Author's Note: There's a special treat for you guys today, ShadowMajin has or will be posting the first chapter for a new story, Dark Arts of Enchantment. You can find it on his profile. Now, because this has become another two stories being posted at the same time, ShadowMajin and I are going to try an experiment with our posting schedule. Because everyone has lives and that might make reading two stories from us not as easy, starting this week Seventy-Seven Shattered Souls will be posted on Mondays and Thursdays while Dark Arts of Enchantment will be posted every Tuesday and Friday, with the exception of today. Be sure to check it out, and enjoy.

Test of Skills

Hinges squealed as a door slid open, dim light pouring in to illuminate all within. Red leather boot stepped in, strolling towards the contents of this room before coming to a stop and turning. The Merrymaker faced his audience and gestured with an arm.

"I've been planning this party for a long time," the masked bringer of joy announced, "and I have gifts for all of you."

There were chuckles, some hoots, and some hollers, and bloodlust shined in every single eye at the gifts being offered to them. Behind the Merrymaker, rows and containers filled with firearms of all kinds, rifles, shotguns, automatics, semiautomatics, handguns, pistols, and accessories of all kinds to liven up each and every weapon. Ammunition waited to be loaded into all of them, every caliber taken into consideration.

"These are the party favors," he continued. "Be kind and share them with the people of Gotham. Give them all something to smile about."

And there were smiles amongst the cheers as the Legion of Smile descended on the cache. Eager hands grabbed at whatever they could, the sounds of bullet chambers being filled with their lethal tenants rang throughout the room. It was becoming raucous in here, which was to be expected with this kind of crowd.

Merrymaker stepped aside to let them have at it. Through red lens did he watch them all, his mask hiding everything including the thoughts he had. The only stoic figure in a mess of joviality, he abruptly moved towards one of the smiling masses.

"Philip," he addressed, the dentist with a clown nose pausing in his loading to look at him. "I have a particular location that I feel warrants special attention. It's very dour and boring. Maybe you and your particular talents can liven it up."

For a few seconds, Philip stared blankly at him, then he began to smile, two rows of teeth shining though the left canine was missing. An obvious gap in what might have been considered perfection once.

"And who will be the lucky stiffs?" the dentist asked eagerly.

The masked leader told him, using the cacophony of everyone else here to mask it with Philip being the sole exception. In return, he received another would be blinding smile. Very good.

Philip would lead his trio of miscreants, that much was obvious, and it would help to serve his aims for this night. With no further business that needed to be attended to, Merrymaker waited patiently for his party favors to make the rounds. Then he took the lead and back to the entrance of this little lair did he go, followed by his armed legion.

He led them to the streets where with a theatrical wave of both of his arms, he declared, "Go forth! Make merry! Make Gotham laugh again!"

They roared. They cheered. They giggled and guffawed. Then they did as they were told and swarmed their way into the city. Behind them, Merrymaker drew back into the shadows, red lens gleaming malevolently.

The door collapsed inward, landing with a loud BANG! Wonder Girl hadn't been gentle, the blonde striding through the doorway, the rest of the Titans following behind her.

Red Robin couldn't help but take in the sight. They were on some sort of ground level, mats covering up most of the floor. There were a few training dummies, ones that showed obvious use. There was a second story, one that was merely a catwalk that circled around the room. The former Gotham vigilante took notice of a large computer screen, one that was turned on if the light of the monitor was any indication. There weren't any images, however, that indicated what it was being used for. To complete everything, numerous chains hung from the ceiling, one that was covered in darkness, making the chains appear to be emerging from it. They gently swayed from side to side, making a soft rattling sound.

"Dude, what is this place?" Beast Boy asked out loud, looking around as well. "It looks like a dungeon, or a torture dungeon."

"That's basically the same thing, BB," Cyborg told him.

Red Robin shushed them. "Voices down," he hissed. "We don't—"

There was a flash of light. That was all Red Robin saw before Wonder Girl was in front of him, her arms crossed in front of her. A beam of light struck her then, her bracers holding off the blast as it sizzled and cracked.

Red Robin held his birdarang up. Starfire's hands glowed with her Starbolts. Cyborg transformed his arm into a cannon, taking aim at where the beam was coming from.

Then something came falling from the ceiling. It was black, and small, but grew larger as it fell towards them.

There were intruders in the BatCave.

This was the second time this had happened. The first was that brat, Damian, even if he had been invited in. This one was just as brazen in her opinion, especially when the sealed door collapsed into the lair.

The intruders came in, six in total. Batgirl only saw the top of their heads from her vantage point towards the ceiling. There was a yellow one, a green one, a red one, a brown one, and two black ones. They were slowly starting to spread out when they began talking.

"Dude, what is this place? It looks like a dungeon, or a torture dungeon."

"That's basically the same thing, BB."

"Voices down. We don't—"

The last voice was cut off as Bluebird fired her taser rifle from her hiding place. She was aiming for one of the dark-headed ones, though the yellow one jumped in the way, seemingly blocking it. Batgirl then saw the other dark-headed one raise up their arm, one that looked very much like a weapon.

They would be first.

She dropped from her perch, falling through the air feet first, her cape whipping above her head. Her feet landed right on top of the weapon, forcing its barrel down from the force of her landing. If it was discharged, it would go right into the floor.

As she bent her knees, crouching on top of the weapon, Batgirl got a good look at this particular intruder. She…recognized him. This was one of metahumans, the one on the West Coast. And he was here invading her base.

Well, let's just see what he could do.

Batgirl sprang up into the air, going into a backflip as she did so. This allowed her to swing her feet up, one of which slammed right beneath Cyborg's chin. Instantly, his head snapped backwards as he cried out, stumbling backwards before the back of his foot collided with the edge of the fallen door. He ended up crashing onto his back a moment later.

Meanwhile, Batgirl was in mid-flip. The moment she was completely upside down in the air, her head towards the ground, her feet pointed towards the ceiling, she was whipping an arm out, a batarang in hand. She sent the batarang flying through the air, watching it momentarily as it closed in on the green-skinned boy, BB, or rather Beast Boy.

Beast Boy was turning to face his fallen friend when the batarang struck him on his temple. "Gyahh!" he cried out as his head jerked back from the blow, collapsing to the floor shortly after.

And then Batgirl's world spun as she completed her flip, landing on her feet with hardly a sound made.

Movement caught her eye and she saw Starfire closing in on her, flying through the air like a missile. She kept her hands blazing with that green energy she could create. Instead of throwing it, she kept it contained to her fist, one threw as a punch for her head.

Batgirl immediately backpedaled, jerking her head to one side to avoid the punch as it sailed right next to her skull and over her shoulder. She kept moving backwards as Starfire pressed her attack, throwing punch after punch, which she avoided by backing away and darting from side to side.

And then the redhead tried to change tactics. Batgirl saw it in the way her muscles bunched in her upper body, the way she began to lean backwards. She was going to throw one of her energy attacks at her.

Starfire drew her arm back and then threw it forward, firing the attack. Batgirl leaned herself backwards as far as she could, keeping her feet planted on the floor as she stretched her arms out as far as she could to maintain her balance. The blast flew over her chest and face, appearing as nothing more than a green blur.

The moment she was leaning back up, there was an explosion and the force of it rammed into her back. They must have been closer to a wall than she had thought. She was flung forward towards Starfire, who was swinging her other, green-glowing fist at her.

Even though she was in a rather advantageous position, that didn't stop Batgirl from responding. She immediately began twisting her body, swinging an arm out. Her timing was impeccable as her hand slapped down on Starfire's forearm and pushed it to one side, forcing the punch to miss her. In the meantime, the dark-clad girl continued to spin in the air, even as she leveraged herself up into the air thanks to the red-haired alien's arm. Building up momentum, she then launched her counterattack, swinging a leg up until she landed a kick to the back of Starfire's head.

The alien cried out as she was thrown forward. Batgirl landed back on her feet, facing the Tamaranean as she began to recover.

Suddenly, her arms were jerked back, something restraining them behind her. Whipping her head around, she saw another brunet, a rather lanky one with comically large shoes. This was the speedster, Kid Flash, if she wasn't mistaken. "That's enough out of you, kung fu chick," he told her.

Batgirl stared at him over her shoulder. Then tilted her head back a bit, making sure she was looking in a specific direction. Then in the most deadpanned tone she had, she said, "Oh look, the Flash."

Kid Flash was suddenly in front of her, albeit off to the right. "Really? He's here?!" the boy exclaimed. More importantly, he was no longer hanging onto her arms.

Had…had that really worked?

Not looking the gift horse in the mouth, Batgirl shot a fist up, landing a punch right to the junction of the boy's jaw and skull—the Nerve Strike.

Instantly, Kid Flash dropped to the floor, his eyes rolled back into his head.

"Everyone, stop!" a voice shouted.

Turning her head, she saw Red Robin holding both of his hands up into the air, some sort of round device in each hand. It wasn't clear what they were, but it was something the red-dressed vigilante thought would end the fight. "That's enough fighting!" he demanded, looking around the room.

Batgirl did a quick look around. She saw Cyborg pushing himself up from on top of the fallen door, a hand rubbing his chin as he did so. Beast Boy was also starting to move, but his hand was on his head. "Ow," he groaned.

"Are we no longer engaging in hostile activities?" Starfire asked, her tone rather innocent, or naive, take your pick. When the dark-clad girl looked towards the alien, she couldn't help but notice she wasn't as harmed as the boys.

That's when the electrical discharge from Bluebird's taser rifle stopped. Small bolts of electricity danced over Wonder Girl's bracers for a brief moment before they vanished. "Red Robin? Is that you?" the blue-haired vigilante called out, emerging from her post, her taser rifle hoisted up so that she could lean the top of the barrel against her shoulder.

"Yeah, it's me…and friends," he added a moment later.

"You know these people?" Wonder Girl demanded, her head turned to look at him.

"He does," Batgirl answered for him, striding up to the two Titans. "What are you doing here? And why did you break down my door?"

Red Robin lowered his hands to his sides as she came to a stop in front of him. Wonder Girl was eying her, though she noticeably paused when she noticed the symbol on her chest. "Oh great, a Bat," she grumbled.

"Sorry if we were inconveniencing you, but did you really have to attack us?" Red Robin questioned her.

"Perhaps not, but you did invade my base. I didn't realize it was you until I saw your metal friend."

"Wait, you recognized us then?" Wonder Girl interjected. "Then why did you keep attacking?"

Batgirl shrugged her shoulders. "I wanted to see what I could do against you."

"...I don't know what to say to that."

"Dude, I think my brain is messed up," Beast Boy then complained loudly. "It doesn't normally hurt this way."

"In which way is it supposed to hurt?" Starfire asked pleasantly.

"Not at all. I swear, we just had our butts handed to us by some flying kung fu master."

"I think we did," Cyborg told him. "And…it's a girl. A girl dressed like Batman. Who is she, some kind of Bat-girl?"

"Enough from the peanut gallery," Wonder Girl snapped at them. Then there was a pause. "Hey, why is it so quiet here?"

Batgirl was puzzled as she noticed the Titan team began looking around before their attention landed on the still-unconscious Kid Flash. There was drool coming out of his mouth now. "What did you do to him?" the blonde girl exclaimed. "I've never seen him knocked out this long!"

"Nerve Strike," she grunted back.

There was silence. "Can…can you teach me that?"

The look on Damian's face was expectant. He shuffled on his feet, the only sign he gave of his excitement. He had on that blue and white outfit, a black domino mask on his face.

It wasn't much for protection. It was definitely designed for stealth, the art of the ninja. The sword that was strapped to his back was visible by the hilt peeking over his left shoulder.

If Damian was going to continue this, he was going to need more appropriate attire.

Batman strode to the boy, his head tilting back and back as he kept his eyes on the man's face. Reaching over his shoulder, he removed the sword and sheath. "You won't be needing this," was all he said.

A frown appeared on the boy's face. "But that is my weapon. It is completely necessary!"

"For killing people. That is not what we're doing tonight."

"Of course. We are going to stop evil and for that, I must be armed."

"But not with a sword."

"That woman with the Birds of Prey has one!"

Batman didn't bother to raise an eyebrow. "Katana is a master with decades of experience with the sword. She knows how to wield it without killing. You only have a few years, an intermediate at best. That isn't good enough."

Damian clenched his fists. "Then how am I to defend myself?"

Raising a hand up, Batman had his son's answer. "With this." In his hand was a ninja throwing star, one of its sharp points gleaming in the light of the bunker. "I know it is one of the weapons the Demon's Fang trains its members in its use. These will be acceptable."

"That's it? Just the throwing stars?"

He wanted more? Alright. Batman turned and stepped towards a table, picking up a belt with multiple pockets on it. He returned to the boy, holding out the belt. "There are various weapons in this belt that I've approved of. Take it."

Damian perked up at this and snatched the belt from his hand. Eagerly, he wrapped the belt around his waist, buckling it with a satisfied click. He then proceeded to check each and every pocket, his enthusiasm beginning to wane as he reached the end. "This is it?" he questioned.

"That is it," Batman confirmed.

"These are just standard equipment, even for one of my grandfather's assassins. Where are the other weapons? I demand them!"

The vigilante leaned forward, his face closing in on Damian's. "Each of those weapons are for disciplined fighters. Each has a level of difficulty you have yet to demonstrate mastery. For instance—"

At this, he pulled out a bat-shaped shuriken. He then held it out to Damian, who accepted it. "Throw it," was all he said.

"Throw it where?"

The dark-clad man glanced around and then pointed towards a wall. "That wall, anywhere you see fit."

Damian continued to frown, but did as instructed. He threw the projectile, his arm whipping from one side of his body to the other. At first, the bat-shaped shuriken whirled through the air, heading right for the wall. It wasn't a bad throw honestly. However, it began to drift to the right before it arced downwards, striking the floor just short of the wall. Batman had to turn his head just to keep it in sight.

"What?!" Damian exclaimed. "What was that?! It must be deficient!"

"Is it?" Batman retrieved another shuriken from his belt. With a flick of his wrist, he sent it flying through the air, where it too arced, but unlike Damian's attempt, it struck the wall directly in front of them. "It doesn't seem to be," he observed.

Damian stared. "I want another try!" he loudly declared.

Batman acquiesced, handing him another shuriken. Again, he threw it the same way as before, but this time the shuriken went directly to the left. Like its predecessor though, it eventually struck the floor well short of the wall.

"Like I said, there is a level of difficulty involved," Batman stated, preventing another outburst. "From this point forward, you will receive training and practice in the use of each tool we use. However, until you demonstrate proficiency, you will not be allowed to use them in the field."

"Then I will master them all!" the dark-haired boy declared.

Such confidence. Batman almost smirked from amusement. "Before we start, there are some ground rules we must go over. Eventually, we will be out in the field. When we are, you will obey my every instruction. If I tell you to hide, you will hide. If I tell you to apprehend a mugger, you will do that. And most importantly, you will not kill—anyone. Do I make myself clear?"

Damian stood at attention, his arms pressed into his sides, his legs against each other. "Of course, Father."

Such compliance. That compliance would be tested the moment they were out on patrol. He was quite aware that Damian had been spoiled while being raised; he was used to getting his way. For him to willingly surrender control of himself would be a test, and a trying one at that.

"Now, we need a codename for you. Your identity is your most prized possession, and you must protect it at all costs. Have you been using one while with the Batclan?"

Damian seemed put out by that, which was a curious response. "I have…" he replied reluctantly.

"And what name have you been using?"

"...Son of Batman."

Hmm, that was rather wordy. They definitely needed to work on it.

"I would rather have…a different name," Damian eventually said.

This time he did raise an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

"Because it has been brought to my attention that people of low upbringing could…misconstrue my name."

"How so?"

Damian swallowed hard, as if he were trying to get down something nasty. "The initials of my name become—"

Batman didn't need the boy to finish. He figured it out pretty quickly from there. That was a rather unfortunate turn for him. Certainly, they would need a new name because S.O.B. wouldn't simply fly. "Then how about we—" he began.

Only for an alarm to cut him off. Turning his head, Batman saw a computer terminal flashing a red light, the source of the alarm. Striding over towards it, he glanced at the monitor before he scowled. There was an alert, one showing multiple views from CCTV cameras. They were organized in a grid, each square showing the view from one camera.

And what was being captured on the cameras were clowns.

The apparent lack of a ceiling combined with all the chains dangling gave this pseudo-BatCave a certain ambiance. Add to that the large computer, all gear and supplies needed to launch a war on crime, and what was left of the security spiced the whole deal up. There would have been a time when Red Robin would have killed to have a base of operations like this.

When you were stuck using a rundown apartment or meeting whenever you could wherever you could, and the best you could claim as a base was a storage container over at the harbor, there was a feeling of resentment that welled up. It was one thing to be told about it, but to come here into the heart of the new and improved Batclan, it made one remember a lot of memories and feel a little bit of a grudge starting.

It was like being ahead of your time. If they had waited then embarked on their extension of Batman's crusade, would this be what would have been in store for them? What had they been missing? Hadn't they proved themselves time and again and get what?

What was so special about Batgirl 2? Why the preferential treatment? And why did Spoiler and Bluebird get to reap the benefits? As he recalled—no, no, stop. Those two girls were just as dedicated as he was…maybe to a lesser extent in Spoiler's case, and they had been with Nightwing at one point. They knew about the struggle of being at the bottom.

It was great it paid off for them, but Batgirl. Using Barbara's name. There was just something so wrong with that.

But he was a Teen Titan now, the leader of it, and he needed to act like it. That meant being professional, even if Batgirl's welcome was not in good taste. Wanted to see what they could do? Take the element of surprise out of—stop it, Drake.

To the matter at hand, before Batgirl could start giving pointers to Wonder Girl, the nice quiet they had going had to end because Kid Flash had come to, and he had done so with complaints.

"Ow! Ow, ow, ow! OW! Guys! I think my jaw's broken!"

"If your jaw was broken, would you be incapable of speech?" Starfire inquired.

There was a pause. "Oh yeah." Another pause. "It still hurts."

Speedsters, so quick to recover. It had to be something either truly special or hard enough to knock them for a loop. Bodily trauma all over tended to be what worked best. A shame that he could count on one hand and still have most fingers left the number of people who had accomplished that.

After that, there was some mingling. Cyborg found himself being eyed up by Bluebird who looked like she was geeking out a little. Questions about what kind of power source he used and how it was all wired up were only the start of some of the questions. Cyborg was getting a little uncomfortable there, but he answered like a champ. Starfire and Kid Flash were taking the route of looking around, though mainly Starfire was making sure Kid Flash didn't get too curious about what certain buttons did. He figured one of them might trigger some kind of self-destruct sequence, and that wouldn't be good for anyone right now.

This left Wonder Girl keeping to his side while Beast Boy was attempting to give Cyborg an excuse out of answering any invasive questions. Spoiler was on his other side and he had caught her peeking at him, probably more than she was willing to admit. While the black cloth that covered the lower portion of her face successfully hid her identity, it just meant more attention was being paid to the eyes.

Eyes tended to express a lot unless you had a lot of control. He was getting the feeling that—

"How did you find this place?" Ah, a demanding tone. Someone was practicing from the Batman school of that particular technique. Batgirl was moving into his personal space, much like the legend himself, but she was lacking a very important ingredient if she wanted to pull it off.

Presence. Sure, height could help, but have you met Raven? Anyway, he had been on the wrong end of that particular tone, and Batman had a presence that demanded you answer. Batgirl still needed to work on hers. It could have worked had he not faced it just the night prior.

"We weren't looking for this place," he began.

"You found it by accident?" Spoiler exclaimed, and she needed to hide the surprise because her eyes gave it away.

"Not necessarily," Red Robin corrected, keeping his gaze on Batgirl. "We were looking for specific locations, ones that by all reason should be empty or abandoned but were having a large increase of electrical usage to it. Shutdown factories, empty warehouses, novelty stores, and other locations geared to specific activities, like ice rinks. This location came up and we decided to investigate. We had no idea we'd find you."

If there was one thing Batgirl had down pat, then it was that you could not read her. Sure, maybe it had to do with the black material that covered both eyes and mouth regions, but it was more than that. Her body language was giving nothing away. Who knew what she was thinking.

More to say anything, "You're tapped into the electrical grid. You probably have emergency generators, but primarily, you're using the same electricity everyone else is. We still have some other locations to check so we won't be taking up too much of your time."

There. That felt professional enough. Keep it together, Drake.

To distract himself, he tuned in to overhear a different sort of conversation, one that in hindsight should have been expected. It happened to be between a certain pair of Batman fanboys who seemed to be a bit too interested in the briefing.

"You know, once you get past the whole not having a face thing, she kinda makes you think of the Bat. It's gotta be the ears," Beast Boy whispered to Cyborg.

"I think that might be the concussion talking."

"You think?"

"Girl's fast, I'll give you that."

"She did toss your metal butt around."

"We are not going to talk about that."

Mind numbing, but alright. Well, maybe too mind numbing because Spoiler had left his side and ventured over to the large computer. He knew that because Batgirl was walking very quickly after her. Curious. Maybe someone was protective about the equipment here.

Spoiler hadn't bothered to take the chair in front of the large processing machine, but she was typing on the keyboard rapidly. On the large monitor, a window opened up and was soon filled with a growing list. Curious, Red Robin made his way over, Wonder Girl following behind him.

"Okay, this should be all the abandoned places in Gotham," the hood-wearing vigilante said. "You can compare it to the places you're still looking into, maybe cut down every place you have to check." Pausing, Spoiler then glanced to Batgirl who was practically hovering next to her. "I thought we already had the conversation on personal space."

"You mind if Cyborg links in?" Red Robin asked. Cyborg had a strong processing power of his own; combine that with what was in this computer, they should have a few names in short order.

However, Batgirl's quick, "Yes," stopped him short. Now he found himself looking at the second person to don that title and he let his own expression ask the question he wanted to.

"Hey, I'm not going to break it if that's what you're worried about," Cyborg said aloud, moving towards them.

"There is sensitive information," was all Batgirl would say. Her gaze did not leave Spoiler.

"Then email it to me. Give it a strong encryption. I can take it from there," Cyborg offered, shrugging his shoulders. "Unless you want to print it all out. You do have a printer, right?"

Maybe it was because he was watching closely, but he could have sworn Batgirl's jaw tightened. She didn't want them in the computer; that was fine, fears of a breach or compromising the system were valid. However, she wasn't giving any other alternative. An encrypted email should work.

However, before there was an answer, an alert blared from the computer and several windows opened up. Immediately, the rest of the team gathered around, conditioned to respond to any kind of alert. None were speaking, and that may have been due to the images in each of the windows displayed.

Red Robin certainly found himself on edge. If he wasn't mistaken, those people looked like clowns. And they had been warned not to get involved. Damn it. This was horrible timing.

"What is this, a parade?" Bluebird demanded.

"The League of Smiles is moving," Batgirl declared, turning on her heel and stalking through the mess of teens.