The Sidekick Strike
Chapter Seven
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything. There. And... Hawkgirl's eyes are green, aren't they? Right? (pause) Sorry, I haven't seen Justice League in a while. I quit watching when I found out that Dick Grayson was no longer Robin in their continuity. (sobs) And it was such a COOL show! (sniffles) Anyway, here's the next chapter.
Kid Flash cocked his head. He thought he had heard… Robin calling for him?
Nah, couldn't be.
Could it?
As quiet as a mouse, Kid Flash snuck out of the room and crept across the hall. It was just a little too quiet for him. He suddenly had the terrible feeling that Robin was in trouble.
By sheer coincidence, the first keyhole Kid Flash peeked through showed Robin sitting in a chair. His head was bowed slightly, and he looked as if he was falling asleep.
And, worst of all, the Joker was squatted directly in front of Robin. Kid Flash had arrived just in time to see the super villain pull a funny gold object on a string out of his pocket and start waving it in front of Robin's eyes… and where was that music coming from?
The red-headed boy shook his head, trying to clear his mind. For some reason, he felt tired. It was past his bedtime… but he was used to staying up at all hours of the night when there was an important case to solve.
Well, he couldn't just sit there and watch the Joker harm Robin. He had to get in there and do something!
But what?
He had fully intended to think of a plan first. He really hadn't meant to barge in without thinking—he had wanted to prove to Flash that he was just as capable of thinking things through as he was.
But that was before he noticed that Robin's blue eyes were quickly taking on a strange greenish hue.
That was when it clicked—the Joker had been hypnotizing the League! And now he was doing the same thing to Robin!
And so, in barged Kid Flash. Fast as lightning (as usual), the boy raced into the room and shoved the Joker to the ground, knocking the metal object out of his hand.
Kid Flash looked over at Robin, hoping that the green was gone.
The first thing he noticed was that the green had indeed vanished, and that Robin was staring back at Kid Flash with his regular blue eyes.
"Kid Flash?" he said questioningly.
The second thing he noticed was that, behind the Boy Wonder, stood… Superman? What was he doing here? And what was with the strange greenish glow in his eyes? It was the same green that had been in Robin's eyes just seconds before. He hadn't paid much attention to it with Green Lantern because everything about that man seemed green to him. But now that he thought about it, the same look had been in his eyes, too…
Superman! And if his eyes were the same as Green Lantern's…
"Oh, great…" he mumbled. Knowing he didn't have much time before the chase began, Kid Flash turned to Robin and spoke quickly, "Get Flash outta here for me, will ya? Good luck, Wonder Boy!"
And then he was gone, with Superman not far behind.
"No!" Robin cried out, suddenly terrified for his friend. "Kid Flash!"
If Superman caught him, he wouldn't stand a chance!
Robin hated being helpless. But there really was nothing he could do for his fellow sidekick at the moment—he was just too darned fast. He would never be able to help Kid Flash now.
But there's one thing I CAN do, Robin thought suddenly. I can do what he asked me to and get Flash out of here!
Don't worry, buddy. I won't let you down.
But first, he had to get rid of the Joker.
One-on-one against the Joker. NOW Robin was in his element!
It was over in less than five minutes. After a few well-aimed punches (from both parties), the Joker went down for the last time, felled by one of Robin's mighty side kicks.
How I ever thought that 'side kicks' were useless is beyond me! the teen thought with an amused little grin.
The Boy Wonder lost no time in using some spare pieces of chain from one of the printing machines to tie up the unconscious villain, and then wiped his own bloody lip on the back of his hand. Now he had blood stains on his uniform in addition the oil and ink. Alfred was gonna kill him!
That was when he spotted the golden pendant on the floor near the corner. It also had a round green stone in the middle of it. He vaguely remembered the same object being waved in front of his eyes, but he had been so far under the spell at the time that the memory was very fuzzy.
Feeling the object was important, Robin picked it up and tucked it into his utility belt. Then he set out in search of Batman and Flash, hoping against hope that he would not meet up with any of the other members of the Justice League.
-
Nothing. That's exactly what Robin found on the remainder of the second floor. Absolutely nothing.
Well, okay, he had had a brief scuffle with Hawkgirl in a room that Kid Flash would have explored, had he been present… and okay, it hadn't really been a scuffle. He had peeked through a keyhole, seen that her back was to the door, kicked the door down, and thrown a Batarang at her skull before she even had time to raise her Magic Mace Thing (as Robin lovingly referred to it as).
But there was one thing that was bothering Robin now, besides the obvious.
Just before the Batarang had hit Hawkgirl, she had whipped around at the sound of the door hitting the ground. Robin had noticed that there was a strange greenish glow in her eyes as she stared at him. Not that her eyes weren't always green, but the same glow had been in Superman's eyes, too. And Green Lantern's, come to think of it.
Coincidence? Oh, yeah!
And Robin would bet anything that it had to do with the funny necklace that he had taken from the evil clown across the hall.
Is the Joker using hypnosis to turn the Justice League over to the other side of the law so they can help him in his scandalous scheme? No duh!
How? Well… I'm working on it!
After the little tiff with the Thanagarian, Robin found another staircase that led to the third floor.
He knew it wasn't safe to go up there. Although Kid Flash was off somewhere keeping Superman occupied, and both the Joker and Hawkgirl were safely tied up here on the second floor, there were still three members of the Justice League unaccounted for—excluding Batman and Flash, of course. Hopefully he wasn't too late to save them!
Robin slowly began to ascend the stairs.
-
Kid Flash felt as if he had been running forever. He couldn't keep this up much longer—he was exhausted as it was. Sure, he and Flash could beat Superman over short distances, but this was ridiculous.
Dodging, ducking, and maneuvering all while running at the speed of light was very tiring. Especially with the Man of Steel hot on your tail; he had almost been caught twice already. Kid Flash had never been moving for this long before. He vaguely wondered what had become of Robin, but was too busy trying to get away from Superman to dwell on that thought too long.
I swear, Boy Scout, the boy thought as he paused for breath for about two nanoseconds before zipping off in another direction, don't you EVER get tired? Of course not. That's why you're the Man of Steel. Now I know why I'm on your side of the law…
…Most of the time!
By this time, Kid Flash had led his nemesis around the world at least a dozen times (or so it seemed to him). He barely even noticed that he was back in Gotham City and was heading straight for the newspaper office at that very moment…
Denny: I would be very happy to accept any and all signatures on my 'Prevention of Cruelty to Alien Species' at this time...
Dick: What?
Denny: Yeah, well, although TAP didn't actually mention it, when Dick and Wally were playing ball in the Batcave, that ball was me.
Dick: Yeah, right. Don't listen to him, folks, he's been hanging around the sugar a lot lately, so he's probably just--
(Denny pounces at Dick. We'll leave the rest up to reader imagination as it gets just plain ugly. Then, Ensign Chekov from ST:TOS shows up, looking very confused.)
Chekov: Vhat are you two doing?
Dick & Denny: HE started it!
Chekov: Um... vell, you might like to know that Panamint has found herself not guilty.
Dick: Huh?
Chekov: She multiplied herself vith the laptop and made up her own jury. She should back here any minute now.
Denny: RUN!
(All of the Muses go racing off in another direction as Panamint comes back and realizes they are gone.)
Me: Awww...
Reviewer Replies
SarahC4321-Hey, happy belated birthday! XD (throws confetti) I'm glad you liked the story so much, and thanks for the cookie! Your idea about sharing Dick sounds just great to me. Now if only we could sell DC Comics on the idea... hm... that's always a problem...
Another Anon-Boy, I sure am getting a lot of treats lately. Especially cookies. That's great! Thanks for the review (and the cookies)!
:)-Yeah, poor Robin. But when you're writing a Batman story like this, he's gotta get kidnapped sooner or later. And I sincerely hope the suspense hasn't killed you yet! ;-)
Robin Knight-Aw, that's so nice of you! Thanks! Things get a little bit worse for our boys in a couple of chapters, so hold on!