Chapter 19: The Court of Owls (part 2)
March 9th 2020 – Gotham City: YJ Academy, 12:31 am
"Of course, the masterminds of this whole operation are the last to show up…do cliché entrances run the family?" Roy asked with annoyance, while slumped across a chair that was way to small for his liking and comfort. His words fell on deaf ears as he saw the small children rush towards the zeta beam to greet the last members of, what he considered, a pathetic excuse for a recuse squad. With a swift movement of Jason's hand caused Roy to fall out of his seat with a painful grunt, "What the f-"
"You mocking Dick, Tim, Damien, and Bruce, I can handle but the kids are off limits. And before I forget watch your language there are impressionable kids around," Jason replied with an irritated rise of his eyebrow before joining the kids in greeting his two favorite little brats.
"What's gotten into him?"
"I suppose it is what you humans call a protective brotherly instinct," Starfire replied with an amused smile across her face as she saw the two little bat children attack Jason with hugs. If anyone could see the Anti-hero now they wouldn't believe he once decapitated the main figureheads to Gotham's drug trade.
"Well it's good that everyone is getting acquainted, but we need to get down to business," a deep voice announced from the front of the classroom.
"Superboy's right Abby we have more important matters at hand," Damien agreed while walking into the room with Stephanie causing the two masterminds to drop what they were doing and assume their commanding roles at the front of the classroom.
"The situation so far is that all active members of the League have been MIA for more than seventy-two hours with zero contact except for this transmission," Joe reported before flipping a switch on his holo-watch that displayed a holographic screen that covered every inch of the blackboard behind them.
"The ground team…has been…compromised, I…repeat we've been compromised…initiate code Red Alp-"
With a swift thud, the screen showed Batman's head being brutally kicked a side by an overly gleeful clown. "Awww, isn't that sweet, but you can't help them now, no one can save the Justice League from us and pretty soon the world will also fall to the Light," the Joker shimmed before breaking into a hysterical laughing fit that evoked the rest of the Light's underlings to join him. The transmission ended with a brilliant flash that nearly blinded everyone in the room for several seconds before the screen blacked out.
"I don't even want to know where you twerps got that footage, but what are you supposing we do with six heroes and seven kids against an armada of super-villains that have somehow infiltrated the watch tower, from what I can gain from the video?" Roy asked with a skeptical look on his face that earned him two deadly bat glares from both his leader and Robin.
"I'm glad you asked that Roy. From careful study of the transmission, using our logic, and calculating probabilities we have concluded that there is an 85.608 percent chance that the ground team is still in Gotham's Old Memorial Church," Abby recited in a logical tone. For most of the people in the room that was enough to hear to get on board with any plan they had for infiltrating the cathedral to set free the heavy hitters of the Justice League so they could take back the watch tower with ease. But, for both Roy and Conner they couldn't help look skeptical at the fact that they were letting elementary school students run a life threatening rescue operation.
"I looked over the research you sent me and that is a reasonable conclusion, what are the details of this master plan, Operation: Extinguish the-"
"Are you serious? I thought you of all people would be the most cynical about the situation. Is the mighty Damien really willing to bow down to the command of some diaper wearing brats? I for one rather fight the Light alone and have some chance of survival than follow a bunch toddlers to my death."
"Says the man who has been captured and almost killed by the Light on many occasions," Damien retorted in a dignified manner without turning to the older man, who was now steaming with rage under his accusation.
"You fu-"
"That's enough, although I hate to admit it Roy is right. We have three members of this operation that have the experience and talent equivalent to many of the Justice League members and another three members that are although considered terrorists in many countries still have experience with leading operations out in the field. So what you are telling me out all those people we are looking to children to save the day?" Conner stated calmly thinking that his case would appeal to the rest, however; it didn't. The only thing that his comment managed to do was divide the newly formed team further as they erupted into a heated argument.
The very sight of the bickering adults enraged Abby, she couldn't believe that in a time of crisis instead of taking charge and thinking of a new plan all they could do was trade petty insult as if that was really going to save Earth's greatest heroes from the clutches of evil. Abby had put extra effort into the planning process to ensure that every detail was foolproof and necessary for a successful rescue of not only her father but the rest of the JL that she saw as part her family.
Joe could sense the growing turmoil boiling within Abby, so when he saw her step forward he reached out to try and stop the violent out burst of rage that was about to hit the group at any moment, but she broke out of his grasp on her shoulder. Before anyone realized what was going on a booming crack sliced through the air from Roy's desk that crumbled under the weight of Abby slamming her fists against it.
"That's enough! This isn't just a joke or fun and games to us. I don't know what failure means for you guys, but I know I'm speaking for all the children in this room when I say it isn't an opposition for us. To us failure means never getting to see our parents again or the great heroes that inspire us to keep fighting for the weak and defenseless. We are anything but inexperienced, and in a time like this when we are out numbered and out gunned by the bad guys we are going to need all the help we can get."
"Abby's right either you adults suck it up and get it together or leave, it's a simple choice," Tony agreed as he and the rest of the children came to the front of the room with determined looks on their faces that convinced the opposition enough to silence them long enough for Joe to explain the details of Operation: Extinguish the Light, or what Bart liked to refer to as Operation: ETL.
All through the mission debriefing Conner couldn't help but stare at both Abby and the flattened table in front of the slightly shaken up Roy Harper. There was no way a normal human child could do such a feat whether they were angry or not. Judging by the effort most of the bat family made to hide their surprise at Abby's display of strength, he could tell that it wasn't the time to be snooping around for answers so he decided to push the topic to the back of his head for the time being.
"Any Adults have any questions about the mission?" Iris demanded once the bat kids were done explaining the details of their master plan. After a few moments of watching the older heroes glancing at each other to see if any of them had any questions, Jason boldly raised his hand with a devious smirk on his face. "What's the question?"
"When do we start?" Jason asked, which caused a smile to appear on each and everyone of the children's faces as Joe replied with a triumphant 'now.' Despite the doubt that may have lingered within some of the elder members of their team they managed to push it a side with the notion that this was probably their best bet in saving the world if the whole bat family was on board with the plan.
"I still can't believe we are actually going through with this plan," Roy mumbled to himself as he packed up the last of the gadgets that the children had left mostly for him after rummaging through Green Arrow's layer.
"Is it really such a bad idea to leave the mission in the hands of the pre-adolescents?" Starfire asked as the elder members of the team left the classroom to meet the children in the garage of the school.
"Geez Star, how about the fact that we are taking normal children into the battlefield? Who's going to take the blame if one of them doesn't come back a live?" Roy demanded angrily as they entered a huge metallic room underneath the gym that was filled with all sorts of vehicles. What caught the new arrivals off guard was the group of mini-sized superheroes in front of one of the largest looking jets they had ever seen; probably one of the largest in the world next to the Javelin.
"Well that answers the taking normal children onto the battlefield question. And as for who will take responsibility for anyone of them not coming back no one will because they are all going to make it, I'll personally make sure of that," Robin whispered to Roy as they made their way closer to the brightly dressed children.
"I see that a few introductions are in order huhn, kids?" Batgirl asked with a smirk on her face as she took in the sight of the costumes that the children designed. When Zatanna had told her about the super suits she had created from the children's imaginations she had expected to see smaller duplicates of the superheroes that they idolized, but apart from Joe's costume they all seemed to have chosen quiet original outfits.
"I guess you're right Big Sis. I'm Black Swan or just Swan for short, Iris is Speedy, Bart's codename is Impulse, Lori's Aqua Gal, Donna's name is the Golden Wonder, and Joe is…"
"Just call me Squire for now, but one day I'll have the exclusive right to the Robin name, you can bet on that," Joe declared with a determined smirk pointed at Damien who simply flashed him a proud smile as he ruffled the hair of the soon to be next Boy Wonder.
"Why wait we could just call you Robin Jr., Robbie, Baby Robi-" Tony's taunting was interrupted by a kick to the stomach that left him double over in pain on the floor of the plane. Somehow looking at the two, Superboy had a sickening feeling that their poor relationship could prove to be a liability.
"Shouldn't we do something about this?" He asked Robin causing him to direct his attention towards the boy weakly pull himself up to get into his seat to sulk over his stinging stomach.
"Not really if it were a real problem then it wouldn't have ended with just that."
"How can you be so sure?"
"They're children, which means they still operate under the rule of retaliation, an eye for an eye, like all other children their age," Damien answered absentmindedly as he watched Stephanie and Joe walk into the cockpit. The seating area became silent as the jet started to take off in the direction of the opening hanger doors that led them through a tube that released them into the air from the opening that was bellow a shallow pond.
The silence was broken as all eyes were directed towards Joe who stepped out of the cockpit clearing his throat with a serious look on his face. "It means a lot to us that you are all here despite any doubts you may have had or still have. But I can assure you that for us, every member of the Academy, we aren't just playing around here. We know the risks and instead of fearing them we decided that we would bring our A-games. From here on out anything like hesitation, mistakes, or failure are none optional because as far as the world knows we are the only things that are standing between their safety and potential world domination. I'm not going say that this will be easy but it's something we have to do."
For the rest of the flight everyone took Joe's words to heart as everyone spent their time preparing themselves both mentally and physically for the up coming battle that might actually be the hardest or one of the hardest missions the more experienced members ever took on. May be it was the fact the children for many where still considered a liability issue, the pressure of being the world's last hope, or the fact that they would be severely out numbered. Whatever it was they knew that they needed to work past it especially since none of them could argue that the children didn't put their heart and souls into this plan. Out of all the adult members Robin was by far the most pleased with his little protégées for coming up with such a plan that allowed for precision but still had room for improvisation as long as they all kept coordinated. Now all there was left to do was execute the plan to the best of their abilities and hope for the best.
March 9th 2020 – Gotham City: Gotham's Old Memorial Church, 1:15 am
"This is team Alpha to team Delta, status report."
"Bulls-Eye here, there are level one ranked bad guys on all four sides, nine in total."
"Just as I thought, well take them down, team Alpha will disable the security measures momentarily," Squire assured as he turned towards Batgirl and Robin who were typing madly on their computers. With two thumbs from them assured Joe enough about their progress to turn his attention towards team Beta. "Well it's time for your team to shine Superboy."
"We're on it, but are you sure that Swan should be on this team and not a part of team Alpha?"
"Superboy, I spent a great deal of time thinking about the teams, every member on each of the teams have a specific role to play according to their abilities. Plus Abby isn't that little girl anymore," Joe replied with such confidence that all Superboy could do was nod at him before leading his team into their positions a few meters away from the church's entrance, hidden behind a thick layer of bushes.
Team Beta watched as the outside guards fell like flies due to team Delta's sharp and accurate shooting of knock out darts that the children had acquired in the Arrow Cave. "The security measures are down, team Beta proceed," they heard Stephanie triumphantly command from their speakers. As soon as they had their orders they stealthily lead the rescue team into the building, by taking down anyone they came into contact with. The teams Alpha and Delta soon followed after them; however, the later team took a different route through the ventilation system to give the rest of the rescue squad a bird's-eye view on the action.
"Well that was easy I wonder why the Justice League were captured so easily by these guys?" Bart asked as he finished hiding what he thought was the last of Kobra's minions.
"Don't underestimate your opponent's," Swan scolded.
"Why?" Bart asked with an overconfident voice as Swan threw a bird-a-rang at one of Kobra's minions that had managed to elude their line of vision so that he could warn the rest of the bad guys of their intruders. Swan managed to stop him from pressing the panic button by having her bird-a-rang pierce the hand he was going to use to set off a warning alarm. But before Swan's bird-a-rang could come into contact with his other hand it was too late as the snake masked henchman managed to press the button.
"That's why," Superboy answered with annoyance as he dragged all the children out of sight behind a wall as countless underlings of villains stormed the hallway. "Let me guess this wasn't part of the plan."
"No it wasn't, but it doesn't mean that we didn't plan for such a-"
"Swan come in, change of action, I repeat change of action! Drop the stealth now, and confront the enemy as you head for the altar room that the JL last transmission came from. Team Delta is already in position to provide back up."
"Well so much for caution, looks like the show starts now," Swan announced causing them to abandon their hiding place only to come face to face with the Mirror Master and his army of mirror clones.
"Where are you children going in a hurry, isn't it bedtime?"
"We so don't have time for this!" Impulse declared with annoyance as he took a small device that shot a red beam throughout all the clones accept one. "Golden Wonder, do the honors."
With a smirk Golden Wonder kneed him in the face knocking him out, which caused all the clones to disappear before their eyes. "How did you know he was the one to take out to defeat his army?"
"It's a device the Flash made to identify the real Mirror Master. The light that shot out is attracted to the reflection that the copies make," Impulse explained as they ran towards the doors of the altar room. In following with team Alpha's commands they busted through the doors without warning or stealth.
What they saw left team Beta speechless as they saw many of their beloved superheroes in pods that were taking blood samples from them.
Not this again, Superboy thought as the very sight reminded him of the day he achieved his freedom from the Light and the Cadmus Laboratory. There was no way he was going to let them make more clones just like him, he declared as he charged angrily at the pods only to back away as a man, leading a group of people, grew near with a piece of kryptonite.
"My, my, my when Superman said that there will be more to stop us. I didn't think he meant a bunch of brats," a man wearing an owl mask commented with amusement.
"Well we're the brats that managed to infiltrate your hideout," Aqua Gal retorted proudly.
"Isn't that absolutely adorable, huhn court?" A voice chuckled out as the doors opened to reveal not only the Prince of Clowns but also every bad guy Batman had ever sent to Arkham behind him.
"We allowed you children to make it this far to kill all of you."
"What you bird freaks aren't just going to clone them?"
"Why would we clone a couple of inexperienced twerps? When we have the stronger more valuable copies. With that the court has passed judgment on you and that is..."
"EXECUTION! EXECUTION! EXECUTION!" The crowd of the court of owl members cheered repetitively as a swarm of Talon warriors charged at the young heroes along with the Gotham villains.
"Superboy and Golden Wonder you handle the Talons, Aqua Gal and Impulse have the Gotham villains," Swan ordered as she charged through the crowd of bad guys while the others started to take on their targets.
"What about you?" Impulse questioned as he faced off against his first set of villains; Poison Ivy, the Ventriloquist, and Fire Fly.
"I'll back you and Aqua Gal up, but first the Clown's mine," Swan announced as she took out her eskrima sticks. The battle started with sounds of gunfire and painful grunts and shrieks as the rescue team fought strongly.
"I see you're a feisty one...hmmm...I meet a little girl just like you. And like her I'm afraid you're are going to learn a hard lesson," the Joker growled out as he whipped out a knife in each hand.
Yeah, Abby could remember quite well what lesson he thought her that day; however, it only made her stronger. Now was the time to show the Joker all she had learned as a result of their encounter in the Fall. With a deep breath Abby allowed for every lesson she had with Black Canary to flow through her mind.
"Abby you need to express more passion and emotion while fighting," Canary scolded as she pinned the little girl down for the second time during their individual assessment that happened at the end of each month.
"I don't get it," she complained as she got up while dusting of her gym uniform. "Isn't it bad to have your emotions rule over your actions?"
With an amused chuckle she ruffled the young girl's hair affectionately. "It is, but what I want you to do is channel your emotions through your actions. You control the sharpness of your movements by controlling your emotions as well."
If that's the case then this was going to hurt, she thought as a smirk appeared across her face as she gracefully dodged each and every slash the Joker made. Until she found an opening to kick one of the Joker's knives away from him, and without hesitation she was able round-house kick him across the face. This sent him crashing to the floor with blood following down his mouth.
"You think it's that easy to take me down?" Joker growled as he staggered to get back up.
"I don't want this to be easy," Swan replied with a devious smile across her face as she dropped her eskrima sticks on the ground before charging at the Joker with a barge of attacks that were so swift and accurate that the Joker couldn't do much to counter or defend; no his only option was to just take the beating.
By the time Swan had finished venting all the pain and hopelessness he had made her feel the Joker was a bloody mess with bruises everywhere he looked.
"This...is...nothing, Batman dishes out worse even on his...bad days," the Joker coughed out with a sickening maniacal smile.
He hadn't had enough, she thought with clenched teeth. "Then it's time for you to learn a lesson as well," Swan replied as she side-kicked the Joker right between the legs causing him to double over in excruciating pain.
"Batman doesn't fight dirty!" The Joker exclaimed painfully through gridded teeth.
"Do I look like the Batman to you? If you didn't catch the name it's Black Swan."
"You're a despicably, nasty, little girl."
"Gee, thanks for noticing by the way this is for the Red Hood," and with that Abby nailed him across the head, swiftly knocking him out.
As the battle went on team Alpha saw to other important matters on the other side of the church.
"Are you sure we shouldn't be helping the others and comeback for the hostages later?" Batgirl asked as she looked to see if they were getting any closer to the heat signatures that were displayed on the screen of her holo-watch.
"I'm sure, plus if we are going to have an all-out battle then it would be better if all civilians were evacuated off the premises," Squire answered firmly. At this point in the mission he wished that everyone would stop questioning his decisions already. Yeah sure, his plan did fall through a little when they lost the element of surprise; but what plan was ever foolproof? Wasn't it good enough for the people around him that he was able to quickly fix the problem that they faced at the time?
It didn't take long for them to find the room the hostages were kept in. When they opened the door they found eleven nuns and a priest tied to a statue in the middle of the room, but that wasn't what caught their attention. There was a bomb strapped to the statue that was ready to bellow at an moment. It wasn't the average count down to explosion type of bomb; no this could go of at anytime due to the slightest abrupt movement.
"No wonder they're petrified," Robin commented as he took a step closer to take look at the bomb. It isn't going to be easy to deactivate this one Squire. The bomb is packed with enough explosives to lay waste to this place and not to mention that even the slightest error could set it off."
"Are you telling me this is an impossible feat?"
"No I'm just saying don't expect Batgirl and I to join the fight anytime soon, but you on the other need to go help the others," Robin answered as he pushed Squire out of the room. Even though it was against his plan he did what Robin had said only because he got the message behind his words. It would be easier for them if they didn't have him to worry about if they made a mistake.
Back in the main altar room despite being out numbered the team of superheroes were able to hold their own, to the misfortune of the court. In the eyes of the man who was leading the court failing the Light's orders to kill the children was not an option. With this in mind he turned to Sports Master who was amusing himself with how weak the Gotham baddies were for falling so easily to the half-pints.
"Sports Master, get your granddaughter and a team to go into the vent system and flush out their teammates." That will give our side a little of an advantage back, the man thought as he watched the Penguin get defeated with a knock out arrow that came from the vents above them.
"Sure, and what about the toddlers here, they're almost through taking down your assassins and the goons from Gotham," Sports Master asked with a smirk knowing quite well he had struck a nerve with his jab at the courts most prize warriors.
"Just do as you are told I will handle the ones out here," the man commanded causing the older man to laugh as he walked away, happy that the birdbrains were finally putting him into action. Not that he needed permission but the Light only assigned him to this mission to act as the supervisor.