"What are you doing, Mr. Todd?" Verlix hissed at a low volume. "Step away. Leave me. Then at least you will have a chance."
"I've betrayed too many people already," Jason whispered. "It's not happening again. I know what I'm doing."
"I gave you a choice," Mortuge said. He turned away and began strolling out of view. "Sergeant, fire."
"But sir," the drone operator replied over the comm link, of which both Jason and Verlix were still connected to. "What about the men in the tunnel?"
"Their valiant sacrifices will be remembered as part of the effort that took down the Arkham Knight," Mortuge replied matter-of-factly. "Now fire." The turret of the Cobra tank began glowing.
Lieutenant General Mortuge was not aware of one crucial fact that Jason knew. After Batman had destroyed the Cloudburst with the help of a rogue, hacked Cobra drone, Scarecrow demanded that all Cobras be fitted with explosives next to their cores. That way, should the enemy ever take a Cobra again, the militia had a fast and easy way of getting rid of it. The bombs could only be triggered by the select few who held detonators.
And one of the select few was there in the tunnel. When he deserted Scarecrow, they never had a chance to take it from him. Jason's hand flew to his belt right as the Cobra's turret began shifting backwards in recoil. He pressed a button. A brilliant, blinding light engulfed the tank. Then followed the exploding roar. The shockwave reached them in less than a second. It struck Jason, knocking him off of his feet. A large chunk of stone hit the face of his helmet. Lying on his back, he watched with a fading vision as the tunnel began falling towards him.
There wasn't much time before their surroundings would completely cave in on them. There was a 22 percent chance that Verlix himself would be able to survive the collapse and dig himself out. That chance would increase to 100 if he ran now and tried to make it out in time. Verlix was to take every opportunity to survive. He needed to preserve his existence for Jocelyn. It was his purpose.
But there was absolutely no chance that a human would be able to survive the collapse. Verlix looked down at Jason. Still, that human was not Jocelyn, so did it matter?
It did. The android swooped down and picked him up. He stooped over and huddled Jason to his torso to protect the boy from falling debris as he charged towards the mouth of the tunnel. Chunks of slab pounded against his back. He felt pieces of steel plating tear from his body, revealing the frayed wiring underneath. Verlix experienced no pain, but felt his body grow more and more sluggish as pieces of rock slashed his wiring and lodged into his exposed joints.
Suddenly, a huge block of rock slammed into him. The android stumbled as his right shoulder and arm was ripped from his body. Jason fell from his grip. Not only that, but Verlix's damaged left knee was on the verge of snapping.
There was no way they would make it in time. No, there was still a chance. One last quick calculation. And that would be it. Verlix grabbed Jason with his remaining arm, sprang forward, and threw the boy as hard as he could.
Then the last light disappeared. Everything was dark, and everything was still.
His consciousness flared back up as soon as he hit the ground. Jason let out a grunt as the air was forced out of his lungs. He propped himself up on his arms as he tried to make sense of his surroundings. He had been in the tunnel… everything collapsed. But now he was out in the open. The ground beneath him was slick with rain. He saw trails of it run down his helmet. Jason slowly and painfully rose to his feet. His body felt beaten and bruised all over, but he couldn't let that stop him.
He heard a voice. Someone was talking to him via comm link. "Are you there?"
Jason instantly recognized the voice. He whirled around, scanning the area. "Verlix!" The android was nowhere in sight.
"Did you make it out?"
"Yes. Where are you?"
"Do not be concerned for me." He sounded odd. The sound rose up and down in volume and was choppy, like a busted radio. A deep feeling of dread began growing in the pit of Jason's stomach. He looked at the collapsed tunnel entrance. "No…" He rushed to the rocks and started clawing through them. "You can't be—."
"There is nothing worth digging up at this point," Verlix said. "You need to go."
"I can hear it in your voice. You're dying!" Jason argued, throwing pieces of rubble aside.
"One can object to your choice of words."
"Stop it!" Jason snapped. "Stop talking like that! Stop talking like everything's normal!" He grabbed a chunk of rock and hurled it onto the ground. The rock shattered, flying everywhere. "You fucking bastard! Why did you have to play the hero?"
"Because…" Verlix's voice was growing quieter, fuzzier. "I came to a critical decision. You are worth protecting. Just know that."
"I… I'm sorry, Verlix." Jason drew a deep breath. There was nothing he could do. Being angry and frustrated wasn't going to change anything. He rested his hand on a boulder. "Even being what you are, you're better than most people I've met," he whispered.
"Good bye, Jason."
In the corner of his mask appeared a little notification: SIGNAL LOST.
Jason leaned forward and rested his forehead against the boulder. He grabbed the handgun from his belt and gripped it tightly. "I swear I'll save her." Raising his head, he backed away from the boulder and turned towards the night.
Thankfully, Barbara's prediction never happened. The tracking bug was still up and transmitting as he made his way across the city. They had taken her to Miagani Island.
Running across a rooftop, Jason found himself listening to the idle chatter of the militia anytime he managed to pick up on their conversations.
"I guess it's official then?"
"Pretty much."
"But did they confirm it? Find the body?"
"Shit, they collapsed a tunnel on top of him. That's good enough."
"Hm, good point. I'm glad. The Arkham Knight's no soldier in my eyes. He abandoned his own men."
"Why'd he do that in the first place?"
"Hell if I know. Got scared of the Batman or whatever."
"Really? Seems like he was the only person to ever understand the Bat. I thought for sure Knight was the one who was going to take him down."
"Tonight's been full of surprises."
You have know idea, Jason thought as he zipped up onto another rooftop. Below him was the bridge that led to Miagani Island. The barriers were still lowered from when Batman had infiltrated the island.
Jason dropped down onto the ground and ran across the bridge. A random thought bubbled up into his mind. He was no longer the Arkham Knight; that identity died long ago. Then who was he now? He obviously couldn't crusade around using his real name like a dumbass.
An intrusive voice whispered to him, "You used to be Robin, remember?" Instead of feeling nostalgic, that he felt disgusted by that title. He would never, ever return to that. And besides, the position had already been filled by that other fucker. Well you know what? More power to him. Hope he liked being Batman's pet.
Something out of the corner of his eye caught Jason's attention. He turned his head just as he passed an abandoned car. For a split second, he caught sight of a red reflection looking back at him from the car's window.
Red… Red… Red Robin? No. No, fuck that. A thousand times no. Then what about… Red Hood?
Whoa, where did that name come from? Well, someone had used it in the past, so that's where he'd heard of it. But… hmm, it wasn't too bad. Not bad at all.
"Red Hood," Jason mused to himself. "Isn't that just fucking ironic?" Now that he had chosen a new alias, he felt something strange. Was it relief? Joy? It could have something to do with a new start and a new name, but that would be way too cheesy. "Focus, focus. Jocelyn isn't too far." A map appeared in his helmet, and the tracking bug's signal was denoted by a red dot. It looked like they had taken her to Garrison Hall, a large, one-room building that had been named in honor of… someone.
Stationed at each entrance were large patrols. Well, on the bright side, he at least knew he was in the right place. Jason crouched down next to a stripped van and peered over the edge. Each guard was armed. Two sentries were positioned together at the wall closest to Jason. Their scanners swept over the area around them, but there was a blind spot right between them.
Taking the machines out first was the way to go. Then, he'd have to quickly take out the nearest guards before any of them could notify the men inside the building.
Jason climbed onto the van and zipped up to the roof of Garrison Hall. He dropped down right into the sentries' blind spot. There were panels on the bottom of each of the sentries that protected the off buttons. Normally, the panels could only be opened by an electronic key that was held by the head technician, but there were other ways to do the job. Jason reached down and, with a powerful jerk, tore the panel open. He hit the button. The sentry's lights dimmed, and it stopped moving. He did the same for the other turret.
Footsteps told him that someone was coming. Jason quickly zipped back onto the roof just as two guards rounded the corner. The one in the lead noticed the nonmoving sentries. "Did they overheat again?" he muttered to the other. "For the best tech money can buy, these things are pretty shitty."
"These are second-hand, remember? Repaired as best as possible after Batman fucked them up. You'd think our budget was big enough to replace sentries," the second one replied.
Jason dropped down behind the second guard. He grabbed the guard's head, pressing a hand over his mouth. With a sharp tug and a crack, the guard dropped lifelessly onto the ground.
"Hey, someone tampered with this," the first guard said as he saw the torn panel. He turned around. "Batman's here. Alert the—." Jason plunged a knife into the guard's throat before he could say anymore. The second body fell.
"If only it were just Batman," he said coldly. He turned away. There were more guards to deal with. He took care of all of them the same way: swift and mercilessly, just as justice was meant to be. No one was able to raise alarm.
There were no more guards behind the main doors. Beyond them was a small lobby. The lobby had two staircases on either side of the room that led to the main hall. As Jason climbed the stairs, he looked around for a stealthier path. He could see that there were quite a few armed men inside the hall. A head-on entrance wasn't going to do him any favors.
The upper right corner of the wall had a ventilation shaft. Jason pulled the cover off and slipped into the vent. The path of the vent went on for a little while, and then dropped down to ground level. The exit was located next to a large desk. Jason cursed his bad luck; this spot was a terrible vantage point.
But he could see her. She was standing out in the open. Her left side was empty; the robotic arm was gone. Her helmet was off, and there was a dried stream of blood that stuck her hair to the side of her face. She was surrounded by a ring of soldiers who held her at gunpoint.
He knew that being at the receiving end of a gun didn't scare Jocelyn. So why didn't she do anything? If anything, she at least had her cloak. Jason turned his head and saw what was across from her.
She wasn't making any moves because there was a civilian kneeling on the ground with a gun to her head. The holder of the gun was blocked from his view by the desk. But he didn't need to see to know who it was.
"This will be quick. I've got other things to do." Mortuge. Of course. Jason was sick of the bastard.
"You're a monster," Jocelyn hissed.
"You may think so. But men like me are a necessary evil," Mortuge replied, his voice echoing in the large room. "Society can't function without a little brutality. Fear of punishment is what keeps people in order. You wouldn't understand, being a delusional vigilante and all." The gun left the hostage's head, but the barrel was still trained on her. "Stand up," Mortuge ordered to the civilian. "Alright, Specter. You think you're so high and mighty. Let's test that conscience of yours."
Addendum: Reeeeed Robin (yummmm~).
Brace yourselves. Classes are coming. Although for some of you, they've already started. My sympathies.