OCT 2003 - #2

Rage by Paul Hahn

It's a wonderful island.

Wonderfulwonderfulhappy.

Paradise.

And they lived happily ever after. Happily ever after. Happily ever after. Happily ever after. Happily ever after. Happily ever after. Happily ever after. Happily ever after. Happily ever after. Happ

Chuck Barnes - Robin - Nightwing - Robin sat alone atop a large rock jutting out over the edge of a small cliff. The center of the island had a small mountain with deep caves inside that they mostly avoided, but Rob had found a path straight to the mountain's top.

It was even more peaceful up there. The rest of the team, even those who could fly, remained mostly on the beach. Up there, Rob could be alone with his thoughts. He'd hear, at times, the call of a distant bird . . . the chirp of a cricket . . . the waves lapping up on the sandy shore. He loved the way the wind blew through his hair, and really didn't mind that it always messed it up.

Alone with his thoughts. That was the trick. He wasn't sure that he was alone anymore. Since they came to the island, everything had seemed at peace. Everything except his dreams. Only in dreaming did he receive any stress, any trouble. It was because he dreamed of things that couldn't possibly have happened, yet always seemed so real.

The real clincher was Wonder Girl. Cassie Sandsmark was one of the first recruits to Young Justice, just after it formed. He was sure of this . . . yet, somehow, for some reason, no one else knew who she was.

The thought had occurred to him that he was going insane. After all, it was hard to believe that everyone else was wrong, and he was right. But I suppose you'd call him paranoid.

And then that last dream . . . the real heavy one. Cassie called out to him . . . he was sure of it. He heard her voice; he recognized her voice. It was her. And she told him it was "all wrong." He didn't know for sure what was wrong, but he believed her. When he woke up, he was sweating and breathing hard. However, his temperature was normal; his heart rate was normal. His mouth wasn't dry, nor excessively moist. His eyes, despite being asleep for over sixteen hours, felt perfectly fine, opening with ease and adjusting to the light as if it had never changed.

In short, the physical effects were not common or expected.

He thought about what it could mean. Did the others notice? It was possible that since the majority of the team has super powers, they would somehow be unaffected. But Cassandra . . . Rebel, that's what they used to call her . . . she doesn't have super powers. She had a special skill. She was able to read an opponent's body language, knowing what moves they were going to make before they were made. She had a huge advantage in any fight, all because, as a child, she was completely deprived of speech; she knew only how to talk . . .

How to talk through body language . . . !

That was it! Cassandra's speaking felt weird to Robing because she had never done it before! She was incapable of actually speaking or knowing what she said, because she had never really encountered spoken language before!

But then why does she talk now . . . ? What happened when we came to the island? When we . . . came to the island . . . how did we come to the island?

"We can't out run that," Jolt said. "We're . . . we're gonna die?"

The memory flashed into his mind quickly, abruptly, out of nowhere. It stung.

"No," Wonder Girl said. "My body can absorb energy. If I extend my power around the shuttle--"

"You'll be overwhelmed," Arrowette frowned. "You'll die."

"I died once," Wonder Girl frowned. "I'm not eager to do it again. But let's face it . . . what other choice do we have? That energy blast is gonna hit us any second . . . "

She died once . . . he thought. In my dream . . . she and . . . and Jade . . . they died . . .

The memories continued to burn, to cause him great pain, but he struggled forward; he had to know!

"The core of the space shuttle has a protective room, shielded from radiation," Empress said. "We should be safe in there, Cassie."

"But someone has to pilot this thing," Cassie frowned. "I'm no expert . . . but the controls aren't that difficult. I'll be able to get us down there, while protecting myself and you guys as best I can."

Get us down . . . Cassie was . . . was going to get us down? Back to Earth . . . ?

"That's not an option," Nightwing said. "I lost you once . . . I'm not losing you again. I won't have any other deaths on my watch!"

"Then you better get yourself into that shielded room real soon . . . the blast's about to hit us."

The blast . . . radiation . . . we were shot at by the aliens . . . because of . . . Linda?

"She's right," Arrowette frowned. "She's our only hope. We have to . . . "

"I . . . " Nightwing started.

"Just go," Wonder Girl said. "Go now, while you still can."

Cassie . . .

And all at once, the memories became too much. Robin let out a scream of pain, and collapsed forward. His body, as it went limp, fell off the rock, speeding towards the beach far below.

Almost faster than a speeding bullet, Kon-El, otherwise known as Superboy, burst through the air and caught his limp team-leader's body, saving him from certain doom.

"Rob?" he asked. "You okay, man? Rob?"

But Robin was unconscious once again. Every time he tried to remember . . . something resisted.

"How should I know? I'm just lucky I got there when I did."

"Those caves are freaky . . . "

"I thought we agreed we'd be better off staying on the beach, that we had no need to go up their, that, more than likely, one of us would only wind up getting hurt!"

"I know! I'm not the one that went up there. I was just doing some flying, and I saw him, and I reacted."

"Why would he jump off a cliff? He calls himself Robin, but he can't fly. Right? Uh . . . right?"

Cissie King-Jones and Kon-El looked crossly at Bart Allen.

"He can?!" Bart exclaimed, almost bursting with surprise.

"No!" they both yelled back.

"Oh," Bart said, a little disappointed. "Then, uh . . . why'd he do it?"

"He must've fallen," Cissie said.

"Robin's got better balance than any of us," Kon replied. "And he was unconscious when I caught him . . . Maybe he passed out again?"

Cissie let out a deep breath. "What's wrong with him? Things were never better than before we came to this island . . . why's something going wrong?"

"Maybe it's psychosomatic," Bart said.

The two looked at him, confusion in their faces.

"Y'know, something that's just in his head," Bart explained.

"We know what it means," Cissie said.

"We're just surprised you know it," Kon said. "But you do raise a good point. Rob's always been, well . . . paranoid. You think maybe he's just looking for something to be wrong?"

"Looking for something to be wrong?" Cissie asked. "Why on Earth would he do that? Just a couple days ago he was the happiest I'd ever seen him! We were happy together, finally!"

"Easy, Ciss," Kon said, holding up his hands in defense. "Maybe, y'know, all this peace has left him feeling, like, empty. He became a hero to help people, to avenge wrongs, to fix things. Maybe, since there's nothing to fix, he's trying to create something?"

"But . . . why?" Bart asked. "Why would he do that, when it would just ruin our happiness?"

"That's a good question to ask, Bart," Kon frowned. "That's a good question to ask."

"You two are crazy," Cissie said, throwing up her arms in anger. "You're his best friends . . . why wouldn't he want to see you happy? To see all of us happy?"

"Because maybe he's a paranoid schizo?" Kon asked back. "Maybe he can't handle things being perfect. Heck, maybe he's going insane and is gonna turn into some super-villain, and we'll have to take him down ourselves."

"Doesn't that sound at all familiar to you?"

The three turned to see Robin standing in the doorway to his bedroom, looking directly at them.

"Uh . . . come again?" Kon asked.

"Going insane . . . " Robin explained, "Turning into some super-villain, forcing Young Justice to take him down? Only not a him . . . a her."

"What're you getting at?" Kon asked.

"Linda," he replied.

"What's she got to do with anything?" Kon asked again, getting angry.

"You don't remember that, either?" Robin said, surprised. "Jason Wyngarde? Linda going insane? Us trying to stop her, failing, and then later saving her from the Hellfire Club?"

Kon and Cissie just looked at each other.

"Dude," Impulse started, "what are you on?"

"Rob, I'm . . . I'm really starting to get worried about you," Cissie said, stepping closer to him.

"I'm starting to worry, too," Robin answered. "Whenever I try to remember things, my head starts to hurt . . . hurt a lot. I start to sweat, and it feels like my heart's going to explode. The only thing is, though, is that my heart isn't beating any faster. I've checked my pulse at any time I've ever been anxious . . . it's always been at a resting heart rate. Sometimes, even lower than resting. I sweat and feel hot from a dream, yet my forehead is cool. Something is wrong here, guys. Why am I the only one who sees it?"

"Maybe because you're the only one looking for it?" Kon asked. "Maybe because you're the only one who wants to see it?"

"What's your point?" Robin asked, eyes narrowed.

"You can't handle us being happy," Kon said, finally letting it out. "You're happy when we're miserable . . . when the world is in trouble . . . because then we need you to lead us . . . then the world needs you to save it. And now that everything's peaceful and happy--"

"Shut up, Kon," Robin's voice was cold. "I do what I do because I want the world to be peaceful. I do what I do because I want you all to live happy lives! I make sacrifices all the time for the betterment of the team, and of the world when necessary! I would like nothing better than for this peace to be real!"

"It is real!" Cissie exclaimed.

"I don't believe it is," Robin responded with finality.

"You're twisted, Rob," Kon said, pointing a finger menacingly. "Something is not right with you."

"You've got that one," Robin nodded. "Something is definitely wrong here. Cassie told me . . . she said it's all wrong . . . "

"Again with this Wonder Girl crap?" Kon asked. "You know what? I don't have the patience to deal with this."

"Maybe," Robin replied. "You do have the attention span of an eight year old. Or maybe, it could be that you're afraid. That you're too chicken. Too much of a wuss . . . and in the end, you know you're only half the man I am."

Superboy's eyes flashed red with anger. He charged forward, attempting to plant a punch right in Robin's face. Robin ducked with ease, dodging the blow and quickly leaping and turning to face his attacker again.

Superboy came at him a second time, throwing a lower punch. Robin jumped back, and executed a series of back-flips to get outside the hut, into more open space.

"Stop it!" Cissie exclaimed. "Kon, you'll kill him!"

Kon flew forward again, this time attempting the tackle. Robin leapt up at the last moment, then extended his feet down to kick hard into Kon's back, knocking him into the sand with ease.

"That's the best you've got?" Robin asked.

"Fine," Kon said. "I won't hold back."

"Bring it," Robin glared.

Superboy threw another punch; Robin deflected it with his arm, ducked a second, jumped over a kick, ducked under another and then jabbed Kon with his index and middle fingers in the stomach, touching a nerve ending that caused Kon's chest to temporarily writhe with pain. Robin took advantage of the momentary infliction to shove Kon into a tree. Rob's forearm was jammed against Kon's throat, pinning him.

"Remember, Kon," he said. "I've gotten your emotions flaring for a reason! Remember! Try to remember! Cassie! Wonder Girl!"

Kon flashed his arms quickly, breaking the choke hold. He then planted a very quick punch into Robin's stomach, knocking him clear away, smashing into the hut.

Superboy took deep breaths, recovering from the hold.

"Check your . . . pulse," Robin said through gasping breaths, having just had the wind knocked out of him.

Superboy just glared.

Robin got up slowly.

"Rob . . . ?" Cissie asked.

Robin looked at her, then turned and walked away, heading into the island and towards the mountain.

Superboy slowly took two fingers of his right hand to his left wrist. He closed his eyes, concentrating, and counted.