So is the night

The collision

He got out of the vent through the first grid he found, launching himself in a four meters long fall without having a proper look of the room. He wasn't sure where it led him, he didn't mind anyways. It was becoming hard to focus, and Dick didn't know if it was because of the migraine or because he had no clue what was going on or because the duct was so narrow. He needed space to ground himself, but once he left the security of the ventilation duct, even before landing, he heard the footsteps of a lot of people. "The team is coming this way," he sighed mentally as he reached his feet. "I need to hurry".

But that last thought died being just that, a thought, because he was paralyzed the second after seeing what was in the room with him. It could have been a weapon, any of the teens who were chasing him, Nightwing, even the Joker, and he would be surprised, but fine overall. The tall, imposing and blue silhouette of Artemis was a shot right to his lungs. It was a hologram, one of the kind the League used to commemorate the fallen heroes, but the presence of one in the Mountain didn't make sense. Moreover, the existence of a hologram with Artemis figure didn't make any sense. Those were for dead people, and Artemis wasn't dead.

Wasn't she?

From a moment to the next, the persecution didn't matter anymore, he just wanted to leave that room, throw the vent or the door, he didn't care if he run straight towards the menace, he just wanted to stop thinking about the implications of said hologram. Nevertheless, Robin wasn't able to stop looking at her, so he backed off, fast at first, afraid of his existence. The only thing capable of snatching him from the stupefaction was another hologram next to the archer's one, where he was able, one more time, to recognize his uniform. 

For a second, he thought it was him, but rapidly realized it wasn't. It was yet another boy who carried Robin's symbol over his heart. Next to him, Dick recognized an atlantan girl, and next to her was another hero. Then, he started to slow down, half shocked and half sick, because a part of him wanted to run away without looking back never again, and the other part was dying to go hug her friend's hologram. The air was becoming thick, just like the night when the rope that held his parent's life was cut. Breathing became harder with each passing second.

Unfortunately, when he finally decided to turn and run, his face and whole body were stamped against another body. Robin stumbled back and faced Nightwing, disbelief filling his masked eyes.

"Robin, I need you to stay calm," he said.

And Robin freaked out. The whole team was standing there, on the door frame, looking at him, waiting the instructions to assault him. Conner and M'gann were standing by Nightwing's side this time, in the front of everybody else. Next to the exit, behind all of them, Dick recognized Wally, a much older an apparently serious Wally West. They were contemplating how he backed off, and even though he may have heard Conner saying out loud something about his pulse, Robin wasn't able to truly listen. 

"Can we talk about this? Like civilized people?" 

Nightwing found it a weird thing to ask while the only thing on his mind was screaming and crying and make this kid disappear. 

"This?" was the only thing Dick was able of registering. "This... this must be fake."

The dead of Artemis was something only belonged to the world of lies and illusions. She promised she wouldn't die, she swore it after the mental training simulation. It took time, he had to admit it, but it was the best explanation he could came up with. Better than the time traveling and the dimension traveling, and the intruders and everything. He remembered being training, that must be it.

"This must be a simulation, or a hallucination maybe, even a spell."

"I can assure you, Robin, this is pretty real."