Happy Mother's Day!

A continuation of YJ episode "Performance" . . . But like the last chapter, you're going to see some changes in how things happen in this alternate reality. Keep in mind that Robin and the team are all a little different as the result of Robin's run in with Scarecrow. Changes start small and then steadily grow bigger and hopefully better.

Warning: Some Language . . .


I don't get why Batman sent us here if Interpol has this covered, Artemis complained.

Obviously because Batman believes they're not on the right track, Robin told her through the Martian mink link from his perch atop one of the buildings surrounding their target; a warehouse that held computer motherboards. I happen to agree with him.

Are you still in touch with him? M'gann asked.

I'll contact Batman once we know more, Robin assured her. This is our mission, though; not the League's.

How did you determine this is the place the thieves will hit next? There are more obvious targets, Red Arrow noted. These motherboards held tech that specialized in mathematical computations.

Faraday will have those covered, Robin said.

The two other tech firms that were located in and around Bruges dealt with software and some hardware that were designed for missiles. Those shipments went out to military installations throughout Europe and even to the US. It seemed more likely that their thieves would strike at one of those warehouses, but Robin had a theory.

When he had searched through Interpol's files on the previous thefts, a lot of the items stolen weren't designed specifically for warfare. Those companies also sold their tech to several scientific laboratories around the world. Robin was beginning wonder if the thefts were random and the items stolen were slotted for resale or if these particular thieves had an agenda that was different from what Faraday suspected.

I've analyzed the tech already stolen and the pattern suggests this is the place, he explained.

How are you feeling? M'gann wondered.

It was a subject on all of their minds. Despite their spectacular save earlier that had wowed the crowd, Robin's fall had shaken them all up. A sick bird might endanger lives and the mission, but when it was suggested that Robin sit this one out, Robin had pulled rank.

So far, it was merely surveillance, but if the thieves did show up . . .

No worries, Robin blew off her concern; refusing to acknowledge the fatigue that still gripped him. I can manage well enough.

He could feel Superboy's gaze on him from the distance. He, better than anyone, knew the Boy Wonder's need to prove himself and his recent tendency to push his body beyond what was safe.

Keep your eyes on the target, Robin reminded him before the clone could call him out.

It didn't take long; another fifteen minutes, maybe, before Superboy alerted them.

Contact. Northeast quadrant, Superboy announced. I think I know why Carlo missed his performance, he added when the thief grabbed the chain link fence and flipped over the top.

Could be Carlo. Could be his brother, Robin told them. Let's move in.


Superboy paused before joining the others. He pulled out the case Luthor gave him and took one of the patches therein. They suppressed his human DNA and allowed his Kryptonian DNA to overwhelm its weaker half; giving him greater strength and improved his eyesight to include more factors than telescopic and night vision. In fact, since he began using them, Conner noticed his newfound x-ray vision remained intact even after the patch was spent and had become inactive.

The team converged on the two warehouses that backed the factory. Superboy landed beside them with a whump. He glanced down at his feet, but no telltale cracks appeared in the sidewalk beneath him. The sides of his mouth quirked up into a small, self-satisfied smile. He'd been working on his landings.

What's next, boss? He asked.

Robin flicked him a grin, but turned serious immediately. We need to determine where our guy went. Can you see him?

Superboy turned and scanned the areas. He looked into the factory itself first, since it was close to where the thief came in. Nothing out of the ordinary. The workers had all gone home for the night. He noted one night guard at the desk near the lobby. Were there more around the warehouse?

Factory is clear, he told them as he moved on to the first warehouse.

Boxes and machines were stacked and crated. Superboy noted the presence of a second guard as he moved throughout the aisles that were created by the mounds of crates. It was too big of a facility for just one guard . . . Really, it was too big of a facility for just two.

He turned toward the third building; the second warehouse. Forklifts, and even a truck was parked inside amidst large, heavy, metal storage containers; like the kind that are loaded onto the backs of trains and cargo ships. More crates were present here.

Where did the thief go? He was beginning to frown when he spotted him walking towards several large crates carrying a crowbar. This guy matched what he had seen their thief wearing earlier.

Got him, Superboy announced. Second warehouse.


A cackle of laughter split the silence. The thief, still hidden in his ski mask, turned to search for the source and discovered himself surrounded by five young heroes.

"Caught red-handed," Robin smirked. Now they would find out exactly who the true thief was and clear Jack Haley's name. He'd be home for lunch the next day. "Red-faced, too, I'll bet."

"Acrobatics won't get you out of this one," Artemis told him.

Although obviously outnumbered, the thief didn't panic. Robin frowned. This was no simple performer. This guy was a professional. His hands were sliding to his belt when the thief suddenly struck a flare and in true fire-breathing fashion spewed flames in their direction.

"Scatter," Robin called as he flipped down from the support he had been standing on.

The Boy Wonder wobbled slightly on landing, but shored up his determination. He refused to let his weakness slow him down. Several crates had caught fire as the thief used the distraction to escape. But not so easily if Robin had anything to say about it.

"Artemis, Red Arrow! Use your foam arrows to put out the fire," Robin ordered. "M'gann, retreat! Superboy, follow me!"

"There are explosives in those crates," Red Arrow yelled even as he and Artemis sent their flame retardant arrows to smother the flames.

"Then you better be thorough," Robin called back over his shoulder, "or this place is going to go up like the fourth of July!"

Superboy and the Boy Wonder chased the masked man through another section of the warehouse. They ran past a startled security guard. He was already pulling out his walkie-talkie in order to report the disturbance.

Robin yelled to him. "Run! Get out! We'll try to catch him."

Whether or not the guard listened to him, Robin didn't know. He was too busy trying to keep up with Superboy. The Boy of Steel, however, was pulling ahead of him. Robin would never catch up to the thief this rate. His energy level was plummeting. He would have to do something different if he was to have any hope of catching the guy.

"Do you see him?" Robin asked.

Superboy looked around him. "Not yet. Wait! There!" He pointed to the southeast corner of the warehouse.

Robin caught Superboy's eye and whispered, trusting his teammate would hear him.

"Keep going. Stay low and keep his attention. I'm taking the high road."

Shooting a grapple, Robin took to the rafters. Flying would be faster and required less of Robin's energy. He followed the clone as Superboy weaved in and out of the stacks of crates and machinery, taking a slightly more direct route from above. It wasn't long before Robin spotted their perp as he climbed a stack of crates near a window. Robin shot another line in order to intercept their guy.

The thief turned and shot out another burst of flames. The blast of heat seared Robin's face, but the flames had missed him. Unfortunately, they hadn't missed his line. The steel-enforced rope still burned and the weakened metal couldn't hold him. The line snapped and Robin was falling again for the second time that night.

His breath was jarred from him as a weight slammed into him in midair.

"Hang on," Superboy yelled as he snatched the younger hero out of the air.

Robin latched on and tucked his head into Superboy's shoulder. They landed with bone-jarring force.

"You okay?" Superboy asked as Robin slid out of his hold.

"Don't worry about me," Robin snapped. "Get that guy!" Unable to go on, he fell to his knees, even as Superboy leapt forward to intercept the crook.

The thief turned and shot one more blast of flame. It didn't stop Superboy from landing a few feet below him, however, although his shirt was now burned away and his pants left smoking.

"It's going to take more than that to stop me," Superboy snarled. He was angry, now.

"I don't have to stop you," the thief said, flinging himself through the window. "Only him!"

Superboy blinked; startled by the remark. He turned to look behind him and saw that more crates were on fire. That same glance also told him that each of those crates had hazard symbols stamped on them. Whatever was in them was highly combustible! He realized with horror that they were going to explode any second and that Robin had collapsed onto his hands and knees in the midst of them all!

Taking a deep breath, Superboy did his best to blow out the flames on the crates closest to the Boy Wonder . . . But he knew he couldn't get them all! Superboy leapt down toward Robin, and threw himself over the defenseless boy just as several explosions rocked that side of the warehouse; blowing out the windows and ripping off the heavy metal doors on that corner of the building.

As the fire licked over Superboy's body, the shield that Luthor had given him disintegrated in the heat.


Smoke and flames shot out and lit up the surrounding area, but the thief disappeared quickly into the flickering shadows as the rest of the team approached from the side at a dead run.

"Conner!" M'gann screamed, unable to bear the intense heat.

"Oh God, Robin's in there!" Artemis cried out. She pulled out the last of her foam arrows, but she already knew that it wouldn't be nearly enough for a fire of this magnitude.

Red Arrow cursed. He, too, was out of flame retardant arrows. "This place is going to blow again as soon as that fire reaches those other crates! We have to retreat!"

"No!" Artemis grabbed his arm. "Superboy and Robin are still in there!"

Roy's face fell. "There's nothing we can do from here," he said; regret marking his words. "Superboy is Rob's only hope of getting out of there alive now. I just hope he's really on our side."

He tugged on Artemis' arm; forcefully pulling her away from the danger zone. They were still too close. If the building exploded again, none of them would be walking away from this.

"No! Stop," Artemis yelled. "There! Look!"

Red Arrow glanced over his shoulder into the inferno and saw a shape of a man staggering out. He held a smoking bundle in his arms.

Roy pushed Artemis back and ran as close as he dared. Superboy's skin smoked from the heat, but he wasn't hurt. The bundle in his arms was covered in one of the heavy canvas tarps that had been seeded throughout the building for different uses. It was blackened in several places, but the material hadn't been compromised by the fire.

"Robin?"

Conner nodded and plowed past the archer, eager to get his precious cargo to safety. Red Arrow turned with him and helped support him. For all that the clone claimed to share Superman's powers, it was obvious that the boy didn't have all of the Man of Steel's total invulnerability. And neither, it seemed did his clothes! In the light of the fire, it became obvious that the young super had lost all of his clothes to the blaze.

"Whoa! You okay?" Red Arrow glanced around, but saw nothing the clone could use for a cover. He waved at the girls to run ahead of them.

"I'm fine," Superboy growled, angrily. "Not sure about Robin, though. He had collapsed just before the shit hit the fan, but I got to him just before the explosion. I managed to shield him from most of it, but I don't know how badly he may hurt."

"The rest of the building is going to go up, so we need to retreat as far back as we can," Red Arrow told him. "We don't want to get caught in the second blast."

"I'm going to shred that guy when we catch him," Superboy snarled.

"Hold onto that thought," Roy agreed, "and I'll be right there to help you when the time comes."

The bioship shimmered into existence directly in front of them. The portal opened and Artemis stood in the doorway, beckoning them to hurry.

"Come on," she yelled to them over the roar of the blaze. "M'gann says we need to be further away before it blows again."

The two teens ran up the ramp and into the safety of the ship; the door closed directly behind them. M'gann lifted the ship and had barely begun their retreat when the predicted second explosion happened. Everyone was thrown as the Bioship bucked the blast wave. Conner fell to his knees but kept his hold on Robin.

Red Arrow and Artemis scrambled around and helped him to set the younger boy down and untangle him from the canvas.

"Is Robin all right?" M'gann asked. She was too busy piloting the Bioship to help.

Red Arrow yanked the canvas from the boy's head. Robin immediately sat up and clutched his head as he coughed.

"I'm okay," the Boy Wonder answered for himself. "A little crispy around the edges, but not even close to being well-done," he panted. Smoke still rose from his cape. "No thanks to our thief."

Roy pulled the canvas free and wrapped it around Conner. "Save your thanks for Superboy," Roy stated; outwardly calm. Inside, he was still shook up over the events. "There's no way you would have survived that without him."

Robin smiled and patted his friend on the shoulder. "Yeah, he's making a habit of being there whenever I need him. Thanks, Conner."

"If I'd have been faster, it wouldn't have been necessary," Conner grumbled as he tugged the canvas around him more closely.

"You did great," Robin assured him. "There were just too many of those flammable crates on fire."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Artemis asked the younger boy. "You didn't get burned?"

Robin looked down at the melted soles of his boots with regret. "My boots took the brunt of it and my cape will smell like smoke for months, but I'm fine." He glanced at Conner. "But my uniform isn't the only casualty from the fire."

The clone actually blushed as the girls finally seemed to realize his predicament. They hadn't brought a change of clothing with them. His outfit destroyed, M'gann could hardly make something out of nothing. They would need to find something to replace it quick.

"Oh! Uh . . ." Artemis stammered. She sat back on her heels and had the audacity to look amused even as she struggled to find her words.

M'gann laughed outright, however. "That's no problem. At last, I found something that I can help with tonight," she said.

Her eyes glowed green and the canvas began changing and warping; moving around Conner's body until a minute later when he was once again wearing his usual costume, right down to his belt and boots. Robin's boots molded to his feet a few seconds later, and his cape's ragged edges smoothed out.

"Thanks, M'gann," Conner said. "This feels a lot less drafty than my canvas cover."

Robin was examining his boots. "This is different," he noted. Some of the material lay on the floor of the ship while the rest had been remade. It was similar enough, but the material making up the soles of his boots had obviously changed.

"Some of the material in your boots wasn't organic," M'gann apologized. "I did the best I could with what was left."

"You'll not hear me complaining," Robin told her. "Thanks for the fix."

"How are you feeling now?" M'gann asked him.

Robin sighed; his shoulders slumping. "Exhausted," he admitted. "I wasn't in top form tonight. I'm sorry."

"Are you kidding?" Roy ruffled his hair as he stood up and moved off to a chair. "You did pretty damned good, all considering."

When everyone looked at him, Roy just shrugged and looked back. "This could have turned out much worse than it did. No one was injured tonight. And our thief might have escaped this time, but he didn't stop us. His days are numbered."

"Still feel the need to keep an eye on us?" Artemis asked, curious.

"Yes," Roy said, but waved her insulted expression away. "But not because I think any of you are the mole."

Robin blinked and frowned. "What mole?"

"I think we need to catch you up on all that you've missed while you've been recuperating," Artemis said.

Roy nodded. "First order of business tomorrow morning. For now, I think I'm ready to crash for the night."


REACTIONS?

So, how does this compare to the original? Personally, I would love to see this version animated. Of course, I'm a little biased . . . Sigh. Guess I'll just have to settle for eagerly awaiting your reviews instead.