Disclaimer - I don't own Young Justice. This is written for Write to Rank 2 - the Brown Belt round, but this is also an AU to Beyond the Night: Beyond the Team where Red Arrow doesn't help Robin out and instead Robin ends up attempting escape on his own. The second part is for the Red Belt of Write to Rank with the twist of adding in Supergirl who never appeared in Teen Titans or Young Justice, but using the Arrowverse origin for her to build upon. Black Belt involves finishing the story and brining the story to a finish at 10k, or close to it.
This is the last of the Rise to Action one-shots I did for the Rise to Action challenge this past summer, but this one was written between June and July of this year.
Rise to Action: Ice Cold (Part 1)
His head throbbed.
Slowly, Robin's eyes opened, a bright light shining in and blinding him visually. The young vigilante took a deep breath, his mind contemplating his current situation. Eventually, his vision cleared revealing a chamber with icy walls. His eyes opened and closed again, his head turning so he might see what restrained him. Robin's eyes squinted, making out his hands clasped in some form of restraint to the icy cold wall behind him. His fingers flexed instinctively.
"What happened?"
Briefly, Robin closed his eyes. Multiple memories flooded his mind, such as Batman telling the team the mission involved recon only, and how a conversation regarding using others as bait – something he'd definitely not done – devolved into Red Arrow outright telling him he should go and make friends his own age. He remembered foolishly taking off on the older teen and his best friend Kid Flash arguing on the coms which in turn made Robin finally throw his own communication device away so he couldn't hear the two bickering with each other.
That's when he saw the blue snowman.
In fact, seeing the blue snowman occurred right before blacking out, meaning he'd inevitably found himself captured by the person Batman assigned the team to do recon on. Taking a deep breath, Robin assessed his situation. He felt cold despite the winter gear he wore. He felt especially cold around the backside, but opening his eyes he saw himself looking at a room made of ice, possibly explaining the chill coursing through his body. His mask thankfully remained on his face, meaning the blue snowman didn't know his identity.
"Bats would kill me." Robin's head turned despite the pain so he might look at his wrist clasped in the restraint, knowing full well every member of the team would face the wrath of Batman once they got back simply because he didn't manage to avoid capture, not to mention the team hadn't yet selected a leader. Without a clear leader and no way of communicating with the team, let alone for the team to track his whereabouts, the chances of someone coming to his rescue were slim.
Wiggling his hand slightly, Robin's eyes narrowed while he focused on the picklock hidden in the gloves he wore, letting the device move towards his fingers. In the back of his mind, he hoped his grip on the picklock wouldn't fail before proceeding in manipulating the lock with his fingers. Eventually, the lock clicked open, letting Robin let out a sigh of relief as the one hand moved freely. He started working on the other restraint, not knowing the amount of time left before one of the blue snowman's guards checked in on him.
Nobody came, almost as if nobody expected the young vigilante waking up when he did.
Finally dropping to the ground having released his feet as well, Robin crouched down slightly, examining his surroundings even more before standing and stretching. His body didn't feel quite right, what with the cold coursing through his bones and the way his muscles stiffened up. He did see a door at a point of view he couldn't see before and headed to the door, leaning in close listening for any movement outside of the door.
Hearing nothing, he opened the door, glancing cautiously around before heading towards what he hoped would prove some kind of exit. He turned his head a few times – painful as it was – so he might look over his shoulder and see if anyone came up behind, before peeking around the corner. Robin sucked in his breath upon seeing a couple of goons standing there, chatting away as if nothing happened. He tried listening in to the conversation yet found focusing difficult what with how his head throbbed.
"Hey!"
Hearing the rather loud voice, Robin turned his head and let out a deep sigh, realizing upon seeing the person just how much he'd let his guard down because of the head injury. Instinctively, he darted around the corner, further startling the two goons who heard the voice calling out. He dove towards the floor, taking advantage of the icy floor and sliding between the goons' feet to the other side feet first.
He quickly maneuvered his small body over his feet, fighting back the urge of throwing up because of how his head hurt before darting forward at a run. From behind, he heard the three goons crashing into each other. "Thank goodness they don't know how to run on ice." Taking a deep breath, Robin darted around a corner only to backtrack quickly down another hall upon seeing another goon who'd not yet seen him, before running down the hall which twisted towards the left abruptly.
A door loomed ahead of him, and his hand reached for the doorknob, opening up the door to...
... bright sunlight which definitely affected his ability to see. Robin let out a muffled curse, his small frame stumbling forward down a snow-covered path his eyes couldn't quite make out while they attempted adjusting to the bright light. He kept moving forward, knowing full well the goons were after him. An alarm suddenly went off – a bit delayed possibly – making his head hurt even worse. Robin clenched his teeth together, heading forward while trying to make out the path from the snow.
The sound of a gun going off made Robin dive forward instinctively so he might get away from his pursuers, of whom he heard talking from behind him. He realized too late the way the path turned away from an edge, his momentum carrying him over. Taking a deep breath, he somehow remembered how best to fall – something he learned during his circus days, yet knowing doesn't provide an absolute defense against injuries caused by a fall.
Ice cold rocks scrapped against his right arm and his backside, tearing at his cape and the cloth which covered his right arm, but the landing resulted in definite pain in his ankle because of the uneven terrain he still couldn't quite make out because of the bright sunlight. Somehow, he remembered something important despite everything happening – the winter clothes he wore blended into the snow for camouflage purposes.
Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, sinking back into the rocky area he landed in, contemplating his options. Robin's upper teeth bit down slightly on his tongue, preventing him from letting out a loud curse upon realizing the camouflage wouldn't prevent just the goons from finding him. He opened and closed his eyes, letting his eyes adjust to the bright sunlight. More specifically, the sunlight didn't shine as brightly with a slight change in the weather.
Robin shook his head, looking for anything which might allow him some kind of bearing on his location, his fingers struggling with the computer located in the wrist of his glove. Speaking softly in case one of the goons – or the blue snowman for that matter – were listening, he shook his head slightly, fighting back the urge to vomit again. "The map's useless unless I can..."
He brushed aside the thought, but while his eyes still adjusted, he attempted seeking information regarding the blue snowman – who turned out to be the villain Blue Snowman. Of course, his head hurt when he tried discovering more information regarding the villain which might help him should they show up again. Letting out a sigh, his mind focused on finding something which might give him a clue regarding where he was while listening for the possible approach of someone.
"Yeah. You can't read anything right now, so looking at a map would help you how?" Robin shook his head, a hand jumping up so he might cover his mouth, yet again fighting back the urge to throw up. He's moved to fast too quickly. His eyes closed, thinking of what Batman told him he should do in such a situation. "Go downhill and follow the river or road if one can find one, keeping out of sight as much as possible."
Taking a deep breath, Robin stepped forward, wincing upon putting weight on his injured leg. Shaking his head, he grabbed hold of the rocky terrain and started hobbling down the slope, hoping he wouldn't lose his balance. His mind attempted making out something in the snow-covered place, yet he found himself unsure regarding the slightly flat area along with what looked like a frozen river. Mentally, he estimated the distance around fifty feet, yet how far he'd find himself following the river he did not know.
He continued walking, moving unsteadily because of his injuries and the cold. Mentally, Robin cursed the fact his body lacked his usual agility, yet even more so when he heard someone shout, "There he is!"
Robin's head turned towards the voice, realizing now that the path which turned away also turned back. He saw not three, but four goons on the path which he'd fallen off of. Instinctively, he turned so he faced them, yet slowly backed away, mentally forgetting the frozen river which now loomed behind him rather than in front of him. He felt his chest rise then stagger, a slight panic setting in. He saw one of the men lift a gun up.
Instinctively he darted, mentally knowing he needs something between him and the gun, just in time for one of the men to say. "Don't. The Blue Snowman wants the kid alive."
"Yeah, but..."
The next thing Robin heard was a cracking sound. Looking down, he saw exactly how poorly his instincts worked. His head hurt, preventing him from focusing on the details of his surrounding like Batman taught him, while the bright sunlight also prevented him from seeing distinctly, although this somewhat improved; his eyesight didn't improve though before he found himself standing on a frozen river, the ice obviously weakened by the intense sunlight.
He turned his head, watching the men get closer, the ice still shifting and cracking underneath him. He backed away, remaining low to the ground so the ice might not break further. Robin glanced up, swallowing, hoping one of the goons wouldn't attempt...
One of the goons stepped out onto the ice, his full weight placed on one spot majorly affecting the rest of the ice quickly. Robin watched the cracks in the ice race towards him while two of the other goons pulled the one goon foolish enough to step onto the ice away just as his foot went through. The ice continued cracking, but Robin's weight shifted in a manner it shouldn't have, his palm pressing down on a rather weak spot in the ice.
Robin felt himself slipping backward ever so slightly which in turn made him shift his weight forward towards the rather large cracks in front of him. The ice started slipping, unable to stay in one piece, yet he found himself sliding towards the water. The boot of his injured leg started slipping into the icy cold water first, making escape even harder. He heard the goons call out, probably more frantic for their own skins than his own, yet none of that mattered.
Everything occurred faster than Robin might react, particularly with his injures. He found himself slipping under, into the icy cold waters. Somehow, one of his hands reached for his utility belt, pulling out the rebreather which would allow him to breathe underwater, yet in the back of Robin's mind he knew he'd lose consciousness from the cold, and the device would slip from his hands.
His eyes closed and then opened, able to see a lot clearer without the bright sunlight reflecting off everything, yet in the same regard the bright sunlight provided a very eerie light from above as the layer of ice became distant – closing in above him. Robin's eyes closed, feeling the water surround his body while the cold continued seeping in.
Instinct kicked in again as did him not wanting to die. His small body attempted pushing at everything which tried pulling him in, his free hand reaching up for the light above, yet even this wouldn't last much longer.