Thirty Days (A Birdflash Fanfiction)

Day 7: Cosplaying

"I don't even wanna know what you two were doing that took so long,"Artemis said over Miss Martian's psychic link.

"We had to duel for Deadpool," Kid Flash replied.

"I take it Robin won?"

"Well, yeah, but he's too short for the costume so I ended up winning by default anyway."

Robin grumbled to himself as he pulled his Spider-Man mask down over his head. Kid Flash snickered.

"Don't make me hit you," Robin muttered.

"Getting in character already?"

"Shut up and focus on the mission." Robin had really wanted to be Deadpool, okay? Not that it mattered in the end. They were there to catch a guy who was going around and murdering cosplayers. The rest of the team was stationed in other parts of the building, all disguised. If this guy showed his face, they'd catch him.

Robin scanned the crowd, ignoring the cloth-covered kiss Kid Flash pressed onto his cheek. At least he thought it was a kiss. Kid Flash could've been trying to nuzzle him for all he knew.

Then, Robin spotted him. The guy was unremarkable, really, dressed in a Captain America t-shirt and chatting up a girl dressed as Black Widow. His lack of defining features was what had kept him out of prison for so long. Of course, he had to know he was a wanted man so the fact that he was still up to his old tricks spoke volumes of his arrogance. Or unintelligence. Or maybe both.

"Got eyes on our target," said Robin. "KF, cover the exits. Who's closest to us?"

"Coming," said Superboy.

"Miss Martian, cloak and follow our target," ordered Aqualad. "The rest of us will cover any remaining escape routes. Robin, Superboy, get him away from civilians before apprehending if possible."

"Gotcha. Moving in." Robin worked his way through the crowd, sparing a thumbs-up for a pair of children but otherwise keeping his eyes on the target. The killer and his mark started walking toward the front door together. Bold of him. Robin updated the team on their movements. The size of the crowd afforded Robin some anonymity, so he didn't have to be too worried about his quarry spotting him.

They were almost to the door when Kid Flash, as Deadpool, leapt in front of him. Robin wasn't quite close enough to hear him talking, but given the wild gestures that earned a laugh from the girl, he was following the lead of countless Deadpool cosplayers who had come before him and earned minor fame on the internet when videos of their antics ended up online.

That gave Robin and Superboy—who was dressed as himself, funnily enough—the time they needed to catch up. The killer had his hand on the girl's elbow and was trying to subtly tug her away. Kid Flash kept stepping in the way whenever the killer tried to scoot around him.

"Hey, Widow," Robin said. "That's a sweet costume. Aren't you gonna stick around for the contest?"

"The prizes they give out are crap," said the killer.

"Not the point, dude," Robin replied. "Besides, shouldn't you let the lady answer for herself?"

"Actually, that sounds like fun," said the girl.

"Sign-up's across the hall." Robin pointed in the general direction. "There's not a lot of time if you want to get in on the action."

"Thanks, Spider-Man."

The killer's face was turning red. "But we were—"

"Raincheck?"

"I fly out of Gotham tomorrow," said the killer. "You want that coffee? It's gotta be now."

"He sounds desperate," Kid Flash stage-whispered.

"Mind your own damn business, asshole."

"Hey, no need to get snappy," said Robin. "You could hurt a guy's feelings throwing around that language."

The killer elected to ignore them and turned back to the girl. "Come on, lady. I'm buying."

The girl was starting to look like she really regretted saying yes to the guy in the first place. "Sorry. It's my first con and I just want to—"

"I could show you around instead?" the guy offered. "I've been to loads of these places before." He reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, but Superboy grabbed his arm.

"She said no," he growled.

"Hey, chill out, man. I wasn't going to hit her or anything."

"Not in public anyway," Robin added. He addressed the girl: "This guy's been to a lot of cons before because he likes picking up and killing cosplayers. We're here to stop him." He placed an automatic call with the wristwatch computer that looked terribly out of place with the rest of his costume. "Police are on the way. They'll probably want to take your statement."

"You son of a—" The killer lunged for Robin, but Superboy jerked him back by the arm and twisted it behind his back.

"You're not going anywhere," said Robin. "The authorities have been looking for you all over the country."

"If you hadn't tried for one more victim, you might've gotten away with it," Kid Flash added. "Hooray for dumb criminals?"

"Who the hell are you three?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"You'll have plenty of time to ponder that with the sentence you're looking at." Dick smirked but, sadly, he was the only person who could tell behind the mask.

The police arrived shortly thereafter and the team left the Black Widow cosplayer in the care of the police. Nearly getting murdered had probably ruined her day, but at least she would have more days to make up for it.

"Good work, team," said Aqualad.

"We should stick around," Kid Flash whispered in Dick's ear. "I've always wanted to go to one of these."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Wanna find some Spideypool fangirls and make their day?"

Robin snorted and didn't dignify that with a response. "KF and I are gonna stick around for a bit," he told the team at large.

"That sounds like a great idea," said Miss Martian. "We could all use a break."

"'Kay, but Robin's all mine." Kid Flash laughed maniacally and dragged Robin off to enjoy the rest of the con, leaving the team in a mix of emotions ranging from exasperation and amusement.

"Called it," said Artemis.