Chapter 5- Somewhere
Virgil ran through the halls of the N.O.W.H.E.R.E complex, not sure where to go. He had somewhat remembered the way around the complex, but wasn't quite sure. He had been wheeled off to numerous experiments around the complex, but he was heavily sedated on the trips there. He only saw fragments of where he was going. Beast Boy wasn't much help either, as he had no knowledge of the lay out of the complex.
"Do you have any idea where you're going?" Beast Boy asked.
"Kinda. I mean I remember a little bit of it, like the way out, but not of Westbrook's office," Static replied.
"Great, how are we going to find this place then."
"I don't know. But we got to do it quick, before Superboy kills Red Robin."
They explored a bit more. Beast Boy had turned into a bloodhound, which had helped a little, but the complex was large and Westbrook's scent was fading. They could have been running in circles for all they knew. They needed to hurry up, though, as Virgil felt that Red Robin couldn't hold out much longer against something like Superboy.
"Let him go!" Wonder Girl shouted.
Superboy looked at her with his vacant stare, analyzing the situation. He took a quick glance at Tim and then back at Wonder Girl. She didn't hesitate this time, as she flew towards Superboy at top speed. Before she could grab him though, Superboy threw Tim at her, impacting her and sending them both to the ground. They both laid on the ground for a moment, but Wonder Girl got a glimpse of Superboy speeding toward them. She shoved Tim out of the way just in time, but Superboy grabbed her instead, slamming her into a wall. She kicked him off her, sending him back a few feet. She sped towards him and punched him square in the face, sending him back even further. She grabbed him by the shoulder and continued to punch. She then put both hands on his head, readied herself, and thrust her knee into his face, sending him flying across the room and into the wall. She panted for a moment, but remembered that Tim was hurt. She hurried over to him.
"Tim!" She exclaimed.
She lifted him off the ground, being careful about his injuries. She wrapped his left arm around her shoulder, supporting his weight.
"Didn't I say to wait for the signal?" Tim asked.
"The alarms went off on the whole complex. I thought that was the signal," She replied.
"Oh…well that works too."
"Yeah, it was good timing too. I think I just saved your life."
"Heh…I could have handled it," he said, as a sharp pain stung in his side yet again. He clenched his side and winced. Cassie gave him a cautious look.
"Tim, you're hurt. We need to get you out of here."
"No, not yet. I need to destroy this lab."
Suddenly, Superboy sped towards them, knocking Tim down and tackling Cassie into the wall behind them. She tried to maneuver out of his hold, but she didn't realize how strong he was. She kicked and punched him countless times, but he didn't seem to flinch. After some resistance, Superboy slammed her into the wall, this time grabbing her by the head. He slammed her again, looking down at her. She was still resisting. He slammed her again, but she continued to put up a fight. He slammed her once more into the wall. He looked down to see no resistance, as she appeared to be unconscious. Suddenly, Superboy felt a batarang hit his head.
"Hey asshole!" Tim shouted. "You want to fight? Let's fight then."
Superboy tossed Wonder Girl aside and focused his attention on Tim. While Cassie was fighting off Superboy, Tim had fashioned a makeshift sling from his cape. He had hoped that would ease some of the pain from his ribs, as he knew he had to face down Superboy yet again. Tim equipped himself with his bo staff and readied himself in a fighting stance. Superboy sped towards him. Tim ducked out of the way in time and flung another batch of concussive pellets his way, disorientating Superboy for a moment. He then swung his bo staff, hitting him in the face. Although Tim knew that that wouldn't do much, it was still a way to buy some time for Static to shut him down, or for Cassie to get back up.
Virgil and Beast Boy ran as fast as they could through the complex, but they still couldn't find the master control center or Westbrook.
"This is hopeless," Beast Boy said.
"We can't give up, BB. We need to keep looking," Static said.
Suddenly a flash of yellow and red sped past them. They were confused at what they had just seen.
"You saw that right?" Beast Boy asked.
After a few moments the flash of colors came back, only this time, it stopped right before them, appearing to be a boy in a yellow and red costume similar to the Flash's.
"Who are you guys?" The boy asked.
"Uhhh…who are you?" Beast Boy replied.
"I'm Virgil and this is Gar," Virgil interjected. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm Kid Flash. Look, I'm trying to find my friends. You know where they are?"
"You mean Red Robin? He's back in a lab fighting Superboy," Virgil replied.
"Super-what now?"
"Uhh…nevermind. Look we need your help. I'm guessing you run fast. Can you help us look for this guy? His name is Westbrook. He's in the master control center. If we don't stop him then…uh…Superboy's going to kill Red Robin," Virgil said.
"Alright…? Back in a flash."
"Wait you're going to need this," Virgil said, as he tossed Kid Flash a key card.
"Thanks," Kid Flash replied. He sped off down the hall.
Bart was going at lightning speed. He went through every hallway, opening the doors with the swipe of the card, speeding through the room, and moving on to the next all in a matter of seconds. He finished sweeping five hallways in the span of around 30 seconds, searching all the rooms looking for something that resembled a main control room. He sped through the entire complex with no avail. He ran into several security guards on the way, but it took no effort for him to knock them out with a speedy punch. He sped from room to room, going faster and faster, but still no luck. After a few more seconds of searching he finally came across a door that had the words 'Command Center' labeled at the top. He slid the key card, but it didn't unlock the door. Bart paused for a moment and then slid it again. Nothing happened. He slid it multiple times at super speed, but still nothing was happening. Apparently, this room needed a higher security clearance to access. Bart cursed, but then thought of another way that might work. He tossed the card, and instead held his fist in front of the card slot. He speed punched the machine about a thousand times, short-circuiting the door mechanism. The door slid open to reveal three guards positioned by the door and an older man wearing a lab coat.
"Are you that Westbrook guy?" Bart asked.
"Kill that brat!" Westbrook yelled towards the guards.
"Guessing that's a yes."
The guards lifted up their guns, ready to fire. Bart gave them a snide look and then proceeded to do what he did best. Time felt like it slowed around him, as Bart could see the flurry of bullets headed his way. He motioned past them as they were approaching, dodging every bullet as if they were piercing through quicksand. He ran towards the closest guard and grabbed his gun. He pointed the gun towards the ground and then swiftly brought the gun back up, causing the stock of the gun to smack the guard right in the jaw. He then ran towards the next guard. This time, Bart grabbed the gun and thrust the stock into the guard's abdomen. He then tossed the gun aside and punched him in the face, knocking the guard back. Bart then quickly ran over to the last guard, punching him straight in the face. He did all of this before the bullets could even impact the wall behind him. Bart then looked at his masterpiece, admiring what he had accomplished in a matter of seconds.
"Pretty cool right?" Bart said.
"You little runt!" Westbrook shouted.
"Well, that's rude."
Bart zipped towards Westbrook and delivered a devastating blow to the head, knocking him to the ground. He quickly scanned the room, before rushing out the door and down the halls to find Virgil. He ran through the hallways as fast as he could, knowing he was on the clock. He flashed through the complex until he ran into Static and Beast Boy, who were caught in a fight between some of the guards.
"No time for that" Bart said as he spun around in a vortex around Static and Beast Boy, delivering speed punches to the guards they were fighting.
"Come on. I found the place with the guy and the thing."
Bart grabbed the two of them and sped towards the command center, basically dragging them behind him. After about 5 seconds they were suddenly there at the master control room where most of the complex was controlled by.
"Alright so now what?" Bart asked.
Static went to the computer system and examined it. There were multiple screens projected on the wall and the whole system seemed to be intricate and complex. Static knew that he couldn't hack this in time to save Red Robin. He was decent at hacking, but wasn't good enough or fast enough. He had to think quickly. He looked down at his sparking hands and suddenly realized the quick and easy solution.
"Here goes nothing."
Tim looked into those red beading eyes, noticing the vacant stare of his opponent. He tightened his grip on his bo staff and shifted to a battle stance which favored his left side. He had fought Superboy enough to know that he knew that Superboy would charge at him with his flight. Tim just had to make sure that he could take advantage of that. As predicted, Superboy flew towards Tim at an alarming speed. Tim timed it in his mind. He held for a quick second, then flipped over Superboy and delivered a fierce blow to his head with his trusty bo staff. Superboy crashed into the wall, and Tim landed on his feet, still feeling the pressure of his wounds working against him. He knew he couldn't pull something like that off again and he knew he was slowly running out of physical options. He could only buy some time before something went his way.
Superboy regained himself and sped towards Tim yet again. This time he wasn't fast enough to dodge his incoming attack. Superboy punched Tim in the left shoulder, spinning him around. Before Tim could regain himself, he felt Superboy's hand on his head. He threw Tim across the room to the broken computer console. He lifted himself off the ground, trembling under the pain. Don't black out, he thought to himself. Superboy slowly walked up towards Tim, his eyes blaring red. Tim looked at him dead on, knowing that this was probably the end for him. Superboy inched closer as Tim clawed for the remainder of his batarangs. Tim lifted his hand up ready to throw, waiting for the right opportunity. He felt as if he could barely hold his arm up, but he remained unflinching as Superboy continued forward with hands clenched.
"Let's finish this," Tim said in a firm voice.
Suddenly, the power to the complex shut off instantly. After a couple of seconds, the back up generators kicked in and the rooms were filled with red lights flashing. Tim looked over at Superboy who fell to his knees. He was screaming in pain as he clenched his head. Static had shocked the system that ran the whole complex, including Superboy. The hard shut off seemingly cut the ties between Superboy's mind and the internal network for the facility, which caused the chip in his head to fry.
Tim lowered his arm as he saw Superboy was in serious pain. He approached slowly towards Superboy, not knowing what he was doing. Suddenly, Cassie flew in and punched Superboy in the face, sending him into the wall.
"Jeez, Cassie!" Tim exclaimed.
"Sorry, sorry. Instinct I guess. At least it shut him up," Cassie remarked.
Suddenly a loud beeping sound came on across the facility and a voice came on the intercom.
"5 minutes until facility wide data sanitization."
Tim gave a quick glance at Cassie and then to Superboy. He knew that they had to quickly leave before the entire facility went up in flames.
"We have to leave. Now." He told Cassie. "Grab him."
"What? He tried to kill us!"
"We don't have time to argue. Just do it."
Tim reached for his communicator and tried to contact Bart.
"Bart, are you there?" Tim asked.
"Yeah, yeah I know. Place is about to go boom. We'll be there in a sec." Bart replied.
Tim wobbled toward the lab entrance. As he made his way there, he saw that Deathstroke and Rose had disappeared. He cursed under his breath, but realized he didn't have time to mull it over. He peered around and saw that Caitlin was still unconscious. In a split second, Bart appeared followed by Static and Beast Boy.
"Bart, grab her." Tim said as he pointed towards Caitlin. "Let's move"
The teens ran through the facility as fast as they could. The timer was counting down faster now, as there were only minutes left until the N.O.W.H.E.R.E facility ceased to exist. Cassie led them to where they broke into the facility, a hatch on the side of cliff. Apparently the facility was in a mountainside as to avoid general detection. They made their way out and down the mountain when suddenly they felt the earth shake beneath their feet. Cracks started to form in the mountain, and it felt like the earth was sinking in on itself.
"We need to move!" Tim yelled.
Tim grabbed Cassie's hand as she leaped into the air, carrying both him and Superboy. Beast Boy had turned into a pterodactyl and grabbed Static by the shoulders. Bart sprinted as fast as he could away from the mountain, carrying an unconscious Caitlin on his back. They all escaped the mountain before the destruction hit. Tim turned and looked at the mountain, as it crumbled and crashed into itself. It was like a whirlpool of dirt and rock swirling on top of one another, devouring the base underneath. Good riddance, Tim thought as the teens flew away from the destruction.
-Two Days Later-
Cassie, Bart, Gar and Virgil all stood in front of Tim's warehouse. They walked into the desolate warehouse looking for the entrance to the secret bunker underneath.
"Which support beam was it? Bart, do you remember?" Cassie asked.
"Nope." Bart replied.
Suddenly, the ground started to rumble, as the floor separated to reveal a staircase going down to the lower level. The teens walked down into Tim's bunker. They saw that he was sitting at the computer, re-bandaging his torso.
"Ahem."
"Hey guys." Tim said as he was finishing bandaging his wounds. He saw that Virgil and Gar were a bit taken aback, as he didn't reveal his identity to them yet. "Oh, sorry. Guess I didn't introduce myself. I'm Tim Drake. Or Red Robin, as you've come to know me as."
"Nice to finally meet you." Virgil remarked holding out his hand for a handshake.
"Likewise." Tim shook both Virgil's and Gar's hand. "Where's Caitlin?"
"She left to go be with her dad. Apparently he's a scientist or something. I don't know." Bart replied.
"Alright, then. I guess we should probably discus what happened." Tim said.
"What's to talk about? We escaped. We stopped the bad guys. We won." Cassie replied.
"We escaped, yes, but we didn't stop them. Not for good anyway. I've been doing some research. It's most likely that the facility we managed to take down was only one of many. How many I don't know." Tim explained.
"Wait, you're saying the one we took down wasn't the only N.O.W.H.E.R.E facility. That there's more of them out there?"
"I'm not 100% sure. But the research I have done has led me to believe so. Look, I know that this might not be the best news, but we did take down a major cog in their system."
"But there's more of them out there! They could be continuing the work that that freak Westbrook was doing. They could be making more Superboy's for all we know!" Cassie protested.
"Hey, what the hell ever happened to that Superboy thing anyway?" Bart questioned.
"He's... He's over there."
The group of teens entered what looked like a medical center. In the back end of the room, Superboy laid on the medical bed. Wires and tubes were hooked up to him as computer monitors showed his heart rate and breathing.
"He's still knocked out?" Virgil asked.
"Yeah, ever since we left the facility." Tim replied.
"We…we should have left him there." Cassie said with a falter in her voice.
"We couldn't just leave him Cassie. He was being used by Westbrook. He didn't deserve to die because of that."
"Tim, he was going to kill you! …Kill all of us. He's a weapon. One that should have been destroyed."
"Yeah, I kind of agree." Gar added.
"You and Virgil are basically him. It's just that you two weren't being controlled."
"Yeah, but we don't have Superman's powers. We can't kill the whole world if we wanted to. He can." Virgil interjected.
Suddenly a blip went of on the monitors. His heart rate had spiked.
"Uhhh, hey guys? I think the weapon is waking up." Bart said.
Superboy flickered his eyes. He moaned slightly as he started to reach toward his head with his left hand. The others started to back away slowly, not knowing what to expect from the guy who almost killed them. Superboy rubbed his head and squinted at the lights.
"Ughhh, where am I?"
Note: Yeah, so that's the end of the first arc of the story. What I have planned so far is to have the next couple of chapters be about the team on some downtime, then after that will be another big story. Sorry for not being consistent with the chapters. I only write them when I have time or feel like writing, so they are pretty sporadic. It'll probably stay that way also. So, sorry again, but thanks for keeping up with it and I hope you enjoy it.