Hey guys
Here's chapter 2. Remember this is a Star Wars crossover. That kinda got cut out of the summary. Sorry.
Read and Review
Thanks to my first four reviewers.
It had been several weeks since Rich had left Jump City. He had actually been enjoying himself immensely. He had forgotten how wonderful it was to be free. The first few days had been tough seeing as how he had no equipment or anything, but after he had come to a town and bought some camping gear things started to go smoothly. He wasn't actually sure where he was and he didn't care. He was currently sitting by his campfire. Suddenly he heard a twig snap.
"Whose there?" he shouted. "Show yourself."
"Don't worry Richard." came a voice. "It's just me."
"And who are you?" he questioned.
A man stepped out of the shadows. He was a giant of a man. He was at least six feet tall. He was extremely muscular. He had shoulder length brown hair and a beard. However the most amazing thing about this man were his eyes. His eyes were enough to tell you this was a man who had seen greater battles than all other people in the world put together. His eyes held a wisdom that only the most skilled and powerful warriors had. Yet they still held a carefree and fun loving, almost childish air. Yet no one could deny this man's intellect and maturity. He had an almost unnaturally calm and peaceful air.
"Hello Richard."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi." the man replied.
"A bit of an odd name." Rich stated.
"Not where I come from Richard." Obi-Wan replied.
"How do you know my name?" Rich asked.
"Where I come from everyone knows your name." Obi-Wan replied with a smile. "Children hear it in school. Grandparents tell their grandchildren about you. Lords tell their warriors about you. Everyone knows you and everyone has been searching across the universe for you. And finally you have been found."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Rich asked staring at Obi-Wan with a mixture of surprise and shock.
"Richard the story I am about to tell you will seem extremely unbelievable especially in your current state, but there is truth behind every word. Sit down." Obi-Wan said. Rich remained in his stance. Obi-Wan sighed. "Do you really think you can beat me in combat?" he asked. Rich stared once more into those eyes and shook his head before sitting down by the fire. Obi-Wan sat down as well and stared into the fire for a while deciding where to begin.
"What do you know about your parents?" he asked suddenly.
"Nothing." Rich replied. "Before Bruce Wayne adopted me I lived in an orphanage. My parents are dead as far as I know."
"Well they're not."
"WHAT!" Rich practically screamed. "THEY'RE ALIVE! WHY DIDN'T THEY LOOK FOR ME!"
"Richard let me explain." Obi-Wan said calmly. Rich decided that he better listen then ask questions seeing as how his curiosity was attempting to kill him. After he had calmed down Obi-Wan continued.
"Firstly your full name is Richard Robin Grayson. You are the only son of Jonathon and Martha Grayson. You also have a twin sister named Eli. Your parents are the emperor and empress of the largest and most secretive empire in the universe and you are the heir to this empire." There was a long eerie pause.
"WHAT! I'M AN EMPEROR. I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS. YOU HAVE TO BE JOKING. THERE MUST BE SOME MISTAKE" Rich screamed.
"There is no mistake young one." Obi-Wan replied. "We have gotten our hands on a sample of you blood and using our technology proven you are their majesties son. Now listen to the full story. When you were about two years of age the palace was attacked. The attackers attempted to kill you, but as they were about to strike, you summoned some unknown power and reflected the attack and killed the one attempting to slay you. The chief of the attackers kidnapped you hoping no doubt to have you aid him. Fortunately his ship was shot down on this planet by something or the other. Miraculously you survived the crash. A farmer and his wife found you and placed you in that orphanage. I believe you know the rest."
"Why did it take so long to find me?"
"Because young one we had no idea where you were. We had to search the entire universe for you."
"Now what's gonna happen?" Rich asked.
"Whatever you wish to happen." Obi-Wan replied. "Your parents and your people wish to see you once more, but we understand this planet has been your home for many a year and we leave this as completely your decision. I have been instructed to stay with you while you decide. And you may take as long as you like……"
"I want to return." Rich said without hesitation. For the first time Obi-Wan seemed slightly surprised and even startled.
"Are you certain?"
"Positive."
"Very well when do you wish to leave?" Obi-Wan asked. Rich could sense happiness in his voice.
"As soon as possible." Rich replied.
"Very well we will set off as soon as you collect your things." Obi-Wan said.
"These are all my things. I don't need any of them." Rich said. Except my picture of Rae. He saw surprise cross Obi-Win's face.
"Do you not have anything at the Titan tower?" he asked.
"No. I left the Titans and destroyed all the property I had there." He replied. "Except the mask and the belt that is." Obi-Wan nodded.
"Very well. We will set off first thing tomorrow morning." Obi-Wan said. He then pulled out a sleeping bag from the pack on his back. Rich nodded and crawled into his sleeping bag. Obi-Wan fell asleep soon, but Rich remained awake for a long time. When he was sure Obi-Wan was asleep he climbed out of his sleeping bag. He wandered slightly into the woods.
Why do I trust him so easily? He wondered. I just get this feeling that he's telling the truth and I should listen to him. Well what do I have to lose. Might as well see whether or not he's telling the truth. But I know he is. I just know it. I don't know how I know I just do.
He took off his utility belt. He one by one took out all his weapons. He looked at them for a while. Finally he picked them up one by one and smashed each into bits and pieces. Lastly he broke his utility belt. He took off his mask revealing two stunning blue eyes. Finally he pulled out the picture of him and Raven. He ripped the mask in half. He stared at the last item he had linking him to the Titans.
"You don't have to destroy it." Came Obi-Wan's voice from behind him.
"I don't think I will." Rich said. He walked back towards the camp site. As Rich walked past Obi-Wan's curiosity got the better of him and he glanced at the picture. As he saw what it was a picture of he smiled.
The next morning
"Are you sure about this young one?" Obi-Wan asked. They were aboard Obi-Wan's ship. It was without a doubt the coolest, most technologically advanced and all round amazing ship Rich had ever seen.
"Yes." Rich replied.
"All right let's go." Obi-Wan said as he turned on the engines and took off. Rich took one last look at the place that had been his home for so many years. "You should rest young one. It will be while before we reach and I heard you tossing and turning last night." Rich nodded before shutting his eyes and nodding off to sleep.
Several hours later
"Awaken young one. We have arrived." Obi-Wan said shaking Rich awake. Rich woke up and followed Obi-Wan out of the ship.
Rich gasped at what he saw. He was standing in front of a gigantic palace. In fact the palace actually put gigantic to shame. The most amazing and beautiful ponds, gardens, fountains and statues surrounded it. It was without a doubt the most beautiful palace imaginable. Rich could make out an ocean with a harbor for ships. He and Obi-Wan were at the plane port. Rich could even see a forest. The palace grounds were huge and the entire area was surrounded by a huge wall about thirty feet high and fifteen feet wide. There were well paved and placed paths throughout the grounds. The palace looked like it had twenty floors and was made of a material that looked like it could easily put all Earthen stones to shame. There were about twenty huge towers. He could see that the roof of the palace was studded with jewels, diamonds and other precious stones. There was also an abundance of gold and silver used in it.
"Come young one" Obi-Wan said walking towards the palace. Rich followed him.
They came to a set of huge wooden doors with golden hinges. As they neared the doors they swung open revealing a looonnng hall with an uncountable number of doors leading off of it. The hall forked in different directions ahead. Obi-Wan lead Rich through the maze of passageways with such ease it was almost scary. Eventually they came upon two huge doors which were much like the two front doors, but looked like they were aiming to be more beautiful and to impress rather than to keep out intruders.
Well any intruder that gets this far deserves to see what is behind these doors Rich thought.
The massive doors swung open and the two stepped into the main courtroom. Rich was surprised that there wasn't a huge party in process. In fact it was immensely quiet and peaceful. It was gigantic and amazing courtroom. It had beautiful paintings and statue. But Rich didn't notice this because all his attention was on the three people seated on three huge thrones at the end of his room. These people could never be mistaken as anything other than the rulers of this great palace.
The emperor was a giant of a man around six feet tall and muscles that put a wrestler to shame. He had a force around him that made it clear that he was not one to mess with. His stunning hazel eyes held wisdom and wit. His eyes also held the immense skill and experience of a great warrior. He had a cool calm nature and it was easy to tell he found it simple to remain calm when no one else could. He had shoulder length jet black hair and had a short beard and moustache.
Next to him sat one of the most beautiful women in the world. She had long brown hair. She had light blue eyes. She too looked like she could easily take down many a powerful warrior. Her eyes as well held wisdom, skill, experience and calmness. She looked like a person who could keep a hold on her head even when the king couldn't. She looked like she never acted without thinking. The person next to her however installed the most interest in him because this person looked like a female version of him only her hazel eyes held less of his compulsive and bad tempered nature and they held skill, wisdom and calmness, but less than the other two. They wore royal robes. There were numerous courtiers all dressed in robes as well. As the two entered a long pause ensued.
Then suddenly with a cry of joy the queen raced across the hall, threw her arms around him and burst into tears. The king also strode towards them followed by the girl both walking at an amazingly quick pace. The girl stood by Rich's side and she too caught him in a hug and the king placed a hand on his shoulder. Slowly Rich wrapped an arm around the queen who he guessed was his mother and an arm around the other girl who he guessed must have been his twin. Finally after ages of just standing there and hugging they broke apart.
"You've finally come home." the queen said with tears in her eyes.
"Err... yeah" Rich replied.
"Right I guess introductions are in order." The king said. "My name is Jonathon Grayson and I am your father. This is Mary. She is my wife and you mother. And this is you twin sister Ellen though call her anything other than Eli and she'll kill you. She is younger by twenty turns of the minute glass. Its good to have you back son."
"It's good to be back." Rich said smiling.
"Now according to Obi-Wan you know your history, but I believe we have to discuss the empire's history and your future." said the queen who still looked like she couldn't believe her eyes.
"Right" said the king. With that he led the way through a door at the end of the hall and through yet another maze of corridors. He led them to a room that was obviously used as a sort of lounging room. It had the most comfortable couches and armchairs imaginable. There were coffee tables. There was a gigantic fireplace that warmed the whole room as well as gave it a nice, warm, comfy air. The king and queen sat on a couch and Rich and Eli sat down on a couch facing them. Obi-Wan sat in a comfy armchair.
"Now then son I'm sure you have many a question regarding this empire of ours so ask away." Rich's father said.
"How? What? When? Where?" he said. The king chuckled.
"Years ago after most planets gave up on having monarchs our ancestors were made rulers of this planet we reside on. Our ancestors saw the hate and pain in our neighboring planets. So they attacked and captured the planets. They brought peace, happiness and prosperity. However to stop people from attempting to take over our empire we kept our empire a secret. The planet we currently recede on is called Xarth."
"How far does this kingdom stretch?" Rich questioned.
"Most of the planets in our kingdom are unknown by Earth. I believe you know of Azareth. That is a part of our empire along with numerous other planets."
"And I'm the heir to this kingdom?"
"Indeed." His father replied.
"Just one more question. How the hell am I supposed to rule this kingdom?"
"That is why we must discuss your future. Now you will need training. You will be trained in all our forms of fighting. You will travel around the kingdom training. We will teach you to control your powers. Yes you have powers. There will also, unfortunately, be a lot of studying. You will also learn how to rule and hold court."
"So I'm going to travel the universe?" Rich asked.
"Well not alone. Obi-Wan here will be your high trainer and he will travel with you throughout your journey. A high trainer means that no matter how many future trainers you have he will always be above them and over rule them. Also your sister will accompany you and train alongside you. Oh and you are to refer to Obi-Wan as Master. Understand?"
"I think so. When do we start on our journey?"
"Whenever you wish to begin." his father replied.
"As soon as possible." said the twins together. They looked at each other and laughed.
"Very well." said the queen. "It will take some time to get together weaponry, amour and other such things for the two of you. I predict it will take about two weeks. Eli show Rich to his room. Get changed into our style of clothing. Rest for a while you two and get to know each other. At dinner time come to the private dining room."
"Right mom." said Eli getting up.
"Right...mom." Rich said also getting up.
Their mother smiled at them. Eli grabbed Rich's hand and led him out of the room. Eli led him through the maze of passages and up several beautiful staircases. Their stairwell were extremely fancy. They were made to look like two bits of stone which were twisted around each other. These were studded with precious stones. Each step had a border of gold. All the halls had amazing painted pictures and portraits as well as extraordinary artifacts and suits of amour. Finally they reached their destination.
They stood in front of a door. It had fancy carvings on it. The sides were studded with different colored precious stones. On the door written in gold was Prince Richard J. Grayson.
"We have adjoining rooms. My door is over there." Eli said pointing down the hall. When Rich screwed up his eyes he could just barely make out a door. Eli opened the door to his room and they stepped inside.
Rich stepped into the room and gasped. The room was GIGANTIC. No. Gigantic was an understatement. There was a balcony overlooking the sea though the balcony was easily the size of his room in the Titan Tower. The wall in the room that the balcony was on had a giant painted glass window on it. It was a picture of planets that Rich guessed were part of the empire. There was a walk through or in this case a drive through wardrobe. There were only three sets of clothes in the wardrobe. There was a royal robe, some pajamas and a set of trousers and a T-shirt. There was a huge bathroom with a pool sized tub as well as a jacuzzi and all sorts of fancy stuff. The floor was carpeted. In the room itself, there was an emperor sized bed that looked sooo comfy you felt like spending the rest of your life sleeping in it. There was a huge computer that Cyborg would probably kill for. There was a long line of beautifully carved wooden bookcases, but except for four or five books in the first one they were completely empty. There was a wide screen TV and the most comfy looking chairs in the universe. There was a play station hooked up to the TV. There was also an unbelievable music system. There was a CD rack next to it, but it was empty. There was a huge fireplace with carvings of dragons on it. There was another room that had weaponry racks for his weapons. There was another door on the right wall that Rich realized must lead to Eli's room. There was a door on the opposite wall as well. He wasn't sure where that went.
"So what do you think?" Eli asked. "We didn't add any clothes, CDs, weapons or books because we figured you'd want to pick out your own stuff. The books that are already on your shelf are ones about our kingdom and our history so as to give you some background."
"It's amazing." Rich said still in awe. "Everything's so big. It's unbelievable. It's perfect."
"Glad you like it." Eli said. "This is a special wing of the palace. It has the largest rooms. They are all bedrooms for the royal family and selected guests and people who prove themselves worthy such as Master Obi-Wan. I'll show you mom and dad's room and Master Obi-Wan's room tomorrow."
"Where does that lead to?" Rich asked pointing to the door.
"That leads to another bedroom that is only used by special guests usually girlfriends or boyfriends." Eli said. Rich nodded.
"Can I see your room?" He asked.
Eli nodded and walked over to the door that joined the two rooms. Rich followed and peered inside her room. It was the exact same as his except it had obviously been lived in. the bookshelves and CD racks were filled with books and CDs. The wardrobe was filled with clothes. The weaponry racks were filled with weapons. Also there were pictures and various knick knacks here and there. There were posters and paintings on the walls.
"Wow." He said. Eli smiled.
"Obi-Wan said you don't have any stuff. How is that? Don't you have anything from when you were Robin and with those Titan people?" Eli asked.
"I don't like to talk about them." Rich said.
"Please tell me. You need to talk about stuff like this." Eli said.
"Fine." Rich said after a moment of thought. They sat on Eli's bed. "Well there's this criminal called Slade. I kinda got obsessed with catching him. Anyways I dressed up as a criminal and stole these disks as a way to trick him into revealing himself to me. My plan backfired. Slade figured me out. As you can imagine the Titans were furious. They striped me of my title as leader and said some hurtful things. They really made me feel bad and hate myself quite a bit"
"Well right after the yelling session I went to my girlfriend, Starfire's room and I saw her kissing my best friend, Speedy. I heard her say that she only went out with me because she felt sorry for me. She said that no girl could possibly see anything in me. She also told him that he was way better than me and that she loved him." Rich stopped for a minute. Eli took hold of his hand and squeezed it. He smiled and continued.
"I entered the room, yelled at them and went to my room. I bumped into Raven. She came and talked to me and you know just comforted me. She told me Starfire wasn't worth me getting so angry and she told me I was smart and funny and handsome and that if Starfire can't realize that then she doesn't deserve me. She made me feel good about myself again"
"Well anyways I hated the idea of Robin after that so I ripped all my paper clippings and costumes and smashed my photos. I changed into normal clothes and ventured into the world and left the Titans behind me. I eventually destroyed my bike and my utility belt and tore my mask. The only I have left of the Titans is this picture from a news clipping." Rich finished pulling out the picture of Raven and him.
"Who are they?" Eli asked.
"That's Raven and that's me in my Robin outfit. I just couldn't bring myself to tear it." Rich answered. Eli nodded understandably. They sat in silence for a while.
"Oh yeah." Eli said suddenly. "Mom wanted you to change into our royal clothing." She led him back to his room and from the wardrobe pulled out a beautiful royal robe. He took it from her, stepped into the bathroom and after a few minutes emerged dressed in the robe.
"Perfect. Ha you were born to wear those robes." Eli said.
"Thanks." Said Rich examining himself in a full length mirror. He really did look like he was born to wear those robes.
"We can go shopping tomorrow." Eli said.
"Like shopping?" they asked each other at the same time.
"Puh-lease I'd rather be eaten alive, but it has to be done." They said once again at the same time.
They looked at each other and laughed. They spent about two hours just talking to each other. Eli told Rich about their parents and about the empire and all the planets in it. Rich told stories about the Titans most of which Eli noticed centered around Raven. In about two hours they made their way to the private dining hall. Eli had told him this was a quiet dining room that only the royal family and selected guests used. It was used for more peaceful evenings. She told him it wasn't all that fancy.
They entered the room and for what felt like the hundredth time that day Rich's mouth fell open. The room was huge. There was a loooong table that stretched from one side of the room to the other side. It was a wooden table made of teak with carvings on it. There were giant sized cushioned chairs also with carvings on them. All the chairs had a precious jewel at their tip. There were two giant fireplaces which were blazing away and filling the room with warmth. There were numerous paintings on the walls. The emperor and empress were seated at the head of the table. They sat down on either side of them. Obi-Wan joined them a few minutes later.
"I arranged for only a small dinner tonight." The king said.
With that he clapped his hands three times and dishes of the most delicious food Rich had ever seen magically appeared on the table. There were appetizers, three main courses and desserts. The appetizers consisted mainly of all types of soup imaginable. There were salads of all sorts. The main courses consisted of boars, roast chicken, sausages, mashed potatoes, crabs and all sorts of seafood. For dessert there were all sorts of pastries and ice cream. After ages of hearing Cyborg and Beast boy's constant fighting over meat and tofu this was the most unbelievable food. Rich wasted no time in shoveling down as much as possible. All through dinner they chatted and exchanged stories. Finally after a long meal and a long talk they all headed to their rooms, crawled into bed and fell asleep.
Things are looking up. Was the last thought that passed through Rich's mind before he fell into a deep sleep.
Well that's chapter four.
Hope you enjoyed it.
Until we meet again.
Dragon.Out.