Bruce Wayne wasn't usually puzzled...so when this rare occurrence came to happen, he was understandably irritated. Gotham's criminal underground had become practically nonexistent within several days. He knew that they had to be running scared, but he wasn't entirely sure why. He had a theory...but a theory was nothing without proof.

He knelt by the edge of a rooftop, keenly watching the happenings below everything in Gotham was being bombarded by rain. A young blonde girl stood waiting on a balcony. Like a ghost, a caped figure curled up over the railing and stood beside her.

"Do you have anything for me?" Robin asked the girl. Bruce monitored the conversation through his earpiece.

The girl seemed used to being snuck up on, so she surely answered "Dad said he can't do anything bad for a while. He said someone nasty is coming...and that its not you."

"He didn't say who?"

"No...no he didn't." She said innocently.

Robin smiled and tousled the girl's hair. She was about five years younger than the Boy Wonder, and a head shorter. "I know what it's like to be where you are. You're real brave for helping me and Batman out. This is our little secret, right?"

"Yes. Can I ask you a question now?"

"Sure thing."

The girl blinked nervously. "Can you tell me your...your real name?"

Bruce wanted to urge Robin to leave...but instead, his young partner continued smiling and remained with the girl. Hesitantly, he whispered "My name's Jason."

"Thank you..."

"No, thank you Stephanie."

With that, Robin disappeared into the shadows. Several seconds later, he reappeared alongside Bruce.

Young Jason was about sixteen years old. He wore the red and black uniform of the Robin mantle, a title that Bruce wasn't too eager to pass on.

"You get all that?" He asked his mentor.

Bruce nodded.

"Your theory's got some weight...question is; where to now?" Robin mused.

Bruce huffed and pressed a finger against his earpiece. "Cave. Run a scan for any crimes in progress."

"Of course, sir. Any parameters in particular?"

"High profile incidents. Easily identifiable by someone with superhuman senses." Bruce clarified.

As Alfred worked on the search, Bruce turned his eyes to Robin. He crouched on the edge just as Bruce did several minutes ago, suit and hair drenched in the current downpour.

Secretly, he felt for Jason. His father was sentenced to prison for a long string of crimes, and his mother died from her drug addiction. Unlike Bruce, Jason grew up on the streets. He knew the city in a way Bruce never would. He never doubted his own conviction until he met Jason. Bruce had a butler, a mansion and immense funds when he was dealing with his loss. Jason only had poverty and true loneliness.

"I seem to have found what you were looking for, Master Bruce. There is a feud between metahumans in the upper east Diamond District. Extreme collateral damage."

"Well...that's definitely a lead." Robin quipped. "Good work. Give us the co-ordinates. Thanks Alfred."

The Diamond District was one of the wealthiest parts of Gotham, though that wasn't saying much. The people there were mostly free from any attacks, but on the rare occasion that there was one, they were thrown completely off guard.

The situation that Batman and Robin stumbled into was unexpected to say the least. The moment they got there the streets were almost deserted and someone was already fighting against the threat.

Batman growled low in his throat. It was the alien... She was in the midst of a battle with The Royal Flush Gang - A family of crooks that preyed on Gotham's weakest known only as The King, Queen, Jack, And Ace. The last member, Ten, was nowhere to be seen. Hacking was his specialty, and so he seemed to stray away from physical confrontation unless it was necessary.

"I grow tired of your games." The alien roared, crossing her arms and furrowing her brow. "You will tell me of which crimes you are guilty, or I will force you to."

The King laughed and unsheathed his sword. "We choose force."

"That is unwise." The alien huffed, though she glanced at the weapon with much caution. Human technology and weaponry must have been foreign to her, and she didn't seem the type to underestimate her foes.

Jack, without warning, threw one of his throwing knives in her direction. The weapon split into four seperate blades in mid-air and went spiralling in her direction.

Before Batman had the chance to stop him, Robin dashed into the fray. Bruce reached out to stop him, but by then it was too late.

Robin twirled in mid-air as he sent a handful of birdarangs soaring into Jack's knives, deflecting each and every one of them.

"It's the Bat!!" Jack cried.

Robin landed on top of Jack, thrusting him into the ground and pounding his face with punch after punch.

Bruce leapt off of the rooftop and flared out his cape, gliding downwards and tossing a disabler onto King's hover board as he came flying towards him. Bruce twisted, narrowly avoiding the King's blade, then pressed a button on his gauntlet. The disabler shrieked and flared, instantly deactivating the hover board.

The King fell out of the air screaming and landed with a crack on the pavement.

Robin's knuckles were covered in Jack's blood as he gritted his teeth and continued beating the criminal's face to a pulp.

"No!! What have you done?!" Queen howled, bringing her staff to arms and aiming it at Robin.

Bruce's heart stopped as he landed. He didn't have time. He was too far away.

As if prompted by Bruce's thoughts, the alien suddenly appeared in front of the Queen as her weapon discharged a payload of lethal electricity.

Incredibly, the alien simply grunted as its armour smoked, and effortlessly snatched the staff out of the Queen's hands. She struck the woman with a headbutt, which propelled the helpless human into a telephone pole. The alien then snapped the staff like a twig.

Robin whistled. "...I guess she didn't need our help." He wiped the blood from his face as Bruce rushed over to Jack.

His injuries were severe...incredibly severe. Fractured skull, broken nose, shattered collarbone, broken jaw...perhaps even brain damage.

Before Bruce could say anything, Ace came roaring into the alien, locking fists with her and roaring like a fierce animal. The robotic brute was almost twice her size.

The alien's feet were pressed into the concrete, cracking and breaking the dense material. She simply wrenched Ace to the side with a sharp yell and pulled an arm off of the android.

The robot shivered and its wound sparked uncontrollably as the alien prepared its final strike. She lashed forward with a hand and sent it straight through Ace's head. It shattered from the sheer force, and Bruce leapt onto Robin and covered him with his cape.

Ace's body detonated like a bomb, flooding the immediate vicinity with fire and shrapnel.

As soon as it calmed, Bruce peered over his shoulder and spied the alien standing there amidst the flames, unharmed. Jack, not only suffering extreme cranial injury, was now subject to third degree burns. King and Queen were mildly singed, but hurt nonetheless.

Bruce stood and snarled. "Robin. Look at what you did."

The Boy Wonder pushed to his feet and gazed upon Jack, without remorse.

"Cave, I need an ambulance and the police at my location." He said into his earpiece.

"... They're on their way." Alfred replied lowly. "Is everything alright, Master Todd?"

"Everything's fine," was Robin's short reply before tapping off the earpiece.

The alien floated towards them, face still covered by her strange armour. "You're assistance was unnecessary. You have made the situation worse than it needed to be."

Bruce seemed to ignore her. He wasn't done with Jason yet...he needed to be disciplined. Being Robin was never supposed to be about needless violence. That was something Jason didn't understand...there was too much rage inside of him.

"What you did was dangerous. Those people were burned in the explosion." Bruce scalded.

The alien quickly rebutted with genuine confusion "Why do you care for the wellbeing of this degenerative slime?"

"I know, right? Don't they deserve this?" Robin said.

Bruce bared his teeth. "No one deserves brain damage."

Robin dropped his head. "I didn't mean..."

"But you did." Bruce snapped.

"They were not killed, is that not the main principle that you Earthlings uphold?" The alien interrupted. "In which case this argument is invalid."

"He could have permanent injuries because of this." Batman growled, directing towards the unconscious Jack. "There are some things worse than death."

The alien glanced from him to Robin then back again, even she could sense the tension lingering between them. "I did not cause the explosion, and if you had not involved yourselves it would not have escalated this far. My only intention was to convict them by your primitive laws, not to cause damage."

"Are you serious...? I was only trying to help you." Robin huffed.

"And you only made a mess of the situation." She said bluntly. "I cannot arrest them if they are hospital bound. You have both wasted my time."

Finally everything appeared crystal clear before Bruce's eyes but, as if on cue, Robin spoke for him. "So you're the reason half of the criminal element is running scared."

"I don't know what your game is, alien." Bruce spat out the word as if it were poison on his tongue. "But this is my city. Cleaning the streets isn't your job."

"It is now." The alien replied. "This is the filthiest cesspool of turmoil I've ever encountered. Whoever was entrusted with keeping Gotham safe before I arrived was doing an incredibly poor job."

Robin laughed in disbelief. "With you in charge, there won't be a city left to protect." He said, gesturing at the wreckage that already littered the street before the Dynamic Duo arrived. "Who the hell are you, anyway?"

"You degenerative beings would not be able to comprehend, let alone speak, my name."

Robin scoffed. "Then who's name do I put on the bill for all this?"

The alien paused for a moment then, straightening her posture, hovered higher into the air. "Rahn." Like a comet, she streaked away within the blink of an eye.

"It was a joke." Robin muttered to himself.

Bruce, after watching with relief as the alien left, finally let his anger come gushing out. "You're done, Jason. Until you sort yourself out, I'm taking the suit."

Robin's eyes widened but he didn't argue...

"This man won't be able to live a normal life anymore." Bruce added, outrage visible even with the cowl covering most of his face.

Seconds passed, and Robin's face warped into a grimace. "Good."

Bruce's breathing stopped. He wanted to save Jason from this...from becoming the next Joe Chill. But he failed... No matter what he did, Jason wouldn't see the bigger picture.

Jason, without a second glance, swiftly scaled the nearest building just as the emergency services arrived. Batman was left in the middle of a mess he hadn't made...as usual.

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