All New Robin Volume 1 #12

Tim thinks on Film Freak’s last words to him about a ‘production assistant’ wishing him to ‘taste the flames’ as he had. His thoughts were cut short however as the man in the Aquaman costume cried out,

 

 

“Are you just going to stand there?! The building’s burning down!!” Snapping back to reality, Tim nodded,

 

 

“Right…just…give me a minute…” Tim looked around quickly as a flaming piece of wood nearly landed on his shoulder. Beginning to run around the room, using his domino mask to analyze the various walls. Each one was reinforced, none of the items on his utility belt could possibly make a dent.

 

 

“This is hopeless!” The woman dressed as Wonder Woman screamed as the elderly homeless man dressed as Green Lantern put his hand on hers. He clearly was disabled, Tim could tell with one look as his legs were severely underused, however the ‘Green Lantern’ attempted to calm ‘Wonder Woman’ down with,

 

 

“I know this boy.” Tim froze, waiting for the old man to continue, “He’s Robin…the Boy Wonder…he’ll save us. He works with Batman, they do the impossible.”

 

 

“Unless he can tear apart the walls with his bare hands we’re completely screwed…hey hands off…” ‘Aquaman’ said as ‘Flash’ finally recovered and began to assault Tim. However, Robin was ready for this as he grabbed the man from the back of his neck and the middle of his back before tossing him into the fireplace in one fluid motion. Having a moment of realization, Tim quickly ran up to the fireplace before dragging the once again unconscious ‘Flash’ out and looking up.

 

 

“We can get out this way!” Tim called back to the hostages. The fire raging harder than before, Tim made sure that every costumed hostage was at the fireplace before retrieving his grappling gun. Before aiming it at the top of the chimney however, he noticed the ‘Green Lantern’ was still sitting at the table. Pointing to ‘Aquaman’, Tim said, “You. Pick him up and bring him over here.” ‘Aquaman’ rolled his eyes before walking over to ‘Green Lantern’. Tim first grabbed the woman dressed as Wonder Woman around the waist before firing his grappling gun out of the burning building. First testing to see that it had connected with a solid object by tugging on the cord, Tim and ‘Wonder Woman’ ascended out of the faux house. Setting her down gently on the rooftop, Tim turned back and fired his grappling hook back down to connect with the ‘Flash’s shoe. Dragging the mind controlled man up by his foot, Tim set him down next to ‘Wonder Woman’, who began to scream as the flames reached the rooftop.

 

 

“C’mon man, hurry this up!” ‘Aquaman’ cried out, ‘Green Lantern’ in his hands.

 

 

“Let me get him up here first!” Tim called down.

 

 

“No way! Get me out of here!” ‘Aquaman’ yelled again, setting ‘Green Lantern’ down as he did. Tim, filled with anger, answered,

 

 

“Fine.” Before shooting his grappling hook into the ‘Aquaman’s shoulder. The man cried out in pain as Tim began hoisting him up. Just as he began to pull ‘Aquaman’ out of the chimney, Tim felt the ‘Flash’ moving behind him. The brainwashed celebrity, who Tim had not identified yet beneath the Flash costume and mind control device, punched him in the arm. Letting out a cry of pain while simultaneously kicking the ‘Flash’ in the shin and holding on to ‘Aquaman’ with all of his might, Tim attempted to maintain his composure. However, the amount of sweat accumulating on his face as well as the amount of smoke in the air meant one thing: the structural integrity of the small set was nearly at its end. Tim landed a punch that sent ‘Flash’ tumbling off of the roof, effectively saving him and finally knocking him out cold upon hitting the ground. After doing so, he lifted ‘Aquaman’ out of the chimney just as it collapsed in on itself. Flaming bricks, albeit fake bricks, all landed on the ‘Green Lantern’ below. Tim felt his lungs constrict the way they did anytime he and Bruce had done the inevitable: they let someone die. While sharing Bruce’s philosophies on the value of life, Tim was always more shaken by the death of innocent civilians than the death of a criminal. The ‘Green Lantern’ still had a smile on his face although he was long gone in a crumpled heap under flaming rubble. Breathing heavily, Tim turned to ‘Aquaman’ and ‘Wonder Woman’, saying, “We need to get off this rooftop now.” Even through ‘Aquaman’s stubborn and childish attitude, he remained silent and grim as he performed a flip off of the rooftop to land perfectly on the ground. Tim was taken aback by this impressive physical feat as he helped ‘Wonder Woman’ around the flames and onto the ground just as the roof of the set caved in. Still thinking about the old man in the Green Lantern costume as the structure went up in flames, ‘Wonder Woman’ said,

 

 

“Thank you, Robin.” Tim turned to her, ‘Aquaman’, and the ‘Flash’ as he nodded,

 

 

“All in a days work.” Even a half hearted smile was impossible, although it became even more complicated as ‘Aquaman’ quickly threw a punch that knocked ‘Wonder Woman’ clean out. Tim reached for his staff before realizing in the chaos he had dropped in in the burning set. Raising his fists to ‘Aquaman’, Tim asked, “Why’d you do that?” ‘Aquaman’ smiled as he removed his wig, revealing jet black hair as he explained,

 

 

“Sorry kid, you picked the short straw this time.”

 

 

“You’re Film Freak?” Tim asked. The man laughed,

 

 

“No…no…no…the name’s Jaret Row, I’m here to make sure Film Freak reaches his climax,” Tim looked at Jaret funny as the man stumbled back on his words, “I mean…he thinks you’ve gone too far. I’m going to bring you to him.” Shaking his head, Tim said,

 

 

“Unlikely.” But just as he began to spring into action, a stage light crashed over Tim’s head from behind. As he collapsed to the ground, vision blurring, he looked up to see a pale man in a white shirt with dress pants. His hair was styled as if he was a movie star of the 1920s, and he wore a lanyard with the name WESTON on the key card.

 

 

“Actually, very likely, Robin,” Film Freak said as he stood over his fallen foe, “You see, I’ve decided to take on screenwriting duties as well, and I’ve made some extensive rewrites. It’s time for you to witness your end…now.” Just as Film Freak finished, his henchman Jaret quickly stomped on Tim’s face, knocking him out as well.

Done