LOOTING DC #6. Young Justice
The darkness in the BatCave felt manufactured, not natural. It wasn't the kind that wraps around you like a warm blanket at the end of a long night - it was suffocating. Heavy.
And worse, it was silent.
The kind of silence that could make anyone miss the sound of a pin dropping. The kind that made you second-guess every breath, every movement. It would take enhanced senses to hear the batarang slicing through the air, cutting the darkness with a whisper.
Good for Jake, he had enhanced senses.
His spider-sense screamed at him just in time. His body reacted before his mind caught up, twisting aside as the blade whizzed past him and embedded itself into the fabricator in front of him.
Oh, whoever threw that-
You better pray you didn't put a scratch on my suit.
Jake moved, fast. His fingers found the edge of the fabricator, pried at it with the desperation of a man rescuing a trapped loved one. No tricks, no finesse. Just brute strength.
The other batarangs being thrown? He barely even noticed them. His mind was consumed with one thing:
Getting his damn suit out of the machine.
Forget the fight. Forget who threw the batarang. Right now, this was personal.
His hands moved with urgency, webbing up the cracks, forcing open the panel like he was dealing with a broken snack machine - angry Spider-Man style.
The moment his hands found fabric, he pulled it free, holding it as gently as possible.
A pause. A check.
The batarang had landed inches away.
Jake exhaled slowly.
You have no idea how close you came to dying, Robin.
Then-
SWOOSH.
Jake reacted before his mind caught up, jerking back with the suit in tow. The second batarang should have missed.
It didn't.
He didn't see it. But he felt it.
The silence was deafening, but he heard it.
His senses painted a picture in his mind - a sharp edge tearing through graphene-infused fiber.
That shouldn't be possible.
Then again, this was Bat-tech.
The world went silent.
Jake blinked.
He breathed in.
Out.
It didn't help.
The suit was damaged.
Not even five minutes old. And it had already suffered an EMP strike and Bat-tech had just sliced through it like wet paper.
Something in his jaw ticked.
Not because he cared about the suit. Not really.
But because he had built it. He had made it. And now it was already worthless.
Jake flexed his fingers, knuckles creaking.
He felt… calm. Too calm.
His body knew what came next before his brain did.
A steady, pulsing rhythm filled his ears. Not his heartbeat. Something older.
His fingers twitched.
And then - he moved.
Jake twisted left.
Feet barely kissed the ground before he moved again.
Duck. Web. Fire. Flip. Land. Twist. Launch.
Something solid - caught.
He yanked.
Momentum ripped him forward.
Gravity lost its grip.
Launch. Spin. Webs shot again - more, faster, pulling, twisting. An impossible slingshot using the letch.
Didn't matter. Didn't notice.
All he could think about was the disrespect.
(Robin's POV)
Robin barely registered the breath that left his mouth.
Because death was already here.
No footfalls. No hesitation. Just movement.
Too fast. Too fluid.
Tt.
He dodged. Barely.
Another attack - he twisted away.
Then another.
And another.
And another.
A less trained fighter would have panicked.
Robin simply adapted.
He shifted, calculating, every movement angled for efficiency. But the gaps were closing. He was reacting - not controlling. Unacceptable.
This wasn't a fight.
It was an execution.
Robin's muscles burned as he flipped onto a ledge - only for a fist to nearly cave in his skull.
He rolled. Tumbled. Landed.
Another attack. Another dodge.
Tch. This was becoming irritating.
This thing wasn't thinking. Wasn't hesitating. Moved like an animal - too fast, too strong.
The darkness should've been an advantage. It wasn't. That alone told him enough.
This wasn't some common thug.
This thing was dangerous.
CRASH. BOOM.
Dust rippled through the cave, his night vision flickering. He saw it - regretted it instantly.
The lunatic had slingshotted himself at the ground.
With that much force.
With just his feet.
The earth exploded inward.
A crater.
…Hn. So that was the level of absurdity he was dealing with.
Was this brute trying to kill him? Or was he merely too reckless to care?
Didn't matter.
Robin adjusted his stance. Batarangs wouldn't be enough. Time for something more efficient.
His fingers closed around an object - not a batarang. A shuriken.
Not just any shuriken. League standard.
His grip tightened. Precise. Lethal. Perfectly balanced. It left his fingers before his mind had even finished the thought.
The moment Jake lunged - Robin let it fly.
A perfect throw.
Jake dodged. Exactly as expected. That wasn't the attack.
Robin's other hand flicked something smaller. Flashbang. Modified. Tailored for metahuman reflexes.
The BatCave exploded with light. Even through his lenses, it burned. But Robin was prepared.
Jake wasn't.
A flinch. Half a second. More than enough.
Robin moved, closing the gap in an instant. Victory was assured.
Then-
His instincts screamed.
His limbs locked.
Webbing.
Thin strands. Pre-shot. Geometrically placed. A trap.
Not one. Not two. A whole setup, layered at inhuman angles, positioned for one purpose.
A human-sized spider's web.
Robin exhaled sharply. Clever.
But it wouldn't hold him-
Then he felt the tension.
Not pulling him back.
Pulling him forward.
Tch.
Robin's eyes snapped to his opponent - saw the truth too late.
Jake wasn't just pulling him in.
The webs were pulling Jake toward him.
Not for a strike. Not a mere attack.
A finisher.
Jake's eyes burned. His night vision amplified it - Hell's Blaze.
Robin had fought assassins. Warlords. Demons. Beings twice his size.
None of them had ever made him feel helpless.
No way out. No tricks left.
Tt.
Unacceptable.
Backup should be here by now.
Then-
A blur of red.
A gust of wind slammed through the cave.
One second, Jake was inches from ending this. The next - gone.
No. Not gone. Intercepted.
Robin barely had time to process before a voice rang through his mind.
"ROBIN!"
Miss Martian.
Hn. About time.
His body remained locked in place as she tried to yank him free.
(General POV)
Jake, still airborne after dodging a sudden attack, barely had time to adjust before another force closed in - a fist swinging for his head, backed by pure Kryptonian rage.
Ducking that meant taking a direct hit from Aqualad's glowing water bearers. Dodging either put him right in the path of something fast - something relentless - barreling toward him from the front.
Too many threats. Not enough time.
Jake exhaled. The pounding in his ears stopped. Control returned.
One moment, he was vulnerable.
The next?
They were the ones in danger.
Jake flexed his fingers - three webs fired in rapid succession.
One behind him. One to the right. One straight up.
Seemingly random.
They weren't.
Superboy's fist punched through air after a slight alleviation. The second it overextended - Jake's web yanked him forward.
Straight into Aqualad.
Kid Flash lunged - Jake pivoted off his own webbing, twisting in the air like a gymnastic with pure efficiency.
Aqualad's blades cut through space where he should have been. He wasn't there.
Instead - he was already low. Hands braced. Legs snapping up.
Not an attack. A misdirection.
The moment their focus dipped - the third web - the one he'd shot up - came down.
Right in the center of them all.
THWIP.
Strands snapped taut.
Kid Flash skid. Aqualad faltered. Even Superboy hesitated. A tangled mess of perfect geometry.
The team pulled back. Forming a loose circle around him. Not a retreat. A recalibration.
Jke exhaled. Now they knew.
They weren't just fighting someone fast.
They were fighting someone who could turn their own speed against them.
Jake's feet hit the cave floor.
A few things clicked instantly.
One: This was Young Justice. Except… that shuriken from earlier? Not exactly Bat-standard issue.
Two: They all had enhanced sight. The way they moved - reacting in total darkness like it was daylight. Miss Martian?
He was the only one fighting blind.
Jake smirked.
Alright. Round two?