So just a quick chapter from me today. To prove that I am still alive and so on and so forth. It's going to be my last chapter from Robin or Artemis' point of view for a while, so I decided to keep it a little short. Sorry ARL15.
E-Dantes made an intersting comment in her review about Artemis jumping into the fight. Although I agree completly with her comment, it did make me think and I kind of what to share my thoughts. I am not sure how many others think of it this way, but in my mind, Artemis is not a hero. She is a vigilante. I know many people will agrue that it is the same thing, but I really think there is a difference. In my mind at least, a hero fights for what's good while a vigilante fights for what's right. Sometimes they are the same thing, but other times, they are very different. That is why Jason is not a hero. He wants justice, regardless of how he gets it. I know this paragraph is completly pointless and boring, but its just something I have been thinking about in regards to Artemis and why she has to be pushed so often to do things.
For Fayah, who asked if Jason ever fought under the name Robin, I refuse to answer. In this story, I will never address Jason as Robin, nor do I plan to confirm or deny his first hero alias. I will leave it up to everyone to decide if he was a Robin or if in this reality, Dick is still the first. Anyway, enough of this. On with the story.
The giant assassin lunged at the two heroes.
Robin reacted quickly, grabbing Artemis' good shoulder and pushing her to safety before diving in the other direction. Artemis over balanced and landed heavily, rolling into a ball to protect herself, her good hand covering her face as Ubu's heavy landing kicked up a layer of dust.
From somewhere in the distance, someone shouted, screaming her name. Someone else stepped over Artemis' prone form, seemingly ignoring the injured girl.
Slowly, the female archer lowered her hand and opened her eyes. Under her breath, she growled.
Cheshire had stepped over her sister before pausing, watching something. Her back blocked Artemis' view, but it wasn't hard to guess what was going on.
Her injured arm still tied to her side and useless, Artemis used her good arm to push herself into a sitting position. She bit back a gasp.
Once she was balanced and relatively pain free, she reached for her belt, unearthing the knife she kept there. It had been a present from her father, one of the few things Sports Master had given her which hadn't ended up in the trash during one of her mother's obsessive bedroom raids after her father left. Small but heavy, it was perfect for throwing.
Artemis steadied herself, balancing her body as her eyes fixed on her sisters back. She drew her arm back, judging her aim.
There was another shout and a crash. Artemis blinked as a flash of red caught her eye. Robin had landed in front of Cheshire, seemingly thrown by the giant assassin. Artemis held her breath, hoping that the Boy Wonder would move, would forget about being a hero and run, but the younger heroes movements were too slow, sluggish as the boy tried to raise himself up.
A figure was walking closer, towards Cheshire and Robin. Artemis gasped at the giant.
"No!" She screamed, hurling the knife.
In front of her, Cheshire turned. The knife sailed through the air, its aim true. Cheshire ducked out of the way but wasn't quick enough, the knife catching the female assassin across the shoulder before it fell away.
The older girl hissed in pain before turning and advancing on Artemis.
Artemis tried to shuffle backwards, to put some distance between herself and the woman who she once called sister, but Cheshire was too fast. Reaching with one hand, Cheshire grabbed a handful of Artemis' hair, giving it a hard tug which made Artemis' eyes water. Artemis looked up at her sister, trying to hide the pain as the assassin pulled her closer, almost dragging her off the ground by her blond hair.
"Jade. Please." She begged softly.
"No." Cheshire replied.
Cheshire jerked Artemis' head back, ignoring the sickening sound as the girls head hit the concrete with a thud.
Standing above her sister, Cheshire watched as Artemis' eyes slowly closed, the girl losing her fight to remain conscious. Reaching down to the girl's neck, the woman quickly checked her sister's pulse. She shook her head before once again rising to her feet. Turning away from the fallen hero, the assassin once again gave her attention to the fight in front of her.
Robin was acting on instinct as he pushed Artemis to the side before ducking away from the assassin. The Boy Wonder knew from experience that he couldn't take down this guy. Hell, the last time he had faced Ubu, back at Cape Canaveral, the assassin had almost killed Batman. It had only been through luck that the dynamic duo had managed to stop him and ultimately, the League of Shadows plan. This time, Robin was alone. He had no choice but to run and hope that he could escape.
Ducking again as the giant lunged at him, Robin attempted to twist his body to avoid the grabbing hands. A hand wrapped around his foot, pulling him off balance. Somewhere far off, a voice screamed, shouting a name. Robin kicked out, attempting to dislodge the hand on his foot but Ubu was a lot stronger than him, dragging the struggling teenager closer. Suddenly Robin was upside down, the hand on his foot like an iron clamp.
Robin reached for his belt as Ubu's stern face swung into view.
And then he was flying, thrown to the ground by the giant. The Boy Wonder gasped in pain before struggling to his feet, his head spinning. A shadow loomed over him. Ubu's hand came out of nowhere, catching Robin on the back and sending the teen back to the ground. A foot was forced under Robin's chest before he was lifted again, kicked a few feet before landing heavily on the ground once more, the sudden landing causing Robin to shout out in pain.
Slowly and painfully pushing himself to his hands and knees, Robin glanced upwards as a shadow fell over him. He blinked, trying not to cringe at the frightening grin above him as Cheshire loomed, watching his struggles.
There was a shout, almost a scream from behind Cheshire.
The female assassin turned and dived to the side but Robin still heard the sudden gasp of pain, the clang of metal, as the knife nicked the assassin's shoulder before falling to the ground. The assassin growled, forgetting about Robin as she stalked over to where Artemis lay.
Robin opened his mouth, to warn Artemis or distract Cheshire when a hand grabbed the back of his neck. Breath suddenly gone, Robin found himself being lifted off the ground once more. A large hand was placed over his mouth and nose, cutting off his air.
Robin struggled, trying to dislodge Ubu's hand and get free. His head started to spin, his lungs started to burn. Both were side effects from the lack of oxygen reaching his brain.
Fighting the panic which threatened to overwhelm him (Not whelm. Not whelm at all.) Robin reached blindly for his belt. Grabbing for the first thing he could reach, his hands found some of the many pellets he kept in the pockets. He didn't know which ones they were or what they did but at that moment, he really didn't care as he threw them backwards into the assassin's face.
There was a bang as the pellets when off. Behind the Boy Wonder, Ubu grunted, his grip on the teen hero disappearing. Robin dropped to the ground, unable to stop his own fall and clung to the ground as around him, the world spun. Taking deep breaths to satisfy his oxygen starved lungs, Robin blindly looked around, for some sort of escape. Several Shadows were standing by, seemingly watching the fight but not getting involved. However, one clearly was. Cheshire was kneeling over Artemis, her hand pressed to the archer's neck.
Struggling to his feet, Robin attempted to step closer, to get Cheshire away from Artemis.
The assassin rose, seemingly losing interest in her sister as she turned to face the hero. Reaching to his belt, Robin pulled out one of his eskrima sticks.
A hand grabbed his wrist, twisting until Robin thought the bone would snap. With a cry, Robin released the weapon and turned, trying to kick out at Ubu. The assassin tightened his grip on Robin's arm, catching the stick as it fell. He raised it high before swinging it down, catching Robin on the side of the head.
The teen hero dropped to the ground, barely conscious as the assassin raised the weapon a second time.
Above him, the man smirked.
A loud bang sounded, followed by a scream. Another bang and another echoed. On the fourth bang, Ubu jolted forward, dropping the eskrima stick beside Robin's head. The giant turned with a growl.
In the faint light, Robin could see blood trickling down his back, staining his green suit.
Silence washed over the street before a great cry sounded, Ubu disappearing from Robin's sight. The Boy Wonder's vision slowly began to fade, a throbbing pain in his head becoming more and more noticeable.
Exhausted and injured, Robin finally gave into the pain and allowed himself to fall into darkness.
The street was in chaos as Jason landed, his knees folding to absorb the shock of hitting the concrete. Around him, civilians and Shadows moved in complex but seemingly random patterns.
Jason didn't think as he dived into the fray, lashing out at any figure which was unfortunate enough to come within the teenagers reach.
Which was not nearly as many assassins as Jason had expected, the Shadows skirting around the Red Hood and instead, racing towards the Dark Knight, or Aqualad and Arsenal, both of whom had arrived in the chaotic street. Somewhere on the other side of the street, Jason could see Starfire working with a few young heroes which must be the rest of the Junior Justice League. He pushed those thoughts from his mind, turning back to his main objective.
Moving closer to where he had seen his little brother moments before, Jason tried to find a flash of red in the sea of black.
There! A flash of red. But also several flashes of green. Under his breath, Jason growled. Working quickly, he made his way towards the scene, grabbing blindly and pushing everyone out of his way. One Shadow tried to stop his progress but Jason quickly punched the assassin, leaving the figure to drop to the ground, clutching at his broken nose.
Ubu, Al Ghul's favourite assassin, had cornered Robin and was brutally beating the kid down even as Jason's little brother fought to get away. Jason's movements became more urgent as he saw the hulk of a man pick up his kid brother, depriving Robin of oxygen as the boy desperately fought.
There was a bang as Robin retaliated, a small explosion catching Ubu in the face. The giant fell backwards, releasing the teenager to try and protect his burning face and eyes. Robin hit the ground hard.
Another wave of panicking civilians rushed past Jason and slowed him down, the people clearly directed towards him by several assassins in the crowd. Jason looked around and noticed the black clad figures all around him, trying to block him or heard him, Jason didn't know or care. Once again, Jason growled.
There was another sound, a cry of pain. Jason's head shot around, his gaze fixed on his brother. Ubu had grabbed Robin's arm and forced it into a painful angle. The giant had also somehow managed to grab a long metal staff which he raised high. Jason closed his eyes, suddenly feeling sick as he realised what was going to happen. He couldn't block his ears though, as he heard the unmistakable sound of metal hitting flesh.
He opened his eyes again. Suddenly, he wasn't in the middle of a crowded street. He was in an old warehouse. In front of him, a man stood. In front of the man was a bundle of red and black, a bundle that was once a teenage boy. The man raised a long piece of metal over his head, light flashing off it. An insane giggle filled the air.
Jason didn't think. The older teen reached for his gun. In a matter of seconds, the Red Hood had the gun in his hand, pointing it at the laughing figure. He flicked the safety, placed his finger on the trigger and aimed to kill.
The first bang brought Jason back to himself, the Shadow in front of him dropping dead in a shower of blood as the bullet entered his head. Another Shadow lunged towards the young vigilante with a wild cry. Jason turned, pulling the trigger a second time. A third shadow and a third bullet before Jason finally had a clear shot of his target. Aiming at the giant, Jason took a deep breath before pulling the trigger.