Oh wow! I am so whelmed by the amount of feedback I got on the first chapter of my very first Fanfic. Special shout outs to Lakeshine, Black Friar, and that one Guest for the reviews. They truly made my week. Now on to the next chapter. Away!
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Young Justice or even the movie Inception. If I did I would have enough money to buy a boat, a really big boat...
As Robin slowly drifted back to consciousness, the first thing he noticed was the smell. The air was filled with the strong, pungent odor of fish. The smell made him crinkle his nose in disgust, but by doing so something else dawned on him. He was alive. Hadn't he been stabbed? Hadn't he fallen? But he wasn't in any pain. Where did the wound go? And more importantly, where did the Joker go?
He tried to move his body, but he realized he couldn't. It had been tightly bound to something with rope, a chair perhaps. That's when his eyes flew open to reveal his surroundings. He appeared to be in some sort of warehouse. It was dimly lit and had various boxes and crates stacked throughout. He looked down and sure enough, his body was tied to a chair by thick ropes. He could barely even wiggle his arms. Whoever tied him up was definitely experience at tying people to chairs. Not reassuring.
Robin then looked to the side and noticed that there was something protruding from his arm. It was a thin tube, like an IV. He followed its trail and it led his eyes to a large metal case sitting on a table to his left. The tube was attached to the case which was open to reveal a mesh of metal tubes and wiring. But before he could ponder on what it was, the person he least wanted to see strolled into the room.
"Well good morning Boy Blunder! How was your little nap?" said the Joker, the usual maniacal smile painted on his pale face.
A nap? So it had been all just a dream? But it had seemed to vividly real. The patrol, the Joker, the stab, the fall, he could remembered them with crystal clear clarity. The events played over and over in his head like a broken record.
"Aw, is someone cranky?" cooed the Joker. "Did the wittle bitty birdie have a bad dream?" The Joker then laughed his signature high pitched cackle, sending chills down Robin's spine.
Wait, how did the Joker know he had been dreaming? Something was fishy here, and it wasn't just the smell. "What did you do Joker? And what is this contraption you attached to my arm?"
"Well isn't someone an inquisitive little hostage. This, my friend, is a sort of dream machine my buddy Scarecrow invented for me. You've met scarecrow haven't you? Truly a charming man, and his machine works like a dream." Joker smiled at his own cleverness.
Indeed Robin had met Scarecrow, and charming was not the word he would have chosen to describe the maniac. If this machine was his invention, then it was definitely bad news. "So this machine lets you watch my dreams? Get into my head?" the boy asked calmly, trying not to let the fear creep in to his voice.
"Well nay and yay" replied the Joker as he began pacing around and around Robin's chair. "You see I don't only watch your little dreams, I go into them as well. I really was in that fun dream of yours. Pretty little number wasn't it. I thought it up myself."
He could go into his dreams! He could even make up his dreams for him. But now that Robin thought about it, that wasn't so bad. Dreams he could handle. In a dream the pain isn't real. In a dream you can't die. If Joker tortured him there, he wouldn't have anything to fear.
As if reading his mind, Joker sneered, "I bet you think that not so bad. Probably thinking, 'Oh Uncle J can't really harm me in a dream.' While it may be true that I can't physically harm you, that doesn't mean I can't give you some nice, fun mental scarring." Joker smiled again and looked away into the distance as if he was reminiscing about all the "fun mental scarring" he had caused in the past.
"You can't break me Joker" Robin spit back. "I've been trained by Batman himself. And in the end, he will save me and you will go back to your comfy, padded cell in Arkham."
"Oh trust me Boy Blunder, he can't possible find us here. And it's not just my dreams we can explore. I think next we shall explore some of your dreams. I'm sure in your line of work you must get some truly marvelous nightmares."
Robin's eyes bulged out under his mask. No, not his nightmares! Anything but them. Those were horrifying. Not only that, those were private. He started squirming relentlessly, trying to free himself from his bonds, but it was no use. They wouldn't budge.
Joker sat down in another chair opposite Robin and began to pull another cord out from the metal "dream machine," as Joker had called it. After Joker finished sticking the cord into his own arm, he smiled up at the Boy Wonder. "All ready? Next stop, the bird's dreams." With that Joker pushed a small button on the metal case.
Robin found himself getting immensely sleepy. "Batman help," was the last thing he was able to whisper before he was pulled once more into the realm of unconsciousness.
Yay two chapters down and an unknown number to go! This whole writing stories thing is fun. I think I'll keep it up. I also think getting reviews is great. *hint hint nudge nudge*