Robin and the Avengers

A New Threat

Disclaimer: I do not own D.C. or Marvel.

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Batman landed easily on his feet, not fazed by the sudden extreme heat that happened after appearing into this new demention. The heat, he realized, was caused due to his new surroundings and not from the effects of the device. A desert. Great.

With the condition that Dick had been in, he was hoping against everything that he was even still alive. From what he had seen, Dick had been severely beaten. But to what extent, he did not know.

With the calculations he had made from studying the wave frequencies of the device, Dick's location should be about 15 miles south of his current location due to the ascued axis this demention took. In Gotham, that distance would have been trippled, but his realm was much larger compared to this one, so the distance was cut. Which he was extremely greatful for.

He also noted that the time was also different, (not that that should surprise him though, it was an alternate universe after all). While it was nearing midnight in Gotham, here in the desert it seemed to be around eight in the morning. And that realization made his heart clench. If it was already this hot in the early hours of the morning, he feared the temperatures that came during the heat of the day.

Bruce kept a steady pace running through the desert. He was so greatful that his suit had its own filtration system, keeping his body at a happy temperature as if he were standing in a highly air conditioned room at 70 degrees. It allowed him to reach his desired coordinates in no less than an hour. He gingerly looked around for any trace of his son, hoping against all hope that he hadn't been taken again or worse...

He climbed a small sand dune and looked across the horizon, where he saw skortch marks on the more rocky parts of the terrain. He examined them and determined that they originated from a high functioning aircraft. He decided to circle the perimeter surrounding the remnants of the plane in the hopes of finding his son.

A few hundreds yards away from the suspecting aircraft, Batman found bundles of rope. The same grade of rope that Joker was fond of using. The bonds have been cut with a sharp object, most likely a knife and not any sharp stone that Dick might have come across. That was not surprising considering that he also found traces of human activity in the same area. Large footprints and traces of blood were present, and he gathered that the blood must have come from Dick.

Although the thought caused his gut to sink, he still gathered a small sample to test just in case it wasn't. He analyzed the prints and discovered that they consisted of multiple tracks. Six people to be exact. Five men of considerable stature and one woman, if the slight heel in the index was anything to go off of.

He saw no sign of a struggle and there were no drag marks across the terrain. So either Dick was unconscious when they came upon him, or he had gone with them willingly. He really hoped that it was the second. If Dick had decided to go willingly then they were already slightly trustworthy. It took a lot of convincing and proof of good nature for Dick to come to trust anyone. But if he was unconscious, then he wouldn't have had any say in the matter. If that was the case, he hoped that they were good with the intention of helping him.

He continued to trek in hopes of finding traces of where they could have gone off to. But considering the aircraft in question, he had no leads to go off on. The realization angered him. Sure he was in the same demention as his precious son, but he was no closer to finding him than he was not but four hours ago.

He thought about locating the nearest populated area to pick up leads, but that thought was forgotten when a bright glint entered his line of sight. To the south was an approaching aircraft. The aircraft was the same size as the one which had left the burn marks on the rocks. And considering the already odd shape of the marks, this was deffinantly the same ship considering it's same shape.