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Blinded By Green Ch 1

Swords clashed, the sound of the metal making contact rang throughout the dojo. Two figures stood in the center of the room, each taking a step backwards and circling, neither letting the other out of sight.

The taller of the two rushed forward then, arms over head, ready to strike with the blade. But the shorter moved faster, swiping his feet out from under him, sending him sprawling on his back with a soft grunt. When the man looked up, the smaller one held the tip of her blade right at his forehead. He could see the fierce green eyes from the slit in her mask.

“Fantastic! You are really improving!” Talia stepped forward and clapped her hands as the smaller figure turned and bowed to her. A smile graced her lips as she set a hand on the black clad shoulder. “I must say, you are advancing rather quickly. Much more than I expected.”

“It is all thanks to yours and the League’s considerable training.” Marinette reached and pulled off her mask. Her dark hair was damp with sweat, pulled back in a tail, her pale skin slightly flushed from the intense training she had been subject to. “Though I do believe I need to work on my agility a bit more. He almost got me by the cheek during the first round.”

Talia kept her smile as she watched as the man on the mat was helped up and escorted towards the infirmary, though the edges of her smile tightened a fraction.

“Still much better than before. You may go and bathe now. I expect to see you before dawn before your mission.”

“Good evening, Talia.” Marinette bowed to her once again, then promptly made her way to the exit of the dojo. She felt the familiar ache of her body, of her muscles that had been pushed to their limits and crying out in protest. It had become a welcome feeling. On her way out, she grabbed a bottle of water from a cooler, greeting a few other assassins she passed, before turning down a hall, all alone.

Her feet barely made any noise as she made her way through the dimly lit halls towards her room. She locked her door behind her and began to strip off her uniform one she went inside. After a nice hot shower, she made her way over to the bed and took a seat, finally letting out a soft groan.

For the past three months, she had been training as if her life depended on it, in which it had. Talia had brought her back from death, from a place that not many ever really came back from. She had heard of the injustice that Marinette had faced, at the hands of her own son, and was determined to balance out the scales.

Damian. The thought of him alone had her trembling with rage, had her grinding her teeth and her skin growing hot. She gripped the thin sheets of her bed, her breathing growing heaving as the rage grew.

“That bastard..” She hissed, raising her hand, about to throw the bottle of water at her mirror, when she stopped at the sight of a familiar figure. Her eyes narrowed as she eyed the woman standing at the other end of the room, the woman that had seemed to be appearing more and more. She was tall, a brunette but her features were blurry, unfocused. The only feature she could make out was her unfathomably purple eyes.

“Rich boys don’t care about anyone but themselves. That boy isn’t worth the tears, the gifts, the stress. He never deserved you to begin with.” The warm voice that left the woman's mouth rubbed against Marinette’s skin like sandpaper.

“You don’t need to tell me twice, specter. I’m no longer a fool, you do not need to throw my mistakes, my foolishness back into my face!" Marinette was on her feet once again, ignoring the screaming pain in her muscles. "Leave, go away! I am not foolish anymore, I am not blind! My sight is clear and I shall even the scores!"

"Marinette.. Who are you talking to?"

Marinette straightened abruptly and faced the doorway, fierce eyes meeting Talia's. She then blinked and returned her face to the purple eyed woman, only to find where she had stood completely empty.

"No one. I was just thinking about… Past mistakes and I got a bit too heated." Marinette lied with ease as she once again took a seat on her bed, beginning to dry her hair with her towel. The fire in her eyes was snuffed out, soon concealed behind the ice cold steel she always had in her gaze now. "What can I do for you? Is something wrong with the plans for tomorrow?"

"Not at all. I merely came to see you." Talia stepped deeper into the room, closing the door behind her. Her white dress hid nothing of her body, from what Marinette could notice, always showing off a large expanse of leg. Talia had told her that she had worked hard to make her body look like this, so why not show it off? Marinette merely averted her eyes and set down her now crushed bottle of water.

"I.. See." These evening visits had happened ever since Marinette had arrived at the League of Assassins a few months ago, when Talia had put her in the Lazarus pit.. "What did you want to talk about tonight?"

"Nothing of importance. No, keep your hair down,I will attend to it." Talia set her hand over Marinette's, stopping her from putting it up into a ponytail.

Soon Talia was seated behind Marinette, running a comb through the dark, silken tresses of her newest student. She smiled as she carefully began to twist it into a braid.

“Do you believe you are prepared for tomorrow?” She broke the silence as she soon tied the long hair off, smoothing the braid with her hand.

"Of course I will. Your teachings have shown me where I have lacked. If I do not do well, I will fail you… And Talia, I owe you every breath that I breathe, I will never fail you."

"I know that you will not fail me." Talia placed her hands on the younger girl's shoulders. Marinette didn't even flinch when she felt the bruising grip, the manicured nails dig ever so slightly into her skin. "You know the consequences if you do."

"I will not fail." Marinette set her jaw, her eyes suddenly blazing with a determination that made Talia smile.

"I should expect not. Taking your first life will be as easy as the rest."

…

Soft footsteps echoed through the quiet museum. Lights were on here and there, highlighting the artifacts tucked away in the polished display cases, jewels glittering and polished ivory having an alluring sheen in the lights.

But the man that neared the display case showing an array of ancient jewelry from some foreign queen wasn't worried much about the tidiness of the display, not as he lifted the crowbar over his head and shattered the glass.

He ignored the start of the blaring alarms, shoving the jewelry in the duffle bag he had strapped over his shoulder, but let out a cry of surprise when someone dropped down from the ceiling behind him and grabbed him by the collar. He was lifted up and set flying, slamming and destroying another display case.

The thief lifted his gaze, biting back a groan as he sat up, feeling the small bits of glass having torn through his clothing, to stare at the person who had thrown him, and met the glowing green eyes of the domino mask.

Tadmir stepped forward, unsheathing his sword as he drew closer to the criminal, who was in such a shocked state that he barely had time to react before the tip of the blade was pressing against his throat.

He was an imposing figure, this new vigilante that had appeared in place of Robin. A tall figure, clad in all black in an outfit that had echoes of his past life of violence and bloodshed, save for the dark green accents, the emblem of a green paw print on his left pectoral, or the hooded cowl pulled over his head making the faint outline of cat ears on his head.

"You fools really don’t learn. You keep pulling the same stunts, the same tired plots but you never learn.” He pressed the tip of the blade to the thief's neck, the sharp blade drawing forth the man's crimson blood. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't hack your worthless body to pieces and put your head on a spike, to warn your fellow thieves."

"I- I have a family and kids! I was just doing this to get money for my sick wife!" The thief stammered out, his hands beginning to shake as he held them in the air.

Tadmir was silent, so silent that the thief could hear his own heart hammering against his ribs, his blood pumping so hard it almost deafened him.

"How stupid do you think I am?" Tadmir raised his blade. The thief let out a high pitched screech before his eyes rolled back into his head. He fell like dead weight to the floor with his head bouncing off of the tile floor so hard that Tadmir had to suppress a flinch. It sounded like a bowling ball hitting the floor.

"Christ Tadmir, what the hell was that about?" The cat hero didn’t turn back when he heard Nightwing’s voice. He just kept his cold glare on the thief that was passed out at his feet. “You could have killed the man!”

"If I did I would be doing the world a great service, wouldn't I?" Tadmir scowled at the other vigilante before he returned his gaze to the man sprawled out on the floor. "That way he will not be able to leech off of the underbelly of the city."

“You know the damned rule. Just pick him up and take him down to the station like we always do.” Nightwing had to hold back from snapping. It had been like this every night since Tadmir went back on patrol duty. It reminded him of the Damien he had met all of those years ago, the little kid so full of violence, of his own twisted way of doing things. Quick to the kill and the maiming.

And that scared him.

Damien hadn’t even known Marinette for that long, by her death it had been a few months. Yet he acted as if he had lost the one most important person in the world. Don’t get him wrong, Dick knew that losing someone could hurt, that it could eat you up inside and send you spiraling down a dark path that was difficult to stray from.

But then again, he didn’t know what all happened between the two. And he’d never say these feelings aloud, he wasn’t heartless, but he needed to do something to stop Tadmir on his violent path.

“.. Diana will be here in a few days, Tadmir. Perhaps you should give the ring to her, at least for a little while. You haven’t really taken the time to properly grieve-” Nightwing was cut off by Tadmir rounding on him, his eyes glowing fierce green in the dark.

“This was the last thing she gave me! It is what she trusted me to use to protect the innocent!” He seethed, his claws flexing now. But when he saw Nightwing tense, he took a step back and forced himself to relax. “Do not tell me how to grieve. Did you not grieve by going after the people responsible for the death of your parents?"

"Tadmir, I-"

"I don't even have that! She was murdered, she died alone on that rooftop and I wasn't there to save her! And I don't even know who did it, there was no evidence, no leads!" He explained, his hands curling into fists now. He felt the tears burning his eyes but refused to let his older brother notice the change. "So keep your mouth shut unless you want me to say something I regret."

Nightwing said nothing as his younger brother stormed off, leaving him and the thief behind.

Once he was out of the building, Tadmir ran. He ran until his muscles ached, until his lungs burned. He ran until he was far, far away from the activity. He stepped into an empty alleyway and suddenly his transformation dropped.

Plagg could only watch helplessly as he leaned against the wall, slid down it, and buried his face in his hands. All he could think to do was fly over and give him a hug on his wrist.

Marinette was gone and Damien mourned at what could have been. And what he had failed to do.

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#maribat #Blinded By Green #seeing green

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