Talon chapter 21

Chapter 21 -

"So, Bats," Green Arrow said, releasing an arrow. The tip exploded in mid-air, sending a bola which wrapped around one thug and sent him smashing through another two like a bowling ball. "Tell me," He nocked his next arrow. "How's the new Robin going?" He shot the arrow. It landed in the middle of a group of thugs before releasing a large pulse, which knocked them all to the ground.

"He's fine," Batman said in a business-like manner before smashing his elbow across the head of a guy who tried to stab him. Someone rushed at him from the side, and Batman easily caught him and tossed him into another thug who had pulled out a gun. A larger thug tried to smash his fist into Batman's face, but the dark knight leaned back, letting the punch miss entirely. He followed with a series of Wing Chun strikes to the face, neck and chest before he hit the thug with a devastating knee to the temple, sending him off his feet.

"He looks competent, I admit," Green Arrow said casually while firing several more arrows. "Kind of reminds me of you when we first met. All dark and broody and mysterious. Well, more than you are now, I mean." He casually took a step back to avoid a charging thug that tried to tackle him, but ended up tackling the other thug that had tried to sneak up on him. Green Arrow quickly hit the two before they could get up, and then hit another thug with a spinning kick to the chest. While he was doing that, Batman had managed to deal with three more attackers.

"Batman!" Jason's voice cut in through his comms. "Robin, his comms are off. He's operating blind."

"He can handle himself," Batman frowned, tossing a batarang at one thug's head.

"Bruce! He's on a ship with the Joker!"

(.)

"So, baby boy, talk to Uncle J," Joker said with a wide smile, his lips curled upwards, revealing his yellowed teeth. "What's going on in that little noggin of yours?" He asked, tilting his head. Gun held very loosely in his hand, as if he was contemplating whether he should fire it or just drop it. "Those last two Robins had such big smiles on their faces. But you don't, where's the smile, Kiddo?"

"I'll smile when you're dead," Robin replied, ready for anything. Jason had told him that Joker was unpredictable, not to be underestimated. Robin had no intention of underestimating the madman in front of him; he himself had survived so many battles because his opponents had always thought him too weak or too young to do anything.

"Kids these days," Joker tutted dramatically. "No respect, don't you think so, Harley? I -oh wait, I totally shot her." He said as if he just remembered. "Still, as I was saying, you're not like the other kids. Just look at you. If I didn't know better, I'd assume that Batman used his own personal ingredients to cook you up. So many similarities, it's startling. The glare, the cape, the way you want to run here and smash my face in. Oooh, you'll be great," He grinned excitedly. "Providing you live long enough to be great. Maybe you'll last longer than the last Robin. Old Batsy told you what happened to him?" His grin somehow got wider.

"No need," Robin said coldly. "I heard it direct from the source."

"Direct from the..." Joker trailed off before he let out a deep chuckle. "Oh...I'm sorry, I'm pretty sure I killed the last Robin. So, what are you trying to say? Am I talking to a zombie?"

"Not a zombie. Just the kid who's going to break you."

"So cute," Joker cooed. "Bats must be proud." Without any further warning, Joker straightened his arm and fired the gun.

Robin moved quickly, the bullet passing by where his head had been a second ago. At the same time, Robin had pulled out two birdarngs from his belt and tossed them straight at Joker. Joker laughed loudly as he shot both of them out of the air with practised ease. He looked back to where Robin was supposed to be, only to see that he was no longer there. A moment later, Joker yelped as a birdarang pierced his gun-hand, knocking the gun out while also sticking out of his hand. A moment later, Robin dropped from above, kicking Joker in the chest.

The clowned prince of crime stumbled back before using his other hand to punch at Robin. Robin caught the blow with ease and was going to perform his counter-attack when Joker pulled his arm back, minus the hand. Robin looked at the fake hand left in his grasp before looking up in time for Joker's real hand to punch him square on the side of the head, sending him off his feet and on his back.

"Owwww," Joker said very dryly as he yanked the birdarang out of his other hand. He giggled as he casually tossed it behind him, acting like he hadn't just been stabbed in the hand. "Robin, huh? You're not a 'Robin'. Old Batsy picked up an eagle and put it in a cute outfit." He said, pulling out another gun. He aimed it at Robin, pulling the trigger. A small flag popped out of the gun with the word 'Bang!' on it. "I hate cute." He pressed the trigger again, and the flagpole shot out of his gun.

Robin managed to roll out of the way and onto his feet, the pole pierced into the ground where Robin's head had been. Joker aimed his gun again, but Robin was faster, tossing a smoke pellet on the ground. Ten feet of black smoke shot out of the ground, engulfing Robin completely before spreading around until Joker was also in the smoke.

"Damn it," Joker complained, looking at all of the smoke that he found himself in. "I'm going to get second-hand smoke," He let out an explosive sigh before inhaling deeply. "Hmm, good flavour though," He said with a toothy grin before suddenly reaching out with his free hand in time to catch Robin, who had tried to tackle him.

"Nice try, Champ," Joker said genuinely, one arm wrapped around Robin's body, squashing his arms together with his torso. The gun hand started rising, but Robin quickly shot the gun out of Joker's arm with a small wandless blast. Joker didn't slow down for even a second, either not noticing or not caring about how Robin managed to knock the gun out. His now free hand grabbed Robin by the throat and started choking him. "You see," Joker leaned down, his putrid breath assaulting Robin's senses as he continued choking him. "I've been dealing with Bats for a while now, smoke bombs don't do much for me anymore. I sell the tricks, I don't buy them. You're going to need something new if you want to...urrkk!" Joker gasped as Robin's heel slammed into his crotch. Joker tilted forward enough that Robin's feet were back on the ground. With a grunt, Robin cape, pushed Joker until he had fallen a meter away. Robin took a couple of deep breaths before turning around and glaring at Joker.

"I'll...keep that in mind," Robin said. Joker laughed loudly before suddenly sitting up and pulling out several playing cards.

"My turn!" The clowned prince of crime yelled cheerily, standing up before throwing them at Robin. Robin leapt to the side, a one-handed cartwheel followed with his spare hand, taking a pellet from his utility belt and tossing it at Joker. The pellet was sliced in mid-air by one of Joker's cards, causing it to let out a bright light. Joker quickly turned away while closing his eyes to avoid getting blinded. "Nice try, Birdie, but I know all your tricks." He laughed just before opening his eyes in time to see two orange cords stick themselves to the ground, one on each side of him. The cords seemed to pull something, Joker looked up in time to realise that what they were pulling was Robin himself.

Robin came crashing down like a meteor, both feet smashing into Joker's right knee. The career criminal let out a very loud scream as his knee shattered, his leg bending completely backwards, causing him to fall on his butt. He clutched his leg, hissing in pain before he looked up at Robin. Robin let out a loud, mocking laugh before he pulled out his staff. He slammed it straight into Joker's collarbone, hearing a satisfying crack along with an even more satisfying scream. Not one to take chances, Robin tossed the staff away and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. He kicked Joker in the side before grabbing the man's hands and handcuffing them behind his back. Kicking the clown once more so that he was now lying on his back, Robin allowed himself a satisfied nod before he jumped onto Joker and hit him with punch after punch after punch. By the end of Robin's assault, Joker's face was covered in blood that had come from his nose, mouth and a few cuts on his forehead and cheeks.

"It...it was still my turn..." Joker protested weakly.

Robin placed his hand over the Joker's left arm, one low-powered blasting spell later, and the villain's elbow shattered. Joker screamed in pain, though he still somehow managed to laugh through it. Robin reached into Joker's jacket, where he found a very dangerous-looking knife. He held it up and examined it, deeming it to be sufficient for the task he had in mind. He grabbed Joker by the neck with his other hand and held him in place.

"I..." Joker choked slightly but somehow still managed to laugh, irritatingly enough. "...You're much more interesting than the other two."

"It's funny," Robin said matter-of-factly.

"W...what is?" Joker giggled, coughing out blood before Robin put more pressure on his neck.

"I don't find you interesting," Robin said, silencing Joker instantly. "You might think you're different, you're not. You're a dime a dozen." For the first time since the fight started, Joker looked well and truly angry.

"There's...nobody like me...you bra-aarkh!" Robin cut him off by squeezing harder.

"There are far too many like you," Robin said coldly. He brought his knife up to Joker's right eye. He readied himself to plunge it into him when, suddenly, a voice spoke from behind him.

"Drop...the knife!" Came the angry voice of Speedy.

"I'm not in the mood, sidekick. Come back later." Robin said bluntly without looking back.

"I couldn't give two shits about your mood!" Snapped Speedy. "We have a no-killing rule, asshole."

"He'll live," Robin said dismissively. "In pain for the rest of his life, but he'll live."

"Yeah, well, excuse me for not trusting you," Speedy growled as he walked forward, bow and arrow aimed at Robin. "You sent me on that wild goose chase. You didn't overhear shit! You made that up earlier."

"You were in my way, like you are now," Robin said unapologetically. He started moving the knife again when Speedy came into view, as he now stood on Robin's right side.

"Hey!" Speedy yelled. "You keep moving that knife, and I've got plenty of non-vital spots that I can shoot!"

"Go vital, Pussy," Robin taunted. He jabbed his knife at Joker's eye, but an arrow knocked it out of his hands. Robin let out a very deep growl. "This is so annoying." He said in an irritated voice.

"Stand down!" Speedy ordered. "Or I will..." Whatever he was about to say ended up being cut off by Robin, wandlessly knocking him off his feet. Robin quickly summoned the knife to his hand, intending to waste no more time. He was about to use it when suddenly a new voice interrupted.

"Robin!"

Robin looked away from the bloody grin of Joker to see that Green Arrow and Batman had arrived, both of whom were looking at him with narrowed eyes. At that point, the younger boy glared down at Joker.

"Uh...oh..." Joker giggled, even when Robin squeezed his neck tighter. "Daddy's...angry, little birdie. Don't worry, maybe next time..." He said, grinning through bloodied teeth. Robin's rage seemed to have frozen as he was left unmoving as he looked down at the Joker.

"Get off him, now!" Batman ordered. "Put down the knife."

"Put down the knife," Robin repeated robotically as he let go of Joker's neck. "As you wish."

"Ha, ha, ha," Joker chuckled lazily. "Yeah, Junior, listen to Daddy." He taunted, a sick grin on his face. "Oh, I can't wait till I get out of Arkham. Next time, I will-aaarrrrrkkkkkhhh!" Joker cried as the knife stabbed into his right eye.

"I'm looking forward to it," Robin whispered coldly, twisting the knife as Joker continued to scream and writhe in glorious pain.

An armoured hand grabbed Robin by the cape, and the next thing he knew, he was tossed far away from the Joker. He landed on his back and rolled into a crouched position. He watched as Green Arrow kneeled down over Joker. Speedy had walked over to him. Batman stood beside them, looking down at Joker before he turned to Robin.

"What did you do?!" He demanded.

"I put down the knife," Robin answered bluntly. "Put it down right in his eye."

"Do I look like I'm in a gaming mood?" Batman said angrily.

"Bats," Green Arrow spoke up. "He'll live, it's not deep. But he's most definitely not going to have full vision anymore. He'll definitely need medical assistance."

"What should we do?" Speedy asked with a deep frown.

"We could cut off his tongue," Robin suggested honestly as he stood up.

"Quiet!" Batman barked. "Get back to the car, now!"

"You sure you don't want to break him a bit more?" Robin asked. "It could be a good father-son bonding activity."

"Car! Now!"

"As you wish," Robin said in an irritated voice.

"Geez, Bats, you sure know how to raise them." Green Arrow commented, looking over the damage to the Joker.

"The little brat is crazy," Speedy scowled. He looked over in Robin's direction, ready to give him a piece of his mind, only to find that the boy had disappeared.

"H...ha...ha...Bats," Joker said weakly, a thin smile on his face. He looked up at Batman, blood on the majority of his face and a knife in his eye, yet he still managed to smile. "You...you picked a good one."

(.)

The Batmobile's engine growled to life, the sound echoing through the docks; somehow, it felt louder than normal, as if reflecting the driver's inner thoughts. Robin was fairly certain once it started moving that his father was a few wrong words away from angrily crashing into the nearest inanimate object. Robin sat in his seat, perfectly still, eyes facing forward. His hands rested on his knees, blood drying in thin lines across his gloves.

Batman drove in silence.

Green Arrow and Speedy left in their own vehicle. Nobody had seemed to feel like Robin needed to know how successful the mission had been, though, given what he knew about Baman and Green Arrow, he liked to think that the two had taken down China White. The last thing the 'worst city' in the world needed was more drugs flowing in. He was tempted to ask, but given that his father didn't appear to be in a mood to talk, he decided not to.

Minutes passed in complete silence. Robin wasn't sure how long the two would keep silent, but it didn't bother him, not much anyway. In his last life, his old headmaster used to favour long silences in order to make students uncomfortable so that they'd be more likely to talk. He wasn't entirely sure if his father was purposefully using the same tactic or not.

"Explain," Batman said finally, his voice low and controlled.

"I stopped the Joker," Robin said, gaze still focused ahead. "You're welcome."

"You maimed him."

"Only on purpose."

"You disobeyed a direct order," Batman said, his jaw tightening along with his grip on the wheel.

"I followed it," Robin disagreed calmly. "You said put down the knife. You did not specify where." The Batmobile almost ran over a squirrel, Batman straightened the wheel and let out an explosive breath.

"Stop acting clever," He ordered before a small silence filled the vehicle. "You enjoyed it," Batman said after a moment. It wasn't a question.

"No," Robin replied instantly. "This was nothing more than long overdue corrective action."

"Corrective to what?" Batman asked.

"A recurring problem," Robin said matter-of-factly.

"Joker is my responsibility.

"No, you just think that he is only your problem. He's not. He is everyone's problem." Robin told him firmly. "You just keep failing to solve it because you can't or won't do what needs to be done. You should be thankful I value your input, otherwise I would have done everyone a favour and just offed him myself. Give me the word, and I'll go do it. It can be quiet, painful, nobody would know, and nobody would be able to trace it to us. Just say the word, and I'll get rid of him, Father." He said, only to end up freezing when the car suddenly ground to a halt.

For several seconds, neither of them moved.

Then Batman turned in his seat, cape shifting as his mouth tightened. His eyes locked onto Robin. Robin stared back, neither giving an inch.

"If you want, then I could hold off on killing him til Jason's birthday; he might like that as a present," Robin said lightly.

"Are you trying to push my buttons on purpose?" Batman asked flatly.

"Little bit, yes," Robin admitted.

"Yeah, well, I can press some buttons as well. Like this one," Batman pressed a button, and the door on Robin's side opened. "Get out."

"Pardon?" Robin blinked. "We're not at the cave."

"I know," Batman said, staring at him hard. With a small huff, Robin undid his belt and got out of the Batmobile. "You remember how to get to the cave?"

"Yes," Robin answered. "I get the sense that you're mad at me."

"You can think about it on your way there," Batman told him before closing the door and driving off.

"I really must talk with Alfred about his manners," Robin said out loud.

(,)

A.N: Hi guys, hope you liked the chapter.

The next chapter will start with part 2 of Robin and Batman's argument. 

Just want to address a few things:

One: The reason I killed Harley off so quickly in the last chapter was that quite plainly, she's not in the majority of the story anyway so it doesn't matter if she lives or dies. There's also the obvious value of having Joker casually kill Harley. Also, quick confession, I don't even like Harley that much. I know some people love her and all, but I don't. I generally think that she's an okay character. Plus I'm not really a fan of her as a good guy because usually in my experience, she never really has a good redemption arc along with a reason why she's now a good guy and even when they do, she very easily goes back to being bad as soon as the Joker is back. Just look at Harley in the first injustice game as an example.

B: Yes, I know the Bat no killing rule can be irritating but it is a part of the story, but it won't dominate the entire story as I think the killing rule thing has already been done to death in regular Batman media. FYI, my personal opinion on it is that I don't mind Batman having a no killing rule. He is at the end of the day a hero, between catching a criminal and a child falling off a building, he'll take the child everytime. That's who he is. I just think some media handle it really badly, that's why Batman gets more slack on it than most people. Plus it doesn't help that the joker is in his rogue's gallary. Honestly, I'd be more furious with the government officals than I would be with Batman. Honestly, I blame Red Hood( The writers) more than I blame Batman. I once read a comic where Jason literally had Joker blindfolded and tied up and still didn't kill him. One sniper gun, one bullet, and the thing would be done.

3) Yes, I know Harry should have just killed the Joker straight away, but as he stated above. The only reason he didn't do it was because of Batman. That's the in-story reason, anyway. I'll explain more on his actions in the next chapter. 

Anyway, thanks for reading, feel free to leave a review.