Author's Notes
To JP-Rider, yes, there will be a lot of surprises and twists in the next few chapters, and while you know some of them, most everyone else doesn't. I've got a lot more in store for The Caged Bird Sings.
To Phillip Clark, your thought isn't necessarily wrong, but I've already figured out the ending of the story. You'll see just how accurate your theory is in a few chapters.
Now, let's continue the story.
Somewhere in a port city, lies a large complex building. Inside the office of the building was the well known faceless crackpot the Question, who's been searching for some clues. This complex building used to be designed for Argus, but now its a tractor manufacturer. Now he has to look for anything Cadmus related. He hasn't been this agitated since he found out about corporations trying to get people to smoke through subliminal messages on television.
The faceless man search throughout the building as he has his flashlight on. He looks around as all he sees are some mechanical items on the floor. He continues to search for anything that could relate to Cadmus and possibly the case of Raven's wrongful arrest. To him, this will change everything.
As he continues to search, he felt a spec of dust fell down on his shoulder. He raise his flashlight up to find a way to the basement of the facility. There were stairs leading up to the basement as he finds it in his interest. He climbs up the bars of the latter connected to the wall as he opens the hatch as he finds the basement.
The basement looked abandon, like something from a sci-fi horror fic. Question looks around as he finds an old desk with an old apple PC computer. He walks towards it as he looks at what was next to the keyboard. A small flashdrive that hasn't been touched for probably weeks or months. The Question picks up the flashdrive as he walks back to the hatch where he came from.
'A flashdrive that was recently used. There are some fingerprints on it as well as the computer, but who was using it?' he thought as he exits out of the facility. However, he stops when he sense something not right for the moment.
At the other side of the building, a sniper in black was targeting the Question using a M98 sniper rifle. Pinpointing his target, the sniper press his trigger to fire at the faceless man.
The Question realized the sniper up on the roof as he tries to dodge the bullet from reaching to his head or heart. It hits him on the shoulder but when another shot was heard, Question dodge the bullet as it embedded into the wall. The Question then ran away from the sniper as he sprint to the dark alley, causing the sniper to miss him.
"Looks like I found something useful." Question remarks as he contacts the Martian Manhunter to teleport him to the Watchtower. He is closer in solving the case.
Back in Titans Tower, the Titans now knew that Cadmus had a vested interest in taking out the Justice League, and now they had just had to link Cadmus to not only the string of murders but also quite possibly to Raven's conviction, and then they would be able to prove a conspiracy, thereby giving them a case for the verdict of Raven's trial to be overturned.
Now, hopefully all the information they needed was on the data they stole from the Cadmus facility, but it was buried in heavy encryption and despite all the help they were getting from the Justice League's computers, it would take a very long time before they got the clearest idea of the contents of the folders they had, and there were a lot of folders.
And each folder had its own separate encryption, so once they figured out the encryption for one folder, they had to find the encryption for the next folder and so on and so forth. If they just typed in words (which they had already tried with RAVEN, CONTINGENCIES, and CHILD), the decryption program was unable to get any specific files. They needed to decrypt certain files in order to decryptions of other files to be successful, so any decryption key was still in play even if it had been rejected before, which meant there was a near-infinite list of possibilities.
All the League had decrypted so far was the list of strategies to eliminate each member of the Justice League and the existence of Galatea, though much of the specifics surrounding the Kryptonian clone were still highly encrypted.
Perhaps if they knew what they were looking for, they may have been able to figure out the encryption and then decrypt it. Of course, that was the issue. As Cyborg and Nightwing continued to work on decrypting the data from Cadmus, a thought soon came to them, one that had previously escaped them.
The child assassin that had gone after them mere days earlier. The same one that killed Isabel Zavalos, Bushido, Kyd Wykkyd, and more. Cyborg typed in CHILD to the program, and hopefully their program would find anything relating to their child assassin.
Finally, after several hours, they got a major result as one of the sub-folders in the PERSONNEL folder revealed itself to be called BODY READER. Clicking on the folder, they found the contents to be decrypting as they have found the code to decrypt one of the folders. However, it was too bad that that particular decryption would work for every other folder.
Nightwing began to read the description for BODY READER, "Project BODY READER is designed to breed the perfect assassin, one that can perfectly read body language to the point of being able to expect what their opponent will throw next.
Status Update One: The ideal parents for this project have been found and have both consented, Lady Shiva, one of the world's greatest martial artists and a top enforcer for Ra's al Ghul, leader of the League of Assassins and David Cain, an ex-Army soldier turned mercenary for hire. Shiva will make for an excellent instructor while Cain will ensure the child's loyalty to the project by any means necessary. As for the issue of Ra's al Ghul, he will most certainly not be any pushover towards our plans, but eventually he will see the error of his opposition.
Status Update Two: It has been two years since the birth of Cain and Shiva's child, Cassandra. We were most certainly displeased that the child turned out to be a female, but it makes her all the less suspectable in the long run. All focus on Cassandra's education is now set on body language and combat, being raised in an environment that does not feature words spoken or written. To become the perfect assassin, she must not know how to talk, read, or write. All she can know is how to fight, regardless of its long-term impact. She will most likely not need any socialization skills as when our plans succeed, she will become our bodyguard as there will be nobody left for her to eliminate.
Status Update Three: Cassandra has completed her first kill today. At the age of six, she successfully murdered businessman Diem Wu-Kim, who was threatening to go public with information surrounding Argus's failure. As for the issue of will this kill affect her psychologically, we intend to ensure it will not affect her loyalty to BODY READER.
Status Update Four: Cassandra has failed her first assignment, the destruction of the Teen Titans. They managed to escape her grasp and now are starting to look into her, thereby threatening to expose all that we have worked for. Her father convinced us to let her live for the time being, but if she fails again, it will be her last.
This was not our first attempt, as we have already tried doing a child assassin with Tigress, under the exact same methods, but Paula Nguyen and Lawrence Crock both refused to raise the child as per our specifications, so they had to be eliminated along with Tigress and her sister, Cheshire. However, all we have accomplished is killing Sportsmaster and the other three, the females, have all been crippled in some method. Cassandra will fit the mold of what we want, regardless of how much conditioning it takes to break her mind."
After reading the notes, all Cyborg could utter was, "Holy fuck! Is this saying what I think it's saying?"
Nightwing groaned, "Unfortunately, it is. Cadmus is raising a child assassin inhumanely. It's almost as if they're raising her as a mindless feral child, taught only to kill and nothing else. If we manage to bring them down, I honestly don't know what will happen next for her as she was overspecialized in killing. Another atrocity committed by Cadmus, and almost certainly not their last. I can only dread about what we'll find next regarding their personnel."
Over at Belle Reve, it was recess as Ravager is seen alone at the bleachers. Raven is held a little late with Doctor Musgrave due to dealing with an inmate who had an accident at the kitchen. Ravager sigh as she was planning to have a nice conversation with Raven but now she had to sit alone until Raven comes. Livewire notice her alone as she decides to sit by her.
"So, where's your birdfriend, Rosie?" Livewire asked as she lit a cigarette she got from Firefly.
"Her name is Raven, Leslie. And don't call me Rosie." Ravager growled at the electric villainess.
"Gee, sorry. didn't mean to keep your panties in a twist." Livewire said, though its a saying but the female prisoners in the showers know that Ravager doesn't wear underwear. The daughter of the most deadliest mercenary doesn't see the point in wearing it if she's in prison.
"Whatever." Ravager muttered as she looks up in the sky.
Not used to the silence, Livewire decides to strike a conversation as she asks her "So how are you and Raven now that she's your prison bit-" stops when she sees Ravager's deadly eye targeting her "Partner been doing?" she corrects herself not wanting to have her legs snap off.
"Fine." Ravager said not looking at Livewire.
"Well, if you ask me, you two have been pretty close over the past four years. I mean, you two are the talk of Belle Reve right now. Rouge and Frost are considered the new prison bitches when they bot their ass whooped by you two."
"Yeah, whatever happened to them?"
"Rouge got into a fight with big old Killer Croc when making hangers, resulted in Rouge being sent in solitary confinement for a few months. Frosty, on the other hand, was restrained after strangling Slipknot to death."
"Looks like they're the new bitches now." Ravager said as she continues to look up in the sky and sees a flock of raven birds flying in the sky.
"You love her, don't ya?" Livewire asked as Ravager is startled by the question.
"W-What?" she asked.
"Don't try to deny it, Silver. It doesn't take a electric babe like me to figure out something consensual about you two." Livewire states as she blew a smoke.
Ravager looks from the sky to the ground as she press her hands together. Not wanting to be pestered in the topic, she blurts out "Okay, fine. You got me, I believe that I do love Raven."
"And survey saids…" Livewire said as she puffs a smoke.
"But I don't know if she loves me back." Ravager told as she sigh in frustration "I know about her emotions and all, but I can never tell if she shares the same with me."
"Maybe she never experience love before." Livewire states matter of factry. "I mean, she's not the most sociable, with her gothic ways, daughter of some big honcho demon and all. Back in high school before I got these powers I was like that before."
"You? An ex-radio jockey used to be a quiet girl?"
"Yeah, yeah. Well from my experience, Raven has been bottling up her emotions, which is why she gets the reputation of being 'unfeeling' all the time and a Goth. Always getting her emotions in check because they connected to her powers so she's not that used to love. However, with her powers now suppressed she has been showing emotions."
"Yeah, she does." Ravager whispered.
"So yeah, its possible that she can now show love. With how you've been treating her and pop her cherry she might love ya back, even if it is difficult to show it." Livewire finished as she saw Raven entering recess. "There she is now."
"Thanks for the romance advice." Ravager thanked the villainess as she walks out of the bleachers and head towards to Raven as Livewire watches the two like lovebirds.
"Maybe I should be the new Dr. Phil or something." Livewire whispered to herself as she blew a puff of smoke up in the air.
As the Titans continued to work on decrypting the information from Cadmus along with the Justice League, Batman was in the Batcave tinkering with his equipment, making new batarangs and other gadgets for his utility belt. If Cadmus truly was killing off anybody they chose, then he would need all the help he could get. Especially since one of those was a hardened, body-reading child assassin trained by one of the League of Assassins's best.
Continuing to work, he heard Stephanie Brown, the new Robin, call down to him. "Bats, we got company!" Turning his head towards the staircase, he replied, "Tell them I'm busy." Then, Stephanie (wearing her civilian clothes) walked down and explained, "I'm afraid our guest won't take no for an answer. He demands to meet with you immediately."
"As Batman or Bruce Wayne?"
"He didn't say. All he said was, 'I'd like to see the Detective. Don't make me go right through you.'" Instantly, Batman knew who had come over for a talk and told Stephanie, "Tell him to come down to the cave."
"But, won't that...?"
"Stephanie, he already knows my secret identity. He's known for years. He's already been down here before." Stephanie then ran back upstairs to bring down their guest. Snapping on his utility belt, Batman figured he wouldn't come over to Gotham unless he had something big planned, and he would especially not come personally to his house unless it was absolutely dire, though the only time that seemed to be the case was all a masquerade.
Walking towards the staircase, Batman saw descending the stairs a somewhat-elderly man with graying hair such that much of the top of his head was bald, a goatee, a stylish green suit and tie, and a cape. Batman asked, "So, Ra's, what brings you here to my house?", preparing a batarang in case he went to attack.
Ra's al Ghul then countered, "I'm not here to fight, Detective. I'm here about what your prodigy has found on one of my former assassins."
Sheathing the batarang, Batman realized, "Shiva."
"Correct. I haven't seen Lady Shiva in over a decade. While I had figured she had settled down, I was not expecting her child to be a killer in this ever-growing conspiracy." Continuing down into the Batcave, Ra's al Ghul added, "I keep my eye on the globe, and this scale of an attack is unheard of, even to myself in my seven hundred plus years on this planet. Even greater than that of the Nazis."
"What do you mean?" As Ra's passed by Batman, the "Demon's Head" continued, "As you very well know, the Nazis plotted mass conquest, but they decided to conquer lesser territories first, an act that undoubtedly provoked the bigger nations, the Allies, into declaring war. This, Cadmus, they haven't been attacking the little guys, they've been taking out the beast so the little guy is defenseless."
"Did they come for you?"
"Twice, in fact. The first was around the time I last saw Shiva. An assassin, I believe Mr. David Cain, shot me in the heart twice before absconding with her. Fortunately, I was near a Lazarus Pit and revived. The second time, was much more recent. Less than three days ago, in fact. A missile strike attacked one of my bases in the Himalayas. One of your government's Hellfire missiles. The destruction was devastating and it killed more than sixty and injured another hundred."
"Was Talia killed?" It was no secret that Batman, or Bruce Wayne, held a deep affection for the daughter of Ra's al Ghul - that was part of the reason Ra's wanted Batman to be his successor. "Unfortunately, yes. She was riddled with shrapnel and died from internal bleeding before I could get her to the Lazarus Pit. I also lost Ubu and Nyssa al Ghul, my own sister in the attack."
"I'm sorry, Ra's. Truly."
"There is something else, Detective. When Talia died, she was covering her child, shielding him from the blast and the shrapnel."
"Talia had a child?"
"Yes. His name is Ibn al Xu'ffasch."
"Son of the Bat. Wait a minute, is Talia's child...?"
"Yours. She never could admit her true feelings towards you. She loved you, dearly. Talia learned of her pregnancy a few weeks after our paths last crossed. I helped her raise her child, trying to give him as normal a childhood as he could get."
"Were you raising him into a killer, just like Shiva's child?"
"He may be my grandson, but he is also your son. Talia did not want to have to expose him to our lifestyle, to killing. The boy has been taught how to fight, but he will not kill. She loved you too much to allow your son to become one of our assassins."
"Is this all why you came here?"
"Not exactly." Proceeding towards the Batcomputer, Ra's al Ghul inserted a flash drive into one of the USB ports, and Batman followed, wanting to see just what Ra's had for him. "I've been tracking the Hellfire missile that attacked my base. The Predator drone that originally fired the missile originated from northeastern Afghanistan."
"You think it was the Taliban, Ra's? You think they were involved with Cadmus."
"No. The drone was being controlled inside the United States, Nevada to be exact." As the USB drive began pulling up its contents on the Batcomputer, Batman immediately noticed a name. "Heinrich Mikkelson. Former Olympic contender."
"Precisely. You also know that after he was disqualified from the 2000 Sydney Olympics for using performance-enhacing drugs, he turned to a life of crime. Taking the name Javelin, Mr. Mikkelson used gimmicked javelins as weapons, much like Lawrence 'Crusher' Crock during the early days of his career as Sportsmaster."
"Mikkelson was arrested four times for grand larceny in Sydney, Jakarta, Munich, and Starling City and once for second-degree murder in Coast City."
"You really do your research, Detective. Anyway, Mikkelson is supposed to be spending the next seventy-six years in prison, one nowhere near the drone control station. How is it, you suppose, that a man pilots a drone in Nevada when he's supposed to be in prison?"
"He got released early. What prison was Mikkelson sentenced to?"
"That's what is most interesting. Mikkelson was sentenced to prison in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana."
"Belle Reve. The exact same prison that Raven is serving her sentence in."
"Indeed, Detective. It appears that Cadmus has been recruiting from Belle Reve to form a so-called 'suicide squad', a team of criminals working for their own agenda."
As Batman reached the Batcomputer, Ra's al Ghul took a few steps away. Batman noted, "Oh God. We're going to need to keep an eye on Belle Reve and inform the Titans about this." Turning around, Batman noticed that Ra's al Ghul had already vanished from the cave. With that, he thought, 'So that's what that feels like.'
Still, now that he had new information, and it was time to tell the Justice League. The only question is who else will surface with the reveal of Javelin as one of the conspirators?
Somewhere in southern Colorado, a military jeep parked near a cabin at the open outdoors next to a waterfall and a lake. The driver steps out of his jeep as he was a gray haired old man holding something as he walks towards a cabin.
As he walks up, he knocks on the door. The door opens revealing an old man with grayish hair, tough build, and an army uniform as he smirks at his old war buddy.
"Didio, you brought your chips." spoke General Wade Eiling.
"That you know it, Wade." Didio respond as he enters and spots the other retired war buddies, Jack, Wolfe, Tom, and Romano all around the poker table with cards, chips, and some snacks and beer by their side.
"About damn time." Romano said as the retired general pulls up a seat so the old war buddies can play their little game of poker. They all gathered at Wade Eiling's cabin house for a night of poker in celebration of Wade's retirement.
"Alright, tonight's game is poker night." Wade said as the six players set up their game of Texas Hold-Up as they start a conversation.
"So, did any of you heard of them killings recently?" Wolfe asked.
"Yeah, something about those costumed capes and robbers getting killed off." Jack said as he gives his Jack Nickelson-like poker face as he smiles while smoking.
"I'll say, but good riddance." Tom spoke as he eyed on his opponents. "We're better off without some flamboyant clown killing us all, and those capes be watching over us."
"That's kind of cruel, Tom." Romano said.
"I agree with Tom." Didio said as he smokes his cigar. "I've always hated those vigilantes running and terrorizing our streets like they're in charge. Especially those ankle biter Titans. I've always hated that Batman and that girly Robin of his!" he spoke in his opinion of the heroes.
"But they've been saving our country lots of times, Dan." Romano countered.
"Only because its their fault! With those alien invasions and crazy villains running amok! They deserve what's coming to them, right Eiling?" Didio asked Wade who has given a sigh.
"Guys, I just want to relax, play poker with you guys, and-" As Wade spoke he heard a noise outside of his home as he turns his head back. "Did you guys heard that?" he asked.
"What? My hearing aid is acting up." Tom said adjusting his hearing aid.
"Its coming from outside, let me take a look." Wade stands up from the table as he fold his cards. As Didio tries to look at his hidden cards Wade warns him to not look as he exits out of the cabin.
Wade pulls out of his handgun as he looks around for any intruders or enemies out to kill him. As soon as he steps out of his porch, he is suddenly shot in the head, brain matter and blood went out from the back of his head as he falls down and hits the railing of his porch.
"Wade!?" Romano calls out as he and the others drop their cards and chips as they walk towards their friend. Romano checks for his pulse as he gives a grim look. "He's dead."
"We're under attack!" Didio shouts which was his last words as a bright light engulfed the other veterans as soon the cabin explodes killing the rest of the victims. All the five war veterans were engulfed into flames as their bodies explodes like ash paper as their remains burned.
At a distant at the waterfall, a orange haired woman in a short red dress and white boots marches towards to a white masked armored man with a cybernetic red eye holding a M98 NATO rifle as they make eye contact. Those two are known as Plastique the explosive terrorist and Deadshot, the world's most deadly assassin.
"Well, I did a good job making those old dogs burned." Plastique said with a sadistic smile on her face.
"Yeah, not to mention sniping the old general out." Deadshot said as he taps into his com-link "This is Deadshot to the Big One, General Eiling is down." he told to whoever he is contacting.
Now, the Titans were certain that the Cadmus conspiracy included David Cain and the still unaccounted for Lady Shiva (as well as their daughter Cassandra), not to mention Deadshot, Plastique, and Javelin. The League had used Batman's tip to decrypt the information of Javelin and the basics of the "Suicide Squad", officially referred to as "Task Force X" in the files, soon getting wind about Deadshot and Plastique's involvment with the assassination on General Eiling.
Upon learning of his former commanding officer's murder, Captain Atom made sure to be thorough in his investigation - he may have hated the man for indirectly framing him for smuggling and murder (as well as causing his condition), but he held a great deal of respect for his former commanding officer. With the bullet that was pulled out of Eiling as well as that which the Question retrieved, the League successfully was able to link Deadshot to the Cadmus conspiracy, thereby proving him to be the murderer of the Atom and See-More, as well as crippling Tigress.
As for Plastique, the explosives used to destroy the house had trace amounts of her DNA embedded. From what the League discovered, both had been serving lengthy prison sentences at Belle Reve before unnamed government officials offered them reduced sentences to be part of Task Force X. So, it was now incredibly likely that Raven was next on the recruitment list, which meant that they were beginning to suspect that Raven was sentenced to Belle Reve for recruitment - now they had to prove it. Still, there was a high chance that Raven was a target so they needed to look at the other members of the Task Force to have any idea of whether or not Raven was a possible candidate.
It had been over four years since Raven was incarcerated and close to another six before she was eligible for parole, but that didn't mean she would get paroled (especially considering her heritage), and then it would be another decade before she would be re-eligible for parole, and that meant she was more likely to be swayed into the Task Force.
At the Tower, the Titans were trying to break through the incredibly difficult encryption, which changed with every folder and there were literally hundreds of folders - all they had decrypted were those about the Cains, Deadshot, Plastique, Javelin, and the contingency strategies (and even those were still shadowy and partially vague as well). Even many of the fileheads were encrypted as well. This was going to take a while.
Looking at one of the folders, Animal Man suggested, "We've already got Deadshot, Plastique, and Javelin, plus David Cain, so we need another killer. Captain Boomerang?"
With that, Nightwing typed CAPTAIN BOOMERANG into the decryption system and after several minutes, they had decrypted a few more files. Opening up the newly-decrypted files, he read, "George 'Digger' Harkness, also known as Captain Boomerang, is a convict currently serving a sixty year sentence in Belle Reve Penitentary for multiple counts of larceny including corporate espionage for Queen Industries. Born in Kurrumburra, Australia, Harkness became an expert boomerang thrower, designing dozens of boomerangs for different purposes, much like Batman and Green Arrow do for their batarangs and arrows, respectively. While he is primarily a gadget fighter, he does possess limited bursts of super speed, which he commonly uses for throwing his boomerangs at super speeds whenever necessary, especially against individuals such as Superman and the Flash. Recruitment to Task Force X is advised, termination is recommended if he refuses.
Status Update One: Captain Boomerang has now joined Task Force X, proving himself to be a more-than-competent fighter and dangerous adversary in combat. However, his teamwork skills need dramatic improvement - Harkness is a jerk and screw-up who aggravates the other members with his blatant insensitivity, proving himself to be the equivalent of the class clown. More teamwork training is suggested until he proves himself as able to follow orders and work cohesively with the other members of the Task Force."
Starfire asked, "They kill those who refuse? Then that means..."
Cyborg finished, "Some of the recently murdered supervillains may have actually been asked to do the Task Force. Let's take a look at the dead."
Typing in REFUSAL into the decryption program, they were able to pull up a list of suggested Task Force X operatives. The first name on the list was Kyd Wykkyd, with the excerpt "Real Name: Unknown, Alias: Kyd Wykkyd, Teleporter, Rejected Offer, Termination Recommended." Nightwing noted, "Someone must have offered Wykkyd a place on the Task Force, but he refused and got his throat slit by Cassandra Cain as a result.
The next name on the list was the Riddler, with the excerpt reading, "Real Name: Nygma, Edward, Alias: Riddler, High Intellect and Penchant for Puzzles, Rejected Offer, Termination Recommended." "The Riddler refused so somebody injected him with poison, but none of their motus operandis involve poison."
The third name on the list was Phobia, with her excerpt reading, "Real Name: Hawkins III, Angela, Alias: Phobia Ability to Incite Greatest Fears, Rejected Offer, Termination Recommended." "So that prison ambush wasn't a spur-of-the-moment thing, Phobia was targeted."
Looking at the list, they saw Javelin, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, and Plastique all on there with descriptions of their names, abilities, and assessment on their usefulness to Cadmus. Then, they saw Catman and Toyman both on the list, two of the most recently-murdered supervillains. They quickly surmised Plastique had handled Toyman and Deadshot executed Catman.
However, shortly after they saw Toyman and Catman, they saw one name they definitely were not expecting to see on the list. Cyborg uttered, "Holy shit! Harleen Quinzel?"
Starfire wondered, "So, is the Harley Quinn part of this Task Force X?"
"Only one way to find out, Star." Digging into Harley's file, they quickly found a shocking excerpt, "Doctor Harleen Quinzel, or better known by her alias of Harley Quinn, is the costumed assistant of Gotham's criminal clown, the Joker. A skilled acrobat reinforced with additional speed, strength, and an immunity from toxins courtesy of Poison Ivy, as well as an in-depth understanding of psychology and the human mind, Harley is a formidable foe both physically and mentally. As a result of her 'mad love' for the Joker, her sanity is questionable to say the least, returning to her 'pud'n' regardless of how many times he betrays and/or hurts her. Regardless, she is incredibly bubbly in terms of personality, seeming completely absent minded and ditzy when underneath lies a tactical mind...and don't piss her off. Recruitment to Task Force X is mandatory, but the Joker's involvment with the Task Force is not recommended."
"So, dudes, Cadmus wanted Harley for this 'suicide squad'? So it must have been extremely convienent that she and Joker came here."
"Too convienent. Cyborg, check the files for known bank accounts, start with those in Nevis."
Cyborg looked deeper into the drive with BANKING into the decryption program, and after several minutes, they got a partially decrypted list of Cadmus bank accounts. Searching for Nevis, they found an account in Nevis owned by the Nightingale Trust. Of course, that was only a cover alias, and it soon transpired that the "Nightingale Trust" was actually Cadmus. Checking into the bank records, they saw that the account had two uses four years ago.
The more recent of the two transactions was thirty million dollars wired to the Coaletta Family. Animal Man asked, "The Coalettas?"
Nightwing explained, "Hired guns. The Coaletta family specialized in mercenaries. Of course Cadmus would go to them for breaking out Harley. Anonymous transaction, likely, so even if we found the thugs that broke her out, they couldn't tell us anything about the buyer. Cyborg, what was the other transaction?"
Cyborg explained, "It was around five months earlier. A two hundred million dollar wire to an account under a Yomanski. Yvette Yomanski."
"Oh God."
Animal Man asked, "Dude, what's the deal with the name?"
Nightwing revealed, "Yvette Yomanski is Harleen Quinzel's maternal grandmother. She's been dead for twenty years. The account belongs to Harley Quinn. Do you realize what this means? The Joker didn't come here on his own accord - Harley persuaded him to. Cadmus paid her to bring the Joker here so the two of them could acquire the Demon's Hand. Guys, Raven was set up from the start." As he uttered those lines in front of the other Titans, they were all deeply shocked - their friend was languishing away in Belle Reve because of a frame-up and those responsible were still at large.
They had to work quickly to find out who truly was responsible for this, because they weren't sure how much longer Raven had before Cadmus gets their hands on her.
Okay, we've got two more chapters of revelations to go, with next chapter being one you absolutely cannot miss!
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