A/N: I really have nothing to say. I'm kind of stalling time with this action chapter because I really don't know how to express the ending in words. I can picture it all in my head but can't seem to get it down. But this chapter is still important, though, but I'm stalling time with humor and action.Oh, well. Here is your chapter! Please R&R. Thanks!
Chapter 12 True Colors
"We've been walking and jogging for two whole hours," Batman said down to Prosper who was barely keeping up with him. "Admit that you're worn out."
"Hell no!" Prosper said in between pants. Batman glared at him, and he corrected himself with a wicked smile, "I mean…heck no! I'm fine, Bats. What about you? Tiered yet?" He flinched as his shoulder gave him a throb of pain. He was just trying to tick off Batman again by not admitting that he was completely worn out and ready to collapse. By the frown on the man's face he could tell that he was scoring points.
"I'm used to this," Batman said while smiling down at Prosper. Two could play at this game. "Ready to jog again?" Prosper stared up at him with disbelief on his face. He sucked it up and gave Batman a stiff nod. Bruce smiled again and picked up the pace. Prosper gave a little groan and followed right after him. He was ready to faint from the heat of the island. It was around noon and he had no energy.
"Do you even know where you're going?" Prosper said between gasps for air.
"I lost Robin's trail around an hour ago," Batman said with a shrug. He gave Prosper a smug smile as he noticed that the boy was trying his hardest to keep up with Batman's steady jog.
"Then what the…heck are we doing?" Prosper yelled up at him. He would have sworn again, but Batman was really strict about kids' mouths being clean. It was almost driving him crazy. He was just so used to expressing himself that way.
"I'm relying on my memory of being here to show us the way," Batman said while tapping his head with an index finger. Prosper frowned and stayed silent. He had to focus on the path before him or he would trip and fall. "We are heading for the third destination. Robin was just going in a bunch of loops and circles to get me off his trail. So for a long time there we were just going in a bunch of circles."
Batman looked down to Prosper when the kid did not answer him at all. His eyes went wide as he saw that the boy was on the brink of passing out. He was too much like Robin when the teen was Prosper's age. Robin always pushed himself to his limits and would deny that he was sore or worn out when Bruce asked him.
"Up you go," Batman said while grabbing Prosper and swinging him behind his back.
"What are you doing?" Prosper shouted at him.
"Piggy back ride," Batman said with a chuckle.
"I have no idea what that is!" Prosper said while wrapping his arms around Batman's neck to hang on.
"Really?" Batman asked him after a long pause. What kid did not know what a piggyback ride was? Batman had to give Robin them when he was knocked out during patrol or when they were goofing off in the mansion. This gave Bruce old memories of Robin being so little. He really had grown.
"Hey, this is quite fun," Prosper said while resting his chin on Batman's shoulder to rest. "When can we eat?" He was by now starving. He had no food for hours and he had wasted all energy going after Robin for the whole morning.
"Do you think of anything else but food?" Batman asked him with annoyance in his voice.
"I'm just really hungry," Prosper said with a smile. "So are you going to answer my question yet?"
"Pass," Batman said with no emotion in his voice this time.
"Pass?" Prosper said while giving the man a strange look. "What kind of answer is pass?"
"It was not an answer," Batman said simply. "I don't even have an answer at this moment."
"That sucks," Prosper said with a sigh. There was silence for a few minutes till Prosper asked him another question. "Where are the others?"
"Don't know," Batman answered him. "Don't really care. They will just slow me down."
"You're an ego freak," Prosper stated with no hesitation. Batman raised an eyebrow while turning his head to look at the kid on his back. "I mean, you always want to do things your way. Everything has to be right for you or it is wrong. Some people would call it selfishness."
"You never learned how to shut up, have you?" Batman muttered to Prosper. There was some hint of anger in his voice this time maybe because what Prosper had said was kind of true. Bruce was not the person who loved to have his faults shoved into his face. It was another blow to his pride when a kid was picking at his weak spot.
"Being quiet is boring!" Prosper said with a smile coming to his face. "Speaking your mind is a lot more fun. You might get in a lot of trouble, but I love being loud. If you're quiet people think you're all smart and crap when you might not be. But when you're smart and express everything in words you get a lot of stuff done."
"You think a lot too," Batman said with a small smile. He was starting to get to know Prosper and the kid was funny and very refreshing in Bruce's life even though he was very annoying. "Where did you get the big brain?"
Prosper shrugged and said, "Not from my mom. She is as dumb as crap. Her new boyfriend has a lot of street smarts, though. He knows how to control her. He thinks he can control me, but I always outsmart him. He is fun to piss off too." He saw his mistake again and said while rolling his eyes, "I mean tick off."
Batman suddenly stopped and this almost made Prosper fall off his back. The kid saw that Batman was listening to something and he stayed silent while tightening his grip on the man's shoulders in a bit of fright. Batman turned around sharply and looked for something that he thought he had heard.
"What is it?" Prosper whispered to him while looking around as well. The bat had no time to answer the boy on his back. Someone came out from the jungle from his side and threw a hard punch to Batman's face. The Dark Knight fell from the attack and Prosper slammed into a tree with a small yell of surprise.
Batman was up in the blink of the eye. He came at John with a loud battle yell and the two went at it. Prosper watched all this with wide eyes of fright. The only two adults who he had gotten to know were attacking each other, and he could do nothing to stop them from hurting each other. What could he do?
"Robin told me that he only called the Titans," John said with a wicked smile as he was thrown into a tree by the force of one of Batman's punches. He wiped off some blood from his chin and the scare healed in front of the Bat. "Seeing you again is such a surprise."
"I don't see what Robin sees in you," Batman seethed through clenched teeth as he came at John again. The other man jumped into the air and pushed off the tree with his back feet to gain more air. He landed lightly behind Batman and kicked him from behind and into the tree.
"What does he see in me?" John asked Batman with confusion. He ducked quickly to dodge a roundhouse kick then gave a sharp yell as a bat-a-rang sliced into his shoulder. He had yelled mostly from surprise rather than pain. Batman had gotten better than last time, but John still knew how to take him down. He had fought him before and lost. This time he was determined to win.
"He sees something good in you," Batman answered with disgust in his voice. "I think he has just gone insane because of you. You've pushed him over the edge and if I don't stop you now he will end up killing himself by trying to save a hopeless person. You don't deserve a second chance!"
John laughed and said, "He has always been a bit insane. It is what makes him such a good fighter. You have to think differently and try new ideas if you are pushed into a situation you don't know how to get out of."
Batman shook his head and said, "He used to be as sane as most people." He tried to hit John again with a strong punch, but the man knew all his moves and could dodge most the simple ones by now.
"Then explain his issues with Slade," John said with a smile. He knew he had gotten Batman with that one. "And let's not forget Red X. What kind of superhero turns into a thief to take down the bad guy? Only the creative ones who are a bit insane would have tried that. He was close, but of course the more crazy one saw it coming."
"How do you know so much about Robin and Slade?" Batman asked him with confusion. "It was never announced and only the Titans, Slade, and I knew about what happened."
"So you know about those probes that were in their bodies?" John asked Batman. "Let's just say that Slade had a bit of some help making them." He flashed Batman with another one of his wicked smiles. "He somehow knew I was here and asked me to make them with him. The deal was that he would pay me by making Robin play my game. If the kid won then he would be a very good apprentice. But it did not work out and so I had to get Robin on my own. But it was Slade that opened my eyes to hunting Robin instead of you again."
"You monster!" Batman roared while coming at John again. He was blinded by anger. Robin was not this little pawn that could be pushed around. He was not an object. He was a human being that had rights and thoughts of his own. He did not belong with Slade or John.
John danced to the side to get away from the charging bat. Batman quickly stopped and threw a punch at John. The man did a few back flips to get out of the way. Batman ran up to him and fooled John by curling his right hand into a tight fist as if he was going to throw another punch. John ducked but was met with a knee to his face.
John stumbled backwards as his nose surged with pain. He had to quickly jump back a step to avoid another roundhouse kick. His back slammed into a tree and he grabbed onto a low branch to pull himself up. He flipped to a higher branch and looked down with a smile when he saw Batman follow him blindly.
Batman did not have his grappling hook anymore, so he had jump to different branches to catch up with John. He took out a bat-a-rang while landing on a thick branch. He turned sharply around and threw the thing with a small battle yell. The weapon cut through small branches like a knife through butter. He heard John give a surprised yell as the thing was close to hitting him. But now Batman knew exactly where the man was hiding in the thick foliage.
The Dark Knight caught the slick gadget in one gloved hand and then jumped to another branch to get to John. The insane villain saw the Bat too late. Batman grabbed onto a small branch above him and swung himself at John with his feet first. He slammed into him and they both fell off the branch with small yells.
John steadied himself in mid air and caught onto a branch and swung himself up onto it with ease. Batman landed on one next to him with a small grunt. Batman glanced down to see Prosper at the base of the tree looking scared and confused. Poor kid. John did not seem to notice Prosper ever being there. He just came at the Bat with the battle shinning in his gray eyes.
Batman had been focusing on Prosper for a little bit too long and did not see John in time. John's fist collided violently with Batman's jaw. The Dark Knight slipped off the small branch and had nothing to grab onto now to save him from his impact with the ground. He landed on the hard floor on his back with a thud. He winced as he tried to get up.
John landed lightly beside him in seconds and quickly forced Batman to his feet and threw him with unknown strength at a tree. Batman whacked into the tree with much force and fell to his hands and knees. He looked up just in time to see John come at him with a loud battle cry. Batman got up and crossed his arms in front of his face to protect himself. The force of kick made him slam into the tree once again.
The immortal man grabbed onto Batman's shoulders and hung onto them as he jumped into the air and kicked the Bat in the stomach. The Knight fell to his knees while gasping for air. He held onto his stomach because he had felt something crack. He cringed while lightly touching his ribs. They had to be broken from the attack.
"Let's finish this," John said with a smile. He took out his pistol and rested the barrel of it on Batman's forehead. At that moment Batman saw some sadness in the man's eyes. Did he have regrets about killing the Bat?
"No! Stop!" Prosper suddenly shouted while slamming into John's arm. "Don't hurt him!"
Batman saw John change right in front of his eyes. The man looked down at Prosper with his eyes swimming with a ton of mixed emotions instead of that evil gleam. Prosper was crying and pleading for John to stop. The kid hung tightly onto the man's arm while saying things quickly to try and reason with him. At first John did nothing but stare down at Prosper with shock.
"Prosper?" John finally asked him while putting his gun away. "What are you doing here?"
"Don't hurt him, John," Prosper said while hugging the man. He had somehow snapped John out of his evil trance and he was back to normal for a few minutes at least. He was so happy that he would not kill Batman.
"Hey, it's okay, kid," John whispered to Prosper while hugging him back with sadness on his face. "I'm back right now. Don't cry."
Batman slowly got to his feet while keeping his eyes on John and Prosper. The two looked like father and son at the moment. This was a side of Batman that he had never seen in John. Robin had been right. The guy did have some good in him. But he had never shown this side of himself to Batman before till now. Robin had seen it somehow.
"But you were going to kill him," Prosper said. His voice was muffled because he had his face buried in John's shoulder and he was crying because he had been so scared for the life of Batman and even himself. John could have been so wild up that he could have killed Prosper without any thought about it.
John said nothing and only hugged Prosper tighter than before. The truth was that he would have killed Batman and he was so ashamed of himself. "I'm so sorry, Prosper," he whispered to him with pain in his eyes. "I've tried to control it, but it just got worse."
"Don't kill Robin!" Prosper said to him while looking up to John. "He is trying to save you."
"I know," John said quickly. "But I need to tell you that my evil side is getting the best of me. It is stronger for some reason, and I don't want you to get hurt because of me. Once you find Robin, get off this island and don't come back. Go with Batman, Prosper. He will take care of you."
"What is going on?" Batman asked them. "You are seriously insane, John."
John gave him a weak smile. It was first one that Batman had seen that wasn't evil or wicked. "Before I was beaten by you my evil side was the stronger one. Being beaten by you made me level out. But I think since Robin is very close to beating me in this stupid game my evil side can't take it and I have to get rid of him."
"Robin says that he knows how to cure you," Batman said.
John gave a laugh and said, "That kid of yours is really insane. He is winging it. He is a pretty good liar. He might have a good idea forming in his head, but that is enough to make him do what he believes is right. It would be a shame if…well you get the idea."
"What will happen to you?" Prosper asked John.
"Don't know," John said while ruffling up Prosper's messy hair. He gave the kid a smile then pushed him towards Batman while saying, "I got to go. Just get Robin and leave. And if you come back for me to put me in jail I'll understand completely." He winked to Prosper then ran into the jungle and disappeared.
"Okay, what just happened?" Batman asked himself with confusion. "That was really weird."
"You just saw the two sides of John," Prosper said while wiping away a tear. "He can't control both sides now, so they keep switching at random times. Kind of freaky, no?"
"Never saw that side," Batman said while picking up Prosper again and putting him on his back. He winced as he felt a surge of pain in two of his ribs. He had to put Prosper back down and lean against a tree. He then felt some inside strength and started to walk with Prosper beside him.
"Do you think we will find Robin in time?" Prosper asked him as they started to jog through the jungle once again. "Be honest with me. I don't like to be lied to."
"The truth is…put in your terms…hell no," Batman answered with some hesitation. "But we should try. And he told me to have some faith in him. Right now is a good time to do so."
"Okay, so the sub is destroyed," Raven said as they walked up to the T-sub that had been pulled apart from the inside. Wires were thrown all over the place and a little bit of smoke was coming up from it. No doubt John had done it.
"Oh, man!" Cyborg yelled while looking at his poor sub. "I'm going to kill that guy when I see him again!"
"What do we do now?" Beast Boy said with sigh. "How do we get home?"
"Prosper said something about John's home," Raven said. "We should look for it. He has to have something to get us all back home."
"We can use are communicators there too," Starfire said. "We can call Batman!"
"Good idea," Cyborg said. He was still kind of ticked off because of his fried sub, but he had to get over it sooner than later. "But what about Robin. I say we split up into two groups. One group searches for the house while the other searches for Robin. John is determined to kill him at something he called the third destination. Better hurry, though. It is almost noon."
"I'll go with Beast Boy and go after Robin," Raven said. Beast Boy would have complained, but right now was not the moment to argue whom he went with. Raven had her reasons. Plus, he secretly had a crush on her, but he reasoned that he was just suffering from the loss of Terra. But you never know when it comes to Raven liking someone. She was so complicated and figuring her out would most likely take all of Beast Boy's life.
"Let's go, Star," Cyborg said as the two teams went their different ways.
"But I want to look for Robin," she said quietly while digging her toe into the sand. She truly did love him and she was worried sick about her brave leader. She usually did not differ with the team, but right now she really wanted to see Robin again to make sure he was okay.
"Should I switch her with BB?" Cyborg asked Raven with a sigh. He hated to fight with his team.
"Fine with me," Raven said while rolling her eyes.
"Thank you, friends!" Starfire said with a joyful smile. The two teams then made their ways into the forbidding jungle with tiered faces. It was getting close to noon and they had nothing to eat and the heat was almost unbearable. They had to find the others quickly and get out of there. They all felt like something bad was going to happen if they didn't.
A/N: Woot! I'm almost finished with this fic! I've only finished two of my fics even thought I have ten of them on the site so far. So this is good. I'm not good at finishing things, so this is big for me.
Robin: where do I come in again?
Pix: Ah! Why are you here? And don't scare me like that ever again!
Robin: I'm here to tell your readers the disclaimer.
Pix: Wait, did I forget it in the beginning?
Robin: grins Yep!
Pix: Fourth of July weekend, people. I have too many parties to go to and plan. I'm going insane because of it, and I keep forgetting things randomly.
Robin: Like disclaimers.
Pix: Yes. Now go say it for me so I can look for my shoes. I get to one dude's house. He almost killed us last year because he did not know how to set off fireworks. It was very entertaining.
Robin: Okay. Well, Pix does not own the Teen Titans. She only owns Prosper, John, and the weird plot. By the way, Lydia, when do I come back into the story? This whole chapter I was gone.
Pix: How do you know my real name?
Robin: Just answer my question first.
Pix: You'll be in the next chapter a lot. It will be the grand finale! Now tell me how you know my real name.
Robin: Sorry. I was just here for the disclaimer.