Chapter 2: New Stomping Grounds

Robin's POV

If you would have told me that I would be sent off to Metropolis with my dad for business deals, I probably would have laughed in your face. I would have said something like "My dad is making business deals with Lex Luthor and he actually wanted to bring me along? Yeah, and the Joker decided to give up crime forever."

Well turns out that this random, made up person was right, because I woke up that morning to a message from my dad. Not in person, mind you, but through a voicemail.

"Hey kiddo. Guess what? We're heading to Metropolis for a few weeks! I know you will miss Gotham, but we'll be back before you know it. Lex Luthor got us a penthouse and a personal tutor to keep up with your studies, so everything is taken care of. We leave tomorrow, so please pack more than one outfit."

I take a deep sigh. Metropolis. For a few weeks. Just what I needed to hear.

Now, I know that Gotham isn't exactly the safest place to live. For example, during my 10th birthday, the Riddler crashed my party and had me solve a puzzle so my guests didn't die. He didn't appreciate that I got it right and almost killed me. Thankfully, Batman and Robin showed up and saved the day, but my dad refused to throw me a party since.

Even though this city will put me six-feet under, it's nothing compared to Metropolis. Not because it's a more dangerous city, but because of how normal it is. All the buildings are clean, clear skies, people are friendly, and everything seems completely fine. And whenever something's normal, it's usually hiding something. At least in Gotham we're straight up when being slimy. But Metropolis has layers. Gross, rotting layers.

Arriving in Metropolis, my dad and I were greeted by human scum himself. Luthor stood there with his entourage, having a wide smile plastered on his face. The best way I can describe his appearance is Mr. Clean, but malnourished. He's bald, wears white, and hypothetically muscular. But the most notable thing about him was his smirk. It's giving "nice to your face, but secretly wants to kill you", because to my knowledge that's true.

"Welcome to Metropolis, Jack!" Luthor comes up to my dad, extending his hand. "It's an honor having Drake Industries visiting the lovely coast of Delaware. How was the trip?"

"Good." My dad beamed, gripping his hand. "Leaving Gotham is always a challenge, but we managed. It'll be nice to breathe clean for a while."

Luthor looks over in my direction. "Jack, you never told me you had a son?"

My dad, acting shocked, turns to me and then back to Luthor.

"Yes!" He exclaimed, remembering I existed. "Lex, this is Tim. He'll be joining me while I'm here. He's ecstatic to be out of Gotham as well. Maybe he'll make some friends while we're here."

Luthor gestures towards me, extending his hand. "Well, welcome to Metropolis, Tim. It's a pleasure to have you here."

"Yep." I answered, plastering a fake smile on my face. "Nice to meet you too, ."

"Oh please!" He laughs, wrapping his arm around me. " is my father. Call me Lex, son. I'm sure you'll meet plenty of people here. Who knows? Maybe you'll grow to like Metropolis more than Gotham!"

I sheepishly smile back at him. "Heh, maybe."

Luthor lets go and he and my dad start talking business. As I trail behind, I start thinking about what he said. Bruce told me before I left that Lex is always up to something, so don't be surprised if I get dragged into one of his evil plans. If I ever need anything, I can always call him and Dick and they'll listen and if things get too big and I'm in serious danger, let him know so he can tell Superman. I'll definitely keep that in mind, but I have a feeling I can handle it.

For now, I'll keep to myself. But once the sky gets dark, Robin is making his Metropolis debut. Let's see what the crime life is like in this picture perfect city.

After 4 hours of patrol, I was ready to call it a night. In Gotham, Batman and I would have taken down at least 50 criminals by now and nearly tracked down 2 major supervillains. The worst crime I've seen so far was a cat getting stuck in a tree. I know Metropolis has villains, but they refuse to do any crime. No wonder Superman is always at the Watchtower, because NOTHING HAPPENS HERE! He doesn't even have to be here most of the time! The dude can drop off the face of the earth for a while and maybe two major crimes would happen in his absence.

As I was perched on top of a building, I ended up staring at the stars. Laying flat on my back, the stars started to dance around the sky. I've never seen so many so close before. Gotham is always covered by clouds. As a kid, I thought that stars were just a myth, since I never saw them. But looking up at them, they seemed so…. Calming. They were billions of light years away but also close enough I could touch them. I wonder if Superman ever stops and stares at the stars.

I started to close my eyes when suddenly I heard a scream. Quickly jumping into sidekick mode, I scan the perimeter to find the crime. It was directly under my nose in a dead end alleyway. A woman has her back against the wall as three, gross men approach her. A classic mugging, but with an evil intention. Piece of cake.

Before I sprung, a huge gust of wind blew in my direction.

"Superman." I said under my breath. I should have known. His city, his crime. But this is my chance to prove to Superman himself that I can be more than a sidekick. Maybe we can investigate Lex Luthor together.

I jump down and immediately take them down. This wasn't my first rodeo, so it was relatively easy. I don't even have a scratch on me. Once the men are down and the woman escapes, I finally look up to see him and propose a team up.

But what I saw was not what I was hoping for.

He had the Superman color scheme, but was clearly younger. Going with the tights, a tight, leather jacket wrapped around his arms, with the shoulders decorated with spikes. His dark hair had the "Superman Swirl", but seemed to be a more rocker like style. The biggest giveaway was the round sunglasses. Who even wears sunglasses at night? Apparently this guy.

Speaking of this guy, he opened his gaping mouth. "Who are you? Come out now!"

I take a step out of the shadows for him to get a good look at me. He clearly isn't Superman, so the next best thing has to be a younger version of him. And another version of a man is…

"You must be Superboy." I claim, staring him up and down.

He keeps staring at me. "You're clearly not Batman."

Well, I guess we had the same idea. Neither of us realized that the other existed. But if Superboy lives here in Metropolis, then I have another avenue to get closer to Luthor's newest plan. Bruce claims that I need help from Superman? Hah! I guess he doesn't know about this guy either.

"Nope." I smirk, trying to be cool. "Batman had to stay in Gotham. But I have other plans. I'm Robin, and I need to know every single thing about you and your city"