And We Will Be Merry

"This is Manhunter. No sign of clowns here."

Silence.

"Katana reporting. My area is clear."

For a moment, Black Canary waited to hear Huntress, only to remember that she wasn't with them right now. Her meltdown in the Roost was still fresh.

Perhaps what was more irritating than anything was who she went to. In retrospect, yeah, Canary and the Birds weren't giving Huntress a lot of options. Yes, they needed to calm the dark-haired woman down, because God knew she was a hothead. She also had that history of going for blood on more than one occasion.

But instead of leaning on the Birds, she went to Batman. Hey, she got it, the guy got results. And the person that was working Huntress up was one of her students. It was clear she was taking this very seriously. So now the blonde vigilante had to wonder why didn't the rest of the Birds help her?

That was the point of their team, wasn't it?

At least they made a little progress. They were better able to recognize one of them was not emotionally stable. The last time one of them didn't have their head in the game, people got killed. That was something; a sad example of a consolation prize, but it was something.

"Heeeey, guys, I think I'm seeing…something."

That had been Manhunter. Snapping herself out of her thoughts, Black Canary looked in the direction her teammate was in. There wasn't anything that was too alarming, like smoke, or the sound of destruct—

The sound of a car horn blaring rang out, followed by a loud crash.

Well, there was the sound of destruction.

Grappling across the street, Canary headed for Manhunter's location. A few blocks later and she caught up to the brunette, finding her looking over the edge of a roof. Katana was there too, meaning the blonde woman was the last to the party.

The moment she looked over the ledge, she didn't have to ask what was going on.

Those monsters were back, the ones that had suddenly appeared around the Thompkins Clinic. Was it her imagination, or were these bigger? It was hard to tell.

Currently, she saw what was best described as a monster right out of a Cronenberg movie. There was a massive blob, one with a gaping mouth, sliding down the street, using tentacles that grew from random places of its body to reach out and grab onto something to help pull it along. Behind it, there was a trail of slime left in its wake.

It wasn't alone, unfortunately. There was a bull-like monster, one that was stomping around on hooved feet and was currently gorging a car with the horns that grew from its head. That might have been that car crash Canary had heard earlier.

And then, there was some gangly lizard-like creature that was currently climbing up the side of a building, claws digging into the brick-and-mortar. Its body was quite long, like a salamander, but its tail looked more like a scorpion tail. Currently, it was biting onto the face of the building it was attached to.

"So, we got a bull, a Cronenberg, and a lizard," Canary said after a moment. "Who—"

"Dibs on the bull," Manhunter quickly said. She hefted up her staff, a cocking sound being made. "I'm gonna use the full power of this staff and see if I can't take it down quick."

"I shall deal with the lizard," Katana responded. "I will try to cut it off of the building."

Yeah, Canary should have known leaving the choice up to them would result in her taking on the Cronenberg. Shit.

"Just be quick," the blonde vigilante sighed. "That blob doesn't look like it'll fall down from a few punches and kicks."

Not bothering to wait for her two friends to go after their monsters, Canary grappled herself down to the street level, landing a short distance in front of the Cronenberg monster as it continued to drag itself down the street. There didn't look like there were any eyes, but it went still the moment she landed. With a "better" look, Canary could see its flesh was dripping down its body, a rather unattractive sight. Then it opened its mouth wider than before, a groaning sound being made as it picked up its pace towards her.

Black Canary just turned to face the monster. She held her fists up in front of her as she began sucking in her breath.

Then she threw her arms to either side of her as she let out a particularly loud Canary Cry.

You know what would have come in handy right now? A magical sword. Hell, anything magical would have been very useful right about now.

Case in point.

There was a giant tentacle monster climbing up the side of a building. It was purely just tentacles, no discernable body main body to be seen. Multiple tentacles were firmly attached to the building, suction cups not unlike an octopus' arm were helping to keep it there.

Swinging through the air on her grapple, Batgirl watched it as it climbed. She was trying to find some point of attack, some weakness to exploit, and she was coming up with nothing. Glancing towards the top of the building, she spotted Bluebird positioning herself at the ledge, pointing her taser rifle straight down at it.

Spoiler wasn't anywhere to be seen, but that didn't mean much. She was getting herself into position as well, though her contributions wouldn't be much. Already, they had proven these monsters were difficult to defeat, and the last ones they had faced had been more solid than this mass of tentacles. Just looking at it made it appear soft, even rubbery.

"Just so you guys know," Spoiler's voice came over the comm link, "if any one of these tentacles violate me, I am so done with the Batclan."

"Spoiler, you watch way too much hentai," Bluebird responded immediately.

"It's hentai for a reason, Bluebird!"

Batgirl wasn't certain what hentai was, but she had a feeling she really didn't want to know.

"Why are you complaining? I'm the one standing above it, you know, in the damn direction it's climbing. If anyone is getting violated, it's…"

Bluebird trailed off, a heavy silence filling their comms. Then, "Damn it, Spoiler, now you got me thinking about it."

Batgirl extended her legs out, her feet colliding with the side of a building. Her grapple line extended high above her head, the anchor point somewhere towards the top of the building. "Then do something about it," she said into her comm link. "Start blasting it."

"Oh, I'm so blasting this thing."

There was a flash of light and a beam of electricity struck the tentacle monster. Various tentacles spasmed, a couple of which began whipping around wildly. One of the tentacles that was gripping onto the side of the building pulled off and began to spasm as well.

Well, this one seemed to not like electricity, unlike the other constructions. Let's see what else it didn't like.

Hitting the retraction button, Batgirl began to repel up the side of the building she was on. "Spoiler, go," she ordered.

She didn't see them, thanks to the distance and the darkness of night, even if it was lit up by street lights. She did hear the explosions that suddenly erupted all over the construct's body, causing it to jerk back and forth. Chunks of the monster's body ripped off, but that was the extent of the damage.

As Batgirl reached the top of the building, she eyed the sight. Bluebird was increasing the voltage she was firing if the width of the beam growing was any indication. As for Spoiler's exploding batarangs, it was clear she had been aiming for the largest target. Pulling out her own exploding batarangs, the young vigilante took aim before she began throwing hers one at a time.

Her aim was pretty good if you asked her, each batarang striking the ends of the tentacles. Moments later, there were explosions, ones that tore through the thinner body parts. In fact, a few of the tentacles were severed.

That was when the ink black monster began to lean away from the building it was attached to. It kept going and going until it lost its hold. There was an inhuman shriek as it fell to the ground below, landing with a loud SPLAT! Bluebird ended her electrical blast as she stared down at it.

"Ugh, guys," the blue-haired girl called out to them. "You do not want to look at its mouth."

"What, is it a squid beak, or something?" Spoiler answered.

"Nope. It's just one giant hole with rows of teeth going all the way down. Looks like a giant drill bit or something."

"Don't fall into it," Spoiler warned.

"I really wasn't planning on it."

Everything was moving too fast, and that meant he needed to as well. Batman was rapidly retreating, keeping his eyes on the Venom-maddened child who he had been here to rescue. It was clear early on that Colin was not a fighter. He lacked the training and could only throw punches.

However, each punch was augmented by the Venom flowing through his veins, and the vigilante was not keen on fighting a child, even under these circumstances.

Colin roared and bellowed, clumsily throwing a punch that was easily avoided. The Dark Knight kept backtracking, giving ground while trying to figure out a way out of this. The tube would be the easiest way to bring this to an end. Cut it, the steroidal compound would cease to enter the boy's body.

That was turning out to be easier said than done. Unlike Bane's, the tube connected to Colin was much shorter and blocked off by the enlarged body. Throwing a batarang with the precise precision needed was difficult under the best of conditions; this wasn't the best of conditions.

Dodging to his left, a fist covered in pulsing veins smashed through a stalagmite, scattering pieces of rock throughout the cavern. Colin roared and swung again, punching once more and impacting the cavern wall as Batman once again evaded. For a brief second, the vigilante had a good view of the tube, and he raised an arm up with a shuriken in hand.

Colin tore his fist out of the rock walls and obscured sight of the tube with the resulting cloud of powered earth. Staying on this level was not working. Continuing to back away from the boy, he slipped a hand down to his belt and retrieved a grapple. Firing up into the air, he grimaced in impatience until the grapple's cable grew taut and he rose up into the air, narrowly avoiding Colin's tackle.

"What's wrong?" Merideth taunted. "Can you not fight? He is but a mere child! Surely he can't be that much of a challenge!"

The tube was in plain sight, and from the glimpse he took, the crimefighter could see where it connected with a port in the back of the boy's head. That kind of surgery, the skill needed to perform it, and keep the individual alive, it was not easy to come by. Nothing in Merideth's background indicated the man was capable of it.

It was a distraction, one that delayed him long enough that when he threw the shuriken, hoping it would not cause Colin any significant harm, the boy had swung his arm out and along with it the chain that was cuffed onto his wrist. The end of the chain that had once been bolted to the cavern floor swung with the chainlink and crashed into the shuriken, sending it off course and away. It was a lucky hit and the Dark Knight grimaced in response.

"So close! Maybe you're beginning to slow down, vigilante. The vigor of youth is not so easily beaten, is it?"

Colin reversed his arm, and the chain reciprocated, its formerly bolted end managing to wrap around the vigilante's ankle. The Venom-crazed boy pulled with frightening might, and Batman found himself yanked down, losing his grip on the grapple at the same time. He cried out and grunted when he landed on the floor, arms shaking as he tried to push himself up.

He wasn't fast enough. Batman barely sat up with an uppercutting fist rammed into his chest and he was sent flying backwards. He crashed through a particularly long stalactite, then his back slammed against the cavern wall with enough force to bounce him forward. Landing on the floor once more, the vigilante found himself gasping for air.

Then he found another reason to gasp for it. Colin quickly wrapped the chain around his neck and applied pressure with his Venom-granted strength. The vigilante choked, his hands quickly going up to the chain and trying in vain to relieve the pressure.

"Yes. Yes! Strangle him! Kill him!" Merideth's words echoed throughout the cave, cheering the boy on.

"D-don't," he wheezed out, struggling against the kidnapped turned murderous boy.

"Die!" Colin snarled.

Damn it. He was going to have to… A hand let go of the chain and reached down to his belt. There was something in a pocket, something that might buy him time if he could use it in time.

A grunt came from the boy and there was a slight lessening of pressure around his throat. A pair of booted feet landed on the cavern floor and a certain voice Batman didn't want to hear right now demanded, "Let him go! I will not warn you twice!"

Damn it, Damian!

Colin growled, then he swung the vigilante around, throwing the older man at the much younger masked boy. The good news was that the chain was no longer wrapped around his neck. The bad, he was not only bodily flying towards Damian, but behind the young boy was many stalagmites that his body was angled in such a way that they threatened to impale him.

There was the sound of an ejection, one identical to the one his grapple made. Huntress swung in and right into him, redirecting his flight and carrying him away from what would have been a very painful landing. This left Damian to fight Colin alone, but not for long.

"I should have expected you wouldn't have come alone. Will it make a difference, I wonder?"

The taunting words seemed to spur Damian on, and the masked boy leapt at Colin. The Venom-infused child swung a punch, one that Damian easily avoided, his smaller body much more graceful than the other's. With a much smaller fist, Damian lashed out and landed a blow against Colin, but the effect of the hit left much to be desired. Not even a grunt slipped through Colin's lips.

But Damian was not about to be deterred. Growling, he landed several jabs into Colin's ribs that didn't even cause a flinch, then ducked as two grotesquely muscled arms tried to grab him. The smaller boy slipped around the large one, kicking a booted foot into the back of a knee which destabilized the larger Colin. Leaping up, Damian kicked out with both of his legs, and kicked the broad back of the kidnapped boy.

This was enough to bring Colin to his knees, but out of his rage, the retaliatory swinging arm was quick to take advantage of Damian's much more vulnerable position in midair. The smaller boy was struck, and Damian cried out as he was thrown back.

From beside him, Huntress snarled, "What the hell did he do to him?"

The purple-clad vigilante's question was not about what actions Damian had been taking, far from it. It was easy to see how little effect Damian's strikes had. There was only one other person she could be referring to.

"He injected him with Venom," he told her. "We need to cut the feed, quickly. It's highly addictive for adults; who knows what it'll do to a child."

"Have you found him yet?" Huntress hissed, bringing out her retractable bo staff.

"Not yet. The acoustics aren't helping," Batman admitted. Merideth was lurking close by. He just needed to find him.

"No longer afraid, are you, Merry Little Colin." Confirmation of his suspicion. "Boys will be boys, though boys always do have a nasty habit of breaking their toys."

"Then we'll have to hold him off until we can cut that damn tube. Find that bastard before he tries to take off," Huntress snarled and began to make her way into the fight.

If anyone had been sleeping, they weren't now. The explosions were making sure of that.

Lights were flashing on from countless windows, curtains were being thrust open, then quickly closed and soon followed by lights going out. Having what looked like some eldritch abomination rampaging in the street made it a very understandable reaction.

Unfortunately for the Teen Titans, hiding in their home was not an option, even if they did have the option it still wouldn't be what they would choose.

Wonder Girl's armor covered her whole body, spikes sticking out everywhere, and she was zooming her way right into the middle of the construct's face. Her armor-covered fist looked so small compared to the size of the unholy behemoth, but when it struck, the massive head snapped to a side, a gurgling release of air slipping out of the monster's maw.

The two-toed, malformed foot moved to keep the creature balanced, and it crushed a parked car in its effort to do so. Wonder Girl was not done yet, throwing another punch and whipping the large head in the other direction. While she continued with the frontal assault, from above Starfire unleashed Starbolt after Starbolt unto the expansive back. Green flares of energy detonated but there was no sign of any visible damage done.

From below, Cyborg ran between the frontal legs and under the construct's belly. His right arm was transformed into its cannon mode and he fired off a continuous blast into the underbelly, counting on it being weaker than the rest of the huge body. There was a noticeable raise in the body, but like the Starbolts, there was no observable damage.

Kid Flash and Beast Boy, meanwhile, were teaming up and attacking the legs. The shapeshifter had chosen an elephant form, ramming into one of the frontal legs to try and throw off the monster's balance. The speedster was collecting everything he could to try and restrain it, though that came after one experimental punch where Kid Flash decided that trying physical strength might not work out for him.

Last but not least, Red Robin was searching for any sign of weakness he could. Compared to the rest, he could only offer some explosives, but those were limited, too limited. He would have to make the most with what he had, which meant not wasting them. His cape was an optional weapon, but observing the toughness convinced him to hold back. If any of his equipment broke, then he was going to be in a bad situation.

The teen vigilante had to play this smart on his end, which meant a lot of observation. However, from what he had seen so far, the Teen Titans weren't slowing this thing down.

Yes, Wonder Girl's hits were knocking its block off, but it was displaying enough endurance that it could withstand it. Any movements it made resulted in a lot of property damage, not the kind of thing you wanted.

From above, Starfire streaked downwards, mimicking a meteor tearing through the atmosphere. Her hair seemed to be catching on fire as she raced towards her target, and you could hear a boom from where she impacted. Cyborg had to scramble out from under the beast so that he himself wasn't crushed as the underbelly fell onto the street itself.

The left frontal leg pushed out, and Beast Boy was forced back as a result. The shapeshifter shifted quickly to avoid being pinned against a car, though the car that got totaled instead didn't have the same luck. Upwards did that leg go, swatting at Wonder Girl like she was an annoying fly. Much like an insect, the armored blonde flew out of the way, then threw a punch into the clawed foot, stopping it in its tracks.

The skull-like head surged forward and this struck the armor-wearing blonde, throwing her away and further down the street. Kid Flash raced after her, and Red Robin did not bother to call after him. The scream about spikes that followed was utterly predictable. When was the speedster going to learn?

Full of righteous fury, Starfire threw devastating punch after devastating punch into the back, inadvertently pinning it down. If she could perhaps crack through that carapace of a body, then maybe some real damage could be done.

The whip-like tail intervened, and with prehensile grace it wrapped around the Tamaranean's torso and pulled her away, a flick of the appendage throwing the orange Titan away. A throaty yet airy growl gave warning to any that was trying to interfere with the monster as it continued its trek down the vacated street.

This was not going well.

So far, out of all the constructs they had faced, this one was proving to be tough, both in its durability and endurance. Red Robin did not want to think about if this would be the same for all the other constructs. Distantly, he could hear screams and other otherworldly shrieks. This wasn't a problem just here, it was all over Gotham. It was like last night but turning out to be so much worse so much faster.

From behind the monster, Cyborg made his return by grabbing a hold of the tail and pulling back on it, digging his titanium feet into the asphalt. Surprisingly, the construct paused in its advance, turning its head just enough to look over its shoulder.

"Oh what, you think it's gonna be that easy?" Cyborg challenged.

In response, the tail tried to pull itself out of the cyborg's grip. When that didn't work, it tried to whip left and right, but the cybernetic Titan wasn't about to move in either of those directions. Then the tail lifted upwards and up went Cyborg who cried out in surprise but continued to hold on for dear life.

With his leverage gone, the creature easily flicked its tail to throw the now helpless Titan away, though Cyborg was able to fire off another blast that shamefully caused no damage. Starfire swooped back in, catching the falling cyborg by clasping onto his hand and then swinging him back to the construct. Landing on the back, Cyborg commenced in firing another continuous blast of energy, stopping only to change his aim and fire another blast into the back of the skull-shaped head.

Red Robin grimaced. Still nothing. Beside him, Kid Flash made his return, several noticeable holds in his costume. Seconds later, Beast Boy arrived as an eagle and resumed his human form. Wonder Girl ought to be flying back in any second now for round two.

"Okay, thoughts? Ideas? Anything to stop this thing?" Beast Boy asked, glancing at the team leader.

Not much of anything, but that wasn't what anyone needed to hear. Red Robin did not take his eyes off the abomination even as it continued to advance. Stopping it, obviously, was the thing to do, but how? What was strong enough to break through that didn't require the presence of, well, Superman? The only other thing left was to wear it down.

Doing quick glances towards the available teammates, wondering briefly if they couldn't have brought a few more of the new ones that were being considered for the Initiative, settled on who he did have available and reflected.

"Can you do anything bigger?" he asked Beast Boy.

"I've already tried elephant," the shapeshifter reminded him.

"Bigger than that," Red Robin elaborated.

Beast Boy looked thoughtful. "A whale?"

It was a special move of the shapeshifter where he would shift into a whale, typically a humpback, and drop several hundred feet from above to land on top of whatever was unlucky to be beneath him. Considering the size of the construct, and the fact they were in the middle of Gotham, and he quickly dismissed it.

"No, something…bigger."

A frown was thrown his way. "What's bigger than a whale?"

"You have the whole animal kingdom at your fingertips, there has to be something bigger." He was a bit short there, but he was hoping that Beast Boy would take the opportunity to step up. No one could hold his hand forever.

Now, to Kid Flash, "Can you check this thing out? See if there is something, anything, that might be a weak point? Check every single inch you can. If you find anything, get someone over there to take advantage or figure out a way to do it yourself. If we can't hit it hard enough, then we need to get smarter about it."

Kid Flash nodded his head, letting the words sink in. You'd expect some banter—

"As long as I don't have to go up any orifices that no one has any business going in, you got it!"

—ah, thought too soon.

Nonetheless, Kid Flash was racing off, a yellow blur that would slip in and out of view thanks to the proportions of the construct. Okay, that was some motivational coaching there. What could he do? He didn't think electricity might be the thing, and it was doubtful he had a birdarang on hand with that kind of charge. Made him wish Bluebird was around to try.

"Right. Got it." Looking to his right, Red Robin noted how Beast Boy took off back into the fray. He was running in his human form, but that began to change as mass grew exponentially. The reds and whites of his tight-fitting jumpsuit blurred into green, heavy footsteps that began to send small tremors through the street, and the roar of a certain tyrant lizard caused anything not sufficiently solid to rattle.

Huh. Didn't know dinosaurs were an option. Lo and behold, there was a green-colored T-rex rampaging its way to the massive construct. The large, reptilian head lowered and was used as a ram, one that collided viciously with the face of the abomination. For a brief second, the behemoth reared back, even taking one step backwards. Beast Boy then reared his head up, jaws open to reveal such very sharp teeth, and then went to town biting whatever he could.

Cyborg was jumping off the back of the enormous creature, trying not to get in the way while he did so. Kid Flash blurred into sight only to vanish once more and dodging some Starbolts that were dished out to try and cause more damage.

It seemed like the shapeshifter had chosen a tough enough form. The construct was stuck in its tracks, trying to swipe at the allegedly extinct animal that kept putting up a fight. The Tyrannosaurus' tail acted much like the construct's and would bat away any of the clawed feet that tried to strike at the large, green body.

The dinosaur's claws were digging into the asphalt, and powerful legs continued to push back. Still, this was more like an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object kinda deal. It was simply a pause in the action and it needed to be taken advantage of.

However, Red Robin wasn't able to think of anything, nor did anyone get a lucky hit when time inevitably ran out. In this case, perhaps it was how large the Tyrannosaurus was combined with the fact that Beast Boy seemed to have more time limitations with larger animals. Yeah, elephant was a favorite, but if you watched long enough, you could tell that it didn't last as long as a gorilla or a bull, and that the smaller forms tended to have a much longer lifespan.

This meant, despite the crucial minute that was bought, Beast Boy ran out of steam and could not maintain the extinct dino's form anymore. You could see how the reptilian body began to tremble towards the end until it abruptly shrank and left behind an exhausted shapeshifter.

As if noticing that it was no longer opposed, the construct brought down its foot, though it was aimed right where the green Titan was nearly collapsing on the street. Cyborg was able to tackle the shapeshifter out of the way and carry himself with the momentum of the shove before the foot made impact.

Before Red Robin could give a curse, a red-glowing lasso looped impossibly around the huge, skull-like head and tightened down around the barely seen neck. Up above, Wonder Girl pulled up, the magical rope flaring angrily. The monster gave out another of those, soft yet hissing bellows, its head being forcefully pulled up.

A claw-tipped toe swiped at the lasso, a claw being singed by its magical might. While Wonder Girl held it in that position, Starfire flew by the armored blonde and curved her flight trajectory so that she was heading towards that gruesome face. Powering up both hands with Starbolts, she brought both of her hands together to concentrate the energy and fire off a blast of green energy down the throat.

What could best be described as a shriek thundered throughout the street, causing Red Robin to wince at the volume. That sounded like pain. They were starting to get somewhere. Oh. Oh please, do not say that one off comment from Kid Flash about orifices was right on the money.

Appearing right next to him, the speedster gave the news, "I thought there might be some gaps, you know, around joints and all, but they weren't giving me much room to work with. I did find what might be a sphincter. I think Star might be on the right track."

Ahh…alright. No one ever said this was going to be a clean business, right?

"We can't do any damage from the outside so we'll have to do it from the inside out," he summed up. "We're going to need something very strong and something that isn't overly complicated to—"

Again, he was to be interrupted, but this time by the construct which managed to thrash its head enough that it cost Wonder Girl some leverage. Managing to lower its head enough so that Starfire's attack no longer went down its throat, the abomination pushed with its hindlegs and surged forward. The Tamaranean immediately flew out of the way, but Wonder Girl wasn't as lucky as she was pulled down, refusing to let go of her lasso.

She ended up landing between the construct's shoulder blades, gripping her magical rope tightly. In their path, several cars of the police variety were showing up on the scene, but as soon as the drivers saw what they were up against, the brakes were hit, rubber squealed against the road, and then emergency vehicles were booking it in reverse.

The massive construct seemingly gave chase after, and soon enough it had passed by Red Robin's position. Oh great, this was not going well.

"You know, for something so big, I didn't think it was that fast," Kid Flash remarked.

The night had started off quiet. Gordon should have known that was a bad sign. Noise meant all was well in this kind of city. When it was quiet, there was a problem.

But he wasn't thinking about that. Only in hindsight would it occur to him. No, he was sitting in the driver's seat of his car, parked along the side of the street where he was waiting for Barbara to clock out. The League of Smiles had everyone up in arms, and for good reason. There was no way he was going to let that violence reach his daughter.

He had a book—in the backseat where he had left it the night before. Something to pass the time since he was always early and just happened to know a certain parking spot was always available because Officer Jenkins was like clockwork when he clocked out. Same time, every day, crisis and overtime be damned. That man was a paper-pusher, kept a desk, and didn't walk a beat. Doing his twenty, pushing on thirty, as quietly as he could.

Retirement was just not meant for a man like Gordon. Figures this would be the time he would try to make up being a father. Naturally, his baby was already grown up when he finally decided to settle down. There was a joke in there, and some days he had trouble seeing it.

Still, it was a quiet night. Perhaps…too quiet. In fact, it was much too quiet for a small army of deranged clowns. They were either being smarter, or something big was up. The former commissioner glanced out of the window to his left, looking up and down the street and finding nothing. There were the few people out there risking the streets, walking on the sidewalks or crossing from one side to another. No one seemed to be in a particular hurry, not even when a car passed by.

Gordon turned his attention back to the precinct, picturing in his head where he expected Barbara to be. This was the same precinct where he had done his stint as commissioner, so he knew the building very well. He may not have the security clearance to go where he wanted to anymore, but every once in a while, he found an exception was given to him. Not that he took advantage of it. Not often.

Barbara was probably still at her desk. Maybe she was packing up. Maybe she was on her way out. Not that the quiet was going to speed anything up, but so long as she remained safe…

The elder Gordon frowned. He felt off. No other way to describe it. Then, as if to prove his gut might be onto something, a squad car passed by him, lights flashing. The vehicle sped down the road quickly, making a left turn and rushing out of sight. Before he could wonder anything, a second squad car, then a third, raced past and now he was sitting up. Keys were in the ignition, just waiting to be turned.

You couldn't trust the quiet in Gotham. Lesson was relearned as a fourth, fifth, and sixth car drove by, all of their lights on. He was tempted to rev up the engine and follow, but that wasn't him anymore. At least, it wasn't supposed to be.

Up ahead, he counted several more squad cars, and now he was feeling antsy. An emergency, one he could not—hold up.

All squad cars seemed to be heading in the same direction, but now a few of them were backing up. Now that wasn't right; why drive in reverse?

His body tensed as he heard popping sounds in the distance. They were sharp, sharper than what would be expected from a tailpipe coughing up, and not as rapid as some fireworks were. Volume wasn't quite as loud either. The intensity of the popping increased, and a hand gripped the steering wheel. Those were gunshots.

The action was heading this way.

As it turned out, he wasn't wrong about there being action. What he was wrong about was what the cause of it was. Gordon had been expecting clowns. What he saw was what looked like a monster straight out of a horror movie. It was big, bulky, strings of what might have been hair dangling off a hunched back, and it had very prominent lips.

That was a large mouth, and the lips were uncomfortably pink, and the teeth they exposed caused even more discomfort from how human they looked. Two awkwardly long arms with disproportionately large hands dragged the body after the reversing squad cars, and quick flashes of light gave away that the officers in those cars were shooting out through their windows at the thing.

The hood of one unlucky car, parked and empty, was crushed under one of the hands, raising the rear up into the air. Rubbery skin was catching the bullets, all of them, and cushioning it. Gordon could not believe his eyes.

A hand went to a holster that he still wore, found the gun he carried at all times because some old habits never died, and then he reached for the door handle. Already, he could see this monster, whatever it was, dragging itself in the direction of the precinct, the very one Barbara was in.

Like hell it would ever get close.

Out of his car, Gordon charged forward not back, keeping his eyes on the monster and determined to stop it.

The solution was obvious. Too obvious. Implementing it was something else entirely as Batman was finding out.

Colin was a child, untrained with only the most rudimentary forms of fighting that only children that age would master. Punches, primarily. His movements were that of random lashing out, no real plan other than to hurt. That randomness combined with the Venom flowing in his veins had proven to be a tough combination.

For once, Batman found the presence of others' interference to be a benefit. Any blows the Venom-maddened boy landed could only be cushioned so much by his armor. He was going to be bruising for days, if not a week. When Colin's attention was diverted to Huntress or Damian, it gave the Dark Knight breathing room to try and come up with something else.

Currently, Huntress was the focus of the child's rage, and Huntress was not dealing out the usual violent measures she preferred. She was on the defense, backing away from Colin, but that did not mean she was not using a different kind of weapon.

"Listen to me, Colin!" the female vigilante called out. "I know you're scared! You don't want to do this!" Abruptly, she brought up her staff to block the lashing fist. The weapon managed to hold up against the force of the blow, though its ends wobbled from the kinetic energy running through it. "I know you want to be safe! I know you're hurting!"

Colin bellowed, raising both of his hands up, both balled into fists. He brought them down, and Huntress leapt out of the way, the rock flooring of the cave cracking around the fists that struck it.

Damian took this chance to jump onto Colin's back, wrapping his arm around Colin's neck and proceeding to put him in a choke hold. This was not easy due to the thickened muscles around the Venom-infused child's neck and how noticeably short Damian's arms were. However, it was not too difficult for the hold to form.

Colin was still breathing heavily, but that was not what the choke was supposed to do. Most assumed that it cut off the airway, but it was so much more sinister than that. What it really did was that it cut off the blood flow through the jugular veins that were located very close to the front of the neck, on either side of the larynx. Blood would continue to flow to the brain via the aorta artery, but it would not be allowed to leave through the jugular veins to the rest of the body. Pressure would build, there was only so much space in the skull to contain the increased amount of blood, and brain damage could be a result.

Colin, however, wasn't pinned to the ground, his body more in a crouch. Damian had training from the Demon's Fang, but it was not proving effective in keeping the hulking boy down as he stood up. Colin took a step back, then another, and another until he rushed backwards and slammed Damian' bodily into the cavern wall. Damian cried out, his hold breaking and while he slipped down to the floor below, Colin pulled away, standing to his new full height.

A grapple cable wrapped around a thick arm and pulled, which redirected Colin back to Huntress. The purple-colored vigilante was clenching her teeth together as she pulled against her student.

"Don't…hurt…him…" she grunted out.

"He hurt me!" Colin roared as he charged at Huntress.

"Calm down!" the teacher-turned-vigilante continued to plead. "You like Batman! You're hurting him! You know who I am? It's me! Huntress! I know you like me! That's what you told your teacher! I know her! She told me about you! About how worried she was and I came looking for you! I'm here to help you!"

Colin had closed in, and Huntress had brought her bo staff between them. The angered child grabbed onto the staff and pushed the vigilante back and into a particularly tall stalagmite, pinning her against it.

"Please," Huntress grunted. "Let me…get you out of here. Get you…safe."

Colin was clearly stronger, but from where Batman stood, it seemed her words were starting to get through. There was a lessening strain in the female vigilante's arms, signaling a decrease in pressure. He would let this play out, but a hand was slipping out a batarang. Carefully, he took silent steps, eyes on the tube that he could see connected to the back of the boy's head.

"She's lying, Colin," Merideth taunted from the shadows. "She doesn't know your teacher. She doesn't really care about you. She wants to hurt you. She wants to cause you pain and leave you alone in the dark. Don't let her hurt you."

Huntress' grip on her staff tightened as she forcefully refrained from retorting. The wrong words could be triggering for what the Dark Knight was realizing was a scared child.

"Ms. Bertinelli," she gasped out. "That's her name. She's very…concerned about you. She wants to…give you…a hug. Make you…feel safe. Would you…like that…?"

At the very least, Colin was responding. Shoulders were lowering, yet he still pinned Huntress down. Batman was close, getting closer, and the tube was right there. His arm rose up, the bat-shaped shuriken angled so that its edge was facing outwards. All it needed to do was be a clean slice.

Briefly, he recalled the last time he had tried to cut such tubing. Bane had had the foresight to reinforce it at the time. Did Merideth have the same foresight? They were about to find out.

Luck wasn't on his side, because Colin had begun turning his head, looking away from Huntress, and then burst into violence as the boy spotted the Dark Knight in his periphery. The staff was torn out of Huntress' grip and it swung until it slammed into Batman, batting him away. He cried out, dropping the shuriken, and flew through the air until his back struck the floor.

"Colin! No!" Huntress cried out.

Damn it, so close. As Batman pushed himself up, he found the augmented child approaching, holding the staff up in the air. Rage contorted the stretch-out features of his face, teeth bared.

Damian lunged in from a side, a small canister in hand. A gloved hand slapped itself over Colin's eyes, the smaller boy digging his knees into the larger set of ribs. The other hand snaked around, tried to aim the canister at Colin's face, a finger tensed and ready to unleash the payload.

He never got the chance. Colin swung his arms out, and Huntress nearly was hit with her own bo staff. She caught it instead and was shoved back, though she did not let go. Seemingly not willing to fight her for it, Colin let go of the staff, and Huntress was sent stumbling back, her balance thrown off.

Elbows were thrown back as the grotesquely muscled boy tried to buck Damian off of him. He snarled and spat, but Damian resisted, holding on as best as he could. Then Colin reached over his own head and caught Damian by his shoulders. The smaller boy was pulled up and thrown over the larger one, Damian landing on his back and crying out.

Reaching out, Colin grabbed a nearby stalagmite and tore it off, holding it like a club. Much like the staff from before, the stalagmite was held up and its target was damn nearly helpless.

Batman was on his feet, running. He clasped his hands together and swung them into Colin's back, striking with enough force that the child stumbled and cried out. The vigilante understood that normal punches would not be enough against a person on Venom, and that the force had to be upped in order to have any effect.

There was an effect, but not one that Batman had expected. The stalagmite fell to the floor, Colin bent over, a hand reaching to his back while he exclaimed, "You…hurt me! It hurts!"

For all that power, all that strength, the rage and fear, beneath it all was still a child. A scared, lonely child who hadn't asked for any of this. There was a sickening feeling welling up inside of him, disgust that he had struck a child, forget about the extenuating circumstance. There was anger and rage for the bastard who set this thing up, but a lot of it was directed towards himself.

It didn't matter what was happening, there was always another way. Always…

"Rory! I need Rory!" Colin wailed, stumbling as he reached out for…who was Rory? There wasn't another report of another child so who was…wait.

Where he had first seen Colin, something had been left behind. He had noticed it before, but it was a teddy bear. Worn, beaten up, and fraying, the stuffed animal laid on the cavern floor, forgotten about. Now it was sought out for comfort.

"What are you doing, you lummox? Kill them!" Merideth roared. From the corner of his eye, Batman noticed a reflection of light, one that was tinted red. The artificial light was hitting something, and he had a good idea as to what.

Eyes narrowing, he had an idea.

Sitting up, the Merrymaker glared at the pathetic child who was too busy blubbering and not killing those vigilantes. Unable to help himself, he yelled at the brat, demanding for him to finish it.

Before he knew it, something wrapped around his arm, surprising him. Looking down at it, he noticed to his horror that it was a cable, one that grew taut immediately. Frantically, he reached for a knife, but he was too late. His arm was pulled forward, and then the rest of him followed, forced out into the light, but not before taking a fall.

Slowly, he picked himself up. He was not in the prime of his life, so any physical trauma was going to take a greater toll than if he had been in his younger years. All was not bad news, though. In one hand, he had successfully held on to a knife, and with it he cut through the cable as quickly as he was able to.

Snapping his head up, and seeing at least three pairs of eyes boring into him, Merrymaker knew he needed to act quickly, say something. "It will take more than a mere…"

He had been trying to unravel the remains of the cable from his arm, but there had been something else that the cable had brought with it. To his confusion, wrapped tightly against his arm by the very cable that had dragged him out of hiding, there was a…

"...a teddy bear?"

Merrymaker could not really grasp why such a ridiculous thing was—

"YOU LEAVE RORY ALONE!"

His blood ran cold, and once more the masked man looked ahead of him, but it was not to the vigilantes. No, with horror, he watched as the roided-up brat charged at him with irrational rage.

As fast he could, he got up to his feet, hoping that he was quick enough to try and make a break for it. He wasn't, and there was nothing he could do as the child's fist struck him.

"Give him back!" Colin demanded, Merrymaker thrown away from him like a rag doll. Pieces of the beaked mask scattered as the man in red landed on the floor, helpless. But it was not over, not yet. The crazed child leapt at the prone man, bringing both his balled-up fists down onto Merrymaker's torso and breaking more than one rib.

A gasp escaped from the elderly man whose face was now partially exposed, with swelling already forming. Then he had another reason to gasp as two meaty hands wrapped around his throat and began to apply pressure.

"Die!" Colin yelled, squeezing harder. "Die!"

"No."

The voice was soft, yet firm. The shuriken's edge was sharp and easily sliced through the tube, severing the connection to the Venom pump. The steroidal compound spilled out of both sliced ends, pouring onto the floor. The sudden disconnection threw a shock through Colin's body, his hand releasing Merideth's neck as he reared back with a cry.

"It huuurtssss," the boy moaned as he began to fall back. Strong arms captured him and held him to a firm body.

"It's okay, Colin," Batman soothed, watching as the muscle mass withered away, ultimately leaving behind a shirtless child in rags and nothing else. Drained, it seemed it was all the boy could do to pant and gasp for air.

Approaching him, Huntress only had eyes for her student. Cautiously, she asked, "Is he going to be okay?"

He didn't know. The question couldn't be answered, not right now. He knew enough about what Venom did to an adult body, but he had no clue of what it would do to a child. There were too many unknowns and immediate medical attention was needed.

However, it seemed Colin still had some strength in him, enough to crack open his eyes and see the vigilante above him. Almost breathlessly, the boy said, "You…came…" His head began to lull to aside where his gaze then landed on Huntress. Eyes glazed over momentarily, and then a small smile formed on his lips. "You're my…favorite…"

And then he finally passed out, unable to take on the stress that his body had been subjected to. Immediately, Batman was checking for vital signs, and at least found a pulse. It was light, too light, and so was the breathing. Colin needed help as soon as possible.

Not only Colin, but Merideth as well. The older man's breathing was wheezy; there was a chance that a rib might be puncturing a lung. Above him, Damian stood, glaring at the defeated lunatic and it was easy to tell what was going through the boy's mind.

Honestly, Batman understood it all too well. Since the beginning, it was up to a judge and a jury to decide the fates of the criminals he helped to bring in. Right now, he was sorely tempted to take on those roles himself. No doubt, Damian was experiencing a similar conflict.

Huntress, though, had followed his gaze, and had taken the opportunity to act. "Don't," she ordered. "We need him alive."

Slowly, Damian turned his sights onto the purple-clad vigilante. "He deserves to die."

They were words spoken so plainly, so matter-of-fact, it alarmed Batman.

However, "No. Death is letting him off too easy," Huntress corrected. "He has a lot to answer for, and trust me when I say this, whatever Batman is going to do to him will be far worse than death. He'll be wishing for it. Until then, we keep alive."

He had to agree with that sentiment. Merideth had answers, and he would be giving them. After he had received medical treatment. After he thought he was safe. Then they were going to have a long, long talk, the kind of talk that psychiatrists rarely found themselves on the wrong end of.

First, to make sure Colin was safe. Then to make sure they could still walk. It was time to get back to Gotham, and bring this night's nightmare to an end.