And in the roughly 300 years it's been since I updated . . . . I've written a chapter. Of course, I've only managed to get about two days to write every once in a blue moon, which has been a NIGHTMARE let me tell you. So even though I've had this chapter finished for almost a week, here I am updating.
Gah. Please forgive me for I am not worthy . . . .
Thank you all so much for your support! In a general reply to everyone, in the last authors note I had mentioned that a friend was killed. He, his wife, and some family members had gone canoeing, and his canoe hit a log and flipped. His wife and dog were swept down the river and managed to get to shore, but he and his eight year old cousin were trapped by debris. He saved her, but was trapped, and by the time they got to him he was gone. Thank you all for your kind words in regards to that.
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Reviews:
Guest: Thank you. Clearly I was not joking (I've lost too many friends for that to be something I joke about) but thank you.
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Guest (again): Updated! Probably a lot later than you were hoping for
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Guest (seriously I need some of you to make names for yourself, but this one you know who you are): I have never (and likely will never) shipped Birdflash. I'm a huge fan of their Bromance, but I'm not much for them and romance. I understand that a lot of people like it, but it's just never really been my thing. Sorry about that, but thank you so much for your support!
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Guest (literally all of you:): Thanks! Update finally (at much too long last) managed
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NOW. Ok. I'm hoping beyond hope that now that schools started (hahahahahHAHAHahahahHahahahahahah) I can get back to a regular updating schedule (HA!) but yeah . . . . my life is just a nightmare of stuff right now.
Now, and without any further ado, I present to you, the lamest, latest, chapter of all time.
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Chapter 20
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Blüdhaven
May 24, 21:30 EDT
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Dick winced as he landed on the roof behind Deathstroke. After last night, Deathstroke had done his version of beating him to a pulp, then training, and now expected him to still go out and patrol. Wow, Dick missed Batman. At least he understood that even though Dick had insomnia, he also needed sleep.
He sighed, pushing his exhaustion to the back of his mind. Even though he hurt all over, that wouldn't stop Deathstroke from torturing him if he didn't perform well tonight. So far none of the lowlifes that normally roamed the streets at night had been out, much to his relief, but Deathstroke was getting restless. "Maybe next time I'll request an actual mission from Talia," Deathstroke muttered under his breath, and Dick stiffened. A mission . . . Like an assassination mission? Oh crap. That would not turn out well at all, especially since Dick still had absolutely no intention of turning to the dark side.
Suddenly Deathstroke straightened, a look of interest in his visible eye. "Well, well, well," he murmured, a terrifying smile spreading across his face. "I didn't expect to see her here."
"Huh?" Dick managed, feeling his heart lurch. Her? Her who? Had one of his friends found him? He could easily believe that Artemis, or one of the more reckless leaguers had decided to attempt a rescue mission.
"Catwoman. One of the most interesting anti-heroes that I have ever had the displeasure to meet," Deathstroke grumbled. "And it looks like she's found a stray mouse to play with. A rather speedy one."
Wally, Dick thought with a moment of confusion. Then he blinked. Wait, Wally and Catwoman, in Blüdhaven, fighting each other. Or . . . Working together? Were they really working together? Oh man. That was something that Dick wanted to see. Just not really right then. In fact, he thought it would be much more amusing if it could happen at a time when he wasn't worried he would cause an inter-League war.
"Apprentice, I believe we should go see why the kitty cat is playing with your friend," Deathstroke said in an interested voice. In fact, this was the most interested he'd been in anything since the Team had come to Blüdhaven, which didn't bode well for Dick's best friend. Batman had just aggravated him, and before that it had been constant training, which had been wearing on the trainer as much as it had the trainee.
"Can we not?" Dick asked, earning a sharp shock in response. "I'll take that as a no . . . " he muttered.
Deathstroke smiled coldly. "Follow me," he said, and leapt from the roof.
With a curse, Dick followed. If he was told to fight Wally, or even Selina, he probably wouldn't do it, and two days in a row of being punished by Deathstroke was not something Dick wanted to get into a habit of experiencing.
It didn't take long for him to spot Catwoman, immediately recognizing her lithe form as she sprang around the rooftops and then down the walls to the alleys below, and up again, constantly chasing the dark blur that Dick knew instinctively was Wally. "Crap," he muttered, knowing immediately that Wally and Selina really were working together. There was no way that Wally would be here this late— and in stealth mode no less —if it were otherwise. Besides that, Catwoman rarely went to Central City, and even if she had, it was less than likely that she and Wally would have run into each other.
This was not good.
Not good at all.
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Blüdhaven
May 24, 21:35 EDT
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Wally knew they were acting, but dude, was Catwoman scary or what? They'd started their little game fifteen minutes before, as soon as they were sure that Rob and Deathstroke were out of their hidey-hole, and Wally was now half sure that he was actually running for his life.
Oh well. If it got Rob back, then Wally would run for his life forever. Even if Artemis was going to kill him for this.
Wally paused for a moment, glancing behind him, and suppressing a smile when he saw two shadows following Catwoman from a distance. Good, Deathstroke had seen them and become interested. If he hadn't, then this wouldn't have worked at all.
If it worked, Wally amended, which was still a pretty big if.
Besides that, Robin would probably be furious. Considering his reaction the last time Wally had seen him, he wanted his friends to stay as far away as possible from Blüdhaven, correctly insinuating that it wasn't safe for them to be here. It probably had something to do with the fact that Deathstroke was probably very likely to purposefully torture Rob's friends in front of him. After all, Wally thought sharply, the maniac had tried to kill Artemis.
He was still mad about that too . . . If there was any possibility that he could punch Deathstroke in the face a few times, he'd take it; one for Artemis, one for Rob, and one for personal reasons.
In other words, because the assassin really deserved it.
"Hello, little mouse," Catwoman hissed in front of him, and Wally yelped, skidding to a stop. He'd been so deep in his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed himself slowing down just enough for the villain to get ahead. He reminded himself that this was all part of the plan, and panted, gasping for breath when he didn't really need to.
"Crap," he muttered, hoping this all looked realistic. "Seriously, why are you chasing me? I thought your area of expertise was Gotham?"
"Gotham's boring with Batman in a mood, besides, I needed something to chase, and a certain little bird has been out of commission lately, so I thought I would try my hand at catching a quick little mouse," Catwoman purred.
Wally managed to stop himself from shuddering. Wow. This lady could be exceptionally creepy.
"Well, great! You caught me! Can I go home now?" he asked, smiling at her while also preparing himself for the fight he knew was coming. The fight he had to make convincing, despite the fact that he and Catwoman were allies.
"Hmm . . ." the woman pretended to think about it for a moment, then grinned, flashing her white teeth. "I don't think so," she decided. "This is too much fun. Besides, I need to do something to get Batman's attention, so why not kidnap another sidekick? It worked for al Ghul."
"Yeah, but that was Robin," Wally stressed, like he was supposed to, "I'm not Batman's partner, he probably won't care at all."
"Oh? You were Robin's best friend," Selina hissed, her evil looking smile growing even wider, "I think he'll care at least a little bit. Enough to make my week a bit more enjoyable." Wally backpedaled, and cursed as he hit something hard.
He turned and saw (to his very fake surprise) that Deathstroke was behind him. "This night just keeps getting worse," he muttered, not entirely joking.
"No, I think it just keeps getting better and better," Deathstroke said silkily, drawing his sword. "Don't you agree, Apprentice?"
There was a sharp growl, and Robin appeared out of the shadows, dressed in the same horrid dark armor he'd been in the last time Wally saw him. He looked worse though, his skin pale, a bruise showing on his jaw. He moved a lot more carefully than usual, which told Wally he had other injuries as well.
From the glare Dick was shooting his way, he suspected that Wally and Talia were working together, and he was not happy about it. Not happy at all. Well, Wally decided, that was just too bad.
"Hey, Rob," he said weakly, grinning at his best friend. "Good to see you."
"What are you doing here, KF?" Robin snapped, his voice laced with worry.
"Um . . . Running?" Wally suggested, backing away from Deathstroke and Catwoman as best he could as both of the villains stepped towards him.
Robin groaned. "Master," he said, anger pulsing through him. "Wouldn't it be better to capture Kid Flash instead of killing him? A dead . . . sidekick, would make the Justice League wage war against the League of Shadows for sure."
KF had to hold back a shudder when Robin called the assassin master, and then almost smirked when he spat out the word sidekick. This was going to be interesting.
Deathstroke sighed, sounding incredibly disappointed. "I suppose you may have a point, Apprentice," he admitted. He turned to Catwoman. "You have trespassed on our territory," he said coldly. "We therefore claim the right to take your prey from you."
Catwoman frowned, sulking quite convincingly. "I caught him," she complained. "Talia already has Batman's little bird, why should she have Flash's mouse?"
Deathstroke's sword moved so fast the Wally could barely see it, but Catwoman moved even faster, ducking around the assassin's blade and behind him before pulling out a dagger of her own and holding it to his neck as his sword clanged off of the wall.
"Besides," Catwoman purred, "you're slow."
Deathstroke's feral grin that followed made Wally wish he could run for cover, but he knew that if he moved, the assassin would be all over him in seconds.
"How about we work together?" Deathstroke asked, lowering his voice. "I want to take my Apprentice away from Talia's control, and it's clear that you would like a little action as well. If you allow me to take this second boy to her, I believe she will be angry enough that you will be able to sneak my apprentice out of there so that I can train him properly."
Wally could see Robin stiffen as he heard those words, a look of panic on his face as he turned to his friend. "Wally, you need to get out of here," he hissed under his breath. "Please."
At that moment, Deathstroke whirled around and pinned Wally to the wall with his sword, somehow not piercing his flesh. The speedster allowed himself to send a quick grimace his friend's way, then glared up at the assassin, his face set. "There will be no escaping," Deathstroke growled, his eye gleaming. "Apprentice, you lead the way with Selina, whilst I make sure the boy can't run away."
"No," Robin said firmly, and Wally saw his face tighten fractionally. "I'm not going to stand by and let you hurt him. I don't care what you do to me later."
Deathstroke snarled, and without pause, drew his other sword and pointed it at Robin. "I will cut you into shreds," he promised, his eyes narrowing threateningly. "I don't care what Talia wishes me to do with you, I will take you from her control, and I will make you become an assassin. You are my Apprentice, and you will do as I say!"
Robin's eyes narrowed into slits, and Wally shuddered as his friend used an exact copy of the glare normally seen on his father's face. "I will never become an assassin," he hissed sharply. "I would rather die, that I can promise you."
"Well, if it comes to that, then I won't hesitate," Deathstroke promised, anger radiating from him so strongly that Wally had to force down the sudden bout of terror that hit him as the assassin turned back to look at him. "For now though, I think I'll leave matters to the al Ghul's," Deathstroke decided.
The last thing Wally saw was the assassin's foot rushing towards his face, and then everything went black.
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I'll admit I'm pretty cruel, ending the chapter with a cliffhanger, but I promise that (I think) the next chapter will go better for EVERYONE.
Or maybe just for Deathstroke . . . we'll see what happens.
Review! Yell at me all you want.