Worst Case Scenario

Chapter 60: Bottom of the Barrel

Robin groaned. His head was fuzzy and he was kind of confused. After a second or two, the memories flew back to him and his eyes snapped open. Black Adam was standing in front of him, arms crossed. Robin really did not want to have a round two with that guy.

However, it seemed like he wouldn't have to, given that the Boy Wonder was, once again, shackled in a semi-upright position inside what seemed to be yet another Cadmus pod.

Great.

At least Kid Flash was trapped next to him in a similar manner. That was both a blessing and a curse. The good news was that it meant Wally was still alive and that he wasn't frozen again. The bad news, of course, was that he wasn't on the outside in a position to free Robin or escape. They were just going to have to hope that Batman had gotten the message and traced it in time. If not, well, they were pretty much screwed.

Looking further into the room, he could see several other villains standing around as well. Tala was there, eyes glowing red as she smiled wickedly at Robin. Somehow, he suspected that Zatanna wasn't going to be able to help him this time. Sportsmaster was there as well, armed and dangerous. Obviously, someone really didn't want them getting out this time. Also...

"Riddler?" Robin asked. "What on Earth are you doing here?"

"Don't you know, Robby? I'm in the big leagues now. See, my escape from Belle Reve was so impressive that our new friends just had to give me a job. After all, who else would be able to..."

"Nigma..." said Sportsmaster. "If you don't shut up right now, I'm going to shoot you in the leg."

Riddler shut up.

Kid Flash groaned.

"Robin?" Kid Flash asked.

"I'm here" Robin replied. "Another fine mess we're in, aren't we?"

"Indeed, Robin" came a voice. A door opened with an automatic hiss. In rolled the Brain, Monsieur Mallah right behind him. The ape didn't look happy, though he was a gorilla in a hat who worked for a brain in a jar, so that was to be expected.

"I must admit that I am impressed that you two made it this far" Brain said. "Not only did you escape our trap at Cape Chidley, but you two very nearly ruined our plan here as well."

"What plans?" Kid Flash asked.

Brain chuckled. "That is not my place to explain to fools such as yourselves. Much too complicated, you see. I merely wanted to do a biometric scan before my... associate is ready for you."

"Vandal Savage?" Robin guessed.

The Brain chuckled again. "You'll see."

A holoscreen appeared in front of the mastermind as a small sphere scanned Kid Flash.

"Hey, what gives?" the speedster asked.

"My, I do good work" Brain said.

"And by that you mean...?" Robin asked.

"The nanites in your bloodstream, of course. A modified version, devised for speedsters such as yourself. As long as they are active, you will remain at normal human speeds. It wouldn't do to have you run off now, would it?"

"So that's where my speed went!" KF shouted.

"These nanites wouldn't have anything to do the ones used on Zatanna, would they?" Robin asked. "Because I heard those were Ivo's tech, not yours."

"Child, a true genius knows when to give credit to others. Ivo is indeed a master inventor, though he lacks... vision."

"Musta been hard to get him to give you his tech when he's been in Belle Reve for the past few months" Robin said. Kid Flash allowed himself a little grin under the circumstances. Typical Rob. Even in as FUBAR a situation as this one, he was still gathering intel.