Hey guys, here is the next chapter. If any of you had read my other story, some of the beginning will sound similar. I liked the relationship I built with that OC and Barbara and wanted to bring that over to this one as well, since it would be a nice starting point to further build the relationship between Nathan and Barbara. If any of you have ideas of how you want their first actual romantic encounter to look like please PM me cause writing romance scenes are a weakness of mine, also why I wanted to try this because I want to get better at those types of scenes.
Anyway, I don't own anything DC just my OC. Now onto the story...
PREVIOUSLY ON YOUNG JUSTICE…
"But Cadmus proves the bad guys are getting smarter. Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly," chimed in Aquaman.
"The six of you will be that team," Batman spoke, continuing where Aquaman left off.
"This is Martian Manhunter's niece, Miss Martian," explained Batman, as the two Martians made their way towards the group.
"Hi" she nervously waved at the group of heroes.
Brick kicked the gun up to his hand and pointed it up in the air in the direction of the arrow, "You Again! I'm startin' to get insulted Green Arrow's not messin' up my operations personally," he shouted angrily at Speedy, who was watching the crime boss from above.
After a few more dodges, Speedy stopped and fired an arrow that went right into the barrel of the gun Brick was holding and exploded, ruining the crime boss' expensive suit.
Brick saw his ruined suit and was enraged even more, "Do you know what I pay for a suit in my size?!" he yelled up at the archer.
"Don't know, but there's a nice free orange suit your size at Belle Reve," came a voice over the area, but Brick didn't know who it belonged to. He then looked up and found out. Falling through the air, cape flapping as he did so, was Red Robin.
Robin and Red Robin propped themselves up against some crates, while Aqualad just stood.
"So, Speedy," Red Robin started to say.
"You in?" finished Robin.
Before making his leave, Speedy stopped in between the Boy Wonders and Aqualad, and looked at Robin, "Pass. I'm done letting arrow and The League tell me what to do," he answered, "I don't need a babysitter or a clubhouse to hang out with the other kids. Your Junior Justice League is a joke, something to keep you busy and in your place."
"My apologizes," came the monotone voice of their foe, who stood still looking intimidating as continuing pulses of wind emanated from around him, "You may address me as Mister Twister," he answered the Boy Wonder's question before getting ready for his next move.
Superboy then walked in front of Wally and looked down at the still kneeling M'gann, "Stay out of our way," he said, before taking off to deal with Mister Twister, followed closely by Kid Flash.
"Hit the showers, boys. I was hoping you could handle this. Clearly you cannot," said Red Tornado, landing on the ground in front of the team.
"But we got a plan now," argued Robin.
"We just nee–," Red Robin was about to argue as well, but was interrupted by the red android.
"The subject is not up for debate," Red Tornado interjected.
Mister Twister then moved in towards his fallen android foe, and outstretched one of his hands, "Remain still android. The reprogramming won't take long," he mumbled in a menacing voice.
The head of Tornado slowly morphed into M'gann's head, but still possessed the body of Red Tornado, "Longer than you might think," M'gann stated.
"No," said a surprised Mister Twister.
"Yeah, you rocked this mission," Wally said, "Get it? Rocked" which nobody laughed to at all.
"Ignore him. We're all just turbed you're on the team," said Robin, shaking his head at Wally.
"Thanks, me too" M'gann replied, happy that she was accepted.
"Speedy…" Red Robin began.
"Was so wrong," Kid Flash continued.
"This team thing," Robin echoed.
"Might just work out after all," Kaldur added, closing the matter on that topic.
YOUNG JUSTICE
DROP ZONE
GOTHAM CITY
JULY 21, 16:53 EDT
"We haven't done this in a while," Nathan whispered, putting a case box on the table in front of him that had a dim light source from a nearby lamp.
Another person joined him by his side and dropped another case box on the table, "I know. Ever since we started doing this together, I can't go by myself anymore. Just not the same or as fun," Barbara admitted. The two of them started to look at the old case files like two kids unwrapping presents on Christmas morning.
Barbara's father, Commissioner Gordon, used to yell at the two of them whenever they did this, but since the one night when the two looked through a case and actually pointed out to Commissioner Gordon they were going on a wild goose chase created by The Riddler, which eventually led to the capture of the crazed villain. Barbara's father became more lenient on them as long as they cleaned up and put everything back the way they found it.
Barbara used to have to be careful doing this with Nathan when Lily's case file was still in the unsolved case files because those were the ones they usually looked at, but she didn't have to worry about it long because a few weeks later, GCPD found the guy all tied up in an alley by who the GCPD assumed was Batman.
Hours had passed and the two teen sleuths were trying to solve a particular cold case that wasn't adding up. The two both agreed that something was missing, but they both weren't sure what it was. Nathan was glad Bruce or Batman wasn't here because both would be reprimanding him for not being able to solve it.
The two were still going at it when a repeated knock came from the doorway that lead into the room they were both in. Barbara jumped and fell back into Nathan, who quickly caught her in his arms, but seeing who was in the doorway quickly propped her back on her feet and put his attention back to the case on the table.
"Hey sweetie," Commissioner Gordon spoke, acknowledging his daughter.
"Hey dad," she replied, gaining her composure back after being started by her father's knocking.
"I was able to manage the rest of the night off and was going to go home and try to make supper. Maybe this time I won't get called away," he spoke to his daughter, lightly chuckling at the last part. Barbara also did a small laugh before her father continued, "I'll wait for you down in the lobby. Oh, and Nathan?" Commissioner Gordon then waited till the young teen's attention before continuing.
Nathan stopped when the Commissioner said his name and gave the man his undivided attention, "You're also welcome to join us tonight if you'd like," the Commissioner stated.
Nathan looked from the Commissioner to Barbara, who smiled at him, "I'll have to check with Bruce first. I promised him I'd help him tonight but if he lets me then I don't see why not. Are you sure sir?" Nathan asked, he couldn't help but feel like he was invading, "I know you don't get a lot of time to spend with your daughter and I don't want to–"
"Nonsense," Commissioner Gordon interrupted, "You check in with Mr. Wayne and I'll wait for the two of you out front of the precinct,"
"Alright dad," Barbara spoke, excitement in her voice, "We'll be down after we clean up in here," she informed her father, who then nodded and took his leave and went to go wait for the two teens where he said he'd be.
Nathan pulled out his phone to text Bruce, while Barbara packed up the two case file boxes on the table;
Hey Bruce. Commissioner Gordon asked me over to dinner tonight,
is it ok if I go or do you need me to help with tonight?
Go ahead. Dick and I can take care of tonight.
Thanks boss.
After getting his reply from Bruce, Nathan put his phone away, "That's that. Bruce gave me the all clear," he said to Barbara.
"Great, now you can have the all clear to help me carry these two boxes back over to the shelf," she stated, one hand on her hip, while leaning on one of the boxes, trying to act mad, but a very small smile on her face told Nathan she was only kidding, which he was thankful for.
"Yeah, yeah," he sarcastically complained, picking up one of the boxes, while Barbara grabbed the other.
Nathan and Barbara carried their case boxes down the narrow aisle between the shelving. The shelving had nothing but box after box of case files. Finding where their boxes went, Nathan hoisted his box up in the proper spot and went to slide past Barbara, but as he did so, lost his balance and knocked the box that Barbara was carrying on the ground. Before he completely fell over though he put his hands on the shelf that was behind Barbara to steady himself. Barbara also acting quickly had placed her hands on his chest to hold him up as well.
When Nathan's senses finally returned, he realized the predicament he was in. Barbara stood pinned with her back against the shelving behind her and Nathan was only inches away, his hands using the shelving behind Barbara to keep himself from completely falling on top of her. Both teens stood frozen looking at each other for what seemed like an eternity.
"Ummm," Nathan got out, the nerves in his stomach were making themselves known and also making it difficult for him to form words, "T-Thanks for the s-save," came his whispered response. He was trying not to show it when he spoke, but his voice still came out a little shaky.
"Don't mention it," Barbara responded, her voice doing the same, but she was doing a better job of hiding it then Nathan was. Barbara's hands though still didn't leave his chest. Her eyes were still locked on his and Nathan couldn't look away, the way her eyes looked in the dim light of the room made it hard for him to think or do anything clearly at the moment.
"I-I'll uh," Nathan sputtered out, his words still having trouble forming, his hands went from the shelving behind Barbara to her shoulders, "grab that b-box for you, least I can d-do," he said, but moving to grab the box took him a few extra seconds to do.
"Thanks," Barbara sighed out, still up against the shelving, but her hands finally left Nathan's chest, which seemed to kick Nathan out of his current state and allowed him to grab the box off the floor and put it away. She heard Nathan mutter about going to grab his things and when he left the aisle she was still in, she let out a nervous sigh and blew a few strands of hair from out of her face. As she made her own way to go grab her stuff, a small smile was on her face.
CARIBBEAN SEA
JULY 22, 20:08 ECT
The bio-ship flew covertly above the dark clouds of the night sky, "We're approaching Santa Prisca," Miss Martian informed the others, sitting in their usual spots aboard the bio-ship.
In front of Red Robin, sat his crime fighting partner, Robin. Red Robin noticed Robin seemed to be zoned out and a smirk was present on his face. Red Robin rolled his eyes at his partner, because it didn't take a genius to realize what the original Boy Wonder was thinking about.
Batman had briefed the team about the first mission he was sending them on. Batman had decided to send the team to an island nation known as Santa Prisca, which was the primary source of a dangerous and illegal neo-steroid known as Venom. However, the nation's supply of the steroid was inexplicably cut off and Batman wanted the team to covertly recon the island since infrared scanners indicated the factory was still running at full capacity.
Robin's question stuck with Red Robin though, "So who's in charge?" Red Robin noticed that Robin silently promoted himself to team leader and he honestly was fine with that. His worst fear was that Kid Flash would try and become leader. He thought for a whole two seconds about being leader, but threw that idea aside because Robin had more experience then he did and also to be honest, he didn't see himself as a good leader. He saw himself as a better 'second in command' until he got more experience. After a couple more years under his belt, maybe then he'd reevaluate himself as being a leader of a team. Until then, he was content with just being a part of the team.
After a while of glancing out the window of the bio-ship, Red Robin too also zoned out on a memory of his.
Nathan had just finished his last class of the day and was hurrying through the crowd of students to find his friend Barbara. Nathan had finally gotten Barbara to agree to talk to Lily to see if she was interested in him, so he combed through the crowd of students till he finally found her.
"Babs what did she say?" he asked impatiently.
Barbara only smirked, "My day was fine, thanks for asking," she said with an annoyed voice and expression.
Nathan only narrowed his eyes slightly at her, "Come on Babs, you said you would talk to her for me, so what did she say? Does she like me back? Come on, please tell me," he begged her as they walked out of the school and started their walks to their homes.
"I agreed to talk to her, but I didn't say I would tell you" she smirked at him, then she started to quicken her pace.
"Babs!" Nathan yelled out to her, running to catch up, "I just want to know what she said to you" Nathan pleaded with her.
"Who said what to her?" came another voice. Nathan turned and saw Lily catching up to them.
"Well that's my cue to leave. Have fun you two" said Barbara taking another road that lead down to GCPD.
Nathan looked up at Lily, who had a smirk on her face. Though she quickly covered it up with a hand when she started to chuckle at how red Nathan was.
"L-Lily would y-you…."
"Drop Zone "A" in thirty," announced Miss Martian pulling Nathan back into the present.
The Atlantean stood up and instantly his seat dissolved back into the floor of the bio-ship. Aqualad then pressed his Atlantean symbol on his belt and the top of his outfit went from red to a dark gray while his pants shifted from blue to black, "Ready."
"Putting bio-ship in camouflage mode," said Miss Martian.
On the outside, the red and blue ship melted into the darkened sky. Miss Martian then brought the bio-ship down closer to the water so that the underside was almost skimming the surface of the water. Once in position, she opened a hatch at the bottom of the ship, allowing Aqualad to dive out into the water.
Once Aqualad was in the water, Miss Martian sealed the hatch and had the bio-ship regain some altitude and then stopped a few feet away from the shore of the island and waited for Aqualad's signal.
"Heat and motion sensors are patched. Data is now on a continuous loop. Move in."
Miss Martian then moved the bio-ship slowly inland to the next drop zone, "Drop Zone "B"," stated the Martian as she stopped the ship over the drop point.
Red Robin, along with the rest of the team stood up and their chairs they were sitting on melted into the ground and then dropping down from the ceiling of the bio-ship were ascension cables for each team member.
Red Robin attached his cable to his utility belt and looked over at Kid Flash, who just activated his new stealth tech, "How cool is this?" he asked, looking more at M'gann than anyone else.
"Very impressive," she spoke before closing her eyes and concentrating on her own new stealth look. Her entire costume transformed into a black full body suit.
"Uh, that works too," Kid Flash spoke dreamily. Finally remembering to close his mouth and focus, he then turned to Superboy, "Hey Supey, not too late to put on the new stealth tech."
"No capes, no tights, no offense," Superboy responded, crossing his arms.
"It totally works for you," Miss Martian babbled away, starring at Superboy. Red Robin rolled his eyes, but Miss Martian attempted to save herself after gaining Superboy's attention, "In that you can totally do good work in those clothes," she spoke quickly, throwing her hands up in defense.
Miss Martian put her hood up and turned into her own camouflage mode and opened up a hole in the floor like she did for Aqualad and made her decent to the ground, followed by Robin, Red Robin and Kid Flash, who lowered themselves down on the cables from the bio-ship.
Red Robin landed on the ground, his boots sinking into the muddy ground slightly. Robin and Kid Flash landed next to him and Miss Martian was also in the area. The cables disappeared and Red Robin along with everyone else noticed something falling down towards them. Acting quickly the teen heroes dived aside just in time to avoid the falling Superboy who landed on the ground with a loud thum.
"Knew I didn't need a line," Superboy smirked to himself, standing up in the middle of his crater as the cloud of dust continued to disperse around him.
"And yet," Robin exclaimed from his place on the ground, which was having his back up against a nearby tree, "creating a seismic event may not have helped us much with the covert," he chastised the super clone. Red Robin made his way over to Robin and offered him a hand, pulling his Gothamite partner back to his feet.
"Aqualad, Drop "B" is go," Miss Martian spoke into the comms, as she floated back down towards the ground. The others huddled around the Boy Wonders as Robin had a holographic map from his wrist computer.
"Head for the factory. I'll track your GPS and rendezvous ASAP," Aqualad responded back.
"Roger that," Robin responded. He then pointed out the factory's location on the map, before deactivating it and took off in the direction they needed to go, closely followed by the others.
The constant bird calling and now the noise of rushing water from a nearby waterfall, made it easy for the teens to sneak through the jungle. Robin led the team through the jungle and a few paces behind him was Red Robin. Red Robin was surprised at how they still haven't met any resistance after the Superboy earthquake, but he wasn't going to start complaining about that. Kid Flash, was then behind Red Robin and Superboy and Miss Martian brought up the rear, each staying a few paces away from the other.
Red Robin easily climbed his way up some rocks that Robin had gone up previously. Once at the top, Red Robin made his way over to his partner. Robin brought up his holographic map again, once everyone made it over the rocky cliff. Red Robin looking over his partner's shoulder noticed the 'Danger: Mines Detected' warning and the clear path to take to avoid them.
Red Robin was about to say something, but Superboy spoke first, "Did you hear that?" the clone spoke quietly and quickly. Red Robin acting on instinct dove into the jungle bushes and made his way up a tree. Once finding a good perch high up in the tree, he was about to look for Robin, but Kid Flash spoke, bringing his attention back to the others.
"Ok, Rob now what?" Kid Flash asked, turning to find not only just Robin, but also a missing Red Robin, "Man, I hate it when they do that," he grumbled.
Red Robin then noticed his partner a few tree limbs ahead and made his way quietly over to the tree Robin was at, landing on a different tree limb.
"Superboy, Kid, switch to infrared. See if you're being tracked," Aqualad chimed in through the comms.
Kid Flash dropped his goggles down from his head and switched them to infrared, "Got a squad of armed bozos incoming," he stated, moving forward and taking cover. Superboy and Miss Martian joined him seconds later. Robin and Red Robin followed the group from the trees, still not making their presence known yet.
"Two squads," came the correction from Superboy, "but they'll meet each other before they find us,"
Just then gunfire lit up the jungle, "No super hearing required now," responded Kid Flash moving from behind his cover and taking steps towards the gunfire.
"Swing wide, steer clear."
"Yeah, yeah," Kid Flash spoke quickly starting to take off towards the gunfire, "Just as soon as I find the bat brats," he finished, taking off into a full speed run. Red Robin literally face palmed as KF took off. He then looked at his partner next to him and they both nodded and took off through the trees after KF.
On his way to find the Boy Wonders, Kid Flash slipped sending himself tumbling down the muddy slope. Again, as Robin and Red Robin followed him, Red Robin face palmed, making a slightly visible red spot now on his forehead, "Are you kidding me?" Red Robin sighed. Kid Flash yelled as he slid and the gunfire temporarily stopped.
Kid Flash continued to slid down the slope and right into the middle of the firefight. When he finally came to a stop, he came face to face with a very big, muscular man who wore a black and white mask, "So much for the stealthy," he nervously muttered. Then the gunfire opened up again, but this time all guns were pointed at the formally stealthy speedster. Kid Flash back flipped away from the masked man and took off, avoiding the spray of bullets that continuously followed him.
Superboy came from nowhere and collided with the masked man, tackling him. On their way to the ground, the masked villain elbowed Superboy in the head, causing Superboy to take the blunt of the impact from the ground. Using one arm, the masked villain locked one of Superboy's arms, while using his other arm to pin the clone's head to the ground. Superboy however got lose of the arm lock, temporally shocking the masked man enough for Superboy to grab the man's shirt and throw him. The villain made a hard and solid impact with a tree.
Kid Flash continued to dodge bullet spray after bullet spray. Red Robin sighed one more time before he and Robin leapt down from their tree and landed on the top of two gunman. Using the momentum, Robin and Red Robin each pushed off their own gunman, forcing the two to collide together then drop to the ground. Robin landed on the ground and looked for his next goon.
Robin, finding his, landed an uppercut to the man's jaw, "Hyah! What is wrong with you guys?" he asked as he landed the punch. He then jumped up and performed a spinning kick to the man's face, "Remember covert?" he asked as the gunman fell to the ground, "Why didn't you follow my lead, vanish into the jungle?"
Red Robin when he kicked off the first gunman, landed on the shoulders of his next guy. Using his momentum, he then flipped the man to the ground, and then punched the down gunman in the head to knock him out, "I did," he responded. He then acting quick, threw a birdarang, at a nearby gunman knocking the gun from the man's hands. He then rushed the man and pulling out his own collapsed red bo staff, activated it and made quick work of the man, "Just… putting… that… out… there," he added with every swing that connected with the gunman. Catching the attention of several gunmen who surrounded him, he quickly dropped smoke and vanished from view.
"That's what you two were doing? Way to fill us in. We're not mind readers you know," the speedster complained as he laid punch after punch on another gunman. The gunman was down and out before he even could realize what happened. Just then two more thugs, flew through the air and collided with a tree behind Kid Flash. The two thugs, were quickly followed by Miss Martian, "Er, I'm not anyway," KF quickly added.
"You told me I could only read the bad guys' minds," Miss Martian stated.
Red Robin's smoke finally cleared up, leaving him surrounded by three goons who were out cold on the ground, but one goon ran out of the smoke and was trying to make his escape as he pulled out a walkie talkie to radio a warning. Before he could however, Aqualad dropped down in front of the man and put a hand on his chest and shocked the goon, dropping him. Aqualad then proceeded to smash the walkie with his foot.
Red Robin let out a sigh, "Time to clean up the mess," he groaned as he started to help with tying up the unconscious goons.
The team, in the middle of the Santa Prisca jungle, stood amongst themselves deciding on what to do after they had tied up the two squads of goons. One group was tied around one tree and the other around a different one using rope.
"These uniforms belong to the Cult of the Kobra," Red Robin stated, recognizing the red uniforms on some of the knocked-out thugs.
"I am certain Batman would have mentioned it if he knew a dangerous extremist was running Santa Prisca's Venom operation," Aqualad replied to the Bat protégé.
"Agreed," Robin spoke next, showing he had come to the same conclusion, "and since there's clearly no love lost between the cultists and those goons," Robin said, thinking out loud, continuing his train of thought, putting a hand on his chin as he continued to speak, "I'm betting Kobra came in and tossed them out. That's why normal supply lines have been cut off," he concluded, filling in the rest of the group.
"We get it. Kobra wanted super cultists, mystery solved. Radio Bats, and we'll be home in time for…" Kid Flash spoke but was cut off by Red Robin.
"Actually…" but that was all Red Robin got out before he too was interrupted, this time by Robin.
"These cultists aren't on venom. Kobra's hoarding the stuff. We don't leave, not until I know why," Robin spoke, putting on his puzzled face as he tried to fit the pieces together.
"That's what I was going to…" Red Robin tried to chime in again to his partner, but was interrupted by an angered Kid Flash.
"Until you know why?!" Kid Flash asked angrily.
"This team needs a leader," Robin retorted, getting ready to defend his reasons why he should be the team's leader.
"And it's you? Dude you're a thirteen year old kid, who…" but Kid Flash got his turn of being interrupted.
"Um dude," interrupted Red Robin, "this thirteen year old kid has gotten me out of some life threating situations before," Red Robin spoke sternly, defending his partner.
"Yeah whatever," Kid Flash shot back, "You two ducked out on us without a word," Kid Flash finished, standing his ground against the Boy Wonders.
"So you think you should be our leader?" asked Red Robin, "You blew our cover first chance you got," he verbally shot at the speedster, "Why do you even wear your stealth tech? You still can't be quiet!" he finished yelling at the speedster before turning away, walking in the direction of Aqualad, not able to stand the bickering that was going on anymore, though that was partly his fault as well since he participated in it, even though he only did so to back his partner.
"You don't even have superpowers!" yelled Kid Flash at Robin. Kid Flash also started walking away from Robin but the young Gothamite just followed the speedster, not ready to let Kid Flash have the final word.
Aqualad slowly leaned down to whisper to Red Robin, "You do not wish to lead?" he asked, curious as to why Red Robin just stopped arguing and walked away letting the speedster and his partner finish their confrontation.
Red Robin shook his head slowly, "I wouldn't make a good leader. I'm more of a… loyal second to the leader. Robin has more experience anyway," Red Robin explained, "I still got some things to learn," he finished, keeping his eye on the still quarreling teens.
"You're not Batman!" Kid Flash angrily yelled, retorting Robin's last statement.
"Closest thing we got," Robin shot back.
"You wouldn't have superpowers either if you didn't go out of your way to recreate Flash's science experiment," Red Robin put in.
Kid Flash turned on him, but before anything else could be said, the muscular, masked man started to laugh, causing Red Robin to make his way over to the masked goon, "Such clever niños, but you only know half the story," said the man, the rest of the team gathered around Red Robin, "Let me show you the rest, get you into the factory via my secret entrance."
"Miss Martian," called Red Robin.
"Hello Meagan," she calmly stated, before she knelt down in front of the masked man to read his mind, "There is a secret entrance, but he's also hiding something," she stated before her eyes glowed white, as she tried to dive deeper into the man's mind for the thing he was hiding.
"Ah, ah, ah, chica. Bane is not that easy," the man now known as Bane warned, giving the Martian girl a smirk, as he figured out what she was trying to accomplish.
"Ohh," she signed in defeat, "He's mentally reciting fútbol scores en español. This could take a while," Miss Martian stated to the others.
"It's not complicated," Bane replied, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," the other heroes looked around at each other trying to decide what to do. Red Robin looked at Robin first. The two exchanged begrudging looks, which told them they were on the same page. Red Robin then turned to Aqualad who gave a nod.
Red Robin pulled out a birdarang and cut the ropes that held Bane, but only Bane. Bane then led the team through the think jungle, staying in front at all times so that the team could keep eyes on him constantly.
The heroes as they followed Bane for what seemed like hours, were mostly in a constant state of awkward silence. Red Robin stayed up front near Aqualad, the two constantly keeping eyes on Bane who was a little further ahead of them. Miss Martian and Superboy brought up the rear, neither one of them seemed like talking to the other. Miss Martian stole a few glances in Superboy's direction, but the clone didn't seem to care. His eyes were also locked on Bane as well. Robin walked to the right of Kid Flash, but neither seemed to want to strike up conversation with the other unless it was to continue their earlier debate of leader.
"The factory is that way," Bane spoke, breaking the ice, as he then raised a finger in the factory's direction. The team followed him to an edge of a cliff. Red Robin, Robin and Kid Flash went up to the cliff to get a better look at the factory. Kid Flash lowered his goggles while the Boy Wonders each pulled out binoculars to get a closer look.
"Buy is going down," Red Robin stated, surveying the area of the factory he could see.
"Yeah, look at all that product," Robin stated as well, "But if Kobra's not selling to the usual suspects, then–," Robin stopped as he got interrupted by Aqualad.
"We need to identify that buyer," Aqualad spoke, giving the team's next objective.
"Just what I was thinking," Kid Flash spoke, speaking his mind.
Red Robin just rolled his eyes, but his partner spoke what was on his mind anyway.
"Yeah, you're the thinker," Robin spoke sarcastically.
"Sarcasm? Dude a real leader would focus on getting answers," Kid Flash shot at the Boy Wonder. Red Robin narrowed his eyes at the speedster, but kept his mouth shut. Now was not the time to provoke things. Red Robin found himself leaning more towards Aqualad as the mission went on. Aqualad always seemed to have his head in the game and on a swivel. Even during the Mister Twister event, Red Robin saw how Aqualad kept the team together. That's when Red Robin realized who should really be leading this team.
A loud groan brought Red Robin out of his thoughts. Looking in that direction, Red Robin saw Bane hoisting a massive boulder out of the way, revealing the secret entrance that he spoke of earlier, "Answers are this way," Bane spoke with a smirk on his face.
"So now el luchador is our leader," spoke Kid Flash as he, Robin, Red Robin and Aqualad made their way over to the tunnel.
Robin walked past Kid Flash, swatting his arm out of the way, only for Red Robin to bump into his shoulder on the other side, "Dude, The Spanglish speaking villain makes a better leader than you. Give it a rest," he mumbled as he walked past the speedster.
Bane led the group of teen heroes down the tunnel, followed closely behind by Robin, Kid Flash and Superboy. Behind them was Aqualad and Miss Martian and sandwiched between them was Red Robin. Miss Martian looked at Red Robin, "So how long have you been with Robin? You two seem to act in sync," she asked the teen gadgeteer.
"Two years, though it's more like closer to one. There was a lot of inhouse training before I went on a routine mission with the famed dynamic duo," he told the curious Miss Martian, "Robin and I worked at getting in sync a lot in our spare time, which in turn made Batman's life easier in teaching me the ropes."
Miss Martian was about to ask another question, but was interrupted by the villain who looked like a professional wrestler, "We're here" he stated as he pressed his thumb against a scanner. The lock on the door in front of the team blinked red a few times before switching to a solid green allowing the doors to slide apart giving access inside the factory to the team. The door swung open slightly, but enough for the Boy Wonder to stick his head out and look for guards. Not seeing any, he whispered, "All clear," and quickly exited, followed closely by Red Robin.
Seeing a faint light coming from an upper floor room, Red Robin pulled out his grapple line and fired up at the catwalk above him. As he pulled himself up, he shifted his body weight to the left so that he flipped up and over the railing and landed on the floor of the catwalk and stealthily made his way over to the dimly lit room. Inside was one goon at a computer, so Red Robin slowly opened the door and threw a batarang into the room that sunk itself into the control panel the goon was at and filled the area with knockout gas. Once the room was clear of the gas, Red Robin entered and made his way over to the goon.
"Asleep on the job," Red Robin sighed disgracefully at the goon before pulling the cultist out of the chair and dropping him on the floor.
"That was underwhelming," Robin said as he appeared out of nowhere and took a seat at the controls, before Red Robin could sit down.
Robin pulled out his USB cable and proceeded to hack into the computer that was at the control panel. A bunch of formulas appeared on the screen and Red Robin, pulling up another chair and sitting to the right of his partner, began to try and make sense of what he was seeing.
A skid was heard behind them, "Whatcha got?" KF asked, announcing his presence as he snacked on a candy bar.
"Chemical formulas," Robin answered, "I'm guessing it involves venom, but…" he spoke, pulling chemical formulas up side by side on the computer.
"That one's venom," Kid Flash stated, pointing at the red molecular structure that was on screen.
Red Robin's eye caught onto the other one though. A purple and bluish colored molecular structure that he recognized from the batcomputer when Batman looked at it after the Cadmus incident in DC a couple weeks ago, "That's the Blockbuster formula from Cadmus," he pointed out to the others.
"Whoa, mixed correctly, Kobra's new juice is three times stronger than venom…" Kid Flash stated, as the two molecular structures merged on the computer and new data that supported what Kid Flash was saying appeared on the screen, "and permanent" he added on at the end.
"This just raises more questions," Red Robin chimed in, hand on his chin as he was running the clues through his head, "how did Kobra get access to Project Blockbuster?" he asked.
"Our mystery buyer must also be Kobra's supplier!" Robin exclaimed, "Using the cult to create a Blockbuster-Venom super formula!" he explained. After he was done explaining, he put a hand up to his ear to try and get Aqualad, "Robin to Aqualad, we got—static,"
"Deal must be…" but Red Robin didn't get to finish. Gunfire was heard from outside the room and then a window shattered from a top the building, revealing a large and obviously enhanced behemoth of a creature appear and land down on the ground floor, "Guess they know we're here," Red Robin shrugged to his two teammates.
Kid Flash took off, leaving the two Batman protégés alone in the room. The two shared a look and they both knew that getting to Kobra and the chopper was a main priority, so they instantly set to work.
As Robin left, two goons stopped by the window and opened fire on the Boy Wonder as he dodged the gunfire and made his way out of the hangar. Red Robin acted fast and used his chair to flip and propel himself feet first through the window, shattering the glass. His feet made contact with one goon, who in turn, collided with his friend, knocking both to the ground.
Red Robin looked for his partner, but couldn't find him. Knowing the plan the two wanted to accomplish, he made his way over to the broken window from the catwalk, seeing Aqualad and Superboy engaged in combat below him.
"Everyone online?" spoke Miss Martian in his head. Once at the window, he pulled out his grapple gun and used it to launch him towards and out the broken window. Landing outside, in a roll, Red Robin stood and made his way around the building to the front where Kobra and his lackies were.
"Yeah," grumbled Superboy.
"You know it beautiful," Kid Flash responded.
Red Robin noticed his partner sneak aboard the helicopter and inwardly sighed, knowing he was now the distraction for Kobra and his bodyguard, while Robin went to work sabotaging the helicopter.
"We need to regroup," came the stern voice of Aqualad in Red Robin's mind.
"Little busy," Red Robin replied, getting ready to make what he thought was a mistake. Red Robin threw a birdarang at Kobra who easily dodged it and turned towards the teen hero, "Batman must be desperate if he sends his whelps to task me," he said to the teen boy as he turned to face him.
"You didn't make Batman's priority list," Red Robin shot back to the cult leader. Not seeing his face change, Red Robin continued, "What's wrong Koby? You look disconcerted," he finished taunting, getting into his fighting stance.
"This is beneath me. Shimmer, take him," Kobra ordered. Shimmer took off in Red Robin's direction pulling out a blade for each hand as she charged.
"Funny that's what Batman said about you Koby to me," Red Robin taunted, before charging at Shimmer himself. Shimmer stopped, preparing to strike down on the rushing hero, but Red Robin as he continued to get closer to Shimmer, hit the dirt and slid right underneath Shimmer's legs. Shimmer's first blade missed high, but as Red Robin slid under her legs, she brought the other blade down and managed to nick his face. Red Robin stood up facing Shimmer with Kobra behind him. He felt the scratch on his cheek, but paid no attention to it. Shimmer however had a smirk on her face.
"Robin, Red Robin now!" Aqualad demanded at the Bat siekicks.
"Fine, fine," Robin replied. He then dropped down from atop the chopper right next to Red Robin and the two dropped flashbangs where they once stood and made their escape, leaving nothing but smoke where they once stood.
"Strategic retreat. Kid clear a path," Aqualad ordered telepathically to the team.
Robin and Red Robin made their way back into the factory and joined the others as they followed the path of unconscious goons that Kid Flash had left for them. They made their way back to the doors that they had entered from only for Superboy to get locked into a fight with the behemoth that was juiced on Kobra-Venom.
As the team ran in, Red Robin stopped and looked back at Superboy who was still locked in a grapple with the juiced creature. Red Robin took out three exploding discs and threw them at the creature. Each disc embedded itself in the creature's thick skin and exploded simultaneously, causing the creature to stumble just enough for Superboy to gain the upper hand. Superboy then threw the behemoth, which collided with some incoming goons, knocking them to the ground. Superboy and Red Robin then quickly went through the door. Once the two made it inside, Superboy locked the door and he and Red Robin took off to join the others.
As they ran, Red Robin looked behind only to see the massive creature bust through the door with its shoulder, allowing cultists to come in and fire at the retreating teen heroes.
"Superboy, Red Robin, the support beams!" Aqualad yelled back to the heroes bringing up the rear. Superboy punched through one, while Red Robin as he ran turned back to to face the beam and through a birdarang at it. It beeped for a few seconds then exploded, causing the already destabilizing earth to fully cave in, leaving a mound of earth between the heroes and the cultists separating the two.
As Red Robin caught his breath, a small crack sounded through their side of the cave. Red Robin looked up to see Aqualad lighting a glow stick that gave off a dim red light through the cave.
Red Robin sat on the ground and rested his back against the wall, next to Kid Flash, who was sitting on a rock that was protruding outwards from the wall. Superboy stood next to Kid Flash and on the other side of the tunnel was Aqualad and Miss Martian. Red Robin finally looked at his partner, who stood looking at the pile of earth that separated them from Kobra.
"How could my first mission as leader go so wrong?" asked Robin to no one in particular.
"You do have the most experience, but perhaps that is exactly what has left you unprepared. Fighting along side Batman and Red Robin, your roles are defined. The three of you do not need to talk, but this team is new and a leader must be clear, explicit. He cannot vanish and expect others to play parts in an unknown plan," Aqualad spoke calmly trying to help Robin understand.
"Oh, so I'm suppose to hold everyone's hands!" Robin quipped, turning around to face the Atlantean.
"Rob, he's right," Red Robin spoke, trying to cool off his partner, "I may know your plans, but that's only because we work together outside of the team too with Batman. When it comes down to it, this team needs someone to tell them clear directions on what to do, and not try and pick up on what you and I can do on the fly,"
Robin groaned, knowing they were right, "You should lead us Kaldur. You're the only one who can," Robin suggested with a small smile on his face.
"Please!" Kid Flash erupted, earning a scowl from Red Robin, "I can run circles–"
"Dude give it a rest," Red Robin interrupted, "you'd leave us all behind too. Kaldur is the only one who can lead us out of this, unless you want to ask el luchador to be our leader," Red Robin suggested to the stealth teched speedster, "My vote is for Kaldur."
"We all know he's the one," Robin added.
"Hello Meagan, it's so obvious," Miss Martian shouted, giving her vote to have Kaldur as the leader.
"Could have told ya," Superboy spoke, voicing his vote as well.
Everyone looked towards the speedster, waiting for his decision, "Ok," he spoke, making it unanimous for Kaldur.
Kaldur then made his way over to Robin, "Then I accept the burden, until you are ready to lift it from my shoulders. You were born to lead this team. Maybe not now, but soon," Kaldur spoke as he placed his hand on Robin's shoulder.
"Alright," Kaldur spoke in his authority tone, as he spun around to face everyone, "our first priority is to prevent that shipment from getting off this island," he stated.
"Funny. I had the same thought," Robin said jokingly, but it was also true.
"Yeah, we kinda already started a plan for that," Red Robin added, scratching the back of his head.
"I sabotaged the helicopter," Robin said with pride.
"While I was the bait," Red Robin quickly added, pointing to the scratch on his face.
"You should have flipped over her instead of sliding under," Robin chastised his partner.
"Wait… You were just watching?" he asked in disbelief.
"You handled it," Robin stated, "more or less," he added with a smirk, pointing to his own cheek on his face, but it was the cheek on Red Robin's face that carried the mark of Shimmer's blade.
The team stood there for a little, exchanging the information they had collected before taking off down the tunnel to begin to try and right what they had did wrong the first time.
As they ran down the tunnel, the group went over their facts, "Sportsmaster is the supplier slash buyer, but it still doesn't track," Robin stated running alongside Aqualad.
Red Robin also flanked Aqualad from the other side, "He doesn't have the juice to acquire the Blockbuster formula," he added.
"Or to get Kobra to do his dirty work," Robin also chimed in, picking up where his partner left off.
"And neither of them have the chops to bond Blockbuster with Venom. That took some major nerdage," Kid Flash thru in too, as he sped up alongside the trio.
"I believe the expression is 'tip of the iceberg'" Aqualad added as the team made it out of the tunnel.
Bane appeared at the end of the tunnel, dropping an empty vile on the ground, he spoke, "Halt niños," he said. Red Robin looked down and saw more empty ones just like it with the familiar color of Venom.
"I'm feeling explosive," he added slyly, a trigger in his hand. That's when Red Robin heard it. A beeping noise that came from above them. Looking up, Red Robin noticed Bane had laid explosives around the end of the tunnel.
"You betrayed us? Why?" asked Aqualad, looking the villain dead in the eyes.
"I want my factory back," Bane spoke.
"Kid, you'll need a running start," he spoke through the telepathic link that Miss Martian still had running. Kid Flash started to back slowly away.
"So I forced you into a situation where you would either take down my enemies, or die trying," Bane monologed, "If the latter, the Justice League would certainly have come to avenge their sidekicks, And when the smoke cleared, Santa Prisca would be mine once more. Blowing the tunnel with you inside should have the same effect," the villain finished.
"Not the worst plan I've heard," Red Robin answered. Bane raised his hand that he had the trigger in, but when he went to push the button, nothing happened. He looked down and was surprised when he didn't have the trigger anymore.
"With what? This trigger thingy?" Kid Flash asked leaning up against a tree behind the villain with the trigger device that Bane held a second ago.
Bane screamed and went to punch Kid Flash but he was suddently hoisted up and floating in midair by Miss Martian.
Superboy then walked forward getting in his stance, "Finally," he said with delight, "Drop him."
Miss Martian let go of Bane and he fell right into Superboy's fist, knocking him out cold.
"Well that was fun," Red Robin said, as he and the others gathered around Aqualad, "they are probably close to fixing that helicopter though," he warned.
"We need a plan," Aqualad stated.
"You mean distraction," Robin corrected.
"Well… we could use those bombs and put them in the helicopter, since we have the trigger now," Red Robin stated, gesturing towards the trigger in Kid Flash's hand.
"Miss Martian could sneak them on with her camouflage mode, while the rest of us are the distraction," Robin offered.
"Sounds like a plan to me," Kid Flash stated, handing the trigger to Miss Martian.
"Can you two disconnect those bombs?" Aqualad asked the dynamic sidekicks.
"You got it boss," Red Robin replied, as he and Robin set to work on disconnecting the bombs from the tunnel.
Within a few minutes they were ready and headed off towards the factory. The team hunkered down in the bushes near the clearing where the helicopter sat.
"Well there's Sportsmaster with the goods," Red Robin stated, using his binoculars.
"And Koby," Robin added, seeing the pale skinned cult leader.
Just then the helicopter roared to life, "Kid that's your cue," Aqualad said and Kid Flash took off, knocking out several goons, surprising the villains, but they quickly returned fire on the speedster.
"Take the shipment!" Kobra yelled at Sportsmaster who began to make his way towards the helicopter.
Superboy then landed between the chopper and some goons. The shockwave that Superboy sent out cracked the ground and sent the goons in his vicinity flying, "Go again?" he asked the Blockbuster-Venom enhanced creature.
The monstrosity charged at Superboy, but at the last second a jet of continuous water crashed into the monsterous creature shooting him across the field, "Sorry. Not the plan" Superboy taunted, smirk present as he did so. Just then Sportsmaster reappeared and continued to rapid fire at Superboy with a gun that had enough force to actually damage the clone, while Miss Martian set to work on completing the main objective.
Kobra watched with Shimmer by his side, as Kid Flash took out a cultist and grabbed his black mask, "Souvenir," Kid Flash said before taking off again.
As Kid Flash sped off, Red Robin threw a bolo that wrapped itself around Shimmer, throwing her off balance and knocking her to the ground. Just then Red Robin and Robin appeared in front of Kobra.
"I know you hate getting your hands dirty," Robin stated, taunting the cult leader.
"True," Kobra replied, dropping his cloak to the ground, revealing is bald head and muscular, gray skinned body. Losing his cloak, it also showed he wore red bracers and red boots of the same design, while his legs were covered with tight, black pants, "But sometime, even a god must stoop to conquer."
Robin and Red Robin charged at the gray skinned villain. Kobra, stepping back a step, easily avoided Robin who went with a sweeping leg low, while Red Robin went high for a kick to Kobra's face. Kobra however caught Red Robin's leg and then with a kick of his own, sent Red Robin flying back. Robin then went for his own kick, only to get Kobra's fist in the gut, which sent him backward as well.
"What's wrong boys?" Kobra asked, standing with his hands behind his back, "You two look disconcerted," he taunted.
Just then the helicopter took off, but as it rose in the air, an explosion rocked the chopper, sending smoke and sparks billowing out the back of it. The chopper then began to descend back towards the factory. Sportsmaster bailed out and parachuted over the jungle as the chopper fell through the air and finally landed on the factory itself and exploded, also destroying the factory.
Using the distraction of the fiery explosion, Kobra made his move on the two Bat protégés, swiftly delivering blows to each of them, knocking them to the ground. Red Robin quickly got back up and pulled out two birdarangs, one in each hand, but hesitated to throw them. Standing over his partner with his boot on Robin's chest was Kobra, "I am plagued by mosquitos!" Kobra growled, annoyed.
"Good," grunted Robin, from underneath Kobra's foot, "Cause this mosquito's mighty concerted over your pain," he finished, flipping out from under Kobra's foot, and landing next to Red Robin. The two were then backed up by an approaching Aqualad, Superboy, Kid Flash and Miss Martian.
With the burning factory in the background, Kobra looked at the group of heroes and realized he was outnumbered, "Another time then," he said before backing into the bushes of the jungle.
Robin and Red Robin raced forward, but when they pulled back the jungle bushes, Kobra was already gone, "So that's how that feels?" Red Robin said slightly frustrated, but getting why Commissioner Gordon was always frustrated when they pulled the disappearing act on him.
"We picked the right guy to lead," Robin said with a smile on his face, as he and Red Robin returned to group with the others, "Automatically making you," he pointed at Aqualad, "the right guy to explain this mess to Batman," he laughed gesturing at the burning factory. Red Robin also couldn't help but laugh at the situation either.
MOUNT JUSTICE
JULY 23, 10:01 EDT
"A simple recon mission, observe and report," Batman lectured, getting in the face of Aqualad, but the teen stood firm. The rest of the team also stood at attention as Batman continued to lecture, "You'll each receive a written evaluation detailing your many mistakes," he continued to berate them, walking down the line of sidekicks, "Until then, good job."
Red Robin along with the rest of the team, including Robin instantly looked at Batman with shocked expressions, not expecting the compliment from Batman, "No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. How you adjust to the unforeseen is what determines success. And how you choose who leads determines character," Batman continued his lecture. Red Robin looked at his partner who stood beside with a smirk now on his face, to which Red Robin just rolled his eyes.
GOTHAM CITY
JULY 23, 16:30
"What happened to your face?!" exclaimed Barbara, just noticing the long cut on an approaching teen's face, who attempted to take a seat at the outside table at the café, but was intercepted by the redhead, who lightly grabbed his chin and turned his head so she could get a better look.
"It's nothing Babs," Nathan quickly protested, trying to move on from the subject. He could stand his own against most villains in Gotham, but when it came to making up stories for on the job injuries, he was terrible at it. He hated this part of the job more than getting the injuries.
"Nothing? That's not nothing," Barbara said, looking at the cut with worry on her face, "What happened?" she asked sternly but also with concern.
Nathan saw the Barbara Gordon version of the bat glare mixed with legitimate concern and worry, "Let's just say I should stay away from taking alleys for shortcuts," Nathan explained, lightly grabbing Barbara's hand that was on his chin and moving it down to her side, "A mugger jumped me last night and got a lucky shot in with a knife before the Boy Wonders showed up. The mugger got scared and took off. I went to thank my saviors, but they were gone already when I turned to thank them," Nathan continued to explain his story.
"Yeah, they do that a lot," Barbara mumbled, "Dad finishes all his stories about them the same way," Barbara spoke, giving examples to Nathan as they both took their seats, "Where's Dick?" asked Barbara curiously.
"Late like usual. Did you expect him to be on time?" Nathan asked jokingly.
Just then Dick ran over to the table, "Sorry I'm late," he said as he took an open seat between Nathan and Barbara. He then looked at Nathan, "Whoa dude, what happened to your face?" he asked, giving him a look as he spoke.
"If you showed up on time, you could have heard me explain it to Barbara," he added, giving his friend a smirk as he did, "It's a long story, but I guess I could tell it again….."
Hey guys, sorry for the abrupt end here. Honestly I was toying with the idea of having Nathan and Barbara's first romantic (kiss, or at least Barbara kissing Nathan's cheek) encounter at the end here, but thought that it might be too soon yet. If you guys think it was a bad call, I just want to explain again that these types of scenes are not my greatest and again if any of you would like to help with their first romantic encounter PM me and I'll explain what I was going to do here at the end of the chapter too. If you guys have your own ideas too please PM and we can talk about it and we can try to work it into the story. If I get multiple options, obviously I'll have to chose one or I can post a pole as to what you'd guys would like to see or something.
Anyway, I'll shut up now and let you guys get back to real life. Until next chapter...