This was starting to get a bit long, so I left it at a cliffy. Sorry it took so long. I was having so much writer's block trying to figure out how was the best of ways to do this, I started working on a little side project in hopes of getting 'the feeling'. Needless to say, it did help a bit, and it made for some great long distance plans that probably won't come out for a long time, but they sound pretty sweet. Anyway, the final fight is finally happening! Then on to some more interesting plans in store for future Bat-tastic encounters. Enjoy!
"Al, I've accepted it, I'm terrible at chess," I said, knocking down my king.
"You've won three times," he assured. "I'm certain you're not terrible."
"I didn't win three times, you let me win. Every time I won you accidentally moved your queen in the line of one of my knights," I complained.
"Well at least you have the eye to realize I was," he said.
"Yeah, after the third time. I bet the only person here I could actually beat is Danny, and maybe Dick. What are they doing anyway?"
"I wasn't informed," he responded simply. "All I was told was that you are not to go to the cave until Master Bruce calls."
"I really don't like him keeping me out of the loop," I said, leaning back in my chair.
"He has his reasons."
"I know," I sighed, "but I hate secrets. That probably makes me a hypocrite though. My whole life's an enigma."
"Then tell me about it," he assured. "I'm always an open ear."
"Well, things weren't very good," I said, rubbing my neck. "There was an-"
I was interrupted by a beep coming from my pocket. Batwave. After pulling it out, I pressed a thumb onto the flashing bat and Bruce's face appeared on screen. "Light's made a move," he said quickly.
"Got it," I said, clicking off the phone and pushing it into my pocket before phasing down into the cave.
Bruce and Dick were rushing to put on their suits. Danny already had his on (probably used my cheat skills), and was waiting on the other two. Clark was standing in the corner. He was probably there for backup. Barbara was just running in. Bruce must have been worried if she was leaving college for the night.
"Where is she?" I questioned, landing next to the costume case.
"Trying to destroy every building in a ten block radius centralized around the police station. Reports are coming in that she's stationed herself there," Bruce reported, flipping up his cowl.
"Sounds just like me. Probably had a throne wheeled in too," I remarked, grabbing my suit and rushing to get dressed.
"You're not her. Don't think that for one second or she wins," Bruce said, resting a hand on my shoulder.
"Today I'm going to prove I'm not," I said, running my cape through my fingers. "How many hostages does she have?"
"How do you know that?" Clark questioned, eyeing me suspiciously.
"Why wouldn't I know that?" I said quietly.
"She's got my dad," Barbara said solemnly, resting a fist against her hip.
"And Ethan," Bruce added. "Any police officer or detective that was in the building."
"And she's pulling in more from the radius right?" I said, turning to look at Barbara with steadfast certainty.
"Yeah," she affirmed.
"Alright, we need to get moving and fast. If I'm right, Light won't have any problems tearing out gooey bits and what have you. Danny, I need you to distract Vlad. He'll try to get in between Light and me. Bats, I'm sure you could use a little rematch with Skulker. Kick him a good one. Robin, Batgirl, can you handle the clowns?" I said, finishing putting on my gear and walking to the center of the group.
"Sure, we can take them down easy," Robin said, twirling his staff.
"What am I supposed to do?" Superman said, sounding slightly annoyed.
"Your job! Smallville, your job is the most important job in the universe. With what I'm going to do, you're going to figure out my secret no matter what, so I have to trust you. I need you to keep me safe, but not me me. I'm depending on you to keep Light safe. Take this containment device," I said, tossing him one of the mini thermoses. "Use it to catch Light if there's any imminent threat to her. She's in a place filled with cops. Someone might get trigger happy; it may be me."
"I need you in the room with me. Conceal yourself so well that I wouldn't recognize you. Get yourself caught. Demand to go to the police station. If they question you, tell them to relay a message to Light. Tell them you know about Meg. Leave it as vague as that. I know if you get into trouble, you can get out undamaged. I get it's not really your style, but it's probably the most important thing you can do. I need a guardian angel right now," I said.
"Alright," he said with the most trust I'd ever heard him direct toward me, "I'll do it."
"Kira, you're heating up," Bruce said, looking down at a little handheld device. It must have been getting readings from the gauge in my quiver.
"I believe that's the panic setting in," I said with a shake in my voice.
"Don't worry, the good guys always win," Danny assured.
"Guess it's time we really figure out if I am one, isn't it? It'll probably be fine. I mean, for once I'm actually hoping that I am," I said, subconsciously rubbing my arm again. "Anyways, we better get going. There're a lot of people that need our help."
"You need to calm down so that quiver doesn't lock up," Robin said, stepping out in front of me.
"No worries, I'm gonna do what I always do anyway: fight with words," I said, walking over to the ledge of the level. "Now I need a ride," I said.
"Yours is the ATV over by the bikes," Batman said, grabbing onto the slide pole and heading over to the Batmobile.
"Figure I didn't have the balance?" I questioned, jumping right off the ledge and slowing my fall before I touched the ground.
"That's exactly what I was thinking," he responded.
"Well, you thought right," I said, mounting the ATV and putting on a helmet as Robin, Batgirl, and Danny all came down.
When I started the engine, a line of red light traced its way along the corners of the black chassis. When it revved up, it purred with quiet power. Bruce always did get me the best toys.
Batgirl and Robin mounted up on theirs. Danny decided to just fly alongside the Batmobile, and Superman ran out 'faster than a speeding bullet', no doubt to get ready for his lady in distress routine. He really did have the most important part, and I still hated his guts.
I knew taking down Light was going to be my defining moment. If anything went wrong, I don't know how I could deal with myself, but something could always go wrong. That something was what was making my hands shake.
After I saw Danny and the Batmobile go out, I sped off through the tunnel. I hadn't driven a four-wheeler in a long time, but I remembered the lessons my dad taught me. Just keep focus and carry on. If there was one thing I loved more than the Earth itself, it was thinking and driving. Actually, I hated it with a passion now that I think of it. It brought back a lot of memories that, at the time, were so far from being realistic again that they hurt. Not to mention that I had to keep remembering I was driving into a possible death sentence.
After getting out of the tunnel, I paid close attention to where Batman was heading, then I broke away from him and took a shorter route through a few alleyways.
"Where are you going?" Batman questioned over the communicator in my helmet.
"Shortcut. I need to get there a little early," I responded, weaving around a few trash cans.
"If this is too much for you-"
"Shut up. I know what I have to do, and hopefully it'll keep you guys from getting killed," I interrupted, accelerating as fast as I could go. "If I'm right, I should get there three minutes before you guys. More than enough time to get myself killed or save the city."
"If you don't walk in there knowing you're going to come out, don't walk in there," he ordered, sounding more than a little concerned.
"Oh, sorry-pshht! I have a bit of a spotty connection," I said, reaching for the off switch on my helmet.
"My tech doesn't get spotty," he defended, sounding pissed.
"Well, maybe that's just the sound of me turning off all communications," I said, hitting the switch.
If I get out of this alive, I thought, Bruce is going to kill me. At that point, I was just two turns from being within the radius. Police had already cleared out the area. It was only a matter of time before I was either caught and dragged back to the police station, or breaking through its front doors.
Crazily enough, I made it to the second option. Of course, I was being heavily tailed by Skulker, but I just barely outran him, crashing through the front entry doors without getting off of the ATV. Of course, not really crashing. I made it go intangible, phasing gently through before screeching the tires and leaving long black tire marks on the tile floor. I felt bad for the janitor that got to clean that one up.
I pulled my helmet off and flicked up my hood before even turning to face Skulker. "Hey ghost creep, get out of here before I beat you so hard your mother cries," I ordered, concealing my voice and reaching for the wrist ray on my belt.
"You think an insignificant human like you could stop me? Your pelt isn't fit to be my doormat. I am Skulker, the Ghost Zone's-" I was counting on the monologue.
That was the moment when I shot him with the wrist ray. Turns out, Lucius gave it a bit of an upgrade, and one hell of a punch, added to me boosting it with a little of my own power. Skulker went crashing into the wall, being rained on by bits of the structure that had been knocked loose.
"Very good boo! Skulker, go deal with the other bat brats," came a sarcastic voice and a slow clap from behind me. "Lose your powers again or did Batsy make a house rule against being a superhero?"
"Neither, I just liked the outfit better. Can't you see how it matches my soul?" I quipped, turning around to face her.
"Alright Sam," she said, crossing her arms. "So, who's that little guy friend you sent over?"
"Oh, you know how it is, boy meets girl, girl tells him to go screw himself, boy ends up trapped by girl's evil duplicate. It's a classic love story failure."
"That's the sarcasm of fear. Getting scared I'll share your little secret?"
"Not in the slightest," I responded. "Unlike you little Lighty, I feed on emotions. They're my driving force. You, well, you just expect everyone to be as messed up as you, don't you?"
"As messed up as me?" she questioned with a laugh. "Only someone truly messed up would ignore the logic that it pays to work for the bad guys."
"And what does it pay with?" I asked, walking over to catch a better glimpse of some hostages before turning back to her. "What do you want? Revenge? I never did a single thing to you. Power? I already have that. Or are you really just the cliché 'this town ain't big enough for the both of us' kind of villainess?"
"You really don't get it, do you? I'm destroying weakness, ending secrets, and stopping the oppression you and Bat-breath might pose on this city," she responded, a playful look flickering in her eyes. She really was enjoying herself.
"Oh now I get it! Little Lighty wants to stick it to the man. You, my ridiculous copy, were born a rebel and an idiot," I said, catching a glimpse of Detective Bennett in the corner of my eye. He looked safe for the most part.
"Ridiculous am I? You're the one walking around the room with your guard down to check on some stupid cops. What good have cops ever done us?"
"We are the spawn of one, remember?" I said, turning towards her again.
"That's about all any of them have ever done."
"Taught us how to ride a bike."
"Laughed at us the first time we face planted off a skateboard."
"Played Mario Kart with us in his free time."
"Never had free time."
"Threatened our first boyfriend."
"How is that a plus?" she questioned.
"I thought it was pretty cool," I said with a smirk.
"How about kicking us out of the house when he saw our… most recent romantic endeavors?" she said, returning a smirk of her own.
"He wasn't ready. None of them were. It was my fault for being so blunt about it. They just needed some time to adjust; time they didn't get," I replied, looking down.
"No, because you went and got yourself whisked away into a different dimension, totally ignoring the past. You were Mom and Dad's biggest disappointment after all," she said with an edge of victory to her voice. Did I really sound like that much of an ass when I was being smug?
"Well," I said, turning my back to her and slowly reaching my hand down to my belt, "I may have been a disappointment, but you would have broken their hearts."
I was facing Ethan. He looked puzzled, but I gave him a wink and tossed him a laser pen to cut off the cuffs that he and his fellow captives were being held in. He gave me a nod and I turned back to Light.
"What do I care about their hearts? Actually, I care so much I'd rip them out of their chests!"
"Oh, temper temper Lighty, that's an emotion," I said, circumnavigating the room again to get the attention away from Ethan's escape attempt.
"But an emotion both you and I thrive on," she said, standing tall and shaking back to her arrogant, evil self.
"Well, you just struck a very similar emotion from me. Not many people can get away with threatening my parents, especially not you," I said, narrowing my eyes.
"Our parents, remember? And if I'm correct, you weren't the godsend of a child either," she said, smirking all the brighter.
"I didn't do anything that a normal teenager wouldn't do. Doesn't make me any better, but let's be honest, Mom and Dad did the same things when they were kids. The rebel children of rebel parents who, one of which, came from rebel parents. Honestly, our family's freakin' awesome, and I can't wait to get back to them while Clockwork holds you under canister arrest," I said, stepping closer to her.
"And how do you expect to catch me?" she asked, stepping closer.
"First, by distracting you," I responded, now standing only a foot (about 30 cm for anyone not in the US) away from her.
"And how do you intend on doing that?"
"Oh, just something like this," I said before grabbing the side of her face and pressing my lips against hers.
"Well," she said, pushing back after a moment, "I always wondered how good of a kisser I am. So far, not impressed."
"Well, it wasn't meant to be impressive, it just got me close enough to do this," I said before letting out a ghostly wail into her face.
"Ugh!" she shouted, standing up from the rubble pile in the wall she had been knocked into. "Kissin' me and wrecking your secret just so you could shout in my face? No wonder Meg doesn't want you."
"Like you'd be her type either Miss Dark-Side. I'm the Jedi and you're the storm trooper, i.e., I'm ten times cooler than you," I said, charging a deep-red ectoblast in my right hand.
"And I'm about to wreck you like Qui-Gon Jinn," she replied, letting her body burst into flames.
"Now that's just hurtful," I replied before hurling the blast at her and jumping to the side as she charged at me. I was too hot for the bow. It made a slight vibration when it deactivated. There was one power that could do me good though.
"Using the dodge and run technique? I take it Batman taught you that," she said, turning around.
"Yep, and our baby cousin taught me this one," I said, letting an ecto-charged snowball form in my hand. "Do you wanna build a snowman?"
Sure enough, my aim was a little off and it only snagged her side, but I got a good chuckle out of it. That was soon interrupted as she flew right at me, punching me with a hit so hard I flew right back into the wall she had hit earlier, doing enough damage to break right through it. We weren't doing the police any favours. But before I had time to recover, she pulled me up and hit me again, throwing me into the next wall.
"That's not very nice," I grunted, encasing my body in a sheet of snow, hoping that cooling her down as she attacked would slow her down.
"Shut up Shadow, nothing you say means anything to me," she said, grabbing me and turning us both intangible before flying straight up.
"Let go of me!" I shouted, struggling from her grip, which must have been about ten percent stronger than my current level. I just couldn't feel angry. I didn't want to. I hadn't let her get under my skin and I was paying for it. Sure I was getting hot, but not hot enough.
"Actually, I figured we'd go check on the Bats. They're all close enough to pop by for a quick visit," she said before turning tangible and blasting me into a nearby building before I could catch what was going on.
I broke through the roof and landed square in the middle of a metal-grate flooring right between a fighting Robin and Harley Quinn. I let out a groan and looked up at the confused pair before taking note of my surroundings. It wasn't quite flooring. I was lying in a dent on a walkway overlooking large metal containers. Each was filled with bright green fluids that I'm sure couldn't be good for anyone. It was obviously Ace Chemicals, and the whole crew had ended up there. I had a bad feeling it might have been planned.
"Oh boo, you're going to love this," Light said, floating in through the ceiling.
I had a sinking feeling I wouldn't.
To Be Continued…
Small author's FYI, I didn't forget about two important people someone with a close eye might have seen I've left out. They're going to make it into the second part.