Oh yeah, double update. You better review! Seriously, I'll kill you if you don't!
Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice. If I did, do you honestly think I'd be writing this disclaimer or even be typing this story? Exactly.
Chapter 1 [Part 2]
Coach Hames smiled widely.
"And for the final act of tonight, let's bring down Gotham Academy's own little flying squirrel," Coach Hames announced into the microphone.
Richard blushed heavily. Bailey slowly released his arm, seeing that he winced when she had pulled away quickly and laughed gently at his embarrassment, patting his back.
"Go and get 'em," she whispered into his ear.
Richard flashed a weak thumbs-up.
"He's no doubt the most flexible boy in this whole school and when it comes to climbing, I know half of you have seen this little kid scamper halfway up the gym wall to catch a flying kick ball. He definitely proves that size doesn't matter! So, everyone, let's have a warm welcome to… Richard Grayson!"
The gym applauded again. It wasn't near as loud as Taylor's, but it was definitely loud. Richard bowed his head, his face bright red. It wasn't until he heard feminine screams cheering him on that he felt awkward. He laughed it off though and took the microphone from his favorite Coach's hands, shooting Taylor a warm smile. He held up a hand, silencing the gym.
"Hey Gotham Academy," he began nervously, his face still bright red. "I won't start tonight until we get Jacob Casey, Brenton Weathers and Blake Jackson down here!"
More applause sounded as a boy with too long of shaggy hair, a midget and an awkward kid strode down the bleachers.
"And I'm also gonna need Lexie Althaus!"
The girl with the sparkly dress came down the bleachers and the school applauded her almost just as loud as they had applauded Richard. She came down towards him.
"What am I doing?" she mouthed.
"Singing," Richard mouthed back, smirking softly.
Her eyes narrowed.
"What if I don't want to?" she challenged.
"Then face the booing crowd after you tell them that," he shot back, his smirk widening.
She sighed.
"Screw off," she said instead, taking the microphone from his hand.
"Is that an invitation?" he raised his eyebrows suggestively.
Lexie couldn't help but grin.
"Some days Dick…" she shook her head softly.
Coach Hames went to the back to mess with the music while Jacob, Brenton and Blake got in a certain order, grinning at Richard when they caught his eyes. Richard walked over to Taylor, a polite smile on his lips.
"Hey," he greeted her, holding out his hand.
She reached her hand up, but she couldn't grasp his hand to shake it. Richard didn't care. He grasped her hand tight enough for the both of them before releasing her hand gently.
"So, your name is Richard Grayson, huh?" she asked, looking him up and down.
He nodded. "Yeah… that's what it says on my birth certificate at least."
She smiled gently in recognition. "Are you the Richard Grayson?"
Richard tensed up, closing his blue eyes tight for a fraction of a second.
"What do you mean?" he asked, playing dumb.
Please tell me my secret identity hasn't been blown! Oh my God, please…
"Weren't you on the Flying Graysons?" she asked, a grin on her lips at the thought.
Richard jumped.
"Wha- no! Er, sorry, no," he kicked himself for saying no so fast. "I get that a lot, but no. I'm not that Richard Grayson."
It sounded like he was trying to convince himself though and Taylor noticed. She laughed softly.
"You are! Oh my God, I went to all of your performances growing up! I was your biggest fan!"
Richard closed his eyes tightly and clenched his fists, taking a deep breath.
"No, I wasn't on the Flying Graysons. I didn't have performances! I'm just Richard Grayson!"
Taylor flinched at the venom in his voice.
"I… I'm sorry?" she asked, confused. "But you are… I know for a fact… I recognize you… Why wouldn't you want me to recognize you?"
Richard began to shake with silent anger. He clenched his teeth.
"There's no one to recognize," he growled lightly.
Taylor's eyebrow was raised high.
"I don't get it… Oh wait, didn't your… Your parents died in that last act, back in 2007… I'm so sorry… Is that why you don't want me to recognize you?"
Richard turned away, his blue eyes burning with angry tears. He took a deep breath and walked away from her.
"Are you okay?" Bailey mouthed, her eyebrows furrowed.
Richard closed his eyes tightly and blinked off a few tears.
"Just peachy," he mouthed back.
Bailey didn't like that answer, but she couldn't say anything more because the music snapped on. Richard hurried to his spot and Taylor backed up her wheelchair, her eyes hard on Richard.
Why wouldn't he want me to remember him? He seemed as if he didn't want the others to know… And Coach Hames didn't mention the circus… Maybe no one else knows? How troubling…
Lexie set the microphone back in its stand and walked up to it, smiling weakly at Richard's song choice as she recognized it. She tapped her high heel clad feet to the familiar feet. The four boys in the back smiled amongst themselves. Jacob, Brenton and Blake would be dancing, just because they could. Richard was there to please the people. Lexie grabbed the microphone. As she did so, Brenton hurried up beside her to sing back up, just because that midget had a good set of vocals on him.
"I came to dance," Lexie began, in which Brenton followed by echoing, "Dance, dance, dance."
Jacob and Blake took to dancing in what looked like professional dance moves, each in perfect sync with the other. Richard drummed his fingers against his lips, trying to think of something that would impress the crowd. He backed up to the mats on the far left and took off running, a brief idea forming in his mind.
When he was a third of the way across the gym floor, he leapt up, his arms high above his head. He ended up doing a cartwheel, from which he did two round offs. Once his feet touched the ground, he immediately kicked himself back into the air in which he managed three flips in a row, his body tumbling as fast as he could force it. When he hit the ground again, he threw himself down into a cartwheel, from which he landed in the splits, wincing at his sore arm that was still bruised heavily. The crowd applauded heavily as Lexie and Brenton continued on, their voices mingling and mixing into the perfect side dish for the beautiful meal created by the ebony haired boy. [1]
The pain of the bruise intensified, as did Richard's hatred of battle simulations. He would always get a bruise in the most inconvenient of places, although he preferred having them on his arms to his legs, any of the three. [2] He forced himself back to his feet and plastered a smile back on his lips. Taylor, who was still watching from the side, was now convinced that he was from the Flying Graysons. She had never seen anyone, well anyone not in professional gymnastics, able to flip three times in the air on just a flat surface and just barely stumble. Some of her friends could flip once, but she didn't know anyone who could flip three times like that.
Richard pursed his lips again. He was only doing this just to keep on Coach Hames's good side. If he wasn't, then he was sure Bruce would hear of half the stuff he did at school and he'd wind up mounted on the Wayne Manor mantle with a little name underneath him. He was still convinced that Bruce murdered and stuffed all of his past sidekicks and hid them in his own room, which was why he wasn't allowed in the room at all. His brain sparked again and he got another idea. He peeked at the clock. It was already 2:10. Not much longer now.
Once again, he barreled forward and held his breath as he did so. He immediately threw his head over his feet, landing on his hands. He pushed sharply upward, exhaling quickly as he did so, giving himself enough air to manage one flip and a barrel roll in the air. When he hit the ground, he threw himself back over his feet and back into the air, flipping twice in a row, his hair flying with him as he did so, hitting the ground on his feet. He stumbled, but he stayed up on the ground without face planting. He grinned in self victory.
Once again, the crowd roared happily. Richard couldn't help but glance at Taylor. He felt so bad when he saw that she was clapping with the bridges of her wrists, kind of like a seal, cheering for him. Inside, he smashed his brains in with a mallet for yelling at her earlier. She didn't know he was trying to keep it a secret.
"I'm sorry," he mouthed to her, a hand on his neck sheepishly.
"Me too," she mouthed back, smiling widely anyway.
He felt a little bit better, but he still felt like an ass on the inside. He took a deep breath.
I need to do something special to show off… Not yet though, let's do one last thing, then I'll bring the house down he decided with a smile.
He backed up again and ran, breaking off into a cartwheel as usual. Once again, he brought his other hand down and broke into a round off. He did another one halfway until he was on his hands, only to bend his elbows so they were almost resting on the ground, his body erect. He shook dangerously, but he wasn't going to quit yet. As quick as he could, he thrust his body up, laughing as he heard his shoulder pop and broke into a back flip, landing on his knees. From that, he grabbed his left leg and pulled it up so that it stretched over his shoulder.
He giggled playfully when he heard people wince in the crowd. He kept pulling at his leg, despite the pain, until it touched the ground on the other side of him so he was almost doing an upside down splits. From that, he used his hands to push his body erect again. His arms shook violently, but he forced his legs straight again so he could bend them backwards so he was in a bridge position. From that, he forced himself to his feet. He held his hands up victoriously.
He heard some kids laugh as they clapped for him. Bailey just shook her head, sticking out her tongue.
"That's right, be jealous," he mouthed, grinning.
Now it was time for the show stopper. He dashed over to the 'stage' that rested along the wall of the gym that connected the lunch room to the gym. It was a good stretch, roughly 20 feet wide and that was all he needed. Blake and Jacob scrambled to move Lexie and Brenton, being sure not to disturb their singing which had the crowd bobbing their heads happily. Once everyone was moved, Richard felt all eyes on him. He swallowed hard, backing up. He couldn't mess this up. He backed up as far as he could until his heels licked the back edge of the stage. He then charged forward as fast as he could, tapping into his Boy Wonder powers.
Just as he hit the edge of the stage, he threw his body into the air, crossing his arms over his chest. He turned his body sideways and flipped it. He was just about to land when his foot slipped over the air and his body fell horizontal. His eyes widened and he tried to catch himself, but his hands weren't fast enough. Instead of falling on the comfort of his hands, Richard fell on his face and didn't move. Lexie and Brenton stopped singing. The gym fell silent. No one moved and the sound of Taio Cruz filled the silence. Finally, Bailey stood up and ran through the people, dashing towards Richard.
Coach Hames hurried and shut off the music. Talk filled the gym; each word from every worried person echoed off the walls and drowned out everyone else. Bailey knelt at Richard's side and set a hand worriedly on his shoulder.
"Dick, are you okay?" she yelled to him over the talk.
Richard's body shook softly in response. She couldn't hear him though. In anger she stood up and tapped into her inner Hell powers and screamed her best horror movie scream. That cut everyone's words from the air.
"SHUT UP!" she screamed furiously.
No one made a sound after that. Bailey knelt at his side again, grabbing his arm weakly.
"Dick, can you sit up?" she asked, worry coating her voice.
Richard set his hands on the ground and pushed up weakly, shaking as he did so. Bailey almost passed out when she saw all the blood on the floor. She helped him up further and saw luckily that it was just his nose that was bleeding heavily. He used his left hand to hold his nose but he couldn't stifle all of the blood. He groaned softly.
"Are you okay?" Bailey's voice asked, worriedly.
Richard nodded and started moving his nose to make sure it wasn't broken. It wasn't, but it still hurt.
"Yeah, that was just stupid on by part," he said with a sick voice, seeing that he wasn't using his nose.
He could feel the familiar stickiness of the blood on his fingers and he winced. He let Bailey drag him from the gym.
"Don't worry Dicky, I'm gonna help you clean your nose. I don't want you going home with a nose like that. Bruce would so freak out!"
Once they were out of sight, Bailey hugged his arm tight before kicking the back of his knee, causing him to stumble.
"You're such a dumbass," she whispered in his ear before laughing.
Richard dropped his hand from his nose and swiped at her face. He managed to get some blood on her cheek, causing her to shriek and wipe at it furiously before she raised her hand, turning it backwards.
"I will pimp you, Grayson!" she threatened, running after him.
Richard let out a girlish giggle and ran down the hall, ignoring the laughing he heard that came from Taylor. He was actually kind of glad she was amused. It was easier than apologizing again.
XxXxX
Richard walked down the sidewalk, his face bloodless again. He locked eyes with the cemetery gate. He considered going in, but he knew that if he did, Bruce would thrash him for showing up home late again. With a sigh, he continued down the road. His mind flashed back to what Taylor had said as he did.
"You are! Oh my God, I went to all of your performances growing up! I was your biggest fan!" he heard her say in his mind.
His stomach churned.
If she remembered me, anyone can. My identity is in danger. I should tell Bruce… but if I do, he'll yell at me for showcasing my skills in front of the school… dangit!
He angrily scuffed his foot across the sidewalk, completely oblivious to the eyes watching him from inside the cemetery watching him with ill intentions. The owner of the eyes chuckled to himself before scurrying off into the shadows.
[1] All credit from this paragraph to the YouTube video, The Best Gymnastics of the World, the first 7 seconds of it, by jmc2324. That's just if you want to see it. The only thing I changed was the landing.
[2] I'm referring to his third leg. If you don't know what a boy's third leg is, then I won't explain it to you. Just think hard on it.
And by the way, you should look up Lexie on YouTube! She goes by lexielulu911 and she sings really good. Look at her 'Happily Ever After' cover with the American Flag in the background. That or her 'Speak Now' cover. Both are really good! Yes Lexie, I'm advertising you. You're welcome. But seriously, she is amazing and she's really pretty!
And once again, you should name me some villains and something they do a lot [you know, play with their fingers, twiddle their thumbs, smoke, etc] Review! This is 7 pages!
-FrankandJoe3