DC: DON'T UTTER A WORD - CHAPTER 22

[David Lance POV]

Robin dashed at me, staff at hand. Blinded by the virus in the air, seeing me not as his ally, but as an enemy he had to take down.

Having no clear idea how to help him, from a medical point of view. I rushed at him, ducking under the swing of this staff, grabbing Robin by the neck, before pushing him to the ground, knocking him out cold with my taser, all in a single fluid motion.

It had paid off that I had sparred with him at least a hundred times. And therefore, knew his every move to heart, which in the end made my job of dealing with him easier than it should’ve been.

I sighed, seeing Robin lay on the ground unconscious before I kneeled beside him in order to check on his vitals.

Rapid heartbeat.

High blood pressure.

Heavy sweating.

Labored breathing.

Trembling.

Dilated pupils.

High levels of glucose on his system.

If he continued like this, he would die in a few minutes or so. Maybe less, meaning I had to do something before the virus killed him, the question now was, what?

It was already too late to avoid infection. That much was clear, for all I knew, based on how fast the virus had affected him, and me, to a lesser degree, there was a big chance we had been exposed to it since the moment we entered the facility, but to a minor degree.

One quite possibly impossible to discern without the adequate equipment.

Which would explain the difference between Robin’s symptoms and mine.

All I had so far was a headache, that may or may not be increasing its intensity as the seconds passed. I wasn’t sure of this fact, considering the increase of intensity could be attributed to the situation itself, instead of the virus.

But it was better to assume the worst, for further preparations.

Be that as it may, it was safe to assume I had a high tolerance to the virus, and therefore would have more time to deal with the situation before succumbing to its effects.

My priority right now was to save Robin’s life.

“Hmm, well that’s interesting…” I heard the Joker hum in demented curiosity, through the coms of the building. “You still look pretty sane to me… That simply won’t do! Don’t worry kiddo, papa Joker will take care of that in no time!”

Time was running short as it seemed. I had to stabilize Robin’s condition, before having the luxury of dealing with the Joker.

Taking a deep breath, I plucked the utility belt from Robin’s body, checking on every little compartment on the belt for the cure of the Fear toxin, after all, if Batman had his protégé always carry with him the cure of the Joker venom on his belt, then it was safe to assume he would do the same for the Fear toxin.

“Bingo,” I smiled, finding what I was looking for, in the form of small vile on the left side of Robin’s belt.

Now I had in my hands the cure for both the Fear toxin and the Joker Venom, in the shape of two individual vials.

I wasn’t a doctor or a chemist for that matter. But my hopes were that administering Robin with both vials would at the very least slow the effects of the chemical amalgamation just enough for the experts in the area to arrive to heal Robin appropriately.

The thing was, I had no choice but to risk it. I had no guarantee the league would arrive before the virus killed Robin, and even if I managed to break out of here, the closest hospital with the tools to deal with this was twenty miles away, meaning I either acted now, or left Robin to die.

I really hope my idea works.

Taking a deep breath, I grabbed both vials tight, before injecting Robin on the leg, praying to whatever deity could hear me for this to work.

In the meantime, I had a room to plague with traps and some cameras to take down for the element of surprise.

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[Batman POV]

I rushed with Martian Manhunter back to Gotham City to rescue Robin and Black Bolt from the Joker’s grasp. Knowing very well they weren’t ready to deal with the likes of him, not by themselves.

Robin had crossed the line now, it was one thing to try and prove himself, but it was another to trick Black Bolt into coming with him by using a recording of me to convince Black Bolt.

Though, in all honesty. I didn’t care right now about that.

Right now, my only concern was making sure my son was safe.

“We’ll be there in two minutes,” J’onn said, as he flew me back to Gotham from Australia at maximum speed.

“I know,” I replied counting the seconds.

“Trust in them to handle the situation while we get there,” J’onn added, possibly catching on to my anxiety and worry through his empathic abilities.

“I did, and look what happened,” I replied, scowling.

“Children will always rebel, it’s in their nature, as it is in our hands to understand this unavoidable fact, and guide them through their own mistakes,” J’onn replied.

He was right. His heart was in the right place. But this was simply beyond violating a previously set curfew or drinking beer before age.

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[David Lance POV]

My plan had worked.

Robin’s vitals were stabilizing, not under acceptable levels, but under lethal conditions. Which for the time being would suffice, now, all I had to do was leave this place, to avoid continuous exposure to the virus.

The last thing I wanted was the virus managing to affect me, and if the headache increasing in intensity was anything to go by, I would soon reach that point.

I estimated I had a few minutes or so before my inhuman physiology lost the battle against this virus. So, time was of the essence.

By what I had seen on the blueprints of the facility, there was an exit three rooms down, the door was probably locked, and considering the type of facility this was, dealing with dangerous chemicals, it was probably safe to assume it was reinforced.

Be that as it may, I had more than enough C4 on my belt, and Robin’s belt to break the door down cleanly.

If that didn’t work, I could finish the door off by using brute force, which going by the worst-case scenario should work, unless the facility was made to keep super-powered beings in, which the blueprints didn’t seem to imply at all, so there was no reason to assume that much.

“Hello kiddo,” I heard someone say, knocking the door of the room I was in open with a kick. The Joker.

I turned to him, finding not only him, but Scarecrow standing on the door.

“Everyone fears something, kid, it’s nature, so stop fighting nature, and let the fear take over,” Scarecrow advised, his voice raspy.

“Baggy don’t put junior on the spotlight like that! Don’t you see he wants to play first?” The Joker sighed, shaking his head in disappointment with Scarecrow. “I apologize, junior. Uncle bag has no idea how to babysit, it’s his first time. Papa Joker on the other hand, well… let’s just say I am quite the babysitter, never had a kid cry in my watchful eye for a second time. HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa!”

I looked at them, the distance between us being roughly one hundred meters, most of my traps were out of their sight. All I had to do was stun them for a second or two, so that I could leave the room carrying Robin.

After that, I was sure to escape. I was physically stronger than both of them, which also meant I was faster than them. Once I was out of the room, I would sprint out of their sight to the door.

From there it would take them at least a minute or two to reach me. More than enough time to enact my escape plan.

“Now junior. Ready to have the time of your life?” The Joker chuckled, pulling a gun out of his purple suit.

I nodded, pressing a button to detonate two explosives I had set above the door, taking the explosion as a cover to hurl two batarangs from Robin’s belt at them, which exploded in front of them before making contact, blinding them.

Taking this opening, I grabbed Robin, putting him over my shoulder and ran towards the door as fast as I could, dodging the Joker’s attempt to stop with a knife that managed to gash me on the side.

Pushing through the pain of my recently acquired wound, I sprinted towards the exit door three rooms down, activating the other traps I had set on the last room to buy me some extra time.

Finally reaching the door, I gently put Robin on the ground, before starting to set the C4 around the door rapidly, before taking some distance to detonate the door off its hinges.

Blinded by the smoke the explosion had caused, I heard the door slam to the ground loudly a second or so after, this being my cue to grab Robin once again, and sprint towards our freedom, jumping through the smoke, out of the facility.

I had made it.

My plan had worked.

Knowing this was not the time to celebrate, I continued running, jumping over the fence that surrounded the facility only to be stopped by some gunshots being shot my way.

“Well, that was rude!” The Joker cackled, aiming at me with his gun from the door I had busted open.

I inwardly cursed, I had sworn I would have a minute or two before the clown caught up with me. It seems stunning him was barely effective as it is.

“Now junior? Ready to tangle with the Joker?” The Joker asked, grinning in delirious joy, a perpetual state for him.

I stared at him, silently tying a rope around Robin’s waist, before shooting a grappling hook into the distance with the rope attached to it, to take Robin out of the area.

“Now that Boy Wonder it’s out of the way. It comes the part where I relieve you, of the burden of your failed and useless attempts to stop me. But, as my plastic surgeon always said; if you gotta go, go with a smile!” The Joker cackled, as I got ready to battle the clown.