Monday 9th August 2010, 22:30.
New Jersey,
Gotham City,
Gotham Heights.
"I'm unsure about this." Cheshire struggled to withhold the urge to roll her eyes at her current partner's words, the same sentiments having been preached time and time again since they had received this mission from Sensei.
The former vigilante, Eric Needham, aka Black Spider had joined the League of Shadows, recruited by Sensei after the whole Arkham Asylum fiasco, having seen potential in the vigilante. Never one to doubt the man's eye for talent, Ra's al Ghul had accepted the man into their fold, teaching him their ways and a new means of correcting the cruel and flawed world in which they lived.
Eric Needham had accepted with some degree of hesitation.
However, the League of Shadows modus operandi sometimes clashed with Black Spider's old ways leading to moments like these. Cheshire just wished he would shut up, he had made his doubts about the purpose of their mission clear, the methods used to achieve said purpose only raised even more doubts. Such things that Black Spider had no hesitation in sharing with everyone that could hear and it was unfortunate for her that she was the only one nearby.
The mission itself was a simple one, on paper that was.
Kill Doctor Serling Roquette before she had time to develop a virus that would destroy the League of Shadows' new weapon, the Fog.
The biggest risk this mission faced, one that turned this from a simple one to an incredibly dangerous one, was the possibility of her being protected by heroes. Possibly just one, that being the hero who rescued her, Green Arrow's former protege, Speedy who alone was not much of a threat. However, it was unlikely that he was alone and had more than likely called in for backup, especially with Roquette's life on the line.
'Though, most heroes are very prideful in the way they defend their territories from other heroes.' It was the biggest flaw heroes had, besides their inability to kill, one that they had used against them on many occasions. 'Perhaps Speedy has the same tendencies, he was always quite hotheaded from what the reports indicate.' However, those hopes were dashed when she and Black Spider, came to a stop on a nearby roof, crouching down to survey the building below where Roquette was working on a virus.
It was a small computer store on a relatively empty street, not part of the nicer area of town.
That meant this store would have a few extra defences in place to stop it from being robbed, more than likely reinforced shutters. Gotham City was a truly dangerous place and even the 'average' citizen looking to make a decent living through the lawful way, was by no means lawful by normal standards, making their job much harder.
On its own though, that was a minor obstacle in their path.
The biggest obstacle she now faced was the fact that Speedy was not nearly as hotheaded or as arrogant as she had initially hoped. Instead, he seemed to have called in backup as she was looking upon three, a young Martian girl that had been involved in the Santa Prisca incident as well as a young, bow-wielding girl on the roof. The inclusion of the bow wielder made her wonder whether the Martian had gone solo or whether they were dealing with the same team of young heroes. Though that question was soon answered when surveying the rear entry of the building, the presence of Aqualad let her know they were dealing with the same team.
'Which means we have five more inside.' Cheshire frowned beneath her mask. 'Kid Flash, Batgirl, Robin, Superman's clone and Deathstroke's apprentice, Esau Jacobson.' Looking at her two teammates, Black Spider and Hook, her frown deepened as the ideas for how to accomplish this mission dwindled rapidly. 'What to do, what to do?'
"What's the plan here, Cheshire?" Hook voiced the question she was asking herself, only to suddenly spot something very useful to her.
The martian and the bow wielder, the two positioned at the highest vantage point with the abilities that would make them most suitable for such a position, and the most challenging for her to work around; were arguing. They were so focused on one another, their emotions getting the best of them that they couldn't possibly be focusing on anything else.
"I'll handle Aqualad." She had something up her sleeve for Atlanteans, provided her with generous information from an anonymous source, though one trusted by Ra's al Ghul. "When he's down, take out the two on the roof." The element of surprise would be their biggest advantage and the two on the roof would be the biggest obstacle in their path so long as they remained there. Right now, they were arguing, but that was not guaranteed to be the case forever, especially not when they were attacked as they would no doubt turn their focus on their aggressors.
To take them out, they needed to be sufficiently distracted, more so than they already were.
Moving quietly, making sure to stick to the shadows as she did, Cheshire closed in on the back alley leading towards the rear entrance of the computer store. Aqualad was in full view of her as she approached, his arms crossed but gaze cautious and focused as he surveyed his surroundings. She could see why despite not being the most powerful member of his team, out of the young heroes, he was considered the most dangerous for the time being.
He possessed the skills of an elite Atlantean soldier with a minor knowledge of magic that only enhanced his repertoire further. An individual that possessed not only brawn, but the brains to use everything at his disposal with incredible effectiveness. Unlike Superman's clone, or the Martian girl whose power sets had more room for growth, both lacked experience and proper training. As for Esau who also had incredible room for growth and also possessing training and experience in droves, he lacked control over said powers.
These were flaws that Aqualad did not possess.
That was another reason why she wanted to take Aqualad out first.
As his gaze moved, passing over her general direction and moving further to the right, Cheshire finally made a move, one noticed by Aqualad who reacted quickly. From her hand, Shuriken flew through the air, spinning dangerously as they approached, each aimed at vital points that would kill if not seriously debilitate any normal person. In fact, any normal person would have attempted to block or dodge the strikes as best as they could, but as an Atlantean, Aqualad was far from normal.
Instead, he trusted in his body's natural physiology to render them useless, Aqualad let his body take them all as he prepared for the follow-up attack that never came. They stuck in, piercing no deeper than a hairsbreadth into his skin, coming loose and clattering the floor the moment Aqualad rose his Water-Bearers into the air, his magic causing the water to take shape into that of two swords.
"I'm under attack at my end." There was a momentary flash of panic over the link, one that soon became calm as people realised who was facing danger.
"Okay." Esau was quick to respond. "Let us know if you need backup, we've got Artemis in reserve." However, many of the team doubted it would be necessary to call in for backup, Aqualad as it stood, was the best of their team. So, instead of immediately moving Artemis to back up Aqualad, he chose to keep them in position should this be a divergence, trusting Aqualad to handle the foe on his own.
"Understood."
While Aqualad had been communicating with his team, Cheshire on the other hand had been analysing the situation closely, having already revealed herself letting Aqualad do the same. However, both were confident, though she was a little concerned to note that despite the poison coating her shrunken, Aqualad was still standing. This was not good news for her because she knew that in a straight-up fight, she stood no chance against Aqualad, the poison was meant to be her way to circumvent that gap between them.
'Perhaps the information was false after all?' She wondered, though dismissed it, for now, focusing her attention entirely upon the present.
Drawing her sai's with a light twirl aimed to draw attention and distract her opponent, Cheshire rushed forwards, knowing that while she stood little chance in this current situation, a long-drawn-out fight would only make things worse. Not only were Aqualad's teammates more than likely to come to his aid the longer this fight lasted, but even if she did defeat Aqualad, it would mean nothing if she was too exhausted to complete her mission.
Though his gaze did become unfocused for a moment by her flashy manoeuvre, Aqualad reacted quickly to her charge, tensing up as he followed the movements of her arms. The exchange that followed was short, Aqualad blocking her blows with the deftest of movements, Cheshire making sure never to turn this into a contest of strength, using slashes from awkward angles that forced him to parry before Cheshire backed away, he never throwing a single strike.
He had withheld the urge too, wary that the openings he found were in fact traps meant to lure him in.
As a result, he used this exchange to try and gauge a little more about his opponent and her limitations, though he frowned deeply when he felt something strange with his movements. 'Something's not right.' He thought, trying not to let his discomfort show, but it was too late, Cheshire had already spotted his weakness, having also used that exchange to gauge her opponent.
'So, he's not entirely immune after all?' A smile appeared on her face, one very reminiscent of the one on her mask.
Though in that short exchange, no blows had been landed, Cheshire had come close.
Dangerously so.
In most cases, the difference in physiology would have meant Aqualad being able to avoid all her strikes with ease, he being far faster than the average human as a result of exposure to the immense pressure of the oceans. But Cheshire had come close, enough so to make Aqualad wonder initially whether his opponent was a superhuman, only to quickly realise what the true reason was.
Cheshire rushed forwards once more, but Aqualad met her charge this time, recognising the situation he was in and the need to take out his opponent as quickly as she needed to take out him. Yet she was skilled, very skilled and he was growing slower by the second, the poison coursing throughout his body taking hold deeper within him, slowing down his reactions and dimming his awareness of the world to the point he couldn't see things until it was too late.
He blocked the first few strikes, returning fire with numerous thrusts and swings of his won, pressing her backwards with long strides. However, Cheshire weaved through them, parrying one, spinning with the momentum to come in close, right underneath Aqualad's eye-line, taking her just out of sight for a fraction of a second. That was all she needed though, rocketing up with a knee strike to the underside of his chin, Aqualad grunted out as his head rung violently, the force of the strike joining with the poison in a violent concoction that made him feel sick.
Stumbling back off-balance, Aqualad was completely unprepared for Cheshire's next wave of attacks, he nothing more than a punching bag and while they didn't deal much damage to him, they kept him from regaining his equilibrium. His body was far too focused on fighting the poison coursing through his body to focus on fighting against Cheshire.
Until eventually, it all became too much.
Cheshire had by no means done anywhere near enough damage to knock someone like Aqualad unconscious.
But the poison had done most of the work.
She simply added the finishing touches to it.