Worm's Finest: Darkness Rising
Cape 3.9

My immediate, knee-jerk reaction to Batman's plan had been to argue. Not many people would think sidelining their heaviest hitter was a good idea, but Batman had a point. Brute force wouldn't work on Lung, not unless we started with overwhelming force, and that had its own problems.

I flew over the area around Pier 52, scanning for any surprises. Just because Lung was a Brute didn't mean he was an idiot. He was still a gang leader, and gangs weren't known for their sense of fair play.

Bingo.

I dropped down on him from above, my hand reaching the back of his head and smashing his face into his rifle. I picked up the rifle and turned the barrel into a pretzel; even if he did wake up before we took Lung down, he wasn't going to be interfering from up here.

"Found a sniper," I reported through my earpiece to Batman's info geek, Oracle, who was serving to coordinate everything. "He's down."

"Good," she said. "I've tapped into their comms. Looks like there's one more. Cross-checking your position... based on the field of fire, check the roof on the corner of Kane and Estrada."

"You got it."

I flew off, and sure enough, there was a second sniper. He didn't put up a fight either.

"Second sniper down."

"Excellent. Get in position in case we have to move to Plan B."

"Copy that." We weren't too confident about Plan A, but there was no sense in not trying it.

I watched as Batman exchanged blows with Lung. From here, I could just barely tell that the ABB gang leader was growing as they fought. Suddenly, Batman went flying, and I had to stop myself from flying in.

"Lung's ramping up too fast for the injectors," Oracle observed. "Power Girl, go."

Having gotten the green light, I moved, flying into Lung with both fists and sending him flying into an empty cargo container, much like I had when I first fought him.

This time, though, I didn't let up, instead pressing the attack: left right left right le-

I broke off and flew back before he could grab me, then grabbed a nearby cargo container, swinging it overhead and smashing it down on Lung. I immediately picked it up again, reoriented, and drove it lengthwise down on him, crushing it against him and the ground beneath him.

I took a moment to catch my breath and look around. Batman was taking care of the gangbangers Lung had brought with him, leaving me with one less thing to worry about. Good.

"Oracle?" I murmured. Positioning was crucial, and while Huntress didn't have to manhandle Lung, she didn't have my mobility either.

"North," she said, answering the unasked question.

As Lung burst out from the wreckage, now engulfed in flames, I charged forward again. I swerved at the last minute, causing his grab to miss, and brought my leg around, kicking him in the head and sending him skidding across the concrete.

"That's it," Oracle said. I gave a slight nod of acknowledgement. With that information, rather than immediately pursue, I began walking toward him as he picked himself up.

"'ill 'oo," he promised.

"I've heard that before," I said. Punching my palm, I asked, "Ready for round two?"

I charged, skewing to my left, but this time, he was ready for it. I could feel my skintight force field shuddering under the impact as he punched me, but it didn't break, and I was unmoved. I straight-armed him in the chest, then flew up, grabbing his head and smashing my knee into his chin. Continuing the motion, I took to the sky again before he could get hold of me.

I was hurting him, but not enough. But then again, that wasn't the point.

"Oracle?"

"Not yet!"

I grimaced and descended until I was hovering just a few inches off the ground. We squared off again, but this time, neither of us attacked immediately. We circled each other warily for a moment, until my back was to the shoreline.

"Wha' ah 'oo pla'i', guhr'?"

"Why don't you come at me and find out?"

He gave an aborted lunge, and I found myself floating back before I realized it was a feint. He took a more methodical step toward me, and I flew back, maintaining the distance.

His growth was slowing, but it hadn't stopped. He held up a hand, and flames danced around it, coalescing into a sphere the size of a baseball. He hurled the fireball at me, and I ducked.

"Now!"

I shot up into the sky, well over Lung's head, at a speed I'd been holding back on until now. Before he could even turn around, I looped back around and smashed into his back, pushing him toward the ocean, dunking him into the water. Steam hissed around us as the water flash-boiled, lowering the ambient temperature while having minimal effect on his core body temperature.

Which was important.

I quickly shifted, pulling him into a clinch, modified to account for his size, and hoping Huntress was where Oracle said she'd be.

"'oolish guhr'," he snorted as he began prying my arms off of him.

He was too strong. I couldn't hold him.

I still had the advantage. I could have broken his grip and fled, but we needed him to stay still.

There was only one way I could think of to make that happen.

I kept resisting, trying to hold the clinch, but as expected, I failed, and soon, I found myself in an uncomfortably familiar position as he wrapped one hand around my throat - and a good chunk of my head - and brought the other up to my chest.

"'ow you 'urn."

My shield broke, and my chest was on fire.

I don't know how long I screamed, but suddenly, the pain stopped, and I found myself splashing into the water. Something wrapped around my arm and began pulling at me, and I had the sense to follow it, taking flight again before collapsing back on the concrete.

I looked up at Huntress.

"Did it work?"

"See for yourself," Huntress said as she helped me to my feet. I looked. Lung was floating in the water, still amped up, but unconscious as Batman hauled him with some sort of grapple/winch thing. Sticking out of his back was the broken off end of the spear Batman had supplied Huntress with to deliver the bullshit Tinker drug he had cooked up just for Lung. Seriously, what kind of sedative was activated by heat and adrenaline? Per the plan, Huntress had fused it directly with his flesh with her power once he was ramped up enough for his regeneration to let him survive it.

Well, that was a relief. I'd hate to have to do that again. I looked down, and to my surprise, I found I hadn't been as badly burned as I'd thought. Still burned a hole right through my costume, though; it was almost indecent.

Batman finished tying Lung up and turned to us.

"Good job," he said.

"Thanks," I replied, "but next time, someone else gets to be the punching bag."

Our thoughts were interrupted by the sound of sirens.

"Can you take it from here, Huntress?" Batman asked as he began walking away.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Shy as ever, huh?" I called out.

He didn't answer, instead just fading into the shadows.

Oh, well. I guess he just wasn't interested in meeting the city's finest tonight.