Dick Grayson
Chapter 23
Into the Light (Part 9 out of 10)
Down down the rabbit hole we go. Where we stop, nobody knows.
"Tuck and roll boy, tuck and roll"
Says the fatherly voice in the back of my head. So I quickly tuck my legs and land first into a very soft and cracked ground. To me it feels like mud or never ending jello. Soon I land in a pool of water. From below the water, I hear a splash above me. I open my eyes underwater and see Barbara's figure in the distance. I swim up to her and tug on her waist to pull her above the water with me.
"Gasp!?"
Her eyes are closed I am running out of energy and breath. Quickly I swim a few more feet, dragging her along with me. I feel the ground at my fingertips and I pull us out of the water. I roll Barb on her back and place an war over her mouth to listen for breathing. I hear air blowing out, but she has a nasty bump on her head.
"Little boy. Little girl. What a delicious meal for the night…"
I hear snarling and something large slowly slithering our way. I stand in front of Barb and ready myself.
"Look guy, I don't know who you are…but we just fell in."
I hear laughter and a glowing set of red eyes appear ahead of me.
"Yes, I know you did. Punks like you…who break into places you shouldn't go."
He enters into my view and there he is. A giant freaking crocodile man. He just stands there looking at me like I'm his next meal.
"I sure hope you run. I love fast food."
I slowly step back. Nothing in my pockets, nothing around I can use around here and nowhere I can run. Plus I cannot just leave Barb. I feel my heart pounding and my I feel very hot as the crocodile grows closer to me. I become so anxious and nervous that I begin to loose my breath.
"Heh, guess its early dinner time."
He lunges at me and I try to dodge, but all I feel is pain on my side. Instantly I see darkness.
SHAZAAAAAAAM!
A burst of lightning flashes in my mind. Light surrounds my consciousness. A golden figure flows in the distance. I slowly glide to the figure.
"Who….who are you and where a I?"
"Your in my world Grayson. This is a place where time, space and souls met. And I my dear boy am Shazam. Call my name and I will come. Now return to life dear boy."
Just then I feel a brush of heat surround my body and my consciousness returns. Before me stands a breathless crocodile. I hold him by the neck and I can slowly feel his life slip away.
"Stop it Dick! Its…it's not right."
I look behind myself and I see Barb sniffling. I come to my senses and I release the creature on the ground. I look down at my hands that are full of blood and dirt. I notice that my pants are torn, my shirt is off and my shoes have large holes in the front of them. My body feels so very heavy and tired like I've ran for miles and haven't slept for days.
"Sorry…."
Thump
Just like that I'm out cold again.
Somewhere not too far from the kids…
"So mister Savage, how much longer until this contraption is ready?"
A man in a white hood stands in front of a large hubble station deep within the earth. An all too familiar Vandal Savage smirks in the distance as he pulls out a glowing rock from his pockets.
"Do not worry friend, it will be ready soon. All I need is the boy now. I can sense his presence, just as he can sense mine."
"How can you be so sure?"
Vandal shakes his head and places the rock on a circular device on a table nearby. Doors in the background open and a large group of people in hazmat suits can be seen walking around inside the hubble.
"Because…ever since he saved me I've, I felt an almost magical connection between us…like we were meant to meet each other. Besides, I cannot explain it, but ever since then I've had visions of him. Just as I have now. Apparently, he took out killer croc."
The man in the hood chuckled and places his hand near the rock to feel its power.
"Really now? That is most strange. But good riddance to that monster. If it were up to me, I would've replaced him a long time ago with one of my guards."
Vandal ignores his comment and begins to walk away.
"Enough of that for now. It seems as though we have an intruder entering from the docks."
…
Pier 41
Batman enters a restricted area. Armored men are laying unconscious behind him.
"Alfred, I need you to activate the tower. I'm picking up something of supernatural origins a few miles below."
His eyes glow blue and return to a normal white glow as he deactivated his eye scanning.
"Yes sir. Tower is now receiving feedback. Any luck in finding Robin yet sir?"
Batman nods as he prepares to shut off his communication device on his cowl.
"Sorry Alfred, but not yet. I'm sure knowing him….he's somehow down there. Batman out."
He turns off comms and proceeds deeper into the pier.
"Dick….woohooo, Dicky bird, get up already."
I hear Barba voice and my eyes slowly open. I see her chest and then her face. My head is over her lap and her hands are over my chin and hair.
"Yes?...eh…what happened?"
She looks at me with in surprise as she pushes me up.
"What happened?! Ill tell you what happened! When I woke up to the sound of lightning I saw…you I guess, beating the crap out of killer crock. You were like twice your size and had like this electric thing around your body! It, it was…."
She looked at me in dissatisfaction and worry.
"cool….but very scary because you weren't yourself. You kept pounding on him until you got him into a choke hold. That's when I screamed and you stared at me….your eyes….they were so lifeless and cold…but then…just then I saw a spark in your eyes and you returned to yourself."
That's not right…barb looks worried about me. I know I should feel glad I had saved us, but at the same time, I feel ashamed that apparently I scared her. I slowly stand up and place my hand out to her.
"Look barb….I'm just as puzzled as you are with what happened…but we can't sit around like this. We need to find a way out of here."
She grabs my hand and I pull her up. She nods in agreement and we begin to walk further down the cave. We step over killer crock who lets out a light grunt with some blood leaking from his mouth. Down the dark road we go. Where it goes, nobody knows….we fade into blackness and hope we end up in the light soon…
In the Realm of Light
"Great one, do you really think it wise to give our powers to them?"
Says a figure in darkness to the glowing white being.
"yes….let's just see what happens. It's been ages since we interfered with the Realm of men. Besides, if I win…you know what I want…"
The darkness slowly begins to fade away.
"Pft….yes I do. You have high hopes for a pathetic child….good luck."
The darkness fades away completely and the being of light stares down at the dark cave where Dick and Barbara are walking down.
"My fate….is in your hands my boy."
TBC…
Next time….on Grayson.
The end of Dick….The end of everything! This is what its been all leading to.
Authors Note:
Thank you readers. The next chapter will be pretty long…so might take me a week or two. Feel free to guess how this story ends. I hope you have enjoyed keeping up with this story as much as I have been writing it. Thank you once again. Until next time!
J.S.
