It was just a twenty minute walk to Wayne Manor now, assuming of course that the surrounding forest was the same in this world as it was in his world. Knowing his luck, it would be mostly the same, only all of the landmarks would be wrong. What would normally be a humongo oak tree might instead be a giganto mulberry tree, just like how in Wayne Manor all of the paintings were wrong. It was the little details, the itty bitty tiny differences that would throw him off, so he'd have to be careful and not depend too much on the familiar. He stuck to the trails, which in any public park would be a risky thing to do, but this was Wayne property. The only people who came out here were well, Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, or for the moment, Robin. Sure enough, once in the woods he found that maples were elms and that elms were maples. Brilliant. Now for most people, this wouldn't be a problem, most people wouldn't know how to tell an elm apart from a maple, but this was Robin. And Robin had been trained by Batman to notice every detail in an area, throw off a few details and he just plain got confused.
"Crud." He muttered as he hit yet another dead end. "I could have sworn it was this way…" Turning around again he was surprised to hear voices in the woods, and what could only be the engine to a motorcycle. Great, they found me. Getting down low he listened.
"We will find him. Trust me," One said, Aqualad. Robin's brow furrowed as he heard the other leader direct his team. He could just make out through the brambles the dark skinned Atlantean, and with him, Miss Martian and Superboy. And a bright red lord knows what that was probably the spawn of an ATV and a motorcycle.
"Why would he come out here anyways?" Superboy asked, arms crossed. "There's nothing here but some rich guys house"
"I cannot guess" Aqualad admitted.
"Hello Megan!" Martian exclaimed before continuing. "That rich guy owns the Wayne Foundation- for all we know it's other Robin's objective to take him out!" Martian said, "We've got to find him! And fast!"
"Why do you know that?" Superboy asked, raising a brow.
"You'd be amazed what you learn when researching Earth culture" M'gann said with a shrug.
"If what you say is true, than we must hurry- or else this Mr. Wayne will be in deep trouble" Aqualad said seriously, drawing his waterbearers. "It is likely that Robin will have taken these woods- they are secluded and it would be difficult to track him through them, our mission is to track him down and immobilize him. Is that clear?"
"Perfectly," Superboy said with a shrug, bounding off into the woods, M'gann following close behind.
"I did not mean for us to split up!" Aqualad called after them before shaking his head, "Fine. At least we can cover more ground this way..." He muttered, just loud enough for Robin to hear him. I've got to move. Now. Robin thought to himself, clambering to his feet. I've got to hurry to Wayne Manor, before they catch me… He tore off into the woods, trying his best to head in the right direction.
Eventually he came to a clearing, one that he unfortunately didn't recognize. Great, where am I now? He wondered to himself, if I keep running aimlessly like this, I'll never get there. He could just see the top of Wayne Manor off in the distance. You'd think it would be as easy as running in that general direction… but no, of course it wasn't. There were ravines, fallen trees, streams and the like. It was the untamed wild after all. May as well try that way anyways…
"Raggghhh!" Out of nowhere Superboy smashed into the ground, just a few feet behind Robin, a place he'd been standing only moments before. The force of his landing finally snapped the computer screen off. Oh, great. I do not have time for this. Robin thought irritably, drawing his broom-staff.
"Didn't they ever tell you that big kids like you aren't supposed to have temper tantrums?" Robin said snarkily, "Or are you just a little boy?"
"Watch it!" Superboy lunged at him, fists a-ablazing. Robin dipped, dived, ducked and dodged around them, occasionally nailing Superboy with his broom-staff. At one point Robin successfully knocked him to the ground.
"Ah, did the little boy fall down?" He asked, grinning. Stupid NPC never stood a chance. Superboy pulled himself back to his feet shouting, "I'll show you how to fall down!" And just like that he grabbed hold of the broom staff and snapped it in two. Two sticks? Great. Robin looked with dismay at them, one in either hand. What was he going to do with these? He didn't have much time to answer that question because Superboy dove at him again. Better figure this out quick Robin, he thought to himself, nailing Superboy with both of them at once.
"Now you've been a naughty boy," Robin said, diving behind Superboy who was dazed from a blow to the face. "And you know what they say about kids who've been naughty," Robin leapt into the air, both sticks ready.
"Spare the rod, spoil the child!" He whammed Superboy hard in the back of the neck, knocking him out. Robin landed on the other side of him, grinning. "Well, I guess you're grounded," He walked away, sliding the two broom sticks into his belt. Fighting with two instead of one wasn't half-bad, he'd have to remember that for future reference.
He kept moving, his inner sense of cool rising to a max point. He was almost to Wayne Manor now, he was walking across its well-manicured lawn, past well-pruned shrubs and a trickling fountain, up the endless wheel-chair unfriendly stairs until he'd reached its base. Wayne Manor was a monster of a place, and like Gotham Academy, it was about as old as time, although it was so elegant and refined Robin doubted any dinosaurs had ever lived there. He just had to get in, get into the Batcave and then to the Zeta-Tube. Easy. Now he wouldn't be going through the front door, that'd be suicide, he'd be taking a window route. Batman, in an effort to train him in the art of 'anti-breaking and entering', would hide the key to the house from Robin so that upon arriving home Robin would either have to find the clever place Batman had hidden it, or literally break into his own house. Without a key, Robin knew over 57 different ways to get into Wayne Manor and not all of them included windows. He didn't feel like squeezing himself down a chimney right now though, so today's entrance would be through a window. Specifically that of the Den, inside which was the most direct way to the Batcave. And so, creeping along the exterior wall of Wayne Manor, Robin found himself beneath the Den window, when he heard voices.
"Yes, I've taken Bruce Wayne to a safer place. As far as he's concerned, he's on a much needed vacation in the Caribbean," Batman was saying and Robin suppressed a snicker. Clearly, whoever Batman was talking to, didn't know Batman's secret identity.
"I am glad to hear that. We are almost certain that it is Robin's objective to eliminate him," Aqualad replied. Robin did a double take. How did Aqualad get there before him?
"I only wish we knew why someone would want to hurt him, he's just a philanthropist, harmless" M'gann was saying, and again, Robin tried not to laugh. For whatever reason the entire world was of the mind that Bruce Wayne was nothing more than a teddy bear, adopting sad orphans and donating large sums of money to causes like cancer research. Clearly, the Batman persona didn't transfer over at all.
"Who cares why Robin wants him dead, we've just got to stop him!" Superboy said broodingly, and Robin's blood ran cold, the shadow of the larger boy was cutting over him. He must be at the window... great. I can't take all of them at once, not without proper weapons. I'll have to try for one of the other entrances. Carefully, cautiously, he crept along the wall until he was just beneath his own bedroom window. From his bedroom he could reach the Wayne Library, which had no windows so as to protect the books, and from there take another one of Batman's clever entrances into the Batcave. Pulling out his grappling hook, he fired up at the sill of his window and pulling himself up, kicked through the thing. Shards of glass went flying everywhere. Ordinarily the goal would be to keep the window intact, but he didn't have time to jimmy the thing open, he had to hurry. The Titans could be in trouble in the real world, and I can't waste any more time. Landing dramatically in his bedroom amidst shards of glass and bits of broken window pane, Robin looked about the room. Need a proper weapon, anything… bingo. Leaning against the wall of the closet, looking sad, abandoned and forgotten was a golf club. Robin couldn't remember the exact details of how he got the thing, but he vaguely remembered some annoying rich guy who wanted Wayne money so he forced Robin and his dull son to play golf together. Rich people always play golf together after all. Robin, needless to say, won easily, and was bored within minutes of the slow paced game. And then of course the Joker showed up and things went south from there. Regardless, he now had a very nice golf club to swing at people's heads with.
Golf club in hand, Robin hurried down the hall and around the corner. He passed a few surprised maids, but no teenage superheroes, and no Batman. This was going to be easy. He kicked open the double doors into the library, and found it as he expected: deserted, and mildly smelling of wood cleaner. He hurried down the ridiculous spiral staircase that separated its upper floor from the lower and made his way to the fireplace. Once in front of it, he pulled on one of the ornamental metal spire things in front of it, causing one of the bookcases to slide out of place. And all he could think was that if Scooby and the Gang found their way in there, they'd be de-masking Batman in no time. He scowled as he walked over to the secret passage into the Batcave. There were dozens of them hidden through Wayne Manor, and no two entrances were the same, but this one was probably his least favorite. The Batslide. A metal tube of evil, it was long and spiraling and probably the sort of thing most kindergarteners dreamed of. It was also oiled to be as fast as what was probably physically possible and the turns were killer, why Batman installed it was beyond Robin and he'd been really hoping it was one detail the computer simulation had forgotten. Well, here goes Robin. He thought to himself, sliding down the Batslide and into the Batcave.
Getting up he finally saw himself in the mirror, and boy did he look terrible. His costume was tattered and torn from running first through the streets, and then through the forest. His hair was messed up beyond repair and his mask had a small nick in it. Yup, he looked pretty awful. Not that it mattered, this wasn't the real world, and this wasn't his stuff. Right, to the Zeta-Tube. He hurried down the hall and into the main portion of the Batcave; the Zeta-Tube was just off to the side. He dashed towards it, only to have a small-black something whizz by, centimeters away from his face. A Batarang! Batman dropped down from the ceiling, standing between Robin and the Zeta-Tube.
"I'm sorry Robin, but I can't let you through." He said seriously, voice rasping as it usually did when he was in Batman mode. How that didn't destroy his voice box, Robin would never know.
"Sorry, but I have places to be- and a team to save!" Robin shot back, trying to dive off to the side of Batman, only to be grabbed by the arm and twisted around so that he was smashed face-first onto the ground, Batman holding him there by the arm. The golf club bounced uselessly out of his free hand.
"Too bad," Batman said darkly. "You're not going anywhere."
"Ugn!" Robin tried to force himself out of the caped crusaders hold, but it was no good, this body was smaller and weaker than his, a puny freshman's… and he was fighting Batman. With his free hand, he tried reaching for a bomb from his utility belt, to find that the belt was gone. With the hand that wasn't holding onto Robin's arm, Batman held the golden utility belt. Oh no! Finally he twisted around wildly, kicking batman in the process and by some miracle coming free. He sprang to his feet, grabbing the golf club.
"Don't think you can escape that easy," Batman said in a fighting stance. Robin dove, golf club swinging wildly. Pow! It collided with Batman who reacted with his fists. Wham! Robin was knocked backwards, getting back on his feet he lunged again. Crash! Batman fell against the Batcomputer, and took this as an opportunity to toss a Batarang at him. Zap! Robin turned quickly so as to avoid getting hit by the thing full on, it sliced through the top of his costume, leaving a sizable gash in his chest. Batman was playing for keeps.
"You asked for it.." Robin panted, he didn't have his utility belt so he couldn't return with a Birdarang, but he sure as heck knew how to swing a golf club. He targeted Batman's legs, but to no avail, Batman fired a well-aimed kick. Thwack! Robin went down hard, his face having met Batman's boot. Ugn… no… the titans… I can't…blackout… I can't… Black dots danced before his eyes as Batman turned about, his cape swishing like spilled ink…no….the titans…Starfire….the world went black.
Robin and Starfire dove back into battle. Starfire picked up Robin and after flying him up above the monsters height, launched him towards the beast. Once Robin was directly above Plasmus' gaping mouth, he tossed in a handful of bombs, his last ones. Plamus closed his mouth and the great green pustules he called eyes widened with surprise.
"Dive for cover!" Robin ordered, ducking behind a pile of trash, as BOOM! Plasmus exploded. Purple sludge went flying everywhere. Laughing, Robin pulled himself up and out of the trash trenches.
"We are victorious! How glorious!" Starfire proclaimed, coming to float beside Robin.
"Yea, we did it Star- I'm feeling pretty traught right about now." Robin grinned, looking down at where Plasmus had been moments before. Now there was just some strange bald skinny dude snoring softly in his underwear amidst the piles of purple ooze.
"He turns into a human?" Robin gawked, sliding down trash heaps to get a closer look.
"Yes," Starfire said floating beside him, "When he sleeps he is human and when he is awake he is a monster"
"That's rough. Any way to fix him?"
"No. At least, not that I know of" Starfire replied softly. She was stroking her red hair nervously as she spoke and they came to an awkward silence, at least until Robin spoke up again.
"So what now, do we wait for the police?" He asked.
"Yes, even though I am told by my Robin that they are 'useless'." Starfire nodded, smiling some.
"Cool. Um, what then? Cause I mean, I'm whelmed with just, I don't know, hanging out or something…" Robin asked awkwardly. Starfire grinned in response.
"We will rejoin the Titans and they will see that you are not an evil-bearded, evil-eyebrowed evil-evil faced Robin! But a good Robin!"
"Right, the Titans. Sure that they won't think that I'm evil?"
"Positive! In fact, you will be in need of this," She handed him the small yellow communicator he had discarded earlier. "Now, let us contact the Titans and tell them of our victory!"
"Right," He popped the thing open. Flip phone? Seriously- what was this, 2004? But then he understood when he saw the computer screen inside. Ah, flip video phone. Cool. "Uh, Robin to Titan Tower, come in Titan Tower," He said tensely, worried that they still wouldn't talk to him. With a crackle an image of the main room came on, showing Cyborg with his arms crossed and Beastboy arguing with him. There was no sign of Raven.
"Yea well I'm not answering the phone, someone else can do that- I'm not putting up with that little DNA buddy creep." Cyborg said.
"Dude! But Robin could need our help or something!" Beastboy protested, arms waving about wildly.
"Oh well, if he's evil it could be a trap or something. Besides, he's the one who ran off. If he's in trouble, he deserves it." Cyborg shrugged, not looking BB in the eye.
"Would both of you stop. I already answered the phone." Raven said darkly, coming on screen now. Cyborg and Beastboy turned to look at the giant computer screen to see Robin and Starfire, both covered in even more purple slime than before.
"Hi." Robin said carefully. Won't think I'm evil huh? Just look at them! Cyborg seems to think I'm setting a trap for them!
"Oh. Hi." Beastboy said turning about to face the screen, kicking Cyborg so that he'd turn too. "Say hi!" He hissed at the much larger teen.
"Hi." Cyborg said through gritted teeth.
"Friends! I bring to you glorious news! Robin and I have defeated the Plasmus! The police are arriving now to take him away! We shall celebrate!" Starfire exclaimed cheerily, giving all of the Titans mental recoil from the enormous number of exclamation points she'd used.
"Yea, maybe we could hang out or something seeing as how you're fended with me now- we could, I dunno, what do you guys do for fun?" Robin said, trying to get on their good sides.
"Fended?" Raven questioned, raising a brow.
"Yea, you know, the opposite of offended- we're on good terms now, right?" Robin explained.
"I'm pretty sure that's not what that word means." Raven said irritably. "But, fine."
"Yeeeaaaaa," Beastboy said carefully not sold on the 'fended' thing himself, "Maybe we could, I dunno, get a pizza or something."
"Yes! A pizza would be wonderful! With pineapples and ketchup and croutons!" Starfire proclaimed to the world, making Robin's stomach flip. He knew she was alien, but was that what she really wanted on her pizza? Cute.
"So, what do you say Cyborg?" Robin asked, "Pizza sound good?"
"Yea, fine. Whatever. Look where are you, we'll come meet you." Cyborg grumbled, already sensing that Raven and Beastboy would throttle him if he said anything else.
"We are at the city dump and the smell is most unusual!" Starfire answered.
"Lovely. We'll be there in no time." Raven said, ending the connection.
"Should be pretty aster right Star?" Robin asked, turning to face her, to find that she was no longer there. "Star? Starfire?"
"Robin! Help!" Up above him, held suspended by a claw used to pick up heaps of trash was Starfire, at the controls to that claw was none other than that short dwarf kid. Gizmo.
"Hahahaha! You snot-nosed Titans will make a great present for Brother Blood!" Gizmo cackled, swinging Starfire about wildly.
"Let her go!" Robin ordered, reaching for a bomb only to remember that he was all out. Darn. He was down to Batarangs. He drew one of those instead, and fired. Gizmo jumped out of the crane just in time, knocking the cranes controls and sending Starfire flying towards the earth.
"Starfire!" Robin ran towards her and was relieved to find that she had floated down to safety.
"I am fine Robin." She said brushing some dirt off of her purple skirt.
"For now anyways," A familiar voice said, and sliding down a pile of trash was the pink haired girl, hands glowing with pink energy. Close behind her was the giant one, Mammoth.
"The Hive three!" Starfire gasped, apparently, they were a bad thing.
"We've met." Robin said grimly, Batarang in one hand. "But who exactly are they?"
"What do you mean who are we? Ugh. What's a girl gotta do to be noticed?" The pink one complained, firing pink energy beams.
"They are students of the one called Brother Blood," Starfire explained rapidly, starbolts flying out of her hands, "Their names are Jinx, Mammoth and Gizmo. They wish to learn the ways of evil!"
"Well, that's not aster." Robin said, throwing a Batarang at Mammoth, who didn't even flinch when it hit him. This guy was a freaking mammoth.
"Why are you guys even attacking us? I mean seriously, what'd we do?" Robin asked, really wishing he hadn't chucked that metal bar thing earlier.
"Brother Blood is after snot-nosed losers like you, so if we catch you," Gizmo began,
"Then we get back at the top of our class- where we belong" Jinx finished, hands on her hips.
"So this is about getting an A in evil class? Seriously?" Robin said with disbelief.
"Let's hurry and get this over with, these puke faced losers are getting on my nerves!" Gizmo complained, pushing a button or two on his remote, the crane began to move again, even though he was no longer sitting in it, clearly his remote was pretty handy. "Jinx? You know what to do" The crane stopped moving, apparently in place.
"Got it!" She raised her hands and fired a pink energy beam and before Robin or Starfire could do anything, the crane swung wildly, knocking over trash heaps one by one. Pretty soon there was a whole avalanche of garbage raining down on the pair of them.
"Star- we gotta get out of here!" Robin shouted, having trouble seeing through the mess.
"Yes, we must!" She agreed, moving towards him. Then he saw a giant refridgerator come tumbling down… towards Starfire!
"Star look out!" He shouted diving and pushing her out of the way.
"Aaah!" She shouted, knocked to the ground while Robin was buried under a heap of trash.
"Robin..?" She asked nervously, "Robin?" Before she got a response however Mammoth grabbed her from behind, holding her in a body lock and completely preventing her from moving.
"Help!" She cried out, struggling uselessly against the large man's grasp.
"Starfire, no!" Robin cried, but it was no use. He was buried alive under heaps of trash, only his arm stuck out. It was horrible, he was blind to everything going on around him, but he could hear it all. He heard the Hive rev up a truck and drive off, taking Starfire with them. And that was the last thing he heard before he blacked out.
End chap 11.
Authors notes: Sorry YJ Robin's section is shorter than TT Robin's, but hey, good stuff coming :D
And how many people got the silliness going on in the Batman vs Robin fight? :D
Tune in next time, same Batsite, same Batauthor!
