So I decided to update this with a chapter before this one. Hopefully I'll be able to update more frequently from now on.
Flashback: Ten Minutes Later
THE WATCHTOWER
Robin POV
"Plug in that last wire Plaz," Blue Beetle tells him.
"Inserted," Plastic Man says with a thumbs inflating like a balloon as he brings his body back together. Blue Beetle gives a look at me before activating the computer.
"3. 2. 1!"
The ceiling lights start activating. Then the computers boot-up. Finally the doors all retreat up. Meaning no more flashlight and no more walking through holes in the walls.
"I can connect to the Watchtower's computers," I tell him.
"Great!" Rocket tells me. "Now can you send a message to the rest of the Justice League."
"No, damn it! Our signal is being externally jammed!" Blue Beetle says.
"It's not just that," I add. "We're over the Southern Atlantic."
"And that means…" Plastic Man and Rocket asks.
"Even if we can contact the League-" Blue Beetle explained while holding onto his wound. "-it's the longest possible journey to get here."
"At least a thousand miles into space and another thousand from Buenos Aires. At top speed we're looking at four hours before some help and even if we get to a favorable spot for the Bio-ship that's six hours," I guess.
"We are probably way more than a thousand miles in space," Blue Beetle adds pessimistically.
"But with power restored can we Zeta," Tempest asks.
"That might not be the problem with Zeta tubes," I ominously warn. Pulling up camera footage of the Watchtower's Zeta-tubes they could tell why. Each of them had their key components pulled out and neatly arranged before the Zeta-tube in rows and columns alphabetically, as if daring us to come and fix the machines.
"So were trapped in here with Deathstroke," Plastic Man pointed out.
"Deathstroke's son," Rocket corrects.
"HIS SON," Plastic Man and Blue Beetle were shocked, despite me telling them that earlier.
"Ravager," I explain. "Did you think it was-"
"-him in a new costume," Blue Beetle added. "Yeah."
"How do ya know him?" Rocket asks me.
"He's kind of the closest thing I have to an arch-nemesis at this point," I tell.
"You have an arch-nemisis!?" Plastic Man exclaimed. I give a convincing smirk. "You're 15 and I don't even have one!" he complained. I'm 14, but height can be confusing.
"Do you mind telling us everything you can?" Blue Beetle asks. I pull up a hologram of him to start telling the story.
"Grant Wilson aka Ravager is the only child of Slade Wilson and Adeline Kane."
"Are they still married?" Plastic Man asked.
"They divorced after he had an affair that resulted in Slade's second child," I try to quickly take Rose out of this story. "Grant was unaware of his father's mercenary activities, until he and Slade's third child were kidnapped by a criminal group that Slade had a contract against. Slade and his ex-wives killed most of the kidnappers-" Everyone seemed to have a question. "His two ex-wives were ex-Australian Army," I clarify. "Real mother bears because Slade killed the least out of them. The last guy attempted to use the third child as a hostage, but Slade didn't negotiate and killed him, but not before the third child's throat was slit. He survived but can't speak." They all looked as though I just told a horror story.
"I feel bad for him," Plastic Man said.
"Well his ex-wives didn't, because the two of them attempted to kill him for endangering their children. As you can tell they didn't succeed, but that's how he lost his eye."
"That's how it happened?!" Ted reacted in revelation.
"That's how it happened. Now Grant was more sympathetic to his father, sought out the League of Shadows, and trained until he could join his father's business, where he and I have clashed multiple times."
"What did you clash over?"
"Well…" How much should I tell them? "The first time he tried to kill Bruce Wayne and I was in the area," Bruce was surrounded by too many people to disappear, so I had to deal with it alone. "The second time he tried to kidnap someone." That someone being his own sister, but I'm not allowed to talk about that. "Then we had a few skirmishes, the most noticeable one was when he tried to frame me for murder." Rocket, Blue Beetle, and Plastic Man looked at each other to ask with their eyes if any of them heard about this. "That ended with him being sent to Belle Reve, but he escaped during transport."
"Think he's here for a rematch?" Rocket asks.
"Nah, there's no way he could have broken onto this place without help. Hacking and spaceship engineering aren't his expertise. Somebody paid and armed him to come here."
"Any idea who?" Blue Beetle asks.
"BEEP"
"No." I say softly while my computer's alert goes off.
"What is it?" Plastic Man asks. Rather than answer his question in words I pull up the security camera footage.
Billy, Mary, Freddy, Tula, Garth, Zatanna, Mal, Karen, Donna, John Stewart, and Black Canary were all laid out in front of a table, side by side. The most concerning thing was the bleeding from Donna, Mal, and Stewart, with a trail of blood going off screen, and their costumes turning visibly red.
"Why couldn't we see this earlier?" Blue Beetle asks.
"Many of the cameras have been disconnected," I tell them. "This one was just reconnected."
"Why?"
"[WUMPTH]" Some of the metallic doors retract up.
"To lure us out." We all stare down the obvious trap with determination, with the open doors trap so ominous. It's clear that the only path left goes through Ravager.
"Great Plaz, Rocket, and I will confront Ravager. Ted-"
"Don't think I'm letting you-" Ted tried to say while standing up. He had to hold the wound he got from Ravager earlier.
"Ya sure?" Rocket asks while holding him up.
"Yeah I can totally-totally-totally handle it."
"No you can't," I tell him.
"You don't know anything kid."
"I know more than you about Ravager."
"Besides that."
"You should probably listen to the kid, Ted," Plastic Man supports.
"I've dealt with worse," he defended.
"That doesn't mean you'll be useful." Rocket shoots me a look about my harsh assessment. "We need you to send a signal out ASAP."
"I can… can…" He's taking some very long pauses.
"Ted," Plastic Man asked in concern.
"…can-" Rocket begins to lose her balance as Blue Beetle loses consciousness.
"TED!" I pull out my computer to scan him.
"He's lost a lot of blood," I tell them. "I don't know how much longer he's got."
"What are our options?" I walk towards one of the unopened doors that should lead to a medical station.
"Can you slide under these metallic doors?" I ask Plastic Man.
"Nope, airtight seat."
"And Garth was the only one of us who could cut through it."
The three of us stare into each other's eyes before simply nodding. We lay Ted down near the computer after changing his bandages, before running into the hallway.
"Does this guy have any powers?" Rocket asks.
"No, but in case you can't tell, that won't really stop him," I reply.
"Is there any particular trick you can think of," Plastic Man asks.
"Smoke grenades, blue sword that can cut through anything, two Uzis, but he's replaced them with a cold gun before, particularly against super-humans."
"Did he fight other super-heroes?" Rocket asked.
"No, but he killed at least five escapees from Belle Reve. Maybe eight more, but Bats and I can't 'legally' confirm that." Rocket and Plaz don't seem as phased as they should be. The two of them probably think he's only gotten this far because of stealth, and that open combat should favor them.
The three of us stop moving when we see our unconscious friends, each tied to a chair, with an empty chair in the middle of them. Plastic Man and Rocket attempt to run towards them, but a familiar voice distracts them.
"Well it's good to see you brought help Robin," Ravager walked out of the shadows. "I needed a warm up." I instinctively threw an explosive batarang at him, which clung to his armor. I explodes in his hand, creating a black cloud that none of us can see a shadow through.
"Is he down?" Rocket asks. "Was it that easy?"
"No," Ravager walks out of the cloud as if nothing happened. Rocket puts up a barrier around him that should trap him- "No it isn't." Ravager raised one of his legs and slammed it against the ground.
"[CRACK]" A spider crack formed on the ground before it collapsed entirely.
"Bye Bye," Ravager mocked as he fell into the hole he created. The three of us try to process what just happened.
"Was that-" Plastic Man tried to ask.
"Super strength and invulnerability," I answer.
"Didn't ya say he has no powers?" Rocket asked.
"He shouldn't have any."
"[CRACK]" Another sound comes from the hole Ravager created earlier, but nothing appears to be broken.
"[CRACK]" What is he doing down there?
"[CRACK]" That's not coming from the hole its coming from the ground!
"Is that sound getting closer?" Plastic Man asks.
"[CRACK]"
"He's under us," I tell them-
"[CRACK]" That one broke the floor perfectly between the three of us, allowing Ravager to explode from the ground. Plastic Man and I don't go far because Rocket kept her shield up. The only problem. Ravager was already in her shield with us, allowing Ravager to hold her by the neck.
He then beat her face first into her own shield, clearly breaking a nose. The collapsing shield tells me she's unconscious. Plastic Man was the first to jump at Ravager. Ravager responded by throwing Rocket into Plastic Man, who formed a net to catch her. I throw another batarang, piercing his costume, but it fell off him with the batarang dented!
"Don't worry, you knew it wouldn't do anything," Ravager mocked me. Well at least I can throw more explosives at him without worry. The two of us engage in an intense staring contest, interrupted by Plastic Man engulfing him. The sight looked like a guy hiding bellow a bed sheet. Normally this would be okay because Plastic Man's skin can't be cut through without a magic sword. The only problem is that Deathstroke gave him a magic sword for his birthday. A problem I had warned Plastic Man about earlier!
"Plastic Man let go of him before he tears you in two!" I fanatically try to warn him
"Relax I can take-"
Ravager jumped into the air, like two stories in the air high, while being contained by Plastic Man, stretching him out from his stomach causing him to look like a con-
"He's stretched me too much," Plastic Man moaned out.
"That's what she said." That was too easy.
"AHHHH" Plastic Man screamed-non-erotically-from the part of him that has been stretched bleeding.
Ravager then emerges from the part of Plastic Man that he cut with his sword, the white cowl turned fully red and the orange and black parts now shaded red.
"I wanted to bathe in Robin's blood," Ravager tells somebody else—referencing me in third person means he's talking to somebody else. His father? His employer? "I guess I'll just have to wear his skin."
"That's not cool that's just weird," I tell him. "Do you have a fetish or some-"
"RAAAAAAAAAAAA-" It's normally harder to get under his skin, or maybe I did hit a very sensitive spot. "How about a one-on-one sword fight?" I would pull a sword out of my utility belt, if I didn't already know about his blue magic sword.
The sword first came on Batman's radar during an incident in Vietnam before I was Robin. Apparently, this sword could cut Superboy but it disappeared shortly after it was first seen. That was until Deathstroke and Ravager were hired to kill Brick of all people. Batman and I confronted them, challenging the respective mentor-protégé, and I was surprised to see Ravager cut a hole so easily through a Titanium door. When I told Batman about it, he made the connection.
I grapple up, leaving an explosive Batarang on the ground. Once Ravager gets to where I was, he started holding the sword as though it was a throwing axe. The Batarang explodes, shaking his balance.
The explosive Batarang threw his aim off, causing the sword to miss me by quite a bit and be stuck twenty feet above me on a wall. I use my grapple and attempt to reach the sword before he can.
Ravager jumped off the ground with super-strength some 20 feet in the air. Luckily, I reached the sword before he did, but Ravager angled himself perfectly to hit me in just a few seconds. Luckily for me, my extra weight had allowed the sword to cut through the wall downwards with me on it. I just barely miss Ravager, whose Hand went through the wall, keeping him suspended far above the ground. I take the time to pull the sword out of the wall and move out from under Ravager, trying to get distance.
Once Ravager falls back to the ground, he looks at the sword in my hand before charging at me. I undercut him with the sword slashing his torso.
"AHHHH-" he screamed in surprising pain. "HOW DID HE DO THAT?!" he asked me.
"A sword that can cut through anything idiot," I tell him condescendingly while pointing to his blue magic sword.
"GRRRRRR-" Did he just growl at me? I hold my hands up innocently.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you brought me something to kick your #$$ with, but I didn't expect you to be so growl at me." He then charges at me with the technique that allowed me to cut him earlier. Quite unusual for both experienced and inexperienced fighters.
"Your right I don't need the sword to kick his #$$."
"Dude can you cut it out with your invisible friend!" I ask him.
"SHUT UP!" Ravager pulls out his Uzi and starts shooting at the door behind him. Da $#%! is he shooting at?
He responds by grabbing a 15 ft by 15ft metallic container and throws it, this time aiming at me. I casually hop to the right before jumping on top of the container, pulling out a taser in one hand. Ravager then runs at me with super-strength, not even bothering to dodge the taser I've shot at him.
"[ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ]" Ravager clings to the side of the container, not even looking at the taser.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH," Ravager screams, but can climb up slowly.
"I don't need your help!" he yelled behind him. That's it I want to see who he's talking. He grabs my taser and pulls me towards him. I cut the lines with the sword an perform a flip over his back and pull out his cowl. I rubbed my hand against his left ear to look for a non-existent ear piece.
Ravager turns around allowing me to look at his- HOLY $#%! What happened to his face?! Grant's Wilson eyes were so red that I have to describe them as red and blue rather than blue and white, the sweat off of him could easily drown off someone, his dumb-blonde hair turned so white that would be jealous, and veins popped out of he sides of his cheeks like acne, while having lost any tan he might have had from the Australian sun. As he turns around, I can look at the right side of his face and- And there is no communicator.
"You never wanted to face me huh!" he yelled at me.
"No I wanted to-" before I can insult him he cuts me off.
"It was never his fault! It was yours, you led them to Joseph!" His younger brother?
"I've never met him what are you talking-"
"YOU COULD HAVE STOPPED THEM!" Grant then pointed VERY far to the left of me. I look over in the general direction and can't see anything. "I should have stopped them! I had to protect my little brother, who neither of you know $#!% about!" He doesn't have a communicator and he wouldn't talk telepathically out loud.
"Who are you talking to?" I ask him. Is he delusional now? Grant flops against the floor like an NBA player. He tries to get up, only to slip and end up on the floor again.
"Alright Dwayne Wade, take your mime act-"
The back of his head slammed so hard into the ground a crater was created, with red coating to color it.
"Grant?" I ask in concern.
"You think-[COUGH]-that I'm gonna scream for mommy-[COUGH]-because of this?" He continued to look away from me as he said that. "Bit-"
His head hit the ground again. At this point I feel curious enough to throw a bunch of Batarags above him just to make sure that there is no invisible person. As I suspected, there isn't an invisible person and start asking questions.
"Grant what the f-"
"[SLAM]"
"-are you doing?!" He has to be crazy, only reasonable explanation. Sure, other villains would try to get me to pity them because they know Dick would fall for it, but Grant knows I'm not an idiot. He knows I would never fall for this $#*!.
"ITS ALL YOUR FAULT MOM!" Grant yelled into the abyss. He was able to get up and swing his sword against the air. "Joe would still be able to speak if you didn't #%^!ing try to kill dad!" Is he hallucinating- "You gave them everything they needed to find us! They might have come for us because of dad, but he would have- [DEEP BREATH] HE WOULD HAVE- [DEEP BREATH]- he would have-" Grant starts clutching his chest and kneels on the ground. "-he would have-"
Ravager falls over.
"Grant?" I ask.
"Ulllmmlmm-" he manages to moan out of him mouth.
"GRANT!" I rush over to help the struggling assassin.
Five Hours Later
"OW ow ow-" I look over briefly to see that Donna is finally coming through. Ravager had lightly stabbed her at some point, she didn't lose too much blood, but it still probably hurt to move at all. Add in the headaches that typically come after taking in knockout gas I should be a little gentle when pushing her to help.
"DONNA PLEASE GET THE #^%! OVER HERE!" I said please.
"Wha-OW OW OW," Donna complained, which is easy to do when you're the one who has an excuse to lay on the ground while I have to deal with two dying patients, as she stood up and looked over.
"QUIT WHINING AND GIVE TED MORE BLOOD!" She walks, unbalancedy towards the three makeshift medical systems: one for Blue Beetle, Ravager, and Mal.
"What do you need me to do?" Donna asks.
"Pump." She looks over to see a emergency medical device with manual pumps connected to Mal and Beetle.
"Does Mal know that you're taking his blood?" Donna asks.
"No he hasn't woken up yet."
"Is that ethical?"
"IT'S ETHICAL AS #^%&!" I end the debate-
"Are you sure-"
"ITS ETHICAL AS #^%&!" I get back to trying to stabilize Grant's breathing while Donna replaces Blue Beetle's blood pack.
"What happened to Blue Beetle?!" She asked, shocked at the full extent of his injures.
"Stabbed with a sword."
"That's obvious, but by who?"
"Ravager."
"Who?"
"THE GUY I'M TRYING TO SAVE HERE!" I yell in frustration. She looks condescendingly at the weakening Ravager.
"He doesn't look injured."
"You can't really see a heart attack." And I have no idea how to treat one. I've spent two hours alternating between trying to fix a Zeta-Tube and performing medical tests/surgery way beyond my level of understanding. Add in the problem of Plastic Man's body, which begs the question of what happens to a body-
"Whats wrong with him?" Troia asks me.
"I think has to do with the Mirakuru."
"Do you expect me to know what that is?" she asks me as she tries to move Mal from the blood donor.
"You're blood's not compatible so don't even try," I stop her quickly. "Its a steroid created by Imperial Japanese scientists during World War II. Ended up becoming the basis for Bane's venom after he found the formula on some Pacific Island where they tested subjects."
"And I'm assuming the human body is not meant to take this type of drug," she deduced, sitting down and pumping the device.
"Don't do drugs," I suggest.
"BEEP BEEP BEEP" The heart rate monitor alternates very fast.
"Whats happening?" Donna asks me.
"His heart is weakening," I guess.
"Why?"
"I DON'T KNOW!" I yell powerlessly.
"Try giving him the drug," Black Canary suggests, slowly standing up as she also wakes up.
"Do steroids help the heart?" I ask her sarcastically.
"He might be suffering from Drug Withdrawal," Black Canary clarifies. "You said this was based off of Bane's venom."
"Bane's venom was based off of it," I clarified.
"Well some of Bane's initial test subjects suffered from Withdrawal after the initial tests."
"So you want me to help him relapse," I respond critically.
"Can you get him to a proper hospital?" Black Canary responds. I look down at the dying Ravager.
"BEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEP"
"FINE," I reluctantly agree. I take some of the Mirakuru from Ravager's costume and place half a dosage into a syringe. "Here goes nothing." The three of us watch as I inject the syringe into his arm, administering the steroid at cautiously slow speed.
"BEEEEEEP BEEEEEP BEEEEP BEEP BEEP" His heart rate is stabilizing.
"There we-" Black Canary talks, but I'm focused on Ravager. Mainly because his eye just opened. "-go." Black Canary finished congratulating herself on saving Ravager. In fact she did such a good job that Ravager is reaching out with both his hands to try and kill me-
"G- Grant..." I manage to slip through my breath as Ravager choked me. I see Troia's hands seperate Ravager's from my neck. I fall to the ground breathing quickly to make up for lost air.
"Little help here," Troia asks. She had restrained Grant, but he was trying to break out of her grip. I reach for the morphine syringe I set aside earlier, incase this happened. I conformable and quickly inject Ravager with it. Ravager still struggles towards it.
"Is it working?" Troia asks struggling to control him. Ravager weakens, slowly, before collapsing completely back onto his bed. "Did it work?"
"Probably," I respond.
"Probably?" Troia asks critically.
"I'll up the morphine dosage," I move to the computer to modify the dosage.
"TED!" I look up to see Atom and Red Tornado have made it to the Watchtower.
"Did GL finally get the Zeta tube up and running?" I ask. If not and these guys flew here, then I'm taking a nap. I've been up for 22 hours at this point. Even Batman clocks out at 21.
"You had John rebuild the Zeta-Tube rather than fly to earth?" Black canary asked.
"His ring ran out of charge and isn't iPhone compatible."
"Is there not a lantern ring battery here?" Troia asks.
"You would think former Green Lantern base would have one, but apparently not."
"Of course we came by Zeta, but are none of you concerned about Ted!" Atom yelled, trying to change the tone of the room.
"Vitals show stable body structure," Red Tornado explained.
"See Dr. Robin deserves 5 stars," Troia told them. "Besides we could just Zeta him."
"I don't think you can rate doctors like an amazon."
"Listen I know you want to marry a doctor-" Ted implies that Donna and I are dating.
One Minute Later
"YOU STABBED ME!" Atom yelled surprised, holding my bloody batrang in my hand.
"You started it," Troia and I tell him. "Don't suggest we're a couple." We say as we point to each other before looking at one another, regretting using the same words because of Black Canary's amusement.
"You let him stab me!" Atom complained to Red Tornado.
"He did warn you, so it seemed like your problem," Red Tornado responded.
"SO you let him STAB ME!"
"It seemed like your problem." After Red Tornado disregarded him, the Atom merely reached out to Black Canary.
"You know how sensitive they are about their relationship," Black Canary responds. Troia pulls out her sword as the two of us give her a death stare. Black Canary puts her hands up to signal surrender. "I never said what the relationship status was."
"You dealt with Atom, I'll deal with her." Donna told me as she walked, sword in hand towards Canary. Canary starts to walk backwards.
"Donna lets-"
"BEEP" Batman? Oh yeah communications would be necessary for Zeta transport. Wonder what he's calling about.
"Yo Boss I-"
"[BOOOOOM]"
"Was that a tank shell?" I ask.
"ROBIN!" he responded angrily. "I've been trying to contact you for an hour!"
"[BOOOM]" that smaller explosion was an explosive Batarang.
"I need aerial support."
"[BOOOOOM]"
"NOW!"
"On-" I watch Donna swing at Black Canary, who jumps over her to avoid being cut in two. "-it." The two women engage in a sparing practice that would be common in the cave, if Donna wasn't aiming for decapitation of course.
"Boss called," I tell Red Tornado and Atom. "I gotta go."
"You stabbed me and you're just going to leave!"
Two Days Later
Gotham Academy
Jason Todd POV
"[RING] [RING] [RING]"
"Alright class dismissed," Mrs. Vale said. "But don't forget your essays are due on Monday and don't think you can do it in a single day."
"[YAWN]" Why didn't I just sleep in the Batmobile on the drive back? If it was class instead of lunch right now, I would probably just take a nap on my desk. But my food deprived body steps out and walks towards the cafeteria.
"Jason!" I hear my name called out and look back.
"Rose," I call back to her. She runs up to me and walks with me towards the cafeteria. I should probably tell her about what happened… Though as Robin and not Jason Todd.
"You look tired," she tells me. "Hope whatever kept you up last night was fun," she says suggestively.
"[Sigh] It wasn't that type of fun." I complain.
"Then why would you sacrifice sleep?"
"I had no idea what I was getting into."
The two of us walk up to the food in the cafeteria and pick up food. We then find a table to sit at for just the two of us near the window, with the Bialya and China soccer match going on behind me.
"So why didn't you come to my gymnastics competition?" Rose asked me.
"Sorry, I got in-between Dick and his ex," I respond.
"Again?" she asked amused.
"Again!" I smile.
"Is the story as good as the Dawn Granger incident?" Rose chuckled at the memories of the incident, and I do too.
"It was kind of the opposite now that I think about it."
"So it's not going to make national news?"
"Sadly no" Rose continues to eat but makes it clear that I'm more interesting. "So, he got back together with his ex-" Rose gets very excited.
"The legendary-"
"No, she's never been in Gotham Prep. After getting back together with her-I kid you not this actually happened." Now she puts down her food. "She's walking with Artemis-"
"Crock?"
"Crock. And the two of them are on top of a building, looking out at the city, and literally the on top of the building next to them they can watch Dick raw-dog a chick for the whole world to see."
"[PTOOEY]" She spits the food in her mouth into her hand as she laughs.
"A #!^%, or the Dick?" she asks me.
"THE Dick Grayson," I tell her. Immediately, Rose knows there's more to this story. "She tried to throw a bottle at him."
"That's awfully convenient that they happened to have front row seats to watch Dick Grayson #^!%..." she wants me to finish.
"Catalina Flores."
"Should I know her?"
"Not really, but it is very convenient that I called Artemis and his girlfriend to that building." The two of us enjoy my brilliance.
"You should really become a detective and figure out the connection between what you and Dick did." I wish I had that idea. "What did your guys dad say?"
"Bruce?" Rose nodded. "I haven't talked to him about it."
"What did he say last time?" Rose reminisces. Bruce's nationally televised speech after the Dawn Granger incident threw Dick under the bus because he feared something like this would happen. "My child does not appear to understand that good relationship management and seductiveness are not connected."
"In this case they were in conflict." The two of laugh at Dick's stupidity. "I bey your siblings are nicer." Oh $#!% Jason Todd isn't supposed to know about them. She's talked to Robin about her siblings NOT Jason Todd.
"I don't spend much time with-" she spoke dazed, more focused on the fact that she has siblings than that I know about them. "I don't remember telling you about-"
"Your mom mentioned them." I think that will make her less suspicious. "A younger half-brother?" Remind her of the good one.
"And an older one." $#!% now she's thinking of the bad one.
"Through your dad right?" I already know the answer to that question, but the more she tells Jason Todd, the less I have to keep pretending that I don't know things she told Robin.
"Yes-" Her teeth shredded each other as the anger she's holding in tries to escape. "-through him." She told me with absolute disgust at that last word.
Rose's has met her father sporadically, each of which he or her older brother kidnapped her at gun point. Yeah very good way to start a relationship. Add in what happened to her younger brother, the guilt of being a child of a criminal, and Deathstroke's weird version of fatherly-love (camping without supplies in the amazon, racing against a lion, live firearms training, ect.), is it really any wonder that she hates him.
However, that same hate makes conversation with her uncomfortable, if not dangerous (as four pencil marks in my arm will attest). I don't want to leave her alone, since I'll have to talk to her as Robin about Grant later and I'd rather not feel guilty about this conversation-
"[SLAM]" Exactly the Dick I needed to insert into this situation.
"Jason we need to talk-"
"Is this about the spider?" I ask hoping to direct the conversation.
"The spider- First of all she went by Tarantula and stop talking about that-"
"What about how you risked getting hypothermia through your #*#% and made Z-"
Rose drops the food she is holding in her hand and starts laughing, making clear I told her. Dick's face has a red light shone on it that he tries to get away from by hiding his face.
"I don't get why I bother with you," Dick storms off at the mockery of two lower class men.
"What's do you think is the worst think you've done to your older brother?" Rose asks me as he walks away.
"Hmmmmm. I ruined at least two of his relationships because of things that were his fault, I convinced the school he's child dangling sociopath, and I..." I try to continue saying stuff, but give up when it seems as though she isn't paying attention.
She looks at me, but it seems as though she is not looking at me.
I look at her eyes and realize that she is looking beyond me, behind me. I turn around to see if anyone she recognized was here. She looked like that time her father showed up at Gotham Prep last year.
I turn around and only saw other students. It didn't seem like anyone suspicious was here. The other students, they were looking at the soccer match? What could possibly be so interesting about a-
I stared at the screen as the violence unfolded.
When I started staring there were clearly at least 3 explosions. There was a spray of bullets unleashed upon the specters. Just looking at the TV I could see everybody in stands had someone's blood over them.
"oh god... OH GOD... PLEASE GOD..." somebody turned up the TV volume. "PLEASE PLE-"
"[BANG]" a gun went off, blood spilled over the camera, and then it fell over.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH," screams could still be heard from the TV but over a blood red screen.
Somebody started wiping out the blood off the camera.
My eyes widened as I saw who appear on the camera.
"[Unknown Arabic]" Ravager yelled while pointing a gun into the—THE %#$^! HE ESCAPED.
My Arabic is rusty but I remember a similar phrase used by a Bialyian terror cell Bruce told me about. It roughly translated to "Down with the Monarchy!"
"[BANG]" and the screen went out.
I reflexively turned around to look at Rose, but realize that she's currently running off. I debate internally whether or not to go after her, and if I do should it be as Jason or Robin.
However, she makes it into the women's bathroom before I can decide, effectively eliminating all but one of my options.
Twenty Minutes Later
Mount Justice
Robin POV
"What the #^!% happened!?" I yelled at Captain Atom and Tula. The two of them were engaging in low level training. Captain Atom appears to have been caught off-guard, both by my swearing, and the sweep Tula just performed on him. The guy went crashing to the ground.
"Robin!" Tula said. "Don't you have school?"
"Irrelevant!" I say dismissively. "You know why I'm here."
"So you heard about Ravager's escape," Captain Obvious- I mean Atom stated. "Don't worry we're looking throughout Louisiana for him."
"Louisiana. What the #^%! are you looking for in Louisiana? Is there a Louisiana, Bialya that I'm unaware of or can you idiots just not look at a map?" Captain Atom was about to tell me not to swear, but gave up mid thought.
"Bialya, what would Ravager be doing-"
"Pull up the news." I order them. The two of them quickly scroll through the news.
"When did he get out?" I ask Captain Atom. The two of them look embarrassed at each other.
"About five hours after you left," Tula eventually admitted.
"What the fu- How did you lose him so fast?! That incompetence is incredible. I know the most dangerous part of getting people into Belle Reve is transporting them, but five hours! That has to be some sort of record-"
"We get it!" Tula and Captain Atom both told me, annoyed that the child was giving them the lecture about their incompetence.
"John Stewart and M'gann were taking him to Belle Reve via New Orleans, and somebody managed to get the drop on them," Tula explained.
"Then he took a magical tunnel from Louisiana to Eastern Africa?" I add sarcastically. Captain Atom opens his mouth slightly but retracts instantly.
"BEEP" Batman appears on a new holo-screen.
"Atom, Tula assemble two investigative teams," Batman commands the two.
"Batman do you have any idea who Ravager was working for?" I ask him.
"Robin shouldn't you be in- Nevermind that's irrelevant," Batman's words cause Tula and Captain Atom to raise their eyebrows. "Robin, you're close to his sister. Check any leads she can give you."
"On it boss," I reply. "Do you have any idea who he's working for yet?"
"French, British, and Ethiopian intelligence are putting the blame on the BRA."
"That what?" Tula asked.
"Bialyan Republican Army. Main anti-Monarchy group in Bialya since the Cold War. Qurac founded the group when hostilities spiked in the 1970s," I explained.
"Why do they hate each other?" Tula asked.
"Water resource conflict, ideological gaps, and Qurac's landlocked status add up to tension," Captain Atom explains.
"You were stationed in Bialya back when they were pro-West during the 60s right?" I ask Captain Atom. I know he was in the marines for a while before he became Captain Atom during the Vietnam War
"No I was stationed in Ethiopia, but the royal houses were close back then. Ended up training with members of the Bialyan Army back then."
"That was 50 years ago." Tula added.
"Don't remind me," Captain Atom joked.
"Atom," Batman called him to attention. "I just got word from Steve Trevor, he wants you to be the liaison between the American and Bialyan forces in this investigation."
"On it!" Captain Atom answered quickly.
"You seem enthusiastic?" I ask puzzled.
"I want to lead the investigation. That's all."
"Tula assemble Aqualad, Miss Martian, Sergeant Marvel, and Kid Flash to investigate," Batman instructed her. "Robin and Captain Marvel get to work."
"On it boss!" I respond.
Hours Later
THE WORTH'S APARTMENT
"WHY ARE YOU HERE?!" Nightwing and I yell at each other on the eighteenth floor balcony. Not very ninja like of us, and especially dumb considering Rose and her mother, both highly trained assassins, are probably inside.
"Somebody has to talk to Slade's family after what happened in Bialya," Nightwing stated.
"Yeah that why the boss sent me," I reply. "And I don't need your help."
"'Your boss-'" Nightwing expresses disgust in his words. "-didn't send you here to investigate, he sent to stalk."
"To guard!" I counter for Batman.
"Yeah right?!" Nightwing dismissed. "He thinks of them, of you, as-"
"Pawns who he will drag into his egotistic quest blah blah blah," I channeled my inner Dick as I talked. "I get it! You hate Batman and Robin."
"I am the only person who understands Batman," he incorrectly corrects.
"You don't understand him at all," I reply irked. He takes a second to think, grabbing his face.
"Listen... I know Bruce better than anyone else-" His ego explains.
"No you don't! I'M ROBIN!" I get as close as possible to make my point.
"Maybe-" I know what that's supposed to be.
"I don't need your permission to be Robin!"
"-but Bruce will fail you Jason. You'll expect him to save you from something and he'll focus on 'The Mission,' an synonym for stroking his ego. Then you'll realize that everything he taught you isn't a blessing or a cure, but a burden, a life style driven by mistrust and paranoia that is impossible to shake off."
"As far as I can tell Batman wasn't the one who killed Zucco! YOU DID!" My retort visibly shook him. What he'll do next is predictable, he will grab my neck and try to choke me so I can't talk. I pullout a batarang and prepare to create distance as I talk to him, but before I can mock him a girl catches my eye.
"You have no idea what you are talking about," he speaks slowly, in hopes of brainwashing me.
"What the #^!% are you two doing?" Rose asked us, opening the door.
An actual update, shocking. Please comment.