What Now

The Return

So this story is almost over, this is (probably) the second to last part. I'm honestly shocked this story has lasted as long as it did, I thought it was going to be like half this length. Anyways, onto the story!

"Jason...why did you kill him?!" Dick was staring at the decapitated head in horror, his mouth agape.

Jason stared blankly at the team and the Justice League members. "Are you serious right now? It was a death match. If I didn't kill him, he would kill me and then all of you. Plus, those are the rules of a death match. You kill the opponent. It is literally in the name of the game. Thought that was pretty obvious."

"Jason." Batman growled.

"Batman." Jason growled back. The two were locked in a stare down, fierce glares painted on their faces as they dared the other one to back down.

Shockingly, Batman was the one to crack first. He grunted, eyes narrowing ever-so-slightly. "We don't kill, ever. Not even Ra's al Ghul."

"Maybe you heroes don't, but us Outlaws don't abide by the same rules." Jason scoffed, about to say more when a figure behind the heroes caught his eye. His breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened. "Talia..."

"Hello, Jason." Talia spoke coolly, eyeing the decapitated head of her father and Jason's bloodied weapons. "I see you have bested my father. Very well, follow me."

Jason nodded, bringing the All Blades back into his body before silently following after Talia. Kori and Arsenal exchanged a look before trotting after him, grabbing his arm. "What?"

"How do you know she isn't going to kill you for, you know, killing her father?" Arsenal shifted from foot to foot anxiously, eyeing Talia's retreating back suspiciously.

Jason sighed. "She won't, trust me. Talia and I have a certain...understanding." Jason turned back around, pulling his arm from his friends' grip and continued to follow after Talia.

"What the hell does that mean?"

Arsenal jumped slightly at Roy's question, not having heard his counterpart's approach. Kori just shrugged. "Your guess is as good as ours."

"Well, that is very reassuring." Artemis mumbled sarcastically.

"Could it be because Talia was the one to resurrect him?" Kaldur asked, following in the middle of the group.

"I didn't even think of that, that's probably it." Arsenal nodded.

The group fell into a slightly uneasy silence as they followed Jason and Talia through the compound of the League of Assassins, the only sound was their echoing footsteps. The group stopped short as Talia came to a pause outside of a door, opening it and stepping inside with Jason on her heels. Everyone exchanged a look, unsure whether or not they were meant to follow.

"Why are we just standing around? Who knows what Talia is doing to Jason in there, I mean, he just murdered her father." Dick snapped, opening the door to find Talia standing behind a tall table with a massive glowing device sitting on top of it, wires everywhere. Jason was sitting on the chair next to her, watching her as she typed a few things on the computer like device attached to the gizmo.

"Uh, Talia?"

"Hmm?" Talia hummed, not looking up from what she was doing.

"What is all this?" Wally asked, gesturing to the display of technology.

"Isn't it obvious, Kid Flash?" Talia smirked, eyes never leaving the screen. "This is what is going to get Jason, Koriand'r, and Arsenal home to their own universe before Jason ceases to exist."

"Yeah, about that. How do we know that that whole ceasing business is true, huh? How do we know your father wasn't lying about that? I mean, Jason hasn't shown any signs of ceasing."

"Outwardly, no." Jason shrugged.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what I said. I haven't been showing any outward signs of ceasing, but on the inside I have been feeling...off. Queasy, light headed, disconnected. It took a lot more will power than it should've to call upon the All Blades." Jason shrugged once more, leaning back in the chair.

"And when were you planning on telling us this?" Kori glared at her teammate. "Wait, no, let me guess. After you had already ceased to exist, right?"

"You know me so well."

"If I weren't so emotionally attached to you, I would kill you."

"Aw, that's the closest you've ever gotten to saying you care about me. I feel touched."

"Ahem." The Outlaws paused their banter to look over at Batman, who was still glaring at Jason.

"Yes?"

"You have to answer for your crimes here. You killed a man, Jason. You-"

"First of all, I killed Ra's al Ghul. I'm not sure he counts as a man anymore." Even Talia nodded to that sentiment. "And haven't you been listening? If I don't return to my home universe, I will literally stop existing. Do you really want to be the cause of two Jason Todd's deaths?"

Batman narrowed his eyes even more and Jason knew he struck a nerve. "We will find a way to stop you from ceasing. We will have Zatara and Doctor Fate working on it around the clo-"

"Yeah, no thanks. Not taking my chances. Besides, I have plenty more crimes in my home universe to answer for than just one measly murder." Jason smirked at the annoyed growl that came from Batman's throat. He turned to Talia. "So, is it ready?"

"Almost, just have to put the finishing coding into it."

"Sweet."

"There!" Talia gestured for the Outlaws to gather around the glowing machine. "Place your hands right here...good. When I count down, you will feel a jolt and then you will be transported back to your universe, understood?"

Kori and the two boys nodded. They turned to the team and the Justice Leaguers. "It was fun while it lasted, I hope we haven't screwed up too much of your universe by being here."

"You gave us hope that Jason may come back." Dick smiled at Jason. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it. I mean, not that you'd be able to seeing as we are going to be in a different universe. But you know what I mean."

"Are you quite finished?" Talia sighed.

"Of course, go right ahead." Arsenal turned to Roy. "Sorry you have so many clones. Its been real. Good luck."

"Three...two...one."

A bright green light blinded everyone present, engulfing the three Outlaws in its glow. When it faded, Kori, Jason, and Arsenal were gone.

And so were the heroes.