Short Stories of Any Kind

Lost Hope: A Batman-StarWars Crossover

"Come in Black 5! Respond please!" A young voice calls into the dying radio in his hand. His entire body is shaking in the small claustrophobic hiding space he is stuck in.

"Please answer!" He cries out, sliding down the wall as tears drip down his face. The soft clink of his light saber hitting the floor echoed through the metal cabinet.

A gruff voice finally answers after what seems like hours pass and the young boy can hear pain laced in his Master's voice.

"Red Bird, where are you?"

The young boy smiles widely and answers quickly. "On level 5 hiding in a cabinet. Please Master, hurry. I'm scared."

"Jedi feel no fear my Padawan, I will be there soon Dick." Then the radio is silent again and Dick frowns faintly.

"He never calls me my name when we are on a mission.." Dick whispers quietly and he realizes something is not right with his Master. A dark chill settles on the boy's neck, which makes his hair stand on end. Adding onto the unease he has begun to feel.

He closes his eyes and tries to focus in on the force, trying to search for the light of his Master so he can dissolve the growing fear. But the fear only grows more when all he can sense, even with his weak connection to the force, is darkness. It isn't the usual faint darkness he used to feel from his master, but a pitch black that he has only felt when facing off against the Sith lord Darth Joker earlier in their mission.

"No.." He whispers in shock, not willing to believe the harsh truth of what is happening.

He runs a hand through his hair and quickly leaves the cabinet that was his hiding spot. Sensing his Master getting closer and hearing the footsteps of droids, he jumps into a vent above and quickly crawls in a direction that is away from the droids.

Faintly he hears something that just solidifies the truth he didn't want to accept. "Fan out and find my apprentice! He won't be that hard to spot."

"Bruce..no.." The young boy whispers with tears welling in his eyes. What seems like hours pass and he slowly reaches a dead end in the vents. Shivering from the cold air in the vents and fear he drops down into a janitorial closet; he lands clumsily on a pile of buckets and mops.

"Gah!" Dick winces as his pain shoots up his spine. He whimpers while moving slowly to a standing position.

"I need to find the ship, I need to get out of here!" He whispers to himself urgently then pauses. "But what about Master? I can't just leave him.."

He paces the closet as quietly as he can, arguing with himself in his mind. If someone saw him you'd think he was losing his mind; that he was talking to some voice in his head. "I need to finish the mission.." He finally decides. "I need to blow this ship to oblivion."

Dick opens the door slowly and creeps down the hall towards the main engine of the large cruiser. He knows how limited his time is to do this because his Master will probably have soldiers in the engine room and around their ship.

The doors slide open with a faint whoosh and he is greeted by silence, not a sole is in this engine room. 'They must be preoccupied by the fight happening around the ship, and this also means that Master has not reached this place yet! I still have a chance.'

The young boy rushed down the stairs in front of him to the control panel, knowing this is his only shot due to the explosives having been with his master when they got separated.

"One more button.." Dick mumbles quietly and just as he presses it he feels a freezing cold suddenly surround him.
Quickly the Padawan turns around and sees his master clad in his usual black clothing. To the naked eye one could not see the difference between the man standing before Dick now and the one that stood next to him only a mere thirty minutes ago.