"Able to what?"
There was a heavy sigh. "Able to mimic the behavior of photons as if they were unobstructed."
"…. Able to what?" Jason repeated.
Barbara glared at the webcam and, consequently, at him. "Bruce, you get it, right?"
Bruce was sitting at the Batcave's computer terminal. His mask was sitting on the desk beside him. "I do. I just don't understand how it's possible."
"Me neither," Barbara replied. "It's like something out of science fiction."
"Would anyone care to explain?" Jason asked. "I know it has something to do with light going through something."
"Huygen's Principle," Barbara clarified.
"You say that like it's something I should know."
"It's something you do know. It's why you can see through a window," Barbara said.
"So you're saying the thief is see-through… Invisible? Well that's just not fair."
"Not only that," Bruce piped up. "Their cloak hides thermal radiation. And any wave, not just light, will "pass through" them by Huygen's Principle. So motion detectors and sonar won't pick them up either."
Jason casted a quick glance around. "So how are we going to catch them, then? They could already be in here for all we know!"
"They're not." Bruce began to type. A progress bar, accompanied by the words 'Transferring,' popped up on the main computer. "Their gift is also their curse. When they cloak, they emit that strange residue. Not by much; I could barely detect it last night." The progress bar filled up entirely. The words switched to 'Transfer Complete.' Bruce raised his arm and activated his electronic gauntlet. "Barbara's created a radar that detects that residue. It's extremely sensitive. Even the smallest traces will get picked up."
"Really?" Jason looked back at Barbara. "You designed that in one night?"
"It's amazing how productive you can get when you're dying to get back to your marathon. This season's getting really good. You should check it out sometime."
"Eh, I'm not a TV show kind of guy."
"Your loss. Anything else I can do?"
"We've got it from here," Bruce assured. The video chat ended.
Jason clapped his hands together. "All right, we've got the trap," he said. "Now we just need the bait. It needs to be something juicy. I'm thinking… oh, what about the Batwing? There isn't a person alive who would say 'no' to that!"
Bruce gave Jason a disapproving look as he donned on his mask. "No."
"I stand corrected."
A plan had been made, and was now being set in motion. The thief was probably aware that they had made their intrusion known with the damaged crate. They would expect the Batcave to be on high alert. To play on that expectation, most of the Batcave's valuables had been moved to a lower chamber. Meanwhile, Jason stayed in the main area of the cave, acting as the guard waiting for the intruder. Obviously, the thief would not be fooled. They'd find their way to the lower chamber. And that's where the Batman would wait.
Even with the plan, their first few nights proved fruitless. As crazy as it might sound, Jason was not too fond of spending his nights forcing himself to stay awake while nothing happened. He was starting to think that this effort was pointless. It didn't seem like the thief was ever coming back.
Tonight was another solo night. Gotham never slept, and Batman had gone out to answer the call of duty. The fact that Bruce had trusted him with this task made Jason determined not to let him down. Still, it wasn't like anything was happening. The air was so quiet, and it was so dark. His eyelids were feeling like lead.
Jason crossed his arms and shifted his sitting position. He was perched on a beam near the ceiling, his back to the wall. He raised his hands and rubbed his face, and then ran them through his hair. "Don't fall asleep," he quietly grumbled to himself. But a quiet little voice whispered from the back of his mind: "But you're so tired! Exactly how much sleep did you get yesterday? Come on, Bruce is being so unfair! Just clock in a few minutes; nobody will notice!"
The little voice had a big point. His arms relaxed onto his lap and his head rested against the wall as he felt himself droop into peaceful bliss.
Suddenly a noise jerked him awake. Jason sat up, feeling a pang of guilt. But the thing that woke him up wasn't the voice of a disappointed mentor. It was a soft beeping in his ear. Shocked, Jason looked at the device that had been attached to his forearm. It was the residue detector, and it was picking something up!
The detector's radar showed that the source was directly below him. Jason leaned to the side and looked down at the chamber's entrance. There! The door to the lower chamber was ajar!
"Well damn!" Jason muttered in amazement under his breath. He raised his hand to his ear and was about to contact Batman. He quickly changed his mind. Bruce had told him to stay hidden and call if the thief ever appeared. But that would take too much time. The thief was right there! And he'd be able to stop them; he was sure of it.
Silently, he dropped down from the beam and crept closer to the door. He pressed against the wall. Using the radar, he could pinpoint the position of the thief. They were shown by the little moving red dot, which was trailed by a faint red comet-like tail.
Suddenly, the tail disappeared as the dot came to a quick standstill. Jason held his breath, wondering whether he should barge into the room or not. The decision was made for him.
In an instant, the red dot flew towards him. No, it was making a mad dash for the door. Somehow, the thief knew he was there. But the fact that they were running for the door showed that they didn't know exactly where he was.
The door flew open. The red dot passed directly beside his location. Jason quickly lunged from the wall. As expected, he couldn't see the thief at all. The radar served as his eyes.
Jason felt himself tackle something. He heard the 'something' cry out as they both flew off of their feet. As soon as they hit the ground, the thief broke out of their cloak. Jason had a split second to look at whom he was pinning. It was a young woman wearing a silver and white exosuit. She was staring up at him, but all he could see was his own reflection in her helmet.
Then, she… got up? He saw her rise to her feet, as if he wasn't even there. Next thing he knew, he was pinning nothing on the ground. Jason looked up and saw the thief's back as she was racing away.
"What the fuck?" Jason yelled breathlessly as he scrambled onto his own feet and bolted after her. To his surprise, he didn't seem to be gaining on her. This girl was fast!
"Get back here!" he shouted as he vaulted over a rail. Of course she wasn't going to do that; it just felt like the right thing to yell at the moment. As the chase continued, he realized that she was headed towards the waterfall exit. There was a chance he'd be able to corner her there.
The thief seemed to realize the same thing. She started veering to the side. Jason pulled a Batarang from his belt and threw it. It hit the railing next to her, producing a loud clang! and even a few sparks. The thief shied away from it, steering back towards the waterfall. In those little seconds of distraction, Jason managed to catch up a little.
A little crackle sounded in his ear. "Jason," Batman said from the other end. "Anything happen at the Batcave?"
"Can't talk now!" Jason panted.
"Is the thief there? I told you not to—."
"Don't worry, I got this!"
The thief was headed straight for the waterfall. Now was his chance! But the girl didn't seem to slow down. She sprinted straight into the cascading water.
That's right! Jason cursed himself for forgetting the girl's weird 'going through stuff' power. He sped towards the roaring water. Right as he was about to hit the waterfall, the boy ducked his head and dove through. He could feel the water hitting his back. When he emerged on the other side, he broke his fall with a roll. Rising to his feet, Jason coughed up a mouthful of water and looked around for the girl.
He spotted her up ahead. She was racing up a path that ran up a slope. "Wait, stop!" Jason dashed after her. But this time, it wasn't to catch her; it was to save her. The path ended abruptly in a cliff, but she wouldn't know that.
She suddenly stopped, but it was too late. Her arms were thrown out and waved in circles as she tried to balance herself, but she began to teeter forward. Jason quickly crossed the distance between them and grabbed her by the back of her neck. As he pulled her back, something tore off from her suit.
Jason looked at his hand. In it was a small, disk-shaped piece. The thief took the moment to dart away from him. But suddenly she stopped short. She reached back and touched the back of her neck. Upon feeling the empty spot, she shot him a glance and saw his clutched hand.
It was as if all intentions of fleeing had disappeared. She marched towards, stopping a short distance from him. "Give that back!" she demanded in an outraged voice.
Ah, this was getting interesting. Jason rested a fist against his hip, his other hand tossing the disk up and down playfully. "Doesn't feel too good when it's your stuff being taken, does it?" he taunted.
The thief suddenly flew at him. Jason spotted a flash of metal in the moonlight and dodged back as the dagger slashed the air in front of him. The girl took another strike at him, but he caught her by the wrist.
"Whoa, cool it, will you?" he cried. In response, the girl raised a leg and kicked his stomach. The blow knocked him back a couple of steps. In the second it took him to recover, the girl had already crossed the distance and tried to stab at his head. Jason moved, and the blade flew through the air right next to his face. He thrust a fist up and caught her chin with an uppercut. The girl fell back, but recovered with a summersault. She charged at him. Jason held up his arms, ready to counter her tackle. But the collision never happened. She passed through him and reemerged behind him. Jason glanced over his shoulder as the girl raised the dagger.
Something whistled through the air. A flying Batarang knocked the dagger out of the girl's hand. A large, dark figure appeared in the air and hit the ground between Jason and the thief. The girl's gaze flitted quickly from the dagger on the ground to Jason's hand to Batman. She turned on her heel and began to run. Batman quickly launched his Batclaw at her, but it went through her.
"What the—?" Batman began quietly.
"Yeah, I forgot to tell you she could do that!" Jason said. He stooped down to grab the dagger. He pulled his arm back and threw the blade at her. The girl strafed to the side, and the blade flipped right past her and stuck into a cliff face. She paused and glanced at the knife. Then she ran and disappeared into the wall.
Jason was prepared to go after her again, but Batman held an arm out to stop him. "There's no use now," he said. He turned to Jason and regarded him with a stern glare. "Why did you do that, Robin?"
"What? I was trying to stop her!"
"With a knife, Jason? There was a chance you could have killed her!"
"A small chance!" Jason argued. "I knew what I was doing!"
Batman angrily shook his head and began to walk past Jason. "If she's smart, she won't come back," he said, changing the subject. "I'll find a way to track her down. You should have contacted me before engaging."
Jason stood there as Batman entered the cave. He walked against the cliff face and leaned against it, feeling the rumbling of the waterfall. It's not like calling Batman would have done anything! He had her where he wanted her! It was only when Bruce interfered that she got away. But still…
He raised the disk in front of his face, inspecting in. It was so simplistic, and yet she had tried to kill him for it. Something told him he would be needing it again.
Addendum: You know, Huygen's Principle. If you don't already know what it is, you might as well jump out of that window right now.
Also, arguing with your elders, Jason? That's a-paddlin'.