Young Justice -:- Fragility

Sorry about the wait! But on the plus side, this is a super-sized chapter and we are now back to the regular update schedule! Thanks to all who left a comment (again, cause you are all awesomely amazing!) A little confusion on the whole Titans thing - they are not the Teen Titans (I'm pretty sure that they don't exist in the YJ universe what with there already being a team and some of the Titans already on it) - it's just an unoriginal name lol. You are going to meet them in this chapter!

Special thanks to thedancingcrown again for your awesome comment! You're so in-sync with my brain that its scary :P You're right on the money with the whole Dick/Babs thing - he may be a dog but he's not a cheater :P And when it comes to Bruce - well, Bats is a conundrum. He's a character that has that all-knowing thing going on, but at the same time he can miss things (especially when it comes to Dick) because he's not a people person lol

This is part one of a three part finale - so cliffhangers here we come! (Quick updates a promise - so don't panic!) Enjoy!

Part Ten

It was the final period on a Friday; and it was dragging, big time. Mr Carr was trying to make Civics interesting, but it was clear that he was fighting a losing battle. At that point, not a single person cared about the impact of Scottish Independence on the UK; including Mr Carr.

M'gann sighed and leaned back in her seat, staring at the clock at the front of the classroom and silently willing it to go faster. To her right, Connor was staring straight ahead blankly, the same way that he did when he watched the static on the cave TV. On her left, Zatanna appeared to be paying rapt attention, but there was something... off about her.

'Hey, are you okay?' M'gann asked telepathically, making Zee jump as if she had been shocked. Connor looked over at them curiously, quickly recognising a mind link conversation, but M'gann gestured for him to give them a moment. 'Girl talk,' she sent to him, before cutting him off and focusing on Zee. 'How did it go with Robin?'

'He didn't show,' Zatanna replied, but there was something weird about her mental voice. She sounded flat and despondent, which M'gann guessed kinda made sense considering what Zee had just said – but it still didn't feel right.

'I'm sorry, Zee,' M'gann said sympathetically, but the other girl barely reacted. She must have been taking the rejection really badly. M'gann still didn't know what had happened between the two of them, but it was obviously serious. Maybe it was best that they just ended their relationship, even if they had once seemed so cute together. 'Do you want to talk about it?'

Zee sent her a look that rivalled Robin's batglare. A high-pitched noise accompanied the look, like the sound of nails on a chalkboard. M'gann quickly shut down the link to stop the sharp pain. That's never happened before... she thought worriedly, studying Zee as the dark haired girl returned to staring at Mr Carr. It was as if there was something interfering with the mind link – or someone else connected to Zatanna...

M'gann immediately turned to Connor, ignorant of how strange she might look to her classmates. 'There's something wrong with Zee.'

'What?' Connor asked, but he was mostly drowned out by the loud bong, bong bong of the school's PA system.

"Good afternoon, students," an oddly familiar voice greeted over the tannoy. Beneath the static and echoes of the speakers throughout the school there was a low hissing noise that M'gann couldn't place. "This is Dr Grantes, your school counsellor, or so I have had you all believe. This is an announcement to thank you all for taking part in what will be a glorious moment in World History. Not that you have any choice, of course."

The sound was coming from the vents, an odourless gas billowing into the classroom. No one else seemed to notice as they were too caught up in trying to understand the odd speech, but M'gann and Connor shared a look. Something big and very bad was going down – but what could they do? Right now they were normal high school students – no powers, no heroics...

Mr Carr had noticed the gas too and had stood up from behind his desk, though he looked unsteady on his feet. "The windows!" he ordered his befuddled students, but his instructions went mostly unheard. "Open the windows! Gas!"

M'gann could feel the effects of the gas even with her Martian physiology, the world beginning to tilt and sway around her as she struggled to breathe. She got up to comply with Mr Carr's instructions and nearly fell straight back down as vertigo hit. Connor grabbed her arm to keep her steady as all around them students began to drop like flies. Zatanna was still sitting in her seat, her head cushioned on her folded arms as if she had decided to take a nap.

Mr Carr collapsed, his head hitting the corner of a student's desk on his way down, but M'gann couldn't go to help him. She dropped to her knees a metre away from the windows; leaning back against Connor for support as he ended up falling down as well and slumping against a desk to stay semi-upright.

But they weren't unconscious. None of them were (except for Mr Carr of course). Whatever the gas was it wasn't a sedative. It left M'gann feeling slow and lethargic, as if her brain had been submersed in soup and expected to function normally. She could move too, but it took so much effort that she decided to just stay put and wait for whatever was coming next.

"There is a group of... volunteers... on their way to your classrooms as I speak," Dr Grantes continued gleefully, and M'gann struggled to try and identify where she recognised the voice from. "They have a gift for each and every one of you. If you would all be so kind as to put them on, we can get this show started!"

The classroom door slammed open and three people entered carrying cardboard boxes. They were dressed like UPS delivery people in brown and yellow suits with matching caps. They marched in time with each other, but their movements didn't appear robotic or unnatural. They lined up before the desks at the front of the classroom and put down their boxes. They then ripped them open, sending a shower packing peanuts everywhere.

M'gann watched curiously as the UPS guys each pulled out a pile of brightly coloured baseball caps and began making their way down the aisles between the desks. They stopped at each slumped student to sandwich a cap onto their heads, and she realised that they all had different Justice League member logos on them, like novelty items from a comic book store. What in the world is this?

One of the UPS guys crouched down beside them, pulling out a Green Lantern and and a Superman cap. M'gann felt Connor growl threateningly at the brown-suited man, but there wasn't a whole lot that he could do as the blue hat was firmly placed on his head. He blinked, but seemed otherwise unaffected. 'Connor, are you okay?'

Connor didn't physically move as the UPS guy turned to her and approached with the emerald Green Lantern cap, but his mental voice was loud and alarmed as he yelled; 'M'gann, needle!'

She didn't have a clue what he meant. Not until the cap was crammed over her red hair and she felt a sharp pinprick right above her left ear. Immediately, she shape-shifted around the needle so that she could telekinetically break it off before it pierced her skin. As the UPS guy moved on, M'gann glanced over at Connor who was watching her in concern. 'I'm okay,' she reassured him, giving him a small smile. 'You?'

'The needle broke against my skin,' Connor answered. 'What about Zatanna?'

M'gann looked up to find Zee sitting upright again, a Batman cap blending into her black hair. It was hard to tell the difference, what with the fact that the homo-magi had been acting weirdly before, but M'gann was pretty sure that Zee had fallen victim along with everyone else. M'gann briefly tried to re-establish a mind link with her, but she was met with what felt like a solid wall. She shook her head at Connor. 'I can't get through.'

'What now?' Connor asked. The dulling effects of the gas left them with nothing more than a headache and dry mouth, which meant that they could now move – if they had anywhere to go, that is. The UPS guys had made it all the way to the back of the classroom, leaving thirty-odd wide-eyed and mesmerised students in their wake. 'This has got to be the Mad Hatter, right?'

It was a pretty safe assumption, what with the hats and what looked like mind-control. But who was Dr Grantes? There was no way that he was the Hatter in disguise – the Gotham madman's stature was quite unique. Was Grantes the unknown third player? And why was his voice so familiar? 'We need to contact the League.'

Connor nodded, and then glanced over at their bags, which were still beside their desks two rows over. Currently everyone in that room appeared to be in some kind of trance, but that didn't mean that they wouldn't notice two people clearly not following the same orders that they were. They couldn't give themselves away yet. 'I've got a communicator in the side pocket,' Connor said even as he kept up the act of mindless drone. 'Can you get it without being spotted?'

M'gann nodded, though she wasn't 100% certain. The UPS guys were still hanging at the back of the room now that they had finished their task; and all the students appeared oblivious as they waited for their orders, giving her the only window that she was probably going to get.

Stretching out telekinetically, she undid the zip on the backpack, wincing as the sound seemed to echo loudly in the near-silence. She then imagined reaching into the pocket, her fingers automatically acting out the motion as she grasped the sleek communicator. She was just lifting it out past the lip of the pocket when the opening tune of the PA system made her loose her concentration. The small device hit the floor with loud clatter, but no one seemed to notice.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, places please!" Dr Grantes announced, and everyone jumped to attention, M'gann and Connor a few seconds behind. 'It is almost time to begin. But first, a few warm up exercises. Everybody: STAND."

Immediately every single person climbed to their feet and stood rigidly straight, Connor and M'gann following suit. The students then acted a serious of gestures – raise their left hand, stand on one leg – all of them looking like idiots but no one in the state of mind to care. It was like a horrific version of the game Simon Says; and Connor and M'gann had to play along without the instructions.

"Fantastic," Dr Grantes said appreciatively. M'gann didn't know how the man behind the tannoy knew that his orders were being carried out – had a surveillance system been installed, or were there cameras worked into the caps themselves? - but he sounded incredibly pleased with the results regardless. "Now if you could all assemble in the main quad – we're expecting company!"

The colony of mind-controlled students moved as one, filing towards the exit in an orderly manner. M'gann and Connor fell into line with them, keeping up their acts as they had no idea where the puppet master had hidden eyes. As she passed her desk, M'gann surreptitiously glanced down and spotted the dropped communicator, a quick flick of her wrist summoning it to her hand. She slipped the device into her pocket as she followed the others down the corridor and towards the main doors.

'I've sent an emergency signal to the League,' M'gann informed Connor, who nodded minutely in response. But as she saw the mass exodus of students and faculty congregating all around them, she began to wonder if it would be enough.

Recognised: Batman 02. Robin B01.

Dick stepped out of the zeta tube beside his mentor and guardian, and pointedly avoided looking at him. He had decided to follow procedure that day and allow Alfred to take him home rather than zeta-ing straight to the Cave; but that didn't mean that he was talking to Bruce again.

As always, to preserve his air of mystery, Bruce was in Batman's full garb for this visit, but as Robin was still sidelined with an injury, Dick had gone for civvies. He wore his blue Superman hoodie with pride, loving the way that it made Batman scowl whenever he saw it. His shades were in place as a precaution in case Zatanna was around, but he was sincerely hoping that she wasn't. That was a confrontation he would much rather avoid.

Black Canary greeted them with a warm smile as they stepped into the main cavern of Mt. Justice, which Dick returned. "It's good to see you Robin," she said, before her eyes flickered to Batman briefly. "Have you been cleared for training this evening?"

"Light training," Batman answered, making Dick roll his eyes. He knew that Bruce was only worried about him, but that wasn't making him feel better. He didn't want to be treated with kid gloves just because of a few bruised ribs and a couple of stitches. He had been feeling useless for so long due to two consecutive benchings, and Bruce's concern wasn't exactly helping matters. The sooner that he got back into the fight, the sooner that he would feel like himself again.

Black Canary nodded. "We'll keep it to gentle sparring, then. Just as soon as the others arrive. Wally and Artemis are waiting in the rec room if you want to join them, Robin."

Dick glanced between the two adults, getting the feeling that Black Canary was trying to get rid of him so that the grown-ups could talk. He had wondered why Bruce had come to the Cave for what should have been a normal training session – maybe they had made a break in the investigation?

He wanted to eavesdrop, he really did, but Batman always seemed to know that he was there. So Dick just shrugged as if he didn't care and left the cavern and the two Leaguers behind. But as he looked back he just caught Black Canary asking in surprise "Rhode Island?"

"Hey Rob!" Wally yelled enthusiastically before Dick could find out more, distracting the Boy Wonder with his ridiculously good mood. Dick allowed himself to be led into the rec room where Artemis was laid out on the floor maintaining her quiver of arrows. Satisfied that Dick was staying in the room, Wally sped off and threw himself onto the couch. "I'm bored and Artemis won't play video games with me."

Well, that explained why Wally was so excited to see him. Artemis rolled her eyes at the speedster's whining, and then threw Dick a look as if to say Good Luck. The pair of them had only been stuck in the Cave for a few days, but it was apparent that cabin fever was beginning to set in for Wally. Dick was surprised that he had lasted this long.

"Destiny?" Dick asked as he made his way to the couch and took the controller that Wally was eagerly offering, the games console already whirring to life. "Or Mortal Kombat?"

"I have spent the past thirty-six hours playing Destiny," Wally replied as Mortal Kombat loaded, and Dick wasn't entirely sure if the other boy was exaggerating or not. That might explain why Artemis didn't want to play video games with him.

"Where is everybody?" Dick asked, glancing at the time. It was nearly 4.00pm – the others should have been back from school by now. Hell, he had had time to go home, get changed and zeta to the Cave – what was holding them up?

Wally shrugged. "Kaldur's still doing that mysterious thing for Aquaman that no one will tell us about, and I think M'gann said something about an after school club the other day. Maybe she dragged Connor and Zee along with her."

It made sense, Dick guessed. They selected their characters and started beating the crap out of each other, trash talking loudly and making Artemis glare at them in irritation. The first two rounds ended with Dick graphically decapitating Wally and setting the remains on fire, before Artemis grew bored of playing with her arrows and came and joined them on the sofa.

"So..." she began as Dick started owning round three. He was a couple of moves away from taking Wally down completely, when Artemis asked something that made his hand slip. "How did your date with Zee go?"

The battle quickly turned in Wally's favour. "Err..." Dick muttered uncomfortably.

Artemis raised an eyebrow at him. "You stood her up, didn't you?"

On the screen, Wally's character sliced Dick's in two up the middle, the computer announcing his essentially uncontested victory. A triumphant grin lit the speedster's face as he turned to pay attention to the conversation. "Who stood who up?" he asked.

"Technically I didn't say I would go," Dick weakly attempted to defend himself.

"You said 'maybe'," Artemis retorted. Wally looked between them as if he was watching a tennis match, clearly not quite caught up on what they were talking about.

"Exactly," Dick replied with a shrug, knowing that he appeared callous. He really did feel bad about it, but the whole thing between him and Zatanna had suddenly gotten incredibly complicated, and there didn't seem to be a good way to handle it. "Wait, how do you know that?"

"She told me after you had left," Artemis answered. She then sighed as if she had known that Dick would stand Zee up, her voice sounding sad as she continued. "She was very excited about you two getting back together."

"You and Zee are getting back together?" Wally interceded, sounding thoroughly confused. "I thought that you liked Babs?"

"Babs?" Artemis asked, and Dick realised that this conversation was fast getting out of hand. "As in Barbara Gordon? You two are dating? What about Zee?"

"Dude, since when did your life turn into a Stephanie Meyer novel?" Wally asked, and Dick began to wonder the exact same thing. On the one hand, there was Zatanna who was great until she had grown obsessed with knowing his civilian ID. On the other there was Babs and their very near first kiss the night before. Was he honestly caught in a love triangle at fifteen?

Dick dropped his head back against the couch as Artemis and Wally looked at him expectantly. Things were so much easier when he just wasn't talking to anyone. "I was going to break up with Zee last night," he explained to the ceiling. "But then she started crying and talking about her Dad and when she asked if we could start again I couldn't exactly say no."

Wally furrowed his eyebrows as he put everything together. "So you said maybe and stood her up instead?"

Dick knew exactly how bad that sounded. It would have been kinder to have just outright said no; but he couldn't do that to her. But at the same time, hadn't he hurt her worse by giving her hope and then snatching it away? How could it be so hard to end a relationship that clearly wasn't going anywhere anyway? And he had no idea what was going on between him and Babs. She was his best friend, but when they were Batgirl and Robin, it was as if he suddenly didn't see her as just a friend anymore. Did he really like her? Or was it just the masks?

Thankfully, he was saved from pondering the disaster that was his love life by a bleeping sound from his wrist. Instantly all talk of girl problems was ended as he tugged back his sleeve and activated his wrist-watch computer; the holographic display springing to life before him.

Wally leaned forward. "What is it?"

"Someone just activated an emergency beacon," Dick answered, his fingers flying across the keyboard as he tried to find out more. He was hooked into the Watch Tower's communication system, (without permission of course) ever since everything had happened without him knowing anything. Now he received the same alerts that the Leaguer on monitor duty would, keeping him in the loop. His eyes widened as he took in the data streaming across the screen. "It was Connor's communicator, activated at Happy Harbour High."

Rhode Island?! Dick recalled Black Canary's surprised announcement, his mind already connecting the dots. Babs had said that all the Hatter's victims were from the Rhode Island area. So was Mt. Justice, and the school that three members of the team attended. Coincidence? Unlikely.

"Is someone attacking the school?" Artemis asked, sounding concerned. But before Dick could answer, Batman and Black Canary swept into the room, looking as close to flustered as the two Leaguers could get. Which meant that they were perfectly calm and collected, but tensed as if ready to jump into a fight. Artemis turned her question on them. "What's going on?"

Black Canary picked up the remote and changed the channel on the TV. Immediately, a news report live from Happy Harbour High filled the screen; a flabbergasted looking Cat Grant attempting to narrate what she was seeing.

"...hundreds of students and teachers assembled in the quad, looking as if they are preparing for war," she described. "Several news stations gathered here on an anonymous tip, which we now believe was made by the perpetrators themselves. It is unsure who is behind this, but they are clearly confident in their success. Every student appears to be wearing a cap with an emblem of every member of the Justice League. This is a brazen 'bring it on' call out to our heroes..."

"It's the Mad Hatter," Black Canary explained unnecessarily as she put the television on mute. "He's got nearly three hundred civilians under mind control, and it looks like he's going to use them against us. The whole League is responding."

Dick, Artemis and Wally stood up, about to offer their services, but Batman raised a hand. "Stay put."

"But..." Dick started to argue.

"You are injured and Wally and Artemis are under protective custody," Batman said forcefully. "Under no circumstances are you to get involved in this fight. Understood?"

Dick glared at his guardian unhappily. He didn't like being sidelined; but he recognised a losing battle when he saw it. He nodded his consent, Wally and Artemis grumbling their own affirmatives. Batman shot them one last look to confirm that they were staying put, and then he and Black Canary headed towards the zeta tubes and disappeared. On the television, the scene from Happy Harbour continued to play; a streak of red and a distinctive figure in red and blue descending into the chaos.

Wally slumped against the back of the couch. "So what are we supposed to do?"

Jervis Tetch watched the news in shock.

He was still in his lab beneath the school, where the Doc had been keeping him working on his greatest creations yet; and in his boredom he had decided to switch on the television. He had not expected to see a live news report from right outside the high school, the ticker-tape subtitle announcing their villainous plot to the world.

How had they found out so fast? And more to the point – how long was it before the entire Justice League arrived?

Tetch wasn't going to hang around to find out. He started packing up the things that he couldn't leave behind and prepared to make a quick getaway. Tetch was not going back to Arkham. He had no loyalty to the Doc and no great hate towards the League either. He didn't care about the whole getting revenge on the heroes thing. This wasn't his plan, after all. The Doc had coerced him into helping with promises and...

Alice.

Tetch paused in his hurry to leave, the image of his beautiful Alice freezing him in place. If he left now, he might lose his chance to have her for his own. All the plans, fantasies and daydreams he had had about their union began to crumble. He was so close to having her...

But he wouldn't be able to play with her in Arkham now, would he?

"Where do you think you're going?" the Doc asked from where he had materialised in the doorway, holding the tablet computer that Tetch had designed as a master control for all of his hats. He stood at the top of the metal steps that led from the main school down into what was once probably a boiler room and was now Tetch's workshop. "We've only just started."

"I'm getting out of here before the League shows up," Tetch retorted, finally satisfied that he had everything he needed and hefting the bag over his shoulder. The trouble was, the Doc was on the stairs, blocking his exit. "You've seen the news, right?"

The Doc grinned Cheshire-cat wide. "Isn't it brilliant?"

"Brilliant?" Tetch snorted. "You're plan is ruined! There is no way that you're going to get out of here with the kids and all the way up to the Hall of Justice. How is this brilliant?"

"But this is so much better," the Doc replied calmly. "Now the world will see the heroes fighting innocent school children; there will be casualties, maybe even deaths. Outrage and scandal will follow and soon the people will bring down the Justice League without the extra persuasion of your mind-control devices. It's the perfect way to bring down the League, and when I'm ready, the world will know that I was the one to do it."

The Doc had called the news crews, Tetch realised. He had known that the Doc was egotistical, but this was a step beyond that. The psychiatrist was so confident that his plan would work that he had practically invited the League to try and stop him. Tetch couldn't decide if the Doc was insane, stupid or a genius, but either way – he wasn't going down with him.

"Was this your plan all along?" Tetch asked feeling himself getting angry. He was meant to be nowhere near the final attack on the Hall of Justice – he was supposed to be safe and sound in Happy Harbour with zero culpability for when the Doc's plans inevitably went wrong. It was one of the reasons why he had agreed to help in the first place; though the biggest draw was of course his Alice. Had the Doc just told him that the target was miles away to guarantee his co-operation?

The Doc glanced away for a moment, consulting the tablet computer briefly. "No," he grudgingly admitted. "I always planned to lay siege to the Hall of Justice. It was Bane that suggested this alternative; and I that perfected it."

So Tetch had Bane to thank for this U-turn in the plan? Fantastic. "This isn't what I agreed to, Doc."

"No, it isn't," The Doc agreed. "But I still require your assistance. Bane will be returning soon with the Titans and the archer. I believe that your precious Alice in exchange for your services was the deal, correct?"

Technically, the Doc was right – that was the agreement. But Tetch wasn't exactly known for honouring his agreements. Ignorant of the fact that the Doc was blocking his path, Tetch began to climb the stairs. "I built you hundreds of devices so that you could have your army, Doc, and considering I don't have my promised Alice, I've done so free of charge. I owe you nothing, and I'm leaving."

The Doc stepped into the middle of the stairway right in front of Tetch, his hands clasped behind his back. "That's a shame Tetch," he said. "But I'm afraid I don't accept your resignation."

Faster than Tetch could react, the Doc shot forward and rammed a huge needle into his neck. His indignant cries of pain and shock morphing into low unintelligible moans as if he were speaking in slow motion. The world tilted, which vaguely occurred to him as being bad, moments before he tumbled head over heels down the stairs. He landed in a crumpled heap at the bottom, his body crying out in pain as his vision washed red.

The Doc descended the stairs slowly as if he had all the time in the world. Tetch couldn't move – could barely think – his own mind trapped in a body that felt as if it didn't belong to him. He hazily wondered if this was how his Alices felt when he seduced them with chemicals; but the thought was quickly whisked away as the Doc hovered to a stop right above him.

"I may need you for... troubleshooting."

The whole thing felt like a military manoeuvre.

The main quad of Happy Harbour High had been turned into a system of organised chaos. Hordes of students and faculty poured in from all the exits of the school, marching orderly in columns three-abreast. Along one side of the quad was a row of parked supply trucks painted in camouflage green, two UPS guys standing at each one, with another inside to collect the items to be handed out.

M'gann and Connor followed their classmates out of the main doors and down the steps, falling into line with the hundreds of other Justice League-themed capped people. They were led up to the third truck along, the UPS guys handing something to each and every one of them in turn.

The first students of their class passed them, and M'gann had to stifle her shocked response when she realised what they were being given. Weapons.

There was no consistency to them. Harry Williams, a jock who M'gann had never spoken to, wielded an M16 as if he knew exactly what he was doing. Lacey Collins brandished twin butterfly knifes. Justin Peterson had a baseball bat resting against his shoulder. There was everything from assault rifles to samurai swords, as if the UPS guys had raided any and all potential weapons depots in order to arm them all.

But what for? M'gann wondered. What in the world was Dr Grantes' plan? And where was the League?

When it came to their turn to stop at the truck, Zatanna stepped up first and held out her hands. The UPS guy went to hand her a knife, but then paused, his arms stuttering like a broken animatronic. He then turned, and the other UPS guy in the truck swapped the blade out for a flame thrower. He helped her put the heavy canisters over her shoulders like a back-pack as she held the gun part, her finger already on the trigger.

M'gann watched her walk off to join the others as Connor stepped up and received an aluminium baseball bat. He raised an eyebrow at the underwhelming weapon, made even more so by the fact that he essentially was a weapon, and then followed after Zatanna. They shared a look as they parted. 'I'll see you in a minute,' he promised.

And then it was M'gann's turn. She copied what Zatanna had done, and held out her hands ready to receive whatever weapon they decided upon. She was handed a stick. Literally, a piece of branch that you might throw in the park while playing fetch with a dog. What they expected her to do with said stick, she had no idea. She was just grateful that they hadn't handed her a gun or something equally deadly. How far were they intending to take their mind-controlled civilian act after all?

Armed with her stick, M'gann turned and followed the path around to where the rest of her Civics class was waiting patiently. She came to a stop beside Connor, giving him a tiny reassuring smile as they stood to attention and waited.

About three hundred or so students and faculty were gathered in the quad, organised into rows like an army assembled for war. They were all stood facing the main gates, and as M'gann peeked over the sea of heads she realised that there were more people hanging around on the other side. She saw several trucks parked haphazardly across the road outside the school, the array of dishes and aerials on their roofs giving them away as news trucks.

'We're on the news,' M'gann pointed out to Connor. Even if they had failed to activate the emergency signal on the communicator, surely the League knew by now that they needed serious help? So where...?

As if responding to her thoughts, Superman appeared above the quad, his hands held out as if trying to placate the gathered crowd of heavily armed teenagers. The response was a hail of lead.

Every gun-wielding student raised their weapons and opened fire on the Man of Steel; their aims remarkably good but still essentially pointless. The bullets bounced harmlessly of off his indestructible skin, though as to where they ricocheted off to, M'gann had no clue. If this kept up, a stray bullet was going to kill someone.

Thankfully, a familiar streak of red cut through the crowd, liberating weapons from the teenagers at high speed. Superman descended mostly unchallenged into the crowd, and in the distance more recognisable figures of Justice League members appeared. For a moment, M'gann believed that this nightmare was going to be over before it had even begun. But then Zatanna turned her attention on the scarlet speedster.

"Kcits s'hsalF teef ot eht dnuorg!"

Instantly, the Flash staggered to a stop, his feet seemingly glued to the ground. The asphalt began to rise around his ankles like a living creature, well and truly trapping the speedster in the magically controlled mulch. He tried to vibrate his molecules through the asphalt, but it just held him tighter. He hadn't had a chance to completely disarm everyone, and suddenly the sky was full of gunfire and feral yelling once again. The mind-controlled students immediately turned on the speedster, attacking him with bats and blades and fists.

"Flash!" M'gann yelled as the scarlet speedster practically disappeared under the onslaught of bodies. Connor immediately forgot about trying to blend in and ran to the Flash's aid, while M'gann turned to face Zee. "Zatanna! How could you?!"

Zee just turned slowly to face the Martian, levelling the barrel of her flame-thrower at her. M'gann had a moment to take in her friend's glazed eyes and wide grin, before suddenly her world was washed in orange and yellow flames.

Batgirl loved the new suit. And the toys. She especially loved the toys.

The moment that she had got in from patrolling with Robin the night before, she had gone through her utility belt and memorised every item now at her disposal. She had reorganised her baterangs (which were just pure awesome, even if her aim was less than stellar at the moment) put her smoke pellets and flash-bangs within easy reach and tested her grapnel gun.

But the best thing? The wrist computer. The holographic display and one-handed keyboard took a little getting used to, but once she had mastered that she was trolling through the menus and settings to get it just how she liked it. She had tried her hand at hacking a few government facilities, and then all of a sudden it was morning and she had to go to school.

But now it was Friday night (okay, more like evening because she had decided to go out the moment that she had deemed it dark enough... which was about 4.00pm) and she was officially Batgirl.

She swung through the streets, laughing giddily, completely understanding why Robin insisted on cackling like a madman all the time. There was a euphoric rush that came with watching the world fly by beneath you, coupled with the heart-stopping moments at the end of a swing when she had to release the line and shoot of another, hoping to god that her aim was good.

Tonight wasn't about beating up bad guys, it was about practice.

But of course, the bad guys found her anyway.

She stopped a mugging on 4th, beat up a would-be rapist in Coventry and trussed up a gang of thieves breaking into the jewellery store on the Upper East Side. All in all, she was feeling pretty good about herself; confident in her abilities and growing skills.

But then an inhuman roar echoed through the streets of Old Gotham, stopping Batgirl cold.

The horrific sound sent shivers down her spine, setting off some primal instinct screaming at her to run really fast in the opposite direction. It was joined by another howl; a chilling cry that sounded both angry and pained, like a wounded animal. A really, really big wounded animal. Another roar answered, this time accompanied by frightened screams – human frightened screams, and Batgirl forcibly buried her desire to run.

Taking a deep readying breath, she shot off her grapnel and swung towards the growing pandemonium in Old Gotham.

She swung past the bright lights of Wayne Tower and settled on the ledge of the old clock tower, getting her first good view of the carnage below. The thin streets of Old Gotham were designed in a grid system by someone who had clearly never heard of a ruler; the narrows lanes squiggly lines on a massive tic-tac-toe board. Most of the buildings didn't rise above three storeys, and from her height, Batgirl could clearly see the big picture.

Four hulking shapes shuffled down the streets, smashing the sides of buildings as they passed as if they were mad at the architecture. Civilians fled from their homes, running down alleyways where the giant monsters couldn't follow. They were panicked and scared, but they were also Gothamites that had seen every form of crazy there was. They had enough sense to get out of the way, some of them looking to the sky for their bat-themed saviour.

Batgirl may not have been the Bat that the people were expecting, but right then, she was the only one there.

With one final prayer, she leapt from the clock tower and into the fray.

The nearest hulk was kneeling at the mouth of an alley, its huge hand reaching inside to try and grab at the civilians taking shelter within. Batgirl flew straight at it, both hands gripping her grapnel gun and her legs outstretched and together in a high velocity drop kick. Her booted feet smacked straight into the giant creature's nose, the impact jarring her entire body. She released the line and pushed off into a backwards flip, landing gingerly on the concrete in a crouch.

When she looked up, she saw that the giant and flomped back onto its butt, both hands covering its nose that was gushing a torrent of blood.

It looked like a normal guy that had taken a whole load of Alice's super-size me potion from the story. He was at least fifteen ft tall, wearing layers of old tattered and mismatched clothes like a homeless person; his skin dirty and nails long as if he had been living on the streets for a while. His bare feet were the size of SUVs and caked with grime and callouses. His hair was matted and long, the same colour as his grey-tinged scraggly beard. He whimpered in pain as he held his nose, making Batgirl almost want to apologise for kicking him.

But then he turned his dark eyes on her, and all she saw was rage.

She backed up warily as he climbed to his feet, his massive form filling the thin mouth of the alley and casting her in shadow. He gripped the corners of the two buildings and yanked, tearing off huge chunks and sending a shower of bricks and mortar everywhere. With the gap now slightly wider, the giant reached in to grab her like King Kong, but she whipped out her grapnel and fired blindly, soaring out of his reach and landing awkwardly on a fire escape.

The giant bellowed in frustration and swung his arm up, his fist smashing into the base of the fire escape and dislodging it from the wall. Batgirl yelped as she suddenly found herself airborne and spinning, her back slammed against the metal rail as it flew. As the roof of an apartment building rushed up to meet her, she shot off her grapnel one last time. She felt the line tense as it caught on to something, and then she was being yanked out of the fire escape and pulled in the opposite direction.

She landed hard on her shoulder and rolled onto her feet, wincing in pain. On the main street, the giant was staring at the wreckage created by the fire escape smashing into a pole-mounted transformer; caught between recoiling at the hot sparks and reaching out to catch the pretty lights. A live power cable danced across the apartment building's roof from where it had been freed from the transformer, scorching the tar wherever it touched.

She had to take the giant down, but she didn't know how. Suddenly, her fantastic toys seemed useless. What good was a batarang and a smoke pellet against an opponent this size? What did she have that could possibly have any affect? She ran through her entire arsenal in her mind, until finally a slightly crazy plan began to take shape. But she had to act fast.

While the giant was still distracted, she ran along the edge of the roof towards him and threw herself over the parapet. Wind-milling her arms to control her descent, she activated the lens shutters and ear mufflers built into her cowl, leaving her completely blind and deaf. Her planned trajectory had her smashing ungainly onto the giant's shoulder, but she somehow managed to land on her feet. Before he could knock her off, she grabbed his ear for a handhold and activated a flash-bang grenade right in his face.

She couldn't hear his roar of pain and outrage, but her sense of balance warned her that the giant was staggering backwards. She deactivated the lens shutters so that she could aim her grapnel, getting clear of the giant's lumbering form as fell back against the abandoned building behind him. The earth shook as he hit the street, legs sprawled like a teddy bear and his eyes rolled back in his head.

Batgirl stood from where she had landed, one hand holding her bruised shoulder as she grinned smugly at the giant that she had just taken down.

But then another monstrous growl reached her ears, followed by a second, and a third. Three more huge giants staggered towards their fallen brethren, and then turned their fury on her.

Oh crap.

"Is this a sufficient test, mi señoría?" Bane asked.

Beside him his patron grinned broadly. They were stood on one of the taller buildings of Old Gotham, ravaged by the winter wind, though neither of them particularly noticed the cold. His bulk kept him from feeling the chill, and his patron wore a black high-collar coat over her skin tight outfit. Her long dark hair whipped around her pale face as they watched the battle below.

The first Titan had been taken down by the Batgirl, which was a mildly impressive feat considering that she had only been in the business for less than a month. But now she was facing three more opponents, and it was fairly obvious just how bad her odds were.

His patron watched the Batgirl with interest, but Bane didn't believe that the girl was who she was after. "Lo siento, mi señoría, but I thought that you wished to challenge the Boy Wonder with the Titans?"

"Indeed," his patron nodded. "Miss Gordon is a smart girl. She will call for help at any moment. With the League sufficiently distracted by the Doctor's plans, and the super-powered half of the team trapped in Happy Harbour, she will have no choice but to call upon Robin. And then you will see a proper fight."

Bane didn't see how a little boy would be able to bring down the Titans, but he decided to keep that doubt to himself. Perhaps if the brat died tonight his patron would rethink her plans and release him from her service, but as he watched her study the Batgirl, he sincerely doubted that that would happen. She would just switch targets.

"Soon, Bane," his patron muttered, as if she sensed his disbelief. "Soon you will see."

Grantes has turned the school into mind-controlled zombies! Zatanna is a bad guy setting M'gann on fire! The Titans are huge giants trying to destroy Old Gotham! Stay tuned for the next episode of 'Everything Goes Horrifically Wrong for our Heroes!' posting on Monday! :P