So, this story is fast becoming my most popular work. Which is awesome for my ego.
I just wanted to answer a few questions quickly. To FeatherxxDreams, I have tried to base my version of Jason on a mixture of both movie and comic Jason, but I do imagine movie Jason in my head when I write him. Beau Bear, that is actually a really good idea. Jason's death is important to the plot. I will try and fit it in. E-Dantes, I am planning to show everyone just how bad Jason can really be. It's going to be great. Hinn-Raven, In my mind, Jason and Roy are actually really good friends and Roy knows more about Jason then anyone else. And CHiKa-RoXy, thank you for the suggestion. Very interesting version of Poker Face.
'I wanna hold em like they do in Texas, please. Fold em' let them hit me, raise it baby, stay with me.'
The three young heroes paused, looking up from their work securing their attackers. Above them, the floating girl turned to look in the direction of the noise.
'Luck and intuition, play the cards with spades to start. And after she's been hooked, I'll play the one that's on her heart'
The three shared glances as the young woman above them drifted back to the ground.
'I'll get her heart, show her what I got. Yeah, I'll get her heart, show her what I got.'
There was a faint buzz as the three were mentally linked, the music dampened by the mental contact.
Finally, one of the three unfroze.
'What the hell is that?' Wally thought, looking around wildly through his goggles. They had taken down all the assassins in sight, but none of them knew how many more there were in the city.
'I don't know.' Conner replied, dragging one of their attackers over his shoulder as he made his way back to the group. He dropped the prone figure on top of the rest before attempting to brush the remaining dust off his clothes.
'Oh, I like this song!' Megan exclaimed.
Conner, despite himself, smiled.
"You're Gaga." He said in a teasing tone, glad for once that he could not only understand the reference, but initiate it.
Next to him, Megan smiled, blushing slightly.
Wally rolled his eyes. He looked up at the sky again.
"Maybe we should go and check that out." The Speedster suggested, hoping the looks between his favourite martian and the clone would stop.
The other alien girl, Starfire had floated down to stand next to Wally. The 16 year old Tamaranean girl had briefly introduced herself to the group as they had begun their clean up, before flying off to check out the remaining areas. Now she was back and staring intently in the direction of the music.
"Do you know what's going on?" Wally found himself shouting over the noise.
Starfire looked over at him, green eyes staring intently. She shrugged.
"Ok then. That was helpful." Wally muttered, turning back to his team mates.
Megan had floated over to Conner and wrapped her arms around him. She carefully took his weight, pulling him into the air. The two disappeared into the sky, flying towards the noise.
Wally quickly turned to Starfire.
"Ah! Could you…." He trailed off as the girl turned towards him.
Wally tried not to make any undignified noises as she swooped on him, wrapped her arms around his chest.
"Stop struggling." She ordered before dragging him into the air.
Artemis couldn't help but be impressed by what she saw. Robin had jumped into the street and immediately become the Shadows targets, the assassins homing in and swarming around the boy like a plague, ignoring the struggling crowd. But Robin wasn't fazed, ducking and weaving between the press of bodies.
He moved differently now than he did normally. Like a dancer or an acrobat rather than the crime fighting teenager Artemis remembered. The boy would dive in for a hit before retreating, dodging the counter attacks with impressive flips and tumbles.
It was truly amazing to watch.
However, Artemis was realistic. She knew, regardless of how well trained Robin was, the younger hero would tire eventually. And the ever increasing number of Shadows didn't help the hero's odds. Robin was going to get himself killed.
Pulling herself to her feet, Artemis steadied herself against the bins before stepping out into the street.
She may have been injured but she was a fighter, a hero just like the rest of her team. She could and would fight for as long as she could stand. Robin would not face the Shadows alone.
Robin ducked in and out of danger, twisting his body to avoid the grabbing hands.
It had surprised the young hero that no serious weapons were aimed at him, the assassins grabbing at him rather than lashing out with their many knives.
It was a strange dance, but not one he was unfamiliar with. Many of Gotham's villains worked hard to take him alive; wanting to make him suffer for their many failed plans rather than kill him outright.
The villains had learnt their lesson the hard way when Jason had been murdered by the Joker. Batman had been uncontrollable, lashing out at anyone who stepped out of line. Even Commissioner Gordon had been troubled by the large number of injuries coming into Arkham. Everyone, even the villains, had been relieved when the second Boy Wonder had replaced the first.
They would still make a grab at the kid, but it was the unofficial rule of Gotham. The kid could be captured, could be injured and could be injured badly. But not killed.
Robin had almost fallen over laughing the time the Riddler had smacked the Joker over the head when the Clown Price had captured him and pulled a knife. Sure, Robin had still come out of the whole experience needing stitches and a blood transfusion, but it had certainly been fun to realise that he was off limits. Well, as off limits as was possible for the villains in Gotham.
No one wanted to see the Dark Knight lose it for a second time.
And it seemed that the Shadows had also gotten the memo. Robin twisted his body, avoiding grabbing hands as he ducked between a pair of black covered legs.
Smoke bombs were exploding as he used a lone Shadow as a ladder, scaling up to the man's shoulders before leaping off and landing on another Shadow who collapsed under the sudden weight. Robin rolled as he hit the ground before kicking out at the closest Shadow, his eskrima sticks connecting with a fourth Shadows jaw.
The men collapsed but their fellow assassins ignored the carnage, stepping over the prone forms to make a grab at the teen hero.
One assassin successfully grabbed Robin's cape, pulling the boy off balance but Robin was quicker, catching the latch of the cape and releasing the material, dropping to the ground and jumping up, catching another punch as his cape was left behind.
"Robin!" A voice shouted.
Robin ignored it, continuing to fight as Artemis made her way through the trouble. The girl had jumped into the conflict, taking down several assassins. Despite her injury she fought on, using the element of surprise to her advantage.
Finally, she was back to back with her friend, the two teens working together.
And Artemis realised her mistake. She was injured. Despite her abilities and confidence, Robin needed to cover for her slower reaction time and off balance fighting.
Her attempts to help had just placed more pressure on her friend.
Artemis fought on, trying to cover her friend even though she knew she was failing. But what she didn't expect was the Shadow she engaged in a fight to suddenly back off.
Artemis blinked. Behind her, Robin groaned.
"Oh no." He almost sighed.
Artemis glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes widened as the sight before them.
"Who. Is. That!" The archer gasped.
Robin tensed up, crouching down into a fighting stance.
"Ubu. One of Ra's al Ghul's head assassins." Robin replied, his voice dropping to a whisper.
Artemis felt her heart race.
"He's HUGE!" She whispered back, horrified as she scanned the bald giant.
"Artemis, you need to get out of here." The Boy Wonder muttered.
"What?" Artemis asked as Robin stepped away from her.
"Artemis. Go!" The teen shouted.
The giant leapt at the heroes, his eyes fixed on the young bird.
It was with a sense of childish glee that Jason arrived at the scene of the music first. Even as a young boy, he had enjoyed racing Batman across Gotham, trying to beat the Dark Knight to the scene of the crime.
Climbing up onto the ledge, the teenage vigilante looked down into the street. It was a mad house down there, civilians rushing in a panic. Shadows moved through the crown.
Robin was in the middle of it all, using every skill he had as he fought for his life.
Quickly, Jason scanned the crowds, looking for any sign of Cheshire. His little brother could handle himself against the Shadows for a few minutes, but Jason really didn't want to risk not knowing where the female assassin was hiding.
Movement caught the teenager's eye. Something was happening below. The Shadows were backing away from the two heroes they surrounded.
A figure moved through the crowd, pushing past the assassins. Jason blinked. He knew that man. The bald head and dark clothes were burnt into his memory forever.
Ubu. A member of Ra's al Ghul's inner circle.
Jason remembered the giant of a man who had pulled him out of the Lazarus Pit as members of the League watched, all of them ignoring Jason's screams as the newly resurrected teenager fought in the man's grip.
Ubu had not been kind about Jason's struggles or sympathetic as the boy remembered the horrors of his murder. Instead, he had beaten Jason down until the teen stopped struggling.
That abuse had continued every day until Talia had finally smuggled her love's oldest child away from the League and taken him to the All Caste for training.
Without thinking, Jason reached for his hip, grabbing one of his many guns. Batman had failed to disarm him, so Jason didn't feel guilty as he raised the weapon and rested his thumb on the safety catch. He carefully aimed it at the giant man's head, relaxing his body. This had been a long time coming.
He heard the impact before he felt it, Batman crashing into his side and knocking him to the ground. Jason looked up and growled as the Dark Knight help him down.
"No." The detective growled as he looked down at his son. Slowly he rose, taking his weight off Jason.
Cape flying out behind him, Gotham's hero climbed onto the ledge and looked down at the chaos. Then he was gone, stepping off the edge.
Slowly Jason rose to his feet, his eyes fixed on the spot where moments before, his first father figure had disappeared. Reaching down, he picked up the weapon and holstered it. Then he leapt over the ledge and fell into the fight.