Chinese Dragons [Jimmy]

[Deleted]

[OOC: Obviously after escape. Italics means that it is spoken in chinese]

He pushed through the crowd of asians that were shouting more nonsense in Chinese. He hated people. He hated this many people all in one place. He felt dirty as they rubbed against his clean crisp black suit. He saw the ducks being hung from the butchers. He saw the noodle stand just a foot away. It was all so unclean. The fact he had to meet Wu Jing in some hidden room near the market was despicable. He would have taken a car, but the cars seemed just as trapped within the people walking and moving in the road as the people themselves. It was quicker to walk. He only hoped that Jimmy was keeping up. He had left Allen with Nina. He wanted to see if Jimmy could handle this job. He wanted to see if any of the lesson Allen had shared upon him had paid off.

Edward was no fool. He had caught the look of doubt on the boys face when they faced Robin. He almost looked ready to leap into the boy blunders arms like a lost child. No, he did not have time for traitors, and if the boy ever had another wishful thought he could answer the riddle of how long it takes for a bullet to leave his gun and enter a boys head.

He pushed around into an ally finally escaping the mass. He let out a huff of breath, as he straighten his suit. He noticed the kid push through only a second later. Edward looked down at him, judging to see if the boy seemed in control of himself. He had long term plans for him, if things did not go exactly right, but he also would not coddle him. "Come on," he stated in a gruff voice as he moved down the designated ally to the side door. He knocked once, then knocked twice. After a few minutes of standing there the door swung open revealing a large muscled asian with a tattoo of a dragon across his face. The man gave them both a once over before he moved to the side.

Edward rolled his eyes. He could hardly find muscles threatening, since he knew they had nothing between their ears. He walked up the sharp wooden stair case that seemed to creak with every stepped. He wasn't quick. He never was with stairs, especially stairs that didn't have a rail. Thank god he was still wearing his purple gloves even with his black suit. The idea of touching the wall with his bare hands was disgusting. He forced himself up and when he finally reached a small door, he opened it up with irritation. He walked into a large dark room. There was a bar off on the side wall and a few tables scattered about. It was obviously a gambling joint at night, but during the day it was a meeting place.

"Wu, I find it far past convenient for our third meeting spot to have stairs as well," he muttered out in annoyed Chinese.

From the darken shadows a man with a calm expression exited. His eyes were collective as he looked over the Riddler with barest of interest. His long dark hair was pulled back into a low pony tail. The man was in his late thirties, but he was obviously strong and fit. Edward had met the man long ago during his last visit to China. The man was power hungry, but within the authoritative Chinese Government he had difficulties moving up the ladder. It had given Edward the perfect opportunity.

"We must face our weakness if we are to become stronger, correct, Edward?" the man stated in English, as he moved to the table.

Edward shot him a glare before he walked over to the table as well. He didn't need to introduce Jimmy because after all, the boy was merely the help. It was similar to how Wu did not need to introduce his three burly body guards each hidden within a corner that Edward had already noted.

[jimmyg]

Jimmy too wandered through the large crowd of people, tagging along behind Edward but never out of his sight. He hated the man, but he wasn't about to get lost in a country where he couldn't understand a word of the language. At least with Edward there was some kind of sense of familiarity. He was only the average height for his age and had a bit of difficulty keeping up with his so-called employer, but he managed. He felt like shoving his way through the crowd but made do with simply brushing shoulders against those that he couldn't help but brush shoulders against. His American manners kicked in, muttering 'excuse me' a bunch of times as he did so more out of habit; not so much that he meant it.

He knew Edward had seen the almost hopeful look in his eye when Robin was around the car. Jimmy was such an apathetic child, to have such a sudden change of attitude would be noticible. But then, he didn't really care what Edward thought of it either, so long as he was kept alive. He wanted to go home, it was as simple as that. Not even that he wanted to go home so that he could tell his dad what had happened; Jimmy could keep a secret. He just wanted to physically be in his own home.

The sheer amount of people was so much just in this area alone, Jimmy wondered to himself how they even managed to get by on a day to day basis in this country. He felt sick. He too, did not do well in large groups. The boy wanted a path to clear for him and for Edward as well, but instead narrowed his eyes when a larger man and woman closed up what little path he was using, in front of him. "_{Excuse me.}" He said quietly, making no contact with the two. They didn't move. "..Excuse me." He said again, knowing that they probably didn't speak english, but still. When they didn't move again, he glared up at the man and just pushed past him, receiving more than a few angry words in mandarin that he just rolled his eyes at, and picked up his pace to catch up with the only other American looking person in the area.

He hadn't said a word to Edward since their trip to wherever it was they were going began. He had nothing to say to him anyway. Sure, he was curious as to where they were going but, at this point he more or less figured the less questions he asked, the better. He'd find out where they were going soon enough, he didn't need to shorten Edward's temper with what he would probably assume to be a 'stupid' question.

Still, he tagged along behind the man silently and with his eyes elsewhere, looking up at the rooftops or at the signs that he couldn't read. Languages had never really interested him, but even if they had it certainly wouldn't have been mandarin. He hated the feeling of not understanding anything. Having Riddler being the only thing he could understand just made it worse. He wondered just how many people in that crowd that paid attention to the two caucasians thought of Edward and Jimmy as a father and son touring their country, and he furrowed his brows at the thought. People were stupid.

When the door opened, Jimmy didn't even look at the large asian man who held it open for them but instead at the stairs. It didn't show, but Jimmy was happy to see them. He'd learned that Edward was bad with stairs and he got a kick out of seeing the man struggle with something; especially knowing that it probably hurt him in some way. Good. He hated that man, and he wanted much worse to happen to him than just a bad pain in his leg from the steps, but kept that to himself, and waited for Edward to get to the top before he summoned up a touch of childish energy and bounded up the steps effortlessly.

He kept calm and looked around the room curiously when they got to it. He didn't notice the bodyguards in the corners of the room because he was too busy looking at the man who Riddler was talking to, tilting his head just a bit at the man's reply to Edward's complaint. Again, he was silent. He didn't feel the urge to speak at all but knew that when Edward moved, he moved too.

Instead of looking around the room any more like some kind of intrigued child as one his age was supposed to do, he instead focused and followed his 'boss' to the table, not a word spoken yet.

[Deleted]

"Physical limitations could hardly be considered a weakness, as long as one possess a brain they can easily conquer all obstacles. Now if a person lacks a brain, there is no remedy because even with physical superiority you cannot use strength to punch through ever wall ahead," he commented as he took his seat at the table.

Wu stood standing. His eyes were on Edward as he spoke before he nodded in agreement. Wu spoke little, not because he did not understand English. On the contrary, Wu was fluent. Wu was the type of man who was always calculating something. He did not enjoy wasting his words. The man spoke when he had something to say, and when he did speak, the room usually went silent to listen to him. Edward knew this about him. They had meet actually at a black market event in Gotham. Edward as usual had been loud about his issues with many of the products. Wu had insulted him for his brash American ways. It had infuriated Edward and forced him into a conversation with the man. Edward did not like Wu, but he felt some shred of respect. When Wu mentioned his position within the Chinese government....well, Edward decided maybe a game of riddles could wait. Wu was an important puzzle piece that had to be fitted exactly.

"Is this your son?" Wu asked, Edward noticing his eyes were on Jimmy.

Edward frowned immediately. Edward looked up at the man who was still standing and staring directly into the boy's eyes. He smirked. "I know my intelligence perceptional increasing my age, but how old do you believe I am?" he asked somewhat mockingly.

[jimmyg]

As the two of them spoke; or rather, Edward listened to himself talk and Wu nodded, probably just to get him to be quiet-- and he wouldn't blame him for that, Jimmy just stood there silently. Just as silent as Wu, in fact. Looking up at him and then at the body guards that were "hidden" in the corners, then around the room, finally giving in to the youthful curiosity that he was supposed to have. He stuck by Riddler, for what reason he was unsure. He supposed if anything happen that Edward was most likely to protect him, but he didn't really believe that. Technically he was just an employee.

But still was just fourteen, and as much as he hated having his age considered a weakness, he didn't mind it when it could be used as an excuse for something.

At Wu's question, Jimmy's eyes shot back up at the man and his brows furrowed quite a bit. Edward, his father? How insulting. "No, I'm not his son." He said in a snappy sort of tone, unintentional though it was.

After he spoke rather out of place, Jimmy blinked at Wu; who by now was staring right into his eyes. He kept his brows furrowed though, a stubborn streak he'd probably inherited from both his parents. His glasses needed to be pushed up but for now, he just stood there with his hands curled into fists. Not that he had any intention of hitting anyone any time soon, but his reflex at that assumption was a possibly violent one, apparently.

[Deleted]

Edward cringed at the boy speaking. It wasn't his place to do so. His tone also made the comment condescending. Edward never wanted children. He never cared for them. He found all children ignorant and therefore stupid, so why would he ever want to put up with one. He had no issue hiring those that were young, but they had to show some potential. Robby had been seventeen when he hired him. Even in his youth, Robby was still a very productive employee. Jimmy was by far the youngest he had ever hired, but Jimmy made up for his age through intelligence. It was easy for Edward to overlook Jimmy's age when the boy had proven that he possessed some sort of brain power. But Jimmy was missing something very important. Jimmy was missing loyalty. He needed to understand that in this type of business loyalty among your co-workers was as important as honor. If you did not have loyalty then their would be chaos and mutiny.

Wu continued to study the boy for only a minute longer until he nodded. He then pulled out his chair and stated, "You hire young, Edward," completely ignoring the boy's comment.

Edward smirked. "He has potential, and I always have been good at calculations when it comes to investments," he stated. "He also kind of reminds me of myself."

Wu looked at Edward then up at the boy then back to Edward. He nodded. "He talks less, I see," he stated.

"Insecurities is what I think it is," Edward said as he played with a pen on the table, "But I digress, do you have the security blue prints?"

Wu looked to one of his men before snapping his fingers. Immediately, the man walked over with a large rolled up paper. The man handed the paper over to Wu. Wu then placed the rolled paper on the table. "As we discussed Edward, if you fail, I will not help clear your name. I will not allow my name to be tainted by criminal activities."

Edward let out a short laugh, "I never fail,"

[jimmyg]

Jimmy knew that he wasn't supposed to talk, but the accusation that he was Edward's son was just as, if not more insulting to the boy than it was to Edward. At the older man's cringe, Jimmy took a sidestep away from the whole of the group. He didn't want to be here, and in fact didn't exactly know why he was forced to come with Edward to this meeting in the first place. He had the gun that Allen gave him and briefly taught him how to use and assumed that he was supposed to be a sort of body guard.. but it just didn't make sense to him. And frankly, he couldn't see himself protecting Edward if things got bad, anyway.

Keeping his eyes on the ground, Jimmy only looked back up at Wu when he started to talk again, as if he was some kind of pet or something. The both of them, Edward and Wu, talked as if he wasn't right there. Clearing his throat, Jimmy let his arms hang at his side and shook his head, furrowing his brows at the 'insecurities' accusation.

"I'm not insecure. I just don't have anything to say to you." He spoke up, quietly. Again, not his place, and he felt a shiver crawl up his spine after saying it, taking a step back just in case. Jimmy was obviously scared in this situation, and was at a loss for how to handle it. He had a gun. He could shoot someone. That thought rang in his mind a few times, but he wouldn't act on it. It'd be stupid to do so.

Instead, he fell quiet again, and waited until he was told what to do instead of assuming what it was he was supposed to be doing.

[Deleted]

When Jimmy spoke up, Edward visibly cringed. His hand that was on the table begin to tap in slight agitation. He had been honest when he said that the boy had potential, possibly potential to outshine him, but comments like that would limit him and possibly shorten his life. The fact that he even had the gulls to voice his opinion in front of Edward's current employer was disgusting as is. He would have to remind the boy of the position he took. Edward hadn't forced him into the position. He had asked him politely if he wanted to join or not, and he had decided to join. The fact that the boy was 1) not showing loyalty and 2) disrespecting him were enough reasons for Edward to put a bullet in his head.

Edward gave the barest of frowns. Edward never forced people to work for him. He knew the results of such an action were disloyal and inefficient thugs.

Now, when you said yes and you went back on your word, that only proved you were as worthless as most flip flopper politicians. Edward would have to speak to the boy after this meeting. He would be forced to ignore the comment until in a more private location.

But Wu's taunting smirk wasn't helping Edward's anger. The chinese man loved to feel more powerful and in control then his counterparts. To have one of his pawns look down on him only infuriated him. Luckily, the body guard placed the blue print onto the table. Edward immediately grabbed it and rolled it out on the table. His eyes quickly read over the print. He knew Wu was watching him carefully, but he didn't particularly care. He was being pulled back into his plan.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a green pen. He shifted closer to the table in his chair, so he could better reach all the parts. His anger had left his expression and was replaced by a complete calm that only came when Edward was plotting.

Edward circled the security guard station on the floor and marked where their camera system was set up. He lifted the top blue print up to look at the other floors. "Needs to be sent from the classified area," he muttered to himself. He would have to get by the guards and travel to the fourth floor where their national security team was focused, more importantly where their cyber security team was focused. "Cameras will have to be taken care of..."

He tapped his pen on the very room he would have to get inside. "I am going to need a security uniform, extra large, a classified identification card, preferably from a high ranking official, and materials to make a bomb," he stated, not looking up from the blue print.

Wu's eyes widened at the last statement. "A terrorist attack on the government building was not agreed on, Nigma," Wu stated seriously.

Edward smirked and finally looked up at Wu with a glint in his eyes. "Not a terrorist attack and not on a government building," he stated, his pen rolling between his finger's causally, "A chinese gang attack at the gentlemen's club across the street, which reminds me, I will also need poppies, at least five boxes worth." The way he spoke about people dying was almost too causal, but to Edward it was just another step in the plan.

Wu studied Edward carefully. His eyes appeared distrustful as he tried to determine what the Riddler was planning. "A distraction," Wu stated.

Edward grinned. "Now I don't want to give away the answer. It defeats the purpose of a riddle," he commented.

Wu still was giving him a skeptical look before he finally nodded. "I can get you the supplies you need," Wu confirmed.

Edward smiled confidently. A powerful man was a useful pawn as long as they had the resources to back you. It was why Edward had been friendly enough with Ozzy. He looked back down at the blue print before rolling it up. "Perfect!" Edward exclaimed, "This will be quite an opportunity for both of us, Future President of the People Republic of China." Edward grabbed his cane and stood.

Wu stayed seated. His eyes still skeptical and weary. It was expected from a man that lacked the intelligence and vision that Edward had.

"Yes, it will be," Wu said coldly, "But I cannot understand what you will gain."

Edward smirked, "It's actually quite simple, but people of your inte--stature have difficult reading beyond the question." He nodded, "Good day, I look forward to our next meeting." He then turned from the table as he placed the blue prints inside his suit jacket. He started walking towards the door with the dreadful stairs. He expected Jimmy to follow, and he would speak with him once they were a few blocks away from this location.

Just as he reached the stairs Wu spoke out to him from the table, "This will cause a war incomparable to the wars before it."

Edward paused for a moment. He didn't turn around, but hearing the words aloud caused a feeling to settle within him: pride and success. It was comparable to climbing Mount Everest. "It makes you feel like a god, doesn't it?" he said softly but the arrogant happy expression proved the question was rhetorical. He then started down the stairs.

[jimmyg]

A short side glance over at Edward and Jimmy saw the cringing on the part of his so called 'boss.' Which in turn, made the boy cringe a bit as well. Really, he did know better than to speak out of turn, but he'd always had a thing against being spoken about when he was right there as if he wasn't even in the room. It'd been done when he was younger, when friends of his father would comment on how the boy was turning out, completely ignoring him and only talking to his dad. For whatever reason, he grew up hating that.

For the time being though, he went quiet. Edward and Wu were busy negotiating something and Jimmy had no reason to talk to either of them, and it wasn't as if he was going to wander over to talk to the body guards or investigate the place. No, he kept relatively close to Edward, though even then, he kept his distance. It was a strange situation. He didn't feel safe; but felt the safest around Edward.

As they went over their negotiations, Jimmy only half paid attention to what was going on. Something about needing a uniform, an ID card, and something else about a bomb. That little tidbit of information had the boy look back over at the both of them but still, he kept quiet.

It was only when Edward stood up and started walking towards the door without so much as a beckon for Jimmy to follow that he actually moved. Slow at first, as if he was unsure that he wanted to follow him in the first place, but after a sidelong glance back at Wu, he picked up his pace and found himself back behind Edward again, waiting patiently for him to walk down the stairs.

As his 'boss' descended, he felt like pushing him down the steps, but knew what a bad decision that would be and only allowed a tiny grin to form at the thought of it. Instead, he waited for Edward to get down a few steps before he followed quietly.

[Deleted]

As it was before, the streets and sidewalks were flooded with people. Edward wasn't angry at the crowd though. No, his mood had dropped because of the boy who was following him. Everything with Wu had gone splendidly, but the boy emotional detachment and disrespectful mood almost felt contagious like a bad virus. Edward shuttered at the thought. While Edward's anger got the best of him most times, he usually was a fairly upbeat positive guy. He certainly didn't laugh as much as the joker, but he enjoyed his job and he had fun doing it. The boy was like a walking depressant.

An untrustworthy walking depressant.

When they had traveled at least five blocks away from Wu, he started to walk slower. He listened carefully to the steps around him and paid attention to the reflections in his perephials, catching the difference between the weight of people. When Jimmy had caught up to him in a reachable distance, Edward turned to the side and grabbed the boys arm. It almost appeared random, but Edward's gripped tighten on the boy's arm making the cane he was holding as well press painfully against him. He quickly pulled him towards one of the shops windows.

It was butcher shop and a dead pig hung inside. "Have you ever read Animal Farm, Jimmy?" he asked.

People continued to walk by them, and no one noticed because people were too focus on their own lives and maneuvering through the traffic. No one cared about two American's staring at the Chinese cuisine. Americans did weird things all the time. Like the older America reaching into the younger's jacket and pulling out a gun and pressing it against the side of the younger's stomach. Oh wait, no that doesn't happen all the time, but still no one noticed. No one could notice because everyone was way to close to one another.

Edward clicked the safety off of the gun.

[jimmyg]

Keeping up, Jimmy occasionally glanced upward to his sides to see what he was surrounded by. He never really had the urge to up and go to China at any point in his life, but there was a small part of him that wanted to at least make the best of it while he was here. He'd picked up a few words, at least? Not that he'd ever have a reason to speak the language back home, and the shock of being back in America; back in Gotham City even, would probably render his memory of the words useless.

Jimmy noticed when Riddler slowed down, and he followed suit. He didn't say anything, but rather just kept to himself like he was supposed to. He'd been keeping up just fine, but kept a good distance between the two of them just out of a mutual dislike and distrust. Only, Jimmy was also fearful of his 'boss,' that being just another factor in the gap that he'd created between the two of them. Ultimately though, he wound up close enough for Edward to grap his arm, which caught him by surprise.

His first instinct was to try to jerk his arm away, but Edward had a firm grip and only tightened it after he did so. The cane was in an uncomfortable spot as well and the material of it pressed into his arm and made him glare hatefully up at the man. That was about all he could do though. He wouldn't make a peep as far as yelling or crying. Not in the middle of a street and not with Edward.

He could kick him. He thought about it. He could lift a leg up and kick him as hard as he could in Edward's bad leg and make a break for it. He could've, but he didn't. He only thought about it to make himself feel better. Edward had a gun, and would kill him without a second thought. More to the point though, he needed Edward to get home, without any other alternative at the moment.

Jimmy turned his stare from Edward to looking up at the dead pig, doing his best to ignore the pain of the cane against just the wrong spot of the muscle groups in his arm. "I hate that book." He said quietly, but yes, he had read it. Upon hearing the safety of the gun click, his eyes widened and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, and he tensed up quite a bit. Edward could probably feel the muscles in his arm with what a tight grip he had on him.

"I'm sorry!" He said quickly, quietly so as to avoid making too big of a scene since he was sure it would only make things worse, and glanced from the gun, then back up to Edward.

[Deleted]

He hated the book? Animal Farm and 1984 were two of Edward's favorites, but it required a much deeper thought to understand all the wonderful hidden metaphors within the text. Winston and the 2+2=5 monologue happened to be the most intriguing literature he had read on the masses and leadership he had ever read. It only proved to him that the masses were but sheep to lead as he wished.

He felt the boy muscles tense against his arms and heard the pathetic apology as he brought the gun to the boy's stomach. "I can't enjoyed that book," he said with a grin at his reflection in the window and a gleeful voice. "A perfect commentary of the transition from Lenin communism to the Stalin era described in a simple farm, but that's off topic," he stated as he pushed the barrel of the gun deeper into the boy's gut, "You see those farmer's were idiotic. They believed they were in power and for that reason never prepared for a possible mutiny. A true intelligent man realizes not to trust anyone and understands that it only takes one disloyal strand to pull apart the entire operation. You see if I was that farmer, I would have taken that pig, hung him by his arms," he gripped the boy's arm tighter, "then slit his stomach open letting his intestines slip from the skin and onto the ground. Question, how high can you hang a person and still have their intestines touch the ground?" He pondered for a moment, as he moved the gun back and forth. "If I cared for using a knife I would try the experiment, but I always been much more fond of guns," he said finally bringing his eyes to lock with the boys.

His smile that had been playing on his face during his personal speech left for a serious expression. "I have offered you a job. I did not force you to take it. You did so on your own free will. If you believe your choice is unintelligent, I will be eager to solve that problem. I have always had one solution for idiotic decision," he said seriously, waiting for a reaction. Edward hated disobedience and disloyalty. He would not stand for either, especially from an employee.

[jimmyg]

To be fair, he hadn't really given the book much of a chance. It was something assigned to him last year, and the theme was something he wasn't interested in. Revolutions, and all that went along with that. Plus the fact that it seemed so childish what with being told by animals. It was one of the only books that he couldn't stand event the thought of reading again. Not without some kind of reward for his misery that'd stick with him through the pages.

Jimmy felt the gun on his stomach and writhed around uncomfortably in the most minimal attempt that he could muster to get away. Struggling too much wouldn't be very smart, he knew that. What amazed him most was that people could probably see this happening and didn't bother to do very much more than look over and then continue on their way. His eyes left the passers-by after a moment and with some difficulty he kept a bit of eye contact when Edward began to explain the metaphorical sense of that Animal Farm book. All the while he cringed at the way that Edward was holding his arm, and kept quiet, listening to what he had to say.

"I said I was sorry." Jimmy said clearly, but quietly. "I didn't say you force me to take the job. I know." Again, he tried to pull away from Edward although he knew the chances of him just tightening his grip on his arm or even just shooting him in the stomach were both relatively high. Either way, the level of discomfort in his arm and his nerves from having a gun pointed at him were so extreme that it was mostly just a human reaction to attempt to get away from the danger.

[Deleted]

When he pulled away from his grip, he only tightened it and pulled him back. Was Edward being a bit harsh on the boy? No, this was how he would treat anyone who was showing signs of betraying him. Actually, he probably would have just shot the man and never given him a chance to explain. The pathetic apologies were going on deaf ears. Jimmy was only proving his immaturity to him. It was frustrating to say the least. He couldn't even appreciate the bare eye contact he gave him because all of his other pathetic signs outweighed it.

His lips turned into a straight line of thought, as his eyes turned to the window. How to handle this situation? Hmm. He couldn't kill him because the boy held a potential for other plans, but he certainly could not allow this type of disloyalty to continue.

A test perhaps?

"You see, Jimmy, the word sorry holds little value to me. I have heard it often," he said as he thought about his parents and his leg, "Sorry is something the human mind cannot comprehend. It is said out of fear of something. Therefore, it means nothing. It's almost as close as lying." His eyes turned from the window to the boy, "I need you to prove that you can act as an adult and accept responsibility for your choices." His eyes then scanned above the boys head at the strangers. The barrel of the gun tapped lightly on the boy's stomach as he continued to think.

A thought finally popped into his head, and he smiled. "I have always enjoyed test. It's quite simple," he said looking back down at him, "If a tree falls and no one's there to hear it, does it make a sound? If someone dies and no one cares, did the person really live?" He stated the riddles not expecting an answer. "Kill someone without drawing attention," he comments nonchalantly. Edward was not much of a killer himself. As far as he was concerned, he had never killed anyone. They killed themselves with their own stupidity. He did not however care if his helped dabbed in murder. Actually, he expected them too. You had to know that the help would go all the way if they had too.