LIGHTNING ✔P.M. ₁

chapter forty-three

WEEKS WENT BY with no development. The Avengers, demigods and other parties couldn't find Robin. Even the son of Zeus himself didn't know where he was. Almost a month ago, after the car chase, Robin woke up in find himself chained to a wall in a dark cell. It was cold, and it didn't help that Robin was wearing a tattered short sleeve shirt. Every day, he would have to endure terrible singing from Asteroid while he worked on Zeus-knows-what. Either that or the loud sound of craftsmanship. Then he had to endure low nutrient meals, only one per day, if at all. Occasionally he would have to go through the taunting and physical assault of the Jendaks and monsters Archie had recruited from Tartarus, but he was kept alive.

Whips, claws, swords, whatever these monsters could get their hands on, they would use. Robin could hardly get a break. This had been going on for what felt like years. It couldn't have been more than a month, in reality. His body was littered in fresh scars. The wounds these monsters had caused went deep, but not deep enough to cause anything more than a permanent scar.

Present time, Robin was sitting against the wall, his arms bound up above him. He felt weaker than ever. His head was down, but if you could see it, you would flinch at the sight. In fact, his entire body was a mess. He was bloody and bruised, in overall terrible shape. He knew he had broken bones, but he couldn't do anything about it. At this point, he wished he was put out of his misery. The only thing keeping him going was the thought of his friends and family.

Footsteps approached, but Robin couldn't lift his head up to see who it was, though he had a good idea. A chuckle came from above him.

"Oh, this is just perfect. An Avenger, good as dead." Asteroid kicked the boy's side. "A demigod, son of Zeus, was it? With little to no life left in him." He unlocked the chains, letting Robin's body fall to the floor. He laughed. "At least you'll get to die on the floor. Position yourself however you'd like. Your death will be slow and painful, like what you put the earth through," He spat, and left without locking the cell door.

For a moment, Robin didn't move. Then, slowly, he pulled himself to his feet. He let out an aggressive cough. He had to get out of there. The only problem was, he had no idea where there even was.

He leaned against the cell bars, gripping onto them tightly in an effort to keep himself upright. His knees buckled, but he pushed through. He gathered his strength, anything to escape. He looked around, and his eyes quickly landed on an exit. It would be narrow, and he had no idea what was on the other side, but he decided to risk it.

He slowly made his way over, clutching his side. He sped up when he heard Asteroid coming after him, yelling orders and profanities. He was at the small exit, only just enough room for him to fit through. He look out. A long drop, straight down into a small pond. Who knew how deep it was. A waterfall fell into it slightly under the ledge he was on.

Robin glanced behind him, seeing the man who held him captive all that time running over to him. Taking a deep breath, he stepped off, and fell. He didn't have the strength to fly off. There was no way he could do it in time, not in this state. He prayed to Poseidon that he'd help him out, despite him having his differences with Zeus.

Asteroid watched the boy fall, chuckling. There was no way he'd survive. He saw his body sink down into the water, and after two minutes of waiting for him to come up, he left. There was no way Robin could've survived that.

He went back to his army. He had been working on some armour for them, and it was finally ready. He let them all equip themselves, watching with a proud smirk. Soon, Earth would be it's own again. No pesky humans, or demigods, or gods, or anything. Just nature, and wildlife.

He would, of course, have to kill off his entire army, but they didn't have to know that yet. For now, he had to focus on destroying the human race. For that, he had to get the Avengers out of the way for the moment before he could deal with them, personally. His smirk widened as an idea came to his mind.

Using a device he made, he broadcasted himself to their screens, and anything they had at the compound that was tech related, which was a lot, seeing as Stark funded it.

"Avengers!" He greeted, the unsettling look back on his face. His cyborg eye was glowing red. "I have killed your good friend Robin, the annoying brat put up quite the fight," He said with a chuckle, imagining their crestfallen faces and the tears they're probably crying.

"Now that he's out of the way, my army will be practically unstoppable!" He laughed the stereotypical villain laugh and cut the transmission.

Meanwhile, the Avengers were still trying to process the news. It made sense that it would have taken this long for Asteroid to actually kill Robin. The boy didn't give up without a fight. They were all quiet. Thor had returned by now, and brought his brother with him.

Wanda was sobbing into Vision shoulder, who also looked upset. Pietro was hiding his face in his hands, sitting on the couch. They were all spread out, so some had no one to comfort them.

Sam was in his room, tears streaming down his face. This had to be a lie. He had known Robin for almost a year, and he had grown really attached.

Clint had hidden himself in the vents after hearing the news, and Natasha even joined him. After a while, Robin actually started to seem like a fun guy.

Steve was just trying to process this, alone in the training room while he beat up a punching bag or three.

Tony and Bruce were working away their feelings in the lab, trying to come up with a way to avenge the boy and defeat this Asteroid and his army of monsters with a dumb name.

Loki was trying his best to comfort his brother as Thor sat in the kitchen, eating poptarts as comfort food.

They were a mess now, but not for long. They would save the world and avenge their friend, no matter what. They weren't called the Avengers for nothing.