FicWad

Talons

"There's something very important going on here. But why would the Court of Owls come after me, I don't even live in Gotham City anymore." Robin was trying to think of a connection besides the obvious one involving his connection to Batman as his former sidekick. But this wasn't just about Batman, this was about him, and they'd made it personal.

Robin had a picture of the mysterious Saiko, any scraps of information concerning the Court of Owls. A lot of it was mainly comprised of Gotham folklore though. Nothing concrete though, he'd heard that Batman was now openly fighting them as well.

"I've heard of the Court of Owls. My mother said it was a nursery rhyme to scare children," Raven told him.

"My Mom used to sing that nursery rhyme to me, Dad didn't like it though," Robin smiled. "Not that it helps this case much, but there must be some sort of meaning behind it."

"There are lots of "secret" organizations," Cyborg observed, entering all of Robin's data into the Titans' mainframe computer to search through every knonw record concerning this "Court of Owls". For this one to keep quiet for so long is impressive."

"But dude, you don't even live there anymore," Beast Boy pointed out, "why would some Gotham criminals want to get you? You'd think they'd be happy you were gone."

"There is one thing that I do not understand," Starfire spoke up. "She talked about Robin taking up his legacy. What does it mean?"

"I have no idea, Star, but the Court is not going to get away with running around my city. We will find them, and we will take them down!"

"They're definitely dangerous," Raven mused. "Still, there's something that's bothering me. I'm going to meditate, maybe I'll figure out what it was."

"Dude, when we were fighting, I thought I saw an owl," Beast Boy piped up.

"An owl? How's that important?" Cyborg asked.

"All I know is that it's not native to anything we have around here, maybe it was spying for them," Beast Boy was hit by the discovery. "Maybe if I find it, we can find them."

"Good work, Beast Boy, you follow that up and call me if you find anything," Robin slapped him on the back in approval. It was good to see that all of them were being serious, even Bead Boy, who rarely put on his serious face.

Robin watched the others leave the evidence room. He turned his eyes to the circus bill of the Fearless Flying Graysons.

There was something that disturbed Robin that he hadn't told the others. Saiko had mentioned colored pins. Now to them none of what she'd said made sense. However he knew what she had been referring to. When his father was alive, John Grayson would put colored pins on a map to represent the cities they'd go to and what types of performances they'd give. Blue was easy, not too many risky tricks. Red was high profile, edgier stunts. But Gotham was the Black Pin, no-holds-barred, go all-out show, no catch wires or safety nets.

To use that same system as a plan of attack was something he had implemented in his evidence room, but how could Saiko know about it? She had also quoted his father verbatim, "Some places have a hunger about them…And either you feed them what they want…or you stay far away."

He had to wonder if it was someone from Haly's circus, his parents knew a lot of people in the business who came and went from there. He looked up their website, nothing suspicious; no one he knew had left. He decided to call Pop Haly; it would hurt to ask him about it over the phone.

"Won't you come see us Dick?" Mr. Haly's voice was cheerful. "We'll be in Jump city in a week."

"All right," Dick agreed, it had been a long time since he'd gone back home, it would nice to visit his old friends. He'd take the Titans; they would definitely enjoy themselves there.

"Besides, there's something I want to talk to you about, something important. I'd rather tell you in person."

"I see. I'll definitely be there; I'll see you soon, Mr. Haly. Thanks," Dick hung up. He wondered what could be bothering the man he had always seen as a nice man, he had always thought of him as an Uncle. But he couldn't shake the feeling that something big was going on around him.

"Saiko, did you know Haly Circus is coming to Jump City?" William asked.

"Is it? I don't think I've ever been there," she frowned.

"You have, but your injuries caused you to lose your memories."

"I see. But why are you telling me this?"

"Because I want you to go there and help us pick the next assassin, the Court will be there and we must make sure that nothing happens to them during the selection process."

"Understood."

"You have a great legacy to live up to; perhaps you can make up for the one that got away. There is only one Talon in the book of names that did not become one of us."

She had left the room, and William continued voicing his thoughts. "We are all raised under the bright lights, the pride of Haly's Circus, the Talons, those of us, who will change cities, even the world. But I think I've told you too much. The fact that you do have amnesia is very useful to me. I've /always /known who you are."

Elizabeth Lloyd was walking away when suddenly, a headache overwhelmed her. In her mind she could see a distinct memory.
/]
[/"We're on in five minutes!" the young boy tells her excitedly.

"Hon, are you happy here?" she asked.
/]
[/"We aren't leaving, are we? I never want to leave."

"I keep thinking about what it would be like to stay in one place like a real family."
/]
[/"Your grandfather ran away to the circus when he was nine. I've never had a home of my own…Oh ignore me, honey. A girl can't keep from wondering, can she? I love you…"

"Ma, I love you too," he smiles at her.
/]
His name. Why couldn't she remember his name? She knew that if she remembered him, she'd remember everything about herself, but she couldn't recall it no matter how hard she tried.

As a Talon, she didn't have a soul, at least that's what they had told her once she had pledged her loyalty to them. But if that was the case, why did these memories mean so much to her that she wanted them back?

Elizabeth frowned and sighed. She needed to rest, just awhile. The fight with the Titans had taken more out of her than she cared to admit. Fortunately, the Court of Owls would provide her with the precious electrum she needed to regenerate her body.

She'll be hunting for a week and she needed all the strength she could get. Elizabeth Lloyd lay down in her coffin and closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. For once she didn't have any dreams and she was actually relieved. She didn't want to keep thinking about Robin or anything else.

[/Back at Titans Tower…

Raven was deep in meditation on the roof, there was something about Saiko. She couldn't sense a soul inside the body; it was like a reanimated corpse. You could revive a dead person, but it was tricky and people tended to come back wrong. But this person could think clearly, fight and recognize other living people. This wasn't a mindless zombie.

Raven got up and walked back into the Tower. She found Robin at the mainframe computer.

"I finally discovered what was bothering me," Raven announced.

"What was it Raven?" Robin didn't know what his friend would say.

"I couldn't sense her soul, it's like she's a reanimated corpse," Raven wrung her hands. "But there's something else about her, I just can't figure out what it is."

"Dude, real life zombie mind control!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

"It would have to be some really complicated tech or magic of some sort wouldn't it?" Cyborg looked over at the screen.

"Everything I've ever read on resurrection was very complicated," Raven looked over at the others. "It's all very specific, there usually has to be a very short time between when they die and when they are brought back. They also take years to plan and years to execute. Whoever is behind this, they're really good. There are "Night-Walkers", zombies. You wouldn't want to have dinner with them, but this woman wasn't one of them."

"So we're dealing with a zombie ninja assassin, that's just great! It's like my worst nightmare!" Beast Boy groaned.

"It could be worse, I'd rather find out whose pulling the strings," Robin scrutinized the new information. "I also want to know what they want with me."

"This is a strange organization, if they are so secretive, why are they revealing themselves to us? What do they want with Robin?"

"I know that Batman investigated them once, but he didn't find if they even existed or not. Now they show themselves to us. I wonder if Batman's been attacked by them."

The Titans all looked worried. But they had their own problems right now, mainly trying to find the assassin before they killed innocent civilians.

Until this was over, the Titans weren't going to get much sleep or have a lot of fun. They were all preparing for overtime involving grunt work. They promised themselves they would stop the Court of Owls, no matter what they had to do.

The old man ran, panicked, he was trapped in a maze, the labyrinth. He didn't know where to go. He'd been trapped for a week and he was starving and tired.

Suddenly, two blades pierced his chest. Saiko gripped the man and threw him to the ground. There was blood everywhere.

"My Court! My Court, he is prepared! I present to you…the former trainer of Haly Circus, the man, the incompetent fool who chose Alton Carver as a Talon, how do you wish him to die?"

"Cut his throat!" one of them shouted.

"Break his neck!"

"Bleed him!" Another shouted, he was a middle aged man.

"Hee-hee! His spine! Pull his spine!" an elderly couple shouted.

Another pair, much younger, joined in. "Let the littlest decide!"

The man's wife eagerly agreed with him, "Yes! Yes! Let her choose! What would you want to see, dear?" Her mother asked her this as if she were asking her if she wanted to see a movie or get an ice cream cone. The little girl was five or six, maybe seven. She wore a pink dress and was holding a doll in her hands.

"Hurt him…More."

"As you wish, My Lady!"

Saiko pounded the defenseless old man mercilessly, slamming him into the wall. "Like this?" she asked. She slammed his head into the wall.

"More!" They chanted. She punched him in the gut, "More! More! More! More! More!"

She kicked the man through the wall. He was as good as dead. "He is yours, my Court! Take his bones as yours!"

She watched as the crowd leapt down on the old man and literally tore him apart with their own hands.

The younger man turned to her. "This will make up for your failure with the Titans."

"I did not fail to kill the Titans or Dick Grayson; I just wanted to test their strength. I am only loyal to the court."

"The Court does not tolerate error, or failure. Remember that, Saiko."

"Without people like me, you'd be nothing, I suggest you remember that. You hide behind your wealth and your masks; I'm the one doing the killing."

"Why you impudent—" the man began to move toward her when his wife stopped him.

"Let her be, she keeps things…interesting."

"We have another assignment for you."

"Yes sir?" she asked.

"Assassinate Deathstroke, Slade Wilson; it is he, not these "Titans" the Court views as a threat. Eliminate him."

"As you wish, my Court, I will not fail this time." Saiko turned and left.

The Court would not tolerate another failure from her. The execution she'd carried out wasn't nearly enough to atone for her failure to kill Dick Grayson. She would kill Slade and change this city for the greater good.

"She's defiant, it won't end well."

"Forget her; let's tear apart the old man. Isn't it fun, dear?"

"Yes, it is."

In the darkness of a nondescript building, Slade Wilson sat deep in thought.

He thought he heard a noise and got to his feet to look around. Was it the Titans? No, they always busted down his door, they never bothered sneaking in, well, Beast Boy did once, but usually they don't bother trying to hide that they were there.

Slade heard the distinct sound of footsteps; he stood up to greet his intruder.

"Did you honestly think you could sneak up on me?"

"No, who could sneak up on Deathstroke, the master assassin?" Saiko asked. "Slade Wilson, the Court of Owls has sentenced you to die!"

"Oh, I'm so scared," Slade deadpanned unenthusiastically.

Slade lunged forward, striking the assassin across the jaw, so hard it broke her neck. He heard the bones snap and stared in surprise when the woman's body regenerated.

"You have advanced healing, that will make this fight interesting," Slade quickly kicked Saiko across the face.

"Trivial…so trivial…what do you think that actually did to me?" she asked.

He barely managed to avoid the Talon's vicious Promethium claws; he unsheathed his sword, made of the same material and began parrying the strikes.

The blades met as sparks sizzled in the air. Slade gripped his sword, trying to look for the nonexistent opening. Saiko knocked the sword away and Slade tried to counterattack by knocking her off the spinning gear they were fighting on, but she performed a back flip and landed on the ground.

Slade dropped down on her and finally started landing punches and kicks, he was furious at being beaten by some no name lackey. She somersaulted at him and hit him feet first. He jumped over to where his sword was and thrust it through her chest.

"You shouldn't have underestimated me!" Slade sneered as he looked at her. He suddenly felt blades pierce his chest, barely missing his heart.

She gripped his mask and slammed him into the floor, causing the metal protecting Slade's face to crack and break, revealing his bloody, beaten state. She'd actually been able to do what Robin and the other Titans had never done, beat Slade to the point of being near death.

"You're so pathetic!" Saiko snarled.

"Am I?" Slade suddenly stabbed his enemy with a pair of knives, right in the eyes.

"Let's see you regenerate your eyes!" Slade was hurt, but he didn't care. He just wanted to kill her.

Slade reached over and grabbed the Talon, slamming her into the wall hard. He beat her with his fists, his elbows, throwing in a head butt as he slammed his knee into her groin.

"That's actually…cute," she taunted.
/]
[/She can't beat me! There's no way she can beat me! I've thought of every strategy, every angle, she can't kill me!

He moved to attack again when suddenly; he stared down at his chest as he felt pain rip through his body. She'd thrown knives into his chest, while unable to see because he had stabbed out her eyes.

"Now you die!" Saiko took Slade's own sword and pinned him to the floor through the heart. She slashed his throat, and checked for a pulse. He was dead, and turned and left.

Slade felt his own healing powers begin to work as he waited for what seemed like an eternity when he reached up and pulled the sword out of his chest. It was extremely and even with his advanced healing, it would take some time for him to recover. He couldn't go to a hospital; he didn't have time to get into civilian clothes. There was only one place he could go, how ironic. He staggered out and walked to the ferry and snuck aboard as it went over to the other side. He crept off the boat and made his way towards the Tower.

"We have a perimeter breach!" Cyborg shouted to Robin, the others ran into the room and they all made their way outside ready to fight.

"Hello Titans," Slade said weakly. He suddenly dropped to his knees and clutched his side.

"If this is some act you're trying to pull, we won't fall for it!" Cyborg pointed his Sonic Cannon at him.

Slade staggered and fell before the Titans as they all gaped in shock. This wasn't just some villain; this was their arch nemesis, their greatest foe, beaten, bloody, and unmasked, coming to them for help.

"What…happened to you?" Robin asked, stunned.

"An immortal assassin, I am very similar to these Talons, and yet she defeated me."

"Slade got his butt handed to him by a girl, totally sucks for you!" Beast Boy smirked.

"I do believe it was this "Saiko" you've all been aimlessly chasing," Slade grunted. "She's better than you thought."

"We beat her before and we can do it again," Beast Boy boasted.

"She was just testing you, I've seen how she fights, she could kill all of you. She's very good," Slade added. "I discovered something very interesting about her."

Slade handed the Titans a flash drive with a video file on it. Robin escorted Slade to the Tower infirmary. They might not like Slade, but they wouldn't let him die, they would at least give him medical attention.

The other Titans were watching the video. It was brutal, so brutal that the others were wincing at the sight of what Saiko was doing to Slade. But Robin had lived in Gotham City, he'd seen everything there. There wasn't anything that could surprise him.

Or so he thought.

He saw Saiko execute an acrobatic maneuver. It took everything he had to keep his jaw from dropping. It couldn't be real, what he was seeing was impossible. Slade was awake, but not strong enough to move.

Slade was resting in the infirmary; they had cameras all over the room, in case he tried to escape.

Slade saw Robin open the door. He didn't grab his enemy by the throat; no shouting or intimidation. He just looked Slade straight in the face.

"Did you doctor the video or change it in any way?" Robin's voice was very low, low enough it would not be picked up on the audio.

"Now Robin, why would I do something like that? Especially since I was nice enough to give you the footage in the first place."

"I don't put anything past you Slade," the teenager crossed his arms.

"Fair enough," Slade conceded. "But you saw it, didn't you?"

"Anyone can do that with enough training," Robin stared. "I can do that without any trouble."

"That's just the problem, you're the only one on Earth who can do that, even I know that, and you're not an acrobat anymore Grayson."

"Did you go anywhere near them?" Dick asked.

"No, I'm not smart enough, no…I'm not dumb enough to mess with anything that's dead," Slade sighed. "And I thought I had problems."

"But why would they go after you? You're not such a nice guy yourself," Robin looked at the mercenary intently.

"Because they see me as a threat, I have my own plans for this city; let's just say they'll have to be put on hold. I promise that I'll lay low until this is over."

"Why should I believe you?"

"Because as you could see in the video, she killed me, this "Court of Owls" is good enough that I might try to go after them, if I was in the mood. Why should I do all the work when you can do it all by yourself? I'm not doing this for you; I'm doing this for me."

"You're just saving yourself, as usual," Robin turned to leave. "Who do you think she is?"

"I have my guesses, but I never saw her face," Slade watched his enemy leave. "But I have my guesses."

"The obvious answer is ludicrous," Dick told him, "No one knows that better than me."