I do apologise for my continued lateness in posting these chapters. I do try. Plus, as much as I hate leaving cliff-hangers, I fear I have done it once again. I am sorry. That's what happens when you try to juggle several point of view.
Also, I just wanted to take this moment to celebrate. Over 100 reviews in 7 chapters is just amazing, not to mention how many people have alerted and/or placed this on their favorites. Thank you all so much. It is an honour. Now, enought from me. On with the story.
The explosion echoed through the darkened streets, the sound ricocheting off the buildings and bouncing through the gloom followed by a wave of silence across Taipei. Then, slowly, dogs started to howl. Lights flickered. Sirens sounded. The city reacted to the explosion, panic seeping through the air like smoke.
The Dark Knight didn't hesitate, throwing out a line and breaking off his chase. The figures had disappeared, leaving only small traces of their presence which were becoming harder and harder to spot, even for the World's Greatest Detective as he raced on. Allowing the line to take his weight, Batman sailed through the air, his new heading the centre of the city. Even if Jason wasn't responsible for the explosion, Bruce knew where the boy would soon be.
On the roof some distance away, the two teams jumped to attention, running to the edge of the roof to analyse the explosion. Before them, smoke was a visible red, rising into the sky.
"What the hell was that?" Roy asked, bow and arrow already in his hands as he studied the scene, one foot on the ledge as if he were ready to leap.
"It came from the Central Business District." Artemis replied, equally as armed as she stepped closer, standing by Roy's side.
"Are you certain?" Kaldur asked, retrieving his hard water bearers.
Artemis nodded. "I was there with Wally and ….."
Under her mask, the girls brown eyes widened. "Oh no." she muttered to herself.
"No." Another voice said. It wasn't loud, but both teams turned to face the speaker. Robin was frozen on the spot, staring at the smoke. Jason could almost feel the horror radiating off his little brother. It was enough to kick the older teen into action. He turned to the rest of the group.
"Star, get into the air. I need to know what is going on down there." He ordered.
The princess didn't argue, throwing herself into the sky.
"M'gann, go with her." Kaldur ordered from somewhere behind the rest of the group. The Martian girl hesitated slightly before nodding, shooting off to catch up with Kori, the two aliens disappearing into the dark.
It was a clear sign of mistrust, but Jason ignored it, angling his body and wrapping an arm around Robin.
"It's ok little brother." He said, rubbing a hand along Robin's back. The boy calmed slightly, trusting his brothers words and relaxing as Jason pulled him against his chest. Kaldur and Artemis exchanged looks.
"Little brother?" Artemis asked aloud.
Jason moved his head slightly to glare at the girl, not caring that his helmet destroyed the effect.
Movement caught his eye. Jason froze.
Very slowly, his hand rested on Robin's shoulder.
Back when Jason had worked alongside the Dark Knight, he and Bruce had worked to develop signals which could alert each other in case of attack. Across long distances, these worked as hand signals but in close, they were much simpler. A sudden pressure and then lack of created a mores code like rhythm to pass a silent message, to indicate a threat and give the recipient all the information they needed. It was an effective form of communication. Jason only hoped Bruce had taught Dick these same signals.
Slowly, using his index finger, he tapped out a pattern on Robin's shoulder. Once again, the younger teen tensed. Shifting slowly, Robin allowed his cape to fall over his body instead of its normal place hitched over his shoulders as he reached to kick at the risen stone of the ledge. Roy, the closest hero to the two brothers, noticed the noise, turning his head slightly to look at the teenager.
"Don't look but we have company." Robin muttered, feeling the archers masked eyes on him.
Behind the group, soft footsteps landed on the ground. Keeping his movements soft, Roy nodded his understanding as beside him, Artemis began to fidget, trying to hide her worry for her missing team mates. Unlike Roy, she had no idea of the threat.
Using the cover of his cape, Robin reached for his belt, keeping his movements slow and deliberate. He could feel Jason's movements next to him as the older teen reached for his own weapons.
"On the count of three." Jason whispered, his voice neutral. "One… Two…"
Roy was the first to turn, firing off a smoke arrow and catching the six shadowy figures off guard before Robin ran into the smoke, Jason on his heels.
Conner blinked, his ears ringing as lights flashed across his eyes. The explosion had sent him flying across the street, his back creating deep gouges in the concrete where his momentum had proved greater than the density of the road.
A warped voice reached his ears. Conner blinked repeatedly, his vision starting to clear to show a yellow blur above him.
"Superboy!" The voice called, sounding like it was from somewhere far off. "Are you ok?"
There was a pressure on the Boy of Steels shoulders, like someone was trying to shake him. Slowly raising his head, Conner made a half-hearted attempt to push the yellow thing away. It disappeared briefly before returning as Wally West.
The speedster's yellow uniform was covered in dust, the teenager looking a bit dazed but uninjured.
"Are you ok?" He asked again, his voice a lot clearer.
Conner nodded his head slightly, noticing the fine cloud of dust which fell from his hair. Using his elbows to raise himself up, the teenage clone looked himself up and down. Miraculously, his t-shirt seemed to survive, the red and black only slightly dirty. His jeans however, were a different story. One of the legs was completely ripped off, the other torn. And at least one of his boots hadn't survived.
Outwardly, the clone growled in annoyance but inwardly, he was thankful. There were very few things that Conner enjoyed about being related to the Man of Steel. Certainly he could leap tall buildings, but the teen was yet to learn how to land in a way that didn't create a small earthquake. Advanced hearing and eye sight was good for spying, but he couldn't exactly turn them off and hearing the minimal whimpers and cries of his friends and seeing the minuet injuries when they were hurt was not so fun. And when it was innocent civilians, it got worse.
However, being invincible defiantly had its perks. The Boy of Steel had been shot, burnt, stabbed and as of tonight, exploded without any ill effects.
Finally the young hero rose to his feet, ignoring the speedster beside him. Around them, the screams started as civilians awoke to the panic. Conner ignored them as well, walking forward to the gaping hole in the ground where, moments before, he had been standing.
Standing in the centre of the hole, he looked around, trying to guess where the bomb had come from. His blue eyes followed the lines of the buildings to the roof tops. His eyes narrowed.
A figure in green stood on the ledge, a huge grin visible on the distorted white face.
Conner snarled under his breath. Crouching down, he prepared to leap. Wally grabbed his arm, stopping him.
The smoke cleared around the teens. Conner blinked, looking around. Silent figures surrounded the two heroes, creating a wide circle. Each figure was dressed in black. Conner tensed.
"Well SB, I don't want to quote Star Wars but I think it's a trap." Wally muttered.
From her perch above the chaotic street, Cheshire sighed. Despite what most people thought, she didn't like these sorts of jobs. Being away from the action was no fun for a trained assassin, even if the job did offer her a chance to practice her strategic planning skills. But even the looks on the two hero's faces when they had noticed the present she had left for them hadn't been worth it.
Instead, the faceless lackeys got to go in for the kill of these two while she was left to catch a single bird. It was infuriating, especially when she had a score to settle with this little team of heroes. These brats had ruined her hit on Dr Roquette and it seemed, turned her kid sister against her.
Well, Artemis had made her choice and now Cheshire had a job to do. She had to bring in the kid, the little protégé of the Dark Knight. Not an easy job, even for someone with her skills. Added to it was the presence of the freelance assassin and anarchist Red Hood. Cheshire had never met the Red Hood, nor seen him in battle but the other assassin was a legend among the League of Shadows, hand-picked by Lord Ra's Al Ghul and raised by the Dark Knight himself if the rumour was true. Even if rumour wasn't true, Cheshire still planned to be careful. There was no telling whose side the Red Hood would be on if he had those sort of connections.
Plus, she had heard that a certain red haired archer was in town. No doubt he would have something to say about the Shadow's operative's current assignment. In fact, Cheshire hoped that Red Arrow would show up. He was always so much fun to play with, like a mouse who thought it could beat the cat. His involvement might just make this whole job worth it.
Turning her back to the battle below, Cheshire made her way across the roof and into the shadows. If any of them were in town, they would soon appear to investigate. All she had to do was wait and prepare. So, like the Cheshire Cat, she disappeared into the dark.
I have Roy as a main character so I had to add Cheshire. It's just too good a relationship. Once again, sorry for the cliff-hangers. I have really got to stop doing this.