Chapter 4: Enigma

Point of View: Robin

Robin had just got off his crutch. Things have been a little hostile between Tierra and Requim lately. He hated to take sides, but he kind of felt towards Tierra. While Requim had a point, we would need all the help we could get to escape this world and save their own. Robin started on the punch-bag. Left jab, right, spinning back-kick, he felt alive. He pulled out a Bo Staff. Groin, chin, head, cheek, kick over-head. He could never of have been able to do this in his normal body.

"Team," said the voice, "There seems to be a breach on the upper-floor, please investigate."

Robin tucked away the Bo Staff; it slipped back into a simple small pipe and easily fit back into his Utility Belt. He walked towards the elevator. He caught up with Requim, who gave him a nod of greeting. When Tierra grouped up with him and requim, requim simply took a portal to the elevator.

"Hey, Robin," She said, putting her hand on his arm, "You think he'll ever get over it?"

"I don't know," He said, stroking his chin, "He's a man of honor, his DC story tells us he was trained by the league of Assassins, during that time he kept his powers and emotions a deep secret, my guess? He may be over it tomorrow, or he may die angry at you."

He walked off, Tierra slowed down to catch up with the ladies, who started talking on the matter. He grouped up with Arrow on the way, and they just continued to the elevator. Requim was already in there, back against the elevator wall.

"We ready?" He said standing back up straight.

"Yeah," He said, as the women entered the silver elevator.

They arrived up into the lobby of Queen Consolidated, the team with weapons at the ready. Arrow with his bow up, Hera with her claws and teeth out, Batgirl, bat-a-rangs at the ready, Tierra one hand on her head, scanning for life, and Requim, his katana in a reverse grip and a purple and black ball of energy glowing in his left hand. Robin enjoyed the thrill and adrenaline.

"Spread out," Said Requim, slowly creeping out.

Robin made a move towards the steps. Suddenly, a silenced weapon popped out around the corner. He grabbed the weapon, pulling it out of the man's hand, taking out the clip, and throwing the two items away from each other. The man yanked out a bat and attempted an overhead strike. The man didn't even have a chance; he sidestepped the bat, getting behind the attacker. He kicked the back of the attacker's knee, forcing the man to buckle. He did a three hundred sixty degree turn and hit the man in the back of the head. Knocking him out.

He took a look of the man on the ground. He was wearing a green flak jacket, and purple pants. He took a closer look at the man. He was wearing a necklace. He yanked off the necklace; it was a gold chain with a golden outer ring and a purple question mark. His mind started to race of where he'd seen that symbol before. Then his mind snapped, the riddler.

"INSIDE!" He yelled furiously waving his hand, "QUICK! GET BACK INSIDE!"

The team looked up at him, as if they understood. But it was too late. A man appeared out of the janitors closet and wacked Hera in the back of the head, making her crumple. Another man came in through the front door and shot Arrow with a single tranquilizer dart, which made him fall on his back. Requim turned just fast enough to cover himself with a portal and send the darts back to the attackers. Tierra almost made it back to the elevator, and then she was sniped in the back by a stun round from a roof top sniper.

Robin was spinning his Bo staff, blocking as many tranquilizer darts as he can, though some got a little bit too close. Batgirl fell as soon as she got to the elevator; she made a valiant effort, taking down as many as she could. Robin and Requim were the last two left.

"Robin," Said Requim panting heavily, "I'm running on empty, I can't keep this up, close the elevator so they won't find the cave."

He was panting so hard, this was getting hard on him, "On it, cover me."

He got to the elevator and activated emergency protocol. The elevator itself fell at super speed down to the cave, alarms blaring. The doors shut, no way to get back in except from the inside.

He turned to see Requim on his hands and knees; panting so hard he could hear it through the mask. Then he saw the man himself, his bowler hat. Green and purple with a question mark on it. His green jacket and pants scattered with black question marks, and a hard gold cane.

"Really? This is it?" The Riddler said, laughing, "The people causing darkseid so much trouble, ARE TEENAGERS?" He laughed that last part.

Requim stood up katana in a defense position.

The Riddler faked a low strike and Requim fell for it. The Riddler hit Requim dead in the side of the head. Sending him flying backwards in a backwards spin. He was on his hands and knees the received a blow to the face again, sending him flying upwards and on his back from The Riddler's cane.

"Sit down boy!" Yelled the riddler in psychotic excitement.

He looked at him. Eyes in confusion.

"Bird-Brain is a teller?" He said, smiling, "It matters not, take him as well, alive!"

Robin attempted to stand up, muscles cramping. He didn't even get a chance to draw out his staff as he received a kick in the face from one of The Riddler's thugs. Then, black.

XXX

Robin woke up in a daze; he was hanging upside down from some chains. There was a TV in front of him, he knew this was The Riddler's doing.

"HELLO BIRD-BRAIN!" Said The Riddler, as the TV flashed on, "Usually batman is the one who solves my riddles but you'll have to do!"

Saw's turned on below him, almost chopping Robin into multiple different pieces.

"Riddle me this bird-brain." Said The Riddler, spinning his cane in his hand "What's metal on the outside, but flesh on the inside, gold on the outside, but juicy on the inside, what is it?"

Robin looked down, his mask almost falling off. He knew from experience that playing Riddler's game was a trap. The best thing to do was to find a way out of his game. The chains were tight, and a control box was not visible. He started thinking about the riddle. Flesh on the inside, metal on the outside, gold on the outside, juicy on the inside. Then it hit him.

"A RING!" He yelled, pulling himself up so the saws don't cut him. "It's a ring!"

"Rrrr" Growled The Riddler, "You just HAD to get the riddle right."

Robin fell to the floor. The cuffs letting him go and a floor covered up the saws so he had a safe fall.

He stood back up, in self-defense stance, "I got your riddle, now let me and my friends go!"

"Tsk tsk tsk, Bird Brain." The Riddler said, waving her finger side to side, "You should know better, the game doesn't end until you have rescued ALL of your team."

Robin looked around, a door to his right opened up. An arrow pointed at it, it read, 'This way Bird-Brain.' He couldn't leave his friends, but he needed help. He walked through the door. His first stop was Arrow he was hung up, his hands and feet spread out in an X position.

"This is your friend, the arrow," Said The Riddler through a hidden PA system. "Here's how this round is going to work, there is a bomb in the room with him."

Robin heard the clock countdown, "What do I have to do?"

"Why my boy" Said the Riddler, "There are three colors in the panel in front of you."

Robin ripped the cover off of the panel, The Riddler was telling the truth, there were three colors, green, purple, and red.

"I will give you riddles," Said The Riddler, "To give you hints as to which color, are you ready? You've already wasted 40 seconds of the minute you had HAHAHA!"

Robin looked down fast. The timer read 20 seconds.

"Give me the riddle!" He yelled.

"Who to chose, who to lose, the answer is looking right at you." He said with a sinister smile.

Robin glanced around quickly, he couldn't find it, and he only had 10 seconds left. Then he looked at The Riddler; he wasn't wearing any black question marks or his purple hat. Robins face lit up, the answer was green.

Robin clipped the wire, his wire cutters making quick work of the wire.

"NO! NO! NO!" Yelled The Riddler.

The door opened and Arrow was released. Robin rushed in with his unreal speed.

"Can you walk?" He asked, feeling for pulse and checking up on him.

"Yeah," He said, groaning, "Just a little weak."

He helped him up. He was surprisingly light. The Riddler must've been keeping them low on energy, but why? He got his answer as he and arrow climbed the ladder to the next area. It was Requim, a sharp rusty blade pointed at his shoulder, and a game of operation on their side of a window.

"I decided to get a little," He said stroking his chin, "Psychotic on this one."

Robin looked down at the game, and then back at The Riddler, "What do I have to do?" He asked.

"Here's the riddle; A little there, a little here, it can make you shed tears." He said, "Now, your job, is to select where the door lock that is connected to his heart-beat is, as long as the item is connected, the door stays locked, if you don't play, poisonous gas get's released and it kills your friend, might want to hurry, you only have two minutes left." He said, as the PA system shut off.

"Umm," said Arrow, "I don't know, his foot?"

"EEEHHH!" Said The Riddler "WRONG!"

The blade adjusted to Requim's foot and pierced it all the way through.

"YYYYYAAAAAAAGGHHH!" Yelled Requim, blood oozing from his black combat boot.

Robin started thinking. A little here a little there. Then he looked down at his hands, they were shaking, what if he killed Requim? Then he looked at his fingers, a littler here a little there, and they can make you shed tears. Then he looked up at Requim, he had a silver ring on that hadn't been there before.

Robin looked at the game, a finger was an option, "A finger, IT'S A FINGER!"

"DAG-NABIT!" Yelled The Riddler.

Robin selected the finger, it lit up green. The blade thrusted forward at the finger, missing the finger and the body, but shattering the ring. The door shot open, Robin and Arrow rushed in fast to help Requim.

"Sorry mate," Robin said, trying to cheer Requim up to make him smile, "Arrow's idea."

"Arrow," Requim said, patting Arrow's shoulder, "Come here, so I can tell you something."

"Listen buddy," Arrow said, tears in his eyes, "Your gonna make it, hold on."

" I know," He said, still patting his shoulder, "But just incase I don't"

He punched Arrow as hard as he could in the nose, making Arrow jump backwards from the pain.

"That's for getting me stabbed!" Requim said, recoiling in pain, obviously low on energy, "You idiot! A FOOT! PFT! You're so getting your butt kicked when we get back!"

"I guess," Arrow, said, whipping his nose, "I kind of deserved that one."

Robin took out a bandage roll out of his bag. And carefully wrapped it around Requim's foot, it would help control the bleeding at least, but he needed serious medical attention. He took out his staff and extended it to full length.

"Listen buddy, your going to be okay for now," He said helping Requim up, "But until we can get you a proper testis shot, take it easy, my injection will only slow it down."

He handed Requim his staff, it would have to serve as a crutch for now.

"Thanks mate," Requim said, getting himself up, "Just don't let Arrow do anymore riddles, okay?"

"Definitely," Robin said with a smile.

"I'm right here!" Arrow said, still feeling his nose.

The stairs were tough on Requim. He said he didn't need help, but you could tell he needed it. He winced in pain every time he went upwards. Arrow was behind him, to make sure he didn't fall, and Robin in front, to make sure nothing tried to come after him. They continued upwards, and they found their next challenge, the panel on their side read, test your strength.

"WELCOME TO THE NEXT GAME!" Yelled The Riddler, "If you lose this game, well, death, but if you win, well, you get to save-"

The metal slid upwards and out of sight, Terra was stuck to a chair in between two walls.

"YOUR GIRLFRIEND!" He said with a smile and small snicker.

Robin blushed, he shouldn't of in the middle of a crisis, but it was embarrassing never the less. Requim looked at him in an angry astonished, he wasn't speaking but he could tell what he was thinking, 'Really? Your dating her?' he shrugged; he didn't want to have to deal with this right now.

"What do I have to do?" He said.

"Simple," The Riddler said, "On the panel there is a troll doll and two bricks. These are connected to the actual thing. Your job is to push them apart and not get the troll doll squished, be warned though, they have the same metric power as the real deal."

The game started, the walls and mini-walls began closing in. Robin pushed with all his might, but The Riddler was right, these were as tough as the real deal. Then Robin started to think, this isn't the Riddler. The Riddler would have tricks planned out. He took a look at the bricks, and felt below the brick, there was a crack, which meant this wasn't the real thing, it was sandstone. He threw his fist down on the bricks and they shattered. The real things shattered as well.

"So," Said The Riddler, sitting up in his chair, "You DO think about me? Don't you Bird-Brain?"

Robin and Arrow rushed in, Requim waited outside the door.

"Hey, you okay?" He asked, brushing Tierra's hair out of her face.

"Well," She said, bringing up a smile "Considering our relationship got announced to the entire building, and that I almost got crushed, sure I'm fine."

"Well," He said, "That's not necessarily a bad thing, other than Requim hates me now, yeah, it's all good." He kissed her on the forehead and they moved on. Requim didn't speak the entire time, he looked like he was contemplating the world, which world though, he couldn't tell.

The next cell was simple, it was an open door, and Hera was inside.

"I've decided to be nice to you. And give you a freebie, just watch the tiles."

Robin was about to step in when Requim stopped him.

"Wait," He said, taking a Bird-a-rang from Robin's belt, "Watch."

He watched as requim threw the Bird-a-rang. It went flying and landed on a tile, the bird-a-rang erupted in a cloud of fire and shrapnel. The pieces went everywhere and the tiles that received the blast and shrapnel we're relatively unscathed, but a few seconds' later, wood stakes popped up. And Hera was on the other side, waiting for help.

"Hey," Requim said to Robin, "How good were you on the tightrope?"

Robin realized what he had to do. He threw out a wire from his Bird-a-rang to the other side of the room Hera was in, and then he stapled the other end to the wall behind him. He began to climb upside down on the tightrope. His cape accidently touched one and a stake popped up, luckily missing him and the tightrope. He reached the other side. Hera was alright, she seemed full of energy, probably feeding off of depression.

"You alright?" He said, hanging upside down.

"I'm fine, I've been feeding off of depression of lost souls here, and there's A LOT!"

"Think you can get back without stepping on the tiles?" He said, still hanging upside down.

"I can do better than that." She disappeared in a cloud of black smoke and appeared by Arrow.

The journey back was simpler, since robin could zip line back, though he had to box up like a box troll. He arrived at the other side.

"I'm afraid," Said The Riddler, looking angry, "Our journey ends here my dear friends, and your friend batgirl has broken out, so I have to kill you, GUARDS! KILL THEM!" And the TV flashed off.

"Hey boys," Said batgirl, breaking through the door in front of them, "How you been?"

"Could be better," Said Requim, "Someone thought foot would be a good answer."

Then 5 guards popped out from the shadows. Four with knives and one with a Desert Eagle. The one with the gun attempted to open fire on Requim, but Requim simply sent the bullets back at him. When the man had fallen Requim tripped and fell on the dead body.

The other guards were quickly dispatched with claws and arrows. But it took a lot of strain on the team; you could see their exhausted faces, all read and beads of sweat trickling down. Arrow helped Requim up, who gave him a nod to of kindness. They walked through the next-door and found The Riddler. He walked towards them, knife in one hand, and a cane in the other.

"HA! LOOK AT YOU!" He said, walking slowly "Your so tired you couldn't fight me even if you tried your hardest, your all worn out."

Robin looked backwards, he was right, but then he looked at Requim, and his eyes widened.

"Well then," He said, cocking back a Deagle, "Good thing your men take good care of your weapons."

Requim fired and it was almost like time froze for Robin, he thought back to where Requim got a Deagle. Then he remembered when he fell. The fall wasn't on accident, it was on purpose, he grabbed the deagle and planned this so he could get revenge.

Time finally sped up with Robin as he came to his conclusion. He saw the muzzle flash, then The Riddle, flying backwards to be electrocuted into his computers. Robin looked back at Requim, the kick form the gun was too much for his frail body to handle. He flew backwards and landed on the ground knocking himself out.

XXX

Robin was sitting in the cave with Requim. He was still out cold. And the god voice guy. He said we didn't have enough medical equipment to take care of a wound like this. He said within 2 weeks, Requim, would die. Robin thought it was over, however reckless Requim was, he was a good partner. He even tried to get Tierra to help but she said the wound was too big. Then, the most crazy and unthinkable thing happened. With a thundering boom and collapse of rocks. Superboy, kid flash, and, wait, batman? Broke through the garage.

"We hear you have a certain," Said Superboy, "Predicament."

"Who are you guys!" Said arrow, ready to defend Requim.

"We're the legion," Said Batman, "And we are an army of Tellers."

DUN DUN DUN! END CHAPTER 4!