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MOUNT JUSTICE
MARCH 21ST, 2016
12:34 EST
The Grotto never was a lively section inside of Mount Justice--- and for good reason. It displayed the inevitable end of every Hero’s story. Death would catch up to every member of the League and team one way or another.
The Grotto was built as a monument to each and every fallen hero, sidekick, and ally to the Galaxy’s protectors. Each member of the fallen had their own holographic projection presented brightly in the darkness of the Grotto, ominously keeping watch over all that came to visit.
Visitors were always in limited supply... until recently.
As of March 19th--- only three days ago--- the Grotto had gained a new memorial for the young Artemis Crock.
She had hung up her bow and arrows years ago to pursue a normal life. She’d move on from her days as a Hero. She was done with the danger, the risks, and the distractions it brought along with it. It had become common knowledge to even the newest members of the team that Artemis Crock and Wally West wanted to focus on creating a “normal life” together. They wanted to finish university and see what else life had in store.
That changed the instant Kaldur’ahm’s sword plunged into her abdomen.
Everyone was affected by her death; even the ones that didn’t fight crime by her side.
Hour after hour a member of the team--- even members of the League--- came to visit her memorial. Some stood and stared in silence, while others quietly wept at her projection’s feet.
It all made Timothy Drake feel... odd.
He visited the Grotto regularly to pay respects to his fallen predecessor. The last person to dawn the Robin uniform and alias was murdered brutally at the hands of the notorious Joker. That person’s name was Jason Todd.
Tim never had the opportunity to meet Jason, but he felt like he knew him as a brother.
With Artemis’s untimely end, Tim noticed the numerous amount of the visitor’s she drew to the Grotto.
Guilt washed over him as he realized he was jealous on behalf of his predecessor. It seemed Jason’s memorial always had taken a back seat to the others. He never quite understood why.
Dick would visit just as often as Tim, however, always indulging him with funny stories of Jason’s training or anecdotes from missions, but that was as many visitors Jason received. Not even Bruce would pay his respects to the memorial.
What made Jason’s memory less important than Artemis’s.
He wanted to hit himself for thinking that.
The team was in mourning.
Tim was just overthinking things--- like usual.
Tim’s guilt grew stronger as his eyes wandered from Jason’s projection to Aquagirl’s monument and then to the Original Blue Beetle’s. The realization of his own hypocrisy hit him like a freight train--- he hardly paid the respects they deserved.
Tim’s hands balled into fists from within his sweatshirt’s pockets.
Aquagirl and Blue Beetle’s sacrifices were one and the same. They were no different than Artemis Crock or Jason Todd. They all died in the line of duty, trying to defend the innocents of Earth.
Jason’s monument just... stood out to him. What if the roles were reversed? What if Tim was the Robin that died at the hands of the psychotic clown?
“Robin? Hellooo. Earth to Rob?” Beast Boy’s sing-song voice knocked Tim out of his self-induced trance. The green skinned boy gentle nudged his friend’s slender arms.
“Uh, what’s up?” Tim blinked behind his dark shades, letting his overwhelming thoughts float to the back of his mind.
“I’ve been calling your name for like two minutes, dude. You were just kinda... blankly staring at the other Robin’s hologram. You okay?”
“Yeah,” the young man sighed. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Alrighty,” Garfield responded in disbelief, knowing if he pushed the current Boy Wonder any further into interrogation he’d be in deep trouble. Quickly, he whipped around to give his attention to Jaime and Bart who stood before Artemis’s projection.
Bart, of course, was chowing down on a greasy, crunchy Chicken Whizzy.
“You know what’s weird?” The youngest speedster’s words were muffled as he chewed, shoving another full bite of a drumstick in his mouth.
Tim and Garfield walked closer to the pair of friends.
“I remember seeing a picture of Wally and ol’ Arty on their wedding day. Mom and Dad always had pictures of the family up on the mantle,” he swallowed, allowing his voice to clear. “Weird, huh? Something must have really screwed up the timeline.”
His peers stared down at him in absolute silence. They each were taken aback by the continued enthusiasm in his always cheery voice. “By the way,” in a blink of an eye, Bart zipped to Jason’s monument. “Why do you have one of these, Rob? I like the hair.” Before anyone had a chance to respond his zoomed to Tula’s projection, “And who’s this? And this?” He ended standing by Blue Beetle’s monument.
“Slow down there, hermano,” Jaime spoke. “Aren’t you supposed to know all this?”
“Hey, like I told BB and Rob here, I never was the best history student,” Bart explained chuckling. “So, who are these people?”
Tim sighed. “That’s Aquagirl,” he nodded his head in Tula’s direction. “She was killed on a mission about three years ago.”
“That’s the original Blue Beetle,” Jaime explained as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. “I never got to meet him.”
SIlence fell.
Tim knew his teammates were waiting on him to explain the monument to the boy that wore the iconic uniform that Tim only dawned for missions and patrol. He could practically feel their eyes on him, urging him to start talking. Tim knew for a fact the young men didn’t know anything about Jason. Ever since his demise, Bruce and Dick never spoke out about him. Jason was only a subject to rise within the walls of Wayne Manor--- even then Bruce couldn’t stand hearing about him.
“It’s uh, it’s Jason Todd. He was Robin... before me,” Tim swallowed hard, darting his eyes to the ground. “The Joker... um, Joker killed him.”
“Wait, what?! Jason Todd? Like, THE Jason Todd?” Bart exclaimed excitedly.
Behind Tim’s sunglasses, his eyes narrowed at Bart’s sudden excitement over Jason’s death.
“Dude! That guy is legendary in my era! He is so crash!” Bart beamed.
The other heroes exchanged looks of confusion.
“I thought you said you weren’t good at history,” Tim crossed his arms across his chest.
“I’m a genius at history when it comes to the freakin’ Red Hood!”
“Who’s that?” Garfield inquired, raising his left eyebrow. “Are... we still talking about the same person? I’m confused.”
“Jason Todd was Robin. He was my predecessor. I’ve never met him, but I know he wasn’t called the Red Hood---”
“No, no, no!” Bart cut him off. “Jason Todd was Robin, and then he became Red Hood---” Suddenly, his eyes widened. “...Oops. Spoilers,” the volume of his voice shot down.
Tim narrowed his eyebrows as his curiosity was struck further. “What do you mean, Bart?”
Bart let out a hallow cough. “Uh, nothing. I was thinking of something else,” he tried to cover his tracks.
“Bart...”
Tim wasn’t a very aggressive young man, nor was he outgoing, but he could feel the urge to demand an answer bubble in his blood.
“It’s nothing, dude. Don’t worry abo-”
“Bart, tell me now,” Tim stated firmly.
Garfield and Jamie stood silently in their ‘civis’ feeling the tension rise around them.
“Well, er,” Bart began to stutter. HIs light green eyes searched around the Grotto desperate, wanting to make a quick escape, but he knew there was no getting out of this. He was so moded. “The future I left... Jason Todd was alive and well... and uh, he was a vigilante...” he took in a deep breath.
The time traveler’s friends all stared at him blankly, unable to find the words to respond.
“I don’t know if that future’s different. I mean---” he glanced over to Artemis’s memorial. “Artemis isn’t... Artemis is alive in the future. Maybe things... are different now? After the Flash and I beat Neutron, maybe a lot of things changed. You know... like... butterfly effect?” He shrugged, shooting his friends a hopeful glance.
“Yeah,” Tim responded slowly. “Yeah. You’re probably right.” Tim’s thoughts began to flow at full speed. Questions and theories formed and zoomed through his mind just as fast as Bart could run, but he restrained himself from projecting them aloud.
“But listen, just don’t tell anyone else. Even if it’s not true anymore... I don’t want to crash the mode anymore, alright?” Bart asked in a hushed tone.
“Yeah, sure man,” Gar gave the speedster a toothy smile from behind his green lips.
“No problem, amigo,” Jamie nodded.
“Uh, yeah,” Tim muttered dropping his hands into his pockets once more.
Within a matter of moments, Gar, Jamie, and Bart exited the Grotto--- unable to stand the silence the conversation placed them in, but the silence was perfect for Tim to analyze his whirring thoughts.
He had to tell Bruce--- or Dick, at the least.
No, he shouldn’t. He promised Bart he wouldn’t say anything. The whole timeline could be at stake if he spread the word of “the Red Hood” any further. Besides, the timeline was already crippled just by Bart’s presence in this era.
“Maybe Bart was just lying... just trying to get attention,” one of Tim’s many theories echoed in his brain. “But he did seem to know what he was talking about,” another thought contradicted.
“But he remembered seeing Wally and Artemis’s wedding photos...” he reminded himself.
He stood staring at the monuments as his thoughts worked at this puzzle he created--- if it really was a puzzle.
Maybe he was just wasting his time.
Maybe he was overthinking again. It was an often occurrence, after all.
“But maybe not,” he muttered under his breath.
MOUNT JUSTICE
MARCH 21ST 2016
14:32 EST
Tim’s fist knocked hard on Dick’s door from within Wayne manner. Without receiving consent to enter, Tim twisted the golden glazed knob and pressed in. Dick sat at his desk, busy on his computer--- as expected.
Tim quickly slammed the door behind him, causing Dick to spin around quickly in his chair. “Woah, Tim. What’s up?” The first Boy Wonder could see in Tim’s uncovered eyes that something was very wrong.
“Artemis is alive!” He shouted. “You tricked us, DIck. You tricked us!”
Dick stood up from his desk in awe.
“Why would you trick the team like this? Why would Artemis do this to Wally... to her Mother?”
Richard Grayson merely blinked in response. It was a rare occasion to see Tim angry. “But, God. How did he figure it out?” Dick’s mind echoed. He knew Tim was smart. He knew Tim was a phenomenal detective... but he didn’t think anyone could figure his plan out.
“She alive. Right, Dick?” Tim muttered to him, relaxing slightly.
He couldn’t lie to Tim.
Dick nodded. “Wally knows,” he whispered.
“...How is this going to help anyone?” Tim questioned sadly. “Kaldur--” Tim paused, allowing the cogs in his brain to turn even quicker. “He’s a double agent, isn’t he? If he didn’t really kill her---”
The truth unfolded from the Boy Wonder’s mouth word by word. “What is Artemis doing? Where is she?”
“She’s helping Kaldur,” Dick responded shortly. “How are you figuring this all out? Did you hack---”
“No,” Tim shook his head. “I just... I had a hunch.”
“A hunch? Seriously?” Dick repeated skeptically.
“Yeah. A hunch.”
Dick let silence fall around them. He glanced up at the young man and frowned. “Don’t... tell anyone about this. Okay? There are things that... things have to go according to plan.”
Another secret to keep.
Great.
“...Fine.”
Tim had a secret of his own; the possibility that Jason Todd was alive and well somewhere out there. It was only fair to keep Dick’s secret on the down low if Tim wasn’t going to spill the beans as Bart did...
Besides, it was only a theory.
A rotten chill shot up Tim’s back.
“This team is doomed,” he thought. “The list of likes and secrets keep growing. If this keeps up... we might all end up dead... for real.”