He spins around to see a waitress standing over a tray of fallen, shattered dishes, and a woman running away screaming madly. The band stops playing, people stop dancing.
Dick whirls around, eyes everywhere. He can't see any reason for someone to scream. An icy finger trails down his spine, his instincts screaming at him. Something is wrong, but he can't see what.
An older man sitting at a table starts laughing uncontrollably, followed by another. People stumble around as if drunk. He notices a man and woman making out fiercely in the corner of the room, unashamed.
"Why are people acting so strange?" Raven says. "It's like those movies about wild parties."
More glass starts shattering as more trays are knocked over by suddenly rambunctious guests.
"They're drugged," Bruce says, suddenly beside him.
"But with what?" Dianna says.
"Venturing a guess," Bruce says. "Whatever Joker wanted."
If not for the obvious danger, seeing the leadership of Gotham's police and all of the city's high society acting like hormonal, drunk teenagers would be funny.
Bruce Growls. "He's close."
As if on cue, a shotgun blasts into the night, followed by even more pandemonium.
Now, in the chaos, no one will notice them disappear. Dick gives Rachel a tap, then nods. She catches his meaning, then disappears into the floor. Bruce is already gone as well.
Dianna gives Dick a shrug, and he sprints for a table, dropping to his side and sliding underneath the table cloth. In the dark under the table with the white cloth all around, he feels like he's in a tent. Seconds later, his jacket and vest are gone, as well as his tie. Beneath his white shirt, he wears a simple bullet proof vest.
In the cartoons, whenever a hero needs to change, they just have their costumes on underneath their regular clothes. That doesn't exactly work in real life.
In real life, you have to be smarter, more resourceful. He grabs the bag from the underside of the table that was stuck there by a special adhesive.
Alfred had placed it there before the event.
Dick puts a red tunic on over his white shirt, then a pair of black pants over his dress ones. He kicks his shoes off, then pulls on his steel-toed boots. He digs in the bag, grabbing his mask, and his belt.
Seconds later, he emerges, securing his cape around his shoulders. It's not his normal uniform, but it'll have to do.
Raven emerges from the floor, wearing her dark blue cloak, her cowl down, hiding her face in shadow.
He gives her a nod.
She nods back.
Wonder Woman lands on the roof next to them, wearing her star spangled one piece, eying Raven. Something in Wonder Woman's expression unsettles Robin, but he doesn't have time to ponder it now, so he logs it for study later.
Batman is nowhere in sight, but that is nothing unusual. He won't reveal himself until the time is right.
Gunmen with clown masks start pouring out of the stairwell as civilians run, scream, cower, and just outright ignore everything and everyone. The enemies start to surround them.
Robin resists the urge to shout 'Titans, go!'
And instead settles for, "Go."
They all sprint for the enemy. More pour out of the elevators and the stairwells.
Robin points up to the sky. "Air superiority."
Raven nods, then takes to the skies. She reaches a hand forward. A black barrier appears in front of her hand like shield, deflecting bullets. She holds her other hand down by her side, then flings it forward, using her telekinesis to fling a table at a grouping of enemies.
Wonder Woman charges forward, deflecting bullets with her special bracelets. She lets out a furious war cry and careens into the thickest group of enemies, sending a half dozen flying to the floor.
Robin pulls a handful of wing-dings out, sending them flying with a practiced flick of the wrist, knocking weapons out of the hands of bad guys.
He ducks and rolls as bullets whiz passed his head. He comes up swinging for the fences, knocking a gunman completely off his feet with one punch. No time to celebrate, he sidesteps and jumps in the air, twirling around, taking out three gunmen with a series of kicks before landing in a roll, preparing for his next attack.
He draws his fist back to knockout an enemy, then a table falls out of nowhere, decimating the man. He can't see it, but he knows that Raven is smirking.
He smirks as well, and dives into action, moving methodically, blocking, dodging, striking.
A gunman looks up, aiming at Raven. She has her back turned, using her shield to deflect weapons fire coming at her from the other direction.
Robin grabs the nearest enemy to him, using him as a shield, so the other enemies won't fire. He pulls out his grapple and fires, catching the gun, knocking it aside just as the gunman fires at Raven.
The bullets fly wide, after dispatching the first shooter with a quick blast of telekinetic energy, she whirls around to see a wing-ding smack into the man who had shot at her back, knocking him out.
Robin goes back to work, throwing the man he was holding as a shield into the air, colliding with a group of his friends, knocking them down.
Though Robin can't see it, he knows Raven is smirking.
The fight rages on, Wonder Woman moving through the enemy with an animalistic rage, kicking punching, throwing, tackling, smashing.
Though Robin had been surprised to see her, he's sure glad she's here now.
Something slams into his back, knocking him forward. He puts his hands out forward, landing on all fours. He looks back to see a goon charging with a baseball bat.
Robin pounces like a frog into the air, and back flips, going right over the charging goon. He lands wrapping his arms around the goon's neck from behind, and rips him to the ground, kicking the bat away.
Dozens have been subdued, but dozens more keep coming.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," Joker's voice breaks above the chaos.
The fighting stops, his goons wearily regrouping, looking for weapons; all of them having either exhausted their ammo or had their weapons taken or destroyed. Most pick up knives from the fallen tables, others pick up broken table and chair legs or large shards of glass.
Wonder Woman makes her way towards Robin, and Raven hovers beside him as the enemies surround them completely from a safe distance away.
Robin analyzes the field like a tactician, working plans over in his mind, seeing everything. He surveys his friends. Wonder Woman breathes heavily next to him, and she has a few scratches but nothing serious. Raven appears untouched, which pleases him greatly, though she has likely expended a lot of energy.
"Oh, dear," Joker says. "What a mess."
Robin looks up to see Joker standing on the stage, a microphone in hand. He's wearing his typical purple suit.
"I only have one question," Joker says. "Where is Bruce Wayne?"
He looks over the crowd, eying each one.
"Which one? Which one?" Joker says. "Would the real Bruce Wayne, please stand up? I have a special surprise for you."
"Give it up, Joker," Wonder Woman says. "You're outmatched."
"Ooooh," Joker coos. "Robin, another squeeze?"
Robin doesn't even bother to shake his head, not letting Joker get to him.
Wonder Woman on the other hand may as well have steam coming out of her ears.
Joker opens his mouth to say something else, then a black blur knocks him from his feet and pins him to the ground.
Robin smiles, knowing it's Batman.
"It's not him," Batman says, his voice coming through the microphone. "It's Harley."
"Ooopsy," Harley's high pitched voice says.
Raven and Wonder Woman both look to Robin.
He looks around the room, at all the civilians and all the staff.
"Of course," he grumbles under his breath.
He sees an old woman, wearing a green gown and a vintage hat. She's tall- really tall.
Son of a-
An unmistakable metal sliding interrupts his thoughts.
And that's when the swords come out.
All the staff for the gala, stand up tall, pulling out hidden blades.
Raven and Wonder Woman both take in the scene around them with wide eyes.
"What is this?" they both say at once.
Good question.
Freakin' good question.
A Joker that's not the Joker. A woman that's not a woman, a staff that's not really staff. Joker's goons surrounding them, and blade wielding assassins surrounding the goons.
Nothing is what it seems to be.
"The League Of Assassins," Batman says, his voice again coming through the speakers.
Everyone stops, except for Robin. He keeps his eyes on the old woman, knowing that it's really the Joker, waiting to reveal himself until the worst possible moment of the fight.
Batman looks to Robin, then follows his eyes, nodding slowly.
"Give up, Batman," a male voice says. "You are impossibly outnumbered."
Batman stays on the stage, pinning the disguised Harley Quinn to the floor.
A man walks through the crowd of assassins to reveal himself. He's older with short white hair, wears a bluish-black jumpsuit with white holsters and other equipment.
Robin resists a curse.
"David Cane," he grumbles.
David Cane is a master assassin, trained by the League Of Assassins. He has killed some of the most powerful people on the planet, and was even one of Batman's teachers in the early days of his skill seeking. Cane is a leading member of the League Of Assassins, his skill is matched only by his brutality and lack of remorse.
"If you give up," Cane says. "I will spare the boy; and the women. If you don't, they die first. Now, I know you're good, but are you fast enough to save them?"
The Batman smirks.
Then throwing stars start flying and Cane pulls out a gun and starts shooting.
Batman moves impossibly fast, leaping over the side of the building, falling into the night.
Joker's henchmen rush Robin, Raven and Wonder Woman.
Robin points back into the sky. Raven takes off as before, shielding herself and using her powers against their enemies.
"Stay together," Robin says, but too late.
Wonder Woman's already taken off for the thickest group of enemies she can find.
Robin turns his attention to defense as thugs rush him with their makeshift weapons. He takes out the fastest one with a kick to the face, then leans back, dodging a slashing blade aimed for his neck. He backpedals, then bursts forward, knocking the blade from the thug's grip. He ducks under a swinging chair leg, and kicks out, crunching the knee of a flanking man.
He tries to keep his awareness, but he can't seem to find the Joker anywhere, and who knows what Harley's going to pull now that Batman doesn't have her pinned.
He hears a loud cry, and knows Wonder Woman's just landed a viscous blow. He hears something else, and ducks as a bullet goes right over his head. He rolls backwards, spinning around on his back, then coming up with a kick, knocking the gun from Cane's hand.
"Good," he says. "Very good, but you're bot good enough. Not yet."
Robin growls and unleashes an onslaught of strikes as Joker's goons start attacking assassins in their confusion.
Cane blocks or dodges each strike, then grabs Robin's fist, bringing his knee up, knocking Robin back.
Robin grabs at his chest, panting.
"I can kill you like no one else," Cane says. "I hope you're ready to die. On second thought, I don't care."
He draws hidden blades from his belt, and twirls them, smirking at Robin.
"I warned the Bat," he says. "This is on his head. Be sure and let him know when he joins you in Hell."
Robin grabs his staff and charges Cane, each of them blocking and striking at near the same time. Cane lunges and Robin parries, kicking Cane in the chest, then tripping him with his staff.
Cane rolls away and comes back up, no longer smirking.
He charges Robin, unleashing every trick he knows. Robin moves like a ghost; here, then gone; using his best advantage: agility.
He rolls and flips and rolls again, not giving Cane a single good opportunity to strike. He uses unpredictable trajectories to land strikes the Cane can't see coming.
Cane backs away, and Robin charges, using his speed to keep Cane on the defensive. He kicks Cane's chest, elbows his knee, punches his gut, sweeps his legs, kicks the blade from his right hand, then swings the staff, aiming for Cane's face.
Cane blocks the blow, then raises his leg, knocking Robin back. Cane rolls to his feet, slightly hunched in pain, then he curses at Robin and steps back, ordering his assassins forward.
Coward!
He's going to let his assassins tire Robin out, then strike.
Robin lets out a long groan of frustration, then dives into the enemy, letting loose all his fury.
(******)
Author's Note
Yeah, crazy action. I hope it was understandable and not too confusing. I hope you all enjoyed. Sorry about the kind of cliffhanger, but I figured that was a pretty good stopping point.
Thank you LimitlessDarkness for the review! Thanks for the compliments! I wasn't sure the "romance" landed, so thank you so much! I hope this chapter answered your questions.
Thank you Psychic Soul for the review! Oh, I LOVE hearing that! Thank you so much! Yeah, the Smiths are pretty awesome.
Thank you Dark Rain1999 for the review of chapter one! I hope you keep on reading.
Thank you ShieraH for the review! Batman and Wonder Woman do have a pretty interesting dynamic, I think.
Thank you Chinaluv for the review! It was meant to be cute, so thanks!
Thank you Koryandrs for the review! Hmmm, interesting. Sorry it seemed strange. It was mostly about actions and reactions with some dialogue and ponderings thrown in. I'm glad it worked, even if you thought it was a thing. Hopefully this chapter is easier to get :) Thanks again.
Thank you Dark Rain1999 for the favorite!
Thank you myscout14, Dark Rain1999, and TrueFan31 for following.
And a another big thanks to all who've read; whether you've followed, favorited, reviewed, or just read some. You're awesome and I'm thankful.
Well, that's it for Part Fourteen. I hope you all enjoyed it. Let me know what you think if isn't too much trouble.
Until next time, readers. I hope life finds you all well.
mojo