Rising Robin

Chapter XXXIII: Extraterrestrial

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Dick stood underneath the shower head & let the warm water run down over his neck & back. He had hoped that the warmth of the water would relax his tense muscles & maybe even heal some of his cuts & bruises from the Iceberg Lounge. He needed something to help him relax. He needed to relax. The night was over. It was all over for the night. Dick was fine. Everyone was fine. Right?

Dick shook his head. He wasn't fine. He had no idea what he was. Nolan Drake turned into a monster. Granted, he had always been a monster, but...he had literally become a monster.

He had fled from the police when they arrived to the nightclub, & Dick gathered the gang to escape from the night club. They exited through the back of the building & circled the block, attempting to sneak their way back to their car. Dick spotted Jim Gordon at the scene. Dick wanted to approach him & tell him that Nolan Drake was there, but hesitated. He couldn't just leave Rachel & Kori & all of them. He needed to stay with them.

As they managed to get back into their Jeep & drive back to Wayne Manor, no one spoke a word. Dick had asked if everyone was fine occasionally. He asked Victor to try & stop by a burger place to pick something up in a drive-thru. Victor said he wasn't hungry. Dick turned back to ask the rest if they were hungry. Even Logan shook his head.

When they arrived to the mansion, Dick offered to make everyone dinner. Everyone shrugged it off & went to their rooms to rest. Dick sighed in disappointment & went into the kitchen anyway. Victor followed behind him. He stood next to Dick as he rummaged through the fridge, looking for something to put in his stomach. Dick found nothing & moved to the pantry, where he found a jar of nutella. Dick grabbed the jar & went to the drawers for a spoon. He sat down on a stool beside the island & began eating spoonfuls of nutella. He turned to Victor. "So..." Dick started. "I need to apologize."

Victor shook his head. He leaned against the island counter with his forearms. "No, man. You were trying to give us a good time, man. There ain't nothing wrong with that."

Dick stuck the spoon into his mouth & licked the nutella off of the metal. He shook his head. "Not if it means putting your lives out in danger."

Victor scoffed. "Dick, we're always in danger. Each & every one of us are prone to rape & murder in this damn town. The only difference is that we can actually defend ourselves."

Dick bit his lip. "Not from whatever the hell we saw tonight."

Victor stared at Dick as he bit into his nutella. "Dick," Victor started, "what DID you see...?"

Dick looked up at Victor. "What did YOU see...?"

Victor waved Dick off. "Brother, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Dick shrugged. "Try me."

Victor looked at Dick, trying to find any trace of sarcasm in his voice. When Victor decided that Dick was genuinely concerned, he sighed, ready to speak. "I saw me trying to kill me."

Dick raised an eyebrow. "Wait, one more time, what?"

Victor grunted. "Aight, like, okay. It was LIKE me. Like another robot, or cyborg, or whatever. But it wasn't me. I knew it was another person. I thought I recognized the guy, but I wasn't sure. But there was another cyborg trying to kill me."

Dick nodded slowly. "A cyborg..."

"Yeah, told you you wouldn't believe me."

Dick shook his head, waving the spoon of nutella up in the air. "No, it's not that. I just expected...something else."