Oh Boy. Just...oh boy.
In all honesty, Robin should have come up with a plan before suddenly bursting onto the scene of an all out murder mission. He wasn't thinking about what could happen; all he could see was Batman, dead on the ground with a victorious Joker standing over him.
It was relatively simple to get out of the Haunt. The sun shone bright in his eyes, but the mask quickly filtered out the glare. With everything now in clear focus, all he had to do was follow the trail of blood, fire, and cackles of malicious laughter.
Just a normal day in the life of Robin, the Boy Wonder.
Robin sprinted to the nearest fire escape and launched himself towards the roof. It would be the fastest way to get to the scene, not having to dodge any possible debris.
When at the top, the teen set out at a dead sprint towards the largest section of smoke he could see. Luckily Slade seemed to have picked a more residential area to set up his Haunt, otherwise Robin would have been screwed without a grappling hook.
Finally arriving at his destination, he peered over the side of the roof and felt his blood run cold.
The Joker stood tall, the only signs of injury the streak of blood running down his gangly face and crumpled purple suit. His sadistic smile was almost as wide as he had ever seen it.
Batman sat crumpled against a building in front of the madman, clutching his right shoulder as blood leaked freely from the wound. His teeth were gritted in pain, and despite his many attempts to stand, the best defense the bat could manage was a scathing glare at his opponent.
The Joker cackled, and started leisurely strutting towards the fallen hero. He lazily twisted a knife before letting it fall still when he was only three feet away from Batman.
"It seems the Dark Knight really can fall!" his expression manic, he wiped the blade of his knife along with edges of his suit jacket. "And although this isn't my ideal dream-those include much more flair than one measly Explosion-I'm going to enjoy bringing an end to the Batclan."
Robin was a building away, across the street, but couldn't stand watching any longer. He hoped that Batman could have found some hidden reserve of strength like he has so often in the past, but it seems he exhausted himself on this fight.
This world's Batman was in very serious danger, and it was up to Robin to save him (if he didn't, Robin might as well just give into the Joker).
In a second Robin held three flash bangs, launching them towards the duo as he catapulted off the roof and into the street. He hit the asphalt in a roll, and could only glimpse Batman's slightly suprised eyes before a bright strobe light erupted.
The lens' in the teens mask quickly adjusted to the sudden change in light, effectively blocking out the effects. Robin saw the Joker stumble back in shock, frantically trying to gain his bearings.
Robin couldn't help but grin as the adrenaline raced through him. This feeling, the feeling of imminent danger, was his addiction. He felt it at the circus, and found it again in the realm of crime fighting. It was familiar.
This Joker was familiar, as well. Robin knew almost all of the man's tricks, and this time, ableit being faintly weaker, he was prepared. He had a new will to fight. If not for himself, then the life of this universes Batman. This universes Bruce.
It was only with stealth in mind that he didn't use his signature cackle while advancing towards the madman. The Joker was still blinded, confusion making his moves panicked.
Finally close enough to strike, Robin dropped onto his hands and knocked out the man's feet. He let out a small yelp before crashing to the ground, knife skidding away from his outstretched hand. Before he could move Robin was on him, straddling his chest in an effort to immobilize him.
With the Joker now under him and struggling with new life, Robin reached for his belt to pull out the handcuffs that were always attached to it. It was too late that he remember he wasn't wearing his belt, but one of Slade's.
He sucked in a startled breath, and that momentary lapse in concentration was enough for the Joker to bodily throw Robin off.
The teen landed with a grunt. He moved to get back to his feet, but was stopped as the madman launched himself in Robin's direction with a short yell.
They clashed together, a grapple of limbs pushing, elbowing, and scratching as either one tried to get the advantage. And while Robin prided himself with his skill in combat and acrobatic, his weight can be a disadvantage.
Especially when going against an adult, psychopathic clown.
It didn't take long before the Joker had reversed their positions, legs straddling Robin's stomach and pining his legs while blindly trying to wrestle the teens arms to the ground.
Robin grunted as a boney elbow dug into his lower ribs, trying to reach the belt for any kind of weapon. Preferably the knives, but anything would do as long as it distracted the now giggling man on top of him.
The Joker's sight, however, was sleeping starting to improve. And when he caught sight of the mask and scars, his manic grin returned with an earsplitting cackle.
"Now this is-umf!-what I call a p-ack!-party!" the Joker managed to say between their struggles. With his sight now fully restored he had no trouble grabbing the teens slender wrists and digging them into the pavement beside his head.
Robin winced at the tiny pebbles grinding into his skin, then turned a glare to the Joker. The teen expected him to look a lot worse than he did. Up close, Robin could tell his normally neon green hair was dulled, and the white make-up was slightly off colour. Almost ashy, really. But the sadistic gleam in his eye and the yellowed, crooked smile was exactly the same as before.
Before the Joker could say anything more Robin renewed his struggles, thrashing with all of his might to dislodge the clown. The hands on his wrists tightend and his face came closer.
"Oh, what's the matter pumpkin? It feels as though we haven't seen each other in ages! You kids these days and your lack of manners." he tutted. Robin growled lowly, momentarily stopping his struggles to gather spit and lobbed it at the man's face.
"Screw you!" The Joker scowled, rubbing the spot on his cheek before grinding his wrists down once again.
Robin hissed as he felt the scratches get deeper, blood starting to slowly ooze. The man cackled, his whole body engulfed in laughter. It died slowly, the mans whole body tensing as he leaned down even further.
He stopped right by Robin's ear, the teen still trying to dislodge him. The Joker giggled softly.
"You really look like your Uncle Jay now, Robby. Maybe we should continue where we were so rudely interrupted last time."
The whisper sent chills down Robins spine, and a new burst of adrenaline pumped throught him at the thought of what the Joker might do to him. The teen knew that there would be no way to survive what would happen, even if Batman was here.
An idea hit Robin so suddenly it had him stilling out of shock as the Joker was looming over him once again. It would most likely only work as more of a distraction, but something was better than nothing.
Finally with a plan that involved more than just struggling, Robin smuggly grinned up at the Joker.
"I don't know, it seems you couldn't finish me then, so what makes you think that you can kill me now, when we're out in the middle of a street? Besides, you couldn't even kill Batman. And he's only been at it for about three years here. That's embarrassing."
Robin watched the Joker's face turn stormy, and like lighting one of his hands was on his throat. The teen croaked at the pressure, but still managed to keep his grin.
"The only reason Batsy is alive is because I want to savour the moment. I want to feel the life drain away, rip off that cowl and look into his eyes as his soul leaves his body. I could think of nothing more pleasing, little bird." The Joker's grin turned lazy. "And do you know what the best part of that experience is going to be?" he got close, his rotten breath fanning over Robins face. "You'll be on the ground, bleeding deliciously, watching it all. Nothing you do will matter as your precious Daddy Bats dies in front of you."
The words slithered into Robin's ear, insitlling a deep rooted horror into his heart. After every encounter, it still suprised Robin to see just how sick and twisted the Joker was. And how accurate he could be on people's worst fears.
Luckily, his plan had worked. Like lightning Robin flung his freed arm down to his belt and brought up a throwing knife. The Jokers eyes could only widen before a knife was stuck in his bicep.
Robin gasped for a breath as the man released his throat with a pained squel. He let go of the teens other wrist and was moving towards ripping the knife out when the teen struck out with the palm of his hand. It landed right on the Jokers nose with a sickening crack.
The Jokers body became lax and Robin struggled anew. There was just enough room for him to bring up his right leg towards the man's chest and push him away.
Robin rolled backwards to his feet as the Joker landed, glaring at the teen. In one sickening pull the knife was ripped out of the man's arm and gripped in his hand. He observed the blood on it with a grin before turning his focus back to the Boy Wonder.
"That was pretty dirty, even for you, Robby. Is stabbing people the new hero protocol? Cause I want in if it is!" the Joker rambled as he got to his own feet, both of the opponents falling into a defense position.
Robin scowled, and brought out another throwing knife from his belt. "There is no playing dirty with you, Joker. Anything is game."
The Joker let out a delighted giggle. "Finally, you're learning! It's taken you even longer than it took Batsy to figure out. You deserve a prize!" with that he was sudden launching forward, bloody knife poised for attack.
Robin gasped and fell back, barely avoiding the sharp edges. The Joker swiped again and the teen dove to the side, rolling before springing back towards the man with a small battle cry.
A gash appeared in the Joker's suit as Robin's slash rang true, small trickles of blood bleeding into the purple fabric of his side. The Joker simply laughed through the pain and made contact of his own on Robin's forearm. The teen hissed, assessing the damage quickly before jumping back into the fray.
Before he could get closer enough, however, the Joker was tackled to the ground, his laughter abruptly cut off. Robin was floored, watching the scene in complete shock.
Somehow, Batman had gathered enough energy while they were fighting to make an attempt at helping him. Now the two were on the ground, struggling with the Joker much the same way Robin was earlier.
Only Batman was much bigger than the Joker. And, even in his weakened state, much stronger.
It didn't take long until Batman had the Joker pinned. The Joker simply laughed through it all, the manic grin never being wiped off of his face. Batman growled, leaning down until he was right in the mad man's face.
"I will ask you one more time; Why. Are. You. Here." the intimidation did little to the Joker, who only looked up at the Bat thoughtfully.
"Gonna have to be more specific than that, Batsy. Why am I here, on the ground? You can answer that, detective. Why am I in Gotham? Well, the weather seemed nice this time of year. Why am I-" Batman interrupted his rambling by headbutting him, the Jokers head painfully bouncing off the pavement.
"No. More. Games." Batman sneered. The Joker spit out some blood, and let out a dissapointed sigh.
"Still no fun, even here. Why, I would say that little tweety over there knows how to have a better time than you do." Joker craned his head back, meeting Robin's still shocked gaze. Batman followed it, narrowing his eyes at the teen. "At least we know each others fun spots! You-" he turned back to Batman, "on the other hand, have no idea what makes me tick. Sad, really. Weird used to know each other so well, too. "
Batman's gaze lingered on Robin. His glare was enough to shake the teen out of his daze, and he cautiously approached the two men on the ground.
"You know him?" Batman asked gruffly, and Robin could only blink dumbly.
This encounter was bound to happen. Robin knew it, and he had even prepared for it. Heck, he even dreamed about it while spending those weeks inside Slade's Haunt.
Actually meeting this world's Batman was surreal. Robin expected to the familiar gaze of his Batman, filled with compassion, love and hope. It was irrational, and he knew that, but when looking at the doppelgänger of a person he's known for almost half his life, logic was a hard thing to grasp.
It was only when Batman's eyes narrowed that Robin realized he still had yet to answer his question. Only the situation kept his ears from turning pink.
"Uh, yeah. I know him. It's...complicated." Robin stammered, fiddling with he knife still in his grasp. He saw Batman eye it wearily before turning his sights back on the Joker. The other man's sights were elsewhere, however.
"Aw~" he cooed, glancing back up at Robin again. "You make our relationship sound like such a secret, little bird. I'm flattered."
The teen scowled. He opened his mouth to retaliate when Batman spoke for him.
"Shut it, psychopath. Before I make you." Batman threatened. "The League will be here at any moment, and you will answer for your crimes."
At the mention of the League, Robin started. There was no way he could let Clark talk to him again. It would mean answering questions he really did not want to explain.
Robin managed two steps back before Batman's head snapped towards him. "You're not off the hook, kid. I suggest you stay right where you are."
"Does the little Robin not want to see the super family? What is happening in this crazy dimension?!" the Joker cackled. The comment, however, seemed to be the last straw for Batman.
In a flash Batman cocked his fist and smashed it into the Joker's face, knocking him out cold.
Robin saw the opportunity and quickly took it. Batman was injured, and with the Joker now not a threat, there was no reason to stay. He spun on his heel and sprinted for the nearest alley, ignoring the shouts Batman made for him.
All he had to do was keep running, and eventually he could escape. He was only mere feet from disappearing into the darkness, away from Batman (but not) and all the craziness that was his life.
Unfortunately, karma was not his friend.
He was on the verge of the alley when Robin skidded to a stop as a wall of transparent green brick blocked his vision.
"Sorry, kid. Can't let you get away that easily."
Robin whipped around, hand digging in his belt for more flashbangs but coming up empty. Silently he cursed Slade, the infamous mercenary, for only have three measly flashbangs.
There, floating only feet away was Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern. And, helping Batman to his feet while also properly restraining the unconcious Joker was Clark Kent, Superman.
Needless to say, Robin was most definitely not feeling the aster.
Whoa. Okay, this is the part that going to be a bit tricky from now on.
But, I hope you like the chapter! I had a lot of fun writing it, actually. Sorry for any grammar mistakes, though. No one I know can read over my drafts since they don't know I write fanfic and even the best apps can't detect all errors.
I'm REALLY excited for the next chapter!
Sorry for not updating very much, that's completely my fault and I'm sorry, but I can't say that it will improve much. I suck as an author for updates, I am aware, but I'm trying my best.
~Atatami