Chapter Fourteen
Eternal never thought that going on patrol with a thirteen year old hero could possibly be so… exciting. Every night there was something to do in Gotham, whether it is gang activity, crime lords, or even just a simple mugging, Eternal and Robin were constantly preoccupied, and her skills with defending her teammates in combat began to improve significantly, and at a rapid pace at that.
But while Eternal began to think of Robin as a younger brother, and Robin thought of her as an older sister, and another teacher, the rest of the team began to grow distant, and even cold. Wally, who used to glue himself to Eternal's side, began to shoot her suspicious looks whenever she came near, and M'gann and Connor began to avoid her completely- which of course, was difficult, since she lived in the cave with them. But they did whatever they could to do so.
Whenever the team went on missions, Batman forced them to bring along Eternal, no matter how much they would protest, or even have the audacity to request the assistance of Red Arrow right in front of Eternal's face. Aqualad would almost begrudgingly give her orders, and most of the time, leave her on her own until Robin protested.
Artemis continued to act as though she despised Eternal, but behind the scenes, the girls would talk and laugh together in Star City while Eternal went on her assigned patrols with Black Canary, and even occasionally with Green Arrow and Artemis since Black Canary had recently been called out for League missions more and more since the 'incident' at the Cave.
But no matter what Eternal did, and despite the demands from Batman and pleas from Robin to his fellow teammates, Eternal no longer felt welcome in her own 'home', and began to spend more and more time in Star City and Gotham with Artemis and Robin. Whether it is at night, or in the middle of the day, she began to avoid the cave as often as she could.
And even though Eternal knew the risks, she continued to see Roy as Mercy, and soon enough, the two were an exclusive couple, and Roy still hadn't been able to figure out Mercy's uncanny ability to figure out how to keep her face out of the papers and the news, even if a camera was less than two feet from her face- which, more frequently than not, Mercy or Roy would swat it away. But with significantly less damage than the first time Mercy had done so. They would simply push them aside by the side of the camera lens, but the media would have a field day no matter how gentle they were.
Her birthday had come and gone, and Roy, Robin, Artemis, Black Canary, Green Arrow, and even Batman were the only ones relatively close to her to wish her a happy birthday, or even get her a present. But she wasn't complaining. Usually all she got for her birthday was an extra bout of screaming from her mother.
Roy treated her to a dinner in the privacy of his apartment, and a movie night where Roy presented her with a charm bracelet he claimed his guardian's girlfriend had picked out for him. Mercy commented on her good tastes, and wore the bracelet whenever she could, and quickly hid it whenever Roy came to the Cave as Red Arrow. Black Canary complemented it once, and so did Green Arrow, both of which were wearing a suspicious smirk that Eternal noted warily as she thanked them politely.
Robin gave her a new and improved grappling hook, and an updated system for her holographic computer, which made it run easier than before, and even helped her hack faster. He also took her on an exclusive trip to Two-Face's lair, where the two single handedly took down the ex-lawyer, and his goons, and dragged them back to Arkham Asylum just in time to catch Batman dragging back the Joker by the collar of his tacky purple suit.
Batman even gave her a new suit, with new and improved body armor, and an even darker black camouflage mode than before, and an extendable electric staff. Black Canary gave her a new set of throwing knives with the letter "E" in engraved into the blades, and a new, and sturdier holster.
Green Arrow facepalmed, and gave her what he called an 'IOU' hug, despite Eternal's protests that he didn't need to buy her anything. A simple acknowledgement of her birthday was enough for her.
Artemis, on the other hand, gave Eternal- or really, Mercy, the best gift of all.
Artemis invited her over to her own home for her birthday, and reintroduced her to her mother, who nearly cried at the sight of the grown up Mercy, and quickly ushered her to the living room where Paula practically interrogated Mercy on her life, how it was going, where she was staying. As soon as Mercy explained that her housing situation was difficult to explain, Paula exclaimed that she shouldn't be living in the Cave, and invited her to stay with them.
After Mercy had politely declined Paula's offer, Artemis had come into the room, with a tray of three plates filled with food she had made herself. And after the three had finished off the food Artemis's mother had started, and Artemis had finished, Artemis excused herself again, and came back into the room with a homemade cake, topped with eighteen candles, each one carefully lit, and arranged to make the number eighteen. The two had sung her happy birthday, and even added a number of jokes on the end of the song, which brought laughter into the room, and caused a smile to form on Mercy's lips.
That's when Mercy felt the tears prick her eyes, and covered her mouth with her hands.
She had never felt this… loved, since she was very young. And she couldn't remember the last time someone had asked her how she was feeling, if she was being fed, if she needed a place to stay, did she need anything at all? Mercy cried in front of Artemis and her mother, and they let her cry as long as she needed.
Paula comforted her with a gentle squeeze of her hand on Mercy's shoulder, and Artemis, known for being one of the less inclined to initiate physical contact with her teammates, carefully placed the cake on the table in front of Mercy, and engulfed the girl in a tight hug, and told her that whenever Mercy needed them, they would be there for her.
"You're family." Artemis and her Mother said kindly. And it was the closest thing Mercy felt she had to family in nearly ten years.
When Mercy finally stopped crying, she smiled, and blew out the melting candles, her mind lingering on the wish she had made since she first left Gotham, and her life began to head south.
I just want to belong. I wish to belong.
-0-
It was another night on patrol in Star City with Green Arrow and Artemis, and her favorite part had just come along.
Dinner time.
Instead of calling it a night when he felt hungry, or soldiering through a growling stomach, Green Arrow usually swung by one of the local diners, picked up some food to go, and brought it up to the two girls, wherever they were, and the three of them would enjoy their dinners while sitting on the edge of whatever skyscraper, office building, warehouse they happened to be on. Sometimes Robin and Eternal indulged in this activity as well, but usually to satisfy their sweet tooth, and the last time they had done so, Batman had caught them, and the two had received a stern lecture on taking patrols seriously.
Eternal could understand his reasons to why it wasn't the greatest idea in the world- but that was in Gotham, one of the most dangerous cities in the world. Star City rarely had anything happen at night since Eternal had retired from her days of thieving.
Right now, the trio was munching away on some hamburgers Green Arrow had picked up from a diner a block away on the ledge of Queen Enterprises fifteenth floor where a nicely sized ledge allowed them plenty of room to sit, walk, and even take a running start if they needed.
Artemis and Eternal laughed at a joke Green Arrow cracked, and Eternal had to swallow her food quickly in order not to choke.
"I never thought I would ever see the day when Canary would get that angry, but dear god, you never, ever want to see it." Green Arrow finished before taking a bite of his burger, giving the two girls a chance to laugh without choking on their food.
Artemis swallowed her bite of food, and then nudged Eternal with her elbow, and smirked as the girl shot her best friend a playful glare as she evaded her elbow to take a bite of her hamburger.
"So how are you and the boyfriend?" Artemis asked, causing Green Arrow to chuckle as he took a bite of his hamburger, and then wiped his mouth with one of the paper napkins that Artemis had kindly placed between all of them. Eternal narrowed her eyes lightheartedly as she finished off her hamburger, and then crumpled up the wax paper it had been wrapped in.
She usually finished first these days since she didn't like to go into the common area where M'gann would cook constantly, and Connor incessantly stare at the snow on the disconnected television. Which other words, meant she often skipped meals, which wasn't the best idea when you constantly burned calories whilst kicking bad guy butt.
As Eternal shrugged, Artemis offered Eternal her fries, which she happily accepted, and began munching on. Artemis was well aware of Eternal's struggles at the Cave, and her mother often invited Eternal over for dinner, and made sure to stuff the girl full before sending her back.
"Okay. Taking things slow and whatnot." Eternal finally spoke as she shrugged again. Artemis scoffed, and Green Arrow smirked as he thought of all of the things his son had been telling him about the untouchable girl he had 'been so lucky to come across'.
"How long has it been now?" Artemis asked before taking another bite of her hamburger. Eternal paused, and then took a moment to think before suddenly laughing, causing the two heroes sitting next to her to stop chewing, and lean over slowly to look at her as if she had lost her mind.
Eternal noticed them, and laughed harder, her arms wrapped around her stomach.
"You know, I'm not sure." She finally said as she calmed down. Artemis still continued to look at her best friend as if she had lost her mind, but Green Arrow just shrugged and continued to eat the rest of his hamburger.
"We never really had a set 'date', per say. It was just kind of mutually assumed after a while that we were a couple after a month." Eternal shrugged, causing Artemis to shoot her another bizarre look. "I just thought it was funny because Robin asked me the same thing. We just don't care to believe that a date matters I guess." She shrugged again, and tossed a fry into the air, and caught it in her mouth.
Artemis clapped, and announced that she gave the toss an eight, and encouraged Eternal to do it again. Green Arrow smiled at the two girls, and then gave a quiet chuckle as he remembered the exact words that Roy had said about how he and Mercy didn't care about dates and numbers, just that they were together.
As the girls talked and laughed together, Green Arrow finished off his burger, just in time to for the three heroes comms to come to life at the same time, and a voice to come through.
"Red Arrow to Green Arrow. Assistance requested on the North side of town. Greenwich and Second." Red Arrow spoke. Eternal's eyes grew wide, and Artemis chanced a glance at her friend, who was now holding her finger against her comm., listening carefully to Red Arrow's request to take note of any vocal signs of distress.
Green Arrow stood and readied a grappling arrow as he replied to Red Arrow, and Artemis followed suit as Eternal pulled out her grappling hook.
"On our way. Any details?" Green Arrow spoke as he pushed himself off of the edge of the building, and flew through the air.
Artemis followed, while Eternal opted to head for the high route, and rose above them to get a better view of the area. Greenwich and Second was only a few blocks away.
"New assailant. Said her name was Kadence. I requested information from Batman but he said she wasn't in the League's system. Brand spanking new." Red Arrow spoke as Eternal flipped onto the roof of the neighboring high-rise to Queen Enterprises. .
As soon as Eternal looked up to scan the area she was perched over, she caught sight of a running figure heading East, leaping over rooftops and sprinting with all of their might.
"Target is heading east towards Kingston and Second." Red Arrow announced. Eternal's hand darted up to her comm., and she began to sprint after the target.
"I have a visual." Eternal said before grappling up towards the suspect, the hook secured itself a solid ten yards in front of the target.
"Engage the target, proceed with caution." Green Arrow ordered as he and Artemis grappled and sprinted to catch up with Eternal. Green Arrow turned to look at Artemis, and then pointed up towards one of the higher floors of the building Eternal had just been standing on.
Eternal grappled up just in time to flip up over the suspect, pull her bo-staff out, and before the suspect could even look up to see where the electric crackling had come from, Eternal jammed the electric end of the bo-staff into the suspect's back.
The suspect gave a high pitched scream, and then crumpled to the ground in a heap. Eternal watched the girl, and kept her bo-staff carefully trained over her back. If she tried to get up, she would just be electrocuted again.
Red Arrow ran up, and skidded to a stop, his eyes on the girl, Kadence, and then slowly looked up at Eternal, his eyes narrow and obviously annoyed.
"I thought you were supposed to be in Gotham tonight." He snarled. Eternal frowned, but did not glare as she usually would have before she found out Roy's alter ego. She figured that this was how he got to disperse all of his pent up anger, so she didn't stop him or antagonize him as much as she used to.
Eternal retracted her bo-staff, and placed it back in her utility belt as Green Arrow and Artemis arrived.
"Robin and I got in trouble on our last patrol. Can't go to Gotham for a week." Eternal shrugged as she pulled out a pair of hand cuffs, and then held them out to Red, who simply glanced down at them, and then looked up to glare at Eternal again before snatching them away from her.
She heard him grumble a quiet 'thanks' and she simply gave him a small 'hmm' in response as she walked towards Green Arrow and Artemis, who both simultaneously crossed their arms at her.
"Think you could leave some action for us, too?" Green Arrow joked as he playfully punched Eternal's arm, which she skillfully dodged. Eternal smirked, and playfully shuffled her feet like and rose up her fists like a boxer.
"I got your action right here!" She shouted jokingly, causing Green Arrow to laugh, and Artemis to chuckle quietly as Green Arrow began to mimic Eternal. Eternal's fist shot out, but she meant no harm once so ever, and Green Arrow acted as if Eternal had broken his nose, and cried out overdramatically as he gripped his nose, shouted a few profanities, and dropped to his knees.
Red Arrow watched on with a grimace on his face as he watched on with distain. When he finally decided he had had enough of watching the three of them play around, he spoke.
"If you three are finished…" It came out as a quiet snarl, but it was loud enough for them to hear.
Green Arrow stopped pretending to rip Eternal off of his back, and Eternal looked up from her spot on Green Arrow's back, her arms wrapped around his neck in a tight death grip as Artemis desperately tried to stifle her laughter. Eternal shot Red Arrow a carefully concealed look of concern, and slipped off of Green Arrow's back, and began to walk towards Red Arrow.
She turned around halfway, continued to walk backwards, and saluted Green Arrow and Artemis.
"I'll help him with this," She pointed a thumb at the unconscious thief. "And then head home. Thanks for dinner, again!" Eternal chirped as she spun back around, and leaned over to pick up Kadence.
"No need to thank me, Eternal. See you tomorrow night!" Green Arrow chirped as Artemis waved. "Nice seeing you again, Red." He smiled genuinely at Red Arrow, but the only response he got from his former protégée was a scowl, and a soft grunt, which caused him to frown, and turn away.
Just as Green Arrow and Artemis grappled away, Eternal began repeatedly, but gently slapping the girl's face in order to get her to wake.
"Wakey wakey, sleeping crook-y." Eternal muttered as she continued to slap the girls face. Red Arrow grumbled at the sight, and began to move forward, about to say something about how unprofessional Eternal was being when the girl woke up- and promptly attempted to escape.
Kadence's eyes popped open, and before Eternal's smirk could finish forming and her witty quip could escape her lips, the girl threw her head forwards, and head butted Eternal.
Eternal pulled her head back just in time, and her half smirk turned into a full on scowl as the girl began to struggle against her grip on her sweater.
Eternal just sighed loudly, and then with a swift movement, Eternal thrust her flat palm forwards, broke the girl's nose- which caused a sickening crack to resonate through the air- and stilled her, and then pressed a pressure point on the back of her head that caused her to fall unconscious.
Red Arrow raised his eyebrows at the sight and finally made his way over to the two.
Eternal glanced at him, and then looked back at Kadence. She had been eyeing the symbol sloppily sewn onto her black sweater.
"Honestly, I like her better when she's unconscious." Eternal remarked as she continued to eye the symbol. Red Arrow smirked.
"I have to agree. But did you have to break her nose?" Eternal ignored his remark, but couldn't help but notice the hint of a laugh in there, and then pointed at the symbol on the girl's sweater.
"Recognize that from anywhere?" Eternal asked, knowing full well that he would. Red Arrow's eyes turned to where Eternal's gloved covered finger was pointing, and his expression turned grave.
It was a circle. A sloppy one at that, but still, a white circle on a black background.
The symbol of Eternal that Red Arrow believed to be Night's calling card.
Red Arrow growled, and tapped his comm. in his ear as Eternal narrowed her eyes at the girl, and then reached up to unmask her.
As Red Arrow groveled about something to whomever over his comm., Eternal's eyes almost bugged out of her skull at the sight of the girl; she couldn't have been any older than twelve or thirteen. Her hair was a bright shade of pink, and her face was sprayed with a layer of freckles over pale skin that looked as if it hadn't seen sunlight in years.
Which, if Eternal's suspicions were correct, she probably hadn't.
Luthor didn't make a new Eternal… did he? She thought with her eyes still wide, set solidly on the girl. Her eyes then narrowed. I wouldn't be surprised.
Eternal reached for her comm. as Red began to yell at the person on the other end of his.
"Eternal to Batman." She whispered. Her comm. responded right away, and Batman's voice came through.
"Batman." He replied stonily. Eternal held down her comm. again, and glanced back to make sure that Red was still preoccupied. When he was, she spoke again.
"I think Luthor's trying to duplicate me- if you catch my drift." She whispered again as she set the girl down, and pulled out a few zip ties from her utility belt, and secured them over the girl's ankles, wrists, and then tied another over those zip ties, and then another set of those to be sure. But Eternal knew that based on the girl's poor performance, she was nothing near the real Eternal's level, and stood no chance of escaping the bonds.
Batman took a while to answer, and soon enough, she began to realize that this notice had unnerved him.
"Understood. I've given orders to Red Arrow to place her in League custody." Batman answered. Eternal looked back and noticed that Red Arrow was now silently brooding over something with his back to Eternal.
"Understood." Eternal spoke normally.
"And Eternal," Batman spoke just before Eternal was about to sign off. "You may resume patrols with Robin. His punishment has been reduced."
Eternal smirked, and reminded herself that she would have to ask Robin what he had to do to deserve a reduction in punishment.
"Sounds great. Thanks Bats. Eternal out." She said as he tried to stifle her laugh, and ended the comm.
"We have to take her to the Hall." Red Arrow finally said as he made his way towards Eternal and the fallen impersonator of who he believed to be Night. Eternal nodded, and the two fell into a momentary silence as they gazed at the fallen girl before them.
"I don't think she's Night." Eternal finally spoke, her arms crossed over her chest as she further inspected the girl's outfit. It couldn't even be called a costume because of how poorly it had been made. "I think she's either a copy cat, or-"
Red Arrow cut her off with a glare, and Eternal glared back. If he was seriously going to say that he believed that girl was really Night, she would have to practice some serious self restraint to keep her from pulling his eyes out of his sockets with her fingers.
"I know." Red Arrow grumbled as he reached down to pick up the girl. Eternal silently looked up, and mouthed a quick thank you to the sky. She wouldn't have to maul her boyfriend after all. "That was too easy. Even for you."
Eternal was about to say something else, but then she caught the ever so subtle complement, and stopped short.
"Wait a second…" She said slyly as she placed her hands on her hips. Red Arrow rolled his eyes underneath his mask as he threw the girls over his shoulders. They would have to lower her down to the sidewalk somehow without hurting her. "Did you just give me a complement?" She questioned as she walked towards him, and shot him a suspicious look as she looked up at him.
"Don't let it go to your head." Red Arrow grumbled as he adjusted the girl on his shoulders. "Now give me your grappling hook and head down to the sidewalk." He demanded in a nonchalant tone of voice. Eternal furrowed her eyes at him and frowned before finally handing him her spare grappling hook, and mocking him by mouthing the words he had just said in an exaggerated fashion. Red Arrow narrowed his eyes at her and snatched the grappling hook from her hand as he sneered at Red Arrow just as immaturely as Eternal was.
"Don't let it go to your head. Blah, blah, blah." Eternal muttered as she walked towards the edge of the roof and attached her other grappling hook to a pipe, and then flipped over backwards over the edge of the roof and quickly slid down to the sidewalk, the rope of her grappling hook squealing quietly against her gloves as she went.
Once Eternal hit the ground, she jerked the grappling line to unhook it from the pipe, and then tucked it back in her utility belt.
Once she was done, she waved up to Red Arrow, and he began to carefully lower the tied up girl, feet first, her hands secured in front of her so that Eternal could make sure she did not try to escape. She was lowered slowly, and she didn't move a single muscle as she went.
Eternal quickly gathered the girl, set her down on the sidewalk, and waited for Red Arrow. Soon enough, Red joined them, and picked the girl back up again, and the two walked to the Zeta transporter that would take them to the Hall of Justice where the girl would be held.
"Sure you don't want me to carry her?" Eternal asked as they strolled down the sidewalk as if they were normal civilians- minus the fact Red was carrying an unconscious girl over his shoulder. Red Arrow glanced at Eternal, shook his head, and then continued on without another word.
After a few minutes of silence, Red Arrow finally spoke.
"Can I ask you a question?" His voice was gruff, as usual, but his tone was gentle. Eternal looked up at him, an eyebrow raised.
"You just did. But you can ask another if you like." She quipped as she turned her gaze back towards the street. Red Arrow smirked, and adjusted the girl on his shoulder.
"Why the change? You used to be so… abrasive." Eternal furrowed her brow slightly at this comment, but did not point out that he was the same way. Abrasive, and horribly stubborn.
Eternal shrugged, and stuck her bottom lip out.
"I've gotten comfortable I guess. And when we met… you weren't exactly, forthcoming." Eternal shot him a look, and Red's face flickered with a look of embarrassment. "You've softened up a little. Not much. But a little."
Red Arrow remained silent for while longer, and after a while, the two heroes reached the police station, where Eternal chose to leave Red on his own.
"I should be getting back to the Cave. See you on my next patrol." Eternal said a bit too quickly as she turned on her heel and waved at Red Arrow as he handed off the unconscious girl to two police officers, who both eyed her restraints with wide eyes. Red Arrow turned around suddenly, stuttered, and then quickly turned to tell the officers that the girl needed to be transported to the Hall of Justice and kept in solidarity. Before Red could even watch them nod, he whirled around, and caught up to the girl walking down the steps ahead of him and nearly tripped as he ran down the stairs.
"Eternal!" He shouted, causing Eternal to stop, turn around, and watch him as he came down the steps, the eye slits of her mask wide. The officers at the top of the steps exchanged a look, and then both shrugged before turning towards the police station, and heading inside.
Red Arrow finally stopped in front of Eternal, sighed, and shook his head.
The way Red was acting right now was starting to cause Eternal to feel a slight discomforting feeling in her stomach- and it was telling her that something about Roy's body language right now was something she shouldn't be okay with.
"Listen… I'm sorry about that." He said quickly. Eternal's expression remained the same, but her gut feeling hadn't changed. She shook her head as Red reached up and scratched the back of his head.
"No, no… its… fine." She muttered as she started to walk away. Red frowned and tried to speak, but Eternal interrupted him. "I really have to get going, Red. I'll see you around."
Red blinked, and Eternal was gone.
-0-
"So what do you think, Robin? You think she could be like me?" Eternal asked from her perch on the edge of Wayne Towers top floor. Robin looked down at her as he paused his typing on his holographic computer, and wrinkled his eyebrows in concern at the older girl. She was sitting on the edge, her knees pulled up and tucked under her chin, her arms wrapped around her legs protectively.
There was a few minutes worth of silence between the two of them as they waited for Gotham's cry for help, the question left to float in the air unanswered.
"I don't know, Etty. If she was, she…obviously wasn't ready." Robin said hesitantly, not wishing to upset Eternal any more than she was. It wasn't obvious, but Eternal had been mulling over the pink haired impersonator since she had left Red Arrow with her.
"Yeah… she wasn't." Eternal muttered quietly as Robin watched her for a moment longer, and then returned to his computer.
"Batman interrogated her didn't he?" Eternal asked as she stood, her toes just over the edge of Wayne Towers as she turned and looked over the skyline, her eyes watching for any signs of unnoticed trouble.
"He tried to. She seemed to be just as immune to the Bat-Glare as you are. Which I don't see you do that in the first place…" Robin murmured the last part, but Eternal's sharp ears caught it, and she gave a quiet laugh.
"It's easy." Eternal quipped as she squinted her eyes at the city. She thought she saw something. "Anything on the police scanner?" Eternal asked as she took a few steps forward, and pulled out a pair of collapsible binoculars from her utility belt. Something was tugging at her instincts, telling them that she saw something.
Robin checked the police scanner once more, and then shook his head.
"Nope. Quiet night I guess." He shrugged as he made his way over to Eternal, closing his holographic computer as he walked. "See something?"
Eternal didn't answer- in fact, she hadn't even heard him because she had been focusing so hard on the building she thought she saw movement on. It was quick, stealthy. It had to be to get past Eternal's sharp eyes.
And then it happened.
Just as Eternal suspected, a black silhouette emerged from behind an air conditioner, and sprinted towards the building next to it.
"Movement, northeast side." Eternal reported her tone of voice abruptly severe. Robin pulled out a grappling hook as Eternal put back her binoculars with lightening speed, and took out her own grappling hook. The air between the two heroes easily went from casual, to deathly serious in a matter of milliseconds.
Eternal and Robin both took a running start off of Wayne Towers, and free fell down the side of the building, their arms tightly tucked to their sides and their legs straight and rigid.
Robin aimed his grappling hook at a building nearby, while Eternal reached back, and grabbed the release on her glider. Eternal looked towards Robin, and Robin looked towards Eternal.
The two gave each other a curt nod, and then both moved into action.
Eternal pulled the release on her glider, and Robin shot off his grappling hook. The Boy Wonder swung forward, while Eternal executed a swift barrel roll directly underneath him, and shot towards the building the silhouette was running towards. Eternal knew she would be the first to reach the silhouette, seeing that she was flying through the air like a bullet.
As Eternal grew closer and closer, she saw the suspect reach back, and assuming that he was pulling out a weapon, she pulled her arms closer to her, and the roaring air around her grew louder as she began to move faster.
And in a grand total of eight and a half seconds, Eternal was twenty feet from the suspect- who she could now see was male- and that his weapon was an extendable Sai.
Just as the man whipped out the extendable sai, and spun about to strike Eternal in mid-flight, Eternal took a hard right and the blade narrowly missed her stomach.
Eternal collected herself better than any hero facing a probable crash landing would, and expertly placed a gloved hand on the pebble coated rooftop, dug her fingers into it to slow her momentum, and brought her legs over like a true acrobat.
Her feet came down quickly, and Eternal came skidding to a halt. To stop herself faster, she extended her right leg, and sure enough, after another second, she stopped completely, her face facing the rooftop, and her glider concealing her body from the suspect, who was frozen in his place, his extendable sai still in hand, gleaming in the dull light of Gotham city.
Eternal reached towards her utility belt underneath the safety of her glider, and pulled out two extendable police batons she had never gotten the chance to use during her thieving days, and clicked them on, causing an electric cackle to fill the air as she looked up, and shrugged off her glider.
Eternal slowly stood, and the male quickly tensed, his feet loudly scraping against the pebbled rooftop as he moved his feet into position.
"Not a smart move, my friend." Eternal growled as she slowly looked up at the male, her expression dark, and nearly as frightening as the Dark Knight's own glare as she stepped out of the shadows. "Not smart at all."
The male gave a quiet snarl, and before Eternal could say another word, he dove at her, his extendable sai held in both hands, and began slashing with manic precision that nearly surprised Eternal.
Nearly.
Eternal quickly raised up at baton, blocked his first blow, and quickly swung the second electric baton at his stomach, successfully electrocuting him, and then pushed the blocked sai away, and ducked to evade the sai that had quickly come back around to hit her once more.
"You know the great thing about extendable sais?" Eternal spoke as she swung at the male again, successfully getting in three electrifying hits before having to evade another wild swing from him. He was getting angry, and fast, making his swings wild and uncontrolled.
"They collapse-" Eternal dove between the male's legs, rolled, appeared behind him, and took a quick swing at his side, causing him to double over slightly, and turn to take another wild swing at Eternal. Eternal's electric baton swung out once again, and impacted with the extendable sai with such force that the sai's internal clip that kept it open, crumbled, and the deathly blade of the sai collapsed back in on itself, becoming useless to the beholder. "On high impact."
The male roared, threw the useless sai aside, and took several leaps back, reaching behind him mid air to pull out pair of nun chucks. He began swinging them as he sprinted towards Eternal, and she glowered as she dodged a wild swing, leaned back to move away another with her back nearly parallel to the roof, and then executed a one handed back handspring to dodge another.
As soon as Eternal saw the opportunity, she dove at her assailant, and managed to get twelve successive hits on him with her electrified batons, one strike hit him behind the knee, and he fell, just to roll backwards away from Eternal, and jump back up.
But just as he growled again and moved to lunge at Eternal who was more than ready for him, Robin swung in, and his feet collided with the back of the assailants head, and Eternal took a violent swing at the male, and her baton hit him square in the jaw, causing him to fly to the right, and collapse in a heap.
Eternal quickly threw her batons back into her utility belt, and pulled out a handful of zip ties as she made her way over to the assailant, and kneeled down to secure him.
"Took you long enough." Eternal stabbed at Robin. Robin rolled his eyes, and held out his hands for some zip ties, which Eternal quickly handed him so that he could begin securing the male's feet.
"Mugging in the ally. Poor old lady didn't stand a chance. But I didn't take that long now did I?" Robin chuckled as he secured six zip ties just to the male's ankles. Eternal smirked and shook her head.
"No. I guess not." She laughed lightly as she finished securing his hands, and then reached to turn him over. Eternal reached up to the male's face, and pulled off his mask. "Anyone you know?" Eternal asked Robin as she handed him the simple ski mask. Robin shook his head as he accepted the mask, and put it in his utility belt.
"Nope. Brand new I guess." Robin shrugged. Eternal narrowed her eyes at the boy- who couldn't have been older than sixteen, and gave a small sound of discontent.
"I don't like this. He's-"She stopped short, and when Robin noticed the silence, he turned to look at Eternal.
"Etty?" Robin said as he reached forward, and touched her shoulder. The touch caused her to jump slightly, but she didn't turn away from the boy.
"Robin… we need to contact the League." She whispered as she reached towards the boy. Robin watched her as his eyebrows shot up, and waited as she ripped a patch off of the arm of the boy's costume.
"Why?" Robin asked as she brought the patch up, and held it out of Robin's line of sight.
Eternal sighed, and then turned around as she stood. Robin had to look up just to see the anxious expression on her face.
"Because I believe one of me is more than enough." Eternal growled as she opened her hand, and the patch unfolded, revealing the white circle on the black patch of fabric.
-0-0-
Oh boy why do I feel like this is poopy poop poop. But review away if you wish.
Which would encourage a new chapter to be posted…. Asap.