Not As It Seems

the beginning

Robin, answer us, please! We are almost to your location.

...nngh...

Robin, stay awake.

...

Come on, man, say something!

...sorry...

No, come on, stay with us. We are two minutes out. Keep talking!

...Wing....tell B...m'sorry...

Tell him yourself, little wing! We can see the warehouse, just hang tight and-

Ka-Boom!

Robin!

Years Later...

Tim Drake, the new Robin, was standing in the hall of fallen heroes, staring up at his predecessors memorial. Jason Todd, the murdered Robin, cruelly taken from the world too soon.

"He was a good kid, you know." Tim jumped at the sound of Artemis' voice, turning to see the archer standing there in her civvies with an unreadable expression on her face. "The second Robin, Jason, he was like the little brother I never had. Sure, I mean, I had Dick, but he has always been mature for his age. Jason on the other hand, well, he was a different story." She smiled sadly, shaking her head to get rid of the memories she worked so hard to lock away. "Come on, they're waiting for you in the mission room."

The two of them walked silently to the mission room, being greeted by the other members of the team as they entered the room. Once everyone was gathered, Dick began the briefing. "As you all know, we have been working hard to gather intel on the organization known as The Light. Well, now we have reason to believe that a transaction is going down on The Light's behalf at this auction. Our mission is to infiltrate the auction and stop the sale of this drug." Nightwing pulled up a file on the holographic computer for everyone to see. "In the Light's hands, this drug could wipe out free will. We cannot allow them to get this drug, understood?" Everyone nodded. "Good. We leave now, the auction is being held in Metropolis."

On the way to Metropolis the bioship received a transmission. Accepting the transmission, very few were surprised to see Will Harper on the other side. He had a grim expression. "Nightwing, Jade got the job. She is going to be running interference against you. I don't know how many others will be helping her." Dick nodded, thanking Will. "Of course. And...be careful."

"Always. Good night, Will."

The rest of the flight was uninterrupted as the team mentally prepared themselves. When they landed on the roof, M'gann put the bioship in camouflage mode before disembarking, setting up a mind link.

Okay, everyone has their assignments. Remember, no matter what, The Light cannot get their hands on this drug.

Roger that.

The team entered the building, glad they asked Zatanna for glamour charms for this mission. They made their way to their positions, spread out throughout the crowded room yet still within eye sight of each other.

It was then that the auctioneer began the auction, starting off with low level extraterrestrial technology before moving onto the heavier hitting items. "And here we have a drug with a very long scientific name, that has been dubbed simply Control. Do I hear five hundred thousand?" As the price continued to climb, Dick and his team searched the crowd for The Light's buyer. So far, they hadn't seen any of the usual suspects or even Jade for that matter. They were beginning to lose hope when they saw someone who could be Simon in disguise, the one currently ahead of the bidding war.

Miss M, check out the dude in the third row, fifth from the middle.

Oh, definitely Simon.

What do you say we crash this party?

The team was converging on Simon's position when out of the wood works came Cheshire and a newcomer, a male dressed in a red hooded outfit with a red face mask that covered the majority of his face, his eyes glowing red.

"Run along, children. This doesn't concern you." Cheshire drew her sai at the same time her partner drew a katana.  "We've got this covered."

"Cheshire, do you know what Control does?" M'gann tried to reason with the assassin, only for the other female to let out a chuckle.

"Of course I do. And I'm being paid good money to make sure it reaches my benefactor." The second she jumped at the team with her sai drawn back to fight, the rest of the auction ran away, clearing the room save for the team, Simon, and the assassins.

M'gann, take care of Simon. The rest of us are to make sure Cheshire and her friend do not get their hands on Control.

M'gann's eyes glowed green as she jumped into a telepathic battle with Simon, the rest of the team focusing on their ensuing battles with the assassins.

Cheshire took down Bart by managing a lucky hit to his pressure point, rendering his body useless. Red, her companion, was engaged in a battle with both Nightwing and Robin. He grabbed Tim by the throat, pulling his back close to his chest as he held the katana blade close to his neck. Nightwing froze, images of the warehouse entering his mind as he thought about losing another brother.

"Stop!" Everyone froze, mid fight to see what  had Dick so rattled. When they did, their blood ran cold. "What do you want?"

"You know what we want." Red spoke in a heavily mechanical voice, backing towards the stage with Tim as his hostage. Once he got to the case that contained Control, he typed a code into the case and it opened. Tim's eyes widened under his domino mask as he realized what was happening. 

He was a bit surprised to see a three pronged circle with another keypad, demanding a code. Red typed in the code and three spikes popped up from the circle. He slammed his own opened hand onto the prongs, shocking Tim as he subsequently released him from his hold.

"Red! You moron!" Cheshire rushed the stage as the prongs released Red's hand. He took a few woozy steps away, slamming the case shut. Cheshire grabbed the case, regaining her composure as she turned to face the team. "Well, as always, its been a pleasure doing business with you." The two assassins ran towards the exit as the distinct sound of a helicopter could be heard landing outside.

Bioship, now.

But M'gann-

Conner, grab her.

The team made their way onto the bioship, flying after the helicopter that carried Control and the two assassins.

On the helicopter, Jade was looking over Red's hand. "You idiot. Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Yes. And I'm sorry, for that and for this." Cheshire went to question what her partner meant when he shoved her out of the helicopter.

Those aboard the bioship saw Cheshire falling and gasped, turning the ship downwards to catch her before she hit the ground. Thankfully, they managed to catch her just in time, but they lost the helicopter.

Aboard the bioship, Cheshire was immediately questioned. "Why did your partner shove you out?"

Cheshire glared out the window, arms crossed over her chest as she was restrained by Cassie's lasso. "I don't know, you'll have to ask him."

"Who is your partner?"

Cheshire sighed. "What is this, twenty questions? I've never seen him without the mask before." Cheshire smirked. "How's Artemis?"

"You don't get to ask that." Dick snarled.

"What, like you and Robin never fight? Please, she's my baby sister. I worry about her."

"Well, you'll get to see for yourself. M'gann, if you will."

M'gann nodded, telepathically knocking Jade out. She turned to Dick. "Who was the one in Red?"

Dick sighed, a far off look on his face. "I don't know, but I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot more of him."