Sorry it took so long, but this was a long chapter!
"RIIINNGGG"
I stumbled to stand, knocking over pencils while I did so. My heart was racing and my eyes darted around the class to see if anyone saw him. Was it starting to get hot in here?
Before I could escape this furnace of a room, a small, warm hand took my arm."Are you sure you're okay, Bethany? You're a little pale," Rose said quietly. Her beautiful face was creased with worry.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I wiped sweat from my hairline and shoved papers and pencils into my book bag, not bothering to even put it away neatly like I always did, "I need to go."
I dashed past a confused Rose and ran out the door. I had to get away. If Klarion was here for me, he would use anyone at the school to find me. He would hurt anyone he needed to. I needed to get away from everyone. No me equaled no danger.
But I wasn't that fortunate.
"Hey, where are you going?" Dick grabbed my arm right as I set a foot outside the art room door. Damn it, Bethany! I forgot that he always waited outside of my art class so that we could walk to the next class together.
"Sorry, Dick, but I really have to go!" I struggled to pull my arm out of his grasp. Damn. His hold was like steel.
"Where?" Dick asked firmly, not letting go.
"Dick, it's an emergency. Just let me-" I yanked my arm out of his grasp. I turned to leave.
"What's going on?" He raised his voice at me. For some reason, it sounded familiar, but I didn't have time to think about where I had heard that before.
"I saw someone that I know, and I really need to stop him - I mean, meet him," I stuttered, "Bye, Dick. I'll see you tomorrow!" Then I left without saying anything else.
"Wait, Bethany! I can help you!" Dick yelled out after me.
No he couldn't.
"You need help! I can help you!" Dick's voice was too far away now.
No he couldn't help. What I needed was the Team, and that didn't involve him. There was no way in Hell I could defeat Klarion by myself. But I had to try. I didn't have a way to communicate to them because Batman hadn't given me my own communication device yet, but I had to do something with Bitchboy. And I wasn't going to give in without a fight.
My legs were burning as I ran as fast as I possibly could through emptying hallways. The majority of the students were already in their next class. Only a handful of students were still in the hallways.
Adrenaline coursed through my veins. What do I do? Prioritize, Bethany! Formulate a plan! My father's voice rang through my ears like it always did in these situations.
Okay, I would lead Klarion away from school. Then I would get the Team and then I could hold him off until the Team came! Yay, except I didn't know how to reach the Team. I needed to find Artemis. Fuck my life.
"RRIIINNGG"
Shoot. Class has officially started. There was no one else here.
I ran down empty hallways, trying to find her math class. Suddenly, I came to a halt. Down the hallway, Klarion stood.
"Well, hello there, my pretty," His voice was nasaly and sounded like nails on a chalkboard. He started to approach me.
I turned and started running the opposite direction. Okay, looks like I'm on my own. Artemis' class was behind Klarion, and there's no way I'd be able to get past him.
"Come back here!" He screeched. I started hearing pounding footsteps behind me.
I ran down hallways, turning this way and that, getting lost in the maze that was now Gotham Academy. I dialed Artemis' number while running. She didn't pick up. She probably got her phone confiscated. Damnit, I'll just leave a message. Anythings better than nothing.
"Artemis!" I shouted into the phone, "Klarion's here! He's after me! I'm running around and I'm just going to leave the school. I need to get him away from the school. Damnit!" I yelled as a tripped and fell. I scrambled back up after seeing that Klarion was only down the hall, "Artemis, I need you to contact the Team! Help! Please!" Desperation seeped into my voice and I almost cried.
Beside me, a set of lockers exploded causing papers, books, and crunched metal to fly everywhere. A few small pieces of metal got embedded into my arms, but I kept running. I glanced back and saw that Klarion had started throwing these bolts of red power. Everywhere they hit, the object would explode. I rolled and ducked to dodge the magic and always ended up getting something new embedded into my body. Shit. So now he decided to pull out his magic power crap. I am totally and utterly screwed. The large double doors were just up ahead.
"AAHH!" I screamed, but kept running. One of his shitty magic bolts had scraped my arm. It's only a scratch, Bethany. Just keep going. Well, if you called a deep gash with blood streaming out of it a "scratch," then sure, Bethany. Just keep going.
I bursted through the double doors and stumbled sloppily down the stairs. I dashed out the gate of the school and onto the busy street. My legs ached and my abs burned from all the running. My head was pounding and my heart was racing. I knew I must have been leaving a trail of blood after me. I turned down the street that would lead me to the docks. I glanced behind me and saw nothing.
By now, I was just doing what my first instinct was. The human has two instincts when they feel threatened. Fight or Flight. Usually, you would think that a crime fighter's first instinct should be to stand and fight. Not mine. My first instinct was flight.
I ducked into a row of long rectangular boxes. Now, I was in a maze of loading crates everywhere. I stopped to catch my breath. I was pretty sure I just ran about half a mile.
I continued walking, afraid to stop moving. While I walked, I started plucking small pieces of metal that had been embedded in my arms and legs. They weren't too big, so they didn't hurt that much. They still made blood roll down my arms and legs, but I had had worse. Much worse.
I decided to try to call Artemis again.
"Bethany?! Where the hell are you?!" She shouted into the phone when she picked up.
"Did you get my message?"
"Yeah. Where the fuck are you?! What the hell is going on?!" She demanded.
"I'm at the docks. Klarion came for me at school. I think I led Klarion away. I'm in a maze of cargo boxes right now, but I don't see him…" I looked around, my heart resumed pounding.
"Stay there! I'm coming for you! Try to be alive when I get there," She joked. That didn't help me at all.
"Artemis, it's not funny," I was really starting to freak out now, "Please hurry. Contact the Team," Then I added softly, "I'm really scared. Robin was right. I can't face him alone. I'll die."
She was silent, but then she said, "Stay alive, Bethany. That's your only goal now. I'll be there in a few minutes."
"Anything could happen in a few minutes."
"Stay alive. I'm coming. You should -" The phone shot out of my hand and was destroyed in a flash of red light.
My heart stopped.
My head whipped around to face Klarion. He was standing on top of the cargo box in front of me like he owned the place. Crap. I didn't have the higher ground.
"You have nowhere to run now, my little sweet," His cackle was horrendous and it filled my eyes with tears. I was surely going to die. The best I can do is stall.
"What do you want with me?!" Even my shout was shaky.
"Oh, isn't it obvious? I wanted to continue our conversation from last time!" He smiled like we were just chatting over a cup of coffee, which let me remind you. We really weren't. He was chatting over my soon-to-be-dead body.
"Why? Why are you doing all this?! Why me?!" I desperately yelled.
"Because. Since our firsy introduction, I've taken a very… keen… interest in you," He replied, stroking his cat.
I reached for some exploding pellets in my belt and- Damnit! I was still wearing my school uniform! By now, there was blood splattering my skirt and my blouse was torn and splotched with a scarlet red. My french braid had strands of hair coming out of it and my arms and legs were bleeding. I didn't have a single weapon on me. I was so completely and utterly screwed.
Regardless of my heart jumping wildly around, I got into a fighting stance and was ready to go down fighting.
"Oh, come on," He threw a hand out at me and suddenly, I was frozen. I couldn't move a muscle, "Let's not play that game anymore."
"What are you doing to me?!" I screamed. My heart was racing. I couldn't move anything except my head, "Let me go, you stupid bitch!"
He glowered at me, "Now, now. That's no way to treat your master. Time to learn your lesson."
He flicked his wrist and I was immediately flung at the side of one of the rectangular cargo boxes. I collapsed onto the ground in a heap. Above me, a dent had formed in the metal cargo box. My back felt like one big bruise and my head wouldn't stop spinning.
Klarion's frown disappeared and he smiled, "Now, we are going to go back together."
Back where? Why? I had so many questions, but I knew one thing for sure, "I'm not going anywhere with you, you crazy psycho!"
That earned me another toss at the crate.
"Stop making me angry!" He glowered at me again. But he shook his head and smiled at me with sharp teeth that glimmered like a shark's, "Just be cooperative and we can go the easy way."
I spat blood and coughed, "Fuck… off," I managed to say.
Klarion's face got really red and he flicked his wrist twice and I was flung at the crate again and again. Blood was spurting out of my mouth and the side of crate had caved inwards. I thought my back was broken. I couldn't speak anymore because of all the blood in my mouth. Tears streamed down my face. I was going to die. Here it goes.
Robin's POV:
What was wrong with Bethany? Why was she acting like that? Down the hall, I saw a familiar blonde head bobbing along with the other students on their way to their next class.
"Artemis!" I called out. Immediately, she approached me.
"Where's Bethany?" She asked.
"I was going to ask you the same question."
"You were supposed to get her after her art class!"
"I tried to, but she ran away! She was talking about getting a friend or something like that."
We were silent as we tried to think about where Bethany had gone.
"RRIIINNGG"
"Just go to class, Artemis. I'll find her," I commanded.
She nodded and headed into her math class. I went to my locker and grabbed a small, unmarked black duffel from the back of my locker.
I had changed in seconds and I now jumped from the school roof and swung down. I knew that Bethany was in trouble. She saw something. She was so pale and she looked scared out of her mind. Of course, she wouldn't have had to do anything alone if she had known I was Robin, but I was forbidden to tell her that. No matter how many times I had wanted to tell her. I tried to tell her that I could help her in the hallway, but she didn't put the pieces together. I had used my wrist computer to track her cell phone to the docks.
Right as I had made the last swing and landed on a cargo box, my communicator beeped. It was Artemis telling the Team that Bethany was in trouble at the docks. I guess she found out about Bethany's whereabouts, too. They wouldn't get here fast enough. But I was here, and I could hold whoever it was off until they came.
I heard an ear-splitting scream that made my heart jump into my throat come from further down the line of cargo boxes. I immediately scrambled over to see what was happening. I had heard that scream before. Bethany.
Then I saw a flash of red magic power. No, it was Klarion! Damn. I would have to call in stronger backup. If the Team couldn't get here fast enough, I knew who could.
Bethany's POV:
Deathly pain shot up my body. He was doing something to me by using his magic. I coughed up and spit out wads of blood to clear my throat to scream. It was literally a blood curling scream. Literally.
I thought I was going to black out. He had tendrils of red magic stabbing enter me over and over and over again. It caused my body to spasm from all the pain that raced across my body every time he did it. And he was laughing.
"I guess they wouldn't mind if I just ended you here," He said more to himself. I didn't even have the strength or the will to try and decipher who the "they" was that he was talking about. I was too scared at the moment. Because right then, all the sharp red tendrils combined together to form a wicked red blade. He held it over me using no effort at all and prepared to strike.
I closed my eyes, like the coward I was, but the blade never came. Instead, the sound of a body falling to the ground in front of me made my eyes shoot back open.
"Robin!" I croaked.
He looked at me and his face became furious. He immediately appeared in front of me and held my face gently in his hands.
"It's okay, Bethany. You're going to be okay," Although it sounded like he was trying to reassure himself more, "Help will be on the way."
"URRRRGGGAHHHH!" Klarion screeched from behind him. Robin let go of me and gently laid me back down on the ground. His face had darkened and he turned around to face Klarion. Robin's back was rigid and he seemed furious.
"You'll pay for this!" He shouted and shot into battle with Klarion. They danced around, Klarion shooting red bolts at Robin, and Robin throwing birdarangs at the cat. I didn't know why he was doing that, but I couldn't really think straight at the moment.
My mind was getting really foggy, because I started to see arrows flying around and then I thought I saw Artemis. I thought I saw M'gann, Superboy, and a blur that I could only assume was Wally. The sounds of the battle got really distant. I could hear shouts and grunts and explosions. I could distantly hear Klarion screeching insults, but I couldn't really understand what he was saying. Instead of my vision becoming black, it was starting to become a sheer white. It was almost too bright to look at. Then I heard the sounds of battle stop altogether. I heard distant talking and then I heard Klarion shouting in anger. I saw his cat limping towards its master before disappearing altogether.
Strong arms lifted me up without any effort. My head lolled over to see a blue and red suit. Superman?
"It's alright now, Bethany," Superman's strong voice surged in my ears, "You can rest now." Around me, I saw a green lantern and a couple other people from the Justice League, along with Artemis, Robin, Kid Flash, Superboy, and M'gann. No Aqualad. No vision. No noise. I couldn't feel anything. I couldn't think any…
I blacked out.
Now that that part of the plot is out of the way… There will be a lot of Bethany and Dick/Robin moments!
Stay traught. Love you, guys!