It took less time than it should have; it was impatient and the definition of target had been vague. Just as long as it was easy to smash and even easier to blow up, it would do. The broken bodies of the homeless and other unfortunates in its wake were just part of the set-up.
Robin was elsewhere.
It was the normalcy of the night that he would remember later on, the parts of it he could remember. It was chilly, given the season, and quiet, which was due more to the cold than it was to the holiday spirit. It smelled like it was going to snow, although he had to wonder how he could tell over the general (horrible) smell of the city.
Robin paused to rest on a nearby ledge, careful of the nasty surprises black ice would bring (a lesson learned much earlier that had nearly left a lasting mark), and listened to the silence. If there was any sign that something was wrong, it was that. Gotham shouldn't be silent.
Something exploded to his right, a flash of light, sound, and imagine heat. He tried not to feel relieved, and clicked on his communicator to Batman at the same time he was heading toward the explosion.
"It looks like that came from the warehouse district, boss. Probably not an accident at this time of night, huh?"
How his girlfriend would react to him taking the kid, he'd... deal with it later. When he could think straight.
Right now, it was Tim's turn to deal with this.
I'd bring my civvies if I was you.
'Tohji' was waiting at the top of the Tanaka Tower - one of the many foreign businesses with a strong hold over the Gotham business world - half hidden in the shadows. He preferred this tower; the security system was easy to hack and the guards tended to slack off. Nobody came near the roof at this time of night, and it was well away from the usual traffic.
It was a good place for a long talk.
There was a very nice ice cream shop near the top of one of the shopping towers. It was quiet during certain times, for another, and it was right next to one of the best views of the city.
As long as you didn't have a fear of heights.
'Tohji' was standing by the menu, studying it. The appropriate messages had been sent out to the appropriate people, and now he was just there to score a table and wait. It would be interesting to see just who showed, besides mom Terry and Changeling.
There was this thing called breathing. Enzan really missed it.
His face still hurt, but the real problem was that the blood had hardened by now, inside his mask, making everything uncomfortable to do. Breathing. Moving his head. And it itched, horribly, and there wasn't a thing he could do. His muscles ached from being kept - chained - in the same position. He was cold; the Suit protected him from freezing, but being kept in a refrigerator did not encourage warmth.
He wasn't sure what time it was; he did managed to sleep once or twice, but that just helped to disorient him even more. He could count on two things by now; he had missed school again, and his father was going to be pissed.
Everything hurt, and Terry wasn't here to save him yet. He couldn't call Bruce or Max - disabled, no doubt - and they took most of his special equipment. He could barely move.
He was going to have to get out of this himself, or wait for help. The first option was laughable, and the second... well, what kind of a Robin would he be if he settled for that?
Tim could do this. Dick could too. And yet he couldn't - no, think positive.
There had to be a way out of this. He just had to find it.
And a very short time later, after dinner, he found himself inside the company building, on his way to the lab. The security was a joke; half of the labs didn' even have a functional alarm system, besides the one for the main doors. It had been gutted; maybe to cut down costs?
The lab he was now entering was one of the ones that didn't have a working alarm; but the report had said differently. Odd. He turned off the invisibility in his suit and began to poke around cautiously. Nothing jumped out as being worth stealing, or lying about being stolen.
Now what?
He was pretty sure he had no idea what he was getting himself into, and Tim still had his suit.
"All right," he said quietly, studying their target through binoculars. It was in the center of a populated area, probably disguised as a simple company. "This is your fight, Boy Wonder. You have to make the call from here in how we get in. It's not going to be easy."
((Happens directly after this.))
Now he was pissed. Really, really pissed. It was bad enough he got taken down by a rock. A rock, of all things! But then Tim had taken his costume. That back-stabbing, evil little...
He couldn't waste much time, not now, but he couldn't go costumeless either. The tracer had Tim's location, but he could lost it at any moment. Lose Tim, lose the suit, lose his job. And a lot of other things he didn't want to contemplate right now.
The cave was empty. Not odd; Bruce had mentioned having some business to do last night, There wasn't enough time to get him, nor enough time to get Terry, he just had to get something. He found himself stopping in front of the costume cases. One case, in particular.
Oh, this was such a bad idea. It had been a week full of bad ideas. Was one more really going to count for much?
He left a note. One in the case, one on the computer. He wore a communicator in one ear, it would have to do. Other additions included better weapons, a new and improved staff, flesh-toned bandage wrapped hastily over the scars on his left arm, hair gel (that last one was necessary, no matter how silly it looked.) Hopefully this would be over quick.
Somehow he had the feeling that would not be the case.
It was not the tallest building in Gotham. Some were by far taller, in the city where half the vehicles werre airborne and the only direction left to develop was up. What made this building distinct was that, with a good enough jump, you could fall forever. Forever through the air, until below broke in with reality.
There were a lot of fears Robin knew he had to face. One of them, the most desparately important one, was the fear of falling. Falling happened when dancing from rooftop to rooftop. And if he was afraid of falling, he'd never be able to save himself from the ground.
But it was a lot harder to let yourself fall than he'd thought it would be.
He stalled for awhile. Did some flips around the edges of the building, playing with the sensation without having the risk attached. But his stalling couldn't last forever, dawn was on its way back home.
Do or die mentality. That's what it took. Even now he had his arms held out, walking backwards toward the edge. When it came down to it, he might as well be theactrical about things. He paused when his balance began to shift between the ground and the air.
"Just fall," he whispered.
And then he left himself slip entirely.
Sometime closer to the ground, he'd catch himself and fly away. For now, he just let himself fall.
((This is another narrative that should have been up weeks ago. ^^;))
Age: 13
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Place of Birth: Tokyo, Japan
Family: Rich uncle
Current location: Gotham, studying abroad
Hobbies: Music, ?
Notes: Pitch, tone, expression. Bright clothing, cheerful outlook, thicker accent?
Bruce the younger. Shard?
Batmobile may have broke a wheel, but the Joker never goes away.
Can't save everyone.
Some save themselves.
Not good.
Now what?
- Music:Mind Killer - Adam Freeland
Now what? He couldn't leave him here, not with that Joker chip messing with his brain, he couldn't remove it because he didn't know where he was, and he promised not to take him to Wayne. Terry would have his neck for associating with Tim Drake - any Tim Drake. That didn't rule him out completely, but it did impact the decision.
There was Talon. or Nightwing. Or Changeling. All good options, all worth considering.
And lastly, there was the communicator. Call John, or something. Who the heck was that? He might as well find out. If he got in over his head, he could call for help them.
He fiddled with it for a moment, and then pressed the button he hoped would send the message. It wasn't like the communicators he was used to. "Hello?"
Take the quiz.
Post your results.
( See not_your_robin's results. )
((This is not a public post, sadly, because it contains some information Robin doesn't want to talk about, but I found it too amusing not to post. XD;))
- Music:Becoming the Bull - Atreyu
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