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Raven stood before Bruce and Robin, who were already all suited up and ready to go. The expression on her face was anything but happy as she glanced down at her outfit.
"You seriously expect me to wear this, don't you?" She asked monotonously.
Robin tilted his head. "What? I don't see anything wrong with it…"
Raven barred her teeth slightly. "Yeah, that's because you can see….well everything!"
The outfit consisted of a midnight blue, sleeveless belly shirt and a matching skirt. The top had a perfectly cut triangle in the middle, revealing an excessive amount of cleavage. She didn't enjoy that, to say the least. A few good points about the outfit though, were the black ankle boots and long, flowing cape. There was a belt there too, yellow to almost match Robin's. It wasn't really necessary, considering she had powers, but there were a few useful items in there such as her communicator and some weapons to launch at criminals.
"Well…" Bruce, or Batman, rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "The top is a bit showy…but we don't have time to argue about that. Let's get in the car."
Raven opened her mouth to argue more, regardless if they had time or not, but all words left her mind as the bat mobile rolled into view. She had never seen a car like this before. It was almost a convertible as the top slid down, giving view to two seats in the front and a short backseat. The seats were illuminated slightly by the bright glow of the front dashboard that had over a thousand buttons, each with it's own command.
Robin and Batman and jumped in the front as Raven cautiously lowered herself into the backseat, afraid her skirt would fly away at any moment. It wasn't long before the top slid back overhead and a couple buttons were pressed, causing the car to give an almost soundless start.
"Buckle up." Bruce said, grinning like mad. He always did love showing off his car to new people.
Raven barely had time to grab the seatbelt when the car zoomed forward, leaving Wayne Manor and the batcave far behind them. Her mind was spinning with the flashing colors of the various lights outside. This was like flying, at light speed.
"So, what are we getting called out for?" Robin asked, glancing at Raven briefly to make sure she hadn't lost her dinner.
The dark knight sighed, his hand clenching on to the steering wheel a bit harder as he made a sharp turn. "Joker broke out of Arkham again…"
Robin's face paled. "And you brought Raven along with us? Maybe she should have…"
"No, she needs to at the very least stay on the sidelines and watch this. We can't keep her shadowed from him and the other villains. Besides, she can help out undetected, standing on a roof top and keeping herself out of view."
Raven had a few questions to ask already, who exactly was this Joker? It seemed to bring up a lot of fear in Richard, that was for sure. But she had promised to help them, even if from afar, and that's what she intended to do. So as Bruce stepped on the brake and the car came to a screeching halt, she took a deep breath and prepared to fight.
The trio jumped out of the car and Raven looked up at the building, reading the sign that read 'museum'. Typical robbery with some nut case from an asylum, didn't sound all that hard…
It wasn't until they stepped into the building that Raven realized the gravity of the situation. Half the artifacts were already being loaded up into a truck that had made its grand entrance through the wall. The men that were holding the sculptures of gold were dressed up as….clowns?
"Oh! Batsy! So glad you could join us! And you brought some new friends too!" A screeching voice exclaimed from the darkness around them.
She saw Bruce and Robin tense up instantly, their hands curling into ready fists. Raven saw Rob give her a signal to go hide somewhere and she took it reluctantly, teleporting on to one of the main support beams overhead. It was there that she saw the villain take a form, stepping out of the darkness towards her partners below.
He looked like a possessed villain from a child's tale. His hair was bright green, set off by his white skin and yellow, rotting smile. Wearing a bizarre purple suit with a green bow tie around his neck, it was like nothing she had ever seen before. He laughed loudly, like a dying hyena or something of the sort.
Bruce wasted no time and useless banter, he ran right for the Joker and so did Robin, after hesitating a few seconds, letting his mentor get a head start. The men who had been smuggling the artifacts began to advance on the pair. Now it was Raven's turn to come in silently, she muttered her power under her breath, a number of crates crashed into the henchmen, causing them to fall backward in shock.
"Picked up a few new tricks, did we?" Joker asked, dodging one of Bruce's crushing blows.
Robin came from behind the Joker, impaling him in the back of the head with his staff. "Just a few." He said darkly.
There was no response from the Joker for a few seconds as he lie on the ground, seemingly unconscious. Bruce gave Rob the signal to go take care of the henchmen while he tied up Joker. Raven leaned forward, her mouth a grim line. They shouldn't be so quick to call it a victory…
"Batman, honeycakes….?" She heard the Joker ask mockingly.
Bruce went to pin him down, but it was a few seconds too late. He had already sprung back to life, kicking Bruce to the side with a foot to the face. He reached into his coat, pulling out two guns and aiming them at Richard.
"Don't you know I always have more guns?" He cackled.
Raven couldn't take it anymore, she knew Rich wouldn't see those guns and Bruce was just getting his strength back after being knocked into one of the robbery trucks. She leaped down from the raptors, her cape fluttering behind her as she glided to Joker.
"Raven!" Bruce shouted, running back over to the Joker, hands ready to bash his skull in.
Joker glanced back at Raven and pointed one of the guns at her, his grin expanding to an impossible width. She stopped in her tracks, swallowing hard as she starred it down. It wasn't a normal gun, of course not. It had a dart lodged in the front, a dart covered with a malevolent looking green substance.
"Looks like I'm going to kill two birds with one stone! Get it? Hahaha! I crack myself up!" Joker commented.
Bruce's fist collided with the back of Joker's head, but his fingers already pulled back on the triggers. A bit of blood flew from the Joker's mouth as he fell to the ground, the guns sliding away. Raven quickly created a shield around herself, giving an overdue sigh of relief as the bullet bounced off of it, falling to the ground with a sizzle.
Robin, though, wasn't so fortunate. Bruce cried out to him, hoping to grab his attention before it was too late. But he had been battling one of the henchmen that had awoken, and didn't hear a thing. Raven closed her eyes and looked away as the dart hit Robin's back, the substance that it had been covered it, most likely acid, ate through his cape and struck his back.
The Joker was really out now, after Bruce delivered a series of near deadly punches to the villain. The henchmen Robin had been battling, fled the scene before they could be given a taste of the Batman's wrath. Raven rushed over to Robin's side, he was yelling, trying desperately to remove the dart from his back.
"Calm down Robin!" Bruce commanded through his teeth and pulled a vile from his belt. He threw it on Richard and he ceased his yells. "The base I threw on you neutralizes all acids. You should be fine…"
Joker stood up slowly, laughing. "It may neutralize the acid, yes, but what about my new and improved laughing gas? Little Robin will be splitting his side until he dies! Oh, and don't try the old, usual antidote, it won't work." Then he jumped into one of the robbery trucks and stepped on the gas.
"Joker!" Bruce yelled, standing up, ready to chase after him.
But something stopped him, Richard began to laugh, slow at first, his whole body beginning to shake with the action.
"Br…ahaha…Bru…hehe! Bruce! Hohaha!" He reached out, falling into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.
"Dammit!" He shouted and pressed a button on his belt, causing the bat mobile to fly in from the entrance the Joker had created. "Raven, load him into the backseat, we've got to get home right away."
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Wayne Manor, Outside Infirmary room 2:37amRaven leaned against the wall, a long sigh escaping her. Bruce was inside the infirmary with Richard, who was still under the heinous affects of Joker's poison. They had already tried a number of antidotes, all of them proving to be useless. The most they could do was give him a sedative to keep him asleep, but he would still break out in fits of laughter, rousing him from his temporary sleep.
It was disturbing, to say the least. Raven felt the utmost worry rising inside of her, what would happen if they didn't find the antidote? Would Rich laugh himself into death? The door slid open, reveling Bruce. Rich's fits of laughter echoed into the hallway momentarily before the door snapped shut again.
"How is he?" Raven asked gently, looking up at Bruce.
He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "I've got to find Joker and get a sample of that poison. If I don't, we can't create an antidote for it…."
A few seconds went by before Raven spoke up. "I want to help."
"No. I can't let you. What happens if you end up like he is?" Bruce regarded her darkly.
"I'm not human, remember?" She said, her voice becoming firm again. "Maybe the poison won't have an effect on me."
He contemplated that for a second or two, eyes peering harshly upon her. "Fine. But you've got to wear this. It's the one part of the outfit I forgot to give you." He held out his hand.
"Oh c'mon…." Raven groaned, staring at the light purple mask he had in his palm. It looked exactly like Robin's, except for the color of course.
"I can't risk your identity being exposed. Joker never really has favored my sidekicks, so if he sees you out on the street, or more importantly here, he'll figure out who we all are."
Raven slipped it onto her face, making sure it stuck on perfectly. The ends of it were hooked upward slightly, making the mask a little different from Richard's. Bruce pulled his mask back on, once again becoming the Batman.
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Raven and Bruce stood atop a building across from a creepy looking abandoned warehouse. It was pitch black where they stood, except for the small presence of moon light. Bruce said this was the place Joker liked to make his home when he was out on 'vacation' from Arkham. It figured. The creepiest location in town for the creepiest villain for the next twelve towns.
They had a perfect plan, each step mapped out to a precise T. One wrong move, and Raven could end up like Robin, laughing to a gruesome death. Bruce took a dive off of the building without so much as a word and Raven followed suit, gliding into the building after him.
The warehouse was full of crates and nothing better, except for the presence of…circus supplies? Broken signs from some past even were strung high into the air. Raven peered at them, reading, 'Gotham Annual Fair. The Greatest in town!' in bright letters.
"Don't let down your guard." Bruce warned through his teeth.
They split up, like they had planned, and began to look around for any sign of the Joker or a spare supply of his serum. Raven froze in place when something moved behind her.
"He sure was quick to replace the old birdie, hmm?" Joker appeared right in front of Raven, hanging upside down by a wired trapeze, probably something he had done himself for kicks.
"Joker." Raven said, trying to keep herself calm and collected.
"Don't believe we've met before." He swung forward slightly, his face inches from hers. "But, I know you're awfully good at blocking my darts!"
Then he swung forward, attempting to knock her over. She leaned back as far as she could, Joker's wild hair dangling centimeters from her body. He leaped off the swing, his feet colliding inches from her head as she rolled away from the impact.
"Where's Batsy? Perhaps he's getting too old for this gig? That would explain all the kids he's hiring!" His Cheshire grin only widened.
Raven brought up her powers, hands illuminating the scenery a bit more. "I came alone." She lied bluntly.
He cackled, moving forward. "I'm a clown; not a fool girl! If you're expecting me to start shooting at you, like you want, it's not going to happen!"
Her eyes widened slightly. He had caught on to the plan in mere seconds. He came at her with full force again, trying to knock her out with his frantic attacks. He could have had her out easy with one punch; if he could catch her, that is. She remained untouchable, reflexes kicking in full gear.
"Raven!" She heard Bruce's voice call into the air harshly, the shadow of his figure became apparent above her; he was on the rafters.
Taking a deep breath, Raven leaped into the air and caught the Joker's crafted trapeze. He narrowly missed her feet attempting to knock him away as she soared upward, landing perfectly on a support beam.
"Don't you want to catch Joker?" She asked, a bit breathless.
He growled slightly and threw her a piece of his belt; a vile. "Take this to Alfred, he'll create the serum from it. Luckily Joker was stupid enough to keep the gas with his henchmen. I'll stay here and handle the nut case."
A soft 'good luck' was on her lips, but he had already leaped down to the ground. She spotted a window in the distance and ran across the beams to it, leaving behind the sounds of Joker colliding with the walls of the warehouse.
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Alfred slowly injected the serum into a still hysterical Richard. His laughs began to soften instantly, his body shaking less and less until he finally stopped with a gasp, become released from inevitable death.
"Richard? Are you alright now?" Alfred asked, leaning forward.
He took another deep breath, body aching from the poison's effects. "I…I think so….Where's Bruce?"
Raven spoke up now, "He's out catching Joker…you should get some sleep."
Alfred looked up at Raven. "Will you be alright watching over him here? I need to be present in the Batcave in case master Bruce requires assistance…"
She waved her hand gently. "Of course, you can go."
They both watched as Alfred drifted out of the room. Raven took a seat at the foot of Richard's bed, sighing ever so slightly.
"Anything you need?" She asked, looking over at him finally.
He tried to sit up, only to find that his limbs ached to no end. "Raven…"
"Hmm?"
Robin looked away for a second, frowning slightly. "I'm sorry about earlier…"
"What? You didn't really do anything to…."
"No, I did. You told me a lot about your past, after I interrogated you of course, and I didn't give you much information about me other than the obvious. I was rude."
She shook her head. "No, I understand. You don't have to tell me. There's obviously something that troubles you…"
He looked back at her, studying her as she stared at the floor. "If we're going to live together…fight crime together…We need to know each other's incentives. I know yours, you have powers and you want to use them to fix corruption…."
"Basically." She said and locked eyes with him. "What's yours?"
Rob thought about that for as second. No one had ever really asked him…"Retribution mostly…."
"And why's that?" It was her turn to ask a couple questions now. Retribution…justice…but why? Sure, every human wants that…but to go this far in search of it, there had to be a much stronger motive.
He took in a deep breath through his teeth, preparing himself for an upcoming battle inside of himself. Then he began to talk, every word sounding like a piece of glass that cut into him slowly……
(Flashback)
x Gotham Annual Circus, four years ago…x
We were known to the world as the flying Graysons. Soaring through the air like nothing else ever seen before. I knew they'd always be there to catch me; mom and dad. My heroes. I never even once considered what would become of my life if I ended up on my own…
It had been a special night, or so my parents and numerous others had told me.
"All the big time reporters and even Bruce Wayne himself are here to see the show!" They told me excitedly.
Bruce Wayne. Just some guy with a ton of money and some status for all I was concerned. I vaguely remembered something about hearing he had suffered a great tragedy in his life, but none of that concerned me. It couldn't have been that big if he was rolling in money…
We hadn't been in Gotham for too long, only staying the two or three weeks the show went on. Then we'd travel to some other part of the world, as usual. I had a job to do. A job any kid my age would die for. Never having to go sit in a boring class or stare blankly at a chalk board. Nope. Always just flying with the occasional home schooling, but even that had its benefits. Instead of recess, I would have practice, which was better than any game of square ball I could think of.
The performance that night was nothing special, going through the motions like we had twenty times over. I always did enjoy looking out into the audience as I soared, gazing upon the priceless, shocked reactions of the crowd. That's when I saw Bruce for the first time. Rubbing his chin and studying me for some underlying cause…
I quickly tore my gaze away, flying into a forward flip to end tonight's performance. I can still remember the routine by heart, I'd say each step to myself in my head. Always landing on my feet at the end, like a cat, somehow.
"The Flying Graysons!" The usual voice announced proudly; we were our own celebrities.
My parents stood tall and I took a deep bow, smiling gracefully….
To this day, I'm not quite sure how the shooter managed to sneak that gun in. The security had been so tight…
All I remember are the gasps from the audience as I looked back to see the bullets crash through their skulls. Blood went everywhere, splattering onto my face, my hands, my feet…just everywhere.
It all seemed to go into slow motion from there. They tumbled to the ground without so much as a scream or a final whisper to me. I felt like I was outside of myself, witnessing this horrible tragedy. This wasn't happening…it couldn't have.
The police whisked me away before I could run. I tried to get away, I really did. I wanted to find my own place to hide, to somehow manage to grasp the fact I was alone forever now. They couldn't be dead…They couldn't.
But they were.
They, the police, tried to tell me that I had seen things wrong, I was making it all up. But the blood on my shoes didn't lie. I was traumatized, but not stupid. The car took a swerving right as I yelled at them, telling them I could identify who did it, anything for them to just drop me off somewhere.
I was pulled out of the car and thrown to the ground, surrounded by the officers and their nightsticks; cornered. They advanced on me and I couldn't exactly stop them. I was outnumbered by so many factors…
"What the hell—" One of the officers exclaimed, a looming darkness flying towards us…
Bats. Millions of them came flying into the scene, serving as my silent rescue. They moved frantically through the air, attracted by some unknown force. The police scattered away, leaving me for dead to these creatures of the night.
That's when he came in.
Headlights bright as hell, causing all the bats to scurry away, back into the darkness. It was just me and him down. I was on my knees on the floor, gaping up at him.
It was an amazing sight to see, I'm sure.
He gripped me by the front of my leotard and hiked me up high, causing the air to rush out of my lungs. I had spent a good fraction of my short life in the air, but I had never been so afraid of heights in this single moment…
"Stand tall Soldier." He told me in his grizzly voice. "You've just been drafted into a war."
From that moment I knew I'd probably never be in a big top again. Would never be a flying Grayson, never have them catch me…
He threw me into his car and stepped on the gas with that lead foot of his. I was as shocked as you were the first time you saw the car. It's a like a spaceship or something really.
He grinned almost maliciously at me, creeping me out with those shining white teeth of his. Perfect, sharp, like a tiger ready to tear you into shreds.
There was no sympathy in that car, no apologies for what had just happened. Nothing. He was brash, not giving me time to think, not letting me concentrate on anything but him. I realize now, that was a godsend. For if I had managed to run from the police, If he hadn't caught me, if I had had the time to think, I probably would have ended my own life.
The Batman. I had never really thought all that much about him. Like I said earlier, we only visited Gotham once a year for the circus gig. I would hear people fawn or bash him, saying he wasn't needed or that he was a guardian angel. The opinions were mixed.
But I realized that night why we had him. It was because Gotham was corrupt. Most cops in most cities you can trust, but not Gotham. It's rotten from the core, the entire system from the police to the mayor is just corrupt. That's why we have the Batman. To protect those who live in fear and stop those who create it.
(Back To Present Day)
"It's for them…" He finished darkly. "I fight crime with Bruce so no one has to end up like we could have; alone and probably dead with in a couple of hours. We want to end the suffering here."
Raven stared at him in wonder. She remembered Bruce's words from earlier, he had told her that Robin had a complicated past…but this was extreme. To be able to survive such pain, even with Bruce's help, that took true courage. Courage she hoped she could muster up to help them in their cause…
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A/N: Wow. That was a long ass chapter. Much, much longer than I had originally planned. But I did really enjoy writing about Robin's past, hope that didn't bother anyone. But this is an origin story, so I figured I may as well give Robin's past. Then we'll move onto Raven's past, Starfire's, ect., ect. Man, I've gotta to do some research then, hmm?
Ah, for next chapter, I'm thinking that we'll perhaps get to meet Speedy! And, anyone that has read my previous story, thank you for the venom, knows that I love to make them best buddies. Tehe. Also thinking that we'll bring Victor (Cyborg) in next chapter too. But he'll be in for a bit now, and come back later, you'll see what I'm talking about.
Well, please continue to read and review everyone!
Love,
Emmery