My wonderful readers, it's time for another chapter of The Red Fox! After the cliffhanger I left last time, I'm sure I've got some people less than happy with me. Don't worry, all will be resolved in this next chapter...well some of it will be resolved...eh, you'll see. Not the longest chapter I've ever written, but I'm in college, so cut me some slack. We've got Waller, Gaara and a whole lot of other things that need to be checked up on. I suppose then, that I should jump right into it. Get ready for some action, some drama, and some real emotion! There won't be as much action in this chapter as I originally planned, but that mostly means the next chapter's gonna be more of a throw down. Thank you all so much for reading, and be sure to review.

Chapter Soundtrack: The Eagles-Peaceful Easy Feeling


"You know, of all the things I thought would kill me, I gotta admit...poison was in the top five," Waller said, coughing in her hospital bed, "But I suppose being surround by friends like you isn't the worst way to die, now is it?"

The friends she was referring to were Bruce, Naruto, Clark, Diana, and Colonel Rick Flag. Said Colonel was someone Waller had known for a long time, even back in her darker days, and the two of them hadn't always gotten along. Over time, mainly after Waller reexamined the way she ran things, the two came to respect one another, becoming each other's closest ally in the cloak and dagger government world. He was supposed to be the one guarding her room, but really he just wanted to say goodbye, "I'm so sorry Amanda. I should've came with you, to back you up against those freaks."

"Oh please, they would've handed you your ass," Waller told him with a smile, "But I appreciate the thought Rick. You're a good soldier. I'm counting on you to take care of things we I'm gone."

Rick's eyes began to water. Rather than say anything, he put his arm up and gave her a small salute, then cleared the way for others to speak to her. Diana step up next, looking uncertain of what to say, "Amanda, even though we didn't always see eye to eye, and there's a lot of choices you made that I didn't always agree with, I want you to know that I'm certain you always had the best intentions. You made the kinda decisions I hope I never have to, and I can't help but respect that."

A grateful nod told Diana she'd said all that needed to be said. Waller could only think to add in one thing, "Thank you, and you keep on showing the works what a badass lady like us can do."

"I don't think she'll have any trouble with that," Clark said with a short laugh, "Amanda, you once tried to weaponize kryptonite in case you ever needed to kill me, and now I'm standing by you on your deathbed. Not sure what to make of that. I guess I'm trying to say that you've come a long way, and I wish you could've gotten the chance to make even more of a difference in this world. You aren't just leaving a hole in our lives, you're leaving a blast crater."

"For being the Man of Steel, you sound like you're going a little soft," Waller joked, "But I'm grateful for everything you've said, and I'm grateful that Krypton sent you to us. You be sure and keep Luthor on his toes for me."

Bruce was one of many who chuckled at that line. It wasn't long before he found himself brought back down to the reality of the situation, "I've gotta say Amanda, you're taking this far better than I would be. You aren't afraid of what's coming next?"

She could only shrug in response, "Yes and no. I've read the good book a couple of times, hard as that is to believe. I know I've got a lot to answer for, but I'd like to think sometimes the angels need a sharp sword too. I do know that if I do get up there, I'll be sure tell your parents what you've done for Gotham, and that I can't imagine a world without you. The same goes for you, Naruto."

"Thank you. I've seen a little taste of what comes after this, and I know you'll end up in a happier place" Naruto managed to mumble out, looking on the verge of tears, "Amanda, I just...I just wanna say thank you, for everything. Without you, I don't know where I'd be right now...I don't know what I gonna do when you're gone either."

By the end, there were tears running down Naruto's cheek. Waller motioned him over, pulling him into a tight hug, "Come on now, don't cry over me. You know something? Out of everything I've done in my lifetime, bringing you to Gotham has to be the one I'm most proud of. Playing even a small part in the man you're going to become was an honor. Now's not the time to cry, now's the time to be strong. You've got dark things up ahead, but they're things I know you'll conquer. There's not a force on this Earth strong enough to stop you, Naruto."

Naruto pulled away, wiping the tears from his eyes, "Thank you. Is there anything that we can do for you?"

"Just stay with me, until it's my time," Waller said, lying back onto her bed, "Something tells me it won't be much longer."

That was something the group was happy to do. They all stood by Waller, holding her hand when the pain of the toxin's set in. It was beyond difficult to watch, but Waller found a way to stay strong through it all. A little over 20 minutes after they'd said their goodbye, she flatlined. The legend that was Amanda Waller was gone, and it was time for action.

"Jiraiya's got the team all picked out for us, and we leave in half an hour," Bruce said as they left the hospital room, well aware that his son wanted to act earlier, "I know that you're angry and want to make this right, but charging in against the Akatsuki will get us killed. We've got a plan now, we have located Gaara's chakra signature, and we're ready to kick their asses. The only one who's not at the Manor yet is Kankuro, and we didn't wanna tell him or Temari at the risk of them overreacting. He's on a date with Barbara right now, one they set up last night. As soon he's ready, we'll move out."

"Good," Naruto replied through his teeth, "These bastards want Tailed Beasts so bad? We'll they're about to get one!"


Kankuro walked Barbara back to her apartment after their date in a state of complete uncertainty. Part of him thought it had went really well, since Barbara seemed to be having a good time the entire night. The problem was; that seemed unlikely given how many things had gone wrong. None of them were Kankuro's fault, in fact he'd done everything he could to make sure he fixed whatever came up. When the night began with the restaurant he'd planned on them eating at losing their reservation, Kankuro made a mad dash through a nearby store and they had a picnic in the park. To counteract the nippy October air, he used a flame seal to make them a small, contained fire, even going so far as to have the two of them make s'mores on it. Not getting into the restaurant meant they didn't have a decent a dancefloor, but a small band playing on the corner worked just as well for them. Indeed, Kankuro had done his best, though he feared that it wouldn't be enough.

When they reached her front door, Barbara began to dig in her purse for her keys, glancing up at her date occasionally. The silence proved too much for Kankuro, "I hope you had a good time tonight. Not everything went as planned, but I gave you the best time I could. It was really awesome of you to give me a chance, and I get it if you feel like you and me aren't right for each other. If by some miracle you actually wanna go on a second-mph!"

"Mmmmmm," Barbara moaned as she kissed Kankuro to silence him. The young Sand shinobi was almost too dumbfounded to kiss back, but soon had his hands on her hips. They parted ways a couple of seconds later, Barbara holding her hand out to him, "You've got a phone to use while you're in Gotham, right? Give to me."

Kankuro wasn't about to argue. He handed her the phone, after which she took out her own. A few of moments worth of typing later, she handed the phone back to him, "There, now you've got my cell phone number and I've got yours. Text me the details of when we can go on a second date, okay?"

"W-wait, really?" Kankuro asked, trying to keep his voice from jumping up an octave, "I can't believe it. I never thought I'd actually manage to get a second date with you."

"It's kind of adorable how nervous you got when the tiniest little thing when wrong," Barbara giggled, returning to her purse to look for her keys, which she soon found, "Not many guys would've gone the length you did for one date. You did great, Kankuro. I'm really looking foreword to the next time we go out."

Barbara gave him one last kiss before slipping inside. A smile slowly grew on Kankuro's face as he turned to head down towards the stairs. He practically danced down each step, still in slight disbelief over what just happened. Before long he reached the bottom floor and headed out the door, the goofy grin still on his face. Kankuro had only taken a few steps when he felt his phone go off in his pocket. When he pulled it out and looked at the message, getting a little weak in the knees, "Oh baby…"

It was a picture Barbara had sent to him of her from the waste up...not wearing a thing. Her beautiful chest was on full display. Underneath it were the words, 'A little reminder of what a gentlemen gets when he's patient. You've seen them in person once already. Play your cards right, and you'll see more than that.'

"God, please let me play those cards right," Kankuro mumbled, his phone soon beginning to ring, "Huh, Naruto's calling me."

Kankuro put the phone up to his ear and answered, "Hey, Naruto, you aren't gonna believe this! I just had the best date of my...Wait, what was that? When? How did he...well fuck. Holy shit man, I'm sorry you lost her. Have you found out where he is? Well then what the fuck are we waiting for, let's go get him! Yeah, I'll be there in not time. Yup, bye."

The puppet master hung up the phone, fighting the urge to crush it in his hand, "You could bust up my puppets, smack me around, and spit in my face...but you don't mess with my little brother. Motherfuckers, it's game time!"


"Listen to me you two: I'm gonna be fine on my own," Harley Quinn told Jason and Rose as they waited outside the head office of H.I.V.E., "I'll tell that bastard where he can put his offer, get Duela, and then we'll all go out for pancakes or something. Go wait wherever they tell ya to, enjoy whatever free stuff they give ya, and let me handle the rest."

Jason was never a fan a leaving his mother on her own, "Isn't this the same guy that stole Duela right out from under your nose? I don't wanna be rude or anything, but he sounds like a pretty shady dude. Maybe we could help."

That idea earned a scoff from Harley, "Please, I just didn't know anyone else knew about Duela. Now that I do, his advantage is gone, I'll kick his ass up the street and back. You kids go have fun, I'll handle Brother Blood. Actually, Rose, can you hang back just one second. Jason, you can go."

"Um, okay," Rose said, shrugging to Jason. It must not have seemed that odd to him, as he headed off to the little waiting area H.I.V.E. had set up for them, "What did you need?"

Harley reached into her pocket and pulled out a small pouch, giving to Rose, "I've been meaning to give this to ya. It's something Red made for me back in the day, put I've never had much of a use for it."

Opening up the pouch, Rose found four tubes of lipstick within it, each one with a different marking on it. She had no clue what to make of it, "Not that I want to be ungrateful or anything Harley, but why are you giving me makeup?"

"Honey, that's Poison Ivy brand makeup," Harley said with a laugh, "It's not just regular lipstick. She would always make different kinds to do different sorts of things. Red was real good with the chemistry and all that. Since she worried about me so much, she made me those to use in case I was in an emergency. Sweet gesture...thing is though, they're not my kinda weapon. I like going all out with a bat and some guns! That stuff seems right up an assassin's alley though, and you wear the same color I do, so I figured you might want them."

Rose looked at the tube of fire engine red lipstick, a small smile on her face, "I'm not gonna lie; that does sound pretty useful. So what does each one do?"

"The one with the crossbones on it is poisonous, so you know, don't mix up that one," Harley began, "The one with the little C on it is for mind control, but it only works for about an hour, the one with the K on it knocks people out, and the one with the F on it will stop a person's pulse for a while to make it look like they're dead. Got it?"

Seeing as it was a pretty simple system, Rose figured she'd do just fine, "Yeah, I've got it. Thanks Harley, I've got a feeling these will come in handy. Good luck with Brother Blood in there."

Harley nodded and headed towards the door, letting Rose join Jason in the waiting area they'd set up, though she took a small stop to apply and little something. It looked like it was typically some kind of break room for employees of the office, but they'd set it up with some extra food and comfy chairs. Rose sat down next to Jason, who was popping a grape from a fruit salad into his mouth, "Everything alright with you and mother?"

"Everything's fine, you're mom just wanted to give these lipsticks Ivy gave her that have all these crazy powers," Rose said, leaning in for a kiss. Jason backed away before their lips could meet, "Something wrong?"

Jason gulped, "You're lipstick, it um...looks pretty fresh. You weren't hoping to test one out on me, right?"

The assassin smirked, "I don't know. Why don't you kiss me and find out?"

"A tempting idea," Jason admitted, feeling her breath on his neck, "It's gonna be awhile before I can kiss you and be sure that you're not screwing me, isn't it?"

Rose winked at him, "Yes, yes it is. Come on, you know making out usually leads to something even more fun. We haven't had sex in almost a week. You aren't gonna pass that up, now are ya?"

She pressed her chest up against his and placed a hand on his knee, unbuttoning a couple places on her shirt to show off a little cleavage. Her lips grew ever closer to his, forcing Jason to stand up to get away from her. Rose snickered at how nervous he was getting, though her lover didn't find it nearly as funny, "Rose, don't screw with me like this. How do I know you aren't wearing the mind control one? You'd be able to make me do freaking anything!"

"You never know, you might enjoy what I make you do." Rose said, jumping up to stand directly in front of Jason, "Come on, pucker up. I promise, the first one will be on lips, and then I'll trail them down until I get to your,"

"Hey Jason, can I get your help for a bit?" Harley asked, interrupting Rose's seduction attempt, "Brother Blood just told me where Duela is, so I can send somebody to pick her up. No clue why he just gave up his biggest bargaining chip, but hey, I ain't bitching. I'm gonna go in there and see what he's up to though."

Jason didn't hesitate, considering that he needed to get out of that room right away before Rose realized how bad he wanted her right now, "Sure, no problem, I'll go see her. You go kick the crap out of Brother Blood and I'll go get Duela."

That went off far easier than Harley expected it too, "Oh...thanks. Just take her to that park we passed a couple miles back, and I'll come and take over in a bit. Be nice to her, okay? I promise, you'll love her!"

"Yeah, whatever," Jason said, letting his mother head back for Brother Blood. Rose started to walk towards him again, swaying her hips, but Jason stopped her, "No, you stay here. We'll talk later, when I'm not distracted by your...fucking 10 out of 10 body...dammit, no! I'm leaving!"

Rose crossed her arms as Jason left the room, sighing to herself, "Fine, I'll find someone else to test it on...pussy."


"What do you think Sasori? Is the kid actually gonna live through this?" Deidara asked as he watched the One Tail's power being sucked out of Gaara and into the Gedo statue, "He seems pretty tough, but I don't think anyone's ever lived through this before."

Sasori didn't seem all that optimistic, "He's got a small advantage, since it's only the One Tail, but I still don't think his body can take it. I'd wager that no one's can. I still believe it was unwise of Pain to leave just the two of us to defend him though. We had to summon the Gedo statue in Jump City because we weren't in a position to lug him all the way back to the Great Ninja Nations, I'll admit that part, but what was so important that Itachi and Kisame couldn't stay and help us?"

That wasn't the kind of question Deidara could answer, "You're asking the wrong guy. All I know is that we'd better get ready, cause Gaara's friends should be arriving any minute now, and something tells me they ain't all that happy with us."

"Way to state the obvious, Deidara."


Jason really had no idea what to expect in terms of meeting his 'little sister.' He'd gotten the location of the hotel from the one of Brother Blood's people, and was about to see what the spawn of the man he hated more than anyone in the world looked like. Needless to say, he didn't know what to expect. Once he got passed the guard and into the room, what he saw was far from what he figured he'd see, "Huh...I don't know what to make of this."

A small child was kneeling on the hotel floor, playing with a pair of action figures. One was of Superman, and the other was of the super villain Solomon Grundy. She was charging them at one another, even going so far as to imitate their voices, "And then Grundy goes, 'rawr, I'm gonna beat you Superman,' and Superman goes, 'No way, I'm invincible!' Boom, blam, pow! Hehe, Mama says that Solomon Grundy is super nice, even though he looks scary…kinda like Santa."

"That's freaking priceless," Jason snickered, making the girl's head shoot up, "Oh, um...hey. I'm Jason; you're mommy sent me to-"

Duela jumped up like a rabbit, "You're Jason! Yay, I finally get to see you!"

She continued on like that for a few moments, and Jason grew so annoyed by the girl bouncing on her heels that he blurted out, "Stop that!"

"Sorry, big brother," Duela said, making Jason throw up in his mouth a little bit, "But I'm so excited to meet you! Mama always talked about you during our phone calls, about how cool and strong you were! I'm just happy to finally meet my big bro!"

Jason didn't have the heart to tell her not to call him that. Though he did feel the need to ask, "What else does mother say about me, other than how awesome I am?"

"That you're on your way to being a stud and she wants at least three grandbabies to spoil, whatever that means," Duela said, nearly making Jason smack his head, "So, big bro, what are we gonna do now? Are we gonna go see Mama?"

"Huh? Oh, in a little bit, yeah, but not right now," Jason replied, "Right now we're gonna go to the park for a little bit and then Mama's gonna come get you. Does that sound okay?"

Duela grabbed Jason's hand, pulling him out the hotel door, "The park? I know where the park is! There's lots of fun stuff for us to do there! Come on, I'll show you! We're gonna have so much fun, I just know it!"

As he was dragged by the surprisingly strong girl, Jason could hardly believe this bubbly little bundle of joy shared any sort of relationship with the Clown Prince of Crime. Hopefull the surprises with her would continue to be pleasant.


"Red Fox, Kankuro, Temari, when we get in there, I'm going to need all of you to stay calm and do everything exactly as we planned," Batman warned his son and his friends while they approached the warehouse where they'd picked up Gaara's chakra signature. With them was Kakashi, who'd rushed through the Leaf's seal system to get there, and Lady Chiyo, a small, elderly woman with grey hair. She was an unknown element to Bruce, but one that Jiraiya felt was necessary, so he'd go along with it. The last member of their group, on the other hand, he was none too happy to have along, "And as for you, Spoiler, I'm half tempted to make you stay in the Batmobile."

The Dark Knight was furious with his purple clad prodige, and with good reason. Stephanie had been having a rough time since Tim went off to God knew where, and it showed in her actions. Everyday she grew more and more reckless. She'd gone on missions without telling anyone, crossed lines during interrogations, and practically ran into bullet fire on multiple occasions. Her stowing away on the Batwing to fight these deadly criminals was merely the latest example, "Why would make me stay? If that old lady is supposed to help you, then why can't I?"

"Because Jiraiya cleared her, and he didn't clear you," Batman growled, turning to Lady Chiyo, "I'm sorry about her rudeness. If you don't mind, why don't fill my young friend in on why Jiraiya sent you along with us?"

Lady Chiyo didn't seem all that disturbed by Stephanie's words, "Certainly. First though, I must apologize again, Kakashi, for attacking you when we first arrived. You really do bare a striking resemblance to your father."

"Don't worry about it. It happens more often than you'd think," Kakashi said, which was necessarily untrue, "My dad made a lot enemies during this time."

There was no way Lady Chiyo could argue with that, "Indeed he did. Well, as for why I was asked on this mission, first and foremost, I'm one of the most accomplished puppeteers the Hidden Sand has ever had. In my hay day, there wasn't a soul in Ninja Nations who would cross me, and I've still got plenty of those skills left. Not to mention, I know Sasori's battle style better than anyone."

The Red Fox felt almost obligated to ask, "Why is that?"

"Because he's my grandson," Lady Chiyo replied, making everyone go silent. Kankuro and Temari already knew about it, but that didn't mean they knew what to say, "I raised him, and taught him everything he knows about puppets...well, I suppose he's picked up a few new tricks while he's been away. His parents died at the hands of Kakashi's father, and I did my best be there for him and give him something to focus on other than his loss. Sometimes I think I did too good of a job on that last part."

Rather than let a statement like that hang in the air, Batman decided to get things moving, "On that note, it's time to bust into the warehouse. From what Jiraiya said, they're gonna know we're coming. They won't bother to lock the door or set any traps. They're too confident for that."

Something wasn't adding up to Kankuro, "Hold on, why just the six, er, I guess seven of us? Why not get an entire army in here to take on these guys?"

"Because the more people we send in there, the more destruction there'll be. Gaara's got a better shot if they're aren't attacks flying in every which direction," Temari reasoned, "And it probably wouldn't hurt to keep this quiet too, to keep the public from going into a panic. A small, well thought out team is better for this."

Batman couldn't have said it better himself, "Exactly. Now then, Stephaine, you stick with me, and the rest of you know what you're doing. Our operation is officially a go."


After a brief walk, or run, more accurately, to a nearby park, Jason and Duela spent about half an hour playing together, with the little girl sharing her climbing tricks with her big brother and showing him how good she was at drawing in chalk. Shortly after, Jason settled in and watched Duela climb up the jungle gym and head towards the slide. Oddly enough, he couldn't help but smile as the clown's spawn giggled while she slid. It was true, he still hated the Joker with every ounce of his being, but maybe the little girl wasn't so bad. From there his mind began to wander back to what Rose had told him about the lipstick, and he couldn't help but worry if it was true and what other uses the teenage assassin might think of. He was so lost in thought that he nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt someone hug him from behind and whisper in his ear, "You're a hard man to track down, you know that?"

Once he was able to calm his heart, Jason turned to find his long lost friend, Ino. Quickly collecting himself, the teen said, "I don't think you're suppose to be here."

"And you're suppose to be dead," The girl replied as she swung herself over the bench and took the empty seat, "And yet here we are."

Knowing it was pointless to argue, Jason instead asked, "So how'd you find out I was alive?"

"Saw you when I was following Naruto to make sure he got his present, and based on the little girl out there, I'd say you and your "friend" are pretty happy. But really? Harley Quinn? Now that takes some balls."

"One, it's not like that with me and mother," Jason began, "Two, Duela isn't mine. And three I am happy with a girl named Rose...even though I don't know where we stand."

"Rose...Rose...Rose," Ino thought aloud as she tried to place the name, "Isn't she the daughter of the pirate looking assassin or something?" When Jason nodded, Ino released a low whistle before adding, "Way to go lover boy, I always knew that you'd get a nice piece of ass."

"I don't exactly have it," Jason mumbled. Seeing Ino's questioning looks, he continued, "We slept together once, but she doesn't want to go out. And now I've been around her when she's practically naked for the past four days but, thanks to how close mom is, I can't really get a release."

Ino couldn't help but to laugh as she said, "You think you're ur the only one that's been blue balled? My folks finally leave the house on their third honeymoon but no guy wants to come over, and now we're out of batteries."

It was Jason's turn to be confused, "Really? I remember back in Gotham you use to get all the school boys drooling whenever you decided to surprise Naruto."

"That was then and this is now," Ino said, "I had to help Naruto get the last of the Joker virus out of his head, but I didn't get away unscratched. Now with my new sense of humor, guys tend to get scared away. That's actually why I'm here, mandatory vacation to "ease my nerves" as Tsunade-sama said," An idea began to form inside Ino's head, "Hey, you know I had a crush on you when we were younger," Jason nodded his head, fully aware of the blonde's affection for him, and recalling his plans to ask her out after the Joker's last scheme, "Well we're both adults now who can help each other out, soooo...my place or yours?"

If he hadn't lived around his mother so long, the casual way Ino offered everything might have shocked him. Instead Jason said, "Can't right now, got to watch the brat."

"There you are Jason," the pair turned to see Harley Quinn, for once without her makeup e up on, walking up behind them, "Thanks again for watching Duela while I finished up back there. Look like we're gonna be staying here for awhile, but in a good way. Brother Blood is being a gracious host to us. I'll tell ya later," The woman's eyes passing over Ino, she asked, "Who's your friend?"

"Hi ma'am," Ino began in a tone completely unlike her usual self, "My name's Ino. Your son was just helping me after I tripped and sprained my ankle." Only now did Jason realize the shinobi in hiding was wearing a sports bra and workout shorts that clung to her legs, showing off her near perfect body, "In fact I was just about to ask him to join me for some coffee as a thank you."

"Alright then, you two crazy kids go have some fun," Harley said, taking their seats as the two got up, "Oh and Jason, don't be out too late, I need to head back to Gotham later tonight and I can't find a sitter on such short notice. Also your friend mentioned something about a surprise waiting for you at home. Hopefully not anything that'll upset our new host."

"Got it mother." Jason said as he followed after Ino so as to not give his friend away. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something different about his mother. She's been cursing Brother Blood's name before, and now, she was calling him 'Gracious?' Something was off.

Ino interrupted those thoughts when they were a good distance away, Ino asked, "So...my place?"

After a moment of internal debate, Jason said, "You know what? Fuck it. I've had blue balls for like the past week. Let's do this!"


"Would you look at that, Sasori? You leave the door unlock, and some insects think they can just walk in," Deidara muttered as the Red Fox and the rest of the hero's crew entered the warehouse, "What do you think we oughta do with them?"

"We already did the witty banter thing earlier, Deidara. It's time to focus now," Sasori said, noticing Lady Chiyo moments after, "Grandmother? How nice of you to come visit me. Never thought I'd see you again."

Lady Chiyo narrowed her eyes at the shell that used to be her grandson, "Well, when I found out you had a hand in the kidnapping and possible murder of the Kazekage, I thought it'd be time to visit and smack some sense into you."

As long as they were mentioning Gaara, Kankuro had something to say, "You guys have probably already figured out we're not gonna let you leave here, but if you give us Gaara now, we won't be quite as hard on ya. Make us fight, and…well, you don't wanna find out."

"Considering that the vigilantes here don't spill any blood, I don't really think that's much of a threat," Deidara quipped, looking at Batman, Red Fox, and Spoiler, "Come on 'heroes,' tell me I'm wrong."

The Red Fox was smirking under his mask, "That's true, we won't kill ya...but we would have a pretty hard time stopping these guys if they decided they wanted to. Give us Gaara, or call our bluff already. We don't have all day."

This was hardly the time for Deidara to be backing down. He took some clay from his pouch and molded it with the terrifying mouths on his hands. Before long, there was a puff of smoke and a giant bird similar to the one he'd summoned at the restaurant appeared, snatching up the Akatsuki member in its talon. It crashed through the glass ceiling, Deidara calling as it did, "I'll head out and give Sasori some room so he can start kicking your asses. Any of you got the guts to chase me?"

"We've got the guts alright," Spoiler called, grabbing her grappling hook and firing it at the ceiling, "And we're gonna fuck you up!"

"Spoiler, hold on a second," Batman yelled, but the girl was already gone, "Dammit! Alright, split up to the teams we discussed! Work as fast as you can! Every second, Gaara's condition gets worse! Don't screw around!"

Upon Batman's command, the Red Fox and Kakashi both lept up after Spoiler, the Dark Knight following behind him on his grappling hook. With them gone, Kankuro grabbed his summoning scroll off from his back and Temari took out her fan. Chiyo seemed to be preparing something as well. Sasori got into his battle stance in response, "Two puppet masters and wind expert against me? Perhaps I've got a fight that'll get my blood flowing."

"Oh don't worry, there'll be plenty of blood," Kankuro growled, summoning his first puppet, Sanshouo. Sanshouo was shaped like a massive salamander, and was one of Kankuro's more defensive puppets, as it could shield him from just about anything. He had a good reason for picking it first, "Chiyo, Temari, I'll cover you guys while you set up something nasty for this bastard. Sasori might be the most powerful puppeteer to date, and respect the hell out of him, but you don't fuck with my family! Let's tear shit up!"


The walk to Ino's hotel proved to be a lengthy one. Along the way, the two shared stories about what had happened in the past few year, neither judging the choices the other had made. After all, neither of them had a past worth bragging about. Ino only had her closest friends left back in the Leaf, thanks to her more than off putting personality, and Jason, well, he was a wanted man. Misfits was the best way the two could be described.

Once they reached their destination and got up to the room, they didn't waste any time. They were on the bed making out within minutes, though Jason was doing so hesitantly. Feeling that something off, Ino pulled back and asked, "What's wrong? I thought you wanted this."

"I do," Jason began, rubbing his tired eyes, "And I know I don't have anything with Rose other than stress relief, and that she's encouraging me to get more practice, but still," he paused briefly and stared ahead of him, feeling Ino's weight shift off the mattress as he continued his explanation, "I'd like there to be something with her someday, and I feel like it could happen, but I'm not helping myself by...well, you know."

"So what you're saying," Ino began as she walked in front of Jason, the boy's jaw dropping when he realized she'd stripped out her clothes when he wasn't looking. She then turned with her back facing him, looking over her shoulder with a grin as she finished, "Is that you don't wanna fuck my ass?"

"I never said that," Jason quickly said, all his doubts vanishing as he pulled the girl onto the bed, letting her work at getting his pants off, "I am gonna have to get some champagne sent up to the room later to celebrate though."

Ino had his close off in no time, making a little idle chit-chat as she worked, "Did Rose ever let you try the back door, or is this your first time?"

He laughed at the very idea of that, "Are you kidding? Rose made it damn clear she wouldn't even consider anal. It freaks her out or something."

"Well let's stop talking about your first fuck buddy," The blond turned around, bring her head to the mattress and her ass up in the air, which she wiggled as she said, "And focus on fucking me! By the time we're done I don't want to be walking straight for at least a week."

Jason felt like he needed to thank god at that moment, "Sweet Jesus, I think I'm in love."


Abaddon was beginning to like his surroundings more and more. He'd killed a few more people since the police officer, and learned a great amount from them. Apparently those prostitutes he killed wouldn't struggle as much if he paid them, which was nice, since the struggle was an inconvenience for him. Though he'd simply pin one down in a heartbeat if he was horny and didn't have the cash, it was easier from time to time to simply use the money he found on the dead bodies for them.

His skin though, with it's green tint, was apparently off putting. Abaddon knew from the minds he absorbed that humans weren't supposed to have that color of skin, and that they couldn't do the sorts of things he could. As best he could tell from what he'd learned, it seemed like he was at least part plant, sort of like that Poison Ivy woman the cop knew so much about. There was more to Abaddon though. Not only could he do things with this plant power, he had other power inside of him too. He could make this...stuff glow from his hands. The stuff, whatever it was, was red, and it seemed to have an energy to it. Something inside him kept telling him to mold it, to shape into something. A sphere maybe? In a strange sort of way, it was like he could almost remember something, something that he was born able to do, like a spider spinning a web. Did that even make sense?

In a nearby glass window, Abaddon could see his reflection, with his blonde hair and blue eyes. If it wasn't for the odd skin color, humans probably would've called him handsome. Perhaps once he perfected these powers, he could show them how much more he was than meets the eye...