[08th February 2011]

[Wayne Manor, Gotham City, New Jersey, United States of America]

Talia al'Ghul was a mean, evil, nasty, bitch of a supervillainess Richard Grayson found as the aforementioned daughter of Ra's slammed her foot down on his back in victory in their spar. Pain came forth as a wheezing groan, lying on his stomach as he found himself barely able to move after the intense spar and forced to concede defeat to the lunatic. First he gets pitted against Catwoman, and then Talia...it was damned unfair, and all he could hear with a sniffing 'Hmph' from above him as the foot was removed and he released another groan at aches when he tried to push back up.

"Tolerable, for now" she announced walking away from Richard as he managed to get back to his knees, then catching a thrown bottle of water and towel in both hands without thinking as they were flung at his head. Talia nodded as he glanced in her direction, then ignored her and wiped at his face to check for blood before taking a gulp of the water "..acceptable. Perhaps we can make you useful to Beloved after all"

Richard ignored her as she strode over to Bruce, speaking softly and giving the briefest of kisses despite Bruce's calmness; while Selina Kyle continued her gymnastic efforts on the on the vault. Life had gotten super weird in the past few months he'd found, and suddenly being 'trained' [being beaten up by] the [former he reminded himself] villains was just the new icing on the bizzaro-world cake. Now he had Batman, well Bruce Wayne, officially marrying Selina Kyle the damned Catwoman to look forward to in a few months...while also being secretly married, or mistress or something, to Crazy Talia.

'MY Harem will not be filled with crazy women! No! Learn from Bruce's mistakes Dick! Live the Dream not the Nightmare!' he told himself forcing himself to stretch sore muscles, glad to see only sweat and dirt coming away. Bruce in the meantime had seemed to materialise beside him, hand coming to rest upon his shoulder and giving an encouraging squeeze.

"You did excellent Dick, Talia is a hard taskmistress, so consider it praise when she is not belittling you"

"Do not coddle him Beloved, it ruins his potential"

Richard ignored the comment from the white martial robed woman and sighed "It's fine, staying whelmed here, staying whelmed. Need to keep improving my skills after all"

"That word does not mean what you think it means Bird Boy" Catwoman, dressed in a tight fitting gym shorts and top stated without breaking her twisting upside dance on the vault "...but your right about practice. Streets aren't safe..." she twisted, then pushed off and landed like the cat she pretended to be in a graceful moved clearly aimed at Bruce "...hnn...not safe at all"

"Yes the Cat is correct, but that is a distraction for Beloved to keep him from focusing upon the Bigger Picture it would seem to my eyes. Not that we can see our foes Grand Plan in the now, but perfecting our skills till it becomes apparent may be the only option available"

Batman nodded beside Richard with tired eyes as even Catwoman gave a nod of agreement with Talia "Yes, Savage I expect, but others as well judging from recent events...but Gotham is recovering, so we cannot allow our enemies to destroy it by our inaction when the fight is being won"

Then folded his arms across his chest, looking from Richard to Talia and then back "And I have considered your request, and we will arrange side training in various arcane traditions, the dangers and methods, mundane or otherwise, for combating them"

Richard nodded, perking up before getting a shake of the negative from Batman "Not with Zatanna Robin, do not mix training and seeking a relationship. Or I shall tell Giovanni and he would bar you from seeing her upon knowing such intent. No, Talia will teach you when I am not available in your persona as Richard, and in the wake of what occurred at the base broad details, with clarification where necessary, will be provided by Zatara and potentially by outside advisors such as Queen Mera on specific matters"

"So, the Team will be meeting up again soon?" he asked holding back the eagerness and instead keeping a calm, but curious, tone. They'd all be majorly bummed after what happened, even when he'd found out Fortune had...fucking somehow...managed not to die when magic mega milf stormed into the Mountain in her bikini and killed him while trying to get at the little cutie called Cassie. And Richard...Robin...had felt...useless in the face of that power. At least if he had warning of the danger signs he could plan around it, react faster, and at least delay those threats till a big magic hitter could arrive to the fight like Captain Marvel or...

--

[08th February 2011]

[The Watchtower, Low Earth Orbit]

Diana found herself relaxing, a little, as she watched Donna and Connor spar back and forth in the spacious training area here in the Watchtower. It was something to focus on other than the nightmare she'd been largely living through the past few days as she felt the others in the League look her with concern, Bruce was apparently getting married in a few months, and of course Hera had lost her ambrosia soaked minded and thrown here and home into absolutely chaos. Even the fact Donna was smiling now made Diana feel alot better even as her protégé fell back from Superboy by protecting from his hammer blows with her shield.

It was a different fighting style than Superman's, but then again apart from the S shield symbol on his armour was taking his own path as a warrior of justice it seemed to her. A good thing perhaps, as it seemed the more Connor parted from trying to be Kal-El the lesser Clark's fears and more he moved towards wanting to engage with the boy on friendly terms. That and the fact Superboy actually had a mask now, well helmet, meant the chances of him being easily recognised were dramatically reduced...and as such the potential for his former schoolmates to associate Clark with Superman were also reduced. She clapped her hands as the fight essentially reached its conclusion.

"Now Donna, don't sulk, he has defeated you honourably in this bout so admit defeat and learn from your mistakes. Both of you go clean up and then grab something to eat, I'll join you in a few minutes" she instructed both of them as Donna was knocked back unto her buttocks and clearly wasn't going to get up before a 'killing' blow from Connor. But as usual she was unwilling to admit it, instead giving a groan and a huff before accepting the boy's proffered hand and allowing him to help her stand back up. She herself turned her head around to glance at Aquaman as he strode towards her.

"Training your ward and apprentice going well Diana?"

She smiled at the friendly tone, he was making an effort as both of them understood the issue of caught between the Gods desires and their own loyalties as mortals "Yes, indeed, though I shall have instructions for both once they calm their blood and fill their bellies. They are a good match as sparring partners, though Donna is still out of form due to...everything"

"Understandable, Kaldur'am endured such but focused it into his training, and perhaps spending time with his friends has helped"

"They have considered joining him in his role as young heroes?"

"Despite being made aware of what happened both have surprisingly decided to join him under our tutelage as we reform the youngster's team" he replied coming to stand beside her "...thought it could just be the spirit of adventure amongst the youth. Not a few of the students in the Conservatory have asked for 'field trip' to the surface world at some point to discuss magic as occurred before the Starro creature disaster. And how went your task with your people to keep the peace?"

Diana sighed, it seemed there was to be no escape from such "One has been selected, not my first choice but better than other options it was felt to ensure...non-violent relations...along with two guards for her. I am to discuss it tomorrow with representatives from the US State Department, Irish government, British government, and a member of SHIELD to agree our selection. Along with other things of course"

"Of course" the King of Atlantis agreed "...but I would not worry, a rejection is unlikely as all are eager to get beyond this I feel. In regards the warding off the Mountain I will say the Mera and members of the Conservatory will lend their strength to ensuring its protection, so I expect the other governments will respond likewise if we are to reuse the facility into the future"

"Secrecy was its best defence, I'm still somewhat unsure on the advisability of reopening it"

"Secrecy was lost when various protégés appeared on global television during the children's crisis, and then again in Taiwan. The Secret Team idea was somewhat foolish in retrospect, but beyond the Watchtower we are limited in adequate facilities from which to safely base the youngsters out of. Better to secure it to best of everyone's abilities and have security beyond anonymity for the facility going forward into the future"

'And why I opposed the idea of such young protégés from the start, but it is too late to unspill the milk' she thought nodding to King Arthur's words "I know Arthur, you are correct, proof I think that we took on the Junior Team with too little thought into how it would function, and the effort needed"

"Oh, I think we underestimated some other matters as well" he chuckled back nodding at her lasso as she collected it from the table "...such as checking for trustworthy staff for the station upon which we know stand"

"Please my friend, it is proving a time consuming process I fear. As not only must the backgrounds of all staff be checked thoroughly, they must also be trained...and not be only from the same nation either. Sadly my mother cannot send any from Paradise island, it would have been useful"

"Don't remind me, though I have managed to persuade four of my subjects to attend to the role. It would be more I suspect, but our need for the seas hampers that, especially for those whose bodies have adjusted more visibly to living in the ocean's depths..."

--

[08th February 2011]

[Saint Columba's College, Ballyvourney, County Cork, Republic of Ireland]

"HI GUYS!" Zatanna beamed engulfing both Artemis and John in a sudden bear hug, dragging them in close so their three heads were almost banging together "MISSED YOU!"

Still hugging both of the fiercely, both hugging back now with Artemis laughing softly, she brought her head back and looked at Fortune "AND YOU! Don't scare us all like that!"

Now a serious look...or at least she tried for one before pouting "And that magic! You must tell me everything you did! Everything, John, everything!"

Artemis, of course being such a great friend, voiced her agreement "Yeah Skulls, still haven't spilled on the whole magical resurrection thing. Properly anyway, and now Miss Awesome Magic is here to translate for me!"

Zatanna grinned at that allowing the hug to end but wrapping an arm around the waist of both of them as she slid in between them "Cool!"

"I didn't agree to anything you know"

She rolled her eyes at his bemused response "But you will! My stunning charm, and your beautiful girlfriend here will convince you to surrender your secrets in no time!" then tried to pull both of them closer to her and slipped into a conspiratorial whisper "...and what's this? Only telling me at the last minute before I arrive Arty! And you, Mister Silent Skulls and not saying anything at all!"

"I've been in a prison like bunker for days woman! I had other things on my mind!"

"Like seducing our poor helpless Artemis here apparently!" she teased back, Artemis laughing beside her.

"Yeah Skulls! Seducing helpless little old me!"

"Ehem, that's not how I recall it"

Zatanna rolled her eyes "Sure you'd say that. Now Magic! Onward! My Magical Education awaits while Daddy is absent!"

--