The Medic: Chapter Nine
Title: The Medic
Author: Asase
Rating: PG 13(just to be safe)
Genre: Action, friendship, fluff
Characters: OC, Robin
Summary: Robin and Cira vs. The Scarecrow.
Word Count: 1,998
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or organizations from the Young Justice cartoon, comics, or expanded DC universe.
The Medic: Chapter Nine
Gotham
February 12, 23:15 EDT
This was an astrous idea. Batman would never know that this was planned. That Robin Intended to lead Cira to the exact side of the city suspected to be were the Scarecrow hid. Youthful exuberance, they were simply caught up in a game of tag. Batman knew how competitive his ward could be. Robin was far too busy trying to win the game to notice where they were. They simply stumbled onto the baddies lair. At that point they just couldn’t leave without rescuing the hostages.
Robin decided that Cira was a decent partner. She could protect herself, she kept up with his pace and didn’t get lost when he disappeared. He would never risk a newbie on such an important mission. If she didn’t pan out he would have cancelled his plans. As it were everything turned out better than he expected.
They would, however, have to work on her combat skills, soften her touch. She was obviously taught to go for an opponent’s weak points, it was effective, but she left a lot of broken bodies in her wake. The government may operate under such ruthless standards, but they were supposed to be better than that. They held themselves to a higher standard.
The makeshift lab was housed in an old factory. Robin had to drag Cira away from the hostages in the ‘dungeon’. It wasn’t an easy feat; his attempts to physically move her were ineffective. She complained that she could feel the hostage’s pain. However, in their frenzied state, approaching the hostages now, even to free them, would cause too much of a ruckus. They needed to be quiet in order to capture the Scarecrow. Thankfully reason won out and Cira relented.
The duo hid on a catwalk overlooking the main lab. Rows of aquariums lined the walls. Brightly colored frogs filled them. They were poison dart frogs, mostly found in the Amazon. Cira informed Robin that something was wrong with them; they felt different from the ones she had seen in zoos. Robin assumed that they were modified to release deadlier toxins- a very disturbing notion. He wondered just how far the Scarecrow’s studies wandered beyond psychology.
The Scarecrow inspected the tanks; he extracted a relatively large, bright red frog. The frog almost escaped, slipping against the doctor’s thick gloves. The villain steadied his grip and placed the frog in a tank on his main desk. It fought for space against the yellow and blue frogs already in the tank.
A garage door opened, and a delivery truck entered. Three men hopped out of the front of the truck. Four more appeared from deeper in the factory. They opened the back of the truck, and roughly lead out scared looking people. They were not yet out of their minds with terror like the Scarecrow’s earlier victims, only concerned for their well being. They shuffled along sullenly, chained to each other by their ankles.
Several TV screens flickered to life behind the Doctor. Looking ruffled, he turned from his experiments. His goons looked unsettled as well.
“Dr. Crane.” A deep voice contorted by static called out.
“Gentlemen!” Crane straightened his lab coat. “How nice of you to join us this evening!”
“Cut the pleasantries Doctor.” A second voice spoke. “Is the formula ready?”
Robin pulled up his holo computer and started his video recorder. He would have rather hacked the computers and traced the signal, but from this distance it was impossible.
Cira tapped his shoulder, “Good Idea!” she mouthed and smiled widely, giving him a thumbs up.
Robin grinned in return.
“We have had a few bumps,” Scarecrow continued.
“We have seen those bumps on the news,” a high pitched voice spoke.
“We did not think that it would be necessary to impress upon you the importance of secrecy,” this voice spoke with a French accent.
“The Batman is still on your tail!” a haughty voice reprimanded.
“A minor setback,” Crane waved off their concerns. “We have avoided detection.”
Robin grinned wider; happy in the knowledge that soon Scarecrow would have to eat those words.
“We should hope so,” the voices continued.
“We chose you to ensure that the world fears the Light,” a female voice spoke.
“Failure is not an option,” said the deep voice.
“Failure was never on the table,” the Scarecrow assured them, “The formula is now complete. I have successfully incorporated my toxin with living organisms. You fine gentlemen are in time for the final test!”
Cira panicked and grabbed Robin’s arm. Robin gave her the shush signal.
“A subject if you please Mr. Robinson!” Scarecrow snapped his fingers.
“Right away Doc!” one of the henchmen grabbed a woman from the group of hostages. She struggled vainly against him.
Cira’s grip on Robin’s arm grew tighter. Robin took his gas mask from his utility belt and put it on. Cira quickly followed his lead. The goon strapped the woman to an operating table and then wheeled her to the Scarecrow’s desk.
“Masks!” Scarecrow yelled. His henchmen put on their gas masks. The rest of the hostages huddled closer to each other, sensing trouble, but unable to protect themselves. Scarecrow pulled on his mask, a rotted out sack. He turned and smiled at the screens, the mask making his visage grotesque.
“Safety first, of course!” Scarecrow connected the tank to a machine. He flipped a switch. An electric current shocked the frogs; they croaked and began to excrete the toxin. Cira shut herself off to the frog’s pain. The toxin rolled off their skin and evaporated into the air becoming a yellow-green gas. The Scarecrow connected another machine to the tank. It extracted the gas, and conveniently captured it in a spray can. The Doctor picked up the can and carried it to the woman. She squirmed, bucking against the straps in an unsuccessful escape attempt.
Robin stood suddenly and flung several birdarngs below. They collided with the monitors disabling them. He shot his grapple and swung from the balcony, landing on Scarecrow’s desk, legs spread apart and arms on his hips. He beamed. “End off the line Scarecrow!”
“Blast you! You infernal-” Robin kicked the can out of Scarecrow’s hands. Scarecrow rubbed his hands scowling at the boy. “Where is your partner?” he said the word with a sneer.
Cira swung down, colliding into one of the henchmen taking him out.
“Sorry Crow. No Batman tonight! No hard feelings I hope?”
“He sends his children after me!” Crane raised his fists, ranting and raving in anger. “Unacceptable!”
“Hey!” Cira called from her scuffle. She blocked a blow and grabbed her attackers arm throwing him. “I am not one of his kids!”
“But you are wearing his symbol,” Scarecrow said irritably.
“Actually boss, she’s too big to be a kid.” One of the henchmen provided.
“No one asked you!” Cira turned her attention to the man. He would be her next target.
Robin tapped his foot on the table. “So you gonna tell me about your friends?”
“Forget the girl! Get Robin!” Scarecrow ordered.
Two of the henchmen split off. They charged, trying to grab Robin from the table. He dodged them, leaping nimbly into the air and off the table. The henchmen knocked over several vials in their attempt at capture, creating a chemical reaction that spawned a large cloud of smoke. The cloud expanded, covering the room in gray smog. Amidst the confusion the Scarecrow ran, Robin noticed the fleeing villain and followed.
Robin trailed the doctor through the boiler room. The pipes rattled and spewed hot water and steam. A pair of metal globes rolled towards him. Robin raised his arms to protect himself as they opened. It was just more smoke, possibly filled with Scarecrow’s toxin, rendered useless by Robin’s mask.
“You think I’m all talk don’t you...” Scarecrow’s voice resonated within the space bouncing off the pipes. Robin glanced around looking for the voice’s source. A blow came from the right, too fast for Robin to block.
“They all do!” Another blow from the left, colliding with Robin’s arm.
“Well I’ll show them!” Another from the right, it was a feint; moving Robin where Crane wished. The real attack came from above. Robin had heard of this, the Scarecrow’s ‘violent dancing’. Batman had mentioned it in one of the rare moments he spoke of his past.
“I’ll show you too!” The last blow brought Robin to his knees. He stopped fighting, stopped trying to guess the villain’s movements, and decided to listen.
“All of you will learn the true meaning of fear!” Scarecrow’s voice screeched in Robin’s ears. The Boy Wonder grabbed Scarecrow by his shirt and tossed him. As the smoke dissipated, Robin stood over the villain victorious.
The Scarecrow stripped off his mask, panting for air. “You have a choice Boy Wonder. You can take me in, or you can rescue the hostages and your big friend.” The Scarecrow raised his arm revealing a digital timer.
A bomb, Robin thought. There is always a bomb! Why didn’t I sweep the building first? Stupid! Robin grabbed Scarecrow by the collar in his frustration; he took a deep breath then dropped the villain. The boy rushed back towards the heart of the factory, the Scarecrow cackling after him. Robin would rescue the hostages within the Scarecrow’s dungeon. He would have to leave the individuals in the main lab to Cira.
“We’ve got to go! Get your friends in the truck!” Cira yelled at the two henchmen that remained standing. “This place is gonna blow in five minutes!”
“There is no way we are gonna fall for that,” one of the goons replied.
“You work for a super villain and you didn’t know that you’re expendable?” Cira asked, exasperated. “He can’t be paying you that much! Robin said that he planted a bomb. He probably has all of his research memorized, so he doesn’t need the lab, or you. Now Go!”
The men hesitated.
“Everyone get in the back of the truck!” Cira ordered, turning to the hostages.
The hostages didn’t need to be told repeatedly. Still in their chains, they hobbled into the back of the truck. Cira left the battle to finally release the young woman from Scarecrow’s table. The woman thanked Cira and ran to the truck.
The remaining henchmen began to grab their fellows with Cira’s help. Once everyone was in the truck, Cira manually opened the garage door, and watched as the truck drove from the factory and towards safety. She checked the time. One minute and thirty seconds left. Cira rushed back to Scarecrow’s table and disconnected the aquarium from its machines. Luckily the frogs were still in good health. She tucked the tank under her right arm.
She pressed the comlink in her ear with her left hand, “Robin, how’s it going?”
“Almost out. Boo! Rar! You?” Robin responded.
“What are you doing?” She trotted towards the exit.
“These people are too spooked to leave on their own. Gaaaah! So, I’m making them run.”
Cira could hear terrified screams over the comlink. “I would pay good money to see that… The truck with the hostages is outside.”
“Good. Ooga Booga! The G.C.P.D. should already be here.”
“By the way. What’s the Batcave’s pet policy?”
“What?”
“I got us a few friends.”
“Batman can reverse engineer the toxin! I said get!”
“I’m goin’! I’m goin’!”
“No! Not you! I mean of course get out now there’s a bomb,” the boy rambled.
“Robin!”
“Okay! Okay! Meet you outside!”
True to form the bomb detonated seconds after every one made it to safety. The Gotham Police Department and several ambulances waited outside. So did Batman. He spoke with Commissioner Gordon in a corner. He did not look pleased. Cira left the frogs with Robin, ruffling his hair to assure him. Despite earlier bravado the boy looked nervous. She wondered over to the ambulances to see what she could do to help. Batman couldn’t be that angry, Right?
Chapter Eight
Chapter Ten
Author: Asase
Rating: PG 13(just to be safe)
Genre: Action, friendship, fluff
Characters: OC, Robin
Summary: Robin and Cira vs. The Scarecrow.
Word Count: 1,998
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or organizations from the Young Justice cartoon, comics, or expanded DC universe.
The Medic: Chapter Nine
Gotham
February 12, 23:15 EDT
This was an astrous idea. Batman would never know that this was planned. That Robin Intended to lead Cira to the exact side of the city suspected to be were the Scarecrow hid. Youthful exuberance, they were simply caught up in a game of tag. Batman knew how competitive his ward could be. Robin was far too busy trying to win the game to notice where they were. They simply stumbled onto the baddies lair. At that point they just couldn’t leave without rescuing the hostages.
Robin decided that Cira was a decent partner. She could protect herself, she kept up with his pace and didn’t get lost when he disappeared. He would never risk a newbie on such an important mission. If she didn’t pan out he would have cancelled his plans. As it were everything turned out better than he expected.
They would, however, have to work on her combat skills, soften her touch. She was obviously taught to go for an opponent’s weak points, it was effective, but she left a lot of broken bodies in her wake. The government may operate under such ruthless standards, but they were supposed to be better than that. They held themselves to a higher standard.
The makeshift lab was housed in an old factory. Robin had to drag Cira away from the hostages in the ‘dungeon’. It wasn’t an easy feat; his attempts to physically move her were ineffective. She complained that she could feel the hostage’s pain. However, in their frenzied state, approaching the hostages now, even to free them, would cause too much of a ruckus. They needed to be quiet in order to capture the Scarecrow. Thankfully reason won out and Cira relented.
The duo hid on a catwalk overlooking the main lab. Rows of aquariums lined the walls. Brightly colored frogs filled them. They were poison dart frogs, mostly found in the Amazon. Cira informed Robin that something was wrong with them; they felt different from the ones she had seen in zoos. Robin assumed that they were modified to release deadlier toxins- a very disturbing notion. He wondered just how far the Scarecrow’s studies wandered beyond psychology.
The Scarecrow inspected the tanks; he extracted a relatively large, bright red frog. The frog almost escaped, slipping against the doctor’s thick gloves. The villain steadied his grip and placed the frog in a tank on his main desk. It fought for space against the yellow and blue frogs already in the tank.
A garage door opened, and a delivery truck entered. Three men hopped out of the front of the truck. Four more appeared from deeper in the factory. They opened the back of the truck, and roughly lead out scared looking people. They were not yet out of their minds with terror like the Scarecrow’s earlier victims, only concerned for their well being. They shuffled along sullenly, chained to each other by their ankles.
Several TV screens flickered to life behind the Doctor. Looking ruffled, he turned from his experiments. His goons looked unsettled as well.
“Dr. Crane.” A deep voice contorted by static called out.
“Gentlemen!” Crane straightened his lab coat. “How nice of you to join us this evening!”
“Cut the pleasantries Doctor.” A second voice spoke. “Is the formula ready?”
Robin pulled up his holo computer and started his video recorder. He would have rather hacked the computers and traced the signal, but from this distance it was impossible.
Cira tapped his shoulder, “Good Idea!” she mouthed and smiled widely, giving him a thumbs up.
Robin grinned in return.
“We have had a few bumps,” Scarecrow continued.
“We have seen those bumps on the news,” a high pitched voice spoke.
“We did not think that it would be necessary to impress upon you the importance of secrecy,” this voice spoke with a French accent.
“The Batman is still on your tail!” a haughty voice reprimanded.
“A minor setback,” Crane waved off their concerns. “We have avoided detection.”
Robin grinned wider; happy in the knowledge that soon Scarecrow would have to eat those words.
“We should hope so,” the voices continued.
“We chose you to ensure that the world fears the Light,” a female voice spoke.
“Failure is not an option,” said the deep voice.
“Failure was never on the table,” the Scarecrow assured them, “The formula is now complete. I have successfully incorporated my toxin with living organisms. You fine gentlemen are in time for the final test!”
Cira panicked and grabbed Robin’s arm. Robin gave her the shush signal.
“A subject if you please Mr. Robinson!” Scarecrow snapped his fingers.
“Right away Doc!” one of the henchmen grabbed a woman from the group of hostages. She struggled vainly against him.
Cira’s grip on Robin’s arm grew tighter. Robin took his gas mask from his utility belt and put it on. Cira quickly followed his lead. The goon strapped the woman to an operating table and then wheeled her to the Scarecrow’s desk.
“Masks!” Scarecrow yelled. His henchmen put on their gas masks. The rest of the hostages huddled closer to each other, sensing trouble, but unable to protect themselves. Scarecrow pulled on his mask, a rotted out sack. He turned and smiled at the screens, the mask making his visage grotesque.
“Safety first, of course!” Scarecrow connected the tank to a machine. He flipped a switch. An electric current shocked the frogs; they croaked and began to excrete the toxin. Cira shut herself off to the frog’s pain. The toxin rolled off their skin and evaporated into the air becoming a yellow-green gas. The Scarecrow connected another machine to the tank. It extracted the gas, and conveniently captured it in a spray can. The Doctor picked up the can and carried it to the woman. She squirmed, bucking against the straps in an unsuccessful escape attempt.
Robin stood suddenly and flung several birdarngs below. They collided with the monitors disabling them. He shot his grapple and swung from the balcony, landing on Scarecrow’s desk, legs spread apart and arms on his hips. He beamed. “End off the line Scarecrow!”
“Blast you! You infernal-” Robin kicked the can out of Scarecrow’s hands. Scarecrow rubbed his hands scowling at the boy. “Where is your partner?” he said the word with a sneer.
Cira swung down, colliding into one of the henchmen taking him out.
“Sorry Crow. No Batman tonight! No hard feelings I hope?”
“He sends his children after me!” Crane raised his fists, ranting and raving in anger. “Unacceptable!”
“Hey!” Cira called from her scuffle. She blocked a blow and grabbed her attackers arm throwing him. “I am not one of his kids!”
“But you are wearing his symbol,” Scarecrow said irritably.
“Actually boss, she’s too big to be a kid.” One of the henchmen provided.
“No one asked you!” Cira turned her attention to the man. He would be her next target.
Robin tapped his foot on the table. “So you gonna tell me about your friends?”
“Forget the girl! Get Robin!” Scarecrow ordered.
Two of the henchmen split off. They charged, trying to grab Robin from the table. He dodged them, leaping nimbly into the air and off the table. The henchmen knocked over several vials in their attempt at capture, creating a chemical reaction that spawned a large cloud of smoke. The cloud expanded, covering the room in gray smog. Amidst the confusion the Scarecrow ran, Robin noticed the fleeing villain and followed.
Robin trailed the doctor through the boiler room. The pipes rattled and spewed hot water and steam. A pair of metal globes rolled towards him. Robin raised his arms to protect himself as they opened. It was just more smoke, possibly filled with Scarecrow’s toxin, rendered useless by Robin’s mask.
“You think I’m all talk don’t you...” Scarecrow’s voice resonated within the space bouncing off the pipes. Robin glanced around looking for the voice’s source. A blow came from the right, too fast for Robin to block.
“They all do!” Another blow from the left, colliding with Robin’s arm.
“Well I’ll show them!” Another from the right, it was a feint; moving Robin where Crane wished. The real attack came from above. Robin had heard of this, the Scarecrow’s ‘violent dancing’. Batman had mentioned it in one of the rare moments he spoke of his past.
“I’ll show you too!” The last blow brought Robin to his knees. He stopped fighting, stopped trying to guess the villain’s movements, and decided to listen.
“All of you will learn the true meaning of fear!” Scarecrow’s voice screeched in Robin’s ears. The Boy Wonder grabbed Scarecrow by his shirt and tossed him. As the smoke dissipated, Robin stood over the villain victorious.
The Scarecrow stripped off his mask, panting for air. “You have a choice Boy Wonder. You can take me in, or you can rescue the hostages and your big friend.” The Scarecrow raised his arm revealing a digital timer.
A bomb, Robin thought. There is always a bomb! Why didn’t I sweep the building first? Stupid! Robin grabbed Scarecrow by the collar in his frustration; he took a deep breath then dropped the villain. The boy rushed back towards the heart of the factory, the Scarecrow cackling after him. Robin would rescue the hostages within the Scarecrow’s dungeon. He would have to leave the individuals in the main lab to Cira.
“We’ve got to go! Get your friends in the truck!” Cira yelled at the two henchmen that remained standing. “This place is gonna blow in five minutes!”
“There is no way we are gonna fall for that,” one of the goons replied.
“You work for a super villain and you didn’t know that you’re expendable?” Cira asked, exasperated. “He can’t be paying you that much! Robin said that he planted a bomb. He probably has all of his research memorized, so he doesn’t need the lab, or you. Now Go!”
The men hesitated.
“Everyone get in the back of the truck!” Cira ordered, turning to the hostages.
The hostages didn’t need to be told repeatedly. Still in their chains, they hobbled into the back of the truck. Cira left the battle to finally release the young woman from Scarecrow’s table. The woman thanked Cira and ran to the truck.
The remaining henchmen began to grab their fellows with Cira’s help. Once everyone was in the truck, Cira manually opened the garage door, and watched as the truck drove from the factory and towards safety. She checked the time. One minute and thirty seconds left. Cira rushed back to Scarecrow’s table and disconnected the aquarium from its machines. Luckily the frogs were still in good health. She tucked the tank under her right arm.
She pressed the comlink in her ear with her left hand, “Robin, how’s it going?”
“Almost out. Boo! Rar! You?” Robin responded.
“What are you doing?” She trotted towards the exit.
“These people are too spooked to leave on their own. Gaaaah! So, I’m making them run.”
Cira could hear terrified screams over the comlink. “I would pay good money to see that… The truck with the hostages is outside.”
“Good. Ooga Booga! The G.C.P.D. should already be here.”
“By the way. What’s the Batcave’s pet policy?”
“What?”
“I got us a few friends.”
“Batman can reverse engineer the toxin! I said get!”
“I’m goin’! I’m goin’!”
“No! Not you! I mean of course get out now there’s a bomb,” the boy rambled.
“Robin!”
“Okay! Okay! Meet you outside!”
True to form the bomb detonated seconds after every one made it to safety. The Gotham Police Department and several ambulances waited outside. So did Batman. He spoke with Commissioner Gordon in a corner. He did not look pleased. Cira left the frogs with Robin, ruffling his hair to assure him. Despite earlier bravado the boy looked nervous. She wondered over to the ambulances to see what she could do to help. Batman couldn’t be that angry, Right?
Chapter Eight
Chapter Ten