Robin woke up in the dirt a few yards away from the clearing where the battle was comencing. He sat up and rubbed is sore head, groaning when he touched a sensitive spot. He glanced beside him to see Artemis still unconsious, he doubted she'd be back in the battle any time soon. There was shouting and explosions heard from the clearing, his friends needed him. Picking himself up off the ground, he ran as best he could to the edge of the clearing. He watched as his friends battled Klarion, Aqualad was trying his hardest to break the Witch boys force field along with the help of Miss Martian, Superboy , Kid Flash, and Zatanna. Klarion chuckled, and made a swiping motion with his hands, and all the boys were sent flying in opposite directions. The team was never going to win this way, Robin thought to himself, even if he did help they would still be no match for Lord of Chaos's expert magic. He ran back to the clearing where he had woken up, and he approached a rock that had no place being there. Picking it up, the Helmet of Fate appeared in his hands as the magic for the disguise wore off. Dick had seen the boys hide it there earlier when everyone went to their hiding spots before they attacked. He held the helmet in his hands, the empty slits staring back at him, boring into his very sole. Wally and Kaldur had told him about their experences and the risk that came with it. If he put the helmet on and lost the battle, he would be trapped within the helmet, probably forever. He looked back up at his friends, Zatanna had just been thrown into the air by Klarion, luckly Superboy was able to catch her and break her fall. Kid Flash was knocked out on the sidelines, Aqualad was being electrucaded by the sorcerer's force field, and Miss Martian was trying to help by attacking Klarion with chunks of rock. Just then a streak of lightning hit the earth, and when the smoke cleared Billy stood there. He was about to shout, before Miss Martian placed a hand over his mouth. :Don't shout Billy.: Robin heard MIss M. say through their link.: I've linked you telepathically to the others:
:That's so cool!: The boy said trying it out, he stopped himself though when he remembered his mission. :I mean, It's the gem! Destroy it, and we win:
That's all I needed to know. With that, Robin held the golden helmet over his head, and without a seconds hesitation, he put the helmet on, hearing Aqualad's pleas for him to stop in the background. He felt the air whip around him, and his head felt like he was zipping through a tunnel going at light speeds. His vision flashed white has his body began numb until he couldn't feel it at all and everything faded into black.
...
"Klarion! This ends now!" The boy magician looked up, snarling when he set his eyes upon his old foe. Everyone on the team who was awake stared in shock as Dr. Fate soared up into the sky. Aqualad bowed his head in shame, he had failed their youngest teammate. When Wally finally came out of his shock, he scanned the area, checking if all his friends were there.
Megan? WIth Billy over there, Kaldur? Next to the force field- bubbly -thing, Supey? Over there with Zatanna, that checks her out too, Artemis He looked over in the leaves of the forest just barely spotting a blond ponytail.
Robin! He looked around where Artemis lay, the boy wonder wasn't there anymore. The speedstar looked around the clearing trying to find the familiar white slits in the darkness or smaller figure of his best friend. Kid Flash looked back up at Dr. Fate, to his dread , the sorcerer indeed had the same dark blue eyes of the boy wonder peeking out through the helmet slits. "No..." the red head almost whispered, hanging his head and letting it fall into his hands.
"Billy! Tell Batman, now!" Megan yelled. "I'm on it" the boy said almost solumly, and with a streak of light the boy was gone. Miss Martian turned back to the battle where Dr Fate was fighting Klarion, she could already no longer sense the 13 year olds presence with them.
...
"WHAT? He did what!" Batman roared as he sliced through another giant vine. "Go Back..."
" But sir I-" Billy tried to get out. "No! " Batman growled, dodging another vine before stabbing and slicing it mercilessly. "Go back-" Captain Marvel interrupted him before he could say another word.
" No. The sooner this ends, the sooner you get your protege back." Then a grin split on the less then mature man's face. " Keep the bad guys distracted, I have a plan " With that the hero flew up into the sky, then dived back down into the earth like a drill. The Dark Knight dodged a few more vines as they whipped passed his body.
Just hold on a little longer, Dick. I'm coming.
...
The remaining teens battled Klarion along with the new Dr. Fate. The sorcerer kept attacking Klarion with magical light beams, trying to break the Kid of Chaos' s force field. Then Robin's body started trying to separate from Dr. Fate's, making his appearance flicker back and forth between Robin and The Dr.
What the, Dick thought. Klarion laughed when he saw this.
"HA! There see, when the worlds divided, the helmet splits you. Your not all here Nabu, and your losing hold on that poor, soon dead boy, Ha!" The witch boy scoffed proudly. "He sacrificed himself for nothing."
"No Witch boy!" The Older magician said. Robin could feel he was becoming angry.
"Fate decrees his sacrifice will not be in vain!" He finished with a great blow to Klarion's field, and with the others help, finally broke it.
"Nononononono!" Klarion yelled as he was captured in the Ankh symbol shaped cuffs.
"KId, Now!" Aqualad called out.
"Uh, yeah right" The teen stammered as he scrambled to get up and sprinted to the pentagram plucking the jewel out of the ground. "Catch!" The red head shouted tossing it in the air to Dr. Fate who caught it in the air.
At the same time in the adult world, Captain Marvel tunneled under the adult sorcerers pentagram, Bursting through in the middle with the jewel in hand, tossing it to Zatara. Then Dr. Fate and Zatanna's father chanted a spell together to break the curse, creating a ripple of light that spread across the parted worlds. The evil magicians defeated, all fell down from the great power, overwhelming them. "They sure don't make evil immortal sorcerers like they used to," Klarion stated from his spot on the pentagram. "Oh well," The boy said with a shrug. Snapping his fingers the Ankh symbol melted away into thin air, freeing himself. "Nice while it lasted," He said as he stood and rubbed his sore wrists. "Tikel," He called in a sugar coated tone. The monstrous feline came to his masters beckoning, transforming back into his smaller form as he did so. The cat leapt into the boys arms and the magician opened a portal of glowing red. "See you later armadillos," He called to everyone. "Unless I see you first." And with that the Boy of Chaos took his leave, disappearing with the portal and his cackle fading with it. Kid flash halted to a stop beneath where Dr. Fate was Floating.
"Aren't you going to stop him!" He exclaimed, dramatically gesturing to where Klarion had just escaped. Dr. Fate made no move to stop the witch boy.
"To what end. Klarion is all chaos, he cannot be contained." The Sorcerer humbly stated.
...
After that, the adults tied up the five remaining magicians while the younger team gathered around.
"Ugg," Artemis and Zatanna groaned as they awoke from unconciousness, The female archer just now stumbling out of the forest and Zatanna was being helped over by Conner.
"Did... did we win," The raven haired female asked. Kaldur bowed his head and sighed. " At a price," As if on cue, everyone turned to Dr. Fate who flew over to hover just above everyone. Zatanna began to sniffled and the others just hung their heads in sadness. They had all failed Robin, why couldn't they have prevented this from happening. The team only looked up when their mentors approached, sadness and pity clearly in their own eyes as well for losing the younger hero. The only one who didn't look like he was grieving was the bat, actually, he looked murderous. The Dark Knight made his way over to face Dr. Fate, the magician watching the man's determined steps with his new dark blue eyes. Batman stopped in front of the sorcerer and glared up at him with his un-hindering gaze.
"Fate! release my protege, now!" The anchient magician floated there, scowling back at the Dark Knight behind the helmet. Finally he spoke. "No." Both the Adults and the younger team jerked and all stared at him in shock, all but Batman who's eyes narrowed and physically gritted his teeth, growling. "Witness the ha-lock rot beneath, the world needs Dr. Fate. The boy's training and strive to fight evil where ever it may show it's ugly head, makes him the perfect candidate."
"No!" Artemis yelled.
"He has his own life to live!" Zatanna shouted behind the female archer. Wally pointed an accusing finger at the Scorcerer. "You can't do this, Kent would never..."
"Kent Nealson did object standulously, " Fate interupted the speedster. "So I released his spirit to the afterlife, he is gone." The ginger stood in shock, how could Kent Nelson be gone, he had become Wally's friend after their first encounter with the Helmet of Fate and Klarion. He was not only losing his best bro forever, but he had lost his older, wiser friend too. Rob and him would never get to have another battle in the video game world, poke fun at each other to push each others buttons, or ever get to spend another day with his best friend. This was to much to handle, Wally thought, running a hand through his hair and blinking back the tears forcing to leak out.
"Take me instead." Everyone's heads snapped up, starring at the Dark Knight. "I have the same similar skills as Robin and then some, take me and let the boy go." Fate seemed to take a moment to ponder this. "All true. But if I remove the helmet, what guarentee do I have that you will act upon it." Everyone watched The Batman cautiously before he voiced his answer.
"You have my word. "
A few more seconds of agonizing silence passed, Fate narrowed his host's dark blue eyes.
"Unfortunatly Batman, I know your background as the master of deception and an expert in the art of trickery. For this, I do not trust you to full fill thy word."
"Why you- "The caped crusader snarled, highly offended as took a defensive stance, almost like if he was about to attack the Ancient magician. Dr. Fate continued, "Furthermore, the city of Gothem is not ready to lose it's Dark Knight, quite the opposite actually." Batman slightly dropped his stance, no matter how much he denied it, the Ancient Sorcerer was right. Gothem City would go to hell in a hand basket if he left, and even If he left Robin in his place, there was no way Bruce could just leave all that responsibility on Dick's shoulders so young. The Dark Knight sighed, if all that was true, then that meant he couldn't save Robin or Dick Grayson.
"Then take me!" Everyone turned there heads to stare at Kid Flash in horror, but the teen did not falter at everyones concerned stares. Dr. Fate crossed his arms across his breast plate, as if annoyed with this whole conversation in general.
"You, Speedster,"
"That's right!" Wally said making his way next to Batman. "I was the first to where the helmet of fate after it was activated from not being used for years." The sorcerer's eyes narrowed. "Plus, I'm older, with super speed, AND!" He emphasized. "The world won't totally fall apart if I'm gone."
"Kid don't do it," Aqualad warned.
"Please Kidflash, don't do this," Miss Martian begged.
"Wally..." Artemis chocked out. Wally cast a glance at his worried friends before he turned back tho the magician.
"So, do we have a deal," The red head asked cautiously. Dr. Fate watched the Speedster carefully, before he tossed his head back and produced a deep chuckle, Robin's eerie cackle echoing it.
"You are brave," The Ancient sorcerer said after he finished laughing.
"Do. We. Have. A. Deal," Wally repeated, his voice dripping with harshness. Dr. Fate's humor seemed to disappear as quickly as it came.
"You dare think yourself higher than I, foolish boy." Kidflash held his ground. "You think since you adorned the helmet once, you think you can reign supreme. We'll unfortunately not boy. True you did use my powers once, but you are not fit to hold the title of Dr. Fate. You are a brash and heedless mid-adult, who's fate brought him to the helmet was mere misjudgment on Kent Nelson's part."
With everyone so caught up in the argument, No one noticed the five captured sorcerers brewing up their own plan...
...
Authors comments: I am so sorry this has taken so long, and so sorry the story taking so long. Highschool just takes up a lot of my time. Ok so, some new things going on in this chapter, and I hope you enjoy.