Impromptu

Alexnandru Van Gordon

Hmmm…seeing that I got a good amount of reviews for my first chapter, I guess I'll continue with this. Sorry if I grossed some of you guys out last time, but I haven't seen anyone else try that on Robin so I thought I'd go ahead and use it. It gets interesting. Just be patient…

DISCLAIMER: In no place, in no time.

CHAPTER TWO: The mind

The prison was always boring, and the Jump City Asylum was worse. You were all in your own cell and there was a bullet proof glass wall instead of bars separating you from the visitors and the cops. There was no way to leave the prison unless you A) fulfilled the amount of time you were sent there for; or B) a hero from the Justice League or either of the Teen Titans (Steel City East or the Jump City) came in and released you. Seeing that you were literally locked up for life, and since the heroes were the ones that put you there in the first place, well…you were getting out any time soon—or any time at all for that matter.

Seeing that it was summer, the inmates were allowed outside (all save for Cinderblock, Overload and Plasmus who couldn't be controlled) and that meant they had time to plan futile escapes. But some of the guys here weren't even from here, being sent to Jump City since Arkham Asylum was full. There were guys who had to be blinded folded unless you wanted to be hypnotized, and some men could turn you to ice with the touch of their finger.

It was an army waiting for the opportune time to escape.

"Who's that?" Mumbo asked. Without his magic wand he looked pretty normal, but even he had some tricks up his sleeves without his powers. He was staring at a cloaked figure on the far side of the lawn, levitating a couple of inches off the solid ground. "A psychic?"

"Maybe." Some other guy said. He was a tall brute with gloves over his hands. Without them, anything he touched would burst out in flames. He couldn't take them off without a key to the gauntlets, but his strength was enough to scare anyone away.

Hearing them, the dark figure levitated their way and sat crossed legged above the ground. "I am a shadow." He said, two red eyes glowing from the darkness of his hood. "And if you wish to see what I can do, then watch."

Mumbo grinned. "Can you get us out of here?"

"In no time soon."

Mumbo and the brute, Pyro, exchanged curious looks before staring at the man. "You're name?" Pyro asked, interested now in another form of magic.

"Just, Sham."

"Sham, huh? Car to show us what you can do?"

There was a pause and the two inmates wondered if he had heard them at all. Pyro was about to ask again before his red eyes glowed brighter for half a second and a small black worm slithered along the ground until it joined Sham's shadow and disappeared. Sham's eyes glowed again and he smiled wickedly.

"I sent one of my creations out to the city to find someone…someone who I could use to free me. Though my creation was weak, being drained of energy myself, it has done its job and slowly that person will submit to it."

Mumbo raised an eyebrow. "And what is this person going to do?"

There was another small laugh from Sham before the air around him grew colder. "This person has access to the prison. He will get us out…"

-R-

Waking up after being attacked was harder than waking up at three am. His chest felt like he was holding his breath, but there was nothing physically wrong. Besides the point that he woke up in the infirmary room at the T-tower, nothing else appeared to be out-of-place.

"Hey, man. How you feel'n?"

He rubbed his head, a little on the woozy side after ingested some unknown substance…Or had he? It didn't feel like it was inside of him anymore. Maybe this was just another fever—the goop being a manifestation of a hallucination. Nothing more…nothing less…

"Hello?" Beast Boy waved a hand in front of his face and so he finally sat up. "Dude—you sleep like the dead."

"Gee. Thanks…"

"Your welcome."

He blinked a couple of times behind his mask before realizing no one else was there. It was only Beast Boy and himself.

"Hey. Where's—"

"Got another call out." Beast Boy sighed, sitting in a chair beside the bed. He looked bored. "I was elected to stay behind and watch you. Besides, Control Freak isn't that important anyway…"

Well, at least they were still doing there job.

"Hey, Rob…" Robin turned toward him and waited patiently. "What were you talking about back in the hospital?"

"Huh?"

"You know—you kept asking us to get something out of you?"

Then maybe it wasn't a dream. The whole ordeal really happened…Ew…

"Did you find anything inside me when you guys returned to the tower?" He asked instead of answering. As long as he was free of that stuff, than he needn't worry about explaining it to the others. Trying to recall the event would have just made him nauseous.

"Ummm…nothing, actually." Beast Boy replied and jabbed a thumb at the monitoring screen on the far wall. "You were free when we took you in, but you're getting something of a fever."

Okay…so maybe the entire thing was just a mishap. He probably just imagined having that thing slid down his throat into his chest…He really didn't want to remember it. That was the grossest thing that had ever happened to him before.

"When did the others leave?"

Beast Boy yawned. "About a minute ago. You just missed them."

Too bad. He wondered how Starfire had been after the battle and he hoped to the skies above that she wouldn't worry about him when she came back and realized he was awake. Her hugs could kill.

Damn—it was her birthday tomorrow! He really didn't want her in a mellow mood then. He took so much time to make that necklace for her…

"Do you think they'll be back soon?"

Beast Boy shook his head. "I don't know. Control Freak is a…well, a freak. They'll probably be chasing him until dinner."

"It shouldn't take them that many hours."

Beast Boy nodded his head toward the window.

It was that dark already? Robin scratched his head. Really—he had been asleep all morning and afternoon? Perhaps it was because he stayed up all last night to finish making Starfire's necklace. His team probably thought he was dead.

Well…as long as he didn't sleep through her birthday.

"I'm gonna win the cake contest tomorrow." Beast Boy snickered wickedly, which cause Robin to roll his eyes. "Hey—when's you birthday?"

He yawned, suddenly sleepy again. "Wake me up when they get back." He said, trying to avoid the question.

"Come on—it's not like I'm going to tell the devil."

Well…

"The first day of Spring."

---

Settled within a new figure, it began to listen—whirling its way up in search of the memory bank of the mind. Something triggered it and an answer came out.

The first day of Spring.

There—an memory to snatch.

It was dark and it was slightly cold, chilly enough that a person might see their breath as a puffy white cloud before their face. It was a dark hallway in what appeared to be a mansion, each door locked tight.

But it held all the keys.

Lingering close to a door, a tendril of a black, smoke-like substance slithered along the floor and crawled up the door toward the keyhole. Sliding in, it took the rest of itself along for the ride and came into a dark room. There was a single spotlight illuminating the center of the room where a small perch was. A large bat hung upside-down from it and opened its wings slowly, emitting a small screech toward the intruder as it approached. There was no use alarming the boy who owned this mind…

The bats shadow fell on a tiny small robin jumping along on the ground beneath it—almost as though protecting it. There was also laughter in the room—the sound of a circus…it was followed by a sickening thud and the sudden cries of an orphaned boy. An acrobat, no less…

The robin chirped despite the sourceless noises and continued to hop about, always within the safety of the bat's shadow. Whatever had happened in the boy's past, he refused to have it weigh him down. There was still a terrible feeling of lose lingering in his aching heart, but he found security and affection with someone else—someone represented by the bat. Whoever it was it had yet to learn, but it was someone dark and stern…as clever and strong as the boy seemed to be. But, despite the darkness, the bat was not a source of evil. It was something punishing itself for its own loss long ago…

It came closer, still in the form of smoke, and reached out to grab the bird—shrinking back when the bat called out again and dropped from its perch with a flap of its mighty wings. The wind blew the smoke back as the robin hopped back in fear, but it was not willing to give up easily.

It reached out again…

-A-

Well, here's a dip into Boy Wonder's mind. You'll get more if you promise to stop giving me a headache. I actually wrote this out once before, but the whole thing ended up getting deleted. Please forgive the tardiness and wait for the next chapter. I'm writing The Boogie Man for my little sister right now and I'll be spending most of my time on that and Again (and Blast). There's a line up, as you can see—but thanks to those who reminded me. You are so loyal to be so patient!

Until Again,

Alexnandru Van Gordon