𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐄 . . . young justice, robin

OO5. "Earth is more boring than I'd anticipated it to be."

Evil?

Mara never planned on being evil. In fact, she's always had the opposite intention.

Cars rumble on the highway above and a small pebble clutters down by Mara's feet. She picks it up and observes it before crushing it in between her fingers with a mean look. Then she hides her head in her knees with a groan, truthfully wanting to bash her head against concrete.

Swish.

A gentle breeze blows past Mara. She glances up and sees Robin standing above her. His expression is unreadable.

With scrunched eyebrows, Mara looks away from him. "Earth is more boring than I'd anticipated it to be," she murmurs, her words muffled by her knee.

Robin observes her sullen stature and frowns. He kneels down so that she's forced to look at him. "You're just not looking in the right places," he says, urging her forward with a smile. When she doesn't move, he playfully nudges her knee. "C'mon!"

"Fine," Mara grumbles.

.

.

.

"Where are we?" Frustrated, Mara shields her face. "And why is it so bright and loud?"

Robin cups a hand over his ear. "What?!" he shouts back, already wandering away. Deadpanning, Mara skips after him like a lost puppy.

"That's not funny, Robin! I know you heard me!"

Crowds of people rummage the area, blindly tossing Mara every-which-way. She loses sight of Robin. Although she hates to admit it―Mara the almighty warrior―her heart skips a beat. Dogs bark and babies cry. People scream. They also laugh, but to Mara, it only sounds like high-pitched cries for help. This is entirely new terrain and it causes her knees to buckle and almost cave in on themselves. Her bottom jaw trembles as she frantically searches for an escape.

Beaming lights glare down at her, making it feel like she has a target on her back. She tries to recall any of her training that would aid her in this situation. However, she can only remember her father heavily scolding her whenever she'd cower.

Too many people. Too much noise.

She can't focus on anything except for the arrhythmic beating of her heart. Her worst fear starts to come true as she also starts to hear everyone else's heartbeat. She can feel it and it terrifies her that she might accidentally do something to hurt someone.

Upon her birth, she was gifted a great power by the Gods so that if the time ever came, she'd be able to defeat Ares. She can manipulate the very thing that flows through veins; blood. It's very helpful for healing but not for when you're learning everything all over again.

Breathe, Mara, just breathe, is what Harmonia always taught. You're in complete control.

"Mara!"

A hand connects with Mara's.

"Robin!" she gasps, not sure if she should be relieved to see him or furious that he left. "Let's go back to the Cave."

"What? No way," Robin laughs. "You haven't even tried the cotton candy yet."

Ignoring Mara's confused bickering about how cotton can possibly be made into candy, Robin leads her forward. They stop at a neon pink booth with a man wearing a funny hat that Mara oddly side-eyes while Robin orders.