Rebel Justice

Day 2

When M'gann went to wake up Robin, she found he wasn't there. She knew he couldn't have gotten out, so he must be here somewhere. She searched mentally for him, and found he was in the training room.

She floated down the maze of halls to the training room. In the corner was a mess of beams and wires Artemis and Roy used for agility training. And that's where Robin was. He was flipping and twirling among the wires, diving towards the ground just to save himself before he hit. It was beautiful.

M'gann stopped and stared for a while, just watching the strange dance. Then he flipped off the highest bar, did a quadruple summersault and landed in a roll on the floor.

"Robin! That was amazing! How do you do that?"

"I was trained since I was young in acrobatics. So, I guess it's time for breakfast?"

M'gann nodded. "Follow me, you have a busy day ahead."

They went to the cafeteria, where everyone else was eating in their civvies. They were laughing and goofing off like a normal group of teenagers, but they were the farthest thing from normal. Robin could see the places where small weapons were concealed in their clothing, the way they tensed when someone grew too close.

"Hey guys! I've got Robin! So, what're we doing today?"

Roy, the clone, spoke up. "We're taking Robin out to the city today. It's time he sees what's going on planet side."

So, they ate their breakfast and got ready to leave. Robin knew this would be his chance to escape. No matter how much he had missed his friends, he had to get back to the Lords and tell them what was going on.

He was told to go dress in civvies, and as he slid on the dark skinny jeans and hoodie he tried to remember the last time he had worn something other than his Robin costume or workout clothes. It had been a while.

He slipped his communicator into his pocket, a small device they had forgotten to take from him when he was kidnapped. If he turned it on, even for a second, Batman would come for him. He had tried it already in the base, but it was jammed.

Robin met up with Wally, Artemis, and Raquel. They were going to be taking him to the city.

"All right, Birdy. Hand it over," said Artemis.

"What?"

"The communicator. We were hoping you wouldn't bring it with you."

"But how did you know?"

"M'gann. She's been monitoring your thought, checking to make sure you don't try anything. We hate to do this to you, but it's necessary."

Robin handed over the communicator. He should have known it wouldn't work. Seeing all his dead friends had softened him a bit. But he wouldn't regress further. He would be strong, like Batman.

He was blindfolded, and taken on a curvy path. Then he was outside. He could smell the pine trees. He heard the rush of cars on a road nearby. Wherever he was, it was a wooded area, but near a city. The question was, which city?

They pulled him forwards once more, taking what seemed to be a deliberately confusing route. Then they stopped, and pulled his blindfold off. He was standing on the outskirts of Indianapolis according to a sign welcoming people to the city. He could see skyscrapers in the distance, but there weren't any people around.

"Here we are. We'd take you to a bigger city, but the Justice Lords patrol there more often. This is safer," said Wally. "Let me take you on the grand tour of life controlled by the Lords."

The small group moved forwards, into the city. It got busier the further they moved in. Soon, they were in downtown Indy. It was perfect. There was no one on street corners, trying to sell drugs or other services. There were no homeless people wandering around, no unemployed begging for money. But the people looked dead.

They stared straight forwards, they didn't talk. There was no smiling or laughter here. Even the children were gloomy and sad. Robin didn't know what to make of it. He had thought since the Justice Lords had abolished crime everyone would be happy.

He followed his guides to a restaurant. It was slightly run down, but was really busy. They went inside, and were lucky to find seats. A waitress came up.

"Hey there Wally, the usual?"

"You betcha Marge!"

"What about you kids?"

"Coffee for me," said Raquel.

"Orange juice," Artemis chimed in.

"And you little guy?"

"Some milk, I guess."

She bustled away, and the four started talking.

"So, whatcha think of the city so far?" Wally questioned.

"It's nice. No crime, no poverty, but why's everyone so gloomy?"

"They've lost hope. They don't have anything to live for anymore. The Justice Lords took away any hope they had for building a better life for themselves. The rich were brought down to middle class, the poor were brought up to middle class. No one can excel or be themselves. They have to be like everyone else, do nothing more or less than everyone else, or they're put in jail," Artemis said.

"But the Lords brought peace! There's no crime, no one gets hurt anymore. Everyone gets along and everything's fair. What's wrong with that?!"

"No one's happy."

Then, a disgruntled couple came up to the counter.

"We refuse to pay for this. The food was cold, late, and overpriced!" the man practically yelled.

The woman behind the counter merely looked at him. Seconds later, the doors to the restaurant burst open as the police came in to arrest the couple.

"Stop! No! We're sorry! We'll pay! It'll never happen again!"

Their cries fell on deaf ears as the couple was dragged out. An eerie silence fell over the restaurant after they were gone, but soon conversation started back up and things went back to normal.

"Still think this is right?" Raquel asked him.

The day past quickly, but not quickly enough. The trio took Robin around the town, showing him the lives of civilians. People were told where they worked and what they should accomplish each day. Failure to comply ended in imprisonment.

Children took tests to determine where they would best fit into society, and then were trained for a specific job. They had no choice.

People were arrested left and right. Their families suffered without them.

When they finally returned to the base, Robin was disheartened, heavy on the dis. He thought he knew what was going on, but he didn't. The people he was supposed to protect weren't happy. He was failing to do his job. This was the end of his world.

Huzzah! The chapter is finished! And it only took me most of AP Bio and part of Government! Enjoy my dear readers, and I thank those who review. Alas, I still have to go through Genetics, so I must leave it at this.

Have a medieval day,

Shadow