Puppet Strings

Chapter Five

Bruce slowly nodded. "His skill set would put him around Dick's age, yet he sounds like and acts like a kid."

Jason picked up the photo, grunting to acknowledge what his family had said, as Damian started talking once again. "A metahuman of sorts, my katana went right through him."

"And he could fly," Bruce stated, looking around the room. "Other than that, we don't have any more information." His mouth pressed into a thin line, clearly displeased by that fact.

"What did he look like?" Tim asked, setting down his now empty mug of coffee.

"White cloak, some sort of jumpsuit." Damian said stabbing his eggs with his fork, a new one, for Alfred had confiscated his bloodied one.

"Hair? Eyes?" Jason was confused at the lack of description.

"The hood covered them," Bruce said with a sigh. "He also was wearing a half-face mask."

Tim leaned back, picking up his second cup of coffee, ignoring the pointed look he received from Alfred, he took a long gulp before looking back at Bruce. "So keep our eye out for a white-cloaked maybe kid assassin? That's not a lot to go off of."

"We will gain more information over time." Bruce sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose

Alfred took that as an invitation and stepped forward. "Master Damian, it is time to leave."

Damian made an unamused sound, before standing up and following after Alfred, his backpack swung over his shoulder. "Don't find the kid without me."

-_-

Tim swung through the city, keeping his eyes and ears peeled for any danger. With the child assassin out and about Tim didn't want to risk anything. He landed softly on top of a building, letting himself catch his breath. He could admit that it worried him what a possible kid would be doing murdering random innocent people, very few of the victims had a crime record and none of them were major.

That's what worried Tim, there seemed to be no connection, no motive. Just random killings, possible entertainment for a madman. That made Tim's skin crawl at the thought of someone younger than him being crazy.

A flutter of movement pulled Tim's attention from the streets below. It was gone... Wait there it was again.

Tim moved forward, eyes narrowing as he followed the flutter, training his eyes on it. They widened as they spotted the white cloak turn around a corner. The child assassin wore one of those... they needed to come up with a better name for him.

He held his finger to his ear, patching himself through. "I have eyes on the Child Assassin, preceding to follow."

Tim landed softly on a building above the flying boy, watching him as he stared at a small device in his hand before heading in a new direction. Tim kept his distance while following the kid. The kid didn't seem to notice Tim, his attention was diverted elsewhere.

"Copied, do not engage."

"He's entering Crime Alley" Tim hesitated for a second, watching the boy enter the Red Hood's turf. Jason wouldn't be able to make it in time and he couldn't just stop following the suspect. Tim continued forward.

"I repeat do not engage. Wait for backup."

Tim's eyes widened as the boy stared at a man sitting curled up against the dumpster. Asleep. The boy's hand flicked and Tim's eyes widened as he saw the glint of a blade. Sorry, Bruce.
Tim refused to stand to the side and watch an innocent man die. He jumped from the building his bo staff ready to strike.

The assassin turned around sharply, catching the bo staff in one hand. Tim's eyes widened and he let go of the staff, dropping downwards and gripping the boy's wrist where the knife was held. He twisted, and the boy let out a surprised yelp but didn't drop the knife. Instead, his hand just went through Tim's.

He looked up in surprise, his heart pounding as a sickening crack made Tim stumble back, his bo staff slammed into his skull, causing him to fall hard. The bitter taste of iron filled his mouth as the staff made contact again, sending him flying into the brick wall. Which cracked under the pressure, as well as something inside of Tim. His body slumping. Tim refused to let two hits take him down.

Tim took a deep breath, biting back a groan as he attempted to push himself back up. Why did breathing hurt? He looked up, mouth full of blood, and glared at the boy. Daring him to finish it.

Tim blinked as the boy dropped the staff and kneeled in front of Tim. Seemingly checking the damage done. The nodded slightly and brought his hand between Tim's neck and shoulder, and pinched.

Tim slumped, even more, fighting off the unconsciousness that tried to take over. He forced himself to look upward, the white cloak swiveling away from him as the boy to the sleeping figure.

Tim heard a scream, as the man tried to scramble away, landing in front of Tim. The scream cut off as the boy threw the knife, watching it sink into the throat. Tim attempted to blink away the blurriness, trying to focus on what was happening.

The boy pulled something out of his cloak, a small oval shape device, with a compass-like tracker in the center. It hummed as a transparent beam shot out of it. A small speck of something green got ripped out of the man's chest.

The boy moved forward, catching the speck in a glass jar before his attention moved back to Tim.

He took a step forward

BANG!

The boy jolted back, feet barely touching the ground as he whipped around, glaring at someone

BANG

The bullet went through the boy before he disappeared. One moment he was there, the next he wasn't

Tim's head dropped forward and he could feel himself slipping.

"Red Robin?" A familiar voice called for him. Footsteps ran to his side. "Shit! Tim!" Someone grabbed Tim's shoulders as darkness took hold of him.

Hey, so I'm going to make this into a two-part series. Maybe three.

Also I was thinking of a title change. Call the series The Puppet Show

And then call this one like the Puppet or Puppet Strings. Idk, I like the current title but it just doesn't seem to fit. I came up with it when I first came up with this story like 5 years ago and I never got anywhere with it until now. So I want get your guys opinion on that

Oh I'm working on a little funny drawing that I'll be posting on tumblr once its done. That and I'll use tumblr to complain about writing and to point out random topics.

I got a Danny Phantom funko pop and I flipping love him. Well I've had him for a few months not and my family doesn't understand why I spent a bit of money on him...