(Gotham City September 7 11:00)
(Ceridwen)
To describe Gotham at night was to describe a furious predator on a hunt in hell. Gotham was the wasteland of despair, the pit of darkness, and the swamp of misery all in one. It's pitiful living conditions were on par only to Bludhaven, and at least that city preached its death sentence in the name. Gotham was easily my least favorite city. Metropolis was nicer, as was Star City. Chicago was the best though, because of the no vigilante laws. It was much calmer there.
A frosty wind dragged across the night, seeping through my clothes and sending shivers down my spine. For the 100th time I wished I was with Ellie, Will, Manu, and Cole. At least they were warm. And Die Hard would be so much more interesting than this.
Me, Sona, and Oceana had lost Dragon fifteen minutes ago. She'd claimed she was only going to scout ahead to close in on Artemis and Robin (who we'd lost thirty minutes ago) and come right back with directions. So far she hadn't kept her promise.
"It's been ages!" I finally hissed, turning to our 'leader'. "Can't I go find out what's taking her so long?" Or I could sneak back to home base…I'm sure I wouldn't be missed…
"You wouldn't fine her," Oceana reasoned, breaking into my thoughts of deception. On her face played a knowing smirk; she knew my real plan. And she knew that the lame cover of trying to find Rux would be the best I could come up with. "She's too fast and it's been too long."
"Exactly. She shouldn't be gone so long."
"We lost the two kids half an hour ago. She can only go so fast. Especially when she has to track down a bat while trying to stay hidden. I doubt she'll find anything at all."
"Then why'd you let her go?"
"Because I couldn't think of anything better!"
"That's the lamest plan I've ever heard."
"Well then sorry for the disappointment."
"You should be. If this was a real emergency we'd all be dead now. And to think, you're the one who's supposed to lead us when the zombies attack. You know, I'm starting to doubt your planning skills."
"Oh for the last time the apocalypse is not a real thing!"
"Yes it is. Will said it was. Will's never wrong."
"You and Will would go live in a storm drain because Chicken Little thought the sky was falling."
"You think that'd help if the whole sky was falling?"
"…what? No! I was- what?"
"I was kidding."
"Oh…"
"Yep." Silence took hold again, lapsing between an awkward hush and a comforting peace. My eyes roamed to Sona, who was busy cleaning his sword- I think he called it an urumi- and had made a point of ignoring the conversation.
"Where do you think she is, Sona?" I asked. "You haven't said anything."
"From my experience, it's better for some people to think you're an idiot, then to open your mouth and prove it."
"Oh…" I mumbled, not really knowing how to respond to that. His face was hidden in the darkness, so I couldn't tell if he was kidding or not. Or if it was supposed to be an insult. I allowed conversation to cease,
He seemed almost at home in the dark as Ghost was (and Ghost was like a Batman in assassin style). The boy's dark locks flowed into the darkness like ink, misting at the ends so I couldn't separate hair from night. His cat like features settled perfectly into the setting, accompanied with flashing dark eyes. He was…perfect.
I couldn't help but sigh at the last thought, my heart ripping just a centimeter more. He still took no notice of me. He didn't look, didn't talk, and didn't even acknowledge me most of the time. Am I invisible to him?
Several more minutes stretched by in complete silence. My eyes never left the skies; expecting to see Dragon's reptilian wings at any moment. But there was nothing. What's taking her so long? Why did she go by herself? Oh no! What if the Liberty Core's found us and they took her…What if they're going to use her and trap us…what if they've already gotten Ellie and the boys…what if-
"Boo."
A high pitched scream sounded and I spun around, ready to stick a vine through someone's ear and out the other.
…What if Robin and Artemis caught Dragon, I concluded when I found, instead of an attacker, said sidekicks with Rux in their clutches. If course!
"I think you're missing something." Artemis muttered, pushing the younger girl forward. Dragon complied, glaring fiercely as she rejoined us.
"You caught an untrained little girl. It's nothing to be proud about." I muttered as Robin smirked from his position next to Oceana. "If that's the best you can do, no wonder Gotham's such a crappy place."
"I'd like to see you guys to half the stuff I do!" Robin snapped. His smirk was gone. I smiled at the fact that I'd wiped it off. These sidekicks were really getting under my skin.
"Well, it's easy to be brave at a distance," Dragon replied with a nod at Artemis's bow and Robin's bat-a-rangs. She was quick to recover from the shame of her capture, and fire blazed in her eyes. I was just glad it hadn't made its way out of her mouth. We really didn't need another fight…although we could totally take them un-brainwashed!
"Please, you don't know the meaning of the word fear!" Artemis shrieked. Her voice was like nails against a blackboard. "But then again, you don't know the meaning of most words."
"Just because you wear those costumes, doesn't make you brave!" Sona jumped in, snarling like a savage animal.
"There's a reason we wear these masks, we've earned them!"
"And if I was as ugly as you, I'd wear a mask too, but that's beside the point." Robin opened his mouth to retort, looking ready to punch Sona at any second. Both he and Artemis looked absolutely livid. I could tell the fragile peace between our two teams was ready to shatter…but then again peace wasn't much fun.
"Alright, alright! Guys, stop it." Oceana had jumped in. It seemed she too had sensed the danger. She was always spoiling our fun… Then again we'd be dead without her. "Look, we're sorry we followed you but-" The obvious lie Rose'd been about to tell them was cut short by a sudden noise. The six of us spun around. It wasn't good.
The Liberty Core.
There were thirteen men, all draped in thick black coats. I could barely see them through the darkness, and their outlines blurred like apparitions. But the shiny guns were obvious against the picture, spelling death for my team. I audibly gulped.
"Give the meta's to us. The humans are free to go," came a gruff voice from the black mass. I felt Oceana shiver next to me. My hand reached out to clasp hers.
"I don't think so." Sona was in front of us, sword raised, and eyes gleaming. Despite the situation I couldn't help but be pleased with his urge to protect us.
"I don't think he meant you, Sona," Dragon hissed. Her words sent my gaze towards Robin and Artemis, who'd been shocked into silence. Would they really leave us?
"Nice try," Artemis answered. I smiled. "What he said." With a nod towards Sona in explanation, both Robin and the archer were charging forward, weapons raised. We didn't need to be asked twice. Me, Oceana, Sona, and Dragon followed. We were ready for a fight.
"Who are these guys?" Robin asked
"The Liberty Core," was Dragon's answer as she jumped up in the air. Her wings broke free to lift her up into the midnight sky.
"Who?" was the green archer's input. She'd already drawn her bow and was taking careful aim. "Robin, you got anymore knock-out gas on you?"
"I may have used it all up before…"
"Just perfect!"
"The Liberty Core's an underground organization; set on kidnapping the meta's who won't be missed. They experiment on them, run tests, you know like every group of crazies in si-fi movies. Usually they just outright murder everyone though." Oceana was busy spitting boiling water at everyone who got too close. The spray scorched my skin whenever I came within five feet.
"Why hasn't the Justice League heard about this?"
"Because the Justice League's just a bunch of big headed middle-aged adults having midlife- crises' in spandex." I yelled. My vines were everywhere, sneaking across the building like worms, and then shooting forward to yank at unexpected guns. It wasn't too long before our enemies were weaponless.
"Hey!"
"Oh yeah, and there's a bunch of stupid teens in spandex too."
"Not what I meant."
"I know."
"Guys, a little help!" I turned to fine Sona with his sword locked against a gun. I guess I didn't get all their weapons… "I got you," I called. With a flick of my wrist, a vine had grabbed the gun and pulled. Its owner went down with it, determined to keep hold of his toy. But Robin was there, his fist connecting with the man's head with a crack. "No fair, I had him!"
"You're welcome!" he answered. I rolled my eyes before moving on. There was plenty of fun to be had. Racing forward, I shot out an arm with a closed fist. The vines copied, thrusting forward to curl and twist themselves around two men. They tightened and tightened, closing around their chests and necks. It took exactly fifty three seconds for them to collapse, unconscious.
"Not bad." I turned to see Robin, his ever present smirk taunting and his foot atop three men. "Buuuttt, I can do better."
"Show off."
"Tree hugger."
"Airhead."
"Dope."
"Bimbo."
"Boy Blunder!- Look out!" Behind him a huge skyscraper of a man had jumped out of the darkness, fist raised. But my vines took hold of his wrist, and I pulled him backwards. Another vine shot up, twisting around his throat. I used them both to yank him against a wall. He fell limp, a bloody cut across his hairline. "Now we're even."
The battle had taken only a matter of minutes. Without their guns, the men were nothing but weakened dogs. Given, they were highly trained fighting dogs, but dogs all the same. I felt pride bloom in my chest as my eyes settled on the limp bodies.
"So, err, what do we do with them?" Sona asked.
"I'll handle it." Robin answered. He and Artemis were already tying up the men. "Batman'll want to investigate these Liberty Core idiots anyway."
"You won't find anything." Dragon warned. She was already ready to take off. "But, err, thanks for the help. This time it was Artemis who smirked. Looking up from her knot tying she replied;
"Anytime."
I know, it was a really bad action scene. But there's going to be another one next chapter with Luminate, Will, Ghost, and Shark Bait. Because did you really think they could peacefully watch a movie? Nooooo!
XxBatgirl-RobinxX: I know I was kind of neglecting Ceridwen and Oceana and everyone during the fight, but that was because they were going to have their own argument in this chapter.
Ranlou: Thanks for reading and reviewing :D And sorry for my obvious Sona neglection, but he's going to have a big part in a few chapters.
Cryptvokeeper: Isn't Die Hard the best! And thank you. I love Luminate. Her personality is really close to one of my best friends, so I'm basing her off of that.
Blue Torpedo: Thank you :D
By the way my new story is out: Outlawed, so if you guy like my writing I'd appreciate it if you'd take a look. And I'm open to ideas for the plot, since nothing's set in stone yet.
And a sequal WILL BE MADE to Lone Riders. I'm thinking up ideas right now. There will be the time skip, but nothing else is decided so I'm open to any ideas.