Conner and Tim are taking a back seat for a little while. Lets see what else is happening in this world.
A light flickered on, washing across the polished wood of the expensive desk.
Releasing the switch, Templar lent back against his chair, his hands locked together in front of his face, his two index fingers resting on his chin as he stared down at the single card on the bare wood. His glasses flashed in the light.
Two whole weeks and finally Red Robin's capture had produced a result. Certainly the teen himself was continuing to remain mute and Templar had to admit, he was impressed at the teenagers fortitude. However, the young hero had made one mistake when he had faced N.O.W.H.E.R.E. for the final time. He had left a vital piece of information hidden in his costume.
Certainly, it had been well hidden, tucked away in a secret pocket. It had taken Templar's scientists several searches of the equipment before one of them had uncovered the hiding spot. But when they did, what a treasure they found.
Untangling his hands, the agent reached down and picked up the card, holding it towards the light. The bat symbol was almost unrecognisable in the gloom, a black smudge in the middle of the card. However, the three letters under the bat were undeniable.
INC.
Templar smiled and placed the card back down in the middle of the desk. He had theorised on his first meeting with the teenager all those months ago that the boy had some connection with the Bats of Gotham. The hero name Robin was too similar to the Red Robin's chosen name and the boy's abilities were too similar to the descriptions of the Batman. However, as much as Templar believed his theory, it was only that… a theory.
Templar had controlled N.O.W.H.E.R.E.s agents for years by presenting evidence. Despite how much he believed, he could not work off a theory. But now the theory had proven to be true. Red Robin was allied to the Batman. And more than that, it seemed that the boy was a former Robin, one of the many protégés the Dark Knight tended to have by his side.
Of course, Templar couldn't confirm Red Robin's status as one of Batman's trainees, but he could confirm a connection, and that was enough for him to realise what a gold mine he currently held in the cell.
Batman was one of the most prominent non-meta heroes in the world. The Dark Knight was rumoured to be the world's greatest detective and to know the identities of all the worlds meta heroes. That sort of information in N.O.W.H.E.R.E.s hands could see the end of this meta society which had appeared over the last few years.
How glorious it would be to see aliens like the so called Man of Steel or those traitors the Green Lanterns, the mutant Hawks and the other freaks which the world had idolised, taken down forever.
Of course, N.O.W.H.E.R.E. would have to be careful. Breaking Red Robin was proving to be difficult enough and gaining the information would be time consuming. Once they managed to get the identity of the Dark Knight from the teen, the organisation would then have to use the information carefully. Batman was dangerous and unpredictable. If he didn't put enough value on his own secret identity, he could potentially take down the whole organisation. And would the failsafe for catching the Dark Knight work? Would Batman place any value on Red Robin's life? Would he want to save the boy, especially if N.O.W.H.E.R.E. managed to force the teen to work for them?
If the threat of revealing his secret identity to the world fell through would the Dark Knight respond to the threat of Red Robin's demise?
It was these questions Templar needed answers too. Only then would he know if he had the power to control the Dark Knight.
The ground was littered with rubble, giant cracks running through the concrete where the Man of Steel had hit the ground. Shacking dust off himself, Superman stood up and looked back at his assailant, trying to fight the wave of sickness which washed over him.
Metallo was standing, waiting for the fallen hero to get back on his feet, kryptonite heart glowing. Superman glared at him. Suddenly, there was a crash as Metallo raised his foot, tripping up the Flash as the fastest man alive attempted to hit him. Barry fell forward, hitting the ground hard.
There was a metal ping as several projectiles hit Metallo's back. The part-man, part-machine turned with a roar, glaring at Batman as the Dark Knight backed away. The projectiles suddenly exploded, knocking the villain off his feet. With impressive speed, Batman threw out a line, catching around Metallo's waist. The villain rose to his feet, preparing to jump at Batman. Green chains wrapped themselves around Metallo's torso, stopping his jump as Green Lantern floated to the ground, ring pointed at the metal man. Metallo grinned and raised his imprisoned arms. The chains broke, flickering out of existence and the sudden force knocking Hal off his feet. Grapping the line, Metallo ripped it out of Batman's hands, the Dark Knight only narrowly escaping as the villain lunged for him.
He ducked out of the way as Wonder Woman aimed a punch, grapping her arm when she got too close and throwing her towards Cyborg as he aimed his canon, knocking both off their feet.
The villain walked towards Superman, who was forced slowly back as the kryptonite radiation washed over him.
A yellow blur rushed past the Man of Steel, suddenly becoming a teenage boy. The boy ducked down, hitting Metallo across the knees. The villain, taken by surprise, stumbled backwards. A rope dropped around the half-man, half-machine, tightening suddenly. Metallo turned as a teenage girl, dressed in red appeared, holding onto the end of the rope. As Metallo struggled against the rope, a giant spider like creature dropped down onto the villains back, spitting a green substance on his metal arm. The arm started to smoke as the substance burned through the metal.
Metallo roared again, trying to throw the spider thing off. The teen in yellow appeared again, moving with what could only be super-speed. He grabbed the villain's legs. Metallo, his arms still tied tight, struggled to gain his balance. The girl in red flew forward, landing a punch on Metallos head and sending the villain to the ground. The Spider climbed off its perch, rising to its full height and looking down at the damage. Superman finally got a good look at it. It was defiantly female and humanoid. Apart from that, the Man of Steel couldn't tell.
There was a moment of silence as everyone held their breath, waiting to see if Metallo was going to get up. When it was clear he wasn't, the older heroes looked at the new arrivals.
"What is going on here?" Superman asked, looking at the teens as they grouped together. There were more of them then the hero had expected, five in total. The girl in red who seemed to has super strength and the female insectoid. A strange dark female with pulsing blue light racing across her skin had appeared, along with a masked boy dressed in purple. But that wasn't what caught Superman's attention.
The boy in yellow was surprisingly familiar, and not just because he was a speedster. The logo on the boy's chest was that of the Flash. But why was the teen wearing it?
Superman looked up as the rest of his team drew closer, circling around the teenagers who were watching the adults, looking for any escapes. All except the young speedster who was staring at the Flash. The Flash who was looking at the teen in horror.
"Bart!" The adult speedster said, unable to hide the surprise in his voice.
Finally the younger speedster looked down, blushing slightly.
"Hi Grampa Barry."
The League members turned to stare at their speedster as the Flash finally realised he was being watched.
"Grampa?" Wonder Woman asked.
Barry sighed and tried to run his hand through his hair, forgetting that he was wearing his mask. Realising what he was doing, he dropped his hand.
"It's a long story." He muttered. His brown eyes met the yellow ones of his 'grandson'. "Bart, what are you doing here?"
Bart crossed his arms against his chest, ignoring how the rest of his team tried to shift away from the looks the older heroes were fixing on their speedster.
"We came to ask you for help." Bart replied.
This distracted Superman away from the question of how Barry Allen, one of the younger members of the Justice League, could be the grandfather of a teenager.
"Help?" He asked, finally breaking into the silent standoff between the two speedsters. The teen (Bart) looked up at Superman.
"Our friend has been captured by an evil organisation which has been hunting us." The teen said, looking up at the Man of Steel. Superman glanced over at Batman. The Dark Knight was a detective. If anyone could figure out what the teen was speaking about, it would be Batman. After all, he had raised (or at least partly raised) four crime fighters and could tell if a teen was over or under-estimating a situation.
"Speak." The Detective growled, glaring at the teen. Bart suddenly looked fearful.
"Well…." He hesitated, suddenly not sure what to say.
Thankfully, Cassie decided to step in, although Bart wasn't sure if it was to face Batman or to get away from Wonder Woman, who was glaring at her.
"N.O.W.H.E.R.E. What do you know?"
Batman met her glare.
"Anti-meta protest group. They are very secretive but I have found connections between them and the more violent political protests for meta registration."
Cassie laughed. It wasn't a nice laugh.
"You forgot the part about them trying to kidnap us!"
The League looked over at Batman, who was eyeing Cassie with well hidden interest.
"Continue." He started.
Cassie licked her lips. She didn't really know what else to say.
"Well, you see, our friend Red Robin was…"
"Oh no." Superman whispered.
Batman advanced on the teens suddenly, glaring down at them.
"Tell me everything. Now!"