AN: 2 updates in a day? Why not? I'm feeling the writing bug.
"The utility belt is keyed into my touch, the way I move, so Megan before you say anything, shifting into me won't help anything, the only way to override it is if I give someone the alternative access code..." he sighed again,"which just so happens to be my name."
The team stopped what they were doing and stood in shocked silence for a moment, before sending a veritable storm of questions and queries down the mind link at Robin. Megan, halfway across the warehouse to Robin already, almost lost control of her camouflage, at the raw mental power of the single response from Robin,
"SHUT UP!" Everyone immediately stopped panicking and payed attention to the 13/3 year old, depending on how you looked at it. Robin was just about to say something, presumably to finally reveal his secret identity to his team, but Wally interrupted,
"Don't! You know Bats doesn't want you telling them! What if he pulls you off the team for disobeying a direct order? I know who you are, I can put in the code for you!" The sense of hurt echoing from the other 4 team members was palpable, didn't Robin trust them? Why did only Kid Flash know? Had all they had done as a team meant nothing?
Meanwhile Robin was fuming, how could Wally be that stupid? It was bad enough that he wasn't allowed to tell the team who he really was, but to have them singled out like that, like they were somehow unworthy of his trust, while Wally, blather-mouth Wally, was... he knew he would have to fix this and fast, before the team dynamic could be permanently destroyed but betrayal and self-doubt.
"Thanks a lot Kid Mouth, that was really helpful." Robin sneered sarcastically, then turned his attention towards his other teammates. "Look, KF has known me since he became Kid Flash at age 11 and a half, I was 10 at the time and had been Robin for a year already, I had already worked out his identity, so after a few months of earning my trust, I decided it was only fair that he learned mine. Batman found out and was less than impressed, thinking I had judged Wally too quickly, so naturally, when the team was formed 2 and a half years later, he forbade me from telling anyone who I really was until they had earned, not my trust, but his."
Before the team could lapse into confused and shocked silence, something that had happened because of his actions, far too much for Robin's liking, he continued in a very serious voice,
"The fact that Batman has not arrived yet to save the day means one of two things, number one, he has been killed in action and the League is now mourning his life, totally unaware that we are in danger, or number two, which given how he has been acting recently is far more likely, you have earned his trust and he knows I would guess that, allowing us to continue with the plan, defeat the villains and escape." Robin allows the team a count of 3 to digest that, and pretends he doesn't feel the glowing sense of pride and accomplishment emanating from his teammates, for impressing and having earned the trust of the notorious Batman. He mentally cleared his throat and Megan messaged that she had carefully gotten the utility belt and was back with the others, waiting on the code.
"Without further ado, my name is Richard Grayson, a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Kaldur hurriedly typed in the name and following Robin- er Richard's earlier instructions, located the vial labelled 'MR4'. Megan and Superboy, being the only non-defenceless took the vial and crept over to Robin once more. By now Cobra's men had formed a ring around the 2 super villains, guns facing outward. They decided to take the direct approach and started attacking the thugs, M'Gann on the left, sending psychic blasts and Superboy on the right just ploughing his way through. Seeing they were outmatched, the 2 villains surrendered, and handed over the cage with the tiny Robin still inside. The rest of the team vaulted out of the shadows to their incapacitated teammate, and helped Megan administer the cure. Almost immediately Robin's tiny frame started shaking and through the mind link, they could feel Robin shielding them from feeling the experience.
When he was able to breathe easier and sit up, he finally said out loud, "Ouch. I hope I never need to use that on anyone, that hurt..." Only to immediately blush at how high and (in Megan's private opinion) adorable his voice was. Kaldur noticed the wary looks Robin was giving the team and said, "Let's head back, we'll have to get our mentors to work out a cure for this...predicament."
Robin let out his cackle, which did not sound as terrifying as normal, much to his mortification, but said, "No need, hand me the gun that turned us into kids, would you?" Artemis handed it to him, "Asterous! Just like I thought, they used dark matter and pure energy to get this to work, not to mention some of the most complex coding I have ever seen...that was not done by me," he said finishing in a smirk. Robin sun baked in the raised eyebrows of his team for a moment before turning to Wally and saying, "And oh science-genius-best-friend-of-mine, what do you need to destroy dark matter?" he asked archly, as if he already knew the answer and was just waiting on a response.
"Matter," Wally breathed in shock, turning to his best friend, who was nodding. Wally continued, "So we add matter, and you change the coding...And we're back to normal." He immediately ran and got a fallen ceiling beam, wincing at his normal speed the whole time, and returned to find Robin with his hologlove, writing seemingly meaningless lines of letters and numbers, with the team looking over his shoulder wearing masks of confusion. The tense silence was shattered by an excited,"DONE!" from Robin after only 5 minutes. Wally deftly handed over a piece of the wood, the 'matter' needed for this to work. After another pause, punctuated only by Robin occasionally tapping his foot as he worked the redesigned ray gun was ready.
"Who wants to go first?" Wally asked and immediately Robin said,
"Me."
"Why?" Everyone asked.
"Number one because I built the thing and if it malfunctions, which I'm almost certain won't happen, I don't want it to malfunction on any of you, the second reason is because even if it's only for a few fleeting seconds, I want to be the oldest on the team," he finished shyly.
After a little debate, the team agreed and Robin shot the ray at himself, immediately growing to his normal, 13 year old self with no complications, after enjoying the moment for a count of five he handed it to the others and soon everyone was back to normal.
"Let's go," Aqualad said, and the team called the police to pick up the tied up villains and boarded the bioship. A comfortable silence was ended by Wally saying,
"Hey guys, I wonder what Batman will think of us having been kids..."
YOU ARE READING
Younger Justice
FanfictionThe Light, though the heroes don't know that it's them, have developed a ray that makes anyone who steps into it 10 years younger. Originally, it was meant to revitalise the near-middle-aged members of the Light to make them young and strong again...
