The sirens that echoed in the distant were proof enough that the city was in chaos. News channels were blasting with incidents that had occurred in Gotham city out of nowhere when a series of bomb blasts shook the city and its people to the core.
00000
Barbra tried contacting Bruce to inform him about the recent information that she had found out but he wasn't picking up his phone. She could not try on his private number because he had shut her out. While trying to contact him she looked out to make sure that the boy who was safely reached to a hospital. The EMT was quick to come and receive him to take Jason to a nearby hospital.
She looked at the clock. It said four in the morning. Her dad slept with the key and he was a light sleeper so getting out of the house was not an option at the moment. She knew calling the police won't solve the problem because the voice recognition that she ran of the man she had recorded on the frequency had actually turned out to be a legit cop so she couldn't take a risk not knowing which cop to trust so she was out of options. All she could do was wait for the sun to rise so that she could go to Bruce's place and tell him what she'd heard over the radio.
00000
Bruce looked at the horizon as the morning sun outlined it with its golden color as his chopper landed on the helipad. Lex was there to welcome him as he got off his private chopper.
"Looks like you don't mind missing your sleep," Lex said as he shook hands with Bruce.
"It's become a habit of sort," Bruce replied as he shook Lex's hand. He then looked around, taking the view of Metropolis from high up Lex Corp building – one of the tallest buildings of Metropolis. "Looks like the city is standing back up just fine," he said.
"But you can never shake off the shock that put it on the ground," Lex said in a serious voice. "Anyways, thanks for sending your relief foundation here. We could use all the help we needed."
"Just doing my job," Bruce said as the two climbed down the stairs and headed for the elevator.
"I know I don't have to tell you this but you'd need to keep all electronic items outside as we enter my private floor," Lex said.
"I know," Bruce said as he took out his phone to check the messages that he had gotten over the night. There were none except multiple missed calls from Barbra. He wondered what she wanted to tell him but she had been a bit too indulging towards him. He turned his phone off as they reached Lex's private floor in the building which was just beneath his penthouse floor. He conducted his most secret and confidential meetings with his selected board members here so there wasn't much to see here as the corridors were mostly empty and there wasn't much furniture. There was a conference room with a meeting table and some chairs inside it but nothing else. Bruce had been here before but quite a long time ago. Things had definitely changed in here. He knew that the inner walls of this floor were lined with a Faraday Cage. He had always wondered why and had even asked Lex once but the man had simply replied to protect business strategies. Bruce had never Trusted Lex in his entire life but he was a great businessman and knew what strategies to make. He definitely worked on something important here from time to time to prevent from being spied on. But who would spy on him? Why was he being so paranoid?
As they reached Lex's office Bruce passed a close room with thick metal gates locking it down. "What's in there?" he asked.
"Just a new prototype suit we've been working on," Lex said. "It is an exo-suit that will help those people whose job requires them to lift heavy things and stuff like that."
"You mean like the one Tony made," Bruce said.
"Something like that but not that sophisticated," Lex said. "Each one of his Iron Man suits costs more than three hundred million dollars. I don't think you need know how many can buy a suit that pricey?"
"Yeah, there's that," Bruce said as they entered Lex's office. "So, shall we get down to business?"
"Yeah, all well and fine," Lex said as he grabbed his seat opposite Bruce's.
00000
Coming out of the rickety place was certainly welcoming but he had no time to enjoy. He would enjoy once the city was in ruins. He loved destruction and chaos. It made him feel like the devil's agent, something he thought himself to be – the agent of evil. Everything was prepared. Although not a man of plan he had been planning this since a very long time. Just one thing made him kept going in his insane state – to meet him and face him to see where they both stood after all these years. It didn't matter to what consequences he'd have to go to achieve his desire and now it all looked quite near.
"How's the package?" he asked one of his men.
"It is secure," one of his men said.
"Keep it that way. It came at a cost and that is all we get," he said. "It is for a very special occasion which I hope to avoid."
"Why avoid it when you can end it?" one of his henchmen asked.
"Because the occasion won't know me like he does," he said. "I want it to be the perfect attraction. It is, after all, a plan to take out a bigger target for one of our friends and also to help me meet him. How's the cocky bastard?"
"Still struggling but you really did a number on him, boss," the henchman said.
"Well, what can I say? I've still got the skills. Bring him to the building. The rest of you, get to work!"
00000
Steve and the others got the alert when they received a message from Hill.
"What's going on?" Natasha asked, entering the meeting room where Steve and Barton were already present.
"Satellite's picked up small amounts of radiation spikes," Hill said through the conference. "It's Gotham City. We don't know what's going on because that city is, well, already a mess but we picked it up two days ago. We don't have any leads because nothing suspicious is seemed to be going on inside the city. The authorities have been alerted, though but seeing no sort of apparent danger has given them any reasons. Bomb squads have scanned every corner of the city to find any bombs but they've failed."
"Radiation spikes, is that nuclear?" Steve asked.
"Not nuclear but apparently the next best thing," Hill said. "We can't pinpoint the exact location and that is why it becomes more dangerous. Each explosion, according to our calculation covers a two-mile radius. That's enough to take out about a thousand people at least, considering Gotham has about four hundred thousand people living there."
"So you want us to go in?" Natasha asked.
"We want you to be discreet," Hill said. "After the incidences of New York, DC and Metropolis the government is already not in your support and the local authorities won't take it kindly for your help."
"We'll be careful."
Everyone turned around to see Tony enter the room.
"You look tired," Natasha said.
"Yeah, well, what's new about that?" Tony said. "So, how many of us are there?"
"The ones present in the room," Hill said.
"Where's Banner?" Tony asked.
"You really want Banner on this?" Barton asked. "He avoids circumstances where he can turn into the other guy of his. Besides, it looks like a covert mission so I guess we'll be good."
"I don't know much but I've never heard good things about that city," Natasha said.
"I second that," Barton said.
"Let's form a plan," Steve said. "Let's figure out the time window that we've got and get in and out without letting the authorities know."
"How safe are we on this one, again, Hill?" Tony asked.
"Not safe at all considering SHIELD no longer exists," Hill said. "You guys are on your own from now on."
"Quite a motivation, thank you," Barton said looking towards the monitor. Hill smirked before the monitor turned off.
"Something still bugs me about her," Tony said.
"Can we call Clark on this one?" Barton asked.
"What job does Superman's got on a covert mission?" Natasha asked.
"You know, we are dealing with very dangerous bombs here," Barton said. "He could come in pretty handy, I mean if you understand."
"I'll give him a ring," Tony said.
00000
Bruce looked at the surveillance monitor. He sighed. "Let her in," he said.
A minute later a knock was heard and Bruce opened the door. "I told you not to come here," he said.
"Gotham's in danger," Barbra said as she entered and fished out the flash drive she had brought with herself. "You need to see this."
Bruce hooked it up to his tablet and let the media file open. First were a couple of surveillance footages taken from inside the Arkham asylum and outside streets. Then was the recording of the cop who had beat up the child. Bruce paused that audio. "I know that voice," he said, hearing the voice of the child.
"I have security footage of the incident," Barbra said as she opened the media file.
Bruce looked with emotionless eyes as the cop beat Jason. He wondered what the boy was doing out there all by himself on that night. "Where is he now?"
"Gotham General," Barbra said. "I overheard the cop talk on the radio and spotted his location to find this boy in that state. I called in the emergency number. How do you know him?" she asked.
"Long story," Bruce said.
"Of course it is…where are you going?" she asked.
"Gotham General," Bruce said.
"Send in a proxy or someone else," Barbra said. "You going there for a mere kid will attract attention. There are far bigger things that are going on. BRUCE!"
He stopped at that call and turned around. Barbra was breathing hard.
"The city is in danger," she said. "In one of those media files you will find a recording about a group of people talking about a series of explosions to shake apart the city. The conversation was over a very secure network so you won't find it anywhere else and neither with other people. I hacked the Wayne Enterprises satellite to also record a little radiation spike in the vicinity of Gotham City but it was then subsided. Chances are they've already placed the bombs in lead containments. We have to find those bombs and we can't trust the police because you just saw why."
"There's got to be someone behind this," Bruce said as he opened up another voice recording. "Well, what can I say? I've got skills…" Bruce stopped the recording mid-way as his eyes widened with surprise. This couldn't be him. He would be too old to do anything and yet he sounded like the day they had first met.
Barbra saw Bruce shaking but it was from surprise rather than any other emotion. "Is everything alright?" she asked when Bruce's phone rang. Bruce took it out to see it was Tony.
"Yeah?" he answered the call.
"Your city is in danger," Tony said from the other side. "I don't know why or how but one of the remaining agents of SHIELD got some radiation spikes on their satellites. I suggest you move out of the city and also inform as many as possible. Don't trust the cops, Bruce." The line was disconnected. It seemed like Tony spoke while he was en route to Gotham – in his Iron Man suit.
"Also, I have a feeling Blake's missing because these people are holding him somewhere," Barbra said as she saw Bruce looking at his phone. "I want to help, Bruce. Please, let me be of help!" she pleaded.
Bruce looked at her and then outside the window. The sun was setting as he walked towards the window, his light reflection looking back in his eyes through the window pane. Suddenly the emergency news broadcast attracted their attention. Barbra turned up the volume.
"…to us all. The police commissioner was found dead at her resident and the police are looking into the matter right now," the reporter said.
"Whatever it is, it is happening now," Barbra said.
"The Avengers are on their way," Bruce said.
"Are they coming here right now?" Barbra asked as she picked up Bruce Tablet before Bruce could say anything and tapped the screen furiously. She then looked towards him to see Bruce was looking at his fist, tightly closed, already crushing his phone when suddenly the entire penthouse shook as if a powerful earthquake had struck Gotham. The window panes cracked as shrieks and cries of people outside followed next. The dimly lit room got filled with fiery colors as both Bruce and Barbra looked outside to see half the city burning. The news broadcast no longer displayed. The connection was lost. The reporter must've been caught up in the explosion. Barbra's phone rang. It was her father calling.
"Tell her you are safe," Bruce said. "That you are outside Gotham and at a friend's."
Barbra picked up the call. "Barbra, where are you?" Jim said, sounding worried over the phone.
"I'm fine, dad," she said. "I'm outside of Gotham, towards the Indian Hills with my friends."
"Don't go anywhere," Jim said. "I'm coming to get you!"
The call was disconnected when Barbra saw Bruce calling someone. She realized it later that it wasn't a call but a text. Bruce had texted her father anonymously that she will be fine and that he had work to do.
00000
Clark flew over the skyline of Gotham, looking around with his vision and hearing anything odd. Tony and the others hadn't arrived yet. Tony had informed him that they were on their way. The sun had set and the city hat lighted up, people going on with their lives. Clark floated around, trying to locate the bombs but he didn't know how because he had no technical expertise and he had no idea how many and where the bombs could be when suddenly he felt something. His facial expression changed as he blasted off towards the city streets when the shockwave forced him back a little.
The bright light had blinded him for a moment and it also affected his ears since he was using his enhanced hearing ability that it did a number on him when the explosion took place.
The shrieks of the civilians filled his ears as the city underneath him burnt like hell. Multiple explosions had happened altogether, taking out the city by surprise. Clark didn't know how many were caught in the explosion and a part of him feared to know the number. Suddenly his earpiece beeped.
"What happened?" it was Tony.
"The bombs, Tony," Clark said. There was shakiness in his voice. "The bombs went off. I couldn't do anything!"
Tony swore under his breath as his thrusters blasted him towards the city at supersonic speeds. The quintjet containing Widow, Rogers and Barton also headed towards the city quickly.
Clark floated down on the streets, looking around with his x-ray vision to find any civilians trapped. All he could see were dead and burnt bodies of the people who were caught in fire. He looked around. No trace of life was left from where he stood.
He flew towards the sky, looking around. His brain wasn't working properly as he looked desperately for any survivor when he heard emergency sirens. He immediately blasted towards the source of sound because he knew that the city EMT will need help in all of this chaos.
00000
Jim Gordon was hurryingly getting ready when he heard a firm knock on his door. He opened it to find a familiar face. "Captain Yindel," he said, stepping aside to let her and the two other guard cops inside his apartment.
"Sorry to come in so suddenly," she said, looking around for a bit before her eyes rested on the old face in front of her. "James Gordon," she said, looking at him in the eyes. "I suppose you know what is happening in the city right now?"
"All I heard were multiple explosions," Jim said, looking out of his window to see the burning city. "What's going on?" he asked.
"We have no idea," Yindel replied. "Although we did got an anonymous tip a couple days back that there was a rumor flying on about a series of bomb explosions to take apart the city. We responded as discretely as we could, just to make sure that this wasn't some sort of a prank and to not worry the people unnecessarily if it actually came out to be a prank. We didn't find anything. I suppose you can understand why because of the size of this city…"
"You didn't give in your heart to it," Jim said. "I don't know how long you've been a cop but I've heard nothing but good about you, captain…"
"Please, call me Yindel," she said.
"What I am telling you is that you should've been more active about it but I am also not blaming you," Jim said. "I know you give it all according to yourself and I understand that. But let's not forget that this is Gotham we are talking about. Dangers come unannounced and you had information about the explosions so why didn't you respond accordingly?"
"I suppose I never thought anything like that could ever happen in Gotham," she said, looking down. "Growing up, I came to know about you," she said, raising her eyes to look at him once again. "My father was a cop in your special crime unit when you ran things as commissioner. He had told me great things about you and believe it or not you were the reason I became a cop and now after what's happened to this city I take it all on me to not being responsible completely to my causes. I am sorry to fail you although you don't know me that well as I had just entered the department a year later after you'd retired."
"So why are you here?" he asked.
"I am here to seek help," Yindel said. "As captain of the GCPD and in the dire situation of the police commissioner being dead the whole command of the GCPD has fallen under me right now and I don't know what to do…where to start. This is why I am here. I know this is not the way but seeing we are in a situation where we are not getting an immediate help from the outside world I, Ellen Yindel, the Captain of Gotham City Police Department wants you to take charge of the city's police force. I do so knowing full well that I have no confidence nor the ability to handle a crisis situation like this and in doing so I accept any and all charges that seem fit to be implemented against me for taking a decision outside of the law like this." Saying that, she took out the recorder from her pocket and turned it off. "These two," she said, pointing to the two police guards, "will serve as witnesses if this thing ever got in the court but for now all of that can wait. Half of the city is burning like hell and the other half have the citizens running around, some wreaking havoc, some desperately trying to save themselves and their loved ones. The criminals are back on the streets. Explosions surrounding prisons were targeted with strategy making sure not to damage the prisoners but to free them as well. Whoever's responsible for this I am sure that a very detailed plan went underway to bring about such destruction. So," she said, taking a step back, "are you coming to help?"
Jim looked at her and then outside the window at the burning city before taking in a long breath. "I'll grab my coat."
00000
Clark could not hear it amongst the sound of people crying around all over the city so when a bullet was fired at him and when he realized that it was too late to dodge he was sure that he was invincible to the bullets but when it penetrated his skin and in doing so gave him a burning pain all over his body he was sure that something was not right. The bullet got stuck inside him and he immediately lost all of his strength and also the pain was unbearable as he fell down, blood coming from his wound and his mouth. He tried contacting the others but his earpiece had fallen a bit far from him. Courtesy of flying at blinding speed with suddenness. He cursed his luck as his vision blurred and he lost consciousness.
00000
Tony flew Barton on the roof of the GCPD building. It served as the idea spot for keeping eyes on the ongoing situation. Grudgingly Tony had let Steve make the plan as Steve was good in making plans, especially if it was a dire situation. Tony would keep eyes from the sky while Barton would do so from the GCPD building. Steve and Widow were to keep the fight and civilian rescue and EMT help from the ground. It was a sudden plan but they all wondered how they will achieve it when the chaos was happening all around the city.
The streets were a mess as people were running around in fear and agony. The burnt smell of flesh and other things filled the air and made Tony sick for a bit but he handled himself. An image of New York came into his head that day when Loki had opened the portal up in the sky and hundreds of Chitauri came down flying, killing and destroying any and everything in their path.
"J, can you get a count…on the dead?" he asked.
"The satellite can't pick up an accurate number of data because of the fire and lack of accessibility due to the malfunctioned cameras all around the city," Jarvis replied.
"Malfunctioned cameras?" Tony muttered. "Are all cameras malfunctioning?"
"I am afraid so, sir," Jarvis said.
"So this was an inside job," Tony said. "Alright, trace any active bombs and please contact Superman."
"I tried but he does not seem to be responding," Jarvis said.
"Not responding?" Tony said. "What do you mean? Track him."
"Already on it," Jarvis said.
00000
"Where are we going?" Barbra asked.
"Somewhere hopefully safe," Bruce said as the helicopter started flying. In the night sky the city burnt like anything. Barbra gasped as she looked down the chopper. People were running everywhere, many taking the opportunity to steal from stores, beating others. She also saw three men in a corner with a woman who was crying her lungs out as parts of her clothes were scattered on the ground. Barbra closed her eyes on that scene. She couldn't find up the courage to see it. Gotham had gone to hell. Suddenly the chopper gave a shake. They had arrived at their destination. It was the orphanage or more accurately the former Wayne manor. The chopper had landed on the roof.
"What are we doing here?" she asked as the two got off the chopper.
"The manor is outside city limits," Bruce said as the two climbed down the stairs. He didn't go inside the manor but around it. The estate was huge. Barbra looked at the building. "Where are the children?" she asked.
"Safe inside," Bruce said.
Barbra saw that an EMT vehicle was parked outside the bounds of the property with a police team awaiting any threat. She followed Bruce as they reached to the end of the estate on the opposite side. It was covered with vegetation and not properly taken care. Since the estate was so huge no one would notice anything this far from the manor anyway although there was a beautiful lake built here and a small cabin.
"What is this place?" she asked.
"My parents used to bring me here," Bruce said as they walked towards the small cabin. "This was built as per my mother's wishes. My parents would often come here on weekends and we spent the entire weekend here."
Bruce opened the door and the two entered. There was nothing there inside the cabin except for a few chairs and bulbs hanging from the roof.
"You might wanna stay in one place," Bruce said. "Don't go near the walls."
"Why?" she asked as Bruce reached to a picture hanging on the wall and removed it to reveal a small button. He pressed it and the entire floor of the cabin started mobbing downwards. Barbra lost her balance for a moment before standing steadily as they went deeper underground. She looked up at Bruce with a glint in her eyes. "This is it, isn't it?" she asked.
Bruce didn't answer as the floor elevator stopped moving. Barbra turned around to see the huge cave in front of her. The screeching sound of the bats only confirmed her guess as she tentatively stepped off the platform and into the cave's entrance. It was cold in here but that was because it was all wet.
"Is this…?" she couldn't find words to express what she was seeing as she ogled everything with wide eyes when her eyes fell on a set of monitors in one corner on a platform. Only then she realized and looked below. They were still not deep enough. Various platforms were raised inside the cave for various things, bridges connecting them together. One platform had a collection of monitors and servers which Barbra was twitching to get her hands on. The other platform had some things covered under tarp and another platform had two huge things covered under tarp. A fourth platform had enclosed containments - a series of them – at least ten that she guessed probably had something important in them and a fifth platform had a huge metal door protecting it. She wondered what was inside that when Bruce got her attention.
"Stop wandering off in your thoughts," Bruce said.
"Is this…Is this the Batcave?" she asked in a whisper because she still had difficulty finding her voice.
Bruce didn't say anything but started walking towards the platform which had the huge metal door in it. When Barbra tried following him he told her not to with a gesture. She immediately stopped in her tracks and watched Bruce walk up to the door and place his hand on the scanner o the door's side. A moment later it beeped and a rumbling sound echoed inside the cave, disturbing some of the bats as they screeched in annoyance while some flew around. Suddenly a humming sound filled the cave and Barbra saw the systems on the first platform turn on. Bruce came out of wherever he had gone and closing the door behind him walked towards the platform with the servers and systems. He then gestured Barbra to come and she happily did.
"I will give you one chance since you've been so immensely and annoyingly persuasive about being involved in all of this," Bruce said and turned around and pressed a button on one of the keyboards. The monitors all synchronized and started working as one big giant monitor with a satellite view of Gotham City. Bruce then turned towards Barbra who was ogling the thing with a different shine in her eyes. "I want you to operate from here tonight. Follow my instructions and don't do anything unless you're told to. That would reduce the risk of jeopardizing the mission."
"Mission?" she asked when she realized what Bruce was talking about. "Wait, you're not thinking about going out there as…as him, right?"
"There is no other way," Bruce said in an admitting tone. "The emergency teams can't reach everywhere and communication's been affected all over the city along with the entrances so even the army is having problems reaching to us. the streets are filled with criminals, some of them from my past and I have my guess that one of them is him."
"Who?" she asked as Bruce inserted Barbra's flash drive into the system and opened the recordings. Opening a voice trace window on the system he copied the recording in it and a minute later an image popped up in front of them. Barbra gasped as she looked at the image that was in front of her. "This can't be true!" she said. "He was mentally incapacitated."
"If anything I'd ever known ever the years fighting him is that never to expect anything from the Joker," Bruce said. "To expect any of his moves has always been a mistake because that guy is not someone who believes in strategies and plans. He is a guy with no purpose but one – to spread chaos and anarchy and he would do anything to achieve that just because it is fun for him."
"So the other guy that night whom the cop was reporting to was Joker?" Barbra asked.
"I need to trace every form of wireless communication taking place in the city," Bruce said. "That won't be difficult as cell towers are down so that would leave you with radio and very strong satellite signals."
"Military tech," Barbra said, understanding.
"Right," Bruce said, not sounding impressed but admitting it a little. "Enable heat signature trace and satellite view to keep eyes over the city and see if any cameras are working. I know you can use them as your eyes so do and if and when I ask directions it is your job to give me the shortest possible routes. Also…"
"Also what?" she asked, turning to look at him.
"How is your multi-tasking skill?" Bruce asked.
Barbra only smiled at him.
00000
Steve was indulged with two criminals who had kept him busy for a while. It was annoying considering the fact that apprehending or incapacitating them was proving difficult. Knowing he could not kill anyone had only made it difficult for him while the shrieks and cries around him distracted him. Nat had separated from him, following a couple of guys who were having their way with a girl in the darkness of the alley. Steve could only hope she caught every single one of them as he dodged another fatal strike from the guy in front of him who was swinging the rather long crowbar blindly at him when he heard a familiar tinkling sound and looked down. Someone had thrown a smoke grenade but why? Being a super soldier had its perks as Steve was immune to basic poisonous gases so he didn't give it much attention so when it exploded and covered Steve only then did Steve realized his mistake and how wrong he was about the smoke bomb. It was a smoke bomb but very lethal and unlike anything Steve had encountered before as he breathed more of that stuff inside as his vision began to falter. He looked around and the cries of the people filled his ears even more. It was like they were screaming right in his ears as he closed his ears and lost his balance. The guy with the crowbar grabbed this opportunity and rained down on him from every direction possible as Steve received blows after blows but he was in no position to call for backup as he prevented himself from seeing the dead face of Peggy and Bucky and everyone else around him. He didn't know why he was seeing their faces but they looked scary and in a manner that made Steve feel scared, so scared that he wasn't responding to the attacks that were currently happening to him. The pain was there with every hit he took from the crazy guy but he could not respond. This gas was unlike anything he had ever experienced. In the event his helmet flew off and a strong blow to his head made him lose consciousness as Captain America fell hard on the ground, blood trickling from his cracked skull and wounds, turning his blue suit to somewhat red.
00000
Barton informed Nat about Steve's unresponsiveness while Tony had already known about it so he had Steve track with the tracker that he had put in everyone tonight. Steve was not moving. He was in some warehouse by the docks and when Tony, out of curiosity, tracked Clark's bio signatures he was also found there. Unfortunately since Clark didn't have any tracker on him Tony couldn't check his vitals like he checked Steve's which didn't look that good. According to the data he had received Steve was unconscious and from the situation it looked like Clark was, too but how? Who could apprehend them both? There was no record of any superhuman or enhanced individuals in the vicinity of the city. It was a terrorist attack and there were mere criminals on the streets. Was someone else hiding down there? Tony had heard about how Central City had its metahumans – a silly term according to him that the authorities of that city had used to call them – but that was it. There was no other situation like that anywhere else in the country at least. So what had happened? Who could take out Steve and especially Clark? The man who had the power to move mountains was taken out?
As Tony thought over that his scanners warned him of something coming towards him. He immediately dodged the bullet that struck the signboard behind him as Tony turned around to see a man in leather suit. He wore a mask with a red targeting lens fitted on the left eye. He also had several guns all around him – on his wrists, his belt and big giant ones strapped on his shoulders.
"You know, seeing you with all that weaponry I believe you will definitely make my friend Rhodey quite jealous," Tony said as he avoided another shot at him. The masked man fired shots after shots while moving altogether and dodging Tony's attacks when one of them hit his leg and he fell down with a curse. Tony landed beside his head and lifted him up, unmasking the guy to see it was a middle-aged man. "J, Id scan, please?" he asked Jarvis.
"The man is Floyd Lawton," Jarvis said. "A marksman and assassin and a former member of a secret government team known as Task Force X."
"Secret government team, huh?" Tony said. "I have to tell those were very good shots that you took. Unfortunately you have nothing but guns and you see me? This is a titanium suit that I'm wearing which your guns or even RPGs can't penetrate. Now you tell me who's behind this attack and I might let you live!"
"Oh, always the eager one, eh, Stark?" Lawton said with a smirk. "You know, he was right about you."
"Who was?" Tony asked.
"I can't tell his name because then he will kill my family but yeah, he did say that you had a tendency of getting distracted."
Tony tightened his grip on the guy when something struck his suit. Before he could think of anything his suit had powered down and he could feel the heavy suit on his body as he fell down, losing his balance. "Jarvis?" he said but there was no response. The suit was so heavy without power that he was having difficulty moving and he couldn't get out either so when a few bullet shots forcefully opened his visor Tony knew he was in trouble. Before he could do something a piercing pain shot through his left shoulder as the guy had forcefully penetrated a huge rod in his shoulder, tearing through his suit's joints that failed to hold under the absence of the magnetic field that enhanced the suit's joints and connections to make them stronger. Whoever this guy was he sure knew how his suit worked because Tony had not told anyone about it. Even Rhodey didn't know about this although his own suit had this ability.
"Tony, are you alright?" Barton's voice ran in his ears. "Tony?"
Before Tony could answer he lost his consciousness when the man hit his head with the butt of his gun.
00000
"Nat, do you copy?" Barton said.
"I'm here," Nat answered.
"Tony's apprehended," Barton said. "So are Steve and probably Clark as well."
"What?" Nat said.
"I suggest we pull back," Clint said. "There's something much more going on in this city and I don't thing engaging any more would do us any good."
"Are you saying we pull back?" Nat asked.
"And come back with reinforcement."
"There's no reinforcement for us, Clint," Nat said. "There are no longer any SHIELD protecting and providing backups to us. We are on our own."
"Well, then let's wait for the military to show up," he said.
"There's no telling when or if they'll arrive," Nat said. "Besides, Tony and the rest could be in danger."
"And we don't have any way to track them," Barton said. "What should we do?"
"Are you still on the GCPD rooftop?" she asked to which Clint replied positively. "I want you to scan the area from where you are and guide me to you. With everything that's happening we need to work together from now on and not separate."
Barton took out the tablet he had in his back and turned it on. A satellite view of the city came up and he tracked Nat. He also tried tracking others but it didn't turn out to be successful. They probably had their trackers removed. Someone knew how the Avengers worked. And who could've imagined that Superman could get apprehended?" He paused as he looked below. A commotion of police officers had started to happen as a patrol car stopped in the vicinity. "I have eyes on a new entry," Barton informed Nat. "Subject is police captain Ellen Yindel. She is accompanied by an old man I have no clue about."
"Give me a visual?" Nat said and a moment later her earpiece beeped. She took out her phone and opened the picture. "That's former police commissioner James Gordon," she said. "I wonder what he's doing here."
00000
Jim entered the GCPD building. He looked around. Sure a lot of things had changed. Things had become a lot more high-tech since the last time he remembered it. When he had joined it was just a rundown sort of arched building that looked like a closed-off subway station. As he walked around it appeared that the other cops and detectives were already filled in with the situation and his reason to be here when he noticed someone he immediately recognized. A smile came upon his face as he walked over to the woman and hugged her tightly.
"Harper!" he said in his old man voice as he broke the hug and looked at one of the most loyal cops of his time when he and Harvey and others used to fight for the city. "How have you been?" he asked.
"Alive and fortunately well," Harper said. "How's retirement treating you?"
"It's a little boring to be honest," Jim answered. "I had the image of you as the police captain if not the commissioner."
"You know I like working on fields," she said. "But if you really want it then let me tell you that people here listen to me more than captain Yindel. No offence, ma'am," she said with a smile, looking towards Yindel.
"You know that's true," Yindel replied with a smile of her own. "Although we don't have enough time for pleasantries. Mr Gordon, like I said, the entire GCPD has agreed for you to take command and whatever you say from here will be your command to us."
Jim looked at her and then at Harper who only nodded at him like the old days whenever any danger was faced by the city when suddenly the door to the other side of the room opened and a cop entered. He had an envelope in his hand which he brought to Jim.
"Sir, this was just dropped by a drone on the back side of the GCPD building," the cop said. "It addresses to you."
"A drone, huh?" Jim said sarcastically as he took the envelope from the cop's hand and opened it as he walked towards a private corner. As he read the complete letter his eyes widened. He flipped the letter to see there was nothing as Harper walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"What's the matter?" she asked.
"It's him," Jim said, showing the letter to Harper who also read it. Although she had not been to many exertions with Jim in the old days she clearly knew what the letter meant. "I received a text from an unknown number today evening just as soon as the explosions happened. 'She's safe' it read and I felt relieved for some reason and didn't give it much thought."
"Do you think it's really him?" Harper asked.
"Seeing that the city is in overall danger I suppose why not?" Jim said.
"But why after all this time?" she asked.
"That's worrying me too," Jim said.
"What, his apparent return?" Harper asked.
"No," Jim answered. "The fact that Gotham needs him to return if it is all that true I mean."
"Is everything alright?" Yindel asked as she walked over to them.
"You said you are giving me total authority over the GCPD to tackle the problem?" Jim asked, a sort of command in his voice.
"Ye…Yes," Yindel said.
"Seeing how I have come to know about your principles regarding some things," Jim said, "I don't want you to judge me as I accept the fact that I can't do this alone."
"What do you mean?" Yindel asked, looking from Jim to Harper to back to Jim.
00000
Barbra got back into the chair as the large monitor showed her the various live images of Gotham City. Bruce had just left the cave and it definitely looked like he was not that much prepared. He was going to do this after a really long time and he looked guilty for some reason. She didn't know what the reason was but she had promised herself to help Bruce in any way whatsoever necessary to bring down the chaos happening in Gotham tonight. The drone that she had sent with a parcel to her dad had returned. She looked at it and then at the live sat-feed of the GCPD building. There were two individuals at the rooftop currently. Changing the viewing angle as much as she could since none of the surveillance in the city was working she managed to get a look on their faces. It was the Black Widow and the arrow guy who worked with the Avengers. She programmed the satellite to look for other Avengers in the city and found two matches – one of Tony Stark and the other of Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America. Since most of the Avengers' real identity was already known it wasn't hard for her to locate them. She found them in one of the warehouses near the docks of Gotham harbor. She opened her channel and a small window that gave her Bruce's location. A moment later his voice was heard in her earpiece.
"What is it?" Bruce asked over the comm.
"I've got eyes on Iron Man and Captain America," Barbra said. "There's a third heat signature that I can't identify because of data lack but the three are currently in the warehouse number four of Gotham docks. Also, Black Widow and the arrow guy are at the rooftop of the GCPD building."
Bruce acknowledged. "About the other thing?" he asked.
"Already on it," Barbra said as a series of rumbling sounds were heard inside the cave. The large monitor displayed a series of small windows, each showing a different live feed through very sophisticated cameras as she reached out for one of the buttons on the side of the table. a mechanical sound followed with a joystick and a few buttons emerging from below the table.
00000
Nat had just arrived at the top of the GCPD building, trying to hack her and Barton's communication devices to try and contact Maria Hill bit to no avail. "Didn't know things would go this south in this mission," she said.
"I hear someone," Clint said, grabbing Nat's attention which immediately stopped her work and stood up, both of them hiding in the shadow of the large water tank on top of the building. A moment later the door leading to the roof was opened and two people came out. Nat and Clint recognized them both.
"I still don't understand if he is the real one," Yindel said as the two came on the roof.
"I have my doubts too, captain," Jim said. "But if he is the real one then we definitely are in danger."
"And if it is true then wouldn't he be old?" she asked.
"Something tells me that it's true," Jim said as the two walked over to a huge thing covered in tarp. Dirt and dust had covered the tarp over the years. He pulled off the tarp and a cloud of dust followed making the two step back a little. This one was the older one. The new signal that initially was being used to call Nightwing was on the Gotham Life Building. As he connected the old rusty wires something grabbed their attention.
Natasha and Clint were watching the two carefully, not understanding what they were talking about when something grabbed their attention. Someone had just jumped on the roof. Clint immediately turned on his thermal visor and looked around but didn't find anything when something sounded like heavy steps. The sound neared towards the two standing by the huge old signal as Clint and Nat became careful.
"Who could that be?" Clint asked when something shadowy and large came out of nowhere and stood behind the cop and the old man.
Jim turned first, already knowing who it was. Yindel followed a close second. What she saw made her eyes open wide. Clear look of surprise was on her face as Jim looked a little surprised, too.
In front of them stood a hulky figure dressed in black and a cowl covering the top half of his face. The person was wearing an armored suit that was also a mixture of a little exo-suit. What Jim noticed first, however, was the uncovered chin area of the man. It had wrinkles – and the same grim look which he recognized immediately. A part of him wanted to smile looking at the man with whom he had worked so long during the old days but that time would come later. Yindel would only look at the man in surprise. He definitely looked old but looking at his armored suit she wondered who would pick a fight with this person. She sneaked a glance at Gordon who had a contended look on his face. So he was the real one. She wondered how old this guy was.
"Who's that?" Clint asked, clearly surprised that he didn't see the man come on the roof.
"Looking at the way he is dressed and the symbol on his chest I'd say I recognize him from somewhere," Nat said. "Although I could be wrong because I only heard about the guy. If he is the real deal then all of the urban legends that I heard about him are true."
"What urban legends?" Clint asked.
"I read about this guy from one of the very old records that SHIELD had," Vat said. "He goes by the name Batman and Fury told me how eager he was for this guy to work with the SHIELD. According to him this guy's got great resources for intel decryption and other very impressive skills. SHIELD never got even close to this guy even when Fury had allowed all of SHIELD's resources and people after him. This guy's good."
"You look old," Jim said, looking at the old friend eye to eye. "Never really thought I'd see you again."
"Sorry for bringing you out of retirement," Batman said as he looked at Yindel. "Captain, I suppose you understand the situation?"
"I do completely," Yindel said. "Are you really him?" she asked.
"The city's been divided into two sections," Batman said. "One of them is covered with fire with many people still stuck in it. How many EMTs can operate?" he asked, looking at her.
"There are a total of forty-two with only twelve of them are currently in any condition to work. Most of them are already working on the rescuing of people," she said.
"How many riot police personnel can you dispatch to the other part of the city?" he asked. "The people are destroying their own city. If they break then this city breaks and then it won't matter whether or not we save this city."
"We have about a hundred or so," Yindel said. "I don't have much information. Some of them are stuck but I will gather everyone I can find."
"Good," Batman said. "Have the EMTs go to the fire covered areas. You will receive assists in moving the debris and find any and all vehicles capable of transporting people to the hospitals. As of this moment on declare an emergency in the city. we cannot wait for the military to show up. The skies are being targeted."
"That's true," Yindel said. "We've already have three military choppers down. I don't know if any of them survived the crash. We can't even go and check them."
"What will you do?" Jim asked, looking at Batman.
"I have somewhere I need to be but I will join you soon," Batman said.
"And what about that?" Jim asked, looking at what used to be the bat signal.
"Light it up when you get the signal," Batman said. "Now go. I need a little privacy here."
Jim and Yindel nodded before going to the stairs, the door closing behind them. "Why would he ask you to light up the signal if he was already here?" she asked Jim.
"So that everyone knows," Jim answered.
"You two can come out now," Batman said as he turned towards the water tank under which Nat and Clint were. The two looked at each other before slowly coming out. "Your friends are in danger," Batman said. "They are currently being held up in one of the warehouses at the docks of Gotham Harbor. I need you to create a perimeter. I will go in and bring them out. Under no circumstances will either of you engage the ones inside the warehouse. Your only task is to take out the ones outside the building."
"Since when do we take orders from you?" Clint asked. "We don't even know you."
"You are right," Batman said. "But you also don't know this city and the people holding your team in. you go in there hoping to save your friends and you are dead. One of the guys took out Superman. You really think you can handle people like them? Just the two of you?"
"You know who's behind this?" Nat asked, walking forward.
Batman looked at her. He knew who she was. He knew about her secrets. "I have a lead," he said. "Now go."
The two looked at each other before Nat nodded looking at the Batman and went off. Batman stood at the rooftop, looking at the burning city in front of him as the sound of a series of sirens of the police patrol cars, the fire trucks and ambulances filled the air of Gotham. The two had dispatched the EMTs as Batman looked down. The riot police was here and they were ready to be dispatched as Batman saw them go towards the other side of the city.
"What's the status?" he asked over the comms.
"Two of the vehicles have been dispatched towards the docks," Barbra said. "The rest have been dispatched towards the burning part of the city. Brother Eye will take care of that part."
"Good," Batman said. "Keep me updated with live feeds from the docks. I have two of them working with me for the moment."
"Working with a team now, are we?" Barbra said with a hint of sarcasm. She didn't receive anything from the other side as she saw Batman began to move.
Bruce fired off his grappling gun towards one of the cranes on a far building and jumped off. He had the intel. With someone like the Superman down whoever was responsible for this clearly had been using kryptonite. Bruce knew that because with the kryptonite sample that Tony had sent him which his team of experts had found in one of the wrecked Kryptonian ships had the ability to degenerate and break Kryptonian cells. That meant it was lethal to Superman. Bruce made a mental note of figuring out who else could've had access to the kryptonite from the wrecked ship as he reached the warehouse where Tony and others were currently held captive. He landed on the roof without making any noise as he began to take in long breathes. He knew he was too old for doing any of this but he had no other choice and Gotham had no other choice. Besides, this was his city and only his to protect. "Visual?" he said over the comms as his cowl's visors dropped down, showing him everything happening inside the building through heat signatures. Barbra cleared the feed as much as she could.
"Your friends have cleared the path, though," she said over the comms. "Shall I send in the ride?"
"Keep it close by," Bruce said as he completed the scan of the field. He checked in his utility belt. He had everything he needed for the crusade at the time being. Taking out a pain killer for his damaged vertebrae he popped it in his mouth and waited for a minute for it to take effect. His pain subsided a little before he opened the roof door leading downstairs. He wasn't in his tip-top condition so he wanted to avoid as much as he could.
00000
Tony was the first one to gain consciousness. He opened his eyes with a painful groan and looked around in his blurry vision which improved with time. Wherever he was it was an old rickety lace with no light. There was the smell of ocean so he was being held somewhere near a dock or something. As his vision improved and adapted to the darkness in the room he realized he wasn't alone. On his left was Steve, still unconscious and twitching from time to time. Tony also noticed black dried up marks on his cheeks. Something cad come out of his eyes with his tears and had dried up in on his cheek.
"Steve?" Tony whispered but got no response so he looked on his other side and found what he could never believe. On his left was Clark – unconscious and in the worst shape then all of them. Then Tony noticed that Clark had a bullet wound and small amount of green light was coming out from it. He immediately understood what the reason was for Clark as the man looked pale with every passing minute. Tony tried to hear his breathing and was horrified to realize it was very shallow and slow. Clark was in real bad shape. He needed help. Tony tried to move but his hands were tied in thick chains just like Steve and Clark's. He also noticed that he wasn't in his suit anymore. They had removed his armor and Steve's shield as well. This was bad. As his panic arose he heard someone walk into the room.
"So you've finally awoken Mt Stark?" Tony saw a man appear from the shadows and walked towards them. He limped and used a cane to walk as Tony noticed he was old. There were scarred freckles on his face, especially on the sides of his cheeks. His face looked as if someone had cut-off his face and then pasted it back on mercilessly as there were stitch scars and signs of what appeared to be melded skin.
"What do you want?" Tony asked.
"Oh, I want nothing from you or your friends, Mr Stark," the man said.
"So why are we here?" Tony asked. "Why attack the city?"
"Oh, you see," the man said as he crouched down to come to Tony's level and looked him in the eyes, "this wasn't on me," he said. "I am not a man with plans. Never have been, like ever but when I heard of it I saw an opportunity to meet someone as it had the potential of creating that chance but then you guys come in – trying to save the day. Why don't you focus on alien attacks, huh? You all have a specialty for that kind of work? Why bother with small matters and people like us? Or are you too shallow to just barge in anywhere and try and be the hero of the day?"
Tony looked at the guy and could understand nothing from his body language. The guy, for some reason, seemed completely unpredictable to him and Tony was feeling uncertain about him just by looking at him. "Who's behind the attack?" he asked.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha !" the man laughed in his rickety voice. "Well, that's something I can't answer for you," he said. "The classic secret bad guy scenario. What I can tell you is that I have nothing to do with him and he has got nothing to do with me. we both are just co-operating with each other just to gain our own objectives, which for me is to say isn't that much because I am a person who enjoys and do things that is fun for me but everyone's got objectives and goals, right? Even a mad man like me?" saying that he took his cane and started beating Tony as his laugh echoed inside the place. Tony's face was covered in cuts and wounds as it became red with blood. He was losing consciousness again when he heard something. The old man beating him stopped immediately and took a few steps back and looked around. "Well, well, well, it looks like he took the bait," he said as a number of artillery men entered the room with guns and armor piercing rounds. They all had all sorts of military gears protecting them but from what Tony could tell they weren't here for help. They were working with this guy. He looked around. Steve hadn't gained consciousness yet and Clark looked even worse when suddenly a sound filled the room. It looked as if someone had taken down an entire floor as the building shook from the impact. Tony saw as the gunmen turned around, their backs facing him. He couldn't see anything but a blur shadow and sounds of punches, kicks, people's painful screams and the sickening sound of the breaking of bones. What followed, however, was the maniacal laugh of the old man who stamped his cane repeatedly as he looked towards his men who were being beaten by a dark shadow. What Toy did manage to see was that this shadow appeared to be very fast and agile and it knew how to fight. He also noticed how the old man beat his own men when they were thrown at him.
"I knew you hadn't gone!" the man shouted as more of his men were incapacitated by the shadow. Tony tried seeing what was happening but his consciousness and vision were betraying him. "You still look in great shape, though."
A moment followed after which there was complete silence in the place. Tony regained some of his senses back as he tried to focus on what was happening. In front of him stood a tall armored figure in all black. He had a cape on his back just like Thor but only a bit longer and much wider. The man or whoever was in that suit was looking at the old man who was probably behind this all as he grabbed him by the neck. The old man was lifted up like a rag doll but it didn't stop his maniacal laugh. "I'm glad you missed me, bats!"
Tony's head immediately popped up when he heard the last word. He tried to look closely and finally realized it. He could see the faint bat symbol on the chest of the man. So the stories were true? But Gotham already had a vigilante operating. So where was he? As if on cue someone's footsteps echoed inside the room as something flew by making a swooshing sound and hit the armored man on his shoulder. It looked like he was already expecting it with the way he reacted as he didn't let his grip lose on the old man.
The Joker took a few steps back as someone entered the place. Bruce wasn't prepared for what he saw next. "Missed me?" the man said coming into the little light in the room. He had his mask off and his face looked pale
"What did he do to you?" Batman asked.
"Well, well, thank you for showing so much worry," he said. "So you never gave it up really. I see that. Never could trust me. So typical of you." Saying that he sprinted towards Batman, taking out both his batons and barraging hits after hits on him. Bruce went on to complete defense. He didn't want to hurt Blake. He was not in his right mind. Joker clearly had done something to him. Whatever it was it had for sure affected Blake's physical abilities. He was far stronger and quick than humanly possible. If it wasn't for Bruce's armor he was sure he'd be lying on the floor all bloodied, possibly dead.
"Focus, Nightwing," Bruce said. "You are not thinking through."
"Oh, I am," Blake said. "He freed me, Bru…" he didn't get to finish the name as Bruce punched him hard in the face. That, along with the armored knuckles on his gloves did their effect as Blake was thrown away. He hit the wall hard, cracking it a little bit before falling down, losing his consciousness. Bruce took a step back and turned around. The joker had gone. He walked over to Tony who was the only one among the three Avengers who was conscious.
"Are you alright?" Bruce asked.
"Well, apart from the cracked skull I'd say yeah," Tony replied. "Who was that guy? Who are you?"
"No one," Bruce said.
"They did something to my armor," Tony said sluggishly when a number of gunmen arrived on the floor, their laser target pointers pointing at Bruce and Tony. Tony saw the man reach for his face's side before looking at him.
"Duck," Bruce said and covered Tony who was the most vulnerable one present there without his armor. A moment later something crashed inside the room then two more followed. The gunmen didn't expect this and were shocked as they turned around. Three tank-like armored vehicles were now in the room their headlights lighting up the space as a whirring sound followed with a series of fires. The gunmen couldn't stand in front of the barrage of fires the vehicles did on them. A bullet stuck one of the nearby gunmen and then fell beside Tony who looked at it. It was made of rubber. A minute later all the gunmen were down, groaning with pain.
"How are they?"
Tony turned to look at the voice. "Natasha?" he said as Natasha entered the room.
"Clint's outside, securing the perimeter," she said as she looked around. "I did not expect that," she said, pointing at the vehicles.
"Move," Batman said and picked up Clark who was in the worst shape.
"Where are we going?" Natasha asked when her earpiece beeped. "What's it, Clint?" she asked.
"Umm, there's a…umm. You better see it for yourselves," Barton said as Bruce also received the message from Barbra.
"Step back," he said, turning around to tell the others as the roof of the rickety building collapsed. A whirling sound followed as a glider of some sort became visible through the dust. Through the broken roof also came down Clint. He looked at everyone when his eyes fell on Steve and Clark.
"Are they alright?" Clint asked.
"Worry about that later," Batman said. "We need to move now," he said as he fired his grappling gun on the flying thing and let the rope hang. "Climb aboard," he said.
"What about them?" Tony asked.
"They'll be safe," Batman said before he placed a tiny button on each of them. Natasha and Tony knew what those buttons were for but for the guy who had just saved them they didn't remove it. It was a tracker jamming device. Once he was done he walked over to Superman and Captain America and easily lifted them both on either side of his shoulders and carried them to one of the armored vehicles. He placed them carefully in there and then closed the door before telling Barbra to get a move on. The vehicle immediately began to move and disappeared in the darkness of the night a moment later. By now Tony, Natasha and Clint had already boarded the flying thing and so the Batman climbed in, too before the door closed and they took off. The other armored vehicles also took off to a certain location before one of them fired off a small rocket that stuck on one of the walls of the place. A minute later the whole warehouse came down with a controlled explosion.
Jim Gordon looked at the explosion and signaled the cops standing behind him. They pulled down the lever to light up the signal.
00000
The news media lit up like a Christmas tree, first in Gotham. Then the fire spread throughout the country, everyone talking about the return of the masked vigilante of Gotham.
Barbra looked at the large monitor in front of her, a small section of which was playing the city news when the splash of water almost scared her. She turned around to see the glider inter the cave through the fall. A minute later the rest of the armored vehicles entered as well. one of them came and stopped on the platform where Barbra was as by this time the glider landed gracefully on one of the platforms and its gate opened. She looked at it and couldn't believe her eyes at what she saw. Never in the world had she thought that the mighty Avengers would need help from an old, powerless man. Guess his dad was right. The Batman was something.
"Overwatch!" Barbra looked as Batman exited the glider and walked towards her platform. She stood up from her seat and looked at him and then the vehicle. "I need you to get the medical kit from the utilities section," the Batman said and turned around, walking towards the vehicle whose gate had already been opened. Barbra was shocked to see who it contained before she left the place to get what was needed.
Clint helped tony walk to the platform as Batman pulled out Clark and Rogers from the vehicle. "What is this place?" Tony asked.
"Is it a lair of some kind?" Natasha asked to which she only received the Batman's glare. The Batman first lay Superman down on the cold floor and took out a small pair of tweezers. He then inserted it in Superman's wound and after a minute's struggle pulled out the glowing green bullet shaped kryptonite.
"It's kryptonite," Tony said, looking at the bullet.
"What?" Nat asked.
"Who else knows about this?" the Batman asked, looking at Tony as he stood up and then walked over to Steve.
"No one but me," Tony said, looking at Batman. Somehow he felt intimidated by the bat-dressed man. He didn't know why.
"Someone definitely knows about them and also how to use them," Batman said as he stood up.
"Wait, that's it?" Clint asked, looking at a bleeding Superman. "You are not going to cauterize his wound?"
"Nothing that I have would work on him," Batman said. "He is an alien with near indestructible body. I can't close the wound. Give it time. It will heal itself." Saying that Batman walked over to Steve and picked him up by which time Barbra entered the cave. Everyone else turned to look at her. She walked over to Batman and helped him put Steve on the table as Batman pulled off his helmet to reveal the wound. He took out a small canister from his utility belt and pressed the knob on it to release a gas that instantly froze the open wound on Steve's head. "He needs hospital care," Batman said before walking up to the large monitor. He unmuted the audio and the cave echoed with the various news channel windows that was opened on the computer.
Everyone looked at the monitor. From what the Avengers understood Batman had returned after about twenty years, if that's what the symbol meant that had been lighted up on top of the GCPD building about half an hour ago. The Avengers knew that there were reports of a vigilante working in Gotham years back. He disappeared after apparently sacrificing himself in the process of taking an active nuke away from the city and over to the bay. He wasn't seen since then and then a few months later another vigilante started operating in Gotham. Since Clint and Natasha were the first among the people present in the cave who had joined SHIELD they knew about the vigilante as SHIELD had tried to make contact with him. The plan had never succeeded but Natasha was sure Fury would definitely have tried to contact the Batman, if he was actually this person. She noticed the chin that the mask revealed. This guy was definitely old and it made sense the kind of gears he had on his suit to help him move with agility. But his fighting style wasn't something she recognized, of course it was a mixture of several types of martial arts but there were more styles with which she had seen this guy fight the gunmen back at the warehouse. If this was really him then Fury would very much be interested in talking to him. But for the moment she knew he had saved them all from near death scenarios. Reporting this to Fury could wait. Steve and others needed help at first.
Batman pressed some buttons on the keyboard as a window popped up with what looked like a portion of a recorded surveillance video. Also, next to it popped up a chart with names. Barbra looked from where she stood as she recognized almost half of the names on the list. "You don't thing it was a collaborative attempt, right?" she asked. Everyone but Batman looked at her as she looked at Batman who had his back facing her.
"He spoke of a boss," the Batman said. "There's someone pulling the threads, someone with resources. To know about the kryptonite and the weakness of the rest of them requires high intel resources."
Tony, Clint and Natasha looked at each other before Tony walked over to Batman. "That's quite a system you've got there, pal," he said as he walked over and stood behind Batman, staring at the giant screen. "Pulling up surveillance feeds and classified data. I'd say it would've needed quite a tech expertise. Did you do it on your own?"
The Batman turned around and looked Tony directly in the eyes. Tony took two steps back as he looked back at him. The ability of this guy to intimidate others was amazing as Tony thought. "Why don't you tell me about where your security leaked that created a possibility of someone else gaining access to kryptonite?"
Tony looked at the Batman. "My security has no issues," he said. "For all I know I only told about the kryptonite to one other person besides me. I suppose you know him. His name is Bruce Wayne."
The Batman took a few steps back before opening the cowl. Tony felt as if he would fell from the shock. The wrinkled old face staring back at him forced him to think that this was some kind of a joke.
Nat and Clint also recognized the face. Everyone knew who Bruce Wayne was but to throw something like Bruce Wayne could be the Batman was something to take in. Natasha immediately realized why it was hard to track the Batman down and the next vigilante after him. With someone as rich as Wayne he'd have enough resources at his disposal. From what she remembered even an organization like SHIELD often had difficulty for funds. Of course things had changed since the last ten-twelve years but now with SHIELD officially closed and the years before it was this efficient it made sense why it wouldn't track down the Batman.
"Bru…Bruce?" Tony managed to say. "You're the Batman?"
Bruce didn't reply him but turned around and tapped another button to reveal a window that showed some type of reading in bars. "The police have begun its work" he said.
"I got it." Everyone looked at Barbra who was looking at the tablet in her hand when she looked up to realize all eyes were on her. For a moment she felt like a criminal for she was being stared at by the Avengers and the Batman altogether.
"What is it?" Bruce's voice brought her back from her thoughts as she cleared her throat and tapped the screen a few more times before giving a large swipe gesture on it and a window opened up on the large screen. Everyone looked at the image it displayed. It had the 'classified' stamp on it and the NSA watermark as well.
"It looks like someone's sniffing around," Barbra said as she opened up another image. It had the details of an off the record accessibility under a private contractor of a shell corporation. "Looks like someone gave in for a little green in their pockets," she said with a dreamy smile on her face as she looked at the large screen when she realized all the eyes were on her again. She immediately regained her composure and cleared her throat once more. "Ahem!" she coughed. "Someone definitely paid a high ranking government officer to gain access to the crashed Kryptonian ship. It looks like happened not long after Superman destroyed the large one over the Indian Ocean. The record has legal access to whoever this is but it has been tried to be kept under wraps. I wonder why."
"What about the transaction?" Bruce asked. "Tracing it will take how long?"
"Well, since the transaction was done through a number of shell corporations, many of whom as I see through, declared bankruptcy under events like the attack on New York and Washington DC and the most recent one in Metropolis it will take some time to get to the source, even for this guy," she said, pointing at the large screen. "For me it will take even longer. How long, that I can't tell because I would have to go through each and every transaction accessed by these shell companies in the last six months or so since the records don't say how much was given for this access of the Kryptonian rock."
"I can have Jarvis on to help," Tony suggested, "but considering what your system is capable of I don't think J would be of much help. So what do you call him?" he asked, as he looked at Bruce.
"Brother Eye," Bruce said, causing a change on Tony's expression.
"That sounds like the Northern Lights project," Natasha said.
"Northern Lights is real?" Clint asked.
"It is," Tony said. "So how did you gain access to this?" he asked, looking at Bruce.
"I have a friend," Bruce said before turning around.
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A/N: Thanks for reading…..
I've decided to add another storyline of the TV series 'Person of Interest'.