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Chap. 23
Dark Knight and Spider's Bite
"Oh my God." Lisa whispered as the man in the chair came into view. She'd been wrong; it really was him. Until she'd known about her parents, she'd been like most people when it came to Batman. Most thought him an urban legend, a story made famous by the Gotham P.D. and their commissioner. Even the Justice League didn't acknowledge him totally. But there he was, standing right in front of her; the Batman. Yes, that was what he should be called. Even now, with his mask down and his face exposed, it seemed best to call him Batman. As he walked up to the group, Lisa stared in awe. The dark figure nodded to the others, then looked down at the girl. For a moment, he stood silent, then said, "You can close your mouth now."
"Huh? Oh sure." Lisa stammered as she did just that. "It's just… well, I didn't…, I didn't think you were…. Real." At that, Batman actually gave a small grin. "Then I've been doing my job." Turning back to Robin and the others, Batman asked, "You sure that we can trust him?" "I'm sure Bruce. He's kept a lot of secrets over the years." Robin replied. "You have no idea, Brucie." Brett added, looking at the Batman dead in the eye. "Besides, I don't think anyone would let me tell them. They usually go for the torches first." "Point." Batman agreed. "I've heard a lot about you, Nightstalker. It's quite impressive." "And I of you. You're a compliment to your species Wayne."
Batman nodded, and then turned his attention back to Lisa. "Now then, can we trust you?" he asked the girl. "What? Oh, of course." Lisa answered. "I'll keep your secret, I mean, who'd believe me?" "You'd be surprised." Alfred replied. But Batman took no notice. "Robin's told me quite a bit about you Lisa. If I'm going to train you, I need to know that I can trust you. Not just to keep my secret, but to obey me. What I'm going to have you do will require total discipline, total obedience. You will not refuse an order; if you do, it's over. I will take everything you have, and then force you to give more. That is what I need from all my students. That is what I cannot train without. Do you accept it?"
Lisa was silent a moment. When Brett had given his training speech, he had spoken in a gruff, authoritative tone that demanded respect and obedience. Batman had spoken in a calm, nearly monotone voice, sounding as though his blood pressure was permanently low. Yet that calm voice spoke of that same obedience and respect, but did not demand it. Instead, it stated that it was a response to be given as though it were as automatic as taking a breath. But Lisa knew her answer. "I promise." She answered. Batman nodded, and reached behind his head. With a quick motion, he pulled his cowl over his head and the costume became complete. "Then we begin."
As Lisa was beginning her new lessons, across the country in Jump City, her friends were continuing theirs'. The difference however, was that their lesson had been started the day they had fought Mumbo. Since then, it seemed every single criminal, experienced and wannabe had jumped out of the sewers and woodwork to take them on. Right now, in fact, they were taking on a new generation of an old foe. "See how you like this, Birdy!" the arachnid-girl sneered, as she spit a lob of gray goo at the hawk flying towards her. The bird tried to avoid it, but the goo splattered all over him, knocking him back to the ground. "Dude, this is disgusting and embarrassing. I can't be stopped by a loogie!" Manimal cried as he reverted to human form. "Believe me, it could be worse." Lightweaver said, as she cut through the goo pinning her grandson to the ground.
"Metallix! Try to tie up her legs!" Terra yelled, as she hurled a large chunk of earth at the villaness. But the arachnid-girl simply leapt over it. "Nice try." She sneered as she whipped around and trapped Metallix in another loogie. Terra's eyes narrowed as she eyed her foe. To be specific, that foe was Claw, the daughter of Kitty and Fang. As disturbing as that idea was to picture, it was worse to see. Claw's lower body was that of a huge spider, complete with eight hairy, disgusting legs. Her upper body was fairly normal, except for her clawed hands and spider-face, framed by blond hair. But the girl knew how to use her strange body well, as Terra was finding out. The earth-mover was simply unable to get a steady bead on her foe. Claw was like a rubber ball, bouncing around at an unbelievable rate. It was all Terra could do to keep up, and since some of the New Titans had not yet arrived from school activities, it wasn't going to get easier anytime soon.
"Man, how can something that ugly be that hard to hit?" she muttered as she brought up more earth to fling. But before Terra could even bring it to bear, the spider-girl leapt from her perch and onto the young girl. Terra found herself suddenly pinned to the ground, looking up at eight legs and a disgusting face. "Nice hair." Claw breathed as she peered down at her prey. "I think I'll bring it back home as a souvenir. Mom and I can get some tips from it." But before Claw could do anything, black energy wrapped around her body and threw her off. As the spider bounced across the street, Terra looked up to see Sunblaze and Owl hover to the ground. "'Bout time." The earth-mover said. "Sorry, I had to drag him out of chess club." Owl said. "There was this really good knight pattern going and… never mind." Sunblaze said with a hint of embarrassment. "So who is it this time?" he asked. "New one. Your folks ever tell you about Fang and Kitten, Riv?" "Once or twice." Sunblaze said. "Meet their daughter." She said, pointing to the rising form of Claw. "Some people shouldn't be allowed to reproduce." Owl said, with a visible shiver.
A second later, Claw sped towards them, her face widening as if to swallow them whole. All three Titans readied themselves, but before they could even begin to attack, two beams of light suddenly shot out from behind them and slammed into the spider-girl, smashing her back. But before she landed, a pair of huge metal hands appeared under her, and trapped her within them. Smiling, Metallix suddenly closed his eyes, and suddenly his hands separated from his arms. Claw was left trapped inside two gigantic enfolded steel hands. As Lightweaver came up behind the Titans, Metallix's face narrowed in concentration, and from his wrists, two new hands grew. "I've been wanting to try that for a bit." He said, as he opened up his eyes. "Not bad." Lightweaver said. "You're getting much better at this." "Especially considering that you pretty much hated this idea in the beginning." Manimal added. "I guess once you actually start doing this job, it feels pretty good." Metallix said. "Yeah, too bad we didn't get to feel that." Owl said snidely. "Hey, that's what you get for being late." Terra said. "Someone else coming and stealing your spotlight. You're just lucky that Riv's sister isn't here, or you'd really have nothing."
"Yeah, where is she anyway?" Manimal asked. "I didn't see her after school today." "Dad and Brett took her to Gotham. Said there was some new teacher there to help her with her anger." Sunblaze answered. "Jeez, this guy better be a good teacher. Lisa'd rip his head off if he said the wrong thing." "Naw, I wouldn't worry about it." Lightweaver said. "What do you mean?" Terra asked. But before the fox could answer, a familiar jingle came from her belt. Reaching down, Lightweaver pulled out her communicator and opened it. "What's up Ed?" she asked. Eddie had remained at the Tower in order to give Cyborg a hand repairing the old technology. The dog was surprisingly good with computers, and was speeding up the process considerably. "Got some news for you, foxy." He replied. "There's a fire in the east side. It's in an apartment complex and growing fast. You guys better get over there." "What's the address?" she asked. "132, East and Union." "We're on our way." Lightweaver answered and shut the communicator. Turning to the Titans, she said, "Well guys, it looks like we've got our first rescue attempt too." "What about ugly there?" Owl asked. "She's pretty well trapped, and she doesn't have her dad's acid to eat through the steel. Claw'll be fine until the cops get here." Lightweaver said. "Now let's go." The fox said, as she spread her armor's wings and shot into the air. Sunblaze and Owl quickly followed, Manimal resumed his hawk form and flew after them, and Terra formed a platform for Metallix and herself.