Flashbacks= Bold and Italics
Authors note/Final thoughts= Italics
Chapter 6: End of Zero Year
"You're doing well. These past six months you've progressed farther than I could have imagined." Jason said as he spared with Mar'i. "Have you been reading your files?"
"Of course." Mar'i aims a punch at his face, unlike before when she just started training, Jason is barely able to dodge this one. Jason duck and swipes a kick under her feet which she neatly jumps over, and flips over Jason. She's now on his back swings back and flips them both to the ground.
"Good, Let's see. Tell me the weaknesses and Strengths of the heros I call out. Wonderwoman." Jason climbs back to his feet, and kicks at the girl still on the ground. At last minute she rolls away.
"Good tactician, her powers, and lifelong training. She also has a lot of experience. Weakness, She can be bound by her own lasso, and she loses her powers if her hands are bound by a man." Mar'i flips up. Right hooks Jason in the face. He grabs her arms and holds them, but before he can flip her Mar'i jumps and kicks him in the gut.
"Green Arrow." He said while rubbing his stomach.
"Could kill you if he has his bow and arrows, but that's also his greatest weakness. He relies too much on it, without them he's about as easy a takedown as common purse snatcher." Mar'i said giving her mentor time to rest.
"Batman."
Mar'i froze for a fraction of a second giving Jason the chance to elbow her in the chest, "Don't hesitate!" He shouted at her.
"Batman is probably the hardest of all heros to take down. While he has no powers, his superior intellect and use a gadgetry has made one of the most powerful superheroes of all time. Strengths, His mind, his stamina, training in the martial arts and other fighting techniques, not to mention his perfect aim with batarangs. Weaknesses, Batman is human meaning he can be killed with something as simple as a stab wound or poison, but he's made sure that those can't hurt him a majority of the time. It's best to catch him off guard, and in order to do that psychological warfare is necessary. Reminding him of his past failures, like the death of his parents, his former addiction to venom, or...The death of the second Robin are enough to catch the man off guard and can be used to overpower him." Jason smiled at the girl.
"Good. That's enough. Damian's been working on your marksmanship, right?"
"Yup, just like he promised he's been helping me."
"How far have you come?" He asked. In response Mar'i threw a black and silver butterfly thrower just past his ear and meeting the training dummy in it's head. "So pretty far." He answered his own question.
"When can I go out into the field?" Mar'i asked with hopeful eyes.
"Actually you're more than ready to go out, but if you do you know you're dad would be pissed." Jason rolled his eyes. "Sometimes your dad can be such a dick."
"Hahaha." Mar'i laughed sarcastically. "That's so funny and original. I'm dying of laughter." Jason frowned.
"You know I think spending time with me has caused you to pick up my sarcasm." Jason said sadly. "You used to be so polite."
"Well Stephanie did say you guys were going to get that out of me." Mar'i said retrieving her butterfly thrower form the
"You act like we've corrupted you." Jason said with a slight wince, Six month ago the girl had a lot less sass. She was still chatty, but now she would slip a sly little comment in.
Mar'i thought for a moment, "Yeah that sounds about right." She said with a cheeky grin not unlike her father's. Jason gave the girl a slight nudge
"Whatever, come on we're practicing your shooting-." Jason was cut off by the loud ringing of Mary's phone.
"Crap. Sorry, Jason. I have to go to dance practice. " Mar'i glanced down at her watch. Six o'clock. Practice started in thirty minutes. In January, she started taking Ballet lessons. Like her training she progressed fast and well. She started with only ballet, now she was part of her dance school's competitive. She wouldn't lie she had help to get where she was. She had a tiny Jason to help her with her dancing and his name was Kevin Jackson.
"Glad to see you made it to practice on time, Riri." Kevin said with his signature smirk. His brown hair blowed in the wind. He had waited outside for her.
"Did you wait outside for me, Kev? That's dangerous, we may be in a slightly better part, but this is still Gotham." Mary scolded. Kevin laughed.
"Come on, Riri. It would be rude of me not to wait on the pretty girl. You're my partner besides, if we're late together Ms. Michelle won't yell at us as much." Mary laughed as they walked into the dance studio. Even though they were late together they still got a mouth full from their ballet teacher. Learning French had been a lot easier thanks to Ms. Michelle. Mary learned a lot of colorful words thanks to the french native.
"You know what, both of you, practice your duet for next week's competition. Kevin, please help Mary with her Fouetté en tournant(whipping turn). Last practice she fell. It seems she never does as well without you here to guide her, my star pupil."
"Thank you, Ms. Michelle.I'll try my best." He said as he took mary by the hand and lead her into the corner to church. "What happened two days ago you had it?" he asked her when they were out of earshot from their teacher. "Can't do anything without me, huh?"
Mary shoved him as she fell elegantly into her middle split. "I was worried about you." she admitted. "It was the first time in my six months here that you missed practice. I thought you might be dead in a ditch somewhere."
"How sweet of you, Riri. Worried about my well being?" He grinned cockily at the girl.
"You know for a ten year old you are are a flirt." Mary stated dryly.
"You know for a nine year old you sure are serious." He shot back. They always bantered like this. The other girls refused to work with Kevin, though he was probably the best dancer the conservatory had, others simply didn't get along with him. Mary on the other hand was progressing so fast that Ms. Michelle simply didn't know what to do with her. After Mary's first three months with the conservatory Ms. Michelle asked Mary to join the competitive troop. She was progressing too fast to place with any of the other girls or boys, but Kevin though leagues ahead of Mary was the only one who could shift his levels fast enough to dance with her. Their first competition Mary and Kevin won third place for their ballet duet in their division, by their third Mary and Kevin were winning first place all around. With Mary's acrobatics and Kevin's dance skill, they made the perfect team.
"Come on, Riri let's start. I'm assuming we don't need to work on those turns now that I'm here." Mary snorted. "Good, now lets start at the part with the back tuck." Mary nodded and the two quickly started working. Another trophy for the Michelle Bissonnette Dance Company was almost assured.
When Mary had got back to the manor that night she noticed everyone was in the Batcave, even Alfred. When she got down there faces were pale and in deep thought.
"What's going on?" She asked. Mar'i almost regretted asking as every turned to her as if she should know already.
"It seems the Joker and a few others have commandeered Arkham." Bruce said without even looking away from the batcomputer.
"Is this like the massive breakout attempt from eight months back?" Mar'i said looking at the situation stats on the batcomputer, "Joker working with Mr. Freeze and Killer Croc. That's odd, something's not right." Mar'i said. Bruce smirked slightly at her observation.
"Very good. We were just discussing that. We believe this could be a trap." Bruce said.
"It wouldn't be the first time they've tried to trap you in Arkham." Tim said.
"Yeah, but this time you're not alone. You won't fall for the same trick twice. They seriously think they can kill you with this old trick?" Stephanie raised an eyebrow at the whole situation.
"I have a bad feeling." Dick said gaze hardening. "Anybody else got this feeling." Bruce nodded while only Jason announced aloud his agreement.
"Bruce, Dick is right. I think we should call in backup from Barbara and the Birds of Prey." Bruce nodded.
"Go ahead and call. Tell Barb I only want Huntress and Canary, anyone else could cause the Joker and the other villains to act out." Jason pulled out his phone and made the call immediately. "I want one of us to stay here and operate on the batcomputer and help Oracle." Bruce said. He turned to Mar'i. "Mar'i, you wanted to prove yourself, this is your chance. Work as a guide from here, pull up records from Arkham and try to stay two steps ahead. Do well and you might have a future working with me." Mar'i nodded fervently.
"I can do that." Bruce only nodded. While Mar'i was pleased with the development it wasn't lost to anyone the way Dick's lips pressed into a fine line, but he kept his mouth shut. He would never go against Bruce especially knowing how much his daughter wanted this.
"Everyone suit up, we're heading to Arkham." It was action time, so why did something feel so off?
"Clairvoyance, we've reached Arkham." Batman's voice rang clear through the headpiece. Clairvoyance was a codename Barbara suggested as she was probably going to be doing this more often now.
"I've hacked into Arkham security cameras, I've got a visual." Mar'i replied. "I have visual."
"I have visual as well, nothing out of the ordinary." Barbara confirmed. "Move ahead as planned."
"Noted. Huntress, Canary you're with me we'll be going through the front entrance." Batman started.
"And the rest of us will go through the back, while you talk to the guards and get a fix on the situation." Red Robin finished. Red Hood said something under his breath that sounded something similar to the words, "suck up", and was elbowed by Nightwing in response.
"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, we've got it. Let's go Robin and former robins alike!" Red hood said feigning enthusiasm.
"UH! OH! Robins in da house!" Batgirl joked following after hood and the others.
On a separate link with only Batman, Oracle and Clairvoyance. " Why did you separate?" Oracle asked.
"We can cover much more ground that way, also it's easier to make an escape." Batman said. "Most likely, Nightwing will split them up again. I have a feeling he might need to."
"So why not leave at least two of them behind?" Clairvoyance asked this time.
"Because, I'm going to need all the help I can get, and I already have people on the outside. " Mar'i looked confused. Apparently she wasn't the only one because on a private messaging system on her personal laptop, Mar'i received a message from Oracle Only containing the words, "What?" and "Who?"
"Alright, If you say so, Bruce." Barbara said with a sigh. Mar'i looked hacked into the cameras of the south entrance showing Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, and Robin entering the building discreetly via vent entrance on the roof.
"Team Two is clear, Batman. You can go ahead." Mar'i said. She watched as Batman with Canary, and Huntress at his sides entered Arkham and were greeted by the head of security at Arkham.
"Batman!" He said with a bit of relief in his voice. "Thank God you're here. Joker's loose, and I've already lost half of my men. I had to pull my forces back, and there are still guards and doctors in there. I've lost half of Arkham already."
"You've done good so far." Canary said
"Now let us finish this." And batman walked briskly past the man further into Arkham.
"Clairvoyance, I want a visual on the half of Arkham that has been taken over by Joker and Company." He said into the comm link.
"Consider it done." With fast typing skills Mar'i had access to other half of Arkham in a matter of minutes.
"Alright, I say in the closest room to you, about fifteen thugs guarding what look to be hostages. " Clairvoyance voice rang through the ears of the heroes. " A total of six hostages."
"How many armed?' Canary asked.
"About five." answered Oracle at the same time as Clairvoyance.
"I'm liking those odds." Huntress said with a crack of her knuckles.
"Clairvoyance, Can you get a visual on Joker, or any of the other top priority threats?" He received no answer. "Clairvoyance, do you read me?" Still no answer, only static. "Oracle?" he as expected he received no answer as well. "Shit!"
"Barbara, What the heck is going on! I lost contact with every single one of them!" Mar'i was currently at the Batcave frantically searching for a way to gain back contact.
"Same thing on my end. A frequency jammer. We can find a way to bypass, but by that time..."
"Whatever it is Batman needs to know won't help him." Mar'i finished for her.
"You're catching on fast. We need to find a way to get contact back pronto."
"Already working on it." Mar'i began smashing the buttons need to get around the frequency jam when Alfred came running down the Batcave stares,
"Miss Mary, Quickly turn on the news we have an issue. " Mar'i did as she was told and didn't like what she found.
"Riddler, here." The news cast said. "Tonight, we villains are treating the citizens of gotham to a rare sight. It's most dangerous villains working together in order to create total anarky here in Gotham." Riddler was in what looked to be a fancy ballroom surrounded by what looked o be Gotham's most elite people on the floor heads covering their heads in fear.
"If you would all please turn your attention to the bridges that lead out of Gotham." On cue the footage switched from the riddler to the bridge. "Currently our precious Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn are holding captive all two hundred people with the bomb we have strapped to the bridge. Anyone who tries to escape will be immediately killed by Poison Ivy and the bridge will explode killing everyone on it." On the bridge you could see it covered in vines and at the top of the vines were the two women smiling down at the chaos they help create. The camera went back to the Riddler. "And here with me is Two Face at the Mayor's Gala for Charity. We are holding all of Gotham's officials hostage from Mayor Hull to Commissioner Gordon. So we see we easily have the upper hand. And honestly Gotham none of this was for you. Now I have one final Riddle for you folk, How do you kill a bat? Answer, You destroy it's habitat." And with a loud cackle the camera cut off.
"Oracle you got all of that." Mar'i asked.
"Every word. Then that means-"
"All of this is a trap! We need to get word to the others! NOW!"
"Alright." Nightwing announced. "We need to split up. Robin, Red Robin with me. Hood you're with Batgirl."
"Why am I always with him!" Batgirl cried. Everyone was moving forward except Robin who stayed rooted in place only looking at the security camera.
"Robin?" Nightwing asked carefully.
"Something's wrong." He said, and the words were all that was needed to get everyone on high alert.
"I'm going to try and contact batman." Red Robin said. he was silent for a minute "Communications are blocked. Something is definitely wrong. Nightwing I think we should Re-"
BEEP BEEP BEEP
Red Robin reached into his utility belt and pulled out a mini computer.
"What was that?" Robin asked.
"I have a small two way messaging system with Oracle's computer just in case something goes wrong and we need to communicate." Red Robin answered.
"Well, what does it say?" Batgirl asked, and as she did Tim's face paled.
"WE NEED TO GO! NOW!" Without another word they all sprinted towards the exit.
"ACCESSING LOCKDOWN PROCEDURE. LOCKDOWN PROCEDURE COMMENCING." An automated voice said.
"OH Shit!" Red hood screamed as he rolled under some closing steel doors.
"This isn't good, we've fallen into a trap!" Red Robin shouted over the sirens wailing around him.
"Yeah thanks for the info, Red Robin. I hadn't noticed!" Batgirl shouted at him as she jumped over upcoming bars.
"Now is not the time to be throwing shade, Batgirl!" Nightwing stressed as he continued to run. He could see the vent they entered through. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out that they aren't all going to make it. Hood must have figured it out too.
"HOOD!" Nightwing called
"Already on it!" Red Hood grabbed Robin by the hood of his cape and flung the eleven year old into the vent. He made it just barely and climbed in with little effort.
"You're turn, Red Robin!" Nightwing fired his grapling hook into the vent with perfect aim and shoved it into Red Robin's arms flinging him into the vent.
"You now, BG." Right before the vent Red Hood stopped readying himself as batgirl jumped onto him and used him to get into the vent. A second later the bars came down trapping Red Hood and Nightwing on the other side.
"ACCESSING LOCKDOWN PROCEDURE. LOCKDOWN PROCEDURE COMMENCING." An automated voice said.
"That can't be good." Canary said.
"MOVE!" Batman shouted as all three heroes jumped out of the way of a fast falling steel door, luckily they all ended up on the same side.
"Please don't tell me that means what I think it means." Huntress said.
"We're locked in Arkham Asylum." Batman said in a grave voice.
"Okay easy fix, I'll just use my canary cry, and-"
"Set a bunch of the criminally insane into Gotham. Be smart Canary, we can't risk that." Batman said
"Okay, Good point. So what do we do?" Black Canary asked.
"We put them back in their cells, and give control of Arkham back to the police." He answered.
"Umm, this may be a bad time to point this out, but if they wanted to keep us in here, What's happening in Gotham that they had to lock us in Arkham Asylum." Huntress asked. Canary visibly paled.
"This can't be good." She repeated.
"Oracle, do you have contact with Batman yet?" Mar'i asked.
"No, it's going to take time." Barbara answered.
"What about the city? Gotham's best are currently stuck in Arkham, while the criminals are going nuts."
"I've already got Lady Blackhawk, The Question, and Batwoman taking care of that, but they'll need help." Barbara sighed. "I think I should call in the league."
"NO!" Mar'i shouted. "This is a Gotham issue and should stay in Gotham. Besides, Bruce would kill us if we did."
"We may not have a choice." Barbara said sadly, "As much as I want to keep this in Gotham, we only have three people working on a case that the whole Batfamily and plus would be working on."
"As a last result, then." Mar'i said.
"Agreed."
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, NIGHTWING!" Robin shouted as he gripped the bars from inside the vent.
"I did the math, not all of us were going to make it. Red Hood and I are the fastest, so we used that speed to get the three of you out. " Nightwing said calmly.
"You three need to get out of here, and help everyone outside because whatever shit is going on in here is going to be ten times worse out there." Jason said as he pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it.
"We'll take care of all the bad guys in here. Now go, you've got a job to save the rest of gotham."
"What about Batman?" Batgirl asked worriment in her voice.
"I would like to say he, Canary, and Huntress got out, but I know they didn't. Maybe we'll be able to meet up with them while we're in here, but for now you three need to go." Nightwing ordered, and with a heavy heart they did as they were told. Robin cursing the whole way through.
"We need all the people we can get." Alfred said pouring a cup of tea for the young girl working at the computer.
"I know, Alfred. Everyone we have is either in Arkham or already out there." Mar'i said she was closing to breaking through communication jammer.
"Not everyone." Alfred said. Mar'i sighed.
"Cassandra is still in Hong Kong, and last I checked Selina took a one way flight to Paris. We'll be lucky if she comes back by Christmas." Mar'i said completely missing his point.
"That's not what I was referring to, Miss Mary." Mar'i froze.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She said going back to working on the computer.
Alfred stared down at the young girl, "I think you do. Though you've hidden it well, I am well aware of Master Jason training you. I have watched you, and I have seen that much talent when it comes to fighting."
"My father." Mar'i finished. "He doesn't want me in this so it doesn't matter you can go out there."
"Did your father tell you about all of his nights out before he became Robin." Mar'i stopped and turned to alfred in surprise.
"What do you mean "before he became Robin"? I thought Bruce trained him for a while then let him go out as Robin." Mar'i said.
"Right after his parents died Bruce took Master Dick in. A little dangerous as Master Dick was unaware at the time of Master Bruce being Batman. Well, every night Master Dick would go to bed, and Batman would go out hunting for the Grayson's murder, but Master Dick was not actually asleep like Bruce originally thought. Every night Master Dick would go out and and hunt for his parents killer, as well. Batman caught him one night, and Master Dick easily put two and two together. "
"And that's how he became Robin." Mar'i finished. "So he was out running the streets long before Bruce trained him, and Bruce only trained him because he was going to go out anyway? Bruce might as well control what he did and who he fought if he was going to go out there."
"Exactly." The butler said with a nod. "One thing the Robins all have in common is the way they enter our world, Miss Mary. From Master Richard to Master Damian a Robin's first night in the field was completely against Master Bruce's orders. Master Bruce didn't want any of them to follow in his footsteps, but they did anyway and through it he has supported them all. Tonight, the world is going to need another child to step up and fight for justice, and that child is you."
"My dad will never forgive me." Mar'i said in a whisper.
"He will."
"My dad will kill Jason though." The butler cracked a smile at that.
"Now that your father will do."
"Okay Alfred, we need a mask and something I can wear. I'm too small to fit into Jason's old costume in the case, and I can't go out without some form of protection." Mar'i said getting up from the computer.
"I believe the answer lies in something your teacher might have told you." Alfred said cryptically.
Something Jason must have told her? Jason told her a lot of things what did that have to do with getting her a costume, unless Jason was Robin when he was about eight, or he was a girl in the past he wouldn't have...A girl.
Scarlet. Scarlet was her answer.
"You're a really good teacher." Mar'i commented one day during practice.
"Thanks, but I did learn from the best." Jason said.
"Not all people who learn can teach." Mar'i said wisely. "You teach like you've taught someone before." Jason didn't say anything. "Have you taught someone before?"
"Only once." Jason answer came out guarded, and fast as if he wished the topic would be left at that.
"Who was she?" Jason was not going to get out of this easily.
"Scarlet, she was my partner." Jason said after a slight pause. His voice peaked slightly indicating this Scarlet was important to him.
"What happened to her?" Mar'i asked softly as if scared of the answer.
"She left me."
"Alfred, you wouldn't know where Jason might keep some of his mementos from his early Red Hood day?" Mar'i asked.
"Upstairs in his room. I believe he keeps them in the chest by the foot of his bed." Alfred said with a raised eyebrow.
"Thank you!" she shouted as she ran out of the Batcave and up the stairs. Tonight Scarlet was going to make another apearrance.
"Hello?" A voice called through Batman's comm link. "I've done it. It took a while but Clairvoyance and I have broken through."
"Oracle?" Another voice in the comm link said. It was Nightwing.
"Comms back online?" This time it was Red Robin.
"Oh, thank God." Said Batgirl.
"Oka,y now that we've established that the communication is back up, can someone please explain why the fuck a majority of us are locked in Arkham Asylum!" Jason growled.
"That would be nice." Helena said in agreement. "I want to know why exactly I'm stuck in the looney bin."
"Oracle, can you tell was what exactly this trap was?" Black Canary asked.
"Well, it's really simple when you think about it. All of our major A and B list criminals are working together in order to kill us and take control of Gotham. It seems they left the more dangerous ones in Arkham to kill you all."
"So they trapped us here while they are in the process of taking Gotham over?" Red Robin asked.
"Exactly, but with you all stuck in Arkham there's barely anyone out here to take them on." Barbara said she heaved a big sighed. "We're in a lot of trouble this time, Batman. They've taken the bridge and the Mayor's Gala. I think we should call back up like League back up."
"No!" Batman growled. "Unless the situation is completely out of our control, you do not call the league."
"Bruce, the situation is out of our control! With the eight of you trapped in Arkham who's going to save the Mayor's gala or the people on the bridge! Lady Blackhawk, Question, and Batwoman won't be able to save both of them and take care of the goons terrorizing the streets! We need help!" Oracle yelled.
"Actually..." Dick started
"Not now." both Oracle and Batman said at the same time
"but-" Nightwing said.
"Later," Barbara ordered harshly as she continued to chew out the dark knight.
"Father!" This time it was Robin who interrupted the argument. "I think I should report that Brown, Drake, and I have successfully escaped Arkham Asylum."
...
"What?" growled Batman.
"The three of us managed to escape before lockdown." Damian repeated
"Nightwing and Red Hood what's your status, then?" the dark knight asked. "I thought you were all together."
"We're locked in." Nightwing confirmed. "It was either the three of them or just Jason and I, we made the call to get them out before us."
"Good call." Batman said gruffly. "Red Robin where are you currently?"
"We're climbing back up the vent back to the roof, Batman. From there we'll go back to the city and stop this." Red Robin answered.
"Good. I want those of us stuck in Arkham to get these criminals back into their cells. After we take care of that we'll figure a way out of here. Red Robin, Batgirl, Robin, I need you three to formulate a plan to save the Mayor's Gala then the bridge."
"On it." The three youngest voices rang out.
"This is going to be a long night." Nightwing sighed.
"Umm, I hate to point this out, but where has Clairvoyance been this entire conversation?" Batgirl pointed out.
Silence followed batgirl's question
"What?" Nightwing growled eerily similar to they way Batman had earlier.
"Clairvoyance, Answer me damn it!" Her father yelled in the her ear piece.
"Chill I'm here." Scarlet said calmly.
"Mary, where are you going? You're location is not at the batcave, and you're blocking my signal to your ear piece!" Oracle said
"That would be correct, Oracle." Currently she was on Jason's motorcycle and on her way to Arkham Asylum, but she wasn't going to tell them that. "I have a plan. Don't worry I won't do anything too dangerous. We'll talk later." Scarlet didn't bother waiting for a response before shutting off her comm link for the moment. If what she saw on those security cameras was correct then Robin, Batgirl, and Red Robin were going to be in some major trouble.
"What the heck do you think Mary's up to?" batgirl asked.
"Don't know. We need to focus on what's in front of us, Steph." Red Robin reminded.
"We're at the end of the vent." Robin looked back and announced. "We should be on the roof after this."
"Great because while I love our job, the squeezing three people into a vent thing isn't my favorite part." Batgirl said as the vent opened up and with it came the soft breeze of a cool summer night.
Robin went out first scoped the area to make sure none of the escaped patients were around before giving the okay for Red Robin and Batgirl to climb out.
"You see anything?" Red Robin questioned.
"No, but when has that meant anything." Robin said back. They were in enemy territory, therefore they did not have home field advantage.
Batgirl pulled out her night vision binoculars and looked around for their rides. "Shit. Not good not good at all."
"What is it?" Red Robin grabbed the Binoculars from her hands and looked where she was looking. Standing at Red Robin's car and Robin's motorcycle was the Penguin and a lot of his goons.
"How the hell are we going to get out of here?" Batgirl asked worried. The longer they took the more likely people were going to die.
"Like we always do," Damian said with a crack of his knuckles, "Fighting. Each of us will take about 25 each."
"That sounds like a losing battle, Robin. "Red Robin said formulating a plan to get them out of Arkham without the big horde of criminals spotting them..
"We're fighters, Red Robin. There's only one way out of here, and it's kicking and screaming."
"Good." I deep voice said softly. "I LIKE MY MEALS BETTER WHEN THEY FIGHT BACK!" Just in time to dodge the large fist coming down at them did The trio notice who exactly they were up against. Killer Croc.
"Oh shit!" Batgirl said as Croc swung at her.
"There's not enough space to fight him up here!" Red Robin cried. "We need to get to the ground!"
"Oh yeah, and then after we kick his ass then we go and take down Penguin and his men! Get real, Red Robin!" Robin shouted at his older brother.
"Doesn't look like we have much of a choice!" Stephanie said. "JUMP!" and off the roof they did. Using their different acrobatics they all got down from the roof safely, but landed right in front of Penguins men.
"Oops." Batgirl said.
"Big Oops" Red Robin added.
"Good Job, Croc. Just as planned. Today is the day we rid Gotham of it's bat problem. Kill 'em, boys." Penguin ordered. And the men attacked.
They were outnumbered by a lot, honestly this fight could have been easier if they didn't have to dodge Killer Croc as well as the thugs advances.
"Batgirl, duck!" Red Robin called out. She did just that as batarangs flew over her head and hit the goons behind her.
"I had it! I don't need help, Red Robin." Batgirl said she flipped a thug over with her bo staff.
"Well, if you get your head in the game maybe he wouldn't need to help you." Robin scoffed at the girl.
"Shut up, My head is in the ga- ROBIN WATCH OUT!" Batgirl screamed. Robin turned around to see Killer Croc behind him ready to crush him with his fist when a very familiar motorcycle came out of no where, and crashed into Killer Croc and sent him flying into the side of the asylum. Flipping off of the motorcycle was a girl no older than Robin, and she flipped off the cycle with as much ease as any of them would.
"Who in the hell?" Robin started.
"Shut up and fight!" She cut him off. No need to be told twice Robin quickly threw himself back into the fray all the while watching the new comer intently.
The way she fought was familiar. She fought like them, but it was slightly more brawling then actual martial arts. From her form he could tell she knew the martial arts but preferred a more MMA style of brawling then say Nightwing's perfect martial arts form. Actually now that he thought about it the girl fought a lot like Red Hood. While fighting he tried to get a closer look at the girl but found her identity hidden by a pair of round, red tinted goggles. Who the hell was she?
Outside of the fight Penguin noticed his numbers start to diminish with the fall of Killer Croc. Penguin knew he had maybe 3 minutes, Five if he was lucky to get away before the younger vigilantes got to him. Yes, right now was the perfect time to get away. Penguin started to move closer and closer to the tree line, he was almost home free when a silver and black butterfly thrower nearly took his nose off, and embedded itself into the tree behind him.
"Wait a minute, Cobblepot. I'm not done with you yet." The girl left the rest of her thugs to Red Robin who was just finishing up to attack the host of this little party. Penguin quickly pulled out his umbrella girl and wasted no time firing at the girl. With another throw of one of her butterfly blades she easily knocked the umbrella from his hand. She quickly approached him dealing punch after punch. With a final spin making her long black ponytail flare out did the girl elbow the man straight in the nose knocking him out. "Well, that takes care of that." She said dusting off her hands.
Tim stood there shocked, "Thanks for the help but-"
"Who are you?" Stephanie finished. Robin walked over to the tree where where one of her throwers was stuck in the tree.
"Really, Batgirl?" He said "I could have sworn you were smarter than that." He plucked the thrower from the three and threw it at her feet. Comprehension lit up on her face,
"But this is one of…. Mar'i?" The goggled girl smiled and nodded
Angry yelling started to come from Batgirl's comm. "What do you mean Mary?! Is she there? She's there, isn't she? Tell her to turn on her comm, now."
Mary sighed, "You left your comm link on again, didn't you?" Batgirl only shrugged and mouthed an apology as Mar'i turned her comm link back on.
"Yes," She said reluctantly
"What the hell do you think you're doing!" Her father's voice.
"I believe that I'm helping." Mar'i said.
"This was stupid and dangerous and if I wasn't locked inside of Arkham I would-"
"Dick," Red Robin called out cutting off his rant, "She kinda saved our asses. Cut her some slack."
"Yeah, Damian would be croc food if it wasn't for her." Batgirl defended as well.
Nightwing was silently for a moment, "Alright." He said a little more calmly, "but still she has no where near enough training to out there, especially not on a night like tonight."
"Grayson, she seems decently trained to me." Robin cut in. Dick paused.
"How? I haven't-"
"Hood has." Batman said quickly. "We need all the people we can get. You're going to have to drop this one till later." Mar'i rolled her eyes if Alfred knew of course Bruce would.
You could almost hear the way Nightwing glared at the younger man.
"If I die please note that it probably wasn't the inmates who killed me." Red Hood said feigning a solemn tone.
"I'll won't kill you now," Nightwing said a little too sweetly, "I'd do it in your sleep, so sleep with one eye open tonight, Hood."
"Too late for that." Hood said under his breath, "Anyway what are we going to call you?"
"Probably the same thing you called the first girl who wore this outfit, Scarlet."
"Woah, woah ,woah, you have on Sasha's outfit? Dang she was tiny." Red Hood said.
"Made some changes, Kept the purple Kevlar main body part, but tossed the red cape and hood. Also added that black leather jacket you gave me for Christmas."
Red Hood laughed, "You are good. I must have done something right. OW!" It didn't take much to guess that Nightwing had hit him.
"Topic at hand." Batman reminded. "Scarlet, can you give us an update on our situation."
"Well other than Riddler and Two-Face taking over the Mayor's Gala, and Harley and Ivy taking everyone on the bridge hostage. We also have Bane and his men running the streets terrorizing the people. Last I checked Batwoman, The Question, and Lady Blackhawk were trying to take down his forces a little at a time."
"and the police force?"
"Commissioner Gordon and a lot of the higher ups are stuck in the gala." This time it was Barbara who answered.
"Why didn't you say that earlier?" Nightwing asked.
"Because I thought you had figured it out. He's fine, it's not him I'm worried about. Riddler just made another announcement, at midnight they plan to kill the mayor and Ivy's going to destroy the bridge with everyone on it. Things are looking really bad, Batman."
"Then It's a good thing we're here." A sultry voice cut into the conversation.
"…..I thought you were still in Paris." The dark knight asked.
"I thought you kept better tabs on me." Catwoman answered back coyly.
"How did you even get on this frequency?" Barbara asked. She prided herself that it was almost unhackable.
"Didn't she say 'we'?" Another familiar voice said.
"Guess who I found in the airport?" Catwoman teased. "I caught her trying to sneak out the women's restroom window.
"Cassandra!? Holy Crap! You're Back!" said Batgirl relieved
"We saw what was happening on the news at the airport." Cassandra explained. "They locked the whole thing down for people's protection. I found Selina while she was trying to sneak out as well."
"Now that you have the manpower to do what you have to you can relax." Selina said. "Black Bat and I've got Harley and Ivy. You kids take Riddler and Two-Face."
"You heard her!" Oracle yelled. "Get moving. I want all this done by midnight!"
"Jesus, don't get your panties in a twist." Batgirl said. "Let's go." Batgirl hopped on the back of Red Robin's bike(Which he had gotten on sometime during the conversation).
"Small issue, " Scarlet winced. "I kinda crashed Jason's bike into Killer Croc so I need a ride."
"YOU DID WHAT!" Jason screamed. Scarlet turned off her comm.
"Ride with me then, Gray- Scarlet." Robin said with a slight slip of the tongue.
Scarlet smirked, "No real names in the field, Robin." She teased. He frowned and shoved his helmet into her hands
"Just get on the bike." He growled. Scarlet laughed.
"Someone please tell me that they have a plan." Batgirl groaned. They were currently on the roof of the building holding the Mayor's gala. They were outnumbered more than they were earlier, and they had civilians to save. Oh the joy.
"Actually, I think I do." Tim stated as he pulled out his mini computer. "This building is actually connected to some underground tunnels."
"You mean the ones used to set slaves free?" Batgirl asked.
"Yup, those exactly. We can use those to get the civilians out then take care of Riddler, Two-Face, and their goons." Red Robin said "And the door to those tunnels should be right in that corner. " Red Robin pointed to the corner farthest away from Two-face and the Riddler, and sitting in that corner just happened to be a familiar face.
"Talk about luck. Gordon's sitting right there." Batgirl said happily. "With him it will be so much easier getting all those Civilians out."
"Yeah, but we'll need a distraction." Robin pointed out.
"Distraction is my middle name." Scarlet said.
Red Robin looked at her seriously, "I don't think so. Your dad will bury me alive in the same grave he's going to put Jason in."
Scarlet pouted, "I'll be fine. I'll do the safest distraction ever, I swear. Besides, Commissioner Gordon should speak to faces he knows." Red Robin frowned realizing she was right.
"Fine, you can go, but Robin has to go with you." Red Robin said. "Robin, make sure she doesn't make any rookie mistakes."
Scarlet glared at the boy two years her senior, "Oh come on!" Scarlet said offended.
"Hey! until you have more than a year's experience you're a rookie, and can not go anywhere in the field by yourself without permission." Red Robin ordered.
"That's dumb, I bet you didn't even follow that rule." Scarlet said defiantly.
"I don't remember that rule." Batgirl said underneath her breathe. Red Robin elbowed her in the side to cover up her whispering.
"Fine, whatever, but you have to give me your mini computer." scarlet said.
Red Robin gave her a confused look, "Why?"
"Don't worry about it." Sacrlet snached the Computer from his hands. "You'll get it back." She promised.
"Okay, fine just go you two." Red robin said with a groan. The night had only begun but it felt like it had been forever. This was going to be a long night.
"Alright, now wait till we've gotten to Commissioner Gordon before you start taking out thugs all around, you too Robin. We don't need any premature shooting." Red Robin said. "Also don't forget to get the mayor to safety first. We don't need Two-FAce shooting him in retaliation."
"I got it, Tim. " Scarlet said into the earpiece. "Just tell me when you're in position." The only sound of confirmation was the sound of the comm link temporarily shutting off. "Alright, Robin. Megaphone please." and Robin handed her the item she requested. Oh, this was going to be fun.
"It's getting closer to midnight, and they haven't pulled anything yet." Two-Face said to Riddler.
"They will." Riddler assured. "One thing Bats are is resilient. They won't let a little thing like being trapped in Arkham keep them from saving lives. So keep an eye out, they could be here already." As the Riddler said the words Music started to play, actual classical music from an opera.
"What the hell is that?" Two-Face asked pushing the gun closer to the mayor's head.
"The habanera from Carmen." The Riddler answered quickly "But the real question is why is it playing, and who is playing it?"
"BOSS, there's someone up there!" A Thug shouted, all eyes looked up to see a young girl, up in the building's rafters.
"LADIES, GENTLEMEN...CRIMINALS." The young girl yelled into the megaphone as the music stopped. "I am Scarlet. Two-Face, Riddler, I'm giving you one chance to release these hostages or you're about to be really embarrassed."
"Who do you think you are, little girl?" Two-Face growled, pointing his gun at the girl in the rafters. "You mouthy like the first Robin, how about I beat that out of ya like I did him."
"So is that a no?" The girl asked. "Okay, then. Sorry to say this but you're about to have your ass beat by a little girl."
"Take care of her." Riddler ordered the goons.
"What in the world?" Jim Gordon asked to himself at the sight of the girl in the rafter and her demands.
PSST
Jim turned his head. He swore he heard-
PSST.
This time he was sure he heard a noise, he turned to his left and next to him he could see the bright blue eyes and a tuft of blonde hair he knew belonged to Batgirl, and the familiar form of Red Robin behind her.
"Hiya, Commish!" She whispered.
"Where have you all been?" He asked, in a hush tone.
"Long story, but we need your help." She said hurriedly. "We don't have a lot of time. Scarlet and Robin are working as a distraction while we get the hostages out. you think you can help us sneak them out."
"It'll have to be done fast and quietly. Once we get the first person down here, Robin will be shutting off the lights to make it easier for you to sneak them out." Added Red Robin.
"What about the mayor, Two-Face's got him?" Gordon asked.
"Scarlet's taking care of it."
"Hey hey wait. I'm giving you guys a chance of a life time. You should really take it." Scarlet said earnestly.
"Lite her up boys!" Two-Face yelled.
"First person is out! Shut down the light!" Went Red Robin in Scarlet's comm. As soon as the sentence was over, the lights went out and the gala was flooded with darkness. The shocked screams of criminals and civilians rang out in a short startled breath.
"I warned you." Said Scarlet gravely. She then swung down from the rafters and kicked Two-Face straight in the head knocking him from the Mayor. She flipped down from her line effortlessly to address the mayor.
"Good evening, Mr. Mayor. I'm going to need you to put on this harness." She put harness into the man's arms and waited till he tried putting it on, "Once you've got it on. I'm going to push this button and it's going to send you up into the rafters where Robin is waiting for you. He's going to be giving you some instruction that you must follow then he is going to join me down here. Do you understand, Mr. Mayor?" She asked the man nodded. "Good, then off you go." She pushed the button on his chest sending him flying towards the rafters and to safety.
Behind her Scarlet heard a low growl and quickly ducked before the Riddler could strike her with his cane.
"Have several seats." She ordered before throwing her butterfly throwers at the riddler nailing his suit and himself to the wall in front of him.
With a groan Two-face got up, "What are you morons doing!" He yelled, "Get her!" all at once the goons came after her. Scarlet prepared herself to take them on when a smoke pellet dropped from above creating a cloud of smoke blocking Scarlet from the goon's view. When the smoke cloud was gone Scarlet was gone as well.
"What are you doing?!" Scarlet hissed quietly at Robin from a top the rafters.
"Keeping you from making a rookie mistake." He said calmly. "You can't take them all on like that, you'll get yourself killed wait till Red Robin and Batgirl get back, then you can go nuts. Until then you pick them off one by one and silently." Scarlet nodded taking the piece of advice and swung to the next rafter where a poor criminal stood below watching a group of hostages. Poor thing probably wouldn't be waking up for another three days.
Robin and Scarlet took down maybe half of the numbers by the time the got the call.
"All civilians have been cleared, We're heading back up there. Make sure you guys leave some bad guys for us."
With a green light, Scarlet and Robin began openly attacking their criminals. Two minutes later Batgirl and Red Robin joined them, they were completely done 45 minutes later.
Red Robin looked at the time, "12:06. Dang I wanted to be done by midnight."
"You guys did a good job." Barbara said over the comm. "I'm proud. Black Bat just called she said she's cleared the bridge, and Nightwing said they should be in about 10 minutes. Bruce wants everyone at the clocktower when they're done."
"We'll be there." Red Robin confirmed. "Do you need anything else, Commissioner Gordon?" he asked the officer.
"We're good now kids, thanks for the help." He answered.
"No problem." Batgirl answered as all four of them launched their grapples at the building ahead. "It's what we do." Yes, saving people was what they did, and Mar'i was sure this is what she was supposed to do. Now all she had to do was tell her father that.
"According to Helena your dad's in there. Ready to do this?" Stephanie asked.
Mar'i took a deep breath. "Yeah, as much as I can be." she admitted.
"You did good work today." Tim said "Normally I'd be against it, but you were a natural out there, more so than any of us were our first night out."
"I agree. We are with you every step of the way." Stephanie said. "Right Damian?" She patted the boy on the back for emphasis.
Damian turned his head away, and stuck his nose in the air, "Your performance today was passable, but I helped train so of course it was slightly above par."
"What!? No you didn't. You didn't help train me at all." Mar'i disagreed.
"I taught you how to throw your butterflies and everything else." He countered. "Therefore, I helped train you." He asserted.
"Whatever, Jason was working that with me too anyway. Get over yourself." Mar'i proclaimed.
"You first."
"Why I oughta-"
"Enough!" Tim barked both of you inside. "Mar'i don't forget you still have to face your father." Mar'i frowned.
"Thanks for reminding me." She sighed. "Let's get this over with." Mar'i pushed the doors open to the clock tower and walked up the stairs. Unsurprisingly she found Selina and Bruce in their normal flirty state, but watching the security footage of the Mayor's gala with Barbara. Jason was in the corner nursing what looked like a soon-to-be black eye with Cassandra telling him something with a slight smirk. Canary and Huntress were laughing at Jason's injury which looked to be the only one he sustained save for his bleeding shoulder, which nobody looked alarmed at so it must not have been serious.
"You guys sure are late." Barbara said turning from the computer., breaking the ice.
"We took the scenic route for giggles." Tim answered.
"Mary, Mary, Mary." Helena started "I have to say I'm impressed."
"Same sentiment here." Dinah agreed.
Bruce turned from Selina and looked fully at the video, "You're a little erratic, and like to jump the gun a little." He commented. Mar'i looked a little crestfallen at the words of the dark knight. "But it was good work." Mar'i perked up.
"Take that to heart." Stephanie whispered in her ear. "He doesn't dish out complements that often."
Selina spoke up with the same praise everyone was giving her the only one who stayed silent was her father who had not said a word since she had walked into the room.
"You don't have anything to say?" She asked walking up to him.
He raised an eyebrow at her, "You want me to praise you on something you shouldn't have done? You want me to congratulate you on lying to me for months?" Dick snorted "I don't think so."
"But- but"
"But what? At the end of the day you disobeyed me, Mar'i, and that's not acceptable." Mar'i looked up at her father with sad eyes. She knew this was coming, but somewhere she had hoped that maybe he would be a little proud of her. "I'm upset Mar'i. I don't expect to get over this for a long time, but you were good out there, Mar'i." Mar'i looked up, shocked that her father has praised. "A little rough around the edges, but that's because Jason trained you. You are talented Mar'i, and it was almost surreal seeing you fight like that. I am, in a way, proud of you." Mar'i smiled. She had gotten what she wanted most. "But," Mar'i frowned. Buts were never good. "You are still in trouble. I am still mad at you, and nothing is going to change the fact that you went behind my back for months doing something that I explicitly told you not to do. Do you understand?"
"I understand you, I really do, but you can't keep me from this." Mar'i said. "I want to do this. I want to help, and I will do it with or without your permission. In other words, get on board or get out of the way." Nostalgia rang through Dick's head. He believed he had said something similar to Bruce and the other Justice League members when they started the Teen Titans. He smiled at her. She really was his daughter. She had his sense of justice, his smile, and his chatty nature, but she was headstrong, and knew exactly what she wanted just like her mother. A deadly combination to anyone who stood in the way of this girl's way, and that person surely wasn't going to be him.
"I was wrong to stop you from doing something you truly wanted to do, so I'll let you do this." He said finally. Mar'i was practically jumping with joy. "On one condition, you have to be my partner." Mar'i hugged her father.
"You're the only one I want to be partners with."
"You're grounded by the way." He said still hugging her. She pulled away with a shocked look. "I told you nothing will change the fact that you lied to me for a full six months. So do you have anything you want to call yourself when you're my partner?" He asked. Mar'i blinked.
"I never thought about it." She answered honestly.
"What about Starling? It's a type of bird, I thought it would be fitting." Tim called out. Everyone turned to him not expect him to answer. He's face turned beet red and turned away. "I may have been thinking about it for a while, okay."
Everyone laughed.
"Wait, how did Jason get a black eye? His Red Hood mask would protect his face form something like that." As Mar'i had said it, Helena snorted and stifled a giggle along with Cassandra.
"Why don't you ask my ever loving older brother?" Jason spat angrily.
Mar'i turned to her father, "You didn't."
"Oh, I did. He needed some kind of punishment for aiding my daughter in lying to me. So the moment he took off the Mask, I socked him straight in the eye."
"And you didn't hold back." Jason glared at the older man who only shrugged in response.
"What did you expect? I was really angry."
"I'll make sure not to piss you off again then. Damn it still stings." Jason said touching his eye tenderly.
"Wimp." Cassandra called out
"So tell me, Riri where did you happen to get that nasty looking cut on your arm." Kevin asked the next day at dance practice.
"Fell down in the yard." She answered quickly. "Not that big of a deal. I'm fine." Mar'i lied easily. She had a feeling she'd be doing more and more of that to Kevin.
"You're a lot of things, Mary, clumsy is not one of them. What really happened, and does it have anything to do with you being grounded?" Mary frowned when her dad said grounded he meant it, she didn't go anywhere but to dance practice and home since it was the summer and school was out. She couldn't even go to the Manor! Complete and other lockdown, the man had put a tracer on her for god's sake, and said if she took it off he would be adding another week to her already overly long punishment. Grounded, indeed.
"Just trust that if it were something important that I would have told you okay, Kevin." She said. He stared at her intently for a moment before determining that was enough for now.
"Come on let's work on the routine." He said. She nodded and went to start the music when a familiar buzzing got Mary's attention. She walked over to her dance bag and pulled out her phone.
"I'm sorry, Kev. I've got to go, family emergency." Mar'i said in a rushed tone as she packed her dance bag.
"What! Mary, you can't miss practice!"
"Sorry, but my aunt fell down the stairs, we think she's got a concussion. I'll make it up to you with a first place trophy at our next competition! Don't snitch on me, bye!" and she promptly closed the door leaving what ever Kevin was going to say now useless.
He sighed, "What am I going to do with her?"
"Alright, I'm good. What's up?" She said into her phone.
"Looks like some robbery close to you." Oracle said. "Your dad's on the way."
"Good, I'll be there in two minutes" Mar'i pulled out a black and purple uniform from her back, and smiled.
Starling was born.
Final notes:
Word Final word count: 10,051(WTF)
This is honestly the longest chapter I have ever written in my life, but I needed the first arc to be 6 chapters. Mary's not Nightstar yet, if she were this origin story would be over! and I have so much more left of Mary's story! I played with a lot of names for Mary's vigilante persona, one of them was yes, Nightingale, but I decided against it last minute. Origins: Nightstar has about 3 more arcs after this not all of them being 6 chapters but some will be. Sorry this chapter took me so long. I kept having to start over because I lost internet and my computer was being stupid. I hope everything was up to par with the rest of the work. I'm running on nothing because i've been working on this story for days now.
Special thanks to Victory Goddess, ArsenalMadness, and a guest for their reviews! Don't forget to Review/Follow/favorite!
Well this arc of Mary's life is now over, onto the next one.
Next chapter, Nightwing & Starling.
~Miyu K. June 25, 2014