Hunters of Justice Chapter 30: Bonds Forged in Fire, a Justice League + RWBY Crossover fanfic

Hunters of Justice (RWBY/DC)

Chapter 22: Bonds Forged In Fire

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"Guardian and I are staking out Black Mask," Jaune said as he, Pyrrha, Red Hood, and Batgirl crouched on top of a tenement, overlooking a small assortment of suspicious-looking men. "There hasn't been an opening yet, but we have some ideas."

As he said this, Jaune glanced over to Red Hood, who quickly nodded back. Jaune responded in kind, then turned his attention back to the criminals they were looking over.

"Got it. Try not to do something stupid, alright?" Ruby joked, and Jaune groaned.

"I know, I know," Jaune emphasized, then paused to glance at Pyrrha. She was lying prone, the barrel of Miló slightly exposed over the rooftop. She had no need for a scope, her helmet providing all the magnification she needed. Despite not being able to see her face, Jaune knew she was smiling in amusement.

"Dragon," Jaune continued, "how are things on your end?"

"We just entered the Lounge now," Yang answered, an obvious smirk on her face. "Geez, I know B-man said this place was considered high class, but I've never seen so many stuffed up rich people in one place before. Ivory, does this remind you of anything?"

"Grrgh," Weiss growled.

"Heh-heh. Seriously though, we'll let you guys know once we get more information. Just gotta figure out how to get the Penguin to squawk."

"I'm sure you'll figure something out," Ruby stated. "Lotus, how are things on your end?"

"Going well, nothing to report yet," Ren spoke up. "We're currently trying to figure out a way inside. Shouldn't be too long."

"Got it." Jaune then heard a shuffle coming from Ruby's end. "Have to go. We got a lead."

"Got it, Reaper. We'll contact you later," Jaune responded, as did the other members on the line. Soon the transmissions clicked off, leaving Jaune alone with his current team. Of course, he couldn't really say it was his team. Red Hood had taken charge of the entire situation, given his experience, so Jaune would readily follow his lead.

"I'm not surprised Ruby and her team are ahead of us," Pyrrha noted, still in her prone position.

"Why? Because they're going after the Riddler or because it's Ruby?" Jaune asked, and Pyrrha giggled.

"Both, really." A comfortable silence fell over the two as they continued to watch over the five criminals. They were meeting inside of an old, dilapidated yet still inhabited apartment building. The windows were brown and musty, several of them boarded with plywood, and the fire escapes were lined with crimson rust. Jaune couldn't imagine just who'd want to even live in such a state, but he supposed that was the point. Likely no one wanted to live in such squalor, but they simply didn't have a choice in the matter. Inside the meeting room itself, situated on the top floor with a boarded-up skylight in the center of the room, the four heroes were looking through the walls via thermal imagining, and Red Hood had shot a sound amplifier to pick up what they were discussing.

"So, do you have it?" one of the criminals asked, his outline suggesting he was wearing a thin suit and fedora, akin to a businessman or classic gangster. They pegged him as one of Black Mask's men, so they kept most of their attention focused squarely on him.

"Yeah, I do," one of the others answered. He was wearing much dirtier and bulkier attire, ones that didn't quite fit him judging by the gap the clothes left between them and his skin. What was more curious was the case he was holding, which he plopped onto a table with a heavy grunt. "Here. Now the money."

Instead of offering the cash as requested, the nicely-suited criminal huffed and calmly rotated the briefcase towards him. He unlatched the lock, the sound echoing across the room and into the embedded amplifier, then hummed as he inspected the contents.

"There, ya see. Five kilos of cocaine, as requested." The second criminal held out his hand expectantly, clearly irritated. "Now, the money."

"Just wait, friend. Gotta make sure this ain't been tampered with. My boss expects a certain level of quality for his merchandise, you see," Black Mask's goon responded, holding up his hand placatingly. Jaune couldn't help but note that his other hand was kept close to his side, as were the other two criminals behind him.

"Hood, this is about to get bad," Jaune noted, seeing all the signs of an impending drug deal gone wrong.

"I know," Red Hood responded, crouching and combining his pistols into a rifle. "Get ready. Guardian, fire when I say so."

"On it," Pyrrha said, flicking the safety off as a scope extended from Red Hood's rifle. An infrared laser was highlighted along Pyrrha's HUD, as it was on Jaune's and Batgirl's, and they quickly cycled between the targets through the windows.

"Batgirl, come on," Jaune told his silent comrade. Batgirl nodded before pulling out a grappling hook, then zipped over to a water tower on the building's roof. Jaune followed after her, both of them keeping sure to stay out of the criminals' sight.

"What, you saying my goods ain't good?" the dealer asked, clearly offended with a hint of nervousness in the back of his voice.

"I'm not saying that at all," Black Mask's head goon replied, even as his compatriots edged closer to the dealer. "Just making sure, is all."

"Well," the dealer paused, licking his lips, "go ahead and check. I ain't got nothing to hide."

"If you don't, then you don't need to worry about anything."

Jaune frowned as he heard the conversation unfold. Although he might not be the smartest person in his peer group, that illustrious honor belonging to Weiss followed by Pyrrha, he could read the undertones. They had to act, and fast. Silently, Jaune and Batgirl took positions on opposite ends of the boarded skylight, their suits muffling their footsteps along the concrete roof while their eyes remained focused on the drug deal below. When the suitcase finally closed, Jaune narrowed his eyes and frowned.

"Well, what did I tell 'ya?" the dealer said, sighing in relief. "I told you, that's high-quality stuff right there."

"Marvin, buddy," Black Mask's goon responded, shaking his head. "How long have we been friends?"

"What kind of question is-?"

"Answer. The question," the gangster repeated himself, just as his subordinates grabbed Marvin's arms. Marvin's heartrate increased significantly, which Jaune's helmet picked up on.

"I, uh… I think it's been about, I don't know, five years now?" Marvin guessed, only to cry out on pain as one of his captors tightened his grip on his arm. "Five! It is five!"

"Right, right. Well then, Marvin, you see that leaves me in a bit of a conundrum," the Black Mask goon stated as he pulled up a chair and sat across from the dealer. "I distinctly remember ordering five kilos of pure cocaine. That is not what you gave me. You gave me four kilos of cocaine mixed with flour, sugar, and just a hint of various methamphetamines. This isn't what I ordered, so I have to ask: Marvin, why did you lie to me?"

Marvin was sweating now, his heartbeat racing at a mile-a-minute. Jaune frowned, then glanced across the street to Red Hood, waiting for his signal. A silent conversation ensued between the two leaders.

'They're going to kill him,' Jaune mentally called out.

'Wait,' Red Hood silently replied with a shake of his head, and Jaune's frown deepened. He couldn't tell if Red Hood's patience was part of a sincere plan or simply due to him not caring about the lives of drug dealers and peddlers. Out of all of Batman's proteges, Jason Todd was by far the most willing to kill those he deemed deserving of it.

Below him and Batgirl, the conversation between the two criminals was ongoing. The dealer was running out of excuses, and the gangster was running out of patience. How much longer it would last, Jaune didn't pretend to know.

"Look, man. I promise you, I only did that because I had no choice! Most of my suppliers have either been arrested or fled town, and that was all I could get on short notice!"

"Not good enough. We had a deal, a deal you said you could fulfill, and what do you do? You not only fail to obligate it, instead of being honest and upfront about it, you also lie to my fucking face and try to swindle me. You could've given me the four kilos you had, no problem. You would've gotten less pay, and I'd be a little disappointed, but I would have understood. Same with my boss. But this shit you pulled, Marvin? Made it worthless."

"I… I'm sorry! I didn't think-!" Before Marvin could even finish his sentence, the gangster pulled out his pistol and whacked it across the dealer's face, cracking his nose and the glasses now revealed to have been on his face. Warm specks of blood shot out as Marvin whimpered in pain, yet the gangster calmly wiped the blood off his gun.

"Get rid of him," the gangster ordered, walking back to the briefcase while Marvin wailed for mercy as the two men prepared to carry him off. Jaune shot one last look at Red Hood, who finally nodded.

"Fire."

As though in slow motion, two shots rang out, one from each rifle. Both of the criminals holding the dealer were struck in the head by electrified rubber bullets, their entry into the room announced by the shattering of glass. Marvin screamed in fear as the two men's grip loosened while they fell, and the Black Mask gangster turned around with his pistol outstretched, aiming for the source of the shots. At the same time, the plywood covering the skylight caved in as both Jaune and Batgirl descended, Batgirl landing on top of the gangster while Jaune lunged towards the dealer and his slightly recovered captors. He threw two punches, one to each head, and both men fell with a loud thud into deep unconsciousness. Batgirl, meanwhile, threw a few quick jabs into the gangster's head, knocking him out as well, and one final shot rang out into Marvin's head, knocking him out cold.

The entire breach took less than five seconds.

"Good work," Red Hood called out over the radio. "Oracle, call GCPD on my location. Intercepted drug deal involving Black Mask's gang."

"On it," Oracle replied, typing away at her keyboard. "Squad car en route."

"Good," Red Hood said as he and Pyrrha grappled their way over to Jaune and Batgirl. "About to interrogate Sionis' man. Will report back with any information we gather."

"Understood." Oracle then signed off, and Red Hood darkly gazed at the gangster lying at his feet before hefting him up onto his shoulder.

"We'll tie the rest of these guys up," Jaune offered, and Red Hood nodded as he pulled out his grapple gun and aimed it at the skylight. Batgirl joined him, likely to ensure that whatever tactics Red Hood used, he wouldn't go too far. Jaune and Pyrrha watched as the two of them disappeared onto the roof, then took a second to look around the room. There was very little damage, outside of a few shards of broken glass and splinters of wood lying about the floor. All in all, the two of them were impressed with themselves.

"Come on, let's get these guys secured," Pyrrha stated. Her partner nodded, then tossed her a pair of handcuffs. They quickly cuffed the men's wrists behind their backs, the two large criminals having to be flipped onto their bellies in the process. Once all three criminals were secured, Jaune and Pyrrha lifted them up and gently carried them down the stairs to the front of the apartment complex, where they quickly tied them in a circle around a light pole.

"There, all done," Jaune stated, slapping his hands together. He then looked up to the roof, knowing that Red Hood and Batgirl were still interrogating Black Mask's representative. Assuming the man was conscious, of course. Still, they had time, but far out into the distance Jaune was starting to hear faint police sirens, drawing his attention to them.

Pyrrha, meanwhile, remained silent. Her attention was divided, despite her trying to keep herself focused on the task at hand. She suspected that Jaune was doing the same thing, although he appeared to have an easier time of it. She looked back at him, frowned slightly, and tightened her fist.

'Maybe I should…' she thought, her confidence wavering, but then a sense of resolve built up. No, this had gone on long enough, and it was time to address the Goliath in the room.

"Hey," Pyrrha finally called out, catching Jaune's attention.

"Yes, Guardian?" Jaune replied, turning his head to face her.

"Can we talk?"

"Um, I don't see why not. What do you-?"

"Alone. Please?" Pyrrha clarified, and she saw the white lights emitted from his helmet's eyeholes widen. She knew he understood exactly what she wanted to talk about.

Jaune sighed, then looked to the side. "Yeah. I guess now's a good a time as any. We can use the room upstairs."

Pyrrha nodded at his suggestion, then the two of them somberly walked up the stairs to the empty room. They scanned it for any listening ears or surveillance devices and found none. Even Batgirl and Red Hood had moved to the far end of the roof, meaning they were truly alone. The two partners then took off their helmets, allowing both to look each other in the eye.

"Well…" Jaune began, unsure of where to start. Even now, after more than a month after the revelation, the subject was still awkward.

"Hmm," Pyrrha hummed, feeling just as awkward as her partner, if not more so. Given how the entire source of this nervous atmosphere came from her, she felt she edged him out.

"How long?" Jaune asked, finally asking the first question. Pyrrha looked at him, then sighed.

"Start of the second semester," she answered truthfully. Jaune flinched and looked away, a frown crossing his face.

"I see." Jaune looked down, then twiddled his fingers. "So, when I was flirting with Weiss and trying to ask her to the dance…?"

Pyrrha winced, then looked down. "…Yeah."

"Why?" Jaune asked, ashamed of himself for forcing his partner into that position. How many times did he go to her about his attempts to get Weiss to notice him? How many times had he not noticed her being uncomfortable about the entire thing?

"Jaune, stop," Pyrrha cut into his thoughts. "I know you're berating yourself right now."

"And why shouldn't I?" Jaune replied. "Gods, I feel like such an idiot. Forcing you to—"

"You didn't force me to do anything," Pyrrha interrupted, placing her hand on his shoulder. "You not noticing was not your fault. It was mine. I wasn't as forward as I could've been, and I don't blame you for not noticing. Ren and Nora only noticed a few weeks before the dance, and Nora had to drag that confession out of me. I don't think RWBY even knew until we tested the Lasso, much less any of our classmates."

"But…" Jaune paused at the look Pyrrha shot at him, then sighed. He knew there was no arguing with his partner over this, then ran his armored fingers through his blond hair. "Still, I'm sorry. For not noticing."

"And I'm sorry for not making it clearer," Pyrrha replied with a faint smile. "I know you would never try to hurt me."

"Yet I did. For months, apparently," Jaune darkly muttered, a frown on his face. Pyrrha sighed. She cared deeply for her partner and leader, yet always hated when he was like this. The fact that she was indirectly the cause made it feel worse. Rather than respond, Pyrrha remained silent, allowing a healthy pause to rise between them.

"I never answered your question," Pyrrha finally broke the silence. Despite looking down at her hands, she felt Jaune's gaze directed at her. She continued, "It's true that, around the start of the second semester, I began to see you in a different light. I saw your dedication, your drive to improve yourself. It was admirable, but what I liked most was that, unlike so many others, you never put me on a pedestal. You just saw me for…me, and I liked that."

"Then why did you try to help me with Weiss?"

Pyrrha looked at him. "Because I wanted you to be happy. I still do."

Jaune looked at Pyrrha, a contemplative look on his face. Then he sighed yet again and looked her in the eye.

"Pyrrha, I won't lie to you." There wasn't a point to, in Jaune's mind. "You are my best friend, and I admire you a lot. You're strong, kind, way more patient with me than you have any right to be. I care about you strongly, but…"

"You don't know yet what that exactly means?" Pyrrha finished for him. Pyrrha knew her partner, so it wasn't a surprise when he nodded in response. She nodded back, not upset but merely understanding. She moved to speak again, only to suddenly feel a hard tap against her head. She and Jaune looked up and saw Red Hood crouching on one knee and his arm laying across the other.

"Hey, lovebirds. When you two are finished with…whatever this is – very touching, by the way – come back up here. We got a lead."

With that, Red Hood stood up and walked out of view. Jaune and Pyrrha looked at the empty space, then back at each other.

"… We'll pick this up later," Jaune offered, and Pyrrha nodded. The two placed their helmets back atop their heads, then moved up to the roof and rejoined Red Hood and Batgirl. The Black Mask thug was tied against a chimney pipe, a few bruises on his face but nothing too severe.

"What he'd say?" Pyrrha asked as Red Hood and Batgirl turned to face them.

"A lot, actually," Red Hood answered. "As it turns out, Sionis Industries is recruiting."

"Sionis Industries? The steel mill?" Jaune asked, and Batgirl nodded.

"And, if you couldn't tell by the name, the central hub of Black Mask's entire operation. Money laundering, the drug trade, extortion, all of it flows through Sionis Industries."

"So, if Sionis Industries is recruiting…" Pyrrha began, "that means so is he."

"Exactly. That's our way in," Red Hood replied. Jaune tapped his chin, running over the possibilities.

"Right… We could disguise ourselves as potential recruits. Walk right in, then gather the information we need."

"And maybe raise some hell along the way." From behind his mask, Red Hood smiled. The four heroes looked at each other, then one-by-one nodded in agreement.

"So, where do we start?" Pyrrha asked, and Batgirl motioned for them to follow her.

Soon after, a lone GCPD squad car arrived on the scene, where they found a group of criminals tied to a light post. Behind them, emblazoned in red along the apartment building's exterior, was graffiti depicting a large bat-symbol, telling the police exactly who was here.

"I'm not sure about this," Pyrrha admitted as she, Jaune, Jason and Cassandra walked along a darkened street near the steel mill. Their costumes were safely tucked away on a secluded rooftop where they could get back to them quickly. Instead, they were wearing thick and baggy clothes that made them look as though they belonged to a group of people trying to join a gang.

"I know. Who wears pants this low?" Jaune asked as he readjusted himself. "People actually wear stuff like this?"

"Yes, now focus," Jason shot back as the four of them rounded a corner. "Now, the first part is easy. All we have to do is talk to the recruiter and convince him to let us in. Once we do, start combing the place for evidence. Anything we can tie Sionis to, the better."

Jaune, Pyrrha, and Cassandra nodded and continued to walk down the sidewalk. The night air was chilly, and occasionally Jaune could see his breath condense into light huffs, but he wasn't too cold. He then took a glance at Pyrrha, who was still uncomfortable. Luckily, this time it didn't appear to be about the two of them.

"Hey," Jaune started, putting his hand on her shoulder, "you'll be fine."

"But I've never done something like this before," Pyrrha replied, flashing an awkward grin.

"Neither have I," Jaune reassured her, then he blinked. "Well actually, I guess entering a dangerous organization by pretending to be something I'm not isn't exactly new to me." He chuckled half-deprecatingly, "Though I wouldn't say I'm actually good at it."

"Jaune…" Pyrrha chastised with a small frown, to which Jaune rubbed the back of his head and chuckled nervously. Despite his attempts to hide it, he was nervous, too, but in contrast, Jason and Cassandra appeared right at home. Jaune wasn't surprised by that, and neither was Pyrrha.

"Just…act natural. Okay?" he suggested. "It's what got me through."

Pyrrha looked at her partner for a moment, then breathed in softly and exhaled. "…Okay."

Jaune smiled, patted her shoulder, then turned his attention back to their surroundings. There were a few scattered citizens, most walking home from work at a fast pace. He couldn't blame them, especially in this part of town. There were a few more suspicious-looking individuals hanging around near dark alleys, but the heroes forced themselves to not intervene. They needed to remain incognito for the moment, especially as their destination neared. It was tucked away in an alley between two tenement buildings, walled off by a chain-link fence. Rusted dumpsters lined one side yet heaps of trash still lay scattered along the pavement. A rank smell rose up as they neared, but Jaune forced himself to hold in his urge to gag. Pyrrha was less able to do so, but she quickly recomposed herself as the four of them entered the alley. A dense cloud seemed to hang over the air, but the four heroes ignored it and strode towards the fence, then stopped as they saw a dark figure leaning against the wall, part of his face illuminated by the faint glow of a burning cigar.

"Well," the man said, puffing out smoke and holding his cigar between his fingers, "what do we have here? A couple of teenagers out on a nightly stroll?"

"Something like that," Jason replied, putting his hands in his overcoat's pocket.

"Mighty dangerous to do that around here, you know," the man pointed out, taking another smoke. "Unless of course you already knew that, then I have to ask 'why?'"

"You live around here long enough, you realize there are only two ways to live in Gotham," Jason answered. He didn't need to elaborate further, as the criminal knew exactly what he was referring to. "I hear Black Mask is recruiting."

"And what if he is?" the gangster asked, putting away his cigar and focusing his attention squarely on the four of them.

"We want in," Jaune spoke up, trying to make his voice sound rougher. "I'm tired of living in fear all the time." Cassandra scowled and crossed her arms in emphasis, shooting the man a tired yet determined look. Pyrrha took her cue to speak up, and the rest of them almost immediately noticed a problem.

"Yeah, and it's 'bout time we start dishing it out ourselves, ya dig?" Pyrrha said animatedly, trying her best to imitate how she thought criminals sounded like. Jaune shot her a look from the corner of his eye, but the recruiter didn't seem phased by her overacting.

"Well then, you four came to the right place. You're right, Black Mask is recruiting, and you can't join a better gang than his."

"Yeah, 'cuz he ain't crazy like the rest of 'em," Jason muttered, just loud enough for the recruiter to hear. The criminal smiled and nodded, agreeing with that statement, but then his expression turned serious.

"Still, I can't just let anyone join," the man continued, prompting Jason, Cassandra, and Jaune to cross their arms and frown. Pyrrha, however, went further.

"You doubtin' us? You disrepectin' us?!" Pyrrha asked, tilting her head and boring her eyes into his. Now everyone's attention was focused on her. Her teammates looked worried, while the recruiter simply looked perplexed.

"I wasn't saying that…" he tried to clarify, but Pyrrha wasn't having it.

"Oh, bull. Ya hear this fool? He doubtin' us! Doubtin' we got what's it takes to participate! Why I outta-!" Pyrrha accused, preparing to step forward. Jason and Cassandra's eyes widened, slightly pleading for her to stop, but Jaune took her by the arm and began to drag her away. She went with it, adding, "Oh, you lucky my man's pulling me back! If he wasn't, yo ass be dead for disrespectin' me and my crew! Ya hear me?!"

Pyrrha continued to shout as Jaune dragged her out of the alleyway with surprising strength, all the while Jason, Cassandra, and the recruiter looked at her with alarmed and bewildered eyes. Jaune himself didn't say a word, seemingly allowing Pyrrha to continue her rant until they went into an adjacent alleyway, at which point Pyrrha finally stopped. He then spun her around, her back facing the building while he stared at her. Pyrrha, finally calming herself down, felt her face turn red in embarrassment and gulped.

"… How'd I-?"

"What was that?" Jaune interrupted, and Pyrrha's blush deepened.

"I'm sorry! " Pyrrha apologized. "It's just that I'm not used to this and I've never done this before and I was acting really mean back there and it hurt me to act like that and-!"

"Pyrrha, breathe," Jaune told her, taking both of her shoulders in hand. Pyrrha breathed in and out a few times, and after a few moments felt her heart rate slow and her face cool down.

"You good?" Jaune asked, and Pyrrha nodded.

"Yeah, I'm good."

"I'm glad to hear that. Now then," Jaune looked her in the eyes again, "remember when I said to act natural?"

"… Yes?"

"Forget that. Don't act natural, you're terrible at it," Jaune suggested. Pyrrha felt herself shrink under the criticism, embarrassed beyond relief, but knew she had to hear it.

"…okay," Pyrrha murmured with a nod. Jaune nodded back, then both partners turned as a pair of footsteps approached them. They saw Jason and Cassandra walk into the alley, a deep frown marring Jason's face.

"Okay, Pyrrha? What the hell was-?"

"We've already been over it," Jaune placated him, holding up his hand. Jason scoffed and shook his head.

"Good, because my God…" Jason complained with a noticeable roll of his eyes. Pyrrha's embarrassed blush returned, and Jaune lightly glared at the older boy, but he ignored them. "Okay, good news is he'll take us in."

"That's a relief," Jaune sighed, and Jason nodded.

"Yep. Told us to meet him at the gates to Sionis Industries in about an hour, where he'll open it up for us."

"What'll we do until then?" Pyrrha asked, eager to change the subject away from her abysmal acting performance.

"Strategize," Jaune answered. The trio nodded at this, then walked away into the night.

For much of the next hour, the four heroes did as Jaune suggested. They planned for every scenario they could think of. There wasn't a reason not to, given that they were walking into a lion's den of hardened criminals and gangsters. Jason was right when he said that, unlike most of Gotham's criminals, Black Mask wasn't insane. But that didn't mean he was any less dangerous. If anything, he was worse. Roman Sionis fashioned himself as a classic gangster, straight from The Godfather. Just as Oswald Cobblepot controlled the arms industry in Gotham, Roman controlled the drug trade and smuggling operations. He worked very hard to keep his grasp on that lucrative market and had hurt a lot of people in the process. They had to stay on their guard.

However, they couldn't help but focus their attention on a more peculiar sight happening in the Gotham airspace on the other side of town.

"What do you think they're doing?" Jaune asked as he tilted his head at the sight, trying to make sense of it all.

"No idea," Jason admitted. It was hard for him to understand why a group of GCPD airships was moving around randomly, arranging themselves in an order that didn't make any sense to him. It didn't make sense to any of them.

"You know, this reminds me," Pyrrha stated, transfixed on the airships. "Why does Gotham have airships as part of its police department?"

"They're cheap, fuel-efficient, easy to learn, and hard to shoot down," Jason immediately answered.

"Ah, I see." A silence descended over the group again, then Jaune tapped his fingers.

"Hey, isn't that were Ruby is working?" Jaune asked. They thought for a moment, then realized he was right. "Maybe she knows?"

Jason nodded, then pressed his fingers to his ear to ask Ruby what was going on, only to immediately be assaulted by Ruby's voice.

"Nonononono! Not that way!" Ruby's voice rang out over the radio. "Turn left! My left, not yours!"

"I just did!" a male voice replied.

"No, you went your left, rookie," another voice, this one female, responded. "Get the gunk out of your ears and do as you're told."

"Yes! Thank you, kind lady!"

"Why are we listening to this kid, anyway?"

"First off, I am not a kid. I am a hero-in-training. Second, you are making things really difficult right now."

"Don't mind him," another male voice started. "He's just mad you gave him the designation 'Butt'."

"No, I'm not!" Butt protested unconvincingly. "It's not my fault the bottom of the symbol's on my blimp!"

"Well, you're acting like one, Butt!" Ruby countered.

"Airship 'Head' agrees with this," the woman joked with an audible smile on her face, and Butt groaned.

Silently, Jason switched off the radio. From the looks on their faces, the rest of his teammates were just as bewildered regarding what exactly Ruby was doing with the airships. Silently, they looked at each other, then agreed to simply ask her what was going on when they met up with her after the mission. Cassandra's watch then beeped, and a stoic look crossed all their faces.

"Time to go," Jaune said, tucking his hands into his hoodie's front pocket. Jason did the same with his jacket, and together they and Cassandra and Pyrrha walked towards Sionis Industries. The streets were now devoid of any life, outside of swarms of insects and bats flying high above the yellow incandescent streetlights. Past an intersection, they saw the dark steel gates to Sionis Industries, even now puffing out thick, black smoke into the night air. The entire plant had a dirty feel to it, and just walking closer to it made Jaune and Pyrrha want to hop into a shower. But they had a job to do, no matter how uncomfortable it made them.

Ahead of the gate, smoking on another cigar, was the same recruiter they met before. He noticed them quickly, extinguishing his cigar against the brick outer wall of the gate he was leaning against.

"Good, you're here," he said, walking over to the gate while checking for any eyes. When he was satisfied that they were alone, he creaked the gate open slightly, allowing for the disguised heroes to enter unabated. When Jaune passed, however, he grabbed the young man's shoulder and turned Jaune to face him. "Now, when we get inside, you keep your girl in line. Got it?"

Despite having his back to hers, Jaune could feel the embarrassed blush streak across Pyrrha's face and nodded.

"Good. 'Cuz if she does that in there, things could get bad. Many of 'em might not be so forgiving as I am."

They all knew what he was referring to, and all nodded. Part of Jaune wished that he had Crocea Mors with him, the blade part, but beyond it being exceedingly difficult to sneak a sword-and-collapsible-shield into a gang recruitment, his sword's replacement was still under construction. He knew what he wanted to do with it, or at least a general idea, but progress was still slow. It wasn't helped by Ruby's over-enthusiastic attempts to help. At one point, she wanted to turn Crocea Mors into an interchangeable sword/assault rifle, but Jaune shot that down. He wanted Crocea Mors' successor to be as close to the original as possible, with a healthy assortment of upgrades.

Ruby did call him a spoil-sport for that and pouted, but Jaune felt it was more cute than anything.

They finally entered the main building of Sionis Industries. A pair of machinegun-toting guards opened the wide double-doors from the inside, closing them with a loud thud once they passed the threshold. Cassandra figured they had passed the point of no return now. Either they accomplish their mission as planned, then get out with no-one the wiser, or they'll be forced to fight their way out.

'Batmobile is on standby, ready for extraction. Just say the word,' Oracle texted the heroes, the words appearing on the clear contacts they wore over their eyes. None of them responded but knew that Oracle read them loud and clear. The Batmobile was their best chance at getting out, should the mission get hot, so it being ready to roar in at a moment's notice was critical.

"So," Jaune asked, looking around with a hint of nervousness both real and fake, "what can we expect?"

"Good question," the recruiter responded. "Black Mask doesn't just take anybody. He has standards, and he expects you to meet those standards. It's what I was trying to say earlier before your girl went all accusatory on me."

Pyrrha blushed again and looked away, but if he noticed he didn't show it.

"She's sorry about that. Had some bad experiences with this kind of thing before. Don't mind her," Jason said, shooting Pyrrha a look as she mouthed 'I'm sorry' back at her comrades.

"I figured." The recruiter shrugged, seemingly buying their explanation. For being a hardened criminal, the man was surprisingly lenient, a far cry from the drug dealer they apprehended just hours before.

"So, how do we meet those standards?" Pyrrha asked, trying to add to the discussion. The recruiter looked at her for a moment then continued walking forward.

"Just a couple of challenges to check you out. How tough you are, how strong you are, how smart you are, and whether you can use a gun or not."

"Actual bullets?" Jason asked, a noticeable edge to his voice.

"God, no. Paint. What, you thought we'd give a bunch of recruits a loaded gun? That's a recipe for disaster."

"Figured, just wanted to ask."

The recruiter sighed and shook his head, muttering under his breath, but any further conversation was halted when they reached another set of double doors, these made of metal. They paused, then their guide banged on the metal door a few times with his fist. A slide in the middle opened, exposing a pair of eyes that locked with the recruiter's. A moment passed, then the slide closed, and the doors creaked open. The heavy metal slid against the tile floor, carving along a noticeable scrape, but the heroes' attention was focused squarely on the gathering before them.

"Oh… That's a lot of people…" Jaune muttered. He had expected a lot, both in terms of recruits but also actual gangsters. But this was easily double his greatest expectations. What was most alarming, however, was that roughly half of the criminals weren't wearing the same attire as Black Mask's gang. Instead, they were wearing thick, heavy coats that were half-black and half-white, the split occurring vertically down the middle.

"Two-Face…" Jason realized with wide eyes and clenched fists, while the recruiter nodded.

"Yep," the recruiter stated, his back facing the heroes. "The two of them have been working out an alliance the past couple of months. Scarecrow's attack pushed up the time-table."

"That so?" Jason asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Yeah, it'll be a pretty sweet gig. Plus, we lost a lot of guys during that maniac's rampage."

The heroes stayed silent, moving their eyes around the room. Not a word was said, yet all understood what the others were saying: this mission just got a lot more complicated.

When they finally reached the large gathering, the recruiter left them. Whether he left to get more recruits or to help in the evaluation, they didn't know, nor did they care. Their attention was focused squarely on the two men standing on a stage. The man on the left was wearing a white suit with thin black lines stretching vertically down it. A black tie was wrapped around his neck, and his face was covered by a large black wooden mask. To Jaune and Pyrrha' horror, the edges of it appeared burnt and molded with the flesh underneath. Had Black Mask's namesake been fused onto him? Neither of them could imagine what horrific event could've led to that.

On Black Mask's right stood an equally scarred man, if not more so. What was most striking about him to the two former huntsmen-in-training was the sheer contrast he embodied. On one side of him, he looked perfectly normal. Dressed in a plain white suit, with neatly combed hair and a handsome face. But the other was heavily scarred, mangled and burnt. It started with his face and extended down to the heavily burnt side of clothing to the point where it was black. A heavy snarl was plastered across the scarred side, etched for eternity, and all the while he casually flipped a coin up and down into the air.

"I can see why they have their names…" Jaune muttered under his breath, which Pyrrha, Jason, and Cassandra nodded to. They otherwise remained silent, looking over everything for leads as Black Mask and Two-Face looked around the room.

"Well," Black Mask finally called out, hushing the assembled group into silence, "I see my boys outdid themselves today. What a nice selection of boys and girls."

A silent challenge to speak up was issued, but none accepted it. From behind the mask, Cassandra could see this was the intended response. Despite heavily outnumbering him and his supposed partner, the criminals around her were clearly terrified. Everything about their bodies was screaming it, from the small shakes in their boots and hands to the trickles of sweat going down their brows. Two-Face was hard to read, given how he seemed to switch from calm to furious on every coin-flip. Black Mask, on the other hand, was cold, calculating, and vengeful.

"So, you all think you have what it takes to be part of my crew?" Black Mask continued as he waved his hand forward. At once, a group of men tied and gagged to vertical gurneys were wheeled out on stage.

"Here's the thing about joining me," Black Mask pulled out a silver pistol and pointed it at one of the men. "There's only one thing I can't tolerate, and that's stabbing me in the back. Like these fine gentlemen. Harvey, you mind telling everyone what they did?"

Harvey Dent paused, then flipped the coin. His eyes followed it, then caught the piece of silver in his hand. He looked at its face, then back at Roman Sionis.

"They betrayed you," Harvey declared, looking at the shaking men. "Worked for Scarecrow against your orders."

"Not only that," Black Mask continued, walking up to one of them and pressing his gun against his temple, "they had the audacity to tell me that, when they got caught, said I told them to. To my face! I'd be impressed if I wasn't so insulted. Frankly, I don't know what's worse. The fact that they did it, or that they were stupid enough to fall for it in the first place. This is Gotham, people. We all know how many shape-shifters and illusionists call this hellhole home, and the fact that these idiots forgot that little fact just. Can't. Stand."

Cassandra's eyes widened, but then Jason turned her away. Jaune and Pyrrha did as well, then a shot rang out. She clamped her eyes shut, trying to drown out the sound of more gunshots, but even after years of practice, it was hard. Her adopted older-brother kept her attention focused away, but then a criminal near them noticed their reactions and scoffed.

"What? Can't stand the sight of-?" he began to mock, only for Jason to roughly pull his shirt towards his face.

"Finish that sentence and you'll lose a few teeth," he hissed. The criminal got the message and nodded frantically. Only then did Jason let go, and together the four heroes weaved their way through the crowd and towards the back of the room.

"Let that be a lesson to all of you," Black Mask yelled out. "I can tolerate failure, I can tolerate mistakes, but if you pass selection and then betray me, or prove to be an absolute idiot, you just signed your own death warrant. Am I understood?!"

"Yes, sir!" the crowd yelled out. Black Mask, satisfied, switched the safety on his gun, holstered it, then gestured towards a group of his men.

"Get these bodies out of here," Black Mask ordered.

"Where to, boss?" one of them asked, but Black Mask waved his hand.

"Dump 'em out back," he ordered. The criminals nodded, then began to wheel their now-dead former comrades with little issue. The heroes watched as they left the room behind. Black Mask and Two-Face began to leave as well, heading towards an overhanging office to conduct business. Organizers began to walk towards the assembled recruits, dividing them up into groups.

"Jason, we have a problem," Jaune pointed out.

"I know," Jason whispered back. He looked around one last time, then shook his head. "This doesn't change a thing."

"We already got what we came for," Pyrrha mentioned. "Why don't we just leave?"

"Because, knowing that Black Mask didn't order his men to help doesn't answer why some of them did," Jason replied.

"He did mention that his men thought Black Mask ordered them to," Jaune added. "Maybe he has something that can help us narrow it down?"

"Perhaps…" Jason paused and rubbed his chin. He then felt a tug on his sleeve and looked down to see Cassandra giving him a determined look. A silent conversation ensued between the two of them, and finally, Jason nodded in agreement.

"We got a plan?" Pyrrha asked, and Jason nodded.

"Yeah, we do. Pyrrha, you, Jaune and I are gonna do the tryouts, while Cassandra sneaks in back and looks for any evidence."

"Of course. She's smaller, and better at stealth than any of us," Jaune murmured an agreement. The trio then looked at Cassandra, who nodded back with a stoic, determined expression.

"Hey, you three!" one of the organizers called out, turning their attention. "Hurry up or you're out!"

They didn't even need to turn around to see Cassandra off, for she was already gone, having pried loose an air duct grate and slipped inside. Jaune, Jason, and Pyrrha instead walked towards the recruiter. To their slight surprise, he split them apart, Jaune and Pyrrha staying together in one group while Jason went to another.

"Wasn't there another with you?" the organizer asked Jason, but he shook his head.

"No."

"Really? Huh, I could've sworn… Ah, forget it. Now move it!"

Jason nodded, fighting back the urge to deck the man who thought he could order him around but forced himself to stay compliant. Jaune and Pyrrha were having an easier time doing so, although Pyrrha looked increasingly uncomfortable. He hoped she wouldn't try to overact again, but what's done is done. Now, all they had to do was keep them occupied while Cassandra worked her magic.

Cassandra Cain crept through the steel mill's air ducts, only stopping momentarily inside an intersection to take off her overly baggy clothes and reveal her batsuit underneath. Like many of Gotham's older buildings, it was a maze. Had Black Mask deigned to upgrade to more efficient systems, she likely wouldn't be able to do this. But luckily for her, criminals like Roman Sionis weren't all that interested in making their money-laundering hubs energy efficient. Especially when he owned the company that maintained them. Instead of going further into the building, however, she was heading towards a small rooftop she knew was close by. Cassandra had considered simply sneaking in as is, but that carried risks that she couldn't take.

She reached the rooftop without issue, taking off the grate outside and crawling out into the night air. Closing the grate behind her, Batgirl looked around the steel mill. As she suspected, scattered along various walkways and lookouts were men wielding sniper rifles outfitted with laser sights and night vision scopes. They were scanning the surroundings for any sign of activity, namely their own. Clearly, Black Mask and Two-Face didn't want them sneaking from above as they tended to do.

Too bad he didn't expect them to sneak in through the front door and already being inside, which left her enough of an opening for Batgirl to scale the exterior towards a window, which she gently opened, climbed through, and closed behind her.

As silently as she could, Batgirl crept through the building, her cowl scanning for any biological or electronic signatures. There were a few isolated guards on her floor, but she avoided those. If push came to shove, she had confidence in her ability to fend them off but knew doing so ran the risk of their infiltration being discovered, and with so many criminals surrounding them from all sides, that was a dangerous proposition. Just one missed status update could turn the whole thing belly-up.

"Geez, these guys smell," she heard a voice coming from below as she neared an open balcony. She paused, then walked over to the balcony's edge to look down upon the group of criminals wheeling the dead bodies towards a large shipping container. The container itself was covered in rust and mold, with sizable holes scattered around it. Thick chains were wrapped around the front, sealing it shut, but for what purpose Batgirl didn't know.

"You get used to it," another stated as they neared the container. "Everyone craps themselves when they kick it." Yet another was waiting for them, and upon their arrival unlocked the chains and opened it. To Batgirl's horror, she saw many bodies lying inside, most of them fresh and wearing the same uniform.

'Must be more of Black Mask's men,' Batgirl thought to herself but remained focused on the ones still alive. They were nervous, not at the bodies dumped at their feet but something else. Something that was inside the shipping container. Batgirl pursed her lips, then switched her optics to thermal imaging to try and discern what had frightened them so. To her surprise, among the cold pile of bodies she saw a large corpse chained up to the far end of the container. It wasn't moving, but something about its thermal signature seemed off.

"God, that thing gives me the creeps," one of the men admitted as the crate was closed. "Where'd Sionis even find it?"

"Somewhere out in Slaughter Swamp," another answered. "Took a lot of work to bring it in. Tough bastard, too."

The men continued to speak, shifting towards other topics, but Batgirl's attention remained focused on the container for a few seconds more. She frowned, then turned away and went back inside the steel mill. Right now, she had to focus on uncovering evidence and figured she'd check it out later.

Batgirl continued her traversal of the old steel mill, passing by various pieces of corporate propaganda decades old at this point. Back when Roman's parents owned the steel mill, alongside their primary venture of Janus Cosmetics, they might have been genuine. Of course, they were some of the most self-absorbed people Bruce had ever met, obsessed with keeping up appearances. They likely only kept the steel mill to ensure it stayed in the family name. Roman himself didn't have much use for it outside of laundering and the small trickle of legitimate income it generated. Probably why he never bothered cleaning it up.

When Batgirl heard more voices coming towards her, she quickly rappelled herself to the ceiling and pressed herself into a shadow. Moments later, a pair of guards patrolled through the hallway, idly chatting between them. Their conversation was banal, but Batgirl was more interested in watching how their bodies spoke. As she hoped, they were the picture of calm, telling her that her presence wasn't yet suspected. Vowing to keep it that way, when the guards turned a corner she hopped down and continued moving. Her objective was nearby, and soon she came across the front door to Roman's personal office. Unlike the rest of the steel mill, this room was in immaculate condition. It looked nice, even, and she was mature enough to admit that.

A quick scan inside confirmed there was no one waiting for her, and so Batgirl picked the lock and went inside. She went to work immediately, slightly opening a window in case she needed a quick escape and began opening file cabinets and drawers to search for any files. Most of what she found was financial transactions, including the buying and selling of Black Mask's illegitimate goods. They weren't named properly, but it wasn't hard to understand what 'sugar' and 'flour' and 'salt' actually meant. Using her cowl, she scanned and uploaded the documents to Oracle's database, knowing they'd be useful in potentially bringing Roman down. When she searched the last cabinet, however, she frowned as there was nothing inside that could tell her as to who could've directed his men to assist Scarecrow. She then looked at the computer sitting on Sionis' ebony desk and moved over to it. Batgirl pressed a few keys and frowned at the request for a password.

"One moment," Oracle said preemptively. "Batgirl, if you can insert the thumb drive?"

She did as requested, pulling out a small USB and inserting it into the computer. A moment later, the screensaver fizzled with the brief image of a bat-symbol, then successfully logged on. The algorithm searched for any suspicious files and pulled up several with ease. Most of them were receipts and reports, but one was a video. Suspicious, Batgirl opened it, and the video opened to the end of an intense, torturous interrogation.

"Now, I'm not gonna ask again," Black Mask threatened as he walked before a man chained to a table. The victim was shaking, clearly terrified, while Black Mask was cold, tranquil fury. "Why did you help him?"

"You… You told me too," the chained criminal replied, only for Black Mask to violently whip him across the face with his gun multiple times.

"Don't! Lie! To! Me!" Each impact was emphasized by a furious shout, and once he was done a panting Black Mask stepped away. "You knew I hated Crane and psychos like him. Hell, I can hardly stand looking at Harvey's stupid face, but at least he I can tolerate half the time. So, for you and your buddies to turn around and go behind my back to accept a job with him, I can't even describe how angry I am right now."

"I'm sorry, boss! I didn't know, I swear!" the man begged, tears coming out of his face. "None of us did!"

"Well then, if that's the case," Black Mask pulled up a chair and sat down, "it appears that someone impersonated me. Must have been good for you idiots to believe it. Was it Karlo?"

"Clayface? No, he's in Arkham right now."

"Too bad. If it was him, you might've gotten off lenient."

Before the video could continue, Batgirl shut it off, unwilling to see anymore. She could imagine how it ended, anyway, and she wasn't itching to investigate further. Taking a few deep breaths, Batgirl tapped her ears a few times again, prompting Oracle to speak up.

"Alright, I think I got what we need," Oracle admitted. "According to the documents Sionis had accumulated, apparently a few weeks before Crane's attack a number of his newer recruits, as well as some of his more violent mobsters, were approached by someone impersonating him. Possibly multiple people. The locations where the meetings happened are documented as well, along with the approximate timeframes. You know, for as much of a failure in business Sionis was, he's surprisingly detailed in his criminal notes. Certainly makes my job easier."

Batgirl nodded, silently asking Oracle if there was anything else she needed.

"No, I think we're good. If we take this with the evidence the others gathered, we should be able to paint a clearer picture."

Batgirl nodded again, signing off and preparing to leave. She logged out of the computer, pulling out the USB, only to hear the door lock jiggle as someone tried to enter. Immediately, Batgirl left the room through the window she had left open for this very purpose, closing it just as the door opened.

"Damn door. Need to get that lock fixed," Sionis complained as she heard him enter his office alongside another. She herself was hanging off the side of the balcony, inching herself closer to a shadow while keeping her ear pinned to the wall. She heard a coin flip and a hand catch it.

"You should," the rough, gravelly voice of Two-Face spoke up as he sat down on a chair.

"Is that your opinion or what the coin tells you to think?" Instead of responding, Harvey Dent merely flipped a coin and remained silent. Rather than be offended, Roman merely chuckled. "You see, this is why I like you, Harvey. At least you're honest."

Another coin flip. "How does the coin make me honest?"

"It's not the coin, it's just that you're honest about what you do." Batgirl heard a drink being poured. "You see, the others in Gotham, they put on masks. Rich, coming from me I know, but theirs are deeper. They pretend to be something they aren't, and nothing pisses me off more. Cobblepot? He's just as bad as the rest of us, but he acts like he's a functioning member of Gotham's 'high society'. The Joker acts like he's the only one who knows how the world really works, but we all know how twisted that whack job is. Anyone who works with him gets what's coming to 'em."

Harvey flipped the coin again. "You think I'm crazy, too. You've told me as such, so why do you want to work together?"

"I recognize where the winds are blowing," Black Mask repeated. "Back in the old days, it was just cops. Them you could buy off or threaten. Wasn't that hard. 'Specially round here. But then the Bat showed up, and Superman. Strong, noble, incorruptible. Once they appeared, costumed freaks started popping up everywhere. One's we couldn't fight off. But even then, at first they acted isolated. Separate from one another. Now they got a goddamn space station filled with hundreds of 'em, freaks with powers and abilities working together that none of us can hope to fend off on our own."

"And you think you and I can fend off the entire Justice League?" Two-Face asked, seemingly amused.

"Hell no. I'm not stupid enough to try that. No, what I'm talking about is keeping the Bat off our tails. You know he doesn't let anyone else into 'his' city, and I aim to make him regret that choice."

Harvey flipped his lucky coin, then took a drink that Roman had apparently offered him. Batgirl, meanwhile, frowned. The prospect of supervillain teams wasn't anything new. There were several of them operating around the world, the most successful of which was the so-called 'Secret Society'. They managed to be a persistent foe to the nascent Justice League before eventually being defeated, but outside of them none of the supervillain team ups worked as successfully. All ended the same way, with the villains turning on each other, unable to move past their individual desires. Even if she very much doubted a Black Mask/Two-Face alliance would end any differently, she couldn't let it come to pass.

The only question was 'how.'

One of the things that Bruce had emphasized since the start of their training was how to learn about a person by watching how they moved. A person's body language often told more about who they were and how they felt than any words could. It was harder for the body to lie, which is why Jason kept his attention focused on how people reacted around him.

"Gaagh!" a criminal yelled as he swung a fist towards Jaune, who dodged it easily and socked him across the jaw.

"Ooh!" the group around them called out as Jaune's opponent fell to the ground, completely unconscious.

"Alright, Felipe, you pass," Jaune's organizer called out. Jaune nodded, then offered to help his opponent up to his feet, only to have his hand be rebuffed. Jaune frowned, then walked away. Jason paid attention to him, seeing that although Jaune wasn't physically hurt, he was uncomfortable in this environment. He couldn't blame him. After all, this entire mill was a dark, filthy mess that should have been condemned years ago in Jason's opinion. Still, Jason could see that Jaune was trying his best to play along. This included deliberately making himself be less effective in combat, focusing on simple blows that anyone could do. That part was easy, as Jaune only had to fight like he did when he first arrived at Beacon, a humbling fact that Jason could readily see written on Jaune's face.

Pyrrha was another story.

"I'm sorry that didn't hurt more!" Pyrrha hastily corrected herself as she sent another man to the ground. Jason winced, both at the heavy blow she landed on the man as well as how obviously uncomfortable she was. Anyone with a passing knowledge of people could read Pyrrha like a book, and it told quite the story: that she was uncomfortable and playing it up. Jason presumed that most of the criminals around her couldn't see that, only seeing the bottom of her feet as she kicked their asses, but if they did, he could only hope that they assumed she was only nervous. With all the guns around, he didn't want to think about the possibility of them being found out.

"Pay attention to me, dammit!" his own opponent shouted angrily, rushing towards him with his fist raised. Jason, without even looking, swiveled around the man and punched into his gut, knocking the air out of his lungs. He followed it up with hammer blow to his back, knocking him to the ground and allowing Jason to pin him. Jason pulled back the man's leg, and after a few seconds of thrashing he tapped out.

"Malone, you pass," Jason's organizer called out. The vigilante calmly walked out of the ring, purposefully stepping on his fallen opponent's back both to blend in as well as because he wanted to. Once he was out, others came and picked up his fallen opponent, allowing Jason to turn his attention back towards the group around him.

"Hey," one of the men around him spoke up, "you fight pretty good."

"Yeah," Jason murmured back, not really paying much attention.

"That's cool. You trained?"

"Little bit."

"Nice. Never got into it, myself. Figure why punch a person when a bat works just fine."

Jason ignored him, but the talkative recruit didn't seem to care. He was likely nervous, judging by how he constantly shifted his weight from foot to foot, and simply talking to someone calmed him down.

"Hey, quick question," he said. Jason rolled his eyes but made no move to cut him off. "You haven't noticed anything weird around town, have you?"

"Gotham's always been weird, man," one of Two-Face's men, who was apparently eavesdropping on them, pointed out, but the nervous recruit simply turned back to face him.

"Yeah, but… Haven't you noticed people disappearing lately?"

"To which I reply again; this is Gotham. People disappear all the time. Hell, I've helped out with a few ransom kidnappings."

"Did all of them happen in one of Gotham's parks?" the recruit asked, to which the Two-Face goon looked at him strangely.

"Not all of them. But, admittedly, getting someone at night in the park is always a reliable place."

"Yeah, I figured that, but… I knew some guys. Big, strong tough guys. You know the type, guys that aren't scared of anything. A week ago, they went into Robinson Park and…they didn't come out."

"Maybe they just ran out on ya?" another criminal mocked, causing his fellows to laugh along with him. Jason, meanwhile, remained silent. If he wasn't focused on what the criminal was telling him before, he was paying full attention now.

"Do you know of anyone else?" Jason asked, his arms folded, and his attention divided between the test before him and the criminal beside him.

"Um, yeah. My friend, Paulie, he works at a construction yard. A few of his coworkers went missing in the same park a few days before my friends disappeared. That's kinda why I'm here, actually."

"Mmhmm," Jason hummed, nodding along. Suspicion was rising in his gut, and it was telling him that they should look into this. He blinked a few times purposefully, signaling Oracle – who was already listening in – to start searching for any patterns of disappearances in Robinson Park over the past few weeks.

"Next up! The shooting tests!" the head organizer shouted, directing Jason's attention as well as everyone else's. Jason saw Jaune flinch reflexively, due to the fact that the boy wasn't much of a shot. Now that he thought about it, Jason figured that he should probably start helping the younger boy select a gun of his own. That way he wouldn't charge into battle with only a sword and shield, or right now just a shield. Of course, that was only if Jaune wanted it. The last thing he wanted to do was force a person to take up a weapon they had no intention of using. That was just a waste of time and energy.

"Felipe! You're up!" Jaune's and Pyrrha's organizer called out. The White Knight steeled himself, then strode forward to accept the offered gun.

"Don't shoot yourself in the foot now, kid!" a fellow recruit mocked and laughed, alongside a few fellows. Jaune frowned, but otherwise didn't let it get to him. A target was set up down a makeshift range, which to Jason's, Jaune's and Pyrrha's disgust was modeled very clearly off of James Gordon.

Despite being unable to see her, they could all feel Oracle's outrage at the sight, but otherwise, they bit their tongues and stayed quiet.

"Well? We're waiting, Felipe," the organizer declared impatiently. Jaune nodded, then took a deep breath and aimed downrange. He fired, the first shot hitting the edge of the target but outside of the Gordon-outline. Jaune fired again, this time hitting closer but still not quite entering. A few more shots were fired, only the last finally hitting the upper shoulder, then the gun clicked empty.

"Get in back," the organizer said, clearly disappointed in Jaune's performance. To both Jason and Pyrrha, however, Jaune's performance wasn't unexpected. Although Jaune wasn't the best marksman among them, he could get off a few accurate shots. Both of them knew that Jaune deliberately sabotaged himself, likely because even as a target, he didn't want to fire on Jim Gordon.

"Nice aim!" the same recruit as before mocked, a wicked grin plastered across his face. Unfortunately for him, by this point, Pyrrha had already moved closer to him, and the look on her face showed that she was not happy at the man's treatment of her partner.

"Issa, you're up!" the organizer shouted. Pyrrha nodded, then as she stepped past the heckler, she kicked her heel between his legs faster than anyone could blink, and his laughter immediately shifted into a pained wheeze as he collapsed to his knees.

"Oh, I am so sorry!" Pyrrha faux-apologized. The man glared at her, but the look on Pyrrha's face told him to be quiet, not that he was in any state to actually formulate a coherent sentence.

"Issa!" the organizer called out again impatiently. The red head hurried over and grabbed the gun from the man's hand. She steadied herself, then after a momentary pause, her hand shook slightly. Bullets fired, and like Jaune, only a few managed to hit her target. The organizer frowned, then sent her back, but she didn't care. Jason, however, frowned slightly.

"Malone!" his announcer called out. Without saying a word, Jason walked over and grabbed the gun, took aim at his target, and quickly fired his entire magazine. All of his shots landed true on the target's head, and just as quickly as he began, he emptied the gun and handed it back. His group was stunned into silence, but Jason didn't respond as he went back to his previous position.

Just as he did, he received a text across his contacts.

"Evidence found. Probable long-term alliance between Black Mask and Two-Face," Batgirl texted him, alongside Jaune and Pyrrha. Jason bit back a curse. He already knew, from the assortment of Two-Face goons alongside them, that such an alliance was a possibility, but Batgirl's assessment made it suddenly more urgent. They had to figure out a way to stop it, but first, they had to get out. He turned towards his partners' group, only to not see them there. He looked around the room but, to his growing alarm, saw no trace.

"Oh, goddammit…" he cursed, just as the organizer announced the next test.

Jaune personally thought he and Pyrrha were doing a pretty good job blending in. Sure, there were a few hiccups here and there, but nothing they couldn't recover from. Their 'fellow recruits' seemed to buy into their acts, although both of them had to admit that wasn't the greatest benchmark in the world. So, it was a surprise when they were both singled out by their organizer after their tests and told to head to the back of the room, away from the others.

Worry seeped into them. Had Black Mask and Two-Face's men figured out who they really were? None of the criminals around them were paying that much attention to them, more focused on the recruits before them. A few were even taking notes on recruits that caught their eye. That brought some relief to them, but when they reached the end of the room, they were greeted by the same recruiter who brought them all in. A frown was on his face, and both Jaune and Pyrrha tensed.

"You two, with me," he ordered, then began to walk down the hall. Jaune and Pyrrha shared a look, then tepidly followed after him. The sounds of the recruitment drive slowly faded away as they went further and further into the hall, and before long they found themselves outside the main door and in the cool night air. The recruiter looked around for anyone listening in, and when he found none, turned to face both of them.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked in an accusatory tone.

"I…don't understand?" Jaune replied, already thinking of ways to take the man down.

"I thought we were doing well?" Pyrrha admitted, her train of thought running concurrently with Jaune's.

"Don't lie to me," the recruiter shot back, thrusting a finger towards them. "You two… You're not some inner-city kids, are you?"

Jaune and Pyrrha stayed silent, which was apparently all the recruiter needed to hear.

"I thought so. Ever since you, girly, lashed out at me. That screamed 'I don't know what I'm doing.' You two aren't a couple of kids from a poor neighborhood trying to join a gang…"

Jaune and Pyrrha prepared to pounce, clenching their fists tightly.

"... You two are from one of Gotham's good neighborhoods."

Suddenly both heroes-in-training felt the wind taken out of their sails. Realization hit them. The recruiter didn't think they were cops or disguised heroes, just a pair of kids in way over their heads.

"Uh…I don't know what you're saying, dog!" Pyrrha protested, only for the recruiter to shoot her a look.

"Yeah, that right there is what tipped me off. You were trying way too hard to sound like you were from a rough neighborhood."

Pyrrha couldn't help but deflate. Hearing the criticism from her friends was one thing, but to hear from an actual criminal that she was trying too hard was rubbing salt in the wound. Part of Jaune found it humorous, but at the moment he was focused more on navigating them out of this.

"And let's not forget about you, Mr. Goody Two Shoes. Both of you, really. I know you guys can fight, you were dancing circles around the other recruits, but it was too clean. Too orderly, like you didn't really want to hurt them. In this line of work, that's a problem."

Now Jaune and Pyrrha were confused. The recruiter noticed this, then sighed and rubbed his short brown hair.

"Look, I'm gonna level with ya. I don't know your full story, but if I had to guess: the both of you came from nice, stable homes. Mom and dad both together, maybe a few siblings, very lovey-dovey. You two seem like smart kids, good grades in school with plenty of friends. But you felt it was boring. You wanted excitement, and when your friend Malone and his sister told you they were going to join Black Mask, you decided to follow along."

"Um…yes," Jaune admitted, amazed at how close yet wrong the recruiter actually was. He nodded, then stuffed his hands into his coat pocket.

"Thought so. Look, this life… I know movies and tv like to play it up, but it's rough. Real rough. Too rough for kids like you to survive. They'll eat you alive, and I cannot in good conscience let you two throw away your lives like this. Not when you have good futures ahead of you, not like the rest of us. Got it?"

Jaune and Pyrrha looked at each other for a moment, unsure of how to respond. Before they could, however, the recruiter continued.

"Now get outta here," he ordered, turning around to walk back in, mumbling under his breath, "Crazy lovebirds…"

Again, both partners were stunned into silence, although now a faint blush stretched across their faces. The recruiter, his back still turned to them, went back inside the steel mill and locked the doors behind him. Jaune and Pyrrha remained silent, staring at the double doors with an incredulous expression.

"… You know, for a criminal, he was surprisingly nice," Pyrrha noted.

"Yeah…" Jaune nodded, then realized their current predicament. "Ah, crap."

Pyrrha realized it, too, and groaned. "Great… I am so sorry for—"

"Don't apologize," Jaune cut her off, then gestured towards the gate with his head. She caught the signal, then the two of them walked towards it, pushed it open slightly, then walked across the street into a dark alleyway. Once they were alone, Jaune and Pyrrha pressed their fingers to their ears and scaled an old fire escape.

"Oracle, we have a problem," Jaune declared as they went up the building.

"I noticed," Oracle responded. "You two got kicked out."

"We did, unfortunately, but Red Hood and Batgirl are still in there."

"Just Red Hood, actually. Batgirl was able to accomplish her objective and is currently waiting on the roof of the mill for extraction. Red Hood, however…"

"He's undergoing initiation, isn't he?" Jaune guessed with a blank stare just as he and his partner entered the rooftop. They found a small nook where they stashed their costumes, then took them out to change into them.

"Yes. It appears that he played his part a little too well," Oracle muttered. "Not going to let him live this one down…"

"Better than me," Pyrrha murmured under her breath, to which Jaune patted her on the shoulder. They were both garbed in their costumes, their helmets masking their faces completely from the outside world.

"Regardless, we need to get him out of there as soon as possible."

"What about the potential alliance?" Jaune asked.

"Putting one or both in jail would more than suffice."

"Figured. We'll call in once we have a plan," Jaune replied, then closed the comms channel. He saw Pyrrha waiting for him at the edge of the building, and when he joined her, the two of them pulled out their grapple guns and pulled themselves to a large tower on the outer edge of the steel mill. They perched themselves around its upper rim, and upon hearing a flutter of cloth, turned to see Batgirl perched next to them.

"How many guards?" Jaune asked, referring to the snipers he knew were around the complex. Batgirl held up both hands, then closed them both tightly. He and Pyrrha immediately understood what she was telling them and nodded.

"Good job," Pyrrha said, unfolding Miló and resting it against her shoulder. "Now, all we have to do is figure out how to get him out of there."

Jaune hummed, rubbing against the chin of his helmet, then noticed that Batgirl was staring pointedly at Pyrrha. She didn't seem to notice, instead focused on what was before her and allowing Jaune and Batgirl to stare at each other. She gestured her head to the side, bringing Jaune's attention to the words atop the iron gate. He narrowed his eyes behind his helmet, then they widened as he realized what she was implying.

In hindsight, it was so obvious.

"Guardian," Jaune spoke up, catching Pyrrha's attention.

"Yes?" Pyrrha asked, turning her head to look at him.

"We're in a steel mill."

"Yes? How does that…" Pyrrha paused. "Ohhhh."

"Yep. As your team leader, I hereby order you to take your Semblance and go nuts. If you're up to it, of course."

Jaune's tone was joking, which Pyrrha immediately understood. Yet at the same time, she couldn't help but smile, collapse Miló, and crack her knuckles from the issued challenge.

Jason cursed himself under his breath, his mumbling drowned out by the scattered conversations around him. Part of him had expected the mission to go wrong in some way, but he admittedly thought it would be more along the lines of their ruse being found out. Instead, to his chagrin, Jason found that the opposite had occurred. The plan had worked, mostly. From what he could gather, the recruiter who led them in felt Jaune and Pyrrha weren't true gangster material and escorted them out, thus removing them from the equation. No one had yet registered Batgirl's disappearance, on account of her small and quiet stature. Not even their recruiter. No, they weren't the issue.

Instead, Jason found that he had played his part a bit too well. He had passed, apparently with flying colors. Several of the 'judges', for lack of a better word, even congratulated him. It made him sick.

Those who had 'passed' the initiation were being separated from those who had 'failed'. Part of him wondered if the failures were going to be punished or even killed, but instead, they were being accepted into Two-Face's gang. The more he thought about it, the more that made sense. After all, supposedly the two crime lords were trying to build an alliance. Black Mask giving Two-Face his rejects after a recruitment drive would be a gesture of goodwill, while also serving as a reminder who was supposed to be in charge. After all, in the end, Two-Face was left with the scraps while Black Mask got the cream of the crop. That information was something he could use, potentially. Assuming that he managed to get out of this, of course.

"Everyone, quiet down!" one of Two-Face's lieutenants shouted as a double-door swung open. Two-Face and Black Mask strode out, Sionis rubbing down his white suit while Two-Face continued to flip his scarred coin. Jason glared at Black Mask, part of him wishing that he had at least one of his guns on hand to put the bastard down. With Two-Face, however, Jason couldn't find it in himself to view him in the same light. True, both men had done heinous acts over the years of comparable violence, but the difference lied in the men themselves. Harvey Dent, before his attack, was a genuinely good man. An honorable one, who considered himself an ally to both Commissioner Gordon and Jason's father. He even put into jail hundreds of Falcone, Triad, Yakuza and Maroni gangsters. But, in the end, the loss of his fiancé and the severe damage to his face by a Maroni acid attack inside a courthouse broke his sanity, turning him into the broken shell he was today. Jason could only find pity for the man.

Roman Sionis, on the other hand, deserved only contempt in Jason's eyes. The man was perfectly sane, had no real justifications as to why he did what he did. Roman was little more than human scum, and if Jason could, he would like nothing more than to put him in the ground where he belonged.

Jason was reminded of this as Black Mask and Two-Face scanned the room. Behind his mask, Jason knew that a wicked smile was plastered across Sionis' face, while Two-Face altered between a dark and calm expression by the whims of a coin flip. Two-Face continued to flip his coin while Black Mask stepped forward, crossing his arms behind his back.

"Congratulations, all of you," Black Mask started as he began to pace in front of them. "You all made a good choice, coming to me. Coming to us." He gestured towards Two-Face, but even Harvey could understand the message in those words and frowned. "Even if you didn't qualify to be one of my men, rest assured that together, this city will be ours."

Excitement began to build up in the crowd, while Jason began slowly shuffling to the back. It was too tight, however, and he found that he couldn't get very far. He frowned again, looking around the room to find a way out, only to suddenly see words flash across his contacts.

'Get ready,' Pyrrha texted him. In the distance, Jason began to hear the faint grinding of metal, and he couldn't help but let out a knowing smile.

"For too long, men like us have been forced into hiding," Black Mask continued. "Men like us used to rule this city. Falcone, Maroni, Bertinelli and many more. We had the press, we had the politicians, and we had the police. No one could touch us, and we were unstoppable. Until he showed up. The Batman."

The crowd booed, which Black Mask clearly appreciated. "Yes, we've all dealt with him one time or another. How many friends and family of ours has he thrown into prison? What's even worse is that, ever since the Batman appeared, others like him started showing up. People like Scarecrow, Clayface, Killer Croc, and the Joker! Well, my friends, that ends tonight!"

The crowd erupted into applause, and rather than stop it Black Mask talked over the noise. At the same time, more grinding could be heard, this time a bit louder. "Starting tonight, all of us, both Sionis and Dent, will work to take our city back! We'll rip the floor out from underneath the Penguin, put down the Joker, and kill the Batman! Along with anyone else who even thinks of standing in our way!"

If the applause was loud before, it was thunderous now. The crowd was up and moving, which incidentally created enough space for Jason to weave his way to the back of the room. His attention was focused squarely on Black Mask, who continued to give a 'speech' about the great and terrible things they were about to inflict onto Gotham City. Another frown crossed his face, but he calmed himself by leaning against a back wall and began counting down.

"Five…four…three…" Some men near Jason finally began to notice his location and started to turn in confusion, but he didn't care as the grinding now became thunderous enough to catch everyone's attention. "Two…"

"What the hell is that noise?" Black Mask complained, but Two-Face's eyes widened.

"One."

At once, the room erupted into chaos as large metal pipes, each several tons in weight, were hurled from the outside and through the room, finally stopping against the opposite wall. Criminals dived out of the way, but some were unfortunate enough to be struck by chunks of debris and knocked to the ground with enough force to knock them out. None were crushed, although a few were injured. As Jason whisked out of the building, he couldn't help but marvel at Pyrrha's accuracy.

"We're under attack!" he heard someone shout.

"By who?!" another responded. Then, as though in response, Jason jaw the Batmobile plow through the iron gate and skid to a stop in front of the hole.

"It's the freakin' Bat!" scores of criminals responded just the Batmobile began to fire rubber slugs into the meeting room. A few criminals were hit, knocking several of them down while forcing the rest to scatter, allowing Jason to move behind the vehicle and access its storage compartment.

"Took you long enough!" Red Hood said as he pulled out his costume and began to change into it.

"Says the man who almost joined a gang!" Jaune responded as he hopped out of the Batmobile just as Pyrrha lifted a metal truck and hurled it in front of the front doors of the steel mill. A quick glance told Jason that Pyrrha had done the same to many of the smaller doors scattered around, leaving only the large gaping hole she had created just before.

"We're good!" she announced, pulling out Miló and peppering the recovering criminals with rubber bullets. Jason, meanwhile, pulled out both of his pistols and began firing akimbo into the crowd.

"Oracle, dispatch GCPD to our location! Sionis Industries!" Red Hood announced as he continued firing. As more criminals went down, he reloaded and began to advance. By now, he had switched out the rubber bullets with actual, and he didn't really care if his partners objected. Besides, he had a target to take out and now was as good a time as any.

"Dammit!" Black Mask cursed as he crouched behind cover. Everything had gone to hell. Many of his men and recruits were already down, the Batmobile was firing heavy slugs at anyone who even thought about poking their heads out, and a lady dressed like a futuristic Spartan was firing a rifle alongside Red Hood.

"Boss, we can't get out!" one of his men shouted as they repeatedly tried to open the door, only find a car barring the way.

"This way, too!" another shouted, this one from Two-Face's gang. Under his mask, Sionis snarled. Two-Face, on the other hand, remained calm even as he crouched behind cover. One of his men had handed him an assault rifle with an underslung grenade launcher, but he wasn't keen on firing it just yet.

"How did they get here so fast?!" Black Mask demanded to know, not caring who answered him. To his annoyance, Two-Face decided to do so.

"It appears that you may have had a rat," Two-Face accused in a scratchy voice, pointedly staring at the crime lord.

"What? Are you saying that-?"

"I'm saying that someone snuck in during your recruitment," Two-Face clarified as he loaded a grenade into his grenade launcher. "It was a smart move. Something I would've done."

Black Mask stared at Two-Face for a few moments, then slowly realized that he was right. Someone, he didn't know who, had snuck inside and alerted these heroes about what they were doing? But how? They'd kept everything sealed tight. There was no way any of this should have leaked. Unless…

"You," Black Mask growled at Two-Face, who stared impassively towards him. "You led them right to us, didn't you?"

"Me? No," Two-Face denied, but Black Mask wasn't buying.

"Don't you lie to me!" he shouted, pointing his gun at his face. Again, Two-Face stared at him passively, completely unimpressed.

"Are you threatening me, Sionis?" Two-Face asked, taking out his coin and holding it in one hand while holding onto his rifle's grip with the other.

"What kinda question is that?" Black Mask snarled. "Here you stand, in my turf as my guest, and you repay me by selling me out!?"

Black Mask pulled back the hammer of his gun and pressed it against the vertical seam on Dent's forehead. Again, Dent said nothing, instead flipping the coin into the air. Annoyed, Black Mask caught it in mid-air, preventing it from falling into Dent's awaiting hand.

"Enough of that shit, you sunova-!"

Two-Face fired his rifle into Black Mask's gut. Several high-caliber rounds tore through his body, and Sionis felt a sharp pain. In a daze, Black Mask fell the ground, futilely clutching at the holes and releasing his grip on both his gun and the silver coin, which landed scarred-side up.

"I didn't sell you out, Sionis," Two-Face said as he picked the coin off the ground. Black Mask's breathing became shallow, and more of Two-Face's men began to join him. "But it's obvious you can't be trusted. No deal."

With that, Two-Face turned around and aimed his rifle at the opposite wall, then fired his grenade launcher. A hole was blasted through to the other side, leading straight to the Gotham River.

"Boss, what do we do?" one his lieutenants asked. In response, Two-Face flipped his coin again, then held the scarred side up to his face.

"We're leaving," he announced, turning around to face the scattered survivors. "Anyone who wants to join, feel free."

"But boss! The Batmobile!" one of Black Mask's recruits pointed out, having quickly made his decision about who his allegiance belonged to. Two-Face nodded at this, then gestured towards a group of Black Mask's men.

"You," he pointed to all of them. "I know for a fact that Sionis has something out back that can cover us. I want you to release it."

"I…" one of them muttered, only for another Batmobile shot to send a brave criminal flying back into a wall. Two-Face raised an eyebrow in response, then the men nodded quickly.

"You got it, boss!" they declared, then sprinted out of the newly opened hole. Two-Face watched them go, then loaded another grenade into his rifle.

"Everyone else!" he shouted as he fired the grenade into the Batmobile, "either pile out or grab a gun! You make it out of here, you're in. Got it?"

"Yessir!" the criminals shouted. A few of Black Mask's more loyal men were already being beaten down by Two-Face's, leaving only the men and women willing to work for him. Two-Face didn't really care, but more men in his gang was always a good thing. Now he just had to get out, but if his hunch was right, Sionis had just the thing to do it.

Two-Face then felt a limp hand grasp his ankle, and he looked down to see a bloodied Black Mask glaring up at him.

"Damn…you…" he said before going still. Two-Face said nothing, then flipped a coin. He watched it twirl in the air, ascending up then falling back down into his hand. When he opened it, he was greeted by the sight of a pristine silver dollar, and Two-Face made his decision.

"Someone get me a med-kit."

"Oh God, oh God, oh God!" one of the criminals muttered as he ran through the steel mill, dodging a thrown Batarang as Batgirl chased after him. There were five of them originally, now whittled down to two. She had been on them almost instantly, taking down the first two in just a few seconds. The worst part, in his opinion, was that he couldn't even try to fight back. Both because he knew they had no chance to take her down but also because everyone else's fate depended on at least one of them reaching their objective. Part of him felt it was heroic, but he knew better.

"Jules, go!" his comrade shouted as he stopped and ripped a pipe from its foundation. Jules didn't even look back as he sprinted past a steel column beam. He heard struggle behind him, then a shrill scream and the crack of bone. He forced himself not to look, instead rounding a corner and heading straight towards the chained-up shipping container. Funny how just an hour before he was here dumping a fresh body, but now he had to get something out of it. Jules unlocked the crate, throwing aside the chains and preparing to open it, then felt something wrap around his leg.

"Oh, shi-!" he started, then a fierce tug pulled him back screaming into the darkness behind him. He felt small fists rain down on his head, then everything went black.

Batgirl frowned as she put down the last of the runners. She had seen everything from her perch, and she had been both surprised and not surprised. Black Mask accusing Two-Face of treachery wasn't out of character for him, given his selfish and violent nature, but Two-Face outright shooting him and subsequently taking control of his gang wasn't something she expected. Looking back, perhaps Dent had planned for this possibility? Despite having lost his sanity years ago, Dent still held the sharp mind he once used as Gotham's district attorney, so it was a distinct possibility.

She then looked at the now opened crate. The men she had been chasing had been so intent on reaching it, but why? Batgirl thought back to when she saw the very same men dump a few bodies inside, and a deep curiosity filled her. Slowly, with the sounds of battle coming from behind her, she went towards the crate and fully opened it.

The smell was what hit her first. It was revolting, a stench of death and decay. Dozens of bodies were crowded into the container, some quite fresh while others were weeks old. Flies buzzed around the corpses, and Batgirl had to force herself not to gag. But what she was most interested in was the large corpse chained to the back. Unlike the others, who were either slumped over or dumped into piles, this one was chained up in a way that made it rest on its two feet. Hooks dug into its flesh, yet there were no signs of dried blood on them. Dozens of knives, cleavers, blades and even bits of rebar poked out of its back, several of which were rusted. Dark, moldy and tattered clothes covered his chest and legs, and stark-white tuffs of hair rested atop his head. His face was looking down, dead to the world, but Batgirl couldn't quite get a good look at him.

But he did look familiar. More familiar by the second, and with wide eyes she began to back away. When she took a step, however, the body twitched, and she froze in response. A low, guttural growling began to escape the corpse's throat, and the arms twitched to life and struggled against the chains.

"Solomon Grundy…" he began as the chains stretched. "Born on a Monday."

The chain on his legs snapped, allowing him to step forward as Batgirl stepped back again, now holding a Batarang in her hand.

"Christened on a Tuesday."

The chain attached to his left arm snapped first, followed shortly by the right. The corpse then reached out and grabbed hold of the chains crossing his chest and neck, then with a mighty pull broke them in half. His head remained down, then he shot it up to glare his grey eyes into hers.

"Married on a Wednesday!"

With that final shout, Solomon Grundy charged, barreling through the steel shipping container as though it was tissue paper.

When Jaune had heard the explosion coming from the back of the room the criminals were cowering in, he had immediately raced around the building in an attempt to head them off. Although he only had his shield with him, it was thus far proving to be enough as he battered aside another with a sideways swing.

"Just surrender!" he offered, ducking underneath a thrown punch and responding with a shield-bash. Another came at him with a metal pipe, which Jaune caught easily. Jaune headbutted the man, then took the pipe and twirled it in his hands.

"Seriously, you're just making this worse for yourselves," he noted, but the men around him didn't care. Several charged, which Jaune ran into. As he fended them off with punches, kicks, swipes, and bashes, he couldn't help but note that, had he done this less than a year ago, he would have been the one who'd gotten his butt kicked. Now he was the one dishing out the pain, and he had to admit it felt good to contribute.

He heard a whiz, and barely thrust his arm in front of him in time to stop the grenade as it exploded against his shield. The blast sent him flying back into a nearby steel support beam, denting it slightly. Jaune shot up to his feet and saw Two-Face standing in front of him with his assault rifle held at the waist.

"Well, if it ain't a little White Knight," Two-Face noted, loading another grenade into his rifle. Behind him, more men made a break for it, most being cut down by Pyrrha, Red Hood, or the autonomous Batmobile, but a few managed to clear out.

"So, you must be Two-Face. Gotta say, I can see why," Jaune noted with bravado, settling into a familiar stance. He knew who the man before him was, what exactly had befallen him, but right now Jaune had a job to do.

"You know," Two-Face continued, "I used to be called that. 'The White Knight of Gotham.' Back when I fought for the law. Back before the world turned its back on me."

"Spare me the sob story," Jaune interrupted the criminal's spiel.

Two-Face frowned, then shrugged. "Have it your way."

Another grenade was fired, but this time Jaune was ready. He bashed it aside with his shield, the grenade careening wildly and striking against a gasoline tanker without exploding. Jaune seized his chance and charged towards Harvey, who decided against loading another grenade and instead began firing his fully-automatic rifle into his opponent. Jaune blocked the rounds with his shield, then swung his metal pipe towards Dent.

Two-Face managed to swivel out of the way, hitting the butt of his gun into Jaune's back and sending the White Knight stumbling forward. He took the chance to fire a few rounds into Jaune's armored back, who dove out of the way and behind a parked car. Two-Face frowned, then calmly walked around the car while loading a fresh grenade.

"A word of advice kid. This town, this world, it chews up people like you. People who just want to make a difference, make things better," Two-Face ranted. "I fought for law and justice for years and look where that got me. Best quit while you're ahead."

"You don't mean that!" Jaune shouted as he braced his shoulder against the chassis, hoping to talk him down. "I know you still believe in the law!"

"Part of me does," Harvey admitted, then pulled out his coin and flipped it. When it landed, he snarled. "But the rest only believes in chance!"

Just before Harvey rounded the corner, Jaune struck. He heaved against the side of the vehicle, sending it skidding into a gobsmacked Two-Face and slamming him off his feet into a crumpled pile. Jaune hastily jumped onto his back, pinning his legs to the ground and holding both wrists together as a few leaks emerged from the tanker.

"It's over, Two-Face," Jaune said.

From the heavily scarred side of his face, Two-Face snarled at Jaune. He struggled, trying to break free, but the former huntsman-in-training's grip was too strong. Two-Face seemed to acknowledge this, then they both heard a bang. Several bangs and thuds, coming from the water's edge. Both men turned their attention towards it, then saw Batgirl running for dear life from a large, hulking mass.

"What the hell is that?" Jaune asked, stupefied, while Two-Face looked on in surprise. He had to admit, the didn't think Sionis had him.

When Batgirl ran past a parked car, she jumped and twirled to throw a trio of explosive Batarangs into it. When the monster drew close, the Batarangs exploded, engulfing the creature in a fireball. But, to Jaune's surprise, it merely strode out of the fire completely unimpeded, ignoring the charred flesh the blast created. Then, with a snarl, it picked up the still burning car effortlessly and hurled it towards Batgirl, who had just managed to make it to Jaune and Two-Face.

"Move!" Jaune shouted, grabbing hold of Two-Face and diving out of the way just as the burning car slammed onto the ground like a meteor where they just were. Jaune stumbled as he tried to maintain balance, but in doing so released his hold on Two-Face, who immediately ripped the pipe from his hands and slammed it across the back of Jaune's head.

"Gagh!" Jaune grunted, not expecting the attack. He moved to retaliate, only to see a pair of headlights speeding right towards him and through the hole in the brick wall. Jaune dove out of the way as a large garbage collector skidded to a halt past where Jaune stood, and Two-Face promptly swung onto the passenger side of the cab and motioned for the driver to get out of there.

"No!" Jaune shouted as he futilely tried to stop the escaping criminal, but the creature was on him again. Jaune dived to the side as a chunk of concrete shattered against the ground, allowing Two-Face the opportunity to drive off into the night. "Dammit!"

"What happened?!" Red Hood shouted into the radio as Jaune ran from the monstrosity and Batgirl threw more and more explosive Batarangs into it to no effect.

"A big freaking zombie happened!" Jaune answered, prepping an ice-grenade and throwing it into the zombie. "Two-Face got away!"

"Dammit!" Red Hood cursed. Jaune looked back at the zombie, watching as the ice-grenade exploded across its chest, a coat of ice engulfing its frame and freezing it solid. For a moment, he thought that was enough, only for the ice to shatter as the creature broke free.

"Aaagh! White Knight hurt Solomon Grundy! Solomon Grundy hurt White Knight!" the zombie shouted just as Red Hood entered through the broken hole. He took one look at the monster, then immediately fired both of his pistols into its head.

"Shit! It's Solomon Grundy!" Red Hood shouted as he fired again and again.

"Yeah, I figured!" Jaune shouted, diving out of the way as Solomon slammed both of his clasped fists into the ground, forming a small crater. He prepared to attack again, only for Pyrrha to suddenly lift a car with her Semblance and hurl it into Solomon Grundy. The zombie skidded back, digging in his heels and leaning back, but he was able to maintain his balance. He glared at Pyrrha, then hurled the car back towards her. She swiped it aside with her Semblance, breathing heavily under the strain of using it so heavily earlier, and barely dove out of the way as Solomon Grundy ignored all attacks on him and slammed into the wall she had just previously been in front of.

"How do we take this guy down?!" Pyrrha asked, shifting Miló into its sword configuration.

"You need to take out the heart!" Oracle answered.

"How do we do that?!" Jaune asked, only for Solomon to charge towards him. He tried to dive out of the way, but Solomon sidestepped towards him and drove his large fist into Jaune's body. Despite his rather large Aura reserves, Jaune felt as though he was hit by a truck and had the air forced out of his lungs. He flew back, striking against the fuel tanker. He rebounded, landing in the puddle of gasoline in a groan.

"…uggh," he groaned, and in an instant, he felt Pyrrha upon him. She lifted him to his feet while Batgirl and Red Hood threw explosives onto the zombie, and Pyrrha took the opportunity to take him to safety.

"Oracle, bring the Batmobile over here!" Pyrrha requested.

"On it!" Oracle replied. From the other side of the steel mill, they heard the Batmobile's engine roar to life and charge through the building. One criminal who had managed to escape the original onslaught was grazed by the speeding car, only to feel intense electricity course through his body and send him flying back into a metal railing, knocking him out. The Batmobile plowed into Solomon Grundy, carrying him into a brick wall and embedding him into it. It then backed up, leaving Grundy behind who remained still.

"Think that did it?" Jaune asked, hoping for a positive answer. Instead, Solomon Grundy twitched and began to tear his way out of the wall. "Of course not."

"You really need to stop asking questions you already know the answer to," Red Hood noted while reloading his guns.

"Yeah, I know, but still." Jaune sighed, then pressed his fingers to the side of his helmet. "Oracle, blast that thing!"

"With pleasure," Oracle said, then fired the main cannon into Grundy's chest. The zombie roared in pain, and they saw part of his massive chest cave in. But it wasn't enough, and Grundy tore his way out of the wall and roared again.

"Oh, come on!" Oracle shouted into the radio as she backed the Batmobile up and fired again. The heavy shell cracked Grundy's ribs, but he kept going. She fired another round, but it wasn't enough to stop Grundy as he moved to the side and lifted the Batmobile up off the ground. He flipped it onto its side, where it skidded a few feet before finally resting.

"Ah, crap," Jaune muttered as Grundy finally acknowledged their presence. He roared yet again, then charged the four heroes as they pulled out their grappling hooks and zipped away, leaving him behind.

"I really thought that was going to work," Red Hood admitted, then Batgirl pointed to Grundy's chest. Despite him whirling around like a wounded animal, Jaune could see some of the exposed ribs, as could Red Hood and Pyrrha.

"You're right, it created enough of an opening," Pyrrha stated, resting on one knee.

"One problem," Jason pointed out, "the rib cage is still there, even if its heavily damaged. None of our weapons are strong enough to penetrate."

"Gods, what I wouldn't give to have Yang or Nora here right now," Jaune muttered under his breath as he tried to find a way to break through. Then, he spotted the still leaking fuel tanker, and off to the side, he saw Two-Face's discarded assault rifle. Pyrrha knew the look Jaune was giving underneath his helmet and patiently waited for him to speak. Then, with his hastily made plan finalized, he turned to face his comrades.

"I have an idea," Jaune stated, and Red Hood and Batgirl looked at him.

"Don't leave us in suspense," Red Hood replied, and Jaune nodded then pointed at the tanker. They followed his finger towards the tanker, then at once understood exactly what he was going for.

"Got it," Red Hood acknowledged, pulling out his pistols and zipping himself down towards Solomon Grundy. Batgirl joined him, gliding down to the ground while throwing some explosive Batarangs into the fuel tanker. They blinked ominously, while Jaune and Pyrrha remained on top.

"Go," Jaune ordered, gesturing with his head towards Two-Face's gun. In knowing response, Pyrrha nodded and jumped down, gracefully landing with a roll. At the top of her roll, she threw Miló like a spear, embedding it into Grundy's shoulder and causing him to roar in pain.

As Red Hood fired his explosive rounds into Grundy's chest, Batgirl threw heavy bolos around his arms and legs. The thick wires forced him to stand up rigidly, but the zombie quickly began to tear himself free. Pyrrha, refusing to let that happen, pulled Miló from his shoulder and leaped into his head shield-first, knocking him back closer to the leaking tanker.

"Gagh! Stupid Red Knight!" Grundy cursed and tried to swipe Pyrrha off of him. She slashed at his hands with Miló, forcing them back as he grunted in pain. She then shifted her sword into its gun configuration, aimed at his chest, and then pulled the trigger repeatedly as fast as she could. The heavy rounds burrowed into his chest, and he roared as he tried to break her off, but she leaped off herself rather than risk injury.

Jaune, meanwhile, raced towards Two-Face's gun. He picked it up after quick-stepping to a stop, then checked both the magazine and the under barrel. Both were filled, although the magazine felt light. He wasn't even going to guess how many rounds were left, but he didn't care about that. Instead, he aimed towards Solomon Grundy, his HUD automatically adjusting to show the arc of his shot. Grundy was closer to the tank now, but not close enough. He frowned, then pressed his finger against the grenade launcher's trigger.

"Guys, move!" he shouted. Without even taking a glance, Red Hood, Batgirl, and Pyrrha dove out of the way, allowing Jaune the chance to fire the grenade into Grundy's chest. The subsequent explosion sent him stumbling back, and Pyrrha took the chance to throw Akoúo̱ into his head to increase his stumbling. Then, all three ran for cover just as Solomon Grundy's back contacted the tanker.

With a beep, all three explosive Batarangs went off, igniting the fuel and causing a large explosion. Glass shattered as a small shockwave ripped through the steel mill. Grundy was consumed by the intense fireball, while the four heroes remained low to the ground as the shockwave passed over them. The crackle of fire filled the air and smoke billowed upward into the atmosphere, and off in the distance they heard sirens speeding towards them. In addition, they saw an airship turn towards the steel mill, apparently finished with what Ruby was having them do earlier.

Red Hood breathed heavily, then stood up and faced the destroyed tanker. He stared into it for a few moments, silently daring Solomon Grundy to come out.

"Oh, come on. What does it take to kill this guy?" Red Hood cursed as a heavily damaged Solomon Grundy stumbled out of the fire. Chunks of flesh were missing, exposing the bone and rotted organs underneath his grey skin. The flesh around his ribs was completely gone, exposing his shattered ribcage and beating heart. He stared at them for a few moments, then took a step forward.

"Took ill on a Thursday," he mumbled, each step more laborious than the last. "Grew worse…on Friday. Died…on Saturday. Buried on…Sunday. That was the end, of Solomon Grundy."

He stopped before them now, not doing anything. Solomon Grundy wasn't angry anymore, just a picture of calm acceptance. He was looking at them in a resigned, pleading expression, and at once understanding flowed through the four heroes. They knew what he was asking.

He wanted them to end it. None of them knew how to respond, but finally Pyrrha took in a deep breath and walked up to him. Solomon Grundy looked down on Pyrrha, the strength in his legs finally giving way and bringing him to his knees. They stared into each other's eyes, and Pyrrha gulped.

"… I'm sorry," she apologized, then thrust Miló into his beating heart. Grundy gasped in pain, then stilled. A peaceful smile crossed what was left of his face, then he slumped over to the side. His heart stopped, and Solomon Grundy died. Again. Gently, Pyrrha slid her weapon out, noticing that there wasn't any blood on its blade.

"Come on," Red Hood gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "Let's go secure these guys."

Silently, the three heroes nodded. Batgirl took a few more moments to stare at Grundy's body. Throughout the entire fight, she was able to read what his body was saying. Grundy was in pain the entire time, lashing out like a wounded animal. He only managed to calm down at the end, and to see the zombie not only calmly accept his death but request it was heartbreaking. The only consolation was that he wasn't in pain when he finally went, plus a bit of hope that this time would be the last.

Part of her knew it wouldn't, and she knew Grundy knew that, too. Quietly, she called the Batwing over, watching it descend beneath the clouds, hover over Grundy's body, then take it away for safekeeping. She might not be able to prevent his unending cycle, but they could at least make sure he woke up in a safe and sound environment.

"Uh, guys? You need to come see this," Jaune called out, breaking Batgirl's attention away from Grundy's corpse. She jogged over to Jaune, as did Red Hood and Pyrrha. They were looking down at Jaune's feet, and when she finally saw what everyone was looking at, she silently gasped.

There, rested against the wall, was the barely breathing body of Roman Sionis. From behind his mask and through labored breaths, he was glaring at them. In one hand, he clutched a chrome pistol, his arm shaking as he tried to lift it up but found himself unable to do so. His other hand was clutching tightly against a hastily applied and makeshift tourniquet. Lying next to his body was an opened med kit, recently used. He was in obvious pain, and what little skin they could see was rapidly losing its color.

Black Mask was bleeding out. How much time he had, they didn't know.

"Good riddance," Red Hood spat as he holstered his guns and turned to walk away. Pyrrha, Jaune, and Batgirl looked at him in shock. Was he seriously just going to leave him to die? Sure, Black Mask was a notorious and bloodthirsty gangster, but there was a difference between killing a man in self-defense versus leaving him to die. The three heroes looked at each other then back at a hateful Black Mask, then with a frown all came to the same conclusion.

"Help me patch him up," Pyrrha said, and both Jaune and Batgirl nodded as they disarmed Black Mask and began to apply first aid.

"So, Two-Face shot him?" Red Hood asked as they huddled together on a nearby rooftop, and Batgirl nodded. Below, several squad cars swarmed the steel mill as a GCPD airship shined a spotlight on the structure as the arrested criminals were being placed into armored cars. Various weapons, including Two-Face's gun, were being sorted into evidence piles. All in all, they managed to nab over a hundred criminals, but the fact that Two-Face escaped along with thirty men meant the mission wasn't a complete success.

Mostly the part about Two-Face escaping. As far as Red Hood was concerned, Roman bleeding out was merely karmic comeuppance. At least it would have been, had his partners not decided to save him in time. Now Black Mask was being carted off to one of Gotham's many hospitals. He would have preferred it to have been to a morgue.

"So, what's our next move?" Pyrrha asked.

"I need to organize the information Batgirl gathered and combine it with what Dragon managed to pry from the Penguin. Speaking of, he's arrested. Along with Bane," Oracle revealed, and Red Hood whistled.

"Damn, they took down Penguin and Bane? Musta been a hell of a fight," Red Hood stated.

"Indeed, although I couldn't see most of it. Regardless, head on back to the Batcave. We got what we needed."

"What about the disappearances in Robinson Park?" Pyrrha asked, Red Hood having told them after the fight.

"Still looking through it, but Red Hood was right. There has been a spike in disappearances in the area. Mostly men, ages 18 to 40 working on Gotham's industrial sector. I've already informed Batman."

"Keep looking into it. I don't like this," Red Hood requested.

"Neither do I. I'll see you at the cave."

"Understood. We'll see you there," Jaune replied, then signed off. The rest of his group signed off as well, then stood up and prepared to jump down into the alleyway below to the waiting Batmobile.

"I'll drive," Red Hood declared as he jumped off first, slowing himself down with his grappling gun. Batgirl came shortly after him, her cape acting as a parachute. Pyrrha prepared to jump down but then felt Jaune place his hand on her shoulder.

"Wait, before we go down there," he started, bringing Pyrrha's attention towards him, "we got…interrupted before."

"What are you… Oh," Pyrrha realized what he was referring to, and underneath her helmet, a crimson blush stretched across her face. "Okay. What…do you want to talk about?"

Jaune sighed, then sat down. "Pyrrha, look. Ever since the…lasso incident, I've been thinking about, well, everything. Everything between us, and I still don't how I feel. I care about you, strongly."

"As do I," Pyrrha responded earnestly. "Look, Jaune, I don't want to—"

"Pyrrha, please," he begged, and Pyrrha silenced herself. He sighed, then stood up once again. "As I said, I don't know what my feelings really are. You are my best friend, and nothing means more to me than that."

"Same," Pyrrha said, beginning to figure out where he was going with this, and her heart rate began to quicken.

"But, even if it scares me," he admitted, then grabbed her hand with his, "even if it's just for one night…I'm willing to try."

Pyrrha blinked her eyes, then fully acknowledged what Jaune had just said. Her blush deepened, and she gulped.

"Right… So am I- I mean, I would like to try. Just one date, obviously."

"Of course, just one! Just to…try and see if it works and now I realize how callous that sounds," Jaune berated himself, only stopping once Pyrrha chuckled.

"It's okay, I understood what you meant," she giggled, then grabbed his other hand. "Jaune Arc, I would love to go on a single date with you. And if it doesn't work out, we'll still be friends, and nothing would make me happier."

Jaune took a moment, then grabbed Pyrrha's hand tightly. "So would I."

Far below them, on the alleyway below, a different struggle was occurring as Cassandra was wrestling Jason to the ground, preventing him from spying on what in her mind constituted a heartwarming moment between two good friends. He struggled, but despite both the weight and age difference, Cassandra wouldn't budge from pinning him to the ground.

"Cass, get off me!" he mumbled into the Batmobile's seat, but Cassandra shook her head. If she could help it, nothing was going to break this moment apart.

He ran through the bushes as fast as he could. He was outside taking a smoke break when the Batmobile plowed through the iron gate, and he didn't have to take long before he hightailed it out of Sionis Industries. Judging by the gunshots, explosions, and sirens that followed, he made the right choice. Part of him hoped that the two kids he escorted out managed to get away before everything went to hell. Same with the younger sister to Malone, although Malone himself was likely caught up in the ensuing crossfire. The man seemed like hardened criminal material.

Pain began to burn in his legs, and he forced himself to stop and catch his breath. Sweat dripped down his forehead, and his heartbeat thundered in his ears. As his breath stabilized, he took a moment to take a look around his environment.

"Robinson Park…" he noted, recognizing the park easily. He had recruited many an individual for many gangs over the years. Sionis was only a recent gig, one he took because he paid well. Couldn't stand the man, though. He was a violent psychopath.

"Uggh, great. Now I'm out of a job again," he muttered under his breath, figuring that Roman was arrested. That aspect of the job wasn't something he particularly liked, but one he had grown accustomed to. Many of his bosses were taken down before, either by the police, another crime lord, or more often than not the Batman. Still, he had contacts and connections, so he wasn't too worried. Part of him wondered if he should try going legit, do recruiting for actual business, but threw that aside. No self-respecting business would hire him, so he figured why bother?

He pulled out his phone, preparing to call a friend of his for a lift, only to hear a ruffle in the leaves. He whipped around, pulling out a pistol and aiming towards the sound.

"Who's there?!" he shouted, the gun twitching in his hand. There were no streetlights around, only the faint light of the moon. Otherwise, it was pitch black. He could barely even see a few feet in front of him. Then, he began to see a lone figure striding towards him, and he aimed his gun straight towards it.

"Stop right there!" he ordered, backing up slightly.

"My, my," a silky, female voice called out. "What's a big, strong man like yourself doing all alone out here?"

"I'm warning you! Stay back!" he responded, clicking the safety off his gun as he recognized her voice.

"Are you afraid of me?" she asked. "I don't bite."

"Lady, I don't really care, so back off!" he shouted. Only then did the woman stop. The man took a few more steps back, yet he was able to see more distinct features. The hints of long red hair, a tall slender figure, and brilliant green eyes.

"I'm sorry, truly. I didn't mean to scare you," she cooed in a soft voice as a strange smell began to fill the air. "It's just, I like to take midnight nature walks, you see, so I was surprised to see you here. I don't usually have company."

"Is…that so?" he replied, finding it harder to think. He was transfixed onto the woman before him, who was smiling warmly with her lush, vibrant lips.

"It gets lonely at times, actually," she continued, stepping closer to him and sashaying her hips. Under the moonlight, the leafy green dress became exposed, as did her perfect white skin. "Would you like to accompany me tonight?"

He wanted to say no. He truly did but found himself unable to. Instead, with his mind fogged and in a trance, he nodded. The woman before him smiled, then hooked her arms around his shoulders and kissed him fully on the lips. Then, his mind was gone.

"That's a good boy," Poison Ivy said as she began to lead her latest servant further into the park. "Now, darling, do you have any friends? I would just love to meet them."

[~][~]

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the latest chapter of Hunters of Justice! Lot of really interesting stuff happened here, stuff I think you all will really enjoy! Let us know what you guys think below.

Now, onto the Q&A:

Spectrearist: No, no he could not. At least, not this time. Next time, if there is one, might be a bit different.

Guest: That's a complicated question that would be better served when we go to Atlantis. Long story short, Faunus is much more random while Atlantean, through all the various forms, are adapted to survive different undersea environments.

kuriboh1233: Glad you enjoyed it! Yep, Yang's Semblance came in clutch for her during that bout.

RandomName3064: I can see your viewpoint, but I personally don't see Raven that way. I see Raven as ultimately a self-centered coward who deludes herself and others with false perceptions of strength, and will fold when that truth gets revealed. Anyway, I'm glad you liked the chapter so much. And yes, I do think the Yang vs Bane fight was among my best so far.

Croniklerx: Remember, though, this is a Batfamily who's been together for years at this point. Many of the issues they faced they'd already worked out on their own, with the occasional flare up. In addition, I'm not showing you everything that's been going on. Only bits and pieces. Several days passed during the pre-night in Gotham chapters, during which point Damian did act like a little shit at times. Given how he was in a mission during the RWD chapter, it didn't feel right to have him be needlessly combative. As for the feelings of the chapters being 'filler', I genuinely don't agree with that. I don't believe in filler chapters. What these chapters are doing are building up to an overarching threat that will take center stage during the next major arc of the story. You can view the Gotham Arc as a bridge of sorts. If I don't have that bridge and just jump straight in, it would come out of place and people would be confused. Plus, having RWBYJNPR face off against some iconic Batman villains is really appealing to me. One of the reasons why I did this crossover in the first place was to have RWBYJNPR interact with the wider DC Universe. That includes the non-physically challenging villains, like the Riddler. Also, this was the first time the Batman villains faced off against RWBYJNPR and Aura-users. They aren't that used to fighting superpowered beings. Next time, though, they would be much more prepared, and thus more dangerous.

meeyaaargh3412: Yep, Bane won't forget that. Should he face her again, he'll be much more dangerous. And yeah, the Blake/Catwoman dynamic is a fun one I intend to explore more in the future.

trickster3696: I can't delve into that, unfortunately. You know, spoilers.

Ultrasonic215: Oh, I intend to explore Deathstroke quite a bit. He's one of the few relatively unpowered beings on Earth who can solo members of RWBYJNPR, and he'll be a major threat for them to face.

Unsettling-A.I.R: Yep, Yang wrecked the place. But it belonged to bad people, so who cares? I'm glad you caught the obscure Catwoman reference! We wanted to fill this place with some neat callbacks ot the DC Universe, plus it was a nice way to incorporate a canon pseudonym for Catwoman to sneak in. As for Arkham, you'll have to wait and see what I have planned for it. Arkham Asylum is an infamous place in the Batman mythos, one I can't wait to explore. As for Jaune and a gun, you'll see that it was directly addressed by Jason. Whether or not he will, however, will be revealed in due time.

I Am The Prophet: Backup weapon/trophy. Also, the person you were wondering if I were to introduce Cinder to was cut off. I do have plans with her, though. You'll just have to wait and see what they are.

Steelrain66: I intend to explore all facets of the DC Universe, and that includes the myriad rogues galleries it has. Trust me, I don't intend to overload on the Batman/Superman villains. That would limit me, and I don't want to limit what this story can tell.

That's it for today. Hope you guys enjoy and let us know what you think!