Chapter 3

The next morning, Terry called Basem, Sally, and Hayate to his and Max's house for breakfast. After everyone ate, Terry delivered the news of Diana's move to Gotham.

The reaction was what Terry hoped for and received in abundance.

"NO WAY!" Max, Sally, and Basem shouted, loudly and simultaneously.

"Incredible!" Hayate mused.

"Tell me you're serious, Terry!" Max pleaded. "'Cause, if you're lying, we may need to go to marriage counseling."

Terry laughed. "I'm serious."

Sally sat back. "Oh. My. God."

"Red Hood's got nothing on this," Basem said.

"That's what I said!" Terry replied.

"So, how do you think that'll affect Bruce's work?" Max asked, devilishly.

"I've been thinking. And, get ready for this, he may… almost… maybe… kinda… smile."

Sally gasped. "My God…"

"Bruce?" Basem asked. "Smile?"

"He hasn't done that since Stevie was born!"

"There's no telling what will happen from here…"

"Tell me about it," Terry said.

Max giggled. "Okay, so what about this other stuff?"

"We'll deal with that." Terry sat back. "After we find Red Hood."

"Long night?" Basem asked.

"Long nights."

"I'll get muscle relaxing cream," Max exhaled.

"I'll get some mild pain killers and load up the smooth jazz playlists," Sally added.

A couple of nights later, the Gotham knights were out on patrol when they heard about a ship heist in near the north end of Gotham Bay. Batman and Koutetsu arrived before Runner, who was in another section of the city. They arrived to see the Leaders robbing a small freighter.

"A shame," Koutetsu said.

"What is?" Batman asked.

"All that effort. To fail all the same."

Batman chuckled. "Koutetsu, do not ever change. Please!"

Koutetsu chuckled.

Batman saw the crew of the ship were tied up. "Making a mental note of where they are."

"Hai."

"Let's go to work."

Batman and Koutetsu dove and attacked the Leaders, causing the gang to retaliate the best they could. The battle went in favor of Batman and Koutetsu, but Batman noticed a couple of the Leaders running for their hostages.

"I'll get the hostages!" Koutetsu declared.

"Got it!" Batman punched another Leader while Koutetsu ran off.

Batman kept fighting through the Leaders until he saw two of them escaping in a truck. Knocking out the last Leader, Batman flew off after the truck. When Batman was close, the Leader in the passenger side began to open fire on him with automatic laser rifle. Batman dodged the gunfire then launched batarangs at the back wheels of the truck, causing it to skid until it crashed into a pole. Batman landed to see one of the Leaders run to a construction site across the street while the other Leader was struggling to get out of the truck. Batman landed and helped the Leader out of the truck, making sure she wasn't too badly hurt. Once Batman was sure she was marginally alright, Batman handcuffed her and looked toward the construction site.

"How far out are the cops?" Batman asked.

"Not too far," Bruce replied. "Runner made it to the ship. He and Koutetsu are taking care of the rest of the Leaders. Track down the one that ran."

"Got it."

Batman hurried inside the construction site, activating his visor so he could track the footprints of the fleeing Leader. After a while, Batman heard blows landing then electricity surging. Batman hurried until he came to an open area of the site, finding Red Hood standing binding the unconscious Leader and dragging him over to stack of metal beams.

"You're welcome," Hood said before walking away from the Leader.

"Thanks," Batman replied. "But you know I had him."

Hood chuckled, "Is it so hard to just take the help?"

"Kinda. I don't know you yet. And that needs to change. We need to talk."

"Maybe we do," Hood conceded. "But, from what I heard, Batman isn't much for talking."

"Different era," Batman replied. "Different Batman."

"I noticed."

A moment later, Nightrunner and Koutetsu landed inside of the construction site.

Hood chuckled, softly. "Well, the gang's all here!"

"Yeah," Runner said. "How about that?"

Hood took note of Runner's tone and the collective body language of the group and laughed again. "What? Are you guys really that suspicious of me?"

"We kinda have to be," Batman replied. "Red Hood and all. I gotta admit: your uniform… nice."

"Thanks."

"Name's a bit questionable."

Hood shrugged. "Figured it couldn't hurt."

"That's the thing, ya know," Batman said. "That was the title of a thief."

"Oh, not one that did any real damage!" Hood defended. "Hardly anyone even remembers it! It's ancient history. The name's mine now. And I'm doing something good with it."

Batman looked at Koutetsu and Runner, silently acknowledging that point, then they looked back at Hood. "Okay, look," Batman said, "We need to sort this out. So, let's…"

"Wait," Koutetsu interrupted as he looked above them.

Everyone else followed Koutetsu's gaze and they noticed human-sized shapes moving in the shadows.

Runner narrowed his eyes. "What the…"

The heroes suddenly found themselves surrounded by a half dozen assailants, dressed in dark-purple uniforms in form of heavy clothe around their bodies. The design was similar to traditional ninja garb, with the eyes being the only visible part of their bodies.

The Moirai acolytes.

Batman blinked. "Ooooooookaaaaaay!"

"Who the hell are these guys?" Runner asked.

"Whoever they are," Koutetsu said, "I imagine they are not here to speak to us, kindly."

"Yeah, we're never that lucky."

"FOR THE MOIRAI!" they shouted as they rushed at the heroes.

"The Moirai?!" Batman whispered, suspiciously.

"What?" Runner whispered. They looked at each other, stunned.

The acolytes attacked and the Gotham knights and Red Hood jumped at them. They fought against them, but they found the acolytes were hard to knockout. Batman and Runner realized, almost immediately, had it not been for the suits, they might have fractured their bones punching their new opponents. Koutetsu found he had to put a little more force into his strikes against these new opponents, while still being careful not to hit hard enough to kill them. Hood found himself having a harder time than usual. He was accustomed to strong opponents, but this felt different; they felt stronger than the average opponent. The most frustrating about the acolytes were their battle tactics; they didn't blindly fight. They had skill and made adjustments to adapt within their own style. It wasn't enough to defeat Batman and the others, but it was enough to force the heroes to not be careless at all costs. One wrong move and the acolytes could prove to be deadly.

The heroes battled the Moirai acolytes for a few minutes, eventually taking a couple of them down. Batman noticed that, while himself, Runner, and Koutetsu had at least one acolyte to face, Hood had three attacking him. Knocking the acolyte he was fighting away, Batman used his rocket boosters to fly at the acolytes surrounding Hood. Batman tackled two of the acolytes, leaving one left for Hood to deal with. Runner and Koutetsu knocked their opponents then rushed to help Batman and Hood. The fight went on for another few minutes until Batman, Runner, and Koutetsu finally managed to knockout all of the acolytes.

"What…" Batman said, catching his breath, "…the hell… was that all about?!"

"I don't know," Runner exhaled. "But… the Moirai. Not good."

"Yeah." Batman looked behind, "Hood, you…"

But Hood was gone.

Batman, Runner, and Koutetsu looked around but found no sign of Red Hood anywhere.

"Impressive," Koutetsu admitted.

"Okay, what the shit?!" Batman growled as he started to pace.

"Be calm, Batman."

"Calm? Calm?! I am calm! What makes you think I'm not?!"

"The yelling is a dead giveaway," Runner pointed out.

"Oh, shut up!"

Koutetsu examined the ground where Hood was seen last, followed by analyzing their surroundings. "After a fight like that, he still slips away. How does he keep escaping without our notice?"

"Because that's his training," a voice said from the shadows.

The Gotham knights looked around, cautiously. Deactivating cloaking devices, two individuals, a man and a woman, walked out of the shadows some construction equipment. They were wearing high-tech uniforms, both all back in color and similar in design to Batman's. But with some key differences. One of them being the suits were more clearly armored than Batman's.

The female's suit was all-black. With pointed ears at the top, reminiscent of a cat and her mouth and chin were exposed.

The male's suit was almost plain by comparison. Save for the blue, bird-like insignia stretching across the chest. With his mask only covering his eyes, ears, and back of his head. Leaving a space for his grey ponytail to be visible.

Runner's eyes widened and he froze in place. He whispered, "Oh. Shit."

"Hey, Runner," the male said. "Been a minute."

"Uhhh…" Runner said, nervously, "h-hey."

"Good to see you," the woman said.

"Yyyeah. You, uh… y-you, too. Both of you."

"What?" Batman asked. "Who are they?"

"Uhhh." Runner looked at Batman, struggling to find the right words, "They, uh… uh…"

"No…" Bruce whispered.

Runner groaned, "Yeeeeaaahhh."

"Just tell me what the hell's going on!" Batman said, impatiently. "This ain't the night for this!"

Runner exhaled, "Okay! Well… Batman, Koutetsu… meet Nightwing and Catwoman. The Nightwing and Catwoman."

"WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL?!" Batman shouted, immediately. He stopped and, nervously, got on his comm, "Uhhhh…"

"Get," Bruce gritted. "Back. Here. Now."

"Okay."

"AND BRING THEM!"

Batman jerked his head to the side at Bruce's sudden shout; Runner and Koutetsu did the same.

"Ow…" Batman whispered.

Nightwing smiled, "Is he pissed?"

"This is the most confident 'yes' I've ever said in my life," Batman rubbed his ear. "Yes."

"Yeah, I figured."

The Pantheon.

Astraea sat in her throne room, with Menodora and three other attendants with her, when Daedalus approached and bowed, "My queen."

"Is he there?" Astraea asked.

"Yes, my queen. Perseus was conversing with Batman and his knights but we did as you commanded. The acolytes battled them and we confirmed Perseus's abilities. He could be no one else."

Astraea sat back and pressed her fingers together. "So. He's made contact with the Batman."

"To a degree, yes," Daedalus answered. "We're not sure if they are allied, though."

"Very well," Astraea nodded. "Let us proceed. Find him and Persephone. If we must face Batman, then we must. But let us move as quickly as possible."

"Yes, my queen."

"Praise to the Moirai."

"Praise to you, my queen," Daedalus and Menodora replied.

"Forever, the Moirai shall reign," everyone said in unison.

A/N: In the words of Heath Ledger's Joker from The Dark Knight, "And here we... go!"

From here on out, things are about to get interesting. How interesting, you ask. Well... we'll see.