A/N: I had to write this whole chapter out then type it up on my older insane sister's computer. Then I had to type it out on my own laptop. Wow! I know this chapter from top to bottom now. But I really have nothing to say right now. But please R&R. Thanks!
Disclaimer: Do you really think I could own something like the Teen Titans? If I did this fan fiction could be an episode.
Chapter 7 Meet the Parent
"Why did I have to get stuck with you boring people?" Prosper wailed from the back seat of the T-car. "I mean, at least Raven gives me a funny reaction when I say something about her. You two are like stone. HELLO! I'm talking to two big walls here! Fine! I give up on talking to you two."
"Good!" Cyborg yelled with much frustration in his voice.
"If you ignore him long enough he will shut up," Batman said to Cyborg. "He has to know that yelling will not get him anywhere right now. When Robin yelled I just ignored him till he addressed me calmly. He finally realized that yelling was not going to do anything and he stopped."
"Pathetic!" Prospered whispered to himself. "You know, adults ALWAYS ignore kids. So kids grow up to be adults and only know how to do the things their parents did to them. It is just one big cycle. Why can't for once someone listen to me? I have stuff to say."
"Lovely speech, but you're still going back to your parents," Batman said without looking back to the kid.
"It is just that!" Prosper yelled. "My mom only wants me because of what I can do. I swear to Bob that if you give me back to her and her boyfriend that you will see me again someday but only to be put into jail."
"Who's Bob?" Cyborg asked randomly.
"I thought that is who you swear on when you want to swear," Prosper said innocently.
"No," Cyborg said. "You say, 'I swear to…'" Cyborg stopped suddenly when he glanced over to Batman and realized his mistake. Batman was glaring dangerously at him to give Cyborg a hint to shut up. Prosper just looked confused. Grown ups could be so strange sometimes. No, scratch that last part. They were always strange!
"You're still going back with your parents," Batman said sternly while pinning Prosper with a serious look that made the kid shut his mouth. "End of conversation. You better be thankful I'm not turning you over to the FBI."
The rest of the trip to Gotham City was in complete silence. Cyborg had found out from some research where Prosper's mom lived with her boyfriend, but it was better just to say parents. Now they were returning the kid to where he belonged. But this neighborhood did not look like the best place to raise a little kid.
"Maybe I got the directions mixed up," Cyborg said while pulling up to a run down building in an alleyway. An illegible sign was hanging by a rusty old door. Piles of trash were building up next to the door, and a stray cat looked up at its new visitors.
"No," Prosper said quietly. "This is it."
Batman and Cyborg exchanged worried looks before getting out of the car. Batman grabbed Prosper's shoulder and guided him smoothly to the door as Cyborg carried the kid's laptop. All went into the building and saw that the place was an apartment complex and they were in the lobby now.
The room had a tiny desk in one corner. The floors had moldy red carpet, and the walls were clothed in extremely old wallpaper that could make anyone want to gag. A few lamps were around the room to light it up. There were scattered old couches that had the stuffing coming out as if a wild dog had found it to be a fun chew toy. One door lead to the stairs and another went into an unknown room.
A young girl sat on the desk and glanced up to them as the superheroes when they came in. They could see that the twenty year old was nervous with them being there, but she tried to hide it. But when she spotted Prosper her eyes went wide with surprise. She had to be the mother.
The girl wore short shorts and a tight pink sleeveless shirt that just showed them how skinny she was. It looked as if she was anorexic or something similar to that. Her brown hair hung into her blood shot green eyes that looked very much like Prosper's. There was no doubt that the two were related to each other. A cigarette was in one of her hands, and the smoke trickled into the stuffy air in the room.
"I was wondering when he would show up," she said in a sleepy tone while sliding slowly off the desk. "The name is Tracy. Little Billy here loves to go off on his 'adventures' all the time. My boyfriend, Peter, and I were getting very worried about him this time."
She came up to Prosper and tipped his head back to look at her by lifting his chin up with a finger. Batman saw Prosper shudder even though the room was warm. The man was starting to believe the kid about what he had said in the car. Plus, Tracy was way too young to be a mom.
"Wait," Cyborg said while looking at Tracy skeptically. "Aren't you a little too young to have a nine year old kid?" He was starting to take the kid's side too. Something was fishy with this lady. She for sure was not a good mother figure for the boy.
Tracy gave them a laugh that seemed like it was fake and forced. She took a drag from her cigarette while she winked slyly at them. She then said, "That is what you get when you mess around with all the hot guys in high school. I just did not want another abortion that time. So here is what I got! Cute ain't he?"
Prosper managed a forced smile and chuckle at his mom's ways. Cyborg and Batman frowned, and Batman tightened his grip on the kid's shoulder without thinking much about it. His parent instincts were kicking in, and the number one thing in his head was to not let Prosper go. The kid did not need this kind of mother.
"I put this kid into an orphanage till just two years ago, because I could never take care of a baby!" she went on. "I think it was the right thing to do. I'm a good mother. He just does not like my new boyfriend, so he runs off sometimes. I call the police and they always seem to find him. This time he was gone for four whole months! But thanks for bringing Billy back."
"Who's Billy?" Cyborg asked her. He had forgotten by mistake that Prosper's real name was Bill Jones. Batman fought the erg to roll his eyes. Prosper shot the teen a dirty look. It must have been a big mistake.
"What did he call himself this time?" Tracy asked Cyborg while crossing her arms in front of her. Cyborg caught the death glare she gave Prosper and the weak look he gave back to her.
"Um… Tom," Cyborg lied after a slight hesitation. "Tom Jones." Tracy narrowed her eyes at the teen because she knew he had to by lying to her. Prosper avoided all eye contact and it seemed as if he was more interested in his shoes than anything else around the room. For once in his life he was dead silent.
"I'll take him back now," she said while reaching out for Prosper. The kid had already set it in his head that he was going to have to go back with his careless and always high mom and her crappy boyfriend that got drunk every single night Prosper knew of. So he took a step forward even though everything in him told him to move the opposite way.
To Prosper's surprise, Batman pulled him back gently while giving Tracy a stern look. "I'm sorry, but the Teen Titans will have to take care of Billy for a few days till I see some real proof that he is your son. Unless you have all his papers with you now, he is in my custody along with the Titans'."
"I…but," she said with a perplexed look on her face. Batman raised an eyebrow with a hint of a smile playing on the corner of his lips as if he was enjoying the sight of the girl's confusion.
"But we have the same eye and hair color!" she yelled with anger in her voice. She grabbed Prosper's hair and compared hers to his. "Isn't that enough proof for you damn superheroes?" She was ticked off and was really showing it now.
"We are leaving now because it seems like you don't have the papers you need at this second," Batman said while swiftly guiding Cyborg and Prosper out the door. Tracy was screaming and yelling at them the whole time and swearing her head off. People hearing her just stared at her with no interest to mess with the lady.
The three got into the car and headed back for Jump City and to Titans Tower. There was silence till Prosper said, "That was fun. Can we do it again?" He was just happy he was safe and that his mom was mad but could do nothing to him.
"I don't think so," Cyborg said with a smile. "But how do you stand her?"
"Simple," Batman answered for Prosper. "He just runs away with his laptop. Too bad he got himself into trouble and is wanted by the FBI. But maybe we can change all that."
"Just do whatever!" Prosper said with a giant grin planted on his face. "As long as I don't have to go back with my mom, I'm fine with anything."
"It looks like the Teen Titans will have to baby sit for a few days," Batman said and Cyborg only smiled at the thought. He had so many other things going on in his head. Baby sitting was the least important. This afternoon they were going to head out for the island Robin was on and try to defeat someone who was immortal. Man, he sure hoped Robin was okay!
"Scan complete," the robot said while finishing its sweep of the room. It then left the room, and Robin finally breathed from where he was hanging over the edge of the balcony with what little strength he had left in his body. He had left the belt on the floor.
Robin flipped himself into the air and did a few simple flips in the air before landing on the balcony floor. He had no idea what was keeping his body still going. Any other time he knew he would never be able to flip himself up like that.
He needed rest and food. He was hanging by the end of his rope right now. Robin knew sleep would not come easily because his nerves were on edge, but finding food could be possible. He would need to find the kitchen. The teen shoved a few of his weapons into his pockets and put his retractable Bo Staff into his back pocket.
Since the laundry room was on the first floor he guessed that maybe a kitchen would be close by. Cooking and cleaning were most of the time close to each other. Robin quietly went to the first floor again while keeping a sharp eye out for anymore robots along the way. Lucky for the teen, he found what he was looking for after trying a few doors that were unlocked. Nothing was labeled and it was driving Robin crazy.
The kitchen was pretty big. But hey, if you were the only one on an island with nothing to do all day but cook up a few things you would want a big kitchen too. Robin opened a cabinet and grabbed a few boxes of different things. He ate slowly because he knew that makes you full faster. He then sat down behind a counter to rest.
It took a while to get his mind around the fact that he was okay. After around a half an hour he finally drifted off to a light sleep. It was when you can see everything around you and hear everything but you are still sleeping. He had no idea how long he was like that. When you go into that kind of sleep you lose track of all time.
He was woken up by the opening and closing of the door. His head went up instantly, and he froze in fright. The humming of the other person in the room was John. He was trapped again! What could he do? It was now that he saw a mistake he had made. The cabinets and other things were made out of a kind of metal or steel that gave a fuzzy reflection. Robin felt like he was in that creepy kitchen in the movie Jurassic Park. It was not a good feeling.
John was washing the tropical fruit he had gotten when he saw Robin's reflection in a cabinet. This whole time the kid had stayed silent and John would have never guessed that Robin was there. He had no idea that Robin was even in the house. He had only taken a break for three to five hours. How long had Robin been there?
John kept on humming while slowly reaching for a knife next to the sink. In the reflection he saw Robin's fuzzy form move slightly. Then John stopped humming and waited for Robin to make the first move. The teen stayed still for a few minutes then suddenly jumped up while throwing a bird-a-rang. He ducked quickly after that to get away from the flying knife being thrown by John.
Robin then jumped on top of the counter while taking his Bo Staff out. He twirled it around a few times to get it to its full length as he glared at John. The man held two knifes now and was sizing Robin up. The boy had eaten and maybe had slept a little, but he was still weak looking and John could tell that Robin was tense. Who would not be tense in this kind of situation?
"Really, you're the first to come into my house," John said with a grin. "I give you a lot of credit for creativity, but it was quite stupid once you think about it."
"In your eyes maybe," Robin muttered with a dangerous tone in his voice. "But in my eyes I have weapons, food in my stomach, and I'm not suffering from hypothermia. And I'm not dead yet. That has to be on the up side."
John nodded as if he was kind of agreeing with Robin. "True," he said. "But you're in my territory now. I have the upper hand. That is a big down side to whatever plan you have formed in that head of yours."
"This whole island is your territory," Robin spat out. He was clearly frustrated with himself, and his tight situation was not helping. "I either die here or out there. What difference does it make? Plus, I have not finished what have planned for this house. Let me remind you that I'm not stupid."
"I never said you were stupid, Robin," John said. By the look on his face he was clearly hurt by the boy's comment. "I just see things differently from you. Now, let's end this fight." Without any other words, the two went at it.
Robin played defense while John was offence. Robin knew if he could make it out the room he still had a chance of survival, but being stuck in this room meant death. It was more likely for someone defending themself to lead the other where to go. Right now Robin planned to slowly make his way to the door of the kitchen without getting himself killed.
With one knife in both hands, John came at Robin quickly. He swiped one knife at Robin's chest while he jabbed the other at Robin's side. Robin protected his body by hitting the knife coming at his side with a twirl of his Staff. He leaned back to get away from the other attack. The sharp edge only cut through the front of his shirt and left a small scar on the front of Robin's chest. He had been lucky.
Robin then jumped into the air and landed behind John. He quickly brought his Bo Staff down vertically on John's back. John blocked him by spinning around on his heal and lifting his two knives up horizontally over his head. The loud clash of metal echoed around the empty kitchen as the weapons collided with each other.
After those first two attacks the rest were quickly dished out and blocked with battle yells being expressed every few seconds. John was finding every opening possible in Robin, and the boy was having trouble protecting himself. Slade had been the same way with him. The only difference was that his punches were a lot stronger than John's. Robin was seeing that this guy was pushing him to do better just like Slade had. Robin just wanted one time to win in his life!
"I'll say it again, kid. You're good," John said as the two pushed their weight against each other. Both were breathing hard from the fight and the battle shone in both eyes. "You keep on surprising me. I would have to say that you are better than Batman."
Robin's eyes widened. He had not expected that from this guy. He had never seen himself as better than Batman. Most of the time Robin thought he would never be as good as his mentor. He shook his head as too many thoughts flew through it. He could not get cocky at this point in the game. So what if he was better than Batman? He did not have to dwell on it.
With a cry of frustration, Robin was thrown backwards by the weight John was pushing on his Staff. He slammed into a counter with a wince. He was losing strength and could not keep it up much longer. He jumped up onto the counter and sprung off it to dodge another attack. He landed gracefully on a middle counter and spun around while jabbing his Bo Staff in the same direction. Direct hit!
The move won Robin a few extra points and a smile flickered on his face. John was rubbing his sore nose and giving Robin a filthy look. Robin gave the man no mercy and attacked quickly again before John could recoup. He lashed out with his foot and knocked the air out of the man.
Robin was about to hit John with his Bo Staff, but the man caught it in both hands after putting his knives in his belt behind him. He twisted the Staff with a sly smile spreading over his face. Robin had bare hands now, and they burned as the metal twisted his skin. He gave a short yell, and his weapon was taken away from him.
Boy Wonder thought that John had lost his knives, so he came at John with a roundhouse kick. John caught his food with some great skill that Robin had not mastered fully yet. He pulled Robin towards him and took out his knives from behind him as Robin fell into his arms.
Robin felt sharp tips on his side and neck in only a few dizzy seconds. His stomach twisted in the sick thought that he had failed miserably. He closed his eyes and waited for the man to kill him. Their heavy breaths filled his ears, and he could feel John's chest rise and fall as he was pinned up next to him. But the pain never came.
Robin opened his eyes and said, "You won your stupid game. Finish it unless you have second thoughts."
"Any last words?" John asked. "I know you're friends will be here soon. I will be able to tell them."
"Tell them that I said…gotcha!" Robin pulled out an ice disk and dropped it to the ground below the both of them. John just looked confused at what Robin had said, but he got it when he slipped on the ice under his feet. Robin quickly got out of the hold and tried to get away. John tried one last move before falling. He swiped his knife into the air and managed to cut Robin on his side.
Robin gave a short cry of pain as he ran for the door. He spun around and started to throw any gadget he had in his pockets that would blow up. He threw them all at John at lightning speed. The whole room went up in smoke and John's body was quickly engulfed by it. Robin did not stick around to find out if the man was down or not.
A/N: Sorry if the chapter was a bit short. I'm realizing that this fan fiction will not be that long. The most chapters will be fourteen. It is fun writing it, though. I'm trying hard to work on my other fan fictions, so that is why I'm slow to update. I want to finish this one up quickly along with my Jak2 one, which I had some writer's block on. So to answer one review, I'm working hard on the next chapter of my Jak2 fic! But I'm going to be making a fan fic that is about the Teen Titans going into Jak and Daxter's world. It will be funny and will have a lot of action. If anyone thinks it is a good idea please tell me because I don't want this one to flop. But please give a review! You reviewers have been great and really sweet! I just wish more people would read the fic. But beggers can't be choosers!