Insaneiac: Well, I figured you blasted fans of mine had your break, and now it's time to get back to the grind stone. I present for your esteemed reading pleasure the second story in the Blink Trilogy… But first some ground details. This story takes place a year after the first one, and this story and the next will be tightly connected time wise. It will also be a step down in my usual action department and a great step up in the battles of mind and will. Oh yeah, the first batch of italics is not a thought. All I can say is that.

Disclaimer:I only own Blink and the plot. Everything else belongs to the wonderful people at DC.

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It was all burning down around him. Water seeped in from holes in the walls, the floor creaked and cracked as burning timber fell down upon it, and fire ripped like snakes hunting prey across the walls. All around there was debris, blocking the exit and obstructing the path to basically anywhere in the large room. Sitting in the center was a giant machine, coursing with electrical bursts and burning to a fine crisp as the fires engulfed the entire contraption.

The smoke blinded him easily, and in the back of his head he could hear the maniacal laughter of the one person that had haunted him for too long. "You know this is foolish right?"

"Depends on what you mean. Destroying your plan and then destroying you, I couldn't begin to see the disadvantage Slade." The voice said defiantly, as embers fell from the roof. He simply stood in the center of the room, hands behind his back, and a smile, albeit one filled with determination, on his face. "Fact, I really can't see any downside to this at all."

"What about your death? You're going to die for these people then? I guess I should have expected this of you."

"It's finally going to be over Slade. After this my friends will never have to deal with you again." He said again, talking to a figment of the maniac. There was only one person in the entire room, and despite the fact that he was stuck in a burning building, his life ticking away as the structure fell to flaming pieces around him. "I win this time."

"NO!"

His eyes went wide as he felt it. A girder from the roof slipped away from its supports, and drove itself into his back. The force of the girder shattered his spine below the waist, and he hit head first into a wall, taking a sharp, spear-like piece of debris through the stomach. His breathe escaped him as his masked eyes constricted in pain, and his muscles tighten.

Despite this all, despite his shattered spine, despite his impaled stomach, despite his inevitable death, a smile crept across his face. His eyes slowly softened, and a slight laugh escaped his lips.

"This isn't over!"

"I beg… to… differ… Slade. This… is quite… over." He choked out… his breath slow and shallow. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Blink Trilogy, Part 2: Mind Games

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Chapter 1: Catching Up

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"I'm telling you, there ain't nothing in this town I can't get you, and all I want is for you…" The robust gentlemen spat, pointing at a cloaked man sitting across the table from him. The cloak was a rather good one, hiding almost everything about the gentlemen, save for a pair of green eyes that could bore into a soul like no other. And as far as the crime boss could tell, he was not alone. There were two other cloaked people in the same place, watching the conversation as discreetly as possible. "…to kidnap the chief's daughter. Is that so hard?"

"I told you, mate, and I'll tell you, you blimey little buggah. I don't kill for money, and I don't kidnap mate. Find someone else." The man growled, hidden almost completely within a cloak. He had been over this before with the crime boss, on a multitude of times and in many different tones. He just wouldn't learn that when someone said no, the meant no.

"I own this town. If you want women, I can get you women. If you want money, I can get you money. But I do not do things for free…"

"Then give me a job. I'll steal for you fine, but I don't murder mate, and I don't kidnap." The man growled again.

"No, you slimy little bastard." The robust man yelled, reaching the end of his rather short fuse. His eyes turned angry, and his words vicious. "You listen to me! I tell you what you are going to do, and you are going to do it. I don't give a two cent shi…"

"I'd appreciate it if you keep from profanity Falsie. Otherwise I may get a little…violent." He replied, his words meeting up with the crime boss. Tarantino Falsie, the underworld crime boss of Steel City. Ever since Titan's East was destroyed, criminals had become the major shareholders of the town. The cops had all but died out, and the entire metropolis had been grasped by the hands of various gangs and criminal families. One very powerful group, however, took the strongest hold of the city, and soon turned it into their own personal city of angels. They adopted the name The Fallen, and within months became an underworld mob of unbelievable strength.

Tarantino was only one boss of a literal thousand, but he was a boss who had earned himself some respect from the other bosses, and the mysterious leader of the syndicate. However, to a specific group of very talented thieves, his name, his rank, and his lifetime achievements meant one thing and one thing only.

Nothing.

"You? You are going to get violent with me? Listen you ignorant little punk, I run this joint! I have more people in here than those moron cops have in any precinct. You lift a finger violently, and I'll fill you to the tip with lead." Tarantino growled, his cheeks flushed red with anger.

Across the room, a pair of green eyes met a pair of blue eyes, and a slight nod was exchanged. They both knew things were going to get absolutely hairy in a very short time.

"Well then Falsie, I'd sincerely suggest you start getting those ingrates and idiots there ready, mate. I'm not sure you're quite clear on who I am. If I wanted to, I could kick your men's teeth down their throats. Crikey mate, I could do it blindfolded. Hell, your men look as bout as competent as a kindergarten class, and just as intelligent if ya ask me, mate."

"Listen Blink, you are just begging for…"

"I don't ever recall begging to you, you sorry lil'stinker." Blink retorted, flicking a tooth pick at the nearest armed thug. Blink smiled as it bounced off his head, and gave a confident snicker at the death glare the thug gave him in return. "Hey mate, maybe I'll just start using smaller words, just for you." Blink mocked the thug, before turning back to Falsie. If he could have gotten any redder, he would have been a tomato.

"You arrogant little piece of crap! Christ, are you deaf, or just plain retarded?" Tarantino hollered, slamming both hands on the table hard. Everyone's attention had turned to him and Blink now. Blink could tell without even looking, and had the situation not been so delicate, he would have smiled. However, that same thought process did not rule out a grin, which now adorned Blink's face as he watched the once composed king pin begin to lose it.

"Mate, control. Why hell, isn't it what this is all about mate…control?" Blink retorted feeding off the fury of Falsie. "And jeez, you're making a proper idiot out of yourself buddy."

With a final growl, Tarantino whipped his hand to his side, brining up a hand gun. In seconds the once pin-drop silent restaurant turned into a fury of panic, though with the help of the armed thugs it died down just as quickly. "I could blow your head off right now, you worthless piece of sh…"

"Crikey, didn't you hear me? I said buck up on the swearing. I find it thoroughly rude and quite useless…sort of like you mate." Blink interrupted. Now he was smiling, nice and big for everyone to see, particularly for the seething crime boss to bare witness too. "Besides that, waving a dinky lil gun around is going to do absolutely nothing. Well, excepts make you look the fool. And we both wouldn't want that now, would we mate?"

Once again, silence dropped over the room, as almost everyone's eyes were locked onto the arguing pair, with a bulky thug staring as though he had just watched hell freeze over. "You're dead…you hear me… You are one dead little FU—" Tarantino never saw the knee shoot up, slamming hard into the table, and sending it flying through the air. Tarantino's chin bounced off the flying table, as he fell backwards and head butted the steel pole, knocking him out. For a brief period of time, no one did anything. Blink brushed off his cloaked torso, before standing to his feet, and giving a mighty stretch.

"I warned ya twice buggah. Should have listened mate." Blink muttered one last time, before turning towards the door. It was then that he heard the sound of several weapons being whipped out, and aimed towards him. Stopping rather abruptly, Blink raised a hand to the back of his cloak's hood, rubbing it lightly. "Well bugger all. Ain't that a pain? I suppose since I gave your boss a rightly earned whooping, you're going to riddle me full of holes then?"

"We can't just let you get away with that!" One thug spat out, staring down at his boss, who was off in la-la-land at the time. To be quite frank, none of them have ever seen Tarantino get so badly thrashed in their presence. It either meant to them that Blink was a gutsy and dangerous person, or the biggest moron they had ever come across.

The preferred the latter to the former

"Wouldn't have expected yah to mates." Blink muttered, his back still turned to the armed thugs. "But, yah know what, it's never polite to point." Blink never had a chance to say anything else, as the first thug fired his gun at the back of Blink's head. Soon, cocky smiles turned to gasps of horror as the bullet flew straight through his hood, and never touched skin or bone. "What's worse, yah wankers missed." Blink muttered from behind the thugs.

"What the!" They yelled, before a foot collided with the side of head of the thug who first shot. The thug crashed into a nearby wall head first, knocking himself out. Slowly, every thug turned their heads to Blink, his foot still extended in the air, and watched as he slowly and deliberately lowered his foot to the ground. The ninja-like show of confidence and skill effectively sent shivers down the spines of every thug in the restaurant. By this time, there wasn't a soul without a gun left in the building.

"Well mates, I guess it is just me, and you lot." Blink stated with a grin. Slowly, the thugs' faces became much calmer and controlled as the assessed the situation.

"There is one of you, and still thirteen of us. Not even you could survive with these odds against you."

"Probably not…but no proper Aussie ever goes into a fight without bringing a few mates along as back up." Blink respond, just as a barrel of wine exploded into the back three of the thugs. Wine was everywhere now, as many thugs slipped pitifully trying to see who sneak attacked them. All they really saw was a green gorilla, before a wall of earth erupted underneath them, and flung them all into a wall.

Sighing deeply, Blink ran a hand through is hair, turning around to see if any of them could get up. "You couldn't have even left one for me, could yah?"

Terra could only flash a goofy smile, rubbing the back of her head. Beast Boy could only meet his friends gaze with a shrug and a grin. Collectively, all three heads turned to the unconscious Tarantino. Slowly, Blink made his way to the downed crime lord, and picked him up. Tossing him over his shoulder, Blink turned back towards the door.

"One thing I love more about this city than its flourish job opportunities…is its be-uu-tiful policy towards bounty huntahs." Blink cracked, as the three walked out of the ransacked restaurant. "And this right plump one is going to make living a world easier for a good while."

Steel City, once the home of the mighty Titan's East…now a cesspool for criminals and the single most feared anti-criminal, next to heroes. Bounty hunters. At the very least, police officers had a code to go by, and rules to follow. With bounty hunters, the only thing a contractor cared for was a done job. The best part of the whole deal was that a bounty hunter lived for himself. And in a world where the criminals are as colorful as the scenery, bounty hunters are often treasured more than heroes.

Because unlike a hero…unlike the Batmen and Supermen of the world, a bounty hunter does his job, or dies trying. Failure is only a temporary set back if the hunter still lives. And sure, maybe he was a criminal to the police officers and the superheroes, but they are thorough and important. Unlike assassins, who kill for their work, a hunter will bring his prey in. Dead or alive didn't apply in this field of work. If the target ended up dead, you would very likely get a bounty placed on your head.

But Blink, Terra, and Beast Boy never killed their intended prey. They had a reputation for being thorough, effective, and decisive. Sometimes, a reputation is a very bad thing to have though. While it might earn you more work opportunities, which is always good, it might also come in the form of hits and assassination jobs. And as far as they knew, that had quite a few jobs on them in Gotham City. Obviously, they also scored quite a grudge against Batman himself, who already knew and loathed Blink for a multitude of things.

"Let's drop him off at the pickup, and then get out of Steel City for a while. Something tells me that Tarantino's captivity is not going to go unanswered." Terra replied, flinching as Beast Boy wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"No one is that stupid Terra."

"Actually, she's right. But where are we going to go?" Blink replied, racking his brain for any possible hiding spots. The other two soon followed suit, pondering the situation as they treaded towards the drop-off point. Each one of them, for their individual reasons, all came to the same conclusion. Which made it even funnier when all three chimed in at the same time. "Jump City!" A collective laugh rang into the night, which would probably have scared any passer-by. "Let's just stay as far away from Titan Tower as possible… I'm worried Robin might still hate mah guts."

"Don't worry about it. Chances are, he still does." Beast Boy responded joyfully, grinning. "But if anyone could keep him calm, it would be Raven."

Blink mentally flinched at the mention of the young witch. It had been close to a year since they last met…and seeing as how Raven was put out of action by him, he was fairly certain a meeting would be bitter sweet. "Jump City is a big place…shouldn't be too hard to hide."

"Whatever the case is, let's at least get our money before going." Terra replied, glancing around the general area. Everything was clear, aside from a single truck not twenty feet from them. Outside was an elderly looking male, leaning against the truck with a suitcase in one hand. Without saying a word, the man watched as they approached the truck, halting no less than five feet from him. Nodding, he tossed the suitcase to Blink, who caught it with relative ease. Handing the case to Terra, Blink disappeared for a brief second, and then reappeared where he had left. The only difference was Tarantino was no longer on his shoulder.

An exchange of nods occurred, followed by the man entering the truck and pulling off. With an elongated sigh, Blink turned to Terra, who smiled brightly. "A good deal if I say so myself. We'll have enough to hide like royalty." Terra chimed in, a sarcastic ring to her voice. Blink grinned as he ruffled his half-sisters hair, before walking off. "I wish he wouldn't do that all the time." Terra muttered, pouting. It didn't help her mood much that Beast Boy was chuckling like an idiot. So, she simply stopped it by whipping a pebble at the back of his head.

"Hey!" Beast Boy shouted, eliciting a melodic laugh from Terra. "That's not funny!"

"I have to disagree BB…I thought it was funny mate." Blink replied, grinning. A long sigh escaped Beast Boy's lips as he hung his head in embarrassment.

"Of course you do." Beast Boy muttered, before standing back up to full height. "To Jump City then?"

"Sounds about right…we'll at least want to be out of the city by daybreak. I guarantee, we are in trouble if we get caught in Steel City. The worse kind of trouble. Like a pair of dingo's in a baby's room. Terra, would you do the honors?" Blink said, rubbing the back of his head. With a smile from Terra, the chunk of Earth they were standing on lifted off the ground, and begins to float off towards Jump City. "Once we get there, we'll just stay at a hotel. Who knows, with any luck, and I mean a good bit o'luck, we might just avoid the Titans."

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A/N Lemme guess? Where the hell is the cliffhanger? Well, trust me. This installment is called Mind Games for a reason yah know. Just you wait and see…or wait and read…whatever tickles your fancy and floats your boat. And, not to mention, that in the process of two days, I have returned from the dead, updated my two big stories, started a new one, and invented a new world, "evilishness." Why? Because in all honesty... I love you guys. Even when I could be dead...you stuck with me. Nothing says respect more than that. Thanks guys. All of you.