AN: Hate to do this, guys, but I have some good and bad news. The bad news is, I will not be updating the remainder of this story like I have been. My training has increased to include Ju Jitsu as well as Muay Tai, so time is getting scarce. The good news is, this story will be finished as I have vowed to never post something I will not finish on here.
So for the future chapters, I will update when I have a complete episode finished, that's four to five chapters at a time. I will then post them consecutively day after day then move on to the next episode and so on.
Again, I am sorry for my posting streak to end this way, but rest assured, this story will be finished. (This feels like Undertaker's streak ending all over again)
Black Victor Cachat - I really have no idea about Tim's family life at Wayne Manor. It's one of the bad points about a time skip. But I think his life as an orphan would be tweaked a bit for the show and him being accepted and adopted into the Batclan would be a welcome change for him.
As for the Meta villains, their still around but are up to their doings off camera.
5.
Gotham City
July 09
22:42 UTC
If there was one part of being a vigilante Batman did not like, it was the redundancy of some villains. Time and time again, the lower level would-be criminals would strike, trying to carry out some plan not even the Joker or Mister Freeze would even think to do. Case in point was one such criminal dubbing himself, The Condiment King. His latest plan was to rob a big box store of their mustard and refrigeration cooling units to create a frozen mustard cannon. What the cannon would-be used for, it was hard to say, other than being annoying to deal with. Of course, that was if the so called criminal actually knew how to make a cannon.
It took all of five minutes for the Dark Knight to bring him down. Two minutes to get into the store without police spotting him, one minute to search for any hostages, around ten seconds to subdue the ketchup and mayo armed villain, and one minute and forty seconds to leave the scene without anyone seeing him.
Granted The Condiment King is not a criminal to be taken seriously, but Batman never takes chances. One night makes all the difference and this was his city. It was a common curtesy and unwritten rule the heroes have, never patrol someone else's turf without consent. Granted the super powered League members could have the criminal element under control in no time, but the bat themed vigilante preferred to do the job himself. Fear is always a great deterrent.
It wasn't until after he finished up with Condiment King and was patrolling the docks of Gotham when he received the alert his protege, Robin, activated. It came as a surprise that his ward was out and about in Gotham after informing him he would be training in Happy Harbor with other members of the black ops team. It was an even bigger surprise to find his GPS pointed to Crime Alley.
Not waisting any time, Batman popped his Batmobile in high gear and shot down the streets. Catching criminals was one thing, but emergency calls of help from his wards ranked above that. It was only a matter of time getting there and what trouble it was Robin was in.
Inside the abandoned hotel in Gotham's Crime Alley, Silver Banshee and Black Canary circled each other. The Irish villain remained in the air, grinning and darkly chuckling as the blonde heroine stayed ready for anything. In the corner of the room, Green Arrow stood with his bow loaded and the string slightly drawn back with Blue Beetle recovering in the hotel's lobby. Kid Flash was being helped out of the dining room by Static, and Robin was trying to find a way to aid Vibe who was between the Banshee woman and Black Canary.
With the evil grin still on her face, Silver Banshee flashed her eyes a demonic red. Seeing as how her foe was unfazed by her evil looking eyes, the skeleton looking woman flicked her hands out, displaying her sharpened fingertips and rushed forward. Seeing the way she moved, Black Canary took off in a sprint across the dining room floor, ignoring her husband shouting out her name.
The two women were on a direct course to each other, playing a game of chicken nether one wanted to lose. The moment, the precise moment they were to collide, Black Canary leapt into the air and performed a back flip with her booted feet aiming for Silver Banshee's chin. Her attack missed as the Irish woman performed her own flip backwards and felt only the rush of air shooting past the underside of her face. Not giving time for the League woman to reset for another attack, the flier charged forward and swiped at the blonde's throat.
"Dinah!" Green Arrow yelled as he saw his wife go down a moment before Silver Banshee crashed face first into the floor from having her arm drug downward by the expert martial artist.
Taking aim, the green clad archer fired a bola-trick arrow, only to see it cut in half by Silver Banshee's claws. Ignoring the goateed male, she turned her attention back to Black Canary and unleashed a flurry of swipes. Each attack was blocked at the expense of the heavy leather jacket Black Canary wore. Shards of the black material was sliced off and fell to the ground with each block until the heroine performed an arm drag, spun around, and landed a spinning heel kick to the back of Silver Banshee's head, sending her toppling across the floor.
Within the lobby, Kid Flash was just coming to as Static passed smelling salts under his nose. The speedster from the future was half awake before the foul oder hit him, but was now fully conscious. Blue Beetle was rising to his feet just as the front doors burst open and an army of mind controlled homeless people came crashing in. The three teens looked at each other, knowing full well they were in for a restless night before heading back into the fray.
Back in the dining room, Vibe was forced to dive out of the way as Silver Banshee took hold of one of the fallen chandeliers and used it as a weapon. Spinning it above her head, she launched it at the Hispanic hero, barely missing his legs as it smashed through a wall. The good news was Vibe was not hurt. The bad news was a fresh group of homeless sleepers rushed into the large room and began to attack any one they saw.
"We're being overwhelmed!" Rolling between a small group of the mindless men and women, Green Arrow let fly a cable net trick arrow. The tip popped open to let loose twin bolas and wrapped around the legs of the homeless people.
"We need a plan," Static shouted as he slid between the legs of a large individual and delivered a blast of electrical energy to his back.
"That banshee woman," Blue Beetle said while fending a few of the mindless people off, "she has to be controlling them somehow."
"Her voice?" Static asked as Kid Flash assisted him in dispatching several more homeless people.
"Maybe."
"Ye be a pretty good fighter, Deary," rising up being grounded in the dining room, Silver Banshee flew backwards to gain several yards of breathing room, "but not even you can fight my wail."
"Oh crap," Vibe said after sending a shockwave of energy through the large hole the homeless people flooded out from. "Canary, she's going to-"
"Cover your ears!" Green Arrow ordered. He reached into a belt pouch and pulled out a air of ear plugs.
Inhaling, Silver Banshee filled her lungs to the brim with as much air as she could gather. Mirroring her, Black Carney did the same, knowing full well what she was capable of from Wally and Artemis' intel. Digging her boots into the damaged dining hall floor, the Justice League veteran narrowed her eyes as her target did the same while bracing herself in the air.
At the same moment, both women unleashed powerful screams at one another. The air rippled with the sound vibrations as the room was filed with their cries. Hair swept back from the force, loose clothing strained to remain on bodies, and what glass there was in the room was shattered. Pieces of the shards from the long burned out bulbs in the chandeliers rained down on them like snow as the very walls began to shake and buckle. The attacking homeless people stopped in their tracks and fell to the ground while the black ops team members covered their ears from the high pitched sounds coming from the dining hall.
With both women drawing every ounce of air they could to guard their allies or decimate them, both began to sink to the ground. Black Canary fell to a knee while Silver Banshee dropped to both of hers. Relenting, the women's cries came to a stop as they sucked in deep breaths of oxygen. Hard as it was to believe, but the flying villain looked to be turning the same shade of purple her blonde foe currently was.
Before anyone could do or say anything, a deep, dark laugh echoed through the dining hall and seemingly all over the hotel. Those in the lobby looked around them, searching for the source of the laughter, which only grew in volume, among the passed out bodies of homeless people. Chills ran up each of the hero's spines with every passing second when a bright light filled the building.
Shielding their eyes, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Vibe, and Robin tried to see what was the cause of the light when the laughing stopped and a dark figure stepped out of the brightest spot. Metal clinked on the floor with every step, a cloak lightly brushed over the loose dirt brought up by the recent battle of vocal chords, and a pale man took his place beside a recovering Silver Banshee in front of the heroes.
Coming in through the hole leading to the lobby, Blue Beetle saw what the others were staring at. "Who's this guy?"
"Boris Karloff?" Kid Flash answered. "On steroids?"
"Keep back," Green Arrow ordered.
"So you're the heroes," the new comer said. "You are the ones who seek to stand against a god? To fall before a being as old as time itself? Children, all of you."
Looking each one in the eye, the man was joined by a recovered Silver Banshee. "You do not know what death is...yet. Your souls, are now his."
"I don't think so." Firing, Green Arrow had an arrow shoot at the man's chest. It only bounced off his armor.
Taking their turn, Robin and Blue Beetle launched a simultaneous attacks. The Boy Wonder's Bird-A-Rangs were batted easily to the side while the armored teen's pulse shot was absorbed into the man's hand.
"Toys. Children and their toys." A bright light encircled the man, filling up the building again as he stepped back into the brightest part. "Nothing you do will be of any significance. Your lives are meaningless. All hail Trigon."
As suddenly as the light appeared, it faded and died out, taking the man with it. Letting out a cackle, Silver Banshee floated into the air. "Babies. Ignorant babies meant to die in their cribs. Just like Little Baby Blue."
With a laugh, Silver Banshee performed a backwards loop and flew out of the dining hall and into the kitchen.
"They killed Eddie," Vibe muttered before taking off after the flying woman.
"Vibe!" Robin yelled. "Vibe!"
"I got her!"
Already in the kitchen, Vibe saw Silver Banshee leave through the back door where he and Kid Flash entered through. Leaping and sliding across a metallic cutting table, he landed with a thud and burst through the door into the alley. With the rain pouring down again, he was instantly drenched but paid it no mind as he searched for the woman when he saw something he never expected to see in all his life. There, lying not twenty feet from him, was Batman. His cape was shredded and half of his cowl was missing. Blood washed away from under him as he attempted to get back to his feet with a groan of pain.
"Bat-GNNAHHH!"
In an instant, Vibe's body went stiff as he was lifted off the ground. His eyes were wide as was his mouth. Something between a cry of pain and surprise escaped him as he tilted his head back and tightly shut his eyes. Struggling, he looked down and saw the tip of a three pronged blade sticking out of his stomach.
"Your life, belongs to me," the man from earlier said. "One who celebrates life though movement. But your soul, your soul belongs to...Trigon. So says Brother Blood."
Ripping the blade from Vibe's back, Brother Blood let the teen fall to the ground. With a boot placed on his back, the pale skinned villain's eyes flashed red as he opened his mouth wide and was surrounded in red mist flowing out from the wound in Vibe's back. Stopping suddenly, Brother Blood gasped and took a step back. He then looked down at Vibe's nearly drained body and developed a wicked smile.
"You know where she is. And the final sacrifice will be made soon after."
Slicing through the air, a Bat-A-Rang embedded itself beside Brother Blood's feet and released a thick smoke. Try as he might, Batman could not move more than a few feet from where he was as he tried to come to Vibe's aid.
"Your life is spared tonight, Manbat. But it is only temporary as I will finish what I have started with you. I now know all I need and it is you who will be begging for his life the next time we meet."
Again, a bright light surrounded Brother Blood who disappeared a moment after.
Seeing the lifeless body of Vibe lying on the asphalt in the rain, Batman crawled over to him with one arm. Grunting and gritting his teeth, he managed to reach him just as the others from inside arrived. One look at Batman's face told them everything.
"No," Robin said as he dropped his bo staff on the ground. He took several long steps forward before falling to his knees.
Uncovering his face, Blue Beetle ran both hands over his head and shook his head. "No, no, this isn't real, man."
Pulling his mask down, Kid Flash knelt beside Vibe and went to touch him, as if he were seeing things. He stopped inches away from his shoulder before losing it and slammed his fist on the ground.
Moving past the boys, Black Canary draped what was left of her jacket over the teen's body as Static fell against the wall and slid down to his rear. He did not now rather to cry or yell out.
Helping the Dark Knight up, Green Arrow slipped his own mask off and gave it to the League co-leader, knowing he would want to keep his identity a secret in any circumstance.
"What happened?" Batman asked Robin who only looked up at him.
"Red, Red Tornado," Green Arrow said into his ear mounted communicator. "Send out an all points message and have one of the Lanterns meet us at our position. We...we lost another one."