Ain't No Rest for the Wicked
Author's Note: Songs recommended to listen to while reading, "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked" by Cage the Elephant and "Ave Maria" the version used in Madoka Magica, they can be found on YouTube.
Mary slashed at Slade with her sword. Blows were exchanged, and he kicked her in the face. She accepted the blow and somersaulted back, using her acrobatics to give her time to clear her head.
She slammed her fist into his ribs, kicking out as she gripped his shoulders and head butted him as hard as she could. She kept doing it, twice, three times, four times. She used all the techniques he taught her.
She slammed the knife into his lower arm, just above his wrists. Slade kneed her in the gut. She saw him pull out his energy staff and swing it at her. She grabbed the handle and used her momentum to roll backward, vaulting him over her head.
She scrambled to her feet and felt the searing pain as a powerful energy blast hit her straight in the face.
She vaulted over his shoulder, throwing several knives into his chest. He staggered back, but she was quicker, using her sword to sever the ligaments in his legs so he couldn't kick her.
He pulled out a grapple hook and fired it at her, knocking her back into a wall; he launched a handful of explosive discs at her. She avoided them and leapt out, snatching her wedding ring from its place on the ground.
She managed to get to her feet, just as Slade swept his staff around and knocked her feet out from under her.
"I'm not making this easy for you!" he snarled, he elbowed her in the face, attaching mini explosives that sent her flying up into a building.
He shot the grapple gun and followed her. He landed, slowly approaching, like a predator about to devour his prey.
"You're not the only one with toys!" Mary shot out a small cable, it attached itself to Slade's finger. She pushed a button and sent volt of electricity shooting into him.
She was being unpredictable, and that was a weakness Slade had, he couldn't handle when his opponents went off book.
Screaming, Slade staggered back, Mary then embedded more knives into his arms and legs. She ran straight at him, executing a kick that sent him flying out the window.
Mary breathed a heavy sigh of relief as she climbed to her feet.
Mary arrived back at Jason's apartment, utterly exhausted, but her body was regenerating.
"What happened?" Jason asked.
"Got my wedding ring back," she replied.
"You look like Hell."
"Thanks," she laughed. "Are you ready to begin training?"
"Yeah."
So they trained for hours. She taught him acrobatics and muscle training. She helped him learn martial arts and all the techniques she had learned.
They both sat down on the porch. Jason was exhausted, but all this was so much fun he didn't care.
"Hey Jay, are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine," he replied.
Mary smiled at him, "You know Jason, everybody loves a hero. People line up for them, cheer them, scream their names. And years later, they'll tell how they stood in the rain for hours just to get a glimpse of the one who taught them how to hold on a second longer. I believe there's a hero in all of us, that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble, and finally allows us to die with pride, even though sometimes we have to be steady, and give up the thing we want the most. Even our dreams."
Jason offered her a cigarette and she took it, joining him in his evening smoke.
Mary sighed, "I'm not a hero, I'm selfish, far too selfish. I want to have everything, and I don't care what I have to do to get it. Villains are at their core, selfish people. Whether it's money, power, revenge or world domination, we see what we want and we take it. We are dishonest, we lie, we cheat, we steal. People mean nothing to us; they are just stepping stones to our own selfish goals. We ruin the countries we govern and the people in our care. We slaughter our enemies and sacrifice all our allies. We'll keep killing till there's nothing left but to destroy ourselves. It will never be enough. We die alone, and the world shames us. We are unsteady, and we refuse to give up the thing we want most, because it's the only thing that matters."
"So this plan of yours, is it going to be worth it?" Jason asked.
"Yes, and I'll need your help to pull it off."
Robin and the others had stopped by the pizza restaurant to pick up a quick lunch before setting out to find Mary Grayson.
He heard his communicator going off and answered it. He saw his mother's image on the small screen.
"What do you want?"
"To settle this between us, once and for all, come alone to Jump City Christian Church."
Robin looked up at the others, "She wants to meet me alone, I'll be going now, I'll be back later."
The others nodded and he left. He arrived at the church and entered. He saw a young man with gray colored hair standing on the platform.
"Hello," he greeted him.
"Hi, did you see a woman come in here?" Robin asked.
"No, you're the only one."
"I'm Kyousuke Kamijou, I'm a violinist, I'm just practicing here, I love the acoustics in this place. I'll be performing at the arts center tonight."
"I'll come see you play then," Robin smiled as he looked up. His mother walked in.
"Hello, so glad you could make it."
"This ends tonight, all of it," Robin looked at his mother, he wasn't going to let her do whatever she pleased in his city anymore.
"No one knows that better than me," Mary replied.
"No one can decide my destiny; I choose for myself what I'll be."
"In this world, is the destiny of mankind controlled by some transcendental entity or law? Is it like the hand of God hovering above? At least it is true that man has no control, even over his own will." Mary crossed her arms, looking at him intently.
"You know that's not true," Robin glared at her. "We make our own decisions and our own path in life. We aren't defined by our tragedies or our turning points. I deduced that the Court wanted me, but why? I'm not special."
"They want you because you're talented and that's all they see, a talented killing machine."
"Can you prove it?"
"Yes, but you'll get that proof…later."
"We're ending this, right here, right now," Mary unsheathed her throwing knives. Robin readied his bo staff.
Then Robin heard it, the music. It started off slow and sweet, he recognized the piece. It was "Ave Maria" by Charles Gounod. He had no time to admire the wonderful sounds as his mother launched an all out assault on him.
He swung his staff, slamming it into her blades, she blocked his blows, slicing his chest, not a deep wound, but it hurt.
He kicked her back and slammed his knee into her face.
She grabbed his leg as he tried to execute another kick and threw him across the room, he smacked against a pew and scrambled to his feet.
She punched him and he avoided it. He somersaulted away from her and used a grappling hook to pull her toward him, slamming his fist into her face as he clothelined her.
She rolled away as he launched a freeze disc at her. She managed to avoid it, but she was starting to wear out, her fight with Slade had really worn her down and that was barely twelve hours ago.
Robin slammed his shuriken into her hands, severing the muscles, her body was screaming in pain, she was trying to block it out, but even her regenerative abilities were being pushed to their limit.
He threw a pair of escrima sticks into her eyes so she couldn't see as he used his grappling hook to send her body flying up into the church rafters.
She slammed into the roof as she plummeted back down, crashing hard into pews, snapping them into pieces.
She climbed to her feet and wrenched one of the pews, throwing it at Robin; he unsheathed his sword and cut it in half the pieces fell at his sides.
Robin glanced over at the apparently undisturbed Kyousuke Kamijou. He was intently practicing his piece as if none of this fight were going on.
Robin grabbed his electrified escrima sticks and slammed them into his mother, she screamed in pain at the shock as electricity rushed through her body.
He swept his cape in front of him, stunning her, keeping her off balance as he began hitting her in the face and upper torso with his escrima sticks, he wouldn't give her the chance to recover. He slammed his fist into her face, knocking her to the ground.
She tried to get up, only to have him slam his shuriken into her legs. Ignoring the pain, she climbed to her feet, not saying a word.
She tried to use her grapple gun to electrocute him, but Robin recognized the device. Bruce had ordered it special from Kord industries, he avoided it and vaulted over his mother's shoulders as he slammed his bo staff into her face.
Before she could react, Robin snap kicked her in the knees, this time he slammed his bo staff into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. She began scrambling to her feet, too little too late.
Robin launched his freeze discs and they surrounded her, trapping her.
"You Talons don't like the cold." They simultaneously exploded, trapping her in a wall of ice.
He saw her smile, "Well done."
It was in that moment Robin noticed the music had stopped. The fight had been less than five minutes, and he'd captured his mother.
The ice shattered and she slumped to the ground, inert. He bound her hands in cuffs and carried her out.
"Raven, come teleport me home, I've got her."
"I'm on my way," Raven replied. She appeared in front of him and whisked him back to the Tower.
"Dude, you got her?" Beast Boy asked, amazed, Robin looked horrible.
"Yeah, Cyborg, get her on the table, I want to examine her."
"All right man," Cyborg took Mary and hooked her up to various machines, after making sure she was secured.
Robin spent hours running tests, he knew about the electrum and how she regenerated. He'd have to figure out all of this, and then he'd stop the Court of Owls.
He glanced at the clock, it was almost time for Kyousuke Kamijou's performance.
"I could use a break, I'm going to see an orchestra, would you all like to come with me?"
"Starfire! Come on, Mary escaped the interrogation room!" Beast Boy shouted nervously, waking the Tamaranean princess from her sleep. She got out of bed immediately, this was bad.
"What is wrong?" Starfire asked as the others gathered in the surveillance room.
"Robin's mother isn't in her cell!" Cyborg told her. "I got her on the GPS!"
"Where is she?" Raven looked over at him.
"In Robin's room."
They approached Robin's room. They heard him screaming.
"Slade…stop…please!"
"It's okay Dick, you're dreaming, little robin, it's okay. I'm here sweetheart; it's just a dream…shh…shh…"
Mary wrapped her arms around him. She felt like he was six years old, screaming about monsters chasing him. If only it could be that way again, but without crazy psychos and murderers.
"When I see your smile…tears run down my face…I can't replace…"
"Wait is that…?" Beast Boy asked.
"A Red Jumpsuit Apparatus song?" Cyborg finished.
"I never had this sort of relationship with my mother," Raven looked at them. "I feel almost…jealous."
"I didn't think she'd stick around, I was expecting her to run," Cyborg added.
"I will never let you fall...I'll stand up with you forever…" Mary soothed Dick, he didn't wake but he stopped screaming and instinctively reached for her hand. "I'll be there for you through it all, even if saving you sends me to heaven…"
After she finished the song, she left his room and returned to the interrogation room where she sat and waited for him to wake up. The others didn't say a word to Robin about his mother leaving the interrogation room. Cyborg was trying to deduce how she escaped.
Dick walked into the interrogation room and sat down across from her, she'd been there an entire week, but still refused to talk, and he didn't trust Jump City's penitentiary to hold her if he had her locked up in there.
"Mom, why are you still doing this, I haven't found any more members of the Court of Owls here."
Mary waited, it was almost time. "Just because they're dead doesn't mean you're not safe, Dick."
"You're stalling me, why?"
Dick heard a voice speaking from somewhere, "I found him."
"Good."
"Mom, who are you talking to?!" he demanded.
"C'mon Jason, let's go!"
Suddenly, the wall of the interrogation room shattered and Red X appeared, he reached out and took her hand. He pulled her out of the Tower.
"Red X?!" Robin exclaimed, he didn't recognize the voice, someone else was behind the mask, this wasn't the person he'd arrested, his real name certainly wasn't someone named "Jason".
"Sorry to cut this visit short, I always wanted to meet you, but we gotta go!"
Robin rushed forward and jumped out the window. He saw Red X dropping rapidly as he gripped his mother, he saw a pair of metal wings extend and they began gliding down toward the ground.
Robin used his own cape to glide down, dropping down to keep up with them. Suddenly, Red X tossed his mother straight up at him a she kicked him in the face.
He accepted the blow, continuing to plummet after her, he shot his grapple out to grab her leg, she turned and cut it off. He began falling, but she pulled out a pair of swords and threw them up at him.
Robin's body slammed back into the side of the Tower as she pinned him there with a pair of swords. He slammed his fist into the glass in frustration. There wasn't really anything he could do, despite having another grapple gun with him, she was too far below him for him to land and go after her.
"Sorry Robin, you're sitting this one out!" His mother disappeared from sight.
She'd taken advantage of her imprisonment, somehow enlisting Red X of all people to help her find someone.
It had to be someone in the Court of Owls, a member in the city; they'd head out immediately and start looking for them.
"Robin, your mother and Red X escaped, we couldn't catch them," Raven informed him over the communicator.
"Starfire, could you help me down?"
"Of course Robin," Starfire replied, reaching out her hand as she helped him down. The others gathered around him.
"We need to fan out and scour the city, mom would only be after the Court of Owls and we have to stop her!"
Mary approached the cell, searching for the guards that should be there. She rushed to the farthest cell and cut a hole through the door with her sword. She opened it slowly. There was a figure; she could see him in the dim light.
She rushed forward. "John!"
"Mary…" John whispered her name. He was so happy to see her, he hadn't seen her in years, he had been told that she'd been taken to Jump City and medicated, that he would never see her again, and that the Court was punishing both of them for her disobedience.
Mary felt overjoyed and relieved, celebrating Dick's birthday had been a ruse to get Cyborg to show her where the coordinates for the labyrinth were, she'd lied to him, telling him this wasn't Court of Owls related, she'd needed to see where they were keeping John, she'd been able to deduce the location of where they had tortured her, but they always took her somewhere else after a successful kill, her reward for killing was five minutes with her husband before they put her back to sleep. She had been able to find the hideout, but couldn't remember where the nearest sewer was. That was where Cyborg came in.
She pulled him into her arms, hugging him tightly. He cradled her, whispering words of comfort and let her lean against him.
"Missed you so much…" he whispered.
"Can you stand?" Mary asked.
"No, you remember what they did to my spine…I can't walk…I can't…"
Mary burned with rage, they just couldn't settle for ruining her life, they had to ruin his too. She'd make them pay for that, it renewed her quest for vengeance, she should have told Dick, should have asked for his help, but she didn't want him to see his father like this, so she enlisted Jason's help instead.
"Can you get his legs, Jason?" Mary asked.
"Yeah, I got him," he nodded. "Old man, are you okay?"
"As good as can be expected," John grunted.
They carried him out of the labyrinth and slipped quietly out of Gotham City, Mary knew the Court of Owls had abandoned the place after she had escaped their clutches; they were laying low and trying to expand into Jump City, especially since they knew she was going after them.
They returned to Jump City, and Jason Todd's apartment. They helped John into the house and the teenager left, saying he had other things to do.
It was just the two of them, John looked over at her.
"Honey, why you do this to yourself?" he asked, touching her cheek.
"Ain't no rest for the wicked," she replied.
"Money don't go on trees!" he laughed, quoting the song lyrics.
"I have to do this to keep us safe. You know that. Get some rest John," she whispered, kissing his forehead.
John drifted off to a restless sleep as he let relief wash over him.
He got up the next morning and climbing up into the wheelchair he made himself breakfast.
"Where's Mary?" he asked Jason.
"She went out, wouldn't say where," he replied.
"I'll be going out, just let her know I'm looking around the city." John noticed Mary had procured various handicap accessible equipment, including modifying a car so he could drive it with his hands. He decided to head into the city.
John Frederick Grayson frowned, he needed to do something, something to keep his mind sharp, he wasn't going to wallow in self pity. He'd heard of his son's many exploits, his heroism, how he was trying to save his own mother from what she'd become, he was proud, so proud, but he needed to learn how to protect himself.
He heard of a legendary martial artist, but he rarely took students. He decided to contact him anyway.
John was able to contact him, much to his surprise; Richard agreed to meet with him.
He met him in Jump City Park, he saw him waiting near a bench, holding a pair of escrima sticks.
"Richard Drakunovski?" he asked.
"You must be John Grayson, you resemble your son, he's a good man." Richard smiled.
"I'm surprised you recognize me," John shook his hand.
"Your death made you a household name."
"Ironic," John laughed.
"Are you ready to begin?" Richard Dragon asked.
"Yes," the former circus manager replied.
He tossed him a pair of escrima sticks. John knew this was going to be interesting.
