1. Chapter 1 (1/2)

disclaimer: i don't own batman or astro boy.

warnings: spoilers for recent comics, angst, violence, angst,

ainwashing, angst, dark au, and just for variety, more angst.

"welcome to haly's robot circus!"

but you know... not everybody likes robots. some people like to take advantage of robots. and when robots refuse to be taken advantage of, those people like to do... other things, to remind the robots of who is in charge.

two of the robots were damaged beyond repair. the third was not as unlucky, but it was greatly damaged, and haly's robot circus is not a rich circus.

but

uce wayne is a rich man.

robin was a very special robot. anyone who met him knew that. when he was trying very hard, it was nearly impossible to tell he wasn't human.

after wayne industries' scientists had repaired him,

uce

ought robin to wayne manor to live with him. many people thought he was mad, living with a robot as if it were his equal. but

uce was already known as eccentric; he still employed a human butler, doing the job of a robot.

uce tried to enroll robin in school, like human children. at first gotham academy would not have it, but

uce wayne is

uce wayne. but the parents revolted. they would not have their children going to school with a robot. but

uce wayne is

uce wayne, and

uce wayne made it happen. it was an experiment, he said. robin's class was the smallest at gotham academy, but

uce wayne had the money to make it okay.

robin wanted to help people. he wanted nothing more or less than to help people.

there were several altercations. then commissioner jim gordon lit the batsignal, and begged the batman to keep the young robot out of trouble. batman agreed.

(batman agreed because it was all part of a plan to engineer a valid reason for batman and robin to work together.)

robin did not remember anything from before the circus. he did not remember where he was from, or who built him. all he remembered was ringmaster haly, and the clowns, and strong robots, and the robot animals, and the other two members of his trapeze routine, who he called mom and dad, and

uce knew that anyone who said robots didn't have emotions was an imbecile.

whenever robin returned home from going out with a saddened look on his face,

uce wanted to go right out there and smash anti-robot heads together.

one day, there was a fight. batman did not get there until it was over. there was no sign of the aggressor, and no sign of robin.

robin did not appear for some time after that. until suddenly he reappeared, and

uce wayne played the happy owner whose robot had been stolen and whose robot had escaped and returned to him.

(batman found the robot, falling apart in the alleyway, who begged him to repair him and make him the new robin. robin had given robots hope, but now that robin was gone that hope was fading. the robot known as jason before he was abandoned wanted to give that hope back.)

some people knew, deep down, that something was wrong. but when the thoughts bubbled to the surface, they dismissed them. robin had been gone for a long time. perhaps he was reprogrammed, or repaired wrong, or quite maybe their memory just wasn't what it used to be.

there were rumors of a rogue robot on the streets, a robot that protected other robots from humans. a robot that would harm humans.

robin was the first to meet this robot. the robot had disappeared into the shadows before batman arrived. robin explained that the robot had introduced itself as a talon of the court of owls.

uce told robin that this talon robot was just making things up; there was no such thing as the court of owls.

robin continued to run into talon on patrol; batman was not so lucky. nor was their first meeting as friendly as robin's had been. batman was forced to engaged the rogue robot in combat when it tried to murder a small-time mobster known as tony zucco.

robin came between them, stopping the fight. "fine," talon had spat. "i leave zucco to your human justice. but if i am not satisfied with the result, i will come for him again."

but talon did not come for zucco again. nor did they meet again for a long time, though robin claimed to meet the other robot many times. the second time they met, it was also over a man's life: that of the joker, a violent madman with anti-robot sentiments.

the joker, who had just melted the second robin down for scrap metal.

"you're all alike!" talon screamed as he fought batman, as batman's delaying of the robot gave the joker the chance to flee the scene. he hoped it would be into police custody, but knew it would almost certainly not be. "even you filthy humans who claim to care, you're all alike when it comes down to the wire! humans first, robots second! the very best robot could not possibly compare to the scum of humanity!"

and batman found himself thrown onto his back, talon's blade a hair's

eadth from his throat. "i care," he panted, out of

eath fighting the tireless robot. "don't think i don't. i care for robin, both robins-"

"then why wouldn't you let me kill zucco?"

and in that moment,

uce wayne remembered why tony zucco was important.

"humans and robots cannot live together," talon continued, quieter but sternly. "there can be no cohabitation. past experiences have taught me nothing but that."

"robin,"

uce

eathed, "what happened to you?"

"the court took back what is theirs, and remade me in their image." and talon leapt – and was gone.

talon appeared before

uce again, a long time later, covered in blood and at least a little bit damaged. "the court of owls is no more."

uce led talon down into the batcave to clean him and repair him. talon spoke little, but the words he said were valuable. the court of owls had been using him. they hadn't been interested in robots as anything more than tools. whenever he had started to rebel, they

ought him in for reprogramming. but then talon realized the truth, and... took care of it. all of it.

uce asked if talon remembered anything from before the circus now. talon answered in the negative, only reasserting what he had said a long time ago: that he had been destined to be a talon, not an acrobat.

when tim entered the cave, talon startled. "

uce, who is this?"

"this is tim drake,"

uce started.

"i'm training to be robin," tim finished.

"you would give a human the guise of robin?" talon jumped up, words full of hate. he flew past tim and out of the batcave as fast as his rockets could carry him.

it was all over the news the next morning; a dozen members of high society found dead. some months later, a photographer managed to get an image of nightwing, gotham's newest robotic menace.

uce recognized him for who he was: a deadly talon who had discovered betrayal, murdered the betrayers, found some blue paint with which to cover up the marks of the court of owls, and was still seeking his true purpose.

after his display in the cave, tim was under strict orders not to engage. nightwing stayed out of batman and robin's way, and batman and robin stayed out of nightwing's way. whenever it looked like they would clash, batman sent tim home.

but nightwing knew how batman worked intimately, and knew how to avoid him in his quest for robot justice. nightwing's own form of justice was often long since dispensed before batman arrived on the scene.

the catalyst for change was jason's return.

the joker had not been entirely successful in his destruction of the second robin. his hard drive, his memory, had been scavenged and saved, rebuilt by the scientists of the league of assassins at talia al ghul's behest. the second robin returned as the red hood, and he was even less happy about a human robin than nightwing was. as worried as batman had been, nightwing had never actually tried to kill tim.