A/N: 08.22.2017

Why does it feel like it's been six months since I updated this? I put the dates on here to know how long it has been. IT'S ONLY BEEN A MONTH! Man! I'm losing track of time or something. Anyway, welcome back friends! So, guys, is it time to learn more about what's going on? I think it is!

And, to Watership's Nightwish Rat, sorry, Coba, but I can't call you in on this one. Terry and Basem have to handle this without you. But... who knows, and I mean it when I say this, maybe one day, the three of you can meet. Who knows. Who knows.

On to the chapter! Enjoy!

Chapter 11

Batman arrived at the Paris police station to see that it was under attack by three military helicopters; the copters launching rockets at the building.

"Oh, son of a!" Batman landed on one of the copters. He punched through the glass of the cockpit, knocked out the pilot, then guided the helicopter to the ground.

Once it landed, Batman looked at the two other helicopters still in the air. He was about to go after when a wave of screeching sound crashed into him. Batman rolled along the ground and the first thing he thought was Shriek was in Paris. He looked up to see a woman with long dark green hair, wearing a dark green trench coat and matching outfit, approaching him. Her hair was obstructing her face but Batman could see that her eyes pitch black and, when she smiled, all of her teeth were similar to tiger teeth.

"Okay… WHAT?!" Batman shouted.

She took a deep a breath and unleashed a soundwave that blew Batman further back. Batman landed against a nearby police car and shook his head. "Argh, what the actual hell?"

The woman continued to advance at the hero, "What an opportunity you've given me, Batman. I'll become legendary for killing you."

"Can you do it, quietly?" Batman asked.

"Sorry. Not my style."

"Should be, Thalia!" a voice shouted from behind Batman.

A figure dove over the car and Batman and tackled Thalia to the ground and they broke into a brawl. Batman looked around and saw others appear on the scene.

Batman smiled, "Gotta love the Justice League." He recognized who tackled Thalia was Vixen with Outlaw and Plastic Man taking on the helicopters.

Vixen was dressed in a dark gold jumpsuit, similar to what her mother, the original Vixen, wore with her Vixen totem hanging from her neck; the exception was that her outfit covered her entire body from the neck down. Outlaw was dressed in a military-styled outfit complete with body armor and a tactical mask; he was armed with twin pistols and an assault rifle at his back. Plastic Man was dressed in a unitard with a red and white color scheme and wore sunglasses. Vixen used her powers to summon a tiger spirit and summoning claws on her hands. Outlaw drew his guns and started firing at one of the helicopters while Plastic Man stretched himself to grab hold of the other helicopter to pull it down.

Figuring that Outlaw and Plastic could take down the choppers, Batman ran over to help Vixen fight Thalia. Thalia used her scream to force Vixen back as Batman got behind Thalia and tried putting her in a sleeper hold.

"You really need to shut up, now," Batman said.

"You need to learn how to treat a lady," Thalia reached over her head, grabbed Batman, and threw him, sending flying against a cop car.

Batman fell to the ground after hitting the car. Surprised, he looked and shouted, "Again, what the hell?!"

"She's really strong," Vixen said, stepping in front of Batman.

"Yeah! I gathered that!" Batman pushed himself up. "What is her deal?"

"Honestly, we've never been able to figure that out." Vixen looked over her shoulder, and introduced herself, "Vixen."

"I figured. Batman."

"Good to finally meet Runner's brother," Vixen looked back at Thalia. "He speaks highly of you."

"Same for all of you." Batman glared at Thalia. "How do we shut her down? Actually, shut her up."

"Got anything that can cover mouth?"

"Besides my fist in her teeth?"

Vixen smiled.

Batman clicked off a capsule from his utility belt. "I got something."

Vixen charged at Thalia, who screamed in response. Vixen jumped over the soundwave while Batman threw the capsule the burst into a blue gel that covered Thalia's mouth. With her mouth covered, Vixen took the opportunity to punch Thalia a few times to knock her out.

Having taken down the choppers, Outlaw and Plastic Man came over to Vixen and Batman with Batman tying up Thalia.

"Wow," Plastic Man whispered. "It's really him."

"Batman?" Outlaw asked.

"Good to meet you, guys," Batman said.

"What are you doing in Paris?"

"Following a lead."

"Oh!" Outlaw leaned his head to the side. "How come you didn't call?"

"Didn't have a lot to go on," Batman said. "Didn't want to bring you in on nothing."

"Okay," Vixen said. "But what…"

They heard a loud rush of wind fly through the sky. They all looked to see a large mobile suit of armor slowly landing toward the ground.

"I'm having so many Mega Man flashbacks right now," Batman whispered.

The mobile armor touched down on the ground.

"Hello, Justice League," Malum said, echoed from the loud speakers on the suit.

"Malum?!" Outlaw shouted.

"Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me!" Batman growled.

"Where's Koutetsu, bastard?!" Vixen shouted.

"I wish I knew," Malum said. "So, I could kill him, too." He paused. "Batman? What are you doing here?"

"Wanted to check out the sights," Batman responded. "Plus, I heard Paris had a rat problem. I thought I could help out."

"Oh, there are rats," Malum said. "And I plan to drown them all right now!" The arm of the armor raised and revealed a large cannon and fired it.

Batman and the League dispersed as the shot detonated where they had just been standing. Batman landed hard on the ground as the League jumped into action.

Batman shook his head, "This, at no point, counts as a vacation." He looked down a nearby alley to see someone standing with a sniper rifle.

It was aimed at Plastic Man.

Batman activated his jets and tackled the sniper to the ground. They struggled until Batman managed to subdue the sniper. Batman dismantled the rifle then handcuffed the sniper. Batman picked up the sniper and pushed him against the wall. "Who are you?!"

"Let me go, you son of a bitch!" the sniper shouted.

"Why are you targeting the League?"

"You're not supposed to be here!"

Batman stopped. "What did you just say?"

An explosion occurred behind them, throwing both Batman and the sniper back. The sniper hit his head on a wall, knocking him out. Batman looked up to see that the explosion came from another blast from Malum's armor. Batman made sure the sniper was down then flew at Malum. Batman flew up into the sky, pulled a few explosive batarangs, and threw them at the armor, causing them to detonate on impact. The armor stumbled backwards and crashed to the ground. Batman threw another batarang the lodged itself into the metal frame and short-circuited the armor.

Batman landed on the armor and looked through the glass of the cockpit to see a black haired Malum wearing a grey power suit. "You can get out of this thing or I can rip you out! Pick one!"

"You don't belong here, Batman!" Malum shouted. "This isn't your fight yet! You're only delaying the inevitable."

"Ain't the first time. Sure as hell won't be the last!"

"We'll see about that!" Malum's image suddenly disappeared from the cockpit.

"WHAT?!" Batman ripped off the canopy and inspected the inside. He checked the seat of the cockpit and realized that it wasn't even slightly depressed.

No one was ever in the armor.

"A hologram," Batman whispered. He growled, "Oh, what the hell?! What is all this, man?!"

"Are you alright?" Bruce asked over the communicator.

"I've felt worse. Malum was never here. It was a hologram." Batman unclipped a device from his belt and attached it to the control panel, "It must've been remote operated."

"I'll scan the armor and see if I can get a signal."

"Do that. But Bruce… I get the feeling that they expected me to be in Gotham."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, can't say for sure. But Malum did say that 'this isn't your fight yet.' And I would like to know what that means. But…"

"Hold on. Basem's calling."

"Take it. I'll get back to the League."

"Fine. Call me when you learn more."

"You got it."

Gotham City.

Bruce answered the call from Nightrunner, "What is it?"

"You need to call Terry!" Runner said.

"Why? What happened?"

"I just ran into Tumulus and the Graves!"

"The Graves?"

"It's what he's calling his team! That doesn't matter! Tumulus said that my friends in Paris aren't safe. You need to call…"

"Terry just called a minute ago. There was an attack on the League. Malum was there but only in hologram form."

"Oh, my God," Runner said, breathlessly. "What…"

"It's fine," Bruce said. "The League made it out alive. Terry's fine. I'm attempting to track Malum's signal while Terry checks things out there."

Runner paused to gather himself then he growled in frustration, "Bruce, what the hell is going on?!"

"I haven't the slightest idea. But, more and more, it's looking like you're the target."

Paris.

After a fruitless search for Malum and Thalia, who also escaped during the mayhem, Batman accompanied the League to the police station to help with the rescue efforts. It took about an hour to make sure that all of the people were clear. Once they were done, the group met in the front entrance of the station.

"The last of the officers is on their way to the hospital," Plastic Man said.

"Number of deceased?" Vixen asked.

Plastic Man sighed. "Eight… so far."

"God…"

"What a mess," Batman said.

"Hey, look, I don't want to change the subject," Outlaw turned to Batman, "what are you doing here?"

Batman stared at them, deciding to either tell them a lie or the truth. He made a choice. "We've been having a few attacks in Gotham. A lot of evidence has been pointing the Paris branch of Interpol."

"Attacks?"

"Yeah. And that sniper and Malum said that I wasn't supposed to be here. I'm starting to think that the target of the attack was the three of you."

Vixen was taken aback, "Us?"

Batman nodded.

"What evidence do you have about any of this?" Outlaw asked.

They heard someone approach and looked up to see Le Grande approaching.

"Well, here comes one now," Batman said. He walked past them and met Le Grande halfway, "Commander."

Le Grande stopped and examined at the destruction. He slowly shook his head, "This is horrible."

"Understatement of the night."

Le Grande looked at Batman, "Do you think this has anything to do with you coming by tonight?"

"I'd bet my house on it."

"I'm headed to my office now. This can't wait for the morning. You're welcome to meet me there."

"Thanks, Commander," Batman replied.

Le Grande nodded, turned, and left.

"What was that about?" Plastic Man asked.

"The trouble," Batman said. "I'll let you guys know when I know something."

Batman and Le Grande went to the Gendarmerie headquarters and, after getting to his office, Le Grande had a look at his records.

Le Grande shook his head, "This doesn't make any sense. These are my signatures but… I didn't make any of these orders!"

"How did your name get on them?" Batman asked.

"I don't know. I mean, it's look like these orders came from me, from this computer! But they didn't!"

"Mind if I give it a shot?"

Le Grande nodded and got up from the chair. Batman sat down and unclipped a small flash drive from his utility belt. He plugged the drive into the computer, pressed his fingers to his ear, and asked, "You in?"

"Getting there," Bruce said over the comms.

"Is there a communication device in your mask?" Le Grande asked.

"Yeah," Batman responded. "Wild, right?"

"That's clever."

"Isn't it, though?"

"I'll take that as a compliment," Bruce said. He was silent for a while as searched through the computer. "Terry."

"Yeah?"

"Ask him where Bellerose has been and for him to show you his computer."

Batman seized up. "Whoa, hold on. Do you…"

"Ask him."

Batman sighed and looked at Le Grande, "Commander, where's Stephen Bellerose?"

"Bellerose?" Le Grande replied. "He's in Strasbourg on assignment."

Batman pulled the flash drive, "Where's his computer?"

Le Grande was confused by that, "Uh, right this way." He led Batman to a corner office and let him inside. Batman had a look around and saw a picture hanging on the wall. It was a picture of Stephen with his arm, lovingly, draped across the shoulder of a young blonde woman.

"Who's this?" Batman asked. It was a ruse as he instantly knew who the woman was.

"Oh. That's… Marie," Le Grande said. "That was, um, Stephen's one true love. Uh… she was a hero. Codename: White Rose. She… died a few of years ago."

"Oh. I'm sorry. What happened?"

"Long story short, it all comes down to an explosion."

That caught Batman's attention. "What's the long version?"

Le Grande shrugged, "That's the thing: there's a lot of different versions. Why she was there, who set the bomb, that sort of thing."

"You don't even know who killed her?"

"Reports came down to the terrorist group, Kobra. They'd been fighting the League here with the ferocity to a small war when it happened. After Rose's death, the League dismantled their operations in France in no time."

"Damn," Batman said. "Mind if I can see that file?"

"Not at all," Le Grande replied. "I'll get it for you after we're done here."

"Thanks." Batman sat down at the computer and plugged the drive in.

"Accessing," Bruce said.

While Batman waited, he looked at Le Grande. "Did you know Marie?"

"I knew White Rose," Le Grande said. "She was a hero. A fine young woman. Close friends with Nightrunner."

"Yeah," Batman said. "He talks about her from time to time."

"He didn't tell you what happened to her?"

"Doesn't like to bring it up," Batman answered. "Hardly at all."

"I don't blame him," Le Grande replied.

"Did you know Marie's brother?"

"Rene?" Le Grande shook his head, "Personally, just barely. As much as he would let me learn about him. After he was arrested and sent to prison, I went with Stephen to help try talking to the poor boy but he just shut down. His life and how it ended was another tragedy."

"Why was he in jail?" Batman asked.

"You name it. Assault and battery, multiple counts of trespassing, theft, vandalism. Trust me, he was trying to get arrested and thrown in prison. He'd taken his sister's death the hardest out of everyone. Such a tragedy. He seemed like an ordinary kid up until then. He was a model student, had spectacular grades, and could've gone to any school he wanted but, after Marie died, he went off the deep end."

Batman paused, remembering his own past. "Yeah. That happens sometimes."

"It was so sad. Stephen did everything he could to keep him out of prison, Rene did everything he could to get himself thrown in."

'And a few months after Stephen's last connection to Marie dies, Tumulus shows up,' Batman thought to himself. 'This isn't looking good for him, Basem.'

"Terry," Bruce said.

"One sec," Batman said to Le Grande. He pressed his fingers to his ear, "Got something?"

"There's a worm in Bellerose's computer that leads to Le Grande's," Bruce said.

"Wait, does that mean…" Batman asked, starting to worry immediately.

"Get to Strasbourg. Find Stephen Bellerose. Now."

A/N: Oh, boy! So, Batman wasn't the target after all. The League was. Now, Bellerose has to answer for a few things. If Batman can find him. Let's see if he can.

And let's see what happens next...