Chapter 11: Gang War Part 2
Batgirl entered the Clock Tower in a hurry, looking around.
She spent the last hour or so looking for John and hasn't been able to find him which really worried her, she even checked his home to see he wasn't there, only finding a broken watch in his room.
"Cass?" Barbara looked towards her in surprise as she made it to the main room. "What's wrong?"
"Have you seen John?" Batgirl asked taking her mask off with Barbara backing her wheelchair up.
"What's this about John?" Stephanie asked entering the room as Batgirl called her a few moments ago for a late patrol and she was in her Spoiler costume.
Cassandra looked at them. "Earlier I was on patrol," She said to them. "I came across John stopping a mugging."
"I thought John went home for the day." Barbara said in surprise before she saw Cassandra's face.
"He punched the man repeatedly without stopping." Cassandra said handing her mask to Barbara so she could look through the camera in it. "I intervened and he ran off."
Not wasting anytime, Barbara pulled up the video and looked worried at what she was seeing.
John was never that brutal to anyone.
"Is he being controlled by anyone?" Stephanie asked in worry never seeing him act like this before but Cassandra shook her head.
"No, he was him," Cassandra said simply. "Just angry… And hurt."
"Why would he be hurt-?" Barbara began only to see an unauthorized Zeta Teleportation into the city from Atlantis pop up and quickly switched to the Camera near it to show Aqualad before Impulse sped over and grabbed him. "Aqualad and Impulse?"
While it was surprising seeing those two, Barbara turned the Com Link on.
"Robin come in." She said getting nothing but static. "Robin?"
Okay now this was really worrying, Barbara was starting to have flashbacks of when Jason went off the grid as she attempted to turn on the camera in his mask only to see it in his bedroom showing he removed the camera.
Giving a sigh, Barbara looked at both Cassandra and Stephanie. "Okay I want you two to look for him alright?"
Seeing the two nod and leave, Barbara turned the other links on. "Batman. Nightwing. Red Hood." She said getting three lines being picked up. "Come in."
"Hey Babs." Dick answered with a yawn showing he just woke up after heading to sleep at Titan's Tower, keeping a low voice as Kori was next to him asleep.
Gunfire could be heard from Jason's line as he spoke. "Kind of busy here what is it?"
"Good evening Miss Gordon." Alfred picked up instead of Bruce, surprising them.
"Alfred? Where's Bruce?"
"Currently resting, I talked him into getting some sleep." Alfred answered.
Jason whistled. "Wow, I didn't think the big guy would listen to anyone on resting."
There was movement on Dick's end as he left his room. "As great as it is to hear Bruce is resting for once, what's up Barb?" He asked knowing that Barbara wouldn't call them all this late after the week they had if it wasn't important.
Unsure of how to put this, Barbara just said what happened. "Robin went AWOL."
It got silent before Jason spoke up. "What happened?" He asked some worry in his tone and Barbara knew what Jason was thinking.
"Batgirl found him hospitalizing a man and then he disappeared, I saw Aqualad and Impulse come into Gotham on camera." Barbara said with Dick giving a slight curse.
"Bruce isn't going to be happy to hear that," Dick muttered moving towards where his Nightwing gear was stored. "Any word on Little Wing's location?"
"He turned his tracer off and it seems that he found the tracer Bruce placed on him," Barbara answered already trying to trace him. "He also removed the camera in his mask."
"I shall get Master Bruce up." Alfred said knowing how serious this was and although he knew that the Batman needed his sleep he wouldn't appreciate being kept out of the loop on this one.
"Should I call Wally and Garth?" Dick asked placing his domino mask on.
"I would hold off on that until we know what the fuck is going on." Jason said already on a rooftop as he just finished his fight.
"Good point, Speedy and Static might be here as well if Impulse and Aqualad are," Dick said knowing that John kept in contact with them. "Alright I'm at the Zeta Beam, I'll be there shortly."
Robin was looking through a pair of binoculars overlooking the abandoned warehouse near where he and Speedy took on Amazo.
The location he got on Dent was this place, but he also got five other locations, two of them he already checked out, now he was pretty sure this was the right location and he sent his coordinates to the others as he made a change of plans from meeting them in Park Row.
He already saw Two-Face entering and he had to say he was surprised because he was expecting for the man to hide out in a courthouse or something like that.
A rush of wind told him that he was found. "Impulse." Robin said with no emotion in his tone, trying to appear like he usually would.
"Hey Rob." Impulse greeted with a smile, a worried look on her face before pulling out her Shock Box. "Guys I found him."
"We'll be there shortly." Speedy answered before Robin pulled his Shock Box out.
"Be discreet, I see a lot of Two-Face's thugs across the street, I'd rather not tip them off that we're here." Robin said.
He didn't get an answer as he continued to watch the thugs before he felt an elbow leaning on his side making him turn his head to see Impulse looking a little concerned, her goggles currently on her forehead instead of covering her eyes.
"So what's wrong?" Impulse asked curiously her impatient nature getting straight to the point.
"What makes you think something's wrong?" Robin asked hiding the annoyance in his tone before Impulse backed off and sat on the side of the rooftop next to where he was watching the warehouse, putting her goggles over her eyes to help watch the warehouse.
"Well you called us to Gotham for one, Dad has told me plenty of stories where he and Nightwing got in trouble with Batman for doing this sort of thing." Impulse told him.
Robin momentarily froze up at the reminder that he broke Batman's number one rule-well behind killing-but shook his head.
He'll worry about that later, right now he had to keep his head in the game.
"Where are the others?" Robin asked purposely avoiding answering that question with Impulse looking a bit annoyed at him for doing that.
"Right here." Speedy's voice came up as she approached the ledge, Aqualad climbing the fire escape behind her while Static floated up on his disc.
"You have a plan?" Static asked seeing quite a few guards out there as he got off his disc to avoid being seen.
"Right now it's just recon to make sure Two Face isn't expecting any company before we head in there," Robin answered before glancing back. "Thanks for coming guys."
"Hey it's not everyday we get asked for help with it being Gotham." Speedy commented with a grin, no doubt remembering the last team-up. "Just try not to get shattered ribs this time."
"They were cracked not shattered." Robin said with a slight glare, grateful for the distraction.
"Wait what's this about ribs?" Impulse asked looking between them.
Aqualad however looked at Robin, seeing that something was off with him. "You said this holds Two Face, are we not going after Black Mask as well?" He asked remembering how Robin made a mention of that on the Shock Box earlier.
"If Two Face is out of the picture, Mask will get cocky and that will result in his arrest," Robin answered simply. "If Mask is taken out first then Two Face will go underground to build up his resources."
Reading the psychological profiles that Batman had really paid off here.
"I could go on recon if you want." Static offered looking over it all.
"No offense Static but your mode of transportation really stands out." Robin said looking at him with an apologetic look with the teen Meta giving a shrug, not that offended.
"What about me?" Impulse asked zooming over. "I could be in and out very quickly."
Robin actually considered that before frowning. "Can you do so without kicking up wind or alerting anyone?"
At hearing that Impulse chuckled. "Uh... No."
'Maybe this was a bad idea.' Robin thought as he wasn't exactly in his right mind when he called the others, none of them were really suited for stealth-with the exception of Speedy due to being a fellow non-powered hero.
But he was happy they were here because he didn't want to deal with any of the other Gotham Heroes at the moment.
"Okay here's the plan, Speedy and I will go on recon, think you guys can wait until we call in?" Robin suggested before thinking about it. "Or unless you hear gunshots cause that would be a sign of cover being blown."
Aqualad gave a nod knowing that stealth was something he didn't have while Static gave a shrug, fine with that. Impulse however looked annoyed at having to wait due to her abilities giving her a bit of ADHD on steroids but didn't complain.
Seeing that, Robin grappled to the next rooftop, making his way to the warehouse, Speedy moving behind him.
"So you going to talk about what happened?" Speedy asked curiously she and Robin made it a few rooftops away, sneaking around to get behind the warehouse with there being a back way in that was rarely used.
"What makes you think something happened?" Robin quipped in an attempt to sound normal.
"Because of how you sounded on the Shock Box, plus you seem off when you were explaining the plan." Speedy listed with a look.
"... I plead the fifth." Robin answered before they had to go quiet as two people walked out for a smoke, Robin jumping in, landing on one guy where his friend turned and was about to pull out a gun when a trick arrow shot past him releasing knock-out gas making him fall asleep.
"I was unaware this was a democracy," Speedy deadpanned with Robin looking away making her frown. "And you're just proving my point right now."
Batman flew across the sky in the Batwing a dark look on his face, his on board computer working overtime attempting to find Robin.
'John, what's going on with you?' Batman thought remembering everything Alfred and Barbara told him and he couldn't help but feel worried.
What made John call those kids into Gotham? Why did he hospitalize a man?
"Batman I have something," Oracle's voice brought the caped crusader out of his thoughts. "A man belonging to Two Face's crew was treated with broken fingers, apparently Robin interrogated him."
"Did you get anything else Oracle?" Batman asked finding that interesting as well as a good lead on where to find him but the fact that Robin did some interrogating made him worry a bit more.
"The GCPD has him locked up and Dad just lit the Bat Signal, it seems he wants to talk."
Batman gave a nod and began to fly to the GCPD, knowing that this was his only lead in what was going on.
It didn't take long for him to get there as he ejected from the Bat Plane to glide to the rooftop, landing there right as Gordon turned around.
"You made noise?" Gordon asked in surprise seeing that as a bad sign.
"You needed to see me Jim?" Batman asked not saying anything in response to that before Gordon gave a nod.
"We managed to find out where Dent is hiding, we have five locations and I'm getting my men ready to head over to them, I'm assuming you already have him ready for transport?" Gordon asked as he was pretty sure Batman knew this already considering it was Robin who got this guy.
Much to his surprise, Batman frowned. "What are the locations?"
The question caused for Gordon to cough as he inhaled the tobacco from his pipe a bit. "You didn't know?" Gordon asked in disbelief. "What's going on?"
First Batman made noise and then he didn't know this before him, was he having an off night or something?
Batman didn't say anything at first before answering. "Robin went off the grid." He said as he trusted Jim who was one of his first allies ever since he put on the cowl.
Gordon gave a slight curse, seeing how bad that was. "Is he alright?" He asked as while he might've not known this Robin as well as the other three during their times on the mantle, he knew the kid made a good impact.
"That's what I'm trying to find out." Batman said turning to leave instead of doing the disappearing act.
Aqualad stood there watching the warehouse intently, ready to move while Static was laying on his back with a small ball of electricity being juggled mid-air and Impulse pacing back and forth at a high speed.
Eventually Impulse spoke up. "I'll be right back." She zoomed off much to their uncertainty before coming back with an armful of hamburgers.
"For a second I thought you just ran in there." Static commented dispelling the ball of electricity, sitting up.
"Nah, just hungry." Impulse said biting into a burger.
Static then looked concerned. "Isn't eating all of those hamburgers bad for you?" He asked as he could count twenty there.
"Hyper Metabolism, I can eat as many as I like without it harming me," Impulse explained with a grin before tossing one to Static. "Want one?"
"Thanks." Static said feeling a little hungry himself before pausing. "Where did you get them?"
"Burger King, they had a lot of them prepared for customers." Impulse said with a grin. "So I didn't have to wait that long after paying for them."
Static was about to ask where she kept the money because she didn't look like she had any pockets before Aqualad spoke. "Did something seem wrong with Robin to you?"
"You mean at how he was forcing himself to act normally?" Static asked curiously as while he hasn't really hung out with Robin all that much like the others have due to being busy in North Dakota he played online with him enough to get to know him.
"I tried asking him but he wouldn't answer," Impulse said pausing from eating as she frowned. "Dad said that Nightwing was the same way a bit when they were growing up so maybe it has something to do with Batman?"
An explosion alerted the three as they saw smoke billowing out from the warehouse, making them jump into action.
Moments earlier, Robin choked out another thug along with Speedy silently taking down the last one in the room before they silently moved on.
"You're not usually this sloppy." Speedy commented as Robin was nearly caught a few times.
"Will you just drop it?" Robin asked some annoyance in his tone.
Speedy gave him a look. "Not when you could die from a lack of focus," She said sharply. "Unlike the three we left outside we don't have any powers, a wrong move can kill us easily and I don't know about you but I'd rather not die because my friend doesn't have his head on straight."
On hearing that Robin went quiet, shaking his head. "I don't want to talk about it." He muttered, coming to a stop as they heard voices behind a door, making him place a finger on his lips as he approached it silently.
The look Speedy was giving him warned the boy wonder that this talk wasn't over.
"I'm getting tired of this war, every day we lose men and resources." Two Face's voice roared from behind the door, showing he was on the phone. "What do you mean we can't find Sionis?!"
Then his voice seemingly changed.
"Men like Sionis are nothing more than cowards he'll slip up," This time he sounded sane, like it was Harvey Dent speaking. "They always do."
"This Gang War must've unhinged him a bit more." Robin muttered as Two Face was known to have a bit of a split personality.
"You mean he was sane before all of this?" Speedy asked with a quirked brow.
"Point taken."
With that said they paused.
"They always do."
Wasn't that already said?
Exchanging glances as it kept repeating, they opened the door to see a recording playing through a projector on a wall.
"Dammit." Robin muttered at seeing that.
"So the Bat sent his kid and a girl playing archer?" The TV screen flickered before it showed a live feed from somewhere else in the warehouse showing Two Face. "And here I was all prepared for him."
"Sorry to disappoint you but I felt like we haven't had much time to bond since last time." Robin said forcing a joke out to make himself feel better. "How about you tell us where you are."
"You really think he'll do that?" Speedy asked in disbelief.
Robin just smirked, knowing how Two Face would react as he took out his coin and flipped it. "He's deciding right now."
"The coin decided I won't." Two Face said making Robin snap his fingers in disappointment.
So much for tricking him to come out, it seems luck wasn't on his side in that regard.
He then flipped it again and smirked. "Boom."
While the two were confused at first they saw a countdown appear on the screen and heard beeping, making them look up to see the ceiling rigged with explosives.
"Move!" Speedy shouted the two of them running out the room right as they went off, they were safe from the blast radius but the force of the explosion knocked them off their feet with their ears ringing.
Pushing himself up, Robin already saw Speedy standing up unsteadily as she quickly got her bow ready as some of Two Face's men entered the room, looking ready to throw down.
At least until a blur shot in, knocking them off their feet as Impulse skidded to a stop. "You guys alright?" She asked seeing some light injuries on the two from the explosion.
"We'll live." Speedy said with Static blasting the door open to fly in, Aqualad moving behind him.
The thugs that Impulse knocked down were getting up but they looked unnerved at seeing what were clearly Meta's.
"Metas in Gotham?!" Two-Faces voice sounded around them while Aqualad threw up a water shield to block the bullets from hitting any of them. "The hell is this?! I thought the Bat hated having them in Gotham!"
While Aqualad kept the bullets at bay, Impulse ran through the crowd, using her speed to take the guns apart making them fall to pieces in the men's hands right as Static used his electromagnetism to make the thugs stick to the wall.
Static looked at the Gang Members with a dark look as he had a lot of personal issues with Gangs from before he got his powers but he didn't let that thought stay when the sound of a large gun caught their attention.
It was a big guy holding a gatling gun that sprayed bullets everywhere making Aqualad expand the shield looking a little strained with each bullet hitting the shield.
"That's a lot of firepower." Static said a bit freaked out as none of the Gangs in North Dakota had weapons like these.
Then again with them having superpowers it was to be given.
Impulse was going to try and move in but decided not to as even with her speed it would've been impossible to dodge them all so Speedy grabbed a Trick Arrow and notched it.
"Make an opening!" Speedy said, Aqualad trusting her enough to do so as she shot the Trick Arrow, showing it to be another sludge one that jammed the Gatling Gun.
Seeing that, Robin threw an electric disc that sent shock waves through the man making him collapse.
This was going pretty well despite a few surprises.
"Unbelievable." The five heroes looked towards the source of the voice to see Dent himself holding a Tommy Gun. "This is the best my men can do?!"
"Ew gross." Impulse muttered seeing the burn marks on Two Face.
Two Face then flipped his coin once more before smirking. "I was saving this for if Batman showed up but I think I can make an exception here." He said a glare on his scarred face. "I'll pay you extra for getting rid of these damn kids."
That made the Heroes tense as they heard dark chuckling echoing around them.
Looking around, Aqualad realized where this mysterious enemy was as the dock exit of the warehouse showed the water being disturbed as something was heading for the surface. "The water!"
A primal roar made them scatter as a large shape lunged towards where they were as Speedy and Robin primed themselves with Birdarangs and Trick Arrows, Impulse speeding over to Aqualad as he held his water bearers and Static preparing himself to fire electricity at this new threat.
Standing at 9'7 and his frame bulging with muscles stood Waylon Jones who roared with his blood-soaked sharp teeth as his green scales shined in the light from the warehouse, wearing nothing but a chain collar and ripped prison pants, a large tail snaking around behind him.
"Killer Croc." Robin muttered a bit scared because last he checked Jones was only 7'5 and he didn't have a tail.
His mutation must've gone even further.
"Dude that's messed up." Static muttered as even with the mutated Bang Babies, none of them were like this, or had blood on their teeth.
Killer Croc sniffed the air before zeroing in on Robin. "I smell the Bat on you boy I will tear you apart, eat your flesh." He hissed with Robin taking a step back.
Now he was really happy he called the others.
"You have a plan?" Speedy asked looking calm.
"I have… Part of a plan." Robin muttered his eyes scanning the room. "At least twelve percent of one."
"Twelve percent?!" Speedy asked incredulously right as Killer Croc roared and lunged at them with inhuman speed.
Thankfully Impulse grabbed both Speedy and Robin, being faster while Static unleashed his electricity on Croc, the scales however were giving him a resistance to the electricity.
Snapping at Static, Croc ripped a part of the ground up, digging his claws into it, flinging it at Static who barely dodged it as Aqualad took advantage of that to swing a water mace at Croc's face making his head snap to the side.
But Croc stood his ground and caught the second water mace, throwing Aqualad right at Impulse who was running towards him, making the young girl slide under him as the Atlantean when skidding across the floor.
"Impulse make a small cyclone!" Robin ordered taking out multiple explosive discs.
Listening to him, Impulse dodged a swipe from Croc and spun in a , making the cyclone as she quickly exited it right when Robin threw the discs, Speedy shooting an explosive arrow-catching on.
The result was a fiery explosion that blasted Croc back but he was back up with only minor injuries.
Static took advantage of said injuries by zapping them making Croc howl in pain but he pushed through them.
Feeling a tug on his tail, Croc turned to see that Aqualad got back up and grasped it, using his electrokinesis to help Static in electrocuting the Meta.
Despite that, Croc spun around, sending Aqualad into Static, knocking the Bang Baby off of his disc that Croc grabbed and crushed in his grip.
"Hey that's not cheap to make!" Static called out in annoyance as now he will be pretty hampered in this particular fight.
Aqualad shook his head and quickly used his water bearers to manipulate the water around them and surround Croc with it. "Hit him now."
"Got it dawg." Static said blasting the orb.
While that was going on with Impulse running to help them, Robin turned towards Two-Face who actually stayed out of the fight, knowing that the man flipped a coin before doing so.
Seeing Robin heading for him, Two-Face began to fire at him with the Boy Wonder quickly jumping to the side, Speedy giving him cover fire with her Trick Arrows, this one breaking apart to show a net.
Two-Face quickly moved out of the way as Robin lunged at him throwing a birdarang, not wanting him to get away but Croc broke free of the electric water prison and his tail slammed into Impulse sending her flying right into Robin right as the birdarang sliced through the Tommy Gun rendering it useless.
The Speedster quickly used the momentum to land on her feet, grabbing Robin out of the air to avoid him hitting the ground. "Sorry." She said with Robin quickly jumping to the ground.
"It's fine." Robin said and that was when something broke through the skylight catching everyone's attention.
Batman used Croc as a landing pad, flipping off of him to throw a Batarang that emitted a sonic wave that only Croc could hear making him cry out in agony.
Taking note of everything around him, Batman glanced at Robin with a glare saying that they were going to talk about this later before turning his attention to Croc. "You mutated further Jones," He muttered putting it together as some of his scales fell off showing an adverse affect. "You took Langstrom's Formula."
This showed that this was only a temporary form and it would definitely be painful for Croc when he changed back but the human turned Crocodile didn't care.
"Anything to kill you Batman." Croc snarled grabbing the sonar Batarang and crushing it.
"Robin please tell me you finished that twelve percent plan." Impulse couldn't help but say while the Boy Wonder sighed.
"At this point I'm making it up as we go along." He admitted.
Since when has a single plan actually worked? They plan, they get there, all hell breaks loose.
Croc rushed at Batman knocking a thrown Birdarang from Robin out of the way as the Dark Knight easily side-stepped Croc due to his experience while Robin ran in, both the Dark Knight and Boy Wonder locking hands as Batman spun around, throwing Robin at Croc the force of the throw catching Croc off guard as he went to hit the Boy Wonder but Batman dove in, pulling a pair of brass knuckles that sparked electricity that he used to hurt Croc despite the scales.
The two backed off as Speedy shot an Arrow that emitted ice, this one slowing Croc down enough for Impulse to run around Croc punching his legs, this time going faster than before and aiming for the light injuries, the attacks actually affecting him.
Static then began to use his abilities to make metal stick to Croc, Aqualad using his hydrokinesis to help make the electricity stronger.
Seeing Croc losing, Two-Face snarled and quickly pulled a pistol out aiming at Batman.
Robin's eyes widened at seeing that. "Look out." He cried out rushing, tackling his mentor out of the way right as the bullet hit him.
"Robin!" Batman shouted as Robin's body hit the floor, catching everyone by surprise and just like that Batman had a flashback of finding Jason's body after the Joker tortured him.
'No.' He thought not wanting to believe it, Croc breaking free of the metal, the only reason he wasn't torn apart at that moment was because of the other young heroes who kept his attention. 'Not again.'
Then Robin groaned, sending relief through Batman as the teen sat up.
"Ow." He muttered pulling the bullet off the R emblem on his chest. "Knew I'd be okay if it hit there."
He grinned but it fell when he saw Batman's face. "Uh boss?"
A loud thud could be heard as Croc fell unconscious the injuries finally taking its toll on him along with Langstrom's formula beginning to wear off.
"Are you an idiot?" Speedy asked sharply seeing what happened.
Robin's response was to grin.
In truth he felt a bit better after what happened earlier-. "Wait what about Two-Face?!"
"He got away." Aqualad said as the man slipped out while they were distracted by both Robin being shot and Croc trying to kill them.
Impulse frowned. "He couldn't have gotten far, I could-."
"No." Batman said sternly. "All of you are going home, now."
They did enough.
The tone of his voice was enough to make Impulse, Static and Aqualad take a step back as it was extremely harsh, Robin swallowing a bit because he never heard Batman sound like this.
Speedy glared and was about to say something but Robin shook his head with her biting down what she wanted to say and cross her arms.
The others hesitated as well looking at Robin who gave a smile. "Sorry about that guys."
Pressing a button on his gauntlet, Batman looked at Robin. "Meet me on the roof, we're flying back."
Knowing he meant the Batwing, Robin gave a nod as the Dark Knight grappled to the rooftop.
"Man what an asshole." Speedy couldn't help but say as while she did respect him, he was overdoing it.
"Well I did kind of break his rule," Robin admitted rubbing the back of his head. "Thanks for coming out here and sorry if I got you guys in trouble."
"Hey it's cool, it's what friends do." Static said with a grin while Speedy snorted.
"You're only saying that because you're the least likely to get in trouble." Speedy pointed out with Static shrugging.
"Still it means a lot." Robin said knowing he would have to hurry because he knew Batman was going to grill him.
"Are you going to be alright?" Aqualad asked, noting how Robin seemed to be back to normal now.
"I am, I got it all out of my system."
"Does that mean you'll tell us?" Impulse asked wanting to know what happened.
"I'll call you guys later, I shouldn't keep the big guy waiting."
Batman stood on the roof watching Robin talking with the other young heroes. "Oracle, I found Robin."
"Thank Goodness, you bringing him back to the Clock Tower?" Oracle asked letting everyone out there searching know that they found him.
"No to the Batcave." Batman said, his tone sounding off.
"Bruce is everything alright?"
"Killer Croc is contained, but Two Face got away and is currently in the wind at the docks." Batman answered, deflecting the question right as Robin came up. "Let Gordon know."
With that he killed the coms before Oracle could say anything else right as the Batwing lowered itself, the cockpit opening.
"Get in."
Robin obeyed without any hesitation but he was worried.
Sure Batman wasn't one for conversation, but it was deathly silent in the Batwing, it reminded him of when he was driven home in the Batmobile.
Robin wanted to apologize, to say sorry for what happened because no doubt he probably worried everyone with the stunt he pulled but nothing came out. It was as if the silence was choking him a bit and he looked down.
Now that he had his anger out of his system he could see just how badly he messed up and worse he dragged the others into this mess.
He'll make things right, he promises that.
Eventually they were back in the Cave where Alfred was waiting. "Welcome back Master Bruce-," He began only for Batman to walk past him without a word, worrying the old man before he looked at Robin. "Master Strike you really know how to liven a night up."
Robin looked down. "Sorry, I'll try to make this right." He muttered with Alfred smiling, seeing that Robin was alright.
"See that you do, but for now let's check you over for injuries."
He'll do the same to Bruce when this was over.
Soon enough, John was in his civvies while his Robin Uniform was on the table to be repaired, he pocketed the Shock Box so he could call the others that night while his light injuries were treated.
Nothing but the small burns due to the explosion that were wrapped up and the bruise from where the bullet hit the Kevlar in his suit.
"You are really taking after Master Bruce in making a mess," Alfred chided with John looking a little embarrassed. "You'd best take a few days off to properly heal."
"Yeah maybe a few days off would do me some good." John agreed as he could use some time off.
As Alfred finished however, Batman approached him, gesturing to the Batmobile showing that he was going to drive John home.
That alone surprised John because he was expecting a lecture, or even be asked what the hell happened. Now he was really worried about this.
So with a smile at Alfred, John walked to the Batmobile.
While he did that, Alfred looked at Batman. "Go easy on him Master Bruce." He said seeing the signs that the lecture was to come.
Batman didn't answer, instead heading for the Batmobile and after he and John were in it, he drove off.
Once more the silence was getting to John and this time he broke it. "I don't know what's worse the silence or being told off." He said a bit freaked. "Why aren't you telling me off? I know I deserve it."
Batman still said nothing.
"B-Bruce?" John asked quietly, hoping to get an answer out of the man but the Dark Knight just focused on the road.
Seeing that he wasn't talking, John saw that they pulled into the alley he was picked up in when he began his training, it was empty and the car was cloaked before the windshield open with John getting out.
"So I'm guessing I'm benched for a while?" John asked knowing he was most likely grounded from being Robin. "How long before you want me to come to the cave-?"
"You aren't." Batman finally spoke surprising John.
"Uh I'm not benched?" John asked hesitantly.
"No, you aren't coming to the cave anymore," Batman said looking at him. "I should've never brought you into this life, I'm sorry."
Just like that John put the pieces together and he took a step back in shock.
H-He was being fired?
"W-What no, don't please," John said a bit of a desperate edge in his tone. "I-I'm sorry alright? I know I shouldn't have done that, you don't have to do this-."
"You were nearly killed," Batman said sharply looking at him his mind kept flashing back to that one point and to Jason's death. "More than that you escalated the Gang War."
He knew that Two-Face would get higher-grade weapons for Metahumans after what John just pulled and he was determined to find the man before that could happen.
"I screwed up I'll admit it but please, don't fire me." John said pleadingly. "Bru-Batman please, don't."
This can't be happening.
H-He couldn't lose this, being Robin really helped him with his life. It turned it around and he didn't want to lose that.
… He didn't want to lose his place in this family.
Batman however shook his head and the visor closed before the Batmobile took off, leaving John to look where it went in disbelief.
'Nonono.' John thought shaking, hoping this was just a bad dream and he would wake up as he fell to his knees. 'Please, Bruce don't.'
John sat in his room later that night, it was nearly morning as he looked up at the ceiling.
He still couldn't believe what happened.
He was no longer Robin… Batman fired him.
'Stupid, how could I be so stupid.' John told himself trying not to cry as he didn't know what to do now.
Even if it was only for a year, being Robin was a large part of him, he loved it. He loved helping people and getting to know the other Gotham Vigilantes.
… And now it was gone because of his impulsive anger, the same anger he tried to curb.
"I'm sorry." He whispered sounding broken.
Hearing his phone buzzing, John slowly sat up and took it out to see it was Stephanie.
Slowly he narrowed his eyes and with a shout threw his phone, breaking it before he broke down.
He just stayed in his room the next day, not leaving it as it was the weekend and he had no desire to see anyone, no longer getting any calls on his phone-he even ignored the Shock Box as he didn't want to tell the others he was fired.
That he was no longer a hero, he couldn't bear to say it out loud.
It was around late afternoon however when John heard someone knocking on his bedroom door. "Go away." He muttered thinking it was his father.
At this point he didn't care if the man demeaned him anymore, it can't be worse than what he was feeling-.
Much to his surprise though the locked doorknob began to vibrate before it opened to show Irey in her civvies. "Finally found you," She said with a grin. "Hey Rob!"
"I-Irey?!" John asked in disbelief. "The hell are you doing here?!"
More than that how the hell did she find him?! He never told her his name let alone where he lived.
Irey placed her hands on her hips, giving a stern look, which looked a little comical from someone younger than him. "You weren't answering the Shock Box, what did you think was going to happen?" She asked rhetorically. "I asked Static to trace yours since I could run over and find you considering the others can't Zeta to Gotham without getting into trouble."
She didn't say how the others were ready to risk that before she offered to run over.
Irey then zipped over and tilted her head, seeing John's bloodshot eyes and she looked concerned.
"Rob what happened?" She asked worried about her friend.
"John."
Irey blinked. "Eh?"
"My name, you already know where I live so why not?" John said forcing a grin on his face.
"You're dancing around the question." Irey said with a frown as Kid Flash did the same when she grows worried about him at times.
"It's because I don't want to talk about it." John said sitting back down. "Anyways you should go before Bats finds out you're in Gotham."
"Alright." Irey said and the next thing John knew, she grabbed him and ran.
"H-Hey what the?!" John asked a bit bewildered and before long they were in a park in Central City as he stumbled trying not to be sick.
"Now do you want to talk?" Irey asked with a grin as technically they weren't in Gotham anymore so they didn't have to worry about Batman finding out she was there.
John shook his head and glared. "You do realize this could be taken as kidnapping right?" He asked with Irey shrugging.
"No one would believe you." Irey told him as she was the younger and smaller one here. "Now what happened? I'm not going to stop pushing."
"I said I don't want to talk about it." John snapped as he went to walk off.
"You're really going to walk back to Gotham?" Irey asked with a quirked brow.
John opened his mouth to make a retort before it died down knowing she was right. "I hate you." He muttered in defeat.
Irey just smirked knowing he didn't really mean it, but the smirk disappeared before she walked with him through the park. "Look I know that we aren't 'best' friends or anything but we fought together a few times," Irey said pocketing her hands. "If this was reversed you would've done the same."
"Except you would've been able to run into a different city or country." John pointed out with some humor.
"The point is, while we're not best friends we are friends in a way," Irey said looking at him. "So I want to help, Rob-."
"I was fired." John admitted, deciding to get it out of the way.
That made Irey blink. "Come again?" She asked thinking she heard wrong.
John managed to force a weak smile on his face. "I was fired." He repeated with Irey's eyes widening. "I'm no longer Robin."
Just saying it out loud was enough for his voice to crack a bit as he closed his eyes, trying not to break down again before Irey grabbed his arm.
"Come on." She said softly as she lead him out of the park.
Stephanie sighed as she looked at her phone, worried.
Ever since Batman found John, she's been trying to call him, but he won't pick up or answer any of her texts and she was really hoping he was alright. She tried asking Barbara but the red haired woman was just as in the dark as she was.
This just doesn't make any sense, what happened with John?
She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't hear anyone approach until Cassandra sat down next to her. "You okay?" She asked with Stephanie sighing.
"Not really, I'm worried about John."
Cassandra gave a nod in agreement as she found herself worried as well.
While the two were relieved that Batman found him the other night, not being told anything else was starting to grate on their nerves.
Dick Grayson frowned as he was in John's room looking around.
Since Bruce wouldn't leave the damn cave or tell anyone what was going on, he went to talk with John but was surprised to not find him, only a broken phone and nothing else.
"So this is where he lives," A voice spoke up while Dick picked the phone up. "I never actually been in here now that I think about it."
"Find anything Jay?" Dick asked looking at Jason who rolled his eyes.
"If I did I wouldn't be here Dicky." Jason told him with a frown, looking over his desk to see if he left a clue to explain the other night. "The hell do you think happened?"
"I don't know and that's what worries me." Dick said before seeing the broken watch. "Wait I've seen this before."
"What's so important about the watch?" Jason asked with a confused look.
"Stephanie gave it to him on Valentine's Day." Dick elaborated. "John always wore it unless he was in costume."
"If it's that important to the idiot why is it broken?" Jason asked not liking that.
"I don't know."
"So why are we here?" John asked as both he and Irey were in a cafe called 'Jitters' both of them getting a milkshake.
"Whenever I'm upset Dad always took me here to help me out, I figured it would help a bit." Irey said a bit sheepishly as she was trying but she didn't know what to do exactly.
Whatever the problem was the last thing she expected to hear was that John was fired.
"Must be nice." John muttered thinking on how his Dad was.
"So what do you plan on doing?" Irey asked with John shrugging.
"What can I do? I got fired and frankly I should've seen it coming."
Irey frowned and reached over, lightly tapping his arm. "That doesn't mean you deserve it, he can say what he want you're still Rob to me and the others will say the same I guarantee it."
That made John chuckle. "Thanks but we can't change what happened."
"Well we have your back no matter what." Irey told him. "Speaking of which, what are you going to tell the others?"
"The truth, after all Robin won't be appearing on the News anymore." John said with a sigh.
He was actually feeling better even if he was technically kidnapped.
True he was fired, but he still has his friends, it could've been much worse.
Turning to see the TV, John was surprised to see that it was covering the Gang War in Gotham. "I thought they usually stick to Central City." He said with Irey looking towards it.
"It's been a big event." Irey explained to him. "So a lot of people are watching from the distance."
Tim sighed as he entered his room with a cup of coffee, using his free time to complete the extra homework assignments he was given while he turned on the TV to catch the News.
For the last day or so he has felt nothing but extreme guilt with what happened between him and Stephanie. If he knew that John and her were dating he wouldn't have done that, why did he have to listen to his stupid hormones when around an ex-girlfriend of his?
He was going to stay away from Stephanie for the next few days until they can talk without any awkwardness and hopefully forget that happened. It was stupid and impulsive for him to do that.
Hearing a change in tune on the News showing that it was now considered important News, Tim looked to see that Two-Face was making a move in the open by taking hostages at a party of Gotham's Richest-.
Eyes widening, Tim stood up as it was the exact same party his Dad went to in hopes of trying to get his company back together and his fears were justified as during the shots of the hostages his Dad was shown.
"Dad." Tim said looking very worried for him before his eyes glanced over to his closet where he had a suitcase.
Contrary to what his Dad believed Tim kept his Robin suit and the gadgets just in case he found a way to be Robin, although he didn't even think about them after John took the role and they did nothing but gather dust.
'No Bruce and John will be there and save him.' Tim told himself gripping his desk as he remembered his promise.
Don't go back out there.
But looking back on the TV to see not just his Dad but there were also some children hostage there too, Tim's resolve broke and he threw his closet door open.
Just one more time, then he's giving the suit to Bruce to lock away.
Gotham already had a Robin.
To Be Continued…
Wow a lot of strong reviews concerning last chapter and I bet there will be equally strong ones for this one as well, but it's necessary because John's time as Robin is over, you all know what that means right? Anyways there's still three or four more chapters left in this Volume before it's finished so a lot of ground to cover.
Oh and yes Tim Drake is officially back as a Vigilante but he won't take up the name Robin, especially after hearing what happens to John, he'll take up the Red Robin mantle early and you can bet that shit will hit the fan when the rest of the Batfamily finds out what happened.
As for Bruce firing John? Well look at it from his perspective he can't predict what John will do anymore, this last stunt cementing that in his head along with the fact that he nearly died that night and Batman isn't exactly stable as he must have some form of PTSD from all he crap he goes through which showed when John took the bullet for him reminding him of finding Jason's body. This is a situation where nobody is right and everyone is in the wrong.
Now let me answer the reviews.
Speedking535: Hope you liked how it all went down and yeah maybe I overdid it with how Batman reacted but I think it's in his character, especially with how he was having some flashbacks to Jason's death at the moment.
Dark King Marcel: Thanks and thank you for helping me with this story.
DannyPhantom619: It'll break it because of events from both sides and yes things will suck but they'll also get better. And this Red-X has no Xenothium Core.
Crimson Ninja: Yeah but that's the point, the life was going too well for only the Origins Volume, plus this is one of the core beginnings to him taking up the Red-X mantle.
JTD3: Why yes, yes they do.
Knight: Haha thanks and sorry for the wait, I'll try to not take as much time for the next one.
Iwymoisiraslom: Yup and it's continuing on for the next few chapters.
Slash17: Yup, it was fun typing John as Robin, especially since the fallout was planned from the very beginning.
DefconDeceiver: Thanks and it was fun incorporating both Roman and Neo in this story, especially since with their personalities they fit pretty well in Gotham. Good call on how professional he was on RWBY with the only way he was caught.
Matt: Yeah but that's also human nature, we assume a lot of things and I think the outcome was to be expected with everything combined.
Bael92: Haha yeah and hopefully this chapter was just as good, although the last one was a bit better in my opinion. The transition from Robin to Red-X is in the next few chapters.
Nightmaster000: It's fine, I'm happy to see a review from you. Well that's kind of a pipe dream as a lot of trouble followed with everything that happened. Yeah Stephanie isn't the type to cheat on someone and quickly put a stop to it, but keep in mind if Tim knew he wouldn't have done that in the first place. Still John doesn't know yet. Haha yeah it was fun to type Roman and Neo in this story. Yup, Shriev was the first planned enemy for John to face as Red-X which is why he showed up in the first chapter. Yeah Neo has a certain amount of interest in Robin-even more so when he becomes Red-X but whether that's good or bad is up in the air. I actually didn't know about 'Pink-X' that would be interesting to type.
Superior Batman: No Xenothium-that was a part of the challenge for this story and his Arch-Enemy will be revealed on a much later date-not even in this Volume.
JimmyHall24: Yeah but John doesn't know that.
Badger10: Sorry but John and Stephanie were never the final pairing, I did like typing them and I'm happy people enjoyed how I did things with them. As for him realizing she turned him down that will come much later on.
Saintsrow10: Don't worry they won't get back together but John and Steph won't either as they were never the final pairing. Tim and Stephanie were just reacting to old feelings which a lot of humans do. I'm not going to actively bash anyone, although John might throw a punch to Tim in the future. John and Jason's relationship is the one I worked on the hardest so I'm happy that people enjoyed the friendship between those two.
Powermam: I'll try to work on it soon, sorry for the wait.
Bajor10: Yeah, a few punches might be thrown in the future but eventually they'll put it behind them-it'll be a major arc in Volume 01. Same with him and Bruce but like with Tim they'll eventually work it out. I'll take those pairings into consideration-especially since he'll run into Ravager a bit more in Volume 01, but I can't promise anything about the final pairing being with Cass as that's a possible avenue.
JazzzTech: I know what you mean and I'm happy you're enjoying this story.
Alright this is Spidey Signing Out!
