Time and Tide (3/5)
a Justice League Unlimited / Batman Beyond story
by Merlin Missy
Copyright 2006
PG-13
"And whose bright idea was it to leave them alone?" Rex hadn't started shouting yet, thank Neptune.
Merina hated being on missions with Rex and Terry. They were both her friends, each a great warrior in his own right, and when they were together with the full League, no one had better get in their way. More, she was almost certain that Terry was one of the best male friends Rex had ever had, though neither would admit it.
However, left to themselves, or to missions with just one other person, they sniped at each other constantly. The rest of the team expected her to break them up when they got rough, because she was assumed to have some measure of control over both. After all, she'd dated Terry and was still his closest friend in the JLU, and everyone knew she and Rex were together. But in practical terms, that only meant that neither would take a swing at her if she stepped in the middle while they scuffled.
"I wasn't there," Terry said. "I was busy in Gotham."
"So was I," she said, not sure if that was a good idea to mention.
There'd been a disturbance in the harbor, something the Navy had picked up on their monitors but couldn't identify, and she'd been asked to check it out personally. A little investigation had revealed that Erissa had ordered some training exercises for the Atlantean fleet and one small group had gotten too close to the shore. She'd dealt with it right before the alert had come through.
None of this made the flash in Rex's eyes any easier to take when he glanced between them, nor was she fooled when he said, "You both left the kids alone?" instead of anything else about why she might be in Gotham.
"No," said Terry, his voice starting to lower. "We left them with everyone who was in the Tower, and you don't get to argue about that with all the times you've both left Arthur there."
"I've never left him alone," Merina said defensively. "And we can't leave him at the house by himself."
"Have you considered getting a babysitter?"
"We did," said Rex. Three, actually, but Arthur hadn't been in control of his powers and not one of the sitters' houses still had its original plumbing.
"Find another one. The Watchtower is no place for a kid to grow up."
"I grew up there," said Rex.
"And you turned out so well."
"Enough!" said Merina, as she saw both sets of hands form fists. "If you two don't quit it, I'm personally going to feed you both to sharks."
"Rex?" came a too-familiar voice, as another voice said, "Batman?"
Argument completely forgotten, the three of them turned to see two very recognizable costumes headed in a beeline towards them.
"Oh no," Merina breathed.
"Look casual," said Terry, suddenly taking an interest in the scenery.
Rex kept staring as John and a teenager who could only be a young Static approached them.
"It is you," said John. "What are you doing here?"
Sometimes she was glad Rex was smarter than he looked. "Honey, look! It's Green Lantern! Hey, can I have your autograph?"
John stopped, confusion all over his face. "Rex, what the hell?"
Terry shot a look to Rex, just as Static said, "You know these guys, GL?"
He wasn't dumb, but subterfuge had been his mother's gift. "How do you know my name?" he asked quietly.
John's voice dropped. "There was a timeline shift. Batman and I came into the future."
"You're Batman," said young Static to Terry. "I remember you."
"I remember," said Terry after a moment. "But it was a lot longer for me than it was for you."
"I'll bet."
John asked Rex, "Why are you here?"
"There was an accident. We came to retrieve a couple of civilians who got transported back." He paused. "I don't remember meeting you. I mean, young you."
"Batman made it not happen. Timeloop."
"But you met me. You know who I am."
John nodded.
"But that's not right," Rex said. "You said I was an accident."
"A what?" asked Static.
"Don't worry about it, kid," said Terry.
"Everybody stop talking right now," said Merina. "This is bad. Anybody says anything else, someone's going to wink out of existence and we're not even going to remember they were ever here."
"Where are the civilians?" John asked her, though his eyes were still on his son.
"Inside the Tower. Can you get them for us?"
"I think Batman, our Batman, is with them right now. I'll bring them out."
"We've already got a man inside," said Terry.
"Green Lantern to Batman," John said, touching his ear. "There's someone coming for the civilians. He's trustworthy." He continued to look at Rex. "Yes, I'm sure. All right." He pulled his hand away. "He was just interrogating your friend."
"Poor guy," said Static.
Glen waited outside the door with Stan just like Batman had told them. He stood as still as he could but inside he was ready to shout. This was the big one. This was what they'd been waiting for ever since they'd gotten the jobs here.
He grinned and nodded at Stan, who placed a casual ear near the door.
"Anything?" Glen asked.
"Sh," said Stan.
Stan had been fitted with a doohickey that made his hearing supersharp when he focused. He'd said --- over dinner, miles from the Metro Tower --- that it was weird, having to tune out conversations from other rooms, and it had given him headaches until he'd learned to control it better.
Glen had been fitted with contact lenses that transmitted the things he looked at on a frequency the League hadn't detected yet, though they didn't work so well around the dirty hawk or that 'tard who pretended to be one. Glen wasn't stupid. He knew that Grodd's bitch was into magic and that something the hawks had or did disrupted that sort of thing.
Anyway, as long as he remembered to take them out when he wasn't home, he was probably fine.
Grodd had arranged the jobs after the Martian had left. No Martian, no pre-employment mindsweep. "Collect what information you can," Grodd had said, and Glen and Stan's offshore accounts had been growing ever since.
"Got it," breathed Stan.
"You're sure?"
"Positive. Just heard one of them call the other 'Robin.'"
"Bingo." Glen activated his communicator. The rumor had gone through the Metro Tower an hour ago: two kids had shown up who knew Batman's real name. Everybody knew about Batman and little boys. Why the boy wasn't in costume was anyone's guess, but Glen knew without any doubt that Grodd would pay a lot if they brought him Robin. They'd been hanging outside the room, hoping for a glimpse, when the Bat had set them to watch.
"What?" came the impatient response over his communicator. Not Grodd, but one of his flunkies, the Key maybe. Glen never did know all the C-list names. He had no intention of staying C-list.
"It's Sycamore. We need a distraction. Level two."
There was a long pause. "There in five minutes. Starting now."
Kai-Ro waited impassively as Batman questioned him, answering as simply as he could. No, the children were not his. Yes, he was taking care of them today. No, he wasn't sure how they'd managed to slip away from him.
Simple lies. Easy to remember.
Then Batman had taken him into a room, alas one without the children, and had shut the door.
"What year are you from?"
"Excuse me?"
"You don't have any ID, and you're a terrible liar. What year are you from?"
Kai ignored the snickering he shouldn't have heard from his pocket.
"And you can tell your friend to come out. We picked him up on the scanner when you both walked through the door."
"You're good," said Micron, climbing out and growing to normal size. "But they always said you were."
"We'd prefer not revealing our year of origin," Kai-Ro said.
"So you are time travelers. What are you doing here?"
"We've come to retrieve the children and return home."
Micron said, "They were playing with something they shouldn't have been."
"How do I know you're not here to abduct them to a different part of the future? Villains can travel through time as easily as heroes."
Kai-Ro reached into his other pocket and slipped on his ring just as Batman touched his ear.
"Go ahead. Are you sure?" He watched Kai-Ro. Micron was looking around the room with a fascinated expression. Kai recalled that he'd spent some time in this Tower before it had been destroyed.
Batman finished his conversation. "Green Lantern says you can be trusted."
"I can, but I am unsure as to how he even knows I'm here. Still," he pulled his hand from his pocket and allowed Batman to see the ring, and the tiny repair at the base where an electroaxe had once severed it, "I hope his reassurance means we pass inspection without further questions?"
Batman nodded once, just as the alarm went off.
Over the loudspeakers, Mister Terrific's voice boomed: "Gamma Level Alert! Supervillain sightings, downtown Metropolis, all on-duty League members report!"
"Wait here!" said Batman, and he left the room, running towards Ops.
Micron and Kai shared a glance. "Can you locate them with your ring?" Micron asked.
Kai willed the ring to look through the walls around them, and was surprised when he could see nothing. "They appear to be shielded."
"Then we look for them on foot."
Virgil still wasn't used to the earbud communicator, so when Mister Terrific started shouting, he jumped just a little. Green Lantern touched his own ear.
"Emergency downtown," said GL. "You guys care to lend a hand?"
"We're not really dressed for the occasion," said the other Batman.
There was an explosion not fifty feet away. GL's head shot around and he flung a beam of green light at a building Virgil just seen start to shake. The other tourists and sightseers screamed and ran, and there were more screams from further off.
"You three!" GL shouted. "Crowd control! Get these people somewhere safe! Static, stay with them."
Before Virgil could argue or point out that he was practically an adult, thank you very much, GL set the building back solidly and flew off.
"So much for keeping a low profile," said the new Batman
The guy GL had called Rex put his hands to his mouth and shouted, "Everybody! This way! The bad guys are downtown!" To the woman with them he said, "Park?"
"Park," she said. "You two gather people over here. Static, come with me." She dashed off and Virgil cast a disc and followed her in the air.
As they shepherded people towards the relative safety of the Park, the woman asked him in what Virgil thought wasn't at all a casual way, "Is Aquaman on duty today?"
"He was earlier. Over here!" He waved people closer. He saw a man run and fall, and he zipped over to help him up and bring him to where they were congregating. He added to the woman, "I think he left already, though. Um. What can I call you?"
"Oh. Call me M."
"Okay." The future Batman had some pretty weird friends, but Virgil didn't have time to think much about it.
The door slid open. Arthur hoped it was Nana again, or at least Batman. Instead, two guys in purple he didn't know stood right outside.
"Batman says to come with us," the bigger one said.
Arthur looked at Robin, who couldn't quite hide her smile. He didn't get it. Her dad was their Batman, sure, but why did she care about the old Batman? Girls were just weird.
They followed the guys through the corridors towards the side entrance, where the Javelins and other vehicles docked. Arthur guessed Batman must be waiting for them outside. Maybe he'd take them back to the Batcave or to someone he knew with a time machine.
In the small hangar, which would be rebuilt and get much cooler by their time, the smaller guy said, "Batman said we have to take you to him in a transport."
Arthur stopped, and grabbed Robin's hand. Something wasn't right. "When did he leave the Metro Tower?"
"A while ago," said the taller one, smiling in a way Arthur really didn't like. "Now be good and get inside."
Arthur squeezed Robin's hand. She glanced at his hand and then looked at his face. He had telepathic contact with sea creatures, and on rare occasions with his mother, but still he willed Robin to understand: This is wrong. We can't go with them.
For the first time, he noticed that the hangar was otherwise empty. There was a security camera. Someone might be monitoring.
"No!" he shouted as loud as he could. "We want to see Batman right now!"
The guys looked scared, and then the taller one grabbed Arthur and clamped a hand over his mouth. Robin ducked from the other one and ran while Arthur kicked and struggled. One kick landed solidly in the guy's groin, but instead of letting go, the guy pulled back the hand from his mouth and punched Arthur.
The world spun. The left side of his face lit up with pain just as the hand clamped viciously back into place, cutting off his air. His left eye throbbed and looked out on a red-tinged world.
"You stupid kid," the guy wheezed against his ear. "If you weren't worth more alive than dead right now, I'd gut you and leave you." He dragged Arthur towards the transport.
A quick, stifled scream from not far away told him that the shorter guy had caught Robin. He brought her struggling into the transport with them. Arthur was tossed onto the floor in the back, Robin thrown beside him. Both immediately rolled to their feet, then fell back again as the transport lurched forward. The shorter guy was driving, already headed for the opening doors.
The taller guy held onto the side of the transport for support, and managed to get a firm hold of Robin. She pulled against his arm at her neck. Arthur crouched down for an attack and the tall guy squeezed. Robin's eyes went big and terrified.
"One more move and I pop her head off. You got me?" Arthur nodded, watching the arm relax just a hair.
Bruce checked the alert in Ops, ignoring the scattering of the other on-duty heroes. "What are they doing?" he asked Mister Terrific over the comm.
"Causing mass panic."
"But what's their goal? What are they taking? They usually have a target."
"Unsure. It looks like they're just blowing stuff up."
Bruce thought. Sometimes it was a touch --- just a touch --- intimidating to be on the team with Mister Terrific, but Bruce hadn't become who he was by being easily intimidated. Terrific didn't see a pattern. That meant there wasn't one, or that Terrific didn't have all the pieces.
Item one: two children from the future materialize in the corridor. Item two: a man claiming to be their uncle but actually a Green Lantern from the future comes looking for them, with another man in his pocket. Item three: their curiously-organized foes suddenly attack.
He touched his ear again. "Call in some of the backups."
Then he went to check on the children.
"Batman to Green Lantern."
"Go ahead."
"Our guests have vanished."
John stopped. Star Sapphire blasted a beam at him which he easily deflected. More than a little worried, and it was strange, being worried about someone who hadn't been born yet, he grabbed her with a construct and pushed her more roughly than necessary into a car, which he bent around her to hold her. To be safe, he also plucked the jeweled tiara from her head.
He told her, "Can't play right now."
Shayera flew in beside him. "You okay?"
"Yeah." She was really the last person he wanted to see right now. She couldn't be allowed to see Rex, to meet him. Bad enough John himself knew. "Sorry. Gotta go."
Merina kept half an eye out among the heroes coming from the Tower. Static might have been wrong, and it had been so long.
When the transport emerged, she stopped to watch. That wasn't right. The rest of the team was beaming or flying in to the battle; transports were for long-range movement of personnel.
And then, from very far away in the back of her mind, a tickle: Help. Please help.
"Arthur ... " she breathed. He was in the transport, calling for help from any sea creature nearby. Already the harbor churned with sudden life.
She shouted, "Static!"
The boy's head snapped around.
She raised her arms, calling the waters and the tiny creatures within the edge of the tide. A funnel formed in the harbor, knocking boats adrift from their docks and frightening the gulls.
"Charge me!" she said. He paused, then stretched out a purple beam, electrifying the saltwater surge she sent towards the transport.
Robin clutched at the arm around her throat. Playing Supers was one thing, but this was scary.
"We've got a problem," said the short guy. Robin could just see enough of the screen to see the impossible: a purple-sparking twist of water headed right for them.
The guy turned the controls, dipping them to avoid it. Robin dug her heel into the tall guy's boot, just like her dad had shown her, and brought her elbow into his stomach. Arthur launched himself at the guy's head, and the three of them fell to the floor.
Arthur was first to his feet and grabbed for the door, yanking it open just as the tall guy grabbed his foot. Robin heard the crack as Arthur's chin hit the metal floor. The door was open, and they were high above everything.
The tall guy held Arthur with one hand and pulled a gun out of the storage locker in the back with another.
"No no no no no," Robin said, skidding back from the door, from the man with the gun.
"Longjohn coming around," said the short guy.
She directed the flume, chasing the transport until the electrified water crashed against it, shorting and shuddering half the systems, holding it in precarious place.
This wasn't Merina's power, not one she could use well, but she'd practiced for years. Arthur could direct water like a choreographer, without thinking.
Soft, now, she touched the tiny minds in the flood, alert and afraid of the electricity sparking through. Hold where you are.
Arthur's call continued in the back of her mind.
Merina thumbed her comm knowing she would be overheard: "Mayday! JLU Mayday! Alpha and Beta targets are on the transport!"
Virgil zoomed up towards the stuck transport just as a hatch popped open. Convenient.
Someone out of sight started firing at him. He ducked around the other side.
They turned the corner and Batman was there.
"Where are the children?" he demanded.
"We are looking for them," said Kai. "Where did you leave them?"
"Mayday!" Merina's voice came over the comm.
"What's holding us?" shouted Glen.
"Hold on," said Stan, using the scanners. "There. Four o'clock. Must be some water meta bitch."
Glen poked his head out again. That Static kid was nowhere in sight but he saw the chick below them. He flipped the firing from "single" to "auto" and took careful aim at her head.
Before he could get a bead on her, the brats tried to tackle him. He punched the Robin kid in the solar plexus. The girl grabbed his outstretched arm and bit him, hard.
Glen cursed and grabbed her by the hair, throwing her out the door. Her scream was caught by the wind.
That caught the water meta's attention.
Glen aimed for her again while she was distracted, but the transport jerked and he strafed her middle instead of her brains.
"We're free!" Stan shouted, punching it. Glen managed to get the door shut again.
The boy curled up in a ball in a corner.
Glen touched his private communicator. "This is Sycamore. We need a portal."
"We're occupied," said the voice on the other end.
"We've got Robin."
"Fine. Rejoin the rest in Metropolis and use the portal there."
Virgil heard the scream and dove without thinking. The girl was all arms and legs, but she grabbed onto his hand like she'd been doing it all her life.
"Gotcha," said Virgil, as she clung to him on the way down.
Another retort came from above them, and he instinctively flew away from the sound, but the gun wasn't aimed at him.
There were a lot of things he held onto, whether he wanted to or not. That night at the docks. The day Mom hadn't come home. He knew there was no way he was ever going to forget the sight of watching someone be torn in half by machine-gun fire.
He held the little girl's head, shielding her, unable to tear his own eyes away.
The water flume fell like rain around them.
Over his head, he heard the transport roar out of sight.
Arthur could barely breathe. Everything hurt. Robin was gone. The tiny mental connection he'd established with his mother had snapped abruptly.
He splayed his fingers and looked up at the guys in purple. He knew to the bottom of his soul that, should he decree it right now, he could order all the water in their bodies to boil.
He wished. But he would not let himself make the command.
"There are lines we don't cross," said his dad's voice in his head.
Arthur wasn't human, not like the surface humans. With his powers came the responsibility of using them wisely. Every day, his parents had told him that.
"We don't kill," Dad said. "We use force to stop the bad guys. We don't destroy them."
There was more, and Superman's face was never quite right when he stood and listened as they told him these things.
But Arthur wished.
John's comm went off just as Rex and the guy Static had called Batman came into sight: "Static to Green Lantern. The transport. They're in the transport."
A transport had gone over a few seconds ago. John went to follow it, when Virgil's voice came back again. "The lady's hurt. Whatever her name is. She's hurt bad." Now John could hear the panic.
"Dammit."
Batman was running out of the Tower with two people John didn't recognize in tow. "You three!" John yelled, "The civilians are in the transport!"
He'd like to say he was surprised to see one of them ring up a bubble and fly on a beeline towards the location where the transport had gone, but really, that was the least weird thing that had happened today.
He landed by Rex, who was already turning to follow.
"Hold on," John said. "Static just contacted me. One of your people is down. Come on." Before he could object, John surrounded him and his friend in another bubble and headed off to where Static's signal came from.
It was bad in the air, and worse on the ground.
The other Batman touched his ear. "K, W, get back here now!"
There was a little girl. The civilians are children? The other Batman lifted her up and held her as she started to cry against his neck. He made soothing noises into her hair, and John didn't miss the look of relief on his face.
He also didn't miss the complete panic on Rex's as he knelt down by the woman and started looking for vital signs. She was breathing, barely. John scanned her with his ring but it didn't tell him anything he didn't already know on sight.
Her eyes drifted open and her mouth, touched with blood, curved into a smile. "Idiot," she said. No, he thought a second later. That wasn't quite what she'd said.
The bubble carrying the others set down side him; Bruce must have stayed with the fight. The Lantern said immediately, "We're aborting the mission. Prepare for return."
"No," said Rex, and the woman echoed him softly. "We have to get him back," he said, his hand absently stroking her hair.
The Lantern was already at her other side, playing with her watch. "She will not survive in this time. She may not survive in ours."
The other Batman gave the little girl a kiss on the head, then set her down. "W, take them both home. We'll stay here."
"Send ... R. You know, these are stupid codenames."
"He is right. You are the most logical choice," said the Lantern.
"You haven't been made yet," the other Batman said.
"Hurry," Rex pleaded.
W nodded and took the little girl's hand, then knelt and did something to the woman's watch. The three of them vanished, the light around them bending and shimmering for a split second.
Rex sat back, looking at the place where they'd been.
The Lantern said to him gently, "Whatever happens to her next will not occur for decades."
"I know. I don't think they're going to have time to save her." He looked pale, tired. John placed a hand on his shoulder. Too much he didn't know, nothing he could say to help.
Someone was missing. "Where's Static?"
The other Batman looked over his shoulder. "Booting in the bushes."
John's mouth quirked in sympathy. His first time was when he'd been in the Corps. Nineteen and cocky, he hadn't thought anything would faze him, and then Harry Marshall's leg had blown off.
An odd expression crossed the other Lantern's face. "Static," he called. "Are you better?"
Virgil, still not looking well, came out from behind the bushes. "Yeah," he said, not sounding like he meant it.
The Lantern placed a hand on his shoulder. "There is something you must do for us. Our friend is wounded very badly. There is a device in our time that might save her, but we will not be able to activate it and tune it properly for her ourselves. You'll need to do it for us."
"Me?"
"You sent us here," said the other Batman.
"I did?"
"You will," said John. "I'll explain later. Just pay attention." And John thought that he would pay attention too. Just in case.
The Lantern said, "The device is called a MedLim 597. You'll need to turn it on an hour before she returns and calibrate it," he paused, glancing at his friends, then continued, "calibrate it for Atlantean physiology." That answered one question.
"Got it," said Static. "MedLim 597, hour before she gets back, Atlantean. When do you guys leave, uh, come back?"
"You will know when. You must remember this for the rest of your life," said the Lantern.
"So write it down," said the other Batman.
"How are we going to find the other kid?" John asked.
"We're not," Bruce said, appearing beside him. "The transport got away with the rest of the criminals. Another magical portal. We need to find out who's generating those."
Rex said, "You've got confiscated Thanagarian weapons on the orbital Watchtower. Equip the Javelins with pieces of Nth metal and it'll cut down on some of the effects."
"Enough advice from the future," Bruce said, scowling. "I repeat, we're not helping. We've had far too much contact with them already."
"The water has already passed through the sieve," said the Lantern. "This is not the time to concern ourselves with the shape of the holes. We need access to your equipment. The child has a communicator which can be used as a tracking device but we must make haste."
"Before the Secret Society pollutes the timeline further," said Bruce.
"Before they kill him," corrected the other Batman. John was watching Rex, and saw him grimace.
"How can I help?" asked Virgil.
Bruce said, "Go home. The more of us involved in this, the worse it gets."
"Back to your quarters," John told him. "Don't discuss what you've seen or heard with anyone, including Gear."
"But I wanna help. Besides, I already know what's going to happen."
"You know just enough," said the Lantern. "More could destroy us. Please."
"Okay," said Virgil, looking around at them all. "But tell me if you change your minds."
"Go," said Bruce.
"And write it down!" called the other Batman to his retreating back.
Static had told them what to expect, but even so, as Micron, Robin and Merina materialized, Cassie felt the world shift under her just a little as she saw the extent of Merina's injuries.
"She's ... " Micron began.
"We know," said Static, and they moved her into the unit as smoothly as they could.
Micron took Robin's hand and led her away from the mess. "Why are we in the medlab?" he asked.
Cassie stood beside Static as his fingers flew over the controls. The MedLim was a medical work of art. Properly calibrated and working, it could keep anyone alive indefinitely while doctors had a chance to examine their injuries more closely. Portable versions were standard on all ambulances. There was no way to know how many lives it had saved, although it had added yet another wrinkle to the public discourse about extending human life.
The patent was held by an electrical engineer named Virgil Hawkins, and the 597 was the most up-to-date version, still officially in beta testing but showing great promise for extraterrestrial matrices.
"Your devices were preset to return here," Static said, focusing on the panel. He touched the last sequence of buttons. The MedLim's hum changed to "in-process."
Merina was alive, in suspended animation. Cassie could see her through the plexiglass, like a broken doll in a box. Static had already called for a doctor from Atlantis, someone familiar enough with how her body was supposed to work and who could potentially put it back together again. He was due to arrive any time, though the tick of the clock no longer figured into her lifespan.
"Now we wait," Static said.
Arthur had long since lost track of where they'd taken him. The two guys in purple --- he never learned their names --- landed the transport and dragged him out into a landing bay he didn't know.
There was a big monkey waiting for them. Also a couple other costumes, no one he knew but he was sure none of them were friendly.
"This had better be good, gentlemen," said the monkey.
"Toldja we got Robin," said the taller one, squeezing Arthur's arm until he winced.
"What's your name, boy?" the monkey asked.
Arthur kept his mouth shut. This was bad. Mom and Dad had told him about paradoxes and stuff. Nana and his grandfather and the old Batman would take "I can't tell you" for an answer. Bad guys probably wouldn't.
A guy with a big hat and great big teeth came over to him, peering. "The lad is awfully small. I've engaged the Bat and his bird-brat before. This one is no more than a child."
"We're sure," said the short guy in purple. "He and the other kid knew Batman's real name and she called him 'Robin.'"
"No, she didn't," said Arthur.
"So he can speak after all." The monkey smiled at him. No, it was a gorilla. Gorillas were apes, not monkeys. "Tell us what you know and we won't hurt you."
"You're going to hurt me no matter what."
"That's true," said the gorilla, turning and walking away. "Think of it as the difference between breaking your arms and cutting them off."
Water. There was water nearby. He felt for the minds of the little fish that dwelled there, but few remained and the ones that did had a darkness around them. They served another master. He reached farther. Amphibians and reptiles never listened to him, though he felt the sleek minds of alligators nearby.
Swampland.
"Bring him," said the ape. The guys in purple dragged him behind the gorilla. If he made a break for it, he could dive into the swamp, with or without the help of the animals there.
They led him to a small, dark room and threw him roughly to the ground. "So, when do we get paid?" asked the taller one.
"After I get my information from him." The gorilla bent over Arthur and smiled with gigantic yellow teeth. "Assuming he tells me something useful, you'll be paid handsomely. If he doesn't, you owe me." Seeing their confused faces, he added, "Time. Transport. Getting you the necessary security clearances. Plus, Star Sapphire and Riddler were caught in the little distraction we engineered for you. These things are expensive and if you've cost me without bringing me anything of value in return, I'll personally take it out of your hides."
He nodded to some of the other brightly-costumed villains who'd followed them in. The guys in purple were suddenly surrounded. "Take them somewhere and keep an eye on them," said the gorilla. "Then leave us. Tala, stay here."
Everyone left except the gorilla and a lady with purple hair. So far, everyone with purple was bad. Arthur made a note.
"Tala, my dear, have you had a chance to research that truth spell like I asked you?"
The woman nodded. "Is simple spell."
"Good. We'll use it on some of the others later. For now, I'd like you to cast it on our young friend here. Torture is rather gauche, don't you agree?"
The woman didn't answer. She knelt down beside Arthur and raised her hand at him. "Veritas!"
Quicksilver pain shivered through him. Before he could do more than gasp, it was gone.
"Now," said the gorilla. "What is your name?"
"Arthur!" The word burst out. He crawled to a sitting position, terrified. They didn't stop him. The woman stood up, a smirk on her face. The gorilla smiled.
"Arthur, are you Robin?"
"No." The rest of the truth bubbled inside of him. He wanted to tell. If they asked him, he would tell. If they didn't, he might gasp it out anyway.
He wondered if he could fight an alligator.
"Do you know who Robin is?"
"Yes."
"Who is Robin?"
"He killed her."
The gorilla's smile faded. "Who killed her?"
"The man in purple. The tall one. He pushed her out the door." He could still hear her scream in his head. Sorry. I'm sorry.
"The little girl who was with you was Robin?"
"Yes."
"Robin is a boy," said the purple woman.
"I think our infiltrators made an error in judgement. Robin is also a little girl's name. He may not be completely useless, though. Tell me, Arthur, do you know Batman's real name?"
Arthur's eyes went wide. He shouldn't have known, but his mother wasn't always careful. He pressed his lips together tightly but the "Yessss" hissed out.
"What is Batman's real name?"
