No one saw the attack coming.
No warning. No signal. No clues.
There was no thing that could have warned Ra's Al Ghul of an attack on his main League of Assassins base in Nanda Parbat. The entrance to the base was full of corpses and fresh blood as five ruthless and deadly assassins had gathered to organize.
"What's the plan?" Cheshire asked, looking around with a smirk as she deftly rotated her sword.
"In general, to create as much chaos as possible." replied Renegade, returning the smirk. "Right now Ra's must be trying unsuccessfully to try to reactivate the League's systems that are now momentarily down." he said as he raised his arm, revealing his holographic glove to which was attached a USB flash drive. He detached it and stowed it safely in his utility belt. "He's probably trying to figure out whose head to cut off because he's thinking about some internal traitor. Idiot." he chuckled wickedly.
"Where do you want us, Renegade?" Lady Shiva clenched her fists menacingly.
Renegade threw something at her and she caught it in the air. The deadliest woman in the world opened her hand, revealing a vial containing a thick black liquid. "You and Cheshire will make your way to the area where the Lazarus Pit is located. Kill all those who stand in your way. Once you are there dip that liquid into the pit. In a few minutes it will turn exactly as dark as that liquid.
"The water of the pit will be toxic to extreme levels and will have as its effect the exact opposite of its normal green waters: instead of healing mortal wounds or resurrecting a dead person it will corrupt not only the body of the unfortunate person but also its internal organs, making it impossible for the person to be resurrected. The effect of the vial is momentary and the waters of the Lazarus Pit will return to their normal color and function within a few hours, time we have."
"You want to drown Ra's in his own creation." Cheshire realized, staring at her little brother with shocked and impressed eyes but containing a glint of respect.
"Exactly. That's the end that bastard deserves. Talia, you and your men must push the advance, kill any opposition and force Ra's to hole up in the dungeon. He will eventually advance a few guards. Keep them alive. I want to show Ra's the true meaning of fear, of terror." ordered Renegade.
Talia nodded solemnly. Behind her were a hundred ninja assassins devoted more to her than to the current Demon Head due to her more lenient behavior.
"Deathstroke, you and I will deal with some League bigwigs like Sensei, Bronze Tiger and The Seven Men of Death. Once we get rid of them, we will sneak into the dungeon where Talia's team has trapped Ra's and his remaining guards. Lady Shiva and Cheshire will also reach the dungeons when they have completed their mission."
Deathstroke smirked behind his mask and nodded. Cheshire and Lady Shiva emulated him.
Renegade gave a shark-like grin, his eyes glowing golden behind his mask, and he punched the palm of his other hand. "Today the empire of Ra's Al Ghul will cease. Once and for all."
Renegade sheathed his swords at his back, staring contentedly at the rolling heads of Sensei and Bronze Tiger in front of him. He was certainly less experienced than the two assassins but he had immortality on his side, the absence of feeling all kinds of pain and brutal, intense and efficient trainings combined between the Court of Owls, Deathstroke The Terminator, Lady Shiva and the League of Assassins itself courtesy of Talia Al Ghul.
He shifted his gaze ahead just in time to see his main mentor drive his sword straight through the heart of the last assassin of The Seven Men of Death standing. The two mercenaries had also killed other assassins who had arrived such as Black Spider and others who were not particularly noteworthy.
"Our job here is done. Lets join the others in the dungeons and put an end to this spectacle." ordered Renegade.
Before the Talon could advance toward the direction of the dungeons he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He met his father's masked gaze. "I am extremely proud of you, Renegade. You've come up with a perfect plan, you're acting like a true natural leader and you're accomplishing one of the greatest feats anyone could ever do."
"You had to revise my plan for a few things." the acrobat remarked, gladly embracing the praise of the more experienced mercenary.
The man shrugged his shoulders. "It was just a few superfluous details. You are only eleven years old and it is thanks to you that today Ra's empire will fall once and for all."
"Just because I'm young doesn't mean I'm not experienced." Renegade informed him darkly. "I've been an assassin for a good four years."
The grip on his shoulder tightened a little. "I know." said Deathstroke simply and then pulled away. "Now let's go. We have a Demon's Head to take down."
As the two advanced, taking down more of Ra's guards in the process, Renegade suddenly spoke up. "Thank you, Dad."
"You're welcome."
The dungeons of Nanda Parbat were so wide and spacious such that they could hold hundreds of people at the same time. In this way Talia and her army of loyalists had trapped Ra's and his few remaining followers alive at a crossroads.
"I knew you were behind this!" spat Ra's Al Ghul venomously, staring at his daughter with mad green eyes corrupted by the multitude of dives into the waters of the Lazarus Pit. "You are an immense disappointment."
"I am sorry to disappoint you once again, Father, but I cannot fully claim credit."
"What other nonsense are you saying now? It is obvious that it was you who infected the Assassin League servers by preventing me from accessing them. You are one of the few people who can access them and the only one who is currently turning against me."
"You are a fool, father. It wasn't me who disabled the League's servers. But rest assured, you will soon know the real culprit."
Ra's made a mocking noise. "First I will kill you and your child, and then I will personally deal with those who dared to organize this attack."
Five of Talia's hundreds of loyal men slipped silently and protectively in front of her, staring menacingly at their former leader. "What about your heir? If you kill me you will lose him."
"Sexual intercourse is not the only way to conceive a child, not with the advanced technology the League possesses." he casually shrugged his shoulders before glaring at his daughter. "Your guards will not detain me for long."
"Do you really think you can take on a hundred trained assassins by yourself?" Talia taunted him. "You have a few men left that you can rely on, Father."
"You forget that this base has some of the best assassins in the world. They will come soon and they will not be merciful to you, child."
"You are so wrong, Ra's." came a new voice.
From the shadows of the dungeon emerged Lady Shiva and Cheshire, their uniforms stained with fresh blood. Talia arched an eyebrow in a silent question and the other two assassins nodded at her.
"You are also involved in this madness!" raged the Demon Head. "I should have expected this from both of you."
"You lose, Ra's." Lady Shiva informed him with a look harder than steel. "You can no longer access your servers or contact anyone. Most of your men are dead and only those around you remain. The best assassins in the League of Shadows have been killed."
"Impossible that my best men have been killed!" hissed Ra's.
"Don't worry, man. The two deadliest and most dangerous mercenaries in the world took care of it personally." came another voice behind Ra's and his last remaining men alive.
They turned and found themselves staring directly at Deathstroke The Terminator and Renegade, their armor and swords filled to the brim with fresh blood and bits of flesh and brain matter.
Ra's narrowed his eyes. "Wilson and Gray Son of Gotham."
"You're staring at the one who set this up." Talia informed him.
Ra's gaze immediately shifted to Slade who shook his head. "Wrong mercenary."
Everyone enjoyed Ra's look of pure shock and horror when he stared at the younger mercenary. The Talon smirked and dramatically spread his arms wide. "Surprise!"
"Impossible." muttered Ra's.
"Nah, man. Do you know how easy it was to create a cyber virus on your own that would momentarily crash all the servers in a matter of seconds? Not to mention how much easier it was to hack into the Assassin's League servers. Dude, I strongly advise you to increase and upgrade your defense systems."
"You can't have set this up by yourself!" growled Ra's, not wanting to believe that he had been defeated by an eleven-year-old.
"And yet you are so wrong."
"Why all this?"
Renegade clenched his jaw in irritation. "Because you want to raise a child, your own grandson, in a place like the League. He will know nothing but violence, death and destruction and you will prevent him from having a normal childhood. You will punish him every time he disobeys you and put him through countless physical and psychological tortures that no child should have to go through.
"But I will not allow you to do that. Your methods may not be as brutal, ruthless and immoral as those of the Court of Owls, but I am going to stop you personally.
"And now no more talk."
Before Ra's could even open his mouth Renegade and Deathstroke had drawn their guns, both one in each hand, and opened fire. In less than five seconds all but one of the Demon's Head guards fell lifeless to the ground with bullet holes in their brains or hearts.
Ra's ran a hand over his face, numb to the splattering of blood and brain matera that fell on it. He then shifted his gaze to his only surviving man aka Ubu, his most loyal and trusted guard.
Renegade stowed his pistols in his holsters and advanced with a predatory grin. "Now you will watch your dear loyal guard die right before your eyes."
"As if!" Ra's taunted him. "Ubu is regarded as an equal to Batman and you seriously think you are capable of taking him down?" he asked rhetorically as Ubu stepped forward.
The young mercenary ignored him and gave Ubu a defiant nod. With a fierce roar Ubu sprang forward with a fist in his direction. Renegade ducked under his fist, grabbed his arm at specific points and with all his superhuman strength pulled it backward.
Ubu let out a chilling scream of pain as his arm broke away from the rest of his body, ligaments and bone and flesh giving way with a sickening crunch. Ra's eyes went wide in shock as Renegade studied the arm that remained in his hand as if it were some sort of trophy.
Among his allies only Deathstroke remained impassive, although his heart twisted at seeing such a young child be able to perform certain deadly and lethal moves that even he was unable to execute since the electrum conferred superhuman abilities better than those of the super serum. The other female assassins were also shocked and a bit horrified.
It was one thing to know because of Dick's words another to see a practical demonstration of what Renegade was actually capable of.
"You know Ra's, the Court of Owls literally made me a living weapon. They trained me to perform certain atrocities that even your filthy brain cannot imagine. This is just a small example of what they taught me." commented Renegade in a casual tone, as if he were chatting with an old friend about some random topic instead of fiddling with a human arm from which all the brutally torn bones and ligaments were protruding.
The young mercenary carelessly tossed Ubu's right arm to the side and gave him another nod. "Ready for round two, big boy?" he snorted in amusement when Ubu hesitated with a pained groan, blood gushing like a river from his missing limb. "I'll be lenient this time and not make you suffer too much."
Ra's did not even see Renegade's movement coming and before he could even blink Ubu lay dead in a growing pit of blood, a bullet in the center of his brain.
He barely repressed a shudder when Renegade's masked gaze rested on him.
"With you I will not be lenient at all."
Ra's drew his sword and pointed it at Renegade. "You'll have to go over my dead body first."
"Count on it."
And with that, the sound of splintering blades resounded loudly in the dungeon.
Renegade took a step back as he watched Ra's fall to the ground bleeding and in pain, his sword falling away with a rumbling clang. He approached the Demon's Head and snapped out his sword stuck in the man's right side and the sound of his groan of pain was music to his ears. The young mercenary stowed the sword at his back and cracked a few joints as his small wounds repaired themselves in seconds.
"I thought you would be a more formidable opponent. What a disappointment." Renegade shook his head disappointedly. His gaze fell in the general direction of the assassins loyal to Talia. "Can at least four of you do me the favor of dragging Ra's up to our next direction?"
They stared at Talia who nodded and five ninja assassins abruptly grabbed Ra's semi-conscious and ignoring his moans of pain followed Talia, Lady Shiva, Renegade, Deathstroke and Cheshire who started walking toward the area that presided over the Lazarus Pit.
Cheshire flanked her little brother in all but blood. "Man, I can't believe it was a piece of cake for you to defeat Ra's."
Renegade chuckled and gave her a fist bump. "He may be an expert of hundreds of years but not only he underestimated me because I am a child but his training pales when compared to mine."
The world-renowned assassins chatted quietly as if they were not making a full-fledged coup until they reached their destination.
Renegade stared contentedly at the dull black waters of the pit and mentally patted himself on the shovel, satisfied with his work. He knew that Deathstroke was also staring at him proudly despite the mask covering his entire face and nodded to his adoptive father.
Next, the Talon stared at the assassin ninjas who dragged Ra's to the ground, heedless of hurting him further. Dick would not want to be in the shoes of those who would then have to clean up the very long trail of blood. "You can let him go." he chuckled when they abruptly dropped Ra's to the ground and was a little surprised that they did not wait for a nod from Talia.
He mentally filed away the information and stared at Ra's slowly regaining his senses, albeit with difficulty. The man's gaze shifted to the Lazarus Pit and he opened his eyes wide. "What the hell have you done to my creation?" he growled frantically as he tried to get to his feet.
"You can call it an upgrade. Instead of healing mortal wounds and raising the dead it now does the exact opposite: permanently annihilating the body of those who end up in it."
"You!" Ra's head snapped toward the young mercenary, his eyes glowing a mad, corrupt green. "You will not get away with this! I will make the Court of Owls take back their Gray Son!"
Renegade waved a dismissive hand toward him with a sharkish grin, ignoring his empty threats. "Nice of you to assume I will let you live." he then raised a hand toward his communicator, confusing his allies since they were all there. "Are you there?"
"Right behind you, Renegade."
Everyone's heads snapped toward the new voice in fighting positions and Talia's eyes widened as she recognized to whom it belonged. "Nyssa?"
The older woman turned a smirk on her. "Sister. It's been a long time since we last saw each other."
"Half-sister." Talia automatically corrected her and the other woman rolled her eyes with an exasperated smirk, like a person who has witnessed the same punchline countless times. "What are you doing here?"
"Isn't it obvious? Witnessing the death of our dear father." replied Nyssa staring at her father who returned the gaze.
"You are all a disappointment!" growled Ra's, hand on the bleeding hole in his right side.
Deathstroke merely observed his son with a tired look behind his mask. "I don't even want to know how the hell you managed to contact her."
"Good, because I wouldn't have revealed it to you anyway." Renegade gave him an amused smile before glaring at the newcomer. "I also want to know where the blood on your uniform came from, Aunt Nyssa?"
Deathstroke murmured a "'Figures" while the other assassins minus Ra's had amused smiles between their lips. Nyssa casually shrugged her shoulders. "You missed some cowards who tried to escape. They didn't get too far."
"I can't believe it!" everyone's attention turned to Ra's. "You are betraying your father and the one who gave you purpose in your futile lives for a brat!"
Renegade rolled his eyes. "Dad, can you please hold him still?"
"With pleasure." replied the more experienced mercenary with a grunt. Easily he immobilized Ra's who could not move because of his numerous wounds, especially the hole in his right side.
"Thank you." Renegade approached the Demon's Head and observed it briefly before staring at the man's two daughters. "Can you open his mouth and keep his head locked?"
Talia and Nyssa stared at each other with equal evil smirks and nodded. Nyssa blocked his head while Talia forced him to open his mouth.
Ra's eyes went wide, understanding the Talon's intention, and he began making choking noises and trying futilely to escape. Renegade drew a knife from his utility belt and threw it into the air and then caught it on the fly with his other hand, then pointed it at the Demon's Head with a smirk. "Any last words?" he put his hand over his ear, hearing unintelligible noises, and let out a dramatic sigh. "Too bad, it will be for the next time that will never be."
Renegade placed the cold blade of his knife deep in the mouth of Ra's who increased his struggles. "I advise you to close your eyes, man. This scene is not recommended for the faint of heart." he joked. "Three. Two. One-"
Splashes of blood flew onto Renegade's mask, which he ignored along with the choked noises of absolute pain and panic emanating from the Demon's Head. The young mercenary stared contentedly at Ra's tongue he held in his hand while with his other hand he stowed the knife in his utility belt.
Lady Shiva and Cheshire watched the show with smirks and Sandra stared at Slade. "He is definitely your son."
Slade had a proud smile as he answered. "I know."
Renegade then stared at Talia, raising her father's tongue as if it were a prize to show off. "Would you like to keep a souvenir for this beautiful day, Aunt Talia?
Talia smiled in amusement. "Sure." she stared at her men. "Go and get a small glass bottle and in the meantime one of you hold the tongue of your former leader."
Some of her men bowed respectfully and silently walked away. One of them instead approached Renegade who handed him the tongue. "Be careful, man. It is very sensitive."
Dick swore he saw the ninja lift his lips a few millimeters in amusement before he summed up a neutral, stoic look, nodded and took the tongue in his hand and then walked away.
The acrobat clapped his hands happily. "Well, now comes the moment I've been waiting for a long time."
He approached Ra's and forced him to approach the Lazarus Pit, which glowed a dull, evil black instead of the usual corrupt green. "If it's any consolation, the effect is only momentary. In a few hours it will return to its original color and function." he chuckled at the dirty look he received. "But now stop wasting further time."
Next, the young mercenary pushed Ra's back and he lost his balance and fell to the ground, very close to the ledge of the pit. He tried to get up but soon his head fell down.
Right into the dark waters of the Lazarus Pit.
Renegade forced Ra's head into the toxic, putrid waters, the reinforced boot of his suit over the bastard's head.
"Drown in your pits. Drown in your own brilliant creation. Drown in your own creation. Drown."
Renegade smirked at Ra's futile attempts to struggle to escape imminent death and his fear of dying once and for all.
"Drown in your own creation. Drown in your own fear of death. Drown with the knowledge that you can never live again. Drown with the knowledge that you are about to die once and for all, with no chance of being brought back to life.
"Die, Ra's Al Ghul. Your life ends here. Forever."
Ra's body soon became motionless and his attempts ceased. Renegade pulled out his head and threw his body heedlessly onto the stone floor. Ra's face was completely unrecognizable, so charred and corrupted and toxic.
Renegade thanked the ninja who handed him a can of gasoline and poured it over Ra's body. He stepped back, pulled a lighter from his utility belt and looked at the others. "Do any of you want to have the honor?"
"You deserve it more than anyone else." Lady Shiva declared with a smile and everyone else nodded.
Renegade's smirk increased in size and he returned to stare at the corpse. He removed his mask, lit the flame and burned Ra's Al Ghul's corpse.
His eyes shone in the face of the flames that enveloped the body of the former Demon Head. His golden eyes showed the reflection of the flames as Renegade enjoyed the final bonfire.
Once Ra's entire body was completely charred Renegade disposed of it completely, making no part of it remain.
He positioned himself next to the other assassins and together they watched Ra's ashes eternally disperse.
"It's over."
Talia Al Ghul's coronation ceremony as the new Demon Head was relatively brief. The spectators were the hundreds of men loyal to her and her new allies and friends.
Of course, there were still some details missing such as attacking Ra's Al Ghul's other bases, getting rid of the rest of his loyalists but at that moment a very great feat was just accomplished: overthrowing Ra's empire and putting his daughter in charge of it.
All because of Renegade.
"How long will it be before the Justice League and the other supervillains find out about our just-realized plan?" asked the acrobat.
"Maybe a few months at best." Cheshire answered him.
"It will be better if the others believe you were not involved in the coup, Renegade." spoke Deathstroke in a calm voice, ready for his son's outburst that was not long in coming.
"What? Why?"
"Because you are still a myth, a legend. No one is yet certain of your existence. The other super-villains still aren't sure of your existence while the heroes have only labeled you as a rumor. I want to keep it that way. The less they know about your existence the better."
"Sooner or later everyone will be sure of Renegade's existence," Dick pointed out usefully. "Both villains and heroes."
"I know. As soon as that day comes the whole world will know your exact number of kills, what you are really capable of, how dangerous and deadly you actually are and you will receive all the credit you fully deserve for overthrowing Ra's empire practically single-handedly."
Talia nodded. "For now, the League of Assassins will keep a low profile. The League will keep to a neutral, more anti-hero side. I will have to recruit many more men, train them and make sure they are loyal to me and I will have to do many other things."
"Don't push yourself too hard, Talia." Dick scolded her. "Otherwise Damian would not be pleased. And don't forget that you have many people who can help you." everyone else nodded. "However, I still don't understand what you saw in Bruce Wayne."
The assassins who knew Batman's identity -all except Renegade and Cheshire- exchanged an amused look and Talia stared at her nephew. "Someday you'll figure it out."
"I hope so." muttered the Talon. "I know you know something I don't. And I intend to find out."
"Then you'll have to tell me." affirmed Cheshire with a smile, giving him a gentle nudge to which he chuckled.
"Of course.'"
"There is someone I would like you to meet."
Although Lady Shiva had spoken to the room at large her gaze was focused on the young mercenary who tilted his head questioningly. "Don't you dare set up blind dates for me, Aunt Sandra."
They all snorted in amusement and Sandra shook her head with a smirk. "Maybe next time." she joked. "I'd like to introduce you to my daughter."
Everyone except Talia's eyes went wide in shock. "You have a daughter?" asked Cheshire surprised and the deadliest woman in the world nodded.
Renegade snapped his fingers, drawing everyone's attention. "That's who that presence was that I felt and glimpsed sometimes!"
"Were you aware of her presence?" asked Sandra surprised.
"Actually? Yes. I just didn't know who it was and let it drop because I had more important things to do. I have to admit that she is very quiet and good at hiding."
Sandra's gaze settled on Slade. "You knew that, too."
"Same thing as Renegade."
Lady Shiva huffed but there was an amused twinkle in her eyes. "You can come down, Cassandra."
"Come down-"
Nyssa's question was interrupted when a blur fell from above, causing everyone but Sandra, Dick and Slade to stiffen. They all watched as the child -who could not have been more than six years old- straightened up, silently staring at them one by one.
Lady Shiva approached her daughter and rested a hand on her shoulders, her gaze resting on her friends and allies. "This is Cassandra, daughter of me and David Cain. Unfortunately, that bastard kidnapped her to begin training her to make her a very dangerous weapon in his service.
"Besides Cain and me, only Ra's and Talia were aware of her existence. Ra's partially supported Cain's decision to train her and he wanted Cassandra to become his future bodyguard once she finished her training under David Cain and the League of Assassins. Her existence was to remain a secret that only the four of us knew and so Ra's never mentioned her even in the League servers.
"Cain isolated her from the rest of the world and trained her so that she could read people's body language, know their emotional states and anticipate their moves. However, this caused some problems for Cassandra, who has not yet learned to speak, read or write. Her only way to communicate is through body language."
Slade stared at his son and noticed how he clenched his fists tightly and gave a mental smirk.
There would be one less bastard in the world.
"How come she's with you now?" asked Jade, staring briefly at the child.
"I was able to locate where that bastard was hiding her thanks to Talia's help and I threatened him that I would easily and brutally kill him if he did not give me Cassandra."
Talia at her side merely nodded.
Everyone's attention shifted to Renegade who slowly advanced toward her, his body relaxed and devoid of hostility. He deeply hid momentarily his hatred toward David Cain -he would have a lot of time to best plan his death- and lowered himself to her level. He removed his mask and gave Cassandra a tender smile. "Hello Cassandra. I'm Dick, it's a pleasure to meet you."
She stared at him intently and he allowed her to read him like an open book, showing her all his unconditional love and fierce protection. Cassandra finally seemed to find what she was looking for and she gave him a small, shy smile.
The smile on her face -God, Cassandra was so fucking small- made Dick's breath stop momentarily. His body stiffened in surprise when suddenly Cassandra wrapped her small arms around his body resting her head on his chest, right above the red R where his heart would be.
Dick smiled softly and returned the hug protectively, placing a tender kiss on the top of her head. His chest warmed as he heard her let out a soft giggle and his grip on her instinctively tightened slightly.
Yes, Dick had already become fiercely attached to her after less than two minutes and would have razed the world to the ground for her.
Sue him.
Looking up at Sandra he noticed her decidedly soft and softened gaze and sent her a small smile before cuddling with his new little sister, absentmindedly paying attention to the chatter of the rest of his new family.
Cheshire nudged Deathstroke lightly. "I guess Cassandra just became Dick's little sister. Ready to have her often in your home?"
Slade glared at her from behind his mask. "Shut up."
The assassins spent some more time together before it was time for them to leave again.
"Now we have to go." Slade declared as he placed a hand on his son's shoulder. He stared at Talia. "Call us if you need anything."
She nodded. "I will do it."
Needless to say, that was one of Dick's best days ever.