"You ready?" Selina asked, looking up as Edward and I entered the living room. I glanced around to find it not as cluttered as I thought it would be. There were a few black duffel bags on the floor by Selina's feet.

I nodded and fiddled with my mask. I glanced towards the back of the room where the sounds of clanking could be heard. Apparently, Jon was having issues with his stuff with the frustrated sounds that emitted.

"There's no need to be nervous," Selina said kindly, "nothing bad will happen to you with me there."

"I'll be there too!" Jon said, popping up from where he crouched.

"I highly doubt that you'll be any help," Edward remarked. "You always end up getting into some sort of trouble."

"Lucky for me, you won't be there," Jon fired back.

"I thought that you'd want me to be there," Edward said with a smirk, "to save your sorry butt."

"I don't need any saving," Jon sniffed. "I'm perfectly able to get myself out of on the other hand..."

"Both of you stop," Selina said as Edward opened his mouth to retort. "We don't need you two going at it. This is about Ridley and her introduction into what we do."

"I'm certain that she knows what we do," Jon said, rolling his eyes, "it's not exactly a secret."

"I know that Jon," Selina said, "but she doesn't know about it from our point of view, only what she hears later on the news."

I actually don't watch the news, I signed, placing my mask under my arm.

"You don't?" Edward said raising his eyebrows.

It's a bunch of rubbish that hardly ever speaks the truth, I scowl.

"Well it is Gotham after all," Jon pointed out. "Everything here is corrupt."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Edwards' voice dripped with sarcasm.

Jon scowled and Selina quickly took care of the situation.

"Alright then!" She said, clapping her hands. "Why don't we get all of our stuff and head out? We can debrief everything once we're on our way."

Jon grunted before turning back to whatever he'd been doing and Edward focused on me.

"Don't let Jons attitude rub off on you," he warned.

Like that'll happen, I rolled my eyes.

"Here you go," Selina said to me, handing me my weapon.

Taking it in my free hand, the sudden weight of what was about to happen suddenly dawned on me. I may have told Richard that I wasn't going back to Wayne Manor, but now, that reality would be cemented. I would no longer be an ordinary citizen (or at least as ordinary as I could be), I'd be a wanted criminal.

Briefly, I wondered if it was too late to back out, but I quickly dismissed the idea. Selina would want to know why, Jon would be indifferent, and Edward... I knew that he'd be disappointed. Did it matter though? So what if he was disappointed? The question that's been floating through my mind the past few days resurfaced: Why did I care about what Edward thought of me?

Seeing the indecision on my face, Edward patted my arm. "You'll do fine," he said, "just follow Selina's lead and-"

Whatever she was going to say next was interrupted by Jon yelling.

"I finally got it!" he exclaimed, holding up a hand.

The contraption that was on his hand was not unlike the one that Johnny Depp had to wear in the movie Edward Scissorhands. However, instead of knives, Jon's was fitted with various sized needles which in turn were attached to vials of Fear Toxin.

"Really, Jon?" Selina asked with a slight frown. "That thing is so bulky and personally I think a bit unnecessary. What happened to your regular dispenser?"

"I still have it," Jon said, pushing back his sleeve, "see?"

A much smaller, but none the deadlier canister of Fear Toxin was strapped to his arm.

"I wear this thing," he added, adjusting his sleeve again, "because it holds more Fear Toxin. Not to mention that it's more terrifying for my victims." He gave a devilish grin and wiggled his fingers, causing the needles to clack together.

"You're not that scary," Edward huffed. "Why don't you all get going now?"

"Trying to get rid of us?" Jon smirked.

"Noooo," Edward said, rolling his eyes. "You guys have to be there at 9 O'Clock. It's 8:36 right now, and it'll take you at least 15 minutes to get down there."

"Plenty of time," Jon said.

"You also will have to explain to Ridley how things will go," Edward reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Jon waved him away.

What the heck happening all of the sudden? One moment they were arguing, and the next they weren't? Was Jon actually not lashing out at what Edward was saying? I glanced at Selina to see if she was witnessing this strange phenomenon.

Selina was staring at the two of them, lips slightly parted in surprise. Clearly, she couldn't believe what was happening in front of her.

"What is it?" Jon demanded, noticing her expression.

"Nothing." Selina shook her head and muttered something under her breath.

"Let's go now," Jon decided. "We'll be late otherwise."

"That's what I was trying to tell you," Edward pointed out.

"I know that," Jon said, irritated, "you don't need to repeat it."

"You're the one that was— oh nevermind. Get out of here."

... and they were back at it. Well, it was magnificent in its short time of existence.

Selina picked the two bags at her feet and walked past me into the hallway. "Come along you two, this isn't going to take care of itself."

Jon shot a glare at Edward before hoisting his own bag onto his shoulder. Pushing past Edward, he followed Selina. I made to go with them, but Edward grabbed my arm.

"Don't be too discouraged by anything that happens," he told me, "there's about a 20% chance that Batman will show up. I pulled some strings and laid some clues that suggest you're going to be raiding some incoming shipment of artwork for the Gotham Museums next exhibit."

Art enthusiast much? I raised an eyebrow.

"Not exactly," Edward chuckled, "more like it was the only other thing that was happening tonight. I'd still be careful though, my sources say that Batman has—"

"Come on Ridley!" Jon yelled, possibility from outside.

"Might as well go," Edward said, releasing my arm and propelling me gently towards the door. "Jon isn't the best to deal with when he's impatient."

I give him a small smile before walking out to join Selina and Jon.

XXXXX

"Okay," Selina said, tossing the empty bags into the back of the nondescript black van we'd be using as our transportation and getaway car, "why don't we get going. Jon, you ride in back and tell Ridley how things are going to happen."

We were all standing in a smaller warehouse that must've been their "garage" of sorts, surrounded by at least a dozen cars or so. Wondering if they'd been obtained illegally (they probably were), I scrambled into the back of the van and sat down next to the bags against the side.

"Why do I have to be in the back?" Jon scowled.

"Because," Selina said impatiently, "You can't expect to drive with that thing on your arm, can you?"

"Fine," Jon humphed, tossing his bag in before climbing into the van and sitting across from me.

"Let's get this show on the road then!" Selina got into the driver's seat and shut the door before turning the engine on and backing out of the warehouse.

"The bank that we're going to be robbing is one of the smaller ones here in Gotham," Jon said as Selina drove. "Small enough that it will most likely fly under the radar, it big enough to warrant our interest. You got that?"

I gave a curt nod, tapping my fingers on my leg.

"We only take what we need," Jon continued, "no more, no less. It's the same with our other robberies and heists. Unlike some of the other Rouges, we don't mindlessly loot and raid places. That's what's been keeping us out of Arkham, mostly."

What's your purpose for robbing the bank tonight then? I signed slowly so I could give Jon a better chance of understanding me.

Jon furrowed his bore and thought hard before replying, "The whole point of this mission is to get you introduced to our lifestyle."

That's not really a good excuse, I signed with a frown.

"Well there's the money aspect of it as well," Jon admitted, "you can't really get a normal job once you become one of the city's most wanted criminals. You have to pay the bills, you know?"

I give him a surprised look and Jon rolled his eyes, "Give me a break. We may be criminals, but we're not savages."

So nothing like Robin Hood then? Taking from the rich and giving to the poor? Obviously, it was nothing like that, but someone had to make sure, right? Maybe a small part of me hoped that they really were nice people? They had been treating me decently enough this whole time, surprisingly enough.

"God no," Jon snorted, "it's more like taking from those unfortunate to have bank accounts in the banks we rob and giving it to ourselves. Or more accurately, giving it to people to bribe them to keep their mouths shut about various things, really anything we need it for."

He lapsed into silence and I was all too happy to let it stay that way. I didn't have to kinks about the Rouges questionable business dealings, at least not yet. The light from the street lamp glinted off of Jon's glasses as Selina turned down a street before the van was filled once again with a shadowy darkness.

I couldn't help but feel kind of sorry for Jon. He had it fairly rough, but didn't all the Rouges? Pushed to the edges of society because of their misgivings. Not saying that there weren't the ones that just did it because they could. I recalled what Bruce had told me about him. Jon had another, more deadly personality that had led the public to know him as Scarecrow. While it wasn't as bad as Two-Face, Jon's alter-ego was just as prominent.

What was it like to have a part of you, something that was and wasn't, separate? It must've been hard for Jon to deal with it day in and day out. Maybe that's why he was always in a crappy mood. A part of me knew it was just that though if it was at all. Ever since I'd figured out that Jon liked Edward, his mannerisms and attitude made more and more sense. What was I thinking though? It couldn't possibly sympathize with someone like him. Out of all of those I've been around, he was probably the most dangerous.

"What is it?" Jon snapped. "You're staring."

I blinked slowly, having not realized it until he'd called me out.

Nothing, I signed, shaking my head, just thinking. I tapped the side of my head.

"Well, can you think without staring?" Jon scowled. "It's irritating."

Better than you thinking, I replied, you'd just lower the IQ of the whole street.

Jon scowl deepened, "Now you're sounding like Edward. He's a bad influence on you."

What's your deal with him? I ask. Did he do anything that causes you to act this way?

Jon opened his mouth to speak only to lurch forward as the van came to a halt.

"Sorry about that," Selina said, cutting the engine, "but we're here."

"Finally!" Jon said before rummaging through his bag. "Here, look at this."

He spread out a piece of patter on the floor of the van and shined a flashlight on it.

Leaning forward, I saw that it was a floor plan of the place we were going to rob.

Jon pulled out another map and placed it beside the floor plan, "We're here." He pointed to an alleyway that ran between two buildings. "The bank is here," he pointed to the building that was directly across from where we were. "And then the floor plan..." he pulled it back out so that it laid on top of the map. "Entrance is here, it's the closest to us, and the vault, which is here..." he tapped an outline of a room in the far corner, "is the farthest away."

So just try to get to the vault as soon as possible without dying? I asked.

"You're not going to die," Jon rolled his eyes, "mostly only get hurt."

Cause that's so much better.

"You can die if you want to," he snapped.

"Nobody's going to die or get hurt," Selina said twisting around to face us, "not on my watch."

How are we going to get into the vault?

"Well that's the tricky thing," Jon said. "Edward's going to shut down the power in this sector of the city so the alarms don't go off. That's good for us, but on the flip side, we won't be able to see as clearly, and the vault will be pretty much impossible to open."

Then what's the point of robbing a bank you can't even get money out of?

"That's where this thing comes into play." Jon pulled out another thing from his bag and it took me a split second to realize what it was.

A bomb!? I signed wildly. Why would you— that's a national offense! Terrorism!

"Why are you surprised?" Jon said. "Besides, it's measured out exactly to cause the minimal amount of damage but still open the vault. Terrorism isn't that big of a deal to me anyway," he smirked, "I am The King of Fear after all. All forms of terror are my specialty."

"Enough chit-chat," Selina said, "let's get this going. Edward should be cutting the power in about five minutes."

"Perfect," Jon said, slipping his mask on and opening the back of the van, before grabbing his bag. I followed more slowly, apprehension coiling in my stomach.

"Don't forget to put your mask on," Selina told me, getting out and walking over. "And what about your weapon?" she chided. "Do you expect to walk in there and survive without one?"

I shook my head, cheeks flaring in embarrassment. I climbed back into the van and grabbed my weapon, which was currently in its dormant phase; a canister type thing about the size of a large canned good, with a handle and trigger.

Holstering it, I climbed back out and slipped my mask over my head. It felt a bit strange, definitely something I would have to get used to, like everything else that would happen tonight. I just had to now be careful to not have my mask fall off, considering that the only thing that was holding it in place was a thin elastic strap.

"Here." Selina tossed me a pair of gloves and one of the duffle bags.

"This is so far below us," Jon complained as I pulled on the gloves before shouldered the duffle bag and twisting the strap slightly in my hand. "Why couldn't we do something more interesting like crashing a ball, or even having something more interesting to do other than walking in? This is so stupid."

"Just shut up and go along with it," Selina snapped. "I'm in no mood to argue with you. While I might agree, this is for Ridley. We can do something more extravagant some other time."

Jon grunted and tapped his foot; waiting.

"Jon will take care of the people inside of the bank," Selina said to me, pulling on her own cat-like mask. "That leaves us to open the vault and get the money."

Jon handed Selina the homemade bomb just a nearby streetlight flickered out.

"That'd be our queue," he said as more lights continued to go out.

"It won't be completely dark in there," Selina said as we crept out of the alley and stole across the street, keeping low. "The bank likely has generators. You'll do fine."

I only hoped that I would.

XXXXX

The bank was bigger than I expected it to be, two stories and made of rough brick. True to what Selina had said, I could see a few lights flicker on inside the bank through the windows, revealing the dim interior. Though the windows I could see several people running around.

I followed Selina as she slipped into the shadows that had been created.

"They know something's going to happen." Jon said, standing next to me. He watched the people inside greedily, quivering with delight. "I can practically taste their fear."

I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear you say that, I signed, it's creepy and weird.

"What?" Jon asked, pausing. His voice was slightly muffled so it sounded more like fhat?

It was hard for me to figure out what his facial expression was because of his mask, but I was certain that he was frowning.

"It's already hard enough for me to understand you, but now I haven't the foggiest idea of what you just said. The gloves are hampering your ability."

More like your understanding is hampered, I signed.

"I don't-"

"Jon!" Selina hissed, "focus on the task at hand!"

"Alright already!" Jon snaps. "Let's just get this over with."

He double checked to make sure that his mask was on correctly, before pushing open the door of the bank. He was just so calm about it, like it was just a simple trip down to the supermarket.

The first few minutes were crazy, with Jon not even bothering to say anything. He just turned to the nearest person, who was unfortunately trying to run out of the building, and gassed them directly in the face. That person went down screaming, and Selina had to drag me away because I had froze in shock.

"Come on." She pulled me into the shadows on the edge of the room and propelled me along as she picked her way from one shadow to the next, heading towards the vault as chaos erupted around us.

I would occasionally glance back, staring at Jon and what he was doing. It was scary, but also fascinating to watch. The brutality and efficiency of his attacks ensured that he used the least amount of Fear Toxin to the most maximum effect.

"Ridley," Selina said exasperated, "focus, would you?"

We stopped a few feet from the vault, which surprisingly didn't have anyone guarding it. Seriously, didn't they know how these things worked? Granted, I didn't so it wasn't the biggest concern to me. Wasn't it better if no one was in our way?

"Guard me," Selin a said as she took out the bomb.

I gave an uncertain nod, and stationed myself in front of her. Taking out my weapon, I realized that only three feet of deadly metal stood between me and something, or someone, decided to come this way.

Since I was now facing the lobby of the bank, I could see how thing were going on Jon's end of things. He was currently engaging in hand to hand combat with one of the employees of the bank. Well, more accurately, the man was trying to dodge Jons attacks than actually fighting him. Smart move.

I wondered what had happened to the rest of his Fear Toxin, certainly he'd brought enough with him to last the mission? I got my answer quickly when I saw several vials of is on the floor; smashed. Well, that explained his angered blows towards the other man.

Hearing a slight whimpering sound from nearby, I titled my head and turned towards it. Another man, probably in his late thirties, was curled up on the ground hiding behind a potted plant. From the lobby, he wouldn've been seen by Jon, but for me, he was in plain view. It took me a moment to realize what he was doing; frantically tapping away on his phone.

I had a decision to make, I realized, should I let the man continue to try and get a hold of the police, which he was clearly trying to do, or should I stop him? I didn't want to hurt the guy, I would only do something like that in a serious situation. But wasn't this serious though? It could make or break us getting out of here alive and not getting put in Arkham.

Maybe I could scare him a bit? I could hit the pot and not worry about hitting the man. Yes, I'd do that. I knew that both Jon and Selina would appreciate not ending up in Arkham. I would as well, having heard stories of that awful place. Making my decision, I took a deep breath before letting my weapon fly.

With a resounding Crack! my weapon struck the potted plant, cleaving it in two and causing the plant to burst into flames. Great, just what I needed. I didn't want to add arson the possible list of felonies and crimes that I might accumulate in the future.

The man let out a squawk of surprise and dropped his phone before staring at me in fear. With another flick of my wrist, the phone was destroyed in a flash of sparks. I knew that it was already too late though, I'd seen briefly what the phone screen had been showing: CALL ENDED.

The police would probably be here in a few minutes, of course, given how far we were from downtown Gotham, it might be a bit longer.

I watched the man slowly crawl away in fear, occasionally glancing back to see if I was following him; I wasn't though. Selina rested her hand on my shoulder and I jumped slightly.

"It's done," she said, "60 seconds is all it should take."

Just then, I heard the shatter of glass and looked up so quickly, my neck popped. Wincing, I tried to understand what my eyes were showing me: Batman and Robin jumping down from the now broken sky light.

Wait... No, not Batman and Robin. The person clad in black was thinner, and smaller than Bruce. A shock of red hair also was poking out from underneath their mask, ending neatly around their shoulders. Even if the person was wearing a tailored version of the Batsuit, 'Robin' was a different matter.

It was the same red, green, and yellow suit, same mask, but definitely not the same person. They looked like someone that was around my own age, though if was hard to tell for sure. What the heck was going on here?

The woman in the Batsuit, yes, it was most certainly a woman, landed on top of Jon feet first, knock both of them to the ground. Of course, that move was dangerous in its own right, instabity, the possibility of breaking bones, the list went on.

Robin-not-Robin, as I decided to call him, landed a bit more gracefully in a tuck and roll ad ended up on his feet.

Selina assessed the situation quickly before whispering in my ear, "Can you hold off... Robin?" She sounded as unsure as I felt about all of this. "Just until I can get the momey, then we'll get out of here."

Sure, I shrugged.

"It shouldn't be that long," Selina said, "only a few minutes."

I nodded before inching out into the main lobby. Jon was fighting the woman and Robin-not-Robin looked like he was contemplating joining in. I couldn't let that happen.

Not wanting to, but nog really having a choice in the matter, I let my weapon fly, clipping him in the shoulder. I'd specially aimed for the part of the suit that had the most padding, so instead of knocking him out, it was more of a big shock.

The Second Boy Wonder whirled around to face me, a look of surprise on his face. That look quickly turned into anger as he locked his eyes on my own. Oops...?

He rushed me and I was careful go keep some instance between us. Sure I could easily fight him in hand to hand combat, but there was a breed chance of me getting seriously hurt. Plus, my weapon was more effective at long range anyways.

I kept backing up, leading him away from Selina and the vault, both the help her and distance myself from the explosion that was sure to happen.

There was a shout of anger and I whipped my head around to see that Jon had somehow gotten cornered against one of the counters.

'Come on', I thought, 'you can get out of that easily.'

My attention was torn from Jon as someone slammed their foot into my back and I went down with a grunt, weapon skidding a few feet out of reach.

"Hasn't anyone told you to mind your surroundings?" Robin-not-Robin snarled down at me.

'Hasn't anyone told you that you only do this when you're sure that your opponent is completely unconscious or unable to move?' I thought, heaving myself upwards, causing him to lose his balance.

Jumping to my feet, I quickly turned around just in time to block his attack. This guy really didn't miss a beat, did he?

Taking a better stance, I started to defend myself. It was a bit hard at first, to adjust to his fighting style and the amount of force he used, but it was similar enough to Bruce's so I could at least not get beaten to a pulp.

Robin (ok I was just to call him that), seemed shocked at I kept meeting him blow for blow, blocking him each time perfectly. I smirked underneath my mask and decided to take the offensive side.

Sending a punch towards his right side, he blocked it as I expected, but failed to notice the kick that I aimed at his left side. Robin flew backwards, and crashed into a pile of overturned chairs.

Rushing to scoop up my weapon, I deactivated it and stuck it in my holster before picking my way towards him, an explosion erupted behind me. The vault. Did Selina finally get into it? I had no time to check as Robin started towards me again.

Getting annoyed with his persistence, I was the first to initiate the fight. Left punch, right kick, round house, throat punch, eye goruge, I wasn't one to be picky anymore. Robin was actually bending under my attacks, forced to take a defensive stance as I advanced on him.

A sharp whistle caught my attention and I kicked Robin in the stomach before turning my attention to the souce. Selina was standing ther, both duffle bags in hand. She jerked her head, a clear sigh that we needed to leave. Sirens sounded faintly in the distance.

Selina's eyes widened at something behind me and she motioned for me to duck. Taking her advice, I dropped low and turned, something whizzing a few inches over my head. I watched in shock, as a Batarang, for that was most certainly what it was, flew into the far wall, embedding itself in the dry wall.

A faint red light flashed on the Batarang and my eyes widened. How the hell did this Robin get his hands on one? Bruce didn't even let Richard have one of the explosive Batarangs. They caused too much damage and had a tendency to be a bit too unpredictable.

Selina must've realized the same thing, because she took out her own whip and caught the woman that was still fighting Jon, by the wrist. Whirling around towards Robin, I sent a savage kick to the groin before delivering a punch to his jugular. He choked and went down. Served him right.

We had about 10 seconds before the Batarang went Kaboom! just enough to hopefully get somewhere safely and not get blown to pieces.

Diving behind one of the counters, I peeked around it to make sure that Selina and Jon were ok. An explosion that rocked the whole building, jappensed, debris raining down. I curled up into a ball and covered my head, heat shearing my skin and causing sweat to poor from underneath my mask. This was absolutely crazy!

Hesitantly standing up on shaky legs I looked around once the explosion was over, the ringing in my ears nearly unbearable. Some grabbed me from behind and I stomped on their foot.

"Fuck!" Jon yelled, "what do you think you're doing?"

Oh, it was just him.

You're burning.

I reached up and smacked the side of his face with my gloves hand, putting out the embers that were burning on his mask.

"What the—"

"Let's go both of you!" Selina yelled grabbing each of our arms and dragging us towards the hole the Batarang had created. "The police will be here any moment. We can discuss what happened and what went wrong once we get back. Let's go."

All three of us ran from the vuilding, smoke rising up behind us as the building burned.