Chapter Thirteen

In Granny’s House

“He’s thin and weak.”

The old woman with the gravelly voice, wild white hair and the armour plated clothes looked Dick over with disdain, examining him the way one would examine a horse at market. Without asking, she pinched his forearm, pulling the skin back to illustrate the lack of meat on his bones before eyeing him again. For a moment, Dick had the awful notion she was going to check his teeth or something.

Instead, she broke into a smile that split her face from ear to ear. It was meant to be kindly but made her look maniacal instead, like Jojo, the clown at Haly’s who sometimes drank too much and tried to frighten you away from his trailer. Dick hated clowns, there was nothing about them that made you smile.

“Don’t worry Dick,” she said looking down at him. “We’ll pair you up with Doe here and you can two can be my Wonder Twins, Deadly Dick and Dreadful Doe…hmmm,” she regarded the young girl standing next to him with a frown. “That’s not your name,” she declared after a moment. “They were calling you Donna. You will be Dreadful Donna.”

Donna glanced at him nervously, not at all liking the moniker that she was just bestowed with. It sounded as terrible as Deadly Dick.

Dick was wrong when he thought Doe or rather Donna was a baby, she wasn’t. She was by his guess, maybe six years old. Even so, she was awful pretty with shiny black hair and blue eyes. There were bracelets on wrists, cruel iron things he was sure was biting into her skin. He wondered why she had them when he didn’t.

She was also wearing weird clothes, the kind you saw in gladiator movies. It was black and held together with a clasp on her shoulder. There was something about the fabric though. If you looked at it hard enough, it sort of glittered. Like the stars.

Donna looked frightened and he wished he knew how to console her but after seeing where they were, he wasn’t sure if he could managed to be comforting when what he saw scared him much as her.

They were taken out of their cells and brought out into this large courtyard. Dick had been living on the hope that once he knew where he was, he could figure out how to escape. Except once they were outside in the open and Dick was able to see where they were, he realised that hope was a child’s fantasy.

There was no escape.

Dick raised his eyes to the sky and knew immediately, he wasn’t on Earth anymore. His young mind couldn’t process how that had come to pass but the proof of it was undeniable. Gazing up into the amber sky filled with ash and smoke, against a hellish backdrop of grim looking buildings and smoke stacks so big and wide, they resembled mountains. Even more incredible was the lack of a moon in the sky. He couldn’t see it and the sky was amber, not like evening but like there whole planet glowed like a hot piece of coal.

Above them were spaceships! Not just spaceships but men wearing some kind of armour, with wings. It was like he’d woken up into a futuristic space movie like Star Wars, except this was real. It wasn’t a dream. It was worse than a dream, he realised as he saw the cruel world he found himself—it was hell.

“Now you’re going to show Granny what you got and maybe, maybe you’ll get to live long enough to serve.”

“Serve who?” Dick finally found courage enough to ask though he regrated it as soon as he spoke the words but by then it was too late and he continued talking, “Where are we?”

Granny shot him a look of venom that dissipated quickly back into her smile, though it still appeared cold and humourless. “So many questions little Dickie, maybe if you do well, I’ll answer them!” She said sharply.

Dick flinched sensing real menace in her words and wished he hadn’t said anything at all.

Donna reached for his hand and held it, trying to offer some comfort. They had kept each other company all night and though it was the first time he saw her face, their captivity had created a bond between them.

The gesture was not lost on Granny who did not like the show of sentiment one damn bit. She narrowed her eyes and lashed out, striking Donna across the cheek, hard enough to send the little girl sprawling.

“STOP IT!” Dick shouted and turned towards Donna when Granny’s arm clamped around his arm and dragged him away from her.

“I won’t have any weakness in my children!” She hauled Dick away from Donna who was still on the ground, too dazed to be aware of what was going on.

Dick tried to break free but his struggles were no match for the woman whose grip was like iron. She took him to the edge of the courtyard where an opening into the ground waited. Guessing what she intended, he fought harder and harder, not all liking what might be waiting for him in the darkness.

“Let me go!” He demanded futilely only to hear her mocking laughter in his ears a second before she flung him towards the maw into the dark.

Dick landed on the cold of a metal chute and slide down the narrow ramp into the depths. The last thing he saw before the sky disappeared above him was Granny looking down at him, grinning.

*******

Lois never imagined that there could be anything worse than losing Clark to the fortress, until now.

As she stood within in the shadows of the cave beneath Wayne Manor, preparing to send Clark, Kara, Bruce and Diana to the world that had swallowed Valerie Beaudry whole, she tried not to feel afraid or so terribly human. More than anything, she wanted to be able to go with Clark through the portal to help retrieve Dick but she was smart enough to realised she’d only get in the way. Where they were going was dangerous enough for Clark without her becoming a liability by his need to keep her safe. She could do something by staying behind and looking after Alfred.

No matter how hard it was.

“Pick me up a souvenir Smallville,” Lois said to him, hiding her anxiety beneath her usual flippancy.

Clark saw through it of course. Before they were even a couple in Smallville, he learned to recognise her tells. Life with the General had conditioned Lois to always hide her feelings, to show no weakness to a father who had little patience for it. That and helping raise Lucy ensured Lois project a façade of control even when she hiding anguish. Clark had learned to see through the cracks that sometimes appeared, to see a vulnerable and insecure woman who wasn’t always as sure of herself as she’d like everyone to believe.

“I will,” he said leaning over and kissing her gently on the mouth. He savoured the kiss, took it in and stored it in the heart, a keepsake he could use to remind himself of her and home. It would be the impetus that would drive him to get back to her. “We’ll be back. I promise.”

“I’m going to hold you to that,” Lois swallowed thickly, trying to sound hopeful when her head was filled with thoughts about Valerie and what had happened to her on the other side of the portal. “Come back to me,” she said as he held her in his arms.

“Nothing would keep me away,” he replied gently before pulling himself out of her embrace. He wished he could assure that this wasn’t as dangerous as it appeared but he couldn’t.

“Don’t worry Lois,” Kara stepped forward, trying to lift the mood because she could see Lois was hurting. She hated that Kal had to risk his life because of her when everyone had been so kind to her since arriving on Earth.

“I’ll make sure he’s safe.” She said firmly, her chin rose in defiance.

Since returning from Themiscyra, Lois noticed a definite change in Kara. The Amazons’ teachings had shown the girl the power she possessed, giving Kara the courage she needed to step out of her frightened shell. The waif who lashed out at their assailants in Smallville was gone. Here was a confident young woman, perhaps requiring a little combat to temper that enthusiasm, but no longer lost or certain of her place among them.

Lois couldn’t help smile at the girl’s earnestness. It was so reminiscent of the Clark she met when she first arrived in Smallville.

“Thanks Half-Pint. I know Mrs Kent isn’t here but if she were, she’d be telling you to be careful. Stay on script okay kid?”

“She will,” Clark frowned, still in two minds about taking Kara with them on this trip. She was powerful but then again, the people on the other side of that portal had rendered Clark powerless once. It was not an experience he wanted to repeat and certainly not one he wanted to see inflicted on Kara.

“I’ll be good,” Kara nodded, her eagerness settling into understanding. “I want to help the boy. He’s in trouble because of me and I wouldn’t feel right if I couldn’t do something to make it right.”

Her sincerity was so very much a part of the Kent DNA. Whether or not she knew, it Kara shared more in common with her cousin than just their Kryptonian heritage and powers. She had his heart too.

“Okay,” Lois brushed a strand of hair out of Kara’s face and leaned down to plant a soft kiss on her forehead. “Come back safe, the both of you.”

*******

Behind them, Bruce looked away, giving them their privacy even though he was impatient to leave. His mind kept looping back to Grace’s words, that Dick was even now, being moulded into an efficient killer. He didn’t want that for the boy, didn’t want Dick to lose his childhood any more than he already had. He took in Dick to prevent that very thing, to temper his rage and salvage some part of the person he’d been before that terrible night at the circus.

Bruce wanted some part of Robin Redbreast left.

“He’ll be safe Bruce,” he felt Diana’s fingers slipping against his gauntlet to clutch his hands.

Bruce blinked and saw the beautiful Amazon Princess who for some unfathomable reason loved him. Probably the same reason as a Chloe, he thought. While they were two very different women, it was their heart and optimism that connected them. Both had the ability to reach into his often closed off heart and beam sunshine into his soul. Until he met Chloe, Bruce never realised how much he needed the light and what losing her would do to him.

Then Diana entered his life, a hero in her own right, powerful beyond measure and dazzlingly beautiful but at the core of her, was her heart. No woman that beautiful had any reason to be kind or compassionate but she was. Diana’s greatest power, whether she knew it, was her capacity for understanding and love. She made people feel good about themselves because she had faith in them. He sometimes worried that the ugliness of the world would sully that naiveté but Diana seemed immune to it, holding steadfast to the belief that everyone had the capacity for kindness.

“Thank you for coming so quickly,” he answered, aware that she had her own adventures and her own enemies to fight but she had dropped everything and come when he asked. If it wasn’t for Diana, Kara wouldn’t ready be in Valerie’s hands and both Lois and Martha Kent would be dead. Then again, he had no doubt that should she make the request of him, he would be at her side too.

“A child is in trouble. A child you care for, I might add. I would be here no matter what. We will find him Bruce, we have been to Tartarus and prevailed. At least this place is in the mortal realm.”

“I admire your ability to make the distinction,” Bruce almost smiled beneath the cowl. “I need to bring him home. It’s not too late for him like it was for me. The first time I saw him, he bounced around like a beam of light. He was….”

“Enchanting?” She finished off for him. “I did not grow up with other children but since being in the Patriarch’s World, I have seen many and yes, they are enchanting. I understand at last why I was spoiled so terribly by my mother and sisters.”

Kara’s presence on Themiscyra, even for a few weeks had a similar effect. The lack of men meant no children were born on the island but that didn’t dull the maternal instinct. Diana wondered after being in the Patriarch’s World where so many children, particularly girls, were left in terrible circumstances, whether the key to their salvation might be on Themiscyra. The Amazons would love nothing more than to have children to teach and nurture. Perhaps there was something Diana could do to satisfy that desire and give a new lease on life to forgotten children.

It was a question for another time.

“I can understand that,” Bruce stared at her through the white slits of the cowl with affection and was rewarded by that dazzling smile.

Diana kissed him lightly on the lips and pulled back, aware that he was uncomfortable with such displays when he was in the cowl, even in this vulnerable state.

Clearing his throat almost sheepishly, Bruce turned to Clark and Kara, “We need to get going. “

******

Something was breathing in dark with him.

He could hear the snort of its nostrils as he got to his feet. The ramp deposited him at the bottom of the chute when he finally came to a stop almost a full minute later. Dick glanced up and saw the pinprick of light that was the sky of this hellish world. He spent a few futile minutes trying to climb back up the ramp but it was too slippery and steep. Dick kept sliding back down again, landing on the hard rock of the ground and driving home the realisation that it was no way out.

He could see light up ahead but its source was distant and barely penetrating the darkness surrounding him. The faint light illuminated the ceiling and little else. The ground beneath him was some kind of smooth rock. He felt hard under his bare feet. He could feel the cold from the surface running up his body from the soles. Dick shivered when it reached the centre of his back. He was inside a cavern of some kind.

It was then he heard the snort of something alive followed by its slow, stealthy movements as it stalked him.

Dick froze, being around enough circus animals in life to recognise the sound. Even if it was unlikely it was a creature like Sher Khan, the tiger from his Haly’s, he knew without doubt it was an it, not a who. He spent hours watching the animal during rehearsal and knew the sounds its paws made against the sawdust. The thing in here with him made the exact same sound.

Trying not to let his fear get the better of him, Dick stared at the light ahead and started to move slowly away from the monster. When he took a step forward, the thing in the dark moved too. His heart turned cold in his chest and a fear so paralysing gripped him that taking the next step felt next to impossible.

Don’t panic! Batman’s not afraid of the dark! He uses it!

He used it to move around and that’s what Dick had to do. The dark knight promised to find his parent’s killer and that meant he was a good guy, someone Dick could trust. Like Mr. Wayne and Alfred. All of a sudden a surge of longing ran through him. Dick realised he wanted badly to see both men again. His parents were gone but Mr. Wayne and Alfred cared about him. Maybe even loved him.

In the dark with the monster, that understanding infused him with more courage than he imagined possible. It forced Dick to grit his teeth and started moving again.

His movements were slow and deliberate so as to maintain the illusion that he wasn’t afraid or aware that he was being followed. The terror running through him was like blood pulsing through his veins. Dick stood on the knife’s edge between calm and panic for several torturous minutes as he approached the light. His bare feet made no sound against the stone floor. He supposed that was some consolation he supposed unlike the monster that was not so quiet. Big paws slapped against the rock as it continued to stalk him.

When Dick got close enough, he saw the light was emanating from an open doorway. It poured out like a beacon, illuminating the darkness and confirmed that Dick was indeed in some great cavern. It also showed him what was following behind him.

It was a dog.

At least it looked like a dog but if so, it was the biggest one that Dick had ever seen. It was almost the size of a bear. Next to it, Dick felt small and insignificant. With a russet pelt and a collar with spikes wrapped around its neck, the beast glared at him menacingly with ears pricked up. Its panting kept its jaws parted and Dick caught sight of large, fingers-sized sharp teeth. A glance was all his sanity could manage before his nerve gave away completely.

He didn’t even realised he was running until his feet were already moving.

Breaking into a sudden sprint was exactly what the creature had been waiting for and it immediately took up the chase. Dick didn’t dare to look behind him as he heard its paws pounding against the floor behind him. The monster was growling and Dick imagined feeling its warm breath against his neck. Fortunately, he still had presence of mind to not lose his senses completely and he ran like he never ran before.

Run, Dick, Run! He imagined his dad telling him. RUN!

Heart pounding, Dick poured every ounce of terror into his legs and reached the doorway soon after. It was more than big enough to let the creature through and Dick knew reaching it did not offer salvation, the monster would follow him through. It would catch up, he thought with horror. No sooner than he crossed the threshold however, the creature came to an abrupt halt as if it could not pass.

What relief Dick took from this was brief because no sooner than he had entered the new chamber, his presence prompted some mechanism into operation. The grey room, this time resembling the engine room, inside a big oil tanker or something was brightly lit but Dick did not miss the stench or the stains of blood on the walls and the floor. He heard something over his head and stepped back just as giant mashers emerged from the ceiling and slammed hard against the floor, making his teeth chatter on impact.

Dick took a step backwards towards the doorway when he heard the growl of the monster behind him. Trapped between the danger in the cavern and the death trap in the chamber, Dick saw the masher retract into the ceiling before dropping again, with only a gap of seconds before starting the cycle again.

Beyond the mashers, metal spikes protruded from each side of the walls, meeting each other in the middle in similar deadly fashion as the mashers. Always with a gap. Beyond them were blasts of flames from unseen jets in the grey wall. Dick stared at it in horror and realised he had nowhere to run. He either went forward or backward and both directions meant death.

Breathing hard and standing in front of him, Dick knew he had no choice. He was going to have to go through. He didn’t have much time to consider how he was going to get through but he was an acrobat who understood the importance of timing. Reminding himself that as a member of the Flying Grayson, he had made quick decision regarding when it when it was safe to jump and when it was not. This was no different.

He watched the mashers come up and down a few seconds, counted under his breath the number of seconds he had to get though. The spikes were slower and they were thick. They did damage if you tried to run through them, Dick told himself. Finally, he took a deep breath and darted forward, just as the mashers hit the floor. By the time they pulled up, he was right beneath them and sprinted across before they came down again.

The spikes were waiting for him. Dick grabbed onto one while it was fully extended and using his acrobatic skills, clambered over them as they were pulling back. He was almost half way past them when they retreated into the wall for a second before beginning their speedy emergence. He used the time to clear them.

Once across, he saw the jets of flame flaring across the wall and knew that he had no choice, he would have to make a run for it. He couldn’t see what was on the other side but he didn’t care, he’d gotten this far. He was ready for what was there too. He could do this. Batman was a regular guy but he was able to dodge bullets and take down bad guys, so Dick could do this too. Bracing himself, Dick bolted forward.

The heat rushed over him. There was pain. His soles screamed against the hot floor but he couldn’t let that stop him. He remembered Henri the Firewalker. Henri was always fast and Dick knew to get past this, he had to be faster. He ran forward, felt the flames wash over him, felt the heat through his pyjamas. Don’t think, just run. RUN, DICK, RUN! Reaching the other end, he saw lasers beams crisscrossing the long corridor as if waiting for a target, searching the floor.

Without thinking, he continued to run and didn’t stop as he put more power into his strides that gave him enough speed to launch into a series of somersaults. The lasers tried to reacquire the target but Dick switched into cartwheels for a short distance before switching back to somersault and forcing the computers to recalibrate once more.

Dick felt something singe the back of his leg and it brought him down but he managed to get to his feet because he was almost there. This time, he ran but moved diagonally. At one point, he jumped against the wall and used his good leg to propel him to the edge of the corridor, beyond the reach of the weapons.

When he left the corridor, he was once again shrouded in darkness but before he could take stock of his surroundings, he heard the slamming of a door behind him. Spinning around, he saw a cage door locking and with sinking sensation, realised he had run straight into the cage that was positioned at the mouth of corridor. He was trapped like an animal once again. Light flooded the area and Dick was able to see the steel cage that surrounded him.

Peering at him through the bar was Granny.

She was smiling and Dick didn’t know if this was a good thing or not. Was she glad that he hadn’t been killed so she could do it herself? As she drew in closer, Dick shrank back until his back was pressed against the bars. He was in pain, his leg hurt real bad and he knew his skin was burnt. He was trapped again. The anguish at that was more than he could bear.

But I made it through! A small voice inside his head wailed in protest. I escaped!

“Well done my Deadly Dick,” Granny said with a wide grin. “I expected you to be eaten up by my darling demon dog but you managed to survive the entire course! You’re the only one who’s managed to do that since we had High Father’s little whelp here.”

A test, this was all a test? Tests weren’t supposed to get you killed. You got marks or gold stars! You didn’t get dead! What kind of crazy place was this?

Pain and fear made Dick bold and he burst out in anger. “You did this just to test me?” He demanded, properly provoked into a self-righteous fury.

“Of course we did and you performed splendidly!” Granny complimented, not at all upset by the question. In fact the obstacle course, which was standard for all recruits, appeared to have brought out the boy’s truth worth, not to mention his spirit. Almost all the children who ran The Gauntlet never survived or if they did, what emerged on the other side was of no use to her anyway, but this boy…

This boy had potential.

“What am I being tested for?” Dick asked confused by all this. Was that why they had abducted him?

Now that the boy had some value, Granny was happy to answer his questions. “To become one of Darkseid’s Elite of course.”

TO BE CONTINUED