What is it that no man wants to have but no man wants to lose?
Sorry, just got bored. Whoever gets it right wins!
What are the Hawks' real names in this series? Comic books are so complicated; I can't even keep up with all the name changes.
Thanks for all the reviews!
Chapter 12!
In an unknown location
"Well?" Vandal Savage asked Klarion as he and Teekl entered the room.
"The boy's a mess! He screamed and cried and begged, but I never stopped. He's like a broken doll. Right, Teekl?" The cat meowed in agreement.
"Good." Said Deathstroke. "Then we can begin. Now that the boy has been cleansed of all kind feelings like love and care, we can replace it with cold, murderous rage. He will be driven and loyal to The Light. He will know no other life. He will be The Justice League's downfall."
"Yes, yes, we know the plan." Ra's al Ghul said, rolling his eyes. The man was a bit off; he would ramble on and on with his confident speeches. "Just get to it, we don't have much time. We will need the boy as soon as possible. As for The Justice League, I do believe our men are getting rid of them as we speak."
"Yes." Queen Bee agreed. "The League has been weakened, and cannot stand a fight against hundreds of skilled, armed men. Especially when they have injured children with them."
"You'd be surprised." Deathstroke said.
"Enough!" The Brain exclaimed. "Pick your side, Deathstroke, and remember who you work for! As for The League, they are not invincible, and our men will return with their corpses! Now, do what we paid you for and get to work on the boy!"
Deathstroke silently left the room, his hands folded behind his back.
In a dungeon
The lithe figure was gone. Robin thought it would never leave. He thought it would just stand over him laughing and causing him pain until he was dead. He had spent days… was it days?... just lying on the ground, already injured and tied to a chair, with only pain. Robin knew nothing else. He stared up at the ceiling, or where he thought it was since it was dark. He didn't cry- he forgot how. He could still feel the dry tears on his face, though.
He just studied the ceiling. He felt no emotion. He compared himself to an empty cup. He felt empty, yet… sad? Was this sadness? Longing? Desperation? Regret? He knew what these were supposed to feel like, but… he didn't know. He didn't know anything.
He heard footsteps again, but these were very different from the ones before: heavier, slower, and more controlled. Robin didn't get scared. So what if the hurt him again? If he could take it the first time, then he could take it a second time too. After all, pain was part of life. Wasn't it? This confused him. At least, he thought this was what confusion felt like. He didn't know.
The door opened. A figure, this one much bigger and muscular than the last entered. Robin glanced at him blankly. The figure spoke.
"Poor Red X. You don't belong like this; you are one of us. Therefore, you will be treated like one of us." The man picked the chair up, and undid Robin's binds. He put an arm around his soldiers and helped him stand, as he legs had fractures.
"Good. Now, I will take you to your room, and we will begin our training first thing tomorrow."
"Training?" Robin's voice sounded robotic.
"Yes. You see, you are one of us. So you will be trained in our ways. I will teach you myself. I am your master, and I have always been your master. I will teach you things no one else knows; things you couldn't learn anywhere else."
"Like what?"
"You will learn how to fight the right way; how to manipulate technology to your willing; how to steal without getting caught; how to paralyze others; how to kill without feeling any guilt; how to lie and cheat, and many other things. We are your family now, Red X. You bow to The Light."
"I bow to The Light."
"Yes. And who am I?" They were walking up a column of stairs to what appeared to be a tower. The walls were made of marble and there were thin windows leading to outside.
"My master."
"Yes. I am Deathstroke. You will do exactly as I say. You know nothing else. Only me and The Light."
"Only you and The Light."
"Very good." Robin… or Red X? Yes, if this man, Deathstroke, called him Red X then he was Red X. Suddenly, Red X felt something. It was nagging in what seemed to be the back of his soul. Did he have a soul? He didn't seem to have emotions, and those usually came with a soul. So what was he feeling? It felt like… reality? Like something wasn't right. Like everything was off. That was when he heard it.
"Rob! Robin! Rob?" It was very faint. He thought he was mistaken at first. It was a voice… but where was it coming from? He then saw a window. He leaned toward it. If he looked, maybe he could see outside and put a name to that familiar voice. He was curious. Was this curiosity?
He hadn't even gotten a good look out when Deathstroke violently pulled him back. They had reached a door, which he threw Red X through. He fell to the floor in the dark room, and winced as blood began to flow from his various cuts and bruises.
"This is your room. This is your home. There is no other world than the one you live in. And you live in one where you will do what we say if you want to survive."
He closed the door, leaving Red X in the almost dark. There was light coming from behind a curtain. If he looked, maybe he could-
Red X hadn't taken one step before he passed out.
Somewhere outside
Kid Flash awoke in a cave somewhere. It took almost a whole minute for his memory to come back to him, and when it did, he was filled with guilt and sadness. Robin. Robin was gone. His best friend in the world was taken. No, not taken. He handed himself over. For them.
Why Robin would do that for The League, who had come close to killing them, he would never know, and Kid Flash was scared he might never get the chance to ask him. He tried to sit up, but there was a long cut in his stomach, probably a flash wound. He looked at his teammates and almost cried; they looked awful. Each one was as white as a sheet and weak. Miss Martian had small but deep gashes covering her arms, and Artemis had a long, deep one up her legs, with many other assorted bruises everywhere else. Superboy looked to be already healing, but he was unconscious. Red Arrow's arm was twisted in a sickly way, and had cuts all over his hand. Zatanna's stomach was leaking blood, and there was a gash in her arm. Batgirl had blood coming from the side of her head, and Aqualad had what looked to be burns. All of them had deep cuts, bruises, black eyes, head trauma, broken or cracked ribs, broken limbs, and fractures. Their breathing was deep and uneven. No one else moved.
Wally hauled himself up and started to breathe deeply and slowly. Due to his metabolism, he had started healing, but felt sticky and stiff. He knew whatever broken bones he had wouldn't set right, but he would worry later. He could hear fighting outside. He pulled himself up, swallowed his pain, and limped out side, doubled over.
Kid Flash looked around. There had to be hundreds of people here. But where did they come from? They fought the tired looking League with weapons, up close and long range, and hand to hand combat. So, this Deathstroke did not keep his word. Kid Flash had expected as much. While the henchmen were being distracted by The League, Wally made his way around them. The pain made it hard, but he was able to sneak around without being seen. He would find Rob, then bring him back and get his team out of here. Blue Trance or not, he felt a binding fury for the mentors and could leave them to rot for all he cared.
Kid Flash looked to the building that they had come from. It was in the middle of a lush green valley, surrounded by mountains. There seemed to be no other civilization nearby. Kid Flash glanced over his shoulder, and then turned back toward the building. It seemed to be made of stone, and was almost like a castle. There were towers and columns and walls. It looked fit for royalty.
KF started to circle the building. He saw an exceptionally tall tower, with darkened windows at the top.
"Rob! Robin! Rob?" He called. He kept circling, determined to find a way in. It was then that something whizzed by his face. Kid Flash was suddenly on the ground and someone was on top of him. Then, a few feet away, a man with a crossbow fell.
"Are you nuts?" Flash shouted as he carefully helped Wally to his feet. "You can't go running around the middle of a battle field! You're injured!"
"Not my fault." Wally said, glaring at his uncle, who looked sad. "I'm looking for Rob." His uncle placed a gentle yet firm hand on his shoulder.
"No. Not now. We need to go back to the base and-"
"No! I need to find Rob! They could be hurting him! They probably are. He needs us. We can't leave him." His eyes narrowed. "Well I can't."
"Well, I can't let you run around enemy territory with blood gushing out of you. I'm really, really sorry kid. For everything."
And with that, Flash picked up his struggling nephew, and dragged him back to the cave. Wally thrashed and yelled the whole time, demanding to be let go, but Flash had an iron grip. He swerved through the battle field, with the Hawks swinging their maces at thugs, Canary using her sonic scream to knock enemies unconscious, and Batman beating the crap out of everyone he could get his hands on. It went on like this, The League using the last of their strength to fight for their lives, and to get the people that harmed them so. But these were only the pawns, and they knew it- the real culprits were hiding in their castle.
It was then that the Batplane decided to show up. Batman gave the signal, and The League retreated. They went to the cave, picked up their children, and brought them onto the large plane. It happened in almost slow motion, but also so fast. In an instant, the Batplane was carrying them away from the henchmen, the valley, the castle, Deathstroke, and Robin.
Kid Flash just sat and cried the whole way back, not letting anyone talk to him.
AN: So, yeah, there we go. I hope I didn't repeat too much, I just wanted to stress the importance of the situation Robin is in. Not as long as I wanted but it's late.
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