Well, here it is people. Chapter 24. I think the ending could have been done better, and some other things too but let's see what youz thinkz.
Chapter 24: Catch me if you can
It was always good to have a Plan B. Because not only did you always seem to have to use it, but for some reason it usually worked, so really it should have been Plan A. But Jason didn’t really have a Plan B…sure he said he did, but we all lie. He was just making sure it looked like he had one. Though jumping from roof to roof with five very angry teenagers following after you isn’t much of a plan. He just needed to get back to the city centre. It was big enough to lose the Titans and so for now he just tried to keep the pace.
His legs pumped faster and faster, but he hardly broke a sweat. Another gap between buildings came and going as fast as he was, it doesn’t really leave you with much time to think. Who knew the phrase “Think before you jump” could actually be used literally as well? Well think he didn’t, jump he didn’t. Unfortunately to get to the next roof he first had to go down a ten foot drop. Let’s just say he got an A for style…but probably an F for landing. Jason landed on his side and almost broke his arm. He managed to roll back to his feet and was on the run once again. He didn’t even check to see where the Titans were for fear that they were right behind him.
The current building he was situated on had no other near by to leap on, but luckily it was a single story building. Jason dropped down with great ease and came to a road. This road marked the end of the old docks and the start of the new buildings. Massive sky scrappers that challenged the sky in height. The boy instantly darted into the shadows of these buildings, but too late, for what he didn’t know was that the Titans were in very close pursuit. Closer than he had hoped…
******
The five Titans followed as best they could, and to be honest they did a very good job of it. Raven, Starfire and Beast Boy who had morphed into an eagle, had taken to the skies. Robin followed Jason across the roof tops and Cyborg was close behind on the ground. All of them had a good view of Jason. The rain continued it’s seemingly endless onslaught. This not only made it harder to see, but to run also. The floor had swiftly become slippery and the puddles ankle deep. But through it all the chase continued.
Eventually they came to the end of the docks and back to the new buildings. They were close enough to Jason to watch him go down an alleyway. The team silently agreed to split up once more and attempt to head him off. Raven, Starfire and Beast Boy flew over the buildings, while Robin and Cyborg went down two alley ways that ran parallel to the one Jason had gone down. Every once in a while they would come across an alley that ran through each one, and a simple glimpse to the right showed Robin that he was catching up with Jason, as he saw the boy run pas at around the same time as himself. What he didn’t know however was that Jason had seen him too and taken the initiative. Instead of carrying on, he had stopped gone back and headed down the same alley as Robin.
Luckily the Boy Wonder had air support and they had spotted this straight away, but their warning wasn’t on time. For although he received it, he didn’t turn quick enough and was shoved into some near by dustbins. This left him some what dazed and gave Jason a nice lead. But although it looked as if things were working I Jason’s favour…they weren’t. Turning the next corner, he almost ran straight into Cyborg. The Titan gave him a cocky smile. Jason attempted to turn and run, but the tin man managed to grab him by the collar.
“Got you…”
And indeed he did…for a few seconds before Jason slipped his arms out of the trench coat and continued on his way, giving Cyborg a little wave as he went…
******
He had managed to get away, but he knew the Titans were regrouping. Jason managed to find an unlocked door and burst into the building. Wasting no time he started his dash up the stairs. Even he didn’t know what his plan was anymore. He was just running in any direction, as long as it was away from the Titans. The flight of stairs seemed to just go on, but eventually he managed to reach the top, with plenty of energy to spare. The building was in fact about thirty stories high, but that doesn’t matter. Jason crashed out onto the roof and nearly lost his footing. He knew that there was no time to spare however. Running over to the edge, Jason did the one thing you should never do…he looked down. The boy forced a big lump down his throat and took a deep breath. The gap between the two buildings was quite big, but he had to jump it, he had to get away. Jason backed up about five meters and paused for a moment. He could already hear Robin and Cyborg clambering up the stairs, and he knew that the others were almost right behind him. Thinking no more of it, Jason burst out into a full on sprint, the rain lashed at his face and stung his eyes. Coming to the edge he made a leap of faith. Time itself seemingly slowed as he soared through the air, only to become another victim of gravity. Jason had made a good jump for it, but only managed to just about grab onto the roof with one hand. His face connected hard with the wall, but his grip stayed and carefully he dragged himself up onto the roof.
Now he was faced with a bigger problem…mainly a bigger building. Looking back he saw that the Titans had regrouped and were coming his way. Thinking fast he pulled out the grappling hook and fired it at a flag poll that hung out from the building. Jason held onto it tight and started running once again. Coming to the end of the building he jumped yet again. The rope tightened and he was sent crashing through one of the windows. The force caused him to lose grip on the hook and he went into a roll at landing, braking many things as he did. Slowly he got to his feet and looked around. The room was wide and long with many cubicles in it. But these weren’t important. Looking to his right he found the stairs leading to the roof. Why he chose to go up there…only God knows, because it was probably the worst thing to do when you had people who could fly chasing you. But ascended the stairs he did and after thirteen stories worth of stairs, he reached the top and burst out onto the roof. Jason received a crack of thunder and lightning for a welcome and a gust of wind. Not to mention the three Titans standing ready to fight him. He tried to run back down, but Robin and Cyborg had blocked his way. Jason slowly backed away and was quickly surrounded. This situation would usually cause one to tremble with fear or cower away and simply give up, but Jason strangely enough just…grinned. Wider than ever he smiled at them and even chuckled. Was he insane? O. Just in one of those funny moods.
“So this is it, huh? You’re going to take me away and lock me up, right?”
“Well yeah. We’re not exactly gonna let ya go,” this kind of reply you could expect from Beast Boy.
“I bet you wish it was that easy, don’t you?”
Without another word, he sent a pulse of electricity at Cyborg and Robin, hitting both heroes back. Their team mates reacted instantly, each of them making their attack on Jason. Beast Boy morphed into a Sabre-Tooth and lunged at Jason, but he was easily out manoeuvred and sent sprawling to the floor by a hefty kick. Not seconds after Starfire came at him with bolts of fury. Blocking them with a shield of electrical energy, Jason waited till the girl was passing over head and let down his shield, grabbed her by the ankle and smashed her into the rooftop. Not wasting anytime Raven sent a massive slab at Jason, but he rolled to the side and sent another pulse wave at her.
In this time both Cyborg and Robin had gotten back up and were attacking once again. Cyborg had his Sonic Canon deployed, letting of shoots into Jason, while Robin threw any explosive he could at the boy. Jason however, ducked and weaved out of the shoots from Cyborg and used another shield to protect himself from the blast of Robin’s explosives. Now it was down to hand combat. The Boy Wonder swung his foot at Jason’s head, but was dodged and tried again but went for his feet instead, but yet again he was evaded. Cyborg came in with a great punch, but stumbled when Jason moved to the side then pushed him away. Robin came at him with everything he had. His Bo Staff was out and he was sending a flurry of swipes at Jason. The two seemed to go at a speed unmatched, each blow was faster than the last, and just as equally each dodge was the same. Ducking and weaving. Spinning and jumping. Jason was like an untouchable target. Robin went for his head with a big clumsy swing, but like all such attacks he was dodged easily and left exposed. Jason immediately shoulder barged him in the gut and sent the Boy Wonder to the floor.
In this time Cyborg had gotten to his feet once again, as had the other three. The tin man was first to reach the target. He tried hitting him with two giant fists, but each was dodged easily and two of Jason’s own punches were thrown at him. Each one connecting with Cyborg’s face. He was dazed but not down, luckily for him, he had back up. Beast Boy had morphed into a massive bull and began his charge. Jason didn’t move a muscle and to others this would have been worrying, but Beast Boy paid little heed to this. Just before his horns connected with Jason, the boy grabbed both of them and moved to the side. Beast Boy nearly tripped over himself, but was sent face first to the ground anyway.
He was winning. Who would have thought it? He hadn’t wanted this to happen seems as taking on all five Titans was seen to most as impossible, but today he had found out that they were generally over rated. Well…it seemed like that anyway. His hot streak was coming to an end though.
Starfire sent a hail of bolts down on him, and having his back turned to the girl he was none the wiser. The alarm bells rang out soon though, as he was sent catapulting forward from the impact. Jason managed to roll out of the fall, but once again he was attacked from behind. Cyborg picked him up and held Jason high in the air before bringing him crashing down. The boy hadn’t even gotten back up when Beast Boy leapt on him in the form of a Lion. As he brought him down Beast Boy ripped into Jason’s arm and clawed away at his body. As Jason fought with the green changeling, he also used his free arm to reach the Bo Staff that Robin had dropped. Gripping it tightly he whacked Beast Boy across the head with it. Needless to say this sent Beast Boy sprawling to the floor. But now Jason was badly hurt and he was starting to feel it. Maybe if he had still had his coat it wouldn’t have been so bad. However, Jason had no time to lick his wounds, for as soon as he was up, he was under attack once again from Robin. This time he wasn’t quick enough to move aside and received two nasty blows in the head, then a kick in the gut. The boy was sent to the floor once again. True he was down, but not beaten, far from it. Slowly he clambered back to a standing a position. Yet again he found that the Titans left no time to rest. Jason barely managed to jump over a vent that was surrounded by black energy. With a smile on his face he went to turn, but around half way through was smashed in the face by the same vent that he had just evaded.
Get up Jason. You have to get up. You can’t give up. Not yet, not now! Not ever! Get up damn you! GET UP!
Jason struggled back onto his feet but eventually made it, with Bo Staff back in hand. The Titans stood in front of him defiantly. He had been backed to near the edge of the building, there was no where to run. So he would just have to keep fighting. With all the strength he could gather Jason sent the Bo Staff spiralling toward Robin, but it was stopped mid flight by black energy. Jason looked in surprise at Raven as she sent the staff right back at him. It flew through the air like an arrow. The boy wasn’t quick enough to move and so was pierced by the staff. It was going at such a speed that it managed to rip through his body and lung, then come out through the back, jamming itself in Jason body. In that moment everyone stopped, a look of horror spread across their faces. For any normal human this would have spelt the end, but Jason did not fall. The look of shock only stayed for a few seconds, before it was replaced by a look of anger. The Titans didn’t move an inch as they watched the boy grab the end of the staff that stuck out his chest. Jason began to yank hard at it and bit by bit it came out and loosened itself, until eventually he pulled it right out with one last heave. Blood spilt out onto the ground and onto his shirt, but he showed little to no sign of pain. In fact he began to charge up a bolt.
Jason began to stumble forward and raised his hand ready to strike. His advance was stopped by a well aimed Bird-a-rang from Robin. This went even faster than the staff had and hit him directly in the left eye and this, like the staff, managed to dig itself into his head. Jason’s head fell back and he stumbled away a few steps. Seconds past and still he kept his arched position. Until slowly he brought his head back up with the bird-a-rang plainly sticking out of his left eye. The Titans looked at him in sheer horror as he yanked it out and threw it to the ground.
“It’ll take…more than that…to take me down…”
He started another advance on the group, a grim look on his face.
“Cyborg! Starfire! Let him have it!”
With that said a barrage of green bolts and blue shoots were sent at Jason, each one hitting their mark, each one sending Jason further and further back. It wasn’t long till he was on his knees. He was beaten, broken and far from any hope of winning…but yet…he continued to try and get back up, to keep on going. But try as he might, his legs had given way. Robin was tired of this by now and was ready to deliver the final blow. He was about to send a devastating punch at Jason, but someone got in his way. Raven now stood between him and Jason.
“Stop! Can’t you see he’s hurt? He’s beaten, okay? This fight is over…”
She was right. The fight was over, but he was not yet done. As a last effort he forced his legs to support him for just a few more seconds. He clamped his left hand over Raven’s mouth and used his right to point his remaining Colt 45 at her head.
“Here’s…the deal…Titans,” it was obvious he was exhausted and struggling with his words. His face was battered and bruised. Blood ran down from his mouth and nose “I’ll go free…or Raven…gets her brains blown away.”
A very good threat indeed. But an unusual thing happened. Robin called his bluff and stepped forward. Usually he never would risk the life of his friends, but he knew that Raven was at no risk…not from Jason anyway.
“Just give it up. You’ve lost. You’re surrounded. There’s nowhere to run.”
Jason didn’t even need to look to know this was true…or…so it seemed. Looking behind him, he glanced over the edge and an escape plan quickly formed in his head. A grin made it’s way onto his face once again and he turned back to the Titans. First of all he whispered to Raven.
“I’m really sorry about this. Thanks for sticking up for me and all, but I’m not going to jail , not now I’m so close to finding out who I am. I hope you can forgive me,” and now he spoke loudly to the Titans “There’s always somewhere to run…always.”
Before anything else could be said he pushed Raven into Robin and flung himself from the building. As you would expect the Titans were in a state of shock. Each one of them ran to the edge and watched as Jason plummeted to the ground. He stared back at them with unblinking eyes as he went ever downward. Before he hit the ground, Starfire dug her head into Robin’s chest. The others couldn’t even bring themselves to move. Jason now led on top of a car, its roof completely destroyed and its alarm blaring through the night. People silently crowded around and looked at the body solemnly. It was over…
…Or…so it looked for a few moments. Jason’s eyes flashed open and slowly he sat up. Come on, you didn’t really think he was dead did you? Admittedly this fall would have killed…well…almost anyone. But Jason wasn’t just anyone, he was Jason. The crowd of people slowly backed away and stared at this phenomenon. Jason climbed off the car and grinned at the people around him. Though you couldn’t see it, every inch of his body was screaming with pain. He couldn’t even count how many injuries he had. But he refused to show weakness in front of these people. Slowly he turned away from the crowd and limped across the road till he reached the nearest alley. Before disappearing into the shadows, he looked at the Titans one last time, smiled…and gave a cocky salute to them…now he cast himself into the shadows.
******
“Dude…”
“How…just…how. He couldn’t have survived that! No-one could! It’s impossible!”
These were Beast Boy’s and Cyborg’s very shocked reactions. What they had just witnessed defied almost every law of physics there was…and yet…it had happened. Robin however did not wish to show that he was phased.
“It doesn’t matter…all we need to know is where he’s going. We’re also going to need to know more about him.”
“But dude…we don’t know anything about him.”
“I think I know someone who might,” Robin turned his head to the left and stared at Raven, who held his gaze for a few moments before looking away.
******
He had only managed a few meters before he collapsed and fell into a pile of discarded cardboard boxes. His body was bruised and broken. He himself was exhausted and he just couldn’t go any further. He needed to rest…regain his health. It wasn’t long till Jason drifted into unconsciousness…
. And WOW, cyborg really modded his car even more. Reinforced steel armour, machine guns lol. That's pretty insane.
i don't mind the shortness of the update, it was pretty good.
or perhaps Jason couldve stole some food, he seems resourceful enough.
I agree that he was so very close to defeating them. . .The moment with Raven and Jason together was really kinda heart breaking; it makes me wonder if Raven actually did like him. She did say that she was sorry, so. . .yeah. I can't wait to see where this leads.
