Five Robins in a Room
By Kelly M. Maraglia
Disclaimer: I do not own Robin, Young Justice, or DC Comics in any way. The only Robin I own is Keelia, who is now the fifth Robin in existence. "War Crimes" has given me some resolution to Stephanie's death, not that it helps much. She is still dead. sigh I do not own any Monty Python references; I just own all of Flying Circus on tape and Holy Grail on DVD. I do not own Inuyasha either.
Chapter 2 - Introductions
We return to the little room now revealed to be Arcanum's Pocket Dimension. On our last episode, the five Robins in the supposed historical continuity of DC Comics were dropped into this room to meet each other and discuss relevant issues. We also met Arcanum, the rather silly gatekeeper to her pocket dimension who has clearly watched too much Monty Python lately.
And now for something completely different…
I lied; here is chapter 2 of the same story.
"You can't force us to reveal our identities!" Robin #2 shouted.
"You must always be a pain in the rear, Mr. Todd, why is that? I am very confuzzled." Arcanum replied.
"Don't you mean, 'confused?'?" Robin #4 tried to clarify.
"But saying confuzzled is more fun!" Arcanum cheerfully responded.
The five Teen Wonders sighed in unison.
"That was so cool! Do it again!" Arcanum cheered.
"Look, what is your point in bringing us here?" Robin #3 stood and said in a "no-nonsense" type tone.
"Mr. Drake, sit!" Arcanum ordered.
Robin #3 fell flat on his face onto the mattress, which sprang him back into an upright position into his chair again. (AN:That goes out to the Inuyasha fans!)
"Now listen, I'm tired of the Robin insert number here thing! Plus, if you want to know why you're here, go back and read chapter one." Arcanum said with mild annoyance in her voice.
"You want us to reveal our identities to each other and discuss relevant issues, right?" Robin #1 asked.
"At least somebody read chapter one!" Arcanum replied with a humph. (AN: Thanks SO MUCH to my two reviewers! You two rock! Here is a cookie for each of you!)
"Well, what if some of our identities might reveal parts of the future that people shouldn't know?" Robin #5 asked.
"Leave it to you to ask the relevant question, Miss KRD. The very same reason I did not reveal your last name. Much information from the future will be revealed here, but when you all eventually leave, you may be limited in what you remember. The passage of time must continue to flow and although it pains me to let you go on to possible deaths, I must eventually let you go." Arcanum answered, her tone for once, having no silliness in it.
"But who cares about that now!" Arcanum added quickly. There was the silliness again.
"Now for your introductions, please remove your mask, and I will ask you three questions. If you answer them all, it will be the next person's turn." Their zany host explained.
"What if we do not answer them all?" Robin #4 asked warily.
"Uh….we'll cross that bridge of death when we come to it!" Arcanum smiled.
Robin #1 took off his mask.
"What is your name?" Arcanum asked.
"Richard Grayson," Dick replied.
"What is your quest?" Arcanum asked with laughter in her voice.
"Uh, to fight crime in Gotham City?" Dick replied, thrown off by the question.
"What is the airspeed velocity of an unladed swallow?" Arcanum asked and promptly cracked up.
Robin #3 whispered something to Dick.
"Uh, okay. What do you mean? African or European swallow?" Dick replied and looked at Robin #3 who nodded.
"I saw that, Mr. Drake! You cheated! Oh well, it was just silly anyway. Dick, just give a quick intro, okay?" Arcanum requested.
"Uh, sure, I'm Dick Grayson. I am the first Robin I take it. I am an orphan. Both my parents died at the circus. A nice man took me in and I live there. What else?" Dick introduced himself.
"Do not ask what his favorite color is!" Robin #3 interjected.
"Damn, you're getting to know me too well! Very good Dick, Mr. Todd, your turn." Arcanum shrugged.
"I'm Jason Todd and I'm the second Robin. I might not be an orphan. My father was killed by Two-Face, but my mother may be alive somewhere and as soon as I return, I…" Jason began.
"You'll go look for her, right?" Arcanum asked, her voice strangely somber.
"Yes, I will. I was also taken in by the nice man that took Dick in." Jason finished and removed his mask.
"You also had one of the most interesting first encounters with Batman! Tell them!" Arcanum requested.
"I…uh…was stealing the tires off the Batmobile." Jason said sheepishly.
The others all chuckled. Arcanum smiled sadly.
Robin #3 removed his mask.
"I'm Tim Drake and I am an orphan now." Tim began and a gasp was heard from Robin #4.
"When did that happen? Oh, Tim, I'm so sorry!" Robin #4 said sympathetically and put her arms around Tim to comfort him. He went still in her embrace. Arcanum was thankful that no one could see her, because she was fighting back tears.
"Yeah, anyway, my mother was killed years ago by the Obeah Man and my father was just killed recently by Captain Boomerang. I live by myself and I became Robin because I figured out Batman's identity and helped him defeat Two-Face." Tim finished and pulled away from Robin #4. She sent him a hurt look. Robin #5's face took on a look of concern.
"You also had a really cool moment when you saved Batman from Scarecrow which earned you the right to your new Robin costume, which I must say, sorry Dick and Jason, is SO MUCH cooler! No fish-scaled underwear and elf shoes!" Arcanum said adamantly, causing Dick and Jason to send glares her way and trying to hide blushes, while the other three Robins were chuckling.
Robin #4 removed her mask and Robin #5 was surprised.
'This did not happen before. Odd.' She thought to herself.
"Well, I'm next. I am the fourth Robin and my name is Stephanie Brown. My mother is still alive, but my father is dead. He died on a suicide mission for the government, but he used to be a criminal. He called himself the Cluemaster." Stephanie began.
"He's a Riddler rip-off." Arcanum clarified, earning a glare from Stephanie and looks of recognition from the others.
'He's also not dead; Stephanie, but I'll save that for next chapter.' Arcanum thought to herself.
"Anyway, I used to be a vigilante, as they called me, named Spoiler." Stephanie continued.
"And remember folks, her costume was eggplant, not purple." Arcanum added. Tim smiled a brief moment.
"Yes, it was. Everyone used to say it was purple. It was so annoying." Stephanie complained.
"But I like purple! My favorite anime character's hair is purple. Well, violet, but still purple." Arcanum reasoned.
Stephanie tried, but could not help laughing at the silliness.
"Anyway, that's not important. I started chasing after him because I thought he was cute. We dated for a while and after he retired, I became Robin." Stephanie explained, motioning to Tim.
"You mean after you took the job behind my back." Tim said angrily.
"Oh, right after you cheated on me!" Stephanie yelled back.
"ENOUGH!" Arcanum yelled so loud, it shook the whole room.
"We shall get to that argument next chapter! This is the introductions chapter and I will not have anyone messing up the precise flow of my story!" Arcanum screamed angrily.
"Precise flow? You mean all the silly remarks are part of it?" Robin #5 asked.
"Of course, and as for you, Robin #5, your introduction will be different this time." Arcanum began. When Robin #5 gave her an inquisitive look, she continued.
"This chapter, you are not to remove your mask or reveal your last name under any circumstances. Give your first name and a generalized background, okay?"
"Okay," Robin #5 shrugged before continuing.
"My name is Keelia and I was an orphan, but I am not anymore."
Everyone gave her an odd look.
"It is difficult to explain. I had one past where my father was killed defending me as a newborn baby and my mother was killed just before my friends and I made a trip through time. When we returned, both my parents were alive and I somehow had memories of a different past where I never lost them. I remember both as if they were both real. It is very strange, I know. Currently, I am a member of Young Justice 2 and I am dating one of the members." Keelia continued.
"Oh, which one?" Stephanie asked curiously.
"His name is Marcus." Keelia replied.
"The one that looks like Lobo?" Tim asked.
Keelia smiled sheepishly and nodded.
"The strange thing is right before I came here, my mother suddenly vanished. My baby brother disappeared right before my eyes and I saw my hand start fading away. It was almost as if, my brother and I faded from existence." Keelia said seriously.
"It certainly is an important issue and one that will be explored next chapter when we take a peek into my pal, Xeria's pocket dimension, but for now, this chapter was seriously lacking silliness so it must end. Ja!" Arcanum waved.