November 5; 9:36 pm
Robin watched as Roanoke Island came into view, the Bioship now flying overhead. The Girl Wonder brings out the coordinates, "We're approaching our destination in ten minutes."
Aqualad turns to face Miss Martian, "Take us down here."
Miss Martian nods before commanding the Bioship to land in camouflage mode, the trees and bushes providing them cover as they disembark. Robin glances at the sky, noticing that despite it being so late already, it felt like they were in a twilight zone, the sky having a red tint to it.
"Nothing screams ominous than the sky being red," Kid Flash murmurs as he walks up beside her. "Not to mention how cold it is."
"That's most probably because it's November already, Kid Idiot," Artemis rolled her eyes, a smirk plastered on her face. "But I'm getting chills as well like there's electricity in the air."
"Cold weather, dead trees, tense air, and red sky," Robin says. "We're definitely at the place, who wants to bet who our villain is? I wanna say it's Witch Boy."
"Please don't say that," Kid Flash groaned. "I still hate his stupid cat, forever changed how I looked at cats."
"Miss Martian," Aqualad says and Miss Martian nods without being told what to do, her eyes glow green before they hear her voice in her head.
"Link established."
"Batman and the others should be arriving here as well, once we have contact with Captain Marvel, we'll execute the plan," Aqualad tells them, looking them over before nodding. "To your positions, I'll give the command."
The teams nod before separating, encircling around the epicenter. Robin peaks over the bush, Artemis right beside her. "Hey, I won the bet," she jokes, noticing Klarion alongside his cat standing on top of a magic circle, the symbols drawn glowing a deep red-orange.
"Did he really have to do it at an intersection? He could have done it at, I don't know, a dead-end," Kid Flash complained. "Would definitely make things easier for us."
"Well, that's because it opens himself to casting a larger spread of magic since he's opening himself to all directions," Zatar says.
"That and it makes sneaking up to him harder," Robin adds, pulling out her birdarangs. The Girl Wonder hears the sound of thunder and she knows that Captain Marvel just arrived, she grips her birdarangs tighter as Artemis pulls out an arrow from her quiver, preparing to make the shot. The two of them hold their breaths, waiting for Aqualad's signal.
There's another sound of thunder which confuses both of them, they turn to one another, confused as to why Captain Marvel left.
"Change of plans," Aqualad says. "Captain Marvel is needed more on the other side, there are four sorcerers there, we'll handle Klarion by ourselves."
"What? But can we-" Zatar tried to say, his voice shaking with anxiety.
"Batman and your father, alongside Red Tornado, would be outnumbered," Aqualad cuts him off. "We'll have to manage."
"I'll contact Hood," Robin tells him, bringing out her holo-glove to contact her brother. "He should be getting the message soon, I can't guarantee he would be able to arrive but-"
"That's alright my friend. Our goal here is not to defeat Klarion but to destroy the spell, hopefully, if Red Hood arrives, it would be all over. In position everyone."
Robin breaths in, exchanging a glance with Artemis, nodding to one another before reading their weapons.
"Go!"
Without wasting a second, both of them fire their weapons, Artemis letting her arrows soar through the air while Robin throws her birdarangs but they are all stopped with a single raise of an arm by Klarion.
"That's the best you can do?" Klarion smirks before he raises his hand once more, red lighting launching towards them.
The two of them quickly dive out of the way, Robin rolling onto her side. She quickly gets up to see Superboy, Aqualad, and Kid Flash trying to attack the Witch Boy from three different openings but Klarion just watches them in amusement before bringing up a barrier around him and the pentagram, the three heroes bouncing off the barrier.
In the corner of her eye, she sees Zatar casting a spell, only for it to do nothing. Robin quickly helps up Aqualad while Artemis helps up Kid Flash.
"We can't do anything with all the barrier magic he's casting," Robin harshly whispers, eyes trained on Klarion as she helps Aqualad up. "This is all just a game to him. We can't even get near him. We need a new plan."
The rest of the team tries to attack the sorcerer only for all their attacks to be futile, she even sees Artemis trying to attack the cat beside Klarion, only for the sorcerer to change the arrow into a ball of yarn and the cat transforming into a huge beast.
"If he was the one who cast the magic, I doubt the spell would be broken if Batman and the others destroy the pentagram on their side," she tells the Atlantean. Aqualad purses his lips, obviously not liking how the cards are stacked against them.
"Then we better end this fast," Aqualad huffs out.
Just when the both of them were going to attack, the gem in the middle starts cackling with unknown energy. Klarion looking at it with distaste.
"So you teamed up with the grown-ups," Witch Boy says. "Teamwork is so overrated."
Before they can do anything, he launches the energy crackling in the gem and it hits Artemis and Robin, the both of them not being able to dodge it this time.
Robin yells out in pain, her whole body burning from the electricity from the lighting. Black dots cover her vision and she lands on the ground with a heavy thump, her body heavy and unable to open her eyes, her body burning and writhing in pain.
A few whimpers leave her mouth as her body protests but she knows she can't stay down for long. Ears ringing make her unable to hear the things going on around her, she bites her tongue and wills herself to open her eyes only for her to see pure white. She whimpers and shuts her eyes tight.
She takes a few shallow breaths, her breath hiccups here and there but she clenches her fists and opens her eyes once more, this time not closing them despite the white glares that are consuming her eyes. She yells as she wills her body to roll onto her side, her body burning and aching in protest from the movement but she doesn't care at the moment. She lowers her head and breathes, her eyes finally clearing. She grits her teeth as she gets on her knees and glances towards where Klarion stood but is shocked to see Batman, Red Tornado, Captain Marvel, and Zatar standing there, four passed out sorcerers laying on the ground.
She pales at seeing a figure floating in the sky, the golden cape and helmet standing out from the dark red sky. "Oh no," she says as she stares as Zatar dons the Helmet of Fate. She ignores the pain as her body protests but she gets up on her legs and she feels the world tilt a bit but she manages to catch herself.
She hears a grunt by her side and sees Artemis on her knees, gritting her teeth, eyes shut tight. "It's over Arty. Klarion's gone..." she tells the archer, helping her stand up but her eyes trail away to Zatar, or should she say Dr. Fate.
They all watch Dr. Fate, Robin leaning heavily on her side as she clutches her left rib. She presses on it only to hiss and recoil in pain, definitely broken as well as her shoulder and arm.
"Fate!" Zatara yells, eyes trained on the figure floating in the air. "Great Nabu, release my son."
Robin closes her eyes, knowing what the answer was even before it was spoken.
"No, hear what the helmet wants in these hours," Fate says. "The world needs Dr. Fate and the boy's natural affinity for the mystical arts makes him the perfect candidate."
"You can't do that!" Artemis protests beside the Girl Wonder.
"He has his own life to live!" Robin joins in, still clutching at her broken arm.
"Kent would never allow you-"
"Ken Nelson did object strenuously," Fate says, cutting off Kid Flash, knowing full well who the speedster is after their last encounter. "So I released his spirit to the afterlife. He is gone."
Robin's breath hitches, glancing at her best friend, knowing how much Kent Nelson affected the speedster.
"Take me instead," Zatara says without any hesitation, eyes strong as he stares at his possessed son. "My skills are already at its peak. My body is physically stronger, better able to withstand the strain of your power."
Fate was quiet, contemplating what the sorcerer was saying. "All true. But if I remove the helmet, what guarantee have I that you will don it?"
"My word," Zatar says.
Robin feels tears gather at the corner of her eyes, wanting to say something but knew that it would hold no purpose because either way, they were going to lose someone to the Helmet. She watches Dr. Fate fly down before removing the helmet.
She feels herself choke up when she sees the joy Zatar has when he sees his father standing before him, only now aware that they had fixed the situation. "Dad!"
"Zatar," Zatara says, bringing his son in for a hug but Robin sees his grip on his son was tight and yet so loving. Zatar hugs his father, still oblivious of what was happening.
Zatara pulls away from the hug, looking at his son with a sad smile. "Remember… I love you."
Zatar's face is suddenly scrunched up in confusion, now realizing the sad and heavy atmosphere around them. "Dad?" he asks, confused about what's going on.
Zatara grabs the Helmet out of his son's shock before turning to face Batman. "Take care of my boy," he tells the Dark Knight with a heavy heart.
"You have my word," Batman says, voice solid but Robin can tell he was holding back. He was closing himself off to comfort Zatara that he would watch over Zatar but the Girl Wonder could tell that he was just as affected by Zatara's actions, that he too was hurting right now.
Without any hesitation, Zatara brings the Helmet over his head and that's when realization crashes on Zatar.
"No! Please! This was my fault!" Zatar yells, Robin runs over to him to hold him back, the pain of losing someone now being shifted to her teammate, knowing how much it pains to lose your family, the person who raised you. She grabs his arms, holding her teammate back. "Dad! Don't! Dad!"
But his yells mean nothing and they watch as Zatara wears the Helmet. Dr. Fate quickly takes over and they can only watch as Dr. Fate and the tied-up sorcerers disappear in a golden light, not even a word was uttered to Zatar.
Zatar lands on his knees in shock, eyes trained to where her father disappeared, possessed by Dr. Fate. Robin kneels beside him, Artemis and Kid Flash rushing to his side as well. His eyes welled up with tears and his breath hitches.
Robin closes her eyes before turning to face Batman. The two of them exchange glances before Batman walks up to them, kneeling before Zatar.
"You can let it out," Batman says, placing a hand on the sorcerer's shoulder and that's all it took for Zatar to break down crying.
"Why? It was supposed to be me," Zatar cries out, folding over, clutching at his chest, tears streaming down his face. Miss Martian is crying, turning away, hiding in Superboy's hug, feeling sad for their teammate. "It was my fault, he didn't have to- it was supposed to be me- it should have been me."
Robin closes her eyes as she holds onto Zatar, squeezing his arms, trying to ground him and remind him that they're here for him. "Zatar, your dad loves you," she tells him, the magician choking up, leaning into her touch, seeking comfort. "He chose to give himself up to Fate for you, you didn't mean any of this you didn't know."
"I was the one who wore the helmet, it was my fault. I lost him and it's all my fault," he whimpers.
"He did it because he wants you to experience life," Robin tells him. "He wanted you to be free because he loves you, Zatar. He knows what was at stake by giving himself and he did it without hesitation."
Robin glances up at Batman before looking down on the ground, biting her lips. "I know what it feels," she tells him. "To lose your family, to lose the person who raised and took care of you… Do you think your dad would like you to react like this? To be consumed by grief and place your whole life on hold for him?"
Zatar is looking at her, the whole team was actually but the Girl Wonder doesn't look at them, eyes still trained on the ground. Robin sucks in a breath, not wanting to give him hope and knowing that she was exposing too much about herself but she knows that at times like these, he would need it to get back up. "But unlike me, your dad is still alive. He's still alive and living underneath that mask," she closes her eyes before looking up to look at Zatar straight in the eyes. "You can still get your father back from Fate, Zatar. Maybe not now but someday we can free him from the Helmet. We can still get your dad back."
Zatar chokes up, tears streaming even faster down his face. The magician nods as he cries, "Thank- thank you, Robin. Thank you."
"No problem," she smiles sadly as she squeezes his arms before looking up at Batman. "Let's go back to the Mountain."