Elseworld's Finest Females: Supergirl and Batgirl
Eight
"No way!" Tarantula yelped as the bombshell was dropped on the Justice Society by their leader, Wonder Woman. The rest of the group was stunned, though to lesser degrees than the cocky young warrior in tan and black.
"Having Batgirl join the Society is a... interesting proposal," Abin Sur noted dryly as the reddish skinned alien sat nearby at the round table they used for meetings. He looked dignified in his Green Lantern uniform, the military style suiting him well.
"That's his version of 'Are you nuts?' I think," Interceptor noted, the young woman looking amused by the whole situation.
"I thought she hated our guts?" Firestorm had to ask, the red and gold clad young man looking rather perplexed.
"No, or at least I'm not aware of any personal animus towards us," Wonder Woman answered with a faint smile. She felt odd being in the position of defending Batgirl, but it had fallen to her when Supergirl decided to absent herself from the discussion. Apparently she felt her romantic relationship with Batgirl left her too biased...
Big Barda sat back, the amazonian warrior looking thoughtful. "She is a canny fighter," she admitted reluctantly, "I think she would be good with our team."
Tarantula looked betrayed as he glared at her and said, "I thought you hated her?"
"I may dislike her," Barda answered calmly, "but I also must acknowledge her skills as a warrior. She is very capable, as you well know."
Wonder Woman winced as a soft chuckle circled the table and Tarantula scowled. His easy defeat at the hands of Batgirl had led to a lot of teasing, and the proud young man was not happy about any of it. Worse was that word had even spread out into the superhuman community, and he was regularly greeted with comments like 'One punch!'
"I can't say I like her much either," Hawkwoman noted dryly. The brown haired woman frowned as she said, "Why are we even considering this?"
"Hell yes," Tim Drake, they mascot and general tech whiz noted dryly. "I worked very hard to escape Gotham, I do not want to get pulled back."
"It's that bad?" Firestorm had to ask.
"Worse," Tim said glumly.
"Supergirl nominated Batgirl for possible membership," Wonder Woman answered Hawkwoman, "and after her assistance against Sinestro, I felt it was a reasonable request."
"Hmm," Abin nodded thoughtfully.
Several stragglers came in, using the teleporters in the Hall to get in from farther parts of the country, and Wonder Woman nodded greetings to them. "I'd like to try a simple vote first, over if we should consider having Batgirl join the Society. Depending on that, we'll talk about it or simply drop the matter." she said.
"Seems clear enough," Vectron the energy being noted calmly.
"All right, who would be willing to admit Batgirl to the Society?" Wonder Woman asked.
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence, then Jade, the planet's second Green Lantern, raised her hand. As if a flood gate broke both Firestorm and Firehawk followed, as did a clearly reluctant Big Barda, Flash and Interceptor. Several other hands also went up, as Wonder Woman nodded to herself thoughtfully.
"Opposed?" Wonder Woman asked.
To no one's surprise Tarantula's hand shot up, and after a moment Ambush Bug's dd too. Blue Devil and Starfire followed suit, but they were clearly outnumbered by the 'yes' votes. "Oh you have got to be kidding me," Tarantula groused. He looked around at several of the ayes as he said, "You said you'd back me!"
"I'm surprised you'd vote this way, Starfire," Jade noted to the gorgeous alien, the green skinned and haired woman adding, "Didn't you work together once?"
"We did," Starfire admitted, "and she is a very capable warrior. But she was willing to strike a deal with our enemies, rather than destroy them."
"That was when the Citadel slavers came after you?" Barda noted. "I thought she lied and tricked the Citadel into attacking their ally the Psions."
"Victory through treachery is no victory at all." Starfire said stubbornly.
Everyone decided it might be better to just ignore that. "So far. It appears a majority is for Batgirl joining," Wonder Woman noted
"You might have someone leaving if that happens," Tarantula got up and stalked away from the table, head high and back straight.
"He'd better not make this a popularity contest," Ambush Bug noted with a sigh as the green clad, bug themed hero noted, "he ain't that well liked."
"So why did you vote against Batgirl?" Interceptor asked him curiously.
The Bug shrugged slightly. "I just don't like her or Gotham," he said simply.
Outside the Hall of Justice the park was green and vibrant, suiting the home of such heroes. Supergirl walked along one of the paths alone, her simple costume standing out against the background of grass and spring growth.
"You should cheer up," the voice surprised her, as the last time she had heard it was back in Gotham.
"Eep," Supergirl wheeled around to see Batgirl sitting on a rock, her black uniform standing out even more than Supergirl's red and blues. "How did...?" she started.
Batgirl gave a cocky smile, the redhead shrugging slightly. "I hacked the Society's teleporter," she admitted, "Tim Drake is a good programmer, but not good enough."
"Oh, Diana's going to have kittens if she finds out," Kara sighed as she sat down beside Batgirl.
"Her having kittens would be good for her," Babs said with another shrug. She looked at Kara gently, "You okay?"
"I...," Kara hesitated. "Tarantula is a jerk, I know. Honestly, I don't even like him, but..."
"You feel bad that my joining the team might make him leave," Babs said gently. She smiled as she patted her hand, "That just makes you a good person."
"And you?" Kara had to ask.
"I... well, I think he's being a ass, frankly. But it doesn't bother me because he's made all his own choices," Babs admitted. She gave a wry smile, "If doing this job as long as I have has taught me anything, it's not to take on other people's karma. I have enough of my own."
Kara stared at her blankly a moment. "That's it?" she had to ask.
"Pretty much." Babs said steadily. "Ì can pretty it up with some Eastern philosophy I learned, but really that`s about it."
Kara shook her head and laughed quietly as she leaned against Babs. "I really wonder if I'll ever understand you," she said.
"If you figure me out, let me know," Babs said honestly.
Wonder Woman walked along the path in her toga-like casual outfit, then stopped as she saw the two of them. The two women sitting together on the rock almost looked like a angel and devil, especially with Batgirl's horned cowl, but they also looked so sweet. She had serious misgivings when Kara told her about dating Batgirl, but she seemed to be making her happy.
Batgirl felt someone watching them and gently pushed Supergirl away. "Wonder Woman," she murmured even as the Amazon hero emerged from the shadows.
"Batgirl, it's good to see you," Wonder Woman nodded politely, pointedly not asking how the woman had gotten from Gotham to Metropolis so quickly, considering she had been spotted in Gotham less than a hour ago. She really wasn't sure she wanted to know.
"Thank you," Batgirl said politely, getting up even as Supergirl did too.
"How did the vote go?" Supergirl asked anxiously.
"You didn't use your super hearing to check?" Batgirl has to ask.
"She thinks it's rude," Wonder Woman said with a chuckle. She looked at Kara, "Yes, she can join the Society. It was a far from unanimous vote, but it went better than I expected."
"Yes!" Supergirl squealed, hugging a startled Batgirl exuberantly.
Wonder Woman fought back a chuckle as the dark heroine tried to fend off the exuberant blond. "Would you like to see the Hall, Batgirl?" she asked. "I could swear you in too."
"Yes please!" Supergirl said eagerly, nearly dragging Batgirl as Wonder Woman followed them, smiling faintly.
The pleasure of the moment swiftly faded as they came upon a scowling Tarantula, waiting in front of the Hall. The young man looked annoyed to start with, then his expression soured further on seeing Batgirl there. "What is she doing here already?" he demanded, "We only just finished voting!"
"I was visiting a friend," Batgirl said dryly, "it's probably not something you're familiar with."
"You...," Tarantula made a choking sound as several members of the watching Society chuckled. "I want a rematch!" he demanded.
"Tarantula...," Big Barda started, "she defeated you honorably."
"No, I want a fair fight," Tarantula insisted. "No weapons, just two people! It's the only way I can regain my dignity."
Wonder Woman sighed, "This won't..."
"I accept," Batgirl cut her off, surprising everyone. She calmly unclipped devices from her gloves, then removed the utility belt she always wore. "Barda," she looked at her, "scan me with your Mother Box."
Barda scowled at the order but the taller woman complied. "The only technology I'm picking up is a active communications link," she said.
"Fine," Tarantula dropped his cable gun and other spider themed gear, smiling coldly. "I'm going to enjoy this," he purred as he lunged.
And grabbed air as Batgirl removed her cape, letting it tangle him up. "Just because I gave up my technology doesn't mean I'm defenceless," she said, tripping him up.
"Oof!" Tarantula grunted as he hit the ground. Ripping at the cloth he scrambled to his feet, blood trickling from his nose. He had hit face first, and it showed.
"Ooo," Ambush Bug winced.
Batgirl kicked Tarantula as he ran at her, sending him staggering backwards. Then she closed with him and hammered a blow into his breadbasket, making the Tarantula double over. She calmly chopped down on the back of his head, and he dropped unconscious to the ground.
"Anyone else want to argue about her joining?" Blue Devil quipped.
To be continued...
Notes: I reread the Elseworld\s Finest one-shot and realized I'd only featured a few of the alternate DC heroes there. Slipped a few more into this chapter, since I needed the 'full' Justice Society for their scenes.