The sound of screeching bats echoed through the cave, deep below Wayne manor as its master, Bruce Wayne, a.k.a The Batman, was sitting at the Batcomputer. He was currently going over the evidence he'd collected from Downtown Gotham, pertaining to a string of murders, four so far.
Dick and Tim were sparring behind him, both in full gear and going all out. Well actually, Dick was holding back a little bit, but he wasn't going to tell Tim that. Damian was currently off with the Teen Titans in Jump City and so Tim was filling the role of Batman's sidekick, Robin.
"Stop holding back, Dick!" Tim grunted, blocking a kick from the acrobat and retaliating with a punch. Dick took the blow, leaning back a bit, and used Tim's energy against him; he grabbed the teen's arm, spun around and threw him across the room. Tim rolled with it, letting his momentum carry him forward into a somersault, then landed on his feet, spinning around on the spot.
"Relax Tim, I'm not holding back at all! You're just-"
"Getting better. Yeah, yeah. That lame excuse might've worked when I was younger-" Tim began with a small smile, lunging in at Dick. He threw a series of punches and Dick dodged each one of them, until Tim pulled a feint and swept his leg at Dick's ankles. The acrobat yelped as he fell to the ground, catching himself on one hand. In a, unnecessary, display of his Capoeira skills, he spun around on his hands, and kicked Tim, sending him tumbling head over heels across the room. Dick jumped back onto his feet and trotted across the room and knelt over Tim.
"Tim, you alright?" Dick asked, holding his hand out. Tim grumbled a bit, unintelligible, and took Dick's hand. As Dick helped him to his feet, Tim quickly grappled the acrobat to the ground.
"Ha! I win!" Tim cheered as Dick groaned, between a mix of pain of having his the solid ground and having a sixteen-year-old on his back.
"He's right, Dick. You let your guard down," Bruce called out without turning from the computer screen. Dick grunted as Tim got off of his back and helped him to his feet. Dick groaned and rubbed the back of his head, but flashed Tim a smirk and patted him on the shoulder.
"I can't believe I fell for that. Good job, Tim," he congratulated "Your hand-to-hand is coming along nicely," Dick complimented, patting Tim's back. He wrapped an arm around the teen's shoulders and the two of them made their way toward the computer.
"Master Richard, Master Timothy. Your tea is ready," came Alfred's voice as he entered the cave with a tray in hand. Dick and Tim turned toward the elderly butler and made their way over, meeting him halfway. Dick and Tim took their tea cups and sipped their tea, which was quickly followed by 'mmm' sounds.
"Earl Gray for you, Master Richard. Your favorite. And for you, Master Tim, I have prepared-"
"Green Tea. Thanks Alfred," Tim replied, peeling off his domino and sipping his tea. Dick grinned from ear-to-ear, like a kid in a candy store; Alfred's tea was always the best. The two of them accompanied Alfred toward Bruce, when the sound of a motorcycle started echoing throughout the cave. They turned toward the tunnel to see who it was. Moments later, Jason's motorcycle came to a stop in the cave, but he didn't look good. And neither did Roy.
"Hey guys. Little help?" Jason asked. Roy was slumped over in front of Jason looking in pretty rough shape, and Jason's helmet was gone; all he had was a ripped domino mask. He looked like hell, with fresh wounds all over his body. He tried to stand but he and Roy both fell the floor, unconscious.
"My word! Master Bruce-" Alfred called, but Bruce was already racing to his side, followed quickly by Dick, Tim, and Alfred. Bruce checked their pulses, then turned to Alfred.
"They're alive! Get the med kits, now!"
Alfred didn't waste a second and Tim raced after him as the two of them made for the medical bay of the cave. Bruce lifted Jason up into his arms, and Dick grabbed Roy, wrapping the red head's arm around his shoulders, and his own arm around Roy's waist dragging him to the medbay.
"How the hell did this happen?! I've never seen them this bad before!" Dick called.
"I don't know," Bruce replied, tone even, face stoic. It was a good question; who in Gotham had the training and the capability to take on and nearly kill Arsenal and the Red Hood? They were both highly skilled, highly trained vigilantes. Whoever had done this was beyond dangerous. But right now, his top priority was Jason.
Bruce and Dick arrived in the medbay and Alfred and Tim had prepared two medical cots. Bruce lay Jason on one and Dick laid Roy down on the other. Bruce turned to Dick and pointed toward the Batcomputer.
"Contact Leslie Thompkins! We need her help! Now!" Bruce shouted and Dick sprinted off toward the computer without hesitation. Bruce turned his attention back toward Jason, grabbing the young man's hand and squeezing it.
"You will not die, Jason. Do you hear me?" He said, barely above a whisper. "You. Will. Not. Die. You're stronger than this."
"Excuse me Master Bruce, but I need-" Alfred began, but Bruce left without another word, giving Alfred space to work. "Master Timothy! Tend to Master Roy until Miss Thompkins arrives!" Alfred shouted.
"Got it!" Tim called back. It was chaos on the Batcave with Alfred and Tim rushing all over the medbay to help Jason and Roy. Dick had contacted Leslie and she was on her way, and he was currently talking with Barbara, trying to see if she had any inkling as to what Jason and Roy were up to, with her considerable resources and computer skills as Oracle.
Bruce for that matter, donned his cowl and headed for the batmobile. Dick turned in the chair and called after him.
"Bruce, where are you going?!"
"Out. I'm going to find out who or what did this," Bruce said evenly, jumping in the vehicle. Dick turned, looking back and forth between Barbara and Bruce.
"Let him go. I'll connect with him and update him when I have something," Barbara replied. Dick frowned but gave a curt nod, then jumped up from the chair. "Dick," Barbara called. Dick paused and turned. "Keep me in the loop. I want to know if those two-"
"They'll be fine, Babs. Don't worry," Dick interrupted, racing toward the medbay.
"Batman, this is Oracle. I have some information for you," Oracle called over the batmobile's comm link. Batman allowed her access, turning his attention toward the road. He was currently headed toward the GCPD. He knew Jason had a base there; and old, long forgotten bunker underneath the GCPD headquarters that he'd repurpose into his own 'batcave' of sorts. It seemed like a good place to start.
"What do you have for me, Oracle?" Batman asked in a neutral tone. The sound of clacking keys sounded over the comm link for a few seconds before she spoke again.
"I hacked into Jason's system at his base underneath the GCPD. It wasn't that hard, though it seemed like he intentionally left it open just for me-"
"Oracle."
"Right, sorry. Anyway, he and Roy were investigating some kind of deal that was going down at GothCorp headquarters. The details are a little foggy, but from what I can make out, Jason and Roy wanted to investigate it on the grounds that the deal was off the books, and considering GothCorp's history of dealing in weaponry. Most notably-"
"Cryogenic Weaponry. Yes, I remember. Their chemicals are what turned Victor Fries into Mr Freeze," Batman replied. Oracle was silent for a few moments before she continued.
"Right. Well anyway, he and Roy went to investigate. As to what they found, you'd have to ask him. You should get over there, though. Fire Fighters have been dispatched to the area. Reports of several explosions inside the building are pouring in-"
"I'm on my way. Thanks Oracle," Batman interrupted, gunning the engine and racing off toward GothCorp HQ.
Both "Batman" and Bruce Wayne had experience dealing with GothCorp. The so-called "People Company", headed by CEO Ferris Boyle, was supposedly developed for aid humanity in whatever way possible, whether that be a new food supply, new medical research, a new way of living, and hell, even the potential colonization of Mars.
But behind the scenes, GothCorp was crooked to the core. They dealt in weaponry in the shadows and in back room deals. As Oracle had pointed out, they were most notable for their cryogenic technological developments, especially weaponry. They'd branched out a lot since then, and not just with their 'helping humanity' scheme. It was curious though, since GothCorp had been relatively quiet and well-behaved the last few years. So why the sudden shadowy deals? Batman intended to find out why.
When he arrived at the scene, GCPD, the Fire Department, and Medical respondents were already there. None of them could get inside the building as of yet, but that wasn't going to stop Batman. He spotted Gordon at the edge of the scene, near a dark alleyway, as if waiting for someone. So Batman approached him from the shadows.
"What do we know?" he asked. Gordon didn't so much as flinch, flicking his cigarette down to the ground and crushing it under his shoe.
"Nothing yet. We haven't been able to get inside. We have to wait for the Fire Marshal to give the green light. But that's not going to stop you, is it?" he asked. There was a pause, then Gordon followed up with "all we know so far, is that we received reports of at least half a dozen explosions rocking the building. No suspects, no motive, nothing."
"I'll let you know what I find," Batman replied. Gordon just gave a nod. He turned and sure enough, Batman was gone.
"Oracle-" Batman began, having snuck into the building.
"Already on it. Hacking the security feeds now," she answered. Batman carefully made his way through the building which was in rough shape. Chunks of stone littered the floor, and jagged pieces of metal stuck out where the explosions had gone off. Small fires still burned here or there, and Batman passed the occasional corpse of any poor, unlucky fool who had been unable to escape. Alarms blared around him, which he ignored as he proceeded through the building.
He knelt before a corpse and examined it.
"Bullet wounds. This man was an employee."
"Bullet wounds? Then this wasn't just some random attack. This was a hit," Oracle replied. Batman pulled a pair of tweezers from his utility belt and managed to dig out a bullet. He scanned it with the wrist-mounted computer in his gauntlet and sent it to Oracle.
"Oracle, examine the bullet scan I sent you and let me know what you find."
"On it."
Batman continued through the building with caution. It didn't seem like there was anyone else here, but then something caught his eye. Eyes narrowing Batman approached a device that looked like-"
"A bomb. Looks like a dud. Military Grade," Batman said from a simple visual inspection.
"A bomb? And Military Grade? This was definitely a hit," Oracle replied. "I've got something on your bullet. It's also military grade. I'm not liking where this is going."
"This wasn't just some Corporate hit job. This attack was carried out by trained professionals. Mercenaries. Highly skilled mercenaries," Batman put in.
"That's where all the evidence is pointing. I have some security footage here. Uploading it to you now."
Batman pulled up a holorgraphic screen from his gauntlet and watched the footage. He skipped through several pieces of footage until he found a few that brought on suspicion. The new CEO was meeting with some rather shady looking characters, and then in another scene, Red Hood and Arsenal were discovered. That was when everything went to hell. The man the CEO was meeting with pulled out a gun and executed him. From there, the feeds went dark. All of them, save for one.
"They made a mistake," Batman muttered.
"Yeah, I'm watching the same clip now."
The clip in question showed men and women in combat gear entering the building. Batman zoomed in on someone in the distance and watched him set a bomb. He could hear gun fire and screams, but then came another gunshot, and the feed went dark.
"This is really troubling. I've never seen mercenaries like that before. Their armor doesn't match any known mercenary group," Oracle called.
"It's definitely concerning, yes. My first guess would've been the League of Assassins, but the evidence here doesn't point to them."
"We'll need to talk to Jason and Roy then. They were here before the bombs went off. They might know something."
"Yes. But what's more troubling is-"
"How did they get into Gotham completely undetected?"
"Exactly."