Chapter 7

Last chapter Mariko had Robin in her hands until the Team appeared to take him back. Now Mariko and Tony have been taken into custody. What will become of the duo now? And what about poor Yukie—you know Tony's pet dog. Oh well suppose we'll find out! ONWARD TO THE BATTLE FIELD!

A young eight-year old Mariko sits in front of a TV in an old apartment watching anime. She smiled enthralled by the action taking place before her. Meanwhile behind her in the kitchen her parents argued about who knew what.

"You sleazy little tart! How dare you, here I am giving you and your little brat a roof over your head and you go behind my back!" Mariko's father shouted.

"She's your child you drunkard, and if you didn't want her you should have been more careful!" Her mother shouted. Mariko sat on the floor hugging a pillow tightly trying to block out the yelling, she went for the remote and turned up the volume to block out the sound of a bottle hitting the ground. The crash was followed by footsteps stomping to the living room. Mariko was too busy trying to block out the noise that she didn't realize her father was over top of her.

"Mariko Miko; you brat! How many times do I have to tell you to turn down that television!" he shouted smacking her aside and turning off the TV. He then glared down at her and grabbed the young Mariko by the neck. She screamed and then everything went black.

~0~

Mariko gasped as she awoke and realized she wasn't in her old room but sitting at a table in an interview room. she then remembered how she got there, and slammed her hand down on the table, cursing herself for getting caught. Just then the door opened and Batman and Martian Manhunter. Mariko sat back in her chair and crossed her arms.

"Mariko Miko I presume?" Batman asked, Mariko shrugged.

"You guessed it; Mariko Miko smartest girl alive." She said calmly, "Can I go home now?"

Batman scowled, not at all amused by Mariko's sense of humor. Mariko shrugged.

"You're almost as boring as your Boy Wonder." She said using her foot to prop the chair on its back two legs, "Oh well it's not like you can keep me here, I've done nothing wrong."

"How bout human experimentation." Batman said curtly, Mariko's foot slipped and she was back on all fours.

"Heheh! They were willing. Akuma and Shinigami? I saved their lives. I mean; they were half dead when they were brought to me." She said with a smile. Batman scowled.

"You mean by Vandal Savage." He said. Mariko's smile faded.

"You've got nothing to pin on me." She said with a slight hiss, "No evidence, no nothing."

"And Tony Dex?" Martian manhunter asked. Mariko tilted her head to the side.

"Who?" she said trying to think of who they were talking about, then she remember. "Oh him? Meh, you can go ask him yourself; he's happy with his little upgrades."

"Tony Dex is being questioned as we speak." Batman said, "You on the other hand; have a lot to explain."

"I'm not answering a thing without a lawyer." Mariko said sweetly.

~0~

"You don't have to cover for her anymore Tony. Mariko's in another room; she cannot hear you in here." Zatara said, Tony shook his head.

"Doesn't matter if she can hear me or not; Miss Mariko is a genius." He said. Flash—who was in the room with Zatara frowned.

"From what I've heard the girl's a lunatic; insane even." He said. Tony glared.

"True she's a little crazy; but that's what makes her a genius." He said, calmly.

"Care to explain?" Zatara asked. Tony shrugged.

"What's to explain? Miss Mariko's not afraid to do what most so-called geniuses are afraid to do." He said, "I'm proof of that, she cracked my skull when I met her; now I'm half robot."

Flash and Zatara looked to each other; surprised at the boy's lack of reaction to what he had just said.

"Is this kid serious?" Flash asked Zatara. "Are you serious?"

"About what?"

"You just said she nearly killed you; and you're ok with that?" Flash asked, Tony nodded.

"Nothing I can do about it now right? It's kind of permanent." He said, "Beside I like it anyway. Miss Mariko's a nice girl."

"So then you won't have a problem telling us what she's doing?" Zatara asked. Tony shook his head.

"Loose lips sink ships. I don't plan on betraying Miss Mariko." He said darkly. Zatara nodded.

"You seem to truly care for this girl." He said, Tony said nothing.

~0~

"So Robin; what'd that girl want from you anyway?" Zatanna asked, Robin made a face.

"Turns out she's the one in the building who I managed to hack." He said. The group stared.

"Her? You're kidding?" Kid said, Robin shook his head. M'gaan shrugged.

"I guess it's not that hard to believe; I mean Klarion's a Lord of Chaos, and he's no older than us. Why can't a fifteen year old girl be a computer genius?" She asked. "But what did she want from you? Revenge?"

"Not even close." Robin groaned, the group stared as they waited for him to explain.

"So then what? What'd she want?" Zatara asked.

"The crazy girl's in love with me! She told me that when she kidnapped me" Robin shouted, Kidflash couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"You're kidding! She had a mall trashed and kidnapped you just so she could tell you that?" he asked between laughing. Artemis narrowed her eyes and smacked Kid in the back of the head, "Ow."

"This is serious; if that girl's crazy enough to go through all that, just for a boy…" She began.

"Imagine what else she could do." Zatanna finished. Just then Zatara came out of the other interrogation room followed by Flash and Tony, who smiled at the group and waved.

"Wait why's he out here?" Super-boy growled Tony frowned.

"I've been declared innocent." He said crossing his arm, "Not entirely sure how."

"As it turns out Tony Dex was just following orders, programed into him by Mariko." Flash said, "With a little help from Red he should be back to normal—well as normal as a cyborg boy can get."

"Really?" M'gaan asked, the two heroes nodded.

"Yes however the plan's put on hold since Tornado's currently on a mission of his own." Zatara explained as Flash pushed Tony towards them.

"Yep so that means you guys are going to be watching him." He said.

"What? You've gotta be kidding." Kid said.

"Hey don't be mad at us; we've got jobs to do too. So tag you're it." Flash said as he and Zatara walked off, "and don't worry this kid's none lethal now without Mariko to pull his strings."

"I'm not some kind of doll you know." Tony said plainly, then turned to the Team which narrowed their eyes at him.

"Oh! Hello." He said nonchalantly.

"Don't 'hello' us. You nearly killed us all!" Kid shouted. Tony narrowed his eyes.

"I only nearly killed Robin." He said darkly, "Besides he's still alive isn't he?"

"His mood sure flipped easily." Super-boy mumbled, Tony leered but at Super-boy and Robin but said nothing.

"Well anyhow, since you're considered innocent now; we might as well, get to know each other. I'm M'gaan." M'gaan said, the group paused.

"You're kidding." Super-boy mumbled, M'gaan shook her head.

"Of course not," M'gaan said aloud, then said via the team's mental link, 'Besides if he is lying about anything I can read his mind. Unless that was replaced too.'

'Good point.' The others said. Tony looked at the team with confusion.

"Er, my name's Tony." He said.

"We know." The Team said dryly. Tony frowned.

~0~

"Are we done yet? I'm bored here." Mariko groaned resting her head on the table. She had been questioned all day. At this rate, she thought, she wasn't going to be able to return to Vandal Savage.

'Savage-sama's probably worried about me right now; he's going to be mad when he finds out I was captured by the Justice League and their stupid Sidekicks.' She thought to herself, 'I gotta get outta here, stupid Tony; if he had done things right the first time I wouldn't be in this situation.'

Batman and Martian manhunter looked to Mariko. So far they hadn't gotten any answers, and they were beginning to wonder if they ever were.

"Depends; do you have an answer?" Batman asked, Mariko looked up still resting her head on the table but now propping herself on her chin.

"Nani?" she asked in Japanese.

"What's the Light's next plan?" Batman asked, Mariko sat up and glared.

"You think I would ever betray Savage-sama?! How dare you think I would stoop to such lows!" she shouted, crossing her arms. Batman and Martian manhunter looked to each other.

"Then we have no choice but to send you to Belle Reve." Manhunter said, Mariko gave a confused look, "With you not cooperating there is no use for you here anymore."

Mariko smirked, and relaxed in her chair a bit.

"Fine by me; I don't care. A genius like me can escape from there no problem. Hai, hai send me to Belle Reve." She said happily.

"Or perhaps given your disposition Arkhem would be our best choice." Batman suggested, Mariko stood.

"Send me there and I can guarantee you; you'll have a body count." She said darkly with an evil smirk. "I have no concern for human life; even as I cracked open Tony's skull I had no regrets in doing what I did. So think of that before you send me to some insane asylum with a hack-job like security team."

Batman narrowed his eyes at Mariko as she glared back at him. There was a long silence between the three before the two heroes stood up and left Mariko in the room alone. Mariko smirked.

'Now I just have to figure out what to do with Tony. Stupid boy's probably out by now. Oh! And what about little Yukie! I need to get Tony to that dog; I'd be so sad if she ended up starving!' She thought with a frown, 'Oh I'd never be able to forgive myself if that poor little doggie died. Dogs are such cuties! Smart too, I wonder if I could teach Yukie how to open the door—or maybe sing to songs by Nano!'

Meanwhile outside of the room Martian Manhunter focused his mind on Mariko's from afar. He looked to Batman and shook his head.

"The girl's mind is like a steal trap. I cannot see what her true intentions are." He said, Batman frowned.

"We can't risk taking her lightly; even if she is just a fifteen year old girl. She's already shown that she's capable of turning human beings into living weapons." He said, "and she's already confessed she'd have no problem in killing others."

"Belle Reve seems to be the only choice we have then." Manhunter said.

~0~

"Wake up kid," Flash said, Tony groaned and opened his eyes to see Flash and Red Tornado, a robot he had met a few moments ago so that he could reprogram whatever was going on inside his head. He wasn't entirely sure it worked however, his thoughts about Mariko seemed to be the same.

"Good news you're going home." Flash then said, Tony sat up.

"Huh? But why?" He asked rubbing his head. Flash cocked an eyebrow.

"What's wrong you don't want to go home?" He asked, "Oh I get it you saw how cool it was to be a hero and now that you've got those robot parts you wanna be one."

"What?! N-no, no. I was just wondering, I was still part of Kidnapping Robin after all." Tony said. Flash shrugged.

"Yes, that is true. However, Mariko Miko has agreed to go to prison; under the request that you, Tony, are released and are able to return to your dog, Yukie." Red Tornado said in his usual robotic voice.

"Miss Mariko? Requested that?" Tony mumbled to himself. Funny; he didn't strike Mariko as that kind of person. 'She must have a different angle in this. I wonder…'

"You'll be going back to your normal life in a bit; we just have to make sure you're separated from Mariko Miko." Flash said, Tony nodded; though he wasn't entirely sure he actually wanted to go back to a normal life. He had gotten used to Mariko being with him, even his dog Yukie liked her.

When he returned to the main hall of the Cave he saw Mariko being taken out first. He watched as she was teleported—or Zetaed as the Team called it—to Belle Reve. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Huh?" he asked startled a bit, he turned to see Robin and the others.

"Ready to go back to normal?" he asked. Tony narrowed his eyes.

"You say that knowing that I'm a cyborg now right?" he asked plainly. Robin shrugged.

"Right sorry." He mumbled, "Well anyway; if you're ready, it's time to go."

With those final words; Tony was taken back to his old life, before he ever met Mariko.

End of 7th chapter! That's not it however there's more to come I promise. Mariko and Tony have some character development and some things to connect with Robin and Mariko. Sorry if this chapter makes you feel a bit off. I was a bit off as well while typing this at a certain point. *sigh* my friend oh dear sweet Kagami—nickname—her lover boy texted me and I feel like crap now -.- I hate men sometimes. Good thing there are other options while taking on partners right? Haha so few people will get that I hope anyway. Here I go venting my issues to you guys. Thanks for listening heh review please. See ya.