AN: I know I've been inactive lately, but I decided to make sure this chapter was done today as a present to all of the readers who celebrates Christmas. This might be late depending on where you live but it's still Christmas here, so I'm going to count it.
Enjoy!
xXx
The noise of the vacuum humming inside of the living room was a little distracting, Dick came to realize as he stared his history homework in the kitchen, tapping his pencil against the table as he tried to recall information that could help him with his assignment. Who was the president during World War II? Lincoln? Columbus? The question zipped around in his brain aimlessly, never to encounter an answer. Why did America put an embargo on Japan? Who created the atomic bomb? Einstein, right?
His thoughts tried to stay glued to that bit of information but of course, they didn't. The image of his mentor sending the Team to pick up supplies surfaced in his brain, and another wave of jealously hit him head on. It wasn't fair that they were allowed to hang out while he was stuck doing history homework. Sure, his grades were starting to tumble downhill, but he could have easily brought them back up without Bruce's sudden grounding. It wasn't as if US history was going to help him in the field anyways!
The oven timer suddenly went off, disrupting his thoughts. He scowled and tried to block out the noise, but it's insistent beeping sound was impossible to ignore. Seconds turned into minutes, and the hum of the vacuum did not silence, and neither did the oven. Seriously, was Alfred deaf or something?
"Alf, the cookies are done!" He hollered, turning his head to the ajar door. The vacuum continued to hum, and he sighed. "Alfred, the cookies!"
Silence.
Dick glowered and slammed his pencil onto the table, standing. Fine, he would have to get the butler's attention some other way. With an annoyed grumble, Dick slipped over to the door and threw it open. "Alfred-"
The room was empty, and the humming vacuum was left abandoned in front of the television. Dick's annoyance cleared away immediately, and he scurried over to the alliance to turn it off. "... Alfie?"
Something was wrong his hero instincts told him. Alfred would never leave a room while a vacuum was still turned on. The man was never so absent minded, he was always right on top of those kinds of things. What could have possibly made the butler forget to turn the vacuum off?
Maybe he was exaggerating, he thought to himself. People forgot things all the time. He had regarded everyone in his adoptive family as perfect beings, but even they had to make mistakes from time to time. Yeah... Alfred must have been distracted by something else and accidentally left the vacuum on.
The oven began to beep again, and Dick felt dread build up in his stomach. No, Alfred might have been able to forget about the vacuum cleaner, but there was no way he could forget about the cookies in the oven, not with it constantly letting out a loud reminder. Something had to be wrong.
Not wanting to return to a burnt down house, Dick hastily returned to the kitchen and pulled the tray of cookies out. As he was only gone for a couple of minutes, the sweets didn't look to be burnt. That was good. Alfred would have been angry with himself if the treats he put so much time into making went to waste.
Huh. Now that he thought about it, Dick had no idea what the special occasion was that called for any kind of sugary food. He would make sure to definitely ask later. Right now, he had a (kind of) adopted grandfather to find.
...
Minutes later, Dick was no where closer to finding out what happened to Alfred. He had searched the bedrooms, the dining hall, the game room, the laundry area, and every bathroom in the house, coming up with absolutely nothing. He was starting to grow worried. Alfred wasn't getting any younger; the amount of health problems that could have came up were starting to overwhelm him. If Alfred was hurt and he couldn't find him...
Wincing, Dick pulled out his phone and dialed the man's cellphone number once again, waiting impatiently until the monotone sound of his voicemail started. It has been close to twenty minutes, and there was no sign of the butler anywhere. It was time to contact Bruce.
One trip to the Bat Cave later, Dick found himself sitting in the chair in front of the Bat Computer. He knew that he technically had restricted access to the Cave while he was grounded, but damn it this was important! If Bruce so much as gave him a bat glare because he disobeyed orders, he would explode. "Robin to Batman," he called, typing a few buttons on the keyboard. A window came up to show him his mentor's face, but nothing was there. Just a bunch of static. "Robin to Batman," he tried again, forcefully. The static in front of him didn't change at all, and no Bruce appeared on screen. Okay, first Alfred, and now Bruce? What the hell?
He closed the tab, heart beating loudly in his chest. Okay, maybe Batman was busy with whatever it was that he was doing in the Mountain (though now that he thought about it, getting supplies shouldn't have taken so long...). Dick would simply contact Mount Justice and hope that he could speak with his mentor from there.
Nodding to himself, Dick hastily grabbed a spare pair of sunglasses he always kept around, and typed another command on the Computer's keyboard. "Robin to the Cave," he said, and a window appeared, showing him the interior of the Mountain. The entire Team, plus a girl he could only assume was Zatanna were gathered in front of the screen, faces all grim. Something in his stomach sank as he took in their expressions. Not good. "What's going on over there?" He asked, keeping his face relaxed. "I can't reach Batman."
His Teammates shared a look, and Kaldur sighed. "Batman, Zatara, and Red Tornado have... disappeared."
His eyes widened. "They what?" He asked, blood running cold. Bruce was gone? Where did he go? Was he okay? Was he alive? This was like a rerun of the failsafe... He shook his head, halting his descendent to a panicked state. He had to stay whelmed. "Have the other Justice Leaguers been notified?"
Wally swallowed. "That's the thing- we can't contact anyone from the League. They're all gone." He lowered his eyes. "That's not all. We're getting reports from all over the world, saying the exact same thing. All adults are missing, everyone over the age of eighteen."
Robin's thoughts immediately went to Alfred. If all of the adults were gone, that explained why he couldn't find him anywhere either. But where were they? Was this permanent? He couldn't stay by himself...
Kaldur cleared his throat. "We must not allow ourselves to lose our heads. We are Earth's heroes as of now, and we need to act accordingly. It is our job to locate the missing adults and rescue them if needed. Robin, I must ask for you to join us. We need all of the help we can get."
Robin nodded briskly. "On my way now," he declared before turning the computer off. "Please don't be dead, Bruce..." he said quietly, staring at the blank screen. "I can't lose you again."
xXx (Later) xXx
After another failed attempt at contacting an adult hero, Robin was just about ready to give up. His latest attempt had been Red Arrow, but his work was only met with the same static he encountered with every adult's comm. Each failed attempt to contact an adult only added on to his and Zatanna's shared depression.
He was about to try another Leaguer when a new tab opened on his holo computer, and Wally's voice spoke up, "We've set up a refuge center at the high school gym. Any luck with-"
"No. Can't reach Batman, Hall of Justice, or the Watch-" he stopped, realizing that there could be children listening on the other end. "Or any adult hero, even Red Arrow."
"Guess we're on our own." A sigh. "Kid Flash out." The tab closed.
Robin grimaced. Everything about the missing adults reminded him of the failsafe, and how they had to step up to the challenge of becoming Earth's only heroes. Sure, the task would be easier now since all they had to worry about was children, but the thought of Batman being dead again hit him hard. Not only that, but now Alfred was gone too. If they never located the adults, what would happen to them once any of them hit eighteen? Would they be transported to an unknown location? Would they automatically die?
Zatanna's voice snapped him out of his alarming thoughts. "Traditional media is offline, but kids worldwide are all posting the same thing," the magician girl swiped through the different messages on her screen. "Every adult, eighteen or older had disappeared. The sorcery necessary to pull this off?" She looked at him grimly. "Scary big."
The Team had came to the conclusion that magic had to have been involved as soon as they started getting reports of other adults being missing. A simple weapon couldn't have the power to make every adult on the Earth disappear simultaneously. "And we need you to find the source," he told her. It made sense, what with Zatanna being their only available magician. Besides, KF told him enough about her abilities to be able to determine she was a decent hero.
"How am I-?"
With a few keystrokes, an old security video was brought up. "I pulled this footage. It's your dad, helping us locate Wotan and the Injustice League last month." On the screen, Zatara walked up to a holographic globe and rose his hands, chanting.
"B-but the words are only part of it. The rest takes training, and..." she lowered her head. "Robin, I-I'm just not at Zatara's level."
He turned to look at her, feeling sympathetic. It was difficult to live up to their mentors' names, he knew. "I know it's hard, but try to stay whelmed. We'll find your dad, Batman, all of them. It's what we do."
Zatanna stared at him for a moment before a small smile graced her lips. "I'll try."
Aqualad entered the room at that moment. "I have found no clues to where the adults have gone," he said briskly, looking troubled. "But I have found plenty of terrified children, who have lost all sense of order. It is clear that we must intervene and calm them, somehow. I propose we send a worldwide message to assure everyone that they are not alone, and we are doing everything we can to bring their parents back."
Robin was again reminded of the failsafe mission, and how they sent out a message to let everyone know there were still heroes left. That wasn't something he liked remembering, so he ignored it with a nod towards Aqualad. "Rerouting all satellite signals now. It should take a couple of minutes." He turned to Zatanna, who was staring at the floor. "Uh, why don't you do whatever you need to to get yourself ready?" She nodded, though she looked unsure, and stalked out of the room.
Aqualad took her place at Robin's side, staring at the screens with a stern expression. "I have contacted Kid Flash and asked him to join us. As two of the most well known child heroes, it would catch more attention if you two were to address our audience as well as I."
Well known? Since when? Robin only became a hero a couple of months ago, and became Robin just recently. Well... he did live in Gotham. It made sense for a child hero working in such a dark city to attract some sort of attention.
Still, thinking about children who possibly wanted to be like him... that made him smile.
"Recognized: Kid Flash, B03."
Show time.
"The camera will be rolling in ten seconds, guys. Get in front of this screen-" he gestured to the holo screen in front of him. "And address your audience."
Aqualad stepped sideways so that he was close enough, while KF zipped over just as the last seconds counted down.
3.
2.
1.
For a split second, the Mountain had disappeared and was replaced by the interior of the alien mother ship. Robin briefly saw himself screaming as the ship was lit up with flames, but the scene dissolved as soon as Aqualad began to speak, "Attention, children and teenagers of Earth. I am Aqualad. These are my friends, Robin and Kid Flash."
Robin took over, speaking in a voice that was too calm for anyone to suspect what was going on in his head. "We're using Justice League tech to cast and stream to any TV, radio, computer, and smartphone on the planet."
Kid Flash spoke next, "We know you must be scared and angry. We know that with your parents missing there's a temptation to run wild, but please, stay calm."
"We will find a way to bring the adults back, but for now, the oldest among you must step up," Aqualad said sternly.
"Take care of your younger siblings," Robin said softly. "Take care of kids who have no one."
Kid Flash nodded. "Protect them."
"It's up to you," Aqualad finished, voice filled with sympathy. "Please, help in any way you can."
xXx
Robin used his holo glove to bring up a holographic globe once again. Zatanna stepped towards it, raising one of her hands and an unfamiliar wand towards it, a new look of determination on her face. "Etacol retnecipe fo yrecros!" As she finished, a red symbol appeared in the eastern part of North America.
"Coordinates locked: Roanoke Island." He grinned. "You did it."
Zatanna blushed, and stammered a quick thanks, a broad smile on her face.
Aqualad narrowed his eyes at the location of the symbol. "We should go over a battle strategy before rushing into an unknown area. Who knows what enemy we will encounter there? Robin, I need you to look into any possible evil magic users on the planet so that we will be prepared for whoever we-"
"It works!" Everyone spun around to face the source of the unfamiliar voice. A short boy stood in the center of the room, a triumphant grin in his face. Robin rose his eyebrows. Um...?
"Where did you come from? Who are you?" Aqualad demanded as the Team ran towards the stranger.
"Quick, read my mind!" The kid ordered Miss Martian.
M'gann complied, eyes glowing green as she went into his mind. Seconds later, she gasped. "He's... Captain Marvel."
... Wait, what?
"Yeah, and I'm Speedy Gonzales." KF scoffed. "Look, just because he believes he's Cap-"
"Gee Wally, do I really have to get you nachos and pineapple juice to get on your good side?" The boy put his hands on his hips, looking smug.
"... Updating information," his chip chimed, and Dick mentally groaned.
xXx
"There will be threats in both dimensions," Batman told them, using Marvel as a messenger. "We may not be familiar with our opponents."
"But the key to this mission is a coordinated simultaneous attack," Aqualad said, and sent Marvel back for confirmation.
When the boy returned again, he nodded. "Agreed. Our best chance against sorcery is to strike fast, disrupt their efforts."
"And hope the two dimensions merge naturally back into one," Aqualad finished, raising a determined fist. "Let's go."
As Robin trailed behind his teammates as they all headed to the bioship, he couldn't help but smile in relief. Batman, Alfred, and all of the adults were okay, even though they were in another universe. That took a lot of weight off of his shoulders. Not knowing if his adopted family members were okay or not had been driving him insane.
Now he wondered: what went through Batman's mind when he realized that he was missing? Did they have similar thoughts, or did he completely disregard his emotions in order to remain focused? How did Alfred take his disappearance?
"Robin, we're ready to go. Come on!"
He could ponder over it some other time. Now, it was time to defeat their enemies and bring back the adults.
xXx
"Robin, Artemis, now!" Aqualad mentally commanded, and the two obeyed, throwing birdarangs and shooting arrows at the distant enemy. Unfortunately, the witch boy seemed to have been able to sense their attacks, and turned around to stop them midair.
"That's the best you can do?" Klarion asked teasingly, and rose his hands to send tendrils of red, lightning-like magic at the two. Robin felt his muscles spasm as he collapsed, and grit his teeth to silence his screams. His vision blurred, but he blinked to clear it. Robin scowled as he saw the villain's smug face from afar, and pushed himself up. There was no way he would let himself be taken down so soon, not by some brat.
Klarion now had a red force field surrounding himself, which was easily able to deflect all of his teammates' attacks. Okay, so physical attacks were out of the question, and unless Klarion was secretly a robot, Robin's other abilities would be useless as well. What exactly could he do besides sit around and watch from the sidelines? What could any of them do?
All of a sudden, the orange cat that was laying next to the force field tripled in size, just from a wave of Klarion's hands. Superboy charged towards it with a shout, but was easily knocked aside by the feline's giant claws. Well, that seemed important.
"That cat is the key to defeating Klarion," Wally told everyone through the link. "If we get rid of it, we get rid of him."
Yeah, definitely important.
Robin pulled out two explosive disks and threw them at the massive cat, watching as they went off and covered the area in smoke. When the smoke cleared, it revealed that the animal was unaffected by the attack, though it was somewhat annoyed. Robin looked down at the disks in his other hand, frowning deeply. Every single fight with a villain has made him feel useless. None of his weapons ever did anything to his foes, so why did he even bother...
Miss Martian rose into the air, bringing a couple of decent sized boulders. She then waved her hands down and sent the rocks falling on top of the cat, who growled as one hit its head. M'gann was about to repeat her action but had to float out of the way to avoid one of Klarion's shocking attacks. As the Martian moved out of the way, the attack hit the ground directly in front of the cat, and its fur stood on end as it scurried backwards.
Robin was suddenly hit with an idea. "Aqualad, try to elect-"
"So, you teamed up with the grown-ups," Klarion interrupted, and Robin glanced over to see the gem in the middle of the casting circle spark dangerously. "Team work is so overrated."
And then, Robin was struck by more lightning. He heard Artemis shout in pain next to him, but he was so focused on how his body was shutting down to make himself care. He was barely able to register the fact that he never was able to tell Aqualad his plan before everything went black.
xXx
An eight year old Dick Grayson dove to the side to avoid being stabbed, and quickly cartwheeled behind Deathstroke as soon as he regained his balance. He then dropped down to attempt to kick the man's feet out from under him, but in a blur, Deathstroke spun around and kicked him in the torso to knock him onto his back, and a crushing foot was on his chest to keep him in place. "Too slow," his mentor told him coldly, adding pressure.
Dick cried out and desperately tried to pry the foot off of him. "I-I'm trying. You're t-too strong." He whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut as the man didn't relent. "Deathstroke, please stop."
There was an irritated sigh and the weight disappeared. Dick sucked in a sharp breath of relief, but his brief happiness was stomped into dust as Deathstroke grabbed him by the hair and threw him backwards. "When are you going to get it through your thick skull? Don't say please to an enemy!"
Dick blinked away the tears in his eyes as he scurried up to his feet, but a powerful knee to the stomach made him gasp and fall back to his knees. "Deathstroke... stop."
The man chuckled. "Better... but no, I won't stop." He swooped down and picked Dick up by the collar of his shirt, holding him in the air. "I won't stop until this pathetic excuse of a boy proves his worth."
Dick didn't bother to struggle, knowing that it would be a waste of time. "H-how can I do that?"
He sneered at him. "The Light has plans for you that will be made affective when I deem that you are ready. You have been given a very important mission, and only after you complete this mission will I acknowledge your worth."
Dick's eyes widened. "I'm getting a mission?" That meant he could finally leave that scary place and get help! He could find the man who was supposed to adopt him. Mr. Wayne, wasn't it? "What is it?"
Deathstroke chuckled again. "Eager, are we?" He dropped him on the ground. "You have potential, Grayson, and that is why I volunteered you to be Renegade. That is your mission"
"... R-Renegade?" Dick squeaked, keeping his pained tears at bay.
"Yes, Renegade. You are the future traitor and destroyer of the Justice League." Dick could almost hear his smirk. "Congratulations."
xXx
Robin forced his eyes open, groaning ad he did so. Ouch... everything felt like it was on fire. Superboy helped him up to his feet while Kid Flash did the same for Artemis. As Robin regained his bearings, he finally caught sight of the Leaguers not too far away. Batman. "... Did we win?"
"At a cost," Aqualad replied gravely, and the Team simultaneously looked up to watch Zatanna floating above them, wearing the infamous Helmet of Fate. Robin felt his throat tighten. Oh no...
Zatara joined them, glaring at Dr. Fate. "Fate!" He shouted, but then seemed to rethink screaming at such a powerful magician. "...Great Nabu, release my daughter."
Fate simply stared, replying with, "No." Robin narrowed his eyes. "Witnesses have been these last past hours... The world needs Doctor Fate.
And the girl's natural affinities for the mystic arts make her the perfect candidate."
"You can't do that!" Artemis argued.
"She has her own life to live!" Robin shouted, angry. He should have been awake during the fight! Maybe if he had been, he could have prevented this. If anyone should have put on the helmet, it should have been him. It wasn't like he was very useful anyways, and if it meant letting someone else live their life, he would have done it without any second thoughts.
"Kent would never allow you-"
"Kent Nelson did object, strenuously, so I released his spirit to the afterlife. He is gone."
After several seconds of heavy silence, Zatara rose his arms. "Take me instead," he said softly. "My skills are already at their peak, my body is physically stronger, better able to withstand the strength of you power."
"All true... but if I remove the helmet, what guarantee have I that you will don it?"
"My word." Zatara then chanted an incantation which apparently meant something important, because Fate slowly came to the ground and removed the helmet. Immediately, his uniform disappeared, leaving only Zatanna behind. The magician girl opened her eyes and found her father's face, and her features lit up with recognition. "Dad!"
"Zatanna!" Zatara pulled his daughter into a hug, and whispered something for her to hear only. He then planted a fatherly kiss on her forehead, taking the helmet from her gently. "Take care of my girl," he told Batman, who nodded.
"You have my word."
"No, please!" Zatanna cried as her father brought the helmet above his head. "It was my fault! Dad, don't-" the helmet was swiftly lowered over his face. "DAD!"
Fate's costume appeared on Zatara's body, and the magician's eyes were now colder. "Leave these to the Fate," he ordered, eyeing the tied up villains. And with that he disappeared, bringing the criminals along with him.
Zatanna let out a choked noise before falling to her knees. The Team knelt down next to her and began to murmur words of comfort, but Robin stayed away.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the Flying Graysons!"
Robin swallowed thickly, and lowered his eyes. Even though he had gone through something similar to Zatanna, he couldn't find it in himself to comfort her. He didn't know how.
So useless...
xXx
"Master Dick," Alfred greeted as Robin stepped out of the Zeta Tube. "Thanks heavens..."
Dick peeled his mask off just as the Tube announced the arrival of his mentor. A bright smile worked its way onto his face as he looked at the elderly butler. "I was worried about you too, Alfred."
"Worried doesn't even begin to-"he stopped. "Sir?" He blinked at Batman, who was staring at Dick with an unreadable expression. Alfred seemed to have come to a realization, for he cleared his throat and began to move towards the staircase. "When you are done down here, I have cookies ready upstairs if you are wanting a snack while you wait for dinner." And with that, he left.
"Are you okay?" Batman asked the second Alfred disappeared through the door.
Dick slowly nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine."
"... Physically and emotionally?"
A blink. "Well, uh, I'm not in any danger of having a panic attack, if that's what you're wondering."
"... Good." He took his cowl off. Dick caught sight of the distant look in his eyes, and tilted his head. Was there something wrong?
"Are you okay?"
"... Yes, now that I don't have to worry over your safety," he paused, and studied Dick for a moment. "Well, not as much, anyways."
Dick smiled. "Me too. Earlier, I thought you were..." he swallowed, smile fading away. "Gone."
Bruce's eyes flashed with an unreadable emotion, and he put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Failsafe?"
Dick nodded. "Yeah. Today has been filled with a lot of unwanted memor-" he stopped short, and suddenly, the dream he experienced when Klarion knocked him out came back to him.
"Dick?"
Should he tell him? The dream Deathstroke told him that he was to destroy the League, and as terrifying as that was, it was too serious for him to keep secret from Bruce. But then again, Dick looked far too young in his dream. He never trained with Deathstroke when he was that small, that only started just a couple of months before he escaped from Cadmus. What he saw was probably just a dream, nothing more.
"Er, sorry. My mind went somewhere else," he said apologetically. "I think I need something to eat."
Bruce's eyes lit up immediately, just like he predicted. Both Bruce and Alfred hated that he hardly ate a thing, and were always trying to find a way to get him to eat without actually forcing him to. The two of them both became overly enthusiastic whenever Dick actually wanted to eat food, and frankly, Dick used that to his advantage whenever he wanted to avoid certain subjects. It worked without fail so far, but Dick knew that it was only a matter of time before they caught on.
Today was not that day. "Well, Alfred's making dinner, and we have some cookies waiting for us upstairs. Why don't we head up now?" Bruce smiled and steered him towards the staircase. Dick allowed him to, knowing that being able to do so would help his guardian relax. Today had been a trying day, for both of them.
And if being fatherly helped Bruce calm down, then how could he possibly complain?
xXx
AN: *squeals excitedly* Guys, we're no where near the end of the book, but we are so close to my favorite part, and I am way too excited about it for it to be healthy! All of the things I have planned will finally conclude, and it makes me unexplainably happy.
That is all. Thanks for your comments and votes from last chapter! See you next time!