Mad Jyhad

Flowers bloomed in the sky as the stars wept in shame. The Snow Angel looked on in joy as the old castles fell to the ground. Flames danced through the streets greeting the young and the old embracing them, kissing them, loving them into death.

Children, tiny miniatures of the inmates that had escaped danced around the green haired angel of death before growing and then flying off in separate directions. Teeth bared clutching the dying to their breast.

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I woke early before the sun had completely gone down. I was alone. From a distance I could hear the others upstairs. Muted voices whispering above me, their voices seemed subdued and I slowly went up the stairs apprehensive.

As I climbed the steps I placed the connection in my ear and listened as a steady stream of information flitted through the line. Oracle had connected a large number of heroes on one line in an effort to reduce the time it took to convey information. It wasn't an unusual tactic but it was strange to hear the Prince talking to Batman then Wonder Woman as they relayed possible points of attack.

By the time I had entered the meeting room I had discovered that the Joker had managed to detonate several bombs planted throughout the city. The beleaguered heroes were hard pressed to keep up with the massive destruction that seemed to be using an untraceable remote system and at times humans under the influence of an unknown substance.

I came up behind Sabastian and asked, "What are you supposed to be?"

"Um...Batman's...something or another?" Sabastian lifted a brow. "He vouched for me, they went for it. He even let me have a code name. I got to pick it out. Cool, huh?"

"What is your code name?" I asked.

"Dark Trick." He stuck his tongue out a little. "Silly, isn't it?"

"No sillier than some I've heard. Think about it? I'm named after a spring bird! Not to mention some of the stupid things people come up with, not just the heroes, but the villains, too. The Baffler?" I shook my head. "I like your code name. How did you come up with it?"

Sabastian shrugged. "Eh, he and I talked earlier. I told him about some of the more interesting aspects of the Kindred. The Embrace is sometimes called the Dark Trick."

I was surprised. "You two talked? About what?"

Sabastian shook his head. "That's between me and him, little one. He needed...understanding. That's all you need to know. He's quite a man. It is no wonder so many fight for and beside him."

"That must have been some talk!" I blinked.

"Yes, it was." He nodded seriously.

"Any ideas on where he and his fledges went?" I asked coming to the map that Jarred had marked with another pin. "These indicate where explosions have taken place?"

"Yes, he appears to be doing the scorch the earth method. I don't think he has gathered his wits together yet to think out a cohesive plan. I'm sure you recall how confusing it was just after being turned." Sabastian said, pointing to the different pins. "But that will change soon enough. And we can't let him get time to figure things out. Right now, he's lashing out like a child during a temper tantrum."

"Hm, some temper tantrum." I shook my head looking at the map carefully.

"Yes, quite." Sabastian nodded.

I gained Oracle's attention and told her. "He's heading toward the area that hasn't been repaired yet from the earthquake, the ruins. He plans on destroying them. Perhaps to rebuild them, I don't know. But I would have everyone check for big bombs, BIG bombs, make sure none have gone missing."

"Are you sure?"

"I can't explain it. I see...what he wants...what...might happen sometimes."

"Vague enough?" she quipped.

"Could it hurt to check?" I asked.

"No, I can have Flash and Impulse check things out." I heard the request go out and turned back to Sabastian.

"Have you heard from Nightwing?" I asked.

He nodded, "He's catching a little nap. He was dead on his feet."

I groaned. "No dead comments, not tonight."

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm going to try and call him. I'm heading toward the ruins." I turned back for a moment.

"Not without an escort!" Sabastian grabbed my arm hauling me back.

"You can't be serious!"

"You bet your sweet tight ass!" the Prince said.

"Um, could you close the link before you say stuff like that?" Oracle asked with a giggle. "Unless you plan on providing pictures that is!"

I glared at Sabastian who leered into the air. "Only if you ante up pics of you and Black Canary!"

"Dark Trick...you are such a..." a voice said before the line went quiet before Oracle returned laughing. "Sorry about that...Canary...heard you."

"Flash just reported in...you were on the money. Two stolen bombs. Looks like they got in through a tunnel of some sort. The military is sealing it and have set up extra guards all over. Seems that they had never considered that someone would tunnel in."

"I think Joker had something like this planned for years...he's just now getting a chance to act upon it. Those tunnels run all throughout the city. A lot of them are part of the old subway system UNDERNEATH the current one." Nightwing's sleepy voice broke over the line.

"That's not good." Sabastian shook his head. "Nightwing, Robin intends to go to the ruins, I'm sending Andrew and Jarred with him. Could you meet him there?"

"I'll be there!" the answer was curt and to the point.

It was a surprise to hear Batman break in. "I'll be there also!"

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My two shadows followed me all the way to the ruins. The biggest area that had still not been fixed up since the earthquake that had once resulted in Gotham being made into a No Man's Land.

They were silent, never saying a word, simply obeying the Prince without any questions asked. The three of us simply skipping from rooftop to rooftop sometimes skirting a collapsed building before jumping briefly onto another tall structure, never putting down enough weight long enough on any one thing to bring it tumbling down.

Few humans lived in this part of town. Only the homeless, who squatted in condemned buildings, trying to find shelter in the cold. Tiny fires burned in small metal trashcans as they huddled close trying to stay warm. They were ignored as we hurried past looking for only two specific humans.

We found them standing on top of some concrete rubble.

I suspect that Flash had dropped them off and I indicated as much. Nightwing opened his mouth to answer but Batman interrupted him with. "How exactly will you 'call' the Joker?"

"I allowed him to feed from me twice, it gives me...a link to him." I answered carefully watching Nightwing's face. He grimaced and looked away.

"Do you need to prepare? Anything you need beforehand?" Nightwing asked, his voice a little rough. I lifted my concentration and allowed myself to peek at his aura. The green had begun to creep back in.

"I just need to concentrate." I tried to smile.

"Will he obey?" Batman asked.

I shrugged. "He may, or he may not. It depends on him really. I have to convince him that HE needs to see ME! The fact that I know him fairly well gives me a slight advantage."

Nightwing turned back to me with a glare and I felt my cheeks begin to heat.

"Friendship is not necessary, dire enemies can call each other. It is knowledge, not friendship, that makes it possible. I KNOW him fairly well, it gives me a chance, and the feeding gives me a better chance but he could still refuse. That is why I have to convince him that he needs and wants to see me." I tilted my head apologetically. "I do have to be convincing."

Nightwing nodded reluctantly. "I understand."

Batman looked up and then shot his line across the sky, rising into the night, hiding as best he could among the vagrants in the hopes that they would disguise his attendance. After a second Nightwing followed. I ceased to sense Jarred and Andrew as they used their own powers to disguise themselves supernaturally then hide in the conventional manner.

I walked away, leaving them behind. I had never actually called anyone before. I had used other forms of Presence but never that form. Only the fact that I could feel a tiny sliver, a thread, that connected him to myself allowed me to even entertain the idea that I could call him.

Finding a quiet area I knelt in the snow and looked up at the beautiful sky. The stars winked down on me and I prayed to them for strength. Taking a deep cleansing breath I let it out slowly, closing my eyes.

The cold seeped into my skin numbing me but I did not shiver, my body no longer needs to keep itself warm. The cold wet was a minor discomfort from memory rather than any real need to be warm and dry.

I picked at the thread within my mind, imagining his face, the green eyes that sparkled with malice and hate one minute then mischief the next, the green hair that had grown since his stay in the Slab, hanging down past his shoulders in waves and somehow softening the sharp planes of his angular face. His lips stained ruby and highlighted with lipstick; a fact unknown to most people. An animated mouth that could frown as easily as smile but choosing to always remain turned up. Slim body that hid muscles built by years of lifting weights in institutions, a clever mind that could have solved world problems had it not been bent toward destruction.

The thread widened and inside my mind I could almost see it, a silver line that stretched from me into an all-encompassing darkness. Only on the other side I could feel a tiny little pull, like someone picking it up and holding it.

I concentrated on the feel of skin against my lips, the taste of his blood. The feel of his erection as I touched him, holding him close to my body. Stroking him as he hardened more. Taking my blood...

[what?]

(Come to me...)

[why?]

Instead of answering I sent images of holding him, tng mng my head to the side as he fed from me eagerly, blood, lust, sex...

(Come to me...)

[no.]

(Why not?)

[busy.]

(Doing?)

I project the image of pouting. The feeling of disappointment. I feel him picking the line up tightly, pulling it to him harder.

[work.]

(Can I help?)

[do gooder?]

(vampire do gooder?)

[kill us.]

(Threaten territory...share now?)

[no trust.]

(Silly childe!)

Again I tried to project desire through the link.

(Make childer, threatens us, population control, over now. Fuck!)

[blunt.]

(Horny
[b
[busy.]

(Help? Finish faster... fuck sooner!)

I try to call up the memory of Sabastian inside me, the sensations as he filled me...I hear him laugh through the mental channel.

[come...to me...]

I smile as I jump to my feet. He didn't heed my call...he had called me. Either way, I now knew where he was.

"Come on out! I have to hurry!" I called out to my watchers.

"It failed?" Batman asked coming out of the shadows.

"Yes, and no. Instead of coming to me, he called me to him. I think he is with the bombs. Setting them. He expects me soon. I have to hurry!"

"How do you know where to go?" Batman asked grabbing my shoulder before I could jump.

"When one is called you are given a sort of mental map of where they are. He wouldn't come to me, but he couldn't pass up the chance to fuck me." I grinned as Batman shifted uncomfortably.

Batman raised his arm to shoot the line and I grabbed his arm. "You can't go!"

"What?" He turned to me; under normal circumstances such a look would have been intimidating.

"Here, you were hidden among the vagrants that hide here in the ruins. Where I am going there are no humans. You would be noticed! He would know it is a set up. I am going to have to go in with just Jarred and Andrew!"

"That is unacceptable!" Batman growled.

"It's going to have to be! Otherwise, we will lose the ONE chance we have to end this quickly!"

Nightwing watched quietly and I grimaced.

"You trust me, don't you?" I asked Nightwing.

Looking away he bowed his head and I felt my heart begin to sink. Finally he turned back to me and said. "I trust you, I don't trust him!"

"Jarred and Andrew will be there to help me." I reached out a hand and touched Nightwing's face. "He won't win."

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