Under The Blue Hood (Discontinued)

Chapter One: Late

A

L

xXx

A part of Robin was aware of the sick snapping and crunching noises that filled the air, the metallic taste of his own blood in his mouth, and the blurry image of the pale man in purple that stood before him, grinning viciously at his misery . He knew that the clown was hurting him, destroying him even, but he had distanced himself from that. It was easily to let his mind drift away from the pain (it hurts so much, please stop, please) and rehearse all of the ways he would have to apologize to his mentor when he would save him. Batman would tell him that he should have known better than to chase after the Joker on his own. He would probably take away his mask for a few weeks, maybe even months. And while Alfred was stitching him up, he would punch a wall, and scream at him for putting his life on the line for something so stupid, and then he would quietly tell him that he needs him, and that he never wanted to see him this injured again.

He didn't care how bad the lecture was going to be, or how long he would be grounded for, all that mattered was that Bruce was going to get him out. The pain would stop, he would be far away from this twisted maniac, and he would look back at it in five years and consider it a life lesson. He would never ever go after one of Gotham's top villain's alone again, at least not until Batman deemed he was ready for it. And he obviously wasn't ready now, or else he wouldn't be stuck here, waiting to be rescued.

What was taking him so long, anyways?

A sudden jab at his rib cage made him snapped him out of his trance and made him gasp out loud. Joker heard this, and grinned victoriously, obviously pleased to have grabbed his attention again. "Whoa now, hang on. That looked like it hurt a lot more. So, let's clear this up: what hurts more? A," he slammed the crowbar into his battered body, making him jerk back. He bit his tongue to keep himself from screaming out, and fresh blood began to pour onto his taste buds. "Or B?" Joker repeated the same action, but aimed it at his collarbone, getting a similar response.

Robin had been going through the same kind of torture for hours now, and it was starting to look like it wasn't ever going to end. His body hurt so much that it took every ounce of his willpower not to scream, to not give in to the agony. He was trained better than this. He was strong, he wasn't going to give up so easily. All he had to do was hold out until Batman rescued him. He had to be on his way.

"Tsk tsk, zoning out? Where are your manners?!" Joker knelt down and got in his face, apparently unhappy with the lack of attention. "I'll have to teach you a thing or two. When I'm done with you, you'll make your old man so proud!"

"Screw... You..." He said with a gasp, giving him the strongest glare he could manage. Which wasn't much, considering every movement made his entire body burn. But he was trying to make a point, letting Joker know that he was far from broken.

His hidden message earned a raised eyebrow. "Ohh, you are one tough cookie. Still have some fight in you, hm? Let me fix that for you." He raised the crowbar again, and Robin reluctantly shut his eyes, preparing himself for the onslaught of pain that was sure to come.

The next few minutes were a blur of broken bones and bruises, and Robin slipped in and out of unconsciousness several times. "Batman..." he coughed, and blood flew out of his mouth, which was a sign that he was bleeding internally. That wasn't a good thing, but it wasn't anything that Leslie Thompkins couldn't fix. God, she was going to give Bruce such a hard time for letting him get mixed up with the Joker. And once she found out Robin had ran off to face him alone, it would be her turn to lecture him.

Joker tapped his cheek with his crowbar. "I wouldn't put all of my hopes on him if I were you. By the time he gets here, you and I will be long gone." It took Robin a second to realize he was talking about the fact that he accidentally said his mentor's name out loud. And it took even longer for him to process what Joker had said in response.