Robin: Ohh, fight scene! *rubs hands excitedly*
Icey: *evil grin* Oh, the never ending torture…! *flees*
.._~_
Robin thought about disappearing to the shadows, doing his quiet work, but decided against it. He was with a team, his friends, that had promised not to leave him; and he wouldn't leave them, either. Even Kid Flash was walking instead of speeding ahead. They converged upon the docks as one unit, working in perfect unison.
The docks were pretty narrow, what with the large hill to one side and the warehouses to the other. It was a dark place to be at night; the lights didn't work after years of no use. The only lighting was given off by a full moon. There were many shadows and crevices for the trio to hide in as they made their way to the assumed warehouse.
Robin noticed there were no guards about. He also noticed as they paused in the shadows to assess their next course of action that there was a pickish-red substance by the docks. Robin frowned, before jabbing Kid Flash in the ribs. The speedster didn't yelp, used to Dick poking his ribs, and turned to the hacker. Said hacker pointed to the lower docks and Kid Flash followed his slim finger to the substance. Kid frowned and turned back to Robin, mouthing 'Speedy' as a question. Robin shrugged.
They approached the second to last warehouse, hoping it was the right one; Aqualad had given the group directions as to which warehouse they should enter due to the location of the sign outside the window. Robin motioned for Superboy to cover the back while he and Kid Flash entered the front. Superboy nodded in agreement and was off. Robin counted to ten before kicking the door open. Kid Flash zoomed in as the door crashed to the ground.
Robin somersaulted into the area, birdarangs drawn and ready; but the warehouse was empty… Or, he thought it was. He heard shuffling from behind and turned around to find guards entering, shouting something in a foreign language.
"KF, baddies, twelve O'clock!" He threw the birdarangs and flipped backwards to put distance between himself and the guards. Where was Batman? Kid Flash ran forward, goggles draw over his eyes, and grabbed the weapons of four guards, dropping the automatics at Robin's feet. But it wasn't enough to stop the onslaught of guards: there must have been fifty! Once they were in place, the darkly clad men raised their weapons and pointed at the two superheroes.
The bullets started piercing the air, and Robin dropped a handful of gas pellets. He used his grappling gun to vault towards the rafter. "Kid Flash, get out of here! I'll meet you at Point Grape!"
Kid Flash was dodging bullets through the smog as the guards chanced getting closer. "Point Grape? Dude, what the heck is that supposed to mean!"
Robin watched as two guards got a little too close for comforts. He dropped down from the rafters and proceeded to knock them out. "Point Grape! Index finger, docks, grape…"
Kid Flash rolled his eyes. "I'm not a detective, Rob!"
Robin growled in frustration as the smog cleared; someone had opened a large, bay door. "Speedy's work down by the docks! Run!" And with that, the Boy Wonder disappeared into the shadows.
Kid Flash tripped some guards on his way toward the back of the warehouse. "Ohh, you mean that substance; couldn't you have just said that, Robby?"
But Robin wasn't in the warehouse anymore. He had reached the substance and was using his holographic-computer to analyze the substance. Kid Flash appeared by the Boy Wonder, looking over his shoulder the whole time. "Uh, listen, Rob, we're kind of running out of time…" The guards converged upon the duo from the warehouse.
"Ah-ha! This is from Speedy's arrow! He was here… But where is he now…?" Robin question as he shut down the computer and turned to face the oncoming hoard.
Kid Flash stepped back carefully. "I take the half on the left, you take the half on the right?"
Robin grinned, pulling more birdarangs from his belt. "Sure!"
Kid Flash ran forward, doing what he does best, and started zipping between the ranks, grabbing weapons, pulling down helmets, pranking them more or less. Robin threw his birdarangs – explosive birdarangs, mind you. They landed in the middle of the guards, knocking a good amount out and probably injuring many others. Robin took advantage of their downfall to maneuver to the other side of the docks so his back wasn't facing water.
Kid Flash had tied up some guards, while others lay motionless, out for the count. He grinned as another guard advanced on him, but frowned when his feet wouldn't move. He looked down to see a dark green lacing its way around his feet, his legs, his waist, his torso. He screamed. "Robin! Robin, watch out!" but was cut off as the encircled his head.
Robin paused in his karate demonstration. "KF!" A guard reached forward for Robin's arm and the Boy Wonder swatted the hand away, sending a round house kick in the guard's direction. He did a triple back flip and landed at the base of the hill. Man, there was absolutely no room for him to move. He scanned the area wearily for the redhead, but found that the speedster wasn't there.
Robin threw some more birdarangs in the baddies' direction and raced to the nearest warehouse: the last warehouse. He needed to gain the upper hand. Using his grappling gun, he shot straight out to the warehouse wall; making sure the line was secure, Robin then wrapped the gun itself around a strong bush. He then raced toward the warehouse at an eighty degree angle. The guards started forward toward the shadowy figure, only to trip on the wire stretched across the tarmat. In the end, there was a large road block of entangled bodies, some unconscious. This gave Robin the time he needed to reach the warehouse.
He raced inside and pressed himself against a wall, panting. Where was Kid Flash? Heck, where was Supey? Robin had instructed the clone to remain at the back of the warehouse and attack from there. But he hadn't seen the younger Man of Steel since they separated. Robin quickly took in his surroundings and was surprised to find many items in this warehouse.
There were quite a few crates, a table and chairs, many different sizes of chains strung from the rafters and curled on the floor. It was also dark in here, but the lights on the ceiling looked new. Dick cautiously moved forward between the crates. To his left was a spinning blur, and he thought for a minute that he recognized the item. He cautiously, curiously, moved toward the object and froze as the lights suddenly were turned on, illuminated him, leaving no shadows for comfort.
Robin carefully assessed the area for any bad guys, drawing some Birdarangs from his belt. He was surprised to find no one else in the warehouse, so he turned his attention back to the spinning object. He calmly stepped toward it – and froze for the second time. Yes, he recognized it. He was actually very familiar with it. It was a vertical spinning table the clowns at the circus would use; Robin used to be the prop to be tied to the table.
He shook himself from his daze to study the spinning table, utilizing what the clowns had taught him to focus on who was strapped to the table. The trick was to focus on an outside area of the spinning table and follow the spot, thus giving your eye the illusion that the thing is visible; but it's more than illusion. A clown would use this trick to keep from hitting the prop on the table.
Robin's blood seemed to drain from his body and his legs grew weak at the sight: Speedy was tied to the spinning table, blood staining the colorful background along with his suit. A knife stuck out from his chest: the murder weapon.
Shhh-twang!
A knife lodged itself near Speedy's body as a voice spoke up behind Robin.
"Ahh, I see you found us, Boy Blunder!" The Joker's nasally voice broke through to Robin, but he was too shocked to do anything as Poison Ivy appeared besides the spinning table and slowed it to a stop. Robin could only stare at his pale brother, his friend. Poison Ivy's green lips turned upwards in an unhealthy smirk as Robin fell to his knees, staring at the lifeless form.
Speedy had promised…
He had promised…
He had promised they would go in together…
He had promised Robin wouldn't be left, alone, to deal with this…
He had promised!
And if Roy had promised and hadn't kept his promise, why should Robin trust his teammates? That must have been what happened! Superboy got scared and ran off, along with Kid Flash… But, hadn't Kid Flash stuck around with Robin for a while?
It must have been to confuse him!
But, Kid Flash was Robin's best friend… He wouldn't just ditch Robin like that…
Would he?
Robin was broken out of his thoughts as a plant shuffled its way towards Poison Ivy. The green girl patted the spiky plant before the plant disappeared through a crack, leaving behind a bloody Kid Flash.
Robin's eyes grew wide and he ran forward. "KF!" He caught his friend as his knees gave way.
"Hey, Robby. Good…to see you, bud…" the speedster groaned and shifted lower to the floor, dragging the Boy Wonder with him. Robin tried to stop the flow of blood from his many scratches. He felt so guilty for doubting in the speedster.
He voiced his apologies. "I'm so sorry, KF! I shouldn't have doubted you or left you alone… We're a team and if I ever want to be leader, I have to think about my teammates…"
KF grinned before sucking in a harsh breath. "No prob, Robby. Just focus on getting out of here, whether you leave me behind or not, 'k?"
Robin hesitated. "I can't…"
Kid Flash smiled kindly. "Promise me, Robin."
Robin looked down at his soaked gloves; KF was bleeding faster now. The plant had done a job on him, and the cuts were deep. "KF-"
"Robin…" Kid Flash tugged on Robin's arm, causing the young hacker to look Wally in the eye. "Promise me." The speedster ordered.
"But…" Robin took a shaky breath. "I promise, Wally…" but he doubted himself; a lot of promises had been broken in his life, especially recently…
As if reading his mind, the Joker spoke up. "But you know, Boy Blunder, Batsy didn't head his promise to always be there for you. He went missing over a week before you even knew about it. So, that was breaking two promises: Batsy promising to be there for you, and you promising to be there for him! And then there's this lovely archer over here." Ivy moved so the Joker could get closer to Roy's body. "Now, didn't he promise you something too?"
Robin stopped glaring at the Joker and lowered his eyes quietly to the floor. "…Yes…"
The Joker leaned closer, cupping a gloved hand to his ear. "What? What was that? I couldn't hear you?"
Robin quickly punched the Joker and stood up, towering over Kid Flash. "I said 'yes'." Anger rippled from his body in waves. The Joker had fallen against the now still vertical table, on top of Roy's body. An angry voice boomed through the metal warehouse.
"GET AWAY FROM HIM! Don't you dare touch Speedy!" Robin spun around and, sure enough, it was an angry Supey. His pupils were small and he was struggling against a very angry looking plant. Poison Ivy had just brought him in from outside, along with a few banged up guards. "I said DON'T TOUCH HIM!"
The Joker even looked a little frightened by the angry boy, so he quickly stood up from the dead body. "No matter, I never liked bodies much anyway…" He took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and dabbed at his bloody nose.
Superboy got angrier, but Robin noticed his face was paling considerably as the seconds passed by. "YOU KILLED HIM!" It was not a question: it was an accusation.
The Joker smiled. "Yes, yes I did…"
Superboy pulled at the vines entangling him, but as he did so, his eyes rolled back and he immediately went limp. Falling to the floor with a dull crack, Robin screamed out. "Superboy!" He helped KF to his feet before running over to the Kryptonite's side. He pulled the older teen into his arms and slapped at his face. "Wake up, Supey! Wake up!" A bloody Kid Flash joined him in trying to wake the superhero.
Poison Ivy's cackling laugh electrocuted their nerves and both superheroes glared at her from their spot on the floor. "You honestly think he's asleep?" Another round of laughter. "Oh, darlings, don't you know? I used Kryptonite based fertilizer for that plant: the only weakness to Superman, and now his clone…"
Robin looked horrified at the body in his arms. "Y-you killed him?" Kid Flash squeaked as Robin gently laid Superboy down. He slowly pressed his ear against the older teen's chest. No heartbeat, no breath…
No life.
.._~_
OH MY GOSH, I KILLED SUPEY! *bangs head against keyboard* That was just wrong! I am soo sorry Miss Martian!
Oh, and if anyone's wondering what happened to Green Arrow and why he's not there, this is what happened:
Green Arrow stared at the cap in his hands: was the League really gone? Why did he feel responsible for their deaths? It wasn't as if he was in charge of checking for Meteor Storms; that was Atom's job…
He carefully placed the cap on the table in front of him before unhooking his bow and quiver from his back. He tossed them on the floor and the arrows scattered around the room. Without the League, he was a no body… He had no superpowers; he had no protégé (at least, not anymore since Speedy quit).
Quit.
Hmm, maybe that wasn't a bad idea…
Oliver Queen threw the hat on the floor, mimicking his protégé's actions, and walked out of the Hall shutting the lights off on his way…
So, yeah, he quit… Off to type up the next chapter! Please don't be mad with me and just keep reading because it gets really good soon!