Inertia
#Part 2#
It didn't take long for Inertia to get lots of money from many different banks. Inertia gathered in hundreds of both professional and amateur mercs looking to set up scores. Other than that, he also brought in some inmates. On the top of their tiers separating them from their classes were four of the most advanced mercenaries and metas that he could find.
Lawrence was in the top office room of some sort of a warehouse filled by peoples with different angles and motivations chatting at each other, questioning their purpose in this entire room. The mercenaries had nothing in common. They had no one to talk with. And here they are, creating what's best be described as white noise. He breathed in relief as he had to be distracted away from those mercenary peasants as he walked into a more peaceful area of the warehouse office upstairs.
There, he noticed a woman as familiar as the sunlight. God knows he needed enough woman in his life to make things more complicating. Her black hair dribbled down all the way to her shoulder. Her green top covered all but her cleavage, exposed for about as long as half a pencil. The moment she laid her eyes upon the man inside the room, she widened her eyes in disbelief.
"Dad?" Jade said. "What are you doing here?"
"Could've asked you the same thing." Lawrence said. "You're in it for the money?"
"As long as someone's paying me for coming through this mess of a crowd, sure." Jade said. "How's little sister?"
"She's fine." Lawrence said. "She's definitely going to make it through all of that painful job."
"I'm surprised to see you here, Jade."
William Cobb AKA Talon also showed himself outside of the door. Without the Owl Mask, he couldn't be more apparent. There was the way the he smiled upon Jade that made Lawrence to glance at him with disgust. Was it that very small side smile that he made or was it those sharp killer eyes? He even doubted that the bulky brown armor was enough for agility alone.
"Cobb. I should've thought." Jade darted her eyes away from him. "Is this some sort of a weird reunion party?"
"Who is this guy?" Lawrence said.
"We used to date."
"Then you at least have the idea of what I'm about to say to you." Lawrence put both his hands on his pockets and gave his death stare towards the assassin.
"Don't worry Mr. Crock. I will." Cobb smirked at him as he replied with that cold, monotonous voice. "I'm not a man who would date a dysfunctional whore."
Lawrence's fist was about to hit Cobb's face, but it stopped mid-air as someone quicker managed to grab it. It was a young boy, about 5'3 wearing a brown hoodie and a dark green shirt with a lightning decal. Lawrence stand bewildered as the boy pushed his hand away out of Cobb's trajectory. The hand propelled into the other side and he couldn't get a grasp of it.
"Let's... not do that." The boy said those words in the most hyper-accelerated manner. "He's very important for this mission."
"What mission?" Lawrence said.
"All four of you may not know me." He said.
"Four?" Jade said before scoffing. "Either you miscounted or you need to go back to school, you little brat."
The boy nodded his head towards the shadow in the dark. They glanced around to notice the humanoid figure finally exposing himself into the light. The person emerged from the shadows, exposing the grape purple skin covered throughout his body. His entire body mixed with that purple salamander skin began to hit the lights and into their cone of vision, causing a lot of shivers to be sent down their spines.
Lawrence scoffed. "You brought in a weirdo in the mix."
"A metahuman specifically." He said. " He's going to work with me. Am I right, Sam?"
Sam nodded.
"There are a bunch of metas incoming too." He said. "So Talon, Sportsmaster, and Cheshire, meet Dr. Samuel Register. Called him Zookeeper for a good reason. There's this guy who can transform to any animals. He can too."
"That Green Beast? You're shitting me." Lawrence said. "If he can do that, what can you do?"
"Heard of the Flash? Think of me like that, except I'm not the good guys, and so are you all here." He said. "I took the money of five different bank vaults in Keystone City in just one minute. And just in a matter of fact I took out all of your cellphones."
He pulled out their cellphones out of his pockets and put it down the table. They froze still in place as their electronic devices were shown in the table and not where they were supposed to be. Other than those, he also picked up the briefcase containing the opening price for their services.
"Take one for each." He said. "I could've taken your phone and gave it to the police, but blackmailing isn't one of my fortes. So I pay you all instead. That's 500 grand on each case. And yes, father and daughter also get their shares."
Cobb walked towards the phone. He took it and put it back to his pockets, but his eyes caught on something else. His sight focused on that case, foil padded to prevent detection. The suitcase alone must have been expensive stuff. No briefcase is heavy in the eyes of Talon. He was teased by whatever is inside that thing. He touched it and slid his hand from one side of the end before asking the speedster of what it really is.
"May I?" Cobb asked.
"By all means." He replied.
Cobb opened the said briefcase. The briefcase itself was more than enough to contain $500k. Two clicks of the lock and the container unlocked itself, revealing the pile of hundred dollar bills inside the thing. He picked up one pack of bonded money and glanced at the authenticity of it, whiffing it right on his nose and skimming towards the necessary details.
"Very genuine. I'm impressed." Cobb stated his satisfaction. "I'm intrigued with what you have offered, Mr..."
"Thawne, but I'd love my Inertia alias better." Inertia said.
Lawrence scoffed. "Did they pick this kid up at Arkham?"
"No, I came from the future."
Lawrence shook his head, laughing at what he considered to be a stupid joke.
"So you know who the speedsters are?" Cobb locked his briefcase back.
"Yes and I won't tell you." Inertia said. "Because these guys, they are mine. You guys can take on the rest of the Titans."
"Wait, you're asking us to face against the Titans?" Jade asked. "Put back your million dollar money, kid. I'm not in for a suicide."
As Jade about to leave the place, Inertia popped up right in front of her.
"Oh no, Cheshire." Inertia said. "You shouldn't leave, because you're not dealing with the big guys. Other metas will deal with the big guys like the Kryptonian. Those hundreds of mercs you see outside will also deal with the big guys, that is if they're brave enough so I didn't tell them what they're up against. As the other metas like Superboy or Miss Martian deal with the mercenaries, you deal with someone simpler. I don't know, Batgirl maybe?"
"Batgirl?" Jade smirked. "Nice."
"You're going to pay me five hundred grand to go against the Titans?" Lawrence asked.
"Another five hundred grand will be given if you successfully finished the mission." Inertia said. "The other mercs will have a thousand bucks on their pockets, but you have more privilege and skills than them, all of you here."
"Now the big question here kid is how are you going to convince those hundreds of mercs to do what you want?" Lawrence asked.
"Let me do the thing." Inertia said. "And please. Be my guest and have a seat. Do yourself a favor and make yourself a cup of tea or coffee or something. There's also French Toast if you're hungry. I'll be right back."
From there point on, Inertia ran at super speed and immediately disappeared.
##
The former hero Richard Grayson and former Robin in his universe was chatting with the current Robin Damian Wayne. Richard actually married Barbara Gordon and not only that, but they also have a kid together. Her name is Mary Grayson. She is about as an angel sent from god as you can get, a huge blessing towards the Grayson family. Mary was still seven years old, but she answered those math and science questions faster than a gazelle. Being at the top was one of her many fortes, and there was a look of proudness on her father's smug face.
Damian glanced at the sparkling blue eyes of the little kid. The eyes came from her father, while her straight shampoo commercial worthy red hair came from her mother. Her smile was one of the most contagious thing that the Titans had to experience for a very long time. Not even someone like Damian Wayne had the necessary endurance to endure her medium red hair and her baby face. Right behind him was her father, holding her up in his clutch and rocking her up and down in front of the computer screen.
"Hey, look at that." Dick held his child up and put her on his clutch. "Look who that is?"
"Uncle Damian! Uncle Damian!" Her squeaking, high-pitched little voice broke through the speakers as she tried to reach her Uncle through touching the monitor screen.
"Hey, Mary." Damian smiled. "How are you today? Have you done your homework?"
"I did all my homework yesterday." Mary said.
"Really?" Damian said. "How was it?"
"It wasn't so hard." Mary said. "Will you come over with Auntie Stephanie and Uncle Tim again soon?"
"Of course we will." Damian smiled back at her. "Now will you–"
"Damian?"
The alien girl called in from the edge of the room's door with her not so high-pitched but very calm, controlled, and angelic voice. Damian took a glance on her and turned his chair.
"Hey, Star." Damian said.
"May I come in?"
"Is that Auntie Star?" Mary belched through the speakers. "Oh my god! Can I see her?"
Starfire gasped in surprise and immediately rushed towards the front of the computer and began cheering up as the sight of Mary caught her eyes. She even had to push her lovely boyfriend to do that.
"Mary!" Starfire squealed.
"Auntie Star!" Mary squealed.
Can he really handle those two adorable little creatures at the same time?
"I am so happy to see you again!" Starfire began, cheering up and clapping. "I have been waiting for so long to see my dearest adorable little friend!"
"Oh Auntie Star." Mary said. "You don't know how long have I been waiting for you!"
"Can you please give me the pleasure of talking with Little Mary?" Starfire begged to her boyfriend. "Please, my love."
Damian smiled. He couldn't resist her requests, especially if it ends with calling him her love.
"Of course, love." Damian replied back. "You can talk to her at any time."
"Thank you so much!" Starfire rushed towards him and hugged him very tight. "I love you!"
"I love you too." Damian replied, releasing the hug. "Now I need to talk to Richard for a bit."
"Of course!" Starfire said. "Forgive me. You can leave now."
"Kiss her, Uncle Damian!" Mary shouted right through the speakers.
"Uh..uh.. Mary." Dick lowered her down from the screen. "You're not old enough to see that."
"Just in the cheeks, please?" Mary begged.
"Dick, just let her." Damian said.
As Dick lifted her lovely daughter back to the front of the screen, Damian kissed his lovely girlfriend in the cheeks. She began to blush and shivered down her spine with Damian following the same expression.
"I love you." Damian said.
"I love you too." Starfire said.
"Aww... you're so cute together!" Mary said.
"Now Mary," Dick said. "Uncle Damian and I are going to talk about work. You're going to stay here and talk to Auntie Starfire, okay?"
"Okay dad." Mary said. "Auntie Star, you need to hear what just happened at school!"
As Starfire took a seat right in front of Damian's personal computer, Damian went outside to find a more personal place to have a chat with. The briefing room was always a good place, especially when no trouble is going on at this moment... supposedly.
Damian turned on the communicators and the screen on the briefing room. Richard Grayson's face are displayed on the monitor. That's where he began to talk about matters that are of the utmost serious.
"So what's going on?" Damian said. "Is there something you need for this call?"
"So does any of your speedsters–"
"Damian?"
Out of the blue, Wally West entered the briefing room.
Damian groaned. "I really thought I can have a private chat for just a minute."
"Oh my god." Wally said. "You're not."
"No, I'm not on a dating site." Damian said. "I'm talking with Dick Grayson on a private conference, so can you please don't disturb me for a few seconds?"
"I can't." Wally said. "We've been here for two days and Inertia has been making some troubles behind our back. Five bank vaults in Keystone City were found empty this morning."
"That's... exactly what I'm trying to inform you." Dick said. "Detective Joe West informed me of this strange phenomenon. That money all vanished right at the same time. Can you explain that to me?"
Damian sighed. "Two speedsters just came into this universe: Impulse and Inertia. Impulse is in our side and is heavily injured, while Inertia isn't. We don't know what this man–"
"Boy." Wally interrupted.
"This... boy is capable of nor do we know if we're capable to fully take him down." Damian continued.
"Wally, you're a speedster." Dick said. "This is the kind of guy you're supposed to be dealing with."
"Not this time, Dick." Wally shook his head. "I'm not as fast as Impulse, and he got his ass handed to him."
"Then we're going to need the Flash." Damian said.
"Can't do that." Dick said.
"Wait, why not?" Wally asked.
"Barry had some issues he had to deal with in Central City, probably metahumans." Dick said.
"Shit." Wally said. "So I'm the only one who can beat him? That's just great."
"Wally, you can do this." Damian said.
"You're not going to have enough time to practice." Dick said. "You'd better use all your time in the world right now or someone's life is going to be at risk."
"You're right." Wally said. "I'm going to need to practice, and he's not going to just wait for me here."
"A new suit would also be nice." Dick said. "Yours are about as broken as Autumn leaves."
Wally gave that a thought. "Hm... a new suit is nice too. So who's the tailor here?"
"Garfield." Damian said. "He has lots of ideas on his head in how to make some very surprisingly functional clothes. I suggest you to get on Stephanie too. She's mostly going to do the dirty work."
"Thanks." Wally said. "I'll be counting on them."
##
"So how did you two meet?" Lawrence put a sip on his coffee as he waited for the evil speedster to finish his business.
"We were on an assassination mission for the Gotham's richest." Jade said. "Every night, we always stumble on each other's back. We sometimes even share our kills. So in one night, I said screw it and we made out in front of the corpse of our target. Just by then, we started dating."
"What about the guards?" Lawrence said. "They didn't see you after that?"
Cobb giggled. "We wouldn't let them. The Court simply does not allow witnesses. I'm fed up to the Court myself, so I took them all single-handedly. We took every pair of eyes for those who dare to get a good glance on my face–"
"Yeah we get it Cobb. You're hot. No one's going to ruin your face. Blah.. blah.. blah." Jade said. "At least that's what I thought of you after you take off that mask. Where the hell were you anyway?"
"Freelancing." Cobb said. "I'd probably start off a normal life somewhere in Blüdhaven. Well, about as normal as Blüdhaven can get."
Lawrence scoffed. "Funny. We're not going to get that life when we're killing peoples for money."
"There's nothing wrong to try." Cobb shrugged.
"How about the boy flash?" Lawrence asked. "What do you think of him?"
"He's quite the rascal, but he surprisingly kept his words." Cobb smiled. "I like him."
"Thanks for the compliment."
Inertia popped up out of nowhere right on the front door with a pizza on his chest. The moment that hyper-accelerated voice got into their ears, they stopped moving and glanced at the weird kid.
"Also, it's not nice talking about someone behind their back." Inertia said.
"Not your choice, asshat." Lawrence said.
"Well beating those guys are certainly a lot of fun. Pizza?" He announced, smiling and moving his half a door high body into the table.
"You got super speed and you spent about ten minutes around and just now you got us a pizza?" Lawrence asked.
"Yeah well, let's just say that Keystone City is not as how I remembered it." Inertia said.
After he put the pizza on the table, he glanced outside towards the window leading to the city of Keystone outside. Those bright lights were probably just momentary distractions, but the kid stared at it for so long and lost on his thoughts. Lawrence kept his eyes focused on him, trying to figure out what was inside that small head of his. A bitter frown escaped the kid's mouth.
"What's the matter?" Lawrence asked. "Lost girlfriend?"
"Not like that." Inertia said. "The year is just... not as how I remembered it. It's not how I envisioned it."
"What are you talking about?" Lawrence asked.
"The future." Inertia said. "I came from a distant future. Spare the 'I don't believe it' dialogue type please."
"I don't even bother asking." Lawrence said. "So you came from the future. So what? What are you doing here? What are you going to do here?"
"I want to change the future." Inertia said. "We weren't supposed to win the war at 2016."
"What war?" Lawrence asked. "The Wall Street Downfall? Is that what you're talking about."
"No." Inertia said. "The Reach Alien Invasion that happened in 2016."
Lawrence cocked up his coffee and sprouted laughter out of his face. "Kid, keep dreaming. There ain't no goddamn alien invasion in 2016. There was only Batman and his team of wannabe superheroes."
"What?" Inertia said. "You're shitting me."
Lawrence dropped his coffee mug right on the table, practically slamming it down. He walked towards the kid. His buffed-up muscles with tight clothes physique just couldn't compared to the kid's stick figure.
"Watch your mouth, kid." Lawrence said. "I'm telling you. There is no goddamn war or a fucking alien invasion in 2016 because I was there babysitting my daughters."
"That can't be." Inertia said. "Did I... did I change the future that much?"
"What, you didn't look when you pop up here?" Lawrence said.
"I... I have no time... I... I need to heal..." Inertia pulled back from the window before an idea got into his head. He grabbed his head and hit his back towards the wall before sliding down, giggling. His giggled went too far to the point of insanity. It didn't stop for a while.
Lawrence and probably the rest of the members felt something tingling on their legs, like a bunch of mosquitos roaming around it. He approached the kid with caution, knowing that super speed will definitely hurt him with that incredible energy he had.
"Uh... are you alright, kid?" Lawrence asked.
"He's so dead." Inertia announced with a grin on his face. "He's so... fucking... dead."