"Please... no..."

A child of around ten wiggles in Jason's grasp; he's been lifted off of the ground by the collar, his emaciated legs wiggling in vain.

Unmoved, Jason says: "If I catch you with any of those druggies again...." His voice is raspy, disguised by the presence of the mask. As he makes his threat, he gestures the gun at his neck.

The kid bursts out in tears, emphatically nodding as tears and snot mixed on his face. "I won't ever do it again..." he promises, his heart about to burst out of his chest. This killer is a demon from hell, murdering everyone in cold blood.

Jason drops the kid. Stepping across the blood-strewn floor, he's about to leave when a gust of wind catches his attention. He snickers, tensing up. The kid behind him backs off a few steps, terrified he might have changed his mind.

Jason has been looking forward to the guest outside.

Batman hears the muffled voices as soon as he lands. Behind his cowl, his eyebrows furrow, annoyed that he is once again late. This is his city.

"Too late?" Robin lands heavily beside his father, glaring over at the shadowy staircase.

He cares not for the lives of those criminals. But it's too quiet - too dark. Not a good sign.

The wind moans past their ears. Everything is immersed in darkness since the destruction of the fluorescent light above the door. But a warm glow emanates from the crack of the door in a yellow line, a steel trap glittering beneath a disguise of leaves.

"I'm hacking into the surveillance of the basement, hold on." Red Robin awkwardly manages his keyboard with his good hand. Within the screen by his other hand, that Talon is staring at his new television, transfixed.

The door slams open, a shadow darting out from within. Robin draws his sword and is about to leap before stopped by Batman's hand. Only then did he see that it's only a frightened child.

"Behind you! No one else is in there!" Red Robin warns, crackling the transmission. But it's too late.

Batman is kicked back two metres into the garbage dump, eliciting a scream from the child, who stumbles to get away. Robin dodges the assassin's dagger due to the advantage offered by his height, and slices his sword at the shadowy figure. The assassin blocks the blade with his gun. The barrel cracks in two, almost bring his index finger with it.

Metal clinks as it hits the ground.

The assassin stumbles back two steps before steadying himself. He spins his dagger, knocking the two batarangs Batman has thrown at him. Sparks flash, and two more clinks of metal sounds.

The three pause, gauging each other for their levels of enmity.

But Jason has no patience, frustrated as he is about learning Dick's fate at the hands of the pointy-eared monster no matter the cost. Since his awakening, he could only remember his forced recruitment as a Talon along with Dick. Everything else is foggy and indiscernible.

He must know where Dick is, dead or alive.

"Listen, I don't want to fight," Jason lifts his arms. "I am different from other Talons. I don't like fighting with cripples."

A month earlier, Batman and Robin has been continuously persecuted by Talons - Batman having broken a rib during one of skirmishes, and Robin a tendon in his leg. Though the Court has also lost countless Talons, they don't care - they'd be happy if Batman died from fatigue. Whatever price they had to pay would be worth it - it's not like they treated Talons as people anyway.

Batman appraises the dark streaks across Jason's face, the blood-soaked yellow jacket and the armour beneath. His voice rasps: "Since two weeks ago, you started to antagonize the gangs - making them kill off each other... on orders of the Court?"

This Talon looks more difficult to handle than Grayson - he's more aware, and moves more dangerously.

"Ha, who says all Talons must obey the Court? I have my own plans." Jason smirks. "At first I only wanted to know where your hideout is. Later I realized that you are smarter than presumed, and I always end up losing your tracks. That's why..."

"That's why you used this method to force us to confront you," Robin interrupts. "What do you want, Talon."

"Remember that first Talon sent to kill you? His skills is a notch above the others." Jason emphasizes. "More importantly, he's alive."

Robin glances at his father, only sensing the tightening clench of his lower jaw.

Jason takes in their expressions. His tumultuous heart flips as if thrown to a pot of boiling water. Hastily he steps forward: "You know him! Tell me where the fuck he is! Just a clue is enough.. I must find him..."

"Number 139, you've done well, containing the Batman. The Court will reward you."  A voice, so low it's inhuman, gurgles from behind Jason's back.

Fuck.

Jason stiffens, and sees a giant flanking him on one side. He towers over him by more than two hand spans, and is encased in armour. Tubes extend from within his mouth and nose to his spine. He's an uglier version of the Greek mythos coming to life.                                            

Jason remembers this monster. He'd been assigned to fight one once, and almost got pulled apart at the spine. They are the Court's most proud accomplishments; machines of bulging muscles and genetic engineering, they have no sense of pain nor empathy.

As soon as the giant appears, Jason can sense a few more pairs of eyes staring from the darkness. They lingers, waiting for the giant's command.

The giant looks down through his yellow night-vision lenses, seeing only a twisted figure with an owl mask. His voice is flat, like the broadcast of an airplane: "Number 139, your disobedience of the Court as well as your non-authorized contact with the target constitute a major violation of the Court's codes. Considering your discovery of Batman, however, I will excuse your behaviour on account of the prosecutor. Now, you should help me eliminate the target..."

"Shut your trap." Jason flips him the bird. "Fuck your orders. I work alone. These two toys are yours."

As he finishes, the Court's most disobedient Talon slinks into the darkness, sauntering up the fire escape and onto the roof.

Truth be told, Jason wants nothing more than to kill all the stupid Talons, but he refrains. Should Batman not know where Dick is, he cannot yet turn his back completely on the Court. If they were to take Dick back, then everything goes back to the way they were. Plus, he can use this opportunity to see how good the Batman really is.

Comparatively, Jason worries more about Dick's condition. He knows not how much sense of self Dickiebird still maintains - is Dick simply a breathing corpse that obeys everything the Court says? Jason has plenty of questions for himself as well: what has transpired after becoming a Talon? Why is he able to keep his sense of individuality?

He senses something he must do, but he cannot remember.

The giant, seeing that Number 139 no longer intends to interfere, turns to face his primary objective. He's about to recite the Court's judgement, but his face meets the bottom of Robin's boots. But Robin underestimated the abilities of the giant, who grabs his thin ankles and flings him into a car.

The windshield smashes in, startling the alarms. The shrieking noise pierces the night sky.

Batman has no time to admonish Robin for his brashness. He swept forth from the side, landing solid punches on the most delicate of flesh beneath the giant's arms. The giant swerves, just managing to afford the most brutal of hits. He reaches out and grabs one of Batman's arms, squeezing tight.

The giant's grip is like a wrench, his own arm a rusty nail. As the giant reaches another hand towards the prey's neck, Batman throws a sticky bomb into the enemy's face. The force of the blast pushes the giant back, giving Batman the chance to break free.

But not enough. The giant is far from losing his mobility. His helmet, however, has been completely shattered, exposing his face. It was a skull thinly wrapped in human skin and covered with decomposition spots, a sheen of green just beneath the surface and a pair of glowing electronic eyes in place of real ones.

It's a corpse that has been cheating death for who knows how long.

Robin slides from the top of the car, working the kinks out of his neck. His bones crack as he moves. Jason raises an eyebrow, reevaluating his dismissal of the shortstack. Just as Robin attempts to return to Batman's side, six Talons emerge from the darkness, surrounding him.

Appraising the group of adults, Robin's primly pursing lips curve upward. Spinning his sword, he prepares for battle. As a former member of the League of Assassins, he does not fear dealing out death.

The Talons do not attack at once. Instead they surround  him, slowly contracting their circle. They've stumbled due to the child's skills, and they will not repeat the same tactic. One of the Talons swerves and lunges with a laser. Robin flips backward, affording the attack but putting himself right into the path of a bullet. He flicks his wrist, springing his blade around and ricochets the bullets away. Using the momentum, he lifts a leg and kicks down one Talon, dodges a fist, and cuts off that offending arm. The Talon stumbles back, picking up his limb. Pressing it against his wound, his flesh quickly grows back together, with no hinderance to his mobility.

Robin narrows his eyes. This is new.

"Cute." Jason almost feels like applauding. Robin's techniques are precise yet deadly, and full of brutality. Quite the opposite of Batman's strict, calculated movements.

On the other hand, Batman is a lot more careful than his partner. He quickly realizes that not only is the giant fast, but also strong - he cannot afford being caught a second time. Avoiding one grapple, he spins his cape around. At the giant's split-second confusion, he throws more batarangs and bombs toward his face. The giant only falters for a moment, and then recovers to his full speed.

At this, Batman can only be even quicker. He poises like a leopard, leaping forward and launching a barrage of punches at the giant's ribs. Unaffected, the enemy simply waves his arms, forcing Batman to jump back and go around. Nothing has worked well, and Batman starts to agitate. If this takes much longer, who knows how many more Talons will arrive; then there's that weird one watching from the sidelines. No matter how he looks at it, this will not end well.

They entangle in a few more rounds before Batman finally catches an opening. He leaps onto the giant's shoulder, clenching him at the neck with his thighs. He slams his elbow into his eyes. Using his own weight as leverage, he flips the giant backwards, head down first. Lightly he lands beside the fallen, satisfied at the cracking sound of the spine breaking.

To his chagrin, the giant uses his arms and flips to his feet. He twists his broken neck back into place. Staring impassively, he once again lunges for Batman.

This is not a strength Batman has faced before. This giant is the equivalent of a killing machine. Batman, on the other hand, is only human. This repetition will only cripple him in a matter of time.

Batman falters. The giant grabs him by the shoulders, fingers at his collarbone. The grip drains Batman of all ways of recovering his leverage. Soon his collarbone will be smashed to dust.

"Try this."

Two knives fly out of the shadows, plunging into the giant's electronic eyes. He roars in fury, loosening his grasp and once again allowing Batman to escape.

"Number 139, you dare to betray the Court?! Unforgivable!"

Jason slinks out of the darkness, his voice coloured with mirth. "You can't kill the old bat yet. I still need him."

Blinded, the giant groped for Jason's voice. Picking up Batman's abandoned grappling hook, he shoots it up high and pulls himself up, planting his feet into the giant's bloodied face. Before he could even recover from the attack, the giant hears the sound of a motor behind him. By the time he realizes, he cannot avoid Robin's colourful motorcycle.

Robin rocks his motorcycle back so that the front wheel is off the ground. As he flies it toward the giant, he leaps out of the seat, sending the spinning wheel right into the enemy. The metal canister on the giant's back smashes against the ground as he fell; a greenish liquid leaks out, glowing faintly under the dim light.

Jason does not give him a chance to stand. He wraps the cable tightly around the giant's neck, and then uses his full strength to pull the two ends in opposite directions. But it was futile. He has not enough strength, and only manages to slice open the skin on the neck.

With Jason on his back, the giant stumbles to his feet as he roars, slamming his back against the wall. One hole after another appears on the walls, sending bricks and mortar flying. Jason hangs on tight, feeling as if his internal organs have shifted positions. He tastes blood.

At this rate, this brute will kill me!

"Use this!" In the nick of time, Batman throws him a new grapple gun. Robin spills a trap of nails to hinder the giant's movement. As the giant falters due to the nail, Batman kicks him down.

Jason aims at a particular direction in the ceiling. The hook embeds itself deep within a piece of metal lining. He presses the grapple gun and grabs his own cable. The hook brings both him and the giant up, but their weight is too much. It could only bring them up halfway.

Expecting this, Jason straightens himself in midair and leaps past the flag pole just outside the walls. He hangs the cable around the top. The canister on the giant's back has almost emptied, leaving him devoid of nourishment and much more docile. The lack of solid ground turns his own weight against him. He can only grapple uselessly as Jason abandons him to land successfully onto the ground, still holding on to the cable.

The giant struggles, shaking the flag pole. The piano cable around his neck tightens as he moves, the thin line pressing slowly into his neck until finally, his head is cut from his neck.

Satiated, Jason releases his grip. The headless corpse slams onto the floor with a great thud. The nutrient canisters on the giant's back break open, the remaining green fluids slicking along the bricks and into the sewers.

Batman examines the liquid oozing out of the steel canisters. He'd seen something similar before.

Jason shrugged his quivering arms as he stepped over the green puddle. He bounces the head like a soccer ball beneath his feet. Satisfied, he turns to Batman: "Remember to burn the bodies. Otherwise you'll see this fuckin' thing in two days." He snickers, as if he'd told a good joke.

Robin forces himself to look away from his ruined motorcycle and towards him, confused. "You betrayed the Court, for us."

"No, for Dick." Jason mutters in a voice almost too low, before raising it again. "Do you fuckin' believe me now? Tell me where he is."

Batman hesitates. He cannot bring himself to trust that a Talon would offer to help them for this reason. The Court's Talons are many things, among them extreme obedience and discipline; camaraderie, however, they are not. The appearance of this Number 139 forces Batman to reevaluate the complexity of the Court's inner makeup.

He opens his mouth to reply, but Jason pounces at him. The sickening thud of something piercing bone and flesh explodes beside Batman's ear.

Robin yells: "A sniper!"

The bullet pierces Jason's chest. Slowly, he slumps against Batman.