Hey guys! This is a better chapter- I like the nightmare the best, the end was sorta rushed XP I'll try and get another chapter or two in before the end of November, but we'll have to see
So my formatting was weird last time, so I fixed it :P Hopefully it works better this time…
Yup. So…READ. And please review. It makes me a happy person
Disclaimer: Yeah. I don't own the Joining, Batman, Justice League, or Teen Titans. I wish I did, becase then the shows never would have been CANCELLED! RAAAAAAAAAR!
The whole town was drenched in darkness, the cloak of the night destroying whatever light could possibly remain in the entire city. Even the street lights had slowly flickered out, one by one. No one drove in Gotham at night. Everyone who had was never seen again. After all, the night was the time when the criminals came out from their musty hiding places and wreaked havoc everywhere. Even the Batman couldn't stop every criminal.
Suddenly, a piercing scream punched through the darkness. The people who lived nearby didn't even bother calling the police now; the soul was most likely already lost. Only the Batman could save her now, and he wasn't anywhere to be seen. Not this night.
Until now.
"Don't make me shoot you again!" the husky man cried angrily. He had stubble all along his cheek, and eyes that were so ice blue that they could freeze you with one look. He held a short, stubby gun in his hand and pointed it at a weeping blonde woman who sat against the ground, her chest bleeding heavily.
"Please…I don't have my wallet with me. I left it at home-" the woman pleaded, but the man held the barrel of the gun directly against her forehead.
"If you don't give me all of your money right now, I swear I will shoot you a thousand times over and drown your bloody body in Gotham Bay." He snarled, gripping the gun tighter and tighter.
The woman sobbed desperately, holding out her hands. "I don't have-"
"Enough!" he cried. "I'll sort through your corpse if I have to!" He pushed the barrel against her head harder, and his finger began to flex along the trigger. Boy, did he get a thrill doing this…
"Step away from her." A cool, dark voice ordered.
The man turned his head around, looking for the owner of the voice; but he couldn't find it. It was impossibly dark, he could barely see the outline of the woman he was attacking.
"Who's there?" he called out, his eyes begging for some sort of light.
Suddenly, he heard a loud crack from above. He looked up just in time to see the Batman's foot heading straight for his skull.
He cried out in agony as the Batman kicked his head. He fell to the ground, and his hold on the gun tightened. He held his gun up, searching the sky to find the Batman.
Then, he was lifted up into the air by his shirt and slammed against the brick wall of the nearest building. The Batman…
Batman moved his grip to the man's throat and held tightly. "She didn't have the money, so why mug her?" he asked calmly.
The man didn't respond, and the Batman slammed him against the wall again. "Why!" he shouted.
"Thought…she was…lying…" he gasped between short breaths. He was running out of oxygen; if he wasn't let go soon, he would-
"Batman?" a voice called out from behind him. Batman turned around to see his partner, a ten year old Robin, staring at him in shock. "Shouldn't we take him away now?" he asked.
Batman sighed. Robin still wasn't quite used to seeing the darker side of Gotham- the night.
Batman let go of the man's neck, leaving him on the ground, gasping. "Come on," Batman replied. "We'll tie him up and the police will-"
The man grabbed his gun from the floor and aimed it angrily and the Batman.
"No!" Robin cried, staring in horror as the man flexed his finger on the trigger, sending a bullet straight through the Batman's chest.
The man ran away and the woman sat in horror in the corner, still weeping. Robin ran to Batman and quickly checked his pulse; he sighed in relief to see that Bruce was still breathing-
But wait. His pulse; it was running down, way to quickly…Robin frowned. "Batman?" he asked, shaking his body lightly. "Batman, wake up. We've gotta go."
Batman didn't move, and Robin's shaking increased. "Batman, if we don't get out of here, you'll die!" he cried angrily.
Robin grabbed the Batman's communicator link. "Alfred?" he cried.
"Master Dick! What are you doing with Master Bruce's-" Alfred's voice came over the communicator, but Robin quickly cut him off.
"It's Bruce- he got shot! I don't know what to do…" he replied shakily.
He heard a long pause before Alfred replied again. "I'm on my way." He whispered. "Richard, don't be scared, he's going to be fine."
Robin nodded. "I hope so."
Robin gasped, waking up with a sudden jerk. Sweat was trickling down his face. Just another nightmare from the old days…he thought. Nothing more.
He sat up and looked into the mirror across the wall. He was only wearing a pair of blue boxers, and his hair was still spiked aggressively. The only thing he needed to fix before seeing his friends- well, besides putting on some actual clothes- was putting on his mask.
He stared into the reflection of his eyes; a bright blue that looked childish at times, but when used with Robin's usual glares, they could scare someone beyond their breaking point.
He slapped his white mask on a quickly got dressed in his usual uniform. He met with the rest of the team in the main hall, where Raven was making tea, Cyborg was making bacon and eggs, Starfire was making some sort of creation from her home planet Tamaran, and Beast Boy was making tofu waffles.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty!" Cyborg called out as Robin entered the room.
Robin glared at him for a moment, and then greeted everyone. "Hey, guys."
"Robin!" Starfire cried, hugging him with a crushing squeeze. "Oh, I had thought you would be in the sleep forever!"
Robin laughed. "You're killing me, Star." He replied between gasps of breath.
Starfire let go of him with a blush. "Oops," she whispered hastily. "I did not mean to-"
"It's okay." He said, shaking his head. "How long was I asleep, anyway?"
"It's, what, noon?" Cyborg replied. "And you're usually up at the crack of dawn. What's up?"
Robin rolled his eyes. "Stayed up late last night reviewing some case files." He lied. Really, he had gone to bed early- it was the nightmares that got him. They always make him sleep in and feel like he'd only been sleeping for two hours when it had been over fourteen.
Cyborg rolled his eyes. That was the usual case with Robin. He was always…obsessing, over everything. Couldn't the guy ever relax?
Suddenly, the alarm sounded. "Trouble!" Robin cried.
"Who is it?" Beast Boy asked. "Cinderblock?"
Robin shook his head. "Doesn't say." He replied. "Maybe someone new?"
"Great." Raven murmured. "Another new villain. Like we need the extra work."
"Well, let's go give them a welcome present." Cyborg cried. "A nice knuckle sandwich!"
The Titans ended up in the center of the city. "Dude, where is the guy?" Beast Boy asked. "I mean, really. We went through all of the trouble to get here, and now he's probably on the other side of town!"
Beast Boy's ranting was cut short by a rapid explosion. Rocks pelted the Titans, and Robin just barely dodged one the size of his head. "I think we found 'em." Cyborg cried. "Look over there!"
A large spaceship laid in the middle of the city, halfway buried under the rubble. "Let's go check it out!" Beast Boy shouted.
"Wait!" Robin cried as Beast Boy ran toward the ship. It started smoking, and Robin watched as one of the doors on the spaceship opened, and a large figure stepped out of the ship. "Beastboy, get out of there!" he shouted.
The figure was a large robotic creature, surrounded by a purple glow. Robin knew it looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place it…maybe something from Gotham?
The robot looked down at Beast Boy with a glare, its' red eyes glowing angrily. Suddenly, a red beam shot out from its' eyes and shocked Beast Boy. He screamed as he was shot backwards, toppling onto Cyborg. "Dude!" Beast Boy cried. "What are these things?"
"We are the Joining." The robot replied. "We are the Joining."
Robin shook his head, staring in disbelief. "No…no." he whispered.
"What?" Cyborg asked. "You've seen these things before?"
Robin nodded. "In Gotham…five years ago. They nearly destroyed the city; they got a hold on the Justice League's powers." He cursed under his breath. "It took all of the Justice League to destroy them."
Cyborg's eyes widened. "Uh oh…" he whispered.
Robin nodded. "We need more than the Titans…we need the League. And fast."
"How?" Cyborg asked, partly watching as the robot began to attack the other members of the team. They were losing- badly.
"Contact the Batman."
I tried to make the end sort of dramatic, but it didn't really work, sooo… XP
PLEASE REVIEW! PLEASE! My smiley faces will thank you.
~BlueSkies