The Lives I've Led {Jason Todd short story's}

Fight For It

Jason let out a huff as he laid down on the cold wired floor of his crate. The tiger shifter had been stuck here for maybe... eight weeks? He wasn't exactly sure where 'here' was, even though he had been here for so long. He just knew what 'here' was for. 

It was a fighting ring for shifters, run by multiple crime lords that had once been under his control. It was battles to the death, and so far he had fought four times, coming out with new scars each time. They rarely fed him or game him water, and had fitted a large collar made of thick leather with barbs on the inside to prevent him from shifting. Well, he could shift, but the barbs would kill him- humans cannot take as much damage as a tiger can. They had also renamed him 'Crimson' for his fur color, because after fights, his orange fur would be stained a bright red. Maybe Bats would save him this time.

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It had been eight years. Eight years of constant fighting, abuse, and suffering. He should have been dead, but the pit water that flowed through constantly his veins refused to let him die. His right eye had been gouged out, his left ear torn off, had several broken bones, and many long bloody gashes running through his pelt. He didn't remember much, but he knew his name, and that he had a family, but he didn't remember their names. Which had had done, and not only against other shifters. He had fought thirst, exhaustion, starvation, and injuries... but now... he didn't think he could fight any more.

The crime lords had left just a few days ago, and brought all the other shifters with them, but they had left Jason alone to die, rotting away in the small cage. 

Jason tilted his head up a little and let out a hollow roar of despair and defeat. Unfortunately for him, the Pit's water wouldn't let him die, unless it was from a fatal injury to his heart, the thing that the Pit's water was coursing through, and at this point, the only thing keeping him alive. He laid his head down again, some of the blood that had pooled on the floor seeping into the fur on his cheek. The cage smelled rancid, of death, sorrow, sickly sweet infection, blood, and Lazarus water.

The silence was- oddly enough -deafening, which made him inhale with surprise when it was broken by something other than his harsh and raspy breathing. The sound of footsteps echoed down the bloodstained hall, about four pairs. His hackles raised at the sound, for it was likely some of the criminals coming back to drag him off to a new base. But he wouldn't fight it. He let out an airy, defeated huff, and set his head down one last time.

He heard them grow closer, echoing off the walls of the long hallways that were lined with cages.  Yet again, for about the twentieth time this week, he felt his soul try to drift from his body. His eyes closed, his head lulled, but the Lazarus water wouldn't let him go. He was abruptly yanked back into his stiff body, letting out a loud yowl of pain as his body jerked madly.

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Damian Wayne, aka Robin, trudged through the halls of the seemingly abandoned building, trailing close behind his father, with his two brothers next to him. They were at the supposed site of an animal fighting ring, which had been accurate, but it looked like it hadn't been used in a couple days. Blood, dirt, and grime smeared the hallways, and there was a strong scent of something decaying from down one of the halls.

"Batman, can we head back? There's obviously nothing here." Red Robin whined like a bored child.

"We must continue. We might find hints to where they went next." Batman grumbled. Suddenly, a roar of pain echoed from one of the halls. We all immediately turned and ran in the direction of the sound. We ran into the hallway that smelled like a decaying rat, and were shocked by what we saw. In one of cages, a large tiger laid down, gasping and wheezing. One of his eyes appeared to have been gouged out, his left ear was missing, his fur was streaked with blood and infected gouges in his skin. And what surprised us most, was the singular glowing green eye— the effect of the Lazarus pit. Unusual.