Smallville: 2012
. . .
The Caped Crusader
. . .
They were boxed in.
They didn't show their fear – that would give their pursuers a satisfaction – they had to remain strong, they had to stick together. They stood back to back keeping an eye on their approaching adversaries, warily scanning them for weapons – it looked as though all they were in possession of were tasers, if they thought it was going to be that easy they were clearly underestimating them – they were no longer simply Zan and Jayna – they were the Wonder Twins, Chloe had faith in them and if they'd had the choice they would've stayed in their apartment. But they had seen a woman be mugged and intervened to rescue her…of course she wasn't actually being mugged – that had been a ploy and they'd fallen for it.
"You ready Z?" he heard his sister say over his shoulders.
"Powers activate!" they yelled, linking arms with one another, instantly gone were the two humans, replaced by a Benghal Tiger, snarling at its foes and in place of the other a wall of water, coursing downwards along the alleyway towards its foes. The Tiger leaped at it's own pursuers, sending one flying with a swipe of its forward paw before gouging a chunk out of its next nearest opponent, the beast rounded upon its two remaining foes but they were slightly faster than their colleagues, two blasts from the tasers pumped into the Tiger, slowing it down and making its swipes sluggish, causing it to fall short of them. It flopped a few times and a final blast knocked it over on its side.
The wave had not failed to notice this, and at that point panicked – stopping its wash down the alleyway and reverting to humanoid form – running to the side of its fallen twin. Not that the colleagues cared about the sign of sibling love, shocking him at a safe distance twice to ensure that he was out cold, the two suits stashed their tasers into their jackets as their mistress stepped out of the shadows, clad in a vibrant magenta trench coat, complemented by matching boots. She surveyed the scene disdainfully.
"Throw the others in one of the cars and get them out of my sight, this was a simple operation," she said to one of the suits, sighing exasperatedly as she surveyed the scene…she hadn't realized just how much management they would need, "you," she turned to the other one, "put the two captives in the truck, Stewart won't be happy if she's kept waiting for her new captives." She turned and disappeared into the shadows – there was no point in lengthening out the process, especially when she would be the one to deal with Caroline if she was displeased by the progress of the operation.
She'd never wanted to get involved with common criminals but she was being paid handsomely for supervising what was generally straightforward kidnapping, it didn't have the same allure of stealing valuable jewels the world over but it paid well and it gave her an excuse to put her powers to good effect, her eyes flickered to the bracelet on her wrist and then she put her hands inside the pockets of her trench as she strolled back to the truck – she didn't trust Stewart or for that matter her partner who she had yet to meet but that was irrelevant: for the moment. Money was more interesting than the practicalities than working as a part of a team. She absent-mindedly played with her earrings as she watched the first suit gather up his colleagues, while the second brought first the female and then the male to the truck. She could have assisted them but she thought they could at least do something themselves.
The entire clean-up process only took a few moments before she made a last survey of the scene – ensuring they hadn't been witnessed – and then ducked inside the cabin of the truck as they tore away from the scene at the speed: no point in waiting to be discovered.
. . .
It was possibly the most awkward car journey he'd ever been on, Diana was sat quietly in the back in a dress that was in every sense of the word stunning, a deep scarlet in colour with her hair worn down for the first time, her flowing black longs trailing down to her waist. Lois looked equally beautiful in her own dress – a one-shoulder black type complimented with simple pearls and a subdued clutch although he could tell that she was feeling challenged in every way by Diana despite his numerous reassurances that he wasn't interested in the new girl, the fact that her hair looked so diminutive in comparison, tied up simply with two curls twirling down either side of her face evidently wasn't helping matters as Lois's eyes kept flicking to the mirror to leer at the flowing black locks, her envy was practically radiating through the car.
Things would probably only get more awkward when Lois found out he'd asked Zatanna to attend the Gala – or more accurately she had invited herself, she had been busy with a show all afternoon but had suggested she could meet him in the evening for drinks and they could discuss the Amazons then. Unfortunately Clark had had the gala and had told her that he had a prior engagement so she had suggested she come to the gala. At the time he hadn't thought too much of it but on reflection he was probably about to cause World War Three. The walk through the lot had been worse since none of them had talked at all until they reached the doorman, security seemed unusually tight for a Charity Gala, Clark counted at least six guards at the entrance, there bomber-jackets however bore an emblem he recognized as belonging to Wayne Industries – clearly since Wayne was guest of honour he was assuming control of things. Clark cast his head skyward spotting two figures silhouetted against the moonlight – briefly – presumably more guards, Wayne really wasn't taking any chances. They flashed their Press IDs and moved past the guards and into the Museum that was acting as host to the evening's proceedings.
The building was already full of people gossiping over drinks – most people were taking advantage of the open bar, there was also a speech platform at the far end of the main atrium of the building, complete with podium and microphone – presumably for Wayne's address. Clark turned to the two women, neither of whom were facing one another; Lois was pretending to be interested in a Dinosaur of to the left while Diana seemed genuinely interested in a depiction of Greek Soldiers…something to do with her heritage no doubt. Clark boldly moved towards the two of them smiling.
"Guess we just split up and mingle then?" he asked.
"Sure." Lois replied mechanically, leaving them to it, probably heading straight for the Bar for some of the free-flowing Champagne they had seen passing round the room, Clark stood beside Diana and followed her eye sight for a moment to the statues.
"Remind you of home?" he quizzed.
She smiled, "You know something of Themyscira?"
"Only that it's the home of the Amazons," he grinned back, "although that's all mythology right?"
"Some of it," she said elusively, "I think it's best that we started mingling Clark, I wouldn't want Lois to get the wrong idea." She indicated the Bar and Clark could see Lois sending daggers at the two of them, he nodded and left her alone checking his cell – no message from Zatanna, he was hoping she wouldn't just appear out of nowhere like she normally did but something told him Zatanna wouldn't opt for the low-key arrival. He left Diana looking at the statues and begin moving deeper into the crowd – he didn't want to run into Lois, especially with the impending arrival on his hands.
. . .
As Watchtower life was lonely but it was always rewarding when she reminded herself she was helping people – making a real difference as Clark's eye-in-the-sky, directing him and coordinating Oliver's team…except somewhere along the line she'd failed in the latter objective following the spate of kidnappings. With Bart gone that didn't leave a lot of them, the only thing that was keeping her together was the knowledge that Oliver was patrolling with Dinah – at least together they were less of an easy target and though she'd never have admitted it to their faces they were a lot more mature and a lot more capable of defending themselves if they got into a situation.
She patched through a call to a Victor and let it ring out a few times before cancelling the call – that wasn't a good sign, he normally answered instantly, and she tried again and then switched tack, cycling through to the security feeds on his apartment block. It took a few moments to hack into the system before she found the digital file of the camera looking at his floor – as she'd predicted Victor left his apartment, suited up. She scanned through local feeds till she found him again – he was helping an old man that was being beaten…too late Victor realized it was a trap and he started taking down the suited men closing in on him. He blasted away the first few ranks and harmlessly deflected the electrical charges of the tasers – there were only a handful left when he collapsed to the floor, writhing in pain as a dark shadow fell across him, consuming him and then retracting, leaving him still on the floor – unconscious.
She cycled back through the film feed and then compared it to several other local cameras before finding one that centred on where the shadow had come from, she made out a figure almost completely dressed in black with a head crowned by an austere Top Hat – the energy-field emanated from a cane upon which he rested both his hands, his eyes were obscured by a pair of tinted circular-lens spectacles. She ran the Watchtower facial-recognition software over the figure, within a few moments the profile of the figure, identified as the Shade, alias Richard Swift. It didn't make sense – Watchtower listed him as incarcerated, he'd been apprehended in Central City months ago for an attempted break in at a maximum Security Vault that had been playing host to a ruby that dated back to the Aztec Empire.
After a few moments cross-referencing various sources the suggestion of the feed was confirmed, the Shade was no longer behind bars and had been responsible for kidnapping Cyborg – something seemed amiss about that fact, she cycled through the prison record for the Shade but was flagged up before she'd even gotten there by two names appearing as released: Black Manta and Cheetah – they were not the only ones either. It was a confidential database and a government one too – someone had been pulling strings to release supervillains and Chloe couldn't find a reasonable explanation for it – the government wouldn't just release maximum security inmates…
Checkmate was defunct and the government had become generally more amenable to the vigilantes assisting in combating crime…though she couldn't doubt what she'd seen, a Metahuman was involved in the capture of Cyborg…which meant it was either a skeleton from Clark's closet targeting the Heroes or more likely somebody employing the villains to do their bidding. She heard the step behind her and turned, instantly regretting it as a blow smashed into her right temple sending her flying to the floor, she hit it with a sickening crack and blinked her eyes a few times, her last sight before the blackness consumed her was a lilac light pulsating in the room.
. . .
"Champagne?" Zatanna asked, offering Clark a glass as she drained her own, swopping it for a full one as a waiter swept past them in the centre of the crowd, where most of the guests were milling about expectantly: awaiting Wayne's speech. Clark turned grinning to his friend and then frowned – she hadn't opted to change out of her act dress, she was still wearing her trademark fishnets, accompanied by her top-hat, waistcoat and presumably, her wand somewhere though Clark didn't want to think about where she was concealing it.
"Glad you made it," he said sipping at his own drink, "so I suppose the thing to ask is did you find anything?"
She smiled and produced a notebook – a journal, the paper-was yellowing and the cover was starting to wear suggesting it was old, without even touching it the book opened itself to about half way were Clark was given a few images of what looked like the Greek Armour he'd seen at the exhibit with Diana before, a hand-drawn map of the Mediterranean, complete with a red dot labelled Themyscira and the next few pages were handwritten notes under the umbrella title "Amazons."
"Is this your father's?"
She nodded, "He kept notes about things he learned on his journeys, I see Lois is still jealous," she flashed a perfect, pearly-white smile at Lois who was shooting them both daggers, Clark had been afraid of that, "putting it simply, as there is an element of reality to my magic act, so there is an element of reality to the mythical tails of the Warrior Women – the Amazons. The reason Diana had the vice-like handshake is because she is an Amazon, Themyscira is the site of the gates to the Greek version of hell, Tartarus and the Amazons are duty bound to guard the gates because of something that Hippolyte did years ago. Since Tartarus is full of…demons the Amazons need to be stronger than the average human, magically empowered actually…although the details about their abilities in the journal are a little sketchy.
"Diana is Hippolyte's daughter and the reason she's interested in that armour," Zatanna had spotted her admiring the Greek exhibit on the far side of the Museum, "is because it is very reminiscent of what she and her sisters wear when on Themyscira – she isn't exactly a Goddess but she is…a supernatural being, she's very powerful, and there's probably a lot more to her than I know. My dad couldn't go to Themyscira because the presence of man there is banned – the Amazons don't believe in a need for man…although evidently she's not your average Amazon."
Clark nodded with comprehension, "So do you have any idea-" but he went quiet as he heard a male voice being cleared in a microphone, the Museum came alive with applause as heads turned to face Bruce Wayne – this was his first face-to-face with him. He had jet-black hair, cropped on the sides but fuller on top, spiked a little with gel: solely to be fashionable he suspected privately. He was probably Clark's age, with piercing blue eyes and clean-shaven face. He was dressed in a traditional tux with bow-tie, he didn't grin but his speaking voice was none the less encompassing.
"Wayne Industries has always striven to diversify," he began, "and our new venture, here in Metropolis I hope will improve the city and help the environment – which is of course why we're all gathered together here. A new extensive Wind-Farm will be built on the outskirts…" Clark wanted to concentrate, truly he did – not just because there was probably a story in the speech but also because he wanted to observe Wayne a little bit more – he seemed something of an enigma. However his attention was elsewhere.
There was a sound in his ear that he couldn't quite distinguish, champagne corks popped and some people continued gossiping, albeit at more irregular intervals and far quieter before but they went on – it wasn't in the atrium, he deduced that much: so he cast his ear upwards and there he found it. The speakers almost concealed it – almost, but he could hear the underlying noise – a clicking, like cogs moving together, it would have been recognizable anywhere – a gun site. He cast his head skyward and spotted the barrel, poking through one of the slim windows in the roof of the museum – he wouldn't be able to reach Wayne in time to take the bullet.
He looked to his left – the statue of the T-Rex that Lois had been so interested in before reared up on its hind-legs in an attack pose, he silently moved away from Zatanna at hyper-speed toward the statue and moved close to its legs, selecting a bone at the base of its right leg and yanking at free, placing it on the ground and returning to Zatanna's side within the blink of an eye. She had clearly heard him departing as she turned to look at him as he returned but her eyes were consumed with fear as the T-Rex teetered and then collapsed, lurching forward and causing the crowd to scatter – it was enough of a diversion. Wayne moved and the sound of the bullet was drowned out by the general screams – Clark looked to the stage and the man had disappeared from stage although the smoking bullet hole in the podium was evidence enough that the assassin had been there.
Clark spotted one of the exits and ran for it, only to aware that Zatanna was following him – he was running at human pace; there was no point at going super until he could change out of his tuxedo and to do that he would need to get on the outside. Zatanna followed him through the door and then cast her head skyward; she could make out figures on the rooftop fighting and then scanned the alleyway for a way up. She spotted a rusting fire-escape latched onto the neighbouring apartment block and focused upon the ladder.
"Rewol reddal," she said summoning the ladder down, turning to see Clark dressed in his blue-red suit, Clark grinned and then she realized why and groaned as they leaped onto the roof, "oh to be able to fly." She joked, sprinting off after Clark as he began running across the rooftops after the four figures they could make out in the darkness – illuminated against the strong moonlight. Zatanna regretted wearing her heels, though it at least gave her time to figure out who they were pursuing – the two lead figures of the four were thugs – probably the ones whose attempt on Bruce Wayne's life they had thwarted. The following two were not running together, one had the built, muscular-figure of a man at physical peak, he was dressed in a kind of suit with cape and hood – the following figure was an equally physically fit, lithe woman who was wearing…very little…blood red boots and a kind of leotard, without straps, the upper half was scarlet in colour but the bottom part was blue in colour with stars – in the moonlight she could see it glinting of some wrist bracelets and a tiara crowning the flowing black hair.
Clark was still a little distant from the two of them as she saw the male figure draw level with the foes, he knocked the first one down with a stiff uppercut to the jaw but the second one responded with an equally hard punch and then followed it with another one to the gut and kick to the groin, the caped figure crumpled to the ground. The first one rose now as the woman arrived but she was not as easily swayed, she mirrored the uppercut but then followed it, clasping her hands together and striking him on the back of the head, knocking him out cold down to the ground, while aiming kick at the second one's chest, sending him reeling across the rooftop till he slumped on the ground. She stalked over to him and grabbed him by the neck before dropping him, contented that he would cause no further issues.
Zatanna finally drew level with the woman and Clark a few moments after the Blur himself had drawn up at the scene. She identified the woman as Diana and then made the connection to a drawing of the outfit she was wearing that she'd seen in the journal – it was the legendary armour of Athena and then she walked toward the two figures more confidently.
"This is Zatanna Zatara – she's my friend." Clark introduced, casting his eyes over the caped form on the floor.
"A sorceress no less?" Diana tweaked, smiling and extending a hand to shake, Zatara did so but slightly gingerly – she had after all heard about the vice-like grip off the wonder woman. It wasn't as ferocious as she'd expected but it still left her hand slightly sore.
"Something like that," she grinned, "more like an amateur that knows a few parlour tricks – you're wearing the armour of Athena aren't you?"
She nodded, "It was a…parting gift from my mother before I left for the world of man – he went down rather more easily than I expected, I imagine he was slightly disorientated." At that moment the figure groaned and Diana and Clark both registered the recognition on Zatara's face, "You know who he is?" Diana probed.
Zatara bent down beside the figure and rolled him over, moving to lift his mask and receiving two black-gloved hands on her arms pinning them back from doing so, the figure sat up and then sprang to his feet, "You shouldn't have done that." He growled.
"Of course I do, Clark, Diana may I introduce Bruce Wayne."
. . .
Hope you liked Chapter 3,
Just a note please don't confuse my "characters" section as relating to any planned romances – that isn't what I intended in listing those characters, it was just characters that were involved,
Chapter 4 up in a little while,
Acrobat
X
I shall shed my light over dark evil.
