The Batcave
Tim ducked under a small yet deadly foot that he knew for some reason was gonna continue on its path, regardless whether he pulled his head out of the way or not. He snapped an arm forward in retaliation, but got nothing but air. He spun, already knowing the counterattack was too late, holding up his left arm to take the blow and-
Ow. Owowowowowowow. Tim collapsed, tears leaking out of his eyes. His hands covered the area where his deadly serious (sorta) wound was, curling into the fetal position.
"Note to self: steel toe boot applied to make crotch is highly effective at incapacitation… Oh wait, already knew that," Kristen grinned, observing the hysterical Boy Wonder with amusement.
"Get up ya big baby, it ain't like I neutered ya," she groaned, holding out a hand. As Tim- cautiously- took it, she muttered just loud enough for him to hear, "Yet." He gulped and hurriedly limped over to Alfred, who was a bit pale and cringing himself, holding out an ice pack.
Kristen picked up a nearby towel, squeezing cold water into it from her bottle and wiping down her face and neck. She then made her way to the Batcomputer, and plopped down in a chair, observing Bruce work.
She casually sipped from her bottle, and leaned forward, beginning her own work. Opening up Penguin's files, she began to dig.
Hours later, with achy eyes, an overly tensed vertebrae, and on the verge of sleeping right there, she closed up what she had found and lazily tossed her head in Bruce's lap. He merely grunted.
"So… tireeeeed…" she drawled, already beginning to fall asleep in her father's lap. Bruce grinned, seeing the girl beneath the warrior she grew up to be. "Then I guess it's time to take a shower, princess," he whispered, gathering her up in his arms, "'cuz you stink."
She mumbled a half-hearted "Idonwanna" before completely passing out. Sighing, Bruce made his way to her room and tucked her in, forgoing the shower. He kissed her forehead, and whispered, "Sleep tight, baby."
Looking back one last time, he closed the door behind him.
Insert bat noises to represent line break
"Alright, this is what I've got," Kristen said, mug of hot cocoa in one hand, pointer wand in the other. "Whoever this 'AK' guy is, he's got really deep pockets. And since we got this from Cobblepot, it's safe to say he has a hand in this.
"They placed bulk shipments on quite a few things: Heckler and Koch 416 rifles, Beretta M9A1 sidearms, Remington 700 sniper rifles and 870 shotguns, Barret M82 .50 caliber rifles, M203 and M320 grenade launchers, and SMAWs, RPG-7s, and even a few SA-24s. In addition, they got bulk 5.56x45 rounds, 9x19mm rounds, 7.62x51mm rounds, 12.7mm rounds, 40mm projectile grenades- high explosive, smoke, and airburst-, and lots of rockets. Varying calibers.
"These shipments have either come from Cobblepot himself, or were shipped through more… unsavory means. Including PMCs, pirates, and paid off government workers. Another thing they have is several blueprints for highly advanced tanks- unmanned tanks. Drones that are remote operated, and possess minimal virtual intelligence programming to be able to operate without a controller. These tanks appear to have a variety of weapons, but some designs look older, or defunct, so it's difficult to say what actually is being produced… unless, you have, say, a location for one of these facilities," she smirked, pointing to a location on the global map the Batcomputer highlighted.
Bruce squinted, leaning forward, as Tim gasped. "No way," he said, shaking his head, ("Hey, that rhymes!" whispered the Joker, peering through a hole in the fourth wall) "That's smack dab in the middle of-" "North Korea," Bruce finished.
Kristen nodded, already awaiting the next question. "What do you propose we do?" asked Bruce, leaning back.
His daughter grinned, gesturing to a Zeta Tube behind her. "You have an effectively black ops JLA team, right?"
37 nautical miles beyond the Korean DMZ
North Korea
"Remind me again how your… foster dad's secret daughter dragged us into invading North Korea, again?" Artemis growled at Nightwing. The former Boy Wonder shrugged and smirked, irritating the blonde to no end.
"I mean, she's pretty adorable when she wants to be," he casually said, ignoring Beast Boy's disgusted face. "DUDE!" he whisper-yelled, "She's like, ten years younger than you!" Again, a shrug. "Only 3 actually, so I could invoke a Romeo and Juliet Law here," Nightwing drawled, quickly stammering out, "but I won't because I have the greatest girlfriend in the world and she's beautiful and amazing and please don't castrate me," he finished, whimpering at the end.
Artemis smirked, returning her arrow to her quiver as Miss Martian telepathically told everyone, "Two minutes to drop." Glancing around at the rest of the team, Nightwing took stock of who was there.
They had himself, obviously, and Artemis, their designated long range combatant, and Beast Boy, a near universally ranged fighter. Miss Martian was better at support and hanging back.
Batgirl- AKA Kristen Wayne-Kyle - was loading a few more Bat-a-rangs into her belt, helmet off for now. Probably noticed by now was Raven, their half-demon mystical sorceress, and like BB and Nightwing, a (former, in the latter's case) Teen Titan, who was glancing curiously at the new addition to the Batfamily.
Closing up was Supergirl, who was there to be security against any metahuman target(s). Superboy would've normally gone, but Superman and Canary had brought him on another mission, so the rookie Kryptonian was given a shot.
BB, Artemis, and Supergirl were all attired in stealth suits, which largely resembled their original costumes, but had IR and thermal detection reflection, and masked scent, as well as turning dark. Supergirl, thankfully, avoided to short t-shirt and skirt, going with a full body suit. She, along with Artemis, dyed her hair dark brown for the occasion.
Batgirl stood up, tucking her helmet under her arm. "Alright, people, the mission is simple," she said quietly, "we get in, find whatever data we can, and bug out fast as the Flash. No heroics, no unnecessary attention, and most importantly, do not get caught." Everyone nodded, as Miss Martian piloted the Bioship (cloaked, mind you) a few hundred yards out of the factory grounds and landed.
The team hopped out, and Kristen slipped on her helmet, the HUD flashing to life. "Move," she said mentally, also mentally praising Miss M's telepathic comms link.
The heroes dashed or flew forward, Artemis, Batgirl, and Nightwing gliding through trees and brush, as Miss M, Raven, Supergirl, and Beast Boy flew above.
"Slow down, we're getting closer," Batgirl said. Pausing at the tree line, the teens curiously eyed the seemingly abandoned facility. "Miss M, phase through the perimeter. Supergirl, X-Ray vision. Look for any traps hidden. I'll set my helmet to do the same," Batgirl said, already tuning her helmet to search for trip wires, explosives, and other unsavory devices of pain and death.
A few minutes later, the three concluded their findings. "I see a bunch of landmines, and a few tripwire turrets. However, most of the turrets are defunct, and the explosives in the landmines are filled with dirt and stuff, and the pressure plates appear to be inoperable," Supergirl mused, Miss Martian adding in, "There are also a few punji stake pits, so watch out."
"No need," Batgirl said, bringing out her grapnel gun. Nightwing did the same, albeit with Artemis in his arms. The three zipped to the top of the facility, safely away. Until the automated security drones flooded out.
"Shit!" swore Nightwing, ducking under an assault rifle, ramming his bo staff through the metal chest of the rusting robot. Gunfire filled the air, before all the robots turned black and white, and Raven muttered, "Azareth.. Metrion… Zinthos!" On the last word, the robots exploded.
The head that had Batgirl's bat-a-rang in it flew into Nightwing's hands, who caught it and threw the signature weapon back at his companion, who caught it without looking.
She moved to investigate the door the robots came out of, pausing to turn and nod at Raven, before flicking over to Detective Mode. "Storage racks. This was an automated response. Must have motion sensors we didn't see," she mused, before snapping her head up to the camera she heard moving. A bat-a-rang embedded itself inside the device, as she swore.
"What's the matter?" asked Raven, floating besides her. "We're not alone here, guys," Batgirl unnecessarily whispered over the mental link. "Someone manually activated those drones, and were watching us."
"What's the call, boss?" Nightwing asked, strolling up next to her. Batgirl held out a hand as her other one went to her helmet.
"Oracle, you read me?" she spoke into her mic, breaking radio silence. After a tense few seconds, Barbara Gordon responded, "I read you, Little Me. Whatcha need?"
Kristen smiled at the nickname, before returning to business mode. "Schematics of this building and all the security disabled, in a perfect world," she asked sweetly, tinged with sarcasm. "The first one I can do… uploaded to you suit already… as for the latter, well… wow, this encryption is heavy stuff. I haven't seen this sin-" Barbara broke off.
"Oracle? You read? What's wrong?" asked Batgirl. Oracle's trembling voice responded, "T-This encryption was a, um, a, uh… part of an assignment Batman had me do in the early days… an assignment I shared with-"
"Jason Todd," Nightwing breathed, recalling the now-deceased Robin, Tim's predecessor. Batgirl swallowed, recalling the tale. Her dad hadn't checked in for months following Jason's capture. Selina, her mom, and herself were worried sick. Mom even stopped stealing for that whole time.
"The last one to see Jason was the Joker," Batgirl breathed. A quiet gasp sounded beside her, and Raven seemed to go into a catatonic state. "But this couldn't be him, he's dead," she fumed, pacing. "I fucking WATCHED that bastard burn!"
Nightwing asked the obvious: "Then who the hell is this?" Sighing, she put her head in her hand, "I don't kn-" she started, before a hand on her wrist cut her off. Glancing at whose hand it was, she tilted her head at Raven, who just stared ahead.
"So many…" she breathed, pupils dilating. Concern flooded the young Bat, and she grasped Raven's cloaked shoulders. "So many what, Rae?" she implored, looking into the blank face of her teammate. Looking straight at the eye slits of her helmet, Raven whispered almost reverently, "So many tortured souls… So many afraid… So many… broken."
Turning to Nightwing, she nodded to the grate in the corner. He peeled it off, and the team headed inside. Looking back at Raven, she made to pull her along, but the sorceress didn't budge.
"Raven," she snapped forcefully, trying to get the girl out of her daze. "So many vulnerable, broken souls, Batgirl," she whispered, looking straight at her chest now. "But the most vulnerable one is yours." She suddenly snapped off her helmet, and dropped it.
"What are you doi-" Kristen questioned, before a glowing blue hand went inside her damn chest. Not destroying the skin or anything, but like… phasing. And suddenly, all her fears and insecurities flashed before her eyes: fear of abandonment, fear or rejection, fear of becoming what her parents fought against… fear of being alone. And just like that, they were all gone, replaced by a soothing touch and soft hands stroking her hair. She didn't even realize she was sitting on Raven now, tears streaking down her face.
"You won't be alone now," Raven whispered, lips ghosting against hers. As Kristen leaned forward, and pressed her lips to Raven's, she felt... content. Like all was well. When she pulled away to breathe, she placed her forehead against her lover's, smiling slightly, until she noticed Raven wasn't breathing. In fact, there was two swords buried deep in her chest. Looking up, she saw Deathstroke slipping away, laughing.
"Nonono," she whimpered, curling into a ball. Suddenly the world flashed, and she saw Raven and the team fighting against a horde of soldiers in red uniforms. She glanced at her arm, feeling a vague sting in it, and seeing a rapidly emptying glowing yellow syringe.
Recognizing the toxin anywhere, she thrashed around, looking for the villain she was sure was Croc food. Instead, she met a blue mask and black and red armor, bearing the insignia of Arkham Asylum.
"Sweet dreams, little Bat," he- it was definitely a he- taunted, before sauntering off. She fumbled in her utility belt for the antidote, finally finding it and jabbing the needle into her arm's blood vessel.
She hissed as the drug flooded her body, finally getting up on a shaky arm and wobbly legs. She looked up in time to see a rifle butt heading for her head. She rolled to the side, and threw two bat-a-rangs into the arm of the soldier, who promptly screamed and dropped his gun.
Continuing, she shot forward, using her talons to slice open his calf, before charging into the fray herself. Only to find out she didn't need to.
"AZARATH, METRION, ZINTHOS!"
The chant reverberated throughout the factory, and suddenly every soldier in the loading bay was thrown into the walls of the room, fast and hard enough to knock them unconscious.
For a minute, all that anyone heard was heavy breathing from the still tense heroes.
"Everyone okay?" Batgirl asked over the link. The group gave varying affirmatives, even as Raven wobbled a bit on her legs.
"Alright," she continued, turning, "let's see what we can fi-"
Suddenly, the east wall caved in, and several light tanks rolled into the room. Eyes widening, she called out orders, mental link abandoned.
"RAVEN, BARRIER! SUPERGIRL, MISS M, TAKE THEM OUT! BB, ARTEMIS, NIGHTWING, WITH ME!" The heroes hastened to fulfill their tasks.
Raven erected a massive glowing black barrier, sweat dripping from her brow as machine guns and light cannons pounded the shield, cracks appearing in it. The non-metas and Beast Boy shot up to the rafters, and were about to drop behind the tanks to assist in destroying them, while Supergirl drew their fire. Miss Martian zipped around, phasing in and out, ripping out ammunition loading mechanisms, targeting arrays, and engine parts.
Suddenly, Supergirl collapsed in mid-flight, the tank she was attacking already mostly disabled. A green glow shone through the room, and the figure that had injected Batgirl with fear toxin walked out holding a shard of kryptonite.
"Nifty little rock," he warbled, "able to basically take away a god's powers."
He glanced down at Supergirl, then kicked her hard enough to slam against Raven's weakening barrier, and for the heroes to hear her ribs crack. She screamed, the high-pitched wails causing them to cringe.
He nodded to a soldier holding a flamethrower, and suddenly the heat turned on, and flames from multiple flamethrower-wielding troops increased it. Miss Martian turned visible and collapsed, panting. She gasped as a gauntlet-covered hand clutched her throat, and hurled her into the barrier as well. However, this time Raven lowered it and raised it as she passed through, creating another construct to catch the Martian girl.
"Only the witch left?" he asked, tilting his head. "Very well. Target the ceiling, they're likely in the rafters," he barked.
"MOVE!" Batgirl called out, the teens running to get behind Raven's barrier as a stray bullet struck Artemis, and Batgirl turned to see her fall.
She dove, grabbing her in mid-air and opening her cape from its storage pack on her back, before huddling under it as bullets pounded the garment.
"HOLD FIRE!" the mystery man ordered. Retracting her cape, Batgirl took a defensive position in front of Artemis, who was bleeding from her gut. Another liquid mixed with it, and Batgirl swore- hydrochloric acid escaping the stomach. I need to finish this quick, she thought.
"You," she stated, looking at the figure in a blue helmet and red camouflage.
"Me," he said. He seemed curious.
"Strange seeing you here. I could have sworn you were taller, and liked leaving you hair out, Barbara," he casually mentioned. Kristen heard Oracle gasp over the radio. How the fuck does he know who she is?
"Not Barbara," she said, keeping her answers simple. Her talons flashed in the light, and she tensed.
"New kid, then? Guess the old man needed a lot of replacements fo-" he cut himself off, launching into a spinning kick, which Batgirl blocked with her wrist, sending him crashing to the floor.
He rolled quickly, as a crater appeared where she punched where he just was. He threw a flashbang in front of her, which she knocked off course with a bat-a-rang. It exploded behind him, as he drew himself into a fighting stance.
"Not bad, kid," he grunted, circling her. Batgirl didn't respond, instead throwing three bat-a-rangs at him, which he dodged with astounding agility, but met her boot with his face on the way down from his jump.
He flew a few feet, grunting in pain, his helmet cracked. He rolled his neck, popping it. "Let's get real, then," he growled.
He charged, feinting a left hook, and when she went to block, he struck her in the ribs with a hard punch, knocking the wind from Batgirl. She gasped, leaving her open for another jab, this time a hard kick at her thigh which sent her down on a knee.
As the man moved to strike her neck with a knife he pulled, she grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground, and forced the knife from his hand. Roaring, he bent himself and a hard boot met her face, causing her to fall back.
Nightwing pulled Supergirl and Artemis behind the barrier, and began performing first aid on Artemis. Beast Boy watched the fight with growing anticipation. He was waiting for something drastic to happen- he could feel it.
Batgirl kicked her assailent straight back when he came at her prone form, and jumped back to a standing position. Turning, she was staring down the business end of a tank cannon. Instinctively, she flipped over it- too close to be effective, she thought- and quickly sprayed explosive gel along its length, blowing it once she reached the turret. Running off and shooting a grapnel gun, she pulled herself to the rafters.
At least, that was her plan until her line was shot. Following that, she felt another bullet impact against her armor.
The suit stopped the bullet, but she still crashed into a metal cargo container. Looking inside, she found a large block of C-4 sitting inside. Armed C-4.
"Nighty, night, little Bat," said the mysterious stranger, pulling a trigger. Somehow, in the space between the click of the trigger and the blast, Raven put a shield around Batgirl, and pulled her over. The shield bubble was weak, so the blast still rattled the body inside the suit.
As Batgirl rolled on the floor and tore off her helmet to vomit, Nightwing growled, "Who are you?"
The man simply tsked, and wagged a finger. "Not now, little birdie," he taunted, and Nightwing could hear the smirk in his voice. Nightwing growled, but suddenly the roof of the factory was torn off, and a small squadron of heavily modified CH-47 helicopters circled the compound.
Slipping her helmet back on, Batgirl glanced wearily at the helicopters, turning back to the man.
"I'll find you," she vowed, loud enough to be heard over the rotor blades. He chuckled again, shaking his head. "No," he said, "you won't."
Grabbing a SPIE rig dropped for him, he hooked up and waved as he was lifted into the night. Suddenly, AH-64 Apaches- also modified- showed up on-scene and targeted the heroes. Raven made a semisphere barrier, and fell on a knee as rockets and 30mm guns pounded it. White cracks spread across the magical shield, and Batgirl called out another order seconds before it fell.
"CYBORG, BOOM TUBE US, NOW!"
Suddenly, the barrier broke, and the heroes' positions was obliterated. When the smoke cleared, ashes and small chips of concrete were the only things that remained.
Coming from the middle of the pile of rubble was a flapping purple cloak.