I know, I know. It's a long time coming! I've been flat out at my new job! :D
Full time baby! Yeahhhh! My bank is already thanking me!
But at last it is here! And I'm not going to lie to you, it's not to great. Sorry about that :s I don't know when the next chapter will be up but it is in the works!
Let me know what you think :)
Disclaimer: Well do I really need to say it again?
Chapter 4
The first thing Bruce noticed was that he was unable to move. He felt the chains digging into his wrists and ankles, his limbs where been pulled so tightly they felt like they were on the verge of dislocation. Opening his eyes he realized why this was.
His body was stretched out, chains attached to each of his arms and legs, and he was suspended up into the air. His utility belt was gone and his cowl pulled off. The room he was in was coated in lead paint. Smart, Superman wouldn't be able to see or hear anything that was to happen. However this told him one thing, he was most likely in Metropolis.
"You're awake." Her silky voice spoke seductively
"There are easier ways to get my attention Talia, you don't need to burn my house down." He growled, she scoffed.
"Hardly something you can't afford Bruce. What's a little burnt wood for a billionaire?" Talia circled him like a shark does it's pray.
"How about we skip the foreplay and move on to the main event. What do you want?" Bruce questioned, batman voice still evident. Talia stepped up onto a crate facing him. She grabbed his face,
"Oh but Bruce, the foreplay is my favorite part." She kissed him lightly, he gave her a stern look.
"I'm guessing your father has sent you here to kill me?" Talia laughed smoothly
"I'm not here to kill you Bruce, I'm here to persuade you." She smiled sweetly at him jumping down from the crate.
"I will never join your father Talia or his cause, you know that, so how are you going to persuade me?" Bruce rumbled
"Well, maybe right now there is just too much holding you back, perhaps if we took away your distraction you would be more open to joining."
"What are you talking about?"
"My father knows you won't agree if we simply threaten you. So the next option is to rid you of your own problems." Bruce's stomach dropped.
"This is a trap, isn't it?" Talia smiled
"You are quite the detective."
The traffic of Metropolis was bad that night. Loud honking and the angry yells of drivers could be heard throughout the city. Peek hour traffic didn't exist in Metropolis, the roads were always busy and the lights were always shining; which made it difficult for a certain young superhero who was trying to stick to the shadows. The last thing Robin needed was someone recognising him and alerting not only the league of shadows to his presence but also the most likely annoyed man of steel, Robin couldn't decide on which would be more difficult to avoid. The shadows had eyes everywhere, and Superman? He always had his ear open for trouble or in this case, the intrusion of the boy who told him to take his offer to help and shove it where the sun don't shine.
Dick rested his head against the cool brick wall. He was safely hidden in the shadows of a dumpster down one of the many alley ways of the city. Closing his eyes he thought of Barbara. She was going to be so mad at him when he got back. He recalled her desperate pleas as he left her cuffed in the cave, she sounded so distressed, remembering it made Dick cringe. Rubbing his face he moaned as he remembered what he had said to her.
"I won't watch anyone else I love die" His face heated up.
"Way to go Dick." He whispered to himself inwardly scolding himself. Well at least if he died tonight he wouldn't have to face her wrath.
Shaking his head from his thoughts Robin quickly looked at his locator, he wasn't far from the docks Bruce was being held. He would have to be careful if he wanted to get in without being noticed. He had quickly scanned the schematics of the building before he left the cave. He knew the best point of entry was through the vents on the roof of the building. There would be a few guards on the roof, hopefully he could sneak past them and get to the vents without any problems; he would need his energy for later fights.
He worried for his partner. Was he ok? He obviously hadn't escaped yet or he would have made contact, which told Robin that they either have him in under intense lock and key or he was hurt, he couldn't think of the other alternative, he wouldn't even entertain the thought that his partner, his mentor, his father would be gone forever.
Robin quickly checked over his equipment, he would need everything in his arsenal if he was going to take on the shadows. Bruce's face flashed in his mind just before he headed out. He was going to save the man who saved him from a life of loneliness.
It didn't take him long to reach the warehouse they were holding Bruce in. What did worry him was how quiet it had been. He had been skulking around in the shadows for at least 15 minutes and he had only seen a few of the shadows members. If it were any other night Robin would probably rethink the idea of breaking in there, however, his mind fogged over when he heard a loud grunt, which sounded like Bruce. He quickly scaled the building, avoiding the shadow members best he could before slyly moving into the vents.
It hadn't taken Barbara long to get out of the cuffs Dick had used. She was quickly trying to break into the computer past the blockade of firewalls Richard had put up before he left in an attempt to stop her when she got out of the cuffs. He underestimated her skills of hacking. She found the coordinates and quickly pushed them into the zeta beams mother board. The pain in her side had subsided but was still noticeable enough to be uncomfortable.
Before leaving she injected herself with another shot pain relief. She had a feeling in her stomach that hadn't gone away since Dick had left. It was a feeling of complete and utter dread. She knew she had to get to Dick as soon as possible.
The warehouse smelt of dead fish, and chemicals. Robin could see the wet Lead paint staining the walls. Talia had thought of everything. He peered out the vent and saw his mentor suspended in mid-air. His limbs pulled tightly outwards. He shuddered, he had been kept in a similar position when the Joker had grabbed him once; however it didn't take long for Bruce to find him. That was just another thing he owed him.
He could see Talia slowly doing pull ups on a makeshift bar. Some of her shadows were slowly walking around the warehouse. What were they waiting for?
Robin popped the grate off the vent slowly and quietly, just as Bruce had trained him. He had to free Batman, even if it was just one of his hands. One of his explosive Batarangs should do the trick. He took a deep breath before quickly pushing himself out of the vent, making himself known to the shadows. He threw his Batarang towards his mentor who looked to him. Richard could see the worry in Bruce's eyes. The Batarang landed perfectly, Talia looked up to him and smiled, none of the shadows had moved.
"So the Bird appears, now we can begin"
"You know for someone as prepared as you Talia, I'm surprised at how quickly I was able to track you." Robin grinned
"Did you ever think maybe I wanted you to find me?" Robin suddenly understood, this was a trap. A trap he had just sprung. "What now little bird, are you going to fight us all on your own?" The shadows surrounded Talia. Robin chuckled before setting off the Batarang. The chain holding one of Batman's arms up blew, detaching from the links. Talia growled.
"Only until my backup is ready to go." Robin laughed. The shadows all moved at once. Robin flipped backwards until he was standing in front of Batman. He threw down a smoke pellet. The darkness surrounded them.
"You shouldn't have come." Batman whispered as Robin passed him a small pick lock.
"I was never going to leave you. I'll hold them off until you're free." Robin smiled to his mentor who just grimaced,
"Easier said than done."
The first shadow came out of the smoke, his sword glinting. Robin quickly moved dodging the slashes of the ninja. He threw a Batarang at the shadow, knocking his sword to the ground. Running forward he threw a few quick jabs at the man. Another shadow jumped out of the smoke, Robin flipped backwards over the shoulders of a third shadow. Now there was three and the smoke was lifting. They all came at once throwing a barrage of attacks. It took everything in Robin's power to avoid their blades. A fourth shadow came from behind, slashing Robin's back. He yelped in pain and jumped away from the group on ninja who were now surrounding him. Fighting one of the league was hard enough, but fighting five of them…
"How's picking those locks coming Batman, I could really use the backup," He grunted to himself. All the men in front of him moved at once. Robin was dipping and dodging throwing as many punches and kicks as he could. But he was receiving just as many. It didn't take long for them to overwhelm him. The smoke had cleared, and Robin could make out Batman in a heated battle with Talia. He would have to get out if this one himself. Grabbing the shoulders of one of the men Robin jumped and spun using the man's neck as a makeshift pole he landed a kick into one of the other men before belting his pole with the back of his elbow.
A shadow moved to the left of him, Robin jumped quickly spinning to gain momentum before landing a kick to the side of his head. The shadow fell to the ground, unmoving. One down how many to go?
Robin could feel blood starting to drip from his wounds. He had a nasty cut to his cheek, not to mention the deep gash on his back. He knew that one was bleeding heavily as his vision was starting to blur. It didn't take long for them to surround him again. One of them sliced the back of his leg, Robin fell forwards. He looked around and up at the ninja surrounding him. He was breathing heavily. The only way he was getting out of this one was if Batman helped him, and by the looks of his fight with Talia, that wasn't going to happen. He didn't even have time to look at his protégé who was about to die. Closing his eyes he waited for the blow.
There was the sound of a grapple gun shooting and a whoosh before the sound of a body hitting the ground. Robin looked up. Batgirl stood ready to fight front of him. She had already knocked over two of the shadows with her entrance, one wasn't getting back up. Robin pulled himself up.
"I told you not to come." He growled to her, she gave him a look.
"And aren't you glad I didn't listen." She flashed him a smile that made his chest tighten. The men began surrounding them. "You need to work on your firewalls Boy Wonder."
"You have another one!" Talia yelled to Batman, who flashed a look to the two sidekicks. "No matter! Two birds with one stone!" she yelled before running forwards. Batman charged right back at her.
The two remaining shadows circled Robin and Batgirl moved, the others ran to assist Talia. And so the fight continued. Robin Jumped over Batgirl leaping off her shoulders and sending a kick into the man in front of her. He knocked him away aggressively throwing his Batarangs towards the ninja who easily deflected them with his sword. One of Robin's Batarangs latched itself into the handle of the sword. Robin smirked, pressing a small button the sword exploded, sending the ninja flying backwards into the wall. Robin didn't even get a chance to breathe before another two ninjas were attacking him. He tried to see if Batgirl was ok but that only coped him a blow to the head. He had to focus on the fight at hand before he could worry about his friend.
He could see Batman, he was one upping Talia and her back up. He would get to them soon, they just had to hold on a little longer. He could see Batgirl getting hit with blow after blow. But getting to her was harder than it seemed. The two he was fighting were out to kill.
Batgirl was struggling. She was in pain already, and it didn't help that her opponent had already landed a few decent blows to her chest which didn't help with her rib. She was slow, and distracted. Her worry for Robin was clouding her judgement. So it wasn't hard for the man in front of her to knock her backwards with a hard kick to the stomach. Batgirl fell backwards hitting the wall behind her with a thud. She let out a little cry and clutched her side.
Robin, who was juggling between dodging two shadow members, looked over to her slightly. He already had a large welt forming on the side of his face, and she could tell his left leg was injured by the way he moved, the gash on his back was dripping blood as he moved around. She looked back to her opponent who walked slowly towards her smirking; his sword glinted as the lights reflection hit it. Batgirl felt her pulse rise as he got closer; she used the wall as a crutch as she pulled herself up. It seemed as everything was going in slow motion, her ears rung loudly "Batgirl!" Robin's voice could be heard. She closed her eyes and waited for the penetrating pain of the sword...she felt a splatter of blood over her face as she slid down the wall, and let out an ear splitting scream.
"No...No...NO!"
And so ends another chapter. Sorry about the wait and or horrid spelling/grammatical mistakes. I don't have time to check it properly.
So I have learnt something today. I can NOT write action scenes to save my life! AHHH I apologize for that horrifyingly confusing scrawl!
Next chapter is been worked on :) Let me know what you thought about this one :)
