A/N: I don't own anything mentioned in this story with the exception of the character of 'The Broker'
Chapter One: The Best of The Worst
"Are these the ones you picked?" a woman asked her boss
Sitting on her boss's desk was a small stack of ten folders. Within it each folders was a entire profile of ten candidates he had selected out of thousands of others to be joined together for a special task he and his associates needed down. But this was not a team of heroes needed to right a terrible wrong; this was team that would gather together some of the worst criminals in history in order to accomplish a seemingly impossible feat.
"They are" her boss answered "They're some of best at they're...occupation"
The young man's assistant looked over some of the files. She instantly recognized many of them in an instant, while others she had other heard stories, and from those stories alone, they sounded just has bad as the ones she did know of.
"Are you sure about these guys?" she questioned as she looked over more of the files "I mean some of them aren't exactly team players-hell, some of them aren't even mentally stable!"
"They'll do" her boss answered without any hint of sympathy for them "Have them brought"
"How are we supposed to find them?" she pointed out "I mean these guys don't exactly have an address"
"We'll draw them out with the only method they'll ever response to" her boss answered "With the promise of money"
Miracle City
Zoe slammed the door to her room in anger. Earlier in the day she had attempted a robbery on an jewelry store in her Black Cuervo persona and had successfully managed to make off with a rare diamond-shaped eagle when White Pantera and his son El Tigre cut off her escape. She attempted to fight them both, however, with Tigre being the object of her affection, she was unable to focus on the fight and was quickly defeated. Facing capture, Zoe sent an emergency signal to her mother and grandmother; who swooped in and rescued her at the last second.
However, After returning to their home, her mother proceeded to scold Zoe for actions; saying that she wasn't ready to pull of a job like this solo and was sent to her room for the rest of the night. It wasn't so much they failed heist the youngest member of the Flock of Fury was mad about, she was more angry that once again her mother looked down on her and judged her to be to incompetent to fly solo.
She just wanted to show to her family once-just once-that she had what it took to be called a true super-villain. If she could just have one opportunity to prove to all of Miracle City that she was a force to be reckoned with without the aid of the rest of her family, she could feel complete.
As she flopped down her bed and let out a frustrated sigh in anger, the TV in her room suddenly switched on to show static. Thinking that she had just fell on the remote, Zoe was about to reach under her back to try and find it when she saw out of the corner of her eye that the remote was sitting on her dresser. Before she could understand what was going on, the static on the TV become to form the imagine of shadowy figure.
Acting on instinct alone, Zoe jumped to her feet and activated her wrist laser before aiming at the television, ready to blow it to smithereens.
"Quit the reflects you have there, miss Aves" the figure said in a distorted voice "Or do you prefer Black Cuervo?"
The young's eyes eyes widen in shock upon hearing her own name come out the stranger's mouth. Her identity and that of the rest of family was a close guarded secret, no one - not even the other villains in Miracle City knew that she was seemingly regular school girl.
"How do you-" she attempted to ask
"Know of your secret identity? I'm afraid that's my secret, my dear " the figure informed "But you can relax miss Aves, I'm not here to threaten you - in fact - I have a job offer for you"
Zoe paused for a few moments as she narrowed at him in suspicion. After a few more tense seconds, the young villain retracted her weapon as a sign that she was standing down - for now, that is.
"Talk" she ordered
"I'll get right to the point then" the stranger began "You can call me Mr. Chance, and I'm putting together a special team for a very special heist"
"Go on" Zoe insisted with interest leaking into her voice
"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you anything further. However, I will say that this little venture will be quite profitable for you" he answered "If you want in, the address is one-one-four-D Gowanus Street in Brooklyn New York. I hope to see there, miss Aves"
With that, the tv shut off by itself, leaving Zoe to make a decision. Was she really going to go across the country to some little building in New York just because some guy on her TV told her to? On the other hand though, perhaps this way the universe cutting her some slack and giving her to her the chance she needed to prove to her mother that she was true super-villain. But there was still a lingering fear that this could all be some elaborate trapt to ensnare her; the person on the TV did know that she and Black Cuervo where one in the same, so who knows what else this guy could have in store for her at this address when she arrived.
For nearly an hour, Zoe paced back and fourth on how to handle this situation. Finally, she made her choice. After readying her armor and few other things she needed to make the trip, Zoe opened her bedroom window and activated her her jetpack, flying upwards into the skies above. She had considered leaving a note of some sorts to tell her mother where she was going, but she choose to leave her family in the dark for now; knowing they would not allow her to undertake this mission at all. Her mother would be furious, but Zoe couldn't wait to see the look on her face when she returned with a great reward she would no doubt receive from this task.
And so, she was off to New York City, all the while wondering what kind of team was being put together for this heist.
It may have taken the young girl three days, but she finally arrived at the address she was given by her mysterious employer. The rain was pouring down furiously from the dark clouds above as she stood across the street from the seemingly warehouse. She was out of her armor and back in her regular attire with a small, dark purple umbrella to shield her from the rain above her head.
The warehouse was an old, brick walled building with broken windows and graffiti tags of multiple artists throughout the ages. As the youngest member of the Flock of Fury carefully looked over the run-down building, she began have second thoughts about the whole thing. It was was insane of her to even travel all the way out here on the promise of money that she may not even get. For all Zoe knew, she may be walking into trap orchestrated by INTERPOL - or worse, a group of superheroes waiting to beat her senseless the second she stepped inside the building.
"What am I doing?" the young girl said to her herself
"I know what you mean little dude, seriously" a gruff voice suddenly spoke up from behind her
Zoe whirled around to see a man who was dressed in a white t-shirt, blue jeans and brown leather boots was standing behind her. The man was well-built, with a long dirty blonde mullet and a think mustache on his face.
"I get a message to come all the way out here 'cause some dude on my tv told me to, but I've been out here for two hours wondering if this is a set-up or not" the man continued "but y'a know what? screw it! so long as it's dry in in there, I'll be happy to spring the trap. seriously, I'm freak'in drown'in out here!"
"And you are?" Zoe inquired sharply
"Name's Ed little dude" the man introduced "But they call me Motor Ed, seriously"
Now that was a name the young villain had heard off. Motor Ed was the cousin of the notorious super-villain Dr. Drakken and was also a known enemy to the teen secret agent, Kim Possible. While Ed was no legend like his cousin, he was a known villain with a knack for creating some rather nasty mechanics.
Before Zoe could say anything, a newcomer jumped down from the building behind them and landed next to the two the two villains. This newcomer was a teenage girl dressed in a black latex cat-suit. At first Zoe assumed that this was a certain cat-themed thief from Gotham, but she was a bit to young to be her.
"If the three of us agree to watch each others backs, we should be good" the teen began "I've been here for five hours, and as far as I can tell, there's been no activity in or out of that warehouse"
"Hey, aren't you-" Ed attempted to ask
"Not I'm not who your thinking of" the cat-girl corrected "The name's Katnappe"
Again, another name Zoe had heard off. Katnappe was a young career criminal who was one of the youngest professional thieves in the criminal underworld. She was mostly known with being an accomplice to a young screw-up by the name of Jack Spicer. Before the trio could form a plan, two more villains arrived to the scene, both of which under their own umbrellas.
The first was a tall man dressed in lab coat with long yellow rubber gloves. His hair was snow white and his eyes were bright red and had what looked like mouse-whiskers sticking out from his face. But the strangest thing about the man was a what looked like a tiny brain sticking out from the side of his head.
The person next to him was just as odd-looking. The other villain was younger and was dressed in a black and green costume that was consisted of a mini-skirt, a black cape, gloves and boots. The villain also had long black hair with a green highlight in the front and dark green make-up. What was also strange was that from what it looked like to Zoe was that this stranger was a man dressed a woman.
"Good evening my fellow near-do-wells!" the older man announced to the other villains "This must be the place for the job!"
"That's what we're trying to figure out" Katnappe replied "And you two must be Dr. Two-Brains and Shezap"
Now these where villains that were not well to to the young villain. All Zoe knew of Two-Brains was that he was Fair City's number one villain and the arch-enemy to it's protector; Wordgirl. As for SheZap, he/she was a villain that hailed from the city of Megadale and was the dark doppelganger to the hero known as SheZow.
"Right you are, missy!" Two-Brains affirmed "And you must be Katnappe, Motor Ed and..uh, whose the kid?"
Rather then let her anger get the best of her, Zoe instead activated her armor and became what she considered to be her true self.
"I am Black Cuervo!" she announced to the other villains, striking a deadly pose as she did
"Oh, I've heard of you" Two-Brains said "Aren't you a little young to be a super-villain?"
"Aren't you a little old to keep getting your butt kicked by a 10-year old?" Cuervo retorted
"Ah burn dude, seriously!" Ed commented
"Enough of this! we need to stay focused!" Katnappe cut in "We could still be walking into a trap!"
"Why not just step inside and find out?" Shezap suggested "I say we go in there kill everything that moves!"
"Dude, how did you hook up with this guy, seriously?" Ed whispered to Two-Brains
"We carpooled all the way here" the mad scientist explained in a low voice "he gives me the creeps!"
"So, are we going in or not?" Zoe questioned impatiently to the other villains
The group of villains silently looked at one another, quietly judging if these other criminals could be trusted-at least for the time being. The group nodded among to each other in understanding before collectively heading across the street and into the warehouse itself.
The room they stepped into was empty - save for a single table sitting in the center of of it. But it was what was on the table that got the villain's attention. Sitting on the table, were stacks upon stacks of hundred-dollar bills.
"I gotta have more anonymous dudes telling me to go places, seriously" Ed said as he started to drool at the sight of the cash
Before any of the united criminals could even move toward the money, Cuervo felt something pressed up against the back of her helmet, which was followed by the sound of the safety of a gun being switched off.
"If your fond of breathing mate, you won't take another step!" a voice from behind her commanded "unless you want me to spill your brains all over this place!"
