Dick, Donna and Jesse stood facing down Lord. Behind him was a girl in a blue bodysuit, a red and yellow emblem that was very familiar on her chest.
"If they call him Superman, I guess that makes her Supergirl." Lord said with a smirk "We've been able to decipher part of her database. We know her name and that she's his cousin sent to Earth to protect him. I guess something happened that kept her stuck in stasis. Say hello, Kara."
Kara charged at them, Jesse dodging the attack, Dick firing a grapple line to evade it and Donna making an attempt to catch her. It was almost like fighting Power Girl. Except Kara was new to her abilities, and they were barely active. Still, she could probably wear Donna down before tiring herself.
"Nightwing, get the Kryptonite from Lord!" She yelled as Kara hit her again "We need to take this Supergirl down!"
"You got it." Dick said, turning to Jesse "Get out of here."
Jesse paused, about to run away. After a second, she turned back.
"No way." She said "He's going to pay for what he put me through."
Jesse charged Lord, grabbing the Kryptonite from him, tossing it to Dick, before beginning to hit Lord with a flurry of punches, before Lord finally caught one of them.
"You shouldn't be fighting me." He said, his eyes seemingly glowing bright blue for a second "You'd much rather help me fight your friends."
"Yes... You're right..." Jesse said, turning back to the others, charging Dick and knocking him off his feet, catching the Kryptonite as it fell "I'll be taking that."
"What the hell..." Dick said, before being hit with a flurry of punches to the ribs, feeling the body armour he wore beginning to buckle in places under the rapid blows "Donna... A little help..."
"I'm kind of busy!" Donna yelled as she threw Kara at the stasis pod, the device being dented as Kara fell to the floor "That has to keep me down."
"No." Kara said, as she stood up, her eyes glowing red "I was educated on the abilities I'd have under a yellow sun. If you thought they'd be inaccessible due to a lack of information, you were misinformed."
"Oh shit." Donna said before being blasted by Kara's heat vision, Donna barely blocking it with the bracers she wore "Listen, Supergirl... Kara... Whatever your name is... Lord is controlling you."
Then it hit her. Lord was controlling both Kara and Jesse. She turned to Dick.
"We need to regroup." She called "I've got an idea."
Dick looked at her for a moment as she gestured with her head slightly towards Lord. Dick nodded. He pressed a control on his escrima sticks, tossing them on the floor, Jesse tripping on one and having a small electric shock course through her, stunning her for a moment.
Dick took the opportunity, grabbing the Kryptonite she'd dropped and tossing it to Donna, who proceeded to hit Kara with a left hook that took her to the floor. As she did, Dick dived at Lord, tackling him to the floor.
"Are you sure you want to fight me?" Lord said, grabbing Dick's arm, Dick punching him in response "What... Why are you still fighting?"
"Guess you missed the memo." Dick replied "Insulated suit. Tactile abilities won't get through it."
"Then I'll need to go for something that's not insulated!" Lord said, grabbing for Dick's face, having his reach smacked away by Dick over and over before finally making contact "Got you. Now, you're going to pick up those sticks of yours, turn them to full power, and you're going to use them as a defibrillator on yourself."
Dick stood up wordlessly, slowly beginning to walk towards the sticks. Donna saw him pick them up, beginning to press various controls. She charged Lord, grabbing him by the collar.
"Call him off!" She yelled as Dick's sticks began charging "Now!"
"No." He said, reaching for her hands "And I think-"
Before Lord could give the order to her, Donna released him. She moved behind him and, in one swift movement, grabbed and snapped his neck with a sickening crunch. As she did, she saw Dick look down for a moment before tossing the sticks away, helping Jesse up before turning to Donna.
"What have you done?" He asked, his tone one of shock.
...
Dick stood in the Watchtower with Bruce. After Kara had come to, she'd been more than willing to help them demolish Chimtech, and the Checkmate headquarters with it. After that, they'd been able to introduce her to her cousin; needless to say, finding that her baby cousin was now about ten years older than her had been a , there'd been a difficult decision to make. That had led them to where they were.
The airlock opened from the Javelin shuttle, Donna being escorted out by Kara, now wearing red boots and a matching cape with her flight suit from before, and Kyle Rayner, the current Green Lantern. Donna looked at Dick and sighed.
"I'm sorry." Dick said simply "I wish there was another way."
"I know." Donna replied "Just promise me one thing."
"What?" Dick asked her.
"Promise that if you need me, you're not going to let some sense of justice keep you from asking me to help." She said "That's all I'm going to ask."
Dick paused. He wasn't sure how to respond, and was acutely aware of Bruce looking over his shoulder at this point. He looked at the older man, at the empty, white stare of the cowl. He knew Bruce was against the idea. He always was.
"I'll call if I need it." Dick finally said "You turned yourself in for this, you agreed to be kept up here. You're not a monster. You just made a bad call."
Donna smiled at him before being led off. Dick turned back to Bruce, who was scowling.
"I think you're being too soft." Bruce said simply.
"And I think you're too hard." Dick replied with a smirk "Maybe one day we'll find a happy middle ground."
"Maybe." Bruce said simply "Rayner's on guard duty this week, he'll keep her entertained."
"I'm sure he will." Dick said as he and Bruce entered the Javelin "So, what's the plan, Batman?"
"I hate that joke." Bruce grimaced as the airlock closed "I'm due back in Gotham. Jason's been in a medically induced coma for the last week and we're bringing him to today. What about you?"
"Back to Bludhaven, I guess." Dick said, Bruce taking the controls of the space craft "City's not going to take care of itself."
"They never do." Bruce said, pressing a control for cruise before releasing the controls, turning to Dick "What about your little team? Barry tells me he's giving that girl a hand with getting control of her speed, though they're struggling to come up with a name; at the moment, they're going with 'Impulse,' but the 'Jesse Quick' pun has kind of stuck with her."
"I hear it was a good one." Dick said with a grin "Does she need to stay up there?"
"Until we're sure she won't kill again, yes." Bruce said "If it were up to me, she'd be in the containment facility with Grundy, Parasite and Reverse Flash."
"Well, good thing it was my call." Dick said, pausing "Okay, it was hers when I told her the alternatives were Iron Heights and your suggestion, but still!"
Bruce almost cracked a smile for a second. If Dick hadn't seen it, he might not have believed it. After a moment, Bruce coughed slightly, breaking the silence.
"Barbara told me..." He began, pausing "She told me that she'd like you to come back. I told her that was a silly idea, that you're your own man, but-"
"I guess I could visit." Dick said, slightly awkwardly "Just for a little while, for her sake. And let's face it, if the newbie is going to be going off half cocked all the time, you'll be too busy with him to really protect Gotham. Victor can handle Bludhaven for a little while."
"Good." Bruce said, before a light beeped, Bruce pressing the control for the communication system, Kara's image appearing on the screen "Go ahead."
"Kal's in trouble. Some kind of enhanced clone." Kara said "We need to help him. Flash and Impulse are already there."
"I need to check in with Robin, then I'll be there. Batman out." Bruce replied, cutting the line "I'll drop you off, Dick. I'll be back within half an hour."
"Just like the old days." Dick smirked "Think you can still work with me, that Barbara and Jason haven't ruined you yet?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Bruce half growled.
"Just that you're getting older." Dick grinned "And I call the shots now."
Bruce rolled his eyes in the cowl. Finally, he spoke.
"We'll see about that." He said, smirking as he added "Robin."
...
Voila, the ending. This was a mini chapter, just to wrap up the loose ends. It also takes us straight to the events of Man of Steel volume 2 part two, same as the end of part two of the Bat volume 2, the ending of this taking place literally ten minutes earlier. R&R, please, no flames. B.