Shock collar Chapter 9: The truth may vary, this ship will carry, a young justice fanfic

Disclaimer: YES! YOUNG JUSTICE IS BACK! But I didn't make it that way.

This is being written on Feb 25th, 2012. Mother never said anything against typing the stories, now did she?

I woke up. Well, it feels like I woke up, at least. It's all dark. I began to think back.

'How did I get here? Death, are you there? Or did you send me on a mission or something?'

No answer.

'Fine, I'll figure this out myself.' I thought angrily. I just need to remember.

Robin's Memories: At the island

"You will kill him. You need to show your loyalty." He said, so to annoy him, I smiled a bloody smile.

" Why would I kill Batman? And even more, why do I want to show loyalty to you?" I asked. He stood over bloodied me.

"So the others will not be killed." He said, his eyes narrowing. I looked straight up at him.

"That's not very smart. I kill someone to keep someone else from being killed? That's like saying that for killing people we kill people to show killing people is wrong." I said in mock confusion. That got me a new bruise to the face.

'This is not good. Not good at all' I thought to myself. I had five bruises in total on my legs, about seven on my arms, who knows how many on my chest, and about six on my face. Also, my mask is ripped, showing the iris and pupal of my left eye. This is not good at all.

"Do it or I'll kill one of them." He said, obviously trying to keep his cool. He reached to the pouch on his leg and pulled out a remote with a small Flash symbol on it. He had the teams and a few Justice League members that were close to him, like Superman and Batman, And that was only a few out of hundreds. In his room, which I've gotten by a few glimpses, there was what looked like the whole Justice League. But he preferred to keep the Team and a few close ones, like Roy and Zatanna( Which I still wonder how he knew about her. Let alone know to put her in his pouch.) who I barley see. And he constantly keeps flashing them at me with a smug look on his mask, face, thing... ANYWAYS, if he was acting like that now, I wouldn't be worried. But now. Right now. I've never seen him so angry with me.

And that made me worry.

"No, that's the only thing that's keeping me here. You wouldn't use it." I said, glaring with a slight bit of worry in my eyes. And of course he could see it, my mask being ripped. So he pushed me farther.

"No? But every remote has three of it's kind. One is the one that I've used on you. Another takes you back to life, if your body's in a good enough condition. And the last one blows you to pieces." He said, making an explosion gesture with his free hand.

I just starred at him. There was no comeback coming up from my throat this time. I opened my mouth to protest, but only a gag like noise came out.

"Y-you can't. I-I won't let you." I said, trying to stand up, but a kick to the chest took that ability away.

"Will you kill him?" He asked. There was a few moments of silence. For some reason, the noises stopped. I stopped shaking, and I could stand up. But all I did was look up and say a few simple words. So simple and small.

"Now, why would I do that? He is the goddamn Batman. And I'm just the Batboy." I said smugly. The really threw him 2,000 feet off the deep end.

"ARGHHH! SAY GOOD BYE TO YOUR LITTLE FRIENDS, YOU LITTLE BRAT!" He screamed. He's really mad now. More mad than he has ever been.

This made me worry about ten billion times more than Bruce's money is in pennies.

"NO!" I screamed as I lurched towards the man.

To late.

He pushed the button. I waited a second. Then two. Moments past, both of the skilled fighters starred at the remote in disbelief. Then I smiled to myself.

Batman did it! He found the cure.

"YES!" I screamed. Poor me, I shouldn't of done that. Why not? Because immediately I received more kicks to my chest, stomach, face, and basically everywhere that could kill. And that was just in eight seconds. I was on the floor. Every scar, it seemed, to of been reopened. Blood gushed around me. Then he pulled out the remote.

"Your little friends might of been able to cure themselves, but you are of no exceptions." He said as he turned up the dial. My eyes went large. I am so in trouble when I get out of this.

If I get out of this, that is.

Bolts spread through my neck throughout my body. I opened my mouth to scream, but all the air had been sucked out of me. So I just curled up into a ball and locked myself away. Far, far away.

"Robin!"

That brought me back out. I opened my left eye.I would open my right, but it was swollen so much from a heel kick that it could only open a painful centimeter. That centimeter grew to any inch from what I saw.

They were here! They came! But not in time. I was definitely not going to heal from this one. Too much blood loss. If I did live, I would probably lose a few limbs. No more Robin.

Megan tried to fly to me, but Deathy over here walked in between the martian and I.

"He's no longer Robin. He is Nightbird." He balled up his hands so only I could only see. He was going to kill them if I disagreed. So I nodded slightly.

"Yeah, I am." I said quietly.

I saw Miss.M and Kal stare at me in disbelief. I'm sure Superboy was starring at me in shock, but he was out of my sight.

"But he beat you! You can't stay with him! Look! We have the cure to the Nanobots! You don't have to fight for us anymore." Megan said with a mix of cheeriness and didn't she get it?

"That doesn't make him any less strong! He'll beat you in less than a second!" I screamed as I tried to get up, but ended up falling down in pain. The landing didn't help either. My wounds that had stopped bleeding on my head burst open as I found that I couldn't move.

Yep, my life as anything is over.

"No!" I heard Artemis yell as she began shooting arrows. Everyone took one last look at me before fighting. I saw a quick glimpse of a yellow and red flash before I saw Death turn up the dial. Everyone back off for a second as they saw him. He was about to make the threat when Wally came running at him. I saw it all before it happened.

A crumpled figure that was surrounded by a pool of blood, with close ones curled over them, crying. And finally I saw a man in the background, laughing his head off.

It made me think of a song that Mama would sing to me when I was

Hey!

Hey!
I don't like walking around this old and empty house

So hold my hand, I'll walk with you my dear
The stairs creak as I sleep, it's keeping me awake

It's the house telling you to close your eyes

Some days I can't even trust myself

It's killing me to see you this way

'Cause though the truth may vary
This ship will carry
Our bodies safe to shore

Hey!

Hey!
There's an old voice in my head that's holding me back

I tell her that I miss our little talks

Soon it will all be over, buried with our past

You used to play outside when you were young,
Full of life and full of love

Some days I feel like I am wrong and I am right

Your mind is playing tricks on you my dear

'Cause though the truth may vary
This ship will carry
Our bodies safe to shore

Hey!
Don't listen to a word I say
Hey!
The screams all sound the same
Hey!

'Cause though the truth may vary
This ship will carry
Our bodies safe to shore

Go go go away
I wish you'd disappear
All that's left is a ghost of you
Now we're torn torn torn apart, there's nothing we can do
Just let me go, we'll meet again soon

Now wait wait wait for me
Please hang around
I see you when I fall asleep

Hey!
Don't listen to a word I say
Hey!
The screams all sound the same
Hey!

'Cause though the truth may vary
This ship will carry
Our bodies safe to shore

Don't listen to a word I say
Hey!
The screams all sound the same
Hey!

'Cause though the truth may vary
This ship will carry
Our bodies safe to shore

I don't know why. I think I felt her hug me. Then came blue lights and a scream. I figure that was me.

Then for a second, nothing.

Then a bright flash. I was on train tracks. A train was heading my way. I stood were I was. I heard screeches of the brakes. Three feet from me, it stopped. Smoke puffed out of the top. I looked to the left, the boarding stairs flew out and four figures came running out.

"Dick!"

My eyes went wide. Well, I was still beaten up, but I didn't feel it. That didn't really matter to me right now.

"Mami! Tati! Aunt Clara! John!" I screamed when they reached me. My Mami ran over and hugged me and John messed up my hair.

"What's up, squirt?" He said playfully. I jumped on him and tried to attack his hair like I did as a kid. But this time, I was taller than I was before. I was able to reach his head and play with his hair. He laughed and brushed me off.

"Okay, so maybe your not a squirt anymore. And look at you! Your three times more muscle than I was at your age!" He laughed.

"Your starting to talk like Tati."I said in mock seriousness. He just laughed more and pick me up.I felt like a little kid again, running through the circus. I wish that we could all go back and jump through the air. A thought came to my head.

"Am I dead?"

Tati looked at me with sympathy.

"Yes, you died a few minutes ago. How did you die?"

I looked up in confusion.

"You didn't see me die?" I asked. Isn't it a gift you get when you die to see the earth?

"No, we can't watch you. We have no idea what happened to you. So fill us in dear." Aunt Clara said. I shuffled my feet and smiled.

"I got adopted by a billionaire. Bruce Wayne." I said awkwardly. They looked at me wide eyed. Then John spoke up.

"So you got murdered in a ransom attempt? Didn't he try to pay it? That jerk." He said bitterly, clenching his fists in anger. I waved my hands in the air.

"No, it's not that. Sure, I was beat to death, but not as Dick Grayson." I wanted to continue, but Tati stopped me.

"You still kept the Grayson name?" He asked surprised.

"Well, technically I have to have Wayne in my name, so it's Richard John 'Dick' Grayson Wayne." I said. I saw John laughing from the corner of my eye.

"Yeah, a mouth full. Anyways, when I got out of the orphanage, I went looking for Zucco. Oh, he's the one who killed you." I mentally laughed at John's face.

"You went looking for the guy that killed us? Did you find him?" He asked.

"Yeah, I found him." I replied smoothly.

"And you beat him?" He questioned. I blushed slightly.

"Well, no. Actually, He beat me up for awhile. Then Batman showed up before I passed out." I said. John shook his head and walked closer.

"Wait, so you followed the guy that killed us, he beat you up, and the Batman appeared?" He asked. I smiled broadly.

"Yep. And when I woke up, I was in the Batcave. And Batman didn't have his mask on! It turned out he was Bruce." I said. There eyes went wide.

"So he took you in to find out who killed us?" Mami asked worried.

"No! His parents were also murdered when he was a kid, so he felt a kinship with me. After I saw him, he told me to never do that again. Of course, I ignored him." I said slyly.

"Even though you lost, you went out again anyways?

"Yes, Auntie Clara, I did. But this time, I went in a superhero costume. You know the one you gave me? I wore that one. When I got there, Batman was tied to this throwing knife thing and I saved him. When he got out, Zucco had me in a death grip, but Batsy saved me. After that, I became Robin. And after awhile, I modified it to be more stealthy. Can I show you somehow?" I rambled. John shook his head and looked at me.

"Wait a minute. your Robin? A lot of people come here saying that Robin was the last person they saw trying to save them." He asked.

"Yeah." I replied. "But those were the few I couldn't save. If they're here, then I have nothing to worry about."

"Yes, you do." Mami said, taking my shoulders. "You saw all those people die. I'm so sorry we didn't listen when you asked us to not jump that day."

"I'm okay, really, I got used to it. Fighting crime gives you a lot of endurance." I said. Then I remembered what I asked before. "So can I show you?"

" Oh, yes, just concentrate on what you want to look like. " Mami said.

"And while your at it, get rid of those bruises, they're creepy." John joked, only to be elbowed by his mother.

I concentrated on every detail of my Robin uniform. I looked down and saw my cape fluttering around me with my uniform, including the mask.

" Whoa, that's awesome." John breathed. Mami and Tati looked proudly at me.

"But how did you die?" Aunt Clara asked. I took in a deep breath.

"I was black mailed into stealing things. The guy put a collar on my neck that could kill me and injected a lot of people with the same thing, but more deadly. When I found out that they were cured, I refused to do the next mission. He got angry and almost killed me. But then my team showed up and tried to save me, but ended up in destroying the remote, which was connected to my nerves, which killed me, I guess." I said, rubbing the back of my neck. Mami walked over and hugged me.

"Don't worry, your here now." She said. But when John went to put his hand on my head, it fell through. Then Mami almost fell through me, but she caught herself and stood back up, wide eyed.

"What's going on?" I asked, looking at my hands, which were now see through. They all stood next to each other.

"Your not dead yet. And your coming back to life. Your team must be able to save you." Aunt Clara said

"But it's your choice if you want to stay." John blurted out. I smiled.

"No, I need to go back. Imagine what Bruce would be like without his son. And the Team will be caught in a day without my skills." I said proudly. John went to scruffle my hair, but remembered what would happen and pretended to lean on me.

"That's my cousin. Keep the Grayson name going." He said. I began to fall through the floor. I brought two fingers to my forehead and waved them towards the group.

"See ya in twenty years." I said.

"Bye Dick. We love you." I heard when the blackness engulfed me again.

I began to feel pain and the presence of others around me. Five. At first I thought I didn't get to live and I was with my family again, but I soon noticed it was the Team. I would smile, if that was possible.

I vaguely remember hearing a sweet voice sing in my head as I was laid in a bed,

'Cause though the truth may vary
This ship will carry
Our bodies safe to shore

I floated off to sleep. mentally smiling to myself.

And now I'm here.

I bet the Team thinks it's over, but they don't know something. All though my collar has been deactivated, that has nothing to do with the bots inside me.

You know, the ones that self destruct.

YAY IT'S OVER! That's the longest one I've ever written.

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