(More for DC/WoW!verse)

Prompt:  Not Forgotten

Previous:  Alone in Shattrath City

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The explosion beneath Gotham City had been massive enough to register a 5.1 on the Richter scale. The damage, though, was far more intense in the underground abandoned subway station that was ground zero.

It took a good hour of cautiously maneuvering through unstable rubble and around collapsed tunnels for Batman and Robin to finally get to the earthquake’s epicenter.  However, despite the dangerous environment, Batman was determined make his way through it all.

The source of the explosion that rocked his city was also the last known location of Red Robin.

The whole of Batman Incorporated had been busy investigating a strange new cult called the Burning Shadow that was gaining traction on Earth.  Red Robin had gotten a lead on a possibly gathering place for the Gotham City branch of the cult and was going in to investigate.  Batman had warned him not to go in alone, but when it was clear that the only person available to join him on the recon assignment was the eleven-year old Robin, Red refused outright.  

Now, as Batman looked over the carnage that was the remains of the nearly forgotten subway station, he wished he’d forced his sons to go together.

What had once been a subway station looked like anything but.  Whatever cult members had been using this place had gone to a great deal of trouble to drastically change the architecture.  It looked more like the interior of some archaic temple.

A temple that had doubled as a battlefield.

Bodies littered the broken floor of the station.  Some were clearly not human and quite demonic in appearance.  A majority of others were clad in various types of armor, but were unified in their appearances by the presence of similar cloth tabards that were worn over their chest.  They were made of white cloth, trimmed with black and bearing the insignia of a black and gold sun.

Surprisingly, though there were a good number of humans wearing the black and gold sun, there were other foreign races among their ranks as well.

“Batman!”

Robin’s voice echoed loudly in the cavernous expanse.  The Dark Knight immediately made his way to where his youngest son was kneeling.  Despite being masked, with his hood drawn up over his head, he could tell that the boy was disturbed.

“It’s his, isn’t it?”

Batman looked down, eyes narrowing as he stared at what remained of a familiar long metal bo staff.  “Yes.  It’s Red Robin’s.”  

The staff had clearly seen better days.  It had been snapped into two pieces and violently bent.  It also rested in a large puddle of still wet blood.  Batman pulled a device out of his belt and began scanning a sample of the blood.  As the device processed the sample, silently the grim man prayed.

His prayers were for naught when the results came back positive for Red Robin.

Robin, his son, immediately began scanning the area.  “Looks like he was lifted up and carried this way,” he said as he noted a trail of blood droplets leading away from the main puddle.

Immediately Batman set to work following the trail.  His heart was racing along with his mind.  There was too much blood spilled in that puddle.  Tim was hurt and hurt badly.  If they didn’t get to him in time, he could very well be—

The Dark Knight froze when he came to the end of the blood trail.  Though the trail had ended, there was no sign of his lost son to be found.  Instead, what he and his youngest son saw before them was the scorched and broken ruins of what looked like some sort of gateway.

The pillars of the once mighty structure had been shattered, and one of two hooded statues that stood guard was now toppled across what had been the entrance.

Clearly the source of the explosion had either come from the gateway itself, or had been used to destroy it.  Batman felt a wave of unease settle into his bones.

What was going on?

And where was Red Robin?  Where was his son?