Chapter 9
Shirai Ryu Temple
"This is a bad idea." Jason said, as he walked besides Scorpion, Fox, Raven and Madam Bo
"It's definitely a trap." Raven said, agreeing with Jason
"The more reason Fox will be the only one going with me." Scorpion said
"I still think Raven and I should also come along with you." Jason tried to argue
"The both of you are to help defend our home Incase anything happens." Scorpion said, leaving no room for argument
"What if nothing happens?" Jason asked
"Knowing Talia and her father." Madam Bo signed. "it would be a miracle if something doesn't happen."
Previous week…
"It's good to finally meet the legendary, Scorpion." Talia smirked
"State your business here." Scorpion said, narrowing his eyes
"It's a little hard to do that, being all tied up." Talia said, gesturing to her bonds
"Your restrained form does not impede your speech." Scorpion said, crossing his arm. "So you better start talking."
"Well you're no fun." Talia pouted
"Believe me when I say this Talia." Bo cuts in. "Your teasing isn't really helping your case here. Worse, you might just end up making him kill you."
"I thought you heroes don't kill." Talia said. "Your hero friends won't let you hear the end of it."
"Bold of you to assume they will ever find out." Scorpion said
"You wouldn't."
"Try me." Scorpion said seriously, making Talia to frown
After a brief moment of silence, Talia finally spoke. "My father sent me to invite you to our base."
"What for?" Scorpion asked
"I don't know the details, but if I had to guess, it's concerning the future of both our clans." Talia said
"Is she lying?" Scorpion asked, causing Talia to raise a brow at the question
"She really doesn't know." Raven said, suddenly materializing Infront of Talia
"I see." Scorpion said thoughtfully. "What if I were to refuse his invitation?"
"We know most of your clan members are former League of Assassin deserters." Talia said. "Nothing is really stopping us from coming after them."
"You would only be digging your graves." Scorpion said
"Maybe." Talia admitted. "But in the end, some of your clans men would still die. Would you prefer to end this in blood shed, or would you rather take a more peaceful route?" She asked, making Bo and Raven turn to Scorpion…
Present Time
"Let's just hope it doesn't get to that." Raven said, as Scorpion opened up a portal for himself and Fox
"Raven, Jason." Scorpion called, glancing at the duo. "I'm leaving our clans protection in your hands."
"You can count on us Grandmaster." Jason said
"Be careful out there." Raven said, causing Scorpion to nod before stepping into the portal with Fox beside him
League of Assassin's Base
Stepping out of the portal, Scorpion and Fox enter a large Hall, filled with League members training. Taking in the spectacle before them, the duo noticed a woman approaching them.
"Welcome, I am Lady Shiva." The Woman introduced. "Ra's al Ghul is waiting for you."
She walks off. The two Shirai Ryu follow with four League of Assassin's close by. As they walk, Scorpion noticed something strange about the Leagues base
"Something is disrupting my sensory ability." Scorpion thought, as he they approached the door of a massive room.
"I'm afraid he has to wait here." Shiva said, gesturing to Fox. "Ra's al Ghul wishes to speak to you in private."
"Very well." Scorpion nods, as he stepped into the room, with Shiva shutting the door from outside.
With the Grandmaster gone, Fox leans on a pillar, as Shiva and her fellow assassin's watch the young Ninja
Meanwhile, inside the room, Scorpion walks toward a table at the center of the room, eyeing it suspiciously. He turns around at the sound of someone
approaching, who turns out to be Ra's al Ghul. Scorpion says nothing, but does not look pleased to see him approach.
"Scorpion. I am grateful that you've come." Ra says, as he bows slightly.
"Speak your mind. I do not wish to linger here." Scorpion said
Ra motions toward the table. When Scorpion does not move, he walks around him and kneels by it.
"You have established a clan with former League members." Ra said as he adds flavouring inside a coffee cup. "I'm quite impressed."
"You did not call me here to compliment my clan."
"True." Ra said. "I called you here, in hopes of forming an alliance between our clans, and extend an invitation into the Legion of Doom."
"What makes you think I would forge an alliance with you?"
"Because, I have information on the possible whereabouts of Slade Wilson." Ra said. "A man who, unlike me, has no issues with attacking your clan…as well as mine."
"My Shirai Ryus are strong, your concern is not needed." Scorpion said. "And if you have information of his whereabouts, why have you not done anything about him?"
"My clan is still recovering from an attack from Slade, which happened some months ago." Ra said. "I barely survived, forcing me to entrust the care of my grandchild to Batman."
"Batman?" Scorpion asked, taken aback slightly at the thought of Batman helping an enemy
"To answer your question, Batman is the father of my grandson." Ra said. "Though his view on justice and mine are always at an impasse."
"I see."
"But unlike Batman, you are different." Ra stated. "I have been observing you, and I can tell that you grasp the necessity of eliminating one's enemies, especially enemies to your clan."
Ra was right about one thing, Scorpion has no issue with crossing the line, if his clan was ever threatened, no killing rules be damn. Still, the Spectre had served under Quan Chi long enough to know a silver tongued individual.
"Clearly an alliance between us would only be for your own benefit." Scorpion said. "And I have no intentions of being a pawn to someone else ever again." He said, getting ready to leave
"Aren't going to at least here me out, concerning my invitation the Legion?" Ra asked, causing Scorpion to glance at him.
"I'm already allied with the Justice League." Scorpion said
"You should reconsider." Ra said, standing up. "This Justice League will only hold you back."
"Tell your Legion, I have no intentions of joining them." Scorpion said, as he began heading for the door
"A shame."
Before Scorpion could reach the door, he is suddenly struck in the back by a beam of ice and frozen, courtesy of Mister Freeze. Despite the beam freezing him, Scorpion begins to visible move as multiple figures start approaching him.
"It's not holding him." Freeze said, increasing the intensity of his beam
"Then allow me." Psimon said, before placing a hand on his head. "Simon says, stop." He muttered, making Scorpion to stop moving.
With Scorpion immobilized, Freeze stops his attack as the other figures come into view, revealing Morgan Le Fey, Solomon Grundy and Vandal Savage, standing besides Ra.
"You should have taken his offer." Vandal Savage said
Meanwhile, outside the room, Fox is silently waiting for Scorpion to finish his meeting with Ra, when suddenly a League assassin suddenly tried to attack him, forcing Fox to duck under the attack, before kicking his assailant back. Thinking fast, he manage to evade an attack from Shiva before creating some distance between himself and his opponents.
"Wow, you guys couldn't even wait a little longer to double cross us?" Fox asked dryly, pulling out his swords as more league assassin's started to appear, alongside Multiple Manbats.
"Take him down." Shiva ordered, causing them to charge at Fox.
The young Shirai Ryu slice several assassin's, while also dodging their attacks. After several minute of fighting, most of the League members were either dead or unconscious. While he admires his handiwork, a Manbat charges and grapples him, trying to bit his face. Fox fights back by punching and elbowing it in the face, before throwing him off. Another Manbat lands behind him and gets a roundhouse kick in the face for it's troubles. Fox looks up and notices several Manbats are descending on him, forcing him to roll to the corner, before impaling one through the head with his sword. While he was getting ready to face more Manbats, Fox suddenly felt pain shoot through his chest. Looking down, he noticed Lady Shiva had driven her hand through his chest.
"You fought well child." Shiva said, before pulling her hand out of Fox's chest. "But it's over now."
Turning around to face Shiva, Fox looked about ready to continue fighting, but with a hole in his chest, the young man just fell to the ground. Slightly impressed by his resilience, Shiva walked towards Fox with the intention of ending him, that was when she noticed something.
The hole in his chest had no blood in them. While she was trying to figure how it was possible, Fox suddenly disappeared in a shadow like poof, revealing they had been fighting a clone all along.
"Find him!" Shiva ordered, making the Manbats fly away in search of the young man
Shirai Ryu Temple
A clone of Fox is seen sparing with Jason, with Raven watching from the sideline, when suddenly something assaulted his mind causing him to halt his sparring session
"Something wrong?" Jason asked his friend
"One of my clones just died." Fox said, causing Jason to frown
"And the real you?" Jason asked
"Safe for now." He replied
"We should have gone with you." Jason said
"We have other problems." Raven said, causing the duo to look at her. "Multiple helicopters are heading towards the temple."
"I'll inform the original." Fox said. "Hopefully, he can reach the Grandmaster in time." He added, before dispersing himself
With Fox gone, Jason turned to Raven. "How long till they reach here?"
"Thirty minutes max." Raven answered
"Well then, let's make sure they don't reach here." Jason said, before smiling. "Say Raven, you can also teleport right?"
"What do you have in mind?" Raven asked
Meanwhile, Inside a helicopter, Cheshire is seen co-piloting as Sportsmaster then walks up to her seat, staring into the forest beyond the windscreen.
"Destination dead ahead." The pilot said
"Good." Sportsmaster muttered as he looks over to Cheshire. "Be ready."
Cheshire looks to him, then rises from her seat. She strides to the back of the helicopter where six other assassin's are taking their seats. Also among them is David Cain who remains standing.
"Alright, you have the rendezvous coordinates. Far edge of the forest. From there, we will storm the enemy temple." Cheshire said to the assassins, right before a muffled sound of explosions outside of the helicopter gets everyone's
attention.
Cheshire and David race back to the front of the chopper in time to witness one of the helicopters in front of theirs catch fire. Cheshire quickly takes the co-pilot seat again. As a black Raven races to the left of their chopper, the helicopter on fire crashes into the ground, utterly destroying it. Another fireball explodes on the side
of another chopper in front of them.
"Land this thing!" Sportsmaster ordered as the second chopper on fire crashes and explodes.
The windshield suddenly shatters as a dark energy dagger bursts through and
impales itself in the face of the pilot.
"Shit!" Cheshire cursed in the co-pilot's seat, as she desperately tries to keep the helicopter from crashing. As Sportsmaster looks on, a sound at the back of the chopper grabs his and David's attention. As they turn around, the assassins also
look up to find someone else standing right in front of them, as if he'd just been teleported there.
Before the assassins can react, Jason kicks two of them in the chest, then knocks out the one in front of him with a straight right hand. He elbows the one behind him for another one hit knockout, then draws his sword in the same motion and decapitates the next two assassins in front of him. The young Shirai Ryu buries his sword in the face of the fifth assassin, then draws his second sword and backhands it through the belly of the sixth assassins. He slips the two swords back into their sheaths as the final two assassins fall dead, all in the space of about six seconds.
As Sportsmaster and David stare forward, Jason throws a fireball that catches David dead center and hurls him back against Cheshire's seat, knocking him out of the fight for the time being. Jason hurls his whip at Sportsmaster, but the assassin catches the whip and brings it level to his face, eyeing it up.
"Nice weapon kid." Sportsmaster said, before giving the whip a good tug, dragging Jason towards him, where Sportsmaster grabs him and slams him against both sides of the chopper.
Jason recovers quickly and throws a right hand at Sportsmaster. He blocks it, parries two more of Jason's strikes, dodges a sidekick and smashes into the back of the
ninja's head with a superman punch.
Sportsmaster pulls out a dagger and charges in at Jason, who just barely manages to block the assassin's forearms and avoid being stabbed. Jason desperately struggles, but he is forced to the floor. Moments from death, Jason finds the strength to shove Sportsmaster's arms away, then he kicks the Assassin away from him. As Sportsmaster staggers back, Raven lunges an energy attack at him that knocks him out of the open side door of the chopper.
"You're welcome." Raven said, helping Jason to his feet
Getting up, David gets into a battle stance as he noticed the new arrival
The two assassins knocked out by Jason earlier awaken in time to see Raven before them. They both try to punch her, but Jason blocks their attacks, before Raven sent magic bolts through their heads, shattering them. Jason then throws the headless corpse of one of them at David, who manages to avoid it by slicing it in half with his sword
"I'll handle him." Jason said, before charging at David.
Seeing this, David swings his sword at Jason, but the young man manages to catch the blade in his hands and shatter it. He hits David with a backflip-kick, knocking the assassin against the ceiling. As he lands, David blocks a follow up kick and throws a punch and a low sweep, both of which Jason avoids. As David blocks more kicks and punches from Jason the scene cuts to the chopper's side, where Sportsmaster manages to stab his weapon into the side of the helicopter.
Back in the chopper, David blocks several punches from Jason before catching him with a right cross. As Jason staggers away, David suddenly feels a dark telekenetic glow around him. He is then violently hurled backwards through the chopper's back door, curtsey of Raven.
Noticing this, Cheshire decides to abandon saving the plane, just before she lunges at Raven and tackles her out of the helicopter, falling out herself in the process.
They free fall for a few moments, with Cheshire intending to smash Raven's head
into a tree. At the last second, Raven teleports away, leaving Cheshire to crash hard into the tree. Before the plane crashes, Sportsmaster managed to jump off it, landing close to Cheshire.
"I'm fine, thanks for asking." Cheshire said. Before Sportsmaster can say anything, Raven suddenly appears, levitating a considerable distance above ground
level, while also uprooting the tree that Cheshire was resting by with her powers.
"Move." Sportsmaster ordered, making the duo flee just as Raven brings the tree down where they were standing.
She flies after them, shooting blasts of soul energy as Sportsmaster and Cheshire dodge as best they can. After a while, it seems like they manage to outrun her, but then they come face to face with David Cain, surrounded by Madam Bo and other Shirai Ryu warriors. Raven and Jason also came into view from behind them
"This is just great." Cheshire signed
League of Assassin's Base
The scene cuts to an underground cave, lit up by torch lights. Fox walk through cautiously, checking around them for
any more surprises. Luckily for Fox, Scorpion had sensed the Leagues betrayal and had Fox create a clone of himself, while teleporting the real Fox to a cave Madam Bo said, housed something called the 'Lazarus Pit'.
As he walks through the cave, Fox notices the Lazarus Pit, alongside another door that looked heavily concealed. Being curious, Fox slices the locks of the door, before kicking it open.
With the door open, Fox began walking into what appears to be a prison of a lair.
While walking through the supposed prison lair, Fox peeks around the corner of a pillar, when suddenly a fist blurs past his head, barely missing his face.
Jumping back in shock, Fox notices his assailant take a fighting stance. His opponent turned out to be teenage girl, probably a year younger than him, short black hair that looked like it was hacked at. She wore a baggy black tank top and cargo pants, the former revealing a number of scars on her tanned skin. Most noticeably, however, was the fact that her expression was calm and collected. This is none other than Cassandra Cain, daughter of David Cain and Lady Shiva.
Still recovering from her missed attack, Fox charges at Cassandra with a scissors kick, but the two strikes are blocked easily by the girl. He throws several more kicks, but Cassandra evades them all, as if she could see his attacks before they happen. Cassandra goes on the offensive with several punches, two of which Fox isn't quick enough to block. He takes them
full in the face.
Cass rallies and jumps into a spinkick. Fox avoids the kick, but Cass grabs one of his holstered swords from his back. It takes the young Shirai Ryu few moments, and a double take, before he realises what Cass did. When he does, he pulls out the other sword and readies himself.
The two then engage in a swordfight, each parrying the other's swipes at lightning quick speed. After Fox dodges a swipe at his waist, Cass throws her sword directly at Fox's sword-hand. Fox blocks the attack and sends the stolen sword soaring skywards, but that gives Cass the opening to charge forward and jump-kick Fox, square in the face.
Fox falls down hard, and Cassandra catches the falling sword. She swings it downward, but stops it an inch from his Fox's neck. For a moment Fox does nothing, as he stares at his opponent in shock, one at her skill and a the fact that she hasn't killed him yet.
Ra's Quarters
With Scorpion still telepathically frozen by Psimon, the telepath went to work on fully trying to control the Spectre, with the other Legion members discussing from the corner (well except Grundy).
"I still have misgivings about this." Morgan said to Savage.
"Why is that?"
"He is a Wraith." Morgan said. "A very powerful one at that, from what I can sense."
"If that's the case, shouldn't you be helping Psimon control him?"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Morgan nearly jumped out of her skin, when a gut-wrenching scream ripped itself from Psimon's throat. He dropped to his knees, his hands clutching at his head. Agony rolled off of him in tidal waves, but Morgan could see no source for it. The waves faded from her perception, yet they still crashed over Psimon, crushing him under their weight. To Morgan's growing horror, Psimon's body began to shake when he fell flat on his face - he was having a seizure.
"It was foolish of you to enter my mind." Scorpion growled, causing the group to turn to him
Freeze looked stricken, looking to Psimon's fallen form before pointing his freeze gun at Scorpion, who looked very pissed