Author's Note: Whooooo another quick update! Well things had finally died down a bit (I'm still frantically studying for my exams :3 ) BUT it still gives me time to update =D heh I had fun writing this one =)
Shout Outs: Thanks to Dixxy for reviewing
Summary: Bruce Wayne is going on a business outside of Gotham and he needs someone to watch over the Batcave while he is gone and to help out Alfred as he can't be two places at once. When Robin reluctantly accepts it, what could go wrong?
Chapter 11: Of Bats and Caves
"Oh...I see...no, no its fine. I completely understand. Yeah, nice talking to you. See you." Bruce sighed as he hung up the phone.
"Trouble, I presume sir?" Alfred asked.
"Yeah. Who knew I would be having this much difficulty?" he muttered.
"You know, sir, I would have no trouble watching over the Batcave and the house myself." he pointed it out.
"I know but you can't be two places at once." he then paused. "Or three. What if trouble rises in Gotham? I don't want to get you hurt."
"There are cops for that kind of job, sir."
"Yes but they would be expecting Batman at night."
"Ah yes."
Bruce then sat at a nearby couch.
"Have you tried calling everyone, sir?"
This made Bruce to stop and think. "Hmm...no...there is one person."
:(/\):
"...What?! No! You know I can't! Why me? Oh so that's why? Well gee thanks. But what about Tim or Barbara or any other people?" Robin asked in an annoyed tone.
As he was on the phone, the rest of the group cane into the view, all wondering just who on Earth was talking to Robin and it seemed that the Boy Wonder is pissed off.
"Ugh fine! Fine, fine! I'll do it." Robin reluctantly accepted it. "But you owe me!"
With that, the irritated leader hung up, still being mad about the fact that he had brought this up on him. And as if he had nothing better else to do.
As he was walking past by the group, (unaware to him that they were there) Cyborg spoke.
"Soo...who was on the phone?"
As the door slid open, Robin answered. "No one."
And he left, leaving the group to raise an eyebrow.
"Well someone got on the wrong side of the bed." Beast Boy remarked.
"Whoever it was, it sure made Robin be irritated." Raven said.
Cyborg placed on a thinking look before he got an idea.
"And I know how to find out. Hehe."
:(/\):
Meanwhile down the hallway was Robin who was muttering angrily in his thoughts. He knows that he should just let it go but he can't. What he did was kind of on a last minute call...
Another pair of footsteps soon joined him followed by a voice.
"No way! Are you kidding me? That's what he said?" Cy asked, pretending to play along even though he had no idea what was going on.
"I know! As if I have don't have anything else to do! Ugh I can't believe I'm going to spend my night babysitting the Batcave!" Robin exclaimed. "I thought we both agreed to..." he then trailed off now realizing that he just got tricked.
He turned around to see Cy who had his arms crossed and gave him a smirk.
"No way! We're going to the Batcave?!" Beast Boy exclaimed as he transformed himself from a spider to a human.
"Uh...how long have you guys been standing there?"
"Oh long enough to hear your complaint." Raven spoke, coming out of the ground.
"Forgive our eavesdropping, Robin, but it was only out of curiosity." Star said.
"Ehh its fine. Sometimes I forgot how well I trained you."
"Soo...are we going to the Batcave...?" the green one asked, hopefully.
Robin was about to say no until he saw the looks of his team: Raven's unreadable expression, Star's interesting look, Cy's smirking and Beast Boy's hopeful expression...
He sighed. "Alright. I may as well bring you guys along."
Beast Boy gasped with delight. "WAHOOO!"
TT
A doorbell rang throughout the mansion. Alfred stopped what he was doing and walked towards the door to see who it was.
Just as he opened it, he started to speak.
"Ah, nice to see you Master Di—"
"Yo, there Alfred." Beast Boy exclaimed, showing up first.
Alfred blinked as he eyed the odd group of…people.
"Hello there. I am Starfire, friend of Robin. It is nice to meet you." Starfire replied, happily as she shook hands with Alfred who still had his eyes wide.
"Hi…" Raven replied as she glided passed by.
"What's up, my man?! Name's Cyborg. Nice to meet you!" Cy exclaimed.
"Oh dear…"
"Um…hi Alfred…"
The butler then turned around and breathed out a sigh of relief. "Ah, Master Dick. Finally a familiar face. You have a uh rather interesting group of friends."
"I know but they're cool. You will get use to them." Robin responded.
"Woah! You lived in a mansion?!" Cy exclaimed from the inside.
"Nice." Raven replied, taking in the surroundings.
"Oh! It is the most beautiful house I had ever seen." Star giggled as she flew around the house.
"Oh, please do be careful!" Alfred called out. And he then sighed. "I sure hope Master Bruce knows what he is getting himself into."
:(/\):
"Woahhh! I knew I heard about the Batcave being magnificent but I never thought I would actually be in the Batcave." Beast Boy responded, his eyes watering from the beautiful sight of the cave.
"I must say it is pretty impressive." Raven stated.
"And you got all the latest technology! How come we don't have that?" Cy asked, examining the technology.
"Just…try not to touch or break anything." Robin replied as he went towards the Batcomputer.
"Everything okay?" Raven asked after appearing beside him.
"Yeah, I'm just making a quick scan around the city."
"Forgive me, Robin…but do you think perhaps Alfred might be a bit insecure because he had never met us?" Star quizzed.
"No, don't worry about it. He will eventually get used to you." Robin answered as his hand went into his pocket to pull out a birdarang. He then threw it from behind and the object flew into the air until it struck an empty side of the wall.
Beast Boy gave out a squeal of surprise as he saw that the birdarang had almost pinned his hand. Star and Raven stared with wide eyes at the throw.
"By the way, Alfred said that dinner would be ready soon. I suggest we should go." Robin said, not taking his eyes off the screen.
:(/\):
There were clattering of utensils in the Dining room.
"Hm-mmh! This is good stuff!" Cy exclaimed as he was munching away. "You, Alfred, do a fine job of cooking."
Raven, who looked like who wanted to kill Cy for his lack of manners, merely gave a roll of her eyes.
"Uh, thank you." Alfred spoke.
"Well as long as you don't give me meat, I'm fine." Beast Boy replied. "I'm Vegan."
"That much I figured." Alfred responded as he eyed the green one while he ate.
The butler then eyed the empty seat and sighed. "I was hoping that Master Dick would at least join us."
"Don't feel bad. He does this too back at the tower." Raven said. "We usually have to force him to sit with us."
"So I see."
After dinner, almost everyone went back to their rooms. Everyone but Starfire. She decided to sit back and help out Alfred.
"Please, may I be some kind of assistance?" the alien asked.
Alfred blinked, being a bit surprise by the sudden help. "It's fine. You are a guest. I handle this alone everyday so I get used to it."
"I see but I do not mind being a service."
Alfred smiled. "Thank you." as he collected the dishes he suddenly had this urge to ask the question or rather point it out. "I can tell that you're not from here from the way you speak and look."
"That is correct. I am from the Planet Tamaran. I came here due to some…complications. But with the help of my friends, I was able to understand some of the Earth's cultural."
"And I presume that you're still getting used to everything?"
"Yes."
There was an awkward pause; Alfred would wash the dishes while Star would dry them and place them back in its proper place. It wasn't until then that Star interrupted it.
"Forgive me, but you speak highly of this Master Bruce. Please, who is he?"
Alfred smiled. "My, you are a bit of a curious sort, aren't you?" he chuckled. "You know, you slightly remind me of Master Dick when he was young. He would almost always ask some kind of question. But anyways, Master Bruce is a billionaire as you can probably tell but despite the fact that he's rich, he is a kind person. Always willing to help whenever he can. And he was also the one who adopted Master Dick when he was little."
"Oh…"
As the two talked, the door that leads to the Batcave slid opened to reveal Robin who walked towards the kitchen but suddenly stopped as he heard Alfred and Star talking.
"Even though it is not in my place to tell you," Alfred continued, sensing that the young alien was about to ask yet another question. "I will tell you this: Master Dick needs his friends whether he doesn't want to admit it or not. And I can tell that you are very dear to him. Right now what he needs most is to have friends to help him heal…"
At the corner, Robin clenched his fist as he stared at the floor. Just then, an alarm rang throughout the mansion. Hearing this, Robin decided to forget what Alfred had said and made an appearance.
"Trouble." Robin stated.
:(/\):
"Ah, what a fine day to wreck havoc in Gotham! Don't you agree my little snootkums?"
"Agree, Mr. J!" Harley replied. "And I just love how there is no one to stop us now that Batman is gone!" she then suddenly gave out a squeal of surprise as her weapon flew out of her hand. "STOP THE CAR!"
The car gave an abrupt halt which made the Joker flip over the seat and into the passenger.
"Hey, watch how you stop the car!" Joker snapped.
"Sorry, J, sir."
"And who here dares to ruin mine and Mr. J's fun?!"
"Obviously us."
Because of the voice, it made the two turn around. At first, it was hard to tell because of the shadows covering the newcomers but eventually the Joker figured out who it was after the second voice spoke.
"And we're going to stop you."
"Who…?"
The shadows uncovered the group and it made Joker gasp with surprise.
"Robby! My dear ol' pal!" Joker exclaimed, hopping out of the car. "It's been such a long time, don't you think?"
"Apparently not long enough." Robin answered.
"But I suppose we should separate our ways. You obviously can't hurt a fly! Hahahaha!" seeing the stern look, Joker sighed. "Oh you and Batsy never did share a sense of humor. And speaking about Batsy, where is he?"
"Mr. J…" came the voice of Harley's shaky voice.
"Oh what is it now?"
"Isn't that the Bat?"
Everyone looked up to where Harley was pointing. From the spot, came a dark figure that was covered in black and then the shadow eventually landed.
The Titans raised an eyebrow at the figure.
"I am vengeance…I am the night…I am…Batman."
And then, there was an awkward silence.
"Wait a minute…you're not Batman."
"No, it's not. It just an idiot dressed as Batman." Raven replied, giving a little snarl of annoyance. She used her magic to take off the costume and it revealed Beast Boy who laughed sheepishly.
"Um…hehe…what's up?" he laughed, sheepishly while the group gave him a glare.
"Oh, ho! At least someone in your group is a comedian!" the Joker swiftly waltzed towards Beast Boy and leaned against him. "I like you already."
"Heh."
"But I must skedaddle, Robin. Catch you later! Places to go, people to terrorize!"
The Joker then ran towards the car but before he got into the car, he threw what it looked like a grenade (as he did, Robin's voice could be heard as he shouted: "Titans, move!") then hopped into the car.
"Step on it!"
"Gotcha."
Not too soon, the bomb exploded, having smoke everywhere.
"Titans, get that Joker!" Robin shouted.
And people could tell that he was irritated.
"I sense him! He went up ahead." Raven exclaimed.
She then eyed a car that was at the side. The car got encased with dark magic and was pulled into the road, being in front of Cyborg and Robin.
"Hop in. You two won't get him in that state." Raven called out.
"Thanks for the lift, Rae."
Once the two boys got in, the car took off. Eventually, the Titans caught up with the Joker who made a frown once he saw into the rear mirror.
"Ohh, those Titans sure are being pesky." Joker muttered. "Harley, be a dear and try to have them off the road."
"Yes, Mr. J." she then sunk down to grab a weapon and went back up to turn around to face the Titans. "Hey, you leave our fun alone!"
She then fired the weapon and a medium size streak came that blasted towards the group who dodged it. Though, the blast merely gave a scratch on the car.
"Time for you to shut down your fun." the empath responded. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"
"Wha? Ahh!" Harley gave an exclaim of shout as she saw being her weapon covered in magic and then it was chucked away.
"Hey!"
"Robin, you drive. I shoot." Cy said.
"Okay, try to get one of the wheels."
Starfire then fired her own starbolts in attempt to hit Harley so that she can be off the car. But she missed and Beast Boy transformed into a bat and flew towards the girl who screamed from the sudden bat.
"Ughhh! Get away!"
The clown then reached his hand out in order to grab a net.
"What do you call a net and a bat? A Bat net! Hahahahaha!" he cackled, swiping Beast Boy into the net to throw him out.
"And I thought Beast Boy's jokes were bad." Raven sighed.
Just as Beast Boy was out of the net, the Joker gave an exclaim of shout when a bluish-white streak past by him.
"Oi! Watch how you aim!"
Starfire then prepared her own starbolt and she unleashed a medium size streak. The streak managed to hit the tire, causing the enemies go off balance.
"Nice aim, Star." Robin responded.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" a huge tall black wall (that was a few meters ahead) appeared in front of the Joker so that it can block him from going any further.
"Yo, BB! I need your green butt to lift me off." Cy shouted out of the window.
Beast Boy, who was in the form of a pterodactyl, flew towards Cy who opened the car's door. Once the green one was within reach, he grabbed the half-machine's shoulders and flew straight so that Cy can deliver the blow.
Harley gasped when she noticed the black wall up ahead.
"Stop the car!" she screeched.
"I'm afraid you will have no car to stop!" came a voice from above as he was dropping down. His two fists were up in the air and when Cyborg was coming closer to the car, he brought them down so that he smashed the car's front, having the vehicle to unable to function.
The others came not too soon.
"Anyone have any car troubles?" Beast Boy asked, adding a little humor.
"Oh humbug." the Joker scowled.
:(/\):
"Ahh…the city is saved and the criminal is brought into justice! All in a day's work!" Beast Boy replied.
"I thought Robin forbade you to wear that costume." Raven responded, eyeing Beast Boy as he was walking past by.
"What's life without taking risks—oof!" the green one bumped face first into something. "Ouch…who…"
He then looked up and gave a sudden gulp. "Uhm, hehe…what's up?"
There was Bruce who took the form of Batman and he merely stared down at the young Titan with a hard glare.
"Where's Robin?"
"Uhh that way…" he answered, pointing backwards.
"Heh." Beast Boy laughed sheepishly.
"Oohh you are so going to get it." Raven smirked.
:(/\):
Robin narrowed his eyes as he once more did a quick clean scan over the city just in case. While he was typing, a shadow loomed over him but he seemed to know who it was since he spoke.
"Well, everything seems to be fine now. The Clown Prince of crime is back in his jail for…who knows how long until he escapes again." Robin stated before turning around to face Batman.
"Gotham is yours now. Our work is done."
"Thank you, Robin."
He shrugged. "My team helped out as well. You should be thanking them not me."
There was an odd silence.
"Dick—"
"I know what you're going to say, Bruce, but my answer is still no. I can't go back. You should know that." Robin responded as he walked away from the computer to join his group. "I have another life now and the only reason why I left you is because to show you that I can be independent. To show you that I can do…what I do. And besides, if I ever need help, my friends are here."
:(/\):
"Home sweet home." Beast Boy said as he flopped himself on the couch.
"Whatever happened to Gotham? I thought you liked that place?" the half-machine wondered.
"I only liked the fact that they had Batman. Gotham's too dreary for my taste. Now a city like Jump City…it's the kind of place I dig, you know?"
"I hear you, bro." Cy and Beast Boy high-fived each other which made the empath roll her eyes at the two.
"And Robin…you will be alright?" the alien asked.
The leader nodded. "Yeah, I will be. What happened in the past is in the past. I just got to learn how to move on and accept what's done is done. There's no changing it back…no matter how much I want to." he said before flashing a smile. "So yeah…I will be fine."
"So now…who's all ready for a scary movie night out?" Cy announced.
Everyone except Raven gave a exclaim of shout, all agreeing. They then turned to Raven who blinked.
"Ehh, why not. Just don't except me to control my powers." she smirked.
And then, the group went to sit at the couch to turn on the TV…
Author's Note: …heh, I had fun writing this but the battle with Joker…I didn't really liked it…ah well. I might change it later when I finish this season but yeah. And we got only three episodes left and we're almost done this season! I still have to plan out season nine—it's like my third time redoing it :3 Oh and I hope I didn't made Starfire be too nosy when she was talking to Alfred…toodles!
