Chapter 10:
The chanting faded after only an hour – his chest couldn't handle the constant movement required to talk. The only thing that was keeping Robin company was the sound of his own shaky, shallow breathing. Pressing his legs against his chest wasn't helping that but the teenager wasn't going to change the only position in which he felt somewhat safe.
Sleep was not coming easily. Every time Robin drifted off, his head dropped forward and he was jerked awake. After two hours of giving himself whiplash, the teenager decided to rest his chin on his bent knees. His neck protested the position slightly but not enough for him to decide to change it.
Violent coughs that made his entire body tremble had manifested themselves several times. The young crime-fighter was now motionless, however, and the lack of movement had calmed the attacks. His entire left side was numb and he was grateful for that. A bullet wound and a broken collarbone were things that he didn't want to add to his list of pain and fear.
Go to sleep. You need the rest.
Are you crazy?! Stay awake! Don't get caught off-guard!
There's nobody else here. Morning will come quicker if you go to sleep.
Sleep is a luxury that you can't afford right now! You need to plan!
It was a silly disagreement and Robin tried to stop his brain from arguing with itself. Both sides were making good points but they were also giving him a good-sized headache. If he could stay awake, he might be able to come up with some kind of escape plan. But, he was really tired and if he could fall asleep then he would have more energy to execute an escape plan. The argument raged on and Robin listlessly stared at walls that he couldn't see.
The next morning:
A pair of weary blue eyes had just closed when a tiny spark of light began shining into Robin's current residence. The dark lashes that covered the tired, red-rimmed circles were slowly forced away from the pale cheeks as the miniature ray of sun slid down his face. His entire body was trembling again, his chest felt like it was about to explode and he had absolutely no energy. Blood had trickled down his left arm once in a while during the night and there was a small puddle under his limp left hand.
But he had survived the darkness. Muted light now filled the room and the teenager grinned slightly in relief. That feeling turned into shock when he stretched out his legs and looked across the room. There was a skeleton sitting against the far wall with a hand resting on what looked like an old, rusted machine. Robin closed his eyes, shook his aching head and re-opened them. It was still there and he became confused. How had this person been able to get that large piece of metal into this cave when the Boy Wonder had barely made it in himself?
A thought pushed itself into his tired mind: there was another way out. There had to be, unless a rock slide had formed itself into that tunnel. But that act of nature wouldn't turn into a space that slowly became smaller and then opened up into a cave. No, there was another way out. And Robin was going to find it.
Batman hadn't been able to sleep either. What if his partner somehow made it out during the night? The Caped Crusader wanted to be ready to help him and he couldn't do that if he was asleep on the floor.
So another set of blue eyes, slightly darker than the first, wearily stared at a small hole as light filled the large cave. The Bat-flashlight had been flickering for the last half hour and Batman was grateful that he could turn it off before it died completely.
He glanced around, remembered that all three criminals had been sprayed with Bat-sleep and let out a sigh of relief. They wouldn't wake up without Bat-awake so he didn't have to worry about containing them.
"ROBIN!" Batman roared into the hole. There was no reply so he tried again. Still nothing and he shook his head.
The woman who had described Robin's condition had said that the bullet had shattered and there might be pieces in the Boy Wonder's blood stream. That meant shards were traveling toward his heart and would easily begin tearing the organ apart. Maybe it had already happened; crawling around all over the place certainly wouldn't help it not happen. Maybe his sixteen-year-old partner was lying in the cave, already dead. Maybe it had become too difficult to breathe with all the dirt in his lungs and Robin had suffocated to death. Maybe the wound in his shoulder had caused him to bleed out, or become infected, and had already killed him. Maybe he had become irrational in the darkness and somehow accidentally killed himself. Maybe…
"He's alive, he's strong, he can make it!" Batman yelled at the thoughts twisting crazily around in his brain.
The words were positive but the feeling in the hero's chest was not. It had been almost twenty-four hours since his partner had been shot, since he had taken the bullet that was meant for the old man. The Caped Crusader realized that soon he would have to accept that the Boy Wonder was dead. Nobody could survive infected wounds and shards of metal in the heart and bleeding out and lungs coated with dust and whatever else had happened.
"Come on, Robin, please," he whispered. "Never give up, please." Batman was begging the small cave to release his partner, pleading with the darkness to show Robin the way out. But the black hole remained silent and a feeling of grief began to grow in Batman's chest – one that he knew would never go away.
The light was coming from a small, far-away opening in the ceiling; one that Robin assumed came out at the top of the mountain. But there was no way to get up there – he didn't have any Bat-rope or Bat-rockets in his boots or even a Bat-flare to signal his position to anyone who might be nearby. Also, he didn't want to move. He was going to end up like the guy across the room from him, although his skeleton would be marginally smaller.
Was Catwoman still waiting for him? She was probably furious. Good thing there were no hostages left for her to injure or kill. He hoped they had made it down the mountain and that they would somehow be able to get his message to Batman.
Robin vaguely wondered if the rusty lump of metal was the "treasure" Catwoman wanted him to find. What type of machine was it? Did he care enough to go all the way to the other side of the room? It was only ten yards away but to the Boy Wonder it looked like fifty. However, now the fact that he didn't know was bugging him.
Sighing, and hoping that his left arm would remain numb, Robin bent his knees and brought them up to his chest again. His legs were sore from being forced to stay in that position for the entire night. But he pushed his back against the wall and slowly stood up without giving them a choice. The teenager's knees, which were somewhat tender from all the crawling around, protested loudly as all of his weight was placed squarely on their ligaments.
"Deal with it," he muttered, irritated with the joints that were only slightly injured. Sliding his way up the wall had allowed his left arm to rejoin the rest of the pain in his body. Blood began trickling from the bullet wound and the two halves of his collarbone began grinding against each other. He should be used to feeling like his bones were on fire; his shoulders had been dislocated more times than he could remember and various parts of his body had been broken or fractured more than once in his short career.
This fire, however, was different. Robin had never experienced the pain of a broken collarbone so he wasn't prepared for the flames of a furnace to start pounding sizzling coals on his neck. Nor was he aware that a large, hot needle would begin sewing logs of burning wood into the bone. The skeleton across the room stood up and began dancing while shooting arrows at the hole in the Boy Wonder's shoulder and the teenager decided that he was just going to go to sleep. Everything was darkening anyway so it wouldn't make a difference.
"ROBIN!" A familiar voice thundered through the tiny tunnel and Robin's eyes popped open.
"Batman?" he whispered weakly as he sank to his knees. If Batman was here, Catwoman and the henchmen were in Bat-cuffs or tied up. So the teen didn't have to worry about arresting anyone anymore. A sigh of relief slid out of his mouth as he dropped onto his back and slipped into darkness.
Five minutes later:
"Robin! Wake up right now!"
The Boy Wonder groaned. He had just fallen asleep; it couldn't be time to wake up already.
"NOW!" the voice demanded harshly and Robin opened his eyes. The dancing skeleton, which had changed from white to a neon yellow, was standing over him and yelling.
"Go away," the teen attempted to growl. "I'm tired. And I don't feel good."
"I don't care!" the skeleton retorted. "If you don't get up right now then I will never speak to you again!"
"You're…you're not really talking to me anyway," Robin replied with confusion in his tone. "You're dead."
"Oh, I'm dead, am I?!" the bones screamed. "Then how can I do this?!" The skeleton jumped in the air and landed squarely on Robin's chest.
"Stop, that's mean," the Boy Wonder mumbled as pain raced throughout his torso.
"Then get up! Don't make me tell you again, young man!"
"You can't tell me what to do. You're just a pile of bones."
"AND YOU'RE AN IDIOT!" the skeleton screamed at him again and this time he stomped his way down Robin's left arm.
"Jerk," the teen muttered, agony filling the word. He was rewarded with a bony hand slapping the top of his head.
"I may be a jerk but at least I'm not lying on the floor letting myself die!"
"That's because you're already dead."
"Well, at least I had a reason to die here," the skeleton mumbled. "You have people waiting for you. They might not stay for much longer." The skeleton looked sad now and was staring straight into Robin's eyes.
"Batman?" the teenager whispered and the skeleton nodded as he faded away. Robin opened his eyes and lifted his pounding head. The bones of the skeleton were white again and he was sitting against the wall with his hand on the lump of metal.
"How?" he whispered, the question directed at the pile of bones. "How do I get out of here?" But the skeleton remained silent and Robin allowed his head to fall back to the floor.
"Come on, Robin, find your way out," Batman whispered despairingly. He had turned on his Bat-flashlight again and was shining it in the dark hole. The light was still flickering, however, and the hero knew it was on the verge of dying.
Dying. Just like Robin.
You don't know that!
It's been nearly a day. He's gone; just accept it.
NO! He's still alive! He's resourceful; he'll find a way out!
If he hasn't come out by now, he's not coming out at all. And you can't get in there to help.
He's the Boy Wonder; he rarely needs help! He's sixteen, he's strong, he's smart, he's experienced and he will find a way out! And I will find a way in, just in case he's unconscious.
Just in case?! You know he is, otherwise he would already be here. It's over.
"Stop!" Batman commanded the voices in his head. "Just…stop." Standing up, he strode to the entrance of the large cave and stepped outside. He looked up at the bright sky and shook his head. They were only halfway up the mountain. Even if there was an exit at the top, Robin would be too exhausted to get there. An exit at the top…?
The man began carefully studying the side of the mountain. Pulling out his Bat-communicator, he pressed the button and waited impatiently for Alfred to respond.
"…it, sir?" the butler's voice was scratchy and full of static. "Have…bin…Peak, sir?"
"Alfred, pull up the image of the mountain again and tell me what's on top. Do you see any exits, holes, caves, anything?"
"…understand…cave?" Alfred's tone was laced with confusion and Batman realized that the man probably hadn't been able to hear most of what the hero had said.
"Never mind," he growled. Replacing the small device in the front pocket of his utility belt, the Caped Crusader turned back to the large cave. One more try and then he would go up to find a way down.
Returning to the small hole, Batman knelt down and tried to force his way inside. His head went in but nothing else fit through. He twisted and pushed and jerked but there was no way any other part of him could enter the darkness.
"ROBIN!" he roared again and waited. There was nothing but the echo of his own voice so he pulled his head out and stood up. The Bat-flashlight was dead now and it was almost noon. He needed to find a way in as quickly as possible so that he could get Robin out before complete darkness descended on the mountain.
He was outside again and Batman went straight for the nearly invisible trail that he had followed with his eyes when he was speaking with Alfred. It was less of a trail and more of a fewer-rocks-so-it-will-be-faster path. It would take him at least an hour to get to the top, though, and that was at "Bat-speed". Grinning, the Caped Crusader saw an image of a twelve-year-old Robin at his side, practically running to keep up with the hero's long strides:
"Slow down, Batman, I don't have Bat-speed yet!"
Redirecting his thoughts, Batman began quickly but carefully picking his way up the side of Gotamint Peak. There was going to be an exit at the top, he was sure of it.
Robin was still lying on his back, staring at the tunnel on his left. He knew he would get stuck again but he couldn't think of any other way to get out. There were no stairs that would take him up to the light, no elevator or rocket or anything. If he didn't go back the way he had come in, his chance of survival diminished significantly. But he would be trapped in the skinny tunnel and the dark would attack him again and this time he would go insane. It would be better to curl up in a ball against the wall and fade away without losing his sanity.
Never give up.
"There's nowhere to go!" the Boy Wonder whispered in frustration. His left shoulder was pulsing painfully and his neck was throbbing. Even if he did want to go back to the tunnel, he doubted that the left side of his body would even allow him to move.
CRACK
The teenager turned his head and looked up. A large part of the mountain was separating itself from the side wall. His eyes widened in alarm; he was about to be buried alive! That was another one of his worst fears but the panic he was feeling froze him in place. He couldn't roll out of the way, he couldn't jump to his feet and race to the other side of the room, he couldn't do…anything!
Robin watched as the clump of earth began tumbling toward him and suddenly the panic turned into adrenaline. The flames in his shoulder that had marginally decreased in heat flared up again as the bones were forced to accept all his weight when he twisted left. He rolled until his back hit the wall and his feet hit the machine. The ball of dusty debris crashed to the floor, throwing gritty sand in the air and shooting pebbles around the room.
Closing his eyes and mouth, the teenager waited for the sounds to fade and the shaking to stop. When it did, he counted to ten and then slowly slid his lashes apart. The dust lingering in the air was sparkling from the ray of sunshine that had burst into the cave. Robin, his skeleton friend and the rusty machine were coated in a layer of dirt. There were already small bruises forming where sharp pebbles had ricocheted off his skin. But at least he wasn't lying under three feet of suffocating earth.
Gingerly, with his jaw clenched and his breath coming in gasps, the Boy Wonder sat up. The flames licking his left shoulder would have to be ignored. The dirt-slide had given him more light and a little bit of hope. When a mountain shed some skin, it left a hole. And Robin was going to find a way to reach that hole so he wouldn't end up like the pile of bones on his left.
He glanced in the direction of the skeleton but his eyes landed instead on a symbol on the lump of metal. The teenager immediately recognized the official seal of the US Department of Treasury – Dick Grayson had been learning about different organizations of the government in his economics class. Robin studied the machine carefully but it was so old and rusty that it was impossible to find any other distinguishing characteristics. There were small parts that had obviously fallen off whatever type of machine this was but the Boy Wonder decided that figuring it out wasn't important enough to waste time staring at it.
The skull of the person who had died in this underground tomb unexpectedly rolled forward. It hit the skeleton's ribcage and the entire torso crumbled to the ground. Robin's eyes widened in disbelief: his bony friend had just shown him the way out.