Be Teammates
Finally, Zatanna was out on the town with her now maskless boyfriend, Dick Grayson. Tonight, the young couple were on their first date with no shades and no secrets. For this special occasion, Dick decided to pull out some stops and use his (well his father's) influence a little.
"Diiick, c'mon. Tell me where we're going!"
"Haha but Zee that'll ruin the surprise!"
"Honey, I already know we're in the super posh area of Gotham. I can literally smell money in the air."
"I know, but this is more fun."
Zatanna just rolled her eyes. She wanted to press on but figured she'd get the same answers out of him. So, she just went with the flow and took in the sights of the rich and sorta famous.
"Holy shit, Dick is that dude in an all pink suit?"
"Huh? I guess. It looks kinda plastic-y, doesn't it?"
"Yea, you're right. Is…..is he just giving people flowers?"
"Oh wait there's a camera guy with him. Must be some weird Youtuber."
"I guess. Oh well, I think your suit looks way better anyway."
Zatanna leaned in to kiss Dick on the cheek as he wrapped his arm around her waist. Dick had mentioned they were going somewhere fancy, so Zatanna put on her best navy blue dress with a petit coat for a little warmth. Dick had on a matching navy suit with a black dress shirt and a cute navy bowtie. As Zatanna put it, "Bowties are cool."
Finally, the young couple arrived at their destination, and Zatanna couldn't have been more shocked.
"Dick!? Gusteau's? Are you crazy? This place is literally booked up by like eight months in advance! We literally decided to go out like this two days ago."
"Don't worry, Babe. I got this."
As they entered the fancy restaurant, the maître d eyed them quite judgingly.
"Bonjour. I believe you two are mistaken. The McDonald's is down the block."
"No actually we're right where we'd like to be. We have a reservation."
"I sincerely doubt that. However, I will humor you. What is the name s'il vous plait?"
"Grayson"
"Hehe Right…Oh mon Dieu…..Richard Grayson!?"
"Oui," Dick replied with a smirk.
"Oh non. Please forgive me Monsieur Grayson. I had no idea it was you. Please. Allow me to guide you and madam to your table."
Hurriedly, the maître d led Dick and Zee to a private table on the balcony overlooking the pretty lights of Gotham City. Within seconds of the couple sitting down, waters with lemon wedges, and bread straight from the oven were placed on the table along with a saucer of olive oil and garlic.
"Here are your menus for this evening. Tonight's special is duck á l'orange and the dessert is an exquisite Grand Marnier soufflé. Please, let us know if you need anything else."
With that, the couple were left with some privacy, and Zatanna was left baffled.
"…What the hell just happened?"
"Hehe money talks," shrugged Dick.
"Dick, I love this. I really do. But this is a lot. Like, I don't want you going out of your way to do things like this for me."
"I know….but this is our first date together as….well as us. Zee and Dick. Not Zatanna and Robin. I just…..I wanted it to be special."
"Ok. Well, thank you. I…..do feel very special. But please don't make this a habit. I'm just as happy lying under the covers in our jammies watching Revenge of the Sith."
"Of course. I mean, once in a while it's ok to splurge right?"
"You bet. I mean look at this view. It's gorgeous!" said Zatanna as she gestured off the balcony.
"I love this view," said Robin not looking off the balcony at all.
Zatanna realized what he was referring to and could only blush and bite her lip.
"You tease."
"Just being honest."
"Ok lover boy. How about we look at the menu…..HOLY SHIT THESE PRICES!"
"Y'know for a Catholic schoolgirl, you sure do curse a lot."
"Dick! Seriously, a flippin' salad costs 28 bucks! What's in it?! Gold?...oh wait yes gold leaflets…"
"Haha yea that one's not the best thing here."
"Oh….so you've been here?"
"Eh once or twice."
"…with other girls?"
"What? No of course not! Bruce and Alfred took me here for a family night and some company dinner. Other than that, I don't really come up here too often."
"Ok…..well what do you recommend?"
Just as Dick was about to answer, an explosion could be heard in the distance. Immediately, Dick and Zee could see from their vantage point a large figure busting through buildings on main street.
"Ugh seriously?!"
"Well Babe Wonder….I guess duty calls?"
"Sigh, Zee I'm so sorry."
"Hey….it's what we do."
"Can you provide some cover?"
"Neercsekoms!" (Smokescreen)
White smoke filled the restaurant, but it quickly cleared off. Just as quickly, our young couple vanished from their table, but not without leaving a twenty-dollar tip.
Robin and Zatanna, now quick-changed into their uniforms, approached main street and finally saw the hulking figure. He was made entirely of cinderblock with a square-like body. His huge fists kept pounding cars and smashing the walls of the surrounding buildings. Civilians ran away frightened by the demon-like face on the figure's square head. Making the first move, Robin threw an explosive birdarang at the monster. It exploded on impact but left no noticeable mark.
"Raaaa"
Quickly the monster turned around and noticed the young couple.
"Well you got its attention. Now what?"
"Encircle now! Divide its attention!"
Robin and Zatanna split off in opposite directions running around the behemoth. Robin threw another flurry of explosives while Zatanna shot off some magic blasts. Neither attack did any real damage. "Cinderblock" smashed the ground causing it to crack and left Robin and Zatanna off balanced. He began making his way towards Robin who was still on the ground.
"Robin! Lumos Maxima!"
Understanding the code, Robin quickly threw up some flashbang grenades in front of Cinderblock.
"Enihs ekil eht nus!" (Shine like the sun)
"Raaaa!"
As the flashbangs detonated, their brightness intensified significantly blinding Cinderblock and allowed Robin to escape.
"Zee! Kamino manuver! NOW!"
"Etaerc Nibor snoisulli!" (Create Robin Illusions)
Suddenly in a puff of smoke, four Robins appeared each holding a different weapon. One had a bow staff. Another had a pair of electrically charged escrima sticks. The third had a pair of explosive birdarangs. Finally, the original had a pair of brass electrified knuckles. All four began running towards a disoriented Cinderblock. One by one, each Robin slammed their weapons into the giant creature.
"I…"
"Love….."
"This…."
"Move!"
Bow staff Robin slammed his staff right across Cinderblock's face. Escrima Stick Robin wrapped his legs around the creature's neck and pressed the electrified tips into the ears before flipping away. Explosives Robin threw his birdarangs right as Cinderblock's face allowing the original Robin to jump close and rapidly punch Cinderblock in the stomach and finish with an uppercut to the face. Cinderblock staggered backwards but still would not go down. He picked up a lamppost and swung at the Robins. The original jumped away in time, but his clones weren't so lucky and once hit, they disappeared with a puff. Angered, Cinderblock carelessly threw away the lamppost at a building causing a civilian to fall over the balcony. She was able to grab the railing but was left dangling in midair. Zatanna immediately spotted this and was about to fly up to get her, but Cinderblock came barreling towards her.
"Etatival!" (Levitate)
She flew out of the way, but Cinderblock was persistent and kept waving his hands around breaking her concentration. Trying to help her, Robin fired a grapple and wrapped it around Cinderblock's neck. He pulled as hard as he could but only caused a mild irritation. Zatanna saw that the civilian lost her grip and was now falling from twenty stories high.
"Robin!"
"Hyperdrive now!"
"Retsaf naht a gnideeps tellub!" (Faster than a speeding bullet)
As Robin leapt into the air, he suddenly flew through the air and zoomed with immense speed towards the civilian. Luckily, he caught her just in time and used his grapple to slowly descend back to the ground. Meanwhile, Zatanna began throwing cars at Cinderblock trying to wear him down. Unfortunately, he caught one and threw it back to Zatanna. Robin ran and tackled her to the ground as the car flew over them.
"Any ideas, Babe?"
"Uhhhh I've still got some explosives in my belt. Starry night?"
"Anything that'll work at this point."
"Here goes then!"
Quickly, Robin began throwing every explosive he had left in his belt….but not at the creature. Cinderblock actually closed his eyes and held up his arms waiting for impact but it never came. When he opened his eyes, he saw that over thirty explosive discs, birdarangs, and grenades were surrounding him. Behind Robin, Zatanna was straining to hold all the bombs in mid-air. Robin smirked and pressed a button on his belt, causing all the bombs to suddenly light up.
"Sbmob, espalloc no ylgu!" (Bombs, collapse on ugly)
All the bombs quickly flew towards Cinderblock and exploded all at once. When the smoke cleared, the large figure took a few steps forward….but then fell face first onto the street, finally defeated.
"Stsoppmal emoceb sgnidnib" (Lampposts become bindings)
The surrounding lampposts quickly wrapped themselves around Cinderblock effectively ending the monster's rampage on main street. A little woozy from the flurry of spells, Zatanna faltered a little only for Robin to catch her in his arms.
"Hey hey. You're ok. I've got you."
"Thanks, Babe. That was a lot."
"Hey, you did great!" Robin complimented as he kissed her cheek.
"Hehe. Thanks. You weren't so bad yourself. Although I have to admit, all the practice sessions with those combo moves really paid off….even if we did spend 90 percent of those sessions making out."
"Hehe I'd say those sessions are a win-win!"
"Me too."
As Zatanna was able to stand on her own two feet, Batman and Wonder Woman swoped down towards the young couple.
"Robin, status report."
"Heya Bats. Well this Cinderblock dude was rampaging down the street. Zee and I subdued him, but uh….well collateral damage was kinda a lot. Sorry."
"It's alright Robin. Good work in defeating the creature. You two aren't hurt, are you?"
"Nope! All good for the both of us, Diana."
"That's good. Then you'll have to tell me about this spectacular battle when you can."
"Sure thing!"
Diana placed a hand on Robin's head and ruffled his hair a bit while Batman smirked and nodded in approval.
"Say, Diana?"
"Yes, Zatanna?"
"How come you and Batman both arrived here?...Together?"
"…Yea Bats? What happened to no supers in Gotham?"
Both Batman and Wonder Woman went wide-eyed and could only look at each other for a decent excuse.
"Um well I got an alert in the Batcave."
"Right and I uh…got the alert from the Watchtower."
"We both just Zeta'd as quickly as we could."
"Exactly. We were very very far apart from each other. Right Batman?"
"Of course, Wonder Woman. We're professionals."
Robin and Zatanna gave each other knowing looks but decided to let the issue go.
"Ok well. Then I guess we will leave the clean up to the…..professionals."
"Of course, you two are welcome to go back to your date."
When Batman and Wonder Woman were out of earshot, Zatanna leaned into Robin's ear and whispered, "And I guess they'll get back to theirs soon."
Robin could only cackle.
Eventually, Gotham PD arrived at the scene along with ARGUS. While Batman and Wonder Woman were chatting with Commissioner Gordon, Robin and Zatanna slipped away to a nearby rooftop to rest.
"So….good kidnapping?"
"Hahah yes, Dick….I had a lot of fun."
"I did too. But God I'm starving."
"Me too."
"Big Belly burgers and Revenge of the Sith?"
"Babe Wonder…..I thought you'd never ask!"