A/N
Quarantine might have been the best thing I needed in order to get my creative juices going again - so here you are. Hope you are all enjoying yourselves in isolation!
Episode XVI: Like Father Like Son, Part I
Teamwork makes the dream work.
Overused yet undervalued, Robin wishes he could use the phrase more liberally without the team collectively sighing and threatening to launch him out the first door and onto the street. Normally he wouldn't listen to any threats coming from them, but with the current climate it's best to keep on his toes and lock the door as tightly as possible.
He'd rather get launched at the door and bounce back with broken bones than get his suit wet for what seems to be the tenth time in the past few days.
Bludhaven rains a lot. The amount of water pouring into the city on a daily basis constitutes a flood warning in Robin's book, but it's better than hiding in Gotham and risking Batman's watchful gaze. Not even heroes make the dangerous trip to Bludhaven without some form of insane reason.
Taking his mind back off the weather and back onto the matter at hand, he turns to the heroes gathered around him.
"I still feel like we're missing something," the Boy Wonder scratches his head, pondering and trying hard not to let his mind drift off.
"It doesn't matter how many times you say that Rob, it never becomes helpful," Wally returns.
"More helpful than you KF."
"Guys, we have a guest," Miss Martian innocently reminds them, double checking that the binds keeping Kaldur's hands bound behind the chair and more than strong enough to keep the Atlantean pinned.
They've been trying to obtain more information from Kaldur for quite a long time, but with no progress. The betrayer is keeping his cards close to his chest for now, and that means they are having some trouble uncovering the secrets in his mind. Miss Martian has tried, and failed, to force the information out so it seems the old-fashioned way is the only method they can use to get results.
It's been debated whether to throw the rulebook out the window and do it medieval style, but even with how much hatred there is in the room for the former hero, it was deemed as entirely unethical and not to mention incredibly wrong. Their options have been severely limited so now they have to find a much more humane and civil way of extracting what they need from Kaldur. The details are still unclear on that part so improvising might be the next best option.
"How could we forget," Robin speaks up first, slithering his body behind Kaldur like a coiled snake and placing both of his hands firmly onto the Atlantean's shoulders. Kaldur doesn't flinch at the movements, his head fixated on the empty piece of space in front of his chair. "Our good friend Kaldur. How've you been buddy? I'm guessing not been too good after we foiled your trap and have been beating on your new friends."
"Even if you do somehow get out of here, there's been rumours that the big bad Bane isn't too pleased with you," Wally interrupts, waving his hand in front of Kaldur's face as the Atlantean refuses to show any indication he is actually listening.
Perhaps annoyed at the lack of acknowledgement, the Atlantean's head soon recoils as Superboy delivers a strong punch from the side.
"Didn't Manta teach you it was rude to ignore," the clone says after delivering the blow, returning his hands to their usual positions across his wide chest.
"He taught me more valuable lessons," the Atlantean finally speaks up. "More importantly, that sometimes you have to do what's necessary for the greater good."
Not allowing his hands to shift away from clamping down on Kaldur's shoulders, Robin responds. "Yeah... don't think you believe that stuff Kaldur. Keep telling yourself whatever makes you feel better after what you've done."
"How did Kyle stand in the way of the greater good? Please Kaldur... I'd like to know," Artemis moves in front of Kaldur's chair in a blur and shows Kaldur a look which would make lesser people cry.
"He is more dangerous than you know," is Kaldur's only reply, and from what Robin has gathered from all the time he has spent with Kaldur from before his betrayal and after, the Atlantean might actually be speaking the truth.
"He was your friend Kaldur," M'gann includes herself in the conversation, the faint twinkle in her eyes betraying her intentions. Forever probing for paths into Kaldur's mind, perhaps M'gann might be onto something here.
Keep him talking... keep him thinking... he might just forget long enough for her to slip in, Robin formulates to himself, making sure M'gann reads his mind before giving her a subtle nod whilst making sure Kaldur didn't see the gesture.
Giving a curt nod back, M'gann retreats a few short steps from the group and motions for Zatanna to take her place in the circle. Allowing Kaldur more room away from the Martian might help him forget she's even here, so maybe its time to start working away at the Atlantean.
"We have plenty of time Kaldur, so please tell us about this danger Kyle posed. We all know he could be a pain at times, but nothing about him really screamed 'dangerous' to me. Was he planning to steal your cookies? OR even maybe your favourite pair of trousers? After thinking about it, I'm starting to agree - maybe he was more dangerous than we gave him credit for. All those cookies might have corrupted him."
"Does it hurt you so much to have something which you don't know Robin? Perhaps its one of the worst traits you picked up from the Dark Knight," Kaldur responds, attempting to strain his head around to face Robin even the slightest before a threatening gesture from Superboy fixes his movements.
"Some of the traits you picked up from your father are just as bad Kaldur - cruelty and arrogance being chief among them."
"I have a cause Robin. One which I truly believe in, and I am willing to do anything to see it through," the Atlantean responds.
Before Robin could continue the conversation, he notices M'gann nodding slightly from her secluded corner, a small smile forming on her lips. Whatever Kaldur has just thought of, M'gann had no problem swiping it from his brain. Turns out Kaldur might have lost his concentration for a few small seconds and just like that, he has become worthless to them.
"Bad luck Kaldur," Robin sighs, playfully slapping the Atlantean on the shoulder.
"Wha-"
Just as Kaldur was attempting to respond, the Martian interrupts. "I know where Black Manta has docked his submarine."
Turning to face the group surrounding him, a dark scowl makes a home on the Atlantean's face, confirming the validity of Miss Martian's statement. Without another word to the traitor, the group begins the file their way out of the room, Robin staying behind to give his old friend one last piece of advice.
"I hope this cause of yours was worth it, Kaldur," the boy wonder mutters to the traitor before leaving the room and slamming the door shut behind, leaving Kaldur for what he hopes is the last time.
"What's next for him?" Wally asks the team.
It takes Robin a moment to answer the simple question, the boy wonder already formulating their next few phases.
"Leave him there. When this is over, the League can deal with him."
Both remarkably and thankfully, the team didn't have to rely on magic or other forms of trickery to transform themselves for a journey into the deep oceans. Unusually, Manta's submarine is parked at a desolate dock on the eastern side of America. No guards in sight or traps to be disarmed, Robin ordered Artemis and Wally to sweep the area two more times than usual just to make sure something wasn't wrong.
Tired of indecision and waiting, their clone comrade has made his irritated thoughts on the process so loud and clear Robin has considered letting the clone loose and being done with the matter.
But as always, it would ruin the small element of surprise they may have found themselves in at the moment.
"Manta must not be expecting company anytime soon," Robin voices his thoughts to the assembled group after the two scouts brought back the same report again. "This submarine should be somewhere deep down, but here it is."
"You don't think its another trap?" Wally asks, remembering the last time they thought they had a member of the Light cornered.
"If it is, I doubt we'd be sat here debating it," Zatanna chimes in, sitting rather uncomfortably with her seats crossed over and his arms on her thighs. "I say we just go for it and see what happens."
Smiling, Robin responds to the plan, "I think you've been spending too much time with us."
"I second Zatanna's suggestion," Artemis speaks up, checking the tautness of her bowstring once more.
"Fine," Robin sighs, "let's do this."
Speaking the words the team has been waiting to hear for the past few hours, he doesn't have to tell them twice as the group springs into action, heading towards the submarine taking various different routes to minimise the chances of all being caught inside of a trap. Whilst most take a subtle route such as the water or the skies, Conner bounds towards the ship taking several normal strides worth of steps in one large hop, causing the wooden docks to creak and splinter slightly under his pure power.
Of course, Robin takes the scenic route and sticks to the wooden poles sticking up from the wooden pathways, leaping from one to another with all the grace and style he can muster despite his tiredness. There are a few times you doubts his ability to make the jumps, his feet sometimes slipping slightly before finding a good grip and moving on to the next target.
In less than thirty seconds, they had converged on the submarine and attached themselves next to their assigned entryways waiting for the final command to enter. A large submarine such as Manta's - the size of an aircraft carrier - has multiple entries both on top, but M'gann and Artemis have also moved to the side in order to enter that way.
Raising his hand before quickly lowering it, the team bursts into action. Conner rips off an entry hatch as though it was a bottlecap and throws it long enough to win the Olympic games by a mile, making way for Robin and the clone to jump down into the ship.
Expecting company, Robin's hand is full of small flashbang pellets but the moment his feet hit the floor, the only sound he hears is the slow, deep whining of the war machine's engines. As visibly confused as Robin is, Conner begins to make his way towards their assigned target in the vessel - Manta's quarters.
Luckily, what information Miss Martian gathered from Kaldur included a general layout of the submarine and so they pieced together that Conner and Robin could reach the cabin relatively quick.
Bursting through the doors to the cabin and sending it in to the room as part of the process, Conner once more prepares to smash only to find no-one inside the room.
"Looks like Manta's long gone. But why leave the ship?" Robin questions, taking what little time they might have to quickly search through the various cabinets and drawers inside the cabin.
Conner doesn't join in, instead watching the boy wonder hurry around the room throwing everything around with amusement. It doesn't take long for Robin to uncover the truth behind why Manta is missing from his submarine.
"Get Zatanna here," Robin command the clone, who shrugs his shoulders in return.
"Why?"
"She's got to figure out how to open a portal to a hell dimension."