How to Lose a Bird

Chapter 4

All missions start as Recon. It was one of the agreements when the teens first started the team; All mission will stay Recon unless told otherwise.
But they had a nasty habit of continuously breaking that rule, whether meaning to or not. And tonight was just one of those many times. And, normally, it wouldn't really matter. They would get revealed, fight a good fight, and take down the bad guys. Just like the job description entails.
But this mission was different. They weren't expecting a League priority villain. After all, it was just supposed to be a simple drug bust.
So when it turned out to be Scarecrow behind it, the whole team was a bit frazzled.
Then it only got worse when the mad scientist called out the youngest member of Young Justice, hiding not even four meters away.
Once again, it looked like the reign of bad luck would continue on another Recon mission.
Robin, emerging from his hiding place, frowned at the villain, along with his accomplices.
"What is it? The drug?" The ebony sneered. He wanted this over, and quick. The more time that they had to deal with Scarecrow, the more of a chance someone would get hurt.
The villain simply smirked.
"Straight to the point I see. Just like the Bat."
    Robins fists clenched tighter at the comparison to Batman. He hated being compared to his mentor. Any partner does. And no matter how many times villains brought up the similarities, it would still make his blood boil. He was most definitely simmiliar to Batman, he couldn't deny that, but there was no way in hell he would ever become anything like him.
    The team seemed to sense his anger and unease, and tried to make him calm down through the mind link. But Robin simply pushed them all out of his mind, leaving only anger and the determination to take Scarecrow down.
    "But I'm afraid I can't tell you just yet. It is still in development, and won't be completely ready for quite some time."
Scarecrow then paused, and looked back to the two people that were making the drug. With an evil smile, the masked man nodded his head in the direction of the truck, and it seemed as if the two understood.
With a look of unease and uncertainty, the two walked towards the back and popped it open. Reaching inside the hay, the older man pulled out a small box, and warily made his way back to the villain, who had returned his gaze back to the bird in front of him.
"Speaking of, I don't seem to see Batman anywhere." he took a moment to chuckle before opening the small box in his hands. "Well, that will make things much easier for me."
    Robin braced himself for an attack, and so did his team. But instead of attacking, Scarecrow simply pulled out a syringe filled with red and black liquid, smiling in pleasure.
    "So, that's what's been killing people?" Robin asked, even though he most likely already knew. But even The Boy Wonder needed concrete proof.
    "Yes, quite magnificent, isn't it? Concentrated Fear mixed with traces of liquid Rage. Quite the spectacular concoction, if I do say so myself."
    The man beside him that came out of the truck suddenly tensed, but only slightly. Robin was still able to notice it though, and he tensed as well.
    "Sadly, all of those deaths were just experimental, and were not the final product. And we are running out of voluntary staff."
    The still shadowed man then lunged at Robin, who predicted the attack and manuvured away with ease. The figure attacked yet again, attempting to knock the ebony off of his feet. But Robin simply sprung out of the way, and delivered a roundhouse kick square to the man's jaw. He grunted in pain, and halted his attack.
    "Oh, how I would love to kill you right now. See the fear in your eyes as you fade away." Scarecrow sneered, but composed himself soon after.
     "However, I would simply be putting my operation in more danger if it were to spill to the public that I killed you. Instead, how about we test my new formula out, hm? Doesn't that sound fun?"
With this, Scarecrow himself lunged at Robin, syringe ready to inject the lethal combination. The other two men saw the fight escalate, and quickly climbed into the truck and took off, leaving only Robin, Scarecrow, and the shadowed man in darkness.
Robin dodged every strike that Scarecrow dealt, but he was starting to get nervous. He knew the other man was still there, and it would only be a matter of time before he joined in.
And, as he thought, the other man joined. Even though Robin knew he was coming, it still caught him off guard, and he obtained a solid punch to his face. Stumbling back, he quickly regained composure and flipped out of the way of the men's attacks.
But no matter how many times he dodged, they just kept coming at him. Both managed to land hits on the boy, but Robin also inflicted his own damage. He got a good kick at Scarecrows stomach, and swept the other one off of his feet, making him fall to the ground with a thud. But he was soon up and fighting once again.
Then, as Scarecrow managed to slightly scratch his cheek with the tip of the needle, he admitted defeat in his attempt to handle the situation alone.
"Could use some help here guys!" Robin yelled through the mind link. And, just as he finished, the shadow landed a kick in his chest, flinging him back to the ground, where he slid then flipped back up, landing in a crouched position while taking out two bat-a-rangs.
    Robin flung the two weapons at his attackers, but they dodged effortlessly. They continued moving towards him, and Robin took out two more bat-a-rangs from his utility belt.
    Before he had the chance to use them, however, an arrow wizzed past his head with another following closely behind. They were aimed at Scarecrow and the shadow man, but the two also dodged these. But only barely.
    Aqualad then came hurtling out of the forest with a war cry, his water bearers formed in the shape of clubs. He aimed them at the shadow man, but once close enough, the shadow simply flipped out of the way while Aqualad swung at open air.
Scarecrow then attempted to attack Aqualad while he was retreating back to Robin. He launched a fist towards the Atlantians torso, but he dodged it while simultaneously swinging his clubs at the villain. Scarecrow once again dodged, but his expression turned into one of pure rage.
Artemis hurried out of the woods and stood next to Robin, with Aqualad retreating to do the same. A blur of black and a gust of wind signified that Wally had ran from the forest, and was now standing beside Artemis with both fists raised, ready for a fight. M'gann then appeared floating in the air next to Aqualad, her eyes glowing a vibrant green, ready for battle. An animalistic cry came from the forest, and Superboy jumped into the air and landed next to Wally, creating a small crater in the process.
With each new sidekick that appeared, the sneer on the villains face grew. The shadow man started to retreat into, well, the shadows, but one glance from Scarecrow halted him. He turned back to the teens with a growl.
"I will not be defeated by the Kiddie League." Scarecrow sneered through gritted teeth, balling his fist tightly over the syringe in his hand. The shadow man also seemed to tense, as if preparing for the fight to come, but was hesitant to do so.
He wasn't stupid, after all. No matter how skilled he and Scarecrow may be, they were outmatched. And the shadow man knew that if it came to a fight, he would take any moment to retreat.
Then, without warning, Scarecrow launched himself at the Team. And he seemed to be going straight for Robin.
    The shadow man took the shining opportunity and slunk into the shadowed woods, disappearing from the scene as if he wasn't even there in the first place. 
Acting fast, all of the superheros threw weapons at the man, who was forced to dodge. But that only slowed his attack.
With lighting speed, he tried to attack the bird, who cartwheeled to the side while throwing a bat-a-rang.
All of the teens quickly took note of the villains supposed fixation with the ebony, but immediately pushed it to the back of their minds. After all, they did have a fight to win.
Superboy then intervened with a growl, attempting to tackle Scarecrow to the ground. For a moment, sudden suprise passed through his eyes, but he quickly composed himself and stepped to the side while also knocking the clone to the ground with an elbow to the back.
Artemis then proceeded to shoot a volley of arrows, all missing their target as Scarecrow weaved through them. With a growl, the blonde pulled a special arrow out of her quiver and quickly fired it. While it flew toward Scarecrow, Robin engaged in hand-to-hand combat.
Scarecrow smirked at the Boy Wonder as the two exchanged many kicks and punches. This confused the ebony, but he nonetheless kept fighting.
The arrow wizzed through the air as it made its way to its intended target. The members of the team who were not currently engaged in combat watched it fly, knowing what kind of arrow it was.
Then just as it was about to hit an attacking Scarecrow, he quickly rolled out of the way. Robin had been preparing a roundhouse kick, but stopped midswing when the villain disappeared and he was met with an arrow tip aimed directly at him.
And before anyone else could comprehend what was happening, the arrow plunged itself into Robins calf. The bird grunted in pain as his eyes widened and his leg hit the dirt, and he winced once again when he tried to put any pressure at all on the appendage.
"Robin!" The whole teamed yelled, worried for their teammate. All of their eyes widened, Artemis's possibly the most. She did just shoot her own teammate after all. And, even though it wasn't intentional, a wave of guilt crashed into her, and she seemed to be frozen in place.
Robin grabbed his head as a sudden dizziness came over him, and black blotches appeared in the corner of his vision. His thoughts jumbled together as his eyes closed against his will. Then he started plumetting toward the hard dirt ground.
But before he could crash into the dirt, Wally zipped to him and grabbed him before the bird could hit the ground. He ran back over to his team, and gently placed Robin onto the ground.
"He's unconscious" The speedster stated, standing back up to face Scarecrow in anger.
The villain simply smirked at the teens' enraged looks directed at him.
"Why do you look so angry at me? I wasn't the one who shot the arrow." He shot a glance at Artemis, who shrunk slightly from guilt and embarrassment.
"Well, you just made my life easier. Now all I have to do is defeat you, take the bird, and I'll be getting myself a new drug lab in no time."
The team were confused by this statement, but did not take the time nessasary to ponder it.
Before anyone could blink, Wally ran over to the villain and ripped the syringe from his hand, then ran back with a triumphant smirk on his lips.
"How exactly are you going to defeat us? We have your drug and it's five against one. Just give up, dude." Wally exclaimed while holding up the vial of red and black liquid.
Scarecrow let out a low chuckle.
"Have you forgotten about my accomplaice?"
"You mean the one who ditched you when the fight started? Nope, haven't forgot." Artemis snapped back, a small smile forming on her lips as Scarecrow finally realized that he was, indeed, alone.
He growled, and turned back to the teens in front of him. They were all standing protectively in front of Robin, and the villain almost hurled at the touching sight.
"No matter, I will still defeat you and get my reward for taking the little bat brat."
Then, in vain, Scarecrow tried to launch another attack on the team. But he was quickly stopped in his tracks by a green glow that enveloped him.
"I think that's enough." M'gann announced, and her eyes glowed slightly brighter for a moment. In that moment, the villains eyes widened before he, too, fell unconscious. The green glow that surrounded him dissipated, and he fell to the forest floor with a large thud.
Now sure that Scarecrow was taken care of, everyone turned back to the unconscious form behind them. Artemis sighed at the sight.
"Sorry Rob, didn't know I would hit you. Hope you can forgive me." The blonde knelt down and looked at the arrow still sticking out of his lower leg and shivered.
"Should we take it out?" Conner asked bluntly while dusting his shirt to take the dirt off.
Aqualad shook his head.
"I believe that we should take it out once we are back at the Mountain, in the Med-bay."
"Good plan." Wally agreed, and he swiftly picked up the younger boy from the ground bridal style.
"Are you sure you can carry him, Wally?" M'gann asked, worry lanced in her voice.
The speedster simply scoffed.
"Of course I can carry him. He doesn't weigh that much."
Wally then made his way to the Bioship, the rest of Young Justice following closely behind, with Scarecrow behind tied up by M'gann's telekinesis.
All climbed into their respective seats, with the villain being placed in the cargo hold, now secured with actual rope. Wally carefully set the Boy Wonder into his seat and made sure he was secure before going to his own seat.
Once they were all situated in the ship, M'gann set off into the night, heading towards Arkham Asylum to drop off Scarecrow before heading back towards the Mountain. But as they neared Gotham, an unease settled over all of the teens. They weren't sure what it was, but it made them all shift in their seats. Then, Wally answered the question of why they felt that way with yet another question.
"What do you guys think Scarecrow meant by getting a reward for capturing Robin?" Wally suddenly asked, and all of the teens snapped their attention to the speedster. Wally rose an eyebrow.
"What? You all heard him, didn't you?" Everyone in he ship started to ponder this. They all noticed that the villain seemed a bit too fixated on their little bird, and those statements sent chills down all of their spines.
"I am not sure. But it would be wise to bring this subject to Batman when we arrive back at the Mountain." Kaldur said, and everyone seemed satisfied with that answer.
But all of them still felt uneasy, and occasionally snuck glances at the ebony hunched over, unconscious in his seat. The whole team was worried, and they wanted answers. They needed to know if their youngest member was in any sort of danger.
And they also need to know how they can protect him. No matter what.

Kinda an awkward place to leave off, and it felt kind of rushed, I know, but I hoped you liked this chapter nonetheless! And over 60 reads already? That's awesome! Thank you to all who at least looked at this book!

See Ya in the next chapter!

~BluePinetree

P.S - if you read my Gravity Falls book 'Half-Brother', I am very sorry I am not updating that, life (and laziness) just sometimes get in the way! But I am going to try to get an update out by next week. I promise!