The team was out for blood.
Every ounce of Robin's stealth training would be needed for this moment.
All he needed to do was get to his motorcycle and he'd be home free.
He stood shielded by a corner in the wall and eyed his target: the main doors where his motorcycle would be. Keep yourself together Grayson, you got this.
He sprinted for the doors but froze when he heard Wally yell from the other end of the building-"He's over here guys!"
SHIT. Keep Running! You might make it!
He was just about to reach the doors when a speedster in his civvies blocked the way.
"Rob! We've been looking everywhere for you!"
"Oh, well I um….yeah sorry…but I should be going…..like…now…."
" Actually Rob…I uh kinda took the liberty of telling Zatara and Zatanna to uh…come here…instead of you going to get her….hehe….yeah…"
"You did what?"
"Well I thought I could give you some good advice.."
Artemis walked over and slapped Wally in the back of the head.
"Robin, whatever you do, do NOT take tips from Wally."
"Yeah, I won't but…."
"Aww Robin! Your going on a date with Zatanna!" Megan glided over and pinched his cheeks after she did a little squeal.
This is why being the youngest has its drawbacks. You're the "adorable" one. Wonderful. Megan gets to be all motherly, Wally gets to be big brother, Artie the big sister, Connor, well he's Conner, and then Kaldur who just approves…thank god. Maybe I can still make it out of this is one piece….if Zatanna hasn't left her house yet maybe I can sneak away with my motorcycle..and…..
Recognized-Batman 02
Well, looks like my night just got better.
Robin ran to go meet his mentor, hoping this visit would be a short one.
"Robin, you'll still be keeping patrol tonight, correct?"
"Yes sir…."
"Make sure you keep your priorities in line."
"Of course." Please no Daddy Bats talk….no Daddy Bats talk…not in front of the team! I'm already the baby of the group….
"Well, since that's settled." He nodded and gave Robin a glance before walking away to the main computer. Robin knew this look. It was the "we're going to have "the talk" later, but not now in front of your teammates because I'm the badass godamn Batman and can't be seen talking about this in public" look.
He smirked and ran back to his teammates who were busy plotting.
"So Rob where you gonna take her?"
"Well…around Gotham…I mean.. I still have to be on patrol."
"Hmm, I suppose we can work with that…." Wally said under his breath.
"What was that Wally?"
"Oh nothing"
Recognized-Zatanna, Zatara
Zatanna and her father stepped out of the zeta beam.
Zatanna jogged over to the team. "Hey!"
The team all exchanged greetings with the magician.
Zatanna wrapped her arm around Robin's shoulders.
"Ready to go?"
"Yeah let's go!"
Wally put his hand up. "Not yet!" We need pictures."
Robin rubbed the back of his neck. Damn you Wally.
Wally and Artemis had been not so discreetly dating for a few weeks now, so now it was the team's turn to poke fun at Robin's crush.
After about three thousand pictures of the two, Wally wiped away a fake tear "They grow up so fast!" He then hugged Artemis and began to fake sob tears of joy.
Robin grabbed Zatanna's hand and they slowly started to sneak away to his motorcycle, but they were both stopped by Zatara. "Now Robin, I want you to take good care of my daughter, I know you two are both perfectly capable fighters, but this is Gotham, so I want you to-
Zatara was cut off as Wally ran up to Robin. "So you two gonna make out now or later?" Zatanna blushed while Robin turned white as a sheet and buried his face in the palm of his hand.
He just had to ask that, and of course had to ask that right in front of her freaking father!
Zatara glared at the speedster and continued. "I'd like her back here at 12:35, and not a minute later! Got it?"
"Yes sir!" Robin stared at the man's strict expression. He still wasn't to keen on letting his daughter go since their "kidnapping" a few months ago.
"Well you best be off then." He turned away from them and walked to where Batman was working.
Robin not wanting to take the chance of being stopped again, grabbed Zatanna' arm and ran to his motorcycle. The team went to wave them off as they put their helmets on. "Kissy, Kissy,Kissy!" Wally yelled as Zatanna wrapped her arms around his waist. "Yeah, Yeah, go suck face with Artemis or something." He winked and the two sped off toward Gotham City. The team went up to the kitchen while Wally ran to his room. A few seconds later Wally emerged in his Kid Flash uniform. "What are you doing Baywatch?" Artemis raised an eyebrow. "I need to make sure he doesn't screw up. The kid's got no experience with girls like I do, the master babe magnet. I'm just going to simply offer my expertise." Before Artemis could tell him how stupid he was, he had already left.
ROBIN'S POV
You can have combat excercises for hours, or run until you flop over dead, but there is one thing on this Earth that no amount of training can prepare you for: FANGIRLS. No matter who you are, where you go, or how stealthy you try to be…they WILL hunt you down and find you. Unfortunately, when I decided to go on a date with Zatanna, well, that's when they decided to lurk.
Zatanna and Robin had finally made it to the outskirts of Gotham. They stopped in an alley just to check things over. There was about an hour or two until sunset, but it was never to early for evil to strike. Except evil would no be striking at this moment in time, something else would. Robin took out a pair of binoculars for him and Zatanna.
"See anything interesting, Rob?"
"Nope..nothing ye-oh no…"
"What? You see the Joker or something?"
"No….worse…MUCH worse."
"What could be worse than that?"
"My..uh….fanclub."
"Your what?"
Suddenly a group of about 10-15 girls around the age of 12-19 came running toward the two. They looked WAY to excited for their own good.
They all began to crowd around the boy wonder paying no attention to Zatanna who stood there stupefied.
"Oh my gosh he's adorable!"
Two older girls reached out and started to pinch his cheeks.
What is with you people?
Two others ran next to him and began snapping photos of each other standing next to him.
They shouted to each other loudly: "Make sure you get these on Facebook!"
And then they began asking their questions….
"Can we see your eyes?"
"Where's Batman?"
"Boxers or Briefs?"
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
Zatanna was chuckling at how enthralled the girls were by him. She thought it was adorable how polite he was being when they asked him the weirdest and most awkward of questions. Then some girl around his age started to shout-"Say it!" The other girls caught on to it and soon the alley was filled with the sound of girls of various ages shouting "SAY IT!"
Zatanna raised an eyebrow. "what do they want him to say?"
"C'mon girls, maybe later, I really need to continue with patrol and-"
They all put on their best puppy dog faces.
He sighed. "Fine…."
"Your overwhelmed and he's underwhelmed…why can't we all just be..whelmed?"
The group went hysterical. They shrieked in the classical fangirl shriek while one girl almost fainted and was caught by one of her friends. Zatanna started to laugh at their obsession when the girlfriend subject was brought up again. This time, however ,when Robin didn't answer one girl ran up and gave him a little peck on the cheek. He blushed and looked away from Zatanna awkwardly. Oh this is not going to end well….
Zatanna stared at Robin for a moment. She wasn't the jealous type, but suddenly something about all these girls swarming around her boyfrien-uh Robin made her genuinely jealous. "So you wanna play dirty? Well I can play that way too."
She walked up to Robin in view of the whole fanclub. She tapped him on the shoulder, "Robin?"
"Yeah? Mffffffff!"
"Yeah" was all he could say before she grabbed the back of his head and pulled his lips into hers. They remained that way for about two minutes until lack of oxygen set in. Robin just stared into space, face as red as his tunic and rubbed the back of his neck. Zatanna looked at the group with a triumphant smile. Some smiled at her while others glared angrily, and some just stood there with there mouths wide open in shock.
"So he does have a girlfriend!" one girl piped out.
"I've got to go write this on my blog!"
The girls started to disspand, since it was starting to get dark out, and it was a school night. Some shot Zatanna jealous glares, while some came up and gave her a congratulatory hug. Soon the group had completely deserted the alley.
Robin had come out of his daze and started for his bike..
"Ready for the rest of the city?"
"Sure! Why not?" She hopped on the back of the bike and they took off down the road.
"So uh about what happened back there..um…."
"Hey it worked to get them away didn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess it did…but um I have to know…did you…uh.."
"Yeah?"
Robin stopped for a minute. "Uh…nevermind." Man if Wally would have seen that I'd never live that down…whether it was the kiss or the fanclub, I'd never live it down…EVER.
He shook that thought from his head and concentrated on the road.
A few miles back at the alley a speedster had been hiding behind the trashcan. He pulled out his cell phone. "Aww man! The team's gotta hear about this one!"
Good. We lost the fangirls. Maybe now they'll be time to focus on patrol…and maybe if there's time, ice cream. The night had been uh…interesting….so far. Nothing would(well shouldn't) stand in the way of our date now….
Robin was shaken from his thought when he heard an alarm for a bank. It was being robbed. He turned to Zatanna. "This should only take a second, the thugs don't look to bright."
However by the time they got to the scene the thugs were all tied to a pole, awaiting pickup by the cops. Robin and Zatanna jumped off the bike.
Wally smirked and watched the two try to decipher who had taken care of the bad guys from his hiding place. Rob was right, they weren't too smart.
"Was this Batman's work Robin?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Well, where should we go now?"
"Well, I was thinking we'd go check up on Arkham and make sure all the psychos were still in their cages…..but…."
"But what?"
"Well, its Arkham, and there's some pretty bad guys there I just kind of don't want you near them….."
Aww he's protective! His cuteness just went up like 40 points…"I think I can handle myself, Rob, really."
"I suppose so….but when we get there, just stay close, ok?"
"I've got no problem with that." She smirked.
Wally jumped up from his hiding place. And contemplated whether or not to stop them. He can't take her there! That'll just ruin the mood, I mean c'mon Gotham's already Romance buzz kill as it is. With that he made his decision and ran in front of Robin who was going to his bike.
"KF! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?"
Kid Flash just grinned awkwardly. Shit, he's really pissed.
Zatanna just stared at the two boys.
KF grabbed Robin's shoulders. "Um, Zatanna I need to borrow Tweety Bird for a second, ok?" He didn't even wait for a response before he took a pissed of Robin into an alley to have a talk with him.
As soon as they reached the alley Robin gave Wally his best bat glare.
"I swear Wally I am going to shove a batarang so far up your-!"
"Whoa there Rob, take it easy."
Robin took a deep breath and glared at the speedster. "Why'd you freaking follow us?"
"Well I wanted to make sure you didn't screw it up. I mean you don't have the experience like I do….and you were going to take her to Arkham! What the hell is that?"
"It's called I have a duty to keep the city safe, Wally, and that includes making sure creepazoids like the Joker stay in Arkham."
Wally paused for a minute. "Since when did you become a kill joy like Bats?"
He clapped a hand over his mouth. He didn't mean to say that out loud.
Robin balled his hand into a fist. He sighed. "I don't know Wally, I don't know."
He turned away from the speedster and went to see Zatanna.
Zatanna was leaning against the wall when she saw Robin come walking out fuming.
"Are you ok?"
"I'm fine."
"Let's go get this over with." Robin flicked some hair out of his face.
They both hopped on his motorcycle and headed for Arkham Asylum.
Wally just stood there speechless. I didn't mean to upset him…I just…..
He smacked his hand to his face. "You stupid idiot!"
"Well, KF looks like you'll be heading to Arkham Asylum too."
The thought of being within 200 feet of the Gotham criminals made him cringe.
He shook off the feeling and started to run after them.Two husky guards took turns entering the cells of the criminally deranged imprisoned in Arkham. They placed checkmarks next to the names Harley Quinn and Penguin. Those two were accounted for and tucked away in their cells. The larger of the two men walked by Poison Ivy who was brushing her hair and not paying any attention to the guards.
"Poison Ivy, check."
In a couple of yards they reached the Joker's cell. The two argued who would walk in the madman's cell. Finally, the smaller man lost the argument and cautiously made his way into the room with a wide variety of weapons. After a few minutes of not seeing his partner he was tempted to go in after he when his partner finally emerged.
"Was he in there? You sure did take awhile."
His partner said nothing and was hiding his face.
"I said, are you ok?"
Finally his partner raised his head to reveal a huge unnaturally contorted grin across his face.
Joker Venom!
Before he could reach his walkie-talkie to radio for help a wide array of vines came crashing through the wall and threw him to the floor.
Who the hell let Poison Ivy near plants?
That was the man's last thought before he passed out. His partner who had been exposed to the venom just stood there grinning,letting the events happen right in front of him.
Poison Ivy closely followed behind the vines and broke down the door to Joker's cell.
"Well, now that was quite the entrance there flowers!"
The Joker sauntered out of the cell and took inventory of the vines.
"Yeah, yeah let's just go!" Ivy took off down the hall to get near the nearest exit.
As Joker followed he came upon Harley's cell. "Mista J! Mista J!"
She waved her arm out at him hoping he'd come and bust her out.
He simply ran by her and waved his hand. "Sorry, Harles! I've got some other business to attend to, no time for that now!"
Robin and Zatanna pulled up to a very unnerving sight. Part of the Arkham Asylum building was in ruins covered in….vines?
Figures…Ivy of course.
Zatanna and Robin stormed into the tattered building where a slew of guards were making sure there were no more escapees. A crew of paramedics were evaluating two guards who looked pretty beat up. Robin ran to the two while the smaller of the guards was being wheeled in to an ambulance. He had a creepy smile plastered on his face. Robin had experienced that enough to know where it came from. Zatanna just stayed behind Robin like a little lost puppy. It would have been quite adorable in different circumstances.
"What happened?"
The guard who was being stitched up by the medic answered blankly.
"Joker and Ivy."
Robin frowned. "I see. No one thinks that its important to tighten security until something like this happens."
He turned away from the guards and headed toward his bike with his cape billowing behind him.
Zatanna and the bewildered guard just stood there gaping at each other.
That was certainly something Batman would say. But she wouldn't dare say that out loud so she simply jogged after the little bird.
"We're going to go back to Happy Harbor." Robin stated as he and Zatanna were nearing his motorcycle.
"What? What about Joker and Ivy?" She stopped dead in her tracks and put her hands on her hips.
"I'll take care of them, but I'm taking you back to Happy Harbor."
"Excuse me? Why do I have to go to Happy Harbor? I want to help you."
"Your dad wanted me to keep you safe, and this is Batman's and my territory, I can handle it-"
Wally had heard enough. He came out from his hiding spot.
"You can be pissed at us later, Rob. Zatanna and I are going to help bring them back in."
Robin folded his arms across his chest. "You two have no idea! This is the Joker and Ivy we're talking about, not some little problem like Captain Cold….."
Wally tensed. Captain Cold could SO cause problems! What was Robin trying to say? He fought easy villains?
"Oh sorry did I hit a nerve, Wally?"
"Nah, nah! Not at all. It makes a lot of sense. Your mentor's an ass, why not his sidekick too?"
That was the last straw. NOBODY disses Batman in front of Robin like that.
Robin lunged at the Speedster and they began to have a "brawl" right in the parking lot of Arkham Asylum. Bystanders just watched. Some laughed, some shook their heads. Two cops came over to break it up but Zatanna stopped them. "I'll handle it." They stepped away.
It was quite pitiful, really. Robin, protégé of Batman, rolling on the dirt with the Scarlett's speedster's protégé on the rubble covered lot in front of a good sized amount of people. Let's just say it wouldn't be a good headline in the news tomorrow. The two were rolling around in the most unthreatening way. Seems like all their fight training went out the window at this point. Wally was trying to bite Robin's hand while Robin had Wally in a headlock. Zatanna had enough.
"Esaec htiw gnithgif!" The two were immediately thrown(gently) onto their back side by side, dazed by the fact that Zatanna had intervened.
"Uhm…Zatanna?" Wally looked straight up at her.
Robin looked in the other direction. He let his temper get the best of him. Way to go Grayson! You'll sure be in the headlines tomorrow!
Wally stood up and stood next to Zatanna. Zatanna extended her hand to Robin who cautiously accepted it and stood to meet their gazes.
"So I'm stuck with you two to find them, aren't I?"
"Pretty much!" Wally grinned.
Robin sighed but showed a small smile. "Well, we better get going then, we've got a lot of ground to cover."
They all started for his motorcycle.
"We'll check out the usual places and then,well, Wally, we'll let you try to figure out where they are with your…uh, ideas." He winked at the speedster.
"Yeah sure Rob, but um we really need to talk about how you pick your date locations, they could use some work."
Zatanna and Robin looked at each other and came up with the perfect response. "SHUT UP WALLY!"
Wally just shrugged. "Hey! It was just a suggestion!"
"Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Batman!"
"Wally."
"Yeah?"
"You have 5 seconds to stop singing before I slap the freckles off your freaking face."
Wally slowed down his running slightly and looked over at Robin and Zatanna who were riding on the motorcycle alongside him.
He reached for his face and looked at Robin with shock. "Noooo! You can't! The girls love these!" He grinned at Robin who rolled his eyes.
The three of them had checked the usual Joker hideouts and came up with nothing. All that left was the Greenhouse outside of Gotham. They'd have to prepare since this was Poison Ivy territory. Wally ducked down into an alley and was closely followed by the motorcycle.
Robin and Zatanna jumped off the motorcycle and stared at the speedster who was leaning against the wall.
"Why'd we stop?"
Wally removed a candy bar from his pocket and started to eat it.
"I..uh wanted a snack break."
"Fine KF, but hurry up."
Just then, a small group of stereotypical thugs emerged from the shadows.
"Hey, Hey, Hey! Look at this boys! The Boy Wonder's got some friends!"
The leader of them looked Zatanna up and down and stopped at her legs.
That pissed her off when she noticed where he was staring. She snapped her fingers and glared at him. "Yeah, hi there! My face is up here."
The man just smirked. "Ooh, a feisty one!" He turned to his buddies who started snickering.
Even without knowing this particular group, Robin could definitely tell what their intentions were. He didn't like it, not one bit.
In a swift move he jumped in front of Zatanna. He stared angrily at the men and looked to Wally.
"You know what I hate?"
Kid Flash titled his head. "What's that Rob?"
"When people like these guys get their freaking brains confused with their cocks!" He lunged at the leader and landed a kick to the man's nose.
Kid Flash went for who seemed to be the next in command. He ran a few circles around the frazzled man. He stopped a few inches away from him.
"Am I here?" The man took a swing at him. Wally easily dodged and ran to his backside.
"Oops! Looks like I'm over here now!"
The man took another swing and missed.
"Ooh! Too slow!"
He repeated this about 20 more times before pushing the seriously dizzy man over.
Zatanna was shouting a bunch of incoherent spells that made 3 guys topple over at once.
Robin looked up after he finished punching the guy out and saw what Zatanna did. Damn that's hot…..
They regrouped when they realized they had incapacitated the entire group.
"You know what this reminds me off Rob?"
"What?"
"Remember that time when we were alone at Mount Justice, and things got real crazy with the sparkling wine?"
"How the hell does this remind you of that?"
"It doesn't, I just really wanted to tell this story."
"KF, just shut up while you're ahead."
Zatanna suddenly spoke up. "No Rob!" She giggled. "I wanna hear this story!"
Kid Flash grinned. "Well, we were alone and found some sparkling wine, so we drank it! (No really?) Then things got interesting. Sexy and I Know it came on the radio, so me and Rob started dancing and stuff. For some odd reason we took our shirts and our pants off…and then…"
Zatanna couldn't tell how she felt about the story she was being told. It was mortifying, but strangely intriguing and kinda hot.
Robin's face turned as red as his tunic. Wally please just shut up NOW.
"Well you see, nothing really happened…but we did keep dancing. But Rob had to be a showoff and do some flip kick thingy and his freaking boxers fell off!"
Robin looked at his utility belt. Maybe I'll just get a batarang out now and slit my freaking throat. Yeah that sounds like a plan.
His face burned even more now.
"And you wanna know what the best part of it was, Zatanna?"
She was desperately trying to stifle her laughter, however it really wasn't working. "What Wally?"
"A few seconds after his boxers fell off the whole team, Batman, and Captain Marvel walked in!"
At this point Robin buried his head in his hands.
"It was the most awkward moment ever!"
Zatanna giggled. "I'll bet!"
"Whatdoyousay Rob? Wanna go catch us some criminals?" The speedster put his arm around the little bird's shoulders.
Robin smiled slightly. "Yep, sure! Let's go!" The only thing keeping me from strangling you right now is the fact that I MIGHT need your help for fighting Poison Ivy and the Joker.
The two ran for the motorcycle while Kid Flash ran alongside them.
"Next stop: Gotham Greenhouse!"
The night would certainly turn into a very interesting one, very soon.
Every ounce of Robin's stealth training would be needed for this moment.
All he needed to do was get to his motorcycle and he'd be home free.
He stood shielded by a corner in the wall and eyed his target: the main doors where his motorcycle would be. Keep yourself together Grayson, you got this.
He sprinted for the doors but froze when he heard Wally yell from the other end of the building-"He's over here guys!"
SHIT. Keep Running! You might make it!
He was just about to reach the doors when a speedster in his civvies blocked the way.
"Rob! We've been looking everywhere for you!"
"Oh, well I um….yeah sorry…but I should be going…..like…now…."
" Actually Rob…I uh kinda took the liberty of telling Zatara and Zatanna to uh…come here…instead of you going to get her….hehe….yeah…"
"You did what?"
"Well I thought I could give you some good advice.."
Artemis walked over and slapped Wally in the back of the head.
"Robin, whatever you do, do NOT take tips from Wally."
"Yeah, I won't but…."
"Aww Robin! Your going on a date with Zatanna!" Megan glided over and pinched his cheeks after she did a little squeal.
This is why being the youngest has its drawbacks. You're the "adorable" one. Wonderful. Megan gets to be all motherly, Wally gets to be big brother, Artie the big sister, Connor, well he's Conner, and then Kaldur who just approves…thank god. Maybe I can still make it out of this is one piece….if Zatanna hasn't left her house yet maybe I can sneak away with my motorcycle..and…..
Recognized-Batman 02
Well, looks like my night just got better.
Robin ran to go meet his mentor, hoping this visit would be a short one.
"Robin, you'll still be keeping patrol tonight, correct?"
"Yes sir…."
"Make sure you keep your priorities in line."
"Of course." Please no Daddy Bats talk….no Daddy Bats talk…not in front of the team! I'm already the baby of the group….
"Well, since that's settled." He nodded and gave Robin a glance before walking away to the main computer. Robin knew this look. It was the "we're going to have "the talk" later, but not now in front of your teammates because I'm the badass godamn Batman and can't be seen talking about this in public" look.
He smirked and ran back to his teammates who were busy plotting.
"So Rob where you gonna take her?"
"Well…around Gotham…I mean.. I still have to be on patrol."
"Hmm, I suppose we can work with that…." Wally said under his breath.
"What was that Wally?"
"Oh nothing"
Recognized-Zatanna, Zatara
Zatanna and her father stepped out of the zeta beam.
Zatanna jogged over to the team. "Hey!"
The team all exchanged greetings with the magician.
Zatanna wrapped her arm around Robin's shoulders.
"Ready to go?"
"Yeah let's go!"
Wally put his hand up. "Not yet!" We need pictures."
Robin rubbed the back of his neck. Damn you Wally.
Wally and Artemis had been not so discreetly dating for a few weeks now, so now it was the team's turn to poke fun at Robin's crush.
After about three thousand pictures of the two, Wally wiped away a fake tear "They grow up so fast!" He then hugged Artemis and began to fake sob tears of joy.
Robin grabbed Zatanna's hand and they slowly started to sneak away to his motorcycle, but they were both stopped by Zatara. "Now Robin, I want you to take good care of my daughter, I know you two are both perfectly capable fighters, but this is Gotham, so I want you to-
Zatara was cut off as Wally ran up to Robin. "So you two gonna make out now or later?" Zatanna blushed while Robin turned white as a sheet and buried his face in the palm of his hand.
He just had to ask that, and of course had to ask that right in front of her freaking father!
Zatara glared at the speedster and continued. "I'd like her back here at 12:35, and not a minute later! Got it?"
"Yes sir!" Robin stared at the man's strict expression. He still wasn't to keen on letting his daughter go since their "kidnapping" a few months ago.
"Well you best be off then." He turned away from them and walked to where Batman was working.
Robin not wanting to take the chance of being stopped again, grabbed Zatanna' arm and ran to his motorcycle. The team went to wave them off as they put their helmets on. "Kissy, Kissy,Kissy!" Wally yelled as Zatanna wrapped her arms around his waist. "Yeah, Yeah, go suck face with Artemis or something." He winked and the two sped off toward Gotham City. The team went up to the kitchen while Wally ran to his room. A few seconds later Wally emerged in his Kid Flash uniform. "What are you doing Baywatch?" Artemis raised an eyebrow. "I need to make sure he doesn't screw up. The kid's got no experience with girls like I do, the master babe magnet. I'm just going to simply offer my expertise." Before Artemis could tell him how stupid he was, he had already left.
ROBIN'S POV
You can have combat excercises for hours, or run until you flop over dead, but there is one thing on this Earth that no amount of training can prepare you for: FANGIRLS. No matter who you are, where you go, or how stealthy you try to be…they WILL hunt you down and find you. Unfortunately, when I decided to go on a date with Zatanna, well, that's when they decided to lurk.
Zatanna and Robin had finally made it to the outskirts of Gotham. They stopped in an alley just to check things over. There was about an hour or two until sunset, but it was never to early for evil to strike. Except evil would no be striking at this moment in time, something else would. Robin took out a pair of binoculars for him and Zatanna.
"See anything interesting, Rob?"
"Nope..nothing ye-oh no…"
"What? You see the Joker or something?"
"No….worse…MUCH worse."
"What could be worse than that?"
"My..uh….fanclub."
"Your what?"
Suddenly a group of about 10-15 girls around the age of 12-19 came running toward the two. They looked WAY to excited for their own good.
They all began to crowd around the boy wonder paying no attention to Zatanna who stood there stupefied.
"Oh my gosh he's adorable!"
Two older girls reached out and started to pinch his cheeks.
What is with you people?
Two others ran next to him and began snapping photos of each other standing next to him.
They shouted to each other loudly: "Make sure you get these on Facebook!"
And then they began asking their questions….
"Can we see your eyes?"
"Where's Batman?"
"Boxers or Briefs?"
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
Zatanna was chuckling at how enthralled the girls were by him. She thought it was adorable how polite he was being when they asked him the weirdest and most awkward of questions. Then some girl around his age started to shout-"Say it!" The other girls caught on to it and soon the alley was filled with the sound of girls of various ages shouting "SAY IT!"
Zatanna raised an eyebrow. "what do they want him to say?"
"C'mon girls, maybe later, I really need to continue with patrol and-"
They all put on their best puppy dog faces.
He sighed. "Fine…."
"Your overwhelmed and he's underwhelmed…why can't we all just be..whelmed?"
The group went hysterical. They shrieked in the classical fangirl shriek while one girl almost fainted and was caught by one of her friends. Zatanna started to laugh at their obsession when the girlfriend subject was brought up again. This time, however ,when Robin didn't answer one girl ran up and gave him a little peck on the cheek. He blushed and looked away from Zatanna awkwardly. Oh this is not going to end well….
Zatanna stared at Robin for a moment. She wasn't the jealous type, but suddenly something about all these girls swarming around her boyfrien-uh Robin made her genuinely jealous. "So you wanna play dirty? Well I can play that way too."
She walked up to Robin in view of the whole fanclub. She tapped him on the shoulder, "Robin?"
"Yeah? Mffffffff!"
"Yeah" was all he could say before she grabbed the back of his head and pulled his lips into hers. They remained that way for about two minutes until lack of oxygen set in. Robin just stared into space, face as red as his tunic and rubbed the back of his neck. Zatanna looked at the group with a triumphant smile. Some smiled at her while others glared angrily, and some just stood there with there mouths wide open in shock.
"So he does have a girlfriend!" one girl piped out.
"I've got to go write this on my blog!"
The girls started to disspand, since it was starting to get dark out, and it was a school night. Some shot Zatanna jealous glares, while some came up and gave her a congratulatory hug. Soon the group had completely deserted the alley.
Robin had come out of his daze and started for his bike..
"Ready for the rest of the city?"
"Sure! Why not?" She hopped on the back of the bike and they took off down the road.
"So uh about what happened back there..um…."
"Hey it worked to get them away didn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess it did…but um I have to know…did you…uh.."
"Yeah?"
Robin stopped for a minute. "Uh…nevermind." Man if Wally would have seen that I'd never live that down…whether it was the kiss or the fanclub, I'd never live it down…EVER.
He shook that thought from his head and concentrated on the road.
A few miles back at the alley a speedster had been hiding behind the trashcan. He pulled out his cell phone. "Aww man! The team's gotta hear about this one!"
Good. We lost the fangirls. Maybe now they'll be time to focus on patrol…and maybe if there's time, ice cream. The night had been uh…interesting….so far. Nothing would(well shouldn't) stand in the way of our date now….
Robin was shaken from his thought when he heard an alarm for a bank. It was being robbed. He turned to Zatanna. "This should only take a second, the thugs don't look to bright."
However by the time they got to the scene the thugs were all tied to a pole, awaiting pickup by the cops. Robin and Zatanna jumped off the bike.
Wally smirked and watched the two try to decipher who had taken care of the bad guys from his hiding place. Rob was right, they weren't too smart.
"Was this Batman's work Robin?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Well, where should we go now?"
"Well, I was thinking we'd go check up on Arkham and make sure all the psychos were still in their cages…..but…."
"But what?"
"Well, its Arkham, and there's some pretty bad guys there I just kind of don't want you near them….."
Aww he's protective! His cuteness just went up like 40 points…"I think I can handle myself, Rob, really."
"I suppose so….but when we get there, just stay close, ok?"
"I've got no problem with that." She smirked.
Wally jumped up from his hiding place. And contemplated whether or not to stop them. He can't take her there! That'll just ruin the mood, I mean c'mon Gotham's already Romance buzz kill as it is. With that he made his decision and ran in front of Robin who was going to his bike.
"KF! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?"
Kid Flash just grinned awkwardly. Shit, he's really pissed.
Zatanna just stared at the two boys.
KF grabbed Robin's shoulders. "Um, Zatanna I need to borrow Tweety Bird for a second, ok?" He didn't even wait for a response before he took a pissed of Robin into an alley to have a talk with him.
As soon as they reached the alley Robin gave Wally his best bat glare.
"I swear Wally I am going to shove a batarang so far up your-!"
"Whoa there Rob, take it easy."
Robin took a deep breath and glared at the speedster. "Why'd you freaking follow us?"
"Well I wanted to make sure you didn't screw it up. I mean you don't have the experience like I do….and you were going to take her to Arkham! What the hell is that?"
"It's called I have a duty to keep the city safe, Wally, and that includes making sure creepazoids like the Joker stay in Arkham."
Wally paused for a minute. "Since when did you become a kill joy like Bats?"
He clapped a hand over his mouth. He didn't mean to say that out loud.
Robin balled his hand into a fist. He sighed. "I don't know Wally, I don't know."
He turned away from the speedster and went to see Zatanna.
Zatanna was leaning against the wall when she saw Robin come walking out fuming.
"Are you ok?"
"I'm fine."
"Let's go get this over with." Robin flicked some hair out of his face.
They both hopped on his motorcycle and headed for Arkham Asylum.
Wally just stood there speechless. I didn't mean to upset him…I just…..
He smacked his hand to his face. "You stupid idiot!"
"Well, KF looks like you'll be heading to Arkham Asylum too."
The thought of being within 200 feet of the Gotham criminals made him cringe.
He shook off the feeling and started to run after them.Two husky guards took turns entering the cells of the criminally deranged imprisoned in Arkham. They placed checkmarks next to the names Harley Quinn and Penguin. Those two were accounted for and tucked away in their cells. The larger of the two men walked by Poison Ivy who was brushing her hair and not paying any attention to the guards.
"Poison Ivy, check."
In a couple of yards they reached the Joker's cell. The two argued who would walk in the madman's cell. Finally, the smaller man lost the argument and cautiously made his way into the room with a wide variety of weapons. After a few minutes of not seeing his partner he was tempted to go in after he when his partner finally emerged.
"Was he in there? You sure did take awhile."
His partner said nothing and was hiding his face.
"I said, are you ok?"
Finally his partner raised his head to reveal a huge unnaturally contorted grin across his face.
Joker Venom!
Before he could reach his walkie-talkie to radio for help a wide array of vines came crashing through the wall and threw him to the floor.
Who the hell let Poison Ivy near plants?
That was the man's last thought before he passed out. His partner who had been exposed to the venom just stood there grinning,letting the events happen right in front of him.
Poison Ivy closely followed behind the vines and broke down the door to Joker's cell.
"Well, now that was quite the entrance there flowers!"
The Joker sauntered out of the cell and took inventory of the vines.
"Yeah, yeah let's just go!" Ivy took off down the hall to get near the nearest exit.
As Joker followed he came upon Harley's cell. "Mista J! Mista J!"
She waved her arm out at him hoping he'd come and bust her out.
He simply ran by her and waved his hand. "Sorry, Harles! I've got some other business to attend to, no time for that now!"
Robin and Zatanna pulled up to a very unnerving sight. Part of the Arkham Asylum building was in ruins covered in….vines?
Figures…Ivy of course.
Zatanna and Robin stormed into the tattered building where a slew of guards were making sure there were no more escapees. A crew of paramedics were evaluating two guards who looked pretty beat up. Robin ran to the two while the smaller of the guards was being wheeled in to an ambulance. He had a creepy smile plastered on his face. Robin had experienced that enough to know where it came from. Zatanna just stayed behind Robin like a little lost puppy. It would have been quite adorable in different circumstances.
"What happened?"
The guard who was being stitched up by the medic answered blankly.
"Joker and Ivy."
Robin frowned. "I see. No one thinks that its important to tighten security until something like this happens."
He turned away from the guards and headed toward his bike with his cape billowing behind him.
Zatanna and the bewildered guard just stood there gaping at each other.
That was certainly something Batman would say. But she wouldn't dare say that out loud so she simply jogged after the little bird.
"We're going to go back to Happy Harbor." Robin stated as he and Zatanna were nearing his motorcycle.
"What? What about Joker and Ivy?" She stopped dead in her tracks and put her hands on her hips.
"I'll take care of them, but I'm taking you back to Happy Harbor."
"Excuse me? Why do I have to go to Happy Harbor? I want to help you."
"Your dad wanted me to keep you safe, and this is Batman's and my territory, I can handle it-"
Wally had heard enough. He came out from his hiding spot.
"You can be pissed at us later, Rob. Zatanna and I are going to help bring them back in."
Robin folded his arms across his chest. "You two have no idea! This is the Joker and Ivy we're talking about, not some little problem like Captain Cold….."
Wally tensed. Captain Cold could SO cause problems! What was Robin trying to say? He fought easy villains?
"Oh sorry did I hit a nerve, Wally?"
"Nah, nah! Not at all. It makes a lot of sense. Your mentor's an ass, why not his sidekick too?"
That was the last straw. NOBODY disses Batman in front of Robin like that.
Robin lunged at the Speedster and they began to have a "brawl" right in the parking lot of Arkham Asylum. Bystanders just watched. Some laughed, some shook their heads. Two cops came over to break it up but Zatanna stopped them. "I'll handle it." They stepped away.
It was quite pitiful, really. Robin, protégé of Batman, rolling on the dirt with the Scarlett's speedster's protégé on the rubble covered lot in front of a good sized amount of people. Let's just say it wouldn't be a good headline in the news tomorrow. The two were rolling around in the most unthreatening way. Seems like all their fight training went out the window at this point. Wally was trying to bite Robin's hand while Robin had Wally in a headlock. Zatanna had enough.
"Esaec htiw gnithgif!" The two were immediately thrown(gently) onto their back side by side, dazed by the fact that Zatanna had intervened.
"Uhm…Zatanna?" Wally looked straight up at her.
Robin looked in the other direction. He let his temper get the best of him. Way to go Grayson! You'll sure be in the headlines tomorrow!
Wally stood up and stood next to Zatanna. Zatanna extended her hand to Robin who cautiously accepted it and stood to meet their gazes.
"So I'm stuck with you two to find them, aren't I?"
"Pretty much!" Wally grinned.
Robin sighed but showed a small smile. "Well, we better get going then, we've got a lot of ground to cover."
They all started for his motorcycle.
"We'll check out the usual places and then,well, Wally, we'll let you try to figure out where they are with your…uh, ideas." He winked at the speedster.
"Yeah sure Rob, but um we really need to talk about how you pick your date locations, they could use some work."
Zatanna and Robin looked at each other and came up with the perfect response. "SHUT UP WALLY!"
Wally just shrugged. "Hey! It was just a suggestion!"
"Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Batman!"
"Wally."
"Yeah?"
"You have 5 seconds to stop singing before I slap the freckles off your freaking face."
Wally slowed down his running slightly and looked over at Robin and Zatanna who were riding on the motorcycle alongside him.
He reached for his face and looked at Robin with shock. "Noooo! You can't! The girls love these!" He grinned at Robin who rolled his eyes.
The three of them had checked the usual Joker hideouts and came up with nothing. All that left was the Greenhouse outside of Gotham. They'd have to prepare since this was Poison Ivy territory. Wally ducked down into an alley and was closely followed by the motorcycle.
Robin and Zatanna jumped off the motorcycle and stared at the speedster who was leaning against the wall.
"Why'd we stop?"
Wally removed a candy bar from his pocket and started to eat it.
"I..uh wanted a snack break."
"Fine KF, but hurry up."
Just then, a small group of stereotypical thugs emerged from the shadows.
"Hey, Hey, Hey! Look at this boys! The Boy Wonder's got some friends!"
The leader of them looked Zatanna up and down and stopped at her legs.
That pissed her off when she noticed where he was staring. She snapped her fingers and glared at him. "Yeah, hi there! My face is up here."
The man just smirked. "Ooh, a feisty one!" He turned to his buddies who started snickering.
Even without knowing this particular group, Robin could definitely tell what their intentions were. He didn't like it, not one bit.
In a swift move he jumped in front of Zatanna. He stared angrily at the men and looked to Wally.
"You know what I hate?"
Kid Flash titled his head. "What's that Rob?"
"When people like these guys get their freaking brains confused with their cocks!" He lunged at the leader and landed a kick to the man's nose.
Kid Flash went for who seemed to be the next in command. He ran a few circles around the frazzled man. He stopped a few inches away from him.
"Am I here?" The man took a swing at him. Wally easily dodged and ran to his backside.
"Oops! Looks like I'm over here now!"
The man took another swing and missed.
"Ooh! Too slow!"
He repeated this about 20 more times before pushing the seriously dizzy man over.
Zatanna was shouting a bunch of incoherent spells that made 3 guys topple over at once.
Robin looked up after he finished punching the guy out and saw what Zatanna did. Damn that's hot…..
They regrouped when they realized they had incapacitated the entire group.
"You know what this reminds me off Rob?"
"What?"
"Remember that time when we were alone at Mount Justice, and things got real crazy with the sparkling wine?"
"How the hell does this remind you of that?"
"It doesn't, I just really wanted to tell this story."
"KF, just shut up while you're ahead."
Zatanna suddenly spoke up. "No Rob!" She giggled. "I wanna hear this story!"
Kid Flash grinned. "Well, we were alone and found some sparkling wine, so we drank it! (No really?) Then things got interesting. Sexy and I Know it came on the radio, so me and Rob started dancing and stuff. For some odd reason we took our shirts and our pants off…and then…"
Zatanna couldn't tell how she felt about the story she was being told. It was mortifying, but strangely intriguing and kinda hot.
Robin's face turned as red as his tunic. Wally please just shut up NOW.
"Well you see, nothing really happened…but we did keep dancing. But Rob had to be a showoff and do some flip kick thingy and his freaking boxers fell off!"
Robin looked at his utility belt. Maybe I'll just get a batarang out now and slit my freaking throat. Yeah that sounds like a plan.
His face burned even more now.
"And you wanna know what the best part of it was, Zatanna?"
She was desperately trying to stifle her laughter, however it really wasn't working. "What Wally?"
"A few seconds after his boxers fell off the whole team, Batman, and Captain Marvel walked in!"
At this point Robin buried his head in his hands.
"It was the most awkward moment ever!"
Zatanna giggled. "I'll bet!"
"Whatdoyousay Rob? Wanna go catch us some criminals?" The speedster put his arm around the little bird's shoulders.
Robin smiled slightly. "Yep, sure! Let's go!" The only thing keeping me from strangling you right now is the fact that I MIGHT need your help for fighting Poison Ivy and the Joker.
The two ran for the motorcycle while Kid Flash ran alongside them.
"Next stop: Gotham Greenhouse!"
The night would certainly turn into a very interesting one, very soon.
Wonder Girl
