Chapter 9
The team all looked in the same direction as the Kryptonian and they were shocked. Robin was dangling over some kind of pit, and two people were standing on either side of the pit. Miss Martian was beginning to tear at seeing her youngest teammate in this situation. Cardinal and Superboy were about to get really angry. Aqualad didn't know what to think so he just surveyed the situation. Artemis had her usual glare, and just then Kid Flash came out of the building holding his shoulder and he too was getting mad when he saw his friend dangling there.
"Hello there, young heroes. I see I have captured your attention." One figure said as it stepped forward.
"Ra's, you better let him go." Cardinal shouted as she stepped to the front of the group.
"Oh I shall let him go, young heroine, but I want something in return. Your brother stole a file from me, and I'm sure he sent it to you." Ra's said as he looked right at the girl.
"I don't have any way of receiving anything from his computer. If you really want something, then fight me. If I win, you let Robin and all of us go, if you win, I'll take Robin's place." Cardinal said as she looked at Ra's with a stern glare. "I know what's in that pit you have him over, it's a Lazarus Pit. It can heal you when you're dying, but if Robin gets dropped in, it will kill him. You really think I'd come here alone without knowing that about you."
"You are a smart girl. I believe I will accept your offer. Let me state this though, if any of your new friends interfere, then my daughter, Talia, will drop Robin into the Lazarus Pit." Ra's said, adding that stipulation to the fight.
"Fine, they'll stay out of it." Cardinal said as she turned to look at her friends.
"I would like their word for it." Ra's remarked.
"We shall stay out of your fight. None of us will interfere." Aqualad said as he stepped up beside Cardinal.
"Very well then, let the battle begin." Ra's remarked and then jumped down off the side of the pit and landed not far from Cardinal.
Cardinal got ready when she saw Ra's land and he came up on her fast. She could barley dodge a punch from him, but she did. She started taking the offensive, and gave a couple of punches. Ra's blocked them then tried a kick at her left leg. The kick hit its mark and Cardinal was knocked off balance.
The team was watching and wanted to jump in to help her, but they didn't move. They were all ticked that they couldn't help, since helping Cardinal would ensue Robin's demise.
"Dude, I can't just sit here and watch this. We have to do something." Kid Flash mentally said as he held his shoulder where the bullet got him.
"We promised we would not interfere in the fight." Aqualad responded.
"Hello Megan, what about trying to save Robin ourselves. We only promised to stay out of the fight." Miss Martian thought to her friends as the idea came into her head.
"I do not know if that would be possible. The other figure waiting up there may have orders to drop Robin if anything is tried in effort to rescue him." Aqualad answered his Martian teammate.
"Right now, I say wait. If Aqualad's right, then we'd be doing more harm than good." Kid Flash remarked as he finally thought about what was going on.
The fight was taking a turn for the better for Ra's, he had managed to land two hard punches on Cardinal, and she was starting to feel the pain from the kick to her knee. Her stance was weak, and Ra's was taking advantage of that. Cardinal was holding her own, but had started to waver.
By this time, Robin was starting to come to from the knockout gas, and he tried to move, but was surprised to find himself bound, and when he looked down, he got a look of dread. Then he looked forward a bit and saw the fight going on.
"Miss M, can you hear me?" Robin called out in his mind, hoping that Miss Martian could hear him.
"Robin, are you okay?" Miss Martian hastily asked as she was surprised to hear him.
"Just kinda freaking out due to the fact that I'm dangling over a Lazarus Pit. What's going on with Cardinal, why's she fighting Ra's." Robin asked as he was watching the fight.
"If Cardinal can win in the fight, we all go free; but if she loses, she will take your place." Miss Martian informed him.
"She knew she couldn't win, oh man why did she do it." Robin said to himself but Miss Martian heard him.
"Is there anyway we can help get you out of there." Miss Martian asked.
"If I know Ra's he has a back up for something like that. Link me up with the others, including Cardinal." Robin said to his teammate.
While the two heroes were talking mentally, Cardinal was still fighting, and beginning to get agitated as she couldn't gain the upper hand.
"Cardinal, it's me, you know you can't win this fight. Get out of there." Robin's voice said in his sister's mind.
"I'm not giving up, it's either I fight him, or you go straight into the pit. Talk with the others, there has to be a way to get you out of there without any incident." Cardinal answered him as she took a punch to the stomach.
"Now, child, you must fulfill your part of our bargain." Ra's said as he unsheathed his sword and placed it at Cardinal's throat.
"Who said I was done fighting, and since you've drawn a sword, I'll do the same." Cardinal replied, and with that her hand was stretched out and a small flame appeared, she then used her power to manipulate the flame into a sword similar to the one Ra's had.
"So you think you're skilled with a blade. This will be a quick battle." Ra's said as he pulled his sword back and allowed Cardinal to stand. The two of them then started swinging at each other.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team was trying to work on a way to free Robin.
"Wait, Miss Martian, can your telekinesis reach the same distance as your telepathy." Aqualad asked as the thought entered his mind.
"Hello Megan, yes; I can hold him up, but that doesn't mean we can get him out of there." Miss Martian said when that dawned on her that she could.
"What about Cardinal's fireballs, she can aim one at the rope, then you can levitate him to us." Artemis said. "If I had my arrows I could do it. As of right now, Cardinal's the only one that can get something that far."
"I agree, Cardinal, when we give you the signal, launch a fireball at the rope holding your brother." Aqualad ordered.
"Alright." Cardinal answered, knowing the team had come up with a plan.
Miss Martian was ready when Aqualad gave the word, but first she had to let Robin know what was going to happen. "Robin, we have a plan. Cardinal will throw a fireball at the rope holding you after I grab you with my powers."
"Sounds good, just wait till Talia isn't looking. If she senses something's up, she'll drop me." Robin replied without taking his eyes off the fight.
Cardinal had been unable to block two slices and had blood trickling down her right arm, from the two cuts. The young heroine didn't stop fighting though. She was not going to give up, she had to do this.
"Cardinal, we have let Robin know what is going on, and are about to get ready to implement the plan." Aqualad's voice said to the girl.
"Alright, just give me the signal." Cardinal said as she blocked another swing of her enemy's sword.
"What's wrong girl, getting slow now. I'm afraid you are about to be finished." Ra's said as he kicked her in the stomach again. She went down, but stayed up on her knees.
Miss Martian saw that Talia was paying more attention to her father fighting than to Robin, so she made her move. She held up her hands, and sent her telekinesis out to grab her teammate. "Cardinal, I have a hold on Robin with my powers. Do it."
Cardinal heard her friend in her mind, and formed the fireball. She then threw it right at her brother, it hit the rope and burned right through it. Robin didn't fall and was starting to move toward solid ground.
Talia saw this happen and threw a kunai at the green heroine. The kunai hit its mark when it hit Miss Martian's hand. She pulled her hands back, and that released Robin. Luckily he was away from the pit, but was falling to the ground and was not able to stop any kind of injury.
He braced himself for any kind of pain that was about to happen. His eyes were closed about 4 feet from the ground. He opened his eyes after a moment when he realized he should have hit the ground by now. What he saw was relieving, Superboy had managed to get over to him in time to catch the falling hero.
The rest of the team, minus Cardinal who was still fighting, ran over to Robin to make sure he was alright. Superboy finished untying him by the time they got there.
"Oh man, you alright Rob?" Kid Flash said as he appeared right in front of the teen.
"Yea, glad we could figure something out, but now we have to help Cardinal." Robin said as he looked toward the fight.
Things had taken a turn for the worse, as Cardinal had taken another slice, this time across her stomach. She jumped back and placed her left hand on the cut, thus she lost her fire sword. Ra's walked up to her and was about to deliver one final strike, when all of a sudden a rock came up and knocked the sword out of his hand.
"So, your little friends figured out a way to save you, how nice, now I can destroy you all myself." Ra's said as he looked at the team.
"Oh come on, you think we can't handle a geezer like you." Kid Flash remarked as he looked Ra's over.
"You underestimate me, boy, as I am very capable of defeating all seven of you." Ra's said back to the young speedster.
"Why not just show us." Superboy said as he clenched his fists.
"We shall defeat you, Ra's Al Ghul." Aqualad stated as he reached back for his water bearers.
"Time to finish this, Ra's. You and your factory are going down." Robin said as he walked over beside his sister.
"Oh please, a bunch of children can't possibly stop me." Ra's said back to the boy wonder. He then pulled something out of his belt and pressed the button.
"What was that suppose to do?" Artemis asked
"Oh this, it's a trigger for the self destruct of this entire fortress. You only have five minutes to get out." Ra's explained as he started to turn and walk away.
Well, this is promising to me. I have to admit, I've never written a story so well, and I'd like to thank all reviewers that have given me feedback. There is one final chapter to this story, and I'm about to start it. Hope everyone likes how the story ends.