If you recognise it… I don't own it.
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Young Justice & Batman Beyond – Start/Middle (Not really sure)
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"Hey, easy kid." Robin felt a gentle hand on his chest, "I can't see your eyes, but you might have a concussion. So take it easy."
"I… I'm okay." Robin declared, easily pushing the hand aside to sit up.
He took in the figure next to him. The figure was about Batman's height, only slenderer. He was sitting down, with one leg stretched out, the other tucked up to his chest. The costume covered him from top to toe in black. But it was the red bat on his chest that caused Robin to frown.
"Who are you?"
"Batman."
"You're not Batman."
"No… You're right. I'm not your Batman. I will be Batman… I think. But not Batman here and now. That's the Old Man's title."
"Confused dot com."
"I'm from a different dimension… A couple of decades in the future. Despite how he acts, the Old Man won't stay like he is forever."
"So you took over?"
"Sort of… I think the key thing at the moment is can you contact anyone outside? There was an explosion earlier and our entrance got blocked."
"Can't you?"
"I don't have the frequencies. And I'm not going to broadcast a general one. There might be some dregs who pick up on it."
The term wasn't being used in the context Robin was used to, but he understood the implications.
Robin lifted his arm to touch his computer, freezing as he saw some sort of cast over his right arm.
"Ah, sorry about that." If Robin didn't know better he'd say that the man was embarrassed, "You got caught by a falling rock. Broke your arm. That cast is the best I can do."
Robin flexed his fingers; now that he noticed it, he could feel the pain that indicated a broken arm. But he could work through it; he'd worked through it before. And it was his right arm, so he could still use his computer.
"No signal." Robin sighed after a moment.
"Sweet set-up." The man commented, "It's shway. Wonder why the Old Man didn't think to give me one?… Oh, he probably reckoned I couldn't do anything with it."
"Not into computers?"
"Not great with them. You should have heard me the first time I tried to use the Batcomputer on my own… Do the thing where you figure out what it's made of."
Robin laughed. Whatever and whoever this guy was, he didn't seem to be much of a threat. He was dangerous. But not a threat. Bit like KF.
"Did it work?"
"Turns out the Old Man programed the computer to be almost idiot proof. I managed. How you feeling?"
"I'm alright. No concussion. You left me my mask?"
"Not shway taking yours. 'Sides the Old Man doesn't like it when people peek. He rigged this suit so that I'm the only one who can remove the cowl. I think he can, but I don't know how."
"That doesn't bother you?"
"It's the Old Man. He's got a feature that means he can completely shut down the suit if he wants to. Only used it once… Hey, try this. Might be able to boost your signal."
The guy pulled his right ear off revealing advanced radio tech.
"And while we're at it, you probably won't want to call me Batman… So how does Bats sound? I respond to it."
"Then call me Robin, not kid."
"I'll try to remember, but I rarely call the Old Man anything but that, unless it's to his face. And not even then. Anyway, can this help?"
"Might do." Robin nodded, "Can I…?"
"If it gets us out of here."
Robin managed to patch his computer into the ear-piece with a bit of work. There was just enough cable to link the two and leave Robin about an arm's distance between the ear and his wrist.
"No. No go." Robin sighed, "We'll have to hope SB spots us with his X-Ray vision."
"They mine lead round here." Bats reminded, "If I remember correctly that blocks Superman's vision. SB's the kid wearing the Shield right? Superboy?"
"Yeah."
"Really?" Robin swore that Bats blinked, "I thought that they'd have used more imagination… Then again I shouldn't be surprised. We did have a Supergirl."
"A clone?"
"No… What did the Old Man say? An Argoan. Sister planet of Krypton. Last survivor… She was cloned though. Galatea… What happened to her? I mean I know Galatea died… Oh, time-travel thing. I think I saw something about the Thirty First Century."
"Woah! Whelmed here." Robin stared, "You're sure?"
"Not entirely. The Old Man doesn't talk much about missions he wasn't on. And some days getting information out of him is like… What's that old phrase? Pulling teeth?"
"Maybe we can dig our way out. Which way did we come in?"
Bats pointed at the rocks he was facing. Robin stared at them. There didn't seem to be any spaces between them.
"We're a couple of hundred metres in." Bats shrugged, "Whoever did the explosives meant it. Close contender for Mad Stan. I'm lucky this suit can shrug off hits from Superman. Got clipped a few times."
"We'd better find another way out." Robin sighed.
"Up or down?" Bats stood up slowly, "And you'd better disconnect, unless you like hanging off my ear."
Rather embarrassed Robin separated the two of them.
"Just in case I need to know, how do I remove this thing?" Robin held up his arm.
"Twist the piece nearest your wrist until the green is in line with the blue. Then hit the red circle near your elbow." Bats replied, "It'll compact down and you can take it off."
"Right." Robin nodded, "And I call up. More exits that way. We're practically at sea-level."
"Lead on." Bats seemed to grin, "You want to trade while we walk?"
"Trade?"
"Like I said, the Old Man tells me War Stories sometimes. Usually when we're patching up my suit or the plane or something. I got a few stories that don't reveal anything. Story for a story?"
"If you start with the one where you were using the Computer on your own. And you tell me why Superman was punching you."
"Second one after your first one." Bats countered.
"Deal." Robin grinned, "You know, you're traught."
"And you're schway. Old Man always says you're made of rubber… Alright, this story starts with a building project. Industrial. Planned to be built on Park Lane, better known as…"
"Crime Alley."
"In particular the theatre."
"Oh, he wouldn't like that."
"No. He didn't."
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"I can see your point. You should hear the Old Man ride me after I screwed up."
"Yeah, but taking five minutes to open a lock?"
"You were tied up at the time."
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"Nice. You hack a lot then?"
"Yeah. Motion sensors were a piece of cake."
"The Old Man always says the most important thing to know is what your enemy knows."
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"So I said: 'Is that faster than a speeding bullet?'."
"You didn't?"
"I did. He never answered."
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"Then I did the stupidest thing I could have done."
"Which was?"
"I walked away."
"Why was that stupid?"
"Where was I?"
"At the, oh… The Fortress of Solitude. And the Batplane was broken. How did you get home?"
"It took three hours for Superman to realize he'd basically abandoned me there. For all his brains, he ain't the brightest. I'd probably have stayed there until I'd fixed the plane, if the Old Man hadn't called and pointed out my predicament."
"What were you doing?"
"I moved all of the plane pieces into the Fortress and was trying to figure out how to cobble together something to get home. My boosters are good, but they only work for short distance. I didn't want to get halfway home and then have to swim."
"Why didn't you want to join the League? I mean… It's the League!"
"They didn't trust me. They didn't like me. I'm not exactly a team player. Never have been."
"You're lying."
"It was partly that… But also… They were insulting the Old Man. Basically to his face!"
"They didn't know he was listening in."
"They should have suspected. Every one of them grew up on stories of the Old Man. One of them… His parents were League members with the Old Man. They would have told him how paranoid and crazy prepared the Old Man is. And Superman knew him personally. They should have known that there was no way I would be able to go around as Batman without the Old Man's permission, never mind his knowledge. And they should have known that he would be able to tap into my cowl… See what I see. Hear what I hear. They insulted him to his face… He who had once willingly sacrificed himself for the world. And declared that it was an honour to fight alongside the rest of the League. And they had forgotten all that."
"You really respect him, don't you?"
"Look, before I met the Old Man I was a punk. Already done a stint in Juvie. Bucking for a second. Not a gang member at that point, but I had been. Nobody could straighten me out. I wasn't evil. Just… I don't know what I was. Angry I think is probably the best word. Then… Tragedy. And I really, truly was angry. But I had an answer. The Old Man. Met him the same night the tragedy occurred. He said no. I didn't care."
"Bet he didn't like that."
"No. Not at all. But we came to an understanding. I'm going to College. My grades aren't the best, but I'm doing better than I would have been. I'm only rarely in trouble. He's pushed me. Both physically and mentally. He tells me that he wants me to do something. Something impossible…"
"But you do it anyway." Robin nodded, "Because it's him asking. Even if you believe it's impossible, you try anyway. And then you succeed."
"And he never asks for more than you can give. But it's always more than you thought it was possible for you to give. A friend once told me his Rules."
"Rules?"
"First, you give him everything you've got. Second, then you give him more. Third, he makes the rules. The last one's the killer."
"I'll say. But I know what you mean. He's like a father to you."
"Yeah." Bats nodded after a pause, "He's the kind of guy I hope to be to my kids… Only I'll tell them I love them more than he does. He's not too good with emotions and words."
"You have kids?"
"I want to. One day. Not yet. That makes me think of another story. Tell one, then I'll tell you this one. You'll like it."
"Alright. This starts in the middle of the Biyalia Desert. I've just woken up…"
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"Seriously? No kidding? You took an Atlantean to the Desert?"
"Not the smartest move in retrospect."
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"You really said that? 'I want a divorce?'."
"It was a bad week. I was stressed."
"You were so not traught."
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"How badly did the Old Man ground you for that stunt? I mean, going AWOL and lying…"
"Pretty badly. I was so not feeling the aster."
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"Want to trade?" Robin looked up from his ration bar to see Bats holding out a rather similar looking one, "Some variety."
"Does it taste any better?" Robin broke his in half, before offering it over.
"I don't know." Bats took the half and handed half of his over in return.
"Not much." Robin gave his verdict, "You think he's actually eaten any of these?"
"They're better than his cooking."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. Trust me, it's a good thing I was taught to cook. I do not know how he managed until I turned up."
"No A?"
"Passed away a long time ago. I would have liked to have met him. He sounds schway."
"When we get out of this, I'll take you."
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"You said Batman says I'm made of rubber. You haven't met me?"
"No. When I met the Old Man, he was a lonely old man in a large empty house. Just him and his dog."
"A dog?"
"Yeah, I know he doesn't seem the type. But it suits him."
"A nice dog?"
"Not really. I call him a good bad dog."
"Good bad dog?"
"Trust me, it fits."
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Same as last time folks. Batman Beyond is not from the future. He's a dimension traveller. He's chasing a criminal.
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