Chapter 10: Moving Off Target
Another scream. Male.
But not an answer to the question. Just answer the question.
A new voice. Female. Calling him.
But not an answer to the question.
He needed an answer to the question.
And then, vengeance.
It was time.
Too many threats. Too many dangers. Too much pain. Too much rage.
And fear. The lingering, omnipresent fear.
Just answer the question.
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Trickster was struggling for all he was worth against Batman, who was holding him by his throat, several inches in the air and against a brick wall. He had stopped screaming but was repeating "virus? There isn't a virus!" in a high-pitched voice.
Diana, who was now standing behind Batman, was unsure of what to do. On one hand, she really did think that Batman was losing control. On the other hand, if Trickster was still able to protest, then he was still able to breathe.
J'onn's voice finally came over the communicator. "The probability of a virus is low. Luthor is trying to distract you. Poorly. Which is unlike him. Beware of a trap."
Although Batman had not loosened his grip, Trickster stopped shrieking and was perfectly still with a strange little smile on his lips. Slowly, Trickster removed his hands from Batman's arm and blasted both Wonder Woman and Batman with energy beams that admitted from the palms of his hands.
As the force knocked them backwards and off the side of the roof, Diana found herself thinking: How did he manage to keep a hold of Trickster?
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Without hesitation and without thought, the Batarang was out and thrown. In less time than it took for Wonder Woman to regain control and fly out of her fall, Batman had returned to the roof top with Trickster in tow. Before Diana decided to visually check on Flash and flew in the direction of the museum, Trickster's hands were bound behind his back and the question was put to him again.
"What do you know about a virus?"
Trickster laughed.
That was the wrong answer.
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Diana had never been in a position to watch a fist-fight at "Flash speed" before she walked into the museum and found Flash and Mirror Master darting around at top speed. It was fascinating to watch and, in fact, Diana found herself staring at the movement for several seconds before attempting to get involved.
It always amazed her how quickly a museum, or any large public place, could empty out and how weird they felt without any people in them.
Flash had steered the conflict into a fairly safe area of the museum – it was a history of military uniforms and although the two had managed to do some damage to the collection, it was not as great as it could be in other sections of the museum. She was always amazed at how Flash really could still be in control at the speed he was moving.
She activated her communicator. "Flash, Trickster had meta hearing and can shoot energy from his palms. I suspect that both Mirror Master and Captain Cold are holding….."
Before she could finish her sentence, Captain Cold materialized behind her and kicked her in the back. As she turned to engage Captain Cold, she heard Flash say, "ah, yeah, Mirror Master can pull a Black Canary." His tone gained a mocking edge. "He thought there could be a mutation. I am going to smack him!"
She didn't respond but she did feel a momentarily appreciation of the feeling as she and Captain Cold resumed their battle. At some point, Captain Cold had lost his freezing guns and was using his strength.
Diana started to do some math while trying to find a window. She wanted to get Captain Cold outside and decided that throwing him out of one would be the best way to accomplish that.
The call came in an hour ago. If they were at full strength before they flew, they should lose their power in another hour and a half.
She realized there were a lot of assumptions in that equation. She suspected that once they were able to fly, they started and there was no way to know how long after they were able to fly that Flash spotted them. And there was no way of knowing how long after they got the serum that they were able to fly. But it was an idea and that was what she was looking for.
Finally, out of the corner of her eye, she found a window. It was over the Natural Science exhibit of dioramas. The lifeless animals looked very real as they stared out from behind the glass as Diana flew into the center of the room. Captain Cold followed her.
It was a long, dark room. The only lights came from in front of and inside the dioramas. The small windows near the ceiling did not let in light and only added to the strange gloom of the room.
Captain Cold finally moved within grabbing distance, so Diana lunged for him. However, he disappeared and reappeared a few seconds later with his cold guns. He shot towards Wonder Woman, missing her by inches as she leapt into the air. There were several more sequences of this, until most of the glass in front of the dioramas were frozen. When she heard the crack of the glass, she hit the communicator.
"Flash, get out of here! Toxic gas release!"
She prayed to Hera that Flash would focus on getting both himself and Mirror Master out of the museum rather than trying to help her. She could take care of herself.
She knew she only had a few seconds before all the glass shattered and the toxic air in the dioramas were released. It was one of those things she learned when she started working with various museums. The reason why the dioramas were behind glass was that the air required to preserve the animals was highly toxic. With one smooth kick, she managed to get Captain Cold to drop his guns. She grabbed his jacket and dragged him into the air towards the window.
"This wasn't how I wanted to do this," she said as she rammed them both out the window as the sound of glass breaking below them nearly deafened them.
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Flash smiled. Mirror Master had almost been able to keep up as he sped out the main entrance of the museum. But it seemed to the Speedster that the other man had lost a bit of speed. He wondered briefly if using the powers caused them to fade away faster as they were used. Certainly Mirror Master had been enjoying his speed.
Flash stopped and turned around to make sure Wonder Woman emerged. He heard the shattering of a window and two figures fly out, one of whom was the Amazonian princess.
The relief was short-lived when he heard Mirror Master mutter, "I didn't get these powers to waste them."
And he turned back to the city and began to run at full speed.
Flash pursued. He would update the team once he knew where Mirror Master was going.
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The sound of shattered glass was about ten feet below where he knelt. He had heard the cry about the toxic gas but knew what the gas was. He was in no danger out in the open.
He stood slowly and watched as two figures flew into his range of vision. He watched as Wonder Woman neatly rammed Captain Cold into the wall, knocking him unconscious, and then lowered him on the rooftop.
She landed herself and then started to walk over towards him.
He didn't want to talk to her.
But she knew that and it wasn't going to stop her.
So deal with her quickly, he ordered himself.
"Trickster thinks there is a virus. Engineered to show symptoms exactly sixteen days after they took you," he said.
Four hours from now, he thought but did not say.
Assuming Weston did it right.
Diana looked around. "Where is Trickster?"
Batman looked at her but did not answer. Diana stood still – using her hunter's training to try to find evidence of the missing man. She found the drag marks on the rooftop easily enough and followed them to a staircase access point. She opened the door and found Trickster lying unconscious inside. She noted, but did not comment on, the small trickle of blood drying in the corner of Trickster's mouth.
"When he wakes up, his powers will be gone," Batman said.
"Do you believe him?" she asked.
"He believes what he told me."
She sighed loudly. "All right. Well, then, give Captain Cold whatever you give Trickster and I'll go back to the Watchtower. You and Flash can more than handle Mirror Master."
Batman said nothing but drew a small syringe out of his belt and walked over to Captain Cold. He injected the man with a clear liquid. There was only a small moan from Captain Cold as he went deeper into unconscious.
Diana wanted to say more. But she needed to live up to her end of the bargain. She activated her communicator. "One to the Watchtower, please."
Seconds later, she was standing in the Watchtower. J'onn motioned to her to follow him. She was only one step off the platform when, over the communicator, she heard Flash's voice.
"Mirror Master is heading for the Central City Trust. I could use a hand getting the people safely out."
Diana activated her communicator. "I need to leave a blood sample with J'onn. I'll be down in a moment. Is Batman there?"
"Ah," Flash said, clearly not anticipating that question. "He said he needed to track something down. He's gone."
J'onn, now aware of the problem, seemed to pull the supplies he needed out of the air. Within seconds, he had the sample he needed and nodded to her.
"I'm on my way," she said. The rage of being tricked by Batman gave her face a hard edge.
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The Dark Knight had requested a point-to-point transport. Flash could handle Mirror Master and Diana was under J'onn's care.
You will not hurt her.
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AN: I doubt this quick update will make up for the long delays. But I will get another chapter up soon!
