Here Comes a War
Barbara was tapping her fingers against the armrest of her wheelchair when the notice that someone was entering her apartment popped up on one of her screens. The tidbit of information contained little details, such as where the point of entry was as well as a small box that held a real-time image of her little homestead.
It was about time.
Leaving the little niche that held her Oracle workstation and equipment, she returned to her apartment, wheeling herself over to the living room where she found two certain costumed vigilantes that she was currently not pleased with.
"What were you two up to?" she demanded, not wasting time with a friendly hello and how you're doing.
"Where's that coming from?" Robin wondered.
"What is wrong with your radios?" she continued, ignoring the question. "I have been trying to reach you guys for hours. Did you two suddenly become deaf?"
"What are you talking about? Our earpieces are working just fine," Nightwing told her, looking puzzled. "What's going on? Why're you so mad?"
"Don't tell me something is wrong with your hearing too. I just said I've been trying to talk to you guys but you never picked up!" Frustration, thy name was Barbara, and dead meat, your names were Dick and Tim. That would be doubly true if they didn't have a good reason for not picking up.
"Weird. Nothing was coming through. Robin, did we change to a different frequency by accident again?" the eldest vigilante asked, looking towards the youngest of the trio.
Barbara almost snorted at the "by accident" part. By accident, her unfeeling ass!
Pulling his earpiece out, Robin checked it over. "Nope, it's the same signal it always is, barring that one time," he announced after a moment. "Let me check something. Can you hear me?" he almost yelled into the piece, Nightwing quickly pulling his out and rubbing at his ear.
"Christ! Did you have to do that?!" Nightwing exclaimed irritably, giving Robin a dirty look.
"Looks like they're working just fine," the teen shrugged. Looking at the stewing paraplegic woman, he asked, "Maybe it's something wrong with your equipment?"
"I checked several times, there was nothing wrong with my receiver," she growled through clenched teeth.
"Huh. That's really weird. Maybe it has to do with where we were? We were close to the Narrows, and that place has horrible reception there," Robin suggested.
"That's for phone towers. What we're using is a very sensitive radio link that is so sensitive, it was able to pick up the frequency that Batman uses," was her retort. "And need I remind you two that we're not using the same kind of frequencies that cell phones use?"
"Okay, you're upset," Nightwing stated, holding his hands up placatingly. Looks like he had already recovered from Robin's impromptu test. "Tell us what happened."
Barbara stared her older comrade down for a moment before relenting. "There was some major movement from Two-face tonight. He headed over towards the harbor and in force. The man himself was there. When I couldn't get you two on the line, I had to find someone else and I did. Huntress, and she happens to be spending a lot of time with Batman so you know he went there to check it out. Next thing I know, there's an explosion and now a cruise ship is at the bottom of the harbor. Something went down, something big, and you two could have been apart of it."
The two dunderheads for males shared a surprised look between the two of them. "Two-face was out and about and we missed it?" Robin exclaimed incredulously. "What the hell, man!"
"Yeah, my words exactly," the computer hacker deadpanned. "So, while you guys were somehow not receiving my calls, what were you two doing?"
Both of them were now starting to squirmed, which made her narrow her eyes further.
"Just a few muggings, oh, and another person trying to play vigilante," Robin answered for the both of them eventually, not looking her in the eye.
You know, he was right to do that. From the sounds of things, they were amusing themselves with chump change when one of the major leaguers was wreaking havoc. Yeah, try to defend yourselves now.
"Barb, do you know who was with him?" Nightwing asked unexpectedly.
"The Two Ton Gang and his usual cronies. Why?"
"There wasn't anyone new? A middle-aged guy in a suit maybe?"
"Not that I could see, unless Two-face counts."
Where was Dick going with this? She was not in the mood for twenty questions.
"Two-face has a new recruit, a guy named Tony Zucco," Robin told her. "When we're not...not getting your calls, we've trying to track that guy down but he's been slippery. Could you do us a favor and see what you can pull up on this guy? Maybe there's a way we could make this up to you, you know?"
Most of what Tim had said went over her head, because the name that he had used was a familiar one. Tony Zucco, he wouldn't happen to be that Tony Zucco, was he? A quick look over to Nightwing gave her all the answers she need for that thing. Dick was standing ramrod straight, his whole body tense the more Tim had prattled on.
Okay. That was a new development. So that guy was in the picture. This whole thing had to potential to become another near disaster like what had happened ten months previous with Tim's aunt. At least things looked like they were holding together for the moment.
The key word being "looked."
"Why do you want to know about that guy? Did you see him trying to move on or get close to Two-face?" she asked, wanting a better picture of this. This was just too sudden and it came out of nowhere.
Plus, as far as she knew, Tim either knew or didn't know the relevance that particular name had with Dick. If he didn't, well, that was Dick's story to tell, not hers. Also, she didn't want to reveal that she already knew about that part of the older male's life. It was a story he had shared with her before either of them had met the third member of their trio. It was done in confidence, and she did not want to betray it.
That included any potential wounded male pride Tim might feel if he found out about her prior knowledge.
"Yeah, sure, I can do that. But first, I want to get this radio silence thing resolved. I need to be able to talk to you guys at any given second. We can't have a repeat of tonight."
This seemed to be a safe topic, because Dick was relaxing somewhat. "Agreed. This is really weird, though, because our radio's are working fine, your receiver is working fine, but neither were able to reach the other. That makes no sense."
Nightwing didn't know the half of it. There was no way radio signals just disappeared in midair or stopped against solid objects.
Despite everything that was happening in Gotham, this was definitely a serious issue that needed immediate resolution to it. Because one of these days, she may not be able to reach anyone but them, and if they couldn't remain in contact, they were going to be in deep shit.
There was a growing sense of failure that seemed to be permeating a lot lately. It wasn't an unusual feeling, especially when you set your goals sky-high.
This was different though. This had become personal and every failure was felt that much more acutely.
Batman stared at the giant super-computer, mask on, and his face frozen in a perpetual glare. Over and over his mind replayed the fight with Harvey Two-Face; while part of him attempted to make a change as to how it went down, where he successfully captured the ex-DA, a larger, more honest part of him refused to accept those sweet lies and always ended his fantasies much how they ended in real life. Harvey had gotten away and Leslie was still in his clutches and he…
He was brooding about it.
The fact that Leslie was not back in her clinic helping people gnawed at him. It was like an infestation of rats clawing and chewing their way out of his gut and he had nothing to calm it down. His stomach twisted and turned, a nauseated feeling working its way up into his mouth. He hadn't eaten in awhile, so there was nothing in his stomach to throw up to relieve this sickening feeling, so he was stuck with it.
What was worse was that if he had a few more minutes, if that, he would've had the two-faced Harvey in custody. While the ex-DA had proven to have a few fighting moves, in a prolonged fight the vigilante would've won. He felt that to his very bones.
That explosion from the cruise liner had come out of nowhere. He hadn't expected it and Dent probably didn't either. After all, his goal had been to seize the large ship, not destroy it, or so the dark-clad man thought. According to Huntress, Harvey's men had seemed just as surprised as she had at the surprising blast.
And unlike him, at least the purple-clad woman actually apprehended some of the people she fought.
Batman then lowered his gaze to his armor. As if this night wasn't any more of a disaster for him, there was damage to the suit as well, the force of the explosion seeing to it. While the outside had your run-of-the-mill chips, tears, and punctures—nothing that couldn't be fixed by hand—it was the electrical wiring and systems that had taken significant damage. The electrical current in his gauntlet wasn't working, the cowl had difficulty shifting through the various vision modes, and the linkage to the various vehicles was cut. A new suit was needed since trying to find the problem with each and every system would take just as long to sort out as it would to simply replace it. It wasn't like money was a factor.
Then, as if to add insult to injury, Harvey's attack at the docks wasn't the only thing going on that night. A rash of violence had torn through the streets of Gotham. Businesses had been attacked, people assaulted. However, despite the damage done, it had been contained somewhat.
On the computer monitor was a city map of Gotham. Red X's indicated what places had been hit and if Batman weren't mistaken, they were all part of Harvey's racketeering operation. Businesses and people that paid the man for his protection.
Those people had been specifically targeted. Hitting a few keys on the keyboard, a picture of one such building appeared in a new window. The Dark Knight's eyes narrowed at the damage done. While there was evidence of gunfire, what really got his attention were the large gashes in the brick-and-mortar, not to mention the sheetrock inside the building. If he wasn't mistaken, they looked more like claw marks.
Batman's hand clenched into a fist. The attack of Two-Face's businesses and fronts, the explosion at the docks-they were targeting the former DA specifically.
"Idiot," he reprimanded himself. He would've seen it before had he not been wallowing in self-loathing. Again he was typing on the keyboard until a window showing the video footage of the quarry deal appeared. Immediately stopping it on a zoomed-in frame of Eddie Foster, Batman glared at the image.
He should've known. There was a rival group challenging Harvey Dent for Gotham. This quarry deal was just part of something bigger, he had no doubt about it. Eddie Foster was in this group, though it was highly doubtful he was running it.
Which meant there was a mastermind behind the scenes. Whatever had been part of the quarry deal, it hadn't been used this time. The violence in the streets hadn't used anything chemical in nature and as far as he knew, the cruise liner explosion hadn't released any chemicals either.
There was something else coming.
First, Harvey Dent took on the criminal underworld and firmly put it underneath his thumb; now there was a rival group preparing, if not launching a whole new offensive to challenge his authority. All of this had the smell of a brewing Mob War.
That realization made Batman slump in his chair. It was bad enough that he had lost so much ground to Harvey Two-Face in the last few months, but now a second front was opening and there was no doubt in his mind that this rival group would just as willing take him out as they would Two-Face.
A sense of despair fell upon the vigilante. Before him was a war on two fronts, one by his former ally, the other by a player yet to be named.
And he was losing ground against both.
The wind whipped at Black Canary's hair. The hum of the motorcycle engine vibrated through her legs as she rode the bike down the street. Katana and Manhunter were keeping up with her as well. However, unlike most nights, they had a tagalong.
It probably shouldn't surprise her that Green Arrow had his own bike. He had even called it the Arrow-cycle with pride. It was cheesy to be honest and no way was she going to be riding around with the even more ostentatiously named Arrow-mobile. It was one thing to be riding with the Batmobile—there was some serious street cred to do that—it was another with a car that was almost a rip-off of said Batmobile.
So it was the Arrow-cycle that joined them. It was definitely custom-made, which made Black Canary suspect this guy had some serious funding, either third-party, or his own. Green Arrow rode behind the Birds of Prey, whether it was a courtesy or he didn't know his way around Gotham like they did, she wasn't sure.
Tonight's mission was tracking down this Dr. Milo guy. All four of them had spent time researching up possible locations for the scientist, considering what they knew of him. Since he had used an abandoned vet clinic to not only concoct his enhanced Man-Bat serum, but to keep his test subjects as well, there was a need for a laboratory setup with room for animal cages.
None of them had found another abandoned vet clinic, or even one that was having reports of monsters running about, so that was crossed off. They looked into doctor clinics next since one could be converted just as easily into Milo's old place. That had also come back negative.
A zoo was another possibility, but there was only one in Gotham: the Gotham Zoo. They had met up there and searched the place, finding no signs of foul play afoot. With that dead end brought them to the present, with the four vigilantes driving to their next destination.
Next on their list was a warehouse in the Industrial Sector. Word had it people had been hearing of weird sounds and were keeping away. It sounded like a possible Man-Bat nest, but since it was only a rumor, it had dropped low on their list of suspected places. Another thing was the lack of a lab setting there, not that Milo couldn't build his own; he seemed like a man more willing to use what was available than build a place from scratch.
"Canary, you read me?" Manhunter's voice rang in her ear.
"I read you," the blonde replied back.
"Look up ahead towards that factory," her comrade said. "Is it just me, or am I seeing lights?"
Looking ahead, Black Canary saw what Manhunter was getting at. If she wasn't mistaken, that place was a chemical factory and there were indeed lights on in the building. However, the lights were only in one part of the building versus all over. That didn't seem right to her.
"Let's check it out," she ordered.
Peeking over her shoulder, Black Canary looked to Green Arrow, just in time for the vigilante to sag his shoulders. This wasn't the first time the Birds of Prey had stopped on their mission to put down thieves and muggers, nor would it be the last. The green-clad man was clearly annoyed with the interruptions, but he wasn't going to verbalize it. Wise decision on his part.
It took several minutes before the four arrived at the Belton Chemical Plant. While most plants had a history with the city, such as Ace Chemicals, Belton didn't. It was rather new, if Black Canary was correct, so there wasn't much known about it other than environmentalists hated the place. Killing the engines to their motorcycles, all four swung their legs off and gathered to look at the light pouring through a few windows.
"Katana, see what you can find out," Black Canary ordered. In response, the Asian woman took off silently, disappearing into the shadow of the plant. It was always best to get some intelligence before going guns blazing into what could be a bad situation.
"So this is how you gals get your kicks on a Friday night," Green Arrow commented after a moment. He was leaning against his Arrow-cycle, arms crossed over his chest as he waited.
"Something like that," Manhunter grunted in response.
"You know, I would've preferred the club scene myself. I bet the three of you could turn some heads."
Lord, was this guy a flirt. Part of Canary was willing to play along, but they were on the cusp of pulling off a bust. There was a time and place for flirting and this wasn't it. That didn't stop Arrow, though.
"Say, now that I'm thinking about it, why don't the three of us swing by one of the clubs? I'm sure they'll let us go in with our masks. We could dance the night away, or drink it, whichever you prefer."
"Do you have any idea how stupid that sounds?" Manhunter snapped at him.
Green Arrow shrugged his shoulders. "It's just a thought."
"A dumb thought."
Agreed, Black Canary thought, but now wasn't the time for bickering either. "Hush, you two. We don't want to let everyone know we're out here."
Instead of cooperating, Green Arrow leaned backwards, moving his arms so that his hands could rest behind his head. "The things I do to make women happy," he sighed rather loudly.
"I'm going to hit him," Manhunter growled lowly. "I'm going to hit him, knock him out, then bury his body."
"Tempting," Black Canary agreed.
"Something is going on here."
All heads snapped towards the shadows, Katana emerging from them. She seemed to be ignoring the childish spat that was going on. "I saw many people in the plant," she reported. "It looked like they were stealing chemicals."
"Which is where we come in," Black Canary said. "Katana, take Manhunter with you and block their exit. Arrow and I will flank them and force them to you."
"Thank heaven," Manhunter said before she began walking towards Katana, who merely turned around and led her companion back into the shadows.
"So, you wanted some alone time with me," Green Arrow spoke, a grin on his face.
Asshole. "I just wanted to make sure Manhunter didn't bash your head in with her staff," she replied before she began walking away. Arrow was quick to follow her, the sound of his footfalls growing louder as he caught up.
"Got a plan?" he asked once he was matching her stride for stride.
"We're going through the roof."
"That's a start." The green vigilante then grabbed her shoulder, causing the blonde woman to stop. He then pulled out his bow and notched an arrow onto it. Aiming up, he then fired it up towards the top of the plant, a cord following it in its wake. There was a faint sound and the rope dangled in front of Green Arrow, the man grabbing it.
"You want to climb the whole way up?" Black Canary asked incredulously.
"Heck no," he responded quickly, right before he wrapped an arm around her. "I do recommend you hold on tight."
Before she knew what was going on, Green Arrow pulled down on the cable. A split-second later and he shot up into the air, Black Canary immediately wrapping her arms around him as she ascended with him. The hair beat at their hair and bodies until they reached the roof of the plant.
The Emerald Archer hauled her over the building's ledge before he pulled himself up. Blinking her eyes, Canary then saw the shaft of the archer's arrow, the rope clearly coming out of the shaft.
"Trick arrow," the man explained as he released his hold on the rope. The rest of it immediately returned to the arrow, disappearing within it. "It's almost like a grapple, without the telltale bang to it."
Huh, so this guy did have a couple of good tricks on him. Giving him a smile as a reward, Black Canary then walked towards a glass enclosure, looking through the glass once she reached it.
It seemed the main plant was here as she saw a large room with dozens of large tanks. Far below, she caught sight of men moving canisters about, loading them up in a truck that was facing a closed gate. Yep, definitely a theft.
Spotting a small lock towards the bottom of the glass pane of the enclosure, Black Canary immediately pulled out a lock pick and got to work. The lock didn't stand a chance as it was undone. Carefully, she pulled the glass pane up.
Green Arrow was at her side then. He stabbed his grapple arrow into the gravel of the roof before tossing the rope through the opening. Seeing the cord landing on top of one of the tanks, Black Canary then grabbed onto the cable and slid herself feet first into the plant.
A couple minutes later, both vigilantes were on the tank and looking down on the men at work. All of them were wearing black from head to toe, including strange black masks. They were loading up the truck, though it was unclear if they were just starting or almost finished. "We need to take out the truck," Black Canary whispered.
"I can take care of that," Green Arrow replied as he pulled out an arrow and notched it to this bow. Getting a good idea of what the man was about to do, Canary moved back, looking over the side of the tank until she found what she was looking for—a metal ladder. Mounting the ladder, she heard Green Arrow release his arrow, her eyes catching sight of him pulling out another bolt.
There were a couple cries of surprise then, and Black Canary knew she had to move quickly. With her hands, she gripped the ladder while she moved her feet off the steps and onto the outside. Loosening her grip, she slid down the ladder, friction causing her gloved hands to heat up.
"There's someone up there!" a man cried out by the time Canary reached the floor. Settling on her feet, she waved her hands in a poor attempt to cool them down. It would take a minute for the burning sensation to go away, so she chose to ignore it as she peeked around the chemical tank. Several of the thieves were pulling out guns and aiming it towards the top or the tank. A couple arrows were sticking out of the tires of the truck, deflating them, and causing the vehicle to lean to a side.
Pulling out a handful of throwing stars, Black Canary sent them flying at the men, watching with satisfaction as the stars collided with the hands of the thugs, causing them to scream out in pain from the edges piercing into their skin. They dropped their guns to clutch at their injured hands, their bodies seeming to cringe at the sight of them.
And then Green Arrow shot another arrow, one that seemed to explode several feet above the men. However, the explosion was merely smoke as a giant net was released, falling on top of two, maybe three men and dropping them down to the ground effectively restrained.
Darting behind the tank, Black Canary then moved towards the other side, darting from it and behind a different tank. Gunfire then rang out, but none of the bullets were aimed at her. It seemed her "partner" had their full attention.
Which was perfect as she continued to use the tanks as cover until she was closer to the men. Seeing one thug slowly walking sideways towards the tank she was behind, eyes focused at Arrow's perch, Black Canary went into action. Dashing behind him, she kicked at the back of his knee, causing it to buckle as he dropped to one knee, crying out. Crossing an arm in front of her chest, she then jerked back, ramming her bent elbow into the base of his skull and knocking him out.
The closest thug was several feet away and he heard the commotion from his friend getting knocked out. By the time he turned to face them, Black Canary was on him, leaping into the air as she slammed a kick into his face. Knocking him off his feet, the guy nearly did a flip as he fell back, landing hard on his head on the ground, and going limp right then and there.
And then the metal gate exploded.
Pieces of shrapnel went flying through the air, causing Black Canary to take cover behind the truck. For a couple of the thugs, they weren't so lucky as pieces of metal struck them, stabbing into them, or cutting off chunks of their body.
Emerging from the smoke of the explosion was Manhunter, holding her staff out in front of her. "Alright, who else wants a piece?" she announced.
The thieves who were still on their feet weren't sure what they were supposed to do then. Between keeping gunfire at Green Arrow, or turning their sights onto Manhunter, they seemed to be at an impasse. For one of the thugs, he wasn't able to make a decision as a green boxing glove rammed into the side of his head, and sent him crashing to the ground.
Darting forward, Black Canary rushed another thug, who was close to the truck. Again, she landed a kick to his knee, causing it to buckle. However, this time she grabbed the side of his head and bashed it against the truck once, then twice, before dropping him to the floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Katana race by, her sword slicing through gun barrels, rendering them useless, before she went to knock her foes out.
Before she knew it, all of the masked men were lying on the ground in various forms of unconsciousness. For the ones unlucky enough to be awake, they were rolling on the floor as they grasped at injured body parts.
"Looks like we'll need to call an ambulance or two," Manhunter quipped while watching the men.
Katana was next to one of the men, examining his injury. "Not too deep," she announced as she stood up. "Not fatal."
"That's good."
It was about then that Green Arrow joined the women. He stopped long enough to look into the back of the truck, his face growing serious. "That's quite a shopping spree in there. What are a bunch of hired thugs wanting with this stuff?"
Black Canary joined the archer to look in the back of the truck. It was loaded with canisters, nearly reaching the vigilantes. It seemed they had arrived just in time to interrupt this robbery.
However, before she could include her two cents, she heard a faint sound. Frowning, she tried to focus on it, but didn't hear it again.
"I suppose we should ask one of these guys what they're up to and who wants their hauls," Manhunter suggested.
That was a good idea and—
There it was again. That sound, it sounded as if it were a piece of cloth flapping. Fluttering perhaps? And...there was some high-pitched chirp, if she weren't mistaken.
It seemed Katana had picked up on it too. "Shhh," she shushed, her hand gripping onto the hilt of her sword tightly. "Something's coming."
Immediately, all of their crouched into defensive stances. Holding their weapons of choice, they all turned their backs to each other, looking in different directions to spot the source of the sound.
It came again, and this time there was no mistaking that there was something coming. In fact, it happened again, and then again, with less of a time interval.
And then, from around the tanks, small Man-Bats rushed out towards them.
Immediately, Green Arrow fired an arrow at one of them, the bolt narrowly missing one of the creature's wings. The Man-Bat screeched as it sped by them, leaving its two compatriots to dive bomb the vigilantes.
Black Canary dove to a side as she dodged a Man-Bat swooping at her, just in time for Manhunter to swing her staff, nailing the sucker in midair and knocking it away. Getting a good look at the flying creatures, the blonde realized all of them were smaller than the typical Man-Bat. If she weren't mistaken, they were about the size of the ones she and Katana found at the vet clinic.
So these were Animal-Bats.
One of the Animal-Bats made a beeline right for Katana. The woman darted to a side before swiping at the creature with her sword. Somehow, it dodged the swing, seeming to jerk in a completely different direction in midair. It was awkward and strange-looking all at once, but it served the bat-creature well.
By then, Green Arrow had another arrow on his bow, taking aim at one of the Animal-Bats. Unbeknownst to him, the one that Manhunter had knocked aside had recovered and came swooping in behind him, its mouth open wide.
"Behind you!" Black Canary shouted, causing the archer to jerk his head to look behind him. His eyes widened for a second as the Animal-Bat made a gagging sound before it puked out a green fluid out of its mouth. Green Arrow dove to a side, going into a roll so that he could end up back on his feet. The green spit hit the floor where he had been standing and immediately a hissing sound was made, smoke wafting up towards the ceiling.
Jesus Christ, that was acid!
The acid-spitting Animal-Bat swooped by, rising higher into the air as he made to swing back around. Movement out of the corner of her eye alerted Black Canary to another one that was flying right for her. Instinctively, she raised a leg up and then swung it to her side, leaning as she did so. Her kick nailed the charging Animal-Bat, causing it to screech as it was pushed aside in its flight.
A moment later and the same Animal-Bat was hit with a boxing glove attached to the end of an arrow.
How many of those does he have?! Black Canary jerked her head to the archer, who tipped his hat at her before looking to the other Animal-Bats. Manhunter was swinging her staff at one, which narrow dodged it before swooping up higher into the air. That caused the blonde to frown. From what she could tell, they had landed some pretty good blows to these things, yet nothing had taken even one of them down. Resilient little devils, they were.
Yet, she knew of one thing that would work on them.
As the acid-spitting Animal-Bat came at her, its mouth wide open as it began to spit at her, Black Canary quickly pulled out a small device from her belt. Darting to one side, she saw the acid spray fly by, hitting the floor as she expected it to. However, she kept close enough so that she could throw the device in her hand point-blank at the creature. It hit right on its leg and she watched with satisfaction as the device seemed to bend on itself, wrapping around the leg and securing to it.
Good, now onto Phase II. "Cover your ears!" she shouted, sucking in her breath a second later. She didn't have to look at the others to know they knew her warning well. Letting out a scream, her Canary Cry rang out, the Animal-Bats suddenly convulsing in air.
Unlike her previous uses though, Black Canary only held on for a few seconds before stopping the Canary Cry. Closing her mouth, she then heard the Animal-Bats screeching before they all retreated back between the tanks.
Immediately, the blonde vigilante ran after them. Weaving between the tanks, she knew she was losing ground as they flew, but as they reached the end, she noticed them dropping altitude before vanishing entirely behind a tank.
Hurrying, she reached the tank and slowed her pace, noticing a metal gate lying on the nearby ground. It looked trashed, as if something had attacked it. The metal bars were bent and twisted, no longer straight. Glancing away from it, she soon spotted a small ramp that dropped down to what looked like the entrance of a pipe. There was some damage surrounding the pipe, making Black Canary think that this was where that gate had been.
"Canary, what the hell?" Manhunter demanded as she caught up to her. Behind her were Katana and Green Arrow, both of him were looking at her expectantly.
"Those bats flew this way," Black Canary told them, pointing at the drain entrance. "My guess is they originated somewhere down there and we need to follow them back to their nest."
"Was that why your Canary Cry was so short? So that they were frightened back?"
She nodded. "Yeah." She then reached inside of her jacket before pulling out a small, handheld device. Hitting a button, a small screen lit up, flashing a soft red light. "I placed a tracer on one of the bats. This should lead us right to its home."
"That looks like a sewer drain," Green Arrow said then. "You think it's living down there?"
"Only one way to find out. You chicken?"
The archer looked offended by the jab. "Absolutely, but never in front of women. Let's go find these monsters. Since they look like Milo's creations, he's gotta be where they're going."
Canary returned her sights to the pipe. "Alright then, let's go."
Leslie had known this was inevitable. With the kind of lifestyle these men had chosen, injuries always followed. Because of the kind of person she was, she knew that she would do her very best to ensure their survival, though that meant patching them back together only for them to place themselves in a dangerous situation once more.
So there was really little change in that aspect.
A lot of the injuries were superficial, cuts, scratches, maybe bruises resulting from blunt force trauma, but there was very little in the fatal area. The men, however, were very sullen, keeping quiet instead of being boisterous. The doctor took that as a sign that things had not gone well tonight.
Once she had finished with them, she had been brought into the back where she was checking over the last of her patients. That patient in particular was none other than Dent who seemed to share the stoicness of his men. It was very obvious that he was upset about something, most likely tonight's events.
The disfigured man had nothing worse than some extensive bruising, and he had signs that he had been in a fight. She made no remark about it as she finished up disinfecting any cuts he had and checked for any hints of a concussion.
"You seem to be fine, given your current state," she stated as she finished up her examination.
Dent grunted as he pushed himself back onto his feet, slipping his suit coat back on. He didn't appear to be in a conversational mood, simply content to get this all over with.
"You seem to have something on your mind. Talk, maybe it'll help," she offered as she placed aside a small flashlight.
"I'll pass," the disfigured man grunted.
"It's obviously bothering you," Leslie pointed out. "A man in your position can ill-afford to have even the slightest distraction. If you do not wish to confide in me, then find someone you can. One mistake can and will cause the deaths of the people dependent on you."
Two-face snorted. "It's already too late for that, doc. Right now, my only competition is giving me the runaround. And now, some of my best guys are at the bottom of the harbor and on top of that, someone took the opportunity to move in on my turf."
"So then what do you suppose you'll do?" she pressed. "Whatever it is, it will result in more death, more damages, and the cycle will continue from there."
"You're right about one thing, I do have to do something," Two-face stated. "Everything I have built is being threatened. And by some two-bit thugs and wannabe gangsters. There's only one thing I can do, and that's hit back and hit back hard. Show them just who they're messing with."
"Or you could give up this mad quest and end the misery this conflict is causing," the doctor cut in. "That is still an option, Harvey."
"And then what? Go to prison? That hardly sounds like an option," he retorted, giving her a look. "It's way too late to go back. There is no going back. Not anymore."
"According to whom?" she argued back.
"I know I may not look like it now, but I was a lawyer once. I know the consequences of the choices I've made, probably better than anyone else here." Dent was looking wistful, looking at a point or seeing a vision that Leslie did not have access to. "It's all a gamble. This, life, everything. Sometimes, the only choice has to come with a flip of a coin. Because sometimes, the only choices are evil, are wicked, and no matter what you do, suffering will always result. So tell me, doc, why should I not embrace this?"
"Because you were a good man once. And that good man is still inside you. That's something not even a coin flip can give you." Leslie crossed her arms and stared at the other man challengingly. "You can still be that good man, Harvey. All you have to do is choose."
"You assume I was always a good man from the start." Dent shook his head deprecatingly. "But you have some guts, trying to shove your philosophy down my throat. So I'll tell you what, let's leave it up to chance." Pulling out his scarred coin, he continued, "Good heads, I end this, and turn myself in, face whatever punishment is coming for me. Bad heads, I show this whole city that I'm the one in charge and whoever thinks they can take me better be ready to dig in because I will burn this city to the ground if I have to to make an example out of them."
"This is probability, Harvey. A crutch. Don't rely on that coin, take control of your life," Leslie said, letting some passion leak into her voice. She would not show how worried she was about the extremes Dent had put forth before her.
"Everything is probability, Dr. Thompkins," Dent quipped. "Everything comes down to dumb luck. So why not a fate altering decision that has the power to bring great good or great evil? No one knows whether they'll give birth to the next messiah or the next Hitler. Whether saving a life will doom so many others or taking it will save those same lives. So let's see what chance has in store for Gotham."
Up into the air the coin went, and while Two-face eagerly awaited the result, Leslie Thompkins eyed it scornfully. This whole thing was ridiculous, to leave such an important decision to something like this! Did this man really have so little control over his life that he was going to use a coin as a moral crutch?
Catching the coin, Two-face slapped it on the back of his other hand then revealed what lay beneath it.
"Bad heads it is," he chuckled.
"You can't be seriously determining life and death with a coin," Leslie deadpanned.
"And why not? I could do a lengthy trial and appeal approach, but that would take years," Two-face jested. "No, my mind's made up. If they want a fight, I'll give them a war."
Standing up, he started away. His parting words were, "And if I tear the city in two, so be it."