08:05 PM
No sooner had Kid Flash left the room then Robin collapsed against the device. He slid down to a sitting position with his back against it, unmindful of its potential to burn him even through his cape and costume. He was overtaken by shaking and closed his eyes, trying to breathe deeply even though the air was so hot it seemed to scald his throat and lungs when he took it in.
"Robin!," Milo exclaimed, and would have run to the boy had the shield not barred his way.
"And now you see," Kenneth Wagner was still on the screen, his tone mocking now "that this is the true game of good and evil. The good must die so the weak can live another day. But it is always the darkness that wins in the end. David may have defeated Goliath, but it is the giants who will triumph at the end of all things. It is the fate of the universe to be that way."
"That's not true!," Milo shouted "shut up!," but Robin seemed of a different mind.
"Maybe," Robin said, his voice barely a whisper.
His eyes were open now, staring at a wall rather than Milo or the old man with his rabbit. He didn't move anything other than his eyes, though he swallowed thickly now and then, like he was having trouble breathing. It had to be the heat, Milo thought, but he wasn't sure.
"Maybe that's true. If it is, so be it. But that doesn't change my role in your so-called play. Maybe it's no use trying to save the world. But I figure that doesn't mean the world needs saving any less. Maybe what we do isn't enough and won't come to anything in the end. But I refuse to stand there at the end of all things and be forced to admit that I didn't even try. So where does that leave you, Claros Dho?."
"You speak as though there were a God of the universe, an ultimate judge," Wagner said.
"You do too," Robin pointed out "it was you who mentioned David and Goliath. Let's say there is a God, a judge. Clearly the good things we do can't outweigh the bad things we do. I know that as well as you do, and it would be stupid to think otherwise. But do you want to go before God Himself and say you didn't even bother trying to do what he wanted?. He, The God of all Creation stands before you and you can only say that his wishes weren't worth your time. Assuming there is a God, of course."
"And why should I care what God thinks of me?."
"I can't answer that for you," Robin replied neutrally.
"And what of you?. Do you believe in an all-mighty Creator?."
"Does it really matter to you?. Because I don't think it does," Robin told him "so why should I give you an answer when you don't really want one?. That would be a waste of my time, and yours."
"How very typical," Wagner scoffed "we get near a discussion worth having and you shy away from it."
"I wouldn't if you were actually interested in an exchange of ideas," Robin explained "but all you want to do is fight. You believe you're in the right, and you don't want to hear anything anyone says. You think you know everything, don't you?. But... have you forgotten... I am not alone..."
Abruptly, Wagner turned off his screen.
"Why did you tell him about your friend?," Milo asked "he could have had the element of surprise!."
"It was a stupid conversation anyway," Robin said, as though that explained all "and KF knows what he's doing. He'll get the job done right this time. Count on it."
That was the last thing Robin said for some time, for it was at this point that he passed out. Milo tried to wake him several times, but nothing he said roused the exhausted young hero. As Robin had said, he'd done his part. It was Kid Flash's turn. Robin's life was now in his friend's hands.
This may have frightened Kid Flash, but it did not greatly concern Robin himself. For Robin believed himself to be responsible for his part in any mission, and for the safety of the Team. But, when it came to his own safety, he was content to leave that in the capable hands of his friends, whom he trusted fully. He had made peace with the fact that his life would often hang by a thread held by one or the other of them. And he saw no reason why that should bother him.
Kid Flash couldn't really hit his stride until he was out of the tunnels. As soon as he was, he ran as he probably never had before. Seconds counted, he knew, and that somehow scared him. He felt stupid, and maybe he should have, for not having figured it out sooner.
Firstly, Robin hadn't needed his help to shut down the device. Of course not. Secondly, of course Wagner went to the original Hotel Claros Dho. Why wouldn't he?. Robin had sent Kid Flash to stop Wagner, and he'd failed miserably. Instead of trying again, he'd tried to take what he now recognized as the "easy route". Shutting down the device. That's what he'd really wanted to do. But that wasn't what he was supposed to be doing. No, he was supposed to stop Kenneth Wagner. No wonder Robin was angry with him, as he hadn't been those weeks ago when Kid Flash had caused his arm to be broken.
That had been an accident, one which Robin had forgiven almost on the spot. This time, Robin had told Kid Flash what he wanted -what he needed- and Kid Flash had let him down. And now Robin might pay for that mistake with his life. And all because Kid Flash had tried to be Robin's protector instead of what he really was meant to be: his team mate.
Robin didn't need anyone to hold his hand. He needed someone to help him, of course. But he didn't need anyone to lift the burden from him, he needed someone to help share it. That's what being a team meant to him, and should have meant to Kid Flash as well.
I get it now. I understand now, he thought as he ran, I understand.
He can hardly be blamed for being a little afraid, knowing what he knew now. What if he was now too late because he'd run for the tunnels instead of figuring out where Kenneth Wagner had gone?. He should have suspected a trap, Robin undoubtedly had. And Robin had trusted Kid Flash, and the rest of the Team, to deal with the mastermind. They hadn't, and what if it was too late now?.
Aside from which, the whole Team together had failed, and now there was no time to go back for them. Kid Flash had to do this all on his own. That was somewhat daunting.
But he remembered the anger in Robin's voice when he found Wagner to be still on the loose. He remembered the pain-laden fury Robin had been unable to fully contain when Wagner had presented him as a thing of pity. And he remembered the almost peacefully resigned look in Robin's eyes when he had promised Kid Flash that he would still be there when KF got back from this mission.
By the time he reached the hotel, Kid Flash had put his private fears aside. At the doors, he picked up the courage he used every time he went into battle, and by the time he'd gone down the stairs (for the building's layout seemed to be the same) he had also located that maddening cockiness which was his by right. Having so collected himself, Kid Flash was now ready for whatever the old man (and he did think of Kenneth Wagner as nothing more than a screw-brained old man) threw at him.
Somehow, he wasn't surprised to find a shield barring his way instead of an actual door. Kenneth Wagner was turned to face him, looking every bit as menacing as a ravenous wolf in spite of his being a shrunken figure in that giant chair, and also in spite of having a fluffy white rabbit as a pet. Truth be known, the rabbit looked a bit cannibalistic itself.
"Now what do you expect to do?," the old man asked, in his creaky voice, which was cracked in more than one way "you can't just run through, you can't just break through a wall either. What was your great plan, you who think yourself so inadequate a human being that you had to drink fairy juice and gain superior speed in order to justify your own existence to yourself?."
What Kid Flash hated most about that statement was not, as one might suspect, the implication that he had used magic rather than science to make himself as he was. It was the indication that he wouldn't be good enough if he didn't have his powers. And why that made him so mad was because he really believed it.
Worse, of course was when he had applied his opinion of himself to Robin, who lacked any super-powers. Robin didn't need them. Kid Flash felt sure that he himself did. After all, what was he without his amazing speed?. His speed was everything to him.
Had he possessed any less strength of character than he did, Kid Flash might well have blamed that super-speed for Robin's accident. After all, if he hadn't been able to run so fast, then he wouldn't have run so fast, and then Robin wouldn't have been hurt. But he counted himself fully responsible for using his own abilities irresponsibly. Taking a child's toy away will not teach him not to break it, any more than removing a dog's leash will teach him to respect it. To blame the object is an error in judgment. What must be counted relevant is the choice that was made as to how to use the object.
While one could argue that it should never have happened, Kid Flash not so foolish as to continue on that track now he'd been set straight. He knew that he couldn't undo what he'd done, and that there was nothing he could do to make it as if Robin's arm had never broken. The evidence would be there always, even if you couldn't see it. But that was all over and done with. What he must now do was ensure that, though the opportunity might again present itself, the actual events were never repeated.
One must be careful of the things they treasure, be they people or objects, and respectful of their own gifts and abilities. To use such things carefully, or take them for-granted would only result in losing the precious things which made life so worth living. It was a hard lesson, and one Kid Flash recalled he had learned before, and would probably have to relearn at a later date.
Such is the lot of humanity, having to learn the same things over and over, and always thinking once we have that we've finally gotten it this time.
"I don't need my speed to take care of you," Kid Flash said "I need only what I was born with."
"And what might that be?."
Kid Flash was kneeling down now, putting something against the frame for the door as he talked.
"How do you think I got my speed?. By accident?. No, I used my head. As you should have used yours," he stood up then and stepped back.
Kenneth Wagner looked puzzled for a moment, but the moderate explosion which followed replaced the confusion with shock and a certain amount of horror. For the shield blocking the door was held in place by that spider-web filter which had also protected the larger device.
It was designed to fit a very specific space. When Kid Flash put explosives on the door frame, they blew the doorway wider, causing the device to short out as it tried to do more than it was designed to.
Kid Flash stepped over the now harmless mini-device.
"And now," he growled menacingly "you will give me the controller for the one back in the tunnels."