CHAPTER IX
After four days of intense training, Dick and I decided to rest a little bit, and as we munched on an ultimate meat pizza delivered from Pizza Hut, my phone buzzed. I looked at the text I had received, seeing it was from Lucius. "Hey, man," I said to Dick, "I think the suit's finished." "Why?" asked Dick. "Because Lucius says so," I said, showing Dick the text. Dick grinned widely, and he said, "Alright then! Let's go! And bring the pizza! I'm still hungry." I grabbed my keys and we hopped into the Maserati. Dick immediately started eating the rest of the pizza, and I joined in as we sped down the road. "Are we going to save any for Lucius?" asked Dick. I shook my head, taking a large bite out of the slice I was eating. "In that case," said Dick, grabbing his fourth slice, "The rest is yours." "Indeed," I said. As we pulled up to Lucius' place, Dick said, "Wait. We don't want Lucius to suspect anything." Suddenly, he let out a thunderous belch, saying, "That should do it. Your turn." I only managed a small one. "Ah," said Dick, "I guess it doesn't matter. That pizza was too good not to acknowledge its existence." I nodded, and we got out of the car, striding towards the front door.
We rang the doorbell, and we heard from inside, "It's unlocked! Come on downstairs!" We opened the door, proceeding towards the staircase. As we passed by the scanner, Dick said, "Hey, hey, the weak magic! I remember this well." I smiled, and we walked through the door to find Lucius standing beside something about Dick's size covered in a black cloth. He grinned widely, saying, "Well, you asked for it, and I delivered, and so now, I give you…" At the exact moment Lucius prepared to pull the cloth, I unintentionally released what might have been the burp of the century. It echoed across the cave-like room, not ceasing for an incredibly uncomfortable length of time. Dick patted my back, saying, "Well, now you can add this to you list of life achievements." "Not helping," I said. Lucius' hand had frozen a couple inches from the cloth, and he said, "Are you finished? Or do you need to expound anymore?" "I'm sorry," I said, "Carry on." Lucius sighed, muttering, "I had a great intro lined up, too." He grabbed the cloth and pulled it off the object underneath. Dick was open-mouthed, and I was just as amazed. "I love it!" said Dick, "And it'll even match my bike!" "His bike?" asked Lucius, confused. "It's a Kawasaki ZX-14," I said. Lucius nodded.
The suit looked amazing. The color scheme was red and black, with the yellow R on its right shoulder. The only part of Dick that would be exposed was his hair. Its head, forearms, fingers, lower legs, and back were all black. The rest was red. Dick walked towards it, running his fingers over the logo. Lucius smiled, saying, "What do you think?" "I think this will be perfect!" said Dick, "Can I try it on?" "Go ahead," said Lucius, "I'm sure you've been waiting long enough." He led Dick into a closed off section of the room where he could change. I was bouncing on the balls of my feet as Lucius approached me, saying, "I really thought you were more than a little reluctant to let him do this." "I still am," I said, "but I guess sometimes you have to realize: people grow up. They get stronger. And there's a point where you don't need to protect them." "Nonsense," said Lucius, "Dick will always need you there. He doesn't have many people by his side. And out of those few, you're the most important." I chuckled, saying, "I'd like to believe that, Lucius, I really would." "I'm sure," said Lucius, "So start believing it." I looked at the floor, lost in thought.
I heard from across the room, "Hello, world!" I looked up to see Di...um, Robin in his suit, in a fists-on-hips, legs spread wide, stereotypical superhero pose. "Nice," said Lucius, "Now, I added something to the suit by Bruce's request." "What?" asked Dick, standing normally, "Some kind of explosive failsafe? 'Cause I don't want something like that to malfunction when I'm in the suit." "No," said Lucius, laughing, "Nothing like that. Actually, it's something Bruce thought might help you in training and in the field. See that panel on your gauntlet?" Robin looked down to see a latch on his left arm. He lifted the lid it held in place, revealing a touch-screen panel. His eyes widened. He scrolled through the contents on the screen, saying with increasing excitement, "Linkin Park? Papa Roach? Hollywood Undead? Eminem? Jay-Z? These are some of my favorite artists! Thanks a lot, man! I really appreciate it!" "Wait, it took this for you to act even a smidge cordially?" I said. "It would seem," he said. I rolled my eyes, saying, "You're a piece of work." "And proud of it," Robin said.
Lucius folded his arms satisfactorily and said, "Alright, let's see how your mobility is affected." "Okay," said Robin, running at full tilt towards a far wall. He ran up the wall about five feet and jumped into a back-flip, sticking the landing and saying, "I think my mobility is fine." Clapping, Lucius said, "And also, you mentioned a motorcycle." "Yeah," said Robin. "Well," said Lucius, "I just happen to have a helmet for you. I figured you'd want it to match the suit." Lucius grabbed a helmet that had gone up until this point unnoticed. It was red with a black visor. "Awesome," said Robin, putting it on, "Oh, yeah, this'll work. Thanks." "Of course," said Lucius, "With that over and done with, I understand the Giants are going up against the Cowboys in a few minutes. I figure some football and hot wings is a good way to celebrate our new hero." "That sounds good," I said. Robin took off his helmet and said, "Let's do that, then. And I'm not taking this off." Laughing, Lucius said, "I wouldn't expect you to." And so, we headed upstairs to watch the game.
Three hours and a multitude of triumphant cheers and frustrated groans later, Robin and I said our goodbyes to Lucius and went out to the car. After entering, Robin said, "I guess you and I both will have to get used to this whole 'Robin' thing, huh?" "That's for sure," I said, "So remember, I'm never going to stop being nervous about you out there. So expect unwanted help." "I will," said Robin, "After all, I know you're just a big softie." Laughing, I said, "Really? 'Cause you know I can throw down! I wouldn't call me a softie." "I'm not you," said Robin, smiling, "I'm just someone who knows you well enough to make that call." Starting the car and shrugging, I said, "Okay. I admit it. I guess I can be a little soft. But Batman's pretty hardcore, right?" "Yeah," said Robin. "Then I'm satisfied," I said. We pulled out of the driveway, heading back towards Wayne Manor. The whole drive home, I thought about how happy Dick must've been, taking up the name of Robin. I just hoped he wouldn't get lost in the persona, as I'd been close to doing with Batman.
When we got back, Alfred, as always, was waiting, and he nodded approvingly at Dick's suit. "Very nice, Master Grayson," he said, "It seems to me you'll be having quite the adventures from here on out." "You can bet on it," said Dick. "Starting tonight," I said. Dick turned, with excitement in his eyes. "Do you mean what I think you mean?" "Yeah," I said, "So get ready…Robin." Robin nodded, grinning. "But remember," I said, "I'll be on your back the whole time. This is somewhat of an early outing for someone who's only been through a little over a week of training." "Okay," said Robin, "I can roll with that. So, what's going down?" I replied, "Bank robbery. They've got several hostages. The thing is, some genius killed the guy who knows the code to the vault. They'll have to break into it." Nodding, Robin said, "Giving us more time." "Right," I said, "Let's go." We ran to the Batcave. I quickly donned the Batman suit and jumped in the Batmobile, with Robin close behind. As we left, Robin turned on his music, and I noticed he started bobbing his head as we went down the road. I hoped it would help him.
When we arrived, I hopped out, and Robin got out right behind me. "Stay close," I said. Robin nodded. We had parked around the back, and I decided to utilize a gadget that Lucius had included in the suit. I took out a small sticky bomb, putting it on the wall in front of us. "Step back a little," I said calmly. "Where are we going in?" asked Robin. "Right next to the vault," I said. Three seconds after we got back a safe distance, the bomb exploded, and the wall crumbled, revealing two men in split-colored masks working on the vault. The explosion startled them, and one fumbled for his gun. I wrenched his wrist and punched him in the nose, knocking him down. The other had gotten his gun out, but Robin quickly and nonchalantly whacked him over the head with his staff. I nodded approvingly. I could tell Robin was smiling. We headed out into the spacious main room of the bank. I jumped over the counter where the tellers were cowering, and into a small brigade of the soldiers. They trained their guns on me. However, I still had tricks up my sleeve. I dropped a smoke grenade, dropping to the ground.
They immediately started firing through the smoke as I carefully skittered along the ground. I swept the leg of one soldier, who ended up smacking his head on the marble floor. He stirred slightly and drifted into unconsciousness. The soldier who had been next to him turned to where I was, and was about to fire. I couldn't dodge at that distance. But then I remembered…I had help. Robin, coming in almost as if he was dancing, struck the soldier several times with his staff and went back into the smoke. I smiled. He was good. But I had to stick close. So I rose to my feet directly in front of another soldier, kneeing him in the gut three times. He keeled over, and before the others had time to react, Robin and I took out the rest effectively. The smoke cleared, and we thought it was over. That is, until we noticed a handgun aimed towards us, held in a burnt hand. We heard the gunman say, "Batman. It's been a while. And who's your new friend?" I looked at the man's face, shocked. There in front of me stood Harvey Dent.
Robin said, "DENT?!" "Not anymore," said Dent, "It's White Knight now." Robin said, "That's more than a little cliché, if you ask me." White Knight shifted the grip on his gun, visibly irritated by Robin's remark. Gesturing with his head towards Robin, he said, "Seriously, who is this?" "This is Robin," I said. "Charmed," said Robin. "A sidekick," said White Knight, "Well, I guess it was inevitable." "I'm not a…" began Robin. I interrupted him, "Just ignore it. It'll happen a lot in your first few weeks. Trust me." Robin sighed, frustrated. "All right," he said. "You guys are good," said White Knight, "But did you really think that was all I had with me?" Suddenly, dozens more soldiers rushed through the door. White Knight smiled. A few seconds later, we heard footsteps. But they weren't from White Knight's soldiers. His eyes widened, and he turned, saying, "What are you doing here?" "I'm here to meet my enemy," said an unseen, deep, and heavily accented voice. Stepping into the bank, I saw him. The hulking man known as Bane. I didn't know who he was. But he knew me. "Leave him," said Bane, "I want to handle him myself." He cracked his knuckles and laughed.
