139 Justice League Cardinal Sin
As the JLers rushed into the city hall, they found it defended by the Penguin, Two Face, and KGBeast. The Legionnaires leapt out of doorways at the end of the hall and from the top of the stairwell. Batman rammed his shoulder into one of the office doors and bolted inside.
Vigilante kicked open the men's bathroom door and the Super Friends scrambled inside. Mr. Terrific's T-spheres teleported Blackhawk and Mr. Terrific himself outside. Vigilante drew his six guns and began laying down cover fire for Batgirl as she desperately sought a place to hide. The Penguin and Two Face forced her out of the hallway by returning Vigilante's fire. That left her vulnerable to KGBeast's attack.
She withdrew a batarang from her belt and threw it at him. He swatted it aside with his gun hand. He then leveled the gun at her. The miniature Vulcan cannon fired a machine gun burst at her. She flipped out of the way back into the hallway.
Vigilante ceased fire upon seeing her but the others did not. The Penguin and Two Face took great delight in shooting at her. Between them, they hit her several times
Vigilante holstered one pistol, hopped out of the bathroom, and fan fired his gun. Hyperkinetic rounds slammed into both the Penguin and Two Face. The impact threw them up against the door frames they were secreted in. The kinetic discharge also created a shockwave that knocked them out.
KGBeast was still behind the corner. His rotary cannon clicked, signaling the safety was off. Vigilante started to rush forward when Batman exploded out of his shelter.
Batman slammed into KGBeast. Fists and feet flew so fast Vigilante could have sworn that Batman was the Flash. The Beast went down in under a minute.
"How is she?" Batman asked while still standing as Vigilante knelt beside her.
"Ah don't know yet." Vigilante snapped, "Gimme a sec."
Apache Chief, who'd followed Vigilante, also knelt to examine Batgirl's wounds. Samurai and Black Vulcan followed Batman. Batman went to a T-sphere and activated its microphone, "We need your help."
Mr. Terrific and Blackhawk teleported into the building a second later. Terrific addressed Batman, "It's turning into a war zone out there."
"We've had our own little war in here." Batman said.
Mr. Terrific leaned over past Batman's shoulders and his eyes went wide, "What happened?"
"Batgirl was shot." Came Batman's inflectionless reply.
"She's your partner for God's sake!" Mr. Terrific was aghast, "Don't you feel anything?"
"I can't afford to." Batman replied emotionlessly, "Now, I have to find Luthor's command center. The rest of you can try and help Batgirl."
Batman strode off to the stairwell. Looking up and then down, he chose down and descended into the building's basement. Those left behind were stunned and in shock.
Batgirl spasmed. Vigilante finished tying his kerchief around her leg. It served as a pressure bandage to staunch the blood flowing from her leg.
"Ah've done everything Ah can." He reported to Mr. Terrific, "She's got five clean wounds and one that may have chipped the bone. The leg's the worst of it. There's no severed arteries or veins but it's bleedin' like a Texan gusher. In short, we need help."
"I can teleport her but we don't have anywhere to teleport her to." Terrific was stymied.
"Yes, we do." Samurai came forward and turned to Blackhawk, "You said the Legionnaires brought a doctor, a trauma specialist, to look at my, and the others', wounds."
"That's right!" Vigilante suddenly grasp onto that memory as if to a lifeline, "The Legion's kidnapped some poor doctor outta Vegas. They're keepin' him in what used to be the town clinic."
"So all we have to do is find the clinic and we can teleport Batgirl there." Mr. Terrific managed a smile, "Sounds like a plan. I'll send a T-sphere with each of you and I'll watch over Batgirl."
Samurai spoke again, "My friends and I are powerless as long as we wear these collars but we will be happy to assist you in this effort."
Vigilante hesitated and Mr. Terrific put a hand on his shoulders, "It's all right. I've had even more extensive training in combat medicine than you have. I'll be able to keep her alive long enough to get her to the clinic."
Terrific showed them how to activate the spheres' microphones. They then fanned out across town. Only Vigilante was armed or had any super powers. This, above all else, bespoke of their nobility in a time of great upheaval, Mr. Terrific thought.
Inside the basement of the city hall Batman heard voices. Light came from an open doorway up ahead. He quietly crept closer. Soon he was pressed up against the edge of the door, able to glimpse into the room, without much risk of being seen.
There was an argument going on. A very short man, with buck teeth and coke bottle lensed glasses was tromping around the room, "What is it with you people? No one can say my name right! Even that Big dumb Red Cheese is saying it wrong after dealing with you verbal incompetents!"
"I don't see what the problem is, Dr. Silvana…" Grodd began to say.
"Aaaagggghhhh!" Sivana screamed, "My name is Sivana! Doctor Sivana!"
"Dr. Nirvana?" a befuddled Half Ape asked.
"Nnnnooooo!" Sivana literally hopped up and down because he was so enraged.
Batman chose that moment to act. He dove through the doorway, coming up to throw batarangs. Half Ape and Sivana went down. Grodd held his hands up, "I surrender already."
Batman stifled his rage. Grodd had already been beaten to within an inch of his life by a JLer once before. There was no good reason to follow that precedent.
What about Barbara? His inner voice cried out.
She's dead and I have to live with it, he told himself. Piece by piece, emotion by emotion Batman's heart shut down. He'd always striven to be untouchable and now he'd finally achieved it.
Even if Barbara lived he knew there was no going back. His heart was invulnerable now and he couldn't allow a chink in his emotional armor. Not now. Not ever again.
That meant that his time with the League was almost at an end as well. He needed to narrow his focus and keep an eye on his one true love: Gotham City. It needed him just as badly as he needed it. It was a symbiotic relationship and he would foster it even more to make up for the time he'd wasted with the League.
Grodd was not consciously aware of any of this but he sensed a change in Batman, "I have a feeling I should do what you say or you'll unleash Mary Marvel on me."
"Among other things." Batman said, "Unlock Apache Chief, Black Vulcan, and Samurai's collars. Now."
"So you've learned that they inhibit their powers." Grodd chuckled.
"I suspected as much but thanks for the verification." Batman replied.
Grodd muttered a curse and then called up the command sequence for the collars. They all deactivated and fell off where each of them was. The three heroes were suddenly powered up again. Which was good. They needed to be.
Batman motioned for Grodd to stand up, "Move very slowly. Once you're up you'll pick up your fallen allies and stay at the doorway. Afterwards you'll begin to walk down the corridor and up the stairs. I'll be right behind you."
"And what will you be doing while I'm waiting at the door?" Grodd wondered.
"Planting a bomb." Batman answered, "I'm destroying your operations network."
Grodd sighed as he picked up Sivana and Half Ape, "How typical."
Batman was silent as he went to work. He kept a careful eye on Grodd. The simian was far stronger than himself but no more than a Bane, a Killer Croc, or a Big Sir.
He finished and spoke to Grodd, "We're going now."
"How long do we have until it goes off?" Grodd asked. Getting no reply, "If you'll tell me I'll be able to better gauge how fast I should walk."
"Three minutes." Batman tersely replied.
"So, I'll be briskly walking up the stairs." Grodd chuckled.
Overhead, Hawkman found himself battling three vicious foes at once. The extradimensional Kestrel was trying to bash him out of the sky with her mace. The newest Man Bat dove and snapped at him with claws and teeth. Finally, perhaps the most dangerous one of all, Owlwoman was trying to tear at him with her talons.
Whereas Kestrel, as a Thanagarian; and Man Bat, as a freakish mockery of nature; were both bound by physics in their means and methods of flight; Owlwoman was not. Her powers were magically derived. Besides soaring and diving, she could hover. She was like a helicopter to Hawkman's biplane.
He was armed with an Nth metal spear and an Nth metal sword hung from his belt. The spear was proving useful in fending off Kestrel and Man Bat but it was bloody useless against Owlwoman. She could merely glide past it and strike at him. He'd already received several glancing swipes from Owlwoman's talons and he was feeling the effects.
He'd given up on trying to spear her and instead used the weapon to try and brain her. She couldn't hurt him if she was unconscious. It was still weird fighting her though. When Carter Hall had taken up the mantle of Hawkman, Owlwoman had been a valued superhero trusted throughout the world.
Kestrel wasn't much of a tactician and Man Bat was barely sentient. Hawkman swore Grundy was practically a prodigy compared to the Man Bat. Owlwoman, though, was as smart as she was dangerous.
She'd just held a conference with Kestrel and the Man Bat. While they were gliding over towards the west, Hawkman had staked out territory to the south. There was an old fashioned church there complete with a steeple and a bell tower. That rooftop would serve as his last redoubt should their coordination be a little too effective.
The moment came and they struck. Owlwoman came at him, hacking and slicing with her claws. He squarely hit her in the forehead with his spear's shaft. She momentarily stunned as he alighted onto the roof. Keeping the bell tower to his back, they could only come at him from four directions: right, left, straightforward, and up.
Owlwoman recovered and she came at Hawkman again. He held her off with his spear while she spent half of her time watching for Kestrel. Finally, she committed to the battle and he knew Kestrel was close.
Owlwoman made to leave the rooftop but Hawkman dropped the spear and grabbed hold of her as she tried to leave. With her hands bound to her hips, she couldn't hurt him. The horrified look on her face told him when to duck.
Kestrel bashed Owlwoman with all of her might. The former Global Guardian fell and collided with the ground below. Kestrel tried an upwards arc but Hawkman took hold of her ankle with one hand while he drew his sword with the other.
She quit futilely beating her wings and dropped to the roof beside him. She reared back to strike with the mace and he slashed her arm with the sword. The mace joined Owlwoman.
"He held the sword to Kestrel's throat, "Call off the bat."
"Why should I?" she scornfully asked, "You won't kill me."
"Oh yes, I will." He said with undeniable conviction, "Most of the League doesn't care if I'm a member or not. I only got in because Hawkgirl vouched for me. I stay in to try and not disappoint her faith in me. But honestly, I will kill you right here and now if you don't call him off and surrender."
Hawkman could hear the flapping of the mammal's wings as it approached. He pressed the point of the sword against her throat, "He may or may not get me but you'll be dead and never find out."
She held up a hand and shouted, "No!"
The confused Man Bat came to land on the bell tower. Kestrel spoke again, "Rest now."
The Man Bat went to the edge of the tower and then hung upside down from the eave. Hawkman's chuckle was a cruel one, "You just saved your life. Now, turn around."
She did so and he fastened her wrists with a zip tie. That pinned her wings behind her back so she couldn't fly. He flew down to the ground and convinced her to reluctantly jump into his arms.
He rolled Owlwoman over and tied her wrists the same way. The ties were a special polymer composite that was touted as being able to hold Bane. He'd know if that were true as soon as Owlwoman woke up and applied her super strength to it.
In the meantime, he'd watch over his prisoners…and his sleeping bat-like "sort of" prisoner