I'm curious to see how y'all are going to respond to this. Here comes another monkey wrench!
Robin swooped down on another rooftop. It was surprisingly quiet tonight and it put him on edge. He knew who was out here and he could only imagine what they were up to. He got luckier than he thought he would and heard a scream of frustration and the banging of trash cans being knocked over from nearby.
Creeping as close as he dared, Robin peered over the edge and observed the two figures below.
"My babies, Red! The vet doesn't know if he'll make it!" A blonde woman paced, every once and a while lashing out at pieces of trash from the knocked over can or kicking the side of the concrete building. "I'll find who did this and slit their throat! I'll blow 'em up and gut them!"
"Harl, have you learned your lesson yet? Those things need to be kept in a safer place."
"That's what Mistah J says; but it's hard to see them all chained up. They need their exercise!"
"You have any idea who did it?"
"Someone with a gun."
Robin let himself breathe a little easier. So it was only Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. Granted, both were dangerous, not to mention together, but he'd be able to manage.
"No, really?" Ivy's sarcastic response was coupled with a glare.
"Really, Red!" Harley stomped on another piece of trash. "Hey, I got an idea."
"What?"
"I should just blow up this stupid city!" Harley's voice reached an aggravating octave and she threw her hands into the air with glee. "Then I won't have to do any hunting! Everyone will be dead! It's what Mistah J would do, right?"
"Don't start this again, Harl." Ivy's tone went low and dangerous. "He's dumped you for the last time. You're never going back."
"Right, right." Harley laced her fingers together behind her back and sent a guilty smile towards Ivy. "No Mistah J. He's mean and rotten and—"
"You called?"
Robin stiffened. That voice was one that would forever haunt him. The Joker stepped out from the shadows, cruel grin ever present. He sneered at Ivy, but otherwise made no other movements.
"Mistah J!" Harley threw herself at him, and he caught her in his arms. "Oh, I've missed you!"
"Harl," Ivy warned.
"Been a good little Tree Hugger, Ivy?" Joker snarled. "Like your trees, Harley belongs to me."
"She doesn't belong to anyone;" Ivy snapped back, "especially not to you."
"Quiet down, now. There are more important things to discuss." Joker dropped Harley, but she caught herself and did a happy cartwheel back to Ivy. "Harley, we can't blow up Gotham, beautiful city of dirt and grime. No, we must preserve it for a while longer."
"Why, puddin'?" Harley titled her head, giddy, love sick smile still stretching her ruby red lips.
"There's a little rumor that a hero's been sighted here in Gotham."
Dick narrowed his eyes. So they'd caught wind of his actions; that was neither good nor bad.
"You're talking about the bounty." Ivy flipped her hair. "I should have guessed you'd show up for that."
"Come now, Ivy," Joker's grin widened, "we all know you're here for the same thing."
"Six million is a notable bounty, but I've got other reasons for visiting Gotham."
"Red's gonna go visit—" Harley started, but stopped and clamped two hands over her mouth. "Oopsies, I can't say anything! I remembered, Red, just like I told you!"
"Very good, Harl, just make sure you keep remembering." Ivy's eyes narrowed and she gave a warning look to Harley, who giggled nervously.
"You two haven't seen the little brat running around, have you?" Joker eyed his surroundings carefully. "I've been meaning to have a little heart to heart with him."
"Maybe he's the one who shot my poor baby!" Harley cried, once again throwing herself into Joker.
"Shot the kids?" Joker's grin faded slightly. "How many have we lost? They were expensive."
"None, but Mr. Vet said he can't be let outside to play for a long time, Puddin'!"
"The brat shot our kid?" Joker's grin returned. "I think we've got to really pay a special visit to him, don't you think?"
"We haven't seen him." Ivy pulled her coat closer to her body. "I heard he goes by an interesting name."
"Do tell."
"Robin."
Dick's eyes widened. So it was him they were after. This wasn't good, not good at all. If there was a bounty placed on his head, who knows how many of Gotham's crazies were going to come hunting him. Now was the time to try and communicate with Batman. As much as he was still hurting, he was going to need help. Not to mention the entire universe could collapse at any time. He'd been dawdling for too long.
"A bird hunt, then?" Joker let out a cackle, his roaring laughter echoing through the cold, dark, damp streets of Gotham. "No, a baby bird hunt!"
It was time to run.
After one week of training his little pupils, he'd been delivering a crook he'd caught a mere three blocks away from the Gotham Police HQ when a shot whizzed past his ear from one of the guards.
"Greg, what're you doing?" the other guard asked, gun trained on his fellow officer. "That's Robin!"
"I know who it is!" The man giggled a little, in a crazed, greedy way. "He's going to make me rich."
"What are you talking about? Put your gun down!"
Robin stared down the corrupt officer. He understood; word had gotten out about the bounty. Great, now he'd need to watch for friendly fire.
"I'll split it with you George," The officer took another shot and Robin barely managed to get out of the way, his cheek suffering a wound, "just help me wrangle in the kid. It's six million for each of us!"
What a liar; then again, the bounty might have gone up. Dick pulled a birdarang, but before he could throw it, George had shot Greg in the leg. Apprehending the man's gun, he took a step a back. With his gun still trained on the cursing and writhing police officer, George gave Robin a questioning look.
"Thanks." Robin dragged the crook lying face down on the street up and deposited him on the steps a ways away from Greg. "It's cops like you that make me proud to do my job."
"You sure you're okay? He said there's a bounty on your head."
"Yeah," Robin clenched his fists, "some scary people are after my head. It's what I get for my job, you know. Don't worry about it, but I'd try to use it to lure out all the guys like him around this place."
"Good idea." George smiled at him and radioed in two crooks in need of jailing. "Be careful out there. Commissioner has a soft spot for you, so if you need anything, come 'round."
"Thanks, but to be honest, I don't think involving you guys is the best option." Robin waved and went on his way.
Thank you angelrider13 for your reviews on every single chapter yesterday! I'm glad you're enjoying this and it was fun to see your thoughts progress throughout the day.
Doogadude, thank you for pointing out that I need to go over my chapters a little more. I'm sorry that I missed a few things. As for your question, I'm sorry, but you're going to have to wait and see!
Melkyre, I'm happy to see my little story has surprised you, and I'm eager to see what you'll think of it in the future. You mentioned you didn't really think anything of the story at first. Is it the summary? I've been thinking I should change it up a bit. What was it that you thought was unattractive about it before you delved into this?
KKCopper, yes, I have seen all of the Young Justice episodes. Now I must ask you, have you seen the episode of Batman; The Animated Series where Batman and Robin go against Bane? Robin has his shirt off, my friend. Mmhm, I know my way around. Let me know if you need help finding it.
Scotty1609, Oooh! I feel so incredibly stupid right now it's not even funny. How completely obvious. I'm so sorry you had to spell it out to a child like me. Sigh, I'll be 18 in a month and half and here I am, wondering what "update?" means. I can only hope my writing doesn't come off as childish! Sorry again for my stupidity!