Gotham City, April 19, 2016 10:34
The night was quite, or as quiet as Gotham got at the start of the night, car horns honking, the hissing of gas from the sewers and rusty pipes, the distant ring of police cars and the crickets in the older buildings combined with the light tapping of shoes on the side walks as people strolled home
A figure landed neatly in a crouch at the top of a three story concert made building, cape draped over his shoulders, white eyes narrowing slightly while a darker, broader figure stepped up next to him, both of their heads turning to the loud, but still distant sound of an alarm.
The taller one shooting out a grapple while the other smaller boy followed close by, capes swishing in the wind as they glided, the dark knight giving a wordless signal to the boy at his side as they neared the Gotham National Bank, the Teen nodded and landed on an opposite roof before getting ready to flip to the street below and take the back entrance when they saw a small figure on the roof top, the boy looked to the other, who took off to the roof top of the Bank, landing as the figure jumped and hit the sky-light with a loud crash, by then the younger male vigilante heading to the back door while Batman followed the unknown figure through the sky-light, more quickly as the sound of gun fire rang in the air.
The Dark Knight dropped down onto the floor, throwing three bat-a-rangs to disarm a few of the men, he kept a close eye on the figure that moved around the group clumsily, knocking the gun from one man`s hand and throwing an uncontrolled uppercut into his jaw.
"Gully!" The dark and Purple figure yelled as one of the men tried to shoot at her and Batman ran forward slipping his arms around the man`s and pulling the gun upwards away from the girl in costume as he head butted "Gully" pushing the man away as he sent a round house kick to another man coming at him bravely with a pocket knife.
Towards the back of the Bank the door flew off it`s hinges, two men tumbling out and rolling on the floor unconscious as Robin made his way into the room flipping out of the way as bullets flew at him, tossing his own Bird-a-rangs at the suspect who got a nasty hit from the girl in purple. Robin sent his mentor a confused look and Batman returned it with a 'not now' look.
Weather this girl had a tie to the thugs, was just free lancing, or blowing off steam in a purple suit, she was a danger to people around her and herself, this girl was relying on anger and pure luck while any skills she had seemed to resemble that of normal school girl, she was untrained in every way and it made her a target, it made her all the more likely to get killed, sooner then later.
Robin swept a man`s feet with the elongated bo staff, the thug hitting the ground with a loud thud just in time for the bird to duck a heavy punch before he flipped back, his heels hitting the man`s face in a controlled impact before he twisted in mid air, a move that made him think Dick would be proud of as they had practiced it endlessly, throwing two bird-a-rangs, hitting the man`s chest on full impact, making him stumble back and fall over another man, both out for the count.
His eyes went to the girl in the purple suit,who was running after a red haired man who she had called Gully in the beginning, he looked to Batman who was busy apprehending three other men, bigger and all holding weapons, though the Bat saw his protegees glace and nodded, a clear go a head to pursue look.
Robin took off after the two, heading to the side door of the bank, an emergency exit, Gully jumped back instantly as he blew the locks on the door,the whole thing crumbling with a few bricks and chucks from the wall hitting the ground. Though the second delay to make his entrance easier gave the girl a chance to grab the man`s wrist, "Your coming with me Gully!"
"Dont think so!" The man growled and used her unbalanced stance against her pushing her backwards, the girl stumbling over the ruble as Gully dashed out of the alley. Robin used the girl`s stumble to pull out his hand cuffs and grab her wrist, clipping one wrist and ready to spin her and lock the other when something hard hit him right in the side of the head making him fall to the floor roughly, white dots dancing in his vision as the girl dropped the brick, the hand cuff hanging from her other wrist, she looked like she was going to say something when she dashed out of the opening, batman reappearing in his vision, the boy wonder groaning as he pushed himself to his feet, touching the spot on his temple and hissing when it stung. "She`s got a good arm, I`ll give her that."
"Thought it still doesn't stop her from being an unnecessary risk," Batman said gruffly, looking out of the made larger exit, "Theres nothing more we can do tonight, we`ve already got a lead."
"Gully?" Robin asked and Batman nodded, "I`ll get the video surveillance from the cameras, you head back to the cave, ice your head."
"Right," Robin nodded, rolling his shoulders and shrinking the bo staff, tucking it behind his belt, he looked to his mentor as he pulled out his grapple, "update me if you find anything?"
"Noted." Batman nodded once and Tim jumped out of the hole, grappling back to the alley where they had left the car, hissing as he jumped in and looked at the bump on his head, already changing color. He looked out the tinted window`s once more, as if the purple girl would reappear and he could salvage his wounded pride, though he wasn't a dreamer and closed the roof top door, pulling out of the alley way with a roar of the engines.
Several blocks away Stephanie hurried down another alley after a red haired man, the tips of her fingers stinging from how hard she had gripped the brick before knocking the boy wonder over the head with it. Though she couldnt think about it, nor feel sorry for him as she jumped into the dumpster and took a flying leap, throwing her weight into the red head. both of them tumbling to the ground, Gully managing to make it too his feet and kicking her in the side, she grabbed his ankle and twisted roughly the man yelping in pain before kicking her hand away, the hand cuff clinking against the ground before she got to her feet punching the man in the face before grabbing his shirt, "Where is he Gully?! Where`s Cluemaster!"
A curse flew from his mouth as he threw a heavy right hook at her catching Stephanie off guard and almost letting go but as they both pulled in opposite directions his pocket tore and he stumbled as he ran off, Stephanie resting on her knees and cursing as her fingers touched her burning lip and cheek though her mask, "Ow. So not how I planed that."
She looked at her wrist, the cuff hanging from it and growled seeing how oddly shaped it was, there was not one key hole but three, how the hell was she going to crack that!? In her other hand was a pocket, a torn pocket from Gully`s jacket, she was about to toss it when she felt something, ringing the small packet free she looked at the tiny little match box, Cahoots was written on the front, she frowned, she didnt know too much about it but what other choice did she have other then to look into it.
Justice League Tower, April 21, 2016, 2:54
"Nice souvenir."
Robin looked up, the corners of his lips twitching upwards when he saw Nightwing, Dick Grayson, his older brother, who plopped down beside him, grabbing his chin and turning his head to look at the unmistakable bruise on his forehead, "Looks like it hurts, who gave it to you? Tussle with Bane? Tangle with Poison Ivy? Get scaled by Killer Croc...see what I did there?"
"Your not funny, so you should just stop now before you embarrass yourself," Tim pointed out Nightwing`s smirk growing, "So? Who gave you the shiner?"
"Promise not to laugh?" Tim asked and Dick only shrugged one shoulder, interest sparking past the white optic lenses.
"A free lancer, Gotham National Bank had a few mid-night guest a couple of nights ago, a girl showed up, suit and all, I tried to apprehend her but instead I got hit with a brick." Tim said his shoulders dropping just a little, "I feel like an idiot."
"You should because that`s funny," Dick chuckled, "Would`ve paid to see that, but in all seriousness, who is she? Why was she there?"
Tim shrugged, "We dont know yet, all we know is that she knew one of the men placed at the crime, Gully, we looked up facial recognition and found his full name is Gully Carson, he`s a small time crook, mid forties and help for hire, we have a few leads on location or places he`s usually seen but we haven't found anything too solid, Batman wants to focus on finding the girl, so I`ve got Gully duty."
"So, what are we looking at, the girl." Dick clarified and Tim hummed past the headache in his temples, "Um, maybe five` six around my height I guess, she wore all purple, cape, mask and a hood, and she`ll have a hand cuff attacked to her left wrist, I guess I got something right."
"And if she`s using...bricks as weapons
I guess we can assume she wont be too hard to handle, you know, as long as she doesn't have any bricks." Dick snicked and Tim gave him a cold look before he stood up, sighing lightly, "I`ve got a mission to be briefed for, Are you coming with us?"
"No," Dick said, standing up, "Not tonight...Gotham needs me tonight," He looked to Tim, "I`ll see if Batman has anymore information about the pretender, have fun." He said, lips twitching slightly as Tim gave him a small nodded and hurried off, Dick heading to the Zeta beam and typing in the coordinates to Gotham.
Where in the Gotham library, a young Stephanie Brown sat, the match book twirling in her fingers and her other hand touching her split lip lightly, her long purple selves hiding the hand cuff attached to her hand while she searched Cahoots, the night club, the hours and weather or not it was guarded.
Being an underground no one cared about age, even if there was someone posted out front. Though he was just for looks when the club opened, which was around the start of the night, Eight. What was she going to do till then?
Eat, sleep, try the stupid cuff again? Nurse your wounded pride?
None of those sounded like they would really help her tonight so she left the building, heading for the alley and climbing the rusty fire escape to the roof, crouching down and pulling off her hooded sweatshirt and jeans to revel her costume underneath, she tied her hair up, growling when the hanging cuff hit her on the head lightly as she did so, lastly pulling on her mask and hood her clothes being stuffed into an old bag she pulled over her shoulders and over he cape, Batman didn't go out in the morning , but that didnt mean she couldnt.
She grabbed her grapple wire, something she had scavenged from her father's other shacks, something that was meant for his escape but in her hands would aid in his capture, if that wasn't irony then she didnt know what was!
She tucked it back away though, seeing the gaps between the buildings didnt look to far apart to jump, plus she needed to work on her distance anyway. She took a deep breath and raced to the edge her legs kicking in the air till they touched the other side and she giggled, loving the jolt she got from that little jump, continuing jumping over the alley ways, first her feet would kick in the air but slowly she learned to tuck her knees under her and glade over the rood tops going further and faster.
She ran and lept and he heart bottomed out when she fell short, her hands flying out for purchase to grab the ledge, arms burning as she managed to to pull herself up and onto the roof top, laying there for a small moment on her back at the bright sky, "Okay then..." she breathed, shuffling to her feet when she heard voices in the next open alley, curious, she pecked over, seeing three men, trading small bags of what looked like pills, drug trade!
This so worked, she grabbed her grappled and shot for the fire escape, dropping down none to subtly, the three teen spinning around to look at her, fear in their eyes, she cocked her hips and crossed her arms over her shoulders , "Shouldnt you be in school?" she asked before racing at the ground, ducking a punch from the first boy and shoving her fist into his side before she pushed him away and kicked the second boy in the chest, grabbing the small bags that fell from his hands, "Then again this might be the pot calling the kettle black hmm?"
A punch flew at her and she caught it, grinning as she knocked the third boy in the face, "Hey not too bad!"
she grabbed a nearby trash can and and kicked the boy who tired to stumble to his feet before she spun around and shoved the bin on another boy`s head with a clank, lastly pushing the boy away as she bent to the side with a grunt and her foot met the last boy`s face, "Bo-ya!"
She paused, looking at the still teens around her before sighing, "What now? Guess I should call the police...anyone got a phone?" She asked thought neither replied except for a muffled groan and she kneed down, shoved her hands into one of the teens pockets, "Totally not what it feels like dude, your not my type, ah," She pulled out the phone along with a wallet, calling the police before she opened it, checking for ID but only found a few bucks, her stomach growled at that moment and the thought of getting lunch didn't seem like such a bad idea after all.
Hawaii, April 21, 2016 .7:00
"Edacirrab su!" Zatanna yelled, a large clear bubble being thrown up to cover the team and the civilian's as the lava was shoved at them, the heat making everyone face flash red and sweaty, a few drop left the magicians face as she held up her hands, glancing to Aqualad who ran up beside her, "He`s stronger then last time me and Tigress fought him! And we dont have what we did then to defeat him, but he`s still human, but if he gets that gem at the base of the volcano he`ll be unstoppable."
"We also need to stop the spread of the Lava, it`s going in all direction and theres no way we can evacuate everyone in time!" Batgirl stated before Aqualad turned to the team, "Kid Flash can you generate a speed fast enough to halt the lava flow?"
"Sure, but only for a minute or two, I already generate enough heat while running," Bat said vibrating with excitement, the fearless leader looked to the rest, "Superboy, Wonder Girl, Beast-boy, you`ve have trench duty, start digging around the lava flow before Kid Flash gets too over whelmed by the heat, Guardian, , Miss Martian, Bumble Bee, Tigress, you need to get the rest of the civilians to the beach and close to the water in case the tench doesn't work, and these civilians away once we dissipate the force field, Zatanna, Batgirl, Robin, Lagoon boy you are coming with me and were going after Harm."
All nodded and Miss Martian held a strong hold on the civilians and her group, flying them off while Superboy, Wondergirl and Beast-boy and Kid-flash flew, jumped and ran to build their trench while with a groan Zatanna moved one hand to them, "Esolcne su."
A bubble enclosed the small group and they were lifted off the ground as Zatanna released her first spell, the lava leaking out under their protected bubble before they flew at the ripped volcano, Batgirl shaking her head, "This doesnt look so environmentally friendly."
"No, the gem that Harm is after gives life and most of the vegetation around here is from the stones power, it`s power to create life. Taking it away will kill the whole island." Zatanna informed.
"What would Harm what with a gem of Life?" Lagoon boy asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Robin blinked, "Jem of Life, usually something like that would involve raising an army of the dead."
"The last thing we want is to be stuck in an episode of the Walking Dead." Batgirl pointed out as they dove inside the volcano entrance, all of them hissing as the heat of the volcano got through to them, "How much is this bubble protecting us?" Robin asked and Zatanna squinted past her watery eyes, "as much as it can, the Valcono`s...intensity has increased because of the stone, it`s a defense mechanism, it realizes its under attack and will protect itself."
"Shouldn't that be a sign to, I dont know tell Mr. Harm to stay away, if the stone doesn't want to go I wouldn't bother it." Lagoon boy stated and Aqualad nodded, "yes, one would think people would leave a power like this alone, but that isnt always the case, Leaving us to deal with Harm the hard way."
"Lucky us." Lagoon boy coughed as ash started to coat them, "So how are we going to deal with him?"
"Were going to be a distraction so Zatanna can force him into a unconscious state, and place a grid lock on the gem, it should stop the abundance of Lava and heal the montian`s core though the damage already done cant be undone." Aqualad said.
"We`ll have to settle for the half win," Batgirl sighed as Robin pulled up the holo-computer on his gauntlet, "Eta twenty seconds before we reach the volcano's hull."
They crashed through the side of the large cave opening and Zatanna waved a hand at them, a low pink shimmer surrounding their bodies, "I put a protective coat on you, you can move around without the bubble but be careful cause it wont protect you from Harm`s attack."
They nodded and instantly turned back to the man who had stopped his reach for the red gem and turned to them, "Children you have come to be the first to rise back from death, Harm is underwhelmed."
Robin and Batgirl ran forward chucking bat-a-rangs at the man and jumping out of the way of flying boulders and fire, Aqualad racing forward and pulling up a small wave of water to block them before he swiped a whip of solid liquid at Harm, the man flicking his hand and fire engulfing the water, steam and fog rushing to met them and Lagoon boy roared as he ran forward, with a large boulder, throwing it at harm through the mist, the man jumping out of the way., rolling to his feet and throwing his hands up as Robin threw down his Bo staff, blocking the attack and kicking the bird away before blocking an attack from batgirl and flipping over Lagoon boy.
Robin jumped at him, using the man as a spring board as he flipped out of Harms reach, the mild electrical charges activating and shocking the man...literally before Aqualad ran up and threw in a right hook, Batgirl finishing off as she swept his feet, the man growling and pushing his hands outward as he hit the ground, all of them jumping back as fire erupted from his fist. Harm jumped back to his feet glaring at them, "Fools! You have no Idea-,"
"No talking!" Lagoon-boy hissed, hitting the ground and it cracked around him, Harm falling through the cracks half way to his waist, Aqualad shooting water at the man and turning his next attack to mist as Batgirl and Robin flipped forward and cuffed each hand, pulling his arms backward painfully as Zatanna stepped forward, shooting a bolt of green light at Harms chest, the man screaming loudly as the Volcano shook in an ominous way, her other hand going to the gem, connecting all three of them before finally the Gem glowed and the Volcano was still for only a moment, before the ground cracked and shook so violently that it was hard to stand.
"Grab my hand!" Zatanna yelled and they raced forward locking hands with each other, Batgirl grabbing Harm`s collar as Zatanna yelled, "Teg su tuo fo ereh!"
Just as suddenly they were a few feet above ground, dropping roughly on they but and hitting the vibrating ground, ashes falling over their already soot stained suits, the few of them standing up and looking at the slowly morphing mountain, the ground healing like an open wound, white puffs of ash still leaking from the top thought now the Lava stared to dissipate into the ground like water.
Batgirl smiled, "half victories or not we did good."
"And not every minnow can say he`s been in a volcano."
Getting back to the Tower took longer then they had originally planed, seeing as how they couldnt refuse helping to clear away most of the rubble and help people to the nearest medical area`s or shelters, and they all were soaked, tired and drenched from head to toe in pure white and gray soot, a few of the passing Leagues, on their way to help with repairs to Hawaii snickered or gave them encouraging pats on the backs as they dusted themselves off, the boy wonder trying helplessly to push the soot off the front for his suit before his gauntlet beeped once a small text from Gotham coming through, Cave. Was all it said and Tim hurried right back to the Zeta beam, fist bumping Gar who was shaking soot from his hair before disappearing in a stream of light only to reappear back at Bat-family head quarters. Seeing Batman at the cave, standing up and typing in the last few things to a profile, "Your late," he said without looking at the fifteen year old.
"Volcano in Hawaii, just got back." Tim stated, hurrying over to the changing area and pulling off his cape and gloves, the objects creating a small cloud of dust as they hit the floors, Tim just as quickly redressed in a spare costume, clipping his cape to his shoulders and pulling on his gauntlets and utility belt with a quiet snap. "Okay, so patrol, then Gully?" Tim asked as he walked out, Batman shook his head.
"No. Nightwing is covering your patrol route leaving you more time to find and interrogate Gully, Dick`ll join your watch after he`s finished." Bruce said.
"Were not going to see where else he heads?" Tim asked and Bruce met his gaze, "No, finding Gully means finding the girl, or at least her connection to him, she of much higher priority then Gully at the moment."
"You found a lead on her?"
Bruce nodded ,"Yes, earlier today she was seen taking down three teen boys, they were charged with drug possession when the cops arrived, I`m going to search the area, see if I can find any clues as her where she went after wards while you maintain Gully, on the off chance the girl knows where to find him, Report in to both me and Nightwing and hold your ground."
Tim nodded running his hands through his hair to get rid of the last of the soot and headed of to the R-cycle straddling the top and kicking off, the bike roaring to life and heading down the cave exit. The darkness of the forest meeting him before the bike jumped onto actual road and the city lights glimmered in the distance somewhat peacefully.
While in the Cahoots night club, the music banged loudly, almost feeling like
a solid mass hitting your ears instead of the thumping beat of music, people pushed into other people weather to just dance or actually get somewhere which might have been the bar for most of them, though a few people traveled to the restrooms and VIP tables up top.
Stephanie shifted on her stomach to get more comfortable on the roof-top looking down into the the club, eyes searching for Gully in the ever changing lights, she didnt expect him to be here, not really, especially after last night but Gully never was the smartest.
She`d already been sitting her for the past two hours, waiting for something interesting to happen, but so far, the only action she`d seen were two people groping each other as they quickly headed for cover in the bath-rooms. A small sigh escaped her lips and she pulled her hood down, tugging her mask off and trading it for the small domino mask, it was nothing, it even showed her eyes thought it was better then the stuffy mask and hood that made her hair even more impossible to deal with.
She folded her arms under her chin, resting more comfortably on the roof top as she looked, yawning, the clock ticking by, and all the while, as the stars glittered the mid-night sky she didnt notice two sets of eyes on her, to engrossed in looking for Gully, hoping he would lead her to her father.
Robin slunk, shadows sticking to him as he was one himself, right up to the gray, black and blue hero crouched Nightwing pressing a hand to the buildings chimney as they watched, almost as board as the girl below them, the moment they had seen her they had radio`d Batman, who had fortunately been called in to deal with an escaped Killer Croc down in the sewers, they were on their own for right now.
Nightwing gave a quick look to his younger brother who didnt look away from their culprit, "Ready?"
Robin nodded, "Lets go."
The very moment they pulled out their grapples the girl jumped to her feet and ran to the edge of the building and jumped down into the alley, out of sight before a yell could be heard, Robin and Nightwing flashed forward into the alley way from above, hitting the ground on their toes, just in time to see a flash of purple leave the alleyway, Tim made a small face while Nightwing just zipped out of the alley way seeing that the girl in purple was chasing the same man from the other night, Gully Carson as both Tim and Bruce had informed him.
He ran forward, noticing the flicker of motion on the roof tops as Robin ran ahead to intercept Gully while he caught up with the girl who flashed a grin at him, "Hi, night night for a run huh?"
He raised an eyebrow at her then glanced at the running red head in front of him, he had to swallow hard to keep a flash of memory from hitting him. He reached out and grabbed the dangling hand-cuff on the girls wrist and he smacked his heels down in a dead halt, the girl`s arm being bent back till he anchored her down and clipped the other half to her right wrist.
"Agh! Hey!" She snapped trying to uselessly pull herself away from his gasp as he shoved her face into the wall, though she was only a teen girl in over her head he did it lightly.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Robin flip out of the alley, he heel connecting to the man`s face before he swept his feet with another swing of his leg, Gully dropping like a rock and a loud breath leaving the man`s lips.
"You cant do that!" she snapped loudly, as Robin proceeded to hand cuff Gully.
"And why not?" Nightwing asked, blinking at the girl who snorted.
"For people who are supposed to know everything your kind `a dull." She pointed out, throwing her foot back and catching Nightwing`s knees, out of pure surprise he jumped back throwing his hand up to catch her foot as she tried to kick him, she lost her balance and he let her fall not so gracefully onto her but, his eyes narrowing at her as Tim began dragging Gully over.
He pointed a finger at her, "Listen, Purple girl, Blondie, teen-kid, what ever your calling yourself, it stops, right now, Commissioner Gordon will deal with you personally and a big pointy eared friend of ours might come and have another night little chat with you, kind of like the one were having now, so lets not give him any reasons to think he`d have to shake any question from you, tell us."
"Tell you what?" she asked, her brows furrowing under her domino mask.
"Everything." Robin said and she blinked at him, looking at the bruise on the side of his head before looking up at Nightwing once more, her jaw clenched, as if to hint she had no plans on speaking the rest of the night, but her lips parted after a long moment, closing when the sound of screeching tires filled the night air, four black vans pulling up around them, the doors flying open and men of all sizes, shape and race stepped out, the only thing linking them were the black vans, the guns they held up at the three vigilantes and the red dragon tattoo on their shoulders or inked on the front of their shirts.
"Perfect." Nightwing hissed, Tim mentally counting the number of men, guns and their odds of survival as the girl rocked to her feet, Gully chuckling behind them though they paid him not real attention.
"Were gonna fight them right?" the girl asked in a low voice, "Cause I think I`m gonna need my hands for that."
Nightwing and Robin shared a look, the same question on Robin`s face. They had over twenty people around them, and just as many guns, if it was just him and Robin then they could of gotten out of this and gone home with minor injury but they needed this girl, and she seemed to be attached to this red headed man and their odds dwindled majorly from there. With one last growl Dick raised his hands feeling Tim`s eyes on him before he begrudgingly dropped the bo staff with a clank.
The girl behind them lowered her head slightly, "so, were giving up now...well my night just got a whole lot more interesting."