Torment

Red X kept running as the Titans followed him. He had broken into a research facility that had been trying to create a variant of Zinothium.

"C'mon Chuckles, can't a guy catch a break?" Red X shouted.

"Sorry, Red X, it doesn't work that way."

Robin and the Titans attacked him. Robin beat him back with his Bo Staff as the thief launched Zinthoium created shuriken at him. Raven flew in and threw him across the room into the wall.

Beast Boy in rhino form barraled into Red X as the man barely managed to dodge, sending the shape shifter into a stack of crates. Cyborg fired his Sonic Cannon and Starfire reached out and threw him across the room as he tried to avoid Cyborg's attack.

Raven gripped him in the aura of her powers as he sprayed out a stream of Zinothium, covering her in it. Raven took the hit and fell back. Robin launched himself using his Bo Staff and hit him in the chest.

"Nice, you guys have gotten better," Red X congratulated.

He created a pair of x-shaped blades and attacked Robin. He blocked them with his staff, and kicked Red X across the face.

Somersaulting back, Red X kicked Cyborg out of his way as he tried to run, only to be pinned down by Beast Boy in bear form.

X suddenly sent out a quick blast of Zinothium, causing the rafters above Beast Boy to fall on him as he jumped out of the way.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Red X was knocked back into the wall. He stared around, trying to see what had hit him. His masked eyes widened, it wasn't one of the titans. His cape was pinned to the wall by six knives, he looked up and saw a menacing figure looking down at him.

The Titans turned around and stared.

Robin saw the lightening flash as Saiko stood quite a distance away from him, but still within sight. She was deliberately taunting him to come after her, he could either fight Red X or her; he'd have to choose.

"Go after Red X, she's mine!"

Red X yanked himself away from the wall, tearing his cape apart in the process. He had to split, that person, whoever they were, they weren't like the Titans, he knew in his gut the person over on the roof was more than willing to kill him. He had to wonder why they were chasing him too. He hadn't stolen anything attached to extremely important people. Maybe he was a pawn in someone else's game. He didn't like that one it, but he really needed to get out of there before that person decided to kill him for real.

Robin used his grappling hook to get to the roof where Saiko was.

"Careful, I wouldn't want you getting hurt," Saiko greeted him.

"I'm not the one who's going to get hurt!" Robin scowled. He noticed her voice had a deep, inhuman quality to it, he couldn't really tell if she was alive or dead but it did seem strangely familiar.

The fight began on the warehouse, she began running across the roof and leaping from building to building. She leapt over a wire fence and she leapt across the balding and onto a nearby construction site and fell through the wooden boards, rolling to her feet. She began somersaulting and sprinting away.

Saiko ran ahead as Robin launched a Bird-a-rang at her. She quickly turned a corner and he missed.

She used her shoulder to break some boards blocking her path; she grabbed a fire extinguisher and jumped out a nearby window. Robin followed close behind.

She threw the fire extinguisher up and shot it, causing it to explode. Robin reacted in time and ducked behind a stack of concrete blocks.

He leapt out the window and gave chase. Robin hit the ground somersaulting to his feet and running after him. They began running across the metal beams, leaping from beam to beam.

Saiko leapt out and grabbed a rope hanging from the outside of the building and swinging around and dropping through the nearby skylight.

She ran through the building and climbed up the fire escape and onto another rooftop.

"Tell me what you're really doing here little birdie," Saiko taunted him. "A body honed to perfection. All your techniques mastered; years of training and plenty of silly toys so you can dress up as a hero who puts away the scum of a city."

"It's people like me who stop people like you!" Robin struck at her a few times with is Bo Staff; Saiko used her claws to parry them.

"What sidekick to the big scary Batman calls himself Robin? It's neither frightening nor intimidating! Kids get beat up for nicknames like that! You don't even impress me!" Robin received a viscous kick to the face.

Robin staggered back and flipped forward, bringing his booted foot down on her head.

He unleashed a fury of punches as he gripped a pair of escrima sticks and began pounding her with them. He rushed forward as Saiko stumbled as Robin brought his knee up into her face, over and over.

"You talk too much!" Robin hissed.

"What's the matter little Robin, don't like to talk?" Saiko asked with such hatred and venom that it caused him to hit her harder.

"You don't get to call me that!"

"It was a nickname, I see! I get it! I get it!" Saiko taunted. "Your mommy called you that, little Robin?"

Robin tried not to show any emotion on his face, but his body betrayed him.

"Your mother died didn't she? She was murdered right? That's how it works with most hero origins in comic books! She must have given you this precious nickname as a term of endearment didn't she? It's so sentimental…"

Robin clenched his fists, "Shut up!" I can't let her get under my skin, gotta stay focused!

"…And pathetic! You're just a sad little boy still crying because you miss mommy! Did she make you that outfit? You look like a loser!"

Robin couldn't see or think straight anymore. All he could see was red, and all he could feel was rage.

"It's so interesting! Not even this Slade fellow can push your buttons like I can! Show me! Show me what you've always been, show me your potential!"

How did she know about that? Slade hadn't even mentioned Robin during her fight with him, he had confirmed that during the conversation they had earlier. Did she know that through instinct? She baffled and confused him. How did she know him so well when he hadn't even seen her before?

"You keep prattling on about potential and my legacy! Let's just get one thing clear, I'm nobody special!"

"You are a Grayson, your family has always been given a special destiny, you will take your rightful place as a Talon! It is the stars, the stars above us, govern our conditions."

"Quoting Shakespeare, heh, I will never be one of you, you're just like Slade, wanting someone to follow in your footsteps, you people aren't special at all, your plans, your schemes, just a bunch of common criminals in costumes! You're just another murder!"

"My stars shine darkly over me: the malignancy of my fate might perhaps distemper yours."

"Speak plainly already!" Robin screamed.

"You think you have all the answers don't you? " Saiko asked. "You just waste your talents, pretending to be like Batman. You're nothing more than the nicer, lighter version of him. Nothing special."

Robin launched his explosive discs at her, knocking her off her feet. He leapt forward.

"Like that matters!" Robin's fury was beyond his control. This woman could tear apart everything about him, down to his core, who was she?

Robin knocked her onto her back and struggled to reach for her mask. Pain ripped through his hand as she stabbed him with knives, keeping him away from what he'd been reaching for.

"No peeking little Robin," she knees him right in the groin, he groaned and she pinned him down with a knife through his own cape, she rested her hand over the R insignia on his chest with almost a sense of…affection?

What the crap is going on? Robin's mind screams as he pushed her off him.

She bent down to his ear and whispered, "When I see you…you make me…"

"Get off me!" Robin rose up and tore his cape to shreds as he somersaulted back to his feet, kicking her in the head as he did so.

He beat her, over and over again; he was using techniques that Batman taught him but ones that he was forbidden to actually use in combat, mainly because they would kill the person he was attacking. He didn't care; he was fighting for his life.

He slammed his knee into her jaw; he grabbed his bird shaped shuriken and slashed her across the chest, causing her to bleed.

"It seems you don't feel any pain. I'm going to make you feel it!"

He linked his fingers together and began striking her over the head.

"It's so much fun seeing you all riled up little Robin, let's see if you can really fly!" She grabbed him and lifting him over her head, she hurled him into a nearby sign.

Robin's body slammed into the hard metal and he managed to catch himself. Scrambling to his feet, he charged, screaming in rage.

Saiko beat him back as he slipped and nearly fell off the roof.

She reached out and grabbed his hand.

"You saved me?" Robin asked, stunned.

"I'm not through with you," she threw him up into the air and as he landed, she swiped her wrist claws across his mask, causing half of it to come off.

Robin heard a loud clap of thunder; rain began to pour down as lightening flashed around them.

"Too slow!" Saiko somersaulted back with ease. Robin snap kicked her in the knees.

"Play harder little Robin, because I play much, much harder!" She popped her knees back in effortlessly. Robin used his bird-a-rang shuriken to create a sword.

"That's cute!" she exclaimed.

Their swords met, locked in combat, he wasn't like Slade; he stabbed her as she sliced shoulder. He executed a high kick and hit her in the face as he stabbed her in the chest.

He jammed his escrima sticks into Saiko's right eye. "Tell me who you are!"

"You can call me…Saiko," she smiled. "It hurts so bad." She was taunting him. "You said you'd make me feel pain, aren't you going to keep your promise?"

She sprinted across the roof and viciously attacked him, but Robin had been pushed to the breaking point by her torment, both physical and verbally.

"I'm sick…" Robin locked her elbow as she tried to punch him. "To death…" backhanded her across the face. "…Of you talking! So shut up!"

He tackled her, sending her flying off the rooftop and down to the ground. She turned and ran; Robin threw explosive discs, once again knocking her off her feet. Robin grabbed her and sprinted forward, slamming Saiko through a wall and into an empty building.

He grabbed her and threw her down the stairs and kicked her in the gut as she bounced off the railing.

The woman wobbled, Robin gripped her by the throat. "Let me show you something!" He fired his grappling hook at the Sky Needle and took her to the highest point in Jump City.

"This is my city! With all the people coming and going. You and your people aren't going to disrupt their lives. Go tell your Court of Owls the Titans are coming for them! I will personally bring them down!"

"Be quiet!" Saiko hissed at him. She actually sounded winded.

Robin kicked her hard; he made his way towards her. He actually heard her groan.

"You look at me. Listen to me, you're nothing! You're just another killer. Savior of Gotham, Jump City? Don't make me laugh!"

"I will hurt you, and may think that my code against killing is useless, but it's very useful. I'll cause you pain, unimaginable pain, you don't even know what I will do to you. I will twist you and break you and won't be able to escape it, it will go on for an eternity, because I won't let you die!"

Saiko's eyes widened beneath her mask, the right eye lens shattered, revealing a green eye, wide with terror. Robin twisted her wrist and he heard it crack. He twisted her arm and it snapped.

"Nnngnnn!" Saiko groaned. Robin threw her across the metal roof of the Sky Needle. He crushed her knees under his steel-toed boots.

Robin planted his foot on her spine. "You're going to feel a lot of pain. Right. About. Now." He brought his full weight down on her spine.

"AAAARRRRGGHHHH!" she screamed in such a way that Robin almost pitied her. Almost.

Robin hauled her up and threw her off the Sky Needle, using his grappling hook to grab her and slam her into the side of the tower.

He brought his staff down on her head over and over again. She weakly tried to block the blows as she tried to crawl away on her broken knees.

Robin dragged her back and slammed her into the wall. With a final effort, she got up and jumped off the Sky Needle.

Robin tried to shoot the grappling hook down to catch the assassin; it embedded itself in her leg.

"You don't get to save me!" she hissed as she used her claws to cut the line. The plummeted from sight and disappeared.

"No!" Robin screamed, reaching for her. A familiar feeling of helplessness washed over him. He hadn't felt this way in years, not since…

Robin began searching the alleyways for Saiko. She was long gone, but he had to be thorough. He was sure the Titans could handle Red X until he got there. Maybe they had caught him already.

The horrible sense of déjà vu plagued his mind, but the similarities terrified him. Maybe he'd talk to Raven about it later, she could understand these sorts of things. Still, Saiko's very presence made him feel as if he were being haunted by a ghost. But ghosts did come from the dead, so what did it all mean?

Robin recalled the woman's eyes. He couldn't get them out of his mind. He hadn't been able to see her face, but her eyes were something he wouldn't forget. Her eyes were just like his.


Saiko collapsed as she entered the abandoned building. No matter what she did, she could not kill Robin.

Her body hurt, she could feel the pain he inflicted on her, she wasn't regenerating. If the Court knew of her failure, they would be very displeased. She wouldn't tell them about her vicious fight with Robin. She found the electrum and injected herself with it.

"When I see you…you make me…"

What had compelled her to say that? It must be those dreams she kept having. She had felt a sense of affection when she'd been near Robin, but why? She never involved her emotions when she killed for the Court. But every time she saw Robin, she felt nothing but confusion.

She would finish this mission, she wouldn't fail. She would redeem herself for the Court of Owls. Changing the city was something she was meant to do. The Court would do many good things for Gotham, so why not Jump City?

Why did her need to recover her memories keep rearing its ugly head? Her memories didn't matter, but she couldn't stop thinking about it no matter what she did. Part of her wanted to know who she was and where she'd come from. Still, she was plagued by dreams of her past, but they were still in pieces, none of which gave her the complete story of her life. She wished that she couldn't remember anything at all, because her dreams haunted her so much.

Robin's face entered her mind again. The boy's distraught expression as she fell from the Sky Needle. Why did it seem so familiar? It didn't matter. She had to view him as a target to be eliminated, and nothing more.

She popped her knees back into place and stumbled over to the nearby table where she would find her supply of Electrum. She hadn't fought that hard in a long time, she couldn't underestimate the boy.

She ripped the mask off her face and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her face was covered in black blood and her pale skin glowed eerily in the dim light. She didn't even look human. Her blonde hair was stringy and thin and she looked spectacularly awful after her beating.

"Stupid little brat!" Elizabeth Lloyd hissed, spitting on the mirror as she fumbled for the Electrum. She was thankful there was still some for her to inject into her body. Enraged, she smashed the mirror to pieces with her fist.

She felt it moving through her body and rested her body on her bed. She knew William was gone and she was grateful. Elizabeth Lloyd was angry; she'd been beaten by a mere child. She wouldn't hesitate to kill him the next time. There would definitely be a next time; she thought she would have had an advantage facing him alone.

She clenched her fist in rage, next time, she was going to take that little birdie and rip his wings out.

"I'm going to kill you little Robin, I promise you that. I'll have my hands around your throat and you'll be looking into my eyes as you die!"

She shut her eyes and for once, she didn't dream about anything, she just wanted to rest in the silence of her mind. For once in a very long time, she got what she wanted.