99My second attempt at writing YJ fanfic. This is about the Justice League and Young Justice dealing with Robin and his counterparts from different periods of time and dimensions. And eventually, something about Dick Grayson's origin came into the picture.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Now, on with the story~
"Bruce, what is it?"
The Dark Knight of Gotham looked up from where he was working to his 13-year-old partner Robin, who was swing back and forth on the T-Rex's arm. It seemed like the criminals in Gotham decided to take a break tonight, so the Dynamic Duo didn't have much to do besides patrolling around the city like usual. So, having one of the extremely rare night-off, Batman – or rather Bruce because he had his cowl down – decided to work on his newest invention. And Robin, having nothing to do, had been running and flipping around like a little monkey.
Bruce looked up and met Richard's eyes. To anybody he could be described as indifferent but Dick saw his father's brows raised lightly. The black-haired and also mask-less boy pointed a finger at the strange machine on the Batcave's ground.
"That thing. What is is?"
Batman looked down again at the small white machine and the corner of his lips quirked up. To Bat-standard this was like a full blown grin.
"It's a time-machine. Sorta."
Robin was looking at his adoptive father with wide eyes but didn't make any sound. He was sort of used to this situation when Bruce just popped up with whatever idea he was working on. The man was a genius if his previous inventions – Bat-a-rangs, the Bat-mobile, the Bat-computer… – were anything to go by. Instead, the Boy Wonder opted for a safer question.
"Is that so?"
Batman nodded with a proud glint in his navy eyes, a very rare expression from the man whose name could make any hard-core villains soil their pants.
"I'm still working on it. Theoretically, when you press this button," Bruce gestured to a small red button on top of the machine. "It will scan you and…"
"Take you to the future?" Dick prompted with a grin, doing a one hand-stand on the T-Rex's arm. Bruce shook his head.
"No, it will search for your counterparts in different periods of time and bring them here."
Different periods of time? Dick whistled. Impressive.
"Counterparts? Like… yourself but in the future?"
"Not only in the future, but can also be in the past." The Dark Knight stated and returned to the machine. Dick dropped down from the T-Rex's arm, double flipped in mid-air and landed soundlessly on his chair, watching his mentor work in awe.
Suddenly the alarm on the Bat-computer came blaring into life, its red light and annoying high-pitched beeping sound making Robin wince. Bruce immediately pulled his cowl on, becoming Batman again and walked to the computer. He switched the screen on, and Superman's serious face appeared.
"Batman, we have an emergency. Report to the Watchtower immediately."
Batman nodded and the screen went off. He turned his head around and caught sight of Robin checking his utility belt.
"Robin, stay home."
"WHAT?" The young vigilante shouted in disbelief. Did Batman just tell him to stay put?
"You heard me. Stay put. Superman hardly called anything an 'emergency' unless it's very dangerous. I want you to stay put and help me from the Bat-cave." Batman calmly said as he double-checked his equipments and added some more for good measure. Robin still looked shocked.
"But, Bruce-"
"No, Richard." Robin cringed. Bruce only called him Richard when he was very serious or when the boy was in big trouble. The teen sighed deeply.
"Alright, but if anything happened, I'm going, too."
"Of course, chum." Batman chuckled and ruffled his partner's hair, earning a half-hearted Bat-glare. The Caped Crusader climbed into the Bat-mobile, and in a blink, the car and its driver was gone.
Robin watched the famous car roar its ways out of the Bat-cave before sighing deeply. He sunk into the leather of Batman's chair, checking the information about the emergency on the Bat-computer. He lifted his head off when he heard Alfred's footsteps descending from upstairs.
"League business, Master Richard?"
"Thanks, Alfred." Dick mumbled as he accepted the cup of hot cocoa from the old butler. "And yeah, League business." The teen emphasized the last two words with sarcasm. Alfred understood all too well.
~ Break line here ~
Batman was fuming. Silently.
The mission was a disaster. And as Robin would say, extra heavy on the "dis".
The emergency call was a trap set up by their arch-enemies: Lex Luthor (he smirked, and the two Supers wanted nothing more than to punch him to Krypton), Mr. Freeze, Bane, Clayface, Killer Crock (Batman unleashed the Bat-glare in full force), Captain Cold ("Dude! Totally not cool!" Wally shouted), Brick ("#$^* you!" Red Arrow growled), Black Manta (Aqualad looked away), Cheetah (Wonder Woman seethed) and, to Batman's utter dismay, the Clown Prince of Crime - Joker.
The heroes had foolishly not checked the background information, part of it was because Superman had already gone half-berserk when he had known that Luthor was involved in this. They had been reckless, they had been ambushed and they hadn't stood a chance against the villains teaming up. And Batman didn't understand why the hell they let Young Justice (minus Robin) come along. As the mentors had said: it was a good chance for the kids to practice fighting along side with the League. It was their major mistake.
The villains' hideout turned out to be an old castle that Lex had bought and rebuilt months ago. Now it became one of their fortresses in the war against the heroes. The unconcious heroes were dragged to an oval shaped room that was separated into two half-circle parts. Each part was 10 meters across from the other, in between them was nothing but a deep abyss. A thin bridge was the only way to move from this half circle to the other half. The heroes were transported to the right half circle, where there were glass cells built in a crescent shape.
Now both Superman and Superboy were writhing in pain on the ground, each was tied with titanium ropes and had a Kryptonice necklace around their necks. Flash and Kid Flash had broken legs and were chained to the wall in painful position. Aquaman and Aqualad were drowsy and dehydrated due to the bright hot flame in their cell. Green Arrow, Red Arrow were also chained up – their weapons taken – and Artemis was unconscious on the ground with a nasty gash on her head. Martian Manhunter and Miss Martian had bad burns on their faces and arms, both were slipping in and out of consciousness. Black Canary's cell was sound-proof, preventing her from using her sonic-wave attack. Both Hawkman and Hawkgirl had their wings bloodied and tied up. The two Green Lanterns' cell was yellow and their rings had also been taken. Red Tornado was in pieces, lying harmlessly on the ground. Captain Atom was chained in oversize restraint on the wall. The Dark Knight himself had three fractured ribs and his left arm broken, his belt and gloves and boots taken away. And even worse, their restraints were controlled from outside the room.
For one rare moment, Batman almost felt relieved.
He left Robin home. The kid must have picked up something by now and he might be on his way.
But then again, what could a teenager like Dick do against these deadly villains, all by himself, even if he was Robin?
Batman sighed.
~ Break line ~
"Are you sure you should do this, Master Robin?" Alfred asked warily, eyeing the weird machine in front of him. Robin also seemed to be nervous.
"I don't know, Alfred. But this is the only way. The whole League has been captured, and I can't do anything alone." He took a big gulp of air. "Besides, Bruce said it would bring my other counterparts here. I may use a little help."
"I… certainly hope so, young sir."
"Alright. But you may want to go somewhere safe first, Alf. You know, in case my counterparts are…" Dick trailed off and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. This was a win-lose situation, if any of his counterpart were evil, any last chance of saving the League would be gone. Alfred nodded and stepped back to the darkness, but ready to act in case something happened. Robin inhaled deeply. "Here goes nothing."
The Boy Wonder kicked all of his negative thoughts outside the window and pushed the button.
The machine began stirring and beeping furiously. A thin but wide beam light appeared and scanned Robin's face. The Boy Wonder gaped when a monotone voice came from the machine.
Scanning: Robin. Searching: Robin. Detectable counterparts: four.
WHAT? Dick shrieked in his mind. Four Robins? Batman will have my head.
Capturing process: complete. Transporting process: 75%.
White hot light exploded in the cave, making Robin yelp and dove under his cape for safety. He heard a loud thud and some grunts and wearily opened his eyes when the light finally died down. He almost had a heart attack.
Because lying in a messy heap before him, was a pile of four almost-identical people. Robin heard Alfred's almost silent gasp in the dark corner.
At the bottom of the heap was a young man with dark hair, lying face up. He wore a black body suit with stylish blue V-lines on his chest, along his shoulders and arms and ended at his middle two fingers. A bat-shaped mask stay on his face, hiding what Dick knew was two shining blue orbs.
Lying across the young man's body was a teen with spiky black hair. His costume was colorful with green spandex, a red tunic and black cape. He looked almost identical to Dick when he first started as Robin, but he wore leggings, not short-pants.
And what gave Dick the biggest almost-heart-attack was the man – yes, the man – that was pinning the two previous males beneath him. He wore… Batman suit. Yes, definitely a Bat-suit. There was no way Dick could mistake that dark armor, black cape and pointed-ear cowl with something else. The man was currently having his cowl down, so Dick could see those shining blue eyes clearly. The thirteen-year-old had to stop himself before thinking about how he could become Batman in the… future?
And the one laying on the top was unmistakably Dick's only past counterpart. A nine-year-old boy in short pants and bright yellow cape. The child was currently whimpering slightly at the epic fall.
Dick couldn't help it. He coughed.
Almost in sync, the four 'Robin's looked at Dick. The three older males made quiet gasping noise, while the young boy just tilted his head in confusion. Then 'Batman' spoke first.
"Please tell me I'm not in the past." Dick could tell that the man wanted him to say 'no' but he cracked a nervous grin and rubbed his neck.
"Well… you are in the past."
'Batman' and 'Blue-stripes' groaned simultaneously while 'Future-Robin' narrowed his eyes and 'Child-Robin' just made an 'eh' sound.
Right then, Alfred stepped out from the dark and five voices rang out.
"Alfred!"
The old butler cocked an eyebrow. They all recognized him, so it was a safe guess that Alfred was still safe in the future. He took in the sight of little Robin, then Master Dick, then the older Robin, then the young man in blue-striped suit and finally 'Batman'.
"Master… Dick?"
Four heads nodded but 'Future Robin' muttered.
"Haven't used that name for a while."
Dick looked at the teen in confusion. He sounded… annoyed. Had something happened between him and Bruce… in the future?
'Batman' sighed deeply before picking little Robin up, making the child squeal. He seemed uncomfortable first but eventually settled down at the sight of the familiar Bat-suit.
"Alright, since we are in the past and you look like who called us here, you may as well start talking." The man's voice was deeper than Dick's and his tone was very serious. Alfred silently mused at how much the man looked like Bruce.
"Ah… okay. But… you may need to introduce yourselves first…" Dick rubbed his neck again and cringed slightly when future Robin crossed his arms and stared at him intensely. The young man in blue stripes broke the silence.
"Right. I don't know about Gotham's new Boogey man here," he jerked his thumb at 'Batman', earning a light chuckle. "But I know about you two." He gestured at the present-Robin and past-Robin and received two nods. "So we are all Richard Grayson, usually called Dick, right?"
This time, four heads nodded. The young man sighed.
"Okay, I am Nightwing, Dick Grayson at 21 years old. Protector of Bludhaven." He smiled smugly as present-Dick gaped. Holy…, would he really look this fine 8 years later? And he would go solo?
"Well then…" Future Robin cleared his throat awkwardly. "I am… Robin, 16 years old." His voice was just like present-Dick's but far more mature and serious. Then little Robin squeaked.
"Um… I am 8 years old." The boy was resting his head comfortably on 'Batman's chest and shyly raised his hand. Batman continued.
"As for me, I am 26 years old... Don't give me that look, I became Batman in 2023, which was one year ago in my timeline." He answered everyone's silent question nonchalantly. At this statement present-Dick asked.
"Did- did something…"
Batman shook his head.
"A lot happened, almost the worst, but not what you fear." He smiled reassuringly and Dick weakly smiled back before speaking.
"And well… I'm 13."
They nodded. This time Alfred spoke, seriousness laid thickly in his voice.
"As much as I want to continue this… meeting, I believe we have something to do, young sirs."
Three sets of masked-eyes and one set of blue turned to present-Dick. The Boy Wonder cleared his throat.
"You see, we have an emergency here…"
~Break line~
Batman tried yanking his restraints again but to no avail. The villains had gathered on the left half-circle for ten minutes and had been enjoying themselves since, watching the Justice League and Young Justice struggling. Joker once noticed that his 'favorite' Bird Boy was missing, but they didn't recognize Robin as a threat – which somehow made Batman sigh in relief. Another thing was that they didn't attack any of the heroes, just sitting there and leering and snarling and cursing them. Weird. Lex or Joker must be planning something.
Suddenly the blaring noise of an alarm could be heard in the distance. The villains immediately stood up, watching warily at their surroundings. Lex immediately darted to the big computer at the corner and began typing. A few conscious heroes also perked their heads up, eyes shining in hope.
Then, the lights went off.
Nobody moved. Or even breathed.
Suddenly, two almost non-existent sounds of someone jumping down met Batman's ear and three 'thud's broke the deadly silence. Then there came the shouts and yells of a battle going on. Batman could hear the sounds of the villains being swept off their feet, the cries when they were hit or the whizzing sound of something sharp flying through the air.
The heroes heard Lex yelling something about the door not opening and Captain Cold cursing like a pissed off sailor. Kid Flash would have cracked up had his ribs not been bruised so badly. They heard Killer Crock's enraged roar filled the air. They were all anxious to see what was happening, but in complete darkness like this and with the two Supers currently out cold, they had to wait.
Then a blue spark of electricity lit up in the dark and Batman vaguely caught the sight of a figure fighting with two sticks. The sticks obviously had electricity inside. Two painful yells from the villains could be heard, no doubt being stunned. There was more kicking and punching and falling sounds, of course with the yelps and shrieks and screams from the villain. Apparently whoever it was, he/she or they were doing a very good job.
Then the small light bulb above their heads flickered and came to live. White light flooded the prison and gasps of surprise could be heard from the imprisoned Leaguers.
On the opposite site, Captain Cold and Clayface were down, undoubtedly unconscious, on the ground with many Bat-a-rangs scattering everywhere. Black Manta was holding his ribs in pain while a young man planted a powerful kick to his jaw, breaking his mask and blacking him out almost instantly. This young man looked about 20 years old, with thick black hair that reached to the base of his neck in small curls. He wore a bat-shaped mask to cover his eyes and a black body suit with blue stripes. He was fighting with two Eskrima sticks. When he looked over and noticed Batman's gaze fixed on him, he flashed the Dark Knight a dazzling smile before using one of his sticks to punch Killer Crock right in his gut (Batman saw another spark of eletricity) and kicked him hard in the face. The enormous man-crocodile went down with a bloody mouth.
But what gave the League the major heart stroke was the figure fighting beside Blue-Stripes: it was Batman. Definitely Batman, no doubt. But this Dark Knight was smaller than the other, lacking a few inches of height, and his moves were lighter with more bouncing steps. Watching the two men fight freely in the middle of the , the League could point out that they somehow related to Batman – the steps and the moves were a dead give-away – and Robin – the lithe figure, the jumping and hopping. He swiftly kicked the gun out of Mr. Freeze's hand and another round-house kick was enough to knock the ice-man out.
Bruce vaguely had an idea: Richard must have used his machine. So that meant… these two men were the boy's… future counterparts? So he really did inherit the Dark Knight title in the future. Bruce's lips quirked up slightly.
Right then, the sound of metal being punched could be heard above the League's cells. They heard new-Batman mutter "About time." before the vent's lid fell to the ground with a clang and two small figures jumped down swiftly.
Even more gasps were heard.
This time it was two young boys. One looked about 16 with spiky hair in a Robin suit with long green spandex. His eyes were also hidden behind a domino mask and his mouth set in a frown as he took in the sight of the League in cells. The teen was holding a small boy in his hand, and this boy is the exact version of what Robin used to be 5 years ago.
The boy was released from the teen's hold and after some whispering, they nodded in agreement. The teen darted to the bridge and ran across it without hesitation. He completed his route with a cart-wheel to slam his feet to Brick's chest, knocking the villain off-balance. Quickly regaining his stance, the teen engaged himself in the battle to help the other two vigilantes.
Standing alone on the right half-circle, little Robin immediately rushed into action. He shot to the Dark Knight's cell and pulled out a glass-cutting device from his utility belt. He swiftly cut a circle but made no move to break the glass. Batman understood why, the kid was not strong enough to do it. As if on cue, the boy shouted in his high-pitched childish voice.
"Robin is outside!"
Batman cocked an eyebrow underneath his cowl but the child didn't say anything more. He moved to the next cell: Aquaman and Aqualad. This time the cut was a bit wider, enough for him to throw two ice Bat-a-rangs and put out the torches on the wall.
Batman quickly snapped his head back to the left half-circle to watch the on-going battle where New-Batman was dodging Cheetah's furious punches and Blue-Stripes was doing a perfect double flip in the air to knock the woman out. Teen-Robin was also flipping Bane over his shoulder in a perfect judo move. Then, the Dark Knight suddenly felt cold in his stomach.
Where was Joker?
The green haired maniac clown had disappeared from the group of villains. He was no where to be seen.
The conscious Leaguers snapped their heads up when he heard maniac laughter coming closer on the bridge. Child-Robin yelped when a frightening shadow loomed over him. Batman tensed when he looked at Joker's smile and the wild glint in his eyes. The clown had a crowbar in his hand and his arm raised, ready to strike the small child. Wonder Woman shrieked.
"Look out!"
But before the Clown Prince of Crime could lay a hand on the little boy, a shadow crashed into his back with enormous force and knocked him forward. Child-Robin immediately darted out of the way. Joker quickly regained his balance but something smashed to the side of his face with lightning speed. Taken off guard again, the clown staggered back to the edge with a strangled cry. Teen-Robin was standing in front of child-Robin with a metal staff in his hands. A grapple gun still dangled on the ceiling showed that he had just 'flown' from the left side to the right again to assist his younger self.
"Do. Not. Touch. Him!" The teen snarled and turned to the child. "Keep working, Robbie. Robin is working on the restraints."
"Got it, Rob." The child recovered from the shock and quickly moved to Green Arrow's cell. The blond archer had an amused look on his face while Red Arrow was frowning deeply. Artemis was just starting to come around.
Joker had picked himself up from the floor and was glancing between teen-Robin and child-Robin, the look on his face indicated the question 'What the fuck?'. Teen-Robin – or Rob – looked at him indifferently, and in a blur, charged forward with a fierce cry. Joker suddenly jumped back at the teen's aggressiveness but was too slow to block a full force smash to his left cheek. Flash spotted two of his teeth went flying out of his mouth with a big blob of crimson blood. Rob didn't give Joker any chance to recover. He planted his staff in the ground before using it as a leverage to jump and gave the clown a nice kick to his jaw. Joker fell backward and received another blow to his chest. He met the ground, unconscious. Rob quickly took a cuff out of his utility belt and handcuffed the clown.
Batman's eyes widened. This Robin was definitely more skillful than his Robin and knew how to take advantage in a fight. He fought very quickly and effectively. Joker went down in less than 10 seconds. A record.
Child-Robin, or Robbie, had darted to Black Canary's cell and also created a hole on the glass. The woman in black leather smiled at the child and he shyly waved back. Superman and Superboy's cell had a hole near the ground for Robbie to grab the Kryptonite's necklaces and threw them out. Now they were starting to have their strength back.
Superman, through his still blurry vision, could make out Lex Luthor's figure standing beside the computer, still typing furiously on the big keyboard. He seemed very frustrated. Suddenly, the screen flickered and a green digital-version of Robin's smirking face appeared, making Kid Flash suddenly scream in joy and then grunted in pain. The little hacker's eerie cackle could be heard on the speakers.
"You lost, Lex-boy!"
And suddenly, the restraints that had been keeping the heroes in place snapped open. Superboy wasted no time in punching the glass and got out to help the others.
The metal door to the prison room opened with a bone-chilling shriek and the familiar figure of Robin could be seen on the other side. He quickly ninja-ed his way to Rob's side, his black cape holding something inside. Rob smashed his staff into the glass of Batman's cell and it shattered. Robin quickly pulled out the things in his cape: the weapons that had been taken.
"So that's what took you so long." Rob muttered and Robin grinned. He laid the Dark Knight's stuff in front of him before moving to Green Arrow. He also tossed two chocolate bars to Flash and Kid Flash, who took it gratefully.
"How is it going?" Robin asked, picking Robbie up – the child happily embraced his older version. Rob shrugged before gesturing to Joker's unmoving form. Robin whistled.
"You beat him? I'm whelmed."
Rob cocked an eyebrow at Robin's choice of words but didn't say anything. Right then, Blue-Stripes and New-Batman shot their grappling hook to the ceiling and flew to where the three Robins were standing. New-Batman ordered everyone.
"Close your eyes and get down!"
Being used to Batman's orders, the heroes threw themselves to the ground. Robin wrapped his cape around Robbie. The young man in blue stripes tossed something to where the villains were lying – they were all unconscious except for Bane – and green smoke appeared.
They heard gagging sounds from the villains' direction before everything went silent. When the smoke cleared out, New-Batman nodded.
"Alright. We're safe now."
Robin stood up and handed Robbie to New-Batman. The child quickly snuggled under the black cape. This sight made Bruce's heart fell a little, Robin used to do it to him. Rob broke the silence when he noticed all the villains were down.
"Nightwing, what was in that smoke?"
Nightwing – the young man in blue stripes – shrugged his shoulders, a playful smirk on his lips.
"Tamaranian soup. Special recipe."
Robin went to help his mentor out and quickly, the whole Justice League and Young Justice made their way out of the prison. They carefully tied the villains (Lex had somehow slipped out unnoticed) up and dragged them out, seeing a lot of guards lying unconscious on the ground outside the prison room. Robins' handiwork, no doubt.
When everything had subsided and the Justice League were standing in a vast land around the fortress – the injured ones leaning against rocks – they turned to face their saviors. Hawkgirl, still rubbing her numb shoulders, voiced out everyone's thoughts.
"Who are you?"
Robin grinned and proudly exclaimed.
"They are me! My counterparts in the future and the past."
Everyone looked clueless, but Batman fixed his protégé a look.
"You mean the machine…"
"Yup, it worked perfectly." The boy gave his famous cackle, earning stares from his counterparts, before dashing off to them
"This is me 8 years later from now, Nightwing." The young man looked at his younger counterpart with amusement in his eyes, but then waved at the other heroes.
"This is me when I'm 16, Robin – but we call him Rob." The teen gave a curt nod and folded his arms.
"And this is Batman, me in 2024." The man shrugged and smiled. Everyone mused at how easy-going this Batman seemed.
"And of course…" Robin lifted New-Batman's black cape up to reveal little Robbie.
"Um… I'm Robbie… eight years old." The child shyly answered, earning a few chuckles from the heroes. Robin immediately hopped to Batman's side again.
"Say, aren't you proud of me?" He grinned widely and Batman sighed. The heroes heard Rob's question loud and clear.
"Did I use to be that bouncy?"
"We all used to be that bouncy." Nightwing answered with a smile.
NOTE: I know the villains – especially Joker – are usually tougher than this. But Nightwing, Batman and Rob have the surprise element, and their fighting style and strength and new gadgets in the future give them a great advantage. Besides, who wouldn't freak out when they see three different Robins? I think those are enough for them to knock the bad guys out.
A/N: soooo, that's part 1. What do you think? Good? Bad? Continue? Abandon?
Well, I sorta have the plot for this story, but I'm still taking requests from you readers. If you think this story is interesting and you want something to happen next, please leave your idea here or PM me. Preferrably as detailed as possible.
For example: a sparring session between the two Batmen, who would you like to win?
Or, Megan and Artemis… well, show interest in Nightwing. Superboy and KF are jealous.
Or Teen-Robin (Robin from Cartoon!Teen Titans) giving Bruce the cold shoulder. Bruce is determined to find out why.
Or simply a celebrating party at Watchtower. With games and stories.
Or anything you want. Please, if you want to see an update then you would have to give me ideas. My brain can't product anything now.
Please read and review.