Song: Harder Better Faster Stronger. This is the actual video from what I know.
Now... I saw your comments, people. I saw that some of the reactions were very violent... I'd just like to say... I regret nothing, and I enjoy all your suffering. Especially Robin's.
Enjoy the misery.
This book is basically to fill my need for angst and character death, as well as the fact people on Skype (I'M LOOKING AT YOU ELLIOT.) Kept bugging me to write it. And thus, we have the apocalypse. There may, may not be a reason behind that name... We'll never know until we get deeper into the story...
Anyways, if you ever need a sprinkle of feels, lots of angst, character death, I assure you, you've come to the right place.

~Robin's P.O.V.~

My motorcycle skidded through the streets of the rain-filled motorway. I had lost the league a little while ago. It wasn't easy, believe me. But luckily I had managed to find an escape, and even warn Gordon about the entire league being mind-controlled. At least Gordon would be able to warn people...

But the question remained. What do I do now? What could I do now? I needed to find allies somehow,  but where would I find some? Everyone I knew, all the resources I had, every place I ever had to go was gone.

I didn't really know anybody else... Wait. That's a lie. I did know somebody else.
Two people actually...

-----

"Care to tell me why you had us meet you all the way out of Gotham and in some random other city that's far far far away from Gotham, while it's raining?" Ghost asked, sighing. Ghost was, - as you can tell by her name - a ghost. She was half phantom. Invisibility, going through objects, flying, plasma bolts, the whole package.

Then, there was Cherry. Born with nature powers, but then got caught in some sort of explosion and covered in chemicals, giving her fire powers. Even Batman was still confused as to how it happened. No one was able to tell what chemicals had been poured over her, but it was something to do with her powers reacting to the chemicals, thus giving her the fire powers. She fell into a coma for five months, a little while after she received them.

"Because. We have a problem," I said, leaning against a tree that helped shelter us from the rain. It was a surprisingly big tree...

"A problem you couldn't tell us back in Gotham? Where we live? If your avoiding Batman, we could have met somewhere else, you know... Not eight hours from Gotham," Ghost argued.

"Actually, we needed to avoid the entire league. They're all being mind-controlled," I stated, looking over to face them. 

"What about the team? Are they okay?" Cherry gasped, looking at me with worried eyes. 

"We tried to free the League... But the plan failed, and now they're being mind-controlled as well..." I sighed, closing my eyes and looking away from their gaping faces.

"No way! So, all the heroes, - the strongest on the planet - are being mind-controlled?" Cherry screeched.

"To put it simply, yes." 

"That explains why you wanted to meet us here..." Ghost muttered. Is she still going on about that?

"I have to hide from the League. They're hunting me down." 

"You want us to hide you?" Ghost asked. I shook my head.

"No. I just need to stay under the radar for now. But I need allies in order to free the League."

"So, you need us to help?" Ghost asked, a thoughtful look covering her face.

"Yes! Totally! I'm in! When do we start?!" Cherry shouted, fist pumping the air. 

"It's not that easy. The League are more powerful than the three of us alone, and Batman... Batman killed Alfred. They're willing to kill," I muttered, tears burning at my eyes. 

"What? Your lying. Tell me your lying," Cherry muttered, taking a step towards me. I've known Cherry since I became Bruce's Ward. Barbara introduced me. Barbara... I hope she's okay.

Cherry had always looked up to Alfred as a sort of... Father figure, I suppose. Someone she can talk to. Cherry's father was dead, killed by a mercenary named Deathstroke. It was the main reason she became a hero in the first place. To find Deathstroke and bring him to justice. By that, her original goal was to kill him. But after meeting me and Batman, and a few events... She changed her mind, and decided she would simply  bring him to justice, alive. She may be a hero in Gotham with Ghost, but they usually left stuff to us, but they helped out every now and then. They're base rivaled that of the Batcave. I couldn't find a way to escape it. The only way in is for Ghost to phrase you through or for you to be transported in through a device Ghost made. It requires finger prints and retina scans and somehow, can't be hacked.

The base is basically me-proof... Believe me, we've tested it.
"I..." I muttered, not really knowing how to say it. I looked away again as her hand reached out to me. The hole in my chest was back again.

No. The void in my heart was back again. It was painful. Like a bullet. A bullet that entered my heart years ago, ricocheted and bounced around, before ripping out of my heart and leaving a massive hole there.

"Dick...?" Cherry whispered, tears breaming in her green eyes. I squeezed my own eyes shut to avoid crying but a few tears slipped out before I could stop them.

"I'm sorry... He took the hit for me..." I muttered. Cherry fell to her knees.

"No way... Your lying... Please, tell me your lying..." She whispered. I did the only thing I could do at the moment. I tried to put my walls back up, and push my emotions aside.

"There was nothing I could do at the time. I tried. But I failed. If I had been faster... Stronger, better. Then this never would have happened..." I turned back to face them. Ghost's eyes were filled with tears as Cherry sobbed on the ground. Honestly, I felt like joining her. I wanted to do the exact same thing... But I had to stay strong. I couldn't afford to just sit there and cry. I had to become stronger. I had to work harder. Become smarter. I was useless as I was now.

As I am now? I couldn't protect anything close to me. Life is overrated. I am willing to throw mine away in order to free the League and my team. I Guess in the end, I spent an entire lifetime of holding on, just to let go. I'll probably be spending another lifetime just to search for a new hope.

"Dick," Ghost stated. I looked up at her. "I can tell by looking at your face. Your blaming yourself. You can't blame yourself for this, it wasn't your fault." Ghost put a hand on my shoulder as tears streamed from her eyes.

"Maybe not. But it is my responsibility. While I was never trained for this - no one was - It's still my responsibility. Well, actually I think that's what the simulation was for... But even in the simulation, I had my friends. I had resources. But now I have nothing..."

"Then what are we?!" Cherry screamed, jumping up. I looked at her. Her eyes were puffy and she was still crying. I stared at her. "Well?! What are we then?! Are we not your friends?! Have we not been in it together since we were little?!"

I grit my teeth and looked up at the grey sky. I could have sworn I had saw some thunder just now.. I concentrated on the heavy rain, hoping I could just forget about everything. Couldn't I just wake up to find it was all just another simulation?

Something suddenly collided with my chest, knocking the air out of me. Out of reflex, I went to attack whatever it was when I noticed it was just Cherry hugging me in a death grip.
"What are we to you?" She whispered.

"What are you to me...?" I asked myself, looking up at the sky again, ignoring the way her body shook as she cried into my chest.
"To me... You two... Are family. People I can turn to when I can't turn to Bruce. People who can understand when Alfred can't... Which is pretty rare, but..." I chuckled slightly. "You two are always there no matter what. Whenever I feel down, you always seem to find your way to me and make me smile again. People who cry with me," I explained.

"I see..." Cherry muttered, her grip tightening on my chest. I couldn't breath properly, but I didn't care.

I stared at the thunder clouds mercilessly pouring down on us.
I couldn't help but wonder.
Was there someone out there that I can truly trust? Someone who is immune to the wrong influences? Someone who knows pain? Most likely... They probably experienced it for far longer than I have and had no one to help them. Yet, here I am complaining when I have such good frie-family supporting me.

When this is all over, what will become of me and every thing I've ever known? Will anything ever be the same? Probably not...
This world? Is changing.
A new age is beginning... This is the dawn of a new age, a new generation, a new world.

When this fight, this revolution is over, no longer will anyone have to feel the pain of betrayal.
No longer will our pain divide us and forge us into something horrible.
This is a war now, and I will fight until the very end.

~Edited?~