AN:
I'm going to make some slight changes in Rapture. It's still going to look the same but I will be replacing the computers with holographic ones like the one in Mount Justice since Rapture was supposed to be more advance than the modern world by decades.
Chapter 17
"Are you sure that letting her go back alone is a good idea?" Superboy inquired from Siren as he watched her assist the cured Little Sister to the vent.
"Trust me it's more safe for her in there than it is with us. The Splicers are too big to fit in the vents and Samantha can still perfectly navigate herself through the pipes to reach Dr. Tenenbaum," she explained to him and the Justice League members. They were against the idea of a defenseless little girl going off on her own in such a dangerous place but the Rapturian informed them that the vents were meant for Gatherers to travel safely without their Protector and keeping her with them will only slow them down so they conceded.
"Now I want you to deliver this to Ms. Tenenbaum when you see her and be very careful, alright?" she told the girl as she handed her a note, containing the radio frequency that she was using and saying that she was here with the Justice League to help them. The girl nodded in response and then she hugged the Alpha Big Sister as a sign of her gratitude before entering the Little Sisters' Vent and disappearing from sight.
"Now just one more thing that I need to do," she murmured to herself as she went to the nearest Gene Bank.
She stepped over to the Gene Bank, disregarding the curious stares of her companions. She then began to select a variety of Gene Tonics and Plasmids that she could use in nonlethal methods since Batman still forbade her from killing any Splicers that they encountered.
Sports Boost for speed and agility, an upgraded Armor Shell for additional protection, an upgraded Electric Flesh to make her electrical powers stronger and give her immunity to it as well, Walking Inferno to boost her fire-based attacks while providing a resistance to fire, an upgraded Security Evasion so that cameras and turrets won't be able to track her fast enough (she was confident that this Tonic would also work on technology on the surface), and finally, Elemental Storm just for the bloody hell of it were selected. She already had Natural Camouflage for stealth so she left it as it is. Not wasting a moment, the Alpha Big Sister firmly hooked herself up to the machine and slammed the "Apply" button. She bit back a yelp of pain as the ADAM in her bloodstream was modified to match the Tonics that were applied to her.
She didn't need to buy any Gene Tonics or Plasmid upgrades from the Gatherer's Garden because her father had already bought the most useful ones. And since she had taken in his genetic code into her own, she can easily access them without spending ADAM.
"What are you doing?" Aquaman raised an eyebrow at the Rapturian's actions as she repeated the process for her Plasmids.
"This is a Gene Bank," Siren motioned at said machine, "They provide instant genetic modifications that empower anyone who uses them with different abilities. I used it to organize my powers and to keep better track of them. I limited myself to six Plasmids since that is the maximum number of Plasmids a person could have. Through this, I don't have to worry about being caught by surprise by what I didn't know that I could do anymore."
"Hands up! Hands up!" A Splicer, wearing some sort of uniform that looked like a security officer's, came running into the room all of sudden while brandishing a machine gun, firing it wildly.
Batman grabbed Zatara by the cuff of his suit and jumped behind cover. The bullets bounced of Superboy and Aquaman because of their much denser skin while Wonder Woman deflected them with her bracelets.
Before any of them could retaliate when the firearm of the mutated security officer quickly ran out of bullets, he was abruptly frozen in a solid block of ice with his head sticking out.
"S-s-so c-cold," the man stuttered as he struggled to break free from the thick chunk of frost that was holding him down. A snowball then impacted on his uncovered face, making him even number than before.
"It was about time that you cool off," Siren quipped as she held a snowball in her hand. An icy mist surrounded both hands.
She had just demonstrated the Plasmid, Winter Blast or cryokinesis if you want to get technical with it. It was the perfect Plasmid to use in non-fatal means since it will trap her enemies in a block of ice. The Plasmid was also more potent than when her father used it because of her status as a Big Sister who has a greater natural affinity for the powers that ADAM creates.
"Let us be off. I can still sense one more Little Sister in the area and since you insist on banning killing, it will be extremely difficult to retrieve her from her Big Daddy," she walked past the frozen Splicer.
"And the Big Daddies are the least of our worries," Superboy followed after her. It was obvious that he was referring to the Big Sister who always emerged whenever a certain number of Little Sisters were removed from the area.
The English girl stopped in her tracks. She hadn't really thought about that. She was too busy preparing to return to the city of her birth that dealing with the Big Sisters became the furthest from her mind. She was never known to thinking that far ahead so she was mostly winging it for the moment.
A direct confrontation with the teenaged Sister was out of the question because the structural integrity of the city could be compromise from the conflict. Siren had to be extra careful in battles now to prevent damaging the city more and she wasn't even as physically strong as Wonder Woman, Superboy, or Aquaman.
Speaking of the Atlantean, he might become a liability because his susceptibility to fire and there will be plenty of that when they face her.
She recalled the times that her father fought them. They were always so chaotic and destructive; any caught in the crossfire would be quickly wiped out. It was definitely a good idea to not face them straight on especially in this volatile environment.
An idea then formed in her mind. She now knew a way to take of the Big Sister first without her utilizing her full combat abilities, which would make her easier to subdue alive.
"Tell me, Connor," she turned to look at the Kryptonian with the Atlantean standing beside him, "Do Kryptonians need oxygen like humans do? If so, then how long can you hold your breath?"
00000
As it turns out, Kryptonians don't require air as much as humans do but Superboy wore an oxygen mask that Batman gave him because they weren't willing to test if his underdeveloped powers could let him survive underwater. He and Aquaman were waiting right outside the air sealed fishery for the Big Sister that was patrolling the water around Neptune's Bounty.
"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" Aquaman asked the Rapturian through the waterproof communicator.
[A skirmish between powerful metahumans in Rapture is unadvisable. It's nothing short of a miracle that only Fontaine Futuristics and Persephone collapsed into the trenches when the bombs went off.]
"Shouldn't you have told us about this before literally leading us out through the airlock?" Superboy asked. He was a bit irritated that his clothes were getting wet but he refused to wear the diving suit because of his policy of "no capes and tights". He was really starting to regret not donning the suit now.
[Would you have listened to my reasons once you saw the opportunity for a good fight?]
"Not really," he shrugged.
[We have a Big Daddy accompanied by a Little Sister in our sights.]
They then heard the sounds of a deep roar followed by the sounds of conflict. They also heard explosions and the rattling of some kind of gun.
[Unzip them, Daddy! Unzip them!] The echo-y voice of a Little Sister screamed over the comm-link.
[Siren, freeze him!]
[He's too strong. The ice won't hold him for long!]
[Wait, I got her! Hold him off for a couple seconds.]
[We're only trying to help your daughter!] Zatara yelled at the Big Daddy.
Superboy clench fists at the noises of battle. He wanted to join in and assist them but the Big Sister was more dangerous than the Big Daddy that the others were fighting so he and Aquaman must deal with her before Siren can cure the Little Sister.
"Get ready, Superboy. I see the Big Sister," the older man called out to him as he saw the outline of lithe figure swimming closer to where the others were in combat with the irate Protector.
They heard one last thing through the com-link before they set off to encounter the adolescent Little Sister.
[Zatara, Wonder Woman, hold him down!] Batman ordered.
00000
Gotham City
Robin was able to determine that Sander Cohen could teleport like their teammate, Siren could. He found out by scanning the surrounding area of the crime scene for the same energy readings that the English girls emits whenever she teleports. And the leftover energy readings were all over the place but it seemed to be a bit different from Siren's for it was a lot weaker compared to hers.
The Boy Wonder promised himself to thank the Alpha Big Sister for developing the device to track the energy ripples left behind by teleportation. She incorporated the design from her own ability and added features that allowed it to pick up on other energy signatures made from teleportation.
The energy signature led the young heroes to an apartment building long condemned. The building was scheduled to be torn down and replaced by a better one by the charity of the Wayne Foundation.
They stood on top of the building next it, scoping over the area. Robin and Kid Flash were using their infrared binoculars to look for the man's body heat with in the building.
"That's weird," Robin said as he spotted the lone body of heat.
"What is? The fact that we're chasing after a psychopathic artist who comes from a top-secret underwater city or that we're not going in there to kick his butt already?" the speedster replied.
"No, it's just that his body temperature is unnaturally high. It's like he's on fire or something," he noted, seeing the man's inhuman body heat through infrared.
"So what's he doing in there anyway?" Artemis wondered, trying to see past the boarded up windows.
"I dunno but it looks like he's hanging posters or something on the walls."
"Miss Martian, can you sense what are his thoughts?" Aqualad turned to ask the Martian girl.
"No," she shook her head, "His thoughts and emotions are too erratic and chaotic to make any sense of it. It will take me awhile to decipher them."
"I really think that we should take this guy down first. That way, we could find out how he got here and if there are any more Splicers that made it to the surface," the Boy Wonder suggested. The Atlantean nodded in agreement.
"We're going in but we must proceed with caution."
Miss Martian entered the building from the roof while carrying Artemis. Robin went through one of exposed windows on the North side while Aqualad arrived through a window on the South side. Kid Flash simply ran in through the front door, moving fast enough to not be noticed.
They double-checked the rooms just in case there was some nasty surprise waiting for them before they regrouped right outside the door of the last room that they didn't check.
The Team could hear someone talking through the wooden door. It appeared to be directed to no one in particular and it also seemed that the speaker was merely conversing himself.
"Yes. Yes! I now know what my purpose in life is… My ultimate Quadtych!"
Robin carefully opened the door just a tiny bit so he could see what the man was doing through the crack. His eyes widened at the sight.
On every inch of the walls, hung clippings of newspaper articles and pictures featuring almost the entire Justice League member such as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Hawk Girl, and many more heroes that made a public appearance. A deep red substance that suspiciously looked like blood encircled every picture of a superhero.
The lone occupant in the room wore a worn down suit that could have cost a fortune when it was at its peak condition. He had slicked back black hair and a pencil mustache. He also had pale white skin and unbelievably red lips like he was wearing lipstick.
These features unsettled the Caped Crusader's protégé for they reminded him of their long-time enemy, the Joker. It was strange to see such similar qualities on another person.
"My ultimate Quadtych needs special people and that awful Justice League…will be my masterpiece. My ultimate Quadtych!" he proclaimed as he placed a hand on a picture of the Justice League.
{Wow, this guy's just as crazy as the Joker and that's saying something.} Robin told the others through the telepathic link.
Sander Cohen removed his hand from the picture and without warning that same hand was wreathed in crimson blaze.
"And you my little moth will be the first to be added to my Quadtych," he turned his head to face the door where Robin was peeking through with a sickeningly sweet smile.
{Get down!} he warned the others as he jumped out of the way.
Fortunately, they heeded his warning and were able to jump out of the way before the door violently exploded outward by a concussive blast of blazing inferno.
The mad artist calmly walked out of flames that were made by his fireball, still wearing a smile so demented and revoltingly honeyed. He spread his arms out as if he was expecting all of them.
"I wonder, will you shine like galaxies or…"
His hands once again ignited like two blazing torches.
"Burn like moths at the flame?" he said to them as he tilted his head to the side, "Let us find out, shall we?"
00000
A bright light filled the entire room, nearly blinding everyone in it again. As soon as it begun, it faded to reveal a young pale girl with brown hair and black eyes.
Right before Eleanor Lamb aka Siren was another cured Little Sister.
This was a familiar yet new experience for the Alpha Big Sister for various reasons. It was familiar because of the process of rescuing a fellow Sister but new because of one fact that would make curing her nearly impossible to accomplish in the first place, her Big Daddy was still alive.
The still aggressive Rosie was struggling to break free from the golden lasso tied around him and the magical force-field surrounding him. The Amazon and the magician used these to restrain the enraged Protector.
"You put Mr. Bubbles down!" the girl screamed at the two.
At the sight of the girl unharmed, the golem calmed down slightly, the porthole changing from crimson to amber.
"Would he still recognize her even though she's no longer a Little Sister?" Siren asked herself.
Reluctantly, Zatara removed the barrier containing the metal giant and then Wonder Woman began to untie the lasso. Once the restraints placed on him were gone, the Rosie slowly tottered to Siren who was still holding the former Little Sister in her arms.
When he was right in front of the two, he stopped and stared intently at the little girl that Siren held who was ready to strike at the mere sign of aggression from the Protector.
Then something happened to the Big Daddy. The glow from his porthole kept changing color back and forth like a tug of war between yellow and green. Eventually, the green light blotted out the yellow.
The Big Daddy raised his hands to the girl and he let out a deep rumble from his throat, wordlessly requesting to take her from the Big Sister.
Eleanor was unsure on whether or not to give her to the Big Daddy despite that he still seemed to identify the former Little Sister but she had a strange feeling deep down that the Protector would defend the girl like she was still his Little Sister.
{Make sure she reaches Ms. Tenenbaum safely.} she ordered the Rosie with her mind instead of her mouth as she handed the girl to him. She didn't know what came over her for attempting such a feat since she wasn't a telepath like M'gann. But she was very surprised to see a nod of affirmative from the golem before he set off with the girl clinging to his shoulder.
The Big Daddy and former Little Sister turned to wave their hands in farewell at the shocked adolescent Little Sister. Not sure what to do next, she waved a hand at them too.
For some strange reason, she could somehow sense the thoughts and emotions of the Big Daddy. When she gave him an order, he followed it without question like what he would do while escorting a Little Sister.
It's possible that her control over the Little Sister population had extended to the Big Daddies now. Does that also apply to Big Sisters as well?
[The Big Sister is contained.] Aquaman called out at his end. Then a loud crack could be heard through the communicator followed by Superboy cursing noisily.
[Crap, she's getting loose! I-] Superboy announced but was suddenly cut off.
Out of nowhere, the Kryptonian boy was flung across the room until he crashed into a wall, heavily denting it. An ungodly wail pervaded the area and sent shivers down everyone's spines except for the Big Sister in their group. Then she came.
The Big Sister, the apex predator of Rapture, was standing before them, snarling like an animal about to strike.
Siren felt her blood boil at the sight of Connor's downed form and predatorily instincts overwhelmed her; all form of rational thought left her. She growled at her opponent, issuing a challenge between them to see who was the top hunter in the underwater city; to see who was the Alpha.
They circled each other like wolves preparing to strike. Neither let up any ground for the other. The porthole of the enemy Big Sister emitting a murderous blood red light while Siren's eyes changed to match her nemesis, becoming like the eyes of a Little Sister except that they were red instead.
Batman had already witnessed a battle between a Big Daddy and a Big Sister through Eleanor's memories. It didn't look like a fight between two people but two monsters in conflict. Neither Delta nor Eleanor had seen a clash with two Big Sisters but they were about to experience it first hand.