Prism (An X-Men and Young Justice Crossover)

Chapter 7: A Very Angry Batman

Prism's P.O.V

I waited for at least five minutes in complete silence. I can deal with silence, but I cannot deal with awkward silence. No one wanted to talk, almost as if they didn't like me. I can't imagine why they wouldn't, though.

"We're still waiting!" I called over to Robin as he listened intently to his radio. He stiffened but gave me no further reaction. Artemis scoffed almost as if she was trying to suppress a laugh.

"See! I knew you liked me," I continued talking, "most people do."

"Do you ever shut up?" Robin asked, finally finished talking to the Bat.

"Why? Does it drive you batty?"

"Are you kidding me? We could-" before Batboy could continue, I spoke up.

"I thought it was very clear that I was kidding you."

"Can't you take anything seriously?!"

"I try not to," I said losing my joking demeanor, "Being serious only causes stress and increases the pressure on you to do the job right the first time. At least it does in my line of work."

"Was it 'pressure' that caused you to use those explosives the other night? Or perhaps you just wanted to do it for fun?"

Tension was thick as we stared at each other. He was testing me. I had no doubt that in a fight, though, that I would win. He was a scrawny, thirteen year old boy. The thought made it difficult to restrain myself.

"Robin!" the one with gills interceded before things escalated,"What are our orders?"

"Take her back to the cave. Batman will deal with her personally," Robin said, never taking his eyes off of me.

"We'll need to blindfold her," the one with the 's' shirt said.

"I already know where the Batcave is," I spoke up.

"We're not going to the Batcave," Robin said.

So they blindfolded me, though I didn't go down without a fight. After a lot of sarcastic comments and several attempts to run away, two of them restrained me and put me on the back of someone's bike (they did suggest however, that I should have a gag. Gill-boy had vetoed the idea). We drove...and drove...and drove. It took hours to reach 'the cave'.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Later~~~~~~~~~

After finally reaching our destination, I was helped off the motorcycle. I was led blindly through the place we were in. My boots clacked against the ground with every step. The room was so quiet, I could hear the echoes. We reached the center of the room and Artemis untied the blindfold. My gaze was met by a very angry Batman's glare.

"We need to talk in private," he said, but the team hesitated to leave, "Now." The entire team, except Robin, left.

Glaring at Robin, I said, "Don't you know what private means? Get lost, Bird!" I had no desire for Robin to see my downfall, nor did I have the patience to deal with his mere presence.

Robin opened his mouth to retort, but Batman said, "Robin, I need to talk with her exclusively. Your presence will only aggravate her further. Would you leave us, please?" Batman used the word please? Really? Why wasn't he trying to keep up his image? Robin looked taken aback and tried to interject but a stern look from Batman stopped him. He tensed and walked away. I must have visibly relaxed when he left because Batman gave me a questioning look (or as questioning as he can look having only the one expression). I also forgot to mention that Batman had no cape.

"What do you want?" I said quietly. My anger at Wonder Boy had dissipated when he left. I was tired and didn't have the energy to hold a grudge (currently).

"Give it back," he said.

"You're  a billionaire. You made your team go after me just to get your cape back?" I said this as I dug into the old bag and threw him the cape. He said nothing as he caught the cape. He looked at me a bit, as if he was trying to determine my skill level in combat. I shifted under the weight of his stare.

"Come with me," he said at last.

He led me away from the room. We walked into a completely different room. It had a circular platform that literally glowed white. Batman walked on it. He motioned for me to do so as well. I did. He took a fighting stance and I immediately understood what he was doing.

He was testing me. Seeing what I could do and trying to determine if I was a threat. I gulped, suddenly afraid. I was not strong when it came to offense. As my powers relied heavily on defense and my S.H.I.E.L.D. training was still very limited, I depended on the ability to disappear from view. I couldn't do that in the open space of this cave, not to mention that the floor was lit up!

"This is going to hurt," I muttered. I got into a defensive stance.

We waited for the other to make the first move. I certainly wasn't going to start a fight this time.

"Sooo.... Who goes first? Do I go first?" I asked, trying to release the tension. Not the tension between us. The tension in my body.

He made the first move. He kicked, I tried to defend and landed on the floor. I sat up and saw that the floor read: FAIL.

"Is that necessary?" I asked. He didn't answer. Instead, he launched another attack at me. This time, I managed to block.

"Ha!" I said triumphantly. Then, he kicked my legs out from underneath me. Again the floor read: FAIL.

"That's it! I am soooo done." Getting up, I turned to walk away. As I did, I saw Batman's little team watching. My cheeks flushed with embarrassment. They had seen me fail. I saw the Boy Wonder smirking. He had been holding back on me the night we fought even before we had discussed breaking out!

I brushed past him. I didn't want to hear it right now. I knew my skills were weak, but he didn't have to rub it in. There was no way I was going to stay here any longer. I started walking out of the room.

"Stop," Batman's voice was commanding. I stopped in my path.

"What? Do you wish to embarrass me further?" came my reply. I was done with Batman, with Robin, and with this entire team. I was alone in a new dimension with people who would sooner lock me in jail than help me get home. Even though I wouldn't admit it, I was afraid.

"No. You're not leaving. You are staying here so that I can keep an eye on you."

"And that would be a good idea because...?"

"You're dangerous."

"You just pounded me into the ground."

"You can camouflage. We don't know what you're going to do. This matter will no longer be discussed. You are staying."

"No, I'm not. You can't make me do anything. I'm going home."

"Isabelle."

At this point it crossed my mind momentarily that Batman had a very advance computer in the Batcave. He had more resources available to him. And lastly, he would serve better as an ally than an enemy.

"Fine," I said glaring at him.

"Come with me," he said. I followed him to a new room. In the wall was a portal looking thing. He started it up and told me to walk through. The next second, I found myself in Wayne Manor.