Birds of Prey
Disclaimer: I do not own DC, Marvel, or any other characters outside of OCs.
Chapter Five: Resolution
Cold Lake, Alberta – December 31, 18:29 MDT
"Ugh…what happened last night…" Speedy mumbled.
Deep within the Weapon X Facility, Speedy began to stir; her vision misty and her head throbbing painfully. Her vision cleared slowly, and took the time to notice that she was not in the white-tiled room where she had been knocked unconscious. She was chained to the farthest wall of what looked to be the Facility's laboratory, which had several computers and liquid filled tubes connecting to a large containment pod in the middle. Speedy looked herself, noting that her bow and quiver had been taken.
To her left, Impulse was suspended a couple feet off the floor due to her height and was struggling fruitlessly with her chains. It seemed like she tried to vibrate her way through them, but the shackles had been custom made to shock her whenever she moved too fast. To Speedy's right, Batgirl just stood silently, glaring at the number of people in the room. As Speedy looked her over, she realized Batgirl had not only been relieved of her utility belt, but her arms and legs had been pinned together. They must have seen her as a bigger threat that the other two.
American Dream was standing around the table to their right, inspecting the arrows in Speedy's quiver, while Kimura tried to pry open Batgirl's utility belt. Kimura cursed loudly when she tried to open one of the compartments and received a nasty shock. Dr. Kinney was staring at the monitor next to the pod, looking more sullen than usual, and X-23 sat in the corner next to her, looking like a child who had been put in timeout.
The last man Speedy didn't recognize: middle-aged with bright orange hair wearing a stereotypical scientist coat. The label pinned to his lab jacket said "Dr. Zander Rice". So this was the guy who started the whole mess. Dr. Rice looked like he had just finished putting together some strange device – it looked like an automated syringe – and walked over to Impulse first. Impulse started struggling harder, clearly afraid of what the doctor might do to her, but Dr. Rice pulled her hair to keep her still, and stabbed the needle in the base of her neck. There was a soft hiss and the tube filled with Impulse's blood.
"Not bad armaments," said American Dream as she inspected one of the arrows. "I wonder if she and Hawkeye shop at the same place."
"Hey, those are mine!" Speedy yelled. "Artemis made those especially for me!"
"Ah, it would appear that out little archer is awake," said Dr. Rice. He removed the tube of blood from the syringe and pocketed safely."I was starting to worry that maybe Kimura had killed you, Arrowette."
"For the last time!" Speedy shrieked. "MY – NAME – IS – SPEEDY! Why is that so hard to remember?"
"Maybe you should change the name," said Impulse innocently. "I mean, calling yourself Speedy when you're not a speedster doesn't make a whole lot of sense. People on your blog say that you should have called yourself Red Arrow or something."
"You're not he – wait, I have a blog?" said Speedy.
"What…do you want…with us?" said Batgirl,
"Our original objective had nothing to do with you." Dr. Rice explained, replacing the tube in the syringe. "But now that you've discovered our facility, we can't very well let you leave this place without taking proper measures. The Board of Directors has asked me to retrieve a sample of the speed user for immediate study." He moved to Speedy. "They didn't ask for you or Batgirl's DNA, but I think we could get much use out of the League of Assassins' 'One Who Is All'. And…well…I feel it is better safe than sorry."
"Gee, thanks," said Speedy sarcastically.
"Dr. Rice," said Dr. Kinney. "The adamantium bonding process is ready to begin."
"Then what are you waiting for?" said Dr. Rice harshly, forcing Speedy's head to the side. "We need to finish the project quick so that we may begin transferring to the new facility. It's only a matter of time before the Justice League Beyond realizes their sidekicks are missing."
Dr. Rice stabbed the syringe into the side of Speedy's neck; the soft hiss told her that the blood had been drawn. Dr. Kinney watched sadly as her partner drained the heroes and looked away, signaling her daughter to get ready for the injection. X-23 obediently stripped out of her gown and stepped into the pod, not even flinching as her "mother" pierced her skin with the tubes that would distribute adamantium in her bones. X-23 looked over at Speedy, who looked sicker than usual when Dr. Rice removed the needle. Dr. Kinney finished securing the breathing mask when she suddenly stooped down to meet X-23's eyes.
"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" asked Dr. Kinney. "This is your last chance to decide."
X-23 said nothing, choosing only to glare at the woman. Dr. Kinney understood that from the moment she had been born, everything had been planned out for X-23: her isolation at birth, her forced mutation at four, her training at six, the adamantium bonding to her limbs at ten, and now they would complete the process at fourteen. X-23 had given up the right to choose a long time ago. Staring sadly at her daughter, Dr. Kinney returned to the monitor and began the bonding sequence, filling the pod with cool liquid to alleviate the burning process. As the fluid rose above her head, X-23 stared through the blurry glass to Batgirl and the others.
Impulse was still struggling with her chains and Speedy was dangerously pale, looking close to vomiting. And then she saw Batgirl. Even as Dr. Rice pocketed Speedy's blood and moved on to Batgirl, she did not cower. She glared at Dr. Rice, almost daring him to take her blood, and then she shifted her gaze to X-23. The moment their eyes met, there was some sense of understanding between them, something that made her think back to the failed rescue.
Though Speedy and Impulse tried to keep their distance from X-23, possibly fearing what Wolverine's clone would do to them, Batgirl was the only one who confronted her. From the first five minutes alone, X-23 understood that Batgirl was older, faster, smarter, and stronger – everything X-23 could do, she could do better. So why…why did Batgirl not kill her like Kimura would have done? What did she want from her? At that moment, she remembered the words her 'mother' had said just before.
-Flashback-
"They were trying to help you, X," said Dr. Kinney. "I understand that you are scared of Kimura and you might be a little confused of everything going on, but this is your chance for a better life. If you go with them, you could see the world and make friends. If you wanted, you could see your father." X-23 drew her claws again, glaring at Dr. Kinney. "Ok, stay here if you want. But as you are being poked and prodded, think about this: what would Wolverine do?"
-End Flashback-
X-23 growled, cursing herself for being so weak, not just against Batgirl, but against the likes of Kimura and Dr. Rice. She had watched Wolverine for years, studying him and understanding his true nature. There was no way he would roll over like a whimpering dog because he was afraid of getting hurt. Her eyes narrowed dangerously, slowly waded and pressed herself against the surface of the pod.
Dr. Rice pushed Batgirl's head to the side and began to press the needle against her skin when the sound of breaking stole his attention and looked back. X-23 had smashed her way out of the pod, her claws exposed and tubes sticking to her bare body. American Dream quickly reached for her shield and Kimura lunged forward, but X-23 skillfully jumped off of Kimura's shoulder and jumped at Dr. Rice. X-23 swiped her claws, but instead of killing Dr. Rice, she cut the chains around Impulse's wrists.
Now free of her shackles, Impulse zipped across the room, kicking at American Dream and Kimura's ankles to trip them, and made a wide turn toward Dr. Rice. Impulse jumped up and slammed both feet into Dr. Rice's chest, slamming him into the wall, where he slumped weakly to the floor. One of the test tubes fell out of his pocket and smashed on the floor, but Impulse couldn't tell which one. At that time, X-23 had sliced through the chains holding up Batgirl and Speedy when Kimura grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled back hard.
"You really did it this time, bitch," said Kimura angrily. "I don't give a shit what the board wants, your ass is mine." She curled her fingers into a fist and pulled back when her arm suddenly went limp. "What the…"
Two gloved fingers pressed against Kimura collarbone before she could finish, rolling her eyes back with a heavy moan before falling sideways. X-23 massaged her hairline and looked back to see Batgirl securing both Dr. Rice and Kimura with a pair of handcuffs she had pulled from her utility belt. X-23 didn't even realize that Batgirl had gotten her belt back to begin with.
"How…did you do that?" said X-23 in amazement; her voice was much softer than she had expected.
"Strong outside," said Batgirl slowly. "Weak inside."
"Pressure point! Nice!" said Impulse, dashing between the pair. "Hey, I didn't know she could talk. I thought she just growled."
"Well, you'll find that she can talk." X-23 snarled. Batgirl glared at Impulse.
"What? It's not like I said it." Impulse shrugged. She looked over X-23 again and the first thing that came out of her mouth was: "You do realize you're naked, right?"
X-23 raised her brow, oblivious to the obvious embarrassment that she should be feeling. But out of her peripheral vision, X-23 saw a blue of red, white, and blue flying toward them and pulled Batgirl and Impulse to the floor. American Dream's shield rebounded off the back wall and against the ground before returning to its owner. X-23 snarled and charged, slashing her adamantium talons against American Dream's shield with little success. American Dream smacked her shield against X-23's face, throwing her back to the others and stood ready as Batgirl and Impulse charged together.
But while American Dream singlehandedly defeated the sidekicks, Speedy stealthily made her way behind the lab table and picked up her weapons unnoticed. Speedy flipped the bottom of her quiver, revealing a hidden cache of arrow tips. She carefully selected one and twisted the top, exposing the needle inside before she pricked it into forearm. The arrow point was a supply of her medicine and sighed in relief as she felt the drug course through her veins.
"It might not be as strong as my regular medicine," said Speedy, tossing the empty syringe, "but it should be enough to get me through."
"Speedy" said Dr. Kinney, appearing suddenly around the table. "Speedy, we have to help the others. They're strong, but they don't stand a chance against American Dream. She has years of military experience under her belt; they don't stand a chance."
"One, thank you for getting the name right," said Speedy. She peeked over the table top just in time to see Impulse jump on American Dream's shield, only to be thrown back. American Dream then kicked X-23 in the chest before tossing her shield aside. She briefly locked fists with Batgirl before she was knocked back by American Dream's shield. "Two, how are we supposed to help? Batgirl's the best of all of us and she's getting her ass handed to her."
"Remember what I said about Rice using the Mad Hatter's technology to control her?" asked Dr. Kinney. Speedy nodded. "I just remembered that the programming chip is lodged at the tip of her spine. You're Artemis' sidekick, think you can hit it?"
"Are you kidding?" Speedy grinned, taking an arrow from her quiver. "I'm the third best at what I do."
"Is that really something you can brag about?" said Dr. Kinney.
With a dissatisfied grunt, Speedy peeked over the table and took aim, noting that Batgirl, Impulse, and X-23 were still taking a beating. Rather than shoot American Dream directly, Speedy shot the arrow in the opposite direction. Dr. Kinney looked ready to yell, but Speedy shushed her and gestured her to watch.
The arrow rebounded off the floor crevice, off a pipe, off the roof of the broken pod, and sailed smoothly into the back of American Dream's neck. American Dream staggered when the arrow hit and shrieked as the arrow discharge ten-thousand volts of electricity through her system. The mind control chip exploded off American Dream's neck and the woman herself dropped to her knees, falling unconscious on the floor.
"That wasn't so bad," said Speedy.
"Speak for yourself," X-23 sneered, wincing for her healing bruises.
"Can you put this back on, please?" said Impulse, handing X-23 her gown. "It's not exactly legal to be…flashing people." X-23 didn't look like she understood, but she put the hospital gown back on nonetheless. "That's better, but why do you have hair – "
"Just stop right there," said Speedy bluntly.
"We need…to…escape," said Batgirl. "It…will not…be long…before they…awaken. We should…make our way…back to…the elater…" Dr. Kinney and X-23 looked confused; Speedy and Impulse were too tired to correct her, "and make…our way…to the clearing. We will…contact the…Justice League Beyond…when we are …away from…the facility."
"The elevators and access doors are all controlled by computer," said Dr. Kinney. "Zander will have the entire Facility locked down before we can get to the ground floor."
"Then how are we supposed to get out?" X-23 sneered.
"There's always an emergency stairway in case of power failure," said Dr. Kinney. "This facility has the best equipment money can buy, but it is still prone to system failures during the winter. That's why Zander and the others didn't notice when I sent the signal out."
"Why don't we continue this chat while we're moving," said Speedy, pointing to American Dream, who was starting to stir. "I don't know if that chip did any damage to her brain and I don't want to stick around to find out."
The women turned and raced down the open access corridor, impulse speeding ahead of the others. She was the first to reach the emergency stairway, skidding to stop herself and had to double back when she missed the door by a wide margin. By the time she came back, Speedy had already kicked the door open and clambered onto the landing with the others. Speedy leaned over the railing, noting that they were unable to see the bottom.
"There's no way we'll get out of here in time!" X-23 snapped, turning to Dr. Kinney with her claws out. "You screwed us over!"
"Before you go into a rampage," said Speedy calmly, pulling an arrow, "check this out."
Speedy aimed her bow to the ceiling and released the drawstring, shooting the arrow into the concrete with a length steel wire connecting it to Speedy's quiver. After checking to see that the line was secure, Speedy connected the wire to her bow and jumped over the railing, smoothly descending down the stairway. Batgirl gestured for Impulse to climb down next and then X-23 afterwards. She winced when the skin of X-23's palms started to peel off, but knew her healing factor would resolve it. Batgirl signaled for Dr. Kinney to go next before she followed, but Dr. Kinney hesitated.
"Dr. Kinney…," said Batgirl softly. "We need…to go…before…"
"I know, I know," said Dr. Kinney with concern apparent in her voice. "It's just that…Weapon Plus isn't going to let this go easily. No one has escaped the Facility alive since the original Weapon X. The board of directors is very strict when it comes to keeping secrets."
"We will…be fine," said Batgirl, placing a comforting hand on the doctor's shoulder. "I promise."
"I have no doubt that you four will get out of here safely," said Dr. Kinney as she started rummaging through her pockets. "There are so many things I want to say to X-23, to my daughter. If I get the chance, I'll tell her everything myself. But in case something should happen…" She forced a piece of folded paper into Batgirl's hands. "If something does happen to me, I want you to give her this. It has everything I've ever wanted to tell her. Promise me you'll give her this."
Batgirl stared at the small noted like it was a valuable treasure. She didn't have to read Dr. Kinney's body language to know that she genuinely cared about her daughter, even if X-23 wanted nothing to do with her. For a fleeting moment, Batgirl began to wonder if her own mother felt the same way, but quickly shook the thought away. Dr. Kinney was different than her mother.
"You can…tell her…yourself," said Batgirl, though she pocketed the note in her utility belt anyway. "Hang on."
Batgirl secured her arm around Dr. Kinney's waist and grabbed the wire, slowly carrying them down to the bottom.
"Of all the useless…Ugh!"
It was shortly after Batgirl and the others had fled that Dr. Rice started to regain consciousness and realize what had happened. X-23 had escaped, American Dream and Kimura were down, Dr. Kinney was missing, and he had lost one of his samples. Though Dr. Rice was grateful that it was only Speedy's blood. Dr. Rice was furious, not because he was beaten by a little girl, but because the beast had made a fool of him. For the longest time, he wanted to make her suffer for what Wolverine did and this was the final straw.
"Computer, activate voice command override!" said Dr. Rice.
"Voice command override initiated!" said the computer.
"Disengage contained unit "World" and initiate priority protocol!" yelled Dr. Rice. "Activate Weapon XV!"
On the ground floor of the Facility, five security personnel were collecting the last of the equipment needed before they made the transfer to the new facility. They were moving everything out when a red blur dashed by and kicked two of the guards in the face and stomped them into the ground. The other guards dropped their cargo and reached for their weapons, but two of them were rendered unconscious with an electric arrow in their chests, and Batgirl dropped down on the last one with a quick punch to the face.
"Damn it," growled X-23, dashing in with her mother. "You could have left a few for me. There were a couple of uh…experiments I wanted to try for myself."
"I think they're safer this way," said Impulse.
"The main entry gate is controlled remotely by Dr. Rice's personal computer," said Dr. Kinney, motioning to the twenty foot steel door separating them from the outside. "I could try to access the terminals and override the programming, but it could take a while before I make any progress without tripping the security system."
"Or we could do it the fun way," said Speedy.
Speedy looked over to X-23 with a grin, who returned the grin as she unleashed her adamantium talons and launched herself at the reinforced doorway. Her claws ripped through the sturdy alloy like it was made of paper, shredding and scraping away the surface piece by piece. In less than a minute, X-23 slashed through the final piece of steel and allowed the harsh winter winds to blow into the Facility. Though it was admittedly cold, having only a hospital own to wear, but X-23 ignored the chill in her bones as a new feeling took over. For the first time in her life, she was outside the Facility – it was wonderful.
"You're right…," said X-23, looking back at them, "that was fun. Now let's get the fu – did you here that!"
"I didn't hear anything," said Impulse, pulling on her wool cap.
"Maybe you're just a little paranoid," said Speedy, throwing on her fur lined hood. "I guess you're still worried about Kimura coming down and beating the living daylights out of you, but don't worry about it. From now on, it's nothing but smooth sai…"
Speedy's speech was cut short by a pulse of unknown white energy that blasted through the side walls, throwing her and the others in a blinding light. X-23 was blown back by the shockwave and landed in the snow, rubbing her sore eyes before climbing back through the partially collapse entryway. She did a quick survey of the corridor, amazed at how much damage had been done in such a short time. The rock walls had been fractured dangerously, many of the support beams had melted, and X-23's nose caught whiff of burning flesh. She sincerely hoped it wasn't what she thought it was.
She released a breath she didn't know she was holding when a pile of rubble was shifted to the side and Batgirl emerged from the wreckage with Speedy and Impulse under her. It seemed that Batgirl had thrown herself onto Speedy and Impulse to shield them from the blast and left them with only a few cuts in their cloths. Batgirl wasn't as badly hurt either: the four cuts on her back were from her fight earlier with X-23, so the worst the blast did was partially singe her costume and ripped open a hole in her mask, exposing a few strands of black hair.
"Is everyone…all right?" asked Batgirl.
"A-Okay," said Impulse with a thumbs-up.
"I'm fine," said Speedy, massaging her stiff shoulders. She looked around for a moment, noticing that something amiss. "Hey, has anyone seen the doc?"
"Found her…," said X-23 lowly.
X-23 followed the smell of charred flesh into the corridor and found the remains of what used to be her 'mother', or at least who she thought was her mother. It was difficult to tell since her entire body was burned black, her limbs stretched in awkward positions, and her bones had been splintered from the piles of rubble that had fallen. The only confirmation was the half burned ID tag on her charred coat with a picture of the doctor. Dr. Kinney was dead and X-23 didn't know how to feel about it. She wasn't happy, or confused, or frustrated – she felt nothing.
Impulse and Speedy looked concerned and tried to walk over, but Batgirl pulled them back by their shoulders. She could tell by X-23's repulsed expression that the sight was not something suited for small children, even if they were superheroes. They didn't need to be exposed to that kind of stuff just yet. Batgirl tactfully chose to redirect their attention to source of the explosion, who she realized had just walked into the chamber.
The thing was unimaginably tall, well past the eight foot mark, and was covered from head-to-toe in blue and violet plating with thin black armor beneath, circles of light on its arms and chest with small electrical nodes, and a black helmet with a single node that made it look like a Cyclops. (Weapon XV – Ultimaton)
Batgirl cautiously pushed Speedy and Impulse back as X-23 stepped over to stand by them. Ultimaton stood like a sentry over the girls, merely contenting itself with staring at the four humans with its single glowing eye.
"What is that thing?" said X-23.
"I don't know," said Impulse thoughtfully. She twisted the lens of her goggles and her vision shifted between different spectrums: night, x-ray, inferred, gamma, and finally stopped on microwave vision. "This guy is giving off massive spikes in electromagnetic radiation – more centralized towards the ultraviolet aspect of the spectrum rather than inferred. Luckily, I don't see any traces of gamma, so he mostly stationary in the shorter wavelength."
"In English, Einstein," said Speedy insipidly. "Not everyone has an IQ of 200."
"The guy's a walking sunlamp," said Impulse simplistically. "The weirdest thing is that he gives off bursts of electromagnetic radiation in the form of electricity. That must be what those nodes on his chest are for."
"What do…you think…he wants?" asked Batgirl.
"Weapon XV: Ultimaton – Online!" Ultimaton announced mechanically. "Safety protocols – disengaged! Primary objective – capture and contain Weapon X-23! Secondary objective – eliminate all opposition! Engaging battle mode!"
"Uh…it's for you," said Speedy.
"I noticed," X-23 snarled, pulling her talons.
Batgirl, already understanding X-23's mannerism, tried to stop her before she did something stupid, but X-23 had already jumped ahead without listening. Ultimaton scanned X-23 for a moment and held out his fist, discharging a quick burst of electromagnetic energy, hitting X-23 square in the chest. X-23 tumbled backward, but used her claws to regain her footing and waited until the wound in her chest had closed charging again. Ultimaton had calculated X-23's attempts and this time used both fists to release a much larger burst of energy that blasted X-23 out of the Facility and into the snow.
Ultimaton scanned the area where X-23 landed, calculating the possibility of the target's potential elimination. But while it was busy processing, a white-tipped arrow impacted against the central node on its head and detonated a moment later. Speedy didn't wait to see how much damage she had done, knowing the machine was heavily fortified, and started whipping arrow after arrow, pulling the drawstring hard enough to where it might snap. She shot its legs with liquid nitrogen, hit its stomach with foam rubber, and detonated more explosive arrows around the head and chest.
Speedy pulled out one last arrow, pulled the drawstring, and waited until the smoke cleared, very aware of her depleting arsenal. She needed to make every shot count. When the haze subsided, Speedy groaned at Ultimaton, who emerged from the assault without even a scratch on his armor. Ultimaton beeped and raised his fist again, unleashing a wave electromagnetic energy, which Speedy had to roll away from. She jumped back into a kneeling position and released her grip on the drawstring. Much to Speedy's disappointment, Ultimaton caught the arrow in his giant hand and snapped the shaft like a twig.
As Ultimaton discarded the broken arrow, Impulse zoomed into view, spinning in circles around the mechanical giant in her best effort to confuse it. Ultimaton didn't make any move against her, possibly trying to scan her speed, until Impulse diverted from her path and jumped at Ultimaton with both her feet forward. Impulse landed her kick on Ultimaton's chest, but was rebuffed and flopped on the ground with an annoyed groaned. Impulse looked back up at Ultimaton and found herself face to face with his fist, which started collecting energy. Impulse quickly flipped back to avoid the shot and dashed to the other side of the chamber.
While Ultimaton blasted her electric waves at Speedy and Impulse simultaneously, he failed to notice that Batgirl had vanished from the battleground. She didn't realize this until Batgirl jumped down from the rafted and landed on his back, slapping a handful of putty on his central node. Batgirl flipped off Ultimaton's back as he tried to rip the substance of his face and pulled out a small trigger from her belt. With a press of a button, the putty exploded and Ultimaton stumbled drunkenly into the wall. Unfortunately, that's the most it did as Ultimaton seem had no damage.
But the out of nowhere, X-23 leaped on Ultimaton and slashed her claws across his chest, leaving a wide scar in the nearly impenetrable armor. X-23 pulled back her hand for another swipe, but Ultimaton caught her by the ankle and swung her around before throwing her at Batgirl. She and X-23 were thrown back down the corridor in a jumbled mess, leaving Speedy to cover them while they untangled themselves. Speedy fired two more explosive arrows, which caused Ultimaton to stagger at the most, and reached behind for another arrow. However, she soon realized she only had one arrow left.
"Slag," Speedy cursed.
"Fall back!" said Batgirl. "Fall back!"
Speedy and Impulse obediently jumped behind one of the larger piles of debris for safety while Batgirl tried to persuad X-23 to follow orders. X-23 was stubborn to continue fighting, but one glance of the infamous Bat-Glare™ made her see things her way. Batgirl and X-23 jumped behind the rubble with their teammates just before Ultimaton shot a blast of energy over their heads.
"This…is bad," said Batgirl. "None of…our weapons…are strong enough…to damage him. The closest…thing we have…is X-23's ada…ada…metal claws."
"Then let me at him," said X-23, flashing her claws in emphasis. "I'll rip that son of a…" She stopped herself as Batgirl shot another glare, realizing that there were children present. "…gun into a million pieces."
"Yeah, not gonna happen," said Speedy. "That thing – Ultimaton – won't even let you get near him as long as he keeps shooting those electric-magnet waves…"
"Electromagnetic," said Impulse, giggling.
"Whatever," Speedy grumbled. She hated being corrected by a little girl. "And even if you do manage to get close enough, you'll never be able to rip off his armor in time before he fights back. Excuse me for saying this, but you're not physically strong enough to do any major damage."
"And I suppose you have a better idea," X-23 hissed.
"I do have one arrow left," said Speedy, pulling out her last arrow. "Artemis said this is extremely dangerous and should only be used in cases of emergencies."
"I think this counts as an emergency," said Impulse.
"Artemis was very specific about this arrow," said Speedy seriously. "She said I should only shoot it from fifty feet away and make sure that no civilians are caught in the crossfire."
"What is it?" asked X-23.
"No idea, but I think we're about to find out," said Speedy, pulling the arrow back on her bow. "Now, anyone got any ideas on how to get the big guy outside and to a safe distance."
"I might…have an…idea," said Batgirl.
Ultimaton scanned the area through his central node, finding it unsettling that the weapon and her liberators had remained silent and out of sight. As he started turning his head to the right, he caught sight of something moving in the corner. It was Impulse bravely dashed across the chamber and, while Ultimaton was calculating what to do next, climbed the sentinel machine like a wild monkey, taking a seat on his shoulders. Impulse reached into her pocket and pulled out another plastique she got from Batgirl, splattering it on the machine's eye.
Ultimaton, somehow falling for the same trick twice, reached up to remove the putty while Impulse jumped down to safety and X-23 lunged forward and stabbed her adamantium claws through the machine's chest. With a single swing, X-23 was able to rip open a large hole in Ultimaton's chest and kicked him with enough force to knock him on his back. X-23 jumped off and out of the way as Batgirl tossed a batarang attached to a thick thread of wire, wrapping the cord around Ultimaton's ankles. Batgirl ripped the cord from her utility belt and handed it off as Impulse ran by.
"Impulse – GO!" yelled Batgirl.
"On it!" said Impulse with a salute.
Despite her small stature, Impulse was able to drag Ultimaton's heavy metal body across the ground by using her super speed to increase the force behind her pull. Impulse pulled Ultimaton into the snow-covered wilderness, where it became more difficult to move and forced her to speed up, getting dangerously close to light speed. Impulse feared that her "condition" might start to kick in, but quickly found a safe distance away from the Facility and dropped Ultimaton. Impulse did a quick loop around the trees and raced back to the Facility, where she found Speedy poised with her bow ready to fire.
"Now!" yelled Impulse.
When the signal was given, Speedy released the drawstring, which finally snapped under all the pressure. The arrow glided through the rough winter winds, over the trees, and started to tilt down toward Ultimaton, who was still pulling at the putty. Ultimaton never saw the arrow flying through the branches, miraculously landing in the opening in his armor. By the time Ultimaton managed to rip the putty off his face, the arrow passed an electric charge through it shaft and then came the big BOOM!
A rippling wave of radioactive energy passed through the forest surrounding Ultimaton's location, obliterating everything within a thirty foot radius of the blast zone. Even at a safe distance, the shockwave of the explosion finally loosened the final support of the Facility, bringing the mountain to collapse upon itself. Batgirl and X-23 grabbed Speedy and Impulse respectively and jumped into the snow, just barely able to get out before the entrance was shut. When the blast had subsided, Batgirl and the others appeared one by one, observing the extensive damage. A massive crater was all that was left of the area – not even a single blade of grass had survived.
"Oh, so that's what it does," said Speedy.
"Are you out of your slagging mind?" Impulse shrieked frantically. "What kinda of insane sociopath gives an eleven year-old girl a mini-nuclear warhead?"
"Well, it doesn't matter how it happened," said X-23, falling back into the snow exhausted. "All that matters is that it's finally over."
"Yes…," said Batgirl, joining them in the snow. "Over…"
After a long day in Weapon Plus, the girls were ready to finally call it a day. But just when the girls thought they could relax, the snow beneath them exploded, scattering them in different directions, and they looked up to see Ultimaton standing over them. He looked very worse for wear with his armor shattered in many places, various liquids secreting through his skin, and his right arm was missing entirely. Despite all the damage, Ultimaton looked ready to continue while Batgirl and the others were exhausted both mentally and physically.
Ultimaton raised its last functioning node at X-23 and started to charge its energy when he was interrupted by an animalistic snarl, one deeper and rougher than X-23's. With a flash of silver, Ultimaton's head was divided into four parts, scattering broken circuits in the snow, and the body fell helplessly to the side. X-23 stared with wide eyes at the broken body of Ultimaton and followed the trail back up to her rescuer, his blue and yellow costume covered in snow and his three metal claws glinting in the moonlight.
"Wolverine…," said X-23 in a hushed voice.
Wolverine stood like a stalwart hero over Ultimaton's body and he wasn't alone. One by one, the members of the Justice League Beyond began to appear, surrounding the sidekicks and the Facility entrance. Speedy and Impulse stared with the mouths agape, having never seen the entire league together in one place. To their right were Superman, Static, Iron Man, and Doctor Fate. To their left were Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Warhawk, and Raven. And being carried by the Green Lantern on a green platform was Batman, Aquagirl, Artemis, Spider-Girl, Micron, Spoiler, and the Avatar – as usual, the Flash was the last one to show up.
"Outrageous!" said Aquagirl loudly, looking to the crater. "Look at the size of that hole, old chum! It reminds me of the time I traveled to Santa Prisca to stop a supply of illegal drugs being sold by a band of rogue pirates."
"Ugh, someone make her stop," Spider-Girl pleaded.
"Speedy!" Artemis yelled loud enough to make her sidekick flinch. She examined the damage done by her sidekick. "Did you use that arrow?"
"It's was an emergency," said Speedy feebly.
"Yeah, well, you're just lucky we managed to find you," said Wolverine gruffly. "When we didn't hear from you guys after a few hours, we got worried and started lookin' for ya. If Supes hadn't seen the blast, we never would have found ya." He looked over the girls and stopped at X-23. "I've never seen you before. Who are ya?"
Though it seemed only obvious to Batgirl, that comment seemed to strike a nerve in the X-23 – her fists were shaking angrily.
"This is…"
"My codename is X-23!" yelled X-23 heatedly, drawing her claws dangerously close to Wolverine's face. "I am Wolverine's clone!"
There was a bit of a hushed murmur pasted between the JLB members, but none of them looked to surprised. They had seen a lot of things stranger that a female clone. Wolverine, on the other hand, looked stunned and seemed to be at a loss for words. Batgirl could tell by his body language that he wanted to say something, but didn't know how. Thankfully, Batman stepped between them.
"Clearly we have a lot to talk about," said Batman calmly. "So, who want to go first?"
For the better part of an hour, the JLB investigated the ruins of the Facility and interrogated the many workers who had survived the collapse. American Dream was back in her right mind and willingly told Iron Man and Martian Manhunter everything she could remember while she was under their control. Superman took Dr. Rice to Stryker's Island and the Avatar called SHIELD headquarters for Kimura to be safely transferred to Alcatraz. Static and Green Lantern collected the pieces of Ultimaton and carried it to STAR Labs to see if they could reverse engineer it.
X-23 stood off to the side as Batman, Flash, and Artemis took turns in questioning their protégées over the events that had transpired when Wolverine approached her. Wolverine looked down at X-23 and, to her surprise, pulled back his back to see her with his own eyes. He was a very hairy man and looked as beastly as his name, but there was a certain kindness in his eyes that made X-23 uncomfortable. She wasn't used to people looking at her like that.
"So…X-23, right?" said Wolverine, trying to find the right words. "The girls were just telling me about what happened…and what went on in that place." X-23 steeled her gaze away from him. "Listen, I know it's kinda sudden, but if you ever need anything, don't be afraid to ask. The Justice League Beyond will help you…I will help you, ok."
"I can take care of myself," said X-23 stubbornly. "I don't need anyone's help."
"I used to think the same way," said Wolverine. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she threw it off. "I know you might think you're alone in the world, but you're not. Those girls risked their neck to keep you safe…and I'll do the same thing if I have to. It might sound strange coming from me, but it is a father's job to look out for his daughter."
"You're not my father!" X-23 snapped. "You're just a genetic template I was molded after!"
"If you say so," said Wolverine, pulling his mask back on. "But if you ever need anything, just let me know."
She turned her head with a loud huff. Wolverine sighed heavily and walked away and less than a minute later, Batman, Flash, Artemis, and Martian Manhunter walked over with the sidekicks.
"The girls finished explaining everything to us and it's obvious we still have a lot of issues to work out," said Batman. "But it's late and I'm sure you girls are tired after everything that's happened. We'll continue this discussion tomorrow. M'Gann has agreed to provide you temporary rooming in the Metro Tower until we can solve this whole living issue."
"I'm giddy with excitement," said Martian Manhunter monotonously.
"Get some rest, all of you," said Batman. "You have a big day tomorrow."
Speedy and Impulse didn't put up a fight; they had already fallen asleep during their interrogation and were being carried on their mentor's backs. Flash gave a quick salute and dashed into the winter wilderness with Impulse and Artemis had arranged a ride with the Avatar since they were headed in the same direction. While Batman signaled for the Batmobile, Batgirl took the chances to talk to X-23.
"X…," said Batgirl. X-23 looked over, somewhat surprised to see her holding out a folded piece of paper. "It is…from your mother. She wanted…you to have it…in case…something happened."
"So it's from Dr. Kinney, huh?" said X-23. Batgirl nodded. "Keep it. If it's from that bitch, it's obviously nothing good."
"But…your mother…"
"When will people get it through their thick skulls?" X-23 snarled. "I'm a clone! I don't have a mother or a father – I don't have any family! Period!"
Batgirl didn't know what to say now; words were never her strong point. She could tell by the way X-23 moved that she really believed it, that she had no family. It hurt Batgirl to know that even after everything she had done; Dr. Kinney would not be remembered by her daughter.
Somewhere far from the Facility, in an undisclosed location, the silhouetted images of the Facility's benefactors watched the video play for a third time. The seven holograms watched the sidekicks infiltrate the Facility, release the weapon, defeat their security, and destroy Ultimaton along with the hidden laboratory. With a grunt of disgust, one of the images waved his hands and closed the video.
"Unbelievable," said the strict male figure. "Millions of dollars in investments and government bribes, burned in a single night. I knew we should have had those children killed when we had the chance."
"It wasn't a total loss," said the non-human figure in a pleasurable tone. "Before he was captured, Dr. Rice managed to transfer a sample of the speed user's DNA. It's such a shame that I can't depend on Dr. Kinney to assist me in unlocking its true potency. She truly was a gifted scientist."
"I'm sure Thawne will be giddy to have his hands on that sample," said the sensual female figure.
"And what do we do about Dr. Rice and Kimura," asked the short female figure.
"Zander Rice is useless," said the deep-voiced figure. "As for Kimura, I'll have a few of my men retrieve her from prison. She could still be of some use to us."
"And that just leave the weapon," said the figure with a muffled voice.
"We shall leave X-23 alone for now," said the leader. "This could be a valuable opportunity to field test Weapon X-23 and take notes of her strengths and weaknesses. If things prove well, we can have Mr. Sinister move ahead with stage two of our plans. For now, let the heroes think that they have rescued her. In time, she will come to see things our way and when she does, we will be here to welcome her home."
Neo Gotham City – December 31, 23:57 EDT
Neo Gotham City Square was filled with the sounds of a million partygoers who had come to witness the Golden Ball drop to welcome the New Year. And with such a big turnout, it was Batman's mission to make sure that everyone was safe to see tomorrow, especially after Joker tried to replace the Golden Ball with a warhead last year. As Batman watched the crowd from the edge of the rooftop, Batgirl, dressed in her normal costume, silently approached her mentor.
"Well, that went worse than I expected," said Batman. "When I assigned you three to the Facility mission, I was hoping for something like Doctor Octopus or Man-Bat. I wasn't expecting you to walk out of there with a mad scientist, an S-Class criminal, machine hybrid, and a mutant clone. I have got to plan these things out more."
"But…in the end…the primary…object…was obtained," said Batgirl slowly.
"Objective," said Batman. "And I guess you're right. I originally set up this scenario to see if they were good for the team. I heard great things about them from Flash and Artemis, but I wanted to hear it from someone I could trust. So, what's your expert opinion?"
"Speedy and Impulse…," said Batgirl. "They were…better…than you had…expected them…to be. They are…smart…dedicated…resourceful…and skilled. They are…suitable…candy dates…for the team."
"Candidates, Cass," said Batman, chuckling. The countdown to the New Year started. "And X-23? What's your opinion on her?"
"She is…," said Batgirl with uncertainty. "Brash…wild…unruly…stubborn…and does not…appear to take…kindly to others. But…I feel that…if she spent…more time…with the team…she might be able… to prove herself. I think…she would make…a good…candy date."
"I trust your judgment, Cass," said Batman confidently. "And I trust you to keep her in line."
"Yes," said Batgirl.
"Batgirl, Speedy, Impulse, and X-23," said Batman. "I think now is the best time to begin the Birds of Prey Project."
3…
2…
1…
"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
And that's the end of the Facility Arc, introducing the original cast of the Birds of Prey as well as hinting the motives of the Society. What is it that the Society is after? Will X-23 prove to be a hero or a villain? And what new adventures await the former sidekicks? All this and more will be answered for another time. For now, as promised, I will get back to form on Rekindle and the advantures of Izumi Dragneel and friends. For now, read and review.
Justice League Profile
Name: Batman
Real Name: Terrance "Terry" McGinnis
Aliases: Dark Knight, Batman Beyond
Designation: 02
Age: 21
Relatives: Warren McGinnis (Father; Deceased), Mary McGinnis (Mother), Matthew McGinnis (Brother), Bruce Wayne (Genetic Father), Spider-Girl (Fiancé)
Mentor/Partner(s): Bruce Wayne, Spoiler, Batgirl, Red Robin, Oracle, Catwoman, Azrael, Lady Shiva, Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon, Jason Todd, Tim Drake
Affiliation(s): Batman Family, Batman Incorporated, Justice League Beyond, Wayne-Powers Enterprises
Occupation: Personal assistant, college student
Powers/Abilities:
- Trained to physical and mental peak
- Arsenal of gadgets, vehicles, and advanced technology
- Expert in most known forms of martial arts
- Trained in all aspects of criminology
Notes:
- Leader and least experienced of the Justice League Beyond
- Self-proclaimed Atheist
- Majoring in criminal justice
- Publically funded by Batman Incorporated