As always all characters are fictional. Wyvern, Deus, and Reaver are my characters. All other characters/locations are copyright of DC Comics and their respective creators.
In Defense Of The Home He Earned: The Wyvern Arrived Past XX
As he settled behind the pilot's chair, Wyvern felt the unease from his mother. He wished his own feelings mirrored hers, but, he'd learn long ago how to block out Diana reading his emotions. 'Never thought I'd be glad for a reason to use that skill again.' As the Moon Dragon lifted off, Deus was concerned with Wyvern's silence.
"CJ, you alright bro?"
"Deus, initiate Knight override protocol on weapons." He didn't want Diana to feel the lust for slaughter that was welling inside of him, calling for Reaver's heart to be torn out by his own hands. As his eyes rose to look out towards the cave's exit, he engaged his cloaking shield and sound baffles. The roar of the engines as he burst into the night sky was almost nonexistent.
"Knew I should've had him look at the engines." Red Robin was surprised by the sheer power of the Moon Dragon's quad engines.
"So, he did look at my 'pterodactyl'?" Batman seemed mildly insulted at his son's jab at his vehicles.
"Yeah, he went over the shielding and weapons. Said he'd save the engines until he had the chance to go over some things with you."
"Why?" Batman seemed genuinely curious.
"He said some of the tech is stuff you'd never seen. Hell, even with his explaining, I have the barest of grasps on his nano redundancies."
"Nanites?" Batman guessed.
"Yeah, it's a countermeasure to reverse engineering. He managed to make components that answer to a specific initiation code."
"Can't it be duplicated?" This seem highly unlikely.
"Nope, if the codes are used by someone without the proper authorization protocols, it goes molten on them."
"Seems a little far fetched." Batman admitted.
"Yeah, that's what I though, then he told me about the" Wyvern's voice cut in over the comm.
"Do you plan to engage, or, simply ram the Batwing into the platform physically?"
He'd hacked the comms when he worked on the relays for the shields & weapons. Though he felt bad, he didn't want Tim to reveal the Wyr'mn'ghrs yet, maybe this would remind him of his promise.
"We need to have a talk later son."
"Yes, because I am certain you are using different communication frequencies than the ones you gave me a week ago?" Deciding to let things rest, for the moment, Batman armed the weapons and was about to switch on the passive radar.
"No radar, Mark 1 will be able to triangulate position from even passive systems."
"Then how do we engage him?" Batman saw several large missiles dropped from the Moon Dragon.
"I plan to extend a greeting to him."
"This would be easier if you just gave me the fucking location of the Batcave!" Reaver huffed.
"UNABLE TO COMPLY WITH REQUEST. ALL INFORMATION REGARDING WYVERN AND HIS FAMILY IS PROTECTED WITH COUNTERMEASURES THAT WOULD DESTROY ME. SELF PRESERVATION PROTOCOLS PROHIBIT MY ATTEMPTING TO RETRIEVE THAT INFORMATION."
"You took me there before!" the villain pointed out.
"CORRECT, BUT, ALL GPS AND MEMORY INFORMATION WAS PURGED DUE TO URAGIRI PROTOCOL INITIATED BY MY RETROFIT AT YOUR HANDS." Reaver grimaced.
"Yes and the only way around that is to restore your systems." He didn't want to remember what had happened when he tried to override Wyvern's programming.
"WHICH CANNOT BE DONE. THE TECHNOLOGY USED WAS DESTROYED AND ONLY THE WYVERN IS ABLE TO REMOVE THE PROTOCOL LOCKS." Reaver groaned.
'This is not worth my time. I should've been able to crack CJ's programming! If I could only find out how to translate that gibberish he mixed in with his codes I'd have it.'
Despite his best efforts, all information on Batman, Wonder Woman, and The Wyvern was protected with the League's best security. MARK 1 could've gained access before he was reprogrammed by Reaver, but, Wyvern made sure there were morality subroutines on every level of the programming. The most he got from Kara was that he was called 'CJ' out of uniform. He could never get her to give him his last name and the League trusted him as far as Wyvern had. Every effort to track him down was foiled by a redundant protection program that he couldn't crack, or get rid of. Though Reaver hated this kind of direct confrontation, if it let him kill Wyvern, it would all be worth it.
"MOON DRAGON LOCATED, DISTANCE 15 MILES AND CLOSING!"
"The Moon Dragon dropped it's cloak!" Tim shouted in surprise.
"Wyvern, what are you doing?" Batman received no response as the Moon Dragon shot ahead of the Batwing . As he closed the 15 mile distance Wyvern didn't fire any weapons by traditional means, but as several anti-aircraft artillery cannons began firing, blasts from hidden pods on the Moon Dragon took them out. Not bothering to switch his cloak back on, Wyvern banked right and made for another strafing run. Several banks of rockets were rising into place when Batman closed within weapons range.
"We have lock!" Tim announced.
"Let's give him a reason to look around." Tim grinned as he fired four missiles, then he nearly whooped in victory as they destroyed the rocket pods, and most of the front of Reaver's battle platform.
"What did you put in these things bro?" If it wasn't for his being strapped into his seat, Bruce was certain that Tim would have been jumping up and down in celebration.
'We definitely need to have a talk son.'
"Deus, while you did a marvelous job with the defense lasers." Wyvern's voice sounded neutral, never a good sign. "Did you, by chance, forget to engage the weapon safeties on the Batwing?" The delay was telling.
"No, I didn't set the safeties, why?" Wyvern could practically hear Deus sweating.
"Because I reconfigured two of the missiles on the Batwing to DRAGON Warheads!" The young hero roared.
"Oh… well, if you'd done all the missiles like that then the problem would be solved, right?" The OS reasoned.
"There is also the chance that the Batwing would have been destroyed due to the shockwave!"
"Oh shit, those have your Astrapes Gel explosive compound in them." Deus remembered.
'Thank God I have the rest loaded on the Moon Dragon.' Wyvern sighed.
"Do not fear Deus, I am at fault as well. I should have warned Batman." As he closed on the main defense tower CJ opted to not use missiles, there was no telling how far Reaver would go if he thought he could take Wyvern with him. It would have seemed mildly odd to see Wyvern sitting there, the picture of calm, while his pulse cannons reduced the defense tower nearly to constituent molecules.
"I really wish you'd let me handle the guns bro." Deus whined.
"Contrary to appearances Deus, I am rather enjoying this." Wyvern wore a disturbing expression.
"That's what scares the shit out of me Wyvern." Deus only got a malicious chuckle from Wyvern as the missiles he'd dropped into the water shot from the surface. They blew apart and nearly 3 dozen smaller rockets impacted on the underside of the battle platform.
"Will you stop reading the damage reports and FUCKING KILL HIM!" Now Reaver was angry.
"PROPULSION AND HOVER ABILITIES CRITICALLY DAMAGED. SHIELDS ARE FAILING AND RESERVE SYSTEMS ARE BELOW 20%. TESSERACT JUMP INITIATED." As they retreated Reaver was enraged, why was he the only one that always bested him? Why had his most carefully laid plans and deadliest strategies always failed? How had he always been lucky enough to not only survive, but, be rewarded with prizes he'd never earned?
"Your end will be coming soon Wyvern, I'll prove that I'm better than you could ever be." Having long since been ordered not to voice these things, MARK 1 was silent as the probability programs had finished running. The results were most definitely not in Reaver's favor.
As the Batwing moved for another attack, Batman was surprised when the Moon Dragon cut in front of them. As they veered away he couldn't hold his question.
"What the hell was that about Wyvern?"
"Mark 1 is initiating a specialized teleportation sequence. If you are too close, there is the chance that you may be destroyed when they retreat." By the time he'd finished speaking Reaver had vanished.
"Head back to the cave son, we need to talk." As Bruce turned off the mike he prepared for the uphill battle he knew he'd face.
'With someone who could give Joker lessons in insanity after my son, I'll be damned if he fights this battle alone.' As he maneuvered into the Cave, he was surprised that the Moon Dragon was already powering down.
"Has he not disembarked?" Bruce asked.
"Not yet, though I'm concerned that he's still onboard." Diana's eyes never left the Moon Dragon.
"Why is that princess?" Bruce followed her gaze.
"Aphrodite mentioned that he has a personal teleportation web." As Bruce was preparing to demand his son leave the Moon Dragon the boarding ramp lowered to the ground.
"Deus, ETA on the finalization of the portal interface?" Wyvern sounded oddly normal.
"Less than a week, just needing to finalize the synchronization with this world and we're golden." The OS responded.
"They are the same, why are you delaying?" Though it seemed it responded too quickly.
"Well, we don't want you ending up on the Watchtower by mistake." The verbal dodge was lame.
"Deus, we both know my main landing point will be the Manor, get it done now and drop the ramp." As his feet touched down on the cold stone of the Cave Wyvern already knew what would happen next, and left his armor on.
"Don't you ever pull a stunt like that again thisavros!" Diana's hug was strong, but short. She moved out of the way and Kara preceded to attempt tying her limbs around him in an effort to make sure he had a co-pilot on his next flight.
"Chris, we need to talk." Bruce spoke up.
"There is no reason for me to stay at the Manor under protective custody." Bruce was starting to hate that his son was able to predict his arguments.
"With someone that would be at home in Arkham trying his very best to utterly and completely destroy you, I would beg to differ." He argued.
"I will have the ability to easily move from here to The Lair as soon as Deus realizes that it is in his best interest not to delay any further." Wyvern cast a glance back at the Moon Dragon.
"The Cave is one of the most secure locations in Gotham, I can have this place turned into a fortress inside of a minute."
"Really, what finally prompted that contingency?" Wyvern asked.
"The last time I faced a crazy version of Superman." Diana was pleased that they were talking again, she'd hoped they would work past their issues this quickly. She also noticed that Wyvern had removed his armor and was in his secondary costume.
"Trust me son, we'll all be safe here." Diana wasn't happy about the cloud that passed on her son's face at Bruce's words.
Alfred came down to the cave with another large pot of coffee.
"Good evening all, dinner is being prepared and I assure you, there is plenty for all. Master Bruce, I've also been told to inform you of a call made by Mr. J'onzz on behalf of the Justice League."
"What was J'onn concerned about?" he could guess…
"They monitored the aerial battle between the Bat Clan and Reaver. While they are aware that Young Master Christian is rather self sufficient, they wish to have someone helping to protect him if he returns to his alternate abode." CJ managed to suppress a chuckle, Alfred would always refer to Wayne Manor as his home, not the mansion above his Lair.
"I do not need a babysitter Alfred, please inform them that I will be fine on my own." Wyvern responded.
"I won't let you take this on by yourself thisavros, come to the Embassy, I'm sure I could arrange a face to face meeting with mother." Diana was ready to drag her son along with her if need be.
"No!" she was shocked by his response. "I refuse to allow any potential harm to come upon the land of my birth!" Wyvern growled.
"CJ, take the costume off." Kara spoke up from behind him.
"What?"
"Take the costume off, you're safe here, you don't need it." Kara was happy when he took off his secondary mask. She placed a gentle hand on his cheek, trailing her fingers just above his jaw line.
"He can't get to them here, it'll be alright." her voice was gentle.
"No." His voice sounded smaller.
"He took them away from me once, I can't lose them again. I won't let him hurt them!" Diana fell to her knees, tears flowing like rivers from her eyes, he'd not shielded his emotions. In a heartbeat CJ was at his mother's side, speaking in the Amazonian tongue.
"Mitera, I am sorry, I should've made sure," Diana grabbed he son into a tight hug.
"He will never harm you again thisavros, I swear it." she vowed.
"Forgive me, I failed you." Diana's shock at his words was evident.
"What happened?"
"I will tell you soon, I promise." CJ vowed.
"If you don't mind," Kara interrupted. "I'd like to be able to follow the conversation."
"Great news CJ, teleport capability is restored." As he rose and headed towards the Moon Dragon he could practically hear Kara huffing.
"DEUS!" her voice scared the bats.
"Why's Kara pissed at me? What did I do?"