Tang Ri Shan
Red Wings
(This is a sequel to Beware the Batman: Conundrum. I suggest reading that story if you have not done so already)
Chapter 11
When Barbara woke up the next morning, her anger had cooled somewhat, though she was still upset at Richard.
"Good morning dad" She said as she came downstairs for breakfast, then paused. Commissioner Gordon wasn't at the table, he was near the front door, slipping on his coat. "Dad, what's going on?"
Her father turned to look at her, and the concern on her face almost made Barbara wish she hadn't asked. "I'm afraid one of your classmates has gone missing" He announced.
Barbara felt her eyes widen in surprise. "Who?"
"A girl named Dinah Lance" Her father's answer made Barbara gasp in horror. Her father's eyebrow rose at the reaction. "You know her?"
"Kinda" Barbara answered "She's new, I think. We've talked a lot in-between classes, but I haven't seen much of her anywhere else. What happened? Did eh run away?"
Her father shook her head, his expression becoming even more grim. "No, worse. She was kidnapped" Barbara gasped again and her father grimly nodded. "I'm heading over to her house now. I'll be back soon, okay?"
"I want to come with you" Barbara took a few steps towards her father, who shook his head.
"Barbara, this is official police business" He reminded her.
"But Dinah's my friend!" Barbara whined, then caught herself. "I mean, even though I don't see much of her, I still consider her a friend. I want to help!"
Commissioner Gordon looked thoughtful for a moment. "I suppose it might be okay, as long as you do what I tell you to do, okay?" He narrowed his eyes as he spoke, as if daring her to challenge him. Barbara nodded eagerly and dashed back upstairs. In her bedroom, she grabbed a notebook, an earpiece, her phone, and then swapped the glasses she was wearing now with an almost identical set she pulled out of a hidden drawer in her desk. She dashed downstairs and rejoined her father as they stepped out of the house and walked to his brown car.
Sitting in the back as her father eased out of the driveway, Barbara inserted the earpiece into her left ear and pressed a button until she heard a click. Turning on her phone, she tapped the screen until she saw Tatsu's number.
Is your blade sharp? She tapped out on her screen and sent the message. It was a code she had developed with Tatsu, telling her that there was trouble.
A few minutes later, her phone vibrated and a message appeared 'Yes, are you alert?
Barbara tapped back Yes, but it smells really bad here, another code, signifying that Barbara could listen, but couldn't talk aloud. A few seconds later, she heard a click in her ear followed by Tatsu's voice. "What's up Barbara?"
In as few words as she could, Barbara tapped out what she was doing. "Yes, I heard about Dinah's kidnapping." Tatsu replied when she was finished. "Unfortunately, the only think we know is that it was done right in front of her parent's eyes"
Barbara's jaw dropped. That's terrible! I'm heading to the site now. I'll look around. She tapped into her phone. She paused, then added another phrase. BTW: I'm wearing the new glasses he got for me.
"Very good. Let me know when you get there" Tatsu replied before signing off. Placing her phone back into her pocket, Barbara glanced out the window as the buildings sped by. At this speed, they looked all blurred and grey, and strangely wet, though maybe that was the tears that were beginning to gather in her eyes.
"Poor Dinah." Barbara mused. "I hope she's okay"
Meanwhile...
Dinah Lance whimpered with terror and tugged fruitlessly at the gag that covered her mouth once, twice, three times, then thrust herself backwards, smacking into the wall behind her and falling painfully to the floor. Spiders! Her mind yelled as she curled up into a tiny ball against the wall and glanced wildly into the darkness around her. Thousands of Spiders! Crawling all over me! Get them off! She swatted at the spiders crawling over her, but her hands never made contact. She could feel the impact of each little spider leg on her bare skin. She screamed through her gag again, darting towards another corner of the darkened room she was in, a room with no doors and no windows. To her relief, the feeling of spiders on her legs and arms faded, but the terror soon returned as she felt another feeling, cold and scaly, wrap around her legs. Snakes! Her mind realized, and she could almost hear the hissing of the venomous creatures ringing through her ears.
"MMM-MMMMM!" Dinah screamed, backing up and pounding on the metal door of the room. As if responding to her action, a fresh wave of terror suddenly shot through her and she turned back slowly to face the darkened room, which seemed empty, but Dinah could tell that it wasn't. There was something evil in this room, she could just feel it. Spiders! Thousands of Spiders! She told herself, but just as she did, she felt something else. Crocodiles! Big, Man-eating Lizards! No, wait! Sharks! Yes, that's it! Huge Great White Sharks! A small part of her mind tried to tell her that this was impossible, she wasn't underwater, and the room was not big enough to hold such creatures, but somehow her mind refused to listen to logic. What is happening to me?
As another wave of terror hit, Dinah heard something behind her, something brushed through her long blond hair and she gave her loudest scream yet, causing the room to vibrate despite the gag she was wearing.
"Impressive" Penguin mused as he watched the one-way glass separating them from Dinah shake in its frame.
"Truely" The tall thin man at his side agreed. "It seems your information about her was accurate, her metahuman power is connected to her voice. The louder she screams, the more destructive it becomes."
Penguin felt a grin cross his squat face, but it didn't spread very far. "You're sure your process will break her?" He asked.
The man glanced down at him and his features darkened. "This process has broken people far tougher than her, she will crack, I promise you"
"Excellent" This time Penguin's smile stretched from cheek to cheek. "How soon before she is 'converted'?"
The man turned to stare back at the struggling girl. "Judging from her reactions, I would say it won't be much longer." He answered.
"And the others?" Penguin asked, his voice betraying his eagerness.
The man smiled and strode over to a desk. He pressed a series of buttons and a row of monitors came to life. Each one of them showed a similar scene from what they had just seen. In one monitor, a girl with chocolate colored skin was chained to the wall. As they watched, the girl suddenly wrenched her chains out of the wall completely, taking part of the wall out as well. In another monitor, a girl with long black hair was throwing what appeared to be balls of smoke and fire in every direction. In a third monitor, a girl with snow-white hair was moving at what appeared to be super-speed while in a fourth monitor, a teenage boy with red hair was punching the wall so hard it cracked. In the final monitor, a boy with what appeared to be a set of wings on his back was surrounded by levitating pieces of furniture.
"Excellent" Penguin's smile widened. "Once the process is complete, I'll have my own little army to take our all who stand in my way"
"You mean, our way, don't you?" The tall man next to him corrected.
"Of course Mr. Crane, our way" Penguin agreed.
The man's features darkened. "I hate that" He muttered.
"Pardon?" Penguin raised an eyebrow.
"My name. Professor Johnathan Crane, I've always hated my name" The man muttered. "If you're going to come up with a code name, I think I will as well." He turned to face Penguin and his scowl was replaced with a smile. "From this moment on, call me the Scarecrow" As if agreeing with him, a raven appeared out of the darkness of the ceiling, landed on the man's shoulder, and cawed loudly.
Penguin chuckled. "She approves" He commented before turning back to the glass, and frowned. "Wait, what's happening to her?" He pointed to Dinah, who was sprawled on the floor, not moving.
Scarecrow's smiled widened. "I think..." He pondered as he returned to the computer and checked something. "Yes, her brain activity has changed. I think she has been broken"
"You're sure?" Penguin asked, sounding nervous. "A fine ending it would be if she was trying to trick us"
"How could she trick us? She doesn't even know we're here?" Scarecrow replied. "Besides, fear and pain make the body master over the will, and in a struggle like that, primal urges always overcome logical thinking."
Meanwhile
Barbara swallowed the lump forming in her throat as she took in the scene before her. They were sitting in the living room of the apartment where Dinah lived in. Her mother, tall and blonde, like Dinah herself, was weeping into a hand towel while her husband, Officer Larry Lance, was answering her father's questions. Barbara had had a bit of a shock when she learned that Dinah's father was a police officer, but then, there was very little she actually knew about Dinah.
"Larry, why would someone want to kidnap Dinah?" Her father's voice shook Barbara out of her thoughts.
Officer Lance looked at his boss for a moment before shaking her head. "I don't know." His voice betrayed his concern. "But I've helped put away a lot of punks over the years, maybe one of them wanted a little payback" As soon as he said that however, his wife started sobbing even louder, causing officer Lance to look guilty.
Barbara crossed the room from the chair she was sitting in and gently took Mrs. Lance;s wrist. The blonde woman glanced up at her though tear-filled eyes. "Don't worry. We'll find Dinah, I promise" Barbara smiled at the blonde woman, who gave a weak and watery smile back.
"You're Barbara, right?" She asked, her voice tight. "Dinah's mentioned you a number of times. She's always saying how smart you are"
Barbara felt her cheeks flush slightly as she nodded. "Thanks" She mumbled, dropping her gaze to the floor. Then she heard a click in her ear and glanced up. "Um, where's your restroom?" She asked.
"Through the kitchen and to your left" Officer Lance pointed towards a nearby door.
"Thanks" Barbara darted through the door, made sure it was closed, then reached up and tapped the hidden earpiece. "I'm here" She said in a low voice. "Any luck?"
"Not yet" Bruce's voice crackled through. "Recording the interview does help, but it doesn't tell us where she is now"Barbara's heart sank as she heard this. As if sensing this, Bruce added "But I'm far from done. We WILL find Dinah"
"I hope so" Barbara said to herself, glancing down at her feet, and noticed a toothpick lying next to it. Frowning, she reached down to pick it up, then paused as she realized that might belong to one of the family. Maybe, I'm just paranoid Barbara thought to herself, but for some reason, she felt that particular toothpick was important. Walking over to a drawer, the searched through it until she found a small plastic bag and a pair of tweezers. Gently picking up the toothpick with the tweezers and placing it carefully into the plastic bag, which she then closed tightly and stuffed it into her shoulder bag. "Batman, I may have something" She muttered into her earpiece as she headed down to the restroom.
There was a pause at the other end. "Care to tell me what?" Bruce finally asked.
"I'd rather not, in case I turn out to be wrong." Barbara explained, biting her lip as she spoke, as if now suddenly realizing that what she had just did, removing evidence from the scene of a crime, could be considered a crime itself. "I'll explain it to you later, okay?"
There was another pause, and when Bruce finally responded, his voice sounded serious. "Fine, but don't do anything rash"
"I know, that's your department, right?" Barbra joked. But inside, her mind was racing. If she wasn't a criminal before, she definitely was one now.
Hopefully Batman will understand. Barbara thought as she rejoined her father. I'm doing this for Barbara's sake.
Meanwhile...
Penguin strode through the main chamber of his new restaurant, the Iceberg Lounge. The room was painted white, with ivory-colored columns holding up a dark-blue ceiling painted to look like the night sky. Below that was a light blue-and-white floor pattern meant to symbolize a frozen sea. In the center of the room was a large pool dominated by what appeared to be an actual iceberg. A cluster of leopard seals barked to each other from their perches on the 'iceberg' while a pair of them leapt gracefully out of the water, chasing fish that had been released into the pool by the keepers.
Penguin smiled as he saw one of his new workers, wearing a white shirt, black trousers and matching jacket, flinch as one of the seals snapped at him as it leapt within inches of the man's face. While the leopard seals appeared to be just for show, anyone who got too close to them, would soon wish they hadn't.
Continuing past the iceberg pool, Penguin passed through a door that was almost hidden in the wall and headed down a dimly lit corridor. Reaching a black door, he opened it and found himself in a pluck office. Sighing happily, he crossed it and set himself down in a large black swivel chair behind an exotic black desk. No sooner had he gotten comfortable however, when there was a knock at the door.
Penguin frowned, but called out "Enter!"The door he had come though opened and Scarecrow stepped into the room, followed by Raven, one of his bodyguards. Penguin's frown flickered upwards and he leaned forward. "Well?"
Scarecrow just smiled at him, while Raven turned back towards the door. "Line up in here!" She barked. The door opened wider and six teens strode into the room and formed a line in front of Penguin's desk. For a moment, Penguin didn't move, he just sat there, his eyes running down his newest 'employees'. The two boys were wearing the same uniform the man by the seal tank had been wearing. Black trousers and a crisp white shirt and black bow tie. but the jacket was white with black lining instead of black. Their black shoes were gleaming in the office lights. The four girls were dressed like Raven was, with a low-cut black leotard, smoky grey nylons, sparkling black heels, a black bow tie on a white collar, and a black bowler hat.
Penguin's smile grew wider as he rose from his chair. "They certainly look the part" He commented, and Scarecrow smiled. "But are they willing to follow orders?" Not waiting for Scarecrow to reply, Penguin turned to the line of teens and began addressing them. "Listen children, and listen well. I know you've had a rough time here at my establishment, but I assure you that all this is absolutely necessary. You see, Gotham City is a dangerous place, a cesspool that has become a magnet for thugs, freaks, and costumed weirdos" Penguin paused on the last word. "The Iceberg Lounge is meant to draw people away from that, a place where they can conduct their business and pleasure...in whatever form it takes, in a place of privacy and safety, and that is why I have brought the six of you here"
Penguin paused rather dramatically, and suddenly thrust out his umbrella, the tip extending to form a gleaming knife point. None of the teens flinched and Penguin smiled. "I need you to understand what I will be asking you for" With that, he whirled and pointed his umbrella at a dummy that stood against the fall. Pressing a button, he fired the knife-tip of his umbrella into the dummy's 'face', before turning back to the teens. "And that I expect my orders to be followed to the letter. Are you prepared for that?"
There was a pause, then the six teens answered simultaneously "I am"
Penguin snorted. "Will you obey my every command?"
"I will!" The six teens all but shouted. None of them moved a muscle at Penguin slowly made his way down the line, before stopping at the end.
"Are you with me, Zatanna?" He asked, looking into the face of the girl with long black hair.
"I'm with you" The girl replied, staring him back in the face.
Nodding, Penguin moved on to the next person, the boy who he had seen on the monitors with the wings on his back, though there was no trace of them now. "What about you, Condor?" He asked.
"I'm with you" The boy replied, meeting his gaze without blinking.
"And you, Vixen?" Penguin asked the third person in the line, the girl with chocolate-colored skin.
"I'm with you" The girl replied, and her lips cracked into a small smile. A small glow seeped out from underneath the bow tie she was wearing and the girls pupils suddenly seemed to shrink until they resembled cat's eyes.
Penguin shorted in amusement and proceeded to the next teen, the boy with red hair. "Hawk?" He probed.
The red-haired muscular boy glanced down at Penguin and nodded. "I'm with you" He said without breaking eye contact.
"Dove?" Penguin turned to the snowy-haired girl who stood next to Hawk, who met Penguin's gaze with cool blue eyes of her own.
I'm with you" She affirmed clearly.
Smiling, Penguin turned to the last girl in the line, whose head was tilted towards the floor. "And what about you?" He asked, cupping two fingers under the girl's chin and slowly lifting until he was looking her in the face. "Are you with me, my little Canary?"
Dinah Lance held Penguin's gaze for a minute before answering in a loud and clear voice. "I'm with you, sir"
"Excellent" Apparently satisfied, Penguin strode back to his desk and turned back to the six teens and spread out his arms. "Remember, you are no longer six teenagers with unusual abilities, you are my Birds of Prey, whose purpose is to protect me and my establishment at any cost. Condor and Hawk will serve as bouncers, while the girls will waitress. Raven, Lark, and Jay will guide you through your new duties. I want you to have your new assignments memorized before the grand opening, understood?"
The six teens nodded and Penguin dismissed them. "Heaven help anyone who crosses your path, he said to himself as he sat down at his desk and watched Raven lead the teens out. "Or mine" He added as he gave a wicked chuckle.
And Cut!
OK, I know what you're thinking; 'Hey wait a minute! The Birds of Prey are supposed to be the good guys!'. and you're right, but every hero team needs to have an origin, so I thought I'd make this one a little...darker, if you know what I mean. As anyone who has seen 'Return of the Joker' (great movie btw) can remember; 'it adds resonance to a hero's mission to have some defining element of tragedy in their background'. Being under the control of an evil mastermind seems like a defining element to me!
It seems we are gearing up towards an epic showdown! Will the Outsiders have to contend with these new 'Birds of Prey'? Will Barbara ever get her friend Dinah back? Will she ever make up with Richard? We'll see.
Until Next Time!