I own nothing except fooooor... *deep inhale* Coraline Osei, Jason Holmes-Wayne, BlackHawk, Apollo, Wraith, Terrence Prince, Blaine McGuyver, Arthur Tenet, and Sparrow. *gaaaaaasp*... Wow. Um... yeah.
Anyways! Forgetting the stupid- eh hem, unintelligent disclaimers!- this 'series' will MOST LIKELY be 5 chapters. Why? 'CAUSE I FELT LIKE IT!
tee-hee-hee... must have forgotten my medication again! he... he... heh...
READ ON!
He woke up slowly, a searing pain in his gut. He felt warm blood soaking over his uniform. Great. Another ruined top. Alfred's gonna kill me!
"If I don't first..."
Dick's eyes grew wide as a figure stepped through the shadows. "Psimon?"
The 'man'- if he could be called that, what with his brain sticking from his head and his teal-white skin- chortled manically. "Oh, yes, Richard. It is I! The great Psimon..." His eyes narrowed and he chuckled lowly again. "Fear me."
Dick cocked an eyebrow. "You're worse than the Joker."
Psimon's attitude sobered quickly, and he slapped Dick straight across the face, knocking the wind from the unsuspecting teenager. Another sharp pain racked Dick's gut, and he could practically feel the bullet in his stomach. He grunted lightly in pain, and Psimon grinned, a chilling grin that sent shivers up Dick's spine. "Yes, Robin," Dick gasped, "I know who you are. I know your sister, Sparrow, too."
Dick's crystal eyes lit up, then went stone cold. Even through his pain, he managed to grunt, "Where. Is. She?"
Psimon let out an evil laugh and turned towards the shadows. "That is for me to know, and you to find out."
As the telepath left, Dick's training kicked in. He looked around and found himself in the smallest room he had ever seen. It was probably about 7' by 5'. When he saw the drainage pipe in the flooring, and the four small holes and wires in the wall, he knew that it must have been made to be a bathroom. Dick also found that his wrists were bleeding, wrapped together tightly by ragged rope, as were his bare ankles. Bare, huh? They had taken away his shoes and his outer vest, even his wristwatch. Well, it did have a communicator in it... But how could they know that?... They probably didn't, Grayson... Precautions, precautions, precautions...
There was little light coming from a busted bulb in the ceiling. Dick saw a few shattered pieces on the floor, and he smirked. Idiots... Too easy- wait... too easy...
He debated for a long while whether or not he should 'free' himself of his binds. Then again, he needed to treat his bullet wound. The blood loss was already giving him a headache, and he couldn't afford to die right now, sooooo...
It only took a few moments to cut himself free. Then, the teen took the same shard of glass and tore up his sleeve for bandages. Alfred'll be a bit more ticked by now... Mostly at Psimon, hopefully...
He looked down at his wound. Dick remembered that he had turned at the last moment, when the gun was fired. A flash of memory hit his brain, and he remembered fully now. The man had fired, and Dick had turned. The bullet had just made it, though, about halfway in between his navel and his side. With a deep breath, Dick bit down on one strip of shirt and gently, slowly, painfully, used the glass to pull out the bullet. Somehow, a small shriek ran out of his throat with the cloth still in his mouth. After a few moments of agony, it was over. Swiftly, he applied pressure to his now-flowing wound. After a bit more self-debating, he wrapped the cloth around his gut fully and tied the rope around it, using the fabric as if it were gauze and the rope as if it were tape.
Dick sat back against the wall, which he now noticed was stained and damp it was. His breath came raspy, and his heart was thumping rapidly inside his chest. Breathe, Grayson... In, out, in, out, in, out, in, out... Meditate... Meditate... Breathe... Breathe... Don't fall asleep... Don't fall- fall...
He passed out before he could finish his thoughts.
Bruce let out a shaky breath as he sat in front of the Bat-computer. (Terrence and his punny ways.) There had been massive amounts of blood on Dick's belt which proved, to Bruce's dismay, that his son was indeed severely injured. There had been a few specks of blood on Blaine's belt, but those, thankfully, had not been hers. But, that also was another blessing- now they had the blood of a goon.
Jason peered at the machine, wringing his cowl in his hand. He was in suit, because it made him feel good- plus, they would be going out soon. His suit had been upgraded, and more protection had been added. He still had his full, pitch black body-suit, but it now had a cowl that fully covered his face, almost like the Spiderman-comics-dude. There was a white strip over his eyes, but nothing else showed facial features on the cowl. His boots were still white, as were his gloves, but he now had a blood-red hawk over his chest. His utility belt was black, blending in with his suit, and he had another mini-belt strapped just above his knee on either leg.
With a curious tone, Jason read the name aloud. "Arthur Tenet. Also known as 'Shadow'." Jason snorted at the picture. It was a classic ninja, only he had blonde hair and bright violet eyes. "Great. A new super-villain. Like we need anymore..."
Bruce shook his head as he began to type. "I know that face..." A few newspaper articles popped up. Arthur Tenet: Shadow-Hopper.
"Wrestler?" came a new voice. Terrence wheeled up, a frown on his deep brown features. "What, Bruce, a few freak-show to add to Arkham? Or just Blackgate?"
Jason looked nervously at his father, then back to his little 'brother'. "Terry... The twins were kidnapped today, walking home from school."
Terrence's face blanched. His heart began to beat faster, and he swore under his breath. Then, hazel eyes hardened. "What does this 'Shadow-Hopper' have to do with it?"
Not skipping a beat, Bruce replied, "He's working with the League of Shadows now. Yes, Terry, the Shadows took Blaine and Dick. We found traces of blood on Blaine's belt that led us to Tenet. I'm surprised he's working with the Shadows... He was just a burglar in Metropolis a few years ago, from what Clark told me, after his job went down the drain. Steroids."
"So we've got a Bane-wannabe on our hands?"
Jason and Terry turned to see Barbara sashaying up, already in suit. Hers hadn't changed much at all, besides the purples now being a deep, dark blood-red. Her hair just barely matched it. "Yeah, I heard, and I want to take down the a**hole that hurt my baby siblings."
Bruce would have smirked, if he wasn't so worried. "Alright. BlackHawk, Batgirl, go to Tenet's old apartment to see what you can find. Terrence, I want you to keep on hacking and get more information on the Shadows. I know finding their base can be more than we can rightfully hope for, but aim for spots they might be holding Dick and Blaine at."
"What are you going to do?" Jason asked as he pulled on his mask, black white staring at his father, who was taking off his cape.
"Bruce Wayne has a certain archer to visit."
Artemis's head was feeling much better, and she was getting plenty of loving from her boyfriend for her injuries. Wally was running- non-super-speedily- back and forth at her every whim. Not that Artemis was abusing it. At all... Well, maybe a tad... Okay, she was abusing it a lot! But, hey, when was she gonna get another chance like this, huh?
Just then, the ginger returned to her side with a cup of ice-cold water. Despite being practically 100% again, Artemis allowed him to help her sit up and sip at the chilling drink. Her mother, Paula, rolled her eyes, but still smiled, as she held her daughter's hand tightly. "Artemis, the doctor said you could leave in a few hours. Your concussion is minor."
The blonde nodded, grinning. Her head was only slightly swimming at each and every movement. "Great... Hey, are Dick and Blaine here, too?"
Wally's face contorted with confusion. Oh, crap, Wally! You didn't even think to ask the Bat about your best friends? You IDIOT! He face-palmed. "I forgot to ask."
Artemis rolled her eyes, mirroring her mother. "You idiot, West."
"I know."
Pause.
"But you're my idiot."
He grinned goofily as she kissed his cheek.
There was a knock at the open door, and Paula turned to see- "Bruce Wayne?"
The ebony man nodded, navy-onyx eyes piercing the thin atmosphere like a saw in butter. "I came to speak with Artemis, Ms. Crock, if that's alright with you."
Tanned lips curled upwards, and she nodded. "It is alright with me, if it is alright with Artemis." The teenaged girl nodded, and Bruce moved forward. "Oh, and Mr. Wayne, you may call me Paula."
He smirked at her. "Only if you call me Bruce."
Artemis mentally groaned at the blush that came over her mother's cheeks. Wally ignored it, of course, and turned to Bruce. "Where're Dick and Blaine?"
Bruce's face suddenly turned solemn. "That's what I wanted to speak with Artemis about." He moved to shut the door with a quick click, then turned to the fidgeting archeress. "Dick and Blaine were kidnapped by the Shadows." He said it so bluntly that Wally almost fell out of his chair. Picking his jaw up off the floor, Wally turned to Artemis.
"Artie, what- who- what happened?"
She blinked, her memories slowly coming back to her. "Cheshire. Cheshire was there. She- she said something about abducting them, but she didn't say for what..."
"How many men were there?" Bruce inquired, eyes squinting at the mention of Cheshire.
"F-Five... I think... Then, more jumped out. In all, I'd say about... eleven?" She shook her head lightly, her crackly, yet sultry voice ringing out. "I'm not exactly sure-"
"It's alright," Bruce said, shockingly comforting. "You took a pretty hard blow to the head. What else do you remember?"
Her eyes shut tightly as she bit her lip in concentration. "N-Not much... They had Shadow emblems on their arms, I can remember that. But, nothing else, really."
"How did they attack?"
Artemis frowned, thinking again. "They- they threw gas pellets and attacked in the fog- the first group. We took them out easy, though. But then Cheshire showed up- she and Dick sparred." The teen was quick to add, "But I didn't see her, like, get him with her sai or anything. They just hand-to-hand fought." Bruce nodded for her to continue as he rubbed his chin, unsure. "Then the others came in. I- I got knocked out before I could see much..." Her voice held obvious self-anger, even disgust. Wally shivered, worried for his friends, but managed to warmly embrace Artemis, rubbing her back gently.
"It's okay, Artie. You did all you could."
Bruce felt anger bubbling up in the pit of his stomach. He hadn't gotten anything of much use- he could only pray that Terrence and Jason had been more successful.
A pure white strip where eyes should have been glared at the piles of paper and folders all around the room. Meanwhile, an ear-cowled young woman inspected the largest folder found, labeled blandly, Shadow Work.
"Really nonchalant, this guy."
BlackHawk snorted as he rifled through a drawer. "Did you and Cori have fun?" He needed to talk about something else for a few minutes. "At the mall, I mean."
Batgirl nodded as she peered over the reports. "Yeah. Got our nails done..."
"Hmm..."
There was an awkward silence as the two continued their work. Then, "BH! I got something-"
BlackHawk was over in an instant, watching over Batgirl's shoulder as she held up a map of a base complex. "It says... Phoenix, Arizona?" Her eyes widened under her cowl. "No way!"
BlackHawk pointed to another sheet. "Look- another. Milwaukee. And Dallas- and D.C."
The female swore. "How many bases do they have?"
Her brother snorted. "Even more. Look again- they have at least one in every other state..."
The red-head sighed heavily. "The League could do with this information-"
Suddenly, a ticking noise sounded.
BlackHawk's eyes widened beneath his mask. "Sh-"
BOOM!
Terrence growled at the computer. So far, he had gotten a lot of info- not as much as he had really wanted, but a lot. More than Bruce would have expected.
The nearest base was in New York City- actually, on that little island outside of New York. Manhattan Island. That must be where they have the Twins... And, to his glee, he had managed to hack into the League's data base (Bruce did not want any Leaguers in this- or at least as few as possible) and had gotten some info on Cheshire. Born in Vietnam, weighing 152 lbs, at 5' 2'', he had found just about anything and everything needed- except her current location. Da**...
With the clicking and clacking of a few more buttons, a screen blipped up, blinking in Terry's face. He strummed his fingers over the keyboard, annoyed, when there came footsteps down into the cave. They were light and airy, nothing like Alfred's.
His hand instantly tightened over a stun-gun on his hip, and Terrence turned-
"Coraline?"
The young woman, in a long Gypsy skirt and long-sleeves tie-dye shirt, smiled softly and nodded. "Alfred let me in, since I already know about your... pass-times." Her smile suddenly sobered. "I- I heard about Richard and Blaine... Is there anything I can do?" Her walking stick tapped on the stone ground gently, with resounding clack, click, clack's that echoed through Cave.
Terrence sighed, turning back to the screen. He felt an unsure hand grab onto the handles of his chair. "Not unless you can hack into a high-tox facility's security system."
Coraline's lips firmed. "I can pray for you."
Terrence couldn't help but smile grimly. "Yeah- yeah, I think I'd like that. Thanks..."
"Thank God, not me."
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep, beep, beep!
Eyes wide, Terrence turned to the screen. "What was that?" Coraline asked nervously.
The male's jaw dropped. "An S.O.S. call..."
Her throat suddenly tight, her gut suddenly churning, Coraline's grip on the wheelchair tightened. "It was Jason... Wasn't it?"
There was a long silence, in which Terrence pulled up their location. He paged Batman, but the hero didn't answer. What is it with you and not answering lately, Bruce?
Bruce hadn't wanted any Leaguers on this case, but... With Terry confined to a wheelchair, Cori blind and with no training whatsoever, Bruce not answering, and Alfred having to stay with Terrence and Coraline...
"Apollo? It's been a few weeks! How are you-"
"As much as I wish it was, this isn't a charity call, Clark. Jason and Barbara are in trouble. I'm paging you their coordinates."
There was a pause, then- "Oliver and I are on our way."
Terry put his face in his hands. Bruce was going to kill him... If Coraline's nerves didn't, first...
She awoke with a massive headache. A groan came from her lips, and she could feel blood coming down the sides of her neck, her lips, and her nose. She must have just started to bleed, because it was still hot and extremely wet. Blaine felt her hair matted to her head and neck, even to her shoulders with her sweat. Then, she realized, she wasn't wearing her bracelet, necklace, shoes, or even her vest! Memories of her childhood flooded back to her, and Blaine felt her breath coming hot and quick.
"N-No... No, no, no, no, no... C'mon, McGuyver... Just- just stay calm... That is not going to happen... Not again..."
She looked around and found herself in a seemingly deserted bedroom. She was comfortably placed on the hard, uncarpeted flooring, her ankles hogtied to her wrists. She moaned again, feeling the chilly November air against her skin.
Wait.
Air?
She opened her eyes and smiled to herself. There was a window right above her! Idiots... Even with her extreme headache, it took no time at all for Blaine to wriggle her way out of the ropes. Although she did get a ton of skin scraped off in the process. Yay! New battle-scars!
She tore off two pieces of her oh-so-nice-and-fancy skirt and tied them as tourniquets around her wrists. Nodding at her work (which gave her a migraine beyond beyond what a normal migraine should feel like), Blaine turned to the open window-
"Crap..."
Obviously, they were thinking right. It was a five-story fall to her death.
There came a knocking at the door, and Blaine turned.
In walked Cheshire.
GASP! I forgot how many cliff-hangers were in there... hrm...
YAY!
So, whoever answers this 'riddle' with the correct Justice-League official answer, gets to tell me what one-shot chapter is coming up after 'Kryptonite!' (You have the next three chapters to guess. teeheeheeeee...)
HERE WE GOES:
What is white and black, but red all over?
Yeah, you only think it's a newspaper... ;)
reviews?
:D