March 25th, 0132hrs, Klarion's castle
Robin's POV
As the guards pushed me down the dark corridor, I couldn't help but think about what Bruce is thinking right now. He's probably furious. But hey, if I die, then there no chance of me cleaning the Batmobile with my toothbrush for twelve months. I could have fought back, but after the guards started to pull me away from the room, they strapped a magical colllar on my neck. I assumed that it would prevent me from using my magic. The had also chained my wing together, so flying out of there, wasn't an option. Eventually, I got pulled out of my thoughts when I felt a jostling movement, and got pushed into, what I think it is, the torture room. There wasn't anything special in there, just the normal table for electrocution, and weapons on every square inch of the wall. As my lovely ecsorts strapped me to the table, I started to analyze and started to formulate a plan to get out ofthe mess I was in, find my friends, and free the Moors, while trying to stay alive. My thoughts were rudely interrupted by the rattling of a doorknob. As the door flew open, Wally and the rest of the team, besides Artemis, Red Arrow, and Green Arrow, strode out. They didn't seemed injured, but the way they walked revealed that they were controlled by something. As they got closer, I tried to knock them out of their stupor. But no such luck. Wally was the one to throw the first punch. It didn't hurt, but it definitely wasn't pleasant. As Wally tried to punch the crap out of me, the rest of the team converged next to the weapons. They seemed to choosing out a torture weapon to use on me. While they were going over their choices, it hit me. If they were here, then what happened to Green Arrow and Red Arrow?
"I'm going to enjoy this." Connor said darkly. He was able to talk, then whoever was pulling there strings must have messed with their mind. They probably don't even know what they are doing now. No doubt Klarion cat a spell on them.
"He's right. You don't know how long I have waited for this." KF added
"Guys, you are being controlled. Klarion did something to you. If you do this then you will regret it." I told them, but it did not waver them. Instead it just spurred them on.
Letting out a laugh, that definitely didn't sound like the M'gann I knew, M'gann whispered, "How are we going to regret it. You can't do anything to us. In case you haven't noticed, but right now, you're tied up, have a collar on, and you can't uyse your wings."
In less than a second, Kaldur, Wally, M'gann, and Connor were trying to inflict the most painful injuries on me. Wally was dragging a dagger up and down my arms. As the blood spewed out, it gave him a sense of happiness. Meanwhile, Kaludur was heating up a brand that had different symbols on it. Probably for the ritual that Klarion, no doubt. And Connor and M'gann were working on how they would be able to turn on the generator that would send a electrical surge through the metal table. None of this was something I haven't been through before, but while I was distracted, Kaldur plunged the brand into my bare chest. The smell of burning flesh made me want to gag, and the pain was excruciating as if that wasn't enough, M'gann and Connor got how to work the generator. That thing sent strong electric waves through my body. I wanted to pass out, but neither the team nor my body would allow it. I could let out all the screams that I wanted, but my team didn't stop.
"Alright, that is enough." a voice sounded. Recognizing the voicce anywhere, I hissed, "What did you do to my friends?!" every ounce of my voice dripped with venom.
"Oh nothing. You know what I love best about the Twenty-first century, pasăre mică?" Seeing that I won't answer, she just rolled her eyes and continued, "I love that the magic is stronger. That little brat, Klarion, couldn't keep his mouth shut about the times when he made spells, and how they almost worked. But then they would fail, thanks to the meddling sidekicks. Which, of course, I assumed was you and your friends. And as the time went on, the magic got stronger. Klarion was so desperate to practice some new mind spells. Then twe thought about the using lab rats, and since we have some lying around, we used them. It turned out better then we had ever hoped."
"Then why don't I see Red or Green Arrow or Artemis?" I hated talking to this woman, but I needed answers. I needed to know that they were alright.
"We decided to use them for something else. Now..." obviously she was trying to change the subject," How about I tell you about what you will be used for."
"Well, since I can't object, continue." I said indignantly
"See those symbols on your chest?" She pointed to my chest. Looking at myself, I could see, besides the bloody mess, a circle with different signs on it. "Those signs will help with the ritual, as well as the day of falling stars. You see, you are the most powerful fairy we have ever seen, and King Klarion is hungry for more power. He has waited for many years for you to come of age. And he had to wait longer because of your father's death."
"You know about my father?"
"Oh yes. How could I ever forget about his ancestor's scandal." she said, her anger rising
"Scandal?"
"You see, your great, great grandmother was human. She was a normal girl. She was a dear friend growing up. But she fell in love with a fae. I didn't know what she saw in him. I told her about how the Moorfolk shouldn't be trusted, how they had killed my dear brother, but she didn't listen. Before I knew it, she was married to him and was going to have his child. I tried to tell her to give the child to it's father, but she resisted and her family moved to the new world. Then Maleficent was killed, her final words were a prophecy. After Klarion saved me from death, we searched far and wide for Maleficant's grandson to reveal himself. Originally we thought that it was John, that was why we sent Zucco after him, but little did we both know, that we were really after his son. When Klarion sensed you, we didn't realize how powerful you were, hence the reason for this ritual."
"You, bastard, you killed my parents, you destroyed my life!" I shouted. I couldn't believe what she was saying. My father was a Fae and I never knew about it.
"If we knew that it was you we were after, your parents may still be alive. It was a simple mistake."
"A simple mistake! You killed them! You took five innocent lives!"
"Your uncle, aunt, and cousin were collateral. Their lives weren't nearly as important as your's or your parents."
"You truly are evil." I hissed, but she just laughed it off. "Batman will find you, and when he does, he'll kick your a.." I wasn't able to finish because of a untimely punch to the face from Wally.
"Language dear boy. Having a mouth like that will get you in trouble with people in high places, people like me." She threatened, but her threat was empty, since right after she left.
"Mind as well get some sleep," Connor advised in a whisper, "We need you to be fully rested before the time comes."
"Come, Connor," Aqualad commanded, "King Klarion calls for us." Shutting the door behind them, I was left in the darkness of the room. "Bruce," I thought, "Where are you?" Before I passed out because of sleep deprivation.
Normal POV
March 25th, 0725hrs,The Watchtower.
"When was the last time Bruce took a break, Diana?" Superman asked, concerned that his friend had been running on fumes all night long.
"How am I supposed to know, Clark, I wasn't here all night."
"Maybe we should say something." Barry suggested out of the blue.
"Geez, Barry! What did I tell you about sneaking up on people like that."
"Right, sorry, Supes." Turning back to the previous conversation, Flash asked, "How close do you think he is?"
"I got it. They're located near the Fens." Batman broke in.
"They're where?" Black Canary questioned as she made her way towards them.
"The Fens." Batman restated, "It's southeast of Licolnshire." Still getting looks of confusion, Batman growled, "It was the place that we investigated at the beginning of the month, since we detected enrgy surges."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Flash broke in.
"We can't just go in there head on." Canary reasoned.
"Like hell we can." Batman hissed.
Taking a step closer to the Dark Knight, Diana placed a hand in his shoulder, "Bruce, you're making an emotional decision, instead of a reasonable decision. Everyone around you," Diana gestured to the group of heroes near the entrance with her other hand, " wants to get Robin and the Team back, but if we head in there head on, there will be more of a chance that we get caught and they get killed, before we are able to save them."
"Fine," Batman agreed, turning his direction to the rest of the heroes, "We'll leave at 1000hrs, that should give us enough time to develop a plan and a strategy for attack. Superman, alert Hawkwoman and Martian Manhunter, tell them what is happening and tell them to be ready for departure by noon." Nodding in agreement, Superman jetted out of there. "The rest of us will start coming up with a plan."
"Everyone, but you," Canary argued, with her arms crossed over her chest.
"What are you..." Batman started but was rudely interrupted by Flash's big mouth.
"Bats, you just worked an all-nighter. You can't honestly expect us to let you start thinking of a plan and prepare for a battle, especially when you're just running on fumes."
"But..."
"Either you get some rest willingly, or I tell Agent A." Wonder Woman threatened.
"Fine, but I doubt I'll get some sleep." His cape billowing behind him, the Caped Crusader left silently and without a trace.
"Since when did you start pulling out the 'Agent A' threat?" Canary mused.
"Robin taught me to use it when it come to Batman's well being." Wonder Woman explained nonchalantly.
"What did I miss?" Superman asked as he landed in front of the team with Martian Manhunter and Hawkwoman behind him.
"we're going to think of a plan, while Bat's getting some Z's." Flash explained
"How did you convince him to do that?" Superman asked incredulously.
"Don't ask,"
March 25th, 1000hrs, Klarion's dungeon.
Robin's POV
I wasn't able to sleep for very long, maybe an hour or two, before a bucket of cold water got dumped on me. As I was gasping and sputtering, I caught a glimpse of Wally's mischievous smirk. "What do you want?" I hissed.
"King Klarion and the others want you to make your appearance in the courtyard." He said to me in a dreary tone. It seemed like the flirtatious and silly side of Wally was being surpressed, and the outcome of having those feelings surpressed was causing KF to be miserable.
"Great," I grumbled sarcastically
"Come on, it won't be that bad." Not willing to wait for me to retort, Wally unshackled me from the post and started to drag me down the hall. "Can't you walk?" He asked incredulously
"Why don't you ask yourself this, if you were stabbed by an hot poker, have a knife dragged through your flesh, electrocuted, left in a dark room without any water, and get woken up after not sleeping for who knows how long, would you be able to walk?" I snapped
"Fair point, but there is no time for taking a break the hour of falling stars is almost among us, so we need to hurry." Picking me up, much to my discomfort, Wally sped me to a terrible looking courtyard. The outside of the palace was almost as worse as the inside. The sky was dark and filled with smoke, there was a stone path that lead to the center of the yard, and all around the path was bones, dead flowers, different displays of weapons, used a as lampposts, scattered around, and the occasional ogre and elf.
"This looks homey." I muttered to myself. I assumed that KF didn't hear me sicne he started to lead me down a flight of steps and to a circle that was carved into the stone. There were symbols that were carved into it, that was identical to ones in my chest, that was on the outside, and in the center was another post. Joy. It kinda looked like Klarion was going to have me burned at the stake.
"Restrain the fairy to the post." A voice boomed. Looking up, I could see that there was a balcony that was very high up, and leaning against the railing was Klarion. As I let out a hiss, Wally and Kladur started to bind me to the post. "Definitely not giving burned at the stake vibes," I thought sarcastically.
"Let the ritual begin." Klarion said. The sky began to darken and started to fill up with meteors, or in Ingrid's words 'Falling Stars'. I watched him as he flew down on a platform made of magic. He had a sick, evil smirk on his face, and his cat was no better. Teekl was showing off his fangs, and he was emitting a gutteral sound, almost as if he was laughing at me.
"This is going to hurt. I am sorry." Kaldur whispered to me before running off to get on the outside of the circle. Once he was off, the circle started to light up red light, and steaming molten rock started to stream down the engraved symbols. As the smoke started to form around me, Klarion was getting closer and closer to me. The smoke started to take a form of hands. It gripped onto me and dug into my skin. As it engulfed me, I felt like there was a fire burning inside of me. It was gripping my soul and tor it apart. Meanwhile, Klarion had the smoke around him, and occasionally he would let out a pained hiss, but his pain wasn't nearly as close to the pain I was feeling. "Bruce," I whispered, "where are you?!" Letting out the loudest scream I could muster, I closed my eyes, knowing that I most likely won't open them again.
Normal POV
March 25th, 0930, Klarion's halls
"Ollie, I swear to God, if you led us the wrong way..." A voice in the shadows growled.
"Chill, Roy, I know where I am going." another voice responded with a tint of annoyance.
"Oh really, says the guy that lead into ten dead ends in the last two hours."
"Why are you complaining? You're the one that could have killed us both by playing that stupid stunt!"
"That stupid 'stunt'," making air quotes with his hand, "was the only thing that I could think of. It got us out, didn't it?!"
"Barely,"
"Would you two cut it out! Arguing won't help us find Robin and the team." Artemis's angry voice rang out, she definitely had Black Canary's anger.
"Sorry." Both the boys apologized. As Artemis was about to say something, there was the rumbling and grumbling of guards that were coming their way.
"Hide," she whispered. Shooting a arrow with a rope into a beam that was hanging on the ceiling, Artemis, Roy, and Ollie climbed up the rope.
"Shh," Ollie shushed both the teens.
"Do you think that we will be able to watch the ritual?" A elf asked his fellow comrade.
"Maybe, I don't think that it is prohibited."
"Then what are we waiting for, the ritual is going to start in three minutes." Scurrying as fast as they can, the elves headed to the courtyard.
"We should follow them." Artemis whispered
"No duh." Roy snipped.
"Don't start, you two." Ollie said warningly
March 25th, 0930, Javelin.
"Are we there yet?" Flash asked for the thirtieth time.
"No, Flash." Hawkwoman hissed.
"I'm sorry, okay. It's just so boring in here."
"Don't worry, Barry," Martian Manhunter assured, "with the Javelin's speed, we will be there soon."
"Until then, everyone quiet." Batman, who was piloting, growled.
"Someone is tense." Flash whispered to Wonder Woman
"He's just worried about Robin. We all are."
"All we can do is hope that he and the others are alright." Black Canary comforted
With the Arrows
"Where are we." Artemis questioned.
"I don't know, but I see light up ahead." Green Arrow said.
"Then what are we waiting for." Red Arrow said as more of a statement then a question. Carefully exiting the castle, the Arrows saw that they were in a courtyard with a gigantic circle in the middle, and in the middle of that circle was Klariona and... ROBIN.
"What are they doing?" Artemis asked from their hiding spot that is closer to the circle.
"Doesn't matter." Notching a arrow to his bow, "Let's get Robin out of there."
"Roy, no. Look!" Green Arrow pointed to the guards and the the Artemis's teammates. "We can't just sut here and watch. Look at Dick!" Roy gestured to the slumped form of their bird. "If we wait any longer, Dick could die. Hell, he could already be dead."
"Roy, Robin wouldn't want you to rush head on. You have to think about what your actions. We have a lot riding on this." Artemis reasoned.
"Fine."
Robin's POV
When I opened my eyes again, I wasn't in that dreaded courtyard anymore. I wasn't really sure where I was. I was in a warmly lit, I wanted to say room, but that would be inaccurate. The longer that I thought about it, I realized, I wasn't just anywhere, I was in my family's old trailer. Elated, I started to walk around and take everything in. I saw my old hammock that I slept in while on tour. There was my Mami's old kitchen, which had cooking books lying on the counter, just like it used to when we lived here. I went into my parent's old room. The blue comforter was pulled neatly over the bed, and the pillows were fluffed, just like my Mami always did. There was a small bedside table, and inside the small drawer was the weathered book, Robin Hood. When I was younger, and whenever I was scared, my Tati, would let me get into bed with them, and he would lull me to sleep by reading to me. I walked out of my parent's room and sat in the sittting room\dining room. On the table sat an old coloring book and my old stuffed elephant, Zitka.
While I was reminiscing at the table, the door opened, and out came my... parents.
"Mami! Tati!" I shouted
"Pasăre Mică," my Mami replied. As I ran to her, she engulfed me into a hug.
"Fiul," Tati said as he gave off one of his goofy grins.
"Why are you here?" I asked after I pulled away from the embrace.
"We are here to help you determine which choice you want to go with." Mami stated gentlely.
"What are you talking about?" I asked
"Right now, Fiul, you're dying. The ritual that Klarion is performing is killing you. So you have two options, you could either fight or you could give up." Tati said in a slightly rougher voice, but still had kindness behind it.
"If you give up, you can join us in Heaven. But if you fight, you can save countless lives." My mother said with caring eyes
"I think I should just go with you guys. Even if I do fight, I don't think I will be able to win. And even if I do win, then I'll have to lead an entire kingdom. I don't think that I would be ready for that. I'm not strong enough."
"Pasăre mică, how can you think that you aren't strong enough?" Mami asked, "Why do you think that you won't be able to lead?"
"When I had the chance to lead, I led all my friends to their deaths. Though it was a training exercise, my decisions still made an impact on my friends lives. And not in a good way." I explained.
"Dick, when you were born, as soon as I saw you, I knew that you would be a fighter, I knew that you would be the one to lead the Moors out of their slavery."
"I don't think so. Look at me now, I was trying to free the Moors. I convinced Roy to let me go. I tried to fight off the guards when they invaded, but I just got in the way. I lost Borra. He, probably, would have been able to free the Moors himself. Hell, you could have done it. Why couldn't you do it, Tati? You were supposed to teach me. With all the experience you had, you could have freed the Moors yourself."
"Freeing the Moors wasn't Borra's or my place. We were only supposed to help. We were supposed to teach you. We were never supposed to lead a army or fight the evilness in this world."
"All of this was my fault. It's my fault that Wally, Connor, M'gann, and Kaldur are being controlled by Klarion. It's my fault that BC's family could be dead by now. It's my fault that Bruce could be going through hell. IT'S MY FAULT THAT YOU, MAMI, AND EVERYONE ELSE GOT KILLED!!" I shouted with tears streaming down my face. I then got pulled into a long hug.
"It wasn't your fault. We were the one's who ignored your warnings. It wasn't your fault that your friends got captured." Mami tried to explain.
"Yes it is!" I shouted
"Son, you think that you can't lead. You think that you aren't strong enough, but you are. Why do you think that your friends followed you. They trusted you. You started being Robin at the age of nine. Why do you think that bruce trusted you? It was because he knew that you were strong enough. That you were strong enought to go out and fight for what's right. The entire Justice League knows that you are strong, Young Justice knows that you are meant to lead. And we know that as well. The only person who needs to know that is you. You're the last Son of Maleficent, you're the famous Batman's son. You risk your life to fight for the weak. You risk your life, trying to keep this world a better place." After Tati finished his speech, I felt a little better. We spent of that time just in silence, enjoying each other's company while it lasted.
March 25th, 1101, Outside Klarion's Castle and Gates.
"We have arrived." Wonder Woman's voice sounded. Waking up Flash.
"I'm up!" He said quickly.
"We're here, Doofus." Hawkwoman said, annoyed.
"Sweet." Looking through the window, Flash's smile turned into disgust. "For a magical land, I thought that it would look prettier."
"Oh Hera!" Wonder Woman gasped.
"That doesn't look good." Superman breathed.
"Let's take a look." Batman commanded. Landing, the League made their way out of the Javelin. Everything looked like was dark and dead. The flowers were drowsy, and the fairies that lived there were no longer around. The water looked as bad as Gotham's harbor, and that's saying something. Everything was just sad.
"This looks very unpleasant." Martian Manhunter said sadly.
"Let's get over that wall." Batman said bluntly.
"What wall?" Following the Bat's gaze, Flash saw the large wall.
"Let's go." Batman commanded. Shooting his grappling gun, Batman climbed over. While Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, and Hawkwoman flew over, and Flash vibrated his molecules to get through. What they saw on the other side was just as bad. The land was absolutely charred and the castle that was looming above the League. There was a river molten rock that was flowing from the castle. The heat eventually got to Martian Manhunter. Letting out a pained gasp, Martian Manhunter was soon surrounded by his fellow League members.
"Manhunter," Batman said, in a firm tone, "you need to get out of here. Can you get back to the Javelin?"
"I think so." He replied tentatively.
"Then get back, and wait there."
"Alright, alert me if you need any backup."
"Good Luck,"
"Thank you. Be safe." Superman said. Flying back over the the wall, Martian Manhunter disappeared.
"We'll split up in teams. Wonder Woman with Hawkwoman and Black Canary, Flash and Superman, and I'll go alone."
Not waiting for an answer, Batman left.
"Alert us if any of you find something. Be safe. We don't know what else is here." Superman added. Leaving with Flash, the two heroes headed towards the courtyard. Meanwhile Wonder Woman and Hawkwoman left to investigate the interior of the castle.
"Wonder Woman, Hawkwoman, can you hear me?" Flash asked
"Loud and clear."
"Well, apparently, Supes and I went in the same direction that Bat's took. So that a little awkward to explain..."
Loosing patience, Black Canary shouted into the comm, "GET ON WITH IT!"
"Well, first, oww. Secondly, we found something that may be super important. Get over here fast!"
"We'll be there in three minutes, tops." Wonder Woman said with concern.
When the girls got there, they saw that the bnoys were joined with the Arrows. "Ollie!" Black Canary whispered yelled. Running over to her boyfriend, she gave him a big embrace. "I'm okay Dinah." He whispered to her soothingly.
"Are you alright?" Wonder Woman asked Artemis.
"We're okay, but I can't too much about the team."
"What are you talking about?" Superman asked confused
"They're over there, along with Robin." she said sorrowfully.
Taking out a pair of binoculars, Batman zoomed in on the team. Miss Martian and Kaldur didn't seem to good. They were both sweating profusely, and Miss Martian looked about ready to pass out. Then he got sight of his little bird. The boy was unconscious, and still surrounded by smoke like hands. It was still destroying him. And if that wasn't enough, Robin had still open lacerations. The blood was still flowing out slightly.
"What the hell happened to Robin?!" Batman growled, releasing a daddy batglare on Green Arrow.
Grabbing the binoculars, Black Canary looked through, "Oh God." She gasped as she handed them to Flash.
"We already made up a plan." Roy said grumpily, "I say that we ut the plan in action before Robin dies."
After analyzing the plan and occasionally adding onto it, the supers ran out their hiding spot and attacked. "Hold on, son." Batman thought, "Hang on."
Unfortunately, Queen Ingrid had expected this, "Guards, stop the Justice League!! Don't let them reach the middle of the circle!" She shouted the commands. Before they were even remotely close to the circle, the supers were approached by a large armada of soldiers.
Hi, I'm sorry for not posting for a while. And sorry if the time is sucky. For all those who read and follow me, I want to thank you. It means so much to me that you like this. When I first started, I thought that no one would like what I write. So thank you so much. Also Dick has something to say.
Dick: thank you everyone for reading. You guys are the best.
Wally: Yeah you are!!
Dick: Wally! What are you doing here?!
Wally: I got bored. I wanted to see what you were doing.
Dick: Well, sorry, this is invite only.
Wally: But i'm in the story. Besides, wouldn't the girls that are reading this want to see the Wall-man.
Dick: GET OUT!! (Throw a Batarang)
Wally: Dude!!
Well I got to go, before Dick kills Wally. See ya later!