Not As It Seems

pain

Jason groaned from his puddle of blood, peeking up at Jade to see her glaring down at him. He smiled at her, sitting up to give her a two fingered salute. "Hey, Jade. What's up?"

Jade narrowed her eyes at the teenager, crossing her arms over her chest. "You ratted me out."

Jason furrowed his brow in confusion. "What are you talking about? I never-"

"Save it, Red." Jade snarled. "Batman told me you ratted me out to Deathstroke."

Jason's eyes widened and he barked out a laugh. "You...you trust Batman over your own partner?" Jade said nothing. "Jade, why would I rat you out? What would I gain, huh?"

Jade grunted, averting her eyes. Jason sighed, stumbling over to the desk and snagging a piece of paper and a pen. He stared Jade down as he wrote, not once glancing down. Once he was done, he handed the paper over to her. She took it and read it over carefully, eyes bulging before relaxing.

She stared up at Jason from the paper. "Is everyone here playing each other?"

Jason shrugged. "Yeah, basically." He stood up and stretched, walking towards the door. He glanced over his shoulder at her, tilting his head to the side. "You coming?"

Jade followed wordlessly as Jason led her to the medbay. She watched curiously as he took two needles, drawing blood into both of them from his own arm. He noticed her staring and laughed. She scoffed, taking one of the needles and sliding it into her belt, Jason doing the same with the second needle. She followed him out of the medbay at the HQ and out towards the courtyard. Once they were at the exit, Jason stilled, turning to face Jade.

"What?"

Jason smirked. "They're here."

Jade smirked right back. "Then let's go greet them, yeah?"

The duo made their way into the courtyard, slinking along the outer edge, watching as Deathstroke confronted Batman, the Justice League and the team standing behind Batman.

"Where is he, Deathstroke?" Batman growled, eyes narrowing when the assassin laughed.

"He is with Jade, would you like me to call him down here?" Batman said nothing and Deathstroke chuckled under his breath. "Jason, the heroes are here to see you."

Jason turned to Jade. "You know the plan, right?" She nodded wordlessly and he grinned. "My time to shine."

He walked out from where he was hiding behind a tree, silently making his way over to Deathstroke with an expressionless face. He stood there, eyeing the heroes with a cool look.

The League and the team held back their gasps when they saw Jason and took in his condition. He had two black eyes, a cut on his eyebrow and various blade wounds on his body, hastily wrapped. When Jason caught Dick's eye, he smirked.

Deathstroke placed a hand on Jason's shoulder, squeezing tightly. He leaned down and whispered in his ear. "Has everything been set up?"

"Of course, master." Jason fought back the eyeroll, knowing he still had to pretend. "Shall I alert Jade?"

"No need, I shall handle it." Deathstroke pulled out a trigger and hit the button, spikes appearing around where the heroes stood. An electrical impulse went shooting out, catching the two teams in their blasts and sending them to their knees. Deathstroke handed Jason two pieces of kryptonite, nodding towards the two Kryptonians.

Jason got the hint and walked into the circle, heading over to Superman and Conner. He stabbed a piece of the rock in each of their shoulders before making his way back to Deathstroke, who pat his head.

"What...argh, what do you want?" Artemis growled from her place on the ground.

"Isn't it obvious? I want to rid the world of the pesky Justice League and your junior team. Speaking of, Jason?" Jason stood at attention. "Take out the junior team, will you?"

"With pleasure." Jason unsheathed his katana, walking back over to the heroes. "Any particular one you want me to start with?"

Deathstroke thought it over. "Start with Robin. Make him suffer."

Jason walked over to Tim, holding the sword under his chin and forcing him to make eye contact with him. Tim glared back, unable to move due to the electricity still flowing out of the spikes. Jason grinned maliciously, pulling his sword away before slicing Tim's stomach shallowly. Tim grunted, still making eye contact with Jason.

As Jason was about to strike again, a voice spoke out. "You know I didn't expect you to be the one to send a mere child after the League, Slade." All eyes turned to see Ra's and Talia standing on the far side of the courtyard with Jade. "But then again, you have always been a coward."

"Al Ghul." Slade growled. "To what do I owe this visit?"

Ra's laughed, stepping closer. "I am taking back what is rightfully mine. I let you have your fun, now hand it over before you are in a world of pain."

Slade snorted. "I can easily take you, old man."

Ra's felt the needle prick his skin. going to swat it away but Jade was quicker. He thought nothing of it, assuming it was a large mosquito. "Slade, don't make this harder than it needs to be."

Slade nodded. "Alright, you're right." He narrowed his eyes under his mask. "Jason, take down the Al Ghuls." Jason nodded, retreating back to Slade. Deathstroke snarled. "I told you to take down the Al Ghuls, what are you doing?"

Jason shrugged. "What you said, I'm just getting another weapon."

He got next to Slade, moving quickly he pulled the needle from his belt and injected the contents into Deathstroke. Deathstroke froze for a minute before back handing Jason away. He pulled out a knife and stabbed it into Jason's gut, eliciting gasps from the heroes when Jason coughed up blood.

"What have you done?" Deathstroke roared, pulling the knife out to strike again.

"Giving you a taste of your own medicine." Jason grinned from beneath the blade, blood on his teeth. "Now, freeze."

Deathstroke stopped a moment before the blade entered Jason's chest. He got off the ground, stumbling to his feet with his hands pressed over his wound. Everyone was watching curiously as Jason turned to look at Ra's, who was also standing there frozen.

"You should be thanking me, master." Jason drawled. "I mean, you now have my blood flowing through your veins and with that, Control. A strain of Control that only listens to my commands, you know, since it came from me."

"Jason, you crazy son of a bitch, you got the drop on Deathstroke and Ra's Al Ghul." Jade smirked, making her way over to stand with the teen.

"Well, you actually got the drop on Al Ghul. Thanks, by the way." Jason nodded at Jade before turning back to face the two assassins he had under his thumb. "Ra's, be a dear and come over here." Everyone watched with fascination as Ra's Al Ghul listened and obeyed, making his way to stand on the other side of Jason. Jason rubbed his chin, pretending to be in deep thought. "What to do, what to do...oh! I know." He grinned, stepping back from the assassins. "Kill each other."

Ra's and Deathstroke nodded, pulling out their blades. They circled each other before diving into battle.

"Jason, stop this! This is madness." Batman called out.

Jason looked conflicted before holding his hand up. "You're right, this is not fair. Pause the battle." The two older assassins stopped mid fight. Jason walked between them, unsheathing a dagger from Deathstroke's armory and twirling it in his hand. "Slade clearly has the advantage, seeing as Ra's is old and hasn't been in the pit in awhile. So, let's even the playing field, shall we?"

"That's not what I me-"

But Bruce was too late as Jason stabbed Slade in the gut, almost in the exact place he was stabbed. He twisted the blade and pulled it out, stepping back with a grin. "There, now it is more even. Continue."

Ra's and Deathstroke continued to fight while everyone watched on, helplessly stuck in their electrical prison.