his protege Batman turned his attention back to the den mother Black Canary, saying "I'll let you know the results of the assessment soon." Rubbing her stomach where Robin's kick had struck her, Canary nodded her consent and with that, the Bat turned on his heel, with a swish of his cape, left the room.
The room descended into awkward silence, before Robin tried to awkwardly break the silence. "Well, I guess we should start practice…." Robin trailed off letting out a awkward chuckle.
"Dude….you've been holding back….this whole time?" Wally asked, with a look of betrayal on his face, the rest of the team plus Canary mirroring his look, of utter disbelief and betrayal.
"Well..umm…you see..oh man I'm totally not feeling the aster right now." Robin sighed defeated.
Hey Guys Thanks for all the reviews and everything!
Keep em coming! Reviews always help me to update faster ;P
And any comments, thoughts, feedback, anything! Just let me know :)
~Copper Hillier