Hunters of Justice (RWBY/DC)
Chapter 30: Shattered Truths
November 14th, 8:00 P.M. (Pacific Standard Time)
Jump City, California, United States of America
"So, by pressing this button, you accelerate the kart forward," Garfield explained to Raven as they sat on the couch together.
"I know how to play Mario Kart, Garfield," Raven said just as she drove Bowser off the iceberg she was driving on and into the icy water below. "…Ice makes poor racetracks."
"Sure…" Garfield replied, grinning from ear to as Raven huffed in embarrassment.
"Remind me why I'm playing this?" she asked, eager to change the subject. But unfortunately for her, Garfield had an answer immediately.
"Because you made me read 1984, then I gave a detailed analysis on why I thought INGSOC were lying their asses off and were actually more like North Korea and not some global nuclear superpower. You offered to play Mario Kart with me if I did that."
Raven blinked, then sighed and hung her head slightly while continuing to race Bowser through Sherbet Land.
"That was impressive," Raven admitted under her breath, causing her boyfriend to laugh and wrap his arm around her shoulder.
"I know. Sometimes I impress myself," he haughtily declared, then pointed at the screen. "Watch out for those-and you hit the penguins."
"Grrgh…" Raven growled, clutching her controller tightly, watching as Mario, Luigi, and other residents of the Mushroom Kingdom drove by. Garfield smiled as Raven corrected her position and continued driving, just happy that his girlfriend was at least trying to enjoy his interests. He could even see that, deep down, she was enjoying herself.
"Yo, BB, Rae," Victor called out from Dick's kitchen, huddling over the stove. "Almost done with your burgers. And don't worry, BB, yours is black bean. What anything on them?"
"I'm good, thanks," Garfield replied.
"Same here," Raven added, focusing entirely as her kart entered the final lap. Although she might normally consider herself to be above these childish distractions, she refused to let herself be beaten by a child wearing a mushroom as a hat. Plus, she could feel her father groan from deep inside her chakram, which brought a sense of satisfaction to her.
Dick, meanwhile, studied the tablet he held in his hands while sitting on a chair next to the couch with Garfield and Raven. He was focusing on the status of Titans Tower's repairs. They were coming along slowly but surely, and it would take at least six months to make it livable again. Luckily, ever since Brother Blood was locked away inside a supermax prison, crime had been remarkably low. They only had to go out on patrol once a week, which made life easy. After October's Hell, they welcomed the calm.
"Hmm?" Dick hummed as he felt his cellphone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw that it was Jason, causing him to raise his eyebrow.
"Who is it?" Koriand'r asked, playing with Silkie on a chair opposite Dick's.
"It's Jason. He's calling me for some reason," Dick revealed.
"Why's he calling you?" Donna asked, not knowing Jason to be the type of person to make a social call. Garfield and Raven paused their game to look at their leader, and a second later their TV was taken up by an image of Jason's enraged face.
"Jason, you look…upset," M'gann pointed out. "Is something the matter?"
"Yeah, you could say that…" Jason growled. Before any of the Titans could ask what, Jason continued, "You guys need to get to Gotham now."
"Why? What happened?" Victor asked, turning off the stove and already preparing the T-Plane for departure.
"Is it about the date? How did that go?" Donna asked, a sinking feeling forming in her gut.
"It was a shitshow," Jason revealed. "Poison Ivy crashed it, took control of Jaune and Ren, and we had to put them down."
A heavy silence fell over the apartment, then the young superheroes leapt into action.
"Get the T-Plane up and running in the next five minutes," Dick ordered, his teammates scrambling among themselves. "Cy, Donna, M'gann, I want every medical device we can fit coming with us."
"Alright on it," Victor replied, tapping away at a holographic panel displayed over his arm as he, M'gann, and Donna walked away as fast as they could. Raven, meanwhile, entered into a meditative state and hovered slightly over the couch.
"I can't teleport us over from here," she revealed, "but I might be able to once we get closer."
"Save your strength; I'll need you to help heal them," Dick countered. Raven nodded, then she and Garfield hurried out of the room straight towards the secret hangar entrance Dick had installed. None of them even bothered changing into their costumes. Dick was about to follow them when Jason interrupted.
"Dick, there's something else you need to know," Jason insisted. Dick turned around to look at his adoptive brother in slight confusion, then a cold realization made his arms go limp.
"He didn't…" Dick gasped, and Jason grimly nodded.
"He did."
"…I'm going to kill him."
"If you don't get here fast, Yang's going to do that for you."
November 15th, 12:01 A.M. (Eastern Standard Time)
Gotham City, New Jersey, United States of America
"YOU BASTARD!" Yang shouted at Bruce as she, the rest of her team, Nora, and Pyrrha gathered in the main dining room of Wayne Manor. She slammed her fist into the wooden table, rattling it and the dishes laid out upon it, but Bruce remained as passive as ever.
"I know you're upset, Yang—" Bruce began, but Yang cut him off.
"OH, YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT I'M UPSET! AURA DRAINING NANITES?!" Yang shrieked, her eyes bright red and part of her hair coming aflame. Bruce didn't react in the slightest, and before Yang could do anything else, a quiet cough from her side redirected her attention.
"Yang, I suggest you calm down and sit," Weiss said with a tone that left no room to argue. Yang wanted to regardless, but upon seeing an almost pleading look from Ruby, Yang took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Her hair dimmed, but her eyes remained red as she angrily sat down on the chair and crossed her arms, shooting Bruce Wayne a look that promised nothing but pain. Weiss was satisfied, clasping her hands together and placing them on the table in front of her as she turned her head to the side so that she could look Bruce in the eyes.
"Now then, let's start from the beginning," Weiss continued, gesturing with a pointed finger towards the offending canister displayed on the table. "Bruce, explain what this is. In minute detail."
"It's as I said before," he explained, no hint of regret in his voice. "It was a canister of nanites that detected if an individual had an active Aura. If the target did, they attacked from the inside to drain it, then flush out within the hour."
"When did you start making them?" Blake tersely asked.
"Shortly after you arrived on the Watchtower," he revealed.
"That was four months ago…" Ruby quietly pointed out.
"It was," Bruce replied. "After seeing how strong all of you were, I became concerned about the possibility of any of you falling under mind control, so I decided to develop a contingency just in case. Unfortunately, my fears were not unfounded."
"And you decided to keep this from us because?" Weiss pointedly asked, a small hint of betrayed anger leaking out. Bruce turned his gaze towards her, and once again she didn't see an ounce of regret.
"Contingencies are more effective if they are kept secret," he said. "Especially when they're for your allies or friends."
"Oh, so that's what we are," Yang called out, smiling and laughing to herself. "Good, good, because I was getting worried that you decided we were villains for some reason. Glad to hear that you're so paranoid, you think creating ways to take down your allies and friends is a good use of your time."
"After the events of tonight, I believe it was," Bruce pointed out, silencing whatever retort Yang had next. Having their attention, Bruce continued, "I did not want to use them, Yang. I had no choice."
"Grimmshit, you had a choice," Yang countered, pushing herself off the table. Bruce remained sitting, yet stared back into her red eyes with utter conviction.
"Not from what I could see," he insisted. Yang growled and grit her teeth, feeling the strain along her jaw when Damian decided to pipe up.
"You weren't there, Xiao Long," Damian pointed out, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall. "Jaune and Ren were completely under Ivy's control, with no regard to their self-preservation. The only way we were able to administer the antidote was by breaking their Aura, and without the nanites Father created, your friends could have been seriously injured. Had I known they existed, I would have used them as soon as we caught up to them the first time."
"Oh, of course you would!" Yang retorted, shooting a glare towards Damian Wayne. Rather than flinch, Damian stared right back.
"Tell me, had Ivy succeeded in her plan and managed to ensnare all of JNPR, and we didn't have those nanites, how would you expect four non-powered human beings to take them down without getting ourselves killed?"
"You could've called for help," Yang pointed out, but Bruce shook his head.
"There was no time, nor available backup," Bruce countered. "The rest of the League was responding to a spike in Grimm activity all around the world, just as you were stranded in Blüdhaven. Any who were available would not have gotten to us in time to make a difference. We had to act immediately, and when faced with no other option I used the nanites to prevent casualties. That was what they were designed to do, and despite some unforeseen results, they worked as intended."
Yang wanted to protest, but before she could, Weiss spoke up again.
"None of us are debating that the nanites prevented Jaune and Ren from getting hurt," Weiss pointed out, shooting a glare towards Yang to silence her before she continued. "But the fact remains that their existence marks a gross violation of our trust. We shared our Aura scanning technology with you and the League because we were allies, so you can imagine how we'd feel when that tech was promptly turned into a weapon only able to be used against us."
"Which makes you one of the greatest threats to us on Earth," Blake added, her feline ears lowered and frowning deeply. "Our powers, strength, and most of our defenses are fueled by Aura, and when that's gone we're practically naked. The nanites saved Jaune and Ren this time, and I'm grateful for that, but what about next time? Poison Ivy beat you and almost brought you under her control. The fact that you didn't get brainwashed is a miracle, in my eyes. But what if you had? What if the situation was reversed and Ivy or someone else managed to take control of you? If she had, you could have easily turned those nanites against Pyrrha and Nora, and I don't want to think about what Ivy would have done to them after what they did to her."
"Thank you!" Yang exclaimed, shooting Bruce a look. "With those nanites, what's to stop you from doing anything to us if you go bad?"
"I assure you, I've taken every precaution to prevent that from happening," Bruce insisted, not elaborating further. "I take the threat of myself being brainwashed seriously. Had I been compromised in any way, those nanites would not have worked."
"Which begs the question: do you view us as a threat, Bruce?" Weiss pointedly asked, leaning slightly across the table.
Bruce said nothing for a moment. A tense silence hung in the air, and with each passing moment, the tension grew. Finally, Bruce nodded.
"Yes," he admitted. All of the Remnantians went silent, and Weiss sighed and hung her head.
"If you don't mind," she said, "I think we need to be alone right now."
Bruce didn't say anything, instead rising from his seat and walking out of the room. Damian followed, sending the Huntresses looks they couldn't quite describe. It looked like a merger of conviction and sympathy, but it went away as the Boy Wonder left the room. With one final click of the doorknob, the teens were left alone, and a collective sigh escaped their lips.
"I can't believe this…" Blake muttered, rubbing her hands over her face.
"What, that Bruce is apparently paranoid enough to view us as threats?" Yang rhetorically asked.
"No…yes. I don't know," Blake admitted, her feline ears twitching in agitation. "This is just one big mess."
"That's one way to put it," Yang muttered, clenching her fist before scanning the room. "I think it's obvious what we do now. As soon as Jaune and Ren are able to walk, we're out of here."
"To where?" Weiss asked, tilting her head in Yang's direction.
"Jump City, the Watchtower. Gods, anywhere but here," Yang insisted. "If you think I'm going to stay under the same roof as the guy who stabbed us in the back, you're out of your mind."
"I wouldn't go so far as to say he 'stabbed us in the back,'" Weiss pointed out, sending Yang aback.
"Wait, you're defending him?!" Yang asked in clear disbelief. Weiss, however, bored her eyes into Yang's.
"Don't misunderstand me, Yang. I'm furious," Weiss declared through grit teeth. "I feel betrayed, lied to, angry, everything you're feeling right now. But I'm forcing myself to at least try and see things through his point of view, and as much as I don't like to admit it, he had a point."
"WHAT?!" Yang shouted, shooting up to her feet.
"Guys, let's just calm down, okay?" Ruby called out, trying to keep the peace. Her partner and sister went silent, turning their heads towards Ruby who cleared her throat. She then turned towards Weiss and said, "Weiss, why do you think Bruce had a point in making those nanites?"
"To me, it's obvious," Weiss started. "We, especially when compared to the vast majority of Earth's population, are dangerous. It's hard not to see it. With Aura, we have super strength, super speed, super durability, a healing factor, not to mention individual Semblances. Some of which are on par with high-end metagene abilities. On Remnant, that wasn't a problem as everyone had or could have Aura. On Remnant, you could shoot someone in the face and they'll stumble back, but otherwise they'll be fine. You could punch someone into the roof and they might bounce around the room, but they'll get back up with nothing more than a bruised ego.
"That isn't the case here," Weiss reminded them. "On Earth, if you shoot someone in the face and they don't have super-durability, they're dead. You punch someone too hard here, they could break a bone or suffer organ damage and internal bleeding, then die. Things that wouldn't phase us on Remnant could kill someone here. With that in mind, it's not hard to imagine why the only non-powered member of the Justice League's founders might get a little concerned."
"That doesn't excuse the fact that he went behind our backs and created those without our consent," Yang shot back. "I'm not blind, Weiss, nor stupid. I know that mind control is a thing here. Hell, we saw it with Raven and her father. But unlike her, he had no real reason to believe we'd go rogue and just start attacking people."
"So you're saying he shouldn't have made those nanites?" Blake asked, and Yang looked her partner dead in the eye.
"I'm saying he should have been forward with us," Yang insisted. "Had he at least told us of his concerns, I would have been a little offended, but I would at least have understood. Here, though? Bruce viewed us as a potential threat from day one, and even after getting to know us and after everything we've been through together, that assessment never changed. He used what we gave them, used our close proximity to find a way to stab us in the back without us being able to defend ourselves. That is what I have an issue with, and to hear you even consider defending it leaves me at a loss for words."
The table fell silent once again, Yang and Weiss glaring at each other as Ruby struggled to find a way through this. She then slowly turned her head towards the silent Pyrrha and Nora, which the other girls noticed as well. They, too, shifted their attention to their sister team, and Yang's eyes turned blue.
"Nora, Pyrrha? What do you feel about this?" Ruby gently asked. The two Huntresses looked at each other then back at Ruby and sighed.
"I don't know," Nora admitted. "I'm angry but…at the same time, grateful. You guys weren't there. You didn't see what we saw. Jaune and Ren, they…it was like they weren't even there. I could hardly recognize them. We weren't getting through to them, and they didn't care about how hurt they got so long as they could keep throwing themselves forward with every intention of hurting us. Had that fight continued, we would have had to hurt them just to protect ourselves, and I don't know how they would've recovered. At least this way, we know they'll be fine."
"I feel fine is subjective here," Blake pointed out. None corrected her, for they knew the Faunus was right. When Jaune and Ren woke up, they were going to be inconsolable. For all their current and pressing issues with Bruce, the health and safety of their teammates and friends was paramount. At the same time, however, as Yang looked around the dining room and became bombarded by the Wayne family crest, a sense of anger bubbled up from deep inside her. Her eyes turned red once again, and with a quick shove against the table that pushed her and her chair back, she stood up and walked towards the back door.
"I can't stay here," she declared, leaving the room before any of them could stop her.
"Yang, wait!" Ruby called out, preparing to chase after her, but Weiss stopped her with a quick cough.
"I think, Ruby, in this case it would be best to leave her be for the moment," Weiss suggested. Ruby wanted nothing more than to insist otherwise, but after a moment she sighed and sat back down.
"Today was supposed to be easy," she said, clutching her hair tightly. "When did everything go so wrong?"
"I don't know, Ruby. I don't know," Weiss admitted, speaking for everyone.
"Bruce," Clark Kent, wearing his Superman costume, angrily began while crossing his arms, "what have you done?"
"What I felt was necessary," Bruce declared once again, not showing any ounce of uncertainty as both the residents of Wayne Manor and the League founders surrounded him in one of the main rooms. The founders had only arrived moments earlier, but Alfred had already made them aware of the situation and they were none too pleased.
"Making contingency plans against teenagers was necessary?" Barry Allen, also garbed as the Flash, pointed out.
"Against superpowered teenagers? Yes."
"God damn it, Bruce. Are you really so paranoid as to see a threat everywhere you look? Even after what happened last time?" John Stewart asked. Bruce didn't answer, so Diana sat down on a chair across from him and rested her elbows on her legs.
"Will Jaune and Ren be okay?" Diana asked.
"I trust Alfred with my life," Bruce responded immediately. "He won't let anything else happen to them."
"From you or someone else?" Shayera asked. Bruce stoically looked at her then nodded.
"I'm not blind to the consequences of my actions, about how it will affect how RWBY and JNPR view me, but believe me when I say I had no other choice," Bruce said. "Ivy's pheromones had completely eroded their sense of self-preservation and their recognition of their friends. They would not stop. Had I not used the nanites, at least one member of JNPR would have been critically injured or worse, at the hands of a close friend. No one deserves that, and after everything they've been through, the last thing I wanted was for them to experience it. Losing their trust was a price I was more than willing to pay."
The other League founders stared at their friend and colleague for a moment, then sighed. Clark shook his head, then focused his intense gaze upon Bruce and relaxed his arms.
"We're not the ones you need to tell that to," Clark declared, then he began to walk off. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go talk to them. J'onn, keep us posted on any updates from Jaune and Ren."
"Of course," J'onn J'onzz replied, phasing through the wall towards the Batcave's medical bay. The other Founders left one by one, going after Superman to provide whatever comfort to the young teens that they could, until only Diana was left. She continued staring at Bruce, not saying anything as he finally turned to face her.
"I don't regret what I did, Diana," Bruce insisted.
"Don't make me pull out the lasso, Bruce," Diana gently countered. "I know you. You say that you don't regret it, but you do. You worked with them, gave them a home, helped raised them up. They trusted you deeply…and even though you had the best of intentions, you betrayed that trust. That hurts you more than anything else, doesn't it?"
"It doesn't matter," Bruce answered, his voice slightly unsure. "If the price of keeping them safe was their trust in me, I'll gladly pay it every time."
"Yet our ability to trust in each other is one of the greatest things that keeps us safe. Without being able to rely on each other as heroes, as people, as friends, the League wouldn't exist as it does. It is because they were willing to work so closely with you that you were able to save them this time, but do you not imagine that if they stop believing in you, stopped trusting you, that it will only make things more difficult and dangerous going forward?" She sighed, and her voice softened further. "You say that the sacrifice is always worth it, but if you keep paying that price Bruce, eventually this manor will be cold and lifeless, and you will be left alone. No one deserves that, even if you think you do."
Bruce said nothing, staring into Diana's welcoming eyes. He felt lost in them as they bored into his soul, as they saw things he preferred to keep locked away. It was then that Diana's gaze shifted as they saw a pair of lights zoom away from the manor, accompanied by the whine of an engine. They turned towards it, and both superheroes recognized Bumblebee's taillights as what was most assuredly Yang rode away into Gotham City.
"You should go after her," Diana suggested, but Bruce shook his head.
"The last thing she wants right now is for me to be anywhere near her," Bruce pointed out.
"And what you need is to talk to her and start rebuilding the relationship you destroyed," Diana countered. Bruce remained silent, and Diana nodded to herself and stood back up. "You do what you think is right, Bruce. Hera knows you're the most stubborn man I've ever met, but at the same time I implore you to at least try. The last thing I want is for you to be alone, and even if it takes a lifetime, going after her will at the very least will start to mend the rift between them and you."
Diana left, not waiting for Bruce to respond. He said nothing as he stared out towards Gotham City, watching as Yang's motorbike disappeared from view. For a few minutes he silently contemplated what to do next, then his expression hardened as he came to a decision.
Unknown System, Occupied Planetary Orbit
Bottled City of Vale
Coco Adel sighed to herself as she and her team trudged through the shattered streets of downtown Vale. Their weapons were out, and their eyes and ears peeled for any would-be assailants. Mostly scavengers who were scared away at the sight of Huntsmen weapons, but it never hurt to be too careful.
"Gods, this place reeks," Fox Alistair muttered as he scrunched his nose.
"It looks worse," Coco replied, stepping over a chunk of rubble that used to the side of an apartment building.
"Luckily for me, I'm blind as a bat."
"Yeah. Lucky you." Coco didn't say anything else as she swept the rooftops with her purse-minigun, Gianduja. If there was anyone watching them, they weren't brave enough to show their faces. Velvet Scarlatina, the lone Faunus among them, sadly looked upon the wreckage as her bunny ears drooped down.
"This place got hit hard," she pointed out, kneeling beside a shattered car to pick up the remains of a stuffed animal. A Beowolf, from what she could tell. She then felt a large, gentle hand clasp her shoulder, and she looked up to see her partner, Yatsuhashi Daichi, looking down on her with concern. She brushed him off as she stood up, insisting she was fine, but Yatsuhashi wasn't fooled. Neither did he press the subject further, and with his oversized sword Fulcrum in hand, he continued on to their objective.
"We should be reaching the meeting point in a few blocks," Yatsuhashi pointed out. "I must admit, I find the fact that we are forced to deal with those scoundrels to be revolting."
"Same here, Yatsu," Coco readily agreed, "but like it or not, we don't have a choice. Roman controls all of Vale's remaining industry, and everyone knows it. Especially him."
"You know he's going to price gouge us again, right?" Fox asked, and Coco nodded.
"Just be prepared if he or any of his lackies does anything else," Coco ordered. Team CFVY continued on in silence, nearing the edge of Vale's industrial district. Or what was left of it, they figured. A sheet metal wall topped with barbed wire separated it from the rest of the city, and a pair of sharply dressed gangsters wielding pipe guns stared them down.
"What do ya want?" one of them asked, and Coco stared back up at him.
"We're here to see Roman," Coco answered, and the other guard scoffed.
"Yeah, no shit. Why do you want to see Roman?" she asked.
"Why do you think? The same as last time: to trade," Fox pointed out as though the answer was obvious. The guards looked at each other then at the former students before shrugging.
"You keep those weapons holstered. Any funny moves, and you're dead. Understand me?" the male guard asked, which Velvet just now noticed sported a pair of deer antlers atop his head. Coco nodded, then collapsed Gianduja back into a purse as the others sheathed their weapons. Velvet didn't have to do anything, instead keeping her camera in full display. The guards didn't suspect a thing as they moved towards a pair of rotating wheel handles on both towers, and they rotated them to allow the gate to slide open.
Despite seeing it quite a few times before, Coco could never get used to the decadence she saw. She forced herself to ignore the makeshift red-light district Roman had set up as patrons entered and exited various buildings. Cooked rats were impaled on rotisseries and rotated over an open fire, men and women openly gambled on tables using now worthless lien cards as chips, and a layer of glass bottles littered the ground. Everyone was covered in dirt, blood, and grime, and quite a few were missing teeth. Poverty and near starvation was rampant, and some were nothing more than skin or bones, barely strong enough to even walk. It was revolting, and Coco couldn't wait until they got this over with.
At the center of the makeshift community was a series of factories in various conditions. Some were completely demolished, others only heavily damaged. One was relatively unharmed, which given the state of Vale itself was an outright miracle. Smoke rose from its stack into the air and sweaty workers shoveled Fire Dust into open furnaces in order to manufacture whatever it was that they were making. Next to it, still being constructed, was a circular structure that looked like a mockery of Amity Colosseum. Knowing the type of people who ran this place, Coco felt it would be nothing more than barbaric blood sport.
She and her team stopped as they finally found the man they were looking for. Sitting on a large chair raised high atop a mound of metal like a throne was Roman Torchwick himself. Unlike nearly everyone else, his attire was still in immaculate condition, a spotless white with orange trim. His cane twirled in his hand, and he looked out at them in amusement from the one eye that wasn't covered by a bang of orange hair.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the illustrious team CFVY," he greeted with a dramatic flourish of his arms. "Welcome to my humble abode again. As you can see, I've made quite the few improvements from last time."
"I can see that," Coco admitted. Of course, 'improvement' was a subjective term. The only thing she could see that was improved was the quality of his goons' weapons.
'Is it just me, or did Roman get a little fatter?' Fox telepathically asked, making use of his Semblance to communicate with his team without the others knowing.
'Just a little bulge around the gut,' Velvet pointed out.
'So while the people under his 'care' starve, he gorges himself? How low can this man sink?' Yatsuhashi asked, forcing himself to remain calm as Coco walked forward. Roman's joyful expression shifted into a frown, and he leaned forward as the Huntress began to speak.
"We're here to get what we bargained for, Roman. As promised, ten crates of food for five crates of steel, waiting for you just a few blocks away," she said. Roman nodded, then hummed to himself and leaned back on his chair. Coco recognize that act anywhere, and couldn't help but frown.
"Ah, you see, Coco, while we did negotiate that price, I'm afraid we've run into some difficulties manufacturing what Beacon ordered. I'm afraid instead of five crates, we can only supply three."
"Alright," Coco hissed, trying to find a way around this. "We can work with that. For those three, we'll give you five—"
"No, we'll still take the ten," Roman cut her off, resting his cane between his feet and leaning on it. He flashed a grin as his men around him chuckled. "Unless you have another source of metal to use in repairing Beacon?"
Coco breathed deeply, scanning the area around her and her team as more of Roman's men made themselves known. Like Roman himself, and especially when compared to the civilians, they were remarkably clean. Her attention, however, was focused on three people in particular. Emerging from Roman's side like shattering glass was his right-hand woman, Neopolitan. An outright sadistic and challenging smirk was plastered across her face as she brushed aside her pink-and-brown hair, challenging the former students to try anything.
Next to them was another pair of familiar faces, ones that Coco had even more disdain for: Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black. Emerald's dual revolver sickles, which apparently were aptly named Thief's Respite, was clutched in the verdette's hands, and Mercury's gun-boots named Talaria were proudly displayed for all to see. Before the Battle of Vale, she thought the two of them were nothing more than students of Haven Academy, but if they were so easily willing to work with Roman, she knew they were much more than that. She saw red, but forced herself to remain cool and composed.
'He's trying to intimidate us,' Fox pointed out. Coco didn't respond, instead lowering her sunglasses slightly to stare right back at Roman.
"You'll take the five," Coco countered. "Unless you have another source of food? And don't bother trying to guilt trip us. We saw how you 'distribute' food around here."
Roman frowned, and a few of his goons took a half a step closer to team CFVY to try and intimidate them, but Coco wasn't done.
"Just for that, you only get three," Coco shot back, stopping them all immediately. "Tell me, how long will that last you? You forget, Roman. We don't need your metal, but you need our food. You don't have the leverage to play hardball, but we do. So I suggest you call your men off and give us what we originally bargained for while we're still feeling generous. Do you understand me?"
Roman was silent, scowling at the team leader and barely disguising how enraged he was. Then his expression shifted and he laughed. At the same time he waved his hands around, and on cue his men stepped back as he stood up and spread his arms wide.
"This is why I like working with you, Coco. You've got spine," he said. "Beacon will get their five, as promised. As a show of good faith, I'll even let you four look at what you're getting first."
"Good," Coco replied. Roman nodded, then snapped his fingers towards a group of workers.
Following his command immediately, the workers pulled a series of carts carrying five large boxes filled to the brim with steel ingots. Steel that could be smelted down and used to repair their tools, weapons, and most importantly the city itself that they controlled. It would only be patchwork, but with each home patched up, another family could move in and at least attempt to rebuild their shattered lives. That was worth Roman's attempted price gouging, and if it weren't for that she would have taken her chances here and now.
After she finished inspecting the goods, Coco nodded towards Roman.
"I'd say it was a pleasure doing business with you, Roman, but we both know that would be a lie," Coco said as she and her team relieved the workers and began pulling the carts away. Rather than be insulted, Roman laughed and bid them farewell, his guards watching them leave every step of the way. Before they got too far, however, Roman shouted to them.
"By the way," he called out, "I've been hearing some interesting things around town. Something about Little Red and her friends. You mind elaborating?"
Coco stopped and turned her head towards Roman, who didn't have a cheeky grin on his face this time. Instead, he looked serious, and despite how much she despised the man she saw no reason to not confirm what she felt he already knew.
"RWBY and JNPR got out," Coco confirmed. "Ozpin confirmed it from Brainiac himself."
Roman could only chuckle and shake his head. "And you call me filth. I may be a right bastard, but least I'm not selling false hope. Take my advice, kid. Little Red and her friends, even if they actually got out, are dead. The sooner you realize that, the better off you'll be."
CFVY didn't respond, instead turning back around and walking out of the compound. Only when they were well past the closing gates of Roman's community did they stop to take a breath, and the former students leaned against the shattered remains of a building.
"Gods, I hate that man," Fox muttered.
"You're preaching to the choir, Fox," Coco replied, taking off her sunglasses and wiping the dust off of it. They were useless now, given how Vale no longer had a sun and instead just an artificial day-night cycle that their captor implemented, but it completed her look. Even though her once pristine clothes were now covered in makeshift patches, along with a few tears she hadn't been able to fix yet, she still tried her best to remain presentable. If only out of solidarity, so did her teammates.
Velvet, however, had a different expression on her face as she sat down with her back firmly planted against the wall of a building. She was holding her legs close, and once the other members of team CFVY noticed, they knew immediately what she was thinking about.
"What do you think happened to them?" Velvet asked. Coco sighed and sat down next to her and shook her head.
"I don't know, Velvet," Coco answered truthfully. "No one really does."
"I know Professor Ozpin insists they somehow got out," Yatsuhashi stated, "but I'm not certain I believe it."
"I do," Coco declared, utterly convinced of her friends' survival. "If anyone could survive that green-skinned bastard, it would be RWBY and JNPR."
They had only learned of RWBY's and JNPR's apparent survival a week ago, and it had immediately sent Beacon into an uproar. A sense of hope that seemed lost finally reemerged, but there were quite a few who didn't believe it. Team CRDL was among them, not out of disdain on their part but sheer pessimism. As their leader, Cardin Winchester, so elegantly put it, the odds of RWBY and JNPR not only managing to escape, but land on a planet capable of supporting them were next to nothing. He insisted that thinking otherwise brought only false hope. Part of Coco felt he had a point, but at the same time knew he was wrong.
"Come on," Coco said, standing back up and putting her sunglasses back on. "We gotta get this stuff back to Beacon, and it's not going to carry itself."
Her team groaned, but nonetheless grabbed hold of the carts and began pushing and pulling them up the street towards Beacon. Once they passed a certain point, the teams of students carrying the food passed them by. Both groups nodded at each other but none said a word. Instead, CFVY remained deep in thought. They were no longer centered on Roman, however. Instead, they focused only on their younger friends, and silently hoped that they were alright.
Penny Polendina quietly sat down and hunched over a table. A wide assortment of Dust crystals were displayed before her, and she was scanning them for imperfections. If any were found, she gently put them in a box to be given away for Beacon's use, but if there were none and the crystals were in perfect condition, she set them aside. She had been doing this for days, and there was no indication that it would stop anytime soon.
"Come nightfall, we're moving to the next safehouse," Winter Schnee ordered to her men as they bustled around the cramped bunker. "Make sure everything is secure for transport."
"Yes, ma'am," Penny's former handler, Ciel Soleil, replied, pressing her fingers against the buttons of her wristwatch. Despite the situation they were in, Penny couldn't help but lightly smile at Ciel being as punctual as ever. That didn't last long however, as she instead went back to her current task, one that was given to her by General Ironwood himself.
She then heard a faint pair of footsteps come her way, and Penny looked up to see Winter, with her hands crossed behind her lower back, looking down on her.
"Penny, how goes the testing?" Winter asked.
"Oh, yes!" Penny said, nodding towards Winter before gently picking up a pair of crystals in each hand. "I've been analyzing the Dust we were able to recover. These should be perfect for Ironwood's project."
"I assume the rest are for Beacon?"
"Yes," Penny answered, placing the crystals down then standing up to face her newfound handler. "But, I have…concerns."
"And they are?" Winter asked, giving Penny permission to continue.
The gynoid nodded, then said, "The weapon that the General is trying to build…it's never been built or tested. Atlas only recently came up with the theory. If we get this wrong, the resulting blast could destroy what's left of Vale."
"Which is why we're taking every precaution," Winter reminded Penny. "We're mixing the Dust well before we add the fissile material, and that won't be added until we're completely certain that it won't react violently to the mixture. It's perfectly safe."
"Then why aren't we telling the others about it?" Penny pointedly asked. Winter breathed in sharply, and Penny knew that deep down, even the Atlesian Specialist found it hard to justify. But justify she did, and Winter began to speak.
"It's the same reason why we didn't tell the other kingdoms about you. Sometimes, it's best to keep secrets from your allies, even if it feels wrong," Winter insisted. "The more people know about this project, the more likely it is for Brainiac to discover it."
"And I understand that," Penny countered. "But keeping secrets from friends is wrong, even if for the right reasons. We should be open with Ozpin and the others, and at least let them know what we're doing."
Winter sighed, then placed her hand on Penny's shoulder. "We will, eventually. But not yet, and only once its completed and we have a plan."
With that, Winter turned around and walked away, stopping before a small hole that exposed the glass-like dome that covered the city. A deep scowl formed on her face, as it did every time she gazed upon it. To Winter, and everyone else in Vale, that dome was a symbol of everything they lost, everything that had been forced upon them. She wanted nothing more than to tear it down and liberate her people, but without a plan, that was a fool's errand. Penny watched her handler in silence, rubbing her hands together before deciding to walk over to her. She stopped by Winter's side, and the Specialist turned her attention towards Penny.
Penny said nothing at first, instead staring out at the dome in deep thought. Finally, she quietly said, "I miss them."
Winter immediately knew who Penny was talking about, and a regretful sigh escaped her lips.
"As do I," Winter admitted, folding her arms behind her back and going quiet. Penny looked up at her and frowned, recognizing the sadness that filled Winter's heart. Wanting to do something to comfort her, Penny suddenly wrapped Winter in a hug. Winter couldn't help but give Penny a surprised look, and after a moment the emotional robot stepped back and gave a soft smile.
"A friend of mine once told me that hugs make people feel happy and warm," Penny reminisced. "You looked like you needed a hug."
Despite herself, Winter let out a small smile, but soon squashed it and returned to a stoic look.
"Feeling happy is not what we need right now," Winter insisted. "Emotions won't stop Brainiac, and if we're to have any hope in doing so, we need to set them aside."
"I…" Penny started, then sighed. This wasn't the first time she and Winter had this conversation, and she knew that Winter wouldn't budge on this issue. Dejectedly, Penny turned around and walked back to her worktable, where she picked up where she left off and started inspecting the Dust crystals once again. Winter glanced over her shoulder to look at Penny, a frown marring her face, but she forced herself to turn away. As she gazed back up at the glass dome and the machinery of the room that housed them, Winter clenched her right fist and used her other hand to gently rub her wrist.
When Winter had learned that Weiss managed to escape, she knew deep down that she got somewhere safe. She knew it in the bottom of her heart, and she made a vow right then and there. Winter would see her sister again, even if it was the last thing she ever did.
November 15th, 12:39 A.M. (Eastern Standard Time)
Gotham City, New Jersey, United States of America
Ruby sat silently in a chair next to the Batcave's medical bay, looking through a clear glass window to team JNPR inside. Jaune and Ren were hooked up to tubes, checking to ensure no traces of Ivy's toxins were still in their system. A small jar containing a fine layer of grey powder at the bottom was on a table, undoubtedly the nanites that Bruce had concocted. Pyrrha and Nora were sitting beside their partners, helping Alfred and the newly arrived J'onn J'onzz in tending to their injuries.
"They're going to be alright, Ruby," Superman gently said as he sat down next to the Red Reaper. He placed his arms across his lap and he hunched over, staring into the medical bay.
"Which visions are you using?" Ruby gently asked.
"Right now? X-Ray. No broken bones or internal bleeding," Superman confirmed. "They're just exhausted. In a few hours, they'll be right as rain."
"That's good to hear," Ruby admitted, her voice quiet. Weiss and Blake were sitting on chairs next to them, focusing their attentions on their friends before Blake slowly shifted her gaze towards Superman.
"Did you know?" Blake suddenly asked. Ruby flinched, having had the same question but not wanting to ask it. The other girls turned their attention towards Superman, who sighed and hung his head.
"I did not know Bruce made contingencies for you all," Superman admitted. "I didn't want to believe that he would…but I had a feeling he did."
"Why?" Weiss asked, her voice betraying no emotion. Superman looked up at her, his face utterly serious.
"Because he has at least one for me, too," Superman confirmed.
"For all of us, actually," Flash admitted, walking up to the teenagers and sitting down. Behind him was Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Hawkgirl, all of whom sat down to face team RWBY.
"Did he use them on you, too?" Blake asked, but to her surprise, Superman shook his head.
"No. How we found out was…much worse than what happened to you," Superman said, causing Ruby, Weiss, and Blake to look at each other in confusion.
"How…could it be worse?" Ruby asked.
"For you, Bruce's nanites were used to stop a mind-controlled Jaune and Ren," Wonder Woman explained. "Completely nonlethal, and they did what they were designed to do. But for us, Bruce wasn't the one who used them."
Now the girls were alarmed, and Blake leaned forward. "If Batman didn't use them, then who did?"
"Ras al'Ghul," a voice suddenly answered. The girls turned their heads to see a girl a few years their senior roll up to them in a wheelchair. She was wearing a pair of glasses, and her red hair was neatly tied up in a bun.
"You must be Barbara Gordon," Weiss said, and Barbara nodded.
"Isn't Ras one of Batman's arch-enemies? How did he get them?" Ruby asked. Barbara finished rolling up to them then placed her hands together on her lap.
"About six months before the Thanagarian Occupation began," Barbara began, "Ras al'Ghul managed to sneak a bug onto Bruce as he was returning from patrol. Using that bug, he hacked into the Batcomputer and discovered the Agamemnon Contingency files."
"I'm guessing those must be his 'countermeasures?'" Blake suggested, and Barbara nodded.
"As Bruce explained it," Superman continued, "those contingencies and countermeasures were designed to nonlethally incapacitate us in case we either went rogue or fell under mind-control. Instead, Ras modified the plans to make them lethal, then turned them against us."
"We nearly lost our lives because of them," Green Lantern admitted, "and only barely managed to survive after Bruce managed to come up with a way to circumvent those modified plans. As you could tell, after that we were pissed."
"I think 'pissed' is an understatement," Flash noted, crossing his arms across his chest and laying his right leg over the left. "What he did to you, he did to us. He not only found ways to circumvent our powers, he psychoanalyzed us to find our emotional strengths and weaknesses, then used them against us. All because, according to him, the danger of an out of control Justice League was too great to ignore. Then he resigned before we could kick him out."
Ruby, Weiss, and Blake looked at each other in astonishment, then back at the Justice League.
"If he betrayed your trust then resigned when confronted about it, why is he still part of the League?" Ruby asked.
"Because six months later, my people, the Thanagarian Empire, attacked," Hawkgirl pointed out, "and the very anti-Nth metal contingencies he created to use against me were instrumental in saving the planet. Then, before my people could activate the warp gate that would have destroyed the Earth, Batman got back into the first Watchtower and manually crashed the station into it. Had Superman not gotten to him in time, Batman would have perished."
"You learn a lot about a man who knows he's about to die," Wonder Woman said. "The occupation put things into perspective. Bruce did betray our trust, yes, but in the end he's still a good man. After that, we reinstated him, put him and Hawkgirl on probation from the League, and eventually accepted both back into our ranks with open arms."
The Huntresses went silent as they ruminated over what the League said. Flash nodded, then added, "We always kind of figured that he didn't stop, but at the same time we…I can't really say we're fine with the ones he had on us, but we at least accepted they were already made. But we thought he limited it to us, and for him to make plans for you…what Bruce did was unacceptable, and I'm sorry you had to go through that."
Weiss looked at the Flash then pursed her lips. "I…think I can see where you're coming from, and I can see where Bruce is coming from, too. But what I don't understand is why he's so paranoid about it. If I was in his shoes, and I made countermeasures to take my friends down only for a supervillain to use what I made to almost kill them, I would stop. So why doesn't he?"
The Justice League went silent, not answering Weiss' question as they instead turned to face each other. Weiss seemed to take that as an answer then nodded.
"I see," she quietly said, standing up. Before she could walk away, however, Superman called out to her.
"Weiss, wait," Superman said, causing the former heiress to turn around and face the Man of Steel. "Before you decide, I think you should ask Bruce."
"I fully intend to," Weiss declared, then walked into the medical bay. Blake followed after her, leaving only Ruby with the older superheroes. No one said a thing, and a thick tension filled the air as the League founders turned to face Ruby. The Red Reaper was looking down at her feet, her fists scrunching up her skirt, then she began to speak.
"We're not angry with you," she insisted, but Superman shook his head.
"You have every right to be," he said. "Bruce should not have done this, and we should have warned you of the possibility."
"He's your best friend," Ruby replied, wiping away a bit of snot from her nose. "No one wants to think their best friend would do something like this."
"That doesn't make it any better," Superman said as he stood up. Before he could leave Ruby alone, she called out to him.
"Do you still trust him?" she pointedly asked. "Even after everything he's done?"
Superman was silent for a moment, then he turned around to look Ruby in the eyes and declared, "Bruce is stubborn, thick-headed, and a pain in my ass at times. He and I don't see eye to eye very often, and there is no one else I trust on this planet more. That's why every shard of Kryptonite I ever find, I give to him."
Ruby looked up in surprise, not expecting that answer. Superman smiled knowingly, then walked into the medical bay to assist the Huntsmen in any way he could. Ruby could only watch in silence as the superheroes tended to her friends, and despite the emotional turmoil she found herself in, she couldn't help but smile faintly as well.
Having parked Bumblebee in a secure location, Yang hugged her knees to her chest as she sat atop one of Gotham's many roofs. Her current vantage point didn't offer much in terms of a view. All she could see was other rundown apartment buildings, where windows were covered in metal grates and trash flew across the street, carried by the gentle night wind. Police sirens echoed from across the city, and occasionally she'd see one speed by. Where they were going, she had no idea, but right now she didn't care. All Yang cared about was her own thoughts, and she hugged herself closer.
'I trusted him…' she thought, her eyes a melancholic light blue. A deep, stinging sense of betrayal pierced her soul, and no matter what she tried it just would not go away. They had only been on Earth for about four months, and they had spent considerable time with Batman since then. They trained with him, strategized with him. He even took them into his home when they had nowhere else to go, and rather than treat them like kids he treated them like equals. Batman had treated them like the Huntsmen, Huntresses, and superheroes they were, and it wasn't hard for her to view him as a trusted friend. She even looked up to him, in a way. It was hard not to, seeing a normal human being fight side by side with others who were practically living gods in order to keep the world safe.
Only for him to stab them in the back and develop a weapon that could take them all down with just a few cans. Even if it was for the best of intentions, Yang couldn't ignore the fact that Bruce had made those nanites well before any serious threat would have justified them. He even admitted it himself: despite being his allies, Batman viewed RWBY and JNPR as potential threats and acted accordingly. It threw everything she thought she knew about the Caped Crusader into question. His motives for training them, for taking them in. Had he taken charge of their training just so he could get a handle on how their powers worked? Did he offer them his home so that he could study them and their Aura more closely? How deep did his deception go? Yang didn't have the answers to that, and that distressed her more than anything else.
A few tears escaped her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away. She checked her scroll, seeing that it was now nearly two in the morning. Yang figured she would have to head back soon, if only so her younger sister wouldn't get worried. At the same time, she couldn't find the will within herself to get back up, and so she sat there unmoving. She didn't know how long she sat there in silence, ruminating in her thoughts, but then she heard a commotion coming from the alleyway across from her. Perking up her eyes, Yang looked over the roof's edge to see a young woman with short blonde hair. She was wearing a red shirt with a white center along with a pair of blue jeans, and she was backing away into a dumpster on the ground.
"Some-somebody! Help!" she screeched out as loudly as she could as a short man wearing a green suit and black top hat emerged from the shadows.
"Ssh-ssh-ssh, dear Alice. Do not be afraid," the man attempted to soothe the young girl, a mad look in his eyes that Yang did not like for a second.
"I told you, my name's not Alice!" the girl protested, throwing a small can towards the man who ducked under it.
"My, my, my. What a temper you have. That don't do, that won't do indeed," he muttered to himself, continuing to advance towards the petrified girl, then smiled and pulled out a small hat. "No matter. With this atop your head, you'll be happy as a lamb, Alice. That I assure you."
Yang had enough, and with a scowl on her face she jumped down from the roof and landed on the sidewalk below. Neither the crazed man nor his would-be victim noticed her descent, and only when she got close did they turn their attention towards her.
"Hey, leave her alone, creep!" Yang shouted, stomping over with clenched fists, her eyes still blue from the sadness she felt. The girl looked relieved that someone had come to her rescue, but the man simply looked confused. He shot his head back and forth between Yang and the other girl, then scratched his head.
"My, this is most peculiar. Alice, you seem to have split in two," he said, utterly bewildered. "I've never seen anything like this before. Tell me, did it hurt?"
Neither Yang nor the girl responded to his query. Instead, the girl jumped to her feet and ran behind Yang and clutched her tightly.
"This guy's been following me for the past hour!" the girl explained, nearly on the verge of tears. "Showed up out of nowhere and started calling me 'his Alice' . He wouldn't leave me alone! No matter what I tried, he kept coming!"
Yang growled and clenched her fist, letting the girl's words soak into her mind. The more she thought about it, the more she began to recognize the man before her.
"I know who you are," Yang said, catching the man's attention. "You're Jervis Tetch. The Mad Hatter."
"Ah, you've heard of me!" the Mad Hatter exclaimed, taking off his top hat to reveal his balding head as he performed a bow. With a smile on his face, one that didn't promise anything good, his eyes widened as he noticed Yang's eyes had shifted from a sad blue to an enraged red. She was in no mood for more mind-controllers tonight.
"Oh, my," he said just before Yang closed the distance between them with her arm reared back to rearrange his face, then remembered Weiss' words.
'You punch someone too hard here, they could break a bone or suffer organ damage and internal bleeding, then die.'
Tetch's eyes reflexively closed as she skidded to a halt right in front of him. He opened them again when Alice's hat was snatched from his hands and he felt something placed on his face, only to be met with darkness. At least until a fist appeared a few inches away and connected with his nose.
A faint pop was heard as his nose broke, and he fell back into the dumpster with a dull clang. With his head spinning, Yang pulled her fist from where she'd jabbed it through the top of the hat, and brought it up to peer through the resulting hole. As she suspected, she saw various machinery built into the headpiece, and without any ounce of hesitation she crushed it under her foot. It sparked and fizzled, and the supervillain could only reach out in horror.
"No! Alice, what have you done?!" he asked, not understanding what Yang was doing. She didn't respond, instead punching him across the jaw once again to knock him out. He laid sprawled across the concrete alley, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and his face landing in a puddle. She stared at him, remembering the conversation from before.
'Do you view us as a threat, Bruce?'
'Yes.'
"Tch!" Yang huffed a breath through her teeth and kept her fists clenched as she stared the unconscious man down, daring him to try anything else. After a few moments of nothing, she relaxed and stood up.
At the same time, the blue suddenly returned to Yang's eyes as her shoulder's slumped, and she shook her head wearily. The Mad Hatter may be a crazy creep, but she wasn't going to take her anger over everything else out on him. Well, not all of it, she amended as she glanced at the blood dropping from his nose.
"You alright?" Yang asked the girl she rescued, who quickly nodded and backed away slightly from the unconscious supervillain. Yang, meanwhile, walked towards him and rummaged through his suit's pockets as her eyes went back to their normal lilac color.
"Let's see, what do we have here?" she asked to no one in particular as she pulled out object after object. "A couple mind control hats, some playing cards. Ah, here we go. A bit of rope, just what we needed."
Yang, with the rope in hand, turned towards the nervous girl and gestured with a sharp tilt of her head towards the discarded hats. "Hey, I'm gonna tie this guy up then call the cops. You wanna dispose of those hats?"
"I…what?" the girl asked, not quite understanding what Yang was suggesting. With a free hand, Yang pointed out a dislodged pipe then again at the hats.
"Trust me, it'll be cathartic."
The girl then seemed to understand what Yang was saying, and with a quick nod she grabbed the pipe and began smashing the hats apart. At the same time, Yang began hogtying the man up, only stopping when he was utterly immobile. With that out of the way, Yang pulled out her scroll and dialed 9-1-1. When the police dispatcher answered, Yang began explaining the situation as the girl finished destroying the hats and sat down on some nearby steps.
"Thank you, officer," Yang said as she ended the call, then she walked over to sit next to the girl. "They'll be here in a few minutes. You okay?"
"I…I guess," the girl admitted, hugging herself close and shivering. Without even thinking about it, Yang shrugged off her jacket and draped the still warm covering over the girl's shoulders. She then looked at Yang in surprise, and smiled faintly. "Thank you. I don't want to think about what would have happened had you not been there."
"Hey, don't mention it," Yang replied, then stood up.
With her hands on her hips, she kept a lookout for the police, and true to their word they arrived a few minutes later. A pair of officers she didn't recognize hopped out, one immediately going towards the Mad Hatter as he slowly regained consciousness. The other, with a pad in hand, walked up to Yang and the girl. She took their witness statements, both Yang and the girl choosing not to reveal their names as a matter of privacy. The officer easily accepted this request and carried on with the procedure. Once she got everything she needed and Edward Tetch was safely loaded into the squad car, along with his shattered equipment thrown into the trunk, she bid them farewell and hopped back into the driver's seat. She turned on the sirens and the engine, then drove off into the night. A few pieces of paper and plastic bags were picked up by the exhaust, but Yang didn't care as she waved them goodbye. When they disappeared from view, she nodded to herself then turned back to the girl who was sitting back down.
"Well, I'd stay here," Yang began, preparing to walk away, "but my family's worried sick, and I—"
"Wait," the girl interrupted, causing Yang to look down at her. "I…I don't live far from here, and I don't feel safe walking home by myself. Do you mind…escorting me?"
Yang pursed her lips as the girl looked up at her with fearful eyes. They proved impossible to resist, and she nodded.
"Sure. Lead the way," Yang replied, gesturing down the street with her hand. The girl smiled and jumped up, then began leading her away from the crime scene.
With the incident well behind them, the two girls continued walking, Yang on the lookout for anything amiss. She was content to remain silent, but the girl had other ideas.
"I don't think I got your name," she pointed out, to which Yang nodded.
"Yang Xiao Long," she introduced herself, and the girl smiled.
"Imra Ardeen," the girl answered.
"Imra? That's a…unique name," Yang couldn't help but remark, and Imra sighed.
"Blame my parents. They wanted my name to be special." Imra chuckled, and Yang joined her as they continued to walk.
"Well then, Imra, why are you up and about at two in the morning?" Yang asked.
"I could ask you the same question, Yang," Imra replied. The Huntress frowned, and Imra's eyes widened as she felt that she stepped over the line. "Sorry, I didn't—"
"It's fine," Yang cut her off, sighing heavily. "Just some issues at home."
Imra pursed her lips, then said, "You wanna talk about it?"
"What?" Yang asked, perplexed as to why Imra would ask that.
"I mean, whatever happened is clearly making you upset, and the least I can do is lend an open ear after you saved my life. It wouldn't hurt," Imra pointed out. Yang thought to herself for a moment, then shrugged.
"Sure, why not," she muttered under her breath. Yang wouldn't tell her everything, but at the very least talking about her swirling feelings would lift the weight on her shoulders a bit. Imra smiled, but rather than stop to talk, the two girls continued walking.
"There's a guy I know, someone I looked up to and considered to be a friend," Yang began, trying to keep things as vague as possible while getting the point across. "All of my friends and family did, but a few hours ago he…did something. Something that was necessary, but is making me question everything I knew about him."
"Did he hurt you?" Imra asked, but Yang shook her head.
"No, nothing like that," she admitted, then sighed. "He did it to protect some of my friends, but by doing so he completely betrayed our trust. I had to get away for a while just to clear my head."
Imra nodded, "I understand that feeling all too well."
"What, a friend betraying your trust?" Yang asked, and to her surprise, Imra nodded.
"Something like that. Of course, he and I didn't get along at first."
"Was he a jerk?" Yang asked, letting a little of her frustration with Bruce leak through, but Imra shook her head.
"No, far from it. Nicest guy I know. Doesn't show a lot of emotions, but he's genuinely a good guy," Imra detailed, then chuckled. "He's also the smartest guy I've ever met."
Yang was increasingly surprised at just how similar Imra's friend was sounding when compared to Bruce, and felt intrigued enough to gesture for her to continue.
"If he's such a good guy, why didn't you get along with him at first?"
"It was my fault," Imra admitted, shame filling her voice and making her look downcast. "My friend didn't come from a nice family. They hurt a lot of people over the years, especially the family head. People despised them, and when my friend showed up, they took that hate and threw it onto him. As did I."
"How'd he react?" Yang asked, letting curiosity crawl to the surface. Imra smiled and laughed while shaking her head before continuing.
"He just kept his head up high and tried to help people. The way he said it, someone had to make up for his family's mistakes and change how people saw him, even if it took his entire life. So he put up with it, continued to help me, my friends, and our community despite the vitriol people threw at him. Over time, people's opinions began to change, but I wasn't convinced. I still let my hatred of his family cloud my judgement.
"Then, one day, something happened where I and others thought he betrayed us. People got hurt, and it looked like it was his fault. There was barely any actual evidence, but I took it as fact and tore into him. I said and did…so many things, but he just stood there and took it. Didn't defend himself, didn't lash out. He simply…took the abuse I threw at him, and when I forced him to leave us, he did without saying a word."
Imra sighed and looked at an enraptured Yang with regretful eyes. "It later came out that he wasn't the cause. Actually, he was trying to stop it, and when he couldn't, he protected us instead. Not that he had the chance to explain himself before I accused him of everything and tried to cut him out of my life completely. I said…hateful things to him that day, things I can never take back and still regret now even though it happened years ago. I don't know what happened between you and your friend, Yang, but I do know this. Even if our circumstances are vastly different, before you cut a friend out of your life completely, at least hear him out."
"I…I think I understand," Yang admitted as they finally stopped at what she assumed was the girl's apartment. Compared to what she saw before, this complex was much nicer, and Yang watched as Imra walked up to the front door and scanned a keycard.
"Thanks for walking me home, Yang," Imra said, and Yang smiled towards her.
"Thanks for hearing me out, and for sharing that story. It's given me a lot to think about," she admitted. Imra smiled and waved goodbye, and Yang managed to catch a glimpse of a gold ring on Imra's right hand. It had no stone, instead the face was a flat circle. A golden 'L' alongside a shooting star was atop an onyx backdrop, and Yang couldn't help but find it intriguing. Before she could say anything, though, Imra closed the door. Only for it to immediately open again as Imra ducked out to return Yang's forgotten jacket with an embarrassed apology and another thanks, before she darted back out of sight. Yang put it back on with a chuckle, nodded to herself, then turned around and began walking back to where she parked Bumblebee.
At the same time, Yang put her hands in her jean pockets and narrowed her eyes towards the rooftops. She saw a faint silhouette slip out of sight, one that she felt following her for quite some time. Yang wasn't alarmed, rather a little annoyed. But, at the same time she expected him to do something like this.
Eventually, she found herself in the alley she parked Bumblebee in. Rather than get on, she crossed her arms and leaned against the motorcycle, closing her eyes and waiting. After a few moments, and with her eyes still closed, she began to speak.
"How long have you been following me?" Yang asked.
"Since Tetch," Batman confirmed. She hadn't even heard him glide down, and part of her wondered if that was a feature he put into his suit. Yang halfway opened her eye to look at Batman standing before her, his cape draped around his shoulders and obscuring his arms. To a normal person, he would have looked intimidating, but Yang didn't feel that way at all.
"Did Alfred make you do this?" Yang asked, but Batman shook his head.
"Diana made a point I couldn't refute," Batman answered, and Yang couldn't help but laugh.
"She has a way with words, doesn't she?" Yang suggested, and Batman nodded.
"It does get irritating at times," Batman admitted, causing Yang to snort.
"Of course, you'd say that," Yang said, then flattened her expression and opened both eyes to stare into Batman's cowl. "I'm still mad at you."
"And you have every right to be," Batman responded immediately. "You and your team put your trust in me, and I betrayed that trust. But at the same time, I'm not sorry for making them. I'm only sorry I had to use them in the first place."
"Right," Yang whispered and nodded. "You know, when Nora and Pyrrha told us what you made and what you did, I was fully prepared to leave and never talk to you again for the rest of my life. Part of me still wants to do that, but I've done some thinking. I still don't trust you anymore, and I don't know if I ever will again, but I'm at least willing to hear you out. Hear you explain in complete, thorough detail why you felt the need to make those countermeasures."
Batman remained silent for a moment, then replied, "What I told you was the truth. I was worried about any of you falling under mind control, and I wanted to ensure—"
"You see, while I believe that, I know for a fact you're still lying to me," Yang interrupted, her eyes flashing red for a split second. "Let me be clear about this. When I say, 'I want to know the truth,' I mean all of it. No more secrets, no more omissions. I want to know everything you thought of and made to take us down and why you thought it was necessary. Because something tells me mind control alone doesn't account for all of it. Am I right?"
When Batman didn't respond, Yang took that as her answer. She nodded, adding, "That's what I thought. So, do we have a deal?"
Batman pursed his lips. A few moments passed, and Yang's gaze never left the Caped Crusader. Then, after what seemed like an eternity, Batman nodded.
"Alright," Batman said. "But only once Jaune and Ren wake up. They deserve to hear this, too."
"I couldn't agree more," Yang replied. She threw a leg over Bumbebee's seat to mount her bike, and when she turned back to face Batman, he was already gone. Not surprised in the least, Yang started the rebuilt motorcycle's engine and slid on her helmet, then drove off down Gotham's empty streets back towards Wayne Manor. She did not know what Bruce was going to tell them, but after everything he'd done for them, both good and bad, she at least needed to hear it.
Unknown System, Occupied Planetary Orbit
Brainiac's Mothership
Ozpin stared silently onto the chessboard as, once again, Brainiac emerged victorious.
"As per our arrangement, Ozpin, I now ask you this," Brainiac started, absentmindedly rearranging the chess pieces as he finished cataloguing the planet he 'preserved.' "In a previous response, you indicated that your people were created by a pair of divine entities before being wiped out by them following a rebellion orchestrated by Salem. Despite being rendered extinct, your people returned. Why is that?"
"I honestly do not know," Ozpin answered truthfully, "but my theory is that after the Brother of Darkness destroyed the first humanity, the Brother of Light left behind seeds that eventually caused human life to return. Just, in a different form than what I was used to. Other than that, your guess is as good as mine."
"Hmm," Brainiac hummed, tapping away at a spherical hologram. Yet the Coluan did not dispute the idea of divine gods existing, which raised Ozpin's curiosity. Brainiac seemed to pick up on Ozpin's interest, and turned around to face him.
"You are wondering why I do not refute the existence of gods," Brainiac emotionlessly stated, to which Ozpin nodded.
"That is correct. May I ask why?"
"Because gods do exist," Brainiac confirmed. "Remnant was not alone in having deities, although theirs typically presided over a single primordial element. In particular, there is a group of divine entities known as the New Gods. They reside in the Fourth World, a plane of existence high above our own, and through their connection to the Source are the most powerful and advanced beings in the universe. The Mother Box that transported your students was their work, but I was not able to determine if it came from New Genesis or Apokolips before it was activated."
"New Genesis? Apokolips? Forgive me, but I do not understand those terms," Ozpin admitted, fishing for information and hoping that Brainiac would consider it to be part of his first question. Luckily for the headmaster, Brainiac did and continued.
"The New Gods are not unified, and they are divided among two planets in the Fourth World. The first is New Genesis, a lush and vibrant paradise filled with life led by the being known as Highfather. The other is Apokolips, a hellscape where hardly anything survives and is ruled by Darkseid, the god of Tyranny. They have been locked in a never-ending war for eternity, with New Genesis attempting to stop Darkseid's conquest of the universe by any means necessary."
Ozpin furrowed his brow. From how Brainiac described it, the battle between this 'New Genesis' and 'Apokolips' seemed like the archetypal battle of good versus evil. More importantly, he focused on the fact that, for a split second, it seemed that even Brainiac was scared of this 'Darkseid.' Ozpin immediately discarded any thought of attempting to reach out to these New Gods, especially Darkseid. If there was one thing he had learned over the millennia, it was that attempting to seek divine assistance only led to disaster for mortals.
"I have the white pieces," Brainiac declared, having finished setting up the board. "Before we start, another question: your people are universally capable of utilizing the power of your souls. What I can't determine is if that is a newfound power that only emerged when humanity reappeared on your planet, or if it was always there. I was hoping you would be able to shed some light on that."
"Aura is a relatively new phenomenon," Ozpin confirmed. "In my first life, we did not have Aura. Instead, magic was universal; a gift from the God of Darkness. When Salem led her army against the Gods, he took that gift away before destroying them, and when humanity reappeared, all we had left was a semblance of what we once had."
"I see," Brainiac said, then moved a knight forward. Ozpin responded in kind, and the two settled into yet another game. This one lasted much longer than the first, but in the end Brainiac still emerged victorious. Ozpin wasn't disappointed; in fact, he had expected that result. So, when Brainiac asked his latest question about how he personally affected Remnant's society over his countless lifetimes, Ozpin answered truthfully. He had sought to bring Remnant together peacefully, while Salem worked from the shadows to tear them apart.
"One more game, then I will send you back," Brainiac declared. Ozpin nodded, then looked at the shattered remains of yet another planet. He frowned, then glared into Brainiac's purple gaze.
"Why?" Ozpin simply asked. Brainiac understood what he meant immediately, and turned around to face the planetary remains. For what seemed like an eternity, there was nothing but silence, then Brainiac began to speak.
"Life has a cycle. It is born, it ages, then it inevitably dies without exception. From the smallest microorganism to the largest multicellular beast. The same is true for civilizations. They rise, then they fall, whether to internal strife and societal collapse, or to external factors such as a stronger, hostile civilization, environmental collapse, or an unforeseen calamity such as an asteroid impact. Without exception, every civilization dies, and it is illogical to insist otherwise. Even my own civilization walked this path to oblivion, of which I am the only survivor."
"You call your work a 'preservation,'" Ozpin pointed out. "Wiping out civilizations prematurely does not preserve them."
"On the contrary," Brainiac disagreed. "Although every civilization dies, they are still worth study. Each is unique, and by studying them I have been able to obtain more and more knowledge about the universe. Knowledge that otherwise would have been destroyed along with them."
"They wouldn't have been destroyed had you not done so."
"You are assuming that I preserve every civilization I come across. That is not true," Brainiac countered. "I only do so if they are on the brink of collapse, as Remnant's was."
"You don't know that," Ozpin insisted, but Brainiac robotically insisted otherwise.
"I have preserved countless civilizations over the centuries, and during that time I have observed patterns that repeat themselves across the cosmos. Over-industrialization leading to environmental collapse, overuse of arable land leading to desertification and subsequent famine, high levels of societal stratification that leads to unrest and eventually open rebellion. Or, in your planet's case, a hostile environment waking to consume a civilization teetering on a knife's edge, just waiting to be pushed over by subversive actors. Your own institution had four such actors in your midst, ready to destroy everything your people built. I ran the calculations, and your civilization would not have survived. By preserving your cities, I ensured that it would."
"I would not call being shrunken into a bottle 'surviving.' No civilization deserves that," Ozpin said, his voice cold as ice. Brainiac stared at him for a moment, then stood up and typed a few buttons on a holographic sphere. A few moments later, a glass bottle was teleported to them, and Brainiac gently held it with surprising grace and held it over the chess board.
"This city belonged to planet Q1742T, preserved eight of your planet's years ago," Brainiac began. "It was a planet much like your own. Terrestrial, surface mostly covered in water, an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, and containing a highly advanced and interconnected network of civilizations that spanned the entire planet. Q1742T's gravity was too high for them to develop rocketry or spaceflight, but they attempted to circumvent this issue through teleportation. Through their work, they discovered an alternate plane of existence parallel to our own, known to many other civilizations as the Phantom Zone. Inside the Phantom Zone, they found and explored a barren void. Yet they managed to find a single corpse of a creature whose neck was broken. Believing it to be dead, the explorers brought the corpse back to their planet, hoping to study it.
"But the creature somehow managed to resuscitate itself, it's biology so advanced that even when dead, the cells continued to regenerate. When inside the Phantom Zone, that regeneration was frozen, but once brought back into our plane of existence, it continued as though no disruption had ever occurred. Within a week, the creature was alive, and immediately proved itself to be highly aggressive. It began destroying and killing everything, down to the microbial level, and despite the civilizations of the planet rallying together and using everything they had at their disposal to try and kill it, nothing worked.
"Within a month, a planet that once had a sapient population in the billions was reduced to a single city of ten million, which is when I found them. They begged for salvation, which I granted by preserving their last city. When I attempted to capture the creature for study, it proved to be too powerful, so I destroyed the planet. It managed to survive that, albeit in a comatose state, which is how I managed to lock it away back in the Phantom Zone. The creature was given a name by the planet's natives, one that was shared across countless civilizations across the universe that suffered its rampage. They called it Doomsday, and had I not arrived at the planet eight years ago, it would have destroyed everything and left no trace of their existence.
"So tell me, Ozpin. Should I have left that civilization as it was?" Brainiac rhetorically asked. Ozpin was at a loss for words, unable to speak. He could only numbly move his jaw up and down, staring with wide, horrified eyes as the tiny denizens of that city visibly cheered at the sight of their savior. Brainiac took that as his answer, and with a satisfied look in his eyes, sent the bottled city away and went back to his station.
"You may leave now. I have no further use of you," he declared. Ozpin didn't say a thing, instead silently rising to his feet and exiting the bridge. Brainiac's scanners detected when Raven Branwen used her Semblance to send him back into Vale, and as she departed as well, he sent a tiny drone to follow them. It was cloaked, unable to be seen, but with it he began scouring the city for what he desired.
November 15th, 2:30 A.M. (Eastern Standard Time)
Gotham City, New Jersey, United States of America
Jaune Arc slowly felt consciousness return to him. His vision was blurry, but after a few blinks it focused. He found himself in the Batcave's medical bay, staring up into a white ceiling with soothing fluorescent lights. The surface beneath him was soft, and he was covered in a light bed sheet. His suit was off, and he was instead wearing a medical gown that someone had dressed him in. He tried to remember why he was here, but at the moment, the memories were hazy.
"What…what happened?" he muttered to himself as he propped himself up, only to find that a saline drip was connected to his right arm. He looked at it in bewilderment, numbly poking at it with his left hand, only for his attention to be broken by the sound of an opening door.
"I'd advise against touching that, Mr. Arc," J'onn J'onzz advised, continuing to type away. Next to him, much to Jaune's surprise, was Victor Stone, who was attaching a device to Jaune's drip.
"Easy, buddy," Victor gently insisted. "You and Ren had a lot of toxins pumped into your system. We're flushing the rest out now."
"Toxins?" Jaune asked, not understanding what his cybernetic friend was talking about. Victor and J'onn looked at each other knowingly, but before Jaune could inquire what was the problem was, he looked to his side to see Ren fast asleep on a hospital bed as well.
At once, the memories came roaring back. The heartrate monitor beeped wildly as Jaune remembered everything at once. The date, Poison Ivy, the attack on ACE Chemicals. Jaune raised his shaking arms in horror as he remembered the heavy strikes he threw onto Nora and Pyrrha, remembered the blows they were forced to inflict onto him just to protect themselves. He began to hyperventilate from panic, but before he could even do anything else, Victor and J'onn were on him immediately.
"Jaune, it's alright," Victor insisted, but Jaune could only shoot him a look of horrified disbelief.
"'Alright'?!'" Jaune asked, tears beginning to pool around his eyes. "I hurt her. I hurt them. I nearly…"
He choked up, unable to finish his sentence as he began to sob uncontrollably. It was then that the doors opened and Pyrrha returned holding a steaming cup of what smelled like coffee. She locked eyes with him for a split second, then the mug fell to the ground and shattered as she sprinted over and locked her partner in a tight hug.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha cried, hugging him as though she hadn't seen him in forever. With tears running down her eyes, she kissed him on the lips. Not a romantic kiss, but one borne out of sheer relief and joy at seeing her friend. Jaune didn't react at first, then slowly raised his arms as though to hug her back, only to stop and leave them shaking in the air behind her. Pyrrha noticed this and let out a few more tears, then turned to face him again.
"It's okay," Pyrrha insisted, but Jaune knew better.
"I hurt you…" Jaune sobbed, unable to control himself, but Pyrrha shook her head.
"You would never hurt me," she declared, then wrapped herself in a hug. Her hot, salty tears dripped onto his gown, and after a moment, Jaune closed his eyes and returned the hug as tightly as he could.
Even with his eyes closed, he could see Ren stir awake. He saw him look around the room in confusion, but faster than Jaune did, Ren was able to figure out what had happened. Luckily for the Mistralian, Nora was on him immediately, and the two childhood lovers embraced each other and became sobbing messes.
Victor and J'onn, meanwhile, decided to step out of the room, not wanting to disturb this tender moment. They still paid close attention to their vitals, and joined the other teenagers as they were being comforted by the newly arrived Titans.
"I am so sorry you had to experience that," Donna gently said as she rubbed Weiss' shoulder in comfort.
"Thank you, but JNPR's the one who really needs the support right now," Weiss insisted, and the Amazon nodded in agreement.
"When they let us, I'll go in," Donna declared, and the other Titans nodded.
"This is so messed up, man," Garfield said, sitting down on a nearby chair. Raven was next to him, silently ruminating in her thoughts. She hadn't said a word since Dick had told them what happened, something that Garfield noticed. He wanted to ask what was running through her mind, but he respectfully decided to wait until she was comfortable. Besides, he figured he knew what she was thinking about.
Finally, Raven spoke up, "I think I know, now, where Richard got his concerns from."
"Yeah, but at least he asked about it," Victor pointed out. "Batman went completely behind their backs. He should have been upfront."
"Yes, he should have," Raven agreed, "but I can't help but agree with his logic. Especially with what happened to me."
The other young heroes fell silent at Raven's words. Out of everyone there, she knew more than anyone just how dangerous she could be if she lost control and the value of putting measures in place to ensure no one got hurt. Yet at the same time, none of the Remnantians had a literal demon breathing down their neck at every moment, just waiting to take control and wreak havoc.
Dick, meanwhile, studied the layer of deactivated nanites that came out of Jaune and Ren. In a morbid way, he couldn't help but be fascinated by their design and function. Had he been in the mood to create anti-Aura countermeasures, he likely would have gone the same route. But that fascination was drowned out by the sheer anger he felt towards his adoptive father, and he was so angry he barely even noticed Barbara roll up alongside M'gann.
"Remind you of anything?" Barbara asked, and Dick nodded.
"Why I left Gotham," Dick answered, placing the sample down and moving away from the microscope. "You know, I wanted to think that he'd let his paranoia go at least once, but no. He has to view everyone as a potential threat, even if it pushes them away."
"I know," Barbara agreed, letting out a small sigh before looking over to RWBY and JNPR. M'gann frowned slightly, looking downcast as she saw how depressed and betrayed their friends seemed. They looked pathetic, and for how strong they were, that was something she never thought she'd see.
"Do we even have enough room?" M'gann asked, not even needing to use her telepathy to know what Dick was going to offer them.
"We'll make room," Dick declared, clenching his fist before releasing it. At the same time, M'gann knew he didn't believe his own words; they were already cramped as it was. They had to convert one of the closets into a makeshift bedroom for her, and while they were able to find enough couches and beds for the rest of the team, there simply wasn't any more room.
M'gann didn't know what to do, but before she could voice her concerns, the elevator began to drop. Everyone's attention was drawn to it, and they quickly noticed that both Yang and Bruce were standing in it. Yang's arms were crossed and she was making an obvious effort to stay away from Bruce, yet at the same time the fact that she was even willing to stay in the same car as him right now spoke volumes. When the elevator stopped and the doors opened, both superheroes stepped out, Yang going to rejoin her team while Bruce walked over to the Batcomputer. Dick cut him off, and before Bruce could even say a word, he punched his father figure in the face.
Bruce didn't say anything, instead rubbing his jaw as he stoically looked back into Dick's enraged face.
"You deserved that," Dick declared, and to his slight surprise, Bruce nodded in agreement.
"I know," he said, then sat down on the Batcomputer and began typing a few keys. "How are Jaune and Ren?"
"They'll be fine in half an hour," Hawkgirl relayed. "Their Auras are already repairing any damage."
"Good," Bruce replied, continuing to type away. "When they're ready, please bring them out here."
"Why?" Ruby asked, tilting her head as Bruce rotated his chair around to look her in the eyes.
"Because I owe you all answers."
Without waiting for them to reply, Bruce turned around and continued to type into the Batcomputer, pulling a variety of files that none of the heroes could make sense of. The members of the Justice League raised their eyebrows at this sudden shift, as did Dick and the rest of Bruce's protégés. When they saw Yang nod to herself, however, they understood immediately what must have occurred.
Half an hour later, a mostly recovered Jaune and Ren were led out of the medical bay by their partners. They weren't wearing medical gowns anymore; instead, they were dressed in their normal civilian attire. The superheroes were all gathered around the Batcave, patiently waiting for Bruce to begin speaking, but before he would even start he turned his attention towards the young boys.
"Jaune, Ren, I'm glad you two are alright," Bruce said, his voice filled with sincerity. Jaune and Ren both gulped, then nodded.
"Yeah, well…thank you, Bruce. For…stopping us," Jaune said. It hadn't occurred to the others just how Jaune and Ren might have felt about the nanites being used on them, but now that it was in the air, they could no longer ignore it. It wasn't hard to read them, however, and although there was a slight hint of wariness, it was entirely drowned out by genuine gratitude. Ruby supposed it wasn't hard to see why they might feel that way, and she dreaded to think about what would have happened had the two boys actually managed to hurt their partners.
Still, they needed comfort, and when Jaune and Pyrrha sat down next to her, Ruby gently took Jaune's hand into her own then leaned her head on his shoulder. He squeezed back, his gratefulness easily leaking through.
"So, now that we're all here," Yang began, leaning against a metal railing, "I think it's time we got some answers."
Bruce nodded, then pressed a key to bring up a file titled 'Agamemnon Contingency.'
"Before the Justice League was founded, I had already begun compiling information on the various criminals and metahumans that plagued Gotham City," Bruce began to explain. "My thought was that by understanding each of them, I could take them down much more easily and prevent collateral damage. These contingences were composed of psyche-profiles alongside specialized tools and strategies designed on an individual level, perfectly tailored for their respective targets."
"That I agree with," Blake said, seeing where Bruce was coming from, "but why your allies?"
Bruce continued, "Because the Justice League is the most powerful organization the Earth has ever seen. Our resources, our personnel, even the connection we have with some of the most powerful nations on the planet. I myself ran the calculations, and determined that if the Justice League were to turn against the people we are sworn to protect, there was a ninety-nine percent chance that Earth would fall."
"Did you honestly believe the Justice League would?" Ruby asked, and Bruce shook his head.
"No," he admitted, "but I was concerned about other factors that might force them. Chief among them was mind control, alongside coercion. I believed, and still do, that keeping the contingencies a secret from them would be more effective, and outside of the Tower of Babel Incident and the events of last night, I've only had to use them five times."
"So, it's an 'incident' now," Flash muttered, but Bruce ignored him and pulled up the various files he had constructed on RWBY and JNPR.
"When you all arrived in our care, it wasn't hard for me to determine how much more powerful you were than nearly everyone else," he said, showing a highlight reel of RWBY and JNPR's training on the Watchtower. "Your Aura granted you incredible strength, speed, reaction times, everything, and when you all worked together as a unit, those traits were amplified. I feared what would have happened had you been forced to turn against us, and due to the scale of your strength, I started Project: HUNTER-BAT."
He pulled up another file, this one containing several blueprints of various armors and technology that hardly anyone could make heads or tails of. Weiss, however, narrowed her eyes and hummed to herself as she studied them. She recognized the nanites immediately, but she was more focused on the other designs that Batman still marked as being in active development.
"Kinetic absorbing armor plating, strength augmenting nanofiber weave, hyper-acceleration nano-bots…" Weiss gasped in realization. "You're trying to replicate Aura!"
"I am," Bruce confirmed. "Although humans from Earth lack the Remnant meta-gene that entails Aura use, I immediately recognized the potential. If I could give myself and other non-powered members of the Justice League a synthetic counterpart to what you naturally possess, the risk of severe injury or harm would be greatly reduced while our ability to defeat more powerful foes would exponentially increase. Unfortunately, the progress on the armor front has been…slow."
He turned towards a workbench, which contained a multitude of various tools and gadgets. Their eyes were immediately drawn to a bright red and slightly pointed batsymbol similar to the one Bruce wore across his chest, but when he began typing away at the Batcomputer again, their attentions shifted.
"I needed to find a way to subdue any of you, just in case something went horribly wrong and backup was unavailable," he explained, pulling up the nanites' dedicated file. "After seeing how your Aura reacted to physical damage, I developed a theory that spreading the damage to everywhere at once, rather than a single point, would quickly overload your Aura. Using the Aura scanning technology you shared, I combined it with nanites I developed years ago, then proceeded to run hundreds of simulated tests with every variable I could think of. With each test, I improved upon the design to reduce any chance of lethality, then developed what I believed to be a final working prototype."
"Which you used on us," Jaune added, and Bruce grimly nodded.
"It was not my first choice," Bruce admitted. "Even though I made them, I never intended for them to be used. But you have to understand. Ivy's pheromones had completely eroded your sense of self-preservation. Had the fight continued, someone would have gotten hurt…and it would have been at the hands of close friends. I could not let that happen, and even if your trust in me is forever shattered, I still consider that to be a better price to pay."
Ruby slowly nodded. She could see where Bruce was coming from now. It still unbelievably hurt, but to hear that he never wanted to use it and only had to in order to prevent something worse from happening brought at least a semblance of relief to her. The others weren't as convinced, but at the same time as she looked upon her own psychological profile that Bruce had constructed, a nagging question sprung to mind.
"If you're so worried about mind control, then why make the psyche-profiles?" Ruby asked. "If they're mind controlled, won't their personalities be completely different?"
Bruce said nothing, telling Ruby that she touched upon something that Bruce didn't really want to talk about. She sighed and lowered her head, resigning herself to a man she once trusted keeping secrets from her when Bruce shot a look towards the rest of the Justice League. As though a silent conversation was ensuing between them, and knowing J'onn there likely was, RWBY, JNPR, and the Titans watched as the League's faces shifted. First surprise and shock, then consideration before they looked at the teams and nodded. Bruce nodded back, then pressed a button on his keyboard. Before he pressed anything else, however, he turned around to face them. It was then that Dick began to realize exactly what Bruce was about to say, and his eyes widened. Kori noticed her boyfriend's change in expression then realized the same thing, but before she could speak up, Bruce began to speak in a way that was even more serious than normal.
"Before I show any of you this," he said, "I need you to understand something. This information is the most tightly kept secret the Justice League has. The only ones who know of it are in this room along with less than a dozen others. It cannot be told or given to anyone else. Do you understand that?"
RWBY and JNPR were shocked. They turned to face each other, then Yang narrowed her eyes and leaned her head forward.
"What's so important about it?" she asked, but Bruce shook his head.
"I need your guarantee," Bruce insisted. From the looks on the other Founders' faces, they agreed with him, and Yang suddenly felt the gravity of the situation. She turned her attention back towards Bruce, locking eyes with him.
"If it's so secret," she began, "why tell us? We've only been on Earth for a few months."
Bruce was silent at first, then replied, "Because I trust you."
Yang's eyes widened, then after a moment she nodded. "Okay. We won't tell anyone."
One by one, the others nodded in agreement. Bruce waited until everyone was done, then turned back around and typed a hidden password into the box. The password was accepted, pulling up a file thats name was redacted. He hovered his cursor over an icon and opened it.
"Ruby, you asked why I made the psyche profiles," Bruce stated. "This is why."
An image popped up on screen, one of Superman. Yet he wasn't wearing his trademark red, blue, and gold outfit. Instead, the blue was now black, the red white, and the gold background of his insignia was a deep red. Everyone stared confused at the image, confused, and Yang audibly scoffed.
"That's it? That's the secret?" she asked, laughing to herself at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. "So Superman decided to wear a white cape one day. I don't see what the—"
Bruce cut her off by changing to another image, and her retort died in her throat. Everyone was staring with wide eyes at an image of the Superman they knew, wearing his normal costume, locked in an aerial battle with the one dressed in white.
"What is this?" Jaune asked, slowly standing up to get a better look.
"Was Superman fighting a clone?" Weiss suggested. "Like Bizarro?"
"No," Superman confirmed, crossing his arms and staring up at the image. "He wasn't a clone. He was me."
"What do you mean, 'he was you?'" Blake asked, not understanding what she was seeing. Bruce turned to face them, propping his arms on the armrest and clasping his hands together.
"He means they're both Superman," Bruce explained. "But the one in white was Lord Superman. A Superman from another Earth."
"Another…Earth?" Ruby started, her eyes going wide as Bruce nodded.
"Tell me: have you ever heard of the Multiverse Theory?"
Unknown System, Occupied Planetary Orbit
Bottled City of Vale
"Specialist Schnee, the route is secure," one of the soldiers reported as the bunker they had been hiding in for the past day was evacuated. The Dust Penny had inspected was already on its way back to General Ironwood, along with the various components she made. Radios and scattered electronics were ripped from the walls and ceiling, and the only evidence of their presence were a few drill marks that could have easily been mistaken for bullet holes.
"Good work, Private," Winter replied, nodding before ushering him on. "We're leaving for the next safehouse. Leave nothing behind."
Penny said nothing, instead sitting on the ground as the Atlesian soldiers continued their work. There wasn't anything for her to do now, so instead she preoccupied herself with studying the bunker she was currently in. Calling it a bunker wasn't exactly accurate. She supposed the more apt terminology would be 'basement,' as they found it underneath a partially ruined home. One of the first things the soldiers had to do was clear out the bodies, a family of three that had to be buried and laid to rest. There were a lot of buildings like that around Vale, and Penny suspected they would find many more. Ciel then walked up to the gynoid, breaking her from her thoughts and tapping her wristwatch.
"We have to go, Penny," Ciel insisted. "We wait any longer, and the risk of the Brainiac finding you increases exponentially."
Penny grimly nodded, standing up. Brainiac had been the entire reason why she was being shuffled from safehouse to safehouse over the past four months. He was searching for her, and no one wanted him to get his hands on her. What she didn't know was whether the soldiers assigned to guard her did so because they liked her, or if they simply wanted to prevent Brainiac from taking something else. She liked to think it was the former, but she also suspected the latter was in play.
"How many this time?" Penny asked, not needing to specify what her question was. Ciel didn't respond, and Penny sighed. Every time they shifted safehouses and scouted a route for her to take, a few didn't return. Desperate scavengers and ruthless raiders frequently attacked them as they traversed Vale, and sometimes even an Atlesian soldier got overwhelmed or simply unlucky. After a while, no one answered her, but she continued to feel the need to ask.
"People shouldn't have to die for me," Penny insisted, but Winter, to her surprise, shook her head.
"Your life is too valuable, Penny," Winter declared. "I will not allow you to become his plaything."
Penny looked up at her custodian in shock, then allowed herself to smile.
"That's the first time you've said, 'my life,'" Penny noted. Winter smiled and shook her head.
"You are alive, Penny. Don't let anyone else—" Winter stopped, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. At the same time, a faint whirring noise was heard, one that was growing louder and louder by the second. Everyone slowly stopped, first in confusion then in alarm.
"Get down!" Winter shouted, forming a Glyph above herself and Penny. Not a moment later, the exterior wall of the basement exploded, sending chunks of concrete shooting into the soldiers. They cried out in pain as the rubble slammed into them, breaking a few of their Auras and sending the rest flying back. Penny covered her head and ducked down as Winter increased the strength of the Glyph shielding them. When the noise died down and the dust settled, both Winter and Penny opened their eyes towards the freshly made hole. When they saw the lone figure standing before it, their hearts skipped a beat.
"Brainiac…" Penny gasped in fear. It was impossible not to recognize him. He held up a soldier by the neck impassively, staring them all down with cold, emotionless eyes that glowed a faint purple.
"I am impressed," Brainiac began, spreading four tentacles out from his back that coiled through the air to face the recovering Atlesians who were frozen by fear. "You managed to elude me for months and destroy my patrols sent to capture the gynoid. Your defiance, however, has captured my direct attention. I offer you this: surrender the gynoid to me and you will remain unharmed."
For a moment, a heavy silence hung in the air, then Winter pulled out her sword and dashed towards Brainiac with an enraged scream. As though that were a signal, gunfire erupted all around Penny, squarely aimed at Brainiac with every intention of putting him down. Winter slashed apart a tentacle holding up the captive soldier, then began slashing at his arm while attempting to stab into his exposed flesh. Before her knife could reach his neck, however, Brainiac caught her arm and held her close, glaring into her eyes.
"How illogical," he said, then punched Winter in the gut. The air was knocked out of her lungs and her Aura shimmered dangerously, and when he threw her through a concrete wall it shattered completely. The gunfire didn't let up, and even Penny joined in with laser beams shooting out of her suspended swords.
Yet Brainiac slowly advanced, not caring about nor being harmed by the gunfire in any way. The soldiers had nowhere to go, and before any of them could react, he closed the distance and began hurling powerful blows into their bodies. A punch to a head, a kick to the chest, thrown elbows and knees, even using his robotic tentacles to pick up a soldier and slam them into the ground. The strength of his attacks were enough to shatter their Auras effortlessly, and Penny could only watch in dismay as not even she was able to scratch him.
"Penny, we need to go!" Ciel shouted, grabbing Penny by the arm and leading her away. A pistol was in her hand, but Penny knew that it wouldn't do anything to the alien. They ran up the shattered concrete steps and into the open air, trying to escape when they spotted a group of drones teleport in front of them.
Penny acted immediately, dashing forwards and sending all ten her Floating Array's swords into the group. The robots were cleaved apart effortlessly, carving a path for Penny and Ciel to escape. They weren't able to make it far, however, as yet another group teleported in, but Ciel pushed Penny on and aimed her pistol.
"Just go!" Ciel shouted, firing her weapon into the drones' heads.
"But-!" Penny protested, but with a firm shove, Ciel pushed her out of sight. She then ran out into the street after reloading, drawing the drones' attention as they fired upon her. A few managed to hit the girl, but Ciel was able to keep going and run behind a shattered home. The drones followed, and from her position Penny watched with horrified eyes as they left her sight. She waited a moment, then stood up and turned around to leave when she saw Brainiac emerge from the ruined house. Clutched in his hand was Winter Schnee, who was punching and kicking his body as hard as she could in a desperate act of defiance. Brainiac scanned the area around him, keeping his grip on Winter's head tight.
"I know you're still out there," Brainiac called out. "I do not wish to bring harm to you, gynoid. Your capacity for emotion is intriguing to me. But it is a vulnerability, one that I am more than willing to exploit."
As he spoke, he lifted Winter's body up in a display of power, and at the same time Penny saw Ciel's unconscious body being dragged by a few drones towards him. Yet others dragged the still alive soldiers out of the house, laying them before Brainiac and aiming their built-in weapons at them.
"I have not killed any of them, and if you surrender they will remain unharmed. But if you do not, they will die. You have thirty seconds to comply."
Penny could only watch in horror as the palms of the drones lit up. A faint whir was heard as they primed, and Winter's screams of pain increased as Brainiac slowly began to squeeze.
Penny's eyes darted as her targeting system ran calculations. The drones could all be neutralized with a volley from her Array, though whether they would go down before firing upon their own targets was less certain. The real problem, as always, was Brainiac himself. The only option available to her that might move him was a fully charged blast from her entire Array. Its charge time would give him more than enough time to react however, and even if it hit, Winter would only be killed by the blast itself.
And after everything she'd seen of him, the odds that Brainiac would be anything more than temporarily inconvenienced by her strongest attack were minuscule. The reality of the situation was clear: P.E.N.N.Y. was not capable of saving everyone through force.
She knew what she needed to do, and a pang of fear shot through her mechanical heart. Then, as the drones prepared to fire, Penny steeled herself and stepped out into the open.
"Wait! Don't hurt them!" she shouted. Brainiac and his drones complied immediately, while Winter could only stare at her in horror.
"Penny, what are you doing?!" Winter shouted, but Brainiac did not release his hold. Instead, he stared her down. Penny took a deep breath then focused entirely on the Coluan.
"If I leave with you, will they remain unharmed?" she asked, and Brainiac nodded.
"That is correct," he confirmed. Penny took a deep breath, then nodded.
"Alright. I'll go with you. I'll do whatever you want me to do, I won't resist, just don't hurt them. Please," she begged. Brainiac stared at her silently for a moment, then dropped Winter like a rock.
"Acceptable," he coldly said, then began marching towards her. His drones did the same, and from the ground Winter could only barely lift her head up to face Penny.
"Penny, no! My life isn't worth it!" Winter insisted, but to her surprise, Penny shook her head.
"I disagree," Penny declared, then Brainiac teleported her and the drones out of Vale. Her vision was consumed by a swirling blue void, and when she reemerged in Brainiac's ship, she found herself in the very chamber where all the bottled cities were stored. For the first time in months, she saw Atlas hovering over Mantle along with all the other cities captured from Remnant. She felt like crying, but forced herself not to.
"Come with me," Brainiac demanded, walking away into an adjacent chamber. Penny sadly looked on at the cities as Remnant was hovered away, and with a heavy sigh she turned around to follow her captor. Together, they walked through the lifeless ship, only the gentle thumping of the engines filling the air.
"You are wondering why you are still active," he started. Penny looked up at him. She had been wondering that. As far as anyone knew, Dust did not work outside of Remnant's atmosphere, and she herself was powered by enough Dust to last a lifetime. Yet, she was still operational.
"I am, yes," she admitted as they passed another door. Rather than nod his head, Brainiac continued to walk forward.
"I found that Dust can work in any environment, so long as there is an atmosphere primarily composed of oxygen and nitrogen combined with a sufficiently powerful gravitational field. Were Dust to leave that, even momentarily, it will become inert and useless."
Penny said nothing, hearing the hidden threat in Brainiac's words. She knew that outside of this hull was only the vacuum of space, and if she attempted to escape, she would perish.
"Of course, your reliance on Dust will be circumvented in time, but for now I have other uses for you," he said as they entered another room. Like many others it was filled with lab equipment, but to Penny's surprise she saw a frail old woman with white hair laying down in a bed. She was asleep, wearing a mint green and white outfit, and Penny could only look up at her captor in confusion. He said nothing, instead walking out of the room and locking her in.
Penny stared at the closed door, then sighed and attempted to collect her bearings. Feeling curious about the woman, she gently walked forward, recognizing the equipment connected to her to be life support. Brainiac was keeping this woman alive for some reason, but Penny couldn't quite figure out why.
When the woman coughed violently, Penny's ruminations were immediately halted. She rushed over to provide any assistance she could, rubbing the woman's back as she stirred awake.
"Huh?" the woman faintly asked, her voice weak. She looked around the room, her blue eyes vacant before they settled on Penny. "Oh, hello there. I don't believe we've met before."
"I…no ma'am, we haven't," Penny admitted with a gentle shake of her head. At the same time, her robotic eyes scanned the woman's body, and she couldn't help but frown. The woman was old, very old, and her body was beginning to fail her. In her current state, she'd be lucky to last the year, even with Brainiac's 'support.'
"Well, that's a shame. You seem like a nice girl," the woman continued, sitting up and coughing again. Penny looking around, then found a cup next to a water dispenser. She hurried over and filled it, then gently handed the cup to the woman.
"Oh, why thank you," she said, taking a sip of the water before putting it on a table next to her. She looked at Penny, more confused than alarmed, then smiled. "What's your name?"
Penny was silent for a moment, then answered quietly, "Penny. My name is Penny Polendina."
"Penny," the woman repeated, then smiled. "That's a nice name. I'm happy to meet you, Penny. My name is Fria."
[~][~]
Hello, everyone! Here's the latest chapter of Hunters of Justice! Special thanks to Jesse K and NaanContributor for all their help in bringing this to life.
The Batman Arc is now officially over, and a lot of revelations have sprung up. Funny how this all started with a date that went horribly, horribly wrong. That's how things happen, I suppose. As to what the next arc is all about, that will become clear in the next few chapters, but I think you guys will enjoy it.
Now, for the Q&A:
triscythe59: While that is certainly an option, I can't say if I have any plans for Music Meister at this time. There are no plans for the Light, however, and this story is mostly built off of the DCAU as that is what I grew up with.
nobodyknowsimarwbyfan: Probably not, no. I intend to keep my Elseworlds chapters unique and I already had the grimdark one with DCeased. I might pull elements for my main story, but that's no guarantee.
Guest (1): Oh, trust me. They'll be working with a lot of different heroes over the course of the story. Flash and Superman among them.
Guest (2): Yes and no. Aura does indeed come from the soul, but it is still harmed/affected by physical means. Every time a Huntsmen or Huntress is hit, their Aura takes the blow and is weakened slightly. Eventually, that Aura will pass a breaking point and shatter, at which point the individual is a mere human being, albeit one that's a bit stronger than ones on Earth due to evolutionary pressures (i.e., the Grimm.) What Bruce's nanites due is, instead of focusing the damage on one point, it attacks everywhere at once, overwhelming the Aura and making it shatter.
Chaldea: I do intend on elements from that show making an appearance, but I probably won't do a full on short for it.
Jackalope89: Yep, it bit him in the ass. But, as the latest chapter proved, he does have reasons for it. Whether or not those reasons justify it is up to the characters to decide. And yep, here's the infamous Bat-Family Drama. Although the Bat-Family here is much closer and more stable than in many incarnations, it still happens.
hirshja: Don't get me wrong. Kiteman is more than likely going to appear eventually, but he has to have a point. I don' want to throw him in just for the sake of throwing him in.
D. : I probably will eventually, I had a lot of fun writing them, but not for a while. We've kind of used a lot of Batman villains recently, and while he has some of the best in fiction, I don't want to overload.
RedShirt047: I disagree, especially with your assessment that I insulted Arkos. I love Arkos, it's one of my favorite ships, but it did not fit the story I wanted to tell. As such, I made it so that they stayed as friends. Beyond that, Pyrrha's crush on Jaune is a well-established canonical fact, one I felt I needed to address despite what I ultimately planned for it. Had I ignored it completely, like you suggest, that would have been a greater insult in my opinion. So yeah, I acknowledged it, and while it didn't end the way the characters wanted, it was still done with the utmost respect to the characters involved. Also, I never said that romance wasn't going to be in the story at all, I just said it wasn't going to be a a major focus. Think of romance in HoJ as a spice. A little bit will be added to enhance the flavor, but the bulk of the dish is about how the RWBY characters interact with the DC universe, both violently and peacefully.
That's it for this time. I hope you all enjoyed, and let us know what you think!