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Legal disclaimer: I tend to liberally "borrow" DC adapted character profiles and art from the Earth-27 wiki created by Roy Westerman with principle art coming from digital artist Phil Cho. Other creators and artists are found there as well and I will specifically list any original creations with creator citations as I utilize them. In short, this is the single most comprehensive retelling of all things DC and beyond I have encountered. It's worth your time to explore.
Azrael cover art provided by kmdestination at the Pixabay website. Visit for free commercial use art and photography. Including my own under user ID BrinMacen.
That having been said, the properties, and their variations belong to DC Comics through WarnerMedia and now the Discovery empire with notable exceptions. More on that in the footnote. I do not own DC characters or their interpretations and re-imaginings. My own characters are implied Public Domain since I have not included a copyright notice as required by the 1974 revisions of the copyright statutes and regulations. While an intellectual copyright is implied without the due symbols and language, all such considerations are generally voided under CC-BY-SA, which governs this site, unless duly noted otherwise.
Open Source attributions are listed after the story concluded to satisfy legalese requirements. And all "super" characters other than Open Source have been seen in comic books before barring any original characters coming from the Earth-27 Wiki or myself. You can look into Public Domain Superheroes Wiki and the DC Database Wiki's own vaults to verify this.
Although this is primarily set in the DCAU, I incorporate attributes of dozens of interpretations of each character, comic telling era, and medium into the telling.
Justice League Anthology order insertion
Justice League New Beginning: DCAU Series Part 1
Justice League Second Strike: DCAU Series Part 2
Justice League Past Imperfect: DCAU Series Part 3
Justice League Nuptials: DCAU Series Part 4
Justice League Cardinal Sin: DCAU Series Part 5
Justice League Twice Shy: DCAU Series Part 6
Justice League Darkness: DCAU Series Part 7
Justice League Family Affairs: DCAU Series Part 8
Justice League Conflict: DCAU Series Part 9
Justice League Crossroads:DCAU Series Part 10
Justice League the Corps: DCAU Series Part 11
Justice League Family Ties: DCAU Series Part 12
Claire Connelly: a DCAU Series Anthology story
Justice League Eternal War: DCAU Series Part 13
Justice League Shadows: DCAU Series Part 14
Justice League Night Falls: DCAU Series Part 15
Justice League Front Lines: DCAU Series Part 16
Justice League Convergence: DCAU Series Part 17
Justice League Ascension: DCAU Series Part 18
Justice League Courts: DCAU Series Part 19
Justice League Legions: DCAU Series Part 20
Justice League Power Ring Corps: DCAU Series Part 21
Justice League Daemonites: DCAU Series Part 22
Justice League Soldiers: DCAU Series Part 23
Justice League Downfall: DCAU Series Part 24
Justice League Aspirations: DCAU Series Part 25
Justice League Realms: DCAU Series Part 26
the Funtabulous Wedding of Drs Harleen Quinzel & Pamela Isley
Stars Collide: a DCAU Series Anthology tale
Blades Free: a DCAU series Anthology story
Hellequin & the Paragons: a DCAU series Anthology story
Superwoman & the Paragons: a DCAU series Anthology story
Empress Penguin's private little war - a DCAU series Anthology story
Oracle: a DCAU series Anthology story
Injustice Society: a DCAU series Anthology story
Disco Mummy: a DCAU series Anthology story
Enchantress' Peril: a DCAU series Anthology story
Killer Frost - Blades in the Heart: a DCAU series Anthology story
Wicked Witch: A DCAU series Anthology story
The Cult: a DCAU series Anthology story
Family in Crisis: a DCAU series Anthology story
Oracle Sees All: a DCAU series Anthology story
Dark Lord: a DCAU series Anthology story
Genesis Point: a DCAU series Anthology story
Evil Queen: a DCAU series Anthology story
Kalea-El: a DCAU series Anthology story
Glorith: a DCAU series Anthology story
Wickedest Witch: a DCAU series Anthology story
Red Hood: A DCAU series Anthology story
Music Meister: a DCAU series Anthology story
Beryl & Rose - Date Night: a DCAU series Anthology story
Family Bonds: a DCAU series Anthology story
Duet feat Music Meister & Upbeat: a DCAU series Anthology story
Phantasm & the Bat: a DCAU series Anthology story
Injustice Reigns: a DCAU series Anthology story
Marian Drews: a DCAU series Anthology story
The Bat Clan Reborn: a DCAU series Anthology story
Evil Delights: a DCAU series Anthology story
Music Meister of the Opera: a DCAU series Anthology story
Family Tragedies: a DCAU series Anthology story
Something Wicked: a DCAU series Anthology story
Plastic Woman: a DCAU series Anthology story
Repo Men: a DCAU series Anthology story
The Disco Mummy Strikes: a DCAU series Anthology story
Oracle Undercover: a DCAU series Anthology story
Oracle Knows All: a DCAU series Anthology story
Injustice For All: a DCAU series Anthology story
Dazaar the Arch Fiend: a DCAU series Anthology story
Frosted Blades: a DCAU series Anthology story
Fido: a DCAU series Anthology story
Lightning Raider: a DCAU series Anthology story
Family Struggles: a DCAU series Anthology story
Those Wicked Ways: a DCAU series Anthology story
Hella Fun! A DCAU series Anthology story
Domino Lady: a DCAU series Anthology story
Air Wave: a DCAU series Anthology story
Justice League Beyond Prologue: a DCAU Series Part 0
Lana Linda Lang - Superwoman: a DCAU series Anthology story
Oracle sees the Light: a DCAU series Anthology story
Justice League Beyond Lois Lane: DCAU Series Part 2
Red Hood's Calling: a DCAU series Anthology story
London's Calling: a DCAU series Anthology story
Wrath of the Phantasm
Knight's Fall: a DCAU series Anthology Story
Justice League Beyond Down the Rabbit Hole: DCAU Series Part 3
Justice League Beyond Further Down The Rabbit Hole: DCAU Series Part 4
Christmas Horror: a DCAU series Anthology story
Justice League Beyond Disco Mummy's Revenge: DCAU Series Part 5
Justice League Beyond Evil Incarnate: DCAU Series Part 6
Maxima: a DCAU series Anthology story
Injustices: a DCAU series Anthology story
Order of St. Batman: a DCAU series Anthology story
"Charise contacted us over the Dark Web again," Oracle told her boyfriend, Jason Todd.
As Arkham Knight, Jason led the Outlaws. A vigilante super team posing as contract killers. Charise Carnes was President and CEO of Carnes Development. She was also Knightfall, would be 'savior" of Gotham City.
Oracle was a young woman with an erased past who was the supreme hacktivist on the planet. Deadshot had put her in a wheelchair for life. A "mercy" considering Amanda Waller had wanted her dead. The trade-off was she ceased to exist as anyone other than Oracle. Not even Jason knew who she'd been before. Nor did he care. He was only concerned with the now.
Being tortured by the Joker for two years and then killed by him had that effect on Jason. Nyssa Raatko had resurrected Jason in a Lazarus Pit and trained him up as her personal agent. Jason was equally beholding to Knightfall now. She'd sheltered the Outlaws when they'd operated out of Gotham. Now that they were based out of Chicago, those ties still bound them together.
"Patch her in," Jason sighed.
"Jason was sighing, wasn't he?" Charise's digitally altered voice ventured. She really did know them all too well. Carnes' plan to save Gotham was to license crime and law enforcement. No unregistered or unlicensed crimes could occur and the same applied to non-deputized vigilantes and crime fighters. Of course, the very definition of vigilante indicated they were outside the law.
"How can we help, Charise?" Jason ignored Oracle's smirk.
"Azrael and his Order of St. Batman have been making waves," Knightfall answered.
"I thought that's what you wanted," Oracle replied.
"Intergang waves," Knightfall explained.
"Care to elaborate?" Jason could swear it was like pulling teeth somedays.
"We don't fight cops or superheroes. You know that," Jason reiterated.
"The Secret Society for Super Villains has accepted a contract to kill Azrael. I need him and his KnightsQuest arm of his Order of St. Batman alive," Knightfall explained, "But I can't openly defy the 100. But, if unknown parties or party were to hire your group to kill the Secret Society? All's fair."
"And we score a major coup no one else will hire us for," Oracle immediately understood.
"Listen to her, Jason. She's the brains," Knightfall urged.
"We should do to," Li Harper, the Red Hood, said as she entered the Data Womb that served as Oracle's haunt. Li was exactly who she appeared to be: a twenty-year old version of six-year old Lian Harper. Only she and Jason knew her true Multiversal origins from Earth-4. Jason's memories of them surviving the Rebirth event that solidified the creation of the single New Universe.
Jason had re-awoken Li's underlying memories masked by Glorith's memory altering Rebirth phenomenon. The revelation explained a lot to Li. Like why she gravitated towards fellow Outlaws, Roy Harper and Jade Nguyen as well as Lian herself and why she pined away for an older version of Jason that hadn't been included in the New Earth history. But it had settled the sexual tension between them. Oracle was comfortable with them being alone together again.
"Another female with brains. Are you paying attention, Todd?" Knightfall inquired sharply.
"I always listen, Carnes. I just don't always follow blindly in," Jason replied, "I'll need a run down on the Secret Society's current membership before we fly out to Gotham."
"I'll have a plane standing by at O'Hare for you." Knightfall told them, "I re-equipped the Bunker with everything you'll need. Commissioner Gordon won't be sticking her nose into it again."
"Awfully confident we'd say 'yes'," Jason pointed out.
"It was never in question," Knightfall logged off the Dark Web.
"Rather brass of her," Jason retorted.
"I prefer 'cheeky'," Oracle grinned.
"Someone should warn Gordon and get it over with," Li suggested.
"I always enjoy my conversations with Babs," Oracle volunteered.
"Better you than me," Jason and Barbara Gordon hadn't parted on the best of terms.
Oracle's system chimed, "Charise attached Intergang's listing of Societors. Jesus! This list is long."
"Get a hold of Phantasm and get the DEO's files on them," Jason instructed.
"It seems the Legion of Annoyance is allied with the Secret Society," Li noted from the tablet display.
"Fu Manchu must love that," Jason smirked, "If he even knows."
"He will now," Oracle forwarded the file on to the Legion of Doom.
"Gather the team and let's start uploading iPads," Jason suggested.
Oracle hit a couple of keystrokes, "Done and done. And Andrea will be forwarding the DEO's info when she gets a hold of it."
Jason passionately kissed her, "Thank you."
"Thank me properly before we lift off," Oracle chuckled.
"I'm sure the plane will have a bathroom," Li quipped. Before the PDA between the couple would have disturbed her. Now that she knew why, it wasn't difficult anymore.
"Why Li, so naughty today," Oracle teased her.
"Roy and Jade will want to sit this one out, It's Lian's birthday," Li warned them, "That's what I was coming to tell you."
She and Jason would hold a private ceremony of her own later. But Red Hood had priorities and killing a large number of Secret Societors was one of them.
"Get everyone packing," Jason instructed, "We can brief when we're wheel's up."
"So bossy," Oracle decided.
"Then you'll have noticed that Knightfall didn't re-equip the Bunker with your equipment. You're grounded," Jason went Arkham Knight on her.
"I noticed," she groaned.
"Sorry `bout my earlier suggestion then," Li's skin flushed with embarrassment.
"You didn't know yet," Oracle consoled her.
"Still, it's a pretty crummy slap in the face," Li contended. Oracle was touched by Li's concern. A few months ago, the slap would've been intentional. But their last trip to Los Angeles had cleared the air between them and rocked Red Hood's world. She was a true friend now and not some bitter wannabe rival.
Oracle's Data Womb was a former speakeasy within a clocktower the Outlaws owned. One of the few never to be discovered. Nyssa Raatko sold them the property from Red Claw's supply of safehouses she'd "acquired" from their remnants after Red Claw's death and the disaffection with Red Alice split the ranks. Even the renamed Wonderland Army eventually abandoned her as well. Recruiting the new Mad Hatter, the Tweedles, the Door Mouse, and a gang of nameless henchmen, Red Alice's Wonderland Gang terrorized Gotham, justifying Knightfall's approach.
A special arrangement made between them. Hellequin had finagled the deal. Marian Drews abandoned her vengeance for Neo Joker's death in exchange for complete liberty to commit any crime she wanted, license free. The Jokerz under Punchline exercised the same liberty. Everyone operating out of the utterly lawless Devil's Square district. Rogue elements in any operation. No one ever knew which side, if any, they'd take in a conflict brewing in Gotham.
Hellequin might decide the Order of St,. Batman was a nuisance and encourage the Secret Society and the Legion of Annoyance's extermination effort. Besides themselves, the Order's only ally was Batwing. Barbara Gordon's private file on Luke Fox indicated he was a DEO agent at large. A freelancer operating when and where the GCPD couldn't. Particularly against Fox's obsession with Wayne-Powers after Derek Powers had Lucius Fox killed to settle a wrongful termination lawsuit. Apparently a hit was cheaper than settling out of court.
The fact that the arbitrator was about to order Powers to pay Lucius millions was sealed but uncovered by both the DEO and Batwing. Human life had been cheap in Gotham before the Pax Knightfall. Now murder was accounted for by both the GCPD, the DA, and Knightfall's co-conspirators. Her connections through Intergang's 100 with Ignatius Ogilvy gave her Emperor Blackgate on her side. Those that escaped her wrath before the courts "mysteriously" died in prison at Ogilvy's orders.
Emperor Blackgate owned the prison. He could walk out and no one would stop him. But he reigned across the American penal system from within Blackgate and was freed from official attention because of it. Even Waller cut deals with Emperor Blackgate.
Lock-Up and the Jailor held dominion over Belle Reeve but Ogilvy was the true master of every other prison. Unofficially acknowledged by the Departments of Meta-Human Affairs and Homeland Security. Giving Emperor Blackgate Cabinet-level recognition.
Fortunately, Ogilvy owed the Outlaws a favor.
They'd cleared the path, working with Knightfall, to get Emperor Blackgate a seat at Intergang's 100 rather than the 1000 like Empress Penguin. An arrangement that still rankled Regina Swann. So very little help could be expected from her or the Penguins Gang. Where she leaned, the Riddles, Killer Croc, Vengeance, and Baby Doll tended to follow. Bane's daughter seeking to avenge the breaking of her father without a Batman to focus on. So Vengeance might go rogue and vent her spleen at Azrael.
Azrael modeling his armor off of Batman nowadays. A literal Dark Knight. Jason knew, because Barbara did, that Bruce Wayne was outraged by Azrael's presumption. But Batman was well and truly retired. As was Selina Kyle. But Holly Robinson was Catwoman now and might provide a "polite" invitation it speak with Azrael. Sister Lilhy and Father M'Buttu being paths to Azrael.
Sister Lilhy being a fellow renegade from the Order of St. Dumas. Father M'Buttu being the Catholic priest that was the Order of St. Batman's spiritual leader. Lilhy provided the KnightsQuest, the enforcement arm, their marching orders. M'Buttu restrained their baser instincts. Azrael was the Order's Avenging Angel and unlimate enforcer. Batwing seemed to serve as an in and out Jimminy Cricket.
"Have we reached out to Holly Robinson yet?" Jason inquired.
"She has Kitrina this weekend," Oracle warned him. Kitrina Falcone was Catgirl, Catwoman's protege.
"So she can take our side," Jason grinned as he exited.
"Bad idea," Oracle grumbled but she called Holly anyway.
"She's gotta be shitting me," Holly said after hanging up with Oracle.
"You'll do it," Lyn Hall told her. As Claire Voyant, she was also a Justice League Unlimited reservist. Claire split her time between the various units of the JLU: the Justice League International, Outsiders, Dark Justice, and Global Guardians.
"That a psychic prediction, Lyn?" Holly snorted.
"Nope. I just know you," Claire told Catwoman.
"We should do it," Kitrina voiced.
"You don't even know what 'it' is," Holly retorted.
"Whatever 'it' is, to beats sitting here in Selina's brownstone house sitting while she, Helena, Alfred, and Sasha globe trot," Catgirl rebuked Catwoman. Alfred Pennyworth and his daughter had come to work for Selina Kyle to safeguard Helena Kyle, Bruce Wayne's only known daughter. They were unaware of Elissa Prince, being raised by her mother on Themiscyra.
Until Elissa was thirteen, that was, when she would transfer to Gotham Academy.
Helena had a similar endowment. Bruce's only contribution to their lives besides paying Alfred and Sasha's salaries. Alfred considered it a sacred trust anyways. Sasha Julia Pennyworth Bordeaux saw to as a means to an end to spend time with her father by providing personal security to Selina and Helena. Specifically Helena.
Selina was back in fighting trim but gave up being Catwoman for Helena's sake. Holly was ready to be promoted from the Cat to Catwoman anyway. Holly was her own Catwoman. It was she that decided to keep the JLU ties open despite her own ongoing criminal activities. Like Selina, the new Catwoman stole to support causes rather than a lavish lifestyle.
Holly still had an East End address, willing to stay in the slums to help out others as Selina had pre-Batman days. Even then, Selina had fed a lot of mouths. The chief reason Batman never turned Catwoman in after that initial jail sentence in Blackgate. Selina convinced Batman to look the other way concerning Holly's robberies as well. Holly targeted mid- and low-level former Five Family's pushers and flesh peddlers who kept their cash close to them. These venal men and women didn't even trust mob banks.
They wanted their hoards close to them and therefore the Cat targeted them specifically. Catwoman still fed half the strays and runaways in the East End. Intergang's ascendance under Knightfall thinned that herd. Catwoman was traveling more and more to strike higher and higher profile targets to add to her strays and to clothe, shelter, and feed them all. Col. (Ret.) Steve Trevor sheltered Catwoman from prosecution but it was still dicey since Catwoman targeted Intergang's 1000 and 100 now.
One reason Holly was glad Catgirl spent most of her time with Young Justice. That way she wouldn't get implicated in Holly's crimes. Kitrina wanted to be a pure vigilante, not a part-timer that stole to support herself. Intergang had seized her trust fund so Catgirl needed operating funds if Homeland stopped paying her way or if she went solo and didn't joined the Justice Society or a Justice League team upon graduating from Young Justice. Catwoman knew Catgirl was near completion of the Young Justice tutelage program. Superboy, Miss Martian, and Wonder Girl had already stayed on as instructors and peer mentors. That edged Catgirl out.
Not that Kitrina would've opted to anyway. Catgirl wanted action and she wanted to stay in Gotham. Which would mean she'd be a criminal thanks to Gotham's anti-vigilante laws. The entire state of New Jersey had followed Gotham's example. So without Homeland sanction, Catgirl would prove to be a criminal.
So Holly thought Kitrina should be trained as one as well. Selina and Holly's patronage was limited by their own obligations. Word was Commander Jacob Kane of Crows Security was talent scouting costumes. But his policing contract with Gotham frequently brought him into conflict with Knightfall, who truly controlled Gotham nowadays. Young Justice ran year round but Catgirl was off on an extended weekend pass home.
"Fine! I'll contact Father M'Buttu. Good enough?" Holly conceded.
"Called it," Claire Voyant smugly accepted the twenty that Kitrina now owed her. Father M'Buttu was more than happy to arrange a meeting between Azrael and Sister Lilhy after the Outlaws had ended the fascist occupation by assassinating the Masked Leader and Dragon King prompting the Fourth Reich and Imperialist Forces of Nippon to retreat into relative obscurity over the past several months. Rumors the KnightsQuest had beat out of connected criminals indicated both groups had replaced their lost leaders.
The Fourth Reich had a new Masked Leader and the Black Dragon Society had promoted the Dragon King's disciple, Mikado, to the leadership of the Imperialist Forces. What was clear was that neither faction had any outsized interests in Gotham any longer. Though the Repatriation Council was still getting displaced tenets and residents back into their homes and apartments after the segregation campaign the fascists had inflicted upon the city squeezing two-thirds of its population into a single district. The city was paying to house displaced persons while their white replacements issued legal challenges.
Only licensing a new crime wave had sustained the city's coffers. It was hard for Commissioner Gordon and her lead lieutenants to see a way back now. Not now that the city had seen how profitable petty crime could be. The citizens were in an uproar over Knightfall's system where before they had a grudging acceptance. Too many calamities had afflicted Gotham over the last five years and the citizens were weary and the City's Repatriation Council was too slow restoring businesses, homes, and jobs. Add a city licensed crime wave to it and tempers were boiling over. Would-be crooks were pressing assault charges on citizens who defended themselves.
DA Reynolds refused to prosecute. Despite pressures from Mayor Marian Grange and Knightfall. Reynolds refused to resign and his re-election campaign was already won on that singular promise. Mayor Grange, however, was faltering in the polls. Her progressive opponent polled at double digits ahead of the incumbent. Her opposition polled at two-to-one amongst likely voters and it seemed Gothamites were going to turn out in record numbers.
Grange pointed at her record, the exact thing she was being condemned for. Knightfall was applying pressures on the public to remind them of how lawless crime had paralyzed the city. Lawful crime being an opiate for the masses. Only the voting public was in rehab and sworn to be clean it seemed. It was another blow to Knightfall's program just as she was set to roll to out into NYC and Metropolis.
Mayor Brian O'Brien of Metropolis was still set to go forward. O'Brien was also the Clock. A former NYC DA and vigilante. Now the Clock was a member of Intergang's 100, overseeing Metropolis and NYC. He received a double portion owing to his deception of both cities and of his being universally respected as Brian O'Brien. Big Boss, the Great One, the Mandarin, and Dr, Jamie Moriarty, the recently unveiled European Operations Director and the power behind the non-existent Intergang Director, knew the Clock's secret and rewarded him for it.
Meanwhile, Knightfall controlled Gotham and Intergang had agreed to abide by the terms of her licensing agreements. A move championed by Brian O'Brien in the public venue and as the Clock behind the 100's closed doors. Mayor Grange received Mayor O'Brien's unwavering support but even his endorsement left her tailing in every poll.
Lucinda Perez seemed destined to win in three weeks time. So Knightfall tasked Empress Penguin with "solving" the problem. Regina Swann having her own staffing issues. She'd appointed a new Pussy Katnip to replace her deceased personal bodyguard. Bird of Paradise and Jinx, her chiefs of internal and external security begrudged her her own choice of champions. Fortunately for them, Empress Penguin was feeling sanguine about their complaints.
Plastic Woman, Nancy Morgan, and Black Siren held no opinions regarding the appointment. It had been their task to vet the candidates so they were confident in Swann's choice in the matter. They were less pleased with their current assignment: to kill Lucinda Perez. Plas and Morgan had actually worked beside Perez when Patti O'Brien was still Plastic Man and Morgan was still an FBI agent. Perez herself was decorated former federal agent.
Their mission to kill her didn't set well with them. Fortunately for them, Laurel Drake was more than eager to kill a former fed. Black Siren was Dinah Lance's doppelganger from the destroyed Earth-3 universe and sh e was just crazy enough to remember her ultimate origins and the true fate of the "Near Apocalypse of 2009" nearly two years before. Black Siren didn't know why the Monitor had brought her into the Prime Universe or why Glorith resurrected her into the New Earth history but she knew she had a job to do and gainful employment because of it. So she'd continue to do what she did best: wreak utter havoc.
Armed with her Siren Song, she was a match for Ra's al Ghul and her Canary Cry. Maybe more so since she'd been trained by her Earth's Richard Dragon. Black Siren has been the woman tasked with killing Earth-3's heroic Lady Shiva. She'd succeeded. Making her dangerous as Superwoman. But she'd declined Master Terrific's open invitation to join the Crime Syndicate.
Now Master Terrific was also on the New Earth armed with his old Multiversal memories and a member of both the Legion of Doom and the Light. It was enough to make a simple girl jealous. But Black Siren took her role in Gotham seriously. She was Empress Penguin's, and ultimately Knightfall's, harbinger of death. How much fun could a gal have with that?
Perez was at her campaign headquarters late into the night. Her staffers refused to relent on Grange no matter how favorably the polls indicated a Perez landslide in the making. now was when Gotham was usually its most violent. Perez had hired private security. She'd declined the Zither Group's offer. Instead she went the meta-human route through Claire Montgomery. Full disclosure being warranted for an ex-FBI agent, Perez knew her protective detail was composed of former Fourth Reichers.
Ace of Blades was a Majestic-class pilot and swordswoman dating back to WWII. She'd been the guinea pig for the scientific "wonders" that allowed Adolf Hitler to live to become von Hoogstraten and the Masked Leader both. Killer Frost was a known quantity who'd only enlisted to be with her fiance, Ace of Blades.
Blur was the former Baroness Blitzkrieg. Maximum was the former junior Baron Blitzkrieg. The "cousins" couldn't have been further apart ethnically. Both were distinctly non-Aryan though. A probable contributor to their defecting to the corporate Heroes for Hire.
Faye Morgana was also an ageless relic from WWII. But she was a sorceress and her youth and beauty stemmed from magic. They were a diversified lot.
Katharina Steiner was a former Major in the Nazi Luftwaffe. Louise Lincoln was as American as they came. Blur was Brazilian of mixed Portuguese and Mayan Indian descent. Maximum was a Black Colombian. Faye was a Briton once accused of witchcraft and fascist leanings. One charge had been true. The other led her to her actually working for the Nazis.
Blur and Maximum kept their civilian names to themselves. Ace of Blades disclosed hers to Claire as a demonstration of trust. Killer Frost's was public record. Faye Morgana had never hidden behind a code-name.
Maj. Steiner was the unofficial leader of the unit. As a pilot-commando first and then a super-soldier second, she'd earned that right. Blur and Maximum were certainly content to let her be leader. Frost would follow her anywhere and Morgana had fought beside Ace of Blades during the war and afterwards.
"This is nearly impossible," Morgan was spotting the headquarters from a scope several blocks away.
"I agree," Plas reported over comms. She was undercover across the street in a Chinese-American diner that stayed open 24/7 and supplied the Perez campaign with coffee and take out.
"Pussies. Literally," Black Siren complained from another booth in the diner.
"Ladies," Blur appeared between their seating areas, "A word?"
Faye Morgana was outside casting protections spells over the customers. Maximum looked tooled up for a fight. Killer Frost had frosted and iced up the campaign headquarters' windows while Ace of Blades hovered in the air awaiting Black Siren and Plastic Woman's response and blocking Morgan's line of sight.
"Oh shit," Morgan had time to say before Black Siren cut loose.
Blur had the shielded customers cleared before Black Siren's cry devastated the property.
"My diner!" Pops complained. There weren't many Chinese-American diners in Gotham and now there was one less. Hellequin was now bound to get involved since Pops was the one to suffer.
"Way to go Black Screecher," Morgan complained. She heard a distinctive 'click' behind her of a gun's hammer being cocked.
"You shouldn't have involved Pops in this," Hellequin was already on the scene. Pops had called her in as soon as the Heroes for Hire came on duty.
"Look, we can talk…" Hellequin's right cross took Morgan out. She then shot Morgan's thigh and took up her ear piece and activated to, "Plastic Woman, Nancy Morgan has been shot and is slowly bleeding out. Make her location in three minutes and I'll let her live. Just vacate the area and let things play out."
Hellequin stomped on the comm device. Plas abandoned Black Siren to her fate.
"What the futz?" Black Siren was outraged despite hearing the same message.
"You and me after this," Black Siren commed Plastic Woman.
"Futz you," Plas replied, "Morgan's hurt."
"Fine. Go," Black Siren relented.
"Talking to yourself?" Blur mocked Laurel.
"Talk to this!" Black Siren snapped off a series of punches and kicks. All of which the super fast Blur blocked.
"Very good," Blur congratulated her when one finally connected, surprising both women at that point.
"My turn," Maximum tossed a shattered van out of his way.
"Futz," Black Siren muttered.
"Exactly," Blur sped out of the way.
"Well, she isn't American. How `bout you, big boy?" Black Siren asked.
"Shut up," Maximum growled.
"That'd be a 'no'," she marked a Spanish accent. Black Siren did surprisingly well redirecting Maximum's super strength. Blur intervened with a high speed shoulder check. Black Siren was sent sprawling.
"No fair tag teaming," she wiped the blood from her face from a blow from Maximum. she hadn't the opportunity to swipe previously. She also spat blood to clear her mouth.
"I see the big guns are still holding back," Black Siren mocked them both.
"They're awaiting the real threat," Maximum warned her.
"To you guys?" Black Siren snorted.
"To you," Blur stated, "You do realize whose diner this was?"
Black Siren recalled seeing the elderly Chinese man behind the register and groaned, "Shit."
"Precisely, chica," Maximum chuckled.
"Whatever are you doing?" Red Alice was flipping her butterfly knife open and closed.
"Bitch broke Pops' diner," Hellequin said coldly.
"Need help?" Red Alice wondered.
"I got this," Hellequin replied. Hellequin wore a double bandoleer. One held shells for her shotgun sheathed on her back. the other held 40mm grenades for the M-29 launcher in her hand. Her current favorite baseball bat was also sheathed on her back. Her hip carried an enlarged large bore .44 magnum caliber pistol.
"Happy hunting," Red Alice snickered, "I got your back if you need me."
"You'll know if I do," Marian Drews promised Beth Kane. Hellequin marched into the conflict.
"Beth, what are you doing?" an overly familiar voice asked from behind Red Alice.
"Kate, why do you ask me such stupid questions?" Red Alice asked her twin sister, Kate Kane, "I'm helping my friend."
"I'd leave," Kate advised Beth, "Dad is aware of the problem and the Crows are descending like vultures."
"Good analogy," Red Alice tittered. Sirens filled the air.
"And the Crows arrive," Red Alice sighed.
"Let's get you away from here," Kate offered.
"What would dear Sophie say?" Red Alice referred to Sophie Moore, Kate's one true love and Crows Commander Kane's deputy.
"Don't do this," Kate warned, "I can't protect you if you do."
"Like you did when we were children, dear, sweet Kate?" Red Alice wondered. Kate had bailed out of the plane leaving Beth alone with their dead mother and Red Claw. Beth was raised by the terminally ill terrorist leader, molded to become her successor. Red Claw would roll in her grave knowing Red Alice had splintered the Red Claws and formed the Wonderland Gang. An intentional slight on Red Alice's part, no doubt. Beth seemed determined to snub and smash everything that had meant anything in her past life.
Everything but Kate herself. Beth seemed to honestly regret the years spent apart. But she wanted Kate to comprehend her madness and Kate struggled to. Bruce had stopped Kate from becoming Batwoman after Sonia Alcona retired the identity. Instead Katrina Moldoff had become a new Batwoman, trained and sponsored by the now-defunct Sypral. Their aunt Katherine Webb-Kane selecting Katrina for the role. In part to keep Kate from pursuing Bruce's path as Batman.
Instead, Bruce appointed Kate caretaker of the Wayne Foundation to keep Derek Powers from shuttering it. Bruce's shares in Wayne-Powers funded the foundation so Powers had no recourse. But it didn't stop him from trying and making baseless threats.
Kate couldn't fathom Powers' objections any more than she could her twin's mental instabilities. Kate and Beth had processed their family tragedy so differently. But then, Kate hadn't been raised by an international terrorist leader.
"This should get fun," Red Alice left the alley to join the imbroglio developing in the streets. Kate stood by. To do what she wasn't certain yet.
"Everybody! Hands up!" a Crows agent shouted as she aimed an assault rifle at the brewing conflict.
"Wait! They're trying to help!" Pops approached the Crows position at one end of the street.
"Hands up! Last warning!" the agent was on the verge of panic.
"Waste the Chink futzer!" her make partner emptied his shotgun into Pops, "Next time, obey, bitch"
"What the futz did you just do?" His partner arrested him.
"You're makin' a mistake, Thompson. I'm connected," he warned her before they both detonated. The other Crows took whatever cover they could find as Hellequin launched grenades at their SUVs. When she'd destroyed their entire blockade, she turned to face the paralyzed agents at the other end of the street.
"Like shooting small business owners?" Hellequin asked no one in ear shot, "Fine. I like shooting wannabe cops."
Killer Frost held Ace of Blades back from intervening, "Let her vent."
Hellequin recognized the effort, "Louise."
"Marian," Frost acknowledged her. She explained Pops' relationship with Hellequin to her team. Hellequin went for Black Siren next.
"You like destroying old men's dreams?" Hellequin marched on Black Siren and tossed aside her expended grenade launcher and empty bandoleer. Next, she unsheathed her baseball bat.
"This isn't your fight," Laurel protested.
"It wasn't his either," Hellequin snarled.
"You need to arrest that woman," Lucinda Perez demanded.
"We are a private security company, not deputized Polizei," Ace of Blades snorted, "You want someone arrested, call Polizei or Crows. Oh! They are already here."
Red Alice went to work on the other Crows. She slit one's throat and took his weapon, killing every other Crow. She threw down the submachine gun and sighed, "What?"
"You didn't have to kill them," Kate chided her sister.
"They were about to kill everyone," Red Alice pointed out the civilian diners mixing with Perez's staffers, "Duh!"
"So you're the hero?" Kate wasn't so certain now.
"Goddamn right, I am," Red Alice snorted.
"You really should walk away," Black Siren rasped. Blur had induced tracheal edema with a blow to the throat. Thereby eliminating Black Siren's gen factor. Leaving her at Hellequin's baseball bat wielding mercies. Unfortunately, Hellequin wasn't feeling merciful.
"First you destroy an old man's dreams then you get him killed," Hellequin lectured Black Siren, "And you have no futzing idea of what or whom I'm talking about, do you?"
"No," Black Siren had the balls to be honest.
"And for that, I'm gonna beat you to death," Hellequin promised.
"I break bats for lunch," Black Siren rasped. She three an overhand chop expecting Hellequin to block to with her bat. Which she did with a resounding 'clang'.
"Sonuvabitch!" Black Siren cradled her broken hand.
"The laminating makes people think its wood, bitch," Hellequin's first swing was a line drive into the side of Black Siren's head, fracturing her skull.
"Enough!" a Dark Knight descended from the rooftops.
"Aren't you a little old to be playing Batman?" Hellequin asked.
"The name is Bat-Man," Bruce Alan Wayne, amped up on Miraclo cracked his neck.
Bat-Woman and Bat-Girl descended next to him.
"Given those jumps, I'd say you're riding high on something," Hellequin deduced.
"Time to go," Red Alice decided for her.
"You're not going anywhere!" Bat-Man roared. Though in his seventies, the Miraclo made him barely feel fifty. At fifty he was fighting the Court of Owls before Batman even knew they existed to avenge his brother Thomas Wayne's death. The platinum white blonde Kate Webb and the blonde Asian, Jessa Carde, provided backup as Bat-Woman and Bat-Girl. Elite agents of the Crows Security Batmen. Which had never deployed in Gotham before.
The elite corps of Batmen were reserved for Amanda Waller's personal dirty missions, having replaced Task Force X. As a private security contractor, the Crows could deny any affiliation with governmental agencies and claim to be running independent "rogue" missions. Jacob Kane recruited from the US military's top tier forces to train up Batmen.
Bat-Man's affiliation had brought Kane access to 1st Gen Miraclo. Rex Tyler having handed the formula over the Bruce Alan Wayne some thirty years before. Well before Batman's retirement and Wayne's adoption of the Bat-Man identity. predating Bruce Thomas Wayne even becoming Batman. Both Waynes obsessed with the death of the younger Bruce's parents.
Bruce Alan had married Selina Falcone. Carmine Falcone's favorite sister and Bat-Man's accomplice in his quest to bring the Court of Owls to justice. The new Ra's al Ghul and her wife, Nyssa Raatko, had done that, shattering the Gotham Nest and killing Owlman, revealed as Gotham mayor, Lincoln March, secretly Thomas Wayne Jr.. Long presumed dead in a car accident but taken in by the Court to become the Owls' greatest champion.
Master Terrific had persuaded Owlman to join the Crime Syndicate in the New Earth history. Some things were a constant in any timeline. Helena Lincoln March, the Matron of the Owls, kept the Court alive overseas but its U.S. presence was shattered. the Court being a pale shadow of its former self, having invested everything in its Gotham operations.
The loss of the Gotham Nest irreparably broke the Court of Owls. Nothing the Matron did could change that. But she did usurp Blackwing and appoint a new Owlman.
something Charles Bullock, the Dick Grayson of Earth-3, would never forgive. With both Batman and Nightwing's retirements, Blackwing had no archnemeses to vanquish and was floundering. But he still faced Dick Grayson as Bludhaven's DA and Bullock as its leading criminal defense attorney.
Blackwing couldn't expose Grayson as the former Nightwing without exposing his own costumed persona. Only Rhonda Pineta as Atomica kept Bullock grounded. Atomica enjoyed Blackwing's blood soaked rampages. But she was annoyed that he avoided committing them in Bludhaven. His so-called "base of operations". She felt he could rule Intergang's operations there if he simply exerted himself. Still, their duties with the Legion of Doom generally kept them distracted from domestic affairs. So Atomica rarely pushed for Blackwing to soil his own nest.
"Aren't you ancient?" Hellequin asked Bat-Man, "You two at least you're ambulatory."
Bat-Woman and Bat-Girl knew Bruce Alan was a mass of crippling injuries when he wasn't on Miraclo. A source of injured pride.
"Do you surrender or not?" Bat-Man grated.
"Not!" Hellequin's home run worthy strike on Bat-Man's jaw would have shattered a normal man's. But Miraclo increased muscle and bone density for one hour making the user capable of superhuman feats. It was also addictive as hell. A back swing took Bat-Woman off of her feet. A knee strike felled Bat-Girl.
"C'mon Kane, these are the best you've got?" Hellequin asked.
the suit-video pickups in Bat-Man's cowl froze Commander Kane back at the secure Batmen wing of Crows Security headquarters.
"How long until we can redeploy a Batmen unit?" Kane asked an operations staffer.
"At least six hours. If the op goes according to plan," came the report.
"Advise Wayne this is on him," Kane instructed.
"Agent Moore reports your daughters are on the scene as well." the staffer reported.
"Kate?" Kane's blood froze. He'd given up on Beth but he couldn't lose Kate too. His stepdaughter Mary was family but not blood.
"Tell Agent Moore to clear my daughter from that scene," Kane ordered.
"Which one?" the staffer asked.
"The only one that still matters," Kane coldly replied.
"As the Alderwoman in charge of the Police Services, I've contacted Barbara Gordon. She hereby temporarily deputizes you on a conditional basis," Perez told Ace of Blades, "This grants you arrest powers."
"Our contract is to protect you, Alderwoman. Not break up fights." Ace of Blades argued.
"She's German," Killer Frost apologized, "She's a stickler for contracts."
Maj. Katharina Steiner spotted a machine gun aimed out of a window at that point, "Protect the Alderwoman!"
A belt fed "suppressive" weapon opened fire and chewed up real estate. Ace of Blades sheltered Perez with her body from the armor piercing bullets. Faye Morgana cast a spell paralyzing the gunman. Blur was in the room in seconds. She threw him out of the third story window.
"We're moving. Now!" Ace of Blades scooped Perez up in her arms and flew her home at super speed. Morgana teleported Blur, Maximum, and Killer Frost there. Faye was spent. Blur was as well. Maximum and Ace of Blades conducted a room to room search of the apartment while Killer Frost protected Perez.
"Good thing we were there," Frost decided.
"I need to found out how my campaign staff came out if they're still alive," Perez began dialing.
"Good call," Killer Frost said guiltily.
"Shots fired!" Moore called over her radio as she forcibly escorted Kate to a waiting cruiser.
"The shooter is toast," a Crows responder reported.
"Christ! Gordon will not be happy," Sophie was the Crows Senior Agent and liaised with Commissioner Gordon on policing matters.
"What about the fact someone just tried to assassinate Alderwoman Perez?" Kate asked.
"Someone just tried to assassinate mayoral candidate Perez and her security detail just killed the suspect. So things just got hairy real fast," Moore complained.
"Someone knew how her security would react," Kate assessed, "They're trying to clear them out of the way to make room for the real attempt on Perez's life."
"Sure you don't want a job with the Crows?" Sophie asked her girlfriend.
"I prefer not mixing business with pleasure," Kate grinned. In addition to directing the Wayne Foundation, Kate had just bought and renovated a LGBTQ+ bar. She and Sophie lived atop the building. The domestic units' sole occupants. So there were never noise complaints.
"So what about the vigilantes and super villains?" Kate asked.
"Orders are to hold and contain," Sophie replied.
"That's BS," Kate waded back into it.
"Shit!" as Crows leadership Moore couldn't abandon her post. but she could order fellow agents to arrest Kate for interference.
"This isn't over, Sofe," Kate promised. Sophie knew she was in for it later as Kate was handcuffed, read her rights, and trundled off in a cruiser to central booking. She called Barbara to have Kate released without charges upon arrival.
The GCPD Special Response Unit under Det. Lt. Renee Montoya was en route. Agent Moore knew it was only a matter of time before Azrael or the KnightsQuest arrived to take part as well. The Crows and GCPD tended to look the other way when Azrael operated within Gotham. The KnightsQuest, though, were civilian vigilantes under Sister Lilhy's control. Everyone knew St. Hildegard's was the KnightsQuest's unofficial headquarters just as everyone knew Father M'Buttu was their spiritual leader in place of St. Dumas or Batman himself.
The revelation that St. Dumas had been resurrected by Ra's al Ghul and then made an enemy in later centuries shook Azrael and Sister Lilhy. Dumas had gone quietly mad over the centuries, hence the distortion of his holy order. The modern League of Shadows was allied with the Brotherhood of the Crimson Cross. Casare Borgia was the hereditary Baron in command of the Crimson Knights, Sergeants, Squires, and Pages all modeled on Checkmate's original template. Or had it been the other way around?
"Fan out!" Montoya radioed her officers.
Det, Jason Bard commanded the other street access. SRU units quickly cut off rooftops and alleyways. Helicopter gunships and two blimps came in as air support.
"Damn," Bat-Man swore.
"See ya!": Hellequin had a manhole open. She and Red Alice dropped into the sewers. riding Hellequin's readily placed Ducati super bike, the pair outraced the positioning SRU responders. They didn't stop until they reached Devil's Square and accessed the Court of Owls' hidden tunnel system. Batman and now the GCPD through Commissioner Gordon had mapped out large segments of the tunnels. But there were networks even Batman was unaware of.
Lord Batman from Earth-2 had tortured them out of Owlman. So Hellequin, as a key member of the former Lord Batman's Justice Lords' Resistance, had known the ins and outs of the labyrinth. Including one key intersection in Devil's Square below a former youth hostel Hellequin had rebuilt as a fortress. It taken the rest of all of her millions given her by Bruce Wayne of Earth-2 to renovate and purchase her town home she shared with the Wonderland Gang.
Hellequin used the exchange point to come up out from beneath Cherry Heights to the west tower penthouse at Three Towers owned by Charise Carnes, Marian's former nemesis, Knightfall. Carnes never asked where Marian received her monies. She knew all too well from the news both from legitimate and criminal sources. Intergang wanted Hellequin dead for robbing all five of their banks simultaneously with the Wonderland Gang's help.
Here a prominent member of the 100 was sheltering her. Hellequin, Red Alice and the Wonderlanders, and the Jokerz added an aura of panic Gothamites otherwise were liberated from from the criminal classes. It kept the license system in place and the GCPD distracted from Knightfall's expansion enterprises. They certainly kept everyone from noting Intergang's traditional criminal endeavors even as Big Boss and the Hooded Terror brought the Religion of Crime into Gotham to compete with Brother Blood and the Church of Blood.
Despite the obvious name similarities, no one accepted the fact that the Narrows alderman, Sebastian Blood, a rising mayoral candidate trailing only Perez in the polls, was the mysterious cult leader, Brother Blood. Knightfall wanted Blood to win.
She had arrangements with the Church of Blood. Arrangements even Mayor Grange wouldn't agree to.
Knightfall had placed Marian Grange back in the Mayor's office after the fascist occupation and yet there were still elements of her administration she deemed off limits to Knightfall. Knightfall couldn't support that brand of disloyalty privately even if she remained neutral publicly. Privately, she endorsed Blood. Intergang followed her recommendation.
Perez would be something of a martyr when she died but the vote split between Perez and Blood would swing Blood's way rather than towards Grange's. Grange was still polling single digits. Her only hope lay in capturing Perez's voting bloc.
Very little separated the public candidacies of Perez and Blood. Only Blood's continued endorsement of Knightfall's intentions if not her methods differed him from Perez.
Even the "martyrdom backlash" from when Intergang killed Perez wouldn't doom Blood. Rather he doubled down on being the man that brought the Narrows through the Occupation by standing up to the fascist oppressors at the cost of his own liberty and personal safety. It was well known Blood was subjected to "enhanced interrogations" seeking out information on Batwing and Azrael and of how they knew which cargoes to strike to feed and provide medicines to those segregated in the Narrows.
Blood lionized the Order of St. Batman as an effective counterpoint to Knightfall's excesses and lack of control over the aforementioned criminals. All the while knowing Knightfall had made bargains with them to secure her license system in Gotham. Hellequin had hard evidence of the fabrication of the exonerating evidence Mouthpiece and Associates had delivered to prove that Charise Carnes and Knightfall were separate individuals. Thereby threatening to crumble Carnes' various empires once again.
Hellequin just wanted freedom from the license system and to strike out at any target she deemed fit to. It was in Knightfall's best interest all around to play along.
Red Alice and her Wonderland Gang as well as the Jokerz got a piece of the largess by supporting Hellequin's own resistance movement to counterpoint the Order of St. Batman's. As usual, Hellequin knew about Blood's ties to Knightfall. But they were ties Marian was willing to endorse. The Church f Blood planning it institute a rival for the Religion of Crime to make the Hooded Terror and her depravities seem tame.
Blood had captures a vial of Mirakuru and reverse engineered it. Lacking proper genetic screening data, he injected volunteers at random until those with latent gen factors manifested Deathstroke caliber abilities. Something Sec. for Meta-Human Affairs Amanda Waller was becoming aware of.
Waller having served in her fourth Presidential administration now. Appointed by Olivia McKay prior to the Durlan being revealed as an alien. Surviving the turmoil of Jackson Mason's six months in office where his racial policies and bigotries only consolidated his base in the Deep South and alienating the rest of the country. Staying on through Lex Luthor's term in office and surviving scandal into McKay's return to office for the next eight years, possibly fourteen given the new term limits.
Afterwards, McKay would have served two four-year terms as President and two of the newly revised six-year terms for the maximum allowed four terms total. No Russian-styled taking a break to reset term limits. The Supreme Court's decision that McKay had proven to be a naturally born US citizen did not preclude her from being President and thereby invalidating her impeachment and restoring her to the final two years of her second term on the heels of Mason's dramatic loss in the specially called election and Luthor's escaping prosecution by resigning and accepting a posting as UN Secretary-General.
Jackson Mason had been McKay's unfortunate baggage when she was reinstated. A forced resignation settled that. Her new appointee as VP barely trailed her in the polls. McKay being the most popular president in a generation. The very fact she was an alien made her even more popular as every disaffected American felt she empathized with their plight. McKay was a study in populist progressivism. She made progressive platforms popular to the common masses. Even the most die hard climate change denier was embracing clean energy for its business opportunities.
Blood was developing that brand of popularity. Once Perez was removed, the two point differential would be gone. Perez offered a referendum on existing policies. Blood offered a vision of a brighter Gotham. A message paralleling Knightfall's in many aspects. A message many were desperate to believe in. Empress Penguin and her associates were unaware of Brother Blood or his connections to Knightfall. So they advocated against Sebastian Blood. Strengthening his political fortunes in Perez's absence. But first, Perez had to be absent.
Such was Intergang's involvement without Blood's knowledge. Not that knowing would have changed anything for Blood. He'd made his pact with his devil and would stand by her. So now Perez simply had to die.
Perez still lived in the East End that elected her to the City Council. The Bonez Gang controlled the Narrows and East End's criminal activities. The Bonez made a point of spraying lewd and threatening graffiti all over Perez's door. Every day Killer Frost froze the paint off and every day, fresh graffiti was applied. Even after she gave frostbite to several taggers that she caught and they lost fingers over it.
Maximum and Blur had rousted several gang members casing the place. Faye had cursed dozens of gang members. But they persisted, seeing Perez's mayoral campaign as a threat to their territorial dominance guaranteed by Knightfall. Today was no exception.
"Thank you for that," Perez was shaken as the Heroes for Hire gathered with her, "I never thought they'd actually try to kill me."
"That wasn't the Bonez," Blur told her, "That was a professional. Hopefully there's enough left of him for the GCPD to identify the body. You can request the details."
"I can do a temporal scroll to walk us back to when the assassin set up but each passing minute restricts how far back I can go," Faye warned her teammates.
"I'll secure the area," Blur darted off.
"I'll fly Faye to the scene," Ace of Blades decided, "You two stay with the Alderwoman and secure this site."
"I love it when you get bossy, Babe," Killer Frost teased. They kissed and the Heroes split up.
"Anyone up for take out?" Maximum asked.
"You are a bottomless pit," Killer Frost snorted.
"You feed off of heat energy. The rest if us need food," Maximum reminded her, "And we all don't have an inexhaustible supply of food like Ace of Blades."
"He's right," Perez poured herself a drink, "We could use something besides Bacardi to calm our nerves."
"Stand down or we will open fire," Montoya announced via megaphone.
"Because that always works with people in tights," Agent Moore muttered.
"We're wasting time," Bat-Girl warned Bat-Man. Their hour was well underway.
"Make a break for it," he ordered. The trio split up as the GCPD opened fire. The Crows were under orders from Kane to refrain.
"The hell?" Montoya turned on Sophie, "You practically let them go."
"Bullets were bouncing off of them," Moore replied.
In the confusion, no noticed the KnightsQuest biker gang observing the scene.
Thug, Chug, Pug, Jug, and Glug had been at a local dive bar when the shooting began.
As the KnightsQuest eyes and ears in the East End that night, they stayed around to observe developments. Now they rode off to Tricorner to report in to Sister Lilhy.
The Bat-Man and his Bat-Clan had just been spotted outside of Los Angeles where they'd made their home until recent months when they'd vanished altogether. But they seemed better trained than the security footage and CCTV videos had made then out to be. The Order of St. Batman needed to be informed of the arrival of the Heretic and his disciples. From there, Azrael could deal with them.
Ace of Blades and Faye Morgana sidestepped the Crime Scene tape. Faye began her spell. The gunman went from being knocked out of the window by Blur to firing his machine gun to being perched and ready for hours that passed by in minutes
"Sorry, he'd been here for days. Further back than I can reach," Faye looked exhausted, "But he never contacted anyone in that time. He was just a cog in a greater wheel."
"That's what I fear," Ace of Blades admitted.