Talon chapter 13

Chapter 13 - The Temporary Duo

"Got it," Barbara said with a victorious smile as she typed away at her computer.

"You found him then?" Jason asked, looking up from the tablet computer in his hands.

"Obviously," She said with mock-arrogance. "Managed to track him to his apartment, but he's currently on the move. Still, he can't hide from me."

"Neat," Jason said. "Harry," He called out loud.

"Yeah," Harry said from behind him.

"You've got to stop sneaking up on people." Jason sighed before he turned around and spotted the mini-assassin standing in front of him. Though for reasons that Jason wasn't sure he wanted to know about, there was a little baby bat lying down in Harry's head, looking quite comfortable as it nested in his hair. "Barbara found the guy we're looking for."

"Neat," Harry said before casually reaching up and tapping the bat on its back. It quickly stood up, stretched its wings and flew away. Acting as if that was the most normal thing in the world, Harry continued speaking. "Alright, just tell me the address, I'll find him and introduce him to my really reasonable reasons why he should tell me everything. Speaking of which, does anyone have a sword I can borrow?"

"A sword?" Barbara said with a small frown.

"I left mine at my place," Harry said in an apologetic voice.

"Harry, your father has strict rules against killing." Jason reminded him.

"Oh yeah," Harry said as if he had just remembered. "So no swords?"

"No swords," Jason confirmed, ignoring the pout on Harry's face.

"Why don't you try these?" Dick's voice called from behind Harry. He turned around and quickly caught a single metal stick. "Nice reflexes," Dick said, walking up to them. No longer in his civilian clothes, but instead he was wearing his 'Nightwing' costume.

Nightwing's costume was a masterpiece of motion, designed not for intimidation, but for freedom. It clung to him like a second skin, matte black with a subtle sheen that caught the Batcave lights. Despite how it looked, it was obviously also designed for protection and was more than capable of taking a bullet or two. The electric-blue bird emblem on his chest stretched from shoulder to shoulder, the blue heading down the outside of his arms and all the way to his hands, where his middle two fingers were also blue. His blue domino mask was sleek, almost minimalist, the kind of design that said he didn't need to hide — just focus. Reinforced gauntlets concealed an arsenal of gadgets, a small belt seemed to be fitted in at the waist, and he had a pair of blue escrima sticks on his back.

"I think I inherited them from my father," Was Harry's response. He looked down at the metal stick in his hands. It was fairly plain and simple in comparison to Grayson's, but that didn't matter much to Harry. Sticks were surprisingly good weapons in the hands of someone who knew how to use them, and Harry definitely knew how to use them. But with that being said... "Only one?" Harry asked.

"You do realise that since you left, that's technically mine," Jason huffed, cutting off Dick's response as he placed his tablet down and gave the older man a hard stare.

"What?" Dick asked innocently. "Like you weren't going to offer him it?"

"That's not the point, dickhead." Jason sighed before walking over to Harry. "It looks like a simple stick, yeah, but it's more than that," Jason explained, pressing a button on the weapon. Within a second, the stick lengthened and in Harry's hands was a bo staff. Jason took a step back and looked at Harry, expecting shock and possibly awe, but instead, the younger boy was staring at it analytically.

"Hmm, I've had worse weapons." Harry eventually shrugged.

"Are you kidding me?" Jason couldn't help but ask. "The stick just turned into a bigger stick; that doesn't impress you?"

"I once saw a matchstick turn into a needle," Harry shrugged once more. "Not much phases me anymore."

"Where the hell would you have seen that?" Jason questioned him, but instead of answering, Harry pressed a different button on the staff and suddenly a metal shield formed from the staff, one big enough to cover Harry's entire body.

"Ballistic shield," Dick told him. "Saved mine and Jason's hides more than once."

"Handy," Harry said before pressing the same button and retracting the shield. Another button press later, and the staff collapsed back into an easier-to-carry stick. "I will admit that it is far more impressive than I thought it would be." He said, and it was true. There wasn't much tech in the League as they preferred to keep things traditional, so aside from weapons, there wasn't much focus on tech advancements. Not to say that the league didn't have the best tech available to them, but Harry hadn't had much interaction with any of it. Even in his previous life, Muggle tech wasn't as advanced as what he could find in the Batcave.

"That's a slightly better reaction," A slightly more satisfied Jason said, as he reached into his pocket and took out a dark green domino mask, which he handed to Harry. "We don't want anyone finding out who you are. Put it on."

"If you say so," Harry replied, taking the mask and putting it on. It left his mouth and jaw uncovered. The mask's edges hugged his cheekbones, tapering into sharp points at the temples. His eye was no longer visible and replaced with a white lens that Harry could see through so easily that it might as well not have been there. "I like it," Harry decided.

"It was supposed to be mine," Jason revealed to him. "I had been working on making a new mask before I died. I found it in storage, cleaned it up and connected it to the Batcomputer."

"It's really cool," Barbara assured him as he pulled the hood of his ninja outfit up. "It'll allow you to use 'Detective Vision', that's this neat little trick we have that allows us to see through walls and pretty much anything else. It has tons of other uses as well."

"I'll give you a rundown on how to use it on the way," Dick said, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Time to get to work."

(.)

"This is the good stuff?" Ubu asked, walking up to the dealer.

There weren't many people that a guy like Ubu needed to be scared of. He was tall, strong, and built like a brickhouse. Clean-shaven from head to toe, not counting the little bit between his legs. He wore heavy boots, blue jeans and a white tank top along with a golden chain around his neck and a gold ring on each finger. As far as he was concerned, Gotham was his favourite city. There was so much to do here, so much you could get away with if you were smart enough and had the right connections.

Which was exactly why Ubu was here right now, standing near the edge of the docks. He stood between two containers; a dozen more were to his left, while the open sea was to his right. He had brought seven men with him; usually, he didn't need the added help, but it never hurt to be safe. He stared down his nose at the dealer in front of him, a dark-skinned man dressed in casual clothes, the type of guy you'd expect to see walking in the park at the day, not dealing drugs at night.

"The real good stuff," The dealer assured him, standing confidently with ten of his own men behind him. He lifted a suitcase up for Ubu to see. "And the money?" He asked. A grunt from Ubu had one of his men step forward, pulling out two large wads. "That'll do." The dealer decided; he held the suitcase out for Ubu while his other hand stretched out for the money. Just as the transaction was about to take place, the briefcase and the money shot out of their respective holders' hands and flew away from them.

Ubu spun to his left and saw the drugs case land in the hands of Nightwing, who stood a short distance away from them. Meanwhile, perched on top of a container on Nightwing's left was a small child. Ubu froze instantly. Back in the League, everyone knew that the head had a grandson whom he was grooming to take over the whole thing. Only the most trusted members of the organisation got to meet him; Ubu hadn't been one of them. But Slade had, and he had stressed that the child was not to be taken lightly. Ubu was sure that that child and this one were one in the same.

"Hmm, it's always fun to see you do your tricks," Nightwing told Harry. He flipped the case open, glanced inside, and let out a low whistle. "Wow," he said, snapping it shut again. "You guys really brought the premium stuff tonight."

The dealer's expression soured. "You made a mistake coming here, hero."

"Story of my life," Nightwing quipped without missing a beat. "Now, gentlemen, don't bother trying to run; we disabled all your vehicles already. Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way."

"Get him!" Ubu roared.

"What were you expecting?" Harry asked genuinely as two men charged towards them.

"Exactly this, they never choose the easy way," Nightwing revealed with a grin while tossing the case behind him and pulling out his two sticks.

Before the first thug even reached him, Nightwing was already moving — a blur of blue and black cutting through the dim orange glow of the dock lights. His escrima sticks cracked like thunder as they collided with a thug's jaw, dropping him before the others could blink. The next man tried to tackle him, but Nightwing took a casual step to the side, while extending his foot out to trip the thug, and at the same time, he made sure to lightly smack him in the back of the head. The result ended with the thug smashing headfirst into a nearby container before crashing to the ground.

"Get him!" Ubu and the Dealer yelled at the same time. The thugs all charged at once. Nightwing's grin got mildly bigger before he leapt into action.

Rushing forward, he tossed one of his escrima sticks just as he jumped off his feet. The stick bounced off one thug's face as Nightwing landed on the face of another thug, he kicked off of him and performed a picture-perfect flip, catching the stick in the air and landing while kicking another thug with an axe kick to his face, taking them all out. Once he landed, he ducked under a wild punch while stepping past the puncher and smashing his weapons into the face and ribs of the next thug. He casually pointed one of his escrima sticks back; the tip of it lit up with electricity and caused the thug who had tried to punch him to cry out in pain. The next criminal tried to send Nightwing to the ground with a kick to the chest, but Nightwing had side-stepped, and that kick had ended up knocking the electrified thug off his feet.

Harry couldn't help but be impressed as he watched Nightwing fight. It looked less like a fight and more like a dance at times. He moved with such impressive grace that at times Harry thought the man was going to start flying with how light he seemed on his feet. One thing is for sure: Dick Grayson would have been great at Quidditch. Seeing that the older vigilante had things handled, Harry pushed his attention onto the bigger fish. The dealer was stuck, frozen in horror, while Ubu was glaring hatefully at Nightwing before he turned and started running.

Harry rushed forward, jumping across containers. He tossed his stick; it bounced off the dealer's head, knocking him off his feet. Harry summoned it back into his hand and quickly rushed forward, jumping from container to container. Doing his best to keep Ubu in sight, for such a big man, he was moving rather quickly. It didn't take long for Ubu to make it out of the docks. He rushed across the street, narrowly avoiding getting hit by a car. The driver honked his horn repeatedly at Ubu, who simply flashed him the finger before heading into a nearby park. He ran as fast as he could, not looking back for a second.

He leapt over a pair of red gates that had circled a children's playground, complete with multiple swings and slides, along with a couple of seesaws and a merry-go-round. Plus three benches, most likely for the tired parents who would have brought their kids there so that they could get a moment's rest. Ubu would have continued running, but had stopped dead in his tracks as he noticed the same child from before, standing a short distance in front of him.

"Tell me," Harry said, pulling his stick out as he stared at the six-foot something, mountain of muscle that was Ubu. "Do I really scare you that much that you'd run from me?" Harry taunted before his stick extended into a bo staff.

"You little brat," Ubu's voice was quiet, soft, yet was easily heard. "You think you scare me?" He reached into his pockets and pulled out two knuckle dusters, both of which had a trio of metal claws that extended from them. "I eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast!" He snarled, putting the dusters on each hand.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...You eat pieces of shit for breakfast?"

"Aaaargghh!" Ubu roared and charged at him.

Ubu's roar ripped through the quiet playground, scattering a flock of pigeons from the nearby swings. His boots thundered against the ground as he charged, claws glinting under the pale park lights. Harry didn't move—not yet. His staff gleamed faintly, the metal tip catching the glow just before Ubu swung.

The claws whistled past Harry's cheek, close enough that he felt the air tear. He ducked, pivoting on one heel, the staff sweeping low to smack against Ubu's shin. Ubu tripped and landed on top of one of the seats on a nearby merry-go-round. Harry aimed his hand and shot a low-powered blasting curse that pushed it hard enough to spin and throw Ubu off. Ubu landed awkwardly on his left shoulder but quickly rolled up to a kneeling position, only to be jabbed in the chest by Harry's staff, sending him back onto his back.

"You full yet?" Harry asked flatly, casually spinning the staff around before resting it on his back. "I'm getting the info I need from you; how much pain you take before that is entirely up to you." He added, taking the staff off his shoulders and adopting a fighting stance.

"Zip it!" Ubu snarled, rushing to his feet and charging towards Harry. His claws slashed against Harry's staff, sparks flew, and Harry back-stepped while blocking another attack. Ubu tried to follow up with a knee, but Harry spun around and slammed the staff into Ubu's lower back, pushing Ubu a step forward. "Upstart little shit!" Ubu growled before spinning around with a vicious swipe of his claws, only to blink when he realised that he had hit nothing since his opponent was not in sight.

"Hey," A voice said before a weight dropped on his back. Harry, perched on Ubu's shoulders, leaned over so his head was upside down in front of Ubu's face. "Did you get him?"

"I'mma kill you!" Uru roared, slicing upwards at Harry, who jumped off of him, and off one of the nearby swing frames before swinging his staff in a downward arc. Ubu caught the staff in both hands and tossed Harry over his head, causing him to let go of the staff and land on the ground, where he thankfully managed to roll to his knees in time to see Ubu performing the same attack that Harry just performed. As the staff came towards him, Harry chose not to dodge and quickly activated his shield. The staff bounced off his semi-transparent shield and, rather comically, ended up hitting Ubu in the face.

The taller man stumbled back, dazed and barely on his feet. Harry stood up instantly and ran at him. He jumped off Ubu's knee and ran up his body, ending with him kicking Ubu in the chin as he backflipped and caught the end of the staff, pulling it out of Ubu's grip. Harry landed on his feet as Ubu landed butt first on one of the swings. Harry quickly followed up by swinging his staff, and with all of his considerable might, he hit Ubu straight in the face, sending the swing back with Ubu falling off of it and landing once more on his shoulder with a loud crack.

"Next time, have a smaller breakfast," Harry advised.

"I'm..." Ubu coughed out blood, struggling to get to his feet. "I'm going to kill you...going to kill you." He muttered out in a dazed voice.

"You look like you've been having fun." Nightwing's voice cut in as he stepped next to Harry. "Not bad," He told Harry whilst looking down at Ubu. "Busting up a drug deal and finding Deathstroke's guy at the same time, we're really efficient."

"We are," Harry agreed. "Now, we simply have to work on getting this stubborn imbecile to reveal what he knows."

"Hmm, well, I can help with that," Nightwing said, pulling out his twin sticks and activating the tasers at the end.

"Hmm," Harry stared at Nightwing and the electric escrima sticks in his hands. Evidently, the man had a dark side. "I like you." He decided.