Red Hood: The Lost Days
Chapter 27: All Caste
"Why are you full of rage?
Because you are full of grief." - UNKNOWN
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Y/N - Third POV
Italic = Y/N narrating
8 months later, June, 2012
Somalia, Africa
Being famous for it's pirates smuglers, Somalia is located on so called "horn of Africa", just on coast line of Gulf of Aden.
Begin a 3rd world country, their cities are poor in build to say atleast. So it is easy for group of mercenaries to hide there.
They're a crack squad. They go by STEEL BEAM. Mercenaries.
In one of the buildings, 6 armed man were preparing for their next mission.
If you need WET WORK done on foreign soil, you REALLY couldn't do much better than these guys.
But not anymore.
Then local group or gang smashed through their doors and bloody fight began, logically not going well for the Americans.
The odds that THIS battalion of boy soliders could get the drop on THESE badasses are ASTRONOMICAL.
So, I ratted them out.
They deserve WORSE but this was the BEST I could orchestrate with the time I had.
Y/N rode on a motorcycle as he was escaping from the locals who chased him with a truck.
Even if he was the one who has tipped them off, his skin colour betrayed him, so of course they would shoot at the 12 year old kid!?
I'm not terribly worries about the boys taking any SHOTS at me. Their AIM isn't that good...
Which was true, because he has escaped without even trying to doge a single bullet.
...and I'm MUCH better on the bike than I USED to be as Robin.
He came to a stop on the outskirts of the city where an Black Hawk helicopter waited for him.
I had a good teacher. No. BETTER.
RIP: "They all got whacked? How the hell - - you sure?"
Rip asked as Y/N has finnished on briefing him about what aspired not to long ago.
Y/N: "I wasn't waiting around to find out the details, but it's been four hours, I couldn't get them on com - -"
RIP: "No, you're right. They blew both rendezvous points too, so screw it. I'm sticking to protocol. I'm just amazed. They were some dominant ass-kickers to be taken out by a squad of the shorties."
Y/N: "If you're evac-ing, I could use a lift."
They started heading towards the chopper.
RIP: "Sure kid. Lifts is what I do. But why don't you fly? We'll consider it our last lesson."
His name is RIP, and he's a transport man. He's an expert on ANYTHING with wheels, propellers, or wings - - in COMBAT situations.
Y/N sat into a pilot's seat and started turning the switches on. Just like Rip thought him to.
I've been with him for 7 months now after Lady Shiva appointed him as my CO-teacher. And he taught me a lot.
True, he's a DIRT BAG MERCANARY. But he's just a DRIVER.
Besides, I needed SOMEONE alive to spread the word. STEEL BEAM died in Somalia.
With that, they left and flied for India.
Nanda Parbat, Night
June 2012. 1 year, 1 month.
That's the time which has passed since my resurrection.
I should be honest. I think I should be appreciate my second chance.
But, in reality, I got a raw deal.
Every night, I live the same moment over and over again. Probably more than 200 days has passed since I slept peacefully. For 1 hour.
Shiva: "Y/N?"
You see, in this deal, I got my life back. But in return, I got trauma. PTSD. Panic attacks.
Shiva: "Y/N."
This is unpopular opinion, but not many people want to be alive.
Shiva: "Y/N!"
He wakes up from his sleep. Or atleast an atempt at sleep. He looks up and sees Shiva kneeling next to him.
Shiva: "You are sweating. You were mumbling and shaking in your sleep..."
She explains as Y/N wipes the sweat of his face and sits up.
Y/N: "I'm s-sorry if I had wake you up."
Shiva: "Shh. It's okay. It's okay."
Shiva conforts him as she moves her hand to his face and with a thumb cleans tears from his eyes.
Shiva: "... It happened again, didn't it?"
Y/N slowly nods with his head as more tears started escaping from his eyes as he started sobbing lightly.
Shiva didn't know about any cases of Ra's getting this side affects after bathing in the pit, but she once too suffered from short trauma.
It was when she lost someone close to her and she blamed herself for it because she allowed it to happen.
Then she remembered it. The thing that someone close to her always done to calm her down.
She moves to the Y/N's sleeping spot.
Y/N: "W-What are y-you doing?"
Shiva: "I'm gonna help you fall asleep in peace."
Y/N: "B-But I do-don't want t-to dream i-it again."
Shiva: "And you won't. I promise."
Y/N hesitated for a minute. He didn't know if this is some kind of test... or she is being honest... That she cares about his health...about him...
He moves cautiously next to Shiva. Shiva covers them with a blanket as they lie down. She slowly grabs Y/N and gently rests his head on her chest.
Shiva: "Now I want you to concentrate on my heartbeat. Nothing else."
Y/N quietly hums in response and closes his eyes.
Minutes pass as Shiva stays awake, looking at the celing, one question in her mind: Why is she doing this?
She had many students, but she never acted kind to them. Training was all that mattered. So why is she showing compasion now?
Then felt something on her body. A squeeze. She moves her eyes down. She can see as Y/N's hand, who has fallen asleep, tighten around her waist.
She does something that she hasn't done in a long time.
She smiled.
And with that, she closes her eyes and falls asleep with a child in her hands.
So what was the answer to the question she had?
Well, the answer was simple.
She knew one thing about the boy that nobody knew, not even Y/N himself.
And she will tell him the answer when she's ready.
Morning
Y/N: "Steel Beam. An American mercenary mob. They were hard to find on any of the databases. They're known."
Y/N explained as he and Shiva sat on the floor, facing each other, while drinking tea. It was their morning routine.
Shiva: "And that surprises you? Their leader was practically a former US marine himself."
Y/N: "Yeah, but he didn't look like a social type of a leader. And he's squad was full of ex CIA or FBI agents. But surprise surprise when they didn't think that a former street kid would lead them to their deaths."
He said as he sipped the tea as Shiva eyed him.
Shiva: "This is becoming quite the habit."
She says. Y/N looks at her.
Y/N: "What is?"
Shiva: "Your "investigations". "
Y/N: "That's... not what I'm doing."
He trails of for a moment. He himself wasn't sure why he was doing it. Maybe some habits never die hard.
Shiva: "No. I was applying a kind euphemism to the obvious."
She smiled at his lostness and confusion.
Shiva: "A pattern has formed. I and Talia assist you in procuring "teachers", men and women who posses very dangerous skills that you hope to cultivate. You study under them for a period of time, expand your repertoire... and then half od them wind up dead. "
She didn't need an answer from Y/N to know that he thougth she was right.
Shiva: "I know it's not because you're covering your tracks."
Y/N: "It's not without a reason."
He says as he starts to remember every of his "teachers".
The SURVEILLANCE EXPERT was a PEDOPHILE.
The SMALL ARMS GUY ran a SMACK RING, but half his stuff was POISON.
That CLOSE COMBAT master was planning on KILLING her HUSBAND and DAUGHTERS.
Y/N: "And Steel Beam was hired by a rival chief to pit two other tribes againts one another. All that did was get "boy soliders" killed. Nearly thirty a week before - - "
She cuts him off as she pours herself another cup of tea.
Shiva: "Before you stopped them. I'm not criticizing. I'm just pointing out the obvious. On your road to... revenge, you seem to have also found a new interest. Or revisiting an old one."
Y/N: "I'm not like him. At best, he would have just put these dirtbags in jail. They're wrong. And I' m putting them down."
Shiva: "I know..."
He may not see it, but there, for a second, in her eyes was feeling of regret. So she came up with a solution.
Shiva: "... But I need you to know that by walking down this path, you could lose yourself. Men like you lost their way because they're consumed by their rage..."
She stops for a minute to see if the boy is getting at what she is talking about.
Y/N: "But?"
Shiva: "Unlike them, you're just a child. I don't want you to waste your own life walking a one-way path. Be lost in your revenge. I want you to control it. To prevail it."
She sends him a weak smile before continuing.
Shiva: "That's why I'm taking you to the hidden Chamber of All, located in himalayas."
That's catches the boy off guard. "Another fuckers hiding from the humanity?" is probably what came to his mind first.
Y/N: "The Chamber of All? Which another group of assassins is also stationed in himalayas?"
He asks as Shiva nods, confirming his suspicion.
Shiva: "An ancient group of warrior monks. All Caste"
Timeskip
Himalayas, The Chamber of All
Y/N: "So... How do you want handle this? If you think I wasn't in worse situations, that would be an understatement. So either I fight you all at once - - or do you want me to kick your butts one by one at a time?"
He says cockly as he was surrounded by a lot of spiky weapons aimed at him. But he wasn't fazed by it. Not at alllllllllllll.
???: "My, aren't you the puppy little man-child."
A very old and short woman says she stares at the former boy wonder.
The monks are the All Caste. The Ancient One was Ducra the Instructor.
Y/N: "The name is Y/ - -"
He tries to speak but is immediately cut of by Ducra.
Ducra: "Shush. Bow before your superior man-child."
She orders. Shiva politely complies, but Y/N isn't going to be lectured by an old lady shorter than him.
Y/N: "Sorry grammy, I don't do that, not anymore. And there's only one elder butler I respect."
He crouches down and taps her on her head. When Shiva realises what he is doing, she tries to warn him.
Shiva: "Y/N, I wouldn't - -"
*Whmbump*
Shiva: "... Never mind."
And we that, he was down, out cold.
Okay, not my shining moment.
Shiva was risking a lot by bringing me here.
She tought I need to find more than one path to walk on, so my rage doesn't consume me.
But here I was, embarrasing her in front of her friends.
Ducra: "I've been doing this for 3000 years."
She says to now unconscious Y/N.
Ducra: "It took you only six seconds to torque me off. That has got to be some kind of record."
She kneels down next to him.
Ducra: "You're out cold now. Which means you're useless. Defenseless. And, mercifully silent.
She gets up as lets off his hand.
Ducra: "I can still train you to fight when you are unconscious. I can mold you into the most s killed assassin in the world. All you have to do... is stop being such a yutz."
She then walks away with Lady Shiva before coming to the stop and turning to her former and best student she ever had.
Ducra: "Seariously, Shiva. What am I supposed to do with that lump of rage?"
She asks her as Shiva thinks for an answer.
Shiva: "Admittedly, Y/N is... complicated, Ducra."
She tells to one of hers former masters as she starts explaing his situation.
Shiva: "He was raised from the dead a while ago, being first person to be resurrected by the Lazarus Pit. His body was fine, but his mind and soul were absent until - -"
Ducra: "Until he remembered the moment he was killed. I'm certain that went over real well with the demon's head."
Shiva: "He... surprisingly plays both sides of it."
She lied, but she knew Talia would stall him for her.
Shiva: "Before he was murdered, Y/N had the potential to be a great man. And if not better than his adoptive brother Nightwing. I believe with the proper guidance - - that could still be the case. I believe he deserve that chance."
Ducra: "You're wrong. He's going to be the death of us. The death of many."
She said as Y/N started waking up.
Shiva: "So, no? You will not train him in the ways of the All Caste?"
She asked confused.
Ducra: "Of course I will."
She tells as Y/N rubs his neck and turns his gaze towards them, easily hearing what she said next.
Ducra: "The thougth of leaving him to the rest of the world - - leaving the world at the mercy of him - - is unacceotable."
Smart lady, Ducra.
5 months later, October, 2012
Y/N was seen lying under water at rest, but not drowing.
Ducra: "Up and at 'em, pup. I supposed I should congratulate you."
Ducra says as she picks him up by his shoulders and out of water, as he opens his eyes.
Ducra: "The first human in a thousand years to survive the CLEANSING. But I still can't tell if it's because you're worthy - - or just damned stubborn."
She congratulates him or not as he breaths for air.
Y/N: "Can't I be... both?"
Y/N Todd to you. One part of him which hasn't change even spending 5 months with the monks is... well, himself I guess, so nothing at all?
Ducra: "Shut up and get dressed already. Your people await."
She ordered as servants brought him his robe.
Later, he meets Ducra at the in the main part of their temple.
Y/N: "Um... thanks."
He thanks Ducra for earlier compliment, if it can be called that, as he ties the rope serving as his belt around his waist.
Ducra: "Wow. Really sent chills through these old bones with that soaring oratory."
Y/N: "You taught me how to be an assassin, old lady, not a public speaker."
He has the point.
Y/N: "Between you and me, All-Mother?"
He asks as they walked down the beautiful garden they had.
Ducra: "Always."
Y/N: "You had faith me long after I had none of my own. You taught me that to give someone death is an intimate and private as guving him life. You showed me that past and future are not seprate places - - They are the ALL. For all those thing and more I will be forever grateful, Ducra. "
Ducra: "But...?"
Y/N: "But all I really want is to kill the man responsible for my murder!"
*Wham*
He hits the wooden statue as he lashes his anger out.
Y/N: "I want to kill the Joker. And I want to make Batman - - My guardian... My protector - - suffer for not bothering to avenge my death!"
*Wham*
He hits it again.
Y/N: "It's all I can think of... It is all that I am!"
Ducra then grabs both of his hands and turns him to look at her.
Ducra: "This was never about making you perfect, Y/N. This is not the end of your journey. Rather it is the beginning."
She tells him as she holds his hand and continue their walk.
Ducra: "One Day your heart will shine brighter than the dark fury inside you. And that day will be glorious."
Present Time
June, 2016
Jump City, Titans Tower
Third Pov
It was a peaceful night at T tower.
Kori, Terra, Raven, Cayla went out on the girls night out with team's newest member Donna Troy aka Wonder Girl.
Dick went out on a patrol.
Damian was called back to Gotham by Batman to help him on a case. Maybe Damian didn't know what was the case about, but Y/N did.
Y/N has recently found out about David Cain's activity in Gotham. Someone was spoted looking at the one of Wayne Enterprises warehouses. The figure was wearing the black suit. David no doubt.
His personal connection to Cain is why he decided to stay at the tower.
He didn't want Bruce to finnish his own losse ends for him. Especially if he was going to just throw him into the Blackgate.
So currently only ones in the tower were Jaime, Garfield and Y/N.
While Jaime and Gar were playing video games on Titans computer, Y/N was in one of lower levels of the tower.
But thing is, this level shouldn't exits. Nobody should have know about it but Dick, Gar and Kori.
Unfortunutly for them, Y/N found out about it. Of course, Oracle helped him in that.
Why did they hide this level from everyone, especially those 3 members?
Well, they were part of original team of Teen Titans. And on this level they hid something which original team agreed to not talk about never again.
Y/N walked down the dark hall, flashlight in his hand. Of course power is cut off on that level. It doesn't exist so why spend electricity on it. Dick's suggestion no doubt.
He walked until he has reached upon a door. Only door on this floor.
With power outage, Y/N had to manually open the door through the electronic board.
With a beep pointing that door were open, he pushed them to the side and walked into the room.
Infornt of him was large safe doors.
He walked to them a spinned the wheel.
He pulled the door open and inside it, on the wall, hung the thing he was looking for.
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To be honest, I'm not to happy how I written this chapter. But I guess there are chapters which you are not to joyful to write and ones you are overmoon to write.
To clafiry, All Caste won't be a big part of the Outlaw arc, but one small piece of it's lore will be used in it.
So now 2 chapters are left of this arc.
Something is happening in present.
Lady Shiva took Cassandra.
Y/N found a secret.
And David Cain?
Well, you will find out in the next chapter about what he is doing.
Until then, remember:
Stay whelmed and breath in the aster.
(I seariously watched first 2 seasons of young justice for first time recently)
Bye.
(WORDS: 3204)