Chapter Six: Mystical Leads
Story so far: After being stopped by Batman, Dick finds himself surrounded on all sides: Artemis left a disc, which caused the hotel room to explode via a tripwire made by a man named Terry Gene Kase, then he's attacked by a man from his past named Boone. Throughout all the struggle, Dick finds himself in New York at the doorstep of one Roy Harper. After a heart-to-heart, where Roy reveals that Wally, in fact, had a crush on him, he tells Dick to keep searching for answers, because he feels something is suspicious. Subsequently, the Rainbow Archer attacks Times Square, and after another scuffle with Boone, the Tribute and Red Arrow subdue him. Now, Dick is being referred to Dr. Occult, to investigate any metaphysical connections to Wally's death.
"Thanks for all the help," I said, extending my hand to Roy. We were in front of his apartment building, both of us dressed in our civvies. He was still recovering from his wound, and I didn't want to hurt him.
But, brushed the hand away, and pulled me into a hug. I had gasp, but put my arms around his waist, my hands on the top of his back.
"If you ever need me," he replied, patting my back softly, "I'm just a call away – I still have the comm., and I'll be sure to keep you in the loop on my own investigation on the quake. But promise me, Ro – Dick: be careful."
I smirked. "I always am; I'll return the favor, and I'll call you the minute I find anything out."
"I'd like that."
As we ended the hug, I held his arms tight for a brief second. It was a moment I hadn't had in a long time, and as I looked into Roy's eyes, I remembered what I forgot: Although we hadn't talked in what seemed like forever, Roy and I had a bond, one similar with Wally – and even in the absence of him, I felt a piece of my heart mend. It was good to get back with Roy, even just to talk with him.
And then reality set back in as quickly as it left, leaving me to walk the streets of New York towards my destination. I had decided to go in my civvies, because there was a fine line I had to walk.
More and more I saw a difference in the way I acted between my time in my civvies and suit. While I was Dick, I was calmer… relatively, and I could actually hold a conversation without getting the need to beat the other person to a pulp; however, when I was Tribute, I noticed I was acting increasingly like a violent Batman.
Civvies would do. I wanted to get the good Doctor to do me a favor, wanting to beat the crap out of me wasn't exactly the best way to get one.
I found myself in front of an old, decrepit door within an equally old and decrepit building. It made sense, since the Doctor had been active during the time of the JSA, and hadn't retired. He was older than most, but still just as good.
In all honesty, the building reminded me a lot of Gotham's. It just… exuded eeriness. Kinda made me feel at home. More importantly, I could literally feel an air of power about the area, and as I reached to turn the door knob, I stopped.
My hand was shaking, and I had that feeling in the pit of my stomach.
You see, everyone calls me the 'Boy Wonder', or at least thinks of me as such. Wonderful. How could I be such a wonder if I was too afraid that Batman was right, that everyone around me was right and I was just living in a glorified delusion?
Or I could by right.
My hand stopped shaking, and I pushed down the anxiety in my stomach.
"Everything I do, I do for you, Wally." And then, I shuddered – I felt a drop of water land on my shoulder. As I looked up, there wasn't a source I could see where the water could have fallen.
Shaking it off, I turned the door knob, and pushed the door open.
"No! Go back out and try to sneak up on me!"
"… What?"
There was only a single desk amidst many filing cabinets, and I could sear that all the wood in the room was old and rotting. The smell wasn't bad… it was just powerful. Surprisingly, it reminded me a lot of the cave on summer nights after it rained.
"If I was going to get a visit from a sleuther, then it needs to be geuine!"
"A… sleuther?"
The man sitting at the desk reminded me a lot of Bruce. He had a strong face, and although there were some wrinkles, he was still just as imposing; grey eyes, and thin black hair with a receding hairline. He was dressed in a brown trench coat, like the ones in those old black-and-white detective movies. The only distinguishing feature on him was that his eyes were lined with black – almost like a cross between poor mascara and baggy eyes from lack of sleep.
"Well," he said, sitting back down. "I guess it's not your fault, so never mind."
"What are you talking about?"
"Not what, boy; who."
"Fine: who are we talking about?"
"Why, you of course." He looked at me like I was crazy, and I clenched my fist, biting back a scathing retort.
"Me? What could you possibly know about me? I haven't even told you what I'm here."
"But, you of all people should know, what you don't say is just as important as what you do say, Robin."
"Tribute," I remarked casually. If he hadn't known my identity, I might have been a little more worried, since he was supposed to be a detective. The only problem was: how? To the best of my knowledge, I hadn't given any hint to my identity, which meant one of two things: he knew I was coming, or he's just that good of a detective. The former seemed more likely.
"No," he replied, standing up. "You're Robin right now. As soon as you said those words outside," I froze, "I thought of you as Robin. Until now, with your last word – now, you're definitely the Tribute."
"This isn't making any sense."
"But what really is sense? It's never sensible; you've never made much sense either."
I stepped forward, to enter the office, but I pulled back, my anxiety returning.
"Here," he threw me something. I caught it, revealing a twenty dollar bill. "Go, get me some Starbucks and come back. Triple Venti Cappuccino – easy on the sugar."
"What? No! I'm here for something important."
I edged to the side of the door, so he couldn't see my right arm, and I leant in to make it look casual.
"Your job can wait – go, or you'll get no help."
I got up off the side of the door and looked at him straight in the eye.
"I'll hold you to that, Doctor."
I closed the door and tapped the comm. device into my ear as I walked out of the building?
'Must you do that?'
A different voice than what the Doctor was using in the office, sounded older, more experienced. I continued to walk, listening through the bug device I planted on the side of the door.
'Sorry, Doc – couldn't think of anything else to do.'
That was the voice the Doctor had used… so why was it addressing the other voice as Doctor? My mind was running as I continued to walk, edging past inattentive people on cell phones.
'No matter, now, back to the matter at hand, Br –"
I tapped my ear: the connection was wavering. Trailing back, to create a stronger connection, I began to hear again.
'—point of the matter is I can't see hi. My room reveals all magic.'
That was the new voice.
'It's hard to explain, Doc – he's not magically based… it's more metaphysical, if you get what I'm saying. I took him to see the Spectre, who could see him – but the Spectre said it was out of his jurisdiction: someone's got the vengeance bit covered.'
'It's obvious who, too.'
'Of course, but the boy concerns me the most. If you can't see him, but the Spectre can, this could transcend even the magical boundaries, leaving only… you know. Either way, I have determined that he's not a soul, but more like an echo.'
'Which means we have to –"
'Wait.'
'What?'
'Kid bugged –"
"Damn," I said, running back. "How did they find it? Ow!" I had knocked into a man, both of us galling back. Getting up, I yelled, "Watch where you're going!"
"I could say the same to you, Robin."
This was getting to be ridiculous. Too many people were recognizing me out of uniform; if it had continued, I would have been forced to drastically change my appearance. That would not have made me a happy camper. Not to mention the fact I'd have a bat breathing down my back if my cover was ever blown.
The man brushed himself off, and I saw his eyes: they had the same black look around them.
"You're…"
"Dr. Occult? No. I'm a friend of a friend, and therefore by extension your friend. Be careful, Boy Wonder, because you're in for one hell of a ride. Literally."
The man abruptly closed his eyes and slumped to the ground.
"Hey!" I dropped down, catching the man before he hit the ground. My knees buckled under his weight and I planted my left knee into the concrete sidewalk to support him. He was breathing, but it was shallow. His eyes fluttered and I asked, "Are you ok?"
The man nodded lightly and I set him down on the ground, continuing my run back to Dr. Occult's building.
This time, I abandoned the pleasantries and kicked down the door. He wasn't surprised, nor did he move when the door was sent flying at him. Instead, it literally split in half, just as it was about to hit him.
Sighing, he brushed off residue on his suit, saying, "Knocking would have sufficed."
"What's going on, Occult. Presuming you really are him." My eyes narrowed.
"My dear boy, of course I am Doctor Occult – specifically, Richard Occult. But before we continue, your introductions must come first, I'm afraid. I was – ahem – incapacitated during our last meeting, thus I am ignorant of the previous conversation."
"Incapacitated? By what?"
"Not by what –"
"By whom?"
"Exactly," he replied, smiling and nodding slightly. "But it doesn't matter. What does matter, however, is the job you came to me for."
"Yes… I was referred by a mutual friend."
"Ah, young Roy did tell me you were coming…" He was searching for a name.
"Nowadays, most people call me the Tribute."
"But it wasn't always." It wasn't a question.
"No… I was Robin."
"But not anymore?"
"I… can't be Robin: Robin has ethics and morals; to get this job done, I need to be free from those. Wait… why am I talking to you about this?"
"Effect of the room." He shrugged nonchalantly as I stepped back out of the room. "So, Tribute, what can I help you with?"
"Don't patronize me: for one, we're both in the same line of work, and I'm betting that as soon as I said 'Robin', bells went off."
"Admittedly, yes. I was called by Batman, telling me that I should be expecting you."
My heart sunk. "Is that cue for me to just leave?"
Bruce and I weren't exactly on best of terms, so I couldn't be entirely sure as to what he told the Doctor. For all intents and purposes, he could've told him to send me on my merry way, in an attempt to have me return to the Cave, admitting that I couldn't handle it. But that didn't really seem Bruce's style.
At my statement, Occult looked genuinely surprised, but then his eyes softened.
"No, dear boy. He said to assist you in any way I can." I raised my eyebrow. "In his own words, I believe it was 'he's still my son'."
"Even though I'd go to hell and back?"
"That, Robin, you'll have to take up with him; I'm a doctor, not a miracle worker."
"Th… thanks," I replied. "But I have work for you, which I'm sure you've already figured out the details of."
"I'll need you to get me some supplies."
I frowned. That wasn't exactly what I had in mind, after all. Nor did I completely trust him. Fact: he knew things about me; face: there was something creepy about that room; fact: Bruce taught me to be cautious. More than that, I still hadn't figured out what went on before. Schizophrenia came to mind, but that didn't explain the man from the street.
He was known for magic. Something could've been going on, but I chose to ignore it.
"What do you need?" I asked.
He smiled.
All the while, I kept telling myself this was for Wally… so why did it feel like I was making some sort of Faustian deal?
.~.~.~.~.~..~.~.~.~.~.
There were three ingredients he needed me to get: ginseng root, toadstool, and powdered deer antler.
I had cringed at the last one, but he had said, "The supplier I'm sending you to only retrieves the antlers from deer that died of natural causes.
"It's actually a sign of respect," he continued, "to the animal, that is: having a use after death, to aid those around them. That's why even the most wild of animals are more human than us all."
The spiritual lesson wasn't asked for, but it made me smile. I had lived around animals all my life as a kid, circus and all. It was always a tragedy when an animal died; mostly because of what we did to the carcass, but it was also because of the fact that we considered each and every one of those animals family.
The resident, self-proclaimed, shaman – who was really just an exiled elder from an African tribe – would dress the animal down, take what was necessary or valuable, and then would bury what was left, if anything.
I always felt unclean while watching it happen, like we were dirtying the memory of the animal we were burying. I remember one of them distinctly: the elephant of one of our main attractions – her name was Betsy. Actually, I was with her when she died; I had kept my hand on her trunk, and stood beside her so we could see each other.
It makes me smile to think that I might have helped her passing. It was during my time with the circus that I truly learned about the value of life, even if I found out that fact while I was with Bruce.
At the time, I didn't realize why I had flashed back to my carnie days. Maybe it was because I had lost so much, and I was looking for peace.
Or perhaps I was just going insane.
There was only one place I could find all these ingredients at once, without having to search all throughout the city: Dragon's Emporium in the heart of Chinatown. It was run by the Jin Family, all of whom were mediocre practitioners, but renowned for their knowledge of the arts.
It wasn't in the best part of town, but from what I heard, especially from all the magically-based heroes, thugs tended to stay away: said heroes frequented the magic shop for their mystical needs.
"Interesting…" I said.
I was up on a roof, opposite of the Dragon's Emporium, my laptop open. Bruce had kept extensive notes on the entire magical community.
"For someone who doesn't like or trust magic that much, you sure keep yourself informed… Paranoid, much?"
More than once, when we, Young Justice, or even if it was just Bruce and I, had to get magical help, he always tried to find an alternative or outsource the problem.
"Ah!" I shielded my eyes.
There had been a flash, a bright one too, directly below in the alley next to me. Most civilians wouldn't have given it a second thought, mostly out of fear – but I wasn't a civilian.
"Wait a minute… no… It can't be…"
I peered over the edge of the building; a girl, appearing to be a teenager, walked from the light. She was wearing a blue cloak, covering her entire body except for her head – her hood was down, revealing purple hair. After looking around her, she entered the magic shop.
Shutting down the laptop and putting it in my bag, I dropped down from the roof and followed her. I, too, entered the shop and a blast of hot hair hit me in the face, sending a wave of smells my way. Warm and humid, it was mostly herbs and spices – like someone was cooking something. Or more likely making some kind of mystical concoction. Or maybe a procoction?
Meh. Who knows?
"Hey!" I called out, and caught the teen's shoulders.
She turned and her eyes widened. "Robin!"
"I thought it was you," I replied, smiling and pulling her into a hug. "Raven… how are you?"
It was that "doom and gloom" sorceress with a demonic father that we'd helped back in the first year of the team. We had been investigating the disappearances of several young girls – my vote was on Mad Hatter, trying make his creepy Alice collection again – but it was a cult dedicated to Raven's father.
From the time we had started investigating, she had helped us get out of more than a few sticky situations, since she herself was bent on taking the cult down. In the end, we did get all the girls out safely and made an ally with Raven. More than once, when we needed help of the mystical variety, we called upon her.
She kept on looking at me with her indigo eyes, until she shook her head and said, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here for some ingredients… um… ginseng root, toadstool, and powdered deer antler to go to Mount Justice – going to investigate with Dr. Occult. What?" She had raised her eyebrow.
"Those… are for a specific kind of teleportation spell… it, uh, takes you to what you consider the most important place related to your… uh… significant other." Raven blushed slightly and fiddled with her hair before running through it, putting it behind her ear. "Um… I know where those ingredients are, do you want some help?"
"Yeah… that'd be peachy…" Well, that explained the ginseng root. I mean, seriously, what did an aphrodisiac have to do with a teleportation ritual?
"How, um… have you been getting along?"
"Fair enough. Is that guy always pulling the "doom and gloom" look?" I pointed at the man manning the counter: old and Chinese, but he just looked like that guy that would jump in and kick the crap out of anyone trying to rob the place. Reminded me a lot of Jackie Chan's Uncle… sans 'one more thing!'.
"He's the guardian that watches over the store. So, yeah. Here's the toadstool and antler." With a wave of her hand, the two items were levitated in a black energy into my hands. "The ginseng should be right… over… here!"
"Thanks, Raven," I replied, catching the root. "You know, I never asked you: what're you doing here?"
Her head jerked around and went right back into place, like she couldn't look at me in the eye. "Just some stuff for protection wards."
"Oh?"
"Yeah," she replied, scratching her cheek. "Nothing major, just the standard protection spells and charms. To keep out any unwanted presences."
"Like who…?"
"The standard assortment of mystical villains, I guess. It's for my base of operations; I'm… uh… branching out." She grabbed a few more ingredients, all unknown to me, all the while avoiding eye contact.
"Well… I'm just going to…"
"Hm? Oh, okay Robin. It was nice seeing you. And remember, don't hesitate to call if you need me." With one last look my way, she hovered off to the upper levels of the shop, where the ingredients for the more advanced level magics were held.
I walked over to Jackie's uncle's look-a-like and put the ingredients on the counter. With a wave of his hand, they were wrapped and put in a white, plastic bag. "Put it on the good Doctor's tab." After pulling out his calling card, the guardian nodded and I took that as my cue to leave.
In the alleyway, free from prying eyes, I changed quickly into my costume and leapt off into the night. New York was really nothing like Gotham – too many of the building were too tall to get a good grappling hook on, but I made my way across town all right, until I got to the Doctor's building, where I went in the side door.
"Occult?" I called.
"In here, Tribute." I entered into his office and tossed him the bag.
"Are you almost done with the preparations?"
"Just needed those ingredients, young man." He opened the bag and put them into a mortar and grinded them into a fine powder, with which he drew an intricate circle on the ground. "Normally, I wouldn't have to use a Circle of Power, but since you're along for the ride…"
"It's no problem. But, my spleen won't be on the outside at the end of this, right?"
"I would certainly hope not. Just adding the finishing touches, and, good! Now, come here," he guided me to the center of the circle and gave me what little powder was left in the palm of my hand. "Pinch it, so it covers your thumb and middle finger. Good, now, think of the place you want to go, the one tied directly between you and young Wallace. And then snap your fingers."
"This better," I snapped my fingers, "woooooooork!"
.~.~.~.~.~..~.~.~.~.~.
The first thing I thought was Crap, am I ever going to be able to think again? After realizing the oxymoronic nature of that statement, I realized that it was dark – the Mount wasn't being used.
"So they were serious…"
"Light," Dr. Occult said as he snapped his own fingers and light appeared in the palm of his hand. "Yes, they were. Young Roy has told me – what was that?"
"My guess," after listening to it again: a faint whoosh, "Red Tornado looking for the source of the disturbance. This way, quickly – and turn off that light."
I scooped the good Doctor off his feet and jumped up on the counter of the kitchen and sprinted silently down the hall towards the Dormitory Section. It was the second door on the right, right in between my room and Aqualad's. I took out a cord from my gauntlet and plugged it into the door's operating panel and forced it open, then closed it again as I put Occult inside.
"Now, would be a good time for the light," I said gruffly. With a snap of his fingers, the light was back and he deposited in the middle of the room, illuminating it like it was day.
"Don't worry, outside, no one will be able to tell there's a light, nor sound."
"Good… that's the wall – I'm going to take a look around myself," I said, as I began to walk around the room. He responded with a slight nod.
As I walked around, I took in a good look. There were Flash posters and Robin posters, with a Speedy one in the corner. Since I had never really been in his room except for that one time, I took in every detail, examining them closely. It was the first real tangible connection I had with Wally since his death, and my heart was quiet during the examination.
His bed was made, which meant that the League most likely went through after their own examination was done, so there wouldn't be much to go off of, other than my own memory and the wall, which was still intact. Abruptly, I stopped and looked up. It was there, at that ceiling tile that Wally's body had hung.
I clenched my fist.
No amount of words could describe exactly how much I wanted to run my arm through that ceiling tile and be done with it, but I abstained and instead gazed at it. The framing was slightly warped, under the weight of Wally's body. But there was nothing to suggest foul play there.
Turning, I looked at the bed again, wishing that they hadn't made it up. I could've seen how he had slept through the… impressions on the bed… I made my way there and pushed back the covers, looking at the impression that should've stayed.
I laughed bitterly and I saw Occult's head turn just a little bit.
"He slept the same was I did." I smiled and got down on my knees, looking underneath the bed, incase they had missed something. Apparently, they did. Because of Occult's light, I could see all the way to the back, nearest to the wall – there was something there.
I reached for it; it felt like… soft cloth, and I pulled it out: a green patch of cloth. For some reason, it looked familiar.
"What…?" Occult ran his hand over the wall, and muttered something under his breath. "Well, that's very interesting."
"Hm?" I got up and turned to him.
"Someone placed an illusion on the wall itself. As far as I know, Wallace had no such ability."
"Which means…"
"I'm not saying that he was murdered, but someone else definitely did this… I'm afraid, though, I cannot ascertain whom."
And then we both heard it: that whipping wind.
"Can he…?" I asked.
"He shouldn't…"
"I wouldn't put it past him," I warned. "How do we get back?"
"Simply snap your –" But he didn't finish. As I snapped my fingers, he waved his hand, and both the light, and both of us, disappeared.
.~.~.~.~.~..~.~.~.~.~.
"And you're sure, that there's no possible way to trace who cast the illusion?"
We were in his office, about ten minutes after I had sent us back. Neither of us were really prepared for it, which was why it took us awhile to get reoriented – I faster than he, which gave me time to process exactly what I had seen.
"There could be, but you would need to see someone far more powerful than I."
"I'll do that then, and thank you," I said, extending my hand, which he took. I reached into my bag, fishing out my wallet, before he reached out to my arm and grabbed it.
"Oh no, my boy. This one was free of charge – taken care of by a mutual friend."
"Is it…" But he 'zipped' his lips and put his hands up. "Not telling? Fair enough, old man. If I have any questions on these," I held up his notes of the scene, "I can call?"
"Anytime you need me, just give it a ring."
"Thanks again," I said, as I slung my bag over my shoulder and exited the building. As I mounted my bike and started riding, too many things were going through my mind.
Someone else was there with Wally and they wrote that power. Either Wally wrote or they did, but they cast that illusion, and if not one of the five detectives, including me, who surveyed the scene could figure it out, then I was thinking they wouldn't reveal themselves until the time was right.
But, more importantly… it at least gave my case some merit. Which prompted me to do what I did next.
"Robin to Batcave, message recording initiated. Bruce… I just wanted to apologize for what happened the last time we saw each other; my emotions got the better of me, but hey, it happens. More importantly, I just wanted to thank you for taking care of the bill for Dr. Occult. I get it: you still care, Bruce. And I still care about you… but you know just as well as I do that there are better ways to show that you care. Robin – out."
Well… at least I still had my T-Cycle.
Author's Note: First off, I am soooooo sorry about the long amount of time between updates. I've been mucho busy with school and studying for AP tests, so updates will be erratic for the time being, for that I'm sorry.
Secondly, I hope I've made this perfectly clear: thank you so much for everyone who's taken the time to read this and review. Believe it or not, just a "Hey, you're doing great" makes an author feel a hell of a lot better xD.
Third, thank you all for your patience and reading through this Chapter – we saw some recognizable faces and some that we might not, but it's all good. I hope to update soon, and thanks for reading!
As always, until next time .
