His suit loosely hung on his frame, as Dick's body was noticeably smaller. Younger. However, despite his newfound youth, Nightwing's mask still stuck to his face. He stepped over another rock with an acrobatic grace.
The tribal village sat in the midst of three monstrous peaks. Dick was unsure if he resided in an alternate dimension or off world civilization, but he knew the locals worshipped this one location in particular. A stone temple hidden half way up the north-most peak not only mystified the tribesmen, but terrified them. The stone temple which he'd woken up in, and which seemed to be the cause of his body's younger age. However, without a biological or reasonable explanation for his current state, Dick saved his judgment until he had a better hold on the situation.
The sun had just reached its highest point in the sky, but the air was still chilled. The cool breeze rushed past the pine-like trees, and Nightwing leaned against a boulder. Behind him, he heard the familiar click of a gun; cocked and pressed against the back of his skull.
"Funny seeing you here, Dick."
"It's always a pleasure, Red Hood." Dick calmly turned around to see a male; shorter and skinnier than the one he remembered. His jacket was too long for his arms, and the mask fit loosely on his head, slightly bobbing when he tilted his head.
"Would you mind telling me what the hell is going on?"
"Put that thing away, Jason, before you hurt yourself."
Jason glared behind his mask, but dropped his arm.
"And to answer your question; no. I don't know how I got here, or why we're..." he motioned between each of them. "Like this." He then squinted. "I assume you had nothing to do with this?"
"No. What, are you surprised? Why would I possibly do this to myself?"
Dick shrugged. "Because you're you."
Jason stepped off his rock, turned away, and placed the gun back in his waistband. "I'm glad we had this chat."
"Jason, wait…Jason!"
Red Hood turned back and crossed his arms. "Miss me already?"
"We need to figure this out: how we got here, how to fix this. Can't you just put aside the past until we find a solution? You can start making our lives difficult again after we get back."
Jason sighed. His current predicament outweighed his hatred towards the Bats. For now. "Whatever, Dick. Just try to keep the excessive blabbering to a minimum. If that's even possible."
"Good. What do you know so far?"
"That depends, what do you know so far?"
Dick glared. This is going to take forever. "I want to get back as much as you, Jason, and that'll only happen if we work together."
Jason leaned against a tree, arms still crossed. "Fine- there I was, minding my own business and chasing down a well-informed member of the drug trade, when all the sudden I found myself in this picture perfect hell of a Himalayan knock-off. Not to mention I've lost about six inches and have the physique of a freaking 15 year old…Oh, and I'm currently buddying up with a close pal of mine; just like to good ol' days." Jason paused for a moment. "Yeah, that sounds like about it."
"Ok, so it looks like we need to go back down to the village- maybe interrogate some of the tribe. I don't recognize any of this geography or culture from Earth, but I suppose we could be in an alternate dimension- possibly even in a different time—"
"Or not," Jason pointed to the sky, where two white orbs emerged from a cloud- one presumably closer to the planet, while the other appeared smaller in size and further away. "Last I checked, Earth only had one moon."
"Alien planet it is then. Regardless, we should still try to get info from the tribe. At the very least they have food and supplies."
"Great. After you, leader."
Dick began to walk down the mountain side, leaving the temple behind him. Nearly 50 yards later, the ground started to flatten out. The rocky and frozen ground turned to a softer soil, and they soon came to a half frozen stream.
"Uh, Dickie?"
"What, Jason."
"Does that frozen bundle look familiar to you?"
A young boy, perhaps the age of 10, lay sprawled on the ground; half way in the stream and half in mud. He was wrapped in a black cape, and his face covered by an oversized, black cowl. Dick ran over and pulled the kid onto dry ground. Flipping him on his back, he saw the rest of his red suit and familiar symbol on his chest.
"Tim!?" Dick checked his breathing and his pulse- feeling that the boy was alive, but barely. "We need to get him to the village. Now." He picked up Tim with his young but strong arms, and began quickly towards the primal civilization.
Jason followed closely, and spoke under his breath. "I hate family reunions."
…
RED ROBIN-
I was gliding through the air- tethered to a Middle Eastern skyscraper. The breeze was flowing through my cape and over my mask, and I had caught my perp. Today was perfect- until the breeze turned to water, and the warmth of the desert sun to freezing temperatures.
Now, I was no longer celebrating a victory, but struggling to move from this watery trap. I lost feeling in my fingers and toes; my body began to lock up in the shock of temperature contrast. My suit felt…to large for my body, and my mask hung in front of my face as it was too large for my size. That, and the current of the stream, worked against me. As I brought my upper half onto land, my vision dimmed, and went black. Freezing and defenseless on the bank of this stream, I lost consciousness.
NIGHTWING-
The villagers spoke no form of language I understood, but they appeared to be human enough to understand the danger of the cold. At the sight of Tim's freezing and unconscious body, the crowd of natives parted; making way to a small log shelter.
I turned to Jason and he shrugged. "Don't look at me."
Inside the hut were stacks of alien furs and pelts- a small fire burning in a stove oven. I set the boy down on what seemed to be a cot near the flame.
"How long?" A feminine voice spoke up behind me. She was an
elderly woman; barely four feet in stature. Her hair was a long and shimmering grey, and eyes were a piercing black. The woman's clothing differed from the other natives' animal skins as she wore a plain white cloak. "How long he be gone?"
I snapped out of it and noticed she was talking about Tim. "Uh, I'm not sure- but he's barely alive- suffering severe hypothermia and frost bite…You speak English?"
"I speak what you speak."
I'll take that as a yes.
She bent over Tim and removed his cowl, followed by the rest of his suit until he was only covered by the yellow animal pelts. His boyish face was a light blue; his lips chapped and small ice crystals formed on his eyelashes.
Jason was sitting on a log by the fire, helmet removed and on his lap. His face was also more boyish- which reminded me of his time as Robin. Before the Joker...
Jason shook his hands through his dark hair and shivered once until he saw me and crossed his arms. He leaned back on the wall and shifted his legs. "What? Is he going to live?"
I sighed. "It's pretty severe- when hypothermia is at its most dangerous stage, unconsciousness can—"
"Actually, I really couldn't care less. Just wake me up when we can move on." Jason shifted again, leaned his head back, and closed his eyes. Great. Thanks for the help.
While I let the woman treat Tim, I observed the rest of the shelter. From the roof hung candles that added to the light of the fire- casting an orange glow on the assortment of furs. The primitive materials caused the three boys to stand out with their more advanced clothing. Red Robin's suit sat in front of the archaic fireplace to dry, and next to it was…No.
"Where did you get this?!" I walked over and held Robin's small red and yellow costume- the "R" gleamed in the light.
The woman looked at me and pointed to the hut's entrance where a small boy, a toddler, stood holding three dead squirrel-like creatures and small spear.
"No way…"
Jason stood. "You've got to be kidding me."
Damian grinned. "Well, hello- Grayson and… You."
ROBIN-
I was on patrol with father when teleported to this Hell.
These short legs, arms, and miniature frame were far more than an inconvenience. However, it was an inconvenience that I could handle. Not permanently, but at least until I solved this nightmare. Until father came.
The villagers were…less than helpful, but an old woman had offered me shelter and warmth. Shedding my now oversized costume, she had given me more fitting clothes; animal pelts which seemed tailor made for my humiliating size. In exchange, I took it upon myself to find my own food. I was clearly on a foreign planet, but the native animals were no challenge to hunt and kill.
Nearly an hour after my arrival, I was graced with the presence of familiar faces. I could guess that the shivering boy on the cot had been careless enough to lose to the cold. Fool. Todd stood in the back of the shelter, and Grayson nursed the patient. While their bodies had also been altered, presumably by the same cause, the difference in their size and mine was now obnoxiously more exaggerated.
"How did you get here, Damian?" Grayson inquired. Perhaps even concerned.
"I was about to ask you the same thing, although I assume neither of us can answer that." The words sounded strange with this higher voice, but I continued. "Nor can we say these physical changes are anywhere near pleasant, so why don't we leave that imbecile," he motioned towards the cot, "to suffer for his own stupidity and investigate for a solution? Until father arrives, that is."
"That 'imbecile' is Tim. And I doubt Batman has any more information about where we are than we do, Damian; he probably won't be 'arriving' anytime soon."
I glared at the cot, and then noticed the Red Robin uniform drying in front of the fireplace next to mine. Stupid Drake.
"Exactly, so why don't you just sit down and shut up for once, Hell-spawn?" Jason asked, sat back down on his log, and rested against the wall of the hut. I walked closer to him and he smirked.
"I will never take an order from you, Traitor."
RED HOOD-
That little shit.
"Listen, little bird, I could lift you up by your tiny skull with a single hand and—"
"Jason. Stop." Dick glared at me from Tim's side. I looked back down at the kid and he grinned as if he'd won. It would have been hard to stay so enraged at such a small and seemingly harmless child, except that child was Damian.
The smaller boy sighed. "I guess we can continue this little chat later, then." He walked to the fire place and sat beside it- away from both me and Tim. One of these days, I swear…
"Unngh…" A small groan came from the cot as Tim lifted his head. I didn't stand, but watched Dick rush to his side.
"Tim? Hey- you'll be ok. You're here with me and Jason." Damian coughed. "…and Damian."
"I don't…where…how…"
"We're on an alien planet, but none of us have any idea of how- or why- we arrived here. There's also been some kind of…biological anomaly. Our bodies seem to have, uh, digressed in age." Dick tugged on his loose fitting suit for emphasis. "But we can figure that out later. Can you move?"
Tim coughed, and slowly lifted his shaking hand. From where I sat it, the shadows from the fire distorted his face. The retired third-replacement-Robin rolled onto his side, and looked at me and Dick before assessing his own self. "This is…weird."
"Thanks for that brilliant evaluation, Drake." Damian piped up from the shadows. His high-pitched voice didn't really match his painfully aggravating tone. I chuckled, and watched this disaster unravel.
"Listen, Damian, I—oh my god." Tim strained his neck to better see the boy, and grinned wider. "This is too rich."
"-tt- Really? What? That you got hypothermia because you weren't quick enough to find your way out of a forest?" The kid spoke with confidence, but shrunk into the corner.
Tim only smiled bigger. "I can't even find you as obnoxious as you truly are, Al Ghul, because of how ridiculously tiny—"
"Both of you, stop." Dick stepped between the two and crossed his arms.
Tim rolled onto his back and laughed. Damian's face turned red and he mumbled curses under his breath.
This is going to be fun.
…
Author's Note- I will probably have the next chapter up some time next week, and feel free to leave a review :)