The Darkest of Knights

"Casius used to be the best mercenary there was to hire, and.. wait.. what's going on?" Alice asked turning around. "If he's not after us he must be after.." Alice paused. "The Reward!" Batgirl cried. "It only makes sense, he's freaking rich for a reason. We have to help him!" The trio turned around.

Batman was confused, hiding, but confused. "I don't know what happened with Karmy! I barely know her! All I know is that people want me in jail.." Batman said walking along the opposite side of Casius. He took out a smoke pellet and threw it on the ground in front of Casius. He landed silently behind the 7 foot juggernaut.

Ivy shook her head. "I'm sorry Sky, but I think I speak for all three of us when I say we will not work with somebody against Batman." She narrowed her eyes at Sky. "Even if it's an old friend." She suddenly wished very very much for telepathy so she could tell the others her plan without informing the vampire/werewolf that stood in front of them.

Casius dipped into his usual strain of cursing when the smoke field went up, but he knew they NEVER atacked from the front then they did this move- allways from behind. He wheeled around, and- far too close for comfort- was Batman. He leapt away as quick as he could(Which wasn't very quick) and wheeled aorund. "BULL- you don't know what happened my armored ass!" He said, firing one of the Three remaining bursts at Batman.

Ever scince Jersey and Sky had met up, their mental conection had grown strong. Jersey's personality was wereing off on Sky. Now it would show. "Why can't you just face the facts?! His own weapon was the murder weapon! He's running and doesn't even try to defend himself!" Her eyes were flashing from their normal purple to Jersey's colors of blue and red. "Look guys, Batman, Nightwing, Robin. They all were part of the reason I went back to heroing. Now a whole race is depending on V.A.M.P for better relations with humans. If we prove Batman didn't do it, or bring him in if he did, humans see that vampires, and half-vamps are good. Ivy, we were all friends. That shouldn't change! What the h*ll happened? Six years and you guys are too popular and loyal to a murderer to remeber friends in low places?! Or you all just into hanging out with killers and now that I haven't for three years aren't interested?!"

"Look, sky, this isn't it. We're not paling around with the guy. We don't even have any hard evidence, jsut a hunch. Nobody is *he barfs again* nobody is dicounting or ignoring you. when you clash two different veiwpoints- such as ours on this case- it never ends well. We're just trying to keep it all together here best we can, but none of this is easy." Zero said, trying his hardest to calm his old friend.

Batman's eyes widened as he saw the powerfully blinding beam come bursting right at him, he couldn't jump it; he ducked turner 360 degrees and narrowly escaped the attack, drawing a batarang and using the momentum of his spin and the blast he placed one foot on the wall and hoisted himself up into the air, hurling the batarang at Casius, which only knocked him back a little bit. No real damage was done. "We split up Casius, I was with Robin. Alice and Batgirl told me they were being held back by Karmy..." He confessed, though he hopped that Alice wouldn't harm her friend as much Casius had expressed.

"So your partner stomped her best friend? Oh come ON, you're gonna have to come up with BS better than THAT to convince me. Those kids were like peas in a pod back in the day, no WAY she would turn just like *snap* that." Casius said, his voice pregressing to an unamused tone. He aimed the cannon again, readying another shot.

Batman squinted ready to dodge it again, praying he would be as luck as next time. "I don't believe it either.." he seethed. He figured throwing a batarang into the canon wouldn't be the best move.. He lowered his head and tried to visualize the incoming beam, though it hasn't even left the barrel yet.

"You don't have to talk down to me Zero." Sky said, p*ssed off. "Oh and your comment on dying? Sorta have before. You know, the whole vampire undead thing?!" She still couldn't belive he was alive. She wanted to slap him and cry at the same time. So Sky turned on Luna, eyes blue and red. "Luna, would you cut the crap of being a Raven wannabe?! I used to think it was cool, now it's just a pain. Jersey was right about you guys..." She mumbled the last part.

Zero sighed. "We're friends, I wouldn't downtalk you." Zero said, trying to calm her. But when he heard her comment about afterlife, his face drooped, feleing a bit stung. He wanted to let her know all about how much he would have DREAMED of being a vampire over a Lanternwould have given ANYTHIGN to have walked away from the hand, but he didn't bother. he adjusted his goggles and frowned, slightly hurt-his first encounter with Sky after six years, four of which were hell on earth, was becoming such a miserable argument.
However, he put himself between the two parties as things flared up. "Now hold up, we have better thigns we could be doing than fighting amongst ourselves. We can butt heads later, but every second we spend here the trail gets colder and colder. If we were gonna do smehting, we oughta do it, like, SOON." He said authoritatively.

Sky scoffed at Luna, "The sun does. Or is your ego so big it's blocking it? Oh and I'm scared to death with the hissing. Oh oops to late! Undead!" Then to Zero she said, "V.A.M.P agents are on it already. I'm just here to pick up a file."

Jersey smiled to himself. While Nickoli was looking for info, Jersey had been working on his plan to get back to his old life. Sky would see heros had no fun, and life sucked. V.A.M.P could get good human relations, then vampires would be seen as equals. Last of all Sky and him would be just Sky and him.

Batman was hearing voices in his head. Voices from the communicator in his cowl. Heopened his eyes and jumped up grabbing a nearby pole and disappearing into the shadows. A kick came to Casius' head.

"Sonova $%#@!!!" Casius cursed as the kick rattled in his ears. He got up, reeling slightly from the impact. "Cheap shot." he groweled. He knew shooting the batman was like trying to shoot a fly a mile away, so he holistered the cannon. Electricity began to flow to his arms, giving off a faint electric glow. "C'mon, batman. Show me whatcha' got!" he said, ready to fight.

Sky's nails grew and in no time she had a large slash through Luna's cloak. She held her head for a few seconds as she was emotionally forced into werewolf form. In a deep demontic voice she said, "Little do you know about being a friend!" She leapped at Luna and had her to the ground. "I should end this now!"

Jersey realized he might have gone to far with making Sky angery. She had a lower boiling point but was worse than him when she blew. Using his power over her emotions, he made her feel somthing she never really felt.

Slowly Sky turned human again and was close to tears, "Luna... I'm sorry." She got up and backed away from the group. "Guys, I don't... I'm sorry."

(She was CLOSE to tears not really crying... but close)
Sky looked at her frist, and only, possiblly last, human friends. Then she tore off running. Why the heck did I freak out like that?! She thought slowing down by the bay. I could have killed someone... Maybe the moon was close to being full? No the last one was a week ago. Sky continued to think up theories when she brushed pass someone with a familer scent. "John? Well h*ll..."

Sky hesitated. She thought she'd go up and say hi but... her other human friends didn't seem to want to be friends now. She took off her mask and walked over. "Hey. Uh John right? Remeber me?" Sky asked. Then she remebered that she only told him he last name.

"Well... stuff happens. I was with the New Titans. The one who wanted to um... drink your blood? Heh heh, sorry bout that by the way." She put her mask on, "So what- Oh never mind still chasing Luna?"

After Mame had splattered the two mens brains all over the white fiber glass of the deck she stripped them of their weapons, their wallets, and an undershirt. Dawning the white wife beater to cover her naked torso she shoved the two ransacked bodied out of the boat, watching them disappearing as the oxygen in their lungs that kept them afloat slowly hissed free of their mutilated faces.

Together the two men had about fifty dollars on them, of course police in Gotham weren't gonna carry cash around with them, disappointed the blonde pocketed the money in her sopping wet pants and walked over to the drivers seat, placing the pistols on safety and setting them down on the passenger seat chair. While the medicine was in her, helping her focus, she was going to utilize it and get herself out of the open water. The gun shots were loud and even if there were not many boats on the water, the ones around probably heard the three gun shots.

She started the boat and inspected the controls for a bit, figuring it was like driving a car she shrugged and turned the key in the ignition. The motor sputtered to life, the loud hum filling the air about her, she set the gear to drive and stepped on the gas, the boat lurched forward, causing the girl to wince slightly, but it was easy to control and she got the hang of the steering rather quickly.

As she sped through the water at a decent pace she let out a sigh, she hadn't allowed herself the privilege of thinking she had actually managed to escape, either to spare herself the disappointment or so she wouldn't jinx herself. But now, with two more murders under her belt, cooling blood dripping down her neck, grey matter sticking in the strands of her hair. She felt free, she felt alive, she was happy.

Her chest and throat still ached horribly but it was easy enough to ignore those for now, she needed to get to the mainland, she needed to get more money to finance her new found freedom. She'd just have to knock off some unimportant bank, easy enough, every one and their mother was looking for Batman, no one was watching the banks.

She smiled as she drove, enjoying the wind that whipped about her, chilling her dry, stinging little sensations that oozed into her nerves, making her shiver in delight. Soon the docks came into view, the ones near the warehouses were mostly abandoned except by big hauling rigs used for shipping goods internationally, unless Batman was there no one else would be, she was safe to dock unnoticed.

She pulled the motor boat up to a soaked wooden platform, gathering her stolen wallets and guns up once she stopped the motor and stashed it into a thick wind breaker one of the cops had 'left behind' She slipped the jacket over herself and hopped off the boat, her bare feet slapping wetly against the slick wood, she dripped blood and water. Once she was off the wooden dock she shook herself off and looked about the massive warehouses that made up the storage district of Gotham' Harbor.

No one was around, she'd made it, she really made it. She would have cried out to express her pride and excitement, but her throat felt like someone had massaged it with a fork, and she really didn't want the attention yet. So despite her nature demanding she make some damn noise in celebration, she simply walked towards the alley between warehouses, letting the jet black shadows overtake her sopping visage, hiding her from prying eyes as she headed inland, towards the city.

(You're so damn epic Blood.. You've been inspiring some of the posts here, I noticed it XD)


[Also Red, gonna use Cas for this post x_x]

In reality and if you hadn't figured it out, Batman hadn't kicked the back of Casius' head; Alice did. Alice, Batgirl, and Robin were hiding in the shadows and corners making sure they weren't spotted by him. As long as he only saw Batman, Casius wouldn't go on a rampage. "You must understand.." Batman's voice echoed across the halls, Batgirl sweep kicked Casius and he fell on his side; "I'm too close to the Commissioner to kill him." The voice echoed again. Casius scrambled to his feet.

"Why don't you show yourself? You got somethin' to hide?!" Casius yelled, pointing his torch-like canon and checking the corners of every shadow. "You're waving around an Electro Magnetic Pulse Canon like a school boy showing off his new pokemon cards. Plus your last blast's radius might have corrupted the only evidence and clue I have to Gordon's murderer." Batman replied in a sarcastic tone, yet disappointed. "You're the murderer, YOU!" Casius retorted. "Like I said before, you'll never understand my relationship with the commissioner." Batman nearly whispered that, but chose to tease him; he ran across the hall, Casius only spotted a glimpse of him, then Robin ran behind Casius triggering him to turn back around, again only the edge of her cape and the noise she made was evident that something passed by. Batman then jump kicked Casius' back, forcing him to fall over, face first. He loved his helmet all the more.

Casius flipped from his stomach to his back and saw the dark contours of Batman, he pointed his canon at him, ready to fire. But he was gone. "I've gotten to know Alice a lot more too. Enough to know she won't shoot anyone unless its to scare them away. She never shoots to kill. Even so, she has a good heart and won't hurt her own friends." Batman's voice echoed down the halls once again.

Alice cringed, she began to worry about Karmy. She didn't know if she was okay, or if she had been taken in by the police, or even murdered. She had a hard time keeping up. Batman was whispering next moves to them through the communication devices. "How long do you plan to keep this up Batman?" Batgirl asked. "Until he believes me." Batman responded. "Casius is hard headed and proud. This could take a while." Alice warned. "Okay... Just make sure, no one screws up." Batman pressured, wiping sweat from his chin and lips, trying his hardest not to let any drip to the floor where it might be visible and expose his position.

"I don't do that. Unless it's freely given or in a blood bank." Sky sighed, making a mental note to spread the word of V.A.M.P around. "Anyways, I saw Luna not to long ago. She was at the police station and- Crap it! I forgot to get the file!" She figured it was best not to go back there. They didn't know Nickoli, she could send him... or... "Say, John. If you go see Luna at the station, could you do me a favor? Just ask for the V.A.M.P copy of the Batman case. Please?"

A mix of blood and salt water came rushing from her mouth as she woke up. Falling to the ground on her hands and knees, she coughed and sputterd as she desperately tried to rid her lungs of the terrible mix. "What happened?" she thought to herself. Her arms shook as they supported her frame. Every inch of her body screamed out in pain as she looked around wearily. A voice behind her caught her attention. She looked around and screamed. A cyborg was standing there, here red eye shining brightly. "Who are you?!" her voice was barely over a whisper. "Get away!" she tried to run but this was a mistake. Her leg screamed out in protest and her head gave a sickening throb and she fell to the ground. "Get away.." her eyes rolled up into the back of her head as she lay staring up at the sky, and her world turned black once more.

Cyrah scurried over to Karmy. Dammit, now amnesia? This was getting worse and worse, she needed to find medical care- FAST. Karmy wouldn't like it, but Gotham general wasn't all that far away. She hoisted her up, and began to scurry away from the harbor. She even dashed right past someone in the harbor. She seemed to be dripping in gore, so she skidded to a stop. "Hey, kid, you allright?" She asked.

"You're so fulla' horse-sh*t. Wouldn't hurt her friends? Ask Old man Deathstroke, the man who raised her, about her loyalty. Ask Karmy, whom was found beaten to a pulp in gotham harbor, about her loyalty. Not even I flip-flip sides in those extremes. I may not know jack-sh*t about you superheroes, but I know more than THAT about loyalty." Casius replied, throughly steamed. His headset suddenly went off, and Cyrah informed him of Karmy's apparent amnesia. "F@#$, are you serious!?" he barked back. "That's it batman, I gotta wrap this up quick. So if you ain't coming out like a big boy, then I'm putting your ass on the ground-" Electricity crackled between his hand."-Like a baby!" A massive lightningbolt surged from his hands, in a straight arc for what appeared to be batman.
[I'll have you know, I felt REALLY bad wrighting that .___.;]

(Its all good XD)

Batgirl turned around, fear struck but only for an instant; the blast came hurling at her, Batman couldn't have saved her now. She jumped, was hit, and was sent flying through the dry wall. Knocked out and unconscious, her body was mangled across the floor in the room that was separated by the wall. "Barbara!!" Batman unintentionally screamed and came out of hiding to check on her. Casius was about to lurch forward at Batman but he heard a distinct clasp, then a voice. "Don't move Cas." Alice said, "I planted an explosive charge on you, do not move.." She said, her voice quivering.

"Go ahead, scatter me, someone who also used to trust you, all over the walls- prove everything I just said about you was right. Go on, do it." Casius taunted, his voice driping with resentment. He even chucked his cannon off to the side and raised his hands to prove he was defenseless-which wasn't entireley accurate. If he heard the telltale sound of a detonator being withdrawn, he was certain he could activate his forcefield buble in time. Or at least he hoped so...

"Its a scare tactic, and you're obviously scared." Alice said, she tripped him and placed a foot on him, she motioned Robin to come around the side in case he got back up. "I wouldn't really kill you Cas; Zero would be devastated." She said throwing the charge on him. "Batman, how is she?!" Alice called out.

Batman had knelt down to check her wounds, nearly all of her cape and some of her costume had been torn, but he didn't care. Spares were always available. He placed "How's the pain?" He asked her, she waved at him. "I work through pain." Batgirl murmured. She felt dizzy, the left side of her back hurt the most, all of her electrical equipment had been disposed of, and most of all she felt like crap. "Give me a second..." She said. "Anything I can do?" Batman asked worried. "You can give me a second.."