Justice League 1. Watchtower

**Okay, people. This is my Justice League fanfic. This story has no continuity with the DCAU at all, and this is my own original story. Some character descriptions will come from the DCAU, but that'll be about it, though I imagine some characters with the same voice they had in the DCAU (such as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Lex Luthor). This, I guess, is what you can call the "first season" of the Justice League: New Warriors series. Have a nice day!**

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><p><span><strong>CHAPTER ONE: WATCHTOWER<strong>

Batman was waiting for them. New recruits were coming to join the Justice League. The new recruits he knew included Supergirl, Superman's cousin, Dick Grayson, his first sidekick, also known as Nightwing, and Wonder Girl, Wonder Woman's sidekick.

Teleporters were bringing every one of them from Earth. Batman just hoped nothing went wrong during the next few days of training. He and Superman had learned of a new team of villains coming after them, and they knew to be cautious and to not underestimate the team.

The first teleportation device began to whirr, allowing Batman to know it was working. A flash of light entered the tube, and when it cleared, Batman saw Supergirl standing there, wearing her red-and-blue costume complete with a long-sleeved top that exposed her midriff and a miniskirt, as well as knee-high red boots. She left the tube and came to stand next to Batman.

"Good day," she greeted. "How're things going in Gotham?"

"Good," he replied briskly. "Your cousin is in the control room. He said he wants to speak with you."

"I'll just remain here for now," Supergirl told him. "Cassie and I spoke about meeting each other here last night." Batman knew she was talking about Wonder Girl. "By the way," she continued, "is there a reason you allowed your first sidekick to join the team but not Barbara? She deserves to be a part of this team, you know."

"She's already spoken to me about it," Batman told her. "But I'll tell you what I told her. She can't be on this team because she's needed in Gotham. If she joined, her father might begin to wonder where she might have gone."

"Oh Batman," Supergirl teased. "Sometimes, you just need to lighten up."

The teleporters whirred again, and this time Nightwing, wearing street clothes and in the civilian guise of Dick Grayson, with a duffel bag hanging on his shoulder, appeared, as did Wonder Girl in her civilian guise of Cassie Sandmark.

"Hey Batman," Dick called to him, smirking. "I see you're still not smiling. How're things going for you?"

"Good," Batman replied to him.

Dick looked to Supergirl and smiled. "I can see he's still quite salty," he said to her. She just giggled.

Batman saw Cassie make her way to a place behind him. Turning around, he found her hugging Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman saw Batman and smiled at him. She saw Dick and Supergirl, returning the same smile to them.

Batman was about to speak when he heard the teleporters whirring again. He whirled around, not knowing the reason behind the teleporters working again.

Wonder Woman walked over to him. "Did you know anything about this?" Batman asked her.

"Sort of," was all she said.

There was the flash of light, and when it cleared, Batman saw Barbara Gordon standing there, smiling brightly.

"What in the name of God is she doing here?" Dick whispered behind.

Batman's expression became that of surprise. Barbara was one of Batman's sidekicks, Batgirl. To see her in the Watchtower caused him to think.

Her long red hair flowed on her shoulders and her back. A duffel bag hung over her left shoulder, and a purse over her right. Her baby-blue eyes sparkled. She wore a night-black shirt and a dark blue skirt.

As she came out of the teleporter, she flashed a smile at Batman. "Miss me?" she asked.

"What are you doing here?" Batman asked her.

"I was told by a specific someone that I could join the Justice League," she explained. "And don't worry about Tim. He's coming, too, but probably not until tonight. You know, he's wondering about what he should pack."

She walked over to Supergirl and hugged her. Ever since the Bat-family had teamed up with Superman and Supergirl against the Joker, Scarecrow, Lex Luthor, and Metallo, the two of them had become great friends.

As the girls left, Batman turned to Wonder Woman. "Did you have something to do with this?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied. "But I wasn't the only one."

"Who else was in on this?" he demanded.

"Superman and the Flash," she replied. "Just deal with it. Besides, you know you like it. She was so excited when she found she could join! You should be so happy for her!"

Batman remained silent and turned away.

Meanwhile Barbara was unpacking her duffel bag into her dressers in her room. She'd learned from Superman that she would be sharing the room with Supergirl and Cassie Sandmark, who she later found out from Wonder Woman to be Wonder Girl.

"So how does it feel?" Supergirl asked her. "To be part of the Justice League, I mean." She was smiling brightly.

"Great," Barbara replied. "Do you know if we have any missions to do or something like that? I would love to just hang out with you soon."

"There'll be plenty of time for that," Supergirl told her. "We'll probably just be training for a small while, and then when we're ready, we'll be able to go on our own adventures. It'll be so fun! And yeah, let's talk about all that's happened tonight. We might have dinner or something, so it'd be the best time then."

Barbara was about to open her mouth again, but then there was a knock on the metallic door that acted as both the entrance and the exit for the room. Barbara knew only she, Supergirl, and the other girl, Cassie, could get into the room, as they'd been given the keycards ahead of time by Wonder Woman and Superman.

Barbara opened the doors and found Superman standing there. He was smiling at them in a very good-mannered way.

"Hello, ladies," he greeted. "How did Bruce take it when you appeared, Barbara?"

"He didn't take it the best," Barbara replied. "I will probably be taking a lot from him in a few minutes. But I don't care too much. Since you gave me and okay, and since Wonder Woman did it, as well, not of it is my fault. Of course, none of it is your fault, either."

"I understand," Superman said. "I'll talk to him…" Someone cleared their throat behind him, cutting him off. Superman turned around to see Batman. "…Later," he finished.

"I need to speak with Barbara," Batman told him. He looked to her. "Meet me in the control room. You'll know where it is."

As he walked off, Cassie came into their line of vision. Wonder Woman stood next to her. "Excuse me, is this room 212B?" she asked. "I'm sorry, I'm nervous, and I get lost a little too easily." She laughed nervously.

"Yes, this is the right room," Wonder Woman told her. "Barbara, if you wish, I can take you to the control room."

"I'll come too," Superman said. He looked to Supergirl. "I'll be back soon, Kara."

Barbara, Superman, and Wonder Woman left the room, leaving Kara and Cassie.

As they made their way to the control room, Wonder Woman put her hand on Barbara's shoulder. "Don't worry, Barbara," she assured. "You've done nothing wrong."

"I know," Barbara admitted. "If you ask me, this is the perfect time for something like this. Now we'll all be able to be more of a family."

When they reached the control room and entered, Batman and Dick were waiting on them. Dick flashed a smile at Barbara, but she could tell he was still surprised at the fact she'd come without telling him.

After the doors closed, Batman looked to her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked solemnly.

"I was told I could come," she replied. "Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Flash said I could. And as I said before, Tim is coming tonight. The city can do without us for one night, if you ask me. None of our enemies are around, Bruce. Joker and Scarecrow have pretty much gone off the map."

"It doesn't matter…" Batman began, but he was cut off by Barbara.

"Yes, you're wondering about my dad! I'm 21 years old now, Bruce! You can't keep me stuck there in Gotham forever! I love it there, but I wanted to do something new, and this came to mind!" Barbara explained. "I should be allowed! I mean, Dick was allowed by you! Why shouldn't I?"

Batman opened his mouth, but he was cut off by Wonder Woman.

"She's right, Bruce," Wonder Woman told him. "She is able to be here. She has proven herself worthy, if you ask me."

"I agree," Superman said. "Let her stay at least for the training. If she hasn't proven herself worthy to you then, then you can decide. What do you say to that, Barbara?"

"I think it's fine," Barbara said. "Just deal with it, Bruce. We're a team. No, we're more than just a team. Me, you, Dick, Tim…we're much more than just a team…we're a family. If you can't accept that, then something's wrong with you."

Batman finally nodded. "Fine," he said. "We'll see."

Then he walked out of the room, leaving the others to watch and wonder.


	2. A Short Talk

**CHAPTER TWO: A SHORT TALK**

An hour later, Barbara found herself in her room. She took her Batgirl costume out of her duffel bag and laid it on her bed. She surveyed it and noticed the tear in the left arm. She still remembered where the tear had come from.

During the last fight against Scarecrow, he'd injected her with his fear toxin. However, she'd taken the antidote beforehand. In anger, he had started beating her, but he was stopped by the timely arrival of Batman and Robin. In the process, the tear had formed.

That had been two weeks ago. Scarecrow had gone missing, it seemed, as had the Joker and Bane. With all three missing, Batgirl felt something was wrong.

The door opened, and Kara entered. She gave a smile to Barbara. The two had become the best of friends after teaming up and constantly talked to one another on the phone. But now, it seemed they would be able to talk to one another much more frequently.

"Hey," Kara greeted. "How's everything going?"

"Good," Barbara replied. "Of course, Bruce is still quite angry at me for coming here. I think he should be happy I'm trying something new. I know my dad wouldn't be the happiest if he knew what I've been doing for the past five years, but I just wanted to become Batgirl, and now I'm here at this place. I want to be able to be my own kind of person. And plus, my father doesn't check on me too much anymore. He knows I'm a grown woman, and that I can make my own decisions. And we have service even up here in space, it seems, so I can call him." She laughed at the last part.

"I agree with you, Barbara," Kara told her. "I know Bruce will come around soon. You just need to keep hoping that things will turn around. I don't have much experience on this sort of matter, but ah well, I can try to help one of my greatest friends, now can't I?" She looked behind Barbara and saw her costume, as well as the tear. "What happened to your costume?"

"A fight with Scarecrow," Barbara answered. "I was being beaten, but not severely. He'd just caught me off-guard, and one of the claw-like syringes he has on his left hand ripped it. But I'm okay."

"That's good. I know what it feels like to be beaten. You remember Metallo, of course. Before we met you guys—at least, before _I_ met you guys—I had infiltrated Lexcorp. Metallo had been hired by Lex Luthor, and unfortunately, he found me. He beat me until I was bleeding, actually. But he was stopped by Luthor, who wanted me alive."

"That's got to hurt," Barbara said. "How did Clark find you?"

"He's the one who sent me to Lexcorp, but he hadn't known Lex would be there, and he definitely didn't know Metallo would be there. He came and found me being held in a red sun radiation cell. He was able to rip out the source of the red sun radiation and stop it so he could rescue me. After that, we found ourselves cornered by Metallo, but Lois Lane found us and saved us. As you can remember, she gets herself into trouble quite a bit. But she saved us that day, and both Superman and I are in her debt for that."

"What about Lex? How'd you stop him?" Barbara asked.

"He…escaped before we could get to him," Kara said solemnly. "We haven't seen him since."

Barbara thought something sounded similar. She started thinking, and suddenly her eyes widened.

"We need to find Superman," she said. "There is a possibility that I know what could be happening."

Barbara ran out of the room. She turned back to Kara. "Do you know where your cousin is?" she asked.

Kara shrugged. "I'm not sure. He was in the control room, but I don't know if he's there now."

They went down a few halls before finally finding Superman talking to the Flash. When he saw them, a serious expression developed upon his face.

"What is it?" he asked.

"We need to talk to you guys," Kara said. "It has something to do with Lex Luthor."

Superman looked back to the Flash. "I'll resume speaking with you later," he said.

Flash nodded and then smiled at the girls.

As they left, Superman turned to Barbara.

"How do you know something is wrong?" he asked.

"I'm just that sort of a person," Barbara replied. "I've been able to tell when something is wrong and when someone might be in trouble. A lot of this stuff happens to me, and I hate it a lot. But I have a feeling now about Lex Luthor. Kara told me about your last fight with him and Metallo, and when she told me that he'd escaped, I began to wonder."

"What exactly do you mean?" Superman asked.

"What if he went somewhere else that's not in Metropolis? What if he went to some sort of hideout?" Barbara suggested.

Superman's eyes widened. "So you're saying he might have joined with some team to take the Justice League down?" he asked.

"Possibly," Barbara answered. "That's just my guess. If you can, please ask Bruce about it. I wish I could be a little more sure, but it's kind of hard in a time like this, if you know what I mean. I have a lot on my mind right now."

"I understand," Superman told her. He looked over to Supergirl, who seemed to be thinking about something. "Kara, what is it? What's on your mind?"

"Something just feels real weird," she said. "And it all comes back to what Barbara just said. You see, just before I was teleported up here to the Watchtower, this sickening feeling suddenly came over me, and at first I didn't understand it. But now that I think of it, it seems real familiar…and in a bad way."

"What did it feel like?" Barbara asked.

"It felt…like Kryptonite."


	3. Legion

**CHAPTER THREE: LEGION**

Lex Luthor made his way through the gates. The building in front of him had been standing for a long time, but it had been renovated quite recently.

A man was waiting for him at the entrance. Lex recognized him by his ruby-red lips and green hair, as well as his evil smile. The Joker smiled in an insane way as he saw him.

"Hello, Lexy!" Joker greeted, waving his right hand above his head wildly. "Our leader's been waiting for you. It's best you come inside right now."

"What, he can't wait longer?" Lex snapped. "Is there a reason he can't be patient for once in his life?"

"It's not easy for him, all those years in Arkham. Poor man," Joker said solemnly, and then laughed like a madman, which, in truth, he was.

As they entered, they encountered the antagonists of the many superheroes that were members of the Justice League. They included: Black Manta, Metallo, Captain Cold, Professor Zoom, Ares, Killer Croc, Harley Quinn, and Star Sapphire.

They all followed Lex and the Joker into their main meeting room. Their leader set in a throne made completely of stone.

"What took you so long?" he rasped. "Do you know how much I hate waiting? All my patience is gone, Joker! Don't you dare give me crap such as, 'Oh, we were just having a laugh.' No!" He slammed his fist down. "I've been waiting for so long, and now you all are here. It's good to see everyone. Please, take a seat at the table in front of you."

The glossy wooden table had many seats, at least over a hundred. Joker and the others took their seats, with Joker and Luthor taking their seats near the front.

"So what is your plan?" Luthor asked.

"We must keep the Justice League real busy for the next few days," their leader explained. "To do this, I've assembled all of you. Each one of you has done something to the hero you are the antagonist of. I have a very special plan in store for Batman. It will make me very happy once I have finished. Of course, I want to fight someone else in the Bat-family, and that would be Batgirl. You see, I believe I might have formed an enmity between her and I, which started after I beat her once. She deserved the beating, most definitely. Batman stopped me, but I will win the next time we battle. I will stop here for right now. Do any of you have any questions?"

"I do," Luthor said. "How exactly do you plan to take down all members of the Bat-family? If you remember, they all beat you in a fight a little while ago."

"Yes, well, I'd been fighting Nightwing _and _Batman, Batgirl, _and _Robin," the leader protested. "I could have won, but there were four of them, and that posed a big problem. But let's move on, shall we? Back to Batgirl. Yes. She will die before her next birthday!" He slammed his fist down again in anger. "I've waited too long to have my plans foiled! I deserve my shot to kill whomever I wish to. But back to all of you. I will assign you whoever you will be battling. Of course, some of you already know. Lexy, you and Metallo will be together once more. But I'll be coming along, too. I have a good plan to take down Superman's little girl. And no, I do not mean Lois Lane. I mean his cousin. As for the Flash, Professor Zoom will be the only one going after him. Captain Cold, I know you wish to fight your other friend, but I need you to fight someone else."

"And who would this be?" Captain Cold snorted.

"You will help Ares against Wonder Woman and her little girl," the leader said. "It's better if you take down the little girl and try not to go up against Wonder Woman yourself, unless you really must. I'm unsure of your true prowess. The Green Lantern has Star Sapphire to go up against, and let me see, who should I make go with him…I'm not sure." He scratched his chin. "Oh dear."

"How about Harley?" Joker suggested, pointing to his girlfriend, who was dressed in her harlequin costume with her makeup fully on already. She looked over to him with a shocked look on her face.

"No," the leader said briskly. "Killer Croc, you are up. Go with Star Sapphire when we tell you to. And there's one big reason for that. A reason for why I don't want you in Gotham. But I'll go on to that much later." He turned to Black Manta. "You are going to take down Aquaman. Understand me?" Black Manta nodded. "Good. You see, the best thing to do is exhaust your hero in some way. I have a very specific way of doing such a thing, and it's quite fun to see them squirm around, helpless, screaming out for it to stop. It makes me happy. It gives me a reason to keep living, no matter how long I've stayed locked up in a hellhole like Arkahm Asylum. This is the chance for some of you to kill your worst enemies, those who have stopped you from doing what you wish to do most! Now is your chance, and I am leaving it wide open for many of you! THIS IS WHERE YOU WILL FIND YOUR TRUE DESTINY!" He threw back his head and cackled. "Now, does anyone have anything to say?"

"Yes," said Killer Frost from far in the back. "Is there something I can do?"

"Sure. You and Merlyn can take Green Arrow and Black Canary down. I would like you to take down Flash, but it won't exactly work for now. But it depends. Maybe one of you will be injured or defeated. I'll switch you around if that sort of a thing happens. But make sure IT DOESN'T HAPPEN!"

"Sounds good to me," Killer Frost said, now smiling.

"So, is there anything else someone might wish to talk about?"

"I do," Metallo volunteered. "Who will get the chance to kill Superman? Me or Luthor?"

"Luthor," the leader said. "But you can kill Supergirl if you wish."

"That's true. I watched her be teleported up to wherever the Justice League use as a base," Metallo said. "Oh, this is going to be fun." He laughed.

"So, what is your story?" Killer Frost finally asked the leader. "Surely you have a backstory that we should all know about, wouldn't you agree?"

The leader shuffled his position on his throne. He looked over to the wall next to him. A scythe was hanging there, and that scythe was one of his two main weapons.

"Fine," he said. "I'll tell you. I started out as a murderer. Some believe I was a psychiatrist. But in truth, I killed a psychiatrist and took his work. I don't think even Batman knows the truth. I mean, I fit the role because I was already quite smart and understood science. So I continued for many years developing this toxin that would give people nightmares, and it worked! Then my insanity shone through my 'work,' and I became who I am today. Of course, there is one more thing…" He scraped the scythe along the ground. He saw Professor Zoom and Joker talking to one another. Though he knew Joker was listening, Zoom was the one being rude. He could tell by the annoyed expression on Joker's face. "So you wish to know what happened to me afterward? Well, I'll show you!"

He picked up the scythe and slammed it down in between the outstretched fingers of Zoom's right hand. Now everyone could see what had happened to their leader, how disfigured he truly was.

His mask had been torn up, and now it almost resembled that of a Grim Reaper-like face. It could be seen that he was partially blind in his right eye. Through a tear in the mask, it could be seen he had no lips, and it was obvious part of his nose was missing. His chest and torso were covered in scars and partially-healed gashes.

"You see what has been done to me?" he asked. He looked down at his right hand. On the fingertips were five syringe-like needles, connected to tubes that seemed to be filled with some sort of toxin.

Scarecrow looked back up at his followers. "I have been planning this all out for a long time, and I will not fail!" He went back to his throne and took out a pumpkin. "Let's say this pumpkin is one of you. Hm…let's say it's you, Thawne," he said to Zoom. "If you screw up, such as giving information to the Justice League or being beaten by the Justice League girls, knowing how stupid they all are, then…" He slashed the scythe through the pumpkin, slicing it in half. "There. Case closed. So now you all know what you should not do. Don't any of you screw with me!"

"Why?" came a voice. "What will happen to any of us if we mess up?"

Scarecrow looked forward and found someone dressed in vermin control gear, wearing a gas mask. Scarecrow recognized him as the Ratcatcher.

"Flannegan," he said. "I'm surprised to see you here."

"I'm surprised I would have ever come here," he said. "But it seemed too good an offer to pass up."

"Who invited you?"

"I did," the Joker said. "But the reason is one only you would know, Scarecrow."

Scarecrow seemed to smile underneath his mask. He walked over to Ratcatcher and asked him, "Tell me, Flannegan, what is your greatest fear?"

"I don't have one," he answered.

"Is that so? Hm, let's see about that." Scarecrow stabbed him in the chest with the needles on his right hand, injecting him with fear toxin.

At first Ratcatcher didn't seem to be affected by it. And then he cried out, yelling, "Please, father, no more! Please! PLEASE!"

Scarecrow now knew Ratcatcher's deepest fear was being beaten by his father. Taking this as his chance, he turned to the rest of the Legion of Doom. "This is what happens to those who oppose me! If you are like him, then you will die." He turned back to Ratcatcher. "And now for the finishing touch." He raised the scythe and slashed Ratcatcher's chest with it. Even despite the brown vermin gear, Scarecrow could see blood seeping through. Ratcatcher gasped and collapsed to the ground. "Somone take out the trash!"

As Ratcatcher's body was taken away, Scarecrow returned to his throne. "We are almost there, my friends. I can almost taste the victory in store for us if we just keep waiting! Don't lose hope, my friends, for if you do, you'll end up like that piece of crap! I have many plans set out for all of you, and I want them done quickly! But first, let me tell you a little story. You see, there was once this woman who was walking along the road at midnight. She knew how dangerous it truly was, but she didn't care. She felt she was on top of the world! She felt she even had the whole freaking world in her hands! But that night, everything changed. Something seemed out of the ordinary to her. Suddenly she found herself confronted by a demon. The demon asked her what she was doing on the road, and the woman answered, 'I am trying to find my way home.' The demon decided he would trick the woman, so he said, 'I will show you your way home. Follow me.' The woman did so, and soon they entered a cemetery. The woman realized the demon had tricked her. She spoke to the demon about this. The demon just threw back his head and cackled. 'Yes, I know,' said the demon. 'I led you here so that I could kill you.' The demon encased itself with fire and took out its flaming scythe. It cut the woman's head off. It is unknown if the story is true, but if you ask me, it means something. I believe _I _am the demon. And _Batgirl _is the woman. I will kill her, and you all will kill the heroes who have wronged you in the past! The Justice League will fall, and when it does, we will be there! We will win!"


	4. Dinner

**CHAPTER FOUR: DINNER**

In the Watchtower, Dick Grayson sat on his bed, thinking about all the past events in his life. He attempted to get the bad ones out, such as the death of his parents, but it wasn't very easy.

Suddenly he heard a knock on the door. He opened it and found himself looking at a kid with red hair and freckles.

"Hi, I'm Wally West," he said. He held out his hand. "I'm one of the Flash's sidekicks."

Dick shook his hand. "I'm Dick Grayson," he said. "I'm one of Batman's sidekicks. Nightwing is my other name."

"No kidding?" Wally said. "That's really cool! I always wanted to meet Batman. Do you think I'll get the chance?"

"Maybe," said Dick. "Just to warn you, he's a little salty at the moment. I mean, it's sort of unfortunate."

"Why is that?"

"One of his other sidekicks, Batgirl, came on today, or so I've heard. He wasn't expecting her to do so, and it made him a little angry. I don't know if he's gotten over it, but knowing him, he won't be getting over it for quite some time," Dick explained. "I hold a little animosity towards him, you see. He, uh, kind of took her on as a sidekick without telling me, and it was sort of a problem."

"What, was she your girlfriend or something?" Wally taunted. Then his eyes widened a little. "Uh, sorry, I'm one of those types of people. I like to joke around a lot, and sometimes that gets me into a lot of trouble."

Dick laughed. "It's okay. I do that, too. I mean, I did a little more when I was younger. But yeah, she was my girlfriend, and I wanted her to always be safe. But when I found out he'd taken her on, I was a little angry. I forgave him about two weeks later, but some of the animosity is still there. So what about you?"

"Well, I'm actually the nephew of the Flash's girlfriend," said Wally. "I once went to the lab where Flash gained his powers, and the freak accident that gave him his powers happened again, this time hitting me. It was so weird, what had happened. The Flash was a little freaked out, and he blamed himself for that, but now I'm just like him, but I'm a little slower. Ah well, I guess you can't always get what you want."

Dick and Wally sat in awkward silence for a few minutes, and it was soon broken by the sound of knocking on the door. It opened, and Dick smiled brightly when he saw Tim Drake standing there.

"Hey Dick," he greeted. "It's been a couple of days."

He was wearing his normal brown jacket with a red shirt and blue jeans. On his shoulder was a green duffle bag.

"It sure has," Dick said. "I'm glad you're here. By the way, who allowed you to join the Justice League in the first place?"

Tim looked at him strangely. "I was told by Barbara that everyone allowed me," he explained. "Except for Bats. Of course he wouldn't."

"He didn't even know about your or Barbara coming," Dick explained. "It's the first time in probably forever that he didn't know something. It really surprises me. Ah well."

Another knock sounded on their door. It opened to show Batman standing there. He saw Tim, but did not smile, which neither Dick nor Tim were surprised by.

"Can we help you?" Dick asked.

"Dinner is in thirty minutes," he said. "You need to wear your suit and mask."

And he walked away without another word. When the door had closed again, Tim turned back to Dick. "Why in the heck is he so salty?" he asked.

"He never knew you or Barbara were going to be here. You know how he is. But let's go ahead and get ready. If we're going to be sitting by each other at the dinner table, I'm letting Barbara sit next to him."

"According to Flash, since we're new recruits, we'll be sitting together. He and Batman will most likely be with the other founding members of the Justice League. It's just normal, I guess."

Dick nodded and took out his Nightwing costume. He wondered what it would be like to be wearing it around so many other superheroes. Some of them, such as Superman and Wonder Woman, were his heroes. While he'd met Superman, as well as Supergirl, he'd never met Wonder Woman before.

There was another knock that sounded at the door, and when it opened, Dick found Barbara standing there, already wearing her Batgirl costume; but her mask was off. She suddenly saw Wally and her eyes widened, but Dick said to her, "Don't worry, you can trust him. He's my roommate anyway, so he'd find out sooner or later." He smiled at her. "It's real good to see you again, Babs."

Barbara smiled. "Call me 'Babs' again, and the first night we're out in the field, or even in training, you might find a yellow batarang up your butt. But otherwise, it's good to see you, too."

She kept smiling brightly. Dick looked behind her and saw Kara A.K.A. Supergirl, as well as another girl with blond hair. However, no one besides Kara and Barbara knew her.

"It's good to see you again, Kara," said Tim.

"You too, Tim," she said. "I can just guess how angry Batman was about learning you were going to be joining us, right?"

"Yeah, and as usual, it wasn't pretty," Tim said. "But the good news is, we're able to be together all the time. I wonder why he can't see that."

"Don't worry, Tim," Barbara assured him. "When I arrived, he did the same darn thing, and it annoyed me so darn much. But we'll have to deal with it. Now come on, let's get to dinner. It's almost time." She slipped her mask on. She then walked into their room to hug both Dick and Tim. "I've missed you guys a lot."

"It's only been three days since we last saw each other," Tim reminded her, although she already knew.

"Yes, but it felt like a whole lot longer, to be honest," she explained. "But I don't care now. We're together again, and even with Batman being a jerk, we can return to being a normal family. As long as my father does not realize my disappearance from Earth, I think I'm good."

Dick and Tim laughed. Barbara laughed with them, and then walked over to Wally. "Your name is?" she asked.

"Wally West," he said. Dick and the others saw that he was looking her over, but Barbara herself did not notice such a thing. "I am the Flash's sidekick."

"I'm Barbara Gordon," she replied. Then she turned again to Dick and Tim. "Get your costumes on and meet us in the dining hall. If you get lost, then wait for Superman. He said he'll escort you. Kara already knows the way, so we're good." She looked over to where Cassie stood. "Oh, and by the way, this is Cassie. She's Wonder Woman's sidekick Wonder Girl."

Cassie nervously waved at them. Dick noticed her costume was a red top with long sleeves that bore the same "W" symbol as he knew Wonder Woman had on her costume and exposed her midriff, with bracelets that resembled Wonder Woman's, and a red skirt. She wore red boots.

Barbara, Kara, and Cassie left to make their way to the dinner hall. Dick and Tim hurried to the bathroom in their room and changed into their respective Nightwing and Robin costumes.

Once done, they found Wally in their room dressed in his Kid Flash costume. Seeing this, they decided to start on their way to the dinner hall. When they were about to leave their room, there was yet another knock on the door, and when it opened once more, Superman was standing there.

"It's been a while, Tim," were the first words out of his mouth. "It's been a while since I last saw you, Wally," he added to Kid Flash. "If you want, we can start on our way to the dinner hall." When he saw the young men nod, he told them, "Then let's go."

As they made their way down the hall, they began talking about how their training would be going.

"Knowing Batman's idea of training, it's probably going to be real hard. But if anyone else on the team is a training leader, then we'll take it easy at first, and then attempt to follow up on that later on," he explained. "Do you understand?"

They all replied with, "Yes," and finished speaking of it, they continued on toward the dinner hall.

When they entered the dinner hall, Dick, Tim, and Wally couldn't help but let their mouths drop open.

The room was huge—they guessed it was to accomodate all the superheroes—with many different tables pointing parallel toward the main table, which had seven seats: one for each founding member of the Justice League.

The other six founding members were already there, including Batman: Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Martian Manhunter, and Aquaman.

Superman showed Nightwing, Robin, and Kid Flash to the table where Batgirl, Supergirl, and Wonder Girl sat.

Once they were seated, Nightwing noticed there was already food in front of him. He wondered if he should eat it or not. It was roast beef with chicken soup, and water to drink.

As soon as Superman arrived at the main table with the other founding members, he said out loud, "I am sorry to have kept you waiting for so long, but now I am here, and as all of you know, it is time to eat. But before I do so, I would like to let you know that tonight is a very special night. We have new recruits. I will announce their names later, but for now, let us eat!"

For close to an hour, everyone spoke and ate. Nightwing kept taking glances over to Batgirl, as well as Batman. He also noticed he and the other new initiates were being glanced at by the other League members.

_It feels so weird to be here, surrounded by so many of the Earth's mightiest heroes—no, that sounds like something someone's already said—the _universe's _greatest heroes! I can't wait to be one of them!_

He looked over to Batgirl, who seemed very nervous, and he couldn't blame her. He was sure it had to do with Batman, or even possibly with her father. But he let it slide, then returned to eating.

After at least an hour had passed, Superman stood up once more and began to speak to the Justice League once more. "Now, could I please have everyone's attention?" he said. The whole dinner hall quieted down. "Thank you. Now, as I said before, we have new recruits for the team. The first is my own cousin, Supergirl." Supergirl got to her feet and went to join him. "Then we have Nightwing, one of Batman's sidekicks." Nightwing did the same as Supergirl. And then Robin was called up. And then Kid Flash, leaving Batgirl and Wonder Girl. Finally, Wonder Girl was called up, leaving only Batgirl. Nightwing could tell she was very nervous. "And last, but most certainly not least, we have Batgirl. All of these recruits have trained with their respective mentors, and now they will train together to join us as new members of the League. Do not ask for their identities before we reveal them to you, please. Now, if you wish, you can remain where you are and eat, or if you wish, you may leave. This dinner is now adjourned. Thank you." He smiled.

Now that they were allowed to leave, some of the League did so, but many stayed to congratulate Nightwing and the others. Soon after, Batman got up and went to Batgirl, Nightwing, and Robin. "Follow me," he said. They listened and did so.

Looking back, Batgirl gave Supergirl an apologetic look. Supergirl just smiled and nodded.

"So what do you want?" asked Nightwing.

"We need to talk," Batman said.

"About what?" Batgirl asked. "Does it have to do with me and Tim?"

"Yes," he answered gruffly. "I didn't want either of you on this team for a reason. But you went against that."

"I did it for a reason!" Batgirl exclaimed. "I said this before, and I'll say it again! I want us to be closer! It sucks not being near your family all the time! You guys are my main family, and I just wanted to be by you guys! Is that so wrong, Batman?"

He was about to answer when there was a sudden ringing sound. Batgirl reached into her utility belt and took out her phone. She answered it with a simple, "Hello?" After listening for a minute, she handed it to Batman and said, "It's for you."


	5. The Cat and the Rat

**Please note that the version of the POV character is much different than the character you see in movies, TV, and the comics. The character you see here is a version I made up, as I was into changing characters from movies and TV and comics a lot back when I did so, and so I brought her here now.**

* * *

><p><span><strong>CHAPTER FIVE: THE CAT AND THE RAT<strong>

Selina Kyle hurried through the alley. She was glad she was not being chased tonight by any thugs, which would be the first time in three days. She was very adventurous, something that got her into trouble a lot.

To her, Gotham was like a playground. She was the little black cat that ran around, getting close to danger every step she took. After realizing that was what she truly was, she took on the identity of Catwoman, which included donning a black vinyl costume and a whip, and although she did not truly protect the city, she was happy to know there was a family that protected the city, as well. While she had at first gotten in trouble quite a lot with them, she now counted the Bat-Family as a part of her family. But she knew how careful she now needed to be.

Three years ago, she had fought a mind-controlled Batgirl, and although she succeeded in taking her down, she'd taken her mask off by accident, allowing her to see the girl behind the mask. She was found by Batman and Robin not long after. Seeing what had happened, Batman forced Selina to promise to never tell anyone, to which she agreed. She had not meant to do such a thing, but she understood the danger of that possibility, with as many villains as there were in the city they lived in.

_I'll make sure to never tell anyone, _Selina thought to herself. _I'm pretty much a friend of the Bat-Family now, so I'm sure they trust me. Well, maybe not Batman, but Batgirl and Robin surely do. Maybe even Nightwing…but I'm not sure about him. It doesn't matter. All that matters to me is the fact that I'm trusted around here._

Selina had vowed something long ago: never steal from the poor. She believed it was better to give to those who could not fend for themselves. After becoming Catwoman, she'd decided that not long after, drawing her inspiration for such a thing from _Robin Hood _and a video game she'd played when she was ten, _Sly Cooper_.

Coming up with her name had proven difficult for her at first, but deciding to not follow in Batgirl's footsteps, despite how much she'd inspired Selina to go out into the world in such a way, she called herself Catwoman instead. It fit her well now, she believed, as she was twenty-four-years old, three years older than Batgirl. Everybody had the right to make their own decisions, she believed, and that was that.

Selina hurried to a fire escape, preparing to climb up to the top of the building. It was beginning to rain, and although she knew she would not get her hair wet, thanks to her cowl covering all of her head, she wanted to go home and at least get some sleep. Unlike Batman, she could not go more than three days without sleep.

Suddenly she heard someone moaning. She wondered what or who it belonged to, but also knew to be careful. She remembered one of her first missions with the Bat-Family after gaining Batgirl's trust, she'd been captured by Scarecrow due to a stupid act of believing she could take down a group of thugs (one of whom had been the villain in disguise) without help, and was forced to experience visions of everyone she knew and either loved or liked dying. Fortunately she'd been snapped out of it, and Scarecrow had been captured.

The moaning continued, and soon Selina could not take it any longer. She looked behind a trash can, and then an air condition unit. She found nothing behind either of them.

But then she heard it again, and she saw a foul-smelling dumpster. She quickly looked behind it, hoping to take her head away from there quick, but when she took her look, she gasped. A man was laying there, holding his chest hard. A mask lay near his feet. Selina took a look at it and realized it belonged to the Ratcatcher. She looked at the man again. "Flannegan?" she asked. The man slowly turned his head to look at her. "Otis Flannegan? That is your name, correct? You're the Ratcatcher, aren't you?"

Flannegan slowly nodded his head, and then groaned once more. Selina knew what needed to be done. She wondered who could have done such a thing to Flannegan. Despite most of the villains being completely evil, Flannegan had some sort of a normal mind beneath his Ratcatcher persona. Slowly Selina took her phone out of her utility belt around her waist and dialed a number. She heard the phone ringing on the other end. She hoped they would pick up soon.

"Hello?" came the voice of Barbara Gordon a minute later.

"Batgirl, is that you?" Selina asked. "Look, I need your help. I found Otis Flannegan here. The Ratcatcher, I mean. He's badly injured, and I can tell that only by hearing him moan. Please, give the phone to Batman!"

She heard on the other end, "It's for you," said by Batgirl. And then Selina heard, "What is it?"

"Batman, it's Catwoman. I found the Ratcatcher! Otis Flannegan. He's badly injured, and I think he could be dying! I need help."

"We're on our way," came Batman's gruff voice once more.

Selina sighed with relief. She heard the phone hang up, and knowing they would be coming soon enough. She hurried back over to Flannegan. She dragged him out from behind the dumpster and tried to get him to sit up at least a little. At first, when he did not do so, she believed it was only because his ribs might be broken. But then she saw his left hand slip off his chest, and she saw the true reason for the groaning and why he couldn't sit up: there was a dark splotch of blood there, and it seemed to still be seeping through. She wondered how much blood he'd lost already. She put her hands on that spot, attempting to stop the bleeding. She felt the warm liquid welling up even through the think vinyl gloves.

"I didn't…want…this," Flannegan said, his breath coming out in short, rugged gasps. "I was…preparing…to…retire from…this terri…ble life." He coughed, and strands of salt-and-pepper hair fell over his face.

Selina continued pressing on the wound, even though the blood flow wouldn't stop. She wondered how much more blood he could lose. It was another thirty minutes before she heard someone calling out.

"Catwoman?" came a familiar female voice. Selina sighed with relief, as it was Batgirl. She saw her appear. At first Batgirl smiled at Selina, but her look became that of terror as she saw the Ratcatcher laying on the ground. "What in the name of God happened?"

"I don't know," Selina admitted. "This is really scary for me."

"Let me take a look," came the familiar gruff voice of the Dark Knight. Selina happily got to her feet. Batman came into her line of vision, along with Robin and Nightwing. Batman got to his knees and pressed on the wound.

"What happened?" he asked Selina.

"I came over here, hoping to find someplace where I could get out of the rain, and I found him like this, moaning, behind a dumpster," Selina explained.

Batman grunted, and then asked Flannegan, "Do you know of anything that's happened?"

"No," Flannegan said. "All I…remem…ber…is…_him._"

"Him? Who's him?" Batgirl inquired.

"_Him,_" Flannegan said again. "He…was…so terrible…I could…not…take it…" His voice trailed off yet again.

"Who are you speaking of, Flannegan?" Batman asked.

"_Him,_" Flannegan said once more. "The…one…we…_f…Sc…_" His voice trailed off for the last time, and then suddenly the whole group could hear a beeping sound. Everyone except for Batman wondered what it was.

His eyes widened, and then he ordered, "Take cover!"

He jumped out of the way, as did Batgirl and Nightwing. Robin and Selina had been out of the way already. But it didn't matter.

Flannegan's head exploded like a ripe, juicy tomato. Blood and brain matter flew everywhere, hitting everyone. Batgirl looked at the blood on her costume, and then ran behind a trash can to throw up. Selina had always known her to have a weak stomach.

"Good God, what happened?" Batgirl asked. "What caused his head to explode?"

"It had to be nanites lined with explosives," Batman said. He walked over to Flannegan's body and picked it up. "I'm taking the body back with us to the Watchtower to examine it."

Selina looked at Batman. "You're welcome," she said. He said nothing back. Batgirl came over to her. Selina saw Nightwing and Robin waving good-bye to her, which she returned. Then she turned her attention back to Batgirl.

"He's not in the best mood," she said.

"When is he ever?" Selina reminded her.

"Good point. But it's worse today because he wasn't expecting me or Robin to join the Justice League," Batgirl explained.

"Oh, congratulations," Selina said without smiling. "I'm sorry, I'm meaning to smile, but I'm just ready to get out of here."

"I understand," Batgirl said. "I need to wash this crap off me."

Selina leapt onto a wall and climbed up to the first level of a fire escape. "I'll see you later, Batgirl!" she said. She waved, as did Batgirl. "Bye!"

And as Selina leapt over some rooftops on her way to get home, she never noticed the shadowy figure watching her with one good eye and one blind eye. "Another nuisance," they said as they watched her, and then walked away.


	6. Training Day

**CHAPTER SIX: TRAINING DAY**

Everyone was asleep. The Watchtower's inhabitants had finally decided to sleep. Everyone deserved it, especially due to the excitement many had experienced during the initiation.

Although the rest of the Watchtower was asleep, Batman was not. He was in the laboratory in the back of the Watchtower, looking over the body of Otis Flannegan A.K.A. The Ratcatcher. He couldn't believe that there were no traces of another villain's fingerprints or residue from one of their attacks.

The reason it was so strange was the fact that most of his villains had a residue from their attacks. Joker's laughing gas, Scarecrow's fear toxin, and Poison Ivy's plants left their traces, but it seemed this enemy had left no trace. He wondered exactly why that was. There was something happening in the world around them. Something no one knew about except those who stood behind it.

He planned to learn what was happening around them, and who exactly was behind it all.

Looking at a clock, he saw the time was 4:39 A.M. Most needed to sleep around this time, and he planned to do that, but during the day, as he had time. But the next day, training would begin for the newrecruits. He was ready for it.

But he didn't know if the recruits were ready.

* * *

><p>Barbara Gordon opened her eyes. She was in her bed. All around her she could hear the soft breathing of Kara and Cassie. She felt strange, being here in the Watchtower. While most of the founding members of the Justice League allowed her to be here, Batman was not allowing her. It infuriated Barbara, as she wanted him to completely accept her. But it seemed that wouldn't be happening.<p>

_What is going on around here? _she thought to herself. _I have some of the greatest people in my life. But there is still madness surrounding me. It's surrounded me since I was born. I can't believe all that's happened. From my mother's murder three years after I was born to the villains that are seemingly planning our downfall now. Why is this happening? It all feels so strange, something I don't understand. And I'll probably never understand, honestly._

She sat up in bed and began tousling her long, silky red hair. It never got thick and wiry, strangely, and that was what she loved.

But it seemed that out of all the things she loved, it came to her family, both immediate and "extended." She only had her father left when it came to the immediate family. There was a downside to her being a vigilante in Gotham, as her father was the police commissioner. If she was unmasked, her father's career would be completely ruined. If that happened, she would never stop blaming herself.

And then her mind shifted to her supposed extended family. Batman, despite how gruff he was and what was going on between them at the moment, she thought of him as a second father.

Tim, meanwhile, was like the little brother she'd never had. The best thing about him was the fact he always knew how to make her feel better, even in the darkest of situations. Fortunately, they hadn't gone through too many of those together, and she never planned to go through one.

Dick had been her boyfriend once, and although they had broken up years ago, she still had a few feelings left over for him. She still believed there was a chance she and him could get back together, but she didn't know for sure. Barbara just guessed she would have to wait and see. She could still remember their first date, how magical the night had been. And then it had seemed all the love they'd had for each other had gone away once he'd found out she was Batgirl. But now it seemed it was beginning to come back.

Jason Todd came into her mind. During her second year as Batgirl, after Dick had left the mantle of Robin and left Gotham, only to return as Nightwing, Batman found an orphaned teen running around the streets. He'd been able to take the wheels off the Batmobile. Batman soon took him in and trained him to be the second Robin. But tragedy struck just as Jason celebrated his one-year anniversary as Robin. While on the trail of the Joker, Jason had been taken and beaten to death with a crowbar. That put Barbara into a near-depression. Despite Jason being brash and somewhat arrogant, she'd loved him like a brother, and she still missed him very much. She wished even now that he would come back in some way.

And finally, there were her "sisters." One of them was Kara. She counted her as a sister, something she'd done since they'd teamed up together. Now they were going to be part of the Justice League together. Then there was Selina. She'd been working with Selina for a few years, and that was something she loved. It felt like the right thing to do, and Selina had once saved her, though Selina now knew her identity as a result, though it had been an accident. Last but not least, there was Stephanie Brown, a friend that had been part of the Bat-Family for at least three years. She was in Europe at the moment on a long trip to take a break from crime-fighting for a while. Barbara couldn't blame her.

But that wouldn't stop her from becoming a member of the Justice League.

Barbara yawned, and then rolled over, hoping to go right back to sleep.

She woke to the smell of bacon and eggs. Barbara opened her eyes again and found a plate full of them on her nightstand. She smiled, and then looked up. She found Kara and Cassie standing near her, both of them smiling brightly.

"Morning," greeted Kara. "It's only about 9 o'clock, but Cassie and I decided to go get breakfast. I brought some back for you. I didn't know exactly what you wanted, so I just decided to get you the stereotypical breakfast. Bacon and eggs." She giggled.

Barbara smiled. "Thank you," she said. "That's all I needed." She took the plate off the nightstand and held the fork. "Is something going on today for us?" she asked them.

"Actually, I think today, we have training," Kara told her. "It's weird. We just got here, and we're already going into training. I just wonder what we're going to have to deal with in our training simulations."

"Who knows?" said Barbara. "The world around us is becoming strange." She looked over to Cassie. "What's going on, Cassie?"

"Nothing much," Cassie replied. "I'm not as shy around everyone now, fortunately. I'm definitely not as shy around you two. I just have that small problem, if you know what I mean."

"It's okay," Barbara told her, beginning to eat her breakfast.

"Yeah, well, I just wish I didn't have it, but it's there, and that's how it's going to be, I guess." Cassie went silent, and then it looked as if she was thinking. Then she turned back to Barbara. "What happened last night, when you guys had to leave? When you came back, you came right into the room without saying anything, and went right to sleep."

Barbara sighed, and guessed she couldn't hold it back from Kara and Cassie.

"We went back to Gotham to check on a friend of ours, Catwoman," Barbara began. She looked to Kara. "You remember her, right?" Kara nodded, and Barbara went back to the story. "She found the body of one of our former enemies, the Ratcatcher. His chest had been slashed. It was disgusting. He died from the wound, unfortunately, even though we tried to save him. He tried to tell us who had done such a thing to him, but he died right before he could." She sighed. "The worst part was that his head exploded seconds later. Batman said it was because there were nanites laced with explosives."

Kara and Cassie looked between one another.

"That's strange," Kara said. "I'm surprised that's what happened."

"So am I," Barbara said. She ate her breakfast silently, and when finished, sighed. "Well, if today is the first day of training, then we should get ready. I need to wash my costume off, because some of the blood and brain matter splattered on it last night." She cringed, unable to think of that fact. "It's so disgusting."

"If only you knew who was behind it," said Kara. "But let's save that for later. It's time to get ready and go to our training session. Let's hope it won't kill us." She, Barbara, and Cassie laughed at her joke.

Thirty minutes later, the girls hurried out of their room, bumping into the boys in the process.

"Good morning," Nightwing greeted as Batgirl ran into him. "We were just coming to get you guys. But it seems not everyone needs a wake-up call."

"Well, yeah," Batgirl said. "Just because we're girls doesn't mean we need to be woken by boys. I have some pretty good friends that I share a room with to do that for me." She smiled at Nightwing. Supergirl, Wonder Girl, Robin, and Kid Flash just looked at one another with strange expressions.

"So where the heck is the training room?" Robin finally asked.

"I'll show you," said a voice. Turning around, the sidekicks found Superman coming toward them. It seemed, yet again, that he would be their guide. The only difference was that this time, the Flash was with him. Both were smiling.

"So, are you guys ready?" asked Flash. "I know, it might seem tough for you guys to have to deal with all the training, but it'll be fun. Plus, there are a few other sidekicks that'll be in the training room."

"The only problem any of you will be facing is the difficulty of the simulation," Superman said. "I would normally start with the normal setting, but knowing Batman, if he is part of the simulation, he'll place the setting at the hardest level. But I'll try to make sure that won't happen. At least, not today."

I"What are the simulations like, exactly?" Nightwing asked.

"It depends," said Superman. "There is one that resembles a post-apocalyptic world, and even on the easy setting, that simulation is hard. I was hit at least a few times, and unfortunately, we programmed that simulation to have a robot with Kryptonite." He stopped walking and turned to Supergirl. "I'll try to make sure that we don't use that part of the simulation if we use that setting. I know you're more susceptible to the radiation, so don't worry, Kara." He smiled at her.

"It's okay," Supergirl said. "It's supposed to be like a real-world situation. As long as I have my friends to help me, I think I'll be fine. You can bring on the robot to fight me. Wait, does it look like Metallo?"

"Somewhat," was the reply.

"Are there any simulations that resemble our home cities or hometowns? Or wherever we come from?" Cassie asked. "Like, as an example, Themyscira. It's where Wonder Woman is from."

"Yeah, we've got a simulation for all those places," said Flash. "Gotham, Metropolis, Themyscira…heck, we've even got Atlantis and Mars! We were able to get some good looks at those locations thanks to the respective member, such as Batman for Gotham, Aquaman for Atlantis, and the Martian Manhunter for Mars. It's amazing, what we're able to do. It seems that nowadays, technology is endless."

As they finished their conversation, they found themselves near the control room. The doors opened, and the girls and boys saw Batman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman staring at them.

"Hello," Wonder Woman greeted. "It is good to see you all again." She smiled. "I want you to meet a few people before we begin training." She looked to her right and beckoned to a few people.

Soon an archer wearing red with a bow and a quiver full of arrows appeared, followed by a black-skinned young man wearing a red shirt and black pants. He was shoeless. Soon behind them came the infamous superheroes Green Arrow and Aquaman. "These are Red Arrow and Aqualad. They were inducted as trainees about a week before you six arrived, and they will be your training partners during your sessions." Both Red Arrow and Aqualad waved, welcoming the new trainees. "Do you have any questions to ask now?"

None of the trainees raised their hands or attempted to ask a question, something that seemed to surprise Wonder Woman. She looked at Wonder Girl strangely, and then turned to Batman. "Would you like to take over from here?" she asked.

Batman steppped forward. "Follow me," he said in his normal gruff tone. He said nothing more after that, leading to Batgirl, Nightwing, and Robin to share glances. They were wondering what would happen next for them now that they were in his company.

"Wait, I do have a question now," Nightwing said. "What will be our difficulty level for our upcoming simulation?"

"It depends," Batman replied. "I would use the normal difficulty level we used for our training sessions in the Batcave, but I don't know what Superman or Wonder Woman might want."

_Oh dear, this might not end well, _Batgirl thought to herself.

Soon enough they found themselves in a large, circular room filled with robotic dummies. The trainees guessed they would become their opponents in the simulations. Looking up, the trainees found a glass window where the other central Justice League members were staring at them.

"You will begin your training now," Batman said. And then he walked away.

As he appeared in the upper area behind the glass, the trainees heard the voice of Superman start speaking.

"You will be starting off in Metropolis," he said. "This will be against one of my enemies, Brainiac. He once tried to take over the city using an army of robots. This will become difficult, even in the normal setting, which is what we'll start out with. Be careful, and try not to be knocked out. It could become dangerous if that happens. But I'm sure it won't. Good luck."

"Well, this sounds like it'll be fun," said Red Arrow in a deep voice.

"Hopefully, it won't be too hard," said Wonder Girl. "I'm not as used to some of this as the rest of you guys might be."

"Don't worry," said Supergirl. "We'll get through this, so long as we stick together and fight as one. Superman told me that once."

As they finished speaking, silence fell over the trainees.

And then the simulation began.

The robots came out of nowhere, and although she wasn't ready, Batgirl whipped out a few batarangs and threw them at the machines. They met their mark, and the machines instantly powered down, sparks flying everywhere from their broken skulls.

Looking around her, she found the "sky" was red, and all around her, besides the robots and her teammates, was fire. She guessed it was either to stop them from running out of the simulation, or that was what had been there during the original fight.

"Batgirl, watch out!" Supergirl called from above her.

Batgirl whirled around and found a robot about to punch her. She dodged, using the moves she'd learned from her training from Batman. The robot missed, and she kicked it hard in the head. The head went flying off, and Batgirl smiled.

Meanwhile, Nightwing fought alongside Robin and Kid Flash. All three of them were having trouble, even though Kid Flash had his superspeed, which normally protected him from trouble.

"This is not going good, and we just go into this simulation!" Robin said. He sent a batarang into a robot's chest, but it did not stop the machine.

Nightwing helped him by kicking the batarang harder into the machine's chest, ending it. He looked to Robin and winked. He saw Kid Flash looking around, and suddenly found a whole group of robots standing behind him. His eyes widened as he saw this.

"Oh God," he said, and Kid Flash whirled around. He went into superspeed, taking out a few of the machines. But then one of them, one that was larger than all the rest, pounded the ground, sending out a shockwave all around them.

Kid Flash was hit by the shockwave and went flying into a car. Nightwing attempted to jump over the shockwave, but to no avail. Robin, however, was successful in doing so. As he hit the ground, Nightwing saw Batgirl jump over the shockwave, as well as Aqualad and Red Arrow. Supergirl and Wonder Girl were both flying. Nightwing began getting back to his feet, and then realized what he'd thought, and looked again. Wonder Girl was _flying._ He hadn't known that to be one of her abilities. He blinked once, and then went back to fighting.

As she flew, Supergirl punched one of the robots in the chest, breaking through the whole central system. As she removed her arm, the machine went flying to the ground. She looked down and saw Batgirl, still fighting as hard as she could. She looked to Wonder Girl, who was doing pretty well against the machines. She wanted to make sure her friends did well against the Brainiac robots.

She heard a huge explosion behind her, and turned to see their enemy, Brainiac. She knew this wasn't how the original fight had gone. She'd only been in the very end of it, but she'd been in it nonetheless. Brainiac had not been on the street, but rather on his ship in the sky. She guessed this was for the trainees to work together and take down their enemy on the ground. She respected that.

But the robot enemies did not stop coming.

"This is going to get difficult," Supergirl said to herself. She looked to Wonder Girl and saw she was cornered by a group of three machines. Supergirl hurried over to them and used her heat vision on one of them, then punched through the other. The third, however, was taken out by Wonder Girl. Supergirl blinked once, and the robot's head was gone. She looked to Wonder Girl, who just smiled at her.

"I have super strength, too," she said. And then she looked down at Brainiac. The android was just watching them. The superheroines flew down to Batgirl's side. Nightwing, Robin, and Kid Flash joined them, and then later Aqualad and Red Arrow. Red Arrow nocked one of his arrows and aimed it at Brainiac.

"Should I shoot him now?" he asked.

"No, it won't do any damage," Supergirl said. "I was in this battle back when it was happening, so I know how to stop it, but I needed help from Superman at the time to actually take him down."

"You've got us," Batgirl told her. "Let's take him down together. Maybe then we can finish this."

Supergirl looked to her, smiled, and nodded.

"All right," she said. "I want you and Nightwing to go behind him. I'll go to his left, along with Kid Flash, and Red Arrow, you, Aqualad, and Wonder Girl go to his right. We need to hit him from all sides, and see if we can distract him. If we catch him off-guard, then we can finish this whole thing easily."

The trainees did as they were told, and hurried to their respective spots. Batgirl and Nightwing armed explosive batarangs and aimed them at Brainiac. Supergirl prepared her heat vision, Kid Flash prepared to run as fast as he could, and Wonder Girl decided to use as much strength as she had. Red Arrow nocked an explosive arrow, Robin prepared a sonic batarang, and Aqualad prepared his water-bearers. They turned into hard-water daggers as he touched them.

"Hit him, now!" Supergirl ordered, and the trainees did so. The explosive batarangs and arrow stuck into Brainiac's skin, and when they went off, the android groaned in deep pain. Kid Flash ran around him real quick, punching and kicking as hard as he could. Supergirl noticed something was different with Brainiac as he was punched: he actually felt the pain.

As Aqualad slashed down, some of Brainiac's armor came off. Wonder Girl punched with all her strong and took more of the armor off. Robin stuck the sonic batarang into Brainiac and attempted to detonate it.

But then Brainiac slammed the ground and knocked all the trainees off their feet. Supergirl saw the sonic batarang and realized it would be like an EMP to the android. She smiled.

"Use your sonic batarangs on him!" she told Batgirl and Nightwing. She turned to Red Arrow. "Use an arrow like that, okay?"

"Got it," he said.

Brainiac attempted to punch each trainee, and each of them dodged. The sonic batarangs and arrow met their mark, and once the three sonic batarangs and one sonic arrow were detonated, Brainiac fell to his knees, and then suddenly disappeared.

And the simulation was over.

The trainees saw the training room return to its normal state, and then looked up at where the central Justice League members were looking down on them.

Soon a voice came over an intercom.

"Please come and see us up here," said Wonder Woman.

The trainees looked at one another, and shrugged. They saw the stairs leading up to the room and began making their way.

"You did great," Supergirl told Batgirl.

"You did better than I did," Batgirl told her. "You're a natural-born leader. If we were a team, you would be the leader, to be honest."

"It's true," said Red Arrow. "I normally don't give out compliments like that, but you seemed to know what you were doing."

"I sort of had some experience in that situation," Supergirl admitted.

"That doesn't matter," Aqualad told her. "All that matters is that you know what you're doing, and you know what you're focused on. Right now, the only thing I'm focused on is becoming a full-fledged member of the Justice League."

Supergirl smiled.

Batgirl looked over to Robin and Nightwing, who smiled at her. Batgirl could have sworn she saw Nightwing wink at her.

Then she looked at Wonder Girl. She seemed to be quite happy with herself, and Batgirl understood exactly why that was. She'd done so well, and she deserved to have a spot on the Justice League. So did Supergirl.

But she, for some reason, didn't know if _she_ was ready for it.

They entered the room where the central members stood. They were all watching them intently, and when she saw Batman's gaze, Batgirl felt a little scared.

And then finally, "Well done."

When she heard the words fly out of Batman's mouth, her jaw nearly dropped open. Batgirl couldn't believe what she had just heard. It didn't seem like something he would normally say.

"You all did real well," Superman said. "I think you're perfect candidates for becoming members of the Justice League. The one thing I should probably tell you all is that your fight with Brainiac isn't how most villains will be in the real world. Most of them will fight back hard, and that can make them very dangerous."

"But you should remember all you learned here today," Wonder Woman said. "You used teamwork, and that's something that truly matters in those kinds of situations." She looked over to Batman, expecting him to say something.

However, he did not. He didn't even open his mouth.

Batgirl had been expecting as much. But she believed she'd done quite well in the training session. She wanted to become a member of the Justice League, and she hoped he would stop her from doing so.

"So what do we do now?" she finally asked.

"You can all go back to your rooms for now and rest," said Superman. "We'll go back to training tomorrow. I know, we just had a training session, but we need to try it some more before you become true members of the Justice League. Do you understand?"

Before the trainees could answer, a female superhero burst into the room. She wore a leather jacket with fishnet stockings.

"What is it, Black Canary?" Green Arrow asked.

"It has to do with the whole Justice League," she said. "We've been threatened."


	7. The Threat

**Please note that Green Lantern I refers to Hal Jordan. He is referred to in such a way because there are three Green Lanterns serving Earth: Hal, John Stewart, and Kyle Rayner.**

* * *

><p><span><strong>CHAPTER SEVEN: THE THREAT<strong>

The trainees followed the central Justice League members quickly. If the whole Justice League had been threatened, that meant the villain surely had a lot of guts—and possibly a lot of brains—to even think of doing such a thing.

"This doesn't seem right," Supergirl said. "If we were threatened, then this villain must have a lot of power. No other villain would dare to threaten the entire Justice League."

"It's probably a lie," Nightwing told her. "Most villains who are defeated by the League want revenge. They might threaten us just to mess around. This isn't going to last forever, you know."

Batgirl was thinking it all over. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to think. The thought that someone had decided to do such a thing scared her. Even through her costume she felt threatened. She took a swallow and sighed. She saw Wonder Girl look over to her with concern.

"Are you okay, Batgirl?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Batgirl replied. "Just thinking of who would even dare to do this. It's not a very good decision for them." She tried to laugh, but she was unable to do so. "Now let's just get over there and find out who's dared to do this terrible thing."

They entered the control room. A Green Lantern was standing by a monitor along with a beautiful young woman wearing a magician's outfit.

"What is it, Zatanna?" Wonder Woman asked.

"Hal and I were researching something he'd found on one of his missions," she said. "And then, while we were doing so, this came up." She clicked a few keys on the monitor's keyboard, and a warning sign came up. It was flashing red.

"And then we heard this," said Hal. He nodded to Zatanna, who clicked another few keys. The team suddenly saw a message written in red ink. Batgirl blinked a few times before she realized the message was actually a picture of a sign. The message read:

"Justice League, this is your final warning. Surrender, or die."

Batman turned to Black Canary. "Is that all?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No," she said. "Look closer at the picture."

The trainees all did so, and they realized the piece of paper was surrounded by a black shirt. Batgirl nearly gagged as she realized what the red ink truly was: blood. The black shirt belonged to a murder victim, she knew. She nearly fell to her knees, feeling disgusted. Supergirl looked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Who sent this?" Batman asked.

"We're not sure," Zatanna replied. "There's no sign of a signal leading to a hideout. It's been making us feel uneasy."

Batman turned around and began walking out of the control room. "It won't happen," he said. "I've made sure none of this will happen." He exited the control room.

Batgirl wondered what she was supposed to think. She decided to follow him out, but stopped first and said back to Zatanna, "He can be like that, unfortunately. I'm real sorry."

The rest of the trainees followed her out of the control room, much to Batgirl's surprise. "Why are you guy's following me?" she asked.

"We just thought you might want us to," Supergirl replied.

Batgirl sighed. "I'm just going to see Batman," Batgirl told the trainees. "I might not seem like the person he wants to see at the moment, especially because of all that's happened, but I think I'm one of the people who can calm him down whenever he needs to be calmed down."

Then she turned away and began walking at a brisk pace to find Batman. _Bruce, what in the name of God is going on in your mind? _she thought.

She finally found Batman in the mess hall. He was standing there, surveying all the other Leaguers. Batgirl placed her hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"No," he replied. "You shouldn't be here. None of you should."

"What do you mean?"

"Something bad is going to happen. I can feel it. I don't want any of you around."

"What are you talking about?"

Batman opened his mouth yet again, but he was cut off by a blaring siren. Both he and Batgirl stared at one another, then turned their attention to the large screen on the large wall in front of them. The screen showed only static, but someone could be heard breathing, though the breathing seemed distorted. Soon a very distorted shape appeared.

"Citizens of Earth," the voice said. The voice itself was distorted, and Batgirl couldn't tell who the voice belonged to as a result. "There are many of us here from many different locations on Planet Earth, as well as from around many different universes even. We have come together to destroy those who plan to protect you and save you from whatever we have planned for you. This world is too small for us all, and we must cleanse it of the bad blood that runs through its veins. I believe the Justice League is listening in on this, and if I am correct, then I say this to you: we have sent our soldiers to your own protected cities. You protect those cities to make the citizens believe they are safe. Now it is time to test that. Soon enough your cities will burn. Your people will die. And their blood, instead of running through their veins, will run through the gutters of the rotting cesspool you once believed to be your great, beloved sanctuary. Those locations include Gotham, Metropolis, Star City, Central City, Themyscira, Atlantis, Coast City, Blüdhaven, Fawcett City, Hub City, and Keystone City. Fight us if you wish, but soon this world will fall to us, and it will all fade away. You all will be dead, we'll have won, and we can have our…jollies." A deep, distorted laugh came through. Then the voice returned. "Welcome to Hell."

And the transmission ended.

Batgirl turned to Batman, her baby-blue eyes open wide.

"What do we do?" she asked.

"Follow me," he said. When they turned around, the rest of the trainees and some of the central members of the Justice League were standing there.

"We're in trouble now," said Supergirl. "We need to do something."

"I know," Batman replied. "We will."

"Who do you think it was who sent the message?" Superman asked him. "I mean, I know it was that…Injustice League's leader, but can you think of who would be leading them?"

"I don't know. But we'll find out." And that was the last thing Batman said. Superman only nodded and took over from there.

"If he's sending his…soldiers to those locations, we need to send some of the League there," Superman said. He rubbed his face. "This is getting stressful. Anyway, let's begin." He walked to the balcony overlooking the mess hall. "We've been threatened, and it is time we respond to the threat. Many of you will be sent to the locations mentioned by the speaker of the threat. The founding members of the League will go to their respective locations. Batman will head to Gotham, myself to Metropolis, Wonder Woman to Themyscira, Flash to Central City, Aquaman to Atlantis, Green Lantern I to Coast City. Several of you will accompany them, including the new trainees." He turned to Wonder Woman. "Give them their designations when I tell you to." She nodded. He looked to the trainees. "It's best I tell you who you'll be going with. Robin, you're going to Atlantis with Aquaman. I don't want the same trainees to go with their mentor, in the case of the mentor being captured. I'm sure that won't happen, but we have to be sure. If a mentor is captured, the trainee might know their abilities just as well as their mentor. It helps."

"This sounds like a plausible decision," Aqualad said. "I understand what you are trying to do, and I will follow it." This was followed by nods from the central members and the trainees. Superman smiled and then continued.

"Batgirl, you and Supergirl will travel with Wonder Woman to Themyscira. It's better to send all women there. The last time some of the men of the Justice League set foot on their shores, the Amazons didn't receive it well." A small smile lifted his lips once more. "Wonder Girl, you will follow Hal Jordan, a.k.a. Green Lantern I, to Coast City. Red Arrow, you're going with Flash to Central City. Nightwing, we're sending you with Black Canary to Blüdhaven. I'm not sure if you've been there before."

"I have, actually," Nightwing replied. "I traveled there to become Nightwing. To find somewhere to start anew. So I'm no stranger to it."

"Good. Aqualad, I want you to come with me, and Kid Flash will be going with Green Arrow to Star City." He looked to Batman. "Do you wish to be alone?"

"I'm not," Batman told him. "I have backup there."

Superman at first seemed skeptical, and then remembered the person he was speaking of.

"So, that's it?" Batgirl asked. She smiled. "Well, this'll be fun. Sounds like we're going to see some action." She high-fived Supergirl.

"This isn't a game, Batgirl," Batman told her sternly. "These villains will kill you if you are not careful. We're not sure what we're up against, but I'm sure someone powerful is behind it."

Batgirl nodded, and as he walked away, she felt a little hurt by his words. She hadn't meant it in the way she believed he saw.

"Don't take it personally," Wonder Woman said to her. "I know what you meant. I'll talk to him about it later."

Batgirl nodded.

"It's time to go," Superman told her. "Report back if you see anything."

Wonder Woman and the others nodded, and hurried to get to the teleporter. As she ran alongside Supergirl and Wonder Woman, she wondered just who was behind all this.

* * *

><p>Lex Luthor and Joker stood before Scarecrow, who still sat on his throne.<p>

"Did it work?" Scarecrow asked.

"Yes," Lex said. "There's no way it can be traced back to here, thanks to Zoom. He's in his position. Speaking of such matters, I need to return to Metropolis soon."

"I need to return to Gotham, but I'll wait for now," Joker said. "There's some fun to be had tonight, especially when the Bat arrives and gets what's coming to him." He threw back his head and released his trademark laugh.

Scarecrow, however, did not smile. He was ready for what was coming, however. "This will work for us," he said. "I am ready for these events. I want to see just how long it takes for the sidekicks to fall. Once their mentors are gone, it will all be over. Soon we will win this fight. I am sure of it. This is the beginning of the end…for them. As for us, this is just the beginning. The beginning of our reign. As for every city, I must say that this is where you meet your demise. We are strong, for we are Legion."


	8. Blood of Atlantis

**CHAPTER EIGHT: BLOOD OF ATLANTIS**

Robin was still thinking of how amazing it was that he was actually going to Atlantis! He'd wished all his life to go there after finding out it was real, and now he was going to be able to witness it firsthand. It was a very special day for him. However, he still remembered the threat, and how serious the situation was. He knew it was best to be careful when down there with Aquaman. He wasn't sure what enemies he would be facing. All he could do was tell himself to be ready to fight if the time came.

He and Aquaman were in one of the Watchtower's deployment ships. Not only could it fly, but it could dive underwater. Robin was amazed. Of course, he was in the co-pilot's chair, while Aquaman was the pilot. He'd asked why they didn't just swim down there, with him wearing one of the special diving suits recommended to them by Superman, but Aquaman told him, "If we have enemies in the water, we don't want them to see us right then and there. This ship has a cloaking device, so they won't find it unless they look real hard."

Robin had only nodded and returned to watching out the window. But by now he was becoming anxious, wanting to know what was coming of the rest of the Justice League.

"Who do you think is coming down there to fight us?" Robin asked.

"Since that mysterious man mentioned Atlantis, it's likely Black Manta is somewhere in the mix," Aquaman replied. "Of course, there is something else…someone else…"

"Who would that be?" Robin said, wanting to know what he needed to know before facing the villains that were supposedly waiting for them down there in the depths of the sea.

"Ocean-Master," Aquaman said. "Over a year ago, I and Aqualad faced this mysterious Atlantean who had infiltrated our labs and studied our science. When he appeared to me, he wielded the Trident of Neptune. He injured me badly when we fought, but with Aqualad's help, I was able to defeat him. I later found he had injured my brother, Orm. I haven't seen the Ocean-Master since, and both I and my brother share a grudge against him. He nearly killed my wife, as well. Even now, we don't know who Ocean Master was, and for all I know, we might never find out."

"You shouldn't give up hope when it comes to things like that," Robin said. "Keep believing, but make sure you don't become dark and attempt vengeance on him. In my opinion, that's the only problem with Batman. I like him, but as a result of his pursuit of 'justice.' A lot of it is intertwined with his wont for vengeance, and I'm not sure what anyone can do about it now. He becomes so salty, and I can't always stand it, and neither can any of the other sidekicks. Not me, Batgirl, Nightwing, Catwoman, or Spoiler. Catwoman is more of an ally to him than one of his sidekicks, as he once told us, but I count her as a great enough friend to be a sidekick. But anyway, I just wish he could be more of a…father-figure. An example for everyone to follow. Unfortunately, that probably won't be coming anytime soon."

"I know what it feels like," Aquaman told him. "My father was good, but he was strict. My mother was the best thing about my life while growing up, other than my brother. Of course, my father was a lighthouse-keeper, and my mother was an Atlantean. But enough with me. I wanted to tell you that no matter how hard Bruce might be, let me tell you, he loves you and your other friends very much. He told me so during one of our missions."

Robin looked at Aquaman with much surprise, his mouth agape. "Wait, you know Batman's real name?" Aquaman nodded. "Wow…well, that shouldn't be too surprising, since you've worked with him for a while now. But…when did he tell you that about loving me and the rest of the Bat-Family?"

"It was during a fight against…an android named A.M.A.Z.O.. In the case of him dying, he told me that he wanted all of you to know that he loved you, and that he wanted you all to live your lives the way your God intended. In Atlantis, of course, we believe in those such as Neptune. But I respect most religions. And when it comes to what he spoke to me, I agree with him. It is best for all of you to take his advice. Especially with what is happening right now."

A long and uncomfortable silence fell over them. Robin began thinking about what he'd heard. It seemed Aquaman—and Batman—were right. But for the moment, all that mattered was the fact that they saved Atlantis from whatever villains were about to attack it.

"And there it is," Aquaman said for the first time in a long time. As soon as he spoke, Robin looked out the window and saw many large buildings and towers. As they were still far above it, Robin could see just how large Atlantis truly was. It was the size of a small continent, for as far as Robin could tell. At least, that was his best guess.

Millions of glittering lights were all around them. The towers reached high, though not high enough at the moment to hit the ship. Even so, Robin was transfixed by all that was around him. Both before and after becoming Batman's sidekick, he'd dreamed of going to Atlantis, and now he was finally here, in one of the most colorful places he'd ever seen. There were colors all around them: blues, greens, reds, purples, and pinks. Even exotic shades such as violets, livids, and magentas. It was one of the most beautiful locations he'd ever seen. The water around them was a mix of both navy and azure blue.

"Holy crap," Robin whispered. "So this is Atlantis. I never thought I would live to see it."

"Well, then, consider yourself very lucky. We're going to the Aéras Tower. That first word comes from one of your languages on the surface. It seems someone was very lucky to discover Atlantis's name, and even now it still surprises me that most of our language is also a language on the surface. I believe you call it Greek."

"So what does Aéras mean?"

"Air. It turns out, Batman came up with it when he came here the first time. So we started construction on it, and completed it the next year. It's been four years since then."

There was something strange about the way he was speaking, Robin noticed. He wonderd why that was. But he believed it might have something to do with all that was about to happen here.

Atlantis began coming closer, and soon one of the towers was right there in front of them. Robin guessed that was the Aéras Tower, and that they would be going through some sort of docking chamber.

Once the ship came close enough, two doors slid open, and the ship began to dock. Robin felt the ship shake a little. Tension rose in his stomach, but it soon went away, and he was back to normal.

"All right," Aquaman said. "We're here. Now we must go into the inner chamber. My wife is waiting for us, and possibly my brother. But it will not be as much of a surprise if he is not around."

"Why do you say that?"

"He was recently very badly burned. We Atlanteans cannot sustain ourselves well if we are burnt by fire. It is something we share with the Martians. If the Martian Manhunter was burnt in such a way, he would most certainly need medical attention. Water and fire do not mix."

Aquaman and Robin exited the ship and entered a hallway. Other than the floor, which was made of tile, or so it seemed, the whole hallway was made of glass. Robin could see out them and observe all that surrounded him.

But at that moment, something more came to mind, and the fact he was admiring Atlantis left him. He decided the main thing at hand was stopping the villains that were coming to possibly kill the Atlanteans.

_Well, they can't kill them all, _Robin thought. _That much is obvious. But it will not be a good thing if any of them are killed. If any of them are killed, then for all I know, they might be one of Aquaman's friends, or maybe even family! The citizens of Atlantis need to be kept safe, and I'm going to do all in my power to stop whatever threat is coming._

Soon enough, they exited the hallway, and found themselves in some sort of main hall. A beautiful woman stood near two ornate chairs, which Robin guessed were where Aquaman and his wife sat. Then realization hit him. The beautiful woman _was _Aquaman's wife.

"Orrin, is it true, what you sent me?" she asked, with a faint accent trailing her clearly pronounced words.

"Unfortunately, it is," Aquaman told her. "I brought a friend to help. This is Robin, one of Batman's sidekicks. I believe you remember, Batman."

"Yes," she said. "He was quite stiff, rough, and rash, if you ask me. But yes, I remember him quite well." She looked down at Robin and smiled. "It is nice to meet you."

Robin smiled. What she had said about Batman was almost too true, he thought.

"Robin, this is my wife, Mera," Aquaman explained. "She is my pride and joy. And she is also pregnant with our child."

"Really?" Robin asked. "That's great! Congratulations! It is really great to meet you, Mera."

Mera laughed and looked to Aquaman. "He seems to be less like his mentor," she observed.

"Yes." Aquaman walked to his chair and sat down. He rubbed his face with his hands. "This is all stressful. It is clear we must prepare for the worst. We must gather men and women to fight." He sighed. "We must be ready before all Hell breaks loose."

There was a sudden BOOM! from outside, and the entire building shook suddenly. Robin fell to the ground, while Aquaman and Mera stayed standing. Mera helped Robin up. They grouped together with Aquaman, who told them, "This must be their first attack. It seems we've had no time to get our warriors ready. But that does not mean we cannot fight back. We'll fight back with all our resolve." He looked to his wife. "You must go and hide, before the enemies arrive."

She nooded, and was about to heed his words of advice, but there was another BOOM, but this time, it came from the front of the room. Robin peered at the location of the sound, and found a white, glowing tube. At least, that was how he would describe it.

Out came three villains. Robin recognized two of them, and knew one of them quite well: Firefly, a.k.a. Garfield Lynns, a pyrotechnics expert and homocidal maniac with burns covering ninety percent of his body. It seemed peculiar to Robin that a villain who controlled fire would be here in Atlantis, where they were surrounded by water.

And the second was Black Manta. Robin didn't know much of him, but he knew for sure that he was Aquaman's worst enemy. Or so he thought. He wasn't quite sure when it came to the last part.

The third person, however, Robin didn't know. It was obvious he was male, and it seemed almost too obvious what he was wearing was Atlantean. He wore a purple suit of armor with a cape. Spaulders protected his shoulders, there were fingerless gauntlets, greaves covering his forearms and shins. Robin saw his belt was adjoined by an upside-down crescent moon, and that he was barefoot. His face was covered by a purple helmet, red lenses covering his eyes, with only his mouth visible. The armor had an aquatic motif, with fin-shaped protuberances on the greaves, and rips and shreds on the base of the cape, which caused it to resemble a caudal fin. He held a trident in his right hand.

As soon as Robin saw the trident, something entered his mind, and he realized the third villain was the one Aquman had named Ocean-Master.

"Hello, King Orrin," Black Manta greeted in a deep, baritone voice. "We've come to take you where you belong."

"I'm not going anywhere," Aquaman told them. He looked to Ocean-Master. "It has been a long time, Ocean-Master. The last I fought you, you were badly wounded. How did you survive our last encounter?"

"I have friends in high places," Ocean-Master replied in a cool, yet sharp voice. "Please, don't tell me you brought children into our fight? Oh Neptune, look at what you've done, Orrin. You've killed yet another innocent soul!"

Aquaman was now baring his teeth, and Robin could guess Ocean-Master's words were beginning to get to him, and he couldn't blame him.

"Come on, let's end him now!" Firefly growled in his deep, gravelly voice. "I've been waiting for this moment for a very long time!"

"And you will be getting your choice soon enought," Ocean-Master said. "Patience is a virtue. However, I do believe we might speak of your wife. Mera, isn't it? What a pretty name. I wish I could name a daughter after you. Unfortunately, I will never have a wife, most likely."

"Not surprising," Robin joked. "How's about you take off that mask and show us all who you really are!"

"You dare insult me!" Ocean-Master yelled. "I will kill you for your insolence, boy!" He looked to Aquaman. "When I am finished with him, I'll be coming after your wife next. You'll be forced to watch as she is stabbed repeatedly until her blood streams from her open wounds!"

Aquaman had had enough, and he leapt at Ocean-Master, tackling him. Robin looked back at Mera. "Run…uh…my lady!" he shouted at her. "Go, before something happens to you! We don't anything happening to you or your baby, do you understand me?"

She nodded, and then went running for her life. Robin saw Black Manta begin to follow, but Robin ran at him, kicking Black Manta across the face, hoping he could cause the villain to stop. But Black Manta was not hindered. He continued to make his attempt to run past Robin, but Robin stopped him every time. Ocean-Master saw this, and he smiled at Aquaman in an evil way.

"Seems the little protégé is better than I thought," he said. "No matter. I can make short work of this." He raised his hand, and was about to send a spell at him, but Aquaman punched him in the face again and again. Soon blood streamed from a split lip. However, Ocean-Master still smiled. "You cannot defeat me." He shook with laughter. "I have won. My master has won this battle. This is where your reign ends, Orrin, and where mine begins."

Something sounded familiar to Aquaman. He punched Ocean-Master's mask. He punched it once more. And again. And again. Soon enough the mask was dented. Aquaman sent one more punch, and it broke the red lenses covering Ocean-Master's eyes.

Robin saw this, but continued his assault on Black Manta. The villain did not seem to feel the pain from Robin's punches. That was one of the two main things that bothered Robin at the moment. The second was that Firefly was still around, hovering in the air with his jetpack.

"Come on, Lynns," called Robin. "Try and get me!"

"No," Firefly replied. "Just wait."

Robin turned his head to look at the fight between Ocean-Master and Aquaman, and he saw Aquaman was about to take Ocean-Master's mask off.

"Now for you to be humiliated," Aquaman said. Robin had never heard him be so angry. He quickly placed his hand under the mask's edge around Ocean-Master's neck. He grasped it, and tore it off. There was a gasp, and the mask clattered to the floor. There was a young man, about six years older than Nightwing at the least, with Caucasian skin and black hair. His eyes were a deep green.

"My Neptune," Robin heard Aquaman say.

"Hello…brother," said Prince Orm, and he stabbed an Atlantean blade into Aquaman's belly.

Robin couldn't believe what he was hearing. He saw Aquaman's blood, and he was surprised such a thing had happened.

"This is a new age for Atlantis," Orm said. "Oh, how I will be repaid. It will be a handsome pay, I know for sure."

"You're nothing more than a traitor!" yelled Robin. He attempted to kick Black Manta in the face, but failed, as the villain grabbed ahold of his foot, and swung him into the main doors, which stayed closed.

"So, is it my turn?" asked Firefly. And Ocean-Master nodded, but not before getting out of the way. Firefly aimed his flame gun and shot flames out at Aquaman. Robin wanted to stop it, but he failed, as he was so dizzy from the pain in his head. He saw Aquaman begin to struggle as a ring of fire circled him, and he was sweating terribly.

"What do we do with his wife now?" Firefly asked.

"Kill her," said Ocean-Master.

Robin regained the normal feelings in his head, and began running for his life toward the other door, the one he'd seen Mera run through. He ran through it, even despite the yells he heard behind him. But then there was the slamming of the door, and Robin slowly looked back to see Firefly flying at him. Robin saw him raise the flame gun again, and Robin took out a sonic batarang. He knew it would stop the gun, and if he got it into the gun's nozzle, it would destroy the gun altogether when it went off. And that was just what he was planning on doing.

He picked the sonic batarang from his utility belt, and readied himself to use it. He heard Firefly gaining on him, and once he heard the deep, gravelly voice yell at him, with the voice being too loud, Robin whirled around and sent the sonic batarang at the gun. Unfortunately for Firefly, he'd believed the batarang would hit him, but never moved his gun. When the sonic batarang met its mark, Robin quickly detonated it, and the gun began shorting out.

Robin hurried to the end of the chamber, and suddenly there was the explosion behind him. He quickly turned around to find water leaking on the floor, from the force of the explosion. Firefly lay on the ground. He glard at Robin. Then he put his hand in his utility belt and took out a bomb. Robin's eyes widened.

_Run, run, run, run…RUN! _Robin thought, and he heard the bomb make contact with them floor. But Robin was already where he was supposed to be. He heard the second explosion, but took his mind off the fact Aquaman was defeated.

Mera looked over at him with anxious eyes. She saw Robin's expression. "Where is my husband?" she asked.

"He was stabbed. Ocean-Master was his brother. Oh God, this is stressful." He walked forward, and heard a small splash. There was water seeping through the bottom of the door. _The bombs, _thought Robin. He looked out the glass window in front of them. "Would my head implode if the glas down here is destroyed?" he asked.

"No," said Mera. "It wouldn't."

"Good."

Robin had the directions on how to call the ship. He knew how to make it go to autopilot. Now he just needed to make it crash through the glass of the room. More and more water was seeping in. While Mera most likely didn't mind the water, nothing was said about it, especially with her husband in jeopardy.

"We'll have to leave him behind for now," said Robin. "The rest of the Justice League can help."

Mera nodded. "Call the machine, then," she said.

Robin called the ship to him, and he thought he heard an engine buzzing outside.

Then it appeared.

_Now to make it crash through_, thought Robin. He looked down at the remote in his hand, and pressed the button to make the ship come closer. But there was the sound of the door breaking behind them, and in came Firefly, whose suit was dripping wet. He had a bomb in his hand. Robin threw a hard batarang at Firefly, knocking him out, but not before the bomb left his hands. The bomb hit the glass windows, and then exploded. Robin took Mera in his arms, and they shielded themselves from the glass. But Robin felt deep pain in his arm, and looking down, he found a large shard of glass sticking out of his right knee. He groaned in pain.

"We must leave," Mera said. Robin nodded, and they hurried to the ship.

She took hold of him, and she swam him to the ship. They entered it, and once he'd closed the ship's hatch, he said out loud, "Override, under the command of Aquaman, B06. Initiate autopilot."

As the ship went off, Robin felt the shard of glass in his leg again, and the pain worsened. Soon all became black, and he thought no more.

Meanwhile, five minutes after, Black Manta, Firefly, and Ocean-Master stood over Aquaman's body. Firefly held up a video screen in his palm. No picture appeared, but all three heard a voice.

"Did you succeed?" the voice asked.

"Yes," answered Ocean-Master. "Aquaman is down. But Robin got away with his wife."

"It matters naught," said the voice. "All that matters is the fact we are about to give the Justice League its coup d'etat. Out of the founding memebers, one down, six to go."


	9. Not Fast Enough

**CHAPTER NINE: NOT FAST ENOUGH**

Red Arrow had never been to Central City before. Though he and Green Arrow had lived near it for so long, he'd never been able to see it despite his mentor's many travels there to team with the Flash against various enemies. But now he was going there, and he was very happy for such a thing. He knew he was brash and arrogant many times, but all that mattered now was for the villains behind the threat to be exposed and defeated, then placed in prison, where they would never harm anyone ever again.

He was in a laboratory at the moment alongside the Flash, who was consulting with a friend about anything unusual that might have happened after the threat. However, so far, the scientist had not found anything, which was surprising to the Flash, it seemed.

"Are you sure about this, Francisco?" Flash asked. "After that kind of a threat, I would have expected something to happen by now."

Francisco "Cisco" Ramon turned to him. He was also a superhero in Central City known as Vibe, but according to him when Red Arrow and Flash walked in, it had been so quiet that he'd taken the day off from those duties.

"Fortunately, I've found nothing so far," Cisco said. "But there is something I think you should know. I'm just wondering if you heard about it however. Even with being a member of the Justice League, you should have heard something about it, I'm sure."

"What are you talking about?" Flash asked.

"There was a massive breakout from the city penitentiary! Didn't you hear?"

"When did that happen?"

"About three weeks ago! Many of the enemies escaped, unfortunately, but most of them were taken back in," Cisco explained. "Killer Frost and Captain Cold were among those who were fortunate enough to escape from the guards. We have no idea where any of them are now."

"Well, this could end real badly," Flash said. He turned to Red Arrow. "Have you stayed in contact with the rest of the trainees since you left the Watchtower?"

"No," Red Arrow admitted. "I'm sorry. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to. Everything's been happening so darn quickly, so—"

"It's all right. We just need to be ready for whatever's coming. I can tell already that something bad is about to happen, but I'm not sure when it will. We just have to keep standing around her for the moment, hoping we make the right move when the time comes. It's strange, because usually, I'm my cheerful self, but right now, I've become more serious than I wish to be."

"Well, with all the crap that's happening, I'm not surprised!" said Red Arrow. "Let's just hope I can get ahold of Green Arrow or Black Canary. I don't want anything bad to happen to either of them, because they've both been like family to me. They took me in when no one else did. So I want them to be safe, if you know what I mean. And those who are with them."

"We all do," Flash said. "Cisco, is there a possibility you can connect with either of the two using my communicator? We need to make sure they're okay."

"Of course, that's one of the things I'm here for," Cisco said. He took the communicator from Flash, who'd held it out to him, and then connected it to his computer. As the system came online, Cisco turned to Flash. "There's one problem, you realize, if Killer Frost comes to attack you, right?"

"Yes, I know," Flash said. "I wish Caitlin had never become the monster she is now. I blame myself still, but Iris and Wally like to tell me otherwise a lot. But sometimes, I'm just not sure what I should do."

"Wait, does Caitlin know your secret identity?" Red Arrow asked.

"Yes, which makes her an even more dangerous opponent," Flash answered. "And she knows my every move usually, because she worked here once, helping me out."

"Okay, I'm getting the communicator online," Cisco said, knocking them out of that conversation. "Just hold on a sec…_voila_!"

The large screen on the wall just ahead of them displayed Black Canary's face all of a sudden. Red Arrow was very much relieved as soon as he saw her. But then he realized she seemed frightened, with sweat rolling down her face and blood trickling from her mouth.

"What's happening?" Flash asked her. "Is something wrong?"

"We've run into trouble," she explained. "There are assassins here! Nightwing is battling one of them, but I don't remember his name! Oh no, he's been knocked out! We need backup over here, and we need it quick! AGHH!"

She screamed, and the communication line suddenly went dead. Flash looked to Red Arrow, whose expression was that of complete horror. He couldn't blame him. After all, he'd just seen one of his mentors be taken out.

"Try Green Arrow, Cisco!" Flash demanded. "And please hurry! We don't know what's going on with him!"

Cisco nodded and tapped a few keys. Then the screen came back on again and Green Arrow was seen. Aqualad was not far from him. They both seemed in pleasant moods, and it was obvious they had not been attacked just yet, something Red Arrow was relieved about.

"Hey guys!" greeted Green Arrow. "What's going on?" He saw their expressions, and his suddenly became more serious.

"Black Canary's been defeated," said Flash. "We don't know how, but we heard that she and Nightwing were battling against a group of assassins, which makes things complicated. But she was taken out while her communicator was still online. We don't know what's going on. Have you two been through anything just yet?"

"No, we haven't," Green Arrow replied. "Are you sure that she's been taken out?"

"Knocked out, at the least," Red Arrow said. "She was bleeding in the video, as well. We need to get over there to Blüdhaven and make sure she and Nightwing are all right! I may not know the latter as much, but I know he was a great candidate for becoming a member of the Justice League during our training sessions! We need to get over there and save them!"

"Relax, Red Arrow," came Aqualad's voice. "You must be calm if you are to go through all this. We know there are many things circulating in your mind, but you must understand it is vital to be patient and to wait. If you allow yourself to be taken over by this anxiety, then you will become susceptible to the mind games your enemy plays on you in battle."

"All right, I'm calm," said Red Arrow. "But you have to realize it's hard right now, especially with all that's happening right now! We have no way of knowing what's about to happen to either of them, do you know what I mean?"

"We do, but—" He exclaimed something loudly, and then the transmission turned to show Flash, Red Arrow, and Cisco what was happening there. A giant fireball had come out of nowhere, landing right on the rooftop where Green Arrow and Aqualad had been standing only seconds before.

"Son of a—" came Green Arrow's voice, but he was cut off by his own scream as something came and hit him. At least, that was what Red Arrow believed. "Aqualad's been injured! Part of the fireball hit him! We're under attack! Be safe, Flash! Take care of Red Arrow!"

"What's going on there?" exclaimed Flash. "What in the name of God do you see over there?"

But there was a cold laugh, and then a voice said suddenly, "You will never find out."

The transmission was lost then and there, as if the assailant had destroyed the communicator.

"Oh God." Flash walked around, trying to think everything through; but despite the fact he could process his thoughts quicker than anyone else, he couldn't come up with a plausible answer as to how everything was happening.

"Is there someone else we can try?" asked Red Arrow. "Batman, Wonder Woman, someone?"

"Batman. We need to contact Batman," Flash said. "He's usually the most sensible person. He may be dark and brooding, but he's sensible enough."

"Already on it," Cisco said.

And then the screen came back up. But when it came into focus, the screen showed not Batman, but a beautiful young girl with emerald eyes and a black vinyl costume covering her body, as well as a black vinyl cowl. She seemed to have not noticed them just yet.

"Um, hello?" said Flash.

The girl jumped when she heard his voice, and then she looked into the communicator. "Oh, sorry," she said. "I didn't know this thing was on. Batman told me to hold on to it while he searched for something. Don't ask me what, because not even I know. He doesn't tell me much when it comes to these things."

"That sounds like Batman, all right," muttered Flash. "Who are you, though? I remember Batman said he had someone in Gotham, but he never said anything about who that was."

"My name's Catwoman," she said. "I can't tell you my true name, of course. But we're here at the Gotham City Police Department. I've heard of all that's going on. To be honest, with what happened only a little while earlier, I'm not all that surprised. You see, a few days ago, I encountered one of our older villains, Otis Flannegan, also known as the Ratcatcher. He was dying, and I called Batman, Batgirl, Nightwing, and Robin down. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, he died. And he'd just been about to tell us who had hurt him. But he died before doing so. There's something else that happened, but I'd rather not talk about it."

They heard footsteps, and Catwoman turned around to see Batman standing there. She seemed surprised, though as no one could see her face, they weren't completely sure. There was a man standing there near him. They weren't sure who he was, but through the information given to them by Catwoman, Flash and Red Arrow guessed he might be the police commissioner.

"What's going on?" asked Batman to Flash.

"We've run into problems," Flash replied. "We tried contacting Black Canary and Green Arrow, and we're both certain there's something bad happening. Black Canary was hurt when we contacted her, and when we contacted Green Arrow, he and Aqualad were attacked only a little while later. I think the villains who gave us that message planned for all this to happen. It seems we keep running into these traps without even trying to a lot of the time! We need some advice from you, Batman. What do you say?" Flash seemed real eager to hear what the Dark Knight had to say.

Batman did not say anything. He seemed to be thinking. But then he said, "You need to be on your feet. Make sure you keep an eye on Red Arrow and all those near you."

"Have you had any luck with…whatever you're doing?"

"Yes. I must return to it now," Batman said. "I've left coordinates in your communicator to find a safehouse in the case of being overtaken in an attack. Go there if something happens."

"Will do," Red Arrow said. "Hopefully it's big enough for us."

Batman left, leaving Catwoman standing there. Batman's voice could be heard again, but it was unknown what he'd spoken. However, Catwoman said to Flash, Red Arrow, and Cisco, "Well, I've gotta go! See you guys later!"

The communication's link was gone just like that.

"Well, that was different," said Cisco. "He didn't give us any info on what he might have found. This is starting to get to me, because I feel we need to know. Without any information at all, we're stuck here without a plan."

"Well, I'm sure we can find some way to do this," said Flash. "With that big mind of yours, and my big mouth, we should be able to think of something. Do you have any ideas, Red Arrow?"

"To be honest, all I care about is finding my mentors," Red Arrow said. "They raised me when I needed it. I was raised the correct way thanks to them, but without them, I don't have a very good mentor. I need help here. We need to leave and find them!"

Flash opened his mouth again, but he was cut off when the entire lab suddenly shook. It was as if something had exploded inside it. Flash looked over at Cisco, both of them wondering what could be happening. But then they shrugged, leaving Red Arrow to think that they were being attacked by something they hadn't experienced before. He couldn't think of the last time something like this had happened before, either.

"What caused the explosion?" Red Arrow asked. "There must have been an explosion. Nothing else could have caused this entire building to shake. An explosion must have been caused. Either that, or someone is tunneling into the place from the basement." As he spoke those words, his voice trailed off. He looked to Cisco with fear evident on his face. It was probably in his eyes, as well, but it couldn't be seen due to the domino mask covering them. "Is there a deep enough basement where such a thing can happen?"

Cisco ran for his life. Red Arrow looked to him, and Flash said, "He's running to the basement."

Red Arrow and Flash quickly followed, with Flash making sure he didn't run too fast so Red Arrow and he could make it there at the same time. When they arrived in the basement, which had taken them nearly ten minutes to do so as a result of the vast underground facility, used as both a lab and a bunker in the case of a nuclear strike or something of that sort, Cisco stood there with great fear in his black eyes.

"They're coming in from below ground," said Cisco. "We need to get ready. My costume is above-ground, however…and…" His eyes widened. "I could have gotten it when I was running down here. But I'm ready to fight, nonetheless. I just wonder who's going to be attacking us. I hope it's not Caitlin."

"Don't worry, it's not," came a higher-pitched, dark and taunting voice. It reverberated throughout the underground lab. Red Arrow took an arrow from his quiver and notched it on his bowstring. He held it in front of him, prepared for the attack. But then something happened neither of the heroes had been expecting. A giant drill burst from the ground, and a few villains jumped from a cockpit, which the heroes saw were where the drill was controlled from. Flash had seen all three of the villains, one of them belonging to Batman, known as Bane, and the other belonging to Green Arrow, known as Count Vertigo. The third he knew as the Cheetah, an antagonist for Wonder Woman. She wore a black leotard. Flash believed those were the only enemies, and believed he could take them down. But he'd overlooked one enemy. "Hello, Flash," came the voice from behind him, the same voice who'd spoken just before the drill had broken through.

Flash whirled around and found the Reverse-Flash, also known as Zoom. "Thawne!" he said in surprise. "How in the heck are you here? The last I saw you, you were in that special cell over in—"

"Yes, yes, that hellhole of a prison, the second maddest place on Earth, behind Arkham Asylum," Zoom said. "I've been waiting for this moment to come. But I've waited for so freaking long. It's thanks to my…accomplice that I'm back and stronger than ever. Now, why don't we return to the battle we found ourselves in before your friends came into the fight and helped you. It was thanks to your cheating that I lost. But you don't have many friends here now, do you?"

"He has us, bozo!" Red Arrow snapped, holding the bow and arrow at Zoom. "This arrow has a thermal sensor, and as soon as it hits you, a shock will travel through your body! Not enough to kill you, but enough to stop your heart for a few minutes. How does that feel to you, Thawne?"

"So you've learned my last name," said Zoom. "How good. But that arrow won't work. Even with its thermal sensor, I'm too fast. I'll just catch it." Zoom stopped speaking, and then studied Red Arrow's face for a moment. "Your mentor was the Green Arrow, right? And the Black Canary? Too bad about them. I think I heard they were killed, isn't that right, Bane?"

"Yes, it is," said Bane in a thick Spanish accent. "It is only logical for their young protégé to feel deep, angry pain at the loss of his mentors. The loss of the only ones he ever loved."

Red Arrow snapped, and he ran right at Bane. But Bane was too smart for him, dodging and taking hold of his costume. He threw Red Arrow across the room. But as such a thing happened, Red Arrow loosed the arrow, which whizzed through the air, and even though Bane attempted to stop it, the arrow passed through a small opening between both his hands. The arrow stuck itself in the tube that fed Bane all his steroid-fueled energy. The arrow activated the electrical shock, causing the Venom tube to burst. The Venom was now electrified, and unfortunately for Bane, he was caught right in the middle of it. Bane roared in pain, and when the electrocution was over, Bane collapsed and fell into unconsciousness.

Red Arrow smiled to himself, then felt hot blood trickling down the side of his head. He looked to Zoom, who was smiling at him. The other villains were looking back-and-forth between one another, seemingly wondering when they were supposed to attack.

"Well done, little one," taunted Zoom. "You would have made your mentors proud."

"Shut up," Red Arrow growled. He looked behind Zoom and said, "Too bad you won't make it past this."

The Flash ran at Zoom, but almost impossibly, the Reverse-Flash whirled around and grabbed Flash by the throat. He threw him at a wall hard enough for it to crumble, revealing steel rods. Flash attempted to get to his feet, but Zoom stomped on his chest. Flash groaned, and there was a small cracking sound. "You see, I've always been better than you, Flash. That's no surprise, is it? You've never been strong enough to fight me. And now, for the finishing touch." He took hold of one of the steel rods, broke it free from the wall it was helping to support, and stabbed it downward. Cisco and Red Arrow could only watch as the rod sank into Flash's right leg. Blood spurt from the wound, and Flash screamed out in pain.

"This is what happens to those who oppose me," Zoom said, forcing the rod down deeper, causing Flash to scream louder. He looked to Cheetah and Vertigo. "Attack those two. Make sure to kill them!"

Cisco concentrated for a moment, and then opened his eyes. "Red Arrow, get the heck out of here! This is going to get bad in here, I'm sure of it! Now go!"

Red Arrow nodded, and was about to run when he saw Flash throw something. He caught it, and found the communicator in his hands. Flash said, "Use it to contact the others! Hurry!"

Red Arrow nodded, turned around, and ran for his life.

He felt the ground beginning to shake, and looking back, he found that Vertigo had attempted to run after him. But now he saw Cisco was concentrating and causing shockwaves to run through the ground. But Cheetah came up behind Cisco, hitting him hard in the back of the head and sinking her claws into his abdomen. He screamed, and then the pain was too much, causing him to go silent. Blood dripped from her claws when she took them out.

Red Arrow hurried toward whatever was in front of him. He wasn't sure what he would find when he reached his destination. At the moment, he was too fearful to look back. Both of the heroes behind him were defeated, and now he was heading to a place he didn't even know.

But then he found there was an opening in the wall in front of him. It was very surprising, seeing as how there was the possibility of someone entering inside. He guessed that just before the two heroes behind him were knocked unconscious, they had done something to allow him to escape.

He heard growling behind him, and he realized Cheetah was coming toward him. He wasn't sure how close she was, but he was sure he had to hurry. The opening was coming closer. Almost there…almost there…

He was caught. He felt Cheetah's hand clasp over his right ankle, and he fell to the ground. His chin hit first before the rest of his body, and he could taste blood.

But there was a way he could get free. He took one of the arrows out of his quiver and stabbed down as hard as he could. He heard Cheetah screech out in pain, and her grip was lifted from his ankle. Taking the moment into consideration, Red Arrow ran toward his exit, only to find it was about to close. He jumped through the opening and fell into a pool of water. He wasn't sure what the pool of water was, but he surfaced to find himself a small distance from the lab all of a sudden. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. But then he remembered the communicator and the coordinates Batman had sent it. He decided it was time to do what he was supposed to do, get to that location and save his two mentors.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Zoom, Vertigo, and Cheetah stood over the unconscious bodies of Flash and Vibe. Cheetah was bleeding from her left hand as a result of Red Arrow stabbing the arrow into it. Not far from them, Bane was of normal human size, laying in a pool of Venom. He was beginning to stir.<p>

"This is surprising," Cheetah said. "The boy was smarter than most of the other sidekicks, from what I've heard. Did you hear about the Bat's youngest sidekick, though? He escaped from Firefly easily. This boy defeated Bane too easily. He's smart, but he's also stupid. As all children are."

"Yes," said Zoom. "But now we're lucky. We have two superheroes in our grip. Should we take them both? I'm not sure."

"Scarecrow probably only wants the Flash. The other one shall remain here, to bleed out. Now we know that he is a superhero, though," Vertigo said.

"But I already knew," Zoom told him. "I'll speak to you about it later. But let's leave Vibe here, take Flash and Bane, and get back to Legion headquarters. Aquaman and Flash are down now. Five central members left to go."


	10. Blüdhaven

**CHAPTER TEN: BLÜDHAVEN**

Nightwing and Black Canary made their away across the rooftops. They'd been sent to Blüdhaven by Superman, and fortunately, it was a location the both of them knew well. Black Canary had been there with Green Arrow before, while Nightwing had gone there to follow his own heart and become Nightwing, as well as to get away from the rest of the Bat-Family for a small amount of time. Knowing the location so well led to them understanding where they needed to go. So far, nothing had shown itself to them, but they knew it was best they were careful.

"I'm not sure what kind of threat we'll be facing here, Nightwing," Black Canary. "There are so many threats I've faced over the years while working in this persona, but compared to how big the threat seemed, there might be some things we haven't faced before. We have to be on our toes, if you know what I mean. We have to make sure we're not being followed, because that kind of thing surely is a possibility. I don't know if anyone around here understands how dangerous all of this crap is."

"I agree," said Nightwing. "I've gone through a lot of enemies in my time. I think I even started an enmity one. I don't know if you know who he is. His name is Slade Wilson, also known as Deathstroke. He's a great, yet terrible, assassin. I'm just glad he's never learned my secret identity. There was one time when he nearly did, but one of my allies saved me from being exposed by the monster."

"Which ally are we speaking of?" Black Canary asked.

"Spoiler," Nightwing replied. "Batgirl actually meant to do so, but she was caught up in another fight. This was back when I made a visit to Gotham. While Batgirl was fighting Harley Quinn, I was confronted by Deathstroke. I don't think they had any accomplice-type of mission, or anything like that. So when he was about to pull off my mask, Spoiler came and saved me. She was wounded in that fight, but she succeeded in taking Deathstroke down. I'm grateful to Spoiler for saving me, but there are times when I wish Batgirl could have done it. To be honest, she can fight better than Spoiler, and so she might not have been injured. I felt real bad for causing an injury to Steph on my return visit." Nightwing sighed. "It's amazing how time flies. It's been over a year since that."

"Where is Spoiler now? She seems to have been a good friend. But I've never heard Batman speak of her before."

"She's an amazing friend. Stephanie's over in Europe right now, on an end-of-the-year trip. She'll be back in about a week or so. Once she's out of high school, she'll be joining with the Bat-Family full-time. I don't think she knows of what's happening right now, however. I don't think she even knows of any of us attempting to join the Justice League. When she finds out, she'll probably want to join, too. But Batman most likely won't allow her. I can't blame him now, because of what's going on. This crap has gone too far."

"Is there anything more I should know about her?" Black Canary asked. "About Stephanie, I mean?"

"She's blond, has sapphire-blue eyes, and she's one of the nicest girls you'll ever meet. She's not in a relationship, but I think she and Robin have a thing for one another, despite the difference in their age. She's eighteen, he's sixteen. I guess it's not that big a deal, but still…" He sighed. "There's one thing that goes through my mind when I think of all this. When I stopped being Robin, Batgirl was in her second year. Batman quickly found another Robin, however, but I didn't mind. The kid needed to be taken in by someone, so I understood completely when Batman made him Robin. But problems arose. He was brash, arrogant…he wouldn't allow anyone to completely teach him. Not I, not Batman, not Batgirl. But we all still loved him, despite that. That was when things went completely south. While tracking Ra's al Ghul, a villain we haven't seen in a very long time, we ran into the Joker, who kidnapped that Robin. He took him, beat him, and then killed him. When we found his body, Batgirl collapsed and went into unconsciousness from her shock and her tears. We mourned him for so long. We weren't sure what we were supposed to do. We found another Robin, and I advised against it that time. But I was overruled by Batman and Batgirl, who weren't sure what they were supposed to think. They felt that they needed another Robin. I just wanted them to be careful, to think of all that had happened. But they got another Robin anyway."

"And that Robin is the current one, correct?"

"Yes. I feel bad for saying this, but I feel I like him more than I ever did Jason. The second Robin, I mean. When I started as Robin, I was eleven-years-old. When Batgirl started, she was fifteen, and so was I. When the second Robin began, she and I were seventeen, he was fifteen. And when the third Robin began, he was thirteen, we were eighteen. And when Spoiler started, she was sixteen, we were nineteen, and Robin was fourteen. Catwoman began the same year, at the age of twenty-two. Well, she'd been a thief for a while, but only stealing for herself so she could eat. It's a lot, what I just said, and I'm sorry if I just bored you a whole lot."

"It's all right," Black Canary told him. "I've been known to talk a lot when I'm nervous, too. I know you're nervous, because I can see it on your face and how you talk. I could possibly see it in your eyes, if that domino mask allowed me."

"Sorry about that," Nightwing apologized. "It's part of the job. There are only three members of the Bat-Family whose eyes are able to be seen. Strangely, it's all the girls. Batgirl, Spoiler, and Catwoman. I guess they just like letting others see their eyes. I don't know about girls all that well. I haven't even had a girlfriend before. Well, now that I think of it, I have. Batgirl was my girlfriend for a while. But then we broke up, almost around the time that the second Robin was murdered." He sighed. "Time flies. It's surprising how long it's been since then."

Black Canary placed her right hand on his left shoulder. "Do you still hold feelings for her?" she asked. "You can tell me if you wish, but that doesn't mean you have to."

"I'm not sure right now," Nightwing admitted. "I would have to think about that. But with all we're going through, it's not going to help much. I don't know what enemies we're going to be facing here. Have you received anything from any of the other founding members? I've got nothing from Batman or any of the other members of our family or Supergirl. She's the only other sidekick I have communication with." He sighed. "Being a sidekick isn't really all that fun in some places."

"I wouldn't call you a sidekick now," said Black Canary. "You seem a little too old for that. You seem to have taken everything into your own hands for a little while before you showed back up to Batman. So you're more of normal hero. But you're with the initiates, of course, and they're all sidekicks."

"Supergirl could probably be counted as a normal hero, too. She lives under her cousin's shadow, however, which makes it a little harder for her, I guess. But I wouldn't count her as much of a sidekick anymore. I mean, she was back when we teamed up with them. But I think it's safe to say that she's now a full superhero in her own right."

"I agree, and I think Batman should think the same with you guys. For him to be that way when it came to Batgirl and Robin joining…I don't think it was right for him to be so stern. He's a good leader and all, but he needs to lighten up, if you ask me."

Nightwing laughed. Hearing something coming from one of the Justice League surprised him.

There was the sound of a beep, and Black Canary took her communicator out of her jean jacket. She opened it, and Batman appeared on the screen. "Have you found anything?" he asked.

"No," Black Canary replied. "Not yet, at least. We've just been talking to pass the time. What about you? You and whoever is with you find anything of importance?"

"Not yet," came a voice Nightwing recognized instantly. Catwoman appeared in the screen. Her emerald eyes sparkled as if she were happy, but on her face was a grim expression. "We've been looking around for a while, but so far, nothing. You guys hear from Batgirl or Robin?"

"No, neither," Nightwing said. "Wouldn't they have called back by now?"

"According to his ship's beacon," said Batman, "he's far from Atlantis. He's not far from Gotham Bay."

"Wait, what?" said Nightwing. "Why would he be going to Gotham Bay? Did something happen?"

"You can attempt to contact him," Batman said. "In the meantime, we'll contact Batgirl." And just like that, he hung up, though Nightwing could have sworn he heard, "Something's not right," just as the screen cut to black.

"Something's not right, all right," Black Canary said, confirming his suspicions. "It feels like we're being baited all of a sudden. But I'm not sure what could be going on."

"Neither do I," Nightwing admitted. "We need to be more vigilant. There's got to be something around here that we might have missed. But what could that possibly be?"

They used their grapple hooks to get on top of a larger building. When they made it up there, they found themselves looking at a scene neither of them had been expecting.

"What in the name of God?" whispered Nightwing.

A man was strapped to a metal antennae. He possessed olive skin. Blood stained his white shirt, and there was a nasty wound wound on the right side of his head. One of his eyes was swollen shut. Blood dripped from his nose. And there was a hole in his abdomen. It was obvious he was dead.

"Who is that?" asked Black Canary.

"A drug lord," Nightwing said. "His name is...was...Leonardo Valdez, also known as 'the Big Lion.' He was supposed to be really hard to take down due to his extensive amount of bodyguards. Whoever took him down must be real skilled."

"And I am," came a voice.

Someone jumped up from somewhere below the edge of the building in front of them. He wore black body armor, and his mask was black-and-orange. There was one eye slit on the right side, while another had no such slit, as a result of the loss of his left eye. Two katana were in his hands. Nightwing knew exactly who he was. He'd faced him so much before.

Deathstroke.

"Hello, Slade," Nightwing greeted. "Why are you here? Who else is with you? Who sent you?"

"So many questions," Slade growled. "I know you want them answered, but some just weren't meant for that. I've been wanting you dead for quite some time now, Nightwing, and I believe today is the day I receive my chance, don't you?" His only good eye moved over to Black Canary. "Hello, beautiful. I haven't seen you in a while."

"I think I wanted it to stay that way," Black Canary retorted. "There are others with you, aren't there?"

Slade scraped the blade of one of the katanas across the rooftop thrice, and three other supervillains appeared. Two of them Nightwing easily recognized: Copperhead. She was of South American descent, though it was unknown exactly where. She was poisonous, and he'd actually been bitten by her before, leading to his near-death. The other was Two-Face, AKA Harvey Dent, a former D.A. who became insane after having acid splashed in his face, burning half of it.

The other one was a villain Nightwing did not recognize quite as much, though he had some ideas as to who they were. One was wearing a revealing costume like Black Canary, though she was dressed in all white.

"Let's kill them," Copperhead growled seductively.

"No," Deathstroke said. "Not just yet. Let's allow them to know why they must die. You see, Nightwing, Black Canary, you both have been major pains in our behinds, and as a result, we have to end our anger. Understand now?" He looked at the two of them, who remained expressionless. "No? Well, then, I think they're all yours."

Two-Face flipped the coin up in the air. It landed, and he slapped it onto his wrist. He looked at it, then said to Nightwing, "Your time's up." He flipped it again, and said, "It's your lucky day, Canary." Then he took out a gun and pointed it at Nightwing, who had been preparing to go after Deathstroke. He dodged the gunshot, and went right for the double-sided antagonist. But he was knocked back by a slap from one of Copperhead's legs.

Black Canary took on her doppelgänger, whom she called White Canary. She was a member of the League of Assassins, whom she knew was led by Ra's al Ghul, an antagonist of she, Green Arrow, and Batman and his family. She wondered where he was at the moment, and if he was possibly behind everything going on.

The fight caused both to end up with good kicks to the stomach and face. Black Canary was already bleeding from the nose, and she tried to wipe it away, only to be stopped by an even fresher flow.

"Isn't it just hard?" White Canary asked her. "You try to fight as well as you can, but everything just goes to Hell, and you can't do anything more than your own mediocre method."

"Shut up!" Black Canary growled. She breathed in, and released her Canary Cry.

The sonic scream caused Copperhead to scream out in extreme pain. This allowed Nightwing, who covered his ears, having seen Black Canary ready herself for the attack, to knock her out with a kick to the chin. When Black Canary finished the sonic scream, she gasped for breath, and she was punched in the gut by White Canary, who had been unharmed by the scream as a result of her training against such afflictions.

"Too bad," she sneered. She kicked Black Canary in the head, and Black Canary hit the ground hard.

Nightwing saw this out of the corner of his eye as he attacked Two-Face, who aimed the gun at him. Nightwing dodged four shots, only to be hit in the left shoulder by a fifth. Nightwing groaned, but readied himself as Two-Face aimed the gun at him once more.

But he was smart, and he took out a form of Batarang, which he called "Wing-Dings." He aimed one at the barrel of the gun. He threw it at the barrel at the same time as Dent pulled the trigger. The bullet and Wing Ding whizzed past each other. Nightwing was unfortunately hit in the leg as he attempted to get out of the way, and he was forced to limp off. The Wing Ding stuck itself in the barrel of the gun, and the gun went off.

Dent groaned, and blood covered his hand. Shrapnel was stuck in some places.

"Out of my way, Dent!" Deathstroke snapped, pushing Two-Face back. He prepared his katanas, and Nightwing prepared for the battle. But he realized his wounds would prevent him from the fight. He looked over to Black Canary.

"We're getting our butts beat!" he said. "Call someone, and tell them what's happening! Hurry—ARGHH!"

He was punched by Deathstroke. He got back to his feet quickly, but nearly fell to his knees as a result of the bullet wound there.

Black Canary quickly took out her communicator and chose the first name that came up in the contacts list: Flash.

The communicator buzzed, and then Flash appeared, as did the heroes Vibe and Red Arrow, the latter of whom was one of her allies. She saw Flash was worried about her almost immediately. She looked over to where White Canary had been standing, and saw she was no longer there.

"What's happening?" Flash asked. "Is something wrong?"

"We've run into trouble," she explained. "There are assassins here! Nightwing is battling one of them, but I can't remember his name!" She gasped as Nightwing was knocked to the ground, and he was seemingly unconscious. "Oh no, he's been knocked out! We need backup over here, and we need it quick!" She suddenly felt a deep and horrible pain in her left side, and she screamed out. "AGHH!"

Her communicator went flying, and she saw White Canary standing in front of her. The communicator fell into her hands, and she broke it in two with her bare hands, throwing the two halves behind her. "Oops," she said.

Black Canary felt something warm as she touched her side, and she found blood on her hand as she took it back. Looking to White Canary, she saw the blade with blood dripping off the end.

Black Canary looked to Nightwing. Deathstroke stood over him, both katanas raised. She hurried to Nightwing's side, and as soon as she did so, he awoke, throwing a smoke pellet, which hit the rooftop. Smoke filled everyone's vision, and Black Canary felt herself be picked up.

She realized she was falling off the rooftop, and she felt herself hit the river below. Her vision flickered, and all went black.

Up above on the rooftop, Two-Face came walking over to Deathstroke, who was seething with rage over having once again failed to kill his adversary.

"Aren't we going after them?" Two-Face growled.

"No," Deathstroke replied cooly, surprising Dent, as well as White Canary and Copperhead, who had just woken from unconsciousness. "Let's tell Scarecrow. He'll be disappointed, but we'll get another chance to take those two down, I'm sure." He took out his communicator. Seconds later, Scarecrow's voice appeared.

"Did you succeed?"

"No," Deathstroke replied.

"What happened?" He now sounded angry.

"I was going to allow Nightwing to get away, but Black Canary got away along with him."

"Why would you have allowed the boy to get away?"

"Because he was injured," Deathstroke said. "It wouldn't have been ethical to kill an injured opponent in such a way. He deserved a much nobler death."

"Fine. It does not matter about Black Canary. Thawne and Merlyn have returned with prizes. Flash and Green Arrow are defeated. Ares has arrived in Themyscira with his associates, and both Star Sapphire and Luthor are in the middle of battle with their opponents. We are winning this battle."

And he hung up.

Deathstroke closed the communicator and turned to Two-Face, Copperhead, and White Canary. "Not all is lost," he said. "We'll get our revenge on them soon enough."

Black Canary opened her blue eyes, and she found herself in what seemed to be a sewer. Other than that, she had no idea where she was. She heard movement around her.

"Easy," came Nightwing's voice as she attempted to sit up. "I've been bandaging your side with pieces of my suit. We're in Gotham now. It's been six hours since the battle, and it's night now."

"What the heck is going on?" she asked groggily.

"Nothing, fortunately," Nightwing replied. "And I would like it to stay that way. Fortunately, I know a safehouse for us. I'm not sure if anyone else is there, but for the moment, I think we're fine. Let's just hurry up and get over there. No one's following us, but I don't always feel safe down in the sewers in Gotham. We haven't seen Killer Croc in a while."

"How's your leg?" Black Canary asked.

"Better," he said. "I'm still limping, though. There's someone who can help me get the bullet out later. I'd rather not do it myself, because I could easily screw it up." He laughed a little, then stopped. "It doesn't seem right, laughing right now."

Black Canary nodded, understanding that feeling.

He helped her up, and she found she could still walk, with trouble due to the pain in her side. But otherwise, she was fine.

"Do you think Batman is there?" she asked.

"No, I'm sure he's not," Nightwing said. "He's in Gotham, however, with Catwoman. So we'll surely see them soon enough." As they walked, he stumbled, and she quickly put his arm over her shoulders. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

"By the way, who was it you called?"

"Flash. I don't know why, he just seemed like the right person to call. It seemed nothing was happening there, fortunately, and I hope everything remains that way. But Red Arrow saw me injured, so I'm sure he's horribly worried for me. I can't blame him if he does think that way."

"It happens," said Nightwing. "But you're fine. He'll see that soon, I'm sure." He sighed, and groaned in pain as his leg began to throb. "God, I hate this freaking wound!"

He looked in front of him, and he found a strange-looking door there.

"What is that?" Black Canary asked. "Is that a door?"

"Yes," he replied. "And fortunately, I know the code."

She helped him walk up to it.

"Okay, let's see…"

He looked to the keypad, and he remembered the eight dates.

15-19-29-17-13-21-2-28

When he finished the door opened, and there was a flight of stairs, at which Nightwing groaned.

"What did those numbers mean?" Black Canary asked.

"They were the dates of birth of all of the members of the Bat-Family," Nightwing explained. "January fifteenth is the birthday of our favorite butler, February nineteenth is the birthday of Batman, May twenty-ninth is my birthday, May seventeenth is Batgirl's birthday, July thirteenth is the birthday of my first successor—" he stopped for a moment to sigh—"November twenty-first is Catwoman's birthday, and September twenty-eighth is Spoiler's birthday."

"So, in three days," Black Canary observed.

"Yes," Nightwing said. "She'll be eighteen. She probably doesn't even know this is happening, which is both a good and a bad thing. Hopefully she remains all right over there in Europe."

"I'm sure she will."

"Here we are," Nightwing finally said, sighing with relief.

They had finally made it to the top of the stairs, and he was happy he'd made it. He wiped his forehead. There was an opening, and he knew it would lead them to where they wanted it to. "Now let's see who's home."


	11. God Versus Man

**CHAPTER ELEVEN: GOD VERSUS MAN**

Aqualad found himself near the Man of Steel, one of his personal heroes. He had been raised in Atlantis, of course, but that did not stop him from idolizing Superman when told the stories of adventure that Aquaman had given him during his training. Ever since then, Aqualad, real name Kaldur'ahm, had wished for a chance to one day meet his hero. And not only had he been given the chance to join the Justice League and finally meet the Man of Steel, he was now working with him in the field!

However, Kaldur knew the dangers of being so excited. He had been trained so that he knew whether or not it was the right time to express such emotions, and he knew it was not time to express these emotions, especially due to the nature of the threat from the unknown organization of supervillains, as Superman had put it. Since they had no idea of who the leader was and who was pulling the strings, they had to be extra careful.

"How does it feel?" asked Superman as they stood atop a large building overlooking Metropolis, the city the Man of Steel protected. "To be here in the field, I mean? I'm sure you must be scared."

Kaldur looked to Superman. "Yes, sir," he admitted respectfully. He spoke in a soft voice, and Superman could already sense this youth was wise beyond his years. "I've wanted to work alongside you for so long, and now that I am, the only problem with it is this dire situation. We've been threatened, and I know that we must be careful now."

"That is true," said Superman. "But that does not mean we can't have some light in the situation. For all we know, this is some small distraction, and there's not really such a huge evil in the world. The ones behind this might just be third-rate villains. Trust me, we've dealt with those before. Batman and I have, at least. Some of the heroes have been able to go without those types and remain with great villains, which I sometimes envy them for."

Kaldur looked out over the edge of the building, down into the city, which was filled with sparkling and twinkling lights. It seemed none of it had been touched by darkness, almost. He just hoped that was how everything remained. He didn't think he would be able to take it if such a beautiful city was ravaged by a great wave of destruction. But he knew it had to happen sometime or another. He just hoped that if this city was attacked by some force, it wouldn't be irreparably damaged by that evil.

"This city is so beautiful," said Kaldur. "I couldn't imagine it being destroyed. I don't know how I would be able to take it. Has it ever been badly harmed by a fight?"

"It has," Superman said. "A few fights have destroyed parts of it. The worst was when I was forced to battle Darkseid, one of the New Gods and ruler of the planet Apokilips. I hated that fight. Supergirl was badly injured by the end of it, and sometimes I still blame myself for those injuries. I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for allowing those injuries."

"But they were not your fault, were they?" Kaldur asked.

"No, they weren't," Superman admitted, "but I felt as if they were because I had a chance to prevent them, and I didn't take it, unfortunately. That's the problem with this world. No, not just this world. That's the problem with life. There's so much that could happen, so much that could go wrong, and there aren't that many chances to stop it from happening. That's why it's so maddening. I don't like it, but I know I was sent here by my biological parents for a reason."

"At least your father isn't some murdering psychopath," Kaldur said. "You probably know him, maybe even faced him a few times before. Black Manta is his name."

"I know," Superman said. "Aquaman told me when he gave me the recommendation of adding you as a recruit. I don't care about that very much, however, so long as you make your own choices and don't allow your past or where you come from to define you. That's the thing about some of these supervillains. They lack a true reason for being what they are. They just believe they can be truly defined by their past and where they come from, which I very much disagree with. You can let it define you, yes, but it's not something you necessarily _have_ to do, if you understand."

Aqualad nodded. "I would never allow it to define me. I have made my choice. My father has attempted to reclaim me, and while I believe I hold love for him, I do not believe it would be right to return to him. He must be punished for his crimes. He has committed too many grievous crimes against my king. Those who commit such crimes need to prosecuted. As for death, I do not think so, though I think it depends."

"Never kill just because you think it's right," Superman said. "Never kill to begin with, is what I'd say, but I understand there are those who believe killing might be right. I don't want you to think that way, but I know I can't stop everyone, unfortunately."

"I don't kill, don't worry. I would never do such a thing. My King—Aquaman, as you call him—has told me that it is not allowed as a hero, and I believe him. I trust that decision. Killing and vengeance blacken the soul, though it seems Batman has been able to get past the latter and do well with it."

"Batman's gone through more than most of us. It's not his fault that vengeance is one of his trademarks, if you understand me there. His life has been full of tragedy, and I wish I could help him. But it seems he's been able to get through it thanks to his allies."

"I must say, they were quite nice. Was that all of them, or were there more? I don't think I got all their names."

"No, that was not all of them. The three you met were Nightwing, who had the black-and-blue costume. He was once known as Robin, but that post was taken over by two other people. You saw the third Robin there, as well."

"What happened to the second one?"

"It's not my liberty to tell you, though I do know. It's personal to Batman. That's all I'm going to say. Mistakes were made, and allies were let down in some way. But that's it."

Kaldur nodded. "That is all right," he said. "I asked too much. I shouldn't have poked into something I cannot hope to understand."

Superman smiled. "Smart," he complimented. "I don't blame you for being curious. It's just that there's so much that I couldn't say it, and I don't feel right telling you something that is all too personal to Batman."

Kaldur nodded.

"The third one, the girl, is known as Batgirl. She's definitely the sweetest one of them all, and she and Supergirl count each other as sisters now. However, she is not the only girl on the team. There is also Catwoman, who, despite her name, is not that much older than the others, maybe a year or two than Batgirl and Nightwing. Robin is sixteen, and he is the youngest of the team. We teamed up with them a while back, and there was another girl besides Batgirl and Catwoman. She called herself Spoiler, and she was about sixteen or seventeen. I don't think she's around at the moment, but you'll likely meet her sooner or later, I'm sure."

Kaldur nodded, happy he'd been able to learn more about his allies. He'd already met and worked with Red Arrow before, so he knew who that was. There were more, he was sure, including Superman's cousin, Supergirl, and Wonder Woman's sidekick, Wonder Girl. He was sure he would meet them again soon, once this was over.

A beeping sound reached his ears, and he turned around to see Superman taking out what looked to be a communicator. He hit a few buttons on the digital screen. Kaldur looked a little closer, and soon enough, Batman appeared. A girl with green eyes and wearing a shiny black costume made of some sort of material was behind him.

"What is it?" Superman asked.

"Have you received a transmission from any of the others?" Batman asked him gruffly.

"No," Superman answered. "Why?"

"I just received a message from Green Arrow. He seems to have sent it first to Flash in Central City. But there's something wrong about it. He didn't bring Aqualad with him."

"What's so strange about that?" Superman asked.

"He said that Aqualad was injured," Batman said. "And yet Aqualad is with you. Something is wrong. Do you know anything about this, Aqualad?"

"No, I don't," said Kaldur. "Could he be hallucinating?"

"It's possible," Batman said. "Who did Green Arrow take with him?"

"No one," Superman said. "There weren't enough recruits or anyone of that sort left. Unless he took another hero, which I don't think he did. Something's not right…"

"Be careful. I'm going to go through the coding of the other communicators to see if I can find anymore such transmissions."

And then he was gone, without any sign of him leaving.

"Something's not right," said Superman. "There's something going on. It does seem we really are being attacked by supervillains. We need to be on our guard for this."

Suddenly the Man of Steel stiffened. He looked around for something, and Kaldur wondered what exactly was happening. He touched Superman's shoulder, hoping to learn something from his hero.

"I have enhanced hearing," Superman explained. "There's a fire not far from here…at a LexCorp factory. We need to hurry. There might be those in danger. Wait, can you deal with the fire? Aquaman and other Atlanteans are weakened by fire, I know."

"Well, as long as you blow some of the flames out, then maybe I'll be able to help during this time."

"I'll see what I can do," Superman said. "But remember, as a hero, you have to push yourself to the limit. But that doesn't mean to push yourself to the brink of dying."

Kaldur nodded. He could suddenly see smoke from the rooftop he stood upon. It rose into the air, like gray streaming snakes.

"Quick, get on my back," said Superman. Kaldur did so, and they were off toward the source of the fire. As soon as they saw the LexCorp factory, Superman was forced to dodge as an explosion came right toward them. It did so for a moment before dying down.

Kaldur thought, _We have to find some way inside. _He was already feeling the heat setting in, and sweat began to collect in large amounts on his forehead. He wiped it off and returned to concentrating on the matter at hand.

"Hold on!" Superman said, and they crashed through the building. Kaldur jumped off Superman as soon as they had landed, and he felt the sweltering hear wash over him. He began sweating profusely, but he knew he could move on despite the hindrance.

"Do you see anything?" he asked Superman. "Or hear it?"

"So far, nothing," Superman replied. "Wait a minute…one of the walls here is made of lead."

"Doesn't that prevent you from seeing through it?"

"Yes. It seems that whatever villains are trying to stop us are hiding behind there. It would make the most sense." He walked over to the wall. He found something, or so Kaldur thought. Superman pushed as hard as he could, and the wall there began to move.

As soon as it had been completely moved out of place, a woman with violet eyes and dark black hair came through the smoke. She wore a white button-up shirt with a black skirt and black high-heels. She stopped for a moment, looked up at Superman, who was quite taller than her, and hugged him.

"Lois, what are you doing here?" Superman asked.

"I was kidnapped," she said. "I was supposed to be investigating today, but I didn't think it would mean this. I think I was kidnapped, at least. I was at home, and next thing I knew, I felt a pain in my head, and I woke up here. But it's all fuzzy." She seemed to think for a moment, and then her strange violet eyes widened. "Wait a minute…"

"Come now, Ms. Lane, is there any point in revealing everything to the Man of Tomorrow?" came a voice. It was deep and rich, but down below, Kaldur could hear a cold and evil creep.

Out of the shadows came several supervillains. One of them had what seemed to be purple skin. He wore metal bracers around his wrists, ankles, and abdomen. His eyes were black, but his pupils were white. Kaldur had seen him before, but could not remember his name.

The second wore black armor with red eye-lenses and spiked gauntlets. Kaldur recognized him as Black Spider, an assassin who was mainly an antagonist of Batman. He was well-trained, as Kaldur had been told by Aquaman once during his briefing of the enemies of the Justice League.

And the third and final was one Kaldur knew all too well. He was one of the Justice League's greatest antagonists. Lex Luthor was completely bald, with green eyes and high cheekbones bringing the look together, making him a handsome man. He wore a green-and-purple warsuit with a yellow symbol on the chest. The suit made him appear taller than he already was.

"Luthor," Superman said coldly. "I should have known you were behind this. But how did you escape prison? There was no breakout I heard of."

"I have a few associates left up my sleeve," Luthor explained. "And I plan to use them to full effect. Do not question me about who they might be, because I shall not reveal them to you." He looked to Kaldur. "This must be Aquaman's sidekick. I must say, he is fit to be a hero, but it seems his vulnerability to extreme heat is being exacerbated. Should we help him?"

"Let's just kill them," said Parasite. "I'll suck all the life out of the whelpling!"

"No!" Luthor snapped. "Killing is not a part of our mission, you know that! We have to take him in, alive! That is what our associate told us, and I am going to honor that vow."

"Who is this associate, Lex?" Superman asked. "I want you to tell me now."

Luthor seemed to give in for a moment. "Alright. I will. But not right at this moment. First…let's see how you deal with your blood on the ground. Or maybe the blood of someone you love?"

He aimed an armored hand at Lois, but Superman got in the way. A blast erupted from a pulser in the palm, and Superman yelled out in pain as he was thrown through a wall. Lois had moved out of the way just in time. When Kaldur looked back at his hero, he saw Superman was groaning in pain, writhing on the ground as green light moved over his body.

"Krrryptonite," Luthor taunted, moving closer ever so slightly. But Kaldur jumped in front of him, not wanting his hero to be wounded anymore than he possibly already was. "Ah, Aqualad. Wanting to save the Man of Steel from what he deserves? Well, then, that's just nice. But the only problem is, we all know your weakness."

He aimed another hand at Kaldur, who jumped back as fire shot from the fingertips. The smoke caused him to cough, and his eyes watered as it forced itself through into his vision. He couldn't see through the haze. He heard a laugh, and he felt pain as he was punched in the chest.

He flew through a wall, and when he finally hit the ground again, he felt blood dripping down his face. He got back to his feet, and took his water-bearers out from the pack on his back. He looked through the smoke, his eyes having adapted to it. He saw Black Spider coming toward him. The assassin aimed a gun at him. Kaldur thought it was almost funny that such an accomplished assassin believed he could taken down by a simple gun.

Unless…

The bullet Black Spider shot out of the barrel of the gun whizzed past Kaldur's head. The bullet hit a wall behind him, and it exploded. He realized the bullets were explosive, which made them very dangerous to those of his kind. He used his Water Bearers to attack the assassin with a blast of water, which knocked Black Spider on his back.

But the assassin, having obviously been trained well, jumped right back up. He began to laugh.

"It's funny," he said, "that you believe you can defeat us. You are no more than a boy." He spat the last word out, in great disgust. "I hate the Justice League, especially when it comes to Aquaman. He beat me pretty badly once, and for that, I think I should make his little whelp pay."

He aimed the gun again, and Kaldur dodged once more, only to be blown forward by an explosion. Black Spider took hold of him and punched him a few times. But Kaldur succeeded in recovering his stance, and he kneed the assassin in the gut. Due to his extra strength, the armor cracked, but he felt his knee nearly crack in the process. That led Kaldur to believe the armor had been made in such a way that it even made it hard for some heroes to break it or to remove it.

Fire was only a weakness to Atlanteans in the way that it dehydrated them, and that caused it to be able to break the skin of the Atlanteans if it was hot enough, or if it encased something such as a bullet. Kaldur knew how careful he needed to be at the moment, as Black Spider possessed a gun such as that. One that could cause an explosion somehow. He still didn't understand how that was possible, but it was now, and that made this fight so much more dangerous.

He was already severely dehydrated. He didn't know how much longer this could go on. He decided the only way this could end was for the fight to be taken outside, where there was a pond or lake or ocean, possibly. He just needed some body of water, or he would obviously die. He needed to hurry this fight up before that happened. He just hoped that his king was not wounded in any way. If Aquaman was injured, then he didn't know what he would do. He remembered he had taken Robin with him, and if that was true, and if Robin had been truly trained so well by Batman, then maybe his king would have a chance against whatever villainy he was forced to go up against.

Meanwhile, Superman lay on the ground, having finished writhing from the Kyrptonite blast from Lex's gauntlets. The supervillain came toward him. He was smiling brightly at the fact his greatest enemy now lay at his feet. But Superman was going to take him down. He knew it.

He got back to his feet and aimed a punch at Lex. The punch succeeded, sending Lex back a few feet. But Lex lunged at him and punched him across the face. Superman had just noticed that the gauntlet was growing green, and he felt blood fly from his mouth as the punch met its mark. The next one hit him in the gut, and he gasped for breath.

He aimed another punch, but it was stopped by Lex.

"You have no reason to be here, Superman," Lex said. "You should had perished when Krypton exploded. But now we have a chance to kill you. I've wanted this moment to come since I first learned of your existence. You are no more than a terrorist masquerading as a superhero. You will one day turn on us, and I will be seen as correct. Thank God." He laughed and threw Superman behind him.

As Superman attempted to get back to his feet, he was grabbed from behind, and he felt his lifeforce be sucked from him as Parasite laughed. "How do you feel now, freak?" cackled the villain.

"Hold him still," Lex said. He aimed his gauntlet. Superman punched Parasite, and he succeeded for a moment to throw to the lifesucker off him. But then a Kryptonite blast hit him the chest, and he screamed as the power intensified. He heard Parasite scream as well.

Though Parasite could take his abilities and make him weaker, the Kryptonite also hurt him.

A gunshot echoed through the air, and Lex growled. The flow of Kryptonite energy ended, and Superman was able to catch his breath. He looked behind Lex, and he found Lois there. He roared at her, "RUN, LOIS! GET OUT OF HERE! I'LL HANDLE THIS!"

She looked at him with deep concern, then looked to Lex, who was coming toward her. He was preparing to hurt her, she realized. She turned around and began running, but Lex ran after her. Superman used the very last reserves of his strength, most of it having been taken away by Parasite, to fly after him, Parasite hot on his heels.

He took Lex down, but Lex succeeded in using his Kryptonite gauntlet to blast him again. Superman looked to Lois.

"Lois…" he gasped, in too much pain, "…go! Now!"

At the same time, Kaldur, who was even more severely dehydrated, had gained the upper hand, and he punched Black Spider as hard as he could, using his Water Bearers on the assassin as he was knocked into a wall, forcing him to crash through the wall and be knocked out as his face hit a pipe, cracking one of his lenses.

Kaldur limped into the next room, and he found Superman beaten, being blasted by Lex. He screamed, and looked to Kaldur.

"RUN!" he yelled. "GO FOR BACKUP!" He took something out of his utility belt, and though Lex attempted to catch Kaldur got to it before he could, and Superman said, "Coordinates…use them! Take Lois…Go! NOW! AAAAHHHH!"

Kaldur looked to Lois, who was crying.

Then he ran toward her, as well as he could. He used his Water Bearers to break through a wall.

He turned around, and found Parasite coming toward him. Kaldur took hold of Lois, and looking down, noticed there was conveniently a pond below them. He jumped, taking Lois with him, and they heard Parasite scream in anger, followed by Lex not long after.

Kaldur felt pain creeping up on him, and he blacked out before they hit the water.

Farther up, Lex and Parasite turned away from the hole in the wall.

"It's of little consequence, Parasite," Lex said. He saw Black Spider had come to. "We have Superman, and Scarecrow will be happy, I'm sure."

Black Spider held a communicator in his palm now. He clicked a few keys, and Scarecrow's voice was heard through the burning factory. "Do you have him?" he asked.

"Yes," said Lex. "The Atlantean King's whelp and Lois Lane succeeded in escaping, but it's of little consequence, I'm sure."

"Yes, it is," said Scarecrow. "Joker has Batman cornered, from what I've heard, and Metallo, Ares, Harley, and Poison Ivy are near Themyscira. As long as Batgirl is brought to me by them I will be fine. You have done well, thus far. Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, and Green Lantern have been taken out by Merlyn, Ma'alefa'ak, and Star Sapphire. The only sidekick able to escape was the one with Green Lantern, him being the only one who seems to have brought a sidekick with him. And according to Merlyn, my fear toxin took care of Green Arrow in a matter of seconds. He seemed to remember something where the Atlantean King's whelp was injured, however. I don't understand it, but it happened. And now we only have Wonder Woman and Batman left. And then there's Batgirl. I can already feel her heart in my palm."


	12. Themyscira

**CHAPTER TWELVE: THEMYSCIRA**

Barbara was in the Invisible Jet with Kara and Wonder Woman. The Invisible Jet belonged to Wonder Woman, and she had decided to use it instead of one of those that belonged to the Justice League in the docking station on the Watchtower. It made Batgirl scared to think they would be facing off against some kind of threat while they were there in Themyscira. She had never been there before, but she'd heard it was beautiful. If it was so beautiful, then it hurt her to think that it would be ravaged by some sort of battle. She almost cringed as a result of that thought. Of fire blazing everywhere, of the azure water turning a dark crimson…

"Hey, Batgirl," said Kara, "you okay?" She was looking at her friend with a worried expression. "If the thought of battle is worrying you, then I'll just let you know, I'll protect you as well as I can. I know that it seems like nothing good could possibly come of what we're about to face, but I'm sure we'll be fine in the end. We're sisters, and we're together. As long as that's true, then nothing can separate us. Just remember that, Barb."

Barbara nodded. She thought over what was going to be happening, hoping she wouldn't be wounded. She knew she wouldn't be killed, however. She knew it would be all right in the end.

"So, what will we do when we arrive there in Themyscira?" Barbara asked.

"We'll have to meet with the Queen," said Wonder Woman. "Who is also my mother. Refer to her as Queen Hippolyta, and bow to her when you arrive in front of her throne."

Barbara nodded. She thought of her father back in Gotham, the police commissioner. She was glad he didn't know what she was doing at the moment, as he would likely be angry if he knew she was fighting with other superheroes instead of looking for a "good, nice, well-paying job." But a job like this would not be what he had in mind, likely. It was not something she ever wanted him to know. She understood the reason behind why he would hate for her to be who she was now, as the city's crime was a whole other level, one where it was easy for someone to be killed. Her mother had been murdered, and she had been no more than an infant. It was still unknown—at least, to her—who the killer was, but Batman had promised her he would look into it, so long as she would not go for revenge against that person, to which she had agreed. She would never do such a thing. She would never kill, either, as she both didn't want to, and it was against the rules if you were a member of the Bat-Family.

"And there it is," said Wonder Woman, pointing out of the window. "I'd better send a message to the Amazons so they don't shoot us down. They probably already know it's me, but I need to make sure just in case." She pressed a button on her dashboard and spoke into it, but Barbara and Kara didn't pay any attention to her words. They began speaking to each other, and they both knew they were scared of what could possibly happen while they were there.

"What will you do when you get back home?" Kara asked.

"I don't know exactly," Barbara replied. "I just want all this to finally end, to not have to deal with all these horrible threats. But it seems there's no chance of that happening anytime soon. We just have to deal with it. That's what happens when you're a superhero."

"That is true," Kara said. "Well, just so you know, you're welcome at the Kents' anytime. We're always expecting friends of Superman's, and so they also wouldn't be surprised if some of my friends come over. If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm there. Just call me, or come and see me. I'm sure that you'd be allowed at least once."

Barbara smiled. "That's true. I'll take you up on that offer soon, I'm sure. When this is over, I'll happily join you there just to take a break from all that's happening."

They heard Wonder Woman speaking into the communicator on the dashboard. "Yes, Mother, we're coming soon. Is there any news of a threat on your end? Have any of the Watchers seen anything?"

"No," came a female voice, which was calm and powerful, while perfectly feminine. There was a wise tone that neither Kara nor Barbara could possibly explain. "What kind of a threat are you speaking of, Daughter? What have you heard of that we have not?"

"The Justice League received a threat from an unknown force, and the voice said it had sent its…followers to specific locations, including Themyscira. I'm coming to make sure no one attempts to wound you. You must be protected Mother, if you understand me," Wonder Woman explained.

"I understand, Diana. Who do you have with you?" her mother, whom they now knew to be Hippolyta, replied.

"Two girls. Batman and Superman's allies. Their names are Batgirl and Supergirl."

"Come soon," Hippolyta said, and then her voice was gone. When this was done, Wonder Woman placed the jet on autopilot, got up from her chair, and walked to where Barbara and Kara sat.

"It was actually Batman who gave me this jet," she said to Barbara. "After my last one was unfortunately destroyed, he decided this would work as its replacement. He was kind enough to make sure it was top-of-the-line, and it has almost the same invisibility mode that my last one did." Her face changed expressions. "I hope he hasn't run into trouble." She walked back to her seat, pulled out a communicator, turned on it on, and pressed a few numbers. She sat between Barbara and Kara, and on the screen Batman appeared suddenly. He saw all three of their faces.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Have you run into any trouble yet?" asked Wonder Woman.

"No, but the others have," said Batman. "I received a message from Green Arrow, who said that Aqualad was injured. The only problem with that statement is that Green Arrow didn't bring anyone with him. He was alone, and Aqualad was with Superman. I contacted Black Canary and Nightwing, and they seemed to be doing well, but I don't know what's happened since. Meanwhile, Robin seems to have appeared in Gotham Bay, far from Atlantis." He seemed to think over all that happened then.

"What do you mean?" asked Barbara. "Why would he have left Atlantis? Do you think he might be in trouble, possibly? Or was in trouble?" She was very scared for Robin, whom she believed to be her brother.

"I don't know," Batman replied. "There's a lot going on. I'll try to contact others. But at the moment, stay sharp. We don't know what will possibly happen. Keep your eyes out for any signs of trouble. Do you understand?"

Barbara nodded.

"Hey Batgirl!" came Catwoman's voice. She appeared in the transmission frame. "Good to see you again. You too, Supergirl."

Batgirl waved back, and so did Supergirl. In her mind, as all the seriousness had just set in, Barbara thought of herself and Kara as Batgirl and Supergirl only, respectively. That was how they would have to speak to one another from now on, she knew, or their identities would be compromised.

"We'll see you soon," said Wonder Woman to Batman.

He nodded, and then hung up. Batgirl was surprised Batman had done such a thing, as he usually hung up without saying a word. That had been her experience, at least. Maybe he and Wonder Woman had a thing, or something of that sort. The thought made her smile.

"We're almost there," Wonder Woman said, and she pointed out the window. "And there we go. What do you two think?"

Batgirl and Supergirl looked out the window, and were taken off-guard by the great beauty of the large island. It was a place Batgirl never thought she'd see. It had been described to her by Batman at least once before, but not even his well-thought description could have been as beautiful as what she saw now through her own eyes.

The clearest of clear blue ocean waters surrounded the island, of which a little less than half was all forest. The rest was sandy beach and a stone-and-marble city. Wonder Woman walked back to the front of the jet and prepared it to land. Then she walked back in front of the two girls and told them what they would be needing to do when they met the Queen, her mother.

When it was done, Batgirl took a few minutes to think about it. She was still fearful of what she was going to have to be going through. She didn't even know the enemies they would be facing, and that was what she was most fearful about. She knew that everything would likely be alright in the end, but it was still a long road to the end. She had been a member of the Bat-Family long enough to know that for a fact.

She continued thinking about this, almost forgetting about where she was, but when she heard Wonder Woman's voice and felt Supergirl's hand on her shoulder, she was brought back to real world. She got to her feet and followed them out. She was still so enchanted by the beauty of Themyscira that she nearly bumped into a white stone statue.

A tall, beautiful, red-haired woman came walking up to them as they came near what looked to be a palace, which was obviously where the Queen resided.

"Hello, Diana," said the beautiful woman. "Come to see your mother?" Without waiting for a reply, she turned her head to see Batgirl and Supergirl. "I see you brought two children. How nice."

"We're not children!" protested Batgirl.

"It's fine, Batgirl," Wonder Woman told her. "Yes, Artemis, I am here to see my mother. It's urgent."

"How urgent?" Artemis asked again.

"I am the Queen's daughter," Wonder Woman snapped. "Get out of my way, or I will tell my mother about you. You don't want that, I am sure. So now, get out of our way." And Artemis did so, obviously a little fearful of what the Queen's daughter might do to her, or might tell her mother. "Thank you," Wonder Woman told her. As they walked away, she told Batgirl and Supergirl, "You have to forgive Artemis. She's a little headstrong. We all are, honestly, though I've grown since then and am not quite as much now."

"It's fine," Batgirl assured her. "I just got a little angry when she called me a child. I don't mind my father calling me a child, but when it comes to others, it's hard. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yes, of course," Wonder Woman said. "Well, we'll get to that later. For now, you must be silent, for we have arrived. Do exactly as I told you, and all will go even better. Do you understand?"

Batgirl and Supergirl nodded.

They entered the palace and walked through the main hall. Two women guards allowed them entrance into what Batgirl believed to be the throne room. As soon as they entered, they noticed the woman sitting upon a throne. She very much resembled Wonder Woman, with her black hair and striking features being two of the main factors that allowed Batgirl and Supergirl to know she was related. It was quite obvious this was the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta.

"Welcome, Daughter," the Queen greeted. "It is good to see you again. Who are these that you have brought before me? Both of them look familiar."

"The reason for that is that you have met their mentors," Wonder Woman explained. "This is Batgirl. Her mentor is Batman. And this is Supergirl. Her mentor and cousin is Superman. You met them a while back. Batgirl, Supergirl, this is my mother, the Queen."

The two girls bowed to the Queen as told by Wonder Woman earlier, and then rose slowly as the Queen said, "Now rise, young ones. Thank you for your respect." They did so, and the Queen turned back to her daughter. "Now, tell me what was so urgent that you had to return so quickly."

"There is a threat coming this way," Wonder Woman explained. "We do not know from where they are coming, but it is true. Some of our own have already been taken down by their enemies, and we were already on our way when we heard that. We must protect you."

Hippolyta nodded. "That is good of you," she said. "It is good to take your warning into account. We must prepare for battle if the need be. We must fight back if we are attacked, or else Themyscira will be overtaken. Do you know who exactly is leading this attack, however?"

Wonder Woman shook her head. "No, but it would not surprise me if Ares was behind it," she said. "However, I do not know how any of the other villains might have found him."

"Ares?" Batgirl asked. "The Greek God of War?"

"In your world, that is what he is called, yes," Wonder Woman explained to her. "Has Batman not taught you of him before?"

"I believe he has," Batgirl said. "Yes, now I remember. But my disbelief might have found its way into my belief in the matter."

"That is understandable," Hippolyta said. "For newcomers, it might be hard for them to understand our customs, our ways of living, our culture, and all that surrounds us. You are no exception, as you are mortals. I mean no offense by that. But the Amazons, as well as those such as Ares are immortal."

Batgirl nodded. She heard commotion from outside, and she turned around to find one of the Amazons entering. At first, all seemed well, until she noticed the wound in her side.

"My Queen!" they gasped. "It is…Ares! He…has…come!"

"Ares is already here?" Wonder Woman asked the wounded Amazon. "Who does he have with him?"

But the warrior fell into unconsciousness before she could answer Wonder Woman's question. Soon after, a group of Amazons entered, and Wonder Woman ordered, "Take her to the infirmary! After that, get your armor on. From this moment on, this is war!" She turned to her mother. "You must find a place to hide, Mother! We cannot have you injured! You may even be killed! Please hurry!"

Hippolyta nodded, and Batgirl and Supergirl began asking Wonder Woman what exactly they should do.

"We must find you some armor," she said. "You will fight alongside us. I do understand you do not wish to kill, and you will not have to. Likely, these enemies will be too hard to kill. But you must at least wound them. Do you both understand me?" They nodded. "Good."

Hippolyta came up to her daughter and said, "Be careful, Diana. I cannot afford to lose you."

"Do not worry yourself, Mother," Wonder Woman told the Queen. "This should not take long."

Hippolyta looked uncertain, but turned back around anyway, and ran for her hiding place. Batgirl and Supergirl followed her, hoping they could see all that was going on outside. They wanted to make sure everything would be fine in the end, that this threat could be taken out easily. Though Ares sounded like a major villain, as he was one that struck fear into the heart of even someone like Wonder Woman, as strong and powerful as she was.

They entered what looked to be the armory, and there were weapons hanging on the walls, as well as armor. "You have to take something from here," Wonder Woman told them. "I know, you're still fearful about possibly killing someone, and while I understand that, I also understand that this is war. Likely these enemies cannot be truly killed, even with weapons such as these. The most you will be doing to them is wounding them, and that is about it. Do not feel as if this is too much for you, because this could all be so much worse."

Batgirl and Supergirl looked over to each other, and they nodded, knowing this was exactly what was going to have to happen. There was no way to get beside this. It was just as Wonder Woman had said: This was _war._

Quickly dressing herself with armor over her costume, Batgirl found a sword to use as her weapon. She would not be using this to kill anyone, she reminded herself. She had to fight, she knew. There was no getting of this. This was war, and while anything could happen, she was going to make sure Themyscira did not fall into the wrong hands. She kept telling herself that, believing she was telling herself the truth.

"Are you ready for this?" Supergirl asked her nervously, her baby-blue eyes, the same color as Batgirl's, filled with deep fear.

Batgirl swallowed nervously, and then looked to her greatest friend in all the world. "I think so," she said. "This is so much. I don't know what my father would say if he knew I was out here, about to participate in a war. This is madness!"

"We'll win this, though," Supergirl told her. "I know it. We won't fail this battle. This is where we defeat this threat, and then we can return to the Watchtower and begin our training again." She sighed. "We didn't even get to go much into our training before this happened. That's the most maddening part of it all. I don't know why the heck this had to happen, but obviously, there's no going back now, is there?"

Batgirl shook her head. "I guess not, unfortunately. But maybe we'll be able to win this fairly easily. Maybe this fight won't be quite as bad as we think. We might be able to win real quick."

Supergirl nodded. "Well, at least we have each other," she said. "You're the greatest friend I've ever had, and I'm glad to have been able to meet you. Thank you for all you've done for me."

"What do you mean?" Batgirl asked. "I haven't done much for you at all. Compared to your cousin, at least."

"Well, you did save me that one time," Supergirl explained. "I couldn't believing how painful that was, even if it was Metallo who was beating me. But you were amazing. You saved me from a fate I couldn't imagine."

"Your cousin could have saved you, though."

"Yes, he could have. But the truth of the matter is that he didn't save me. You did. So I have you to thank for it."

Batgirl smiled at her, and they hugged each other. Then the sound of Wonder Woman returning reached their ears, and they broke the embrace. The Amazon princess was in her armor, which covered more of her body than her costume did.

"Good, you're both ready," she said. "Well, then, let's go out and see the threat we're having to face off against. Hopefully this all ends well. I'm sure it will, but we need to be sure."

Batgirl and Supergirl nodded, and then followed Wonder Woman out of the armory through a different route than the one they'd used to enter. They entered into a garden, and on the other side of the garden was a stairway, which they made their way to and began climbing. The stairs were steep, and the weight of the armor made it harder for Batgirl to climb up the steps. But once they'd made their way all the way up, the sight before them scared them.

An army of soldiers, all of whom looked otherworldly, stood behind a group of four people. Batgirl recognized three of them. Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy were two of her enemies, and she fought them more than the other adversaries of the Bat-Family. The third she recognized was a villain of Superman and Supergirl, the one who had injured Supergirl: Metallo. He was more machine than human, and he possessed a heart of Kryptonite.

But the fourth she did not recognize, though she had some idea of who he was: Ares, the Greek God of War according to mythology. The fact he was real still surprised Batgirl despite the fact she lived in such a world that held so many secrets she could not hope to understand.

Ares was clad in black-and-blue battle armor, with an attic helmet. Red eyes peered out of the helmet.

"Get down here, Wonder Woman!" Ares roared. "We have much unfinished business to take care of, do you not agree? Get down here, so that I may kill you, and later, your mother!"

"No, Ares," Wonder Woman retorted. Batgirl suddenly noticed Amazon soldiers all around them. "You will not succeed in your vendetta against my mother, not now and not ever! Do you understand me? You will not take Themyscira! I will send you back to the Underworld with Hades!"

Ares growled. "SOLDIERS, ATTACK!" he ordered.

"AMAZONS, ATTACK!" Wonder Woman ordered.

The two armies clashed head-on, and many of the Amazons and the soldiers fell as a result of their combined force as they hit one another.

"Let's go!" Supergirl said.

"Wait!" Batgirl said. "Look! Metallo's here! You need to be careful!"

"I know, but I'll deal with it!" Supergirl replied. "Thanks for keeping an eye out for me!"

She took flight and flew right into the battle, taking out many of the soldiers with one punch. She used her heat-vision as well, though it was in the less lethal form. She only meant to knock the enemies out, not to kill them. That was exactly how Batgirl was thinking.

Batgirl waited up on the ramparts until one of the soldiers jumped up and attempted to stab her. She kicked him back and knocked him out with the hilt of her sword. She was surprised just how ready she was ready for the battle. She wasn't very happy about it, and she knew her father wouldn't be very happy about it, either. She heard someone else jump onto the ramparts, and when she turned around, she found it was just a few of the Amazons, wanting to help her.

Looking around, she found Wonder Woman had flown off to take on Ares. Almost automatically she could see that Ares was a match for Wonder Woman. The Greek God was more powerful strength-wise, and his sword came close to Wonder Woman's body several times. But it was obvious Wonder Woman had more courage, and she was more agile.

Batgirl heard a familiar cackle, and she turned around to find Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy there. Harley had acquired a blade, likely to stab her with. Poison Ivy was taking advantage of the foliage around the island. It was obvious they were wanting to kill her.

"Oh God," Batgirl said. She dodged a swipe of the blade from Harley, kicking back at her. She felt her foot connect with Harley, somewhere. But she didn't take the time to look back where. She then felt something wrap around her leg, and she gasped in surprise.

She found herself seconds later hanging upside down, looking into the sickly green-colored face and evergreen eyes of Poison Ivy. "Awww, what's the matter, little brat?" she teased. "All tangled up? Well, there is something we can do to alleviate that discomfort!"

"KILL HER!" roared Harley, her eyes wide with insanity, possibly rivaling even that of the Joker's.

"No, he still needs her!" Poison Ivy snapped. "But that doesn't mean we can't torture her!"

During their argument, Batgirl was able to cut herself down. As soon as Poison Ivy realized this, she cursed Harley beneath her breath, and she attempted to use the vines to knock Batgirl out, only for Batgirl to dodge and kick her in the chin, knocking Poison Ivy off the platform. Batgirl used the blade in her possession to cut the vines around her, leading to the sound of Posion Ivy screaming below her, a sound that gave Batgirl a feeling of satisfaction. But that satisfaction ended when she felt a burning pain in her arm. She clutched her shoulder and felt hot blood streaming down her arm. She looked to Harley, whose blade was now stained with blood. Her blood.

Meanwhile, Supergirl fought the soldiers to the best of her ability. Many of them were quite strong, rivaling even her strength. But she pressed on, knowing this had to end. She was going to help end it.

As she took one of the soldiers down with a hard punch to the face, which knocked them out instantly, she felt searing pain in her back, and she was knocked into the sand of the beach.

"Hello, Daughter of Krypton," came Metallo's voice from behind. His metallic tone brought dread to Supergirl's heart. She felt truly weak all of a sudden, all because of Metallo's Kryptonite heart. "The pain is setting in, isn't it? It won't last much longer, if you only stay still…"

Supergirl felt him grasp her neck from behind, and she was forced to look into his horrible machine face seconds later as he turned her around. Metallo punched her in the gut, and she coughed as a result of it. She saw red fly from her mouth, and she realized she was bleeding from the mouth because he had punched her so hard. She'd gone through this before, and she hated it. It was so horribly painful, and she hoped for it to end soon.

"I know how this hurts," Metallo said, almost as if he was reading her mind, though she knew the pain was showing on her face. "I want this to be your end, but I'm not sure if I should kill you or not…"

"Don't kill her!" came the voice of Ares, a deep and powerful voice. Supergirl slowly turned her head, and found that he and Wonder Woman were still deep in battle, though Wonder Woman was bleeding from few cuts on her arms and legs. "There might still be a need for her!"

"Does that mean I can't beat her senseless still?" Metallo asked.

"Beat her unconscious…that…is…ALL!" With that last word, he punched Wonder Woman in the face, which knocked her into the bottom of the ramparts. She groaned in pain, and Ares ran over to her and kicked her in the gut, causing the Amazon Princess to cough up blood. Supergirl couldn't believe her eyes, but she used this moment to punch Metallo as hard as she could, and with the blade she'd taken from the armory, she stabbed his Kryptonite heart. It wouldn't kill him, but it would wound him, as Metallo's entire body would have to be destroyed in order for him to be killed for good. Metallo roared at her, and he sent a blast of Kryptonite at her. She went flying into the ramparts as well, but she found herself able to fly back up to the top of the ramparts.

She found Batgirl laying there on the ramparts. She'd been punched in the head by one of the soldiers and had fallen into unconsciousness. Harley Quinn stood over her, blade pointing at her chest.

"NO!" Supergirl roared. She punched Harley hard, but soft enough to not truly harm her.

Pain erupted all over Supergirl's body. She looked around for Metallo, but realized it was just the pain he'd already inflicted upon her. She got through the pain, and picked Batgirl up in her arms.

_What do I do? _she wondered.

Wonder Woman was unconscious, she and Batgirl were both in pain, and there was no way for them to escape.

_The jet… _she suddenly realized. The jet! The jet that had brought them to Themyscira. They would have to get out of there soon, though. They would have to bring the Queen with them, as well, possibly.

Supergirl took flight, hoping to get to the palace, only to find it already overrun. She couldn't believe her eyes. But when she used her X-ray vision, she saw that the Queen was not inside. She was not sure where the Queen might have gone, though what she did know was that she and Batgirl had to get out of there, as they risked their lives the longer they remained on Themyscira.

"Get her!" came the voice of Metallo.

Supergirl flew as fast as she could, despite the pain, and she found the jet quickly enough. She wasn't sure where to go, however.

They reached the jet, and she quickly turned it on. She'd been taught how to do so by Superman, and she thanked him for that. The hatches that led to the inside of the jet closed, and she quickly placed the jet on autopilot, even though she was unsure of where to go.

"Oh God, where do I go?" she said to herself. "Where in the name of God am I supposed to go?"

"The Cave," came Batgirl's voice.

Supergirl whirled around. "Where?"

"The Batcave," Batgirl said. "It's the safest place. No one will find us there. They're not going to follow us, I'm sure of it. But we have to go now." She whispered the coordinates under her breath, so as to not allow any other ears that were around them, which Supergirl picked up with her super-hearing.

Supergirl nodded, punched in the coordinates, and felt the jet rising off the ground. It was going to get them somewhere safe, she now knew.

"How do you feel?" Supergirl asked.

"Fine," Batgirl said. "Well, not truly. I feel pain. I just need to rest for a few minutes."

Supergirl knew Batgirl wasn't badly wounded, using her X-ray vision to be sure. She sighed in relief, though she felt horrible for leaving Wonder Woman behind. She didn't know what she would tell Wonder Girl when they next saw her. She didn't even know why everything was happening, why Ares and the others had even come to Themyscira or how they had arrived there…

_Just why, God? What is going on?_

Meanwhile, back on the island, the villains had recovered from the battle. They had won, as Wonder Woman was defeated, as they had wanted. Harley was seething with rage, no matter how much Poison Ivy attempted to calm her. She kept saying how much she had wished to kill Batgirl.

"It's better you didn't," Metallo told her. "Or Scarecrow would kill you, Quinn. Be happy you're still alive. Be happy we won't tell him of what you wished to happen, stupid girl." He took out the communicator and dialed the number they needed to contact Scarecrow. In a matter of seconds Scarecrow was speaking to them. "The mission was a success," Metallo told him.

"Is Wonder Woman defeated?" Scarecrow asked.

"Yes," Ares answered.

"And Batgirl?"

"She escaped," Poison Ivy said back, fearful of the rage that would likely stem from these words.

_"She…what?" _growled Scarecrow. _"I ordered you to take her and bring her to me, and you fail in such a simple task?! She is no more than a stupid girl! You should have been able to take her!"_

"Why didn't you just come out and do it yourself?!" Harley Quinn growled at him.

"What did you just say to me?" Scarecrow snapped. "When you return, I will show you what it means to be afraid, Quinnzel, do not forget it." Scarecrow sighed. "At least you have the princess. What about her mother?"

"She escaped, it seems," Ares reported. "But is that of consequence?"

"No, I was merely curious," Scarecrow replied. "Come soon. There is some good that comes out of this. Only Batman remains. Thus far, only Black Canary has escaped, and while that is of little consequence, Batgirl has also escaped, which will lead to some consequences, and if Batman escapes, there will be punishment involved. At least we have someone capable of taking him down."

"Who is that?" Metallo asked.

"Joker."


	13. Gotham

**This may not seem like the best Batman versus Joker chapter, but I promise you, there's a better one to come later!**

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><p><span><strong>CHAPTER THIRTEEN: GOTHAM<strong>

Catwoman was waiting for her cue from Batman. She had recently gotten a call from him that told her to meet him on top of the Gotham State Building, one of the tallest in the whole city. As soon as she'd heard this, she'd gotten out of bed as quickly as she could, having just finished taken a refreshing nap, and put on the Catwoman costume as fast as possible.

Now she was on top of the Gotham State Building, waiting for the Dark Knight himself to show up. She was unsure of how long that would take, knowing he could take a while, having been able to face such things before when she was still in the training stage. Hopefully it wouldn't be too much longer.

Five minutes later, he was still missing, and she was beginning to become impatient. Nothing she attempted to make herself more patient was helping. "Where in the name of God are you?" she finally asked out loud, though not so loud as she had meant.

"Hello, Catwoman," came his deep, gruff voice from behind her. She gasped and whirled around to find Batman there. She wondered how much he had heard. From the look on his face, all of it; however, that was also his usual face while he was out, working in the field. "Have you heard of what is happening from any of the Bat-Family yet?"

"No," she replied honestly. "Is it something wrong?"

He nodded. "The Justice League was recently threatened by an unknown force, and we sent out members of the League to investigate the locations that were given threats. So far, no one has returned. Something is wrong."

"So, let me guess, Gotham is one of the cities that was threatened, as well?" Catwoman asked, hoping she was wrong in some way. But his next answer did not help her.

"Yes," he said. "Unfortunately. I've been contacted by Green Arrow already, although what he said makes no sense. He said there was a sidekick near him, but I know he didn't bring one with him, and the one he mentioned was with Superman in Metropolis at the time." He threw her a communicator. "In case they contact us."

Catwoman caught it and looked at it. It was all silver, and there were two large letters on the front surrounded by a circle: JL. Justice League. These were the Justice League's main communicators. She felt honored to be holding one in her hand, even if she wasn't a member and wouldn't be for a long time. At least she would know friends who were, and at least she would be helping them out. To her, that was all that really mattered at the moment.

"So what do we do now?" she asked.

"Follow me," he said. She did so as he walked toward the edge of the roof, took out his grapple gun and shot it at another building. Using it, he flew off the edge of the building and glided to wherever he could land safely. Catwoman did the same.

She remembered how, back when she decided to become Catwoman, she had attempted something similar, only for the grapple gun to fail. It had been a homemade one, so she hadn't been too surprised—or, at least, she wasn't now. It had been Robin (Nightwing) who'd caught her, and she'd developed an interest him. But now, she didn't have an interest in him, only because she knew now that he and Batgirl had a love history with one another, and after joining up with them a few times, she knew it was better to leave them to themselves, and for her to find someone else. She had no hard feelings toward Batgirl, knowing it was just the way things worked out sometimes. She thought of Batgirl as her sister, and the same went for the rest of the Bat-Family.

She continued following Batman, and she noticed suddenly exactly where they were going: the Gotham City Police Station. He would likely speak with Jim Gordon.

It was strange to think of the Commissioner being such an ally of Batman without knowing that, in reality, his own daughter was Batgirl. When Selina had learned, she hadn't known what to think, other than the fact Barbara was crazy to do what she did. But then again, there were other crazy things that happened in the Bat-Family. After all, Spoiler's father was a criminal, and while he was more a third-rate criminal, he had proven to be a challenge to Spoiler and herself once before. Then again, that had been because he was taking a drug similar to Venom at the time. It was a crazy story, but it was one that she would have to think about later, as they had just arrived at the police station.

"Stay here," Batman commanded her gruffly.

"What do I do?" she asked.

"Just remain here for now," he replied. And then he was gone, leaving Catwoman to her thoughts.

So obviously he was wanting to speak to Commissioner Gordon alone, which she was fine with. She understood the two had a history, and while Batman was keeping the secret of his daughter being one of them, she was sure there was nothing else that could separate their type of friendship. That was her guess, at least.

She turned her attention to the communicator, and she opened it, revealing the keypad and the black, blank screen. She wanted to try it out, but she knew it was better that she didn't screw something up.

She looked around her, taking in the sights of Gotham City. She was amazed by it all. The sky was turning to dusk, and soon enough the night sky would be illuminated with red hues, a reason for which she did not know. All she knew was that it was a great sight. She hoped nothing ever ruined the city. If someone even tried, she would injure them. This was her home, her sanctuary. Without it, she didn't feel as if she would have anywhere else to go.

She sighed, and then suddenly heard something.

"Um, hello?" came the voice. She jumped when she heard it, and looked at the communicator. There were three men staring at her, and she found that one of them, dressed in a red costume with a red mask, and bow-and-arrows, was checking her out. She felt slightly flattered, though she also felt a pang of anger, though the latter was one she had no reason for, she realized. The second man was one she recognized as the Flash, one of her favorite heroes. The third was a man of Hispanic descent that she didn't know quite as well.

"Oh, sorry," she apologized. "I didn't know this thing was on. Batman told me to hold on to it while he searched for something. Don't ask me what, because not even I know. He doesn't tell me much when it comes to these things."

"That sounds like Batman, all right," muttered Flash. "Who are you, though? I remember Batman said he had someone in Gotham, but he never said anything about who that was."

Catwoman looked around for Batman, and saw that he was not back yet, so she continued speaking to Flash and the other two. "My name's Catwoman. I can't tell you my true name, of course. But we're here at the Gotham City Police Department. I've heard of all that's going on. To be honest, with what's happened only a little earlier, I'm not all that surprised. You see, a few days ago, I encountered one of our older villains, Otis Flannegan, also known as the Ratcatcher. He was dying, and I called Batman, Batgirl, Nightwing, and Robin down. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, he died. And he'd just been about to tell us who had hurt him. But he died before doing so. There's something else that happened, but I'd rather not talk about it."

She heard footsteps behind her, and she turned around to find Batman and Commissioner Gordon standing there. She wasn't surprised to see them, knowing it was only a matter of time. Catwoman got up and handed the communicator to Batman.

"What's going on?" Batman asked Flash.

"We've run into problems," Flash replied. "We tried contacting Black Canary and Green Arrow, and we're both certain there's something bad happening. Black Canary was hurt when we contacted her, and when we contacted Green Arrow, he and Aqualad were attacked only a little while later. I think the villains who gave us that message planned for all this to happen. It seems we keep running into these traps without even trying to a lot of the time! We need some advice from you, Batman. What do you say?" Catwoman could tell Flash was real eager to hear what the Dark Knight had to say.

But at first, Batman did not say anything. And then he said, "You need to be on your feet. Make sure you keep an eye on Red Arrow and all those near you."

"Have you had any luck with...whatever you're doing?"

"Yes. I must return to it now," Batman said. "I've left coordinates in your communicator to find a safehouse in the case of you being overtaken in an attack. Go there if something happens."

"Will do," said Red Arrow. "Hopefully it's big enough for us."

Batman handed the communicator over to Catwoman, and she thought for a moment what she was supposed to say to them now. She finally decided on: "Well, I've gotta go! See you guys later!"

Then she hung up on them.

She turned back around to Batman and Commissioner Gordon. "What do you know, Jim?" Batman asked.

"I know that at approximately 6:48 p.m., November 20, there was a mass breakout at Arkham, and according to some other police commissioners in cities such as Central City and Metropolis, there were similar breakouts at their prisons. I know you tried to stop the breakout, but how well did you succeed?"

"Many of them were able to escape," Batman replied. "There's someone who has threatened the Justice League. The rest of the Family are in nearby cities, with the exception of Spoiler. Nightwing is in Blüdhaven, Robin is in Atlantis, and Batgirl is in Themyscira, the home of the Amazons. They're each investigating those locations to make sure the threat is neutralized there, if it ever comes about."

"I see," Gordon said. "And Catwoman is with you, of course."

"Yes."

"And Spoiler? Where is she?"

"In Europe," Batman said.

"Ah, likely on another mission, I guess. Makes sense. Anyway, do you know where this threat originated from yet?"

"No," Batman said. "But we're working on it."

"Good. I might have something for you. You called me about the body of Otis Flannegan, the Ratcatcher, and you wanted me to send it to the morgue, which I did."

"And?"

"Well, you were right, they were nanites laced with explosives," Gordon told him. "And there was something else that is very peculiar." Batman didn't say anything, so Gordon continued. "We found faint traces of a toxin in his blood."

"What kind of toxin?" Catwoman asked.

"Fear toxin," Gordon answered.

"You mean—"

"Yes, the kind Scarecrow once used, before what happened to him down in the pits of Arkham, as I like to call them," Gordon said. "But how is this possible? Scarecrow should have died after Killer Croc took him under like that."

"Joker," Batman said. "He must have taken the last of the toxin and made something new. It would make the most sense."

Gordon nodded. "Well, that's as much as I can give you right now. Although, I must know: Will there be a battle in the city soon? If so, I'll need to tell Barbara to get out of here. I don't want my daughter getting hurt. I already lost my wife, I can't afford to lose to daughter."

"I understand, Jim," Batman said.

Batman turned and began to leave. Catwoman took her cue to follow him, leaving Gordon behind. "Be safe, Jim," Batman said as he grappled to another building.

"You too," Gordon said as they left the rooftop of the GCPD headquarters.

When they had made it to the other building, far out of earshot from Gordon, Catwoman turned to Batman. "I feel bad for him, with him not knowing his daughter is—"

"I know," Batman said.

She sighed.

"Hand me the communicator," Batman told her.

Catwoman did as he said, and he opened it. He punched a few of the keys in, and waited for the transmission to begin, while Catwoman stood behind him.

She looked over and saw Superman appear on the screen along with someone who looked to be her age, with dark skin, blond hair, and pale green eyes.

"What is it?" came Superman's voice.

"Have you heard anything from any of the others?" Batman asked him gruffly.

"No," Superman answered. "Why?"

"I just received a message from Green Arrow. He seems to have sent it first to Flash in Central City. But there's something wrong about it. He didn't bring Aqualad with him."

"What's so strange about that?" Superman asked.

"He said that Aqualad was injured," Batman said. "And yet Aqualad is with you. Something is wrong. Do you know anything about this, Aqualad?"

"No, I don't," said Aqualad. "Could he be hallucinating?"

"It's possible," Batman said. "Who did Green Arrow take with him?"

"No one," Superman answered. "There weren't enough recruits or anyone of that sort left. Unless he took another hero, which I don't think he did. Something's not right..."

"Be careful," Batman warned him. "I'm going to go through the coding of the other communicators to see if there are anymore such transmissions."

And then he hung up on Superman.

"So what does this mean?" Catwoman asked. "Because Scarecrow is dead, isn't he? I mean, Killer Croc pulled him under despite Batgirl's best efforts, and we never found a trace of him. According to Batgirl, all she could see of him was a pool of swirling blood in the water. She thinks he was ripped apart by Croc, which would make the best sense."

"It does," Batman said. "Someone must be using Scarecrow's fear toxin. The Joker seems the best candidate."

Catwoman thought about it for a moment, and she realized he was right. Only Joker would use Scarecrow's fear toxin so well. That was what she thought, at least.

Batman punched in a few keys once more. He saw something, and he couldn't believe it:

Robin had a tracker on his costume, one that would allow Batman and the other members of the Bat-Family to know where he was if they had the right technology. Robin and the rest of the Family had agreed to let Batman put them in so long as he didn't eavesdrop on them during personal moments. He was wanting to know where Robin was, and the truth about his inquiry surprised him: he was in Gotham Bay.

Why was he was far from Atlantis, where he had gone with Aquaman? Something was wrong...

He punched another few keys, and soon enough, he saw Black Canary with Nightwing behind her.

"Have you found anything?" he asked her.

"No," Black Canary replied. "Not yet, at least. We've just been talking to pass the time. What about you? You and whoever is with you find anything of importance?"

"No, net yet," Catwoman said. She walked up behind Batman and smiled a little when she saw Nightwing, though her smile was a little more grim than it was happy, with all that was going on. "We've been looking around for a while, but so far, nothing. You guys hear from Batgirl or Robin?"

"No, neither," Nightwing said. "Wouldn't they have called back by now?"

"According to his ship's beacon," said Batman, "he's far from Atlantis. He's not far from Gotham Bay."

"Wait, what?" said Nightwing. "Why would he be going to Gotham Bay? Did something happen?"

"You can attempt to contact him," Batman said. "In the meantime, we'll contact Batgirl." He added under his breath, "Something's not right."

Then he hung up.

"So are you going to call Batgirl to see what's happening there?" Catwoman asked him.

"Yes," Batman said.

"Why didn't you tell Black Canary about Green Arrow? They're in a relationship, aren't they? Shouldn't she have the right to know what's happening to them?"

Batman ignored her and continued doing what he was doing on the communicator.

He punched a few keys on the communicator, and then waited for the transmission to begin after finishing. He waited for Wonder Woman to allow his transmission signal to come through.

Soon enough, she appeared on the screen, along with Batgirl and Supergirl. He saw something was bothering Wonder Woman.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Have you run into any trouble yet?" she asked.

"No, but the others have," said Batman. "I received a message from Green Arrow, who said that Aqualad was injured. The only problem with that statement is that Green Arrow didn't bring anyone with him. He was alone, and Aqualad was with Superman. I contacted Black Canary and Nightwing, and they seem to be doing well, but I don't know what's happened since. Meanwhile, Robin seems to have appeared in Gotham Bay, far from Atlantis." He began to think over everything that was happening.

"What do you mean?" asked Batgirl. "Why would he have left Atlantis? Do you think he might be in trouble, possibly? Or was in trouble?" Batman could tell she obviously concerned for Robin, the worry showing in her beautiful baby-blue eyes. He knew she counted Robin as her little brother.

"I don't know," Batman replied. "There's a lot going on. I'll try to contact others. But at the moment, stay sharp. We don't know what will possibly happen. Keep your eyes out for any signs of trouble. Do you understand?"

Batgirl nodded.

"Hey Batgirl!" said Catwoman, getting into the transmission frame. "Good to see you again. You too, Supergirl." She saw Batgirl and Supergirl both wave at her.

"We'll see you soon," said Wonder Woman to Batman.

He nodded, and then hung up.

"So what does this mean?" Catwoman asked.

"It means we have to continue," Batman told her. "We're getting nearer to the end of this, but it's during this time that it becomes that much more dangerous."

Catwoman nodded and continued to think about what he had just told her. Suddenly she heard the sound of police sirens from somewhere in Gotham, not far from them. "Come on," Batman told her, and he took out the grapple gun one last time, as did she.

They swung off to wherever the police sirens had originated from. When they finally landed on a building, they saw the police cars had stopped near an apartment complex overlooking the Gotham Bay. However, it was not where Batman had seen Robin's ship had ended up.

"Should we see what they have to say?" asked Catwoman.

But Batman did not answer, and he swung over to the building across from them. She followed, and as soon as she made it, her eyes widened in surprise.

At first, she thought there were hostages tied up on the building, but then she realized they were all dummies. They had been made to make them think people were in danger. It was obvious they had walked into a trap.

"Hello, Batman," came a cold, rich voice. "And the little Kitty Cat! How nice!"

Joker came into their line of vision. "I hope this isn't too much of a shock," he said. "You haven't seen me in a while, I know, and you're probably wondering how in the name of God I've stayed off your radar for so long. Well, let me tell you, it really was not all that easy. But...that's a story for another time. In the meantime...come on out, boys!"

And out came three more supervillains: Clayface, Black Mask, and Killer Croc.

"You see, Clayface here has already seen some action today!" Joker continued. "He was in Star City and attacked Green Arrow, even posing as Aqualad to influence the effects of the toxin I obtained. Meanwhile, other villains of yours are all around. Harley and Poison Ivy are on Themyscira with Metallo and Ares right now, as we speak! Deathstroke and Two-Face are in Blüdhaven, Firefly in Atlantis...a lot of your enemies will be winning today, Bats. Actually, Firefly lost his battle with Robin, and Deathstroke and Two-Face were unable to kill Nightwing and Black Canary, who both escaped, amazingly."

Batman was angry, Catwoman saw. She wasn't surprised, however. She was becoming angrier, as well. She wanted to beat Joker for his words so badly. Her family was in danger right now, and as he always did when this happened, though not quite like this, he was making a joke of everything!

"Well, if any of your kids happen to die today, at least you can replace them, right?" With this, Joker threw back his head and released his trademark laugh.

Batman lost it and charged at Joker. He punched the Clown Prince of Crime across the face. Catwoman decided that she was alone, as a result. She would have to face three different supervillains all at the same time.

She saw the gun in Black Mask's hand, the blades that had metamorphosed from Clayface's hands, and Killer Croc roared at her and ran at her with full force.

She dodged Croc, then jumped out of the way as she heard the click of the gun. She heard it go off, and she knew she was not hit, as she felt no pain afterward. She heard Clayface coming at her, and she dodged his blades.

Killer Croc came at her again, and as she attempted to dodge, she was caught by the arm, and she felt herself hit the side of the concrete roof of the building. She tasted blood.

"Ouch," she said. She heard the gun go off again, and she cried out in pain as the bullet pierced her leg. But she wouldn't let that take her down. She got to her feet and limped back into the fight. She looked over to Batman, who was locked in battle with Joker.

"You'll never win," Batman told Joker.

"Are you so sure about that, Batsy?" Joker asked as he laughed. Batman was punched in the face, and he felt a blade slice into his abdomen. While the padding underneath his costume stopped the blade from going any further, it didn't stop the bruising there. Joker attempted to stab him again, but he failed at this as Batman moved. The knife, however, did slice his arm.

Batman clutched the wound, feeling blood dripping. With all his might, he threw a punch at Joker, which connected with his head. But Joker continued laughing.

Batman turned to find Catwoman, with her having been knocked to the ground again, bleeding from the nose and the mouth. Black Mask had a gun raised at her, and he was about to pull the trigger. Batman realized what he was going to have to do. He would battle with Joker later. But for now, this was over.

He ran to Catwoman, and punched Black Mask, whose gun went off. He dodged a slash from Killer Croc, as well as a crushing move from Clayface. He grabbed Catwoman, and ran to the edge of the building. He heard the click of a gun, and he jumped.

However, as soon as he jumped and hit the water, Black Mask shot at him, not seeing the propane tank near the water, on a small ledge.

The building rocked as the propane tank exploded, and Joker laughed for no apparent reason.

When it was over, Joker ran to the edge of the building. He found Batman's cowl in the water, and he told Killer Croc to go and get it. Croc did as he asked, knowing the consequences that would come about if he did not follow orders. After Croc had jumped in, he swam to and grabbed the cowl.

But it was only the cowl.

Batman had escaped.

Quickly Joker called Scarecrow, who answered almost immediately.

"Was it a success?" Scarecrow asked.

"No," Joker replied angrily, his anger directed at himself. "Batman and Catwoman escaped."

He wondered if Scarecrow would be angry. While he wasn't fearful of that, he still wondered about it.

"That is of little consequence," Scarecrow said. "We've captured all the other major Justice League members. Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter were just defeated, though the sidekicks there escaped. All the sidekicks escaped. _All of them._" Joker heard anger in Scarecrow's voice. "Harley let Batgirl escape. Punish her when you next see her, will you? I don't think she deserves the bomb in her brain to be activated, but she does deserve a good punishment nonetheless."

"Oh, I will," Joker said. "Well, this was a failure, but from what you said, it sounds like this is only the beginning."

"It is," Scarecrow said. "Soon Gotham will fall to fear. And at the end of fear...oblivion."

Catwoman woke, and she found she and Batman were in some sort of sewer system. It seemed familiar, though she was unsure why. "What happened?" she asked groggily, her head pounding.

"You blacked out when we hit the water," Batman told her from the shadows. "We're going to the Batcave now."

"What about Joker and them?"

"I fled with you. I'll deal with him later. I had to save you first."

Catwoman nodded. "I'm sorry," she said. Batman said nothing. Then she tried getting to her feet, and gasped in pain. She remembered Black Mask had shot her in the leg. "Sorry, it's my leg." She became accustomed to it, and began limping to him. "So how far are we from the Batcave?" she asked.

"Not far," he replied.

They walked forward for a few minutes, Catwoman dealing with her pain the best she could before they came across a special door. It was open.

"Stay close," Batman said. Catwoman did so.

They walked through the doorway. Catwoman had never seen this path before, and she was very surprised at it.

Batman closed the door behind them and locked it, then continued to walk forward to a stairway. With all her effort, Catwoman limped up the stairs, up to an opening carved into the rock. They were nearly there...

And then they had made it.

"Come on," Batman told her. He entered the Batcave first, and when Catwoman entered behind him, she was surprised at what she found in front of her.


	14. The Safehouse

**Okay, the reason behind this chapter taking a while is the fact that I fell under the weather at the very beginning of January, and I took a little while to recover. And also, I was working on another story that is a spin-off of this one. The story is called _Spoiler: Rise of the Demon_, and a little bit of the premise will be introduced in this chapter. I hope you all have a nice day, and God bless!**

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><p><span><strong>CHAPTER FOURTEEN: THE SAFEHOUSE<strong>

As soon as Nightwing walked through the opening into the Batcave, with Black Canary behind him, he found before him a scene like no other. Alfred stood over a bed, and Robin lay there with a bloody bandage over his leg, though he was conscious. Not far from him sat a beautiful blond woman wearing a green garb and a green headdress. Nightwing felt as if he'd seen her before, though he didn't know where. However, Black Canary answered that question for him.

"Mera, what are you doing here?" she asked. That allowed Nightwing to knew who she was: Mera, the Queen of the Atlanteans, and Aquaman's wife. Nightwing wondered where Aquaman was.

"It is good to see you again, Black Canary," Mera replied. "There was an attack. In Atlantis! Orrin tried to stop Ocean Master, but he failed, and was stabbed and defeated. We arrived here not too long after. Robin was wounded by a piece of glass."

Nightwing walked over to Robin. "How're you doing?" he asked.

"I'm in a little pain," Robin answered. "But I could be worse. What about you?"

"I need to get my leg checked out, if you wouldn't mind, Alfred," Nightwing said. "Two-Face shot me. What villains were you have to deal with, besides Ocean-Master?"

"Firefly and Black Manta," Robin said. "Was it just Two-Face that you were battling, or were there more than just him?"

"There were more, all right," said Black Canary. "Deathstroke, Two-Face, Copperhead...and my sister." She saw the expressions on the faces of those around her. "Yes, my sister is one of my enemies. White Canary is what she likes to be called, and she's a member of the League of Assassins, which, as you probably already know, is led by Ra's al Ghul..._ahhh..._" The pain in her side nearly doubled, and she walked forward and grabbed gauze from a nearby table. She looked down at her bandage and found that it had already been bandaged, but it needed fresher wrappings.

"Are you alright, miss?" asked Alfred.

"Yes," Black Canary replied. "She stabbed me in the side. I can do this myself, don't worry." And she did bandage her side up on her own.

"So are we allowed to use our real names here?" Robin asked.

"I believe we all know each other well enough, by now," Nightwing said, "with the exception of Mera. But I think it's better we allow Batman to decide on that–" He cut himself off as someone stumbled through the archway. When he saw who it was, he couldn't believe it.

"Red Arrow?" he asked. "What in the name of God are you doing here? I thought you were in Central City with Flash!"

"I was," Red Arrow said, "but we were attacked! There was Cheetah, one of Wonder Woman's enemies, I know, along with Count Vertigo, this guy who could turn himself into some hulking monster–"

"Bane!" exclaimed Robin.

"–and Zoom. It had to be Zoom. I've seen him before, mostly thanks to Green Arrow. I didn't think I would have to see him in person, though. But a fight broke out, and Vibe was defeated, as was Flash. I tried to help, but I could only defeat...Bane, as you call him. God, Kid Flash is going to hate me for this!"

"How'd you find us?" Nightwing asked.

"There are coordinates in this communicator I was given," Red Arrow said. He took it out of his pocket and showed it to everyone present. "I was told that it would take me somewhere safe. At least, that was how I interpreted it. Is this place truly safe, or are there supervillains who know about this place? Because I don't feel like fighting again for a while."

"Relax, Red Arrow," Black Canary comforted. "This is a safe place, I know it."

Red Arrow turned to her. "How did you escape?"

"Nightwing was smart," she replied. "Just calm yourself. I know how crazy everything is, trust me. I just had to fight my sister, so you know how annoying that is. We're going to be safe her for now, until we formulate some plan to get Flash and Aquaman back."

"Are you injured?" Nightwing asked.

"No, but I hit my chin on the ground hard," Red Arrow told him. "Are you alright?"

"Shot in the shoulder by Two-Face and in the leg by Deathstroke, but I'm fine otherwise," Nightwing said.

"You're lucky you got away from Deathstroke. He's not one of those who will normally let you go. Once he has you, you have to have a sharp mind to defeat him," Red Arrow said.

Nightwing merely nodded. He began to think about all that was happening. There was so much to think about, though. Were the rest of the members of the Bat-Family in trouble, or were they all fine? If Flash and Aquaman had been taken down, then did that mean Batman had been taken down, as well? He didn't know, but he wanted to very badly.

The sound of boots scuffling across the floor made his head snap up, and he saw Kid Flash appear through the archway. It could be seen that he wasn't happy. But he was unharmed, and that was one of the things that mattered most.

"Holy crap," he said when he saw where he was. "Is this the Batcave? All you guys are here?"

"Yes," Black Canary answered. "Where did you come from?"

"I was with Green Lantern in Coast City," he explained. "We were talking when we were attacked by one of his enemies, Star Sapphire, as well as few other enemies, like King Shark and Killer Frost...Oh God, it wasn't good to see Caitlin again. Flash won't be too happy that I knocked her out, either. Where is he, by the way?"

Red Arrow seemed depressed as he relayed the truth of how Flash had been unable to escape from Zoom. Kid Flash's face was impassive for the time it took to give him everything. Then, when Red Arrow was done, Kid Flash hung his head. "Well, at least you tried to help him," he admitted. "What about Vibe?"

"He didn't make it either," Red Arrow explained. "Cheetah stabbed him in the abdomen. I wanted to stay and help him, but Flash told me to go as fast I could, to get out of there, and I didn't want to disobey what he was telling me. I could have stayed, but I think I was just so fearful about everything that was happening, that I...panicked."

"It's not your fault," said Kid Flash. "I would have done the same, likely. Correction: I _have _done the same, and I still feel guilt for that." He sighed, and then looked around the Batcave. "So is this where Batman's base of operations is located?"

"And the Bat-Family," Nightwing corrected him. "So far, though, it's only Robin and me. Batgirl and Catwoman are still out there, and I'm fearful for them both. Thank God Spoiler's not here, though. I would feel horrible if something bad happened to her."

Kid Flash wanted to inquire, but then the sound of someone huffing brought their attention to the archway. Wonder Girl appeared, and she was unharmed. "Oh thank God!" she exclaimed. "Martian Manhunter wasn't lying when he said this was a safehouse. Oh thank God!" She took a moment to catch her breath.

"Where is J'onn?" Black Canary asked her. Nightwing could see she was taking the role of leader for the moment, which he was fine with, seeing as how she was the most-seasoned superhero there, being an actual member of the Justice League, and not a sidekick like the rest of them.

"He was defeated..." Wonder Girl said, still trying to catch her own breath, "...by his own brother, whose name I forget. There were other villains, though. A man who wouldn't stop speaking in riddles and one with some sort of gun that shot fire."

"Ma'alefa'ak, Riddler, and Heat Wave," Nightwing said. "It definitely seems as if there is a team of supervillains, after all. That voice wasn't kidding when it threatened us. And now it seems that the team of supervillains are winning! What the heck is going on?"

"Where is Wonder Woman?" Wonder Girl asked. "Please, I need to know!"

"I don't know," Nightwing admitted. "I think it was Batgirl and Supergirl who went with her to Themyscira, and–"

He was cut off when he heard someone's voice. He wondered who could be coming through the archway this time. He did not know how many more heroes had been defeated, and while there weren't many sidekicks, he didn't know all who escaped, or who had been given the coordinates to the Batcave. He hoped none of the supervillains had been able to get a hold of the coordinates.

But his heart became light again as he saw Batgirl and Supergirl appear. Supergirl had a few scars, and Batgirl's shoulder was wounded. As soon as they saw each other, Batgirl and Nightwing ran to one another and embraced. "Thank God!" Nightwing said. "I was hoping our family would remain intact! Thank God I wasn't telling myself a lie!" He looked to her shoulder. "What happened?"

"Harley got me," she explained. "While we were there on Themyscira, she arrived with Poison Ivy, Metallo, Ares, and a group of soldiers that I guess were Ares's, though I'm not really sure. But Supergirl checked it over. It's not that bad. I just need it to be checked over so that it won't become infected later."

Nightwing hugged Supergirl as well. "Metallo beat me," she told him. "It's not as bad as you think, though. They've mostly healed themselves since the fight."

Wonder Girl ran over to them both. "What about Wonder Woman and the Queen?" she asked.

"The Queen was able to escape, I heard," Supergirl admitted. "But Wonder Woman..." She stopped for a moment, and then hugged Wonder Girl. "Ares was able to defeat her. We wanted to help her, but we were unable to. I'm sorry. As soon as we tried, she told us to leave. We had no choice. We were outmatched. I'm so sorry."

Wonder Girl nodded. "I understand," she said. "It's not your fault."

Batgirl hurried over to Alfred, seeing Robin. "Are you okay?" she asked. "Batman called and said your ship's beacon was located in Gotham Harbor! What happened?"

Robin quickly told her everything he knew. He introduced Mera to her as well, and explained that Aquaman had been defeated by Ocean-Master, who had turned out to be his own brother, to which many of those present gave a gasp or muttered an exclamation.

"Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman..." Nightwing ticked them all with on his fingers. "That leaves Batman and Superman. And that means Catwoman and Aqualad."

"So Aqualad wasn't with Green Arrow?" Supergirl asked.

"What do you mean?" Black Canary asked. "No, he wasn't with Green Arrow. Green Arrow didn't bring anyone with him. What are you talking about?"

"Batman called Wonder Woman and told her that Green Arrow had been attacked, and that he had said Aqualad was injured, which didn't make any sense, because Green Arrow took no one with him, as confirmed by you and Batman."

"Green Arrow was attacked?" Black Canary asked.

"Yes," Red Arrow said. "He contacted us in Central City, and he was attacked. But I heard Aqualad's voice. So how could Aqualad be in two places at once?"

"Well, for one, I wasn't," came the voice of Aqualad, who appeared through the archway. He was limping, and he had someone with him. Supergirl recognized her as Lois Lane. Batgirl, Robin, and Nightwing had seen her before, too. "I was with Superman."

"Lois!" Supergirl said, and she ran to the ebony-haired woman. "What happened? Aqualad, you're limping! What the heck happened to you both? Where's Superman?"

"I'm sorry, Supergirl," Aqualad said. "He was defeated by Parasite and Lex Luthor. I would have helped him, but the fire around me was affecting me too severely, and I was forced into battle with Black Spider. As he was being defeated, he gave me these coordinates, and I arrived here with Lois."

"What happened to you?" Lois asked Supergirl.

"Metallo," Supergirl answered. Tears were coming to her eyes. "He was defeated, though?"

Lois and Aqualad nodded solemnly. Batgirl walked over to Supergirl and hugged her, comforting her.

"Out of the founding members of the Justice League, that leaves...Batman," Robin said. "If anything, Joker had to be the one who faced him out of this group of supervillains. That's my best guess. I just hope nothing bad happened to him and Catwoman. We need them both."

"Don't worry," came a voice. And finally, through the archway came Catwoman. She was limping, and her costume was dripping wet, but she was otherwise unharmed. "We're both here."

Batman appeared out of the shadows, leading the relief of the rest of the Bat-Family. Batgirl ran to Catwoman and hugged her softly. Catwoman hugged her back. "Are you okay?" Batgirl asked her.

"I got shot in the leg by Black Mask," Catwoman said. "What about you? What happened to your shoulder?"

"Harley," Batgirl answered. "She was on Themyscira, along with Poison Ivy."

"What about Wonder Woman?" Batman asked.

"Defeated by Ares," she admitted.

"You're the only founding member who wasn't defeated," Black Canary told him. "I'm sorry to say it, but it's true. Out of all of us, it seems only you, Lois, Mera, and I were the only ones able to make it with the recruits out of the specific locations, besides the recruits."

Batman lowered his head solemnly.

Nightwing couldn't believe it. All the founding members but Batman defeated. All the sidekicks—or recruits, as Black Canary had called them which he liked more, now that he thought of it—had made it out, but only two of the major heroes who had come with them had been able to make it, along with Mera and Lois, who were the love interests of two of the heroes who had gone to their specific locations with one of the recruits, respectively. He didn't know if he could take it anymore. There was so much going on right now that he couldn't begin to even ponder the meaning behind everything that was happening. But he knew one thing for sure: there was a group of supervillains behind this, and they and their leader needed to be taken down. The superheroes who had been defeated needed to be saved.

But he was just happy that all of the Bat-Family was safe despite all of them having been wounded. He now saw the cut on Batman's arm.

"Who did you have to face?" he asked him.

"Joker, Killer Croc, Black Mask, and Clayface," he answered.

"I guess Joker got you?" Batgirl asked.

Batman nodded.

"Black Mask shot me in the leg," Catwoman said.

"Three leg wounds, two shoulder wounds, and an arm wound," Nightwing said. "All of us had to be wounded, it seems. What's next for us? A mouth wound?"

"It's good to see you again," Lois Lane told Batman, who merely nodded at her before walking away. "Better than nothing," she muttered as he did so.

The main heroes and recruits, as well as Lois, found places to sit down. Alfred, meanwhile, checked over the wounds of Batgirl and Catwoman, disinfecting Batgirl's shoulder wound and pulling out the bullet from Catwoman's leg and bandaging it up. Catwoman did her best not to cry out in pain, and she did very well in her effort.

"Would you like me to take a look at your wound, sir?" asked Alfred to Batman, referring to the cut on his arm.

"No, Alfred, but thank you," Batman said.

"So you have a personal butler?" Kid Flash asked.

"He's not a personal butler!" said Batgirl. "He's one of our greatest allies, and Batman's oldest ally, at that. So please don't call him a personal butler, okay? He's done a lot more for us than butlering, or whatever you call it."

Kid Flash nodded. "Sorry. I didn't know what to say," he admitted to her, and then sat back in his chair.

"This is beyond anything I imagined," Batman said, ignoring Batgirl and Kid Flash. "Something is wrong. All the founding members but myself have been taken down. Why is that? Who could be behind all of this?"

"It wasn't Lex," Aqualad said. "It seemed as if they were taking orders from someone."

"It definitely wasn't Harley, Metallo, Ares, or Poison Ivy," Batgirl said. "When Harley said she wanted to kill me, Poison Ivy said that 'he' still needed me. I don't know what in the name of God that means. Could that mean the leader wants me? If so, then who could that be, and why do they want me so badly? What could I have done that makes them want me?"

Batman seemed to think for a moment, and there was an expression that crossed his face, but no one present could read it. Batgirl tried to think everything through, as well. Was it because of her that everyone was in danger? Was she the reason why everyone had been forced through so much trouble? She hoped not. She didn't know if she could forgive herself if she was.

"So what do we do now?" asked Supergirl. "Are we supposed to just sit around here and wait, or are we going to get our butts out there and save those who need our help? My cousin was defeated, as were many of your mentors! And when it comes to Lois, Mera, and Black Canary, it was their own love interests that were defeated! We need to save them from the clutches of whoever it is that took them!"

"You're right," Batman said. "But we have to wait." Seeing Supergirl's incredulous expression, he explained himself. "We don't know where your cousin and the others are. If we just went looking around, we'd bring too much attention to ourselves."

Supergirl gave in and nodded.

Batman was about to say more, but he was suddenly cut off by a beeping sound from the computer behind him. He turned the chair around and clicked a few buttons. A symbol appeared on the screen, along with two buttons: Accept and Decline. The symbol was a black mask with white eyes and a purple hood over its head.

Batman pressed Accept, and a beautiful girl with tan white skin, sapphire-blue eyes, and light blond hair appeared. She wore a purple cloak with a hood that was down at the moment, and it was seen her costume was black under that, with some purple. She was bleeding from the mouth. The landscape behind her was beautiful, with a shore in the distance and waves crashing over the rocks.

"Spoiler," said Batman.

"Batman, I—" She stopped for a moment, seeing all those behind Batman. Batgirl realized that while Stephanie had been seen by the rest of the Bat-Family and Supergirl (and Superman) without her mask on while in costume, she had no idea who the rest of those behind Batman were, and she saw that Stephanie didn't have her mask on. "Uh, hello, everyone," she said, waving a little. "I'm sorry, Batman. I know, I'm supposed to have my filter mask on, but I was kicked in the jaw, and my mouth is still bleeding."

"That's alright, Stephanie," Batman said. "What's going on over in Europe? Why are you dressed as Spoiler?"

"It's Ra's al Ghul," Stephanie explained. "He and Talia are here in Ireland, and they just took two of my friends and two boys who I don't like, but still don't deserve to have been taken. I tried to stop it, but I couldn't. I suited up to find them, and while I found Talia, she was able to beat me in a fight, kicking me in the jaw. I called because I need your help. What should I do here? Please tell me."

"Calm down," Batman told her. "Do you know why Ra's and Talia took your classmates?"

"Not yet, but something tells me that Ra's al Ghul's Lazarus Pits might not be working. That's my best guess, but why else would he steal children? I think it's to take their youth away from them."

"Ra's must have a hideout somewhere around there," Batman told her. "Try and find it. You should have placed a tracker on Talia before she defeated you."

"I tried," Stephanie said. "But she found it easily and destroyed it. I'm sorry, I'm just not as good as the rest of you."

"It's not your fault," Robin said. He limped to the computer, and as soon as Stephanie saw him, she smiled. "At least you tried. If you ask me, you should get back up and surprise them by showing them you haven't given up."

She nodded, still smiling. Then the smile faded as she saw his bandaged leg. She looked all around them, and she found Batman, Batgirl, Nightwing, Catwoman, and Robin had all been wounded in some way. "What the heck happened to you all?" she asked them.

"Trouble at home," Batgirl told her. "It's good to see you again, Spoiler. I hope to see you soon. Be safe."

Stephanie's smile returned. "Thank you," she said. "I'll be back real soon, so don't worry. I'll do my very best to stop them. I think I have an idea of where they are, so I'll follow my hunch, and see where that leads me from there." She quickly wiped the blood from her mouth and put on the filter mask, which covered both her mouth and her nose, then drew the hood of her cloak up over her head. "I'll see you all soon. I'd probably like to meet all of you."

Catwoman and Nightwing came up. They both waved at Spoiler, who waved back.

"Well, I'll be going. I can't let them get too far ahead of me. They think they can win. Spoiler alert: No freaking way."

And then the transmission was over.

"Who was that, exactly?" Wonder Girl asked.

"Spoiler," Batgirl told her. "One of the Bat-Family."

"Her name is Stephanie Brown," Batman told everyone. He turned to them in the chair. "Now isn't the time to lead an assault on the supervillains. We'll have to wait for a while before we lead the attack. We'll have to find their base of operations first. In the meantime, we'll all be staying here."

"Here, in this cave?" Red Arrow said.

"No. There's a manor above this," Batman told him. "If we're going to stay there, however, it's time you learned each others' identities. It's not something I want to do, but we have no choice. This is a secure location, however. None of the supervillains will be able to get in." He took the corners of his mask and lifted them up, revealing the rest of his face underneath. A gasp came from a few of the recruits.

"You're Bruce Wayne?" asked Kid Flash. "Holy crap..."

Batman turned his attention to the Bat-Family without saying a word. His expression allowed them to know it was time to allow those around them to know their secret identities. Nightwing began. He took off his domino mask. "My name is Dick Grayson."

Robin went next. He took off his domino mask. "My name is Tim Drake."

Then Catwoman. She sighed as she did so. "My name is Selina Kyle," she said when she was done.

And finally, Batgirl. She took off her mask, and revealed who she was underneath. "My name is Barbara Gordon," she told everyone, and Kid Flash suddenly spoke up.

"Wait, isn't the name of the police commissioner here James Gordon?" he asked. "Does that make you—"

"Yes, that makes me his daughter. And yes, I know, I'm a vigilante, while he's on the 'right side of the law,' as some might say," Barbara slowly explained. "Why don't you go ahead and reveal your secret identity?"

Kid Flash sighed, and he took off his mask. "My name is Wally West," he said. "My aunt is the wife of the Flash, making him my uncle."

Supergirl went next. "Well, I don't really have to take off a mask," she said. "But I do have a secret identity. As you all know, Superman is my cousin. My name here on Earth is Kara Kent, while my real name is Kara Zor-El. I come from the planet once known as Krypton before its destruction. Along with a few others, Superman and I are the only living members of our race, unfortunately."

Wonder Girl was next. "Like Supergirl—Kara—I don't have mask, but like her as well, I do have a secret identity. My name is Cassie Sandmark."

Aqualad came up. "My name is Kaldur'ahm, but my friends in Atlantis call me Kaldur, which you may do if you wish."

Black Canary was next. "My name is Dinah Laurel Lance," she said. "The man I love is Green Arrow, who has been taken as well."

Then Mera. "I am Mera, Queen of Atlantis, and my husband Orrin is the one you call Aquaman." She seemed to be shaking with both anger and fear, and Batgirl understood it was because she didn't know where her husband was at the moment, or if he was even alive.

Then Lois. "I am Lois Lane, ally of Superman and Supergirl, and lover of Superman. I am also an ally of the Bat-Family, and I already knew Bruce's identity from a while ago."

And finally, Red Arrow, who was quite apprehensive about it all. But in the end, he gave in, sighing all the same. "My name is Roy Harper," he said, "and I am the ally of Green Arrow and Black Canary."

Then, from farther back in the cave, came another voice that made Wonder Girl suddenly jump.

"My name is Alfred Pennyworth, and I have been serving the Wayne family since Master Bruce was a boy, and since he became Batman, I have also cared for him when he is injured and needs advice or refreshments, and for the rest of the Bat-Family for the same reasons."

Alfred appeared again. He nodded at Bruce.

"So we're going to have to be like...this...for this whole time? Until we can find out where the villains' base of operations is?" Red Arrow asked.

"Yes," Batman said.

"What if we need to change into something more comfortable? Because most of my stuff is up at the Watchtower, to be honest," Kid Flash explained.

"It's all down here," Bruce told him. At everyone's inquiring expressions, Bruce explained himself. "I had your bags brought here by Zatanna before she left. They're over there." He motioned toward a group of walls erected around them, which was where they would likely be changing privately.

"Where did she go?" Barbara asked.

Batman didn't answer, and she was left to wonder. "So do we need to do anything else?" she asked.

"Change, and then go upstairs. We're going to be staying here for another few days while we plan everything out. Do you understand me?" Bruce said.

Barbara nodded. She walked over to the changing area, found the bag with her clothes inside, quickly undressed, and dressed again in pajamas, which consisted of a black shirt and dark blue sweats.

When she had finished, she picked up the bag, and walked upstairs, and found that Kara had already finished changing into her pajamas, using her superspeed, obviously. "Hey," Kara said. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright," Barbara replied. "I'm just trying to think all of this through. It's kind of hard. There's so much going on, and to try and make sense of it is too hard at the moment. I think I'm going to go lay down and rest. If you want to, you can join me. There are four beds in that room. Usually, it's me, Stephanie, and Selina, but since Stephanie's gone, I guess you and Cassie can join Selina and me."

"Thanks," she said. "I guess you're going to try and sleep as much as you can before we have to do anything?"

"You've got that right," Barbara answered. "I'm so tired. My shoulder still stings a little, and I have an idea for what we should do tomorrow, and that could last a long time, so I need to sleep."

"I think I might come with you," Selina said as she appeared from behind her changing wall, wearing her pajamas. She was limping. "Thank God my bag was one of those there. I guess Zatanna knew where to go for my bag. If you wouldn't mind, could you help me up the stairs? That gunshot is still real painful, and I hope the pain goes away soon."

"It should, Miss Kyle," said Alfred. "If not, then come and see me tomorrow. I will happily help you."

Barbara was about to take Selina's arm and sling it over her shoulder, but then she thought about something, and walked back to Bruce. He was looking at something on the Batcomputer, but he stopped when she neared him. "What is it?" he asked.

"Should we be worried about Stephanie?" she asked him. "She told us that she's on the trail of Ra's and Talia. That doesn't seem like something we should take lightly. It's quite serious, wouldn't you agree?"

"She'll be fine," he said. "I have faith in her." It was obvious he was done speaking when he turned away from her, and she took that as her leave. She walked back to Selina and slung her arm over her shoulder.

They walked up the steps to the manor's interior. Barbara found Wally and Kaldur in civilian clothes, talking to Dick. Barbara overheard something about the supervillains the three of them had been forced to face. Barbara smiled at Dick, and continued on past them.

Soon enough, Barbara and Selina made it to the room, and they entered. Cassie was already there, and she was obviously very tired. She was dressed in pajamas.

"How are you?" Barbara asked her. "I'm sorry that Wonder Woman was taken, Cassie. I'll do everything in my power to help you rescue her from Ares, and whoever is pulling the strings."

"It's not your fault, Barbara," Cassie told her. "You and Kara did your best, and if you ask me, that's all that matters. I would never hold this against you."

Barbara sighed, thankful for that. "Alright," she said. "I'm going to sleep. I have plans for tomorrow with Kara. I would like to bring you both along, but I think it would be easier to do it with her. Not trying to be a jerk, so don't think that. She's just the person I feel the most comfortable with. No offense, Selina."

"Understandable," Selina said. "And none taken. It's like how I feel comfortable with the whole family, but Stephanie is the one I have biggest sense of comfortability around. Not sure why, but I think she just has that kind of personality."

"Well, Stephanie's always been lovable, so I'm not surprised," Barbara said. "I just hope she stays safe. If she's going after Ra's and Talia, then there's probably going to be a big fight coming up. Oh God, please keep her safe."

She sighed, and then lay down. Kara soon entered, and she looked somber. "Hey," she said.

"Hey," Barbara greeted. "You okay?" She thought about her question, and she thought of what she had just asked. "I'm sorry. That was a stupid question. Of course you're not okay."

"Hey, it's alright," Kara told her. "I'm glad you're trying to help me through this, and you do very well. It's just...it's not an easy thing, you understand?"

Barbara nodded. "Goodnight, everyone."

And even before the lights were turned off by Kara, Barbara had closed her eyes and fallen into a deep slumber.

She suddenly found herself in the sewers of Arkham, less than a year ago. She recognized it well. It was where that one specific event had happened, the one that she felt she could never forgive herself for. She hated the memory with all her heart. She heard the steady drip-drip of water on stone.

This had been during a mass-breakout from Arkham, which Joker and a group consisting of himself, Harley Quinn, Scarecrow, Killer Croc, Firefly, Riddler, and Two-Face. She, Batman, Spoiler, Robin, Nightwing, and Catwoman had been trapped inside the asylum the entire time, and the ordeal took five hours to finally end.

But it was here in this room, the main sewer room, that something had happened. Something that she would never forget. It had been burned into her memory, and even now, she could no longer believe it.

"You're too late, Batgirl!" yelled Scarecrow. She was on the ground, while he stood over her. She'd been shot in the shoulder earlier by Harley, and he'd taken advantage of it. "Soon enough, the entirety of Gotham will be on its knees, and they shall worship me for what I am! I will be a god, or a monster, to their eyes!"

He held a large bag full of his toxin over the sewer system. If he dropped it in there, the entire city would feel the effects.

"You can't go through with this, Crane!" she'd yelled.

"It's too late," he replied. "And at the end of fear, o—" Suddenly, out of the waters below them, Killer Croc lunged at Scarecrow and took hold of him. "AHHHH!" Scarecrow screamed. One of Croc's claws stabbed into Crane's body, and blood splattered the stone below.

Batgirl reacted almost instantly, throwing a Batarang at Croc's shock-collar. Croc screamed in pain as the shock seemed to overtake his whole body. But it was too late.

Croc jumped back into the water, Scarecrow still in his grasp.

Barbara sat up in bed, and she found just how much she was sweating. Her entire right hand was covered in the..._cold_ sweat? She hadn't had a cold sweat in a very long time, not since her last experience under the Scarecrow fear toxin.

She sighed, and decided to get up from the bed. She needed some water, or maybe a hot cup of coffee or tea. Regardless, she needed something to help her.

As she left the room and entered the living room, she found Bruce and Dinah sitting in front of a roaring fire. They were obviously talking about something. When she walked in, however, they stopped.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to walk in on something," she apologized. "I, uh, couldn't sleep."

"That's fine, Barbara," Dinah said. "What stopped you from sleeping?"

"I, uh, had a nightmare," she explained. "Not like a bad a one, but it definitely left its mark on me. It definitely left its mark on me after it happened."

"Let me guess," Bruce said. "The night in Arkham when you failed to stop Croc's attack on Scarecrow?"

"Yeah," Barbara said. "It...it definitely left its mark on me. I'm not gonna lie. I don't know why I can't forget it. Maybe it's because I blame myself for what happened?"

"Maybe," Dinah said. "Did you have to deal with these nightmares right after the event?"

"Yes, and it wasn't fun then, either. I used to have a tear in my costume from that night, but I sewed it up the night before we received the threat, before we had dinner. These nighatmares used to keep me so awake at night, when I had them off from patrolling, that I could barely function during the next night, and beyond that. I thought these nightmares had gone away for some time, but now, it seems they've returned." She sighed, and then turned to Bruce. "Did they ever find anything of Crane's? A body, anything?"

"No," he said. "But they found pieces of his mask, as well as his blood. It's unknown if Croc killed him, but that seems the most likely."

She sighed again. "I'm sorry to come out and talk to you guys this early. I just wanted to have someone to talk to about this. There's Kara, but no matter how great of a friend she is, it's always good to come and get advice from someone like you two. Now, if you excuse me, I think I'm going to get a cup of water, and then go back to bed. I'm going to need it for tomorrow."

"What are you going to do?" Bruce asked.

"I'm going to meet with my father, and give him some kind of excuse as to why I probably won't be seeing him tomorrow. We're going to try and do the rest of it tomorrow, right? Track down the villains and make them pay for what they've done?"

"Yes," Dinah told her.

"I'm not surprised," Barbara said. "That's how you do a lot of things, honestly, Bruce."

She smiled, and then sighed one last time. "I'm going to get my water, and then I'll go back to bed. See you later." Then, as she began to walk away, she turned back. "Do you think Stephanie is really going to be okay over there in Europe, with Ra's and Talia? Those are some of our greatest enemies, and she's facing them on her own. I just want her to be safe."

"Don't worry," Bruce said. "She will be."

Barbara nodded, and continued to do what she had been doing before.

She walked into the kitchen, took a glass out of the cabinet, and filled it up with water from the fridge, and then made her way back to her room, hoping for good sleep, despite the nightmare.

And when she woke the next morning, after having slipped back into the bedroom and back under the blankets and sheets, she found beautiful rays of sunshine glowing through the window, and onto her face. She was surprised she hadn't been woken earlier by them, seeing as how bright they were. She guessed it was because she'd needed a great deal more of sleep, allowing her to sleep through much more than usual.

She felt well-rested as she sat up in the bed, and she looked around the room to see Kara and Cassie waking up as well. Both of them seemed just as well-rested as she was.

"Good morning," Barbara greeted. "You guys doing alright?"

"Yeah," Kara said. "Do you think we should be on our way?"

"We can wait a little longer, and see how everyone else is doing out there," Barbara told her. "Let's just hope nothing happens during the time we wait, though."

She saw Selina had not woken yet, and decided it was better she continued to sleep. She'd attempted to wake her up once before, which hadn't ended the best way. So for now, Selina would be allowed to sleep. She relayed this information to Kara and Cassie, and they quietly left the room.

When they reached the kitchen, they found the boys already there, eating breakfast. Barbara saw it was cereal, and while she felt hungry, at the same time she didn't have that much of an appetite. She felt as though it might be better if she skipped breakfast for the time-being.

"Good morning," she greeted. "How are you guys doing? Were you able to sleep well?"

"Pretty well," Dick replied. "You know, it's been a little harder since all that happened. Hopefully it's all wrapped up soon. I have faith that it will be, but we still need to be on our guard during this time. You never know what'll happen, am I right?" He went back to eating his breakfast. "So what are you going to be doing today? Would you like to go out?"

"I'm already planning on that with Kara," Barbara told him. "But if you'd like to meet up after that, you're more than welcome to. I'm going to see my father and tell him that I probably won't be able to see him tonight, which I'm sure he'll understand. I'll just say I'm helping a friend out, which is technically not a lie."

"Alright," Dick said. "Just be careful, though."

Barbara nodded. She looked around for a moment, and then said, "I might as well eat something for breakfast. I feel as if I haven't eaten in a while, honestly."

"Well, it's very likely that you haven't," Kid Flash told her. "The last we ate was during dinner that night where we were announced as the recruits, remember? I don't think any of us ate breakfast. I didn't, only because I wanted to be sure I wasn't going to be late to the training. Besides, I usually count breakfast as the least important meal of the day, so...yeah."

He said most of this very fast, and he didn't leave the others much time to think. But Barbara didn't care once she returned to what she was doing. Once she'd poured cereal, she quickly added the milk, then scarfed the breakfast down. Once she had finished, she looked to Kara, who said, "I've already eaten. Superspeed, remember?"

Barbara nodded. "Well, I'm done," she said. "Let me get dressed, and then we can go."

Kara nodded. "I'll get dressed, as well," she said.

Barbara hurried to get dressed, her clothes of choice being a black shirt and dark blue jeans. When she had finished getting dressed, brushing her teeth and hair, and putting on deodorant, she walked back outside to find that Kara was already dressed, which didn't surprise her very much. After all, she had superspeed. She wore glasses and a brunette wig to conceal her identity.

As the two of them reached the front door of the manor, Bruce appeared, with Dinah behind him. "Be careful," he warned them both. "None of our enemies know our secret identities, but even then, we still must be careful. We don't know what's out there. We don't know who's pulling the strings."

Barbara nodded. "Trust me, I know what to do," she told him. "We'll be back soon."

"Be safe!" Dinah called as they left.

Barbara closed the door behind them. There was a car waiting for them, with Alfred being the one to drive it. He happily opened the door for the two young women, and then closed it when they'd both entered.

"This shouldn't take long," Barbara told Kara. "We're going to be able to find Clark soon, I just know it. There's no possible way a villain could have taken him and hidden him somewhere that we couldn't find, am I right on that?"

"Unless Darkseid was behind it, then I would believe you'd be right," Kara said. "Darkseid is one of our greatest enemies. He is someone you don't want to mess with. That's all I'm going to say about that. I know for sure, however, that he is not behind any of this. If he was, I'm sure I would know. I'm sure _we _would know. If he was, you know...here...right now." She sighed. "So why did you wake up so early?"

"What?" Barbara asked. "What do you mean?"

"I saw you get up early in the morning. Honestly, I have no idea why I was awake, but it was probably because my mind was still on Clark. But it looked like you were sweating. What was wrong?"

"I had a nightmare," Barbara told her honestly. "About the last time I ever fought Scarecrow. It was down in the sewers of Arkham, and he was threatening to pour some of his fear toxin into the sewers, so that all of Gotham would be under the effects of that crap. I got there, and I attempted to stop him. I sort of succeeded, but I also failed at the same time." She stopped speaking for a moment, and then looked at Kara, who was staring at her with a little concern. Understanding, Barbara continued with the story. She would talk with Kara about her feelings over it all later. But for the moment, she just needed to collect her thoughts and finish the main story. "While we were down there in sewers, with me confronting him, Killer Croc appeared, and he attacked Crane, thinking he was an unfortunate guard who had stumbled into his domain. Despite my best efforts, I was unable to stop Scarecrow from being taken into those disgusting waters by Croc. I don't know if he's still alive, but something tells me he isn't. There's no way someone leaves Croc's grasp like that alive, unless you're Bruce, of course. When it comes to Croc, the rest of the Bat-Family do our best to stay far away from him." She sighed. "I feel horrible for the fact that happened, because I feel as if I'm responsible for what happened there. I pretty much am responsible for what happened to Crane. He may have been evil, but he didn't deserve to die like that. I don't understand why I didn't try harder to save him, but even if I had, I don't know if it would have made much difference. This world is strange, you know what I mean? It's like that Linkin Park song at times. You try so hard and get so far, but in the end it doesn't even matter. I tried as hard as I could to save Crane, but it didn't matter by the end of it all. It affected me pretty badly afterward. I didn't feel as if I could continue for weeks. I almost retired the cowl and costume because of it. Selina and Stephanie helped a lot, as did Bruce and Alfred. I think I've almost completely moved on from it, but the nightmare reminded me of it, and it's affecting me all over again. It's horrible. I don't know if you've ever felt something like this, and I'm sure you haven't. You're not perfect, obviously, because no one in the world is perfect, but I think you get my meaning."

Kara nodded. She took Barbara's hand. "I do understand what you're saying, because I actually have gone through something similar, believe it or not. It happened a very long time, or so it seemed. I don't even know why I haven't tried to forget it. It happened during a sort of crisis we faced in Metropolis. I think Batman called to make sure it wasn't too serious. During that whole thing, Lex Luthor had a huge role in it. He brainwashed Clark, and it instilled a whole lot of fear in me. I didn't know what in the name of God I was supposed to do when I saw that my cousin was fighting against me. It was thanks to my words that he returned to his normal self. We confronted Lex not long after that, but it was just such a horrible experience, one that I don't want to remember very much anymore. But like you, I've had nightmares that have reminded me of what's going on." She sighed like Barbara had. "This is why I'm glad we're friends. We understand each other so well, and we don't have to worry about each other hiding anything, you know?" The smile that had appeared on her face disappeared quickly afterward. "I wish Clark were here. I wish the rest of the central Justice League members were around. But only Batman, Mera, and Black Canary were able to make it out. That's just sad, in my opinion, because the other recruits who lost their mentors are feeling so down. I know how they feel, of course, because my mentor is missing...my cousin is missing. But I know I shouldn't feel so down, because I know we're going to get him back. It won't be long now until then. I just know it."

Barbara smiled. "That's a good way to think about it," she said. "I don't know what I would do if Bruce was taken. Because he's what's held this extended family together for so long, even though there have been some definite bumps in the road. Especially when it came to Jason and Dick's departure before that. But enough on that. Let's just keep our minds on what's at hand: We're going to save your cousin soon, trust me. He won't be gone for long."

There was the tap of a finger on the glass from the driver's seat. Barbara opened the window, and she found Alfred looking at her with a small smile. "We've arrived, Miss Gordon. Would you like me to get you something from the café not too far from here?"

"No, thanks," Barbara said. "You've helped a lot already, Alfred. Thank you again. We'll be done soon, but if you want to go ahead and get something for yourself, I'll understand. Anyways, see you soon."

Barbara and Kara left the car, and they walked toward the Gotham City police station. Kara opened the door for Barbara, and after giving her thanks, Barbara entered the police station and began looking for her father. When she didn't see him among the great amount of cops in the main area, she guessed he was in his office. Her idea was proven only a few moments later.

"Barbara?" came a male voice in a Brooklyn accent. Barbara turned around to find Harvey Bullock there. He held a donut in one hand, and a cup of coffee and a file in the other. He smiled at her. "I'd give you a hug, but my hands are full. What can I do for you, kid?" He saw Kara. "And, uh, who's your friend?" Barbara saw that he was beginning to check Kara out, and she saw that Kara seemed a little disgusted.

"This is Kara," Barbara said. "She comes from Metropolis, and I met her at Gotham University. We're here to see my father, though. Is he in his office?"

"Yeah," Harvey said. "I'll bring you to him." Still eyeing Kara, he brought them toward the commissioner's office. He knocked on the door.

"Come in!" yelled a voice from inside. Harvey opened the door, and Barbara found Commissioner Gordon sitting there at his desk, a cup of coffee in his hand. When he saw his daughter, Jim Gordon's blue-gray eyes widened in surprise. "Ah, Barbara! I was wondering when you'd finally come and visit me! Come in, come in! And bring your friend with you!"

"Hey, Commish," said Harvey. "There were a few guys who wanted to talk to you about the sounds of gunshot coming from over by the river. They say they're a little scared. Especially those who are residents there. If you're going to be busy, what should I tell them?"

"Just tell them I'll talk to them later on," Jim said. "It's probably just one of those crazies. Batman likely took care of them. God knows this city needs him."

Bullock nodded. "Alright, then. I guess I'll talk to you later."

He took one last look at Kara, and then exited the office, leaving the girls and the commissioner.

"Hey, Dad," Barbara greeted. "Sorry, I meant to visit earlier, but I've been doing a lot recently. I've been helping Bruce Wayne's ward, Tim, with his homework. That's not all, but that's definitely something that's taken up time. It's worth it, though. Bruce Wayne pays me for it, even when I tell him he doesn't have to."

"Well, that's very nice," Commissioner Gordon said. "Before we move on, if I may I ask, who's your friend?"

"This is Kara," Barbara said. "She comes from Metropolis, and she's a friend of mine from Uni, before I graduated. She graduated a year after me, so that's why you didn't see her at my ceremony. She's probably one of my greatest friends."

"Is that so?" Commissioner Gordon asked. "Well, thank you for your friendship towards my daughter, Kara. Do you have family in Metropolis?"

"Yes," Kara said. "My cousin works at the Daily Planet, actually. I live with my aunt and uncle, though. My parents are travelers, so while they have a home, with the money they have, they like to travel the country and see what it's like."

"I see. Well, one thing I can definitely tell is that you're very sweet, and I know you and my daughter were definitely meant to become friends with one another." The Commissioner turned his attention to Barbara. "So why have you come here? As much as I love visits from my beautiful daughter and her friends, I have a feeling that's not the only reason why you're here, Barbara." For a moment, Barbara was a little scared, and then she saw a smile cross her father's face. "I'm kidding," he laughed, pointing at the expression on her face. "I know, when I say that, you're always like, 'What are you talking about? Have I done something wrong?' But did you come here to tell me something?"

"Yeah," Barbara said. "I came to tell you that I have plans for this evening. Bruce invited me to dinner with him and Tim, and he said to bring a friend, so that's why I brought Kara with me. He just wanted to give me a big thanks for helping Tim in school. I would normally tell him it's no big deal, since the kid's grades are actually pretty good, but he insisted, and since he's helped me out so much, by paying me and all that, I couldn't say no. Do you understand?"

"I understand," her father told her. He got up from his desk and hugged her. When they finished their embrace, he placed a hand on her shoulder–her injured shoulder.

"Ow," she said. She wanted to take it back, but it was already too late. Her father had heard her. She struggled to come up with a reason for her pain. "Sorry, I, uh, hit my shoulder last night. I didn't watch where I was going, and I ran into a wall. My shoulder took most of the hit, and so it hurts a little."

"Oh, okay," her father said. "Understandable. Well, I don't blame you for that. Maybe tomorrow, we can go out together and get something. How does that sound?"

"Sounds great!" Barbara said with a smile. She hugged her father. "Well, I've got to go. I promised Kara I'd take her shopping. So anyway, see you tomorrow!" She ended the embrace and began to walk out of the office. "Love you!"

"Love you too, Barbara," her father called as she left. "Have a great day, girls!"

"We will!" Kara promised.

As they left, the girls ran into Harvey again. "Bye, Harvey," said Barbara.

When they had exited the police station, they found Alfred standing by the car, waiting for them. He held two coffees in his hands, and he handed them to Barbara and Kara as they entered the car. "I decided to get them for you, just in case," he told them.

"Thank you, Alfred," Barbara said, hugging him. "You're one of the greatest people I've ever known."

"I try my best, and I do it without needing a reward," the faithful butler told them. "Because I believe that in the end, the only thing that will truly matter is faith and love."

Once they had climbed into the car, Barbara and Kara drank their coffees, and both of them were surprised that Alfred had gotten them exactly right, that they hadn't needed to put any sugar or cream in. Both looked at each other in surprise.

"I guess that's Alfred's superpower," said Barbara as the car began moving.

Both of them laughed.

After that, the car ride back to Wayne Manor remained silent. But just as they began to turn into the driveway, Barbara looked to Kara and said, "You know, I'm really scared right now."

"Why?" Kara asked. Then she thought about her question. "Nevermind. Stupid question. Of course you're scared. I'm so freaking scared right now, too. I don't know what's to come right now, and neither do you. But what matters right now, as Alfred said, is faith and love. And that's all that will matter in the end. And if you want to add another superpower, I think his wisdom is one of them."

Barbara smiled as she thought of this. Then she sighed. "I think you're right. I've been affected by fear for so long. I think it's time I allow my faith and my bravery to lead me to where I need to go next. Let's just hope that if this all culminates in a final battle, which I'm sure it will, unfortunately, then none of us will be too badly injured."

Kara nodded. "I agree," she said. "As long as we get Clark and the other mentors back, that's all that I care about. Safety is definitely something that matters to me, as well."

The car stopped and the girls got out. They noticed something different. There was another car in the driveway. Actually, now that they looked, there were two different cars. They wondered whom they belonged to, but they were sure they would learn when they entered the manor.

The doors of the manor opened for them as they reached them, and they found it was Selina opening the doors for them. It took them a moment to realize she was wearing her Catwoman suit. "Don't worry, no one that doesn't know our identities already is here. But there are some newcomers, however. Bruce says to get ready, by the way. It's almost time."

Barbara and Kara hurried down to the Batcave to put on their costumes, only to find the newcomers Selina had mentioned. Other than the other recruits, Batman, Mera, and Black Canary, Batwoman was there, as was a young man neither of the girls had seen before, though he looked as if he hadn't slept in a while, Captain Marvel, and Zatanna.

"You're back," Batman said, wearing his suit. As soon as that was on, and the mask hid his face, Barbara could only call him Batman. As soon as she put on her suit, she would only call herself Batgirl until it was safe enough not to.

"Yeah, all of it went well," Barbara said. "What the heck are all of you doing here? I thought all the other Justice League heroes had been defeated. Besides you, Batwoman."

"Black Adam tried to beat me, but I was able to escape by transforming into my true form," Captain Marvel told her. "But that doesn't mean he didn't come very close to defeating me. I just got lucky. There's no shame in running from a fight, you know. Especially when your life's on the line. Unless there's another life on the line, like a civilian or one of those you love. Not even a criminal deserves a horrible fate. But fortunately, it was just the two of us."

"I tried to find where the rest of the heroes were being held, but I was unable to, unfortunately," said Zatanna. "I'm sorry, Kara. I tried my best to locate him, but it was too hard. There's something stopping me from finding out where he is."

Kara nodded. "I understand," she admitted. "Thank you for trying, though." She shifted her attention to the disheveled man sitting in the other seat. "Who are you?"

"My name is Cisco Ramon," he said. "I've also been referred to as Vibe by the Flash. I'm one of his allies, and I was there with Red Arrow the day he was defeated by Zoom. I'm really sorry to Kid Flash, because I really wanted to make sure his mentor and uncle stayed with us. But he was taken, and I feel horrible remorse for that."

"It's not your fault," Kid Flash said. "You guys were overpowered. Zoom is one of our greatest enemies, and not even Flash could have defeated him on his own. Not without help, at least. He's done it before, but that doesn't mean Zoom won't beat him anyway."

"But we can change that," Batman said. "Suit up. We're going to find the rest of the Justice League tonight."

"Tonight?" Barbara asked. "Wow, that seems a little quick. Are you sure you know where to go?"

"I have a hunch," was all he said.

Barbara nodded, and then hurried behind the changing room. Alfred appeared there, and he handed her her Batsuit. "I repaired the tear in it, Miss Gordon," he told her with a smile. And then he was gone.

Barbara quickly changed, and soon enough, she was no longer Barbara Gordon. She was Batgirl.

She walked back out into the open and put on her mask. "I'm ready," she said out loud. She looked over and found Kara had changed into Supergirl.

"Good," Batman said.

"So where are we going?" Supergirl asked.

"Into the heart of Gotham," the Dark Knight replied. "While Zatanna was unable to find exactly where the other heroes were taken, she was able to find something that might be able to help. Superman has a larger life force than most, and she was able to sense it. We're going over there to find the building in which the heroes are being held. Cisco and Mera will remain here and help us with our information and the intel on whatever we find. The Batcomputer will help them with that."

"Why can't Vibe come with us?" Supergirl asked.

"Because I was injured by Cheetah during the attack on Star Labs," Cisco told her. "I could fight, but I don't want to pull my stitches."

"And I am with child," Mera said. "I cannot risk losing my child in battle. Just make sure my husband is returned to me."

Batman nodded.

"So what do we do now?" Batgirl asked.

"We get to work."


End file.

Justice League, Adventure, Drama