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.
The Hidden Plan That Caused This Uncertain Future: The Wyvern Arrives Part XXIV
Now that she had her heart rate down closer to normal Catwoman returned her whip to it's clip on her belt.
"So, you're the latest baby bat, time warp?" she was looking him up and down as she spoke.
"Parallel Earth." he responded without moving, trying to predict what her next move would be.
"When you referred to your client, I trust this job involved nothing illicit?" he had several different fangs tucked between his fingers if she attacked.
"All on the up and up I can assure you." she purred as she wondered what he looked like without that helm on.
"Your boss got me set up as a security consultant. I just finished leaving my assessment in the office of a particularly chauvinistic pig of a CEO. My little way of telling him I didn't care for his comments." Her body language had caused him to put the weapons away, she wasn't doing anything that should cause a fight.
"You should alter your standards of practice if you are leaving assessments for Mr. Luthor." he spoke without thinking, not surprised at the burst of laughter he got out of Selina.
'This is not that dissimilar to when I worked with her in the past.' He made a polite bow before speaking again,
"Please accept my apologies for interrupting your work. I shall take my leave." As he turned to leave she spoke up quickly.
"I heard from your dad that I worked on the side of the angels with you for a bit. Is it true what he said happened?" The memory flashed in his mind, causing him to curse his perfect recollection.
"Yes, you were killed after you had proven to Harley Quinn that she was merely being used by The Joker. My capture of him was done after he fell a distance of three stories causing significant spinal column damage. He was rendered paralyzed from the small of his back down, relegated to a simple wheelchair until the staff at Blackgate carried out his death sentence." Selina smiled for some strange reason he couldn't understand.
"Good to know I was avenged and I still got one over on that prick." she'd hoped to elicit some response, but, he was more stone-faced than Batman.
"This is quite the reversal though, on my Earth you were a bit younger than I was." He leapt several meters in the air and was picked up by the Moon Dragon, leaving a smirking Catwoman standing on the rooftop.
Diana knew something was wrong, she could feel it.
"What troubles you my little sun and stars?" she was speaking with her mother through the mirror she kept at the Themyscirian Consulate.
"I can't feel thisavros, but, I know something is wrong. I should have drug him back here for some down time." To her surprise her mother chuckled at her.
"This is some overdue revenge for me taking part in the tournament when I was younger." Diana fumed. Before Hippolyta could respond Diana froze, CJ had apparently picked up on her worrying and had hidden his pain behind the surge of affection he'd let his mother feel. (He'd also hacked her schedule to make sure he could get away with the deception.)
"Let me guess, your son just let you know he's fine." Hippolyta stated.
"This is revenge, I knew it!" Diana huffed, causing her mother to burst out in a fit of laughter.
"Kara, has CJ gone to sleep yet?" Bruce had called her because he wasn't getting any response from The Lair.
"He mentioned something about wanting to see if Reaver was up to something." she'd at least remembered him talk about that before they had their argument.
"If you can, keep him inside for a few days. After what happened to Bane I don't want him getting stressed any more that he already is." Luckily he couldn't see her eyes go wide over the phone.
"Sorry to have to ask, but, what happened?" she had a sense of dread over this.
"Bane had bragged about the time he crippled me so CJ beat him to within an inch of his life. I don't think there was a major bone that wasn't broken." the silence from Kara sent mixed signals, he figured CJ wouldn't have mentioned the episode, but her response was atypical.
"I'm gonna head over to The Lair and check up on him." Kara offered, when Bruce agreed she disconnected the call and took off for her boyfriend's secret hideout.
"Deus, awaken. I need a sit rep, as well as active monitoring of any signs that MARK 1 has returned." the monitor came to life with text rolling across the screen: I'm not talking to you.
He couldn't fault Deus for this, he'd acted like a complete ass.
"As you wish, I will not ask for forgiveness, I only ask that I be alerted the moment Reaver reappears." There was a short pause before the next bit of text rolled across the screen: Fine, but you're still a fucking douche sometimes… CJ sighed,
"I can definitely agree to that critique Deus. For what is it worth, your anger is justified, I apologize." CJ wasn't really expecting any sort of response from the OS, so when none came he really wasn't too terribly shocked. He instead decided to run a monitoring program on the tracer bug that he'd planted on Catwoman. Oh, a hidden bug on Catwoman. Not saying you don't trust her… you just don't trust her. Wyvern did not give a response to the sarcastic silicone-based sidekick.
Kara was worried, she couldn't get in touch with CJ and she wasn't able to access The Lair.
"Deus, open up please!" She was almost to the point of knocking the door down when her phone chimed.
Can't do anything right now because CJ will know what I've been up to. He's out patrolling because he thinks he hurt you. Give him some time, then try talking to him. Deus. The text message was not any form of comfort for Kara, but, if CJ was out then she had no choice but to wait. Her trip back to her apartment was uneventful, but, upon arriving… it got worse.
"Kara, we need to talk." this was the last person she wanted to deal with right now.
"Aren't you in the wrong part of town Mr. Kent?" She hoped the use of the formal title would clue him into the fact that he wasn't welcome.
"Come inside, we need to talk." Okay… so much for hoping that would sink in…
"Sorry, I'm expecting an important call from my boyfriend." Part of her was hoping that he would pull the same thing he'd tried at The Lair. She was rewarded with Clark grabbing hold of her wrist to keep her still while he spoke. The plan was shattered when the hallway echoed with the report of her hand across his cheek.
"Don't you EVER assume that you can do anything you please, especially when it comes to me. You may be my cousin, but, you don't know my heart as well as I do and you damn sure don't know shit about CJ. Leave now, before I throw your ass back to Smallville!" The look on her face left Clark in a state of shock, he couldn't figure out why she wouldn't listen.
Another thug hit the floor, groaning from his dislocated jaw.
"Why has there been a uptake in kidnappings?" He had the apparent leader backed up against the wall of the adjoining building.
"Don't matter hero… we'll get that kid, or another one like her. Ya can't stop this." the beads of perspiration running down his face in the below 50 degree weather belied his calm.
"I would not recommend aggravating me, it is not a good formula for longevity." A shuffle behind and slightly to the right had Wyvern firing out a backfist that knocked several teeth out of the would be attackers' mouth. Thinking that Wyvern's attention was diverted the thug pulled out a titanium alloy blade and made a stab at the mouth of Wyvern's helm. A gauntleted hand closed around his wrist and twisted painfully. Wyvern then turned his body, allowing the momentum of his attacker to continue forward. Wyvern waited until the second step, then yanked down on the trapped wrist. As the knife wielder stumbled forward off balance, Wyvern placed a knee just behind his left shoulder and dropped to the pavement. The sounds of bones breaking and tendons ripping was drowned out by the scream of pain from the soon to be in shock thug. As he looked around at the broken and battered kidnappers (none of which had been left without some form of significant injury) he found a rage, thought forgotten, rising once again within him.
Deus was glad he could get the message to Kara, but, the blank he was drawing on his monitoring was really pissing him off.
"Where the fuck are you hiding Reaver?" With all the damage that CJ had caused him the odds were that there was only a precious few ways for him to leave his temporary safe haven.
Unbeknownst to both Deus and Wyvern, Reaver had managed to return without using MARK 1.
"So, you are the new antagonist that I've heard so much about." He'd managed to repair a mother box enough for one Boom Tube trip, then it blew up in his face.
"Yes, I am Reaver. I'm hoping that we can come to some sort of agreement involving an alliance. I need your help for a very specific task." this was a connection he was hoping to make for a long time back on his Earth.
"Why exactly would you want to seek aid from him? Such a deal would not likely be in your favor." Reaver smirked, he only needed Wyvern out of the way, then he'd raze this universe to atoms and continue with his mission: erasing all trace of Wyvern from the Multiverse.
"Actually that alliance would be to our mutual advantage. I can assure you that I've taken all the variables into account." In the background MARK 1 was running calculations on the likelihood of this plan proceeding exactly as Reaver envisioned it, those results were not a promising as Reaver hoped or believed.
The only certainty of the equations was that Reaver's overconfidence was going to lead to his inevitable downfall if he did not accept the fact that he would be unable to complete his mission on his own.
"I trust you have prepared for your nemesis and his eventual interference in you planning? He and his ilk have a most annoying habit of playing the proverbial monkey wrench in the gears." this comment caused Reaver to bristle with indignation.
"Of course I've taken that into account. Wyvern's rushing into stop this is what I'm counting on, now just setup the meeting with Luthor!" there was shuffling behind him, but, his host stopped it with a wave of his hand.
"The meeting has already been arranged my arrogant young acquaintance, but, I do urge you to monitor your tone. The rest of the League of Assassins is less than kind to threats made towards their leader." Ra's al Ghul smiled as he ran his fingers over the jeweled hilt of his scimitar.
"I'm quite eager to meet this much discussed son of the Detective myself." He raised his own glass in a toast to the coming meeting. Reaver smiled, this was something he was sure would lead to the downfall of Wyvern and the attaining of all that he deserved.
It would happen, one way or another, it would happen.