235. A Hard Act to Follow part 20
December 1, 2004.
Smallville, Kansas.
12:07 am
Field.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
"So let's go over this one last time…," Pulsade murmured. Hours had passed. By then, the girls sat in halves. One on one side of the barn. One on the other sides. Two pairs of youngsters leaning against the dilapidated, wooden walls. Facing dazedly against each other. "…you want us to help out the Titans…and then you'd be willing to perform a search for your child?"
Terra nodded, lightly hugging herself. She brushed a blonde strand aside and swallowed before saying: "I may be in a lot of trouble at the moment. But they're in it deeper than I am. Above all else, I want to find my child. But I have…..a duty to perform."
Jinx blinked. "What duty could possibly be more important than finding the kid that was taken from y--" Pulsade interrupted her with a gentle hiss and a firm hand on the pink sorceress' shoulder. She took a breath and calmly gazed back the other way.
Supergirl was glaring at them. After a second or two, she turned to the earth maiden and nodded her head: "Please continue, Terra…."
She did. "The Titans are in a lot of trouble right now. Whoever this Red Aviary is, he's out to make their lives a living Hell. I think this is all somehow has its roots in me. I mean…..I don't know why, but Noir says he and I were essential puzzle pieces to this really nasty, bloody situation everyone seems to be in now. Robin died because he was the first guy on Red Aviary's hit list. Supposedly, I'm next. And until I'm dead—or else Red Aviary is—the Titans won't see the end of it. I can't let them go through this madness anymore. Especially after all that I've done to them. It just….j-just wouldn't be fair….."
"……..," Pulsade gazed silently towards the floor.
Jinx looked suddenly super-sensitive for some reason. She hugged her knees to her chest and remained quiet.
Terra looked over at the Girl of Steel as she went on: "I owe the Titans my life. I….I-I owe you my life, Kara…."
Supergirl managed a small—but very honest smile.
"I'll let the Titans and the superheroes of this nation have my life for all it's worth first…," Terra said. She looked back over at the two roguish females. "Then I'll go with you to wherever we need to go."
"And I'm going with her," Supergirl said sternly. "You got that?"
"Yes….I do believe we 'got' it," Pulsade droned.
Supergirl only frowned more.
Jinx dripped: "So….uhm….I guess that means the two of you are gonna go hiking east or something—?"
"You'll be coming with us," Terra said.
Jinx's cat-eyes bulged. "Nmiaow?"
The earth maiden pointed: "Think of it a test. A way for you two to prove that we can trust you!"
"I….I-I don't like it, Leslie…," Jinx bit her lip and looked over nervously. "You know what the Titans would do if we so much as stepped into their City again? I don't care how much Ghost Boy may have warmed to me—er, at least I think he has—but the other kids can't be too kosher with us—"
"We agree," Pulsade nodded.
"Good," Supergirl said.
"Eek! No, we do not! Not that quickly!" Jinx pouted. "Leslie, let's talk this over! We—"
"Jean, you know what's at stake here."
"Yes, but—"
"But what?" Pulsade looked over. Not sternly. More deadpan… "'Gaia' is more important than either of us can imagine. Including our own existence."
"But…B-But…"
"Don't you want to do what's right and all that terrible mush?" Pulsade poetically struggled to say. "If I can give in, then sure as the Queen's arse you can!"
"Erhm…."
"Don't let go of a chance to redeem yourself, Jean."
"………"
"Redemptions is never painless…….remember that….."
"……..," the Third Apprentice shuddered….but eventually nodded with a quiet face.
Pulsade turned and looked at the two blondes again. "We'll go with you. We'll…..help you, protect the Titans. And…..if you so agree to it…..we'll gladly let the two of you partake in—or even lead this new mission. After all….it's far more intimate a situation for you than it is for us."
"But…B-But we're more than willing to anything," Jinx said. She swallowed and added as sincerely as she could: "W-We mean th-that….."
"………………….," Terra strongly inhaled. "Good. And…uhm….th-thank you….."
Jinx smiled ever so slightly.
"We aren't leaving tonight, though….," Supergirl said.
The others gazed at her.
"Huh?"
"It's late. And might I remind you…," the Girl of Steel smirked in a subtle way as she added: "…my first job right now is to tend to the Titans' long-lost guest."
"Erhm…."
"And it's way past her bedtime. And if I may be so frank, it's way past mine too."
Pulsade calmed herself with a deep breath before half-groaning: "Lasses….we must act quickly. Red Aviary is consuming the eastern landscape quicker than one can imagine. But I assure you, La Selle is carrying Gaia away at a pace so fast that even time can't dictate it!"
Terra bit her lip.
Supergirl said: "We'll be the judge of that." The Girl of Steel pointed. "Meet us here at exactly noon tomorrow." She glanced over at the petite blonde. "That okay with you?"
Terra nodded.
"Right. It's official then."
"Wh-Where are you two going?" Jinx asked.
"Never you mind…," Supergirl escorted Terra towards the opening in the side of the broken-down barn. "Some things must remain secrets."
"And wh-where are we supposed to sleep?" Jinx barked, shrugging her frilled arms.
Supergirl nonchalantly waved: "Hey, you chose to fly out here. You make the decision, girls! Adios!"
Jinx and Pulsade were alone.
"Nnnngh….," Jinx ran a hand over her face. "So far….away….from my bed….."
Pulsade glared. "You don't have a 'bed'."
"I know….," Jinx long-faced. "That's why it's so far away."
"Ugh…."
"How're we gonna pull this one off?" the sorceress asked, yawning.
Pulade ran a hand through her platinum blonde hair and glanced out at the starlit fields. "I don't truly know, love. Perchance we'll find a cow to hollow out and sleep inside."
Jinx winced. "M-Must you be so dramatic?"
"And must you be so bloody dainty? Come on! Grab a rusted sickle from the wall there…"
"…………."
"You know that I'm kidding, right?"
"………….."
"So blame me for bloomin' trying…."
"I'm using your face as a pillow tonight, limey."
"Pfft…whatever."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Terra and Supergirl strolled across the wintry-cold fields of Kansas, away from the barn.
Terra hugged herself and murmured: "H-How can y-you not be cold in that getup?" she nodded towards Supergirl's trademark hoopskirt and tanktop.
Supergirl merely smirked. "I hear this coming from a girl who wore shorts in the desert at night?"
"Touché."
"Don't worry about me, Terra. Not on a night like this. Don't worry about me at all…."
Terra bit her lip. "You think the farmer whose crops I landed the huge slab of concrete in will be mad about his damaged corn?"
Supergirl shrugged. "Things 'fall' down onto Smallville a lot, so it seems. I wouldn't be worried about it."
"Okay….."
Silence…..
Supergirl stopped and glanced over at the smaller female. "Terra….are you sure of this?"
"I…I-I do trust them, Kara…," the earth maiden shakingly said. "At least, I want to trust them—"
"No, I mean going back to the Titans…," Supergirl shook her head. "Are you certain you can handle meeting them so soon?"
Terra sighed. "I'm more worried about….if they would be willing to meet me right away."
"………."
"Beast Boy was my best friend, Kara. He was with me to the very end. But….I dunno. I hurt him. I hurt him very…very badly. I can't imagine things staying the same…."
"You said you remembered stuff that happened to you while you were stone, right? Didn't you say Beast Boy put his life on the line to save you once?"
"Yeah….but I was a helpless statue then….," Terra bit her lip. "Things are……different now….."
Silence.
A cold wind.
Terra shivered. "Nnngh…I can't stand this cold. I used to stand it all the time in the desert. But not now…."
"Then let's go home," Supergirl walked over and took the girl's arm.
Terra glanced down. She took a deep breath. She glanced back up with helpless eyes: "I'm scared, Kara. I'm scared that….th-that The Titans wouldn't let me look for my child. I'm scared th-th-that they wouldn't even h-help me. And what would I do then?"
"………you already have one volunteer," Kara smiled hopefully. But she knew it was to little avail.
Terra's eyes were moistening. She tried to hide her face from the Girl of Steel. "I don't think I can r-really afford friends, Kara. I'm not worthy of your help."
"Don't say that…," Kara placed both hands gently on Terra's shoulders. "Hey. Look at me."
Terra did so, sniffing.
Kara's eyes thinned in the twilight. "Don't be down on yourself. Not anymore. Lord knows, everything else in this world already has. And that's gotta stop."
"…….," Terra squinted her eyes shut. She shuddered: "Wh-Why did they have to take so much away from me? Why did they have to rip out the one thing that made me worthwhile…..?" She hiccupped. Shook.
Supergirl bit her lip. She softly drew the petite girl to her and hugged her gently. A gloved hand caressed the back of her hair. "I dunno, Terra. The universe is a cruel place. But you know what? It's also a fickle place." She smiled gently. "Things will come around. Somehow, they will. I want to be there for you when it happens, too…."
Terra sniffed. She wiped her moist eyelids with a sleeve. "Th-Thank you…."
"Hey…what are superheroes for?"
"……………y-yeah….."
"Come on…let's take the high road," Supergirl hugged Terra's waist from behind and lifted skyward.
Terra let out a slight gasp, but then closed her eyes and relaxed against the cool winds as Supergirl flew the two of them southward over the shadowed farmlands.
To the Kents' House.
The night would need the most sleep they could give it.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Titan's City.
1:55 am.
Titan's Tower.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
"………"
Raven sat in the shadows of the Tower's atrium. Alone as always.
She held the teacup from earlier in her lap. It was still empty for some reason.
The dark girl gazed at the black, windowless giant doors of the Tower for a long time in some sort of secret new meditation technique. Minus the chanting.
She breathed softly. A separate peace.
When Cyborg walked in, it was delightfully unannounced. For a few seconds, both Titans knew of each other's presence. But they said nothing of it. They made love separately to the dark corners of the room until Cyborg became the first to blatantly utter:
"It's always like this nowadays."
Raven didn't turn to look at him. Her response was more numb than bitter. "Like what?"
Cyborg sighed, rubbed his human head-half, and gestured: "All four of us. Alone. Shuffling in the dark. Then meeting…quietly. Like this. Once a day or something."
"…………"
"I have my excuses of course," Cyborg murmured. "I've been locked up in my lab lately. For a good cause….I-I think. I may not be repaired yet, but in spite of my bugs…I got my new baby off the blueprints. The T-Car II is ready for action. Record time too, if I may say so myself. Took all day and night…but it was worth it."
"…………."
"Just…..it m-might come in handy…….ya know…….in the future. For th-the team….."
"…………."
Cyborg sighed. He shuffled across the atrium, still behind Raven's back. He leaned against a lone chair and gazed her blue way. With a thin human eye he murmured: "Raven, is it over between us?"
A bit of silence answered him. She inhaled slowly through her nose and—still without glancing back—said to the air: "Cyborg, I know that you've been spying on me."
"……….."
"I could sense it. Azar knows, it's the only thing about you I can sense lately. The only thing you've given me the freedom to sense. Everything else about you is……..missing, somehow."
"I'm here, Raven."
"No you're not….," Raven turned and gazed at him. Cold eyes….but gentle eyes. "No, you're not here, Cyborg. You think you are. I-I know I'd like to think you are too. But you really aren't." She swallowed. She gazed back towards the doors. "Come to think of it….none of us are really here anymore. It shocks me. I thought we were all stronger than this."
"Raven--"
"I thought we didn't have to resort to secret meetings……or spying….."
Cyborg winced at that. He was about to say something—
"I'm guilty too, Vic," she said.
Cyborg bit his lip. "D-Don't say that, Rae…."
"But I am. I need not say it to know that it's true." She again glanced at him through the side of her vision. "I should have told you that I was visiting Phaser Labs. I should have told you that I was meeting up with Tempest. I….honestly can't blame you for spying."
"I thought you would have sensed me, Raven," Cyborg muttered. "I figured…it was the only way I could have been a part of those meetings anyways."
"Was it what you feared?"
"………..how do you mean?"
"Just tell me, Cyborg…..," Raven spoke in a low voice. "…tell me what is so wrong….about actually doing something for a change?"
Silence.
She went on thusly: "Why did Noir have to leave, Tempest have to alienate himself, and Garfield and Starfire sink away into themselves….without either you or me doing anything to help the dying team out?"
"We haven't had all our faculties, Rae. You've been getting more accustomed to emotions. And ever since November Fourth, my malfunctions have been--"
"Those never stopped us before," Raven clenched her fists around a fold in her robe as she clenched her jaw. Her eyes were thin. Hurting…. "Why now, Vic? Why have we given up?"
Cyborg slowly marched towards the back of her. "We don't have to….give up, Raven."
She turned and looked at him.
He swallowed and nodded: "We can start the Titans out on the right foot. Anytime."
"You speak like a month of Hell hasn't already passed."
"……"
Raven sighed. She relaxed her fingers and stared down into her teacup. "Beast Boy is no longer Beast Boy. He's 'Changeling' now. He's been up all night too. I just got done talking to him, in fact. Garfield's willing to change. In fact, he already has. I've never seen him so….so strong. So autonomous. In perfect coordination with himself. Evolving, Vic. He's evolving."
Cyborg listened, his head leaning to the side.
Raven stirred. "And Starfire….She's far more adult than I've ever been. She's still joyful, if at least in a passive sense. But she's learned to absorb Robin's death, rather than obsess over it. She's moved on, Vic. She and Garfield are both moving on while you and I hold this team down and it's not right……it's n-not right at all…."
Cyborg exhaled. He glanced at the floor. "……"
Raven stood up. She looked at him tenderly and said: "I….I am so thankful for what you've done for me, Cyborg. You've opened my eyes. You've given me joy….you've given me grief….even anger and annoyance. But all of this isn't enough. Because I could change all day for the better…and it could make us both happy. But what about the world around us, Cyborg? I feel that….the worst thing the two of us can do together…..is to be together. Because we'll never change, Vic. We'll never grow out of this rut. The bloody wound that Robin's death made will never seal as long as you and I are hiding under the skin. It just isn't right……"
Cyborg shifted where he stood. He gestured and stammered: "I-I can get the Titans together. I can fix things, Raven. Really, I can. In a day or two, you won't know th-that—"
"Victor….."
"……..yes, Raven?"
She gazed at him, lips parted. She slowly shook her head: "I don't want it to be fixed."
"……………"
She placed the teacup down on the chair. She shuffled over, straightening her robe some. When she stood chest-to-face with Cyborg, she looked up at his brown and red eyes. She bit her lip, closed her violet optics, and leaned forward. She hugged him fiercely.
He softly exhaled and hugged her back. Gentle, titanium arms. A distant reminder of the miracle that re-forged his charred self.
Raven shuddered. A crystal drop or two leaked out of her clenched lids as she pressed her face against his titanium self.
"I-I don't ever want to l-leave you, Cyborg. B-But as much as we've l-learned together….I-I can't handle this m-misdirection. And I-I know you h-haven't meant it. You've done the same thing I've b-been doing all this time…"
"Wh-What's that, Rae?" he spoke, trying to keep his voice straight.
She leaned back, swallowed, and tried her vain best to keep her cheeks dry as she gazed back up at him: "Haven't you felt it? The transferral?"
"………"
"You are what I used to be, Cyborg…," she softly said. "You hole yourself up in your rooms. You obsess over your own hobbies. You keep the Titans at a distance and treat their inquiries and hopes and dreams with a bitter distance. And it's not your fault, Vic. It's not. I….I-I passed it onto you. I know I did."
"Rae--"
"After all you did to warm me up, I only filled you with such….such cold….."
"Raven….c-cutie….," he pressed a titanium finger under her chin.
She stared shakily at him, sniffing.
He smiled gently. "No, Raven. I've been…..so happy. So very happy to get to know you. And—as it seems—to help you like I have. But don't blame yourself for what I am or what I do. Don't take that upon yourself at all. P-Please…."
"……."
He gently broke their hug, but kept his hands gently on her shoulders as he tilted his head down and said: "I've got a lot to learn, Raven. And….I don't ever want to drag you down with me when I'm wallowing in my own lessons."
She shook her head: "Vic, I--"
"Shhh…," he smiled. A painful thing. "Let me learn about myself, Raven."
"…………….," she stepped back out of his arms. A shudder. She nodded: "All right….."
Cyborg ran a hand over the human part of his head. He glanced aside. "I'm….I-I'm sorry……I'm sorry about spying on you. The fact that I couldn't find another way to find out what was going on….as if I need to find out……ugh….it's so wrong. I don't know where to begi--"
"Don't." She simply said. A curt drone like the Raven days of olde. "I want to forget that there've been any secrets."
"Like Robin supposedly being alive?"
"I believe it, Victor."
He nodded. "I understand."
"……," she squinted her eyes at him.
He cleared his throat. "I-I mean….I understand that you feel that way."
"………," she slowly turned around. She picked up her teacup from the chair and fingered it with her back facing away from Cyborg. "I'll be leaving tomorrow…."
Cyborg's lips parted. "L-Leaving, Rae?"
Her head nodded. "For Gotham City…."
He took half-a-step towards her. "But….why?"
She turned around. A strong glare. "To find out the truth once and for all."
"Raven, the likelihood of—"
"I know," she said, a graceful hand raised. "Whatever you're going to say, I know. I'm going anyways. I need to find out for myself."
And she shuffled past him.
Cyborg turned. In a low voice he said: "Raven, I just got the T-Car II made. She deserves a test drive. If you want to go and try to find Robin in Gotham City, then at least let me give you a ride there—"
She paused and looked at him: "Cyborg…," she shook her head with a sigh. "That's not going to fix the way things are between us and you know it."
He simply nodded. "Right. But it will get you to Gotham City with less hassle."
"………."
"It's only an offer," Cyborg gestured. "The least I can do……" He took a bit of tongue pulling to honestly add: "As a Titan Leader."
"………….," she nodded her head. "I'll think about it, Vic. Thank you."
"Whenever, Raven…."
"…….."
"…….."
She turned.
She walked away.
Cyborg stood in the shadows. The darkness of the Tower's atrium.
He flexed his fingers and gazed down towards the floor.
Still……
"………………………."
Suddenly, a light gold aura blinked across the room. There was a gentle chiming sound.
"?" Cyborg stretched a metal hand to his hips and unholstered a communicator. He could tell from an LCD display that the message was coming from outside the headquarters. He flipped the communicator open with a Star Trek sound. "Titans' Tower. This Cyborg. How can I help?"
"Cyborg? Wow……I-I didn't expect you to actually be up this early in the morning. Uhm……ahem……th-this is Dr. Abrams from Phaser Labs. Is Raven there by chance?"
"……," Cyborg glanced at the distant elevator that had long closed to carry the robed beauty upwards. "It depends. What's up?"
"Well, you're the Titan Leader. I think you might want to come look at this recent finding I've made."
"What about, exactly?"
"You'll have to see for yourself, sir. But it has to do with the Radioactive Depository on the night Robin died."
"……………"
"Th-There's a new development, sir. Something we never factored in before."
Cyborg nodded to the air. "Understood, Dr. Abrams. Stay where you are. I'll be right there…."
"Very well, Cyborg. Abrams out."
Blip.
Cyborg holstered the communicator again. He took a deep breath, turned around, and headed towards the large double doors of the front of the Tower….
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Gotham Countryside.
2:20 a.m.
Wayne Manor.
The Bat-Cave.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Batman," Robin spoke. He pointed to the pensive, blonde boy as he spoke: "Joey says that we're missing something. Triangular knew that we were going to be intercepting them at the vaults."
"Exactly…," Batman nodded while in the middle of examining golden vials under lab equipment. "They tried to ambush us. Two-Face thought that the combined forces of Killer Croc, Metallo, and Matt Hagan's chemicals could make an impregnable gang of thugs. He was right….but we had an ace up the sleeve."
"But that's just it!" Robin exclaimed. Excitedly…anxiously….he took a deep breath and rambled: "It looks like we defeated them. And for all intents and purposes, we did. It was a tough fight. All of us nearly died. And—yes—Batgirl suffered in the end from Red Aviary. But that's just it. I don't think Deathstroke factors in on what's crucial here…."
"Tim. Barbara's spine has been shattered to dust. How crucial do you want?"
"Give me a chance here!" Robin snapped.
"……," Batman icily went on with his analyses.
"I don't think Two-Face expected Red Aviary to be there at the vaults at all. From what Jericho hints to me, Triangular had one last trick of their own. Metallo…Killer Croc….the Clayface wannabes….they were all red herrings! Distractions! Do you think we won so completely and devastatingly against Two-Face for no reason whatsoever?"
"I don't believe in luck….," Batman said. He looked up momentarily. His eyeslits were narrow. "We went in there and did what we had to do. Two-Face lost almost everything he's worked his whole criminal life to achieve, Tim. His sanity went along with it. If that's a red herring, then Harvey Dent is far more psychotic and self-deprecating than ever I've given him credit for. And I know him. Trust me."
"I do trust you, Bruce," Robin raised his arms. "But…..I think there's been some wool pulled over your eyes, just like it's been pulled over mine."
Batman refocused on the experimentation as he said: "Time will be the deciding factor."
"Time?" Robin did a double-take. "Time?" He crazily gestured. "Bruce, we don't have time! Triangular's one thing, but Deathstroke's out there just waiting to make a second strike!"
"Which is exactly why we should not venture out into the danger zone. At least….not now."
"…….," Robin's eyemask thinned. "What are you getting at….?"
Batman paused momentarily. He didn't share the Boy Wonder's eyesight as he said: "It was gross negligence on my part to assume that Deathstroke would only go after you and not someone else on the team like Barbara."
"'Gross negligence'?"
"I should have anticipated that each and every one of us would be in danger as long as Red Aviary was alive. Deathstroke is a lot better informed than I thought. On….,"
Robin shrugged. "We all put our lives on the line! We always put our lives on the line! Barbara too! You…Y-You can't just put down a good opportunity to reevaluate the enemy just because someone out there proves he's a little smarter than the average psychopath!"
"Robin, you don't know what you're talking about."
He frowned. "Bite your tongue! I'm not some kid in a cape anymore!"
"………," Batman turned and stared at Robin straight on. For once, it didn't look like a tough glare from the Dark Knight…but rather a mutual mask of weariness. "Robin, if one of your Titans was to reach a near-death experience because of Slade…..would you allow the rest of them to back out in the open again for any sort of investigation?"
"………..," Robin bit his lip. He looked aside.
Batman took a deep breath. "You're right. You're not a kid anymore." He grabbed a rack of vials and walked across the open 'laboratory' to a processing vault of sorts which he sealed the capsules in. Robin followed him. Batman spoke: "I could spend all day arguing with you about our relationship as it is nowadays, Tim. Are you still my apprentice? Am I still a father to you? Are we partners…or are we comrades? You may think what you choose to think. You may be analytical like Barbara, stubborn like Dick, or even sarcastic like Alfred. The one thing I have no power over is you." He keyed through a couple of instruments across the vault device where the vials were in. "You are yourself, Tim. You are a legendary fighter….a great team fighter….and a perfect complement to the name 'Robin'." Batman finished keying. He turned around. He folded his arms and spoke firmly: "But if I have any word in it, I will not have you go out there into that urban hellhole again. Not until I figure out what is making Triangular and Red Aviary tick on my own. I nearly lost you once, Tim. Nightwing himself nearly died. And now Barbara will never…ever be the same again. I would be a fool…and absolute fool if I did not take this responsibility on myself right now…"
"Your 'responsibility'?" Tim remarked, doing a double-take.
"I'm going back out to check on Dick," Batman said. "If Deathstroke knows that Barbara Gordon is Batgirl, then he mustn't be far away from catching up on the rest of us. I'm going to try and talk Dick into coming back here."
"To do what? Play backgammon? Bruce…he wants to be with Barbara! Why can't you at least give him that? Give them that?"
"I will….if I must…," Batman said in half a growling exhale. "But if he values Barbara's prosperity further, I hope he'll do the right thing and take this situation maturely….by not putting himself needlessly in the line of Deathstroke's fire."
"Is that anything better than what you're doing?" Robin exclaimed. He frowned and pointed: "Bruce….if Gotham City out there is so incredibly dangerous, than Slade will be out to end you just as much as the rest of us! If this is so godawful true, then I can't let you go alone—"
"I'm not going to argue with you, Tim…," Batman marched on.
Robin jumped in his path. "Dammit, Batman! What happened to you? Was it Jim mourning over Barbara? Was it Bullock cussing you out again? Was it something that Dick said? What? Cuz you're being so God damn selfish right now that—I swear—I almost want to hit you!"
"And what is holding you back, Tim?" Batman solidly droned.
"……..," Robin stepped back. He took a shuddering breath: "Because I'm not used to you being wrong….."
"…………"
"Bruce…..you know who you sound like? You sound just like Superman. You sound like Superman when he nearly squelched Noir of all he could do for his own teammates. If Noir hadn't done some quick thinking, he wouldn't be here with us right now. And quite frankly, I don't know how far we'd be without him or Jericho to give us a silent, helping hand. Deathstroke got to Barbara. And that tears me apart as much as it tears at you. But it could have been worse. Much….much worse…."
"Tim, I you and I are a lot alike," Batman leaned forward. "Neither of us are afraid of anything. We're hardcore. It's part of us….Nightwing too. And it will never leave. What I'm doing is not selfish. It's for everyone's good. And if that means putting myself into danger above everyone else—"
"You might do that, Batman," Robin snarled and pointed at himself. "But I don't swing that way."
"Tim--"
"I'm not all hardcore, Batman! I'm a human being, okay?"
"……….."
A bit of silence.
Robin took a deep breath. He then exclaimed—just as loudly: "I…can't…defeat…Slade! And neither can you! Not on our own!"
More silence.
Robin calmed a bit. Then, in a lower breath, he said: "Do you know why? Because Slade is hardcore. That's all he is, Batman. Whatever was remotely redeemable and human in that nasty shell of his melted away the day Noir drove his sword through the madman's chest. I'm more than that. I'm more than Slade. I'm human, Batman. It's taken me a long time to…t-to grasp that. I can't defeat Slade on my own. I can't understand Triangular on my own. I need more than Noir and Jericho in this. I need you. I need you with me. Please, Batman. We'll get nothing by hiding out again while one or two of us goes out to scout the abyss around us like scared little bats without a belfry."
"……….," Batman took a deep breath and walked past Robin. "This is my City. If Deathstroke was to attack me….I would gladly take him with me."
Robin's jaw dropped. He gaped after Batman: "Bruce….I won't let you go away like that!"
"I'll be back, Robin…," Batman moved towards the platform where the Batwing rested. He reached to his utility belt and produced a remote that unlocked the craft from afar. "The last person you have to fear about is me…"
"Damn it, the Titans, Bruce! Deathstroke is going after the Titans next!"
"………," Batman stopped at the aircraft. He turned around. "……how do you know this?"
Robin seethed. "He told me."
"He…..told you?"
Robin hung his head. "We w-went to Barbara's apartment. All three of us. Jericho and I broke into the Oracle's room…."
"Tim….," Batman took a few half-steps towards him. "There was an investigation going on at the time. You know how risky that was. Why did you do it?"
Robin ignored that. "I found Deathstroke's message," he shudderingly said. "Written in blood. Batman, Slade will go after the Titans next if he can't get to me. You and I….we're still safe. It's the ones like Barbara…Dick….Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, Cyborg…..they're the ones in trouble. I cannot let my team fall under his sword. Not for anything in the world."
Batman pointed: "Nor can I let anything happen to you in turn. I'm going to face it, Robin. Head-on." He turned once again to the Batwing. "When I return, the vials should be completed with their analysis. The theories you and Jericho have about Two-Face and Triangular, we can discuss then. Right now…stay here. I need you at your prime, Robin. I need you….alive."
"Bruce. There's no time--"
SCHLUMP! HISS!
The hatch to the Batwing closed. The platform rotated around. A 'door' opened in the wall of the Batcave. A runway 'bridge' popped up between the platform and the door. The jet turbines of the Batwing flared up….and launched the craft loudly out of the cavern and up through the door's rocky passageway like a rocket.
SHOOOOOOOOOOOM!
"……..," Robin stood stock still. His fists clenched for a moment…then relaxed. With a sigh, he turned about and marched towards another tier of the Batcave. "Stubborn piece of guano…"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
I sat in the study inside Wayne Manor. I hunched forward in a chair, exhaling gently.
Across from me, Jericho sat beneath a large mantle painting of Thomas and Martha Wayne. He hugged his knees and rocked back and forth. His eyes seemed distant.
"…….."
I leaned my head to the side. Through shaded eyes I blinked and regarded him. I sighed and hand-signed gently with a flesh and synthetic wrist: 'Is it the shipment? Is there something wrong with the vials?'
Jericho hesitates before hand-signing back: 'I do not know.'
'Is it that Two-Face was blocking you from reading something in his head?'
'I do not know.'
I bit my lip. I eventually gave in and gestured: 'Did Metallo and Killer Croc escaping have anything to do with it?'
Jericho looked up at me directly. Green eyes moist and fearful.
I was 'silenced'.
"…………………."
I stood up.
I paced past the darklit window. Frost drifted down through the air in a sideways curtain. Whiteness split the red momentarily, and I felt attracted to the glass veil in the center of it all…..
Why do I feel helpless here, Ana?
I gazed out at the wonderland trying its futile best to become 'wintry'.
Is Joey just afraid to tell me what's bugging him?
Or is he really clueless?
I was never one to do visions. Red Aviary's effects on my metal arm only confused me.
I suppose you were always best at premonitions, Ana.
I wonder if Terra experiences the same……
A sliding noise.
Jericho craned his neck.
I turned around, eyebrow raised.
The grandfather clock inside Bruce Wayne's study slid open.
Robin walked into view from the drafty-cold cave passageway behind and beneath him.
I gestured: 'How did it go?'
Robin sighed. He gestured back at me: 'Fishing boat calculate the leaf mother.'
I winced and snapped a finger before fervently gesturing: 'Save it. Just read and talk to us, Tim.'
Robin winced. "Y-Yeah….sorry…."
I shrugged.
Robin ran a hand through his spiked black hair and shuddered: "You know Batman."
I shook my head. So did Jericho.
The Boy Wonder rolled his eyes under his mask. "Well….you know him a big if you know me."
I nodded with a slight smirk.
Jericho was still.
"Batman wants us to stay here in the Manor while he goes and attempts to round up Nightwing…"
And at that, I frowned.
"I-I guess he thinks that once we get those vial samples of Terra's essences tested on, everything will unfold itself. But….Jericho's not the only one paranoid. I don't think Triangular's done for. I just….don't feel it in my bones."
I nodded.
"Dagger is far too strong and versatile to just drop out on us…even if Lex Luthor has potentially lost a great deal of security and Two-Face has—well—lost his mind. Not that I don't mind either of those latter prospects, of course…."
Of course.
"Damn it….," Robin sighed, rubbing his temples. "We're just NOT going to get anything done waiting around in this crudhole."
Jericho bit his lip and seemed ready to gesture something--
The Boy Wonder looked over. "Yeah? What is it?"
Jericho hesitated.
Robin smiled for good measure. "Joey….it's okay. We value your input. If you have something to tell us…by all means…."
Jericho swallowed. He signed: 'I have this one memory that I think is Two-Face's. It did not come to me immediately when I entered him. He was doing his best to repress most recent memories. Things that go back a month ago…'
'His dealings with Traingular,' I added.
Jericho nodded. 'There was this one memory that he was trying very, very hard to hide when we recently defeated his goons beneath the Wayne Corp building. And……I think it has something to do with the vials.'
"Something important?" Robin asked. "Something we should know about?"
Again, Jericho nodded.
"What's this memory about anyways?"
I looked steadily at Jericho.
He thought for good measure about it and eventually gestured: 'It is a memory of a room.'
"A room?"
'Some place high tech. With lots of equipment. Labwork. Machines. Computers.'
I scratched my dark head of hair. I glanced curiously at Robin.
"Erhm…..," he shrugged. "If it's Two-Face we're dealing with….perhaps he's recently been to Metropolis to check out Luthor's installations at S.T.A.R. Labs?"
I nodded.
Yeah……
Triangular, all in the buddy.
That makes sense.
Jericho waved his hand.
We both gazed directly at him.
Jericho gestured: 'It was not in Metropolis.'
"How do you know?"
'There were windows in the room.'
"Yeah?"
'The sky outside was night. It had a hue of red.'
Robin leaned back.
I gestured at him: 'Gotham City.'
"Yeah, I know….," he nodded. "But that could be any place. Especially in the hands of some nefarious crooks this big."
I turned to the young blonde. 'Joey, was there anything you saw through Two-Face's eyes in particular? Did you see what they were working on? Did you see what the laboratory was experimenting with?'
Jericho seemed to strain a bit. He shuddered and signed: 'I am sorry. I only know silly little details.'
"Like what?" Robin asked.
'The people he was talking to……the lab technicians……they all wore blue uniforms.'
"Uniforms?"
'Like jumpsuits. The sort of stuff you would see on Star Trek.'
"……..?" I blinked.
Okay, I give up.
I looked helplessly at Robin and was utterly floored by the actual look of contemplation on his face.
"Blue uniforms?" Robin asked. He leaned his head to the side, lips pursed. "With…..gold cuffs?"
Jericho gasped. He stood up and excitably signed: 'Yes! Yes, they did!'
Robin nodded, fists clenched. "That's Gotham Labs. No doubt about it."
I gave him a sarcastic look. 'Rather obvious, do you not think?'
"Believe me…Gotham Labs would be my last choice…," Robin murmured. "They're a very decent, clean science center. For as long as the Labs have been in effect here in Gotham City, they've remained untouched by Thorne, Dagget, and any of the supervillains. The place has helped as a holding place for metaphysical criminals who randomly happen upon Batman's City….like Livewire, Plasmus, and Clayface."
I mouthed: 'Clayface?'
"Could be possible that that's where Triangular processed the chemicals from Matt Hagan's samples."
'Yes, but how?'
"Simple, Noir. They have Dagger on their side. That man has enough tricks up his sleeve to take over ten million Gotham Labs in a lifetime. Much less…a single laboratory, as Jericho seems to be telling us."
The blonde boy simpered and signed: 'Come to think of it, I believe I remember seeing beakers and glass tubes full of brown stuff.'
"Good enough for me…," Robin nodded. "Unless Gotham Labs was spontaneously conducting a worldwide survey on stool samples, I think we're on the right track."
I gestured: 'So what do we do?'
ZAAAT!
"You go take a geeky gander, of course," the Messenger said.
Jericho jumped.
Robin turned and gazed at the asian teen, who now appeared to be leaning against the study's desk with a bulky watch displaying strings of data for the dimension-jumper himself to see.
"And what have you been up to all this time, Messenger?" Robin asked.
"Oh….the usual. Risking my neck in between quantum realities to snoop around grimeyville," he spoke, his almond eyes not touching our visage once. He seemed momentarily preoccupied with the digital strings across his clunky watch like a beauty queen with her compact. "Not that Gotham City's an ugly place, I'd just rather choose more Disney-esque places to be jumped on by gang rapists. Ooops…I'm sorry, that was bad taste on my part. You think the little gold-haired kid there is old enough to handle 'Disney' jokes?"
"………," Jericho blinked.
I rolled my black eyes and gazed at Robin.
The Boy Wonder cleared his throat and faced the Messenger. "Uhm…."
"Uhmmmmmm……," the asian teen looked Robin's way finally…..smirking.
Robin scratched the back of his neck. "Seriously…I assume you were--"
"All over Town," the Messenger paced over, ignoring his watch now. "I was hoping to find the nasty-ass intruder of Barbara Gordon's spinal column. Unfortunately, I didn't sense any signs of him or his gun or his lovely singing voice anywhere within the urban area. He's elusive. Just as elusive as I am. And that scares me. I'm always losing myself these days, much less a red-breathing, death-incarnate, Darth Vader wannabe. Oooh…hey! Nice books Mr. Wayne has here. How about some Kerouac?"
"Could the jocularity wait, Messenger?" Robin folded his arms and frowned.
"Heheheheh….Timmy Tim Tim….," the Messenger looked over and his face solidified into something coldly serious. It shook us inside out. "…..what more can be lost tonight than a simple chance to smile for once?"
"……………," Robin gazed aside with a sigh.
The Messenger gently strolled over. "The Batman….he took off in the Mother Hen Plane, didn't he?"
"Has anyone ever told you that I love your allusions?"
"Nice try, Robin. But you ain't getting' any."
"Uhm…..?"
"I imagine that Bruce Wayne isn't wanting to join you on your march around Jericho."
"And you're right, he isn't," Robin nodded. A raised eyebrow of suspicion. "Why? Is there something the entire Bat troupe must be together for?"
"I'd say yes if it were true."
I nervously, painfully cleared my throat.
"……….," the Messenger was silent.
Robin slowly spoke, breath soft…then growing firmer: "We owe it to Barbara…..we owe it to the Titans….we owe it to a lot of people to find out exactly what's going on with Triangular. I don't want to find out that what we did was in vain. Now….I think a trip is in order. And any help we can get—Batman or not—would be very much appreciated."
Jericho bit his lip at that.
I merely smirked and folded my arms.
Saw that coming a mile away.
I only saw Robin's profile, but I could have sworn there was a smile on him too somewhere…
"Hmmm…well….that's very interesting….," the Messenger gestured as he tapped on his bulky watch and said: "Cuz there was one unique thing I kinda sorta found out…"
"What's that?"
Jericho leaned forward, curious.
"I couldn't quite find Red Aviary in the act. But I did find a little bit of where he was."
"How, exactly?"
"Inter dimensional thing. Death leaves a strange trail. It doesn't show much in this universe save for in the absence of light…."
I shuddered at that.
Yup.
Mortuana……
"Remember the Diamond Plaza?" the Messenger said.
"How could I not? It's a crater now…and Nightwing almost became a hole in the ground himself too."
"Well, Red Aviary was there."
"Deathstroke? When?"
"Not too long ago. I think he was….following the shipment of Terra's essences."
"So the Parasite was checking on its host….."
"Indeed," the Messenger nodded. "Triangular had a ghostly, red caboose. But—get this—Deathstroke followed the trail of the vials. But he didn't follow it to the Wayne Corp. Building……"
Jericho looked at me and Robin interchangeably.
Robin hung his arms at his sides and said: "Lemme guess…..Deathstroke's trail leads to Gotham Labs…."
"……….," the Messenger leaned his head to the side. "Now…where ever did you get that idea?" He winked.
I smirked. I looked proudly at Robin.
He took a deep breath. "Well…first thing's first. Who's in?"
I reached a black hand out.
Jericho was second.
Robin was third.
The Messenger shrugged: "It's kind of out of my neck of the words….but Hell, sure. I'm all for a Boys' Night Out." He slapped his hand down on ours.
"Good….," Robin nodded. He backed up. "If we're all going to investigate Gotham Labs….then I won't feel bad about what I'm about to do."
Jericho looked nervous.
I blinked.
"And what—my dear bird—pray tell is that?" you-know-who chirped.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
'The Batmobile?' I hand-gestured dramatically. Sweating cold. 'We cannot just steal the Batmobile!'
We stood in the batcave besides the elusive, dark vehicle of sleekness. All four of us.
"Jericho and the Messenger separately came together to point us in the direction of Gotham Labs," Robin bravely said. He fished around in his utility belt. "I think there's something hidden there that's being directed by Triangular. We can't overlook that. No matter how victorious we may have been in the Wayne Corp. Vaults…..or how tragically Barbara has suffered before us."
"Gawd…," the Messenger exhaled with a grin. "I swear, when it comes to speeches, you and Scott must trade notes across dimensions."
"Who?"
"Never mind. So, Grand Theft Wonder…..what's the plan?"
"Jericho hops into one of us two," Robin gestured at him and myself. "We drive the Batmobile to Gotham Labs. From there, Jericho and I can combine our computer expertise to remotely hack into the security network of the laboratories while Noir goes ahead as stealthy reconnaissance."
"And what about yours unruly?"
"I don't know…can you do your walk-through-walls-green-flashy trick for us?"
"I think I can lend Noir a hand," the Messenger nodded with a smirk. He gazed at me. "We do so enjoy our illegal romps together, don't we pal?"
Screw you too.
"Whatever help we can get, I'm glad, for," Robin said. "Even yours."
"Flattered. Untruly. Now….how do you expect to get away with bartering the Batmobile?"
"With this," Robin finally pulled out a remote from his utility belt. He clicked it.
Blip.
Scnhhhhhhk! The glass door to the Batomobile slid open to reveal the spacious front seats of the vehicle.
Jericho immediately shined forth the boy in him as he mouthed: 'Ooooooh.'
I whistled. I grabbed Robin's attention and pointed at the remote he had. I gestured: 'How did you manage to get that?'
"I….uh…..grew up on the streets," Robin said. His cheeks a little rosy. "I know how to grab something valuable…when necessary."
I nodded and mouthed: 'Riiiiight.' A smirk.
"Don't look at me like that. And wipe that grin off your face!"
I didn't.
"So what if I….borrowed a few things from my teammates before I grew up, wisened up, and became a Titan? It was too easy. Batman's car key. Nightwing's bo-staffs. Alfred's magazine collections and Barbara's Victoria's Secret catalogue…they all fell victim!"
"…….."
"……."
"……."
Robin shook his head and ran a gloved hand over his face. "Wait…aw Hell, what am I telling you that for?"
I chuckled breathily.
"Ughh…."
The Messenger also had a laugh or two.
"…..," Jericho blinked. He looked at me and signed: 'I do not get it.'
I cleared my empty throat, smirked, and patted his head.
"Stop laughing! I was…uhm….barely thirteen then. You know how that goes…."
"I'm not sure…," the Messenger smirked and folded his arms. "Why don't you tell us?"
Robin glared. "The Hell are you still doing here?"
"Being educated on how Robin robs from the feminine and gives to the hormones."
"You're supposed to be doing reconnaissance at the labs."
"Oh, my bad. It's go time?"
It's go time.
"By all means! Wagons ho, kiddies!"
ZAAT!
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Gotham City.
3:01 am
East District.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
VROOOOOOOOOOOSH!
The Batmobile rocketed down the streets of Gotham.
Inside, I was pressed nervously back into the passenger seat. My right hand fished about desperately for the Jesus bar on the right side of the driving compartment, but discovered it wasn't there to be found.
In the meantime, Robin nonchalantly piloted the veritable, exploding rocket of a vehicle with one hand while fumbling suicidally with a communicator with another and speaking into it:
"Are you on this frequency, Messenger?"
"If I'm sputnik, I sure as Hell gained a few pounds!"
"Hardy har har. We're getting close to the labs. Are you in position?"
"Yup. Like a true missionary. Send in the clowns, Tiny Tim. And when I say clowns, I mean badass, smoking urban samurai."
"Yeah…well I only have one."
"Noir? Pfft……sure. Whatever. He'll have to do."
I couldn't help but frown at that.
Robin smirked. "You need to lighten up."
I did a double-take at him.
Jesus Christ, who are you again?
VROOOOOOOSH!
SCREEECH!
We screamed around a corner as I slammed up against the side of my door. Wincing.
Seatbelts are an illusion, I see……
I adjusted the straps around me and fought for breath.
"Heheheheheh….," Robin gripped the wheel tighter. "How I've missed the oblivion of the moment…."
I exhaled nervously and glanced out the wide, curved windows for any sign of a red-streaking pursuer.
Nothing.
"…..it's the best oblivion there's ever been tonight…," Robin murmured. Something was momentarily distant in his masked visage. Something cold and remorseful. Like the flipping blur of a redheaded doll, it came and went and soon he was in 'Titan-Leader' mode again…..as I've always admired him.
"Messenger….stay tuned."
"I thought it was 'stay tuned for a brief message'."
"Do you want me to toss Noir your way or not?"
"All right already. Let's get Medieval on this laboratory's buttocks. JAPANESE medieval that is!"
Robin mumbled: "Whatever that means."
"Hai."
Robin pressed a switch. The window to the Batmobile opened ever so slightly. The Boy Wonder looked at me: "We're gonna swing by Gotham Labs, Noir. You ready to teleport?"
I took a deep breath. CHIIIIIING! Smoke trailed from my freed sword and upper limbs. I looked at him…and nodded.
"Okay…here we go…."
He turned at the wheel.
We began to purposefully fishtail and drift around a bend in the building-lined road.
I took a deep breath and concentrated before undoing my safety belt and bracing myself before the window.
You hang tight too, Joey……
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Gotham Labs.
3:03 am
Front Entrance.
At the front, drive-in gate of the labs….
A blue-uniformed guard sat at his terminal.
It was in the middle of the night.
Some godawful radio program was squawking through a transceiver at his station.
He sat down to a crossword puzzle of sorts…..
….and sighed.
……
………..
……………
VROOOOOOOOSH! SCREEEEEECH!
The main raised an eyebrow and looked up out the window of the gate. "Huh?"
The sleek, black body of a glistening vehicle careened past his vision.
Something shot out of the body.
Something swift, breathless, blurry.
FW-FWOOSH!
The guard's whole body jolted, shook, and shivered.
He blinked and stood up, looking all around the Gotham Square just outside the gated entrance.
"What in the….?" He murmured to himself. "Did a gust of wind just……blow right through me?"
Silence.
He sat back down at his station.
Scratching his head.
"………………nngh," he snapped out of it. "Frickin' nightshifts…."
He went back to the crossword puzzle, explosively ignorant of the shadowed figure now standing inside the gated compound of Gotham Labs and creeping towards the two-story buildings….
Cloaked.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Robin slowed the Batmobile around a building and into a dark alleyway a mere block from the labs.
The engine purred into morose silence as the Boy Wonder parked the vehicle, half-pivoted his body towards the passenger's seat, and relaxed.
"Okay, Jericho…..n-now's a good time as any….."
A moment of silence.
Then a green aura.
Robin shook as out through Tim's eyes, the body jumper Jericho appeared and materliazed instantly in the passenger seat besides him.
Jericho took a solid, deep breath.
"Hey there…," Robin breathily murmured, managing a smile. "Guess you really enjoy riding shotgun, huh?"
Jericho simpered. He playfully managed a tongue sticking out.
"I've got the satellite feed of the Batmobile's onboard computer alive and ticking," Robin said. "What say we give it a shot and try to lighten our friends' load some?"
Jericho nodded. He cracked his little hands as Robin pressed a button and converted half the dashboard to electronic keyboards and miniature monitor displays.
Whurrrr-Chtung!
Jericho started typing a mile-a-minute.
Robin—in the meantime—assisted with a few keystrokes from a sister stations in the driver's seat while simultaneously reaching for his communicator.
"Messenger…."
"Yeah, Big Bird?"
"We're cracking our way into the system. How's your progress?"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Oh…you know me….," the Messenger whispered. He hung upside down from a tiled ceiling via a grappling hook cord. With three-eyed high-tech goggles of glowing green, he aimed a tranquilizer dart at the unsuspecting backsides of two security guards in the atrium of the Gotham Labs building. "…..always wedging Noir's door open a little tad more…."
Th-Thifft!
Thfft!
The two pricked individuals had barely half a second to utter 'huh?' before dumbly falling to the linoleum floor with fading breaths. Unconscious.
There was no way that could go unnoticed. The Messenger—hanging—glanced right just in time to see two guards march out of the security hub station with guns raised.
They took one look at the human chandelier and aimed at the Messenger.
"Freeze!"
"Hold it right there!"
"Gentlemen…..pals one and all…," the Messenger smiled like a green-eyed Cheshire cat in the dark. He shrugged: "For once, I am strung up."
The two guards blinked at him….
Fw-FWOOSH!
I materialized with a cascading veil of smoke, swinging Myrkblade up high to whallop the two men across their skulls.
TH-THWACK!
WHAP!
"Nnngh…." THWUMP! Both fell coldly to the ground.
The Messenger twirled and landed from the ceiling upright just as I walked to him.
"Brilliant as always….," he simpered. "But….aren't we the pawns of somebody's voyeuristic evil?"
I held a finger up. I pointed into the far corners.
The Messenger craned his neck to see….
Two security cameras in the place already had their sparking hot wires severed, thus switching the apparatuses off. The work of a smoking-sharp sword….
The Messenger smirked at me. "You better thank your lucky stars and garters that I'm hetero…."
I shrugged and marched towards the security hub station.
Save it for when the weather gets warmer……
As we infiltrated the internal infrastructure of the Laboratory, I sent a morse code to the Batmobile. 'W-E—A-R-E—I-N.'
T-T-T-T-T-T-
"They're in," Robin said. He glanced over at the little blonde. "Any chance we can disable the rest of the facility's defenses now?"
Jericho nodded dazedly, working at a breakneck speed with the Batmobile's computer desktop. He typed…typed…typed his fingers off. He motioned for Robin to input a similar string of data.
The Boy Wonder digitally complied.
Jericho whistled while he worked, made the keyboard sing like poetry, and finished with a slap to the enter key.
He smiled.
"Hmm….showoff," Robin winked under his mask. Then and there, he received another morse code message.
'W-H-A-T—A-R-E—W-E—L-O-O-K-I-N-G—F-O-R.'
Jericho glanced at Robin.
Robin swallowed and said into the communicator: "We'll get to that once we're all in there. As for now…"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"—you and the Messenger try to plot your way into the center of the place. Jericho and I will give you access to the inner sanctum. Any of the doors aglow with red lights on their keycard swipers are no-nos until they turn green. Got it?"
I nodded, gazing at rows of monitors displaying security feeds.
The Messenger verbally replied into a makeshift communicator: "Roger, Robin. Robin, Roger." He glanced over at me. "I've always wanted to say that."
Your cheeriness is a drug.
I was busily, mentally mapping the complex out in my mind from all of the security cameras. I gathered that there was a basement floor three levels down where a service elevator led to the true, nitty-gritty facilities of Gotham Labs. Most likely, that spot was the highest security level. Jericho said that his vision of Two-Face's memories had windows looking out onto the red night sky. But regardless, if there was anything to be had from this place….I figured below the Earth was where the solution would be.
"Figure we should split up?" the Messenger asked, looking over my shoulder.
I nodded without looking at him.
Guess he's on the same page as I am. There are two key ways to do this. Above ground. Below ground.
I'll take the ugly route……
I pointed at myself, then at the security grid's layout of the service elevator and the basement floors. I pointed at him and designated the higher floors.
The Messenger shrugged. "Suit yourself. Just don't turn into a naked mole rat or nothing on me. Squirrels are fine. All other rodents….not kosher."
Yeah.
You stay Asian.
Or something……
I shrugged, waved at him, and hurried along my way as he went along his.
Fwoosh!
Zaat!
T-T-T-T-T-T-
"I hope they remember that these are normal citizens we're dealing with inside the laboratory…," Robin muttered while typing. He paused. He said: "Unless….of course……they all really turn out to be working for Triangular in the long run, which would make half of Gotham City a croc of conspiracy fodder….."
Silence.
Robin sighed. "I can feel it already. The ulcers are starting again…"
Jericho whistled.
Robin brightened. "Ready? The central protocols?"
The younger one fervently nodded.
"Allright…let's initiate."
Jericho inserted one last string of commands into the network.
Robin complied.
"There….that should do it. Messenger? Noir? You've got the green light. We'll be there to join you PDQ!"
'O-N-E—S-E-C-O-N-D—P-L-E-A-S-E'.
Robin leaned his head to the side. "Noir?"
T-T-T-T-T-T-
The keycard console of the central service elevator beeped as it flashed from red….to green.
Bleep!
SWOOOOSH! SMACK! The body of a blue-uniformed guard flew into the elevator doors, denting them.
"Ughhh…."
BLAM! BLAM!
I skidded across the hallway on a carpet of murk and leapt up to dodge heavy caliber gunshots.
Another man was coming at me with a magnum, his uniform scuffed up from a slight wrestle with me earlier. He gritted his teeth, squinted an eye, and fired—BLAM!
I blurred to the side, ran a few feet along the wall, jumped off, teleported, and materialized with a fist in his face.
TH-THWAP!
The man flew back and landed with his head slamming into the wall of the hallway.
"Nnngh!" He fell down and was out cold.
I took a deep breath.
I marched over and stood above him.
With the very tip of Myrkblade, I turned the gun over where he dropped it.
A revolver.
A magnum at that.
Not standard issue weaponry for guards of a city laboratory such as this………
I took a deep breath and bit my lips.
Great.
Another pit of vipers.
I turned. I examined the elevator doors.
The light was green on the keycard console.
Show me the way, Dante……
I walked over, opened the elevator, and stepped inside.
As I did so, I could have sworn I sensed something. Something….bright. Glinting. Reflecting off the smooth shine of the metal walls and bulkheads and corners around me.
Something……..red.
I shivered and spun about, Myrkblade raised high.
I felt suddenly and claustrophobically engulfed by the elevator.
So terribly alone.
"………"
I gulped.
Is he……
Is he here?
I don't know, Ana.
I……really don't know.
I can't sense him anymore like I used to.
But yet……
The Spectrum…………
There's something that puts me so much at unease with this place.
And it's not so much the prospect of running into Slade.
It's………something else.
Something's terribly wrong here……
Nevertheless, I walked into the center of the elevator, press a button, and lower myself to the bottommost basement level.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Intruders! Intruders!"
"Man, shut up! We know already!"
"S-Sorry…."
"Get ready…he's coming up through the stairwell!"
Four gunmen lined up in the hallway, positioning themselves behind lab equipment, a metal bulkhead or two, and a cart on wheels. They aimed revolvers at the door at the end of the second story hallway.
They waited…..
Waited…………
Waited……………….
"…………….?" The foremost member of the pack craned his neck.
"Just where is the little shit?"
As if on cue, the door swung open with a creak.
Half the guards gasped.
With trigger fingers, they re-cocked their guns.
Cl-Clik!
Clak!
But….
No one came out through the door.
It simply yawned open, lingered, and fell back in on itself.
"…………….," one guard blinked.
"Uhm…."
"A ghost?"
ZAAAT! The Messenger appeared at the rear of the group and slammed his foot up between the guard's legs. WHUMP!
"Mmmmmnnnakkkktt!" the man hissed and fell, cross-legged.
"HA! Who says you don't learn anything past puberty?"
The other three turned, gasped, and took aim.
BL-BL-BLAM!
BLAM!
The Messenger grinned, ducked, and—ZAAAT!
He teleported in a green pulse, reappearing between two thugs whom he swiftly collided into each other…craniums first.
The last guard aimed at the asian teen, shaking in his own boots.
"……..," the Messenger icily looked up and smirked at him. "Allright….who else wants some Fei Long for their tease?"
"S-Screw this j-job!" the guard shivered. "I-I'm not paid enough for this shit!"
"Mind being a good little panty-pisser and tell me who exactly it is that pays you?"
"Screw off, man!"
"Wow…you're a real charmer," the Messenger got into a 'leaping crane' posture. "Ever wondered what it felt like to have your kidneys kicked straight into your bronchial tubes? It's rather electrifying, to tell the truth…."
"Shut up! You can just kiss….my….--"
CRKKK!
The ceiling tile above the man collapsed. Robin dove down, bo-staff first.
"RAAAUGH!"
THWACK!
The man was plowed to the ground instantly. Down for the count.
The Messenger smirked and stood up straight, clapping his hands. "Bravo. If I might say, Robin, it was nice of you to dro--"
"Don't you dare…," Robin pointed a stiff finger.
Cl-Clik!
The two looked down the hallway.
One of the thugs had struggled up to his feet and was aiming to magnums at the teens.
"Nobody moves….nobody suffers."
"But you'll still kill us, right?"
"Damn straight, shitheads!"
"Ah…that's original."
"Do me a favor, pal…," Robin gestured. "Look me in the eye when you kill me."
The man's eyes twitched towards the Boy Wonder. "Huh?"
Robin stared.
An exchange of green light.
CONTACT.
FLASH!
The thug gasped and dropped his guns. "Wh-What the Hell? M-My body!"
"Hey Robin," the Messenger winked. "Pick a wall. Any wall."
"Hrmmm…," the Boy Wonder pointed across the way. "How about that one, Joey?"
The thug found himself unwittingly holding up the 'OK' signal.
"Dah! What's going on with me—WAAAAH!" He found himself sprinting straight into a metal wall. Just as he flew into it, a green astral projection leapt out, backflipped, and landed nimbly in the form of a blonde pre-adolescent.
THWAP! The guard slammed face-first into the wall. He groaned and fell down unconscious.
"Ooh-Rah!" the Messenger waved. "Ten points!….Unless the French are judging this year, of course…."
Robin strolled over and patted Jericho's shoulder. "You did good, Joey. Really…"
The blonde looked up, smiling nervously.
"Did you…er….w-want to 'hop back in' one of us or are you—"
He shook his head.
"You sure?"
He nodded.
"Okay. Just stick by my side, got it?"
Jericho obeyed.
"I'll protect you if you just do what I say," Robin re-gripped his metal staff and marched down the hallway. "Okay. This way. Let's move!"
"The model father in the making…."
"Oh shut up. Come on."
"An…OXYMORONIC father….heh….."
The three of them hurried along.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Schwisssh!
On the bottom basement floor of Gotham Labs, the glass elevator doors of a transparent shaft opened to a blue, blue room full of hydraulics, dangling cords and tubes, and various other foggy machinery. Everything felt cold like the wintry world outside and up above. I felt like I was in the ghastly intestines of a two-hundred foot tall refrigerator. Everywhere, the metal joints were hissing and billowing out puffs of cold steam. An ongoing whurrrr of mechanical ambiance filled the domain, entrancing me.
What is this……a cryogenics lab?
I looked around, slowly walking out of the elevator car…
I guess I shouldn't doubt that. I heard about Gotham City being a centerpiece for freezing technologies. Guess this is where it's all at.
I looked around. My black eyes followed crossbeams and pipelines and electrical conduits amidst the synthetic fog.
This sure as Hell wasn't part of Jericho's vision………or was it? Still, I must explore. I came all this way……can't let anything of Triangular's possibly go unnoticed……
I strolled forward through the misty domain.
I soon realized I was coming upon the metallic ledge of a platform beneath a lower tier of the basement floor where further equipment resided. I looked through a half-fogged window and saw what looked almost like smooth, metal caskets or escape pods lying dormant on the metal laboratory floor below me.
Whoah……freezing stasis chambers? Far out.
"……….."
I bit my lip.
I shouldn't stay here for long. What if……
What if Red Aviary was here?
I shivered at that. But then again, it was cold down there.
I was about to turn around and head back upstairs when something caught me.
I took a second look through the glass.
My black eyes squinted.
One of those capsules.
It's……rather large.
And it looks much more 'brand new' than the others.
"………"
Curiosity got the better of me. Again, that awkward…terrible feeling that was gnawing at me more than the Messenger's jocularity that evening. I strolled around the stretch of fogged windows and hobbled down the steps to the lower tier. I walked, my fatigues murking through puffs of steam. Down the row of chambers I walked. And they were all empty.
Then I approached the large capsule. I could see that there was a glass face to it just like all the others.
I leaned over it, brought my black forearm over, and wiped the glass face clear.
I peered in.
And…..
I froze.
Almost literally.
My heart stopped…and my lips parted as a breath escaped.
"…….."
Oh………my god.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Jericho….is this it?"
The blonde nervously swallowed…and nodded.
Robin walked forward through the laboratory. Indeed, there were stations much like Jericho described. Instruments and equipment much like he described. And finally….windows looking out onto the red sky of Gotham like he had described.
But….none of the vials and beakers full of muddy brown, experimental substances the likes of which Two-Face must have seen….
"Whatever was here…," the Messenger spoke, "…it's gone now. Or….maybe not. We need to search the place, don't you think?"
"You're asking me?"
"Hey….somebody's gotta stroke your ego."
Robin frowned at him. He turned and looked at Jericho. "Think things my click with you?"
The boy hesitantly nodded.
"Okay. Take your time."
'R-O-B-I-N'
The vibration and morse code of Robin's communicator made him jump. He swiped it up and said: "Y-Yes, Noir? What is it?"
'C-O-M-E—D-O-W-N—T-O—T-H-E—B-A-S-E-M-E-N-T—R-I-G-H-T—A-W-A-Y'
Robin made a face. "Noir…can it wait? I think we found the room that Jericho remembered. Besides, there are still guards crawling around and it's rather obvious by now who they work for and—"
'C-O-M-E—D-O-W-N—R-I-G-H-T—A-W-A-Y—T-H-I-S—I-S—U-R-G-E-N-T'
"………," Robin took a deep breath. "Okay, Noir. I'm coming."
'B-R-I-N-G—J-E-R-I-C-H-O'
Robin raised an eyebrow. He looked at Jericho. Then at the communicator.
"Okay. Stay tuned."
Blip!
"New dinner arrangements?"
"Noir must have found something big," Robin said. "Perhaps what we're looking for. I'm taking Jericho with me. Do you think you can investigate this room on your own for the time being?"
"Hey…..with the friends in my head," the Messenger winked. "I'm never alone."
"…….."
"Sheesh! That's an Arkham joke! Ahhhh never mind. Yeah, I'll be okay."
"Good. Contact us if you need anything," Robin motioned Jericho along and exited the laboratory with his bo-staff raised at ready. "Hopefully…this will be a worthwhile diversion…."
"High hopes decimate the rubber trees."
Robin and Jericho were gone.
"Awww….poop on you too," the Messenger rolled his eyes and opened a freezer full of….samples. "Hmmm…." He smiled devilishly. "Speaking of which…."
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Schwissh!
I heard Robin and Jericho entering without even looking. B ut I didn't bother to turn around. I was so….engulfed in what lie before me.
"Noir?"
"……….," I stood numb in the midst. Leaning against the capsule. Breathing slowly….steadily….
"Noir?"
"………."
Robin finally came down the steps. Jericho lingered behind him.
"Noir….what the Hell is it? What is this place?" he craned his neck for a moment, paused, and walked over with a finger pointing. "And just what is that thing?"
"……..," I slowly…icily turned towards him. "……" I wiped the fog off the glass once more and let him look.
And he walked over.
And he did look.
"………….."
His lips pursed.
Dazed, he looked up at me.
I looked back at him.
A beat.
He motioned to me to get onto the other side of the capsule.
I did so.
He pressed a few buttons and hit a release mechanism.
I pulled on a lever.
Jericho watched from the stairs as we opened the metallic, casket-like sleeping capsule open wide with an exhale of gases.
HISSSSSSSSssssssss………
Once the two of us had the thing open, we leaned over and gazed at the person inside as if the glass obstructed the truth. And it hadn't. There he lay in the full metal and flesh. His right arm missing. His feet and boots partially melted into dull stubs. And scuff marks and burn marks all across the dark skin peaking around the metal.
"Cy-Cyborg…..," Robin murmured. He slipped a green glove off and felt our fellow Titan's neck. He swallowed. "H-He's got a steady pulse. But….l-look at him! He's so damaged….like….like….." A beat. Robin's jaw dropped. He looked up at me.
I looked over Cyborg at him.
"Noir…what the Hell is this? D-Do you know—"
I shook my head steadily. My black eyes were thin with….utter confusion.
And right then and there, Cyborg gasped loudly.
Robin and I jumped back.
At the end of Cyborg's inhale, his frost-encrusted human eye popped open. A jolt. A second jolt. He shot up with a loud snarl: "Nnnnnnghh! SIMON! Nnnnkktt—snkkt! Rrrghhh!"
Robin and I steadied him.
"Cyborg! Cyborg!"
"Nnngh—Nnngaaaugh!"
"Vic! Calm down! It's all right! You're okay…"
"No…NO!" Cyborg shouted. He looked at us, fuming. His right stub of a metal arm sparked. "It's NOT all right! Don't you get it?" He looked at me and gripped the collar of my camouflage jacket. He hissed: "What….day….is it?"
I looked at him…breathless. If I had a voice, I'd be stammering.
"Cy-Cyborg….I think you should lie back down. Catch your breath—"
"WHAT…DAY….IS IT?" he snarled, shivering from reawakening.
I looked at Robin with nervous black eyes.
Robin swallowed and said: "December First…"
Cyborg did a double-take. "Say what? Oh…JESUS almighty!" He clamped his one hand over his forehead. "Nnnngh—shit……Shit….SHIT!"
"Cyborg….what are you doing here in Gotham City?"
"Gotham City? I was freakin' hoping you'd tell me! JESUS! I knew it…I knew it the VERY SECOND everything started to short-circuit and malfunction!"
"How long have you been in this thing, Vic?"
Cyborg glared at Robin. "When the Hell do you think? Ever since Dagger sent the mother of all viruses to Phaser Labs and reprogrammed Slug and Reload to bring the house down on me!"
"……," Robin was wordless. His lips quivered. "But…..B-But…."
"Robin….," Cyborg said in a lower—but snarling voice. He gripped the Boy Wonder's forearm and forced him to stare the android face to face. "Robin….where….am….I?"
"……," Robin looked at me.
I looked at him….shrugging.
Robin looked at Cyborg, swallowed, and said: "Gotham Labs…Downtown Gotham City—"
"No!" Cyborg hissed. "The other 'me'."
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Titan's City.
3:21 am
Phaser Labs.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Schwissh!
Cyborg entered the basement laboratory.
"Ah….Cyborg…g-glad you could make it."
Cyborg turned. He looked over. He smiled. "Dr. Abrams. I think you had some stuff to share with me."
The scarcely-shaven scientist nodded with a grin. "Y-Yes….and…um…I-I'm sorry, Mr. Stone, for forcing you to come so early in the morning."
Cyborg shrugged as he walked over. "Quite allright. I don't really have a regular sleeping schedule, ya know. I'm only as good as the national power grid stays in tact, you catch my drift?"
"Heheheheh…I believe so. Ahem. Please….look over here…."
Cyborg squinted his human eye as the doctor guided him over to the wall of computer consoles and schematics. "Is this the radioactive depository studies you told me you were working on?"
"Yes, sir. After Raven came by here to inquire as to special readings of the place, I did some further studies and I have to conclude that….that something happened the very moment Robin 'died;."
Cyborg placed his hands on his hips. Staring up at the schematics. "Is that so?"
"Yes…very much," Dr. Abrams calmly—but excitedly—wrung his hands while smiling and explaining.
He turned to face the computer consoles and gestured towards them as he spoke.
"I did a study of time-space anomalies within the core of the depository, and I found that there was indeed a calculable occurrence of out-of-the-norm disruption transpiring at the site right before the ignition of the carbonite explosives. Approximately half a second before, to be precise. And—furthermore—there was a second discharge of space-time friction occurring right at the end of that half-second duration. What that suggests is—in my hypothesis—the entrance of a small body into our dimension, and an exiting of that body from our dimension with double the mass. I know this might sound preposterous, Cyborg….but I thought that you—as the leader of the metaphysical Titans—would understand. Or at least…possibly accept the fact that….indeed…..something may have interceded on Robin's behalf."
Turning around. Dr. Abrams smiled at the Titan. "Y-Yes….I think we might have a viable theory here to work o—"
SWIIIIIIIISH!
SL-SLICE!
Dr. Abram's skull was divided in half by a huge metal axe.
TH-THUNK!
"Grkrkkk….skkskkkrtkkkSKSKSSITKKkkskktkrrtkktt..gllrgts…"
SCH-SCHLUNK!
The axe pulled out wetly, dripping brain matter.
TH-THWUMP!
Dr. Abrams' carcass deflated to the floor.
The red-stained axe lingered in the air. It was suspended from the end of a long, quivering tentacle of brown mud. With a slimy echo filling the laboratory, the tentacle of mud shrank back and receded into Cyborg's body mass. The mud took the shape of a human hand…and suddenly morphed into the blue and silver trademark titanium of the android Titan.
"……..," 'Cyborg' flexed his hand. Good as new. "……." He gazed up icily at the computer consoles. He walked over, actually stomping through Abrams' body, and deleted the program and the findings of the Radioactive Depository thereof.
At some point, an intercom switched on.
Beep!
"Dr. Abrams? Is everything okay down there? We heard some noise."
'Cyborg' looked over. He flipped a switch. He leaned his face over to the intercom and spoke in the deceased Abrams' voice.
Click.
"Everything's fine, Vicki. I'm just showing Cyborg some new nonlethal weapons we have proposed for the City this coming year."
"I see. Just checking up on you."
"Heheheh…thanks a million as always, Vicki. Abrams out."
Click.
'Cyborg' stepped back. He took a breath. And his human and red eyes both glossed over to a bright amber brown as he walked over Abrams' corpse once more, converted his lower body to a cushion of mud…and absorbed the corpse completely into him.
Being sure to gather the blood and brain matter in the process too….