Chapter 57 : Doubts

[Author note : You guys probably heard and read it all before. Come visit my Patréon page (e instead of é); look for Cathbel on the website. You'll find more chapters, as well as some of my other stories if you're interested. Enjoy !]

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Robin was confused after the fight. It was a bit like he'd taken a blow to the head… Or probably how someone feels when they take drugs. Richard didn't know, since : One, he was too young, and two… Batman would strangle him ! The man didn't even drink alcohol in his Bruce Wayne persona, despite his playboy billionaire façade. Oh, he made it look like he was, but he never actually did. He either dropped the glass 'clumsily', emptied the contents somewhere it wouldn't be noticed, or simply asked for something without alcohol in it. The man's body was a temple… Beaten and battered, but a temple, nonetheless. And he doubted he'd allow his ward any other choice than to follow his footsteps.

The point, however, was that Robin had trouble remembering the fight. He vaguely remembered fighting an unending swarm of enemies… He remembered some kind of old transmission tower, with something new on it… He remembered deciding to destroy it… And then, he was standing next to Miguel and Celine, lost and confused. This was not pleasant. Especially since he felt like he was forgetting something important…

The three teens resumed their journey towards one of Robin's safe-house on the east coast. He wouldn't tell where exactly they were going, nor why they even were… Despite the young african-american's anxiousness and desire for answers. So, instead, Robin clinically and matter-of-factly revealed what had happened to her :

« You've recently turned into a mindless insect-human hybrid. We fought a bit, a friend knocked you out and I was bringing you to my safe-house when you started weaving a cocoon… And then, here you are ! Back and talking, unlike the skittering mess you were before… Here, I've got pictures if you don't believe me ! »

« No, no, no ! » Celine protested waving her hands wildly and fleeing to the other side of the compartment as fast as possible.

Bunker approached to admonish him :

« That was not nice, hombre ! Can't you… How do you say ? Be nice ? Tactful ? »

« Being nice won't change what's happening to her, only understanding it might. » Robin said as he put away his all-purpose multi-tool. Unlike what Batman and he called it, it wasn't really all-purpose. And, in the next or so years, the multi-tool label would be changed to smartphone. Already there were a few that existed, but nowhere near as powerful and effective at this one… Except maybe for the ones made by Ned, but they were yet to be sold to no-majs. No, the AP-MT indeed fulfilled a lot of functions, like taking photos and videos, allowed communications, and even served to hack other networks… They were yet to become truly all-purpose, however.

The reason why he was a little snappy with both Celine and Miguel was because of how uncomfortable he was. There were too many things Robin didn't know about the current situation. First was his sudden memory loss… Sure, he could attribute it to the extreme state of focus he'd been at the time. Something Batman had said could sometimes happen during tense and stressful moment. However, he also talked about a state of hyper-awareness, where everything was registered and shelved for a later viewing (or reviewing). Here, it felt like something had burned the shelves down…

Secondly was… How did N.O.W.H.E.R.E. even find them ? Did Miguel Barragan belong with them ? Because Robin couldn't see a coincidence in the fact that, the young Mexican had boarded the very same freight train the vigilante had chosen… A Metahuman, chosen target of a secret organization he was currently trying to take some distance from, right before being attacked in a much too complicated and roundabout way ? Not to mention, where was the guy or gal controlling the civilian ? From what little he could remember about the tower, it couldn't have emitted farther than 10 miles. Unless it was relayed in this radius, of course…

Even then, Robin didn't notice any cameras or surveillance system in that village. So how could the puppet master control the situation if he wasn't near here ? Were they automated ? Did he simply miss him ? Or was Miguel the true mastermind behind all this ?

Robin had too many questions and nobody to answer them. Well… Maybe he could try and confront Miguel, but the teen was rather good at his 'clueless' role. Whether it was indeed a role or not… Only time would tell, he supposed.

And so, the young vigilante kept silent for a long time as they travelled. Their bodies rocked by the moving train, the rhythmic sound of the wheels grinding underneath keeping them mostly awake. When Robin announced they had arrived, they were all relieved and wanting a bed.

Relenting to the whining of his traveling companions, Dick postponed their departure for the next stretch of journey and the three of them found an affordable and clean motel in the small town they arrived. A couple of hours later, the three of them could be seen lying in bed. Two of them were snoring while the third… was kept awake by the lessons drilled into him by his mentor. The two in the room with him were strangers. Not only that, they were powered strangers. He couldn't leave himself vulnerable with them there !

He rested, but didn't sleep. Instead, he thought of what he would do in the near future. Robin had already proven to himself that N.O.W.H.E.R.E. existed, something Batman didn't believe in. He even had enough evidence now that the Dark Knight would probably start planning against them…

But Dick found himself not wanting to share this case with him. It was his case. His first one. He wanted to see it through ! So, for now, and until he found himself out of his depths, Richard Grayson decided that he'd keep going. When he reached this conclusion, Robin simply couldn't fight his drowsiness anymore. After all, it had been a couple of eventful and exhausting days… Soon, the sound of his snores joined the chorus of the other two.

* * * * *

Not for the first time today, Ned face-palmed. Gently, though, since his armored fingers could bruise his face easily… The reason for that was the TA. The Teen Army was, simply put, a train wreck ! Between the tempers of hormonal teenagers, their short attention span or their desires to play, their training wasn't as advanced as he would have liked.

That being said, not all of them were slacking ! There were a handful of them which were promising. A girl with terrakinesis with the original codename of Terra. The girl's brother, who could control both earth and magma and called himself Geoforce. Solstice, the girl made of storm clouds and lightning, which could apparently control light (go figure !). Kid Flash, though this one messed around quite a lot. When you're a speedster, however, he could do still train effectively and still have plenty of time to joke and pull off pranks. Then, there was the wizard… Aaron Sicklehand.

Unlike the others, he was quite driven in his training. Almost obsessed really. Ned had offered to bring him to a wandmaker to help harnessing his magic, but the kid refused with a sneer. For some reason, and although he didn't voice it out loud, Ned suspected that the young wizard held quite a bit of resentment, or maybe even hate, toward the Wizarding World. He really hoped it would pass… Not that Ned minded that : he found some aspects of this world quite detestable. The thing was… All society had some. Sometimes, there were even quite common and similar. The differences between the rich and the poor, the hypocrisy and corruption of the governments…

What worried Ned the most about Aaron was his hatred. He felt like it was his main, if not sole driving force these days. Since he didn't know him before, he couldn't tell if he had changed much before his imprisonment… Then again, Ned would be pissed too if he'd been captured and treated like a lab-rat for who knows how long ! Probably…

There a few more interesting prospects, but really, the squib wasn't very impressed by the army supposed to take down N.O.W.H.E.R.E. The way he saw it, as things stood they had no chance. In fact, they'd probably be more likely to hinder each other than to work effectively against the paramilitary group that served as the organization's enforcers. Not one of them could defeat or even fight decently against the white haired female leader… Much less Superboy. And if they fought together…

He could easily Terra crushing Kid Flash, or any of the other close-quarter fighters. And, sadly, she wasn't even the only one he could see killing or maiming their comrades.

As he watched them continue to train, Ned asked himself inwardly if he should even entertain the idea of putting them to use…