Seanam

Your heart began to race, your hearing became fuzzy, you couldn't breathe. fear shot through you, freezing you in place. Why him? Why HIM!?

No, no, no, NO, NO, NONONONO-

It felt like the world came to a stop when his eyes met yours. It was only a second, but that was enough to add fuel to the hatred. Melting the ice that froze you, you had to leave.

He paused after meeting your eyes, turning from the thugs at his feet to you. He took a step in your direction, reaching his arm out to you. But it was too late, you disappeared like a ghost.

You hurried though the alley ways, it was too soon to fight them. You had to be prepared, then, you would kill them. All of them. Meeting Damian was by chance, but it showed you just how weak you were. Your blood boiled, you wouldn't show weakness like that again.

Daiman looked though the crowd then back to his hand. A soft sigh escaped him. He reached down and grabbed the woman's bag and handed it back to her. Before she could thank him, Damian left. He was going crazy; just how many times is he going to delude himself into thinking you were still alive?

Your bare feet hit the pavement before coming to an abrupt stop. The city light danced through your vision, blurs of colors flashed brightly all around you. People surrounding you, staring AT you, judging you. How dare they!? They have no clue the pain you've gone through, you should just-

"Excuse me, young man?" An elderly woman broke you from your train of thoughts, her soft smile seemed to make all your previous thoughts disappear. "You seem hurt, and your clothes are dirty. are you all right?"

Confused, you turned to a nearby shop window. Oh, that's it. Your hair was a greasy mess, it had grown out longer than before. You were still wearing the white pajamas Dr. Crane gave you. The button-up top was dirty and torn in some spots. The pajama pants were frayed and even dirtier than your shirt, worst of all was your bare feet. You smiled softly at the woman, your eyes taking on a sad look.

"Ah, I apologize for worrying you ma'am. I'm alright, I just ...tripped?". you laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of your neck "silly me". The old woman let out a chuckle, her wrinkly hand reached for yours. Her soft touch almost made you flinch.

"Are you sure you'll make it home ok? This city is quite dangerous" the concern on her face reminded you of your mother. You gently took both of her hands into yours.

"Thank you for the consideration, ma'am. But you don't need to worry, I'll be ok". Your words seemed to make the old lady faulter, she slightly nodded before walking away. That woman helped clear your head and set a proper plan. First, money. You needed weapons ...and some other clothes. But for that, you needed money. When you were younger, you never really thought much about money. It was always accessible, of course you knew it didn't come out of thin air. You were always taught the value of a real job by your mother. However, you didn't have time to get a job and slowly make money, no. You needed money fast. But how? Hold someone for ransom? Rob a bank? No, that would make you to known...

Thats when you saw it. A young woman who looked about as average as could be, if not for your enhanced vision, you wouldn't have seen her pickpocket the businessman she passed. Thanks to the one of the experiments Dr. Crane preformed, you were able to scan the way it was performed. Your eyes landed on an elderly looking woman, busy looking at a shop window. You mimicked the pickpocket's movements exactly, quickly slipping out the woman's wallet. Within the blink of an eye you took out all the cash then placed the wallet back. Once you were far enough you counted the cash, $68. It was... decent, but not enough. Looking around you spotted a few more people who looked like they might have something. You needed much more than this...

Looking down at the cash you let out a sigh. You felt shameful, resorting to such things. your bank account should still be up, unless Bruce canceled it. But you couldn't access it, you're supposed to be dead. You clenched the money tightly in your hand, feeling your mothers disapproving gaze. It had to be done; revenge was all that matters. If you survive past your revenge, then you swore to repay everything you take and more.

By the end of the day, you managed to get $621.

The empty hallways of the manor seemed gloomier than ever before. A soft weeping sound echoed, leading the man further into the empty halls. The man passed many rooms, before stopping at the source of the noise. The door was slightly more extravagant than the rest. It was cracked open, a warm light leaking out into the dark hallway. The man slowly pushed it further open, inside was a large bed, and in the center sat a woman. Her delicate hands covered her face as sobs wracked through her body, her shoulders shook with every breath. The man walked up to her; his chest ached from seeing the woman cry. He reached his hand to her shoulder; however, she pushed him away, flinching at his touch. With her face no longer covered, he could see the tears streaming down.

"How could you?!" Her voice broke "You killed my son! Our son!". The man tried to speak but nothing came out. "My baby! Bruce, you killed my baby!"

Bruce reached for her again, just as his hand touched her, she faded out. He was no longer in the manor, now he was outside, in the middle of a battle. He was rescuing an old woman, but why did he feel like there was something more important?

"DAD!!" A scream echoed through the area, he looked over to see his son being pierced though.

"M/N!!" Bruce rushed to him, catching him as he fell. Bruce wrapped his cape around him holding him tightly before setting him on the ground. No that's not right, he had to get you somewhere safe. Looking down at him he saw his son's dead gaze staring up at him.

"Dad, why? why did you kill me?" blood poured from his mouth and stomach, covering Bruce in it. "I tried to be a good son. Why did you let me die? WHY DID YOU LET ME DIE?!"

GASP

Bruce woke up with a sharp breath, panting he looked down at his clean hands no longer covered in blood.

"Another nightmare sir?" Alfred asked "I heard you shout"

Bruce sighed and fell back onto his bed, covering his eyes with his hands. "Yes...."

This had to be good enough for now. You bought some new clothes, a black turtle-neck shirt, black waist-high pants, some durable boots, a white mask that had light gold accents, and lastly a long black coat that reached your mid-calf, the inside of the coat was white. You bought each item from different stores so that none could be traced.

Your last goal was weapons; the store you found was small but had decent stuff. Looking around you sorted through your options, a gun felt too much.... Jason. You ended up choosing throwing knifes, a few daggers, a cross bow, and a few different types of hand grenades.

"Your total is $2,513.68 will that be cash or debit?" This was a problem, after buying the clothes you had less than $200.

"Sir, can't you cut me a deal?" You used your sweetest voice, the clerk glared back at you.

"You think this is some charity case? Pay up or get lost." You couldn't put anything back, you needed everything. You looked down at the throwing knifes, picking it up you examined it, thinking hard about what you were about to do. Mother would be so disappointed. "Well? You wanna put that back or something? I don't have all day". It had to be done. Without looking up, the hand that held the knife flicked up, flinging the knife straight into his head. With a crash the man fell to the ground. You collected your stuff before walking out.

The next thing was finding somewhere to rest and manage your new weapons.

You found a good place in Gotham Woods, settling in a tall tree you got to work, layering belts and securing weapons in perfect reach. Lastly, you had two daggers left. With a bit of tinkering, you put them in the sole of the boots, with a tap to the opposite side, the dagger would pop out.

Now, it was finally time to start.

Tim was doing his night pratol, A report of a dead body was found at a weapon store, there was no leads. The camera had been down all week and there were no witnesses. Tim could already tell this was going to be a pain. He searched the alley nearby when someone appaired in front of him. A man suddenly appeared, the gold on his white mask catching in the light of the moon.

"Hello, Red Robin" The masked man spoke, "Or would you prefer your real name? Timothy" Tim startled, how did this man know his name? Tim looked around, grateful to see no one in listening distance.

"Who are you?" Tim demanded, he had to hurry back, to inform the others about this. The masked man chuckled, a dry unimpressed laugh.

"You have to find that out on your own" You tucked your hands into your pocket, showing him that you didn't see him as a threat. Tim got ready to fight, preparing for hand to hand. If that was how he wanted it, then you play his game. You rushed at him, a swift fist to his gut. It landed; however, he managed to avoid the grunt of it. He grabbed your arm with both hands, getting ready to flip you. You let your body drop slightly, using the momentum and his surprise, swiped a kick at the back of his knee knocking him down, he grabbed your leg. You twisted your body using his other leg you kicked the side of his head. He wasn't down yet but it gave you an escape from his grasp. Tim stood clutching his head. You weren't giving him a chance to plan his attacks, you were too fast for him, but he couldn't let you go. Tim kicked some crates near-by, knocking you off balance. He sent out an alert to the others while you were distracted.

Within only a few minutes, Dick showed up. You let out a scoff, if it were you, you'd be lucky to even get a response. Dick threw a wingding, hitting a flowerpot above. It landed on your head, you stumbled back. The pot wasn't heavy enough to kill but defiantly enough to knock someone out. If not for your advanced healing, you might've passed out.

"That was a low blow" You muttered, Dick jumped from his spot, landing next to Tim.

"Give up, you're cornered" Dick demanded, getting in a fighting stance. You Jumped at Dick, he leaped backwards avoiding your attack. Tim reached to grab you, but you dodged focusing more on Dick than Tim. Tim was the smartest, but the weakest physically. Besides you had a plan. You leapt at Dick again, just as he jumped backwards you smirked flicking a throwing knife from your sleave, gripping it between your fingers. You kept your gaze on Dick as you threw the knife at Tim. If he hadn't moved, it would've pierced his heart. Instead, it went straight through his shoulder.

"AH!" Tim hollered, his hand instantly grabbing his shoulder, putting pressure on it.

"Red Robin!" Dick rushed to him, checking the wound.

"We'll meet again, Red Robin, Nightwing. Next time I'll take it more seriously." Jumping backwards, you threw another at Tim. This time Dick pushed Tim out of the way. Dick barely managed to dodge, the knife slicing the top of his arm. While they were distracted, you took the opportunity to escape. you leapt between buildings, taking different paths to make sure no one could follow. once you were sure you were alone you returned back to your tree. Your heart was pounding. You did it! You actually did it! Sure, you didn't kill them, yet, but you managed to take them down. You'd never been able to do that before, always being the weakest.

Your eyes gleamed with a sort of manic joy. You let out a laugh, remembering all the times they belittled you for not being stronger than them, 'who's weak now?'

"Damn it!" Dick shouted, he had chased after the masked man but lost him. With nothing left to do, Dick returned to the manor. Tim returned ahead of him to receive treatment.

Once Dick made it back, he headed straight to the Batcave. Bruce was already waiting for him. Dick explained everything as best he could. The strange man, the mask, and Tim getting stabbed. Tim walked in shortly after, his shoulder covered in a bloody gauze. The rest of the bat family followed, looking equally concerned. Damian however, looked annoyed.

"He knew my identity" Tim said, everyone looked at him in shock. This was concerning, just who was this masked man?

Bruce let out a sigh, his hand rubbing his temples. He looked like he hasn't slept in weeks.

"We'll find this masked man; he won't escape us." Bruce walked off, returning moments later in his Batman suit.

TO BE CONTINUED