A special thanks to L. VanDattaem for Betaing!
The crowd gathered into the stadium for the afternoon showing for the mermaids.
A small boy around the age of ten, dressed in a red hoodie, faded jeans and a black cap, sat in the front row with the many people who had been trying to get tickets to see the sea creatures. Some of them laughed as one of the mermaids named Red Hood splashed at them. They thought that it was being playful, but in truth it was trying to make them angry.
The boy watched as one just laid out on a rock. A third one had been seen, but it had swum away, hiding in in the fake coral cave thing. It didn't like humans. That wasn't surprising. The boy watched the crowd as they crammed in with their tickets. Luckily the boy had stolen one from an unsuspecting person, thus the reason he was here in the first place.
A man in his mid twenties or so patted the water before standing up, wearing a microphone headset that must have been water proof. He waved to the crowd as they roared in cheers.
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages, I welcome you today to Ocean Waters! I am Jericho Wilson. Today you are about to enter a new world of amazing creatures! I present to you... Nightwing and Red Hood!"
The crowd cheered as the two mermaids jumped out of the water. The mermaids popped out, looking at their trainer, Jericho, who praised them for the small trick before looking back at the crowd. "Let's say hello," Jericho said, and started to wave his hands.
"Say hello, Nightwing, Red Hood." They waved to the crowd, earning excited cheers. Jericho took out two beach balls, tossing them into the water, calling for the mermaids to catch. The mermaids started what looked like simple juggling with their tails before their trainer tossed in a third one.
Everyone was laughing happily and cheered once again as a fourth one was tossed in. Everything went well for the first half hour until it came to a trick that involved the two working together. Instead of flying through the air into a hoop at the same time, Nightwing had decided he was done. Instead, he swam past the hoop, watching as Red Hood preformed the trick alone.
The trainer blew the whistle to call Nightwing over. Instead, Nightwing swam close by before going to a rock near the crowd and laying down on it, closing his eyes. Jericho patted the water to no avail because the blue-tailed mermaid wouldn't come to him. A couple of times Nightwing sat up to look at him before going back to laying down. As Jericho tried to fix this problem he heard the crowd laughing and pointing.
Red Hood had come up onto the platform, his upper half hidden in the ice box that held the fish they were given for a reward. The little boy grinned as Jericho tried to shoo Red Hood off, who made off with a very tasty fish that was usually saved for the end of the show. The red-tailed one took it to the skull, where he started to eat it. The crowd realized that the mermaids weren't going to be doing a show for them, so they started to murmur amongst themselves.
Someone got the idea to start tossing some popcorn into the water. A few landed on the rock that Nigthwing was on. He opened his eyes, taking a couple of pieces to taste them. He liked it. Jericho tried talking to the crowd to stop tossing in popcorn when Nightwing sat up, opening his mouth for more, and it encouraged them to start tossing in the snack.
Someone tossed in a candy bar. Red Hood snatched it up, taking a bite. With the crowd laughing, shouting, cheering and tossing in more, the trainer started to worry.
"Attention. Attention, please do not throw in food! The mermaids could get sick form it! Nightwing, Red Hood, come here!"
They ignored him.
The boy watched as they swam around gathering the snacks they were given until a man stood up nearby him, laughing loudly before leaning down to pat the water. The boy saw how the trainer yelled at him not to try and touch the mermaids.
The man didn't listen and instead jumped down onto the rock. Instantly both the mermaids took notice. The man laughed as the two circled him. He leaned down to touch one of their tails when Red Hood came up behind him, grabbing the back of the man's shirt, pulling him down. The man screamed along with the crowd as Red Hood pulled him into the water before letting go. Nightwing pulled the man along towards the middle of the pool by his foot before letting go.
"Stop!" Jericho shouted, hitting the water. "Stop it!"
Red Hood grabbed the man by the other foot before both of them started to drag him down. Without waiting another second, Jericho dove into the water, swimming as fast as he could to them. When he got there, he heard a voice. It was soft, steady, beautiful, and above all, deadly. He saw the man, who was struggling, suddenly become very still, much like the group of fish. Ignoring the song, he rushed over, smacking the hands away. They darted off as he grabbed the man, swimming for the surface. When they broke through, the man was still in a trance.
"Sir, are you alright?!"Jericho shouted. "Come on, say something!"
The man started to come out of it when Red Hood came up, growling. Jericho blew the whistle at him, making the mermaid back away as he pulled the man to the platform where other workers had come running out to help. When they got the man on it, he started to snap out of the daze, but then Nightwing pulled Jericho away. Red Hood batted everyone away and suddenly Robin appeared out of the water.
Jericho watched in shock as the small mermaid quickly climbed onto the man, grabbing his face with his clawed hands before letting out a breath and pressing his mouth onto the other man's. Everyone froze, but Jericho knew the tails, knew what was happening, and it was proven when the man's black hair started to turn gray as the life started to drain out of him.
Jericho rushed back as fast as he could, grabbing Robin, pulling him off. The mermaid was purring! It was a meal to him. A rare meal of human life. Carrying the small, half-dazed mermaid to a separate tank, he tossed Robin in, who wailed, scratching at the glass.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry, but this show is over." Jericho turned off his mic, looking at the workers seriously. "Get them out of here. Tell father to get his lawyers ready, and whatever you do, don't look into the Robin's eyes, understand?"
"Yes, sir!"
Tim licked his lips.
He had been told that human life tasted delicious. Bruce had told him that he had a skill that they needed to get both Jason and Dick out, and it required human life. Just a few months of that life, nothing more, nothing less. Bruce had told him how to do it, how to be careful. When the show was going on, both his brothers had told him they would get him someone young so he could take that life for them to get out.
A man had gotten close.
Perfect.
Jason had gotten him, dragged the human down with Dick's help.
Truly, Tim had only meant to take a little, like he was told, but human life force tasted way better than he had imagined. When breathing in the life of the man, he had forgotten to stop, to let go before the human could age. His singing had kept the human still for the precious minute they needed, but after that Tim forgot himself. Instead of stopping he started to feed more off the life. He had heard both his brothers screaming at him to stop before he was suddenly pulled away.
In a haze of his own, the life overwhelming to him, Tim hadn't noticed he had been yanked out of the water until he was tossed into a small tank. Snapping out of it, he realized what he had done. Bruce had warned him, told him not to let it take off. Bruce had said it was difficult for young ones like himself to do such a thing, but it was necessary.
Clawing at the tank, he called to his brothers.
"How could you let this happen?!" Slade roared.
"They got thrown for a loop, pops!" Jericho shouted back. "You tossed in their brother and left! Robin's not even trained, and they were so happy to see him they couldn't focus!"
"You should have been in control over them!"
"I only had about two months to train them! I told you I needed more time!" Jericho shouted. "If you don't want this to happen again, then give me more time!"
Furious, Slade tossed the papers on his desk to the ground. "One month! That's all, or I separate them all!"
The night came, and Tim waited until the midnight hour was upon them before pulling on the life force he had taken and focusing it, gripping the sides of the tank he had been placed in for the night apart from his brothers. Using his strength, he toppled out, landing on the floor and hurting his side, before sitting up and shaking his head.
Both Dick and Jason stared at him from their tanks.
Shaking his head once more, Tim stared in awe at the legs he now possessed, wiggling the toes, his mouth hanging open.
"Bruce was right... legs feel weird."
To owlcat92: Ys, Wally is there! I had to have something dramatic to happen lol
To Sairey13: Well, I can't confirm yes or no because it would be spoiling it, but ya never know. 8D
To REBD: No Disney movies were involved in the writing of this story.
To Noon: They need Daddy Bats feels lol XD
To L. VanDattae: Sounds like a very tiring day! Hope this day is better for you and thanks again for the review and the beta work! Hope to hear form you soon.