Crimson Flood

Prologue

"It's going to be okay."

"No it's not. We've been captured, Rob. The entire Team has been captured. Miss M and Superboy have been unconscious for over an hour, and Aqualad is going to be too if we don't get him out of here. It's too hot for him. I'm out of fuel too... they took my backup snacks." Kid Flash protested, fear shining in his eyes as he glanced around their grimy cell at the unconscious and injured bodies of their friends.

Artemis sighed, rubbing her shoulder where her quiver normally rested. "And they took our weapons. We're useless without them, no powers, remember?"

"We don't need powers. We just need to be smart." Robin insisted, fingers working quickly as he pulled what looked like wire from the bottom of his cape. "I can pick the lock. We just... we just need to get high enough to the surface to get a signal. Then we can let Batman and the League handle the rest."

He spoke softly, voice barely above a whisper as he glanced around the room before inching closer to the cell door.

They were in a large metal cage, the bars thicker than Robin's arm and close enough together that slipping out between would be impossible, even for him. Fortunately, the bars did give them a pretty great view of the room, and, considering that it seemed to be the largest room in the maze of underground tunnels that they had found themselves trapped in, it was easy to see if anyone entered.

This could work.

Unfortunately, his conscious teammates did not seem as positive.

"Robin, no one is going to be able to make it that far. KF is out of fuel, Miss M is down for the count, and you're injured. That's all of our stealth people down for the count." Aqualad croaked from his position slumped against the bars on the far side of the cage, barely hanging onto consciousness in the overwhelming heat of the cavern.

Artemis gave Aqualad a concerned glance before nodding and returning her attention to Robin. "It's too risky. I'm the only one who's not injured enough to do it, and even I know that I'm not going to be able to make it."

"I can do it. I'm not that injured." Robin protested, looking to Kid Flash for support.

The redhead simply sighed, glancing over at their unconscious friends. "If Robin says he can do it, he can do it."

"Great. Now that that's settled, can you guys keep an eye out? I gotta pick the lock."

With begrudging agreements, Artemis and Aqualad turned their focuses to different sides of the room, Kid Flash taking up a position next to Robin, eyes narrowed at the main entrance. Robin began twisting and turning the wire, his entire attention focused on the task at hand.

It did not take too long, but to the Team, or at least those conscious, it felt like an eternity before a soft clicking sound was heard and Robin carefully removed the padlock, tucking it into a pocket of his suit. The door pushed open with a loud screech of metal, and they all held their breaths, waiting for soldiers to flood into the room.

But, after several long moments of silence, it became clear that no one was coming.

They were in the clear.

"Okay, I'll be as quick as I can. If all goes well, I'll able to come back and lock myself back in before anyone notices." Robin said, turning to smile reassuringly at his teammates. "It'll be okay. Just hold on a little bit longer."

"You got this, Rob." Kid Flash clasped his shoulder, worry shining in his eyes. "Just be careful, okay?"

"When am I not?" Robin laughed his signature cackle, stepping away and quickly disappearing into the shadows, leaving the rest of his teammates to hope and pray that he would return safely with good news.

They were counting on him.

Robin did his best to move quietly through the tunnels, hiding in cervices to avoid patrols and taking side tunnels when necessary. Even though he was going as quickly as possible, he knew that it was not fast enough.

The display on his mask continued to be filled with static, no matter how far he seemed to go, if anything, it felt like he was going deeper into the ground, the heat growing stronger, the air heavy and dense. But that was not possible. There was no way he was not going toward the surface. The tunnels were slopping upward.

It did not make sense.

And it made even less sense when Robin stumbled into the main room once more, breathing heavily from the heat, sweat beading across his forehead. His friends were still in the cage, watching him with fearful expressions, swarms of robed men crowding the space that had before been so empty.

Hands reached for Robin, and he sprang into action, leaping away. Or at least, he tried to leap away, but his movements felt sluggish, as if he were moving through water rather than air. The hands clamped down on his shoulders as the ominous sound of chanting echoed off the cavern walls.

Robin struggled, but more robed figures flooded out from the passageway behind him, pushing him forward and into the center of the room. His efforts to break free continued to feel more and more futile as the chanting grew louder and louder until the sound was practically deafening.

He could not move.

Panic began to well up in his chest even as Robin was forced down to his knees.

When had it gotten so dark?

The shadows swirled around his body, filling his vision with pure and utter darkness. Something about the shadows felt malevolent, the darkness seeming to suck away even more of Robin's vitality.

It was alive.

And then it moved, pressing into his mouth and nose, the suffocating darkness flooding into him and bringing with it a tsunami of feeling, pain and fear crashing over him in one gigantic wave.

He slumped to the floor, convulsions wracking his body as the darkness continued to pour in; a seemingly endless wave of pain.

Back arched off the floor, eyes wide, Robin screamed.