Touch Of The Past

Chapter 2

I'm flying. Briefly, I begin to fall, but then I shoot out my grappling line, and with a small strain on my arm, I'm flying back up. I switch lines to continue my movement, weaving between buildings and whipping around at dazzling heights.

I'm alone tonight. Technically, it's patrol. But until I see something worth investigating, there's no point in being serious.

Batman is at a benefit, and I'm only to call if I run into something I can't handle. Or, to be more accurate, something Batman thinks I can't handle. But going this fast, this high, it seems almost impossible that anything could go wrong.

It reminds me of my days in the circus. Which reminds me...

I allow my line to reel me in to the top of one of the highest buildings in Gotham. I grin at the ledge, which juts up an extra three feet from where I stand. With a running start, I perform the amanar vault, rounding off from the ground, back hand springing from the ledge and ending it with several twisting layout backflips into open air.

HA! I can do it without a spring board!

Laughing as I tumble into the air, I ready my line once more, firing it at another building. I reel as I swing, intent on doing another trick. I continue this pattern, simultaneously practicing acrobatic combinations and looking out for crime.

The best part is: people see Robin out and about, they fear the Batman! Crime is prevented just by my appearance.

I swing from another building, grinning madly at how this evening is shaping up to be.

Until my line is cut.

Minor hurdle. I have a back up line for both hooks and several different ways to prevent death by falling. However, if I didn't have those things, I'd've died, which means...

That's a crime. Sigh.

I quickly use my line on another building, switching to another and another just as quickly in case there are others.

Scaling a building beside it, I disappear into the shadows of the darkened windows, creeping along until I can see my assailants.

Their position isn't very tactical, so I'm even more careful about traps. I use my built in lens to zoom where I see shadowy figures. There are two, and they aren't very tall or thick. The more I zoom in, the more grainy the footage gets, and I give up.

Sending a quick "found something" signal to Batman with a low degree of warning, I fall onto the building silently and invisibly, taking cover behind one of the vents.

"-is as good as the newspapers say!"

Male. And young. I use a computer in my glove to analyze the voice.

"You know, which is good!" The results scroll on my display. Around sixteen, accent is Middle American, probably by the Great Lakes. "You know why?" He sounds very sarcastic, and has an undertone of annoyance. "Because you cut his line!"

"Please," snarks a girl voice. She's older, I can tell. Same stats, except her older sounding voice. In just the one word, I can tell she has intelligence. "He couldn't survive four years of this kind of activity without that happening before. Besides, he caught himself."

"You're not very nice like this."

"I'm being logical." I raise an eyebrow under my mask, unimpressed. "You're being a pansy."

Help? The message scrolls across my display from Batman.

No, I reply. Two teens, no special skills. Will request if need be.

"Hol' up, I'm getting something," says the boy. I freeze. Did he hear my typing? No, I typed before and he didn't notice. My breathing? Heartbeat?

"What?" asks the girl breathlessly.

"My app just updated." I release my frozen stance as I hear a resounding slap. "OW! Hey."

"We are on a mission!" she hisses.

"Which we suck at! We don't have our team leader or or most competent member. I couldn't run a mile and you can't even get names right!"

"Yes I can! The heroes of this city are Batman and Batboy." She says it so smugly, I can't help but cackle. They both intake breath, and their feet shuffle, looking for the sound.

"Actually," I state, stepping into their view, "It's Robin."