Iris

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Chapter Two

Friends Say I've changed

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Robin didn't really have a lot of friends. Well to be factual…that wasn't exactly right. He had the Titans, and their various allies, but he didn't have a lot of people who knew him as Robin and Dick Grayson, what with the secret identity thing.

And, among the Titans, for Bruce's sake more than anything. He didn't care if the Titans knew who he was but he didn't want to risk exposing Bruce's identity as well. Anyone who was intelligent enough to read the paper or watch the news could make the leap from billionaire's ward Dick Grayson to billionaire Bruce Wayne. He couldn't put Bruce out there if the man didn't want anyone to know.

For the most part anyway.

In two cases exceptions had been made but he'd been nice enough to consult with Batman first. The man had agreed, mostly because he wouldn't be the only one at risk by it.

Speedy and Kid Flash, his fellow members of the 'League of Disgruntled Teenage Sidekicks', as Speedy so eloquently put it. Robin knew that under their masks were Roy Harper and Wally west, just as they knew he was Dick. There was a trust there, concerning each other and their respective mentors, and an understanding that a lot of other people really just didn't get.

Wally liked to chalk it up to mutual frustration over being sidekicks to 'bad ass' heroes and forever looking just slightly inadequate in comparison. Only those stuck in other people's shadows could really get it. A strange thing to bond over.

Plus the dysfunctional/nonexistent family issues.

Only the dysfunctional could save the world.

Still, Robin didn't really have a lot of friends and, beyond that wasn't a particularly social person by nature. Because of this he wasn't exactly fond of getting together with Titans East if they could avoid it. He was either uncomfortable while trying to make nice known Titans (to him at least) of guilty for ignoring everyone in favor of Speedy and Kid Flash the entire time. And, as if that wasn't enough reason, he thought it was just a really bad idea.

Under normal circumstances seeing the more extended branches of the Titans was considered a very bad thing, a precursor to chaos to be blunt. He liked them, yes, but he didn't want to ever seem them all at once. Nothing good could possibly come of it.

So when Star' had suggested they all get together to do 'the hanging and cooking out' he'd refused flat out and had kept refusing. Right up until she broke out the watery puppy eyes and trembling lower lip, at which point he'd relented. He just couldn't say no to something like that and he knew that she knew it.

So here he was, on the roof of the tower, and watching the teams more or less goof off together. BB, Aqualad, and Kid Flash were running/swimming a race across the bay (which Kid Flash won consistently), Cyborg was alternately wrestling with a Volleyball net and the grill, while Star' and Bee tried to talk Raven into playing with them and the twins. Speedy was with the twins, looking increasing confused by all of the Spanish they were throwing back and forth to each other.

They all seemed so at ease, save Raven who looked borderline homicidal at the moment, and he just felt so…far on the outside of things in moments like these. He just wasn't…the type of person to relax when he was in costume.

He couldn't help but feel like something was up. True, he always felt like something was about to happen but something was usually, in fact, up. So it wasn't really paranoia on his part or anything resembling paranoia; contrary to popular belief he wasn't actually paranoid.

…Well, he didn't think he was paranoid at least. He didn't think anyone was out to get him or anything. Except for Slade but that didn't count because Slade was in fact out to get him and, as of late, Raven. So that wasn't paranoia, that was simply factual.

"What's going on Robbie?" Kid Flash was at his side suddenly and it took a serious show of will power on Robin's part to not flinch away from him. "You look…kind of, you know…Blah."

Robin smiled wryly. "How…descriptive of you."

"I thought so."

"Right. How're things in Central and Keystone?"

Kid Flash shrugged. "They're…things, you know? You?"

"Same as always." He sighed and reached up to scratch the back of his neck. "Slade had a new apprentice and is after Raven for one thing or another, Cy is doing an impressive job of working himself stupid over this Brother Blood thing."

Kid Flash cracked a lopsided smile. "It must be really scary for you to see something acting just as obsessive as you when you take something personally."

Robin just blinked at him mildly before looking out over the bay and the sun, which was beginning to set. "I have no idea what you're trying to say."

"Sure you don't Dick." Kid Flash's voice lowered enough that no one beyond them would hear his name, but Robin found himself glancing around nonetheless. "You're the poster child for all of the symptoms of OCD and you know it."

"Better OCD than ADHD. At least I've never been accused of being distracted by shiny objects." Robin shot back, unable to quite hide his smile. This was, after all, how he, Kid Flash, and Speedy communicated with each other.

Speedy was an obvious smart ass and just about everyone and their mother was aware of it. Most people, however didn't realize that under the slightly vacant look and rapid fire pointless babble there was a legitimately intelligent and bitingly sarcastic mind. To a certain degree anyway.

Wally was really just unbelievably honest to a point that Robin could never really know when he may have been lying because it was just…hard to wrap his mind around. His honesty was often misinterpreted as sarcasm when it was more…well totally blunt honesty no matter what. When things were bad Wally had never been inclined to sugar coat them, not really seeing the point.

Everything they said to each other was somewhere between nasty and amusing, but never meant to be taken seriously in any manner.

"Tales of my distraction are greatly exaggerated." Kid Flash said finally, tilting his head off to the head just slightly. "Anyway. Speedy wanted me to ask if you're doing anything tonight."

"Maybe patrolling or something." Robin shrugged slightly. He'd been planning to patrol, check in with Bruce, do his homework, and then work out before going to bed. His life was…well, kind of boring as far as things beyond school and the whole 'Robin' thing.

"Cool. Speedy wants to go out."

"Ah. So we can watch him run off with some bimbo yet again. Sounds like fun." Robin deadpanned even as he began to rearrange his intended schedule. "Where's he wanna go?"

"Clubbing." Green eyes slid over to the side so he was no longer looking directly at Robin. "In Gotham, if you think Bats won't kill us."

Robin mentally shuddered as he envisioned the look Bruce would give him when he found out he was approving of other heroes 'invading' their turf. It was going to get ugly, no doubt about that.

He nodded. "Sure."

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Azeal stretched, back cracking as he did so. He smiled crookedly at his captives, a white man in a white and green costume and another man in all red, with a lightening bolt over his chest. In his hand he was holding a ring with a lantern engraved on it.

Neither one looked pleased.

"Hello. It's…Barry and Scott, isn't it?" He smiled wider at the startled look on their faces which quickly gave way to a kind of fear. Azeal was well aware of why. Barry, also known as Flash, had a lovely wife by the name of Iris and his wife's nephew to worry about and Scott, also called Green Lantern, had a wife and a daughter.

If he knew who they were it would make sense that he also knew about their families. He had them at his mercy. …not that chaining them to the wall with magical bonds hadn't had them at his mercy already, but it was a lot less kinky when he was holding something legitimate over them.

Not that kinky was bad…

"You're probably wondering what I'm holding you for." He said keeping his tone light and conversational. "To put it bluntly I need your energy. Each of you is a virtual limitless battery just waiting to be tapped and, as I need a good deal of organic energy to open a portal into what you would consider hell I intend to tap you."

As he spoke he began to light the red candles he'd arranged in a triangle in the room. He approached the two men and touched the black agate stones he'd hang around their necks before nodding to himself and going to the center of the triangle and sitting down. He set the ring just in front of the candle at the top of the triangle on top of the piece of aventurine he'd placed there before.

Yep, that seemed to be everything.

"Now, just focus on…being good batteries."

This was a strangely simple spell, considering what he was about to do. A piece of white chalk in hand he began to chant while connecting the three candles with thick white lines.

"I command the doorway to open."

The ground beneath him trembled as his 'batteries' screamed. They shuddered, convulsing violently before beams of shimmery black light came bursting from the stones around their necks and the light from Scott went through the ring. They went limp in their binds and the light hit the candle at the top before going splintering towards the other two, following the chalk outline. They meet again between the two candles at the base. He stood, hopping out of the triangle just as the ground turned translucent. He peered down into two pairs of glowing red eyes. He smiled slightly.

"Father."

He got a feral smile in reply and a nod of approval before the ground once again went opaque.

He smirked then turned to walk back to his captives. He prodded them curiously, tilting his head off to the side. Neither moved and already the skin was starting to go cold.

Well…damn. That was going to be a bitch to explain to Slade.

Oh well.

He whistled for one of the robbed beings he knew would be standing outside of the doors of his chambers. Gab demons, they were appalling stupid but strong and loyal to anyone willing to put up with them for long periods of time.

"Get rid of these bodies. Throw them wherever you put Blood."

"Yes Master Azeal."

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Uh…that other stuff will be next chapter, promise. Sorry it's short but I was working during school and…yeah.

Mechante: I have heard about Wonder Woman (I'm pulling for a Diana of color but everyone keeps insisting she has to be white. Meh.) and somehow I doubt Joss wants to hear from a seventeen year old from Jersey…but, who knows, maybe I'll be doing my own comic based movie one day. That'd be so cool… So, here I am, killing more people. But this paves the way for John to come to Earth, what with the other Lantern dying and all, and Wally to become 'Flash'.

Saturn: Hitchhiker was awesome, I understand. And yes, the last chapter (though edited) had been posted before. This chapter is all new stuff.

MAY: Raven is with BB and Robin is…well, Robin will be trying to not lose his mind while sorting out the truth of a certain boy who will be dropping in next chapter.

Moon: I'm glad you did…