I won't lie, this third act in the story got me thinking alot as I spent weeks planning out where it's going. I can only hope its to everyone's liking at the end of the day.
So far, it's looking like it will be the longest act thus far. A Lot of things are transpiring in so many ways. Can't spoil much, but hold onto your hats. It's gonna be an even more bumpy ride.
Act III: It's what we do
Chapter 15: It's never that simple
After a week and a half in a comatose state, Peter was back on his feet. Cassandra was happy, Dick was ecstatic that he gave him a bear hug, Barbara laughed at it all, Alfred brewed him some fresh tea and supplied him with food that he so desperately wanted.
And Bruce, while slightly stoic since his mind was still focused on Selina, was too glad that Peter is now in a better condition. Barbara filled in the details of what Peter missed out on when was in a small coma, and his relief expression changed to one for seriousness when he found how the stakes suddenly grew just a bit higher, especially when he noticed Talia was here with them.
And that Jason came back to Gotham. The once former robin, and a really good friend in those bygone days was back. And he knew it meant trouble because Jason, with who he is now in contribution to his resurrection, molding himself into a killer, and how Joker messed up his head once more last year, only meant he'll enable himself to self-destruct in the process.
Peter felt his body being stiff while he and Barbara got to work on tracking down Jason. Cassandra, who was clad in her bat suit, kept her arms around his neck, "You know I'm good right?" Even when typing away on the batcomputer, he reassures Cassandra by resting one hand on her wrist, "Madam Webb fixed me up. There are still somethings that needs more…Consultation but I'm-"
"Better," Cassandra said, finishing his sentence. Peter mentions a lot went through in his head to the bat family. It's one of the reasons why Cassandra was holding on to him just a bit tightly, it's why Barbara and Alfred shifted their gaze on Peter, or why Bruce and Dick couldn't help but lose their focus on the batcomputer, and look upon Peter. Talia to a degree kept a poker face, but she herself was intrigued by what went on in his own head. Because in hindsight, this was one of the few rare times where she can hear and look upon the spider in all of his trauma without the mask on, "That's good. I..Talk to MJ."
His eyes widened slightly, the prospect of MJ and Cassandra talking was something he dread due to the last time they had an interaction with one another, "Really? how did that go?"
"Better than you think. Talk, alot. Share things. Traumas. We have something…In common. Father's were bad. Didn't say much about…Anyone else. But I know, saw, she was alone," her metallic thumb gently rubbing against Peter's collarbone, "But found people, like me. And lost them, like me. Yet she's trying to be better. Like me."
Peter looked up to Cassandra, noticing a slight far away gaze in her eyes, the bags under her eyes getting noticeable, and her overall tiredness of it all, yet she held onto him, held onto her family. She couldn't stop, not till all this was over. And it aches Peter knowing what she went through against the Arkham Knight, the bridge incident, and her trying to bring back meaning in the symbol that meant alot to her.
She was tired, tired of it all, and yet Peter again, knows she can't stop, "I'm here, we're all here for you. You don't have to try to shoulder the burden of this city on your own. You know that right?"
Cassandra let out a sigh, burying herself in his neck, lightly kissing it before she rested her chin near his shoulder. Cassandra so badly wants to just take him away from the cave, go upstairs, and feel him inside her once more. But she can't have that pleasure right now, what she has now would suffice for the time being, "I know. Just want to…Decide for once. Lead, not follow. Hard making the right choice."
"You do what you can with what you have," Peter would then groan loudly at the slow progress of tracking Jason, "Why the hell does he have to use old tech everytime? It's a pain in the ass to track!"
"Could always ask the bitch that got into contact with the flame head," Dick commented, seeing as Peter and Cassandra's little moment was over for the time being.
"Manners Dick! She's not a dog, but a psychotic witch that was raised by a psychotic bastard."
Cassandra couldn't help but snicker softly beside Peter while Talia eyerolled, "Childrens, I hate them," she muttered to herself.
"By the way, psychotic witch! Can't you brush up some type of magic mumbo jumbo that could help locate Jason?" Peter asked.
Talia looked at Bruce, stern and annoyed. Meanwhile Bruce had the smallest of smirks when looking at Talia before he shrugged his shoulders, letting her do the talking that only made her more annoyed, "That's not how magic works. And the type of magic I'm linked to Jason is only for communication purposes on my end."
Barbara frowns, "So he knows where you are, but you don't know where he's at?" She then scoffed, "Tragic that he's stuck with you."
"A price to pay for resurrection. My father would've had him all to himself if it wasn't for me."
"Doesn't quite make it as good as you make it out to be Miss Al Ghul," Alfred said, "Sure, it's better to know the devil you work with then the devil you don't know. But at what cost?"
"Preach! I miss you Alfred!"
"I miss you too master Parker."
Soon the batcomputer on screen zoomed in, finding Jason, "Bingo! We got a frequency on him.. But wait..It's underneath North Gotham…But I thought, no way…"
Peter felt the same perplexed vibe that Barbara was feeling in the pit of her stomach, "Yeah.. This is an indication of Old Gotham…Old, old Gotham actually, but I thought we sunk that place so Joker wouldn't be able to use the lazarus pit…Right Bruce?"
"It was supposed to be. Once we brought down Hugo Strange and Ra's, we made sure wonder city was no more of a thing, and North Gotham and Old Gotham islands weren't a prison anymore," he said when moving closer to the batcomputer, "Yet it seems someone rebuilt it, retooled under our nose when we were so busy with everything else… Damn it…How did we miss this?"
"Simple," Talia's voice again came out in the cave they were in, "You all were happy. Doesn't matter if Arkham City was over five years ago, or how you all try flushing my father's work of wonder city was said and done. Because soon afterwards, more peace steadily came to Gotham. The players that were once on the table, left because of you all. Spider-man played more with other teams like the justice league, same with Dick, Cassandra, the little robin and his girlfriend, briefly Jason, and even you, Bruce. Villains became less imposing, less threatening, and Gotham started prospering more thanks to Bruce's more devotion to his company usage. Yet, if you've killed Joker Bruce, or had let me kill the real Joker spider in Arkham City, then maybe, just maybe, you all would've seen the enemy lurking underneath us. And have Gotham stay in peace"
Dick eyesrolled, "Here we go again, blaming us for things that we can't see. You know i-"
"Dick," Bruce's command voice stopped Dick from touching, especially with how he turned and eyed him. The outburst and motion of aggression was not only becoming tiring, but a factor into something else that's going on with Dick. And the truly tragic part is that Bruce has some inkling to what's going on with Dick.
But he can't stop it, not at this time. And Bruce can probably predict the others felt the same way. There's too much going on, and they'll need his help one way or another. All he can hope is that Dick doesn't spiral out of control at the end of the day.
"Look Talia," Peter made to stand up, again his body was still stiff and some bits of it were still waking up and so Cassandra had to help him when he wanted to talk to her directly, "Doesn't matter if we weren't good enough to see what we should've seen. At those times? Those previous six years? Yeah, we were steadily becoming happy in our lives. But you know what? I rather keep working on myself, trying to keep my life stable, trying to keep everyone safe, and be around the people who need me. Because those moments allowed me to be who I am now and I don't regret making my decisions in those times," Peter finds himself frowning slightly, "Even the darker times.. I can't speak for everyone, but that's just me. Because I know that I'm confident that regardless of the lack of research, or insight to the Arkham Knight and to the extent of Kasady, I know we'll beat them just like we've beaten everyone else that came our way."
Talia didn't respond to Peter, but simply observed him in his natural form. It's been awhile since she saw this man without the mask, but the last time he didn't have this same energy.
Yes, he was strong, but here he was confident.
He was unjust, yes, never back down, but also was tired.
Here, he isn't as tired, more physically yes, but his mind was clear.
His voice didn't take the time to figure out the words, no, he knows what he wants to say.
And it's funny, because she last saw the man like this, without the mask six years ago, when Arkham city was a thing. It's like those six years, everything he went through, and in fact, everything he's going through now shaped him into a stronger man.
A stronger Spider-Man.
And what's so courageous about it is everyone stood behind his words, his stance, his mortality. It says alot of how important Peter is to the cave, to the family, and to the life they lead onwards.
"Hm, I can now see why my father respected you even with your powers. You're an interesting person Peter Parker," Talia mentioned, saying his full name then his masked name.
"So I heard from the many psychotic people in my life, now we got a flame head to save." Before he even moved, Cassandra quickly stepped in front of him, putting her hand on his chest. Peter got a brief nostalgia when she did that, a reminder when he had the symbiote on and she stood in front of him like that. But here was different, she didn't look upon with sorrow or worriedness.
But one of focus, determination, and careness, "Need rest. Dick and I have this."
"Y..You sure?" She nods, and so Peter nods, respecting her decision, her choice that she wants to make, "Ok, just make sure to take some spider drones and even maybe a web categories because you ne-"
"Dude," Dick put his hand on his shoulder, "We got this, be our eyes and ears."
Peter couldn't help but chuckle and had his eyebrow raised, "Is this your way of booting me to a guy on the chair?"
"Why do you make that like a bad thing Peter?" Barbara said, pouting and raising her own eyebrow in his direction.
"It's not! I just…"
"Don't dig yourself even further master Parker, and come finish your food!" Alfred said, finding amusing as ever to see the young man always finding his ways to dig himself in a hole with the various women in his life.
Peter sighs, but just before they could leave, Cassandra lay upon him a passionate kiss. It was quick, but god, the emotion behind it wanted Peter to have it just a little longer.
And the smile she had on her face before she put on the cowl, it did wonders to Peter, "Yahtzee…"
The one thing that Jason always remembers to keep in mind was to plan ahead, if one doesn't work out, have a next plan when the first plan doesn't work out, and even when it looks like all plans failed in the end.
Trust his gut.
Trust his instinct.
Trust his training.
And most of all, trust himself that he'll make it out alive in whatever battle he's in.
Right now, Jason is in an odd predicament he placed himself in; now locked in a claustrophobic environment, surrounded only by tools of weapons and knights of the sun beating him to a palp, and hands and legs were locked tight by a handcuff he couldn't break out of. Sure, he could've told Cassandra what he was gonna do, get the aid of her, her boyfriend, and anyone else who was still trying to save this god forsaken city. But then they would just get in the way, get in the way of taking care of scum that lives under the city just to paint the town red.
Yet there was this little voice in his head that pops up every now and again, especially when he's getting beaten down by the Knight's army. That little voice that keeps telling him time and again when he always comes to this subject.
He's.
Fist to his helmet.
Know.
A steel bat swung into his chest, knocking him on all fours on the ground.
Better.
His head was grabbed, bashing it on that concrete ground that once stood Ra's own wonder city.
Then.
A knee was bash straight to his helmet.
Bruce.
A steel pipe was swung to the side of his helmet, hitting its mark.
Jason had been a punching bag to knights of the sun for time, minutes, hours had passed and he didn't know. His suit and helmet took much of the damage, but by now, they were amping up the damage.
"Pick him up! I wanna have more fun with him!" Jason's breathing was becoming heavy every second. Even with armor these were still attacks that were only causing more taxing on his body. There's so much his armor could take to the point it would give out, and there's not enough armor without weighing his speed down to withstood those blows. He was then picked up by one of the knights, "So glad we got some fun around here other than guarding or mending certain stations!" The person laughed behind his half masked as he swung the bat right to Jason's rib cage.
Jason growled in pain, but took it in, breathing in and out as another one came at him, "COME ON! I BET YOUR MOMMA RAISED YOU LIKE THE PUSSY YOU ARE!"
"He's barking again!"
"Amp that shit up!"
"HELL YEAH I AM!"
The bat was swung several times, knocking him down but they kept picking him back up, "JOKER HIT HARDER THAN YOU EVER COULD!" Jason again goateed.
"THEN I GOT SOMETHING LIVE UP WITH HA!" He laughed like a manic as he kept punishing Jason for not just speaking, but calling him out of his weakness.
In doing so, Jason's plan was in motion. Group full of knights in the sun were gathering, watching and taking turns beating the ever living shit out of him. All he needed to do was listen.
Listen, gather intel, then demolish and kill when he gets the chance.
"You see what the Knight is building in that ship of theirs?"
"Not a ship, a submarine. And yeah, getting ready for something. Got some extreme stuff that flew in from overseas."
"Lower your voices jack asses, it's not like where in the Asylum where we could talk as loud as possible!"
"Better here than that shitting place."
"Either way, I'm still waiting on our big day when we can rule Gotham."
"Gonna be hard, it's not only the bat's and spider we got to worry about, but the whole justice league and other heroes."
One of the knights scoffed, "Come on, they don't care about Gotham. The bat destroyed their relationships with all of them after he smoked them."
"It wasn't all of them though."
"Not all, but the major players are something that shook everyone, then go live on broadcast threatening any other hero who tries to take him down? He struck fear in their hearts worse than any people he fought."
"Still, the Knight would have worried about other heroes coming to this city to save it."
"Knight has plans for them; knows how to handle speedsters, amazonians, magic users, hell even devils if it comes to it. Remember when we were in Venezuela with the briefings? They study a lot, and have resources to win a war against anyone, hell, maybe aliens too. The only challenge right now is the bat, his family, and the spider."
"And who's to say the bat won't come back if we win?"
"But that's what the knight wants. They want the bat to come back, and the only way to do it is by killing his family in front of him. Once that happens, that'll be where the real war comes on."
"Are you saying the Knight can beat Batwoman? I heard she's way tougher than the bat's."
"Who knows about that one. Everyone said she did beat him, but no one really saw the fight, and whatever video was on the internet showed Batman tossing her around. Yet the Knight from what I could tell, was thrilled by the fight, and most likely knows they can beat her."
Even in pain, the utter pain of it all, Jason listened and heard, '...Bastards wants us alive…Just enough to egg Bruce to come back….'
"But what about the spider? That guy breeds so much trouble from what I saw and heard."
"He's got his hands full with that Carnage fella. Honestly, it's why the Knight came out when they did. It was the right moment when they found out someone like us who wants Gotham to riot. The Knight would only move as long as the spider had their hands full, otherwise our fight will only be tougher because of it."
'...And with Peter not around…It's no wonder why the Arkham Knight was ballsy enough to ev-' Jason thought was caught off when his helmet gave out, and one side cracked open revealing a linear scar, jagged down the right of his eye, yet that eye functionally fine with its dark blueness, part of hair fallen to his face, wasn't so long except for the front left strands dangling down his forehead, and just like his eyes, but noticeably.
A J that looks to be skin burning right into the flesh of his cheek resides under his eye.
Jason would spit out the blood, his eyes furrowed as he looked at the knights of the sun, watching, laughing, and waiting to terrorize him. Yet he didn't coward, because he's been through worse, and none of them was as bad as the clown prince of crime.
And it's a good thing too, he had some bit of tech that was so old that no one would pay a dime to check. But he knows a couple of people would track it to save his ass.
Cassandra and Dick were threading the deep underwater sea of Gotham's river. Using one of Batman's many other vehicles known as the batboat to get where they needed to be at. It was sleek, deep black with the cockpit being tinted in red, engines firing behind it as it was speeding to its destination, and of course behind the cockpit was a triangle tip along with two wings resembling the wings right behind where the engine was.
"Guys….Gonna become shaky here…." Peter's voice coming through their comm's was becoming so static that it only served to annoy Dick, and become bothersome for Cassandra. It meant that they were getting closer to Jason's location, "Knight….Using a jammer of sorts…Make…To use my spider drone…"
"To make way for better communications, got you on the beat Peter. We'll be fine from here on out, systems working fine thanks to you and Tim's last improvement on the batboat," Dick said as he was manning the vehicle. Soon enough, comm's went down to the point that their connection to the batcave was cut off, "Anddd, it's just the two of us. But we can make it if we try, just the two of us," Dick turns behind him to see Cassandra having her arm crossed, "Come on! Sing along!"
Even with how Dick had been acting as of late, there was still that kinship, the need to be there for others, and the need to check on those no matter the environment they're in. That good hearted soul was still there amongst his new found anguish, "..Just the two of us!"
"Ah! I knew you knew the song. Brings a tear to my face to know your catalog of music has been improving over the years."
"Has been…Sometime since I listened to…Music," Cassandra spoke, her mask didn't hide her slight downpour in her tone as if she feels regretful of not doing enough, "Been busy."
"I get it. Being Batwoman."
"Amongst others.." Cassandra shifted her gaze to get a closer look of the map; while the communication to the batcave was cut off, it was good thing that their own system worked intangibility thanks to Peter and Tim's own improvement of the vehicle, "Getting close."
"That we are. Seems like," Dick fingers would zoom on the radar, seeing that its 3D visualization screen showcases that the way forward would soon lead them into a barrier of sorts, "We might want to enter without the boat. The cowl is fitted with its own breathable oxygen tank right?"
"Yes."
"That just leaves me then," Dick chuckled to himself, as he opened up the small hatch near him that was loaded with breathable O2 mask for him to swim with, "Seems Peter thought of everything he could with that suit of yours."
"He did," her hand touched her chest, the center where the bat symbol lay on it, "Always does."
"..And he had a point back there with Talia. If I could go back to those years ago, especially those three years before what happen to all of us, both individually and together, I would and at the same time I don't regret all of us being happy at those times," Cassandra was quiet when listening to Dick talk, hearing the somberness of his voice coming clear, "Everything was looking up; titans were strong with me helping and leading along with Koriand'r. She herself became queen to her race, started working on her relationship with her sister, and we reconcile our feelings for each other. Barbara was more comfortable in her role as Oracle, especially helping her father more closely at that time. Bruce and Selina were and did get married, allowing both to be happy. Tim and Steph started to focus more of their time to their studies then Gotham, Jason still was a work in progress, but he was healing, and you and Peter started something fierce, sudden, and unexpecting."
Dick then sighed, bowing his head slightly as he remembers that with those happy moments, came a year later when things went south so fast, "Then everything just went down hill…Peter's aunt died, Donna died trying to save Raven, and she was successful, but Raven ended up sacrificing herself anyway for the titans. Birds and the preys split due to Helena's and Zinda's death after a mission gone south. And Dinah had to retire because she almost lost her baby, then…"
"Dick," Cassandra put her hands on his shoulder, "Don't need to rethread."
"I know… Just…It's not fair, ok?! I mean can we for once! We as people who defend those who can't defend themselves, save people who need saving, and do all this stuff just so we can be better, and try to let go of our trauma…Why can't we have happiness? Not for a moment, but forever?" Dick asked, questioning mostly to the spectrum of faith that's not on his side, and more pointing to the fact that faith has never always been kind to the heroes that only wanted to do good, "Cass… I.." Dick looked at the radar, stopping what he was gonna say as he noted they were just about close to where Jason was at, "We're here," the despair in his tone was gone, and he was focused on the mission.
Something like Bruce, and something brought a small free in Cassandra's heart. She wanted to pry, but she knows she can't, not right now. The mission comes first, saving Jason comes first, feelings come next whenever she can get to it, "Right."
Dick stops the vehicle, turning off any systems and putting it into cloak mode to remain undetected. Both he and Cassandra got a glimpse of ruins, streets that were destroyed, flooded by Gotham's river. They were indeed here where old Gotham once used to reside in, "Judging from where Jason's locator is, we'll have to create our own opening, hopefully we don't need to make a huge explosion."
"Probably."
"Hm, probably. Gonna be a hell of a fight."
"Get in, get Jason, and get out."
Dick smirks, "Never simple though."
Cassandra's only answer was to shrug, because this is what they do. It's never that simple.
The Arkham Knight was busy at work, working on their submarine. With the years, and the amount of work that they and they're forces put onto reconstructing wonder city into their images meant that it allows extra room to have their various vehicles sit around in a large area.
Wonder city was once old, entrance with rusty architecture work that would eventually crumble as it should have since the batman had once fought against not only the league of assassins, but Ra's himself. Yet the Knight, once discovering it, made sure to preserve what was left and retool a lot to have their own base, their own city if you will, and their own army.
Now it was reinforced with metal, steel, even the hardest of metals to keep everything afloat because they were after all underwater, under Gotham city.
Some of the Knight's workers focus on making sure their on the ground vehicles can move fast, hit hard, and have an escape by moving back into the ocean if needed too. Some focus on the aerial artillery; helicopters mostly, but the Arkham Knight has back up if needed too. After all, this isn't their one base that they had, "How's the fighter jet's in Venezuela?" The Arkham Knight's modified voice asks one of their members as they were repurposing a missile and fine tuning it.
"Got stable results for most. If we need to use it, it'll take 10 minutes tops to reach Gotham."
"Good, but we also need tanks at work too. Because say if one plan doesn't work, we'll need them to rule the streets."
"Yes Arkham Knight, I'll make sure to inform them."
The Knight nodded before closing the slot that housed the missile, "Is the emp ready?!"
"Definitly is Knight!" Said another member inside the submarine.
"Anyone know where the chameleon is?"
"No knight."
"Negative."
The knight sucks their teeth, another thing to somewhat worry about, but they know how to deal with him if he crosses their path wrong, "Start testing the emp! We need to make sure it can penetrate the cave!"
As soon as the Knight said that, a large explosion was heard from the main area of wonder city. The Arkham Knight and the people in the vehicle had their heads turned, and most of all, grabbing the Arkham Knight's attention, "Look alive people!" their people already went to gather their weapons, and the Knight already had their shield and sword ready for the rematch, "They've come for him.."
"The hell was that?!"
"Damn! No way they've found us!"
Jason laughed quietly at the panic sounds coming from the knights of the sun members. Not only that, but the echoes of gun fires, more panics, people calling out how fast they were, or the amount of smoke that covered the area, meant they were here. He spitted out blood, and he knew it was time to make his move. Moving fast, catching someone off guard by wrapping the handcuff right at their neck.
The small group of bats in the sun turn to see Jason making his move, "Didn't your boss tell you to keep your eyes on the enemy?" Jason asks, taunting them just as he easily snaps the person's neck, swift and easy like.
"Shit!"
"Don't stand there, get him!"
It was good for them to all try to overpower Jason, but even with being handicap it wouldn't be enough for them to stop him. He slips, weaves, jumps over one member and proceeds to do the same neck snapping move with one of the knights. Knowing it was fruitless of trying to assault them, one of the bat of the sun's members pulled out a pistol to try to kill Jason. But Jason still had his handcuffed right on the person's neck, so all he had to do was turn.
And the person ended up shooting the body, but also, giving Jason the opportunity to shift his hands just enough for him to shoot the handcuffed. The bullet pentracted through the handcuff, and so his hand was free. He grabbed a knife from the pocket of the dead knights of the sun member, and threw it at the pistol wielder's head, killing him.
He heard the roars, the shouts, and more panics in the area, meaning Jason ruled them, ruling them with fear. He again moves, dodge, using his elbows, and his fist to get the better of them. Although, he was still bruised up from earlier, so it gave way for someone on his back and stabbing him on the shoulder.
Jason growled, only that before flipping them off his shoulders, and quickly stabbing the person right in the eye. Causing an agonizing scream, Jason looks to the rest of the knights of the sun members, trembling, shaking, but also rage. He can see in their eyes what they want to do, no matter what it costs them, "Come on.. I know your mothers didn't raise a pussy.. Or do you all even have a mother to begin with?"
His taunt did the trick, and everyone of them didn't care how good Jason was, they wanted to kill him. But Jason wanted more of them, his need to kill them, no matter how bleak had gotten over the years, will always overpowered the lower scum of Gotham.
Cassandra and Dick flow through the small warfare that was going on. Cassandra provided back up with smokes, casting and blocking the view of the area in wonder city allowing them to freely move and take down the knights and their artillery. Dick would move fast, his flexibility, the usage of his escrimas stick, and how he effortlessly bounced from one enemy to another through the smoke confused the enemy to know end.
Cassandra was different; using some of Peter's tech like his webbing to block whatever turrets that can shoot them, using his spider drones to distract other enemies from shooting her or Dick, and using her own power and speed to get the best of them. Didn't matter how big they were, everyone of the Knight's army had a weak spot and Cassandra made note to strike at them.
Some were harder than others, but again, she was being smarter, using various batarangs, Peter's own tech to scale back the warfare while using whatever cover she could find. Wonder City had small miniature like buildings, covered by the knights of the sun's as they tried to flush them out with guns, but Cassandra made sure to make quick work of them. Using her grapnel gun to skyrocket herself up through the glass window, and slamming one of the bats in the sun right onto the wooden floor. Batarang tossed, and again striking at their weak spots, a one to one fight was pointless against Cassandra.
But the more they fight, the more they'll get overwhelmed by their forces. Cassandra heard the kind of gunshot rang out, not at her, nor Dick as she proceeded to drop back on the ground and create more smoke as much as she could. The cloud was starting to disperse, a lot faster now because of the knights of the sun forces using their own mechanics to suck up the clouds of smoke by usage of the fans in the area. Cassandra would find herself back to back with someone, not Dick, he was far bigger and larger just with contact alone.
And she heard him reloading as well, and a quick glimpse from both people meant it was Jason being back to back with Cassandra, "Hey small bat! About time you show up!"
"No guns, no killings."
"Oh but where's the fun in that?"
"Nightwing we ne-" Cassandra quickly saw the Knight and their army jump through the smoke to attack them. Both Jason and Cassandra flipped and rolled out the way, with Jason focusing on the knights of the sun members, and Cassandra once again going toe to toe with the Arkham Knight.
Cassandra dodge their sword swipe, coming at them strongly with a flurry of kicks and strikes that the Knight blocked with their shield or dodge altogether, until Cassandra's gauntlet clashes with the Knight's sword, bringing them face to face, "Batwoman!"
"Arkham Knight."
"Last time we fought you showed me just how good you are. But now you're in my territory, with people who are far too busy fighting then knowing they will become outnumbered," Cassandra did take note of this. The sound of Dick viciousness becoming heard as he kept going after as many of the Knight's army as he could, and Jason gun being rung out every single time, letting bodies drop on his behalf. In hindsight sure, there could be a chance to win this, but to what end?
Dick wasn't and isn't in the right state of mind, their talk earlier and everything else that's been going with him indicates that.
And Jason? He didn't need to be here, didn't need to expose himself like this. And yes, it allows them to know where the Knight's base was at, but to what end? To what point? The cloud of smoke was already dispersing, and Cassandra already can see whatever turrets were working, which was a lot that cover from different varieties of angles, we're already eyeing them.
"Your mother spoke highly of you, always had," this definitely had gotten Cassandra's attention, "Yet I can see it as she told me, you lack what redhood has, what nightwing so badly wants to do, what the batman had done for his city. A killer instinct. Come on!" They push harder on their sword, trying to win the clash, but Cassandra stood her ground, "Show me why your mother only wants to die by your hands and no one else's!"
"BOTH OF YOU CAN GO TO HELL!" Cassandra shouted, and with all her might, she pushed the Knight back, following up with a powerful spinning kick that Knight could've avoided fast enough. Quickly using a batclaw to pull not only Dick back but also Jason, with the last remaining of her smoke bombs, Cassandra tosses so they can make an escape.
"Why are we stopping?!" Dick ask as he stood up back to his feet, "We had them on-"
"Save him," Cassandra pointed to Jason, reminding Dick what needed to be done and nothing more, "Then get out. No dying."
Jason couldn't help but snicker, "The Nightwing has a deathwish? That is so out of character?"
"Shut the hell up."
Both the former robins were making a break for it while Cassandra took the lead. Bullets rain through the smoke and the Knight could be heard shouting, wanting them to be stopped. Jason would drop a few grenades to help in their escape, either it would've blown someone up, or stop them from trying to get them.
Meanwhile, Cassandra made sure to hide the spider bots in the cave, so that way they won't be surprised whenever the Knight moves. Taking one step ahead in this game of chess was good on them, because they need some way to win, not lose.
All in all, the Knight wouldn't stop them. The trio knows that their plan isn't about capturing or trying to stop their escape. If they could, then that was a bonus, but no, their plan's were more sophisticated than they assume.
And they, or Cassandra, needs to know what's their next move so she can stop them.
Peter and everyone in the cave waited patiently for the trio to return. They might've established connection again and Dick was able to send whatever footage they could to the batcomputer. Not only that, Cassandra was clever enough to make there were a few spider drones that were left in surveillance mode, allowing them to get a better idea of what they were really up against.
It was shocking, especially for Bruce to see wonder city being active again. Not only that, it was even more shocking seeing how reworked it was, reinforced and built in a way to allow more room for all the weapons, people, and vehicles that can be affiliated in a place like that. It was odd, because Peter always figured wonder city to be impossible to not only stabilize but approve upon. After all, it was built around the 19th century under a more modern Gotham, but to see he was proven wrong was fascinating, but terrifying all the same.
Because the big question was why Wonder City? Why that of all places to have a base? Why the interest in that place? And did it all have a link to Ra's? To the league of assassins? It was hard to pinpoint due to the fact that Bruce and Peter made sure to flush that city down the drain after the events that occurred with Arkham city.
It was odd how that event occurred after no man's land, but at the same time it almost made sense. To have a control prison in one of the worst islands? And to preserve other islands free from North Gotham made somewhat sense in the grand scheme of all things. But no, it wasn't as simple as that. A rabbit hole grew deeper, with the likes of Hugo Strange, Ra's, and a former mayor by the name of Quincy Sharp was part of that whole event. And then there was the gang's fighting to have their sides.
There was Bruce's rogues gallery, and then there was Peter's rogue galleries. It was one of those tough times to keep order in Gotham, but they weren't alone. Alfred, Barbara, Dick, Tim, Stephanie, Cassandra helped them bring order when things started getting out of hand, both inside the prison, and outside.
It was so odd that something that came about so long ago is now coming back to the surface. Peter can't help but think that there was more than meets the eye, and this all keep's going back to Ra's al Ghul. Peter presumes that maybe this Arkham Knight wants Talia to be recruited, to take away her power and take the league for their own usage.
Or maybe bring back the lazarus pit, but that's all been destroyed, and Talia destroyed more on her end once her father had passed away. So what is their goal? What purpose did they have? Or maybe their purpose is simple, simple like Kasady.
Peter found his shoulder shaken by Barbara, having a puzzling expression on her face as she took a look at Peter, "Hm?"
"You're in your head again. What's going on in there?" She curiously asked.
"Just thinking about this Arkham Knight and how it could tie with Arkham city," Peter said, keeping both hands tucked and under a chin as he looked at the batcomputer that capture more footages of what Wonder City looked like now, "I mean this is another army just like with Kasady, two wars we're gonna have to face head on. And this Arkham Knight looks like they're gearing up for something."
Barbara sighed, briefly taking off her glasses to rub the bridges of her noses. From all the years he's been seeing her do this, Barbara would find time to come to these moments where stress induced her livelihood. Peter always wondered how she had the strength to keep going with everything that happened to her.
Such has her losing her ability to walk, or her father being torture by Joker both when she was put into the wheel chair, and last year. Not only that, but her losing her partners from the birds of the prey and disbanding the team altogether. There were more things that happened, but these few moments impacted her the most, "Are you ok Babs?" Peter gently asked, "You yourself look like you haven't slept."
A brief little giggle came out of her lip, "Very obvious huh?"
"Kind of."
"Well..You're not wrong. I had to worry about you for 10 days and you weren't looking like you were getting any better. Then there was Cass, and…She was a bit of a mess when you were in that coma. Not to mention, having to keep track of everything and anything in Gotham for Cass and Dick to deal with. And then there's that," She gestured her head to Talia, who was talking to Bruce about something, "God knows I've had to make sure she wasn't up to her usual schemes. She could say she's reform, but with how much she's tried to hurt us, beyond her father's control, I still don't trust her."
"As you should," Peter's eyes drifted to Talia, "I don't trust her either, like she's still withholding information from us. Such as not telling us about her magic connection with Jason, or why she still has him under her lock and key."
"Maybe it's more simple than it seems, maybe he's just grateful to be alive."
Peter shrugs, turning his attention back to Barbara, "I can't presume that, not with him. I knew him, maybe not better than most, but I got to know him when we were still teenagers, when we were still kids wanting to make Gotham a better place for…Everyone. We hated each other's guts, but we respected who we were, enough so we did become better friends. It helps that Gwen was there too."
Barbara fitted her glasses back to her eyes, noticing Peter's frown slowly becoming prominent when that particular person became part of the topic, "You haven't talked about her in a while, least not with me."
"Yeah….Kind of always was hard when she looked up to you, learned from you, and in a sense, wanted to be you," Peter mentioned, "She wanted to be a cop not just because of her father, but because of you."
Barbara couldn't help but smile at Gwen's ambition at the time, "I..Never knew that.. She always talked, danced around that subject, and I think at one point it sounded like she was considering it alot."
Peter nodded, "She was gonna do it, told me around thanksgiving about almost 7 years ago," Peter's eyes steadily widened at the realization of today, "Wow..It's almost thanksgiving huh."
"Heh..Yeah, and this place still doesn't look like it'll be good for Christmas."
"Yeah, no doubt. Selina would probably want to get started on it."
"And Alfred will help."
"Anddddd we'll all get pulled along with it."
They share a laughter, two genuine people from different generations bonding over the times that had once happened, and wish to happen again. Bruce took note of this, silently smiling at seeing his protege still having her effects on Peter. It was always good for Peter to communicate with others, other than him.
If there was anything Bruce could've done differently, it was to somehow be more kinder to Peter when he was younger. But how could he? When in the end, it shaped him to who he is.
Soon, everyone on the batboat came back to the cave. Each turn their heads seeing the trio grapnel up right to the center stage of the cave, "Thanks for the save. Now I'm getting the hell out."
Cassandra, with her cowl off, stood in front of him blocking his way, "No," she said with her eyebrows furrowed, "You go out, the Knight will find..You."
"HA! They can. Now move."
"Is that thanks we get from saving you?" Peter said, steadily standing up with Barbara helping him. He waved her off as he felt can walk fine without her help.
Jason groans to himself, adding a curse under his breath as he turns to see Peter, walking slowly to him, and noting the slight limp in his movement, the few bruises that linger on his face and body that he can see, "Wow you look like shit Parker. Didn't I tell you to keep your hands up?" Jason both asked and mock.
"Oh ha ha! Funny, your sense of humor is still crude and rude," Peter too observes Jason, looking no better than he was, "And you look like crap too."
Jason shrugs his own shoulder, "Vodka would do the trick and I should be good to go. Now, since we all made up and al-"
"Is the Knight dead?" Talia asked.
Those simple 4 words got everyone eyeing Talia up and down. Jason found it funny that the small miniature of the bat family didn't approve of what she said, "So this is why Jason came back," Bruce made his voice known, "Not only to save you, but to kill the Knight. Is that why you encourage Cassandra to make her own choice, in doing so, having innocent lives being taken on the trigate bridge."
"Again Bruce, this is war," she said, not backing down from his own stare, "By any means necessary I'll do what I must to survive, if it means I have to sacrifice people including you all, I will do so. Now, is the k-"
"Bitch does it look like I got the job done?" Jason asked, "If they're dead I would've shouted on the comm's," Dick had to laugh at Jason's comment. It was rather nice for someone to shut Talia up and have her fuming other than himself.
Though, most saw that Jason was trying his best to avoid Bruce's eye, the eyes that felt every emotion upon seeing the former robin all bloody up, both from his own blood and the blood of others. Bruce wanted to walk to him, hug, do anything to say he should stop this bloodlust, but again like Cassandra, what can he do but make the problem more problematic. So he only could stay just a bit silent on his end when it came to Jason.
Talia scoffed, "Manners, after all that I did for you, you still have no manners."
Jason groan evan more loudly, "Can I please just get the fuck out of this miserable place already! I don't need to deal with this any of you all right now. Hell! I don't want to be here in the first problem! That fucking Arkham Knight shouldn't be my problem."
"But it is," Talia said, "And once th-"
"No one dies," Cassandra said, eyes locking onto Talia, "Not even them."
"Tsk, ok Bruce junior. Little bat now is becoming the big bat."
"Reek of drunk. Shut up," Cassandra grew tired of Jason's spout. All she wishes is for him to stay, be safe, but the more he talks, the more he can hear how desperate he is to avoid everything that is here.
She wants to help.
Heal him.
Make him better, to what he was trying to be. She may have started to get to know him two years ago when he made his appearance, but she felt and saw the person he wanted to be. Amongst the person he was trained to be.
She then felt Peter's hand on his shoulder, shaking his head, telling her it wasn't worth it, not right now that is. Listening to him, she let Jason pass, and everyone that cared about him couldn't help but watch him walk, "So that's it?!" Dick said, "Let him walk like that?"
"Dick, not now please. It's been a rough night for everyone," Barbara said.
"When isn't it rough for us? He shouldn't walk away from us, we need him!"
"Wow, Richard Grayson thinking like me?"
"Talia, shut the fuck up!"
"Enough!" Peter shouted, letting his voice echo, "Dick please! Enough of the arguments and fighting with all of us. And Talia stops instigating him! We need all hands on deck right now and all this bickering won't help."
"Peter is right. Our focus is on the mission, emotions shouldn't correspond to the mission," Bruce spoke.
"Everyone should sleep for…Tomorrow," Cassandra mentioned, "All tired, at each other's throats."
"Hmph," Dick walked his own way without saying a word, leaving everyone to their own thoughts.
Jason found his way out the manor, calling his vehicle over here as he waited patiently. He found a bottle of vodka in the kitchen that he took for himself to drink as he waited in the night air. His head was hazy, didn't care that he was only seeping into a more of a drunk state, but then again, he was more sober than earlier thanks to his capture and fighting.
All he had to do was not barf up a storm in the meantime.
"Jason?" Hearing name called out by a familiar English man. Jason turns his head to see Alfred right by the entrance of the mansion, "A-are you alright master Todd?"
He couldn't help but smile at seeing the elderly butler once more, "Never better Alfred!" He saluted with the alcohol in hand before drinking it.
Alfred, doing what was right, walked up to him in the cold night air with only a few clothes on, and took the alcohol away from him, "That's enough of that."
"Hey! I wasn't done with that."
"I don't need to see you drowning yourself in misery!" Just like Cassandra, his own eyes narrow at the sight of Jason state, towering over him with being clearly drunk, "With everything you've been through, it's no excuse to make it easier and get yourself killed."
"Aacctualy," Jason put his fingers up, his words becoming a bit lucid due to him being drunk, "It makes fighting…A challenge."
Alfred couldn't shake his head, seeing this once kid that he had hoped to overcome his anger, trauma in the form of robin, to only have died, and come back to killer, yet, was trying to get better, to this sad excuse he is now. A person who's only living to die, not just simply living for the right reasons, "Jason. This isn't the way. This isn't what we are trying to teach you."
"I…DON'T GIVE A FUCK! IT'S MY LIFE" Jason shouted into Alfred face, "I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT! AND IF I DIE. SO BE IT!"
"Gwen wouldn't want to see you like this."
Jason took a step back, hearing her name, remembering who she was, what she meant to him, had his eyes widened, and his head pointing down to the ground, "...If Peter doesn't then she wouldn't either…But she's not here…. So it's good she can't see me like this…Or even see Peter move on."
Jason would walk away from Alfrd, walk away from his family, walk away from his past. To only walk further down a lonely, self destructive path. Because in the end, he's only asking to die again, nothing more and nothing less.
Kasady was clad in symbiote, letting his symbiote roam freely and take everything that was straight raw meat in this meat factory he's only residing in for a short time, "YES! MORE! I CAN FEEL IT! THE MASS! ITS GROWING!"
Meanwhile, as partner sat amongst the dead works that laid around the factory, she saw she had gotten a message on her phone that someone had just arrived at their location, "Babe! He's here!"
Hearing her, he would stop his symbiote from being imbued in more mass; he felt strong, strong enough that he can release all this pent up energy in a fight, but that wouldn't be the plan, not for now at least. He smirk took a large leap that led right outside the entrance of this meat factory located at the end of Old Gotham.
A white regular car pulled up as Kasady let his suit converge himself back into a civilian-like state. What was unexpecting was to see another normal civilian coming out the vehicle, "Come on, I show who I am, you show me who you are," The person didn't answer, but a touch of his belt, brought out smoke for a brief second before it showcase his real form, the chameleon, Dimtri, "Playing both sides is a dangerous game Chameleon, you got balls bigger then supes!"
Dimitri didn't answer, but opened the van, revealing a tie up familiar red hair that was MJ, who looked to be unconscious, "My mizzsion ist de spider. I'lz do what anything to kill him."
Kasady could only smirk as he played with MJ's hair, watching how peaceful she looks like in her sleep. He knows the many things he could do to her in this position, but he won't.
Instead, he has little game in mind for the spider. And well, he won't let Dimitri have his way with the spider when it comes down to it.
Shriek jogged to them, wrapping her arms around Kasady's neck, "Huh, the spider knows this actress? Guy knows his way with women."
"He's a charmer," his smirk grew, "One of the many things I love about him. She'll go well with the cat in the bag."
Honestly, what kept this chapter from releasing was life, responsibilities, and outlining part 3 that is becoming so big. Trust me, this next act is gonna be filled with alot of stuff that increases the stakes so much more than it already has.
More people will get hurt, the heroes will fall, stumble, but in time, they'll rise above all they're dealing with. Because they can't give up.
See ya whenever.