WARNING: Violence . . .
3:53 a.m., River Road.
Aqualad moved along the rooftops. He was very near the wharf here. River Road ran perpendicular to Harbor Drive, and was just a mile and a half away from the gated entrance to the warehouses that lined the pier. He had a theory, and if it was right, he had a chance of finding his youngest teammate before he could hurt anyone else or come to more harm himself.
At first, Robin had run away from the warehouse, but after his encounter with Artemis, he suddenly turned and headed back in the direction of the wharf. His run-in with Kid Flash had been a halfway point between his attack on Artemis and warehouse 113. If Kaldur was correct, then Robin was returning to the warehouse where this all started. If he was correct, then Robin would need to reach Harbor Drive and the quickest way there from Edison Road was via River Road.
Kaldur decided that the rooftops were the best bet at locating his wayward teammate. Robin was versatile; he could run the roofs, swing, or run along at ground level. The boy could hide easily from him if Kaldur searched by ground; using the rooftops as well as the darkness of the alleyways to secret himself. But if Kaldur took the high ground he would get a bird's eye view of the ground; he could check the alleys from above, and see the boy if he was on the roof.
He ran as quickly as he could and still be able to see into the alleys as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop. From what Batman had told him, Robin was injured from wrecking his cycle, and possibly from meeting up with those three men later. He didn't know if Artemis or Kid Flash had in the course of their confrontations with the boy managed to inflict any injuries as well. He was positive that neither Artemis nor Wally would have willingly hurt Robin in any serious way, particularly if the boy looked to be in bad shape. He was pretty certain, however, that Robin wouldn't be in top form. He would have to take advantage of that if he wanted to bring the boy down quickly. He didn't want to hurt Robin, but this had gone on for long enough.
The streets were pretty deserted this time of night. Even the criminals were likely headed home to their beds by now, so it made catching movement that much easier to spot. He almost missed it. Skidding to a stop at the top of low-rise tenement building, Kaldur narrowed his eyes as he focused on the movement that had caught his attention.
The figure was small. He looked even smaller hunched over as he was. Standing half in shadow, it was difficult to tell, but he looked close enough to Robin that the Atlantian decided it was worth the effort to confront the person. The figure straightened and moved into the dim lighting of a nearby streetlamp.
It was Robin!
Kaldur jumped off the edge of the building, catching a streetlamp close to him and using it to swing himself down to the sidewalk. He trotted across the street in order to catch up to the retreating figure. Robin was limping a bit; favoring his left leg. That coincided with the information that Batman had on him.
He decided to keep the element of surprise on his side as he came up behind the boy silently. Just as he reached out an arm to grab Robin's shoulder, the boy spun about suddenly, snatching the older boy by the wrist and flinging him bodily over his shoulder.
Kaldur felt himself fly through the air. He tried to twist around, but he was too low to the ground to complete the move and landed on his shoulder. Any control he might have had fled with his awkward landing and Kaldur tumbled a couple of times across the sidewalk before stopping his momentum and standing up.
"Robin, stop," he ordered. "It's Aqualad; your frie . . .!"
The escrima stick struck him across his nose hard! Kaldur heard a crack and was stunned to discover that Robin had just broken his nose! How . . .? The boy had never struck him with that kind of strength before. He felt the rush of blood pour down his face.
He instinctively moved into a fighting stance but before his vision could clear a foot landed powerfully in the center of his chest; knocking the Atlantian backward. Kaldur grabbed the ankle and leg, and using his momentum, tossed his attacker away.
He saw Robin twist in midair with a grace he had been lacking, and despite the obvious wear and tear the boy had been put through over the course of the night, he landed on his feet several yards away. Before Robin had stopped, however, he threw two of his birdarangs at him. Kaldur rolled backward and continued into a backward flip, neatly avoiding the weapons. What he hadn't expected was for the birdarangs to be of the exploding variety. The two explosions, while small separately, together threw Kaldur into the street.
Kaldur shook his head to clear it as he scrambled quickly to his feet once more. Again a foot came out of nowhere before he could even gain his bearing and connected with his temple. Kaldur fell to one knee, bringing up his arm to block the second kick that was following closely behind the first. He tried to grab the boy, but Robin spun about in midair right above him. The acrobat's other foot pushed off Kaldur's other shoulder and he sprung away; flipping several times in order to retrieve his lost escrima stick.
This was ridiculous! He hadn't expected Robin to realize he was behind him, nor for the boy to have attacked him so viciously. By keeping Kaldur off-balanced and constantly on the defensive, Robin had prevented the older boy from doing more than simply reacting to Robin's assault. It was a clever tactic to use against a larger and stronger enemy, but Kaldur wasn't the enemy. He frowned at the thought. Did Robin know that? Was he even in a position to recognize a friend from an enemy?
It would be foolish to assume so. Robin had attacked and won already against two larger opponents earlier, one of them having super speed. That both opponents had been his friends hadn't mattered in the least to the confused boy, but had made a huge difference to Artemis and Wally. He hadn't listened to him before, but maybe he could talk to him now. If nothing else, it might distract him enough for Kaldur to subdue him.
"Robin! Do you recognize me? It's Aqualad," Kaldur told him.
Robin narrowed his eyes at him and took a step back. "I know who you are," the boy growled at him.
Aqualad blinked. He knew? . . . And he still attacked him? Was Robin so far gone that he no longer cared for friendship? He couldn't imagine that was possible.
"You are a demon," Robin hissed at him. His hands visibly tightened on his fighting sticks. "You think you can trick me because you sound like Kaldur, but your 'friends' have learned otherwise."
Kaldur's mouth dropped open. Robin thought he was a demon? No wonder he fought so ferociously.
"I'm no demon, Robin," he explained. "You've been subjected to fear gas and Scarecrow has activated a trigger in your mind that has you seeing things."
"No," the boy yelled at him. "I've watched them die! The crows killed them so you could come."
"Crows? There are no crows here," Kaldur told him.
"I can see them! I can see you," he cried.
Before he finished speaking, Robin rushed the Atlantian. Kaldur took a defensive stance, preparing for the rest of the boy's onslaught. He couldn't let this continue, however, because the longer it went the more likely that Robin could be seriously hurt.
Robin began tumbling with rapid front flips and a couple of feet in front of Kaldur, leapt up with impressive height twisting in mid-flip over his head to kick off of the elder boy's back with a powerful double kick that sent Kaldur stumbling forward onto his knees. He immediately leapt to his feet and spinning about. It was too dangerous to keep his back to Robin as the boy's athletic ability and fighting skills were actually better than the Atlantian's. It was Kaldur's strength that gave him an edge.
Enough of the defensive, he thought. He had barely been able to lay a hand on the boy since this began. Kaldur charged Robin. The younger boy went immediately into a series of back flips to keep a distance between them. Kaldur allowed a small smirk. He had Robin on the run now. If he timed this just right he should be able to take the boy down with just a few decisive moves, and then he would be able to call Batman.
Pouring on speed, Kaldur knew he had the boy when he saw a number of parked cars along the road. The boy would have to stop or change directions to keep from crashing into the vehicles. But as Robin flipped even faster, Kaldur began to wonder if he was moving too fast to actually see them. He pulled his water bearers out. He could use them to grab the boy and stop his motion, perhaps yank him towards Kaldur so that he could subdue him with minimal force. He didn't want to risk harming Robin; he was only human.
Kaldur flung a whip-like stream of water out, but Robin suddenly changed directions at the last minute; launching forward over the Atlantian's head a second time. The water whip slammed into the car window; shattering it. Kaldur reached up with one hand and managed to grab Robin's ankle. He pulled him back down, but Robin grabbed the back of Kaldur's shirt as he was pulled down; tucking into a roll immediately upon touching the ground. As Kaldur was pulled forward off of his feet, Robin thrust his own feet into older boy's stomach to add force to his throw and Kaldur flew over top of the younger boy; slamming head first into the side of the car door.
The blow, which caved in the side of the car door, stunned the Atlantian and he collapse to the ground. Robin threw an exploding birdarang at the fuel tank and fired his grapple gun. The explosion was huge; creating a fireball that stretched into the sky and lifted the sedan into the air. Kaldur was flung violently into the stone wall of the tenement building; glass from the breaking windows rained down over him.
Robin was in the air when the force of the blast hit him. The line was ripped out of his grasp as he flew into the rear windshield of a nearby vehicle. The windshield collapsed. The sky exploded with stars before going black.
4:12 a.m., River Road
Dazed, Robin blinked slowly as consciousness returned. He moved gingerly trying to climb out of the collapsed windshield. It didn't take a mirror to realize that he had hit with such force that even the safety glass had cut him to ribbons. Blood was dripping off of his elbows and he could feel the breeze on his bare back where gashes in the back of his tunic left him exposed.
He must not have been unconscious long because lights in the apartments were just now beginning to come on as people reacted to the explosion. He saw people leaning out and exclaiming at the sight of the burning car. It was lying on its top in the middle of the street.
His eyes sought and found the remnants of Kaldur's body lying on the sidewalk next to the building he hit. There were actual indentations and chips in the stone wall from the impact with the Atlantian's body! Robin's throat began to close up in grief for his fallen teammate and friend. Was there anyone left? Only M'gann, he realized.
He could only pray that she had escaped the crows that had claimed the rest of their team and Batman. Surely she could have turned herself incorporeal to prevent the crows from attacking her. Her telekinesis should have enabled her to fling them away before any of them could shred her skin.
Robin's legs gave out the moment they bore any weight. He fell to his knees. People were coming outside, though.
"Go back inside," he told them, warning the people of the dangers that awaited them. "It's not safe out here. Stay indoors."
Those that had come out paused at Robin's words. They looked at Robin and that of his fallen comrade and turned to rush back inside. They wanted nothing to do with whatever villain could do this to Robin. Their eyes wandered the area in search of Batman, but the dark crusader was nowhere to be found, but Gothamites understood that Batman was never far from his young partner. Reassured that Batman would be hunting for whoever was responsible, they reentered their apartments.
He couldn't stay here. He forced himself to stand and hobbled over to where his grapple gun still lay on the walkway. He released the current line and shot a new one to a nearby building in the direction of the warehouse. He still had business there.
He looked at the creature that had once been his friend and shuddered when a crow landed on his back. It began to peck at the torn and bruised skin of Kaldur's back. Two more flew down to feast, and Robin had to turn away. Hitting the recoil, he flew through the air and away from the carnage.
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