Son Of The Bat (Son of Batman Reader x Raven)

Chapter 3.0

    Slow footsteps echoed through a large hall. Tim Drake stood in his Robin suit, walking down the prison hall. The cells were open and the inmates were gone. But he kept investigating. He touched his hand to the bars on one of the cells. There were acid burns in the metal.

    Tim took out a cotton swab and took a sample, putting it into his gauntlet. "Run a chemical analysis." Tim's eyes widened. "It's Titan. I was right, Joker spiked some of the inmates, too. I have to stop them." And he ran forward, his cape flowing in the wind.

    Tim put up as good as a fight he could, but in the end there were too many inmates. And the Joker prisoners were too strong. He lost. Tim opened his eyes to find he was strapped to a vertical table type thing. He saw the Joker in front of him. "Wakey, wakey, Boy Blunder."

    Tim did his best to not show any emotion. "You think that Batsy would have learned by now. I really hate Robins." He laughed cynically, inches away from Tim's face. But Robin remained calm on the outside, panicking on the inside. "I could always do a repeat of what I did to the second Robin, but that's no fun is it? You see, I'm tired. And I, personally, like you."

    The Joker dusted off Tim's shoulders, making the boy flinch. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy. I'm not-I'm going to hurt you, that was a lie. What I mean is, I made my point. This is where I solidify it. And if I'm lucky, then, I'll have a new toy to play with." He laughed again, before moving aside and motioning to a stand a few feet away. "Now, say hello to the camera."

    The camera was filming the whole time, recording a video. One that was being played in the batcave, the big computer screen displaying the video for both Batman and Nightwing to see. Both of them stood silent, masks off as they watched. Bruce and Dick watched as Joker picked up a syringe, inching closer to Tim.

    He began to struggle, fighting against his restraints. And then he stiffened as the Joker drove the plunger of the tube, injecting the contents of the vial into Tim's neck. The vial of Titan.

    Dick shut his eyes, listening as he heard Tim scream and squirm. Every agonizing vibration of Tim Drake's vocal chords tore through Dick's heart. He opened his eyes as the screaming stopped, just in time to see Tim's face. Dick saw his cold eyes as Tim's head fell to the side. Joker got in the camera's face.

    His face was hard to read. Happiness, shock, confusion. "Oopsy daisy," Joker said. "It looks like you are out another Robin, Batsy. I really thought that it'd work. Oh well, let me remind you. This is the second Robin you've condemned to me. The second Boy Blunder I've killed. Remember that when you sign on another one."

    The video ended with a frame of Joker smiling as he grabbed the camera. Bruce bowed his head. Dick just stepped away. "Where are you going?" "Doesn't matter. Joker must be stopped." Dick said. "We can't fight our way through that." "This is just like what happened with Jason!"

    Dick snapped. "You let another child die at this monster's hands. And you're telling me you're not doing anything to stop him? What happened to you, Bruce? The man that took me in all those years ago would have done anything to stop Joker. No matter the cost. But you've gone soft."

    Dick's yelling stopped as he remembered what happened. "It's Y/n isn't it. It all makes sense, you stopped taking so many risks when he was born. But here's the deal, you may have been there for your family but what about ours? The Todds? The Cains? The Drakes? The Drake family is dead because you failed to save them. I'm going to stop this madman. He's going right back to Arkham, and he won't escape this time."

    Dick was still wearing his Nightwing suit when he pushed a door open in the manor. It was a large room, the walls were a dark blue and there were shelves of books and toys. In a line on the wall were posters. Batman, Catwoman, Nightwing, Red Hood, Orphan, Batgirl and Robin were the subject of them, each having their own.