Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans. Sheesh!
I give up! I will never own them anyway!
A Robin's Story
CHAPTER 16:
Robin's Memory Hall
IN ROBIN'S MIND…
The first thing he knew when he woke up was a headache. Someone must have hit him over the head with something. It had been something hard apparently. He took a damage assessment with his right hand, rubbing it over a lump on the side of his head. "What happened?"
"We're in Robby's mind, remember? And anything is possible in here."
'That voice… Little J… What's going on?' he thought. He hauled his body up from the floor, still rubbing his head.
"What do you mean by anything?" Raven's voice made him spin around. His eyes widened at the sight. They were over by the door; Raven had her back up against it. Little J was currently sticking his nose right into her face, so close that Raven could probably smell his fetid breath.
"That's for me to know, and you to find out, Raven dearest." Little J put his right index finger underneath Raven's chin as he said this. He could tell Raven was about ready to spit in Little J's face.
He snuck up behind Little J and wrapped his right arm so his elbow was around the villain's neck, "Leave her alone!" He balled his hands into a fist and squeezed to begin a chokehold on Little J.
Raven appeared shocked at what he was doing, or maybe she was surprised that he had recovered so quickly. He shouted to her, "Raven! Open the door!" He heard the click of the door's lock being opened.
"Fine! Here's the stupid room for ya! You ingrate!" –Doorknob
Raven glanced at the now open doorway and back to the figment Robin, who was struggling to keep his chokehold on Little J. The figment shouted, "Go! I've got this covered!" She didn't want to leave Robin alone with Little J again, but she knew what she had to do was more important: Destroy Little J and the source of his power.
Raven ran through the doorway, and slammed the door behind her. In doing so, the doorknob became indignant again, "Hey! Watch the hinges! I just had them oiled!"
Even after the door was closed, she could still hear some sounds of struggle on the stoop outside.
Raven then took a moment to find out where in Robin's mind she was, besides the foyer… Inside, there were screens all around the room: even some hanging in the space. Raven couldn't see any wires holding them up; they were floating. There appeared to be no end to the number of screens. Each screen had a different scene pictured on it, and they were all from Robin's perspective. She recognized some of the images from the days of the Teen Titans. Most of these were some she could recall.
'Those must be Robin's memories.' she thought. Raven continued walking. At times she had to be careful because the screens were just floating aimlessly around Robin's inner psyche. There were three screens in particular that caught her attention. These were similar to a movie screen and they played the same set of images over and over again, but with subtitles for the sound:
First Screen:
"Alright… Explain this to me again, Rob… YOU KILLED BATMAN WHILE BEING POSSESSED!"
"This changes everything now, man! At first I just thought all of your uptightness was just you, but this!"
"Why would you do this, Robin?"
'I don't know what to say… There's no way to explain this to them. They wouldn't understand...' –Robin's thought at that moment.
"You know what? Now I just think that our whole idea of being part of this team is worthless now. Not like it wasn't before. It all means nothing now. It was all based on a lie!"
"It's not like that, Raven."
"Then tell us, Robin! What is it like knowing that you're a murderer!"
"I started the Teen Titans in order to make up for what happened."
"That's not an explanation, Robin! And nothing you can say or do can ever take back the fact that you killed Batman!"
"Why did you keep this from us, Robin."
The screen looked into Starfire's tear stained face. "I… I don't know…"
"Then, how do you expect us to trust you!"
"You don't have to. Maybe I should have never started this team."
"Good! Now maybe we can all go back to our lives! I thought that you would help me defeat my father, but you're just a big goddamn liar!"
Second Screen:
"Now, now, bird boy, this won't hurt a bit…"
"Let me go! AAAH!" The Joker produced a long needle and stuck into his arm. The anesthetic started taking effect and he lost consciousness.
When he next woke up, The Joker stood over him, "How's it going, sonny boy?"
"Fine, pops…"
There was an explosion and Batman entered.
"Welcome to my humble abode, Bats! Come and meet the family!" He walked out from behind a curtain holding a large gun. Batman's eyes widened when he recognized Robin.
"Robin! Stop, The Joker! He's controlling you!"
"HEHE… Bye Bye!" and he fired…
Third Screen:
'This show is going to be awesome!' --Robin's thought at that moment.
The circus began… There were the elephants, the lion tamer, and all of those acts. He clapped for all of them. But those weren't the ones he wanted to see the most. Then the ringmaster shouted into his microphone, "And now… the Flying Graysons!"
'Yes! There they are!' –Robin's thought at that moment.
The man and woman walked out on their tightrope. They waved in his direction. They then performed all of their normal tricks to the cheering of the crowd. Then, they came to their final trick, their best one.
He was so enthralled by their performance that he never noticed what was happening by the corner of his vision, a dark figure climbing up the banisters and sawing through the tightrope. That is, he didn't notice until the man and woman fell. And there was nothing to catch them underneath! They always performed their last trick with no net…
Raven was able to recognize the first set as the night the Titans broke up. The second had to be when Batman was killed. And she couldn't quite decipher the third, but it must have been about another death during Robin's childhood.
"What is this one?" she asked herself aloud.
"That's the night mommy and daddy died." Raven turned to find a child standing next to her.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Richard."