Rising Robin

Chapter XXXVI: Robin

Dick woke up to a sudden knock at his bedroom door. Dick rose up from his sheets, unsure of whether the knocking was part of a dream or not. Dick glanced out towards the window. It was still dark out. He glanced down at his phone & examined the time. It was 5:00 AM.

Dick tried to recall the night before. His head was throbbing. Maybe the knocking was really in his head & not the door. He was drinking last night; Dick knew that much. He was upset over Rachel & Kori & the guys leaving the night before. He drank & wallowed in self-pity. Then...

The caves.

Dick shook his head in the bed. The caves...the computer...the car...the Bat. It was all a dream, wasn't it? The Batman never chased Dick down, right? Dick couldn't tell the memories from his dreams. It all seemed to be one & the same. How much of it was he dreaming?

Dick wiped his face with his hands & took a deep breath. The caves were in Bruce Wayne's office. Bruce Wayne...was the Batman. That much was clear. The Batmobile, the GCPD archives, all of it. Alfred attacking Dick...that was real. Dick ran away in the Batmobile, but the Batman chased him across town. The Batman...Bruce...saved Dick from a few thugs. Bruce killed one of them. At least...Dick thought so. There was a lot of blood.

Bruce ended up explaining to Dick why he had become the Batman. He was trying to protect the city & do what others wouldn't be able to do in order to save the city. He donned the mask in order to provoke a certain fear in criminals...almost like a predator frightening his prey. Dick had asked Bruce to help him become a hero to fight Nolan Drake.

"Dick," Bruce called from the other side of his bedroom door. "Wake up."

Dick groaned. "Okay," he grunted as he rolled out of the bed. "I'm gonna shower."

Bruce opened Dick's door & stepped inside. He was wearing slim joggers & an Under Amour shirt & some black running shoes. Were they Yeezy Ultra Boosts...? "We're running for two hours," Bruce said. "No shower just yet."

That's what Dick's entire day consisted of: running 15 miles from 5:00 AM to 7:00 AM. Bruce & Dick returned home to eat breakfast, & after a short while, they began to train in Bruce's gym. First, they practiced Judo. Bruce wanted Dick to be able to conduct self-defense against a larger opponent. They did this for several hours, & ended with one hour of cardio. The next day was similar. Dick woke up at 5:00 to run, & ate breakfast at 7:00. After breakfast, they changed Judo to Jujitsu for a few hours, then the remaining hour was weight lifting & conditioning. The routine continued regularly for a week, with running 15 miles every morning, training in some martial art form with Bruce, & then either cardio or weight lifting. There was a day in which Dick didn't lift weights or do cardio, but instead, Bruce & Dick did yoga. Dick enjoyed that. He didn't question any of the training. Dick knew it was what he needed to become what the city needed him to be.

On the 8th day, Dick ran up to Bruce in their early morning run. "Do you normally run 15 miles?" Dick asked.

"Yeah," Bruce grunted in between breaths.

Dick nodded, following alongside Bruce down the trail laid out across the property. "What makes you think that this isn't too much for me?"

Bruce smirked. "Because if it was, you would've stopped a week ago."

Dick scoffed. He wasn't wrong. Dick would have given up so long ago. However, he wasn't just any kid. He had pushed himself to his peak strength & skill in combat & acrobatics. He could manage a few jogs in the afternoon.

Dick began to jog backwards beside Bruce. "Wanna race?" he taunted.

Bruce turned to Dick, continuing his jog. "What?"