Death From Above

With one hand on the steering wheel and the other arm propped against the side of the car door, Gordon drove down the street with minimal traffic. This late traffic tended to be very light, so what could take up to an hour at times could be done in about fifteen minutes, give or take.

Each minute spent was a minute that the former commissioner pondered on what Bullock had told him. Dick. Dick. There was something about that name that was ringing a bell in his head, but he couldn't quite place it. Did Barbara know a Dick? He could have sworn so, but…but…it just wasn't clicking yet.

Still it was with a Detective Dick Grayson that his daughter had left the precinct, and based on what he had learned, the two of them seemed to know each other. Barbara knew better than to leave with an unfamiliar face, no matter how new or unsuspecting. He had taught her to vet first and foremost. She trusted this Grayson, and the only way she would be able to do that was if she had known him for a significant amount of time.

A couple years ago, there had been a young man that he had seen around her apartment. They had crossed paths, one of them leaving and the other arriving, but recalling the name was bugging him.

A thunderous boom stopped his thoughts in their tracks, and his foot hit the brakes instinctively. What the hell had that been? Was it an explosion? If so, where? Near Barbara's place?

Through the windshield, he managed to see how the sky became black, or blacker. More a solid color now. There was something about that that wasn't right. Not at all. Was this it? Was this the storm everybody had been anticipating? A literal storm hadn't crossed his mind, so excuse him for being surprised by that.

Gordon's hand gripped the steering wheel tightly as a loud, piercing roar shook him to the bone. That…that was not normal. That was…that was as if his very soul had been struck. What was going on?

Seconds ticked by so slowly, and he could count them with his heartbeats. Every pounding thud felt like it echoed in his ears. The knuckles of his hand gripping the steering wheel were turning white. Right. Right, let's get out of here. Now.

Something landed on the street yards ahead of him. Gordon could make out the monstrous features of it, and he realized that what happened last night was happening again. Then there was a second monster that landed on top of a light pole, crumpling the metal and causing the pole itself to bend. A third landed beside his car, and the time to stick around was over.

From the brake to the accelerator, the former commissioner and now extremely worried father put on the gas and made his break for it, tires squealing against the friction resisting it. The humming of the car engine grew louder and louder, the tachometer indicating he was between 4 and 5 RPMs and getting higher.

He managed to drive around the first monster that began to turn to him, his vehicle passing like a blur. Now the elder Gordon felt his heart hammering in his chest, but once the adrenaline wore off, that would be going down…

Wishful thinking. Up ahead, more of the creatures were descending onto the city from what he suspected was the now black sky. Checking his rearview mirror for a second, he scowled as he found himself being chased and of course more of the creatures crash landing further down the street.

Perhaps it was too soon to be incredulous about the metaphorical storm. The literal one was here and it was raining death from above.


Five heads were tilted back, all wide eyed, and staring up at the nightmarish shape that now blanketed the sky. No words were said because what could anyone say to this?

"That's not a good sign, is it?" Beast Boy asked, voice cracking.

No. No it was not. Of course their bad luck had to continue. It had to get worse before it got better. It happened every time. Yet this was the situation and there was no choice but to respond to it.

Red Robin clenched his fists tightly, recalling the words that Batman had told him about leadership. It felt like this was one of those moments where no decision was the right one, yet a decision still needed to be made.

Raven was exploding like the ticking timebomb she had become, and here was the explosion. How do you even fight something that big? And…oh no. Oh no. He could see them falling from those expansive wings. It was more constructs, a virtual army being produced from a nightmare factory. Those creatures were going to wreak havoc all over Gotham and with nothing to stop them.

No one but them, Batman, and the rest of his Gotham allies. He felt so underprepared for this. This…this felt like a call to the Justice League was needed.

A hand gripped his shoulder, and Red Robin turned to look at Wonder Girl who said nothing. Intense blue eyes stared him down, allowing him to focus and calm his breathing. Okay. Okay. This was their mess. They had arrived too late to stop H.I.V.E. from selling their teammate, their friend, they had failed to find her in time, and here were the consequences of their failures.

They needed to clean up this mess.

"Everyone knows how to fight these things," he stated loudly, drawing the attention of the others. "No one hold back. Priority is to save as many people as we can. If anyone can come up with an idea to stop that construct in the sky, I'm all ears. Until then, this is going to be the biggest fight of our lives. It might even be worse than the Kalanorians. If anyone has any problems with getting in there, now's the time to speak up."

Initially, he got no answers. The masked teen definitely picked up on the uncertainty that the others' body language gave away.

This wasn't like fighting Blackfire's invasion with the World Engine. They had backup then. Taking on Thanagar wasn't the same as this. No, the reminder of fighting the invading Kalanorians who had returned for round two was closer to describing this situation than anything else. Back then, they had Raven with them. Terra had been at their side too. Right now, it was the six of them, Starfire off with Nightwing, which again cut their numbers down.

"We always knew there was going to be a fight waiting for us, right?" Cyborg spoke up, his gaze on the tormented city. "This is just the kind of fight it's going to be. No sense in whining and complaining; we got a job to do, right?" A titanium hand clasped onto the other and mimed cracking knuckles. "Gotham may not know how to call on us, but we're here when there's trouble anyway."

Kid Flash rolled an arm, prepping his muscles. "Cyborg's right. I don't think anyone asked for this but here we are. So let's show everyone what we Titans can do, right?"

"Maybe if we can find Raven, we can get her to stop all this. It's what happened last time," Beast Boy pointed out. The shapeshifter had been conscious at the time so of course he would be able to point that out.

"If we had a way to figure out where she was," Wonder Girl said as she pulled out her lasso. The magical rope was a violent red, and her armor responded by covering practically every inch of her. It was just like back in the Tower. "Let's knock as many heads together as we can and worry about the rest later." There was a metallic quality to her voice thanks to the golden helm that covered her entire face.

Nearby booms gave away that a couple constructs had landed on top of the parking garage they had been using as their homebase. With no other cars around, it was the pavement that suffered their weight, and the Titans who would suffer their wrath soon enough.

There was no more time for morale boosts anymore. It was time for fight or flight, and the Teen Titans were always quick to pick fights first.

Straightening his shoulders, Red Robin glared defiantly at the constructs. Yes, this was one of their problems, one that had managed to reach his old stomping grounds, but none of that truly mattered. These monsters born from Raven's fear did not care about any of that and would only act to destroy anything and everything in their path. There was only one thing to say to that.

"Take them down quick and hard!" he bellowed. "Titans, go!"

A yellow blur followed by a thick, blue-white beam raced past him. The beam detonated on the nearest construct first, a violent explosion erupting about the creature. Meanwhile, a yellow blur ran literal circles around the second construct, the speedster running fast enough that he began forming a small whirlwind around his monster.

Air began to pull towards the small vortex, but it also began pulling air away from the construct caught inside of it. Acting much a like a vacuum, the effects of the sudden withdrawal of air began causing the beast to swell and expand, bulging unnaturally until—

"Dude, that is so gross," Beast Boy muttered.

Didn't know one of those constructs could splatter like that, but good to know.

Appearing nearby, Kid Flash bragged, "Totally meant to do that!"

Wonder Girl rose up into the air, her body spinning as a fist decked a descending construct, the creature's body not up to withstanding the force of the blow as it began to crumble and fall away from the gathered team.

Quickly turning back to the streets below, Red Robin gazed through narrowed eyes at the chaos below, more than one birdarang in hand. Without a second thought, he leapt off of the garage and activated the electric current to harden his cape and go into a glide.

Below, the host of monsters continued their rampage, attacking anything and everything in their sights. With a green eagle keeping pace with him, Red Robin angled himself down and led the attack, throwing his first of many birdarangs.


Ever get the feeling that no matter how prepared you were, it was never enough?

No? Well, it was a thing, Black Canary could assure you.

The reason for that was the giant, black crow that seemed to rise up out of the city, let out a loud shriek, and then literal monsters came falling from the sky.

If this city could get more weird…

"Get ready!" the blonde vigilante barked as she saw a swarm of monsters heading for her and the Bird's way.

"Way ahead of ya!" Manhunter shouted as she pointed her staff up into the air. The end of it was already glowing with energy. "No one hold back!" she added before she began firing burst after burst of energy beams.

The short yellow beams raced up into the air. One struck a bird-like monster, ripping right through it, causing it to fall apart and disappear into a burst of smoke. A second one with bat-like wings was hit next, suffering the same fate.

The next couple of beams missed their targets as the falling monsters began to take evasive maneuvers. Black Canary didn't bother to see if the beams even hit anything as the first wave finally reached them. Katana leapt into action, slashing her sword from side to side. In a matter of seconds, she cut down two, make that three, no, four monsters. They weren't all that big, perhaps the size of a large dog, but up close, they were pure nightmare fuel.

For one, there was a rather fat monster closing in on Canary. Tiny wings that grew out of its back were working overtime to keep it airborne, but those were the least of her concerns. The flat face with a gaping mouth of rotating teeth was what had her attention, a mouth that was closing in on her.

All of the Birds had protective ear buds on, so she wasn't going to hold back. Sucking in her breath, she then let out a Canary Cry, the very air vibrating from the sound. The attack struck the little monster, blowing it backwards and into a couple of its friends, sending them all crashing to the ground. Katana darted by then, using one slash to cut them all down.

The hairs on the back of Canary's neck rose then. Immediately, she reacted, leaping up as she immediately kicked a leg back. She turned her head enough to see her foot collide against the side of another monster, knocking it away. It had tried to creep up on her from the looks of it.

That same monster was then struck by the end of a bo staff, Huntress whacking it with all of her might. A slight grimace appeared on the blonde woman's face. It was pretty clear only two of them were going to be of any use here, the other two woefully under-equipped for such a thing.

And more monsters came raining down on them.


The monitors, no matter what camera they switched to, all showed the same thing. Monsters in all shapes and sizes and colors and every single of them was on the warpath. People unlucky enough to find themselves caught with their proverbial pants down were running for their lives while being chased down. Others were holing up and firing off their guns to try and protect themselves. The GCPD was going out in a desperate attempt to stem the tide and protect the city.

Did they have enough firepower? Somehow, Oracle doubted it. Speaking of, what about those who were better prepared and had the kind of firepower that was needed? Well, one image had Red Robin and his Teen Titans cleaving a path of destruction. Cyborg was firing off blasts of energy, so that was a hopeful sign. There was Wonder Girl taking on all comers with a combination of her fists and her magical lasso that flared red. And—hold on, was she seeing things? That looked like a dinosaur. That was a dinosaur. Beast Boy.

Periodically there would be a flash of something—oh, now she understood the name. That's why he was called the Flash. Anyway, this flash was much younger, so Kid Flash. It was hard to keep track of what the kid was doing, but Red Robin was hopefully providing some direction. Wait a second, wasn't there one missing? Where could that one be?

Meanwhile, on another screen, she finally caught sight of the Birds. They were doing their best, no doubt. Manhunter was using that staff of hers in ways Oracle had never seen before. Katana sliced and diced, the speed of her blade rivaling the Titan's speedster. One monitor literally caught a disruption moving through the air, a Canary Cry digging a trench through the monstrous ranks. Huntress was somewhere in that vicinity but not in view of a camera.

Right there, there was Nightwing, moving freely as he always did. It had been a long time since she had last seen him in action, the nostalgia was real. He wasn't alone, though. Green bolts blasted about and there was the missing Teen Titan, Starfire, fighting side by side with her former teammate. Her gaze lingered on the image for a second too long, then moved on to other monitors.

No sign of the Batclan…oh, the Batclan. For a second, she felt her heart clench. There may be some pent up resentment, but she didn't want anything bad happening to them regardless. Were they prepared for this kind of thing? This was like taking the Manbats up to an extreme level of difficulty here. What could Spoiler do? Was Bluebird's rifle powerful enough to affect one of those beasts? Did any martial arts moves that…Batgirl knew have any effect? Wasn't there a boy too? Batman's Son? What could he offer?

Were they out there right now?

And where was Batman? She didn't see any sign of him on any monitor. Hell, there was no use using satellite imagery—and she had tried—but all that could be seen from a top down view was a black blob.

Then there were the voices. No, not voices inside of her head. From the speakers. The voices of the Birds filtered in, quick check-ins, calls for help, and confirmations that they were on their way. It didn't take much to tap into the Titan's line and to hear just about the same. Red Robin's voice was the most prominent, and it was nice to hear it without there being a request for more toys and gadgets.

However, the enormity of the situation was really weighing her down. Everyone that she could find were doing their best, fighting as hard as they could, but…

"Are you there Oracle?" Huntress, that was Huntress calling her.

"I'm here, Huntress," she responded quickly though she felt almost robotic doing it so.

"We got it bad down here. Is this a hotspot or something? Anything else heading our—shit!"

In one monitor, a monster reared back, an arrow stabbing into an eye. Large hands with freakishly long fingers flung about, hitting a park car up onto the curb.

"Is there an end to these damn things?" You could hear the frustration already.

The hacker got to work, looking for another vantage point, one that had a better view of the sky, but that was easier said than done. Most cameras were focused on the ground, where the humans were. Still, there was one other source…

It might be an end of the world scenario, but you could bet there was some idiot trying to record it all. And…there was. Hacking into the smartphone was a piece of cake for her skills, and now she had…

"There's more coming down. The big one in the sky is making them," she reported.

Enough time for some swears passed before she got another request. "Can you let us know where the hot spots are? We can at least limit the damage there."

Hotspots, hotspots… Was she freaking kidding?

"Oracle? What's the word? Where do we need to go?"

There was only one conclusion that could be made from all of this. For a moment, Oracle's fingers stilled on a keyboard, her eyes trapped on all the monitors, seeing variations of the same damn thing, and nothing that would indicate a possible source for hope.

"Everywhere," she rasped out.

"Excuse me?"

Swallowing, "The hotspot is everywhere. The whole city, every place. They're everywhere."


The hum of the engine wasn't as comforting as it normally was. It grew louder as the accelerator was pushed down, but eventually it couldn't speed the dark car any more than it was already going.

The surrounding area was a blur as it raced by the windows. The road further up ahead initially began a slow creep before rushing right up to the windshield. Batman maintained control the entire time, leaving Arkham in his wake, the lights of Gotham showing exactly where he wanted to go.

In the passenger seat was Batgirl, still zonked out on the sedative. Because her mask had been damaged, he was able to see her eyes, closed as they were. They were squeezed tight though, the occasional whimper coming from her. She was deep in the throes of the fear toxin, the only thing keeping her pacified being the sedative. Otherwise, she would be attacking anything and everything.

Batman had given her another after he carried her out of Crane's lair and into the car. He wanted to ensure a few hours of her resting, which would give her body time to filter out the fear toxin. A small dose of the antidote had been given as well, but it was taking some time to really kick in.

If it weren't for his gloves being on, his knuckles would have been white based on how tightly he was gripping the wheel. Scarecrow had crossed a line when he dosed his daughter. For that, he would make certain the former university professor saw nightmares for the foreseeable future after what he'd do to him. No one touched his child. No one.

As he stared up ahead at the city lights, his incensed thoughts were interrupted as something black suddenly rose up above the city skyline. The dark-clad man instinctively took his foot off of the accelerator, though he didn't hit the brake, opting to allow physics to begin slowing the car down. He watched as the inky black darkness rose higher and higher before it began to take shape. A head formed, something long and thin growing out to form…a beak? Yes, a beak. And then it began to stretch out from either side of itself until it was unmistakable that it had grown wings.

Then came its roar, one that he heard loud and clear. He shuddered to think of how it sounded up close.

Worse still, he had no doubt that Scarecrow was involved, meaning that whatever he set out to do with Raven, he had started it, if not accomplished it.

Goddamn it!

Batman snarled as he slammed his foot back down on the accelerator, picking back up the speed he had lost on his previous coasting. That maniac! That deluded fool! He had no idea what forces he was messing with!

And where had he been?

Trying to escape a trap, of course, unable to stop this madness.

It came out of nowhere. He was damn near surprised he had actually done it. One of his hands let go of the steering wheel and made a fist, the bottom side slamming against his window. He had hit the glass so hard, a long crack formed, one end stretching to the bottom of the window and the other reaching out to the forward side. He felt some throbbing in his hand from the blow.

If it weren't for the glass being double-panned, the outer side being bulletproof, the inner designed to absorb crash damage, he was certain he would have broken the window completely. That giant construct, the crow he came to realize, hovered over his city, a banner, a battle cry declaring Gotham was no longer his.

Like hell it wasn't.

No doubt Crane was at its origin point, and that's where he would be heading. There would be a slight detour to put Batgirl somewhere safe, namely a bunker, but that wouldn't delay him for long. Tonight, he was going to put an end to Crane's mechanizations.

Then he would get a dose of true fear.


It felt like he would never be able to pry his hands off the steering wheel again, that's how tightly he was gripping the wheel. Gordon did whatever he could to not decrease his speed, yet that was so much easier said than done.

These monsters just kept coming, falling from the sky, chasing after and later giving up when he got far enough, and then there were the ones standing in the way like the worst driving obstacle course ever made. Some would try to reach out and grab at his vehicle, others seemed oblivious and distracted.

It all made it complicated, more than it needed to be. He had to get to Barbara's, make sure she was okay. Make sure…no, no he couldn't. As much as he wanted to be by her side, the former commissioner couldn't risk leading those things to his daughter. That's what he would be doing if he continued.

The sharp turn he made put him into someone else's headlights. A car horn blared, and Gordon spun the wheel, trying to make all the adjustments he could to avoid a crash. He barely did it, the rear of his car skidding against the headlight of the other car. The trunk of the vehicle swung from side to side as he continued to overcorrect, but eventually he was able to even it out if only for a second.

Then he had to deal with the fact that there were more of those monsters that had been chasing after the car he almost hit. Everything seemed to slow down, every heartbeat was an eternity, and his mind went blank.

His foot pressed down on the accelerator. The engine roared, the car raced ahead, and his grip on the steering wheel increased. The tail of one monster was struck by the front of the car, then what looked like a wing cracked the windshield, a leg was struck next, and then he was spinning out of control.

Foot to the brake, but it wasn't doing anything. That left the wheel itself, but what good that would do. The world spun around him, and then miraculously came to a stop. Breathing deeply, Gordon stared straight ahead, eyes wide.

Then he stepped on the accelerator once more, taking the first turn he could.

Down this street, one that had less nightmares roaming it. It was easier to try and drive around, and he felt he was putting on some distance, then it all came to a halt when one of the monsters landed several feet ahead, several feet that were being driven over too quickly.

The car rammed into the monster and the back kept moving forward. Another spin, but this time he was not in control and coming to a stop happened sooner. So did the airbag to his face, pushing him back into his seat. Glasses were askew as the bag deflated, and it felt like something was burning in the air. He gave a cough, then shoved open the driver's side door.

Clean air, it felt so cool to the face. Gordon gasped loudly, stepping onto wobbly feet. He balanced himself with the car, then took stock of his situation. There were many eyes zeroed in on him, so many of different sizes and shapes and colors and this was not a good thing. Yes, yes he was armed to the teeth. He had tried to make sure…

For some reason, he felt under-armed. As if all of his preparation was still lacking.

But like hell was he going down quickly.

There was an ugly son of a gun that was approaching, one with glowing red eyes like coals and the snout of a wolf, yet the rest of the body was a shaggy mess. Gordon eyes the beast, watching each step it took while a hand crept closer to the nearest holster. Soon enough it was towering over him, and he took the chance to slip out the pistol and fire two shots, one into each eye. The monster pulled back, yelping while it swung a massive hand.

Down he ducked, but his car didn't fare so well, being struck and thrown away. Off he ran, keeping low as old training and reflexes took over. He could hear—and feel—footsteps to his right, and quickly he fired off a shot where he guessed a head would be. Aimed low because it was a chest the bullet hit, and it didn't slow down this second one, uglier than the last with an unhinged jaw that dangled with sharp teeth dotting the inner lip.

He had to keep moving, find some place to barricade. Out and alone, he was a sitting duck. Breathing was becoming heavier which was not good. Damn, he was tiring faster than he hoped. A combination of age and the accident no doubt.

A hand was coming from his left, and he fired off another shot, blood spurting out from underneath what looked like a fingernail. The hand jerked away as a shriek cried out. No, he was not going to stop and see what abomination had been hoping to snatch him up.

Damn, he wasn't seeing anything. No opening around unless he wanted to try busting down a door or shooting out a window. That last really didn't seem like a good idea as that would just give one of these bastards an easier way into that building. Maintaining the few entrances and exits to a building were necessary. You didn't want to invite any unwanted trouble.

Trouble seemed to like finding him, because the unmistakable sound of gunfire, and a lot of it, had him abruptly diving to the ground, cement pressing into his front. The realization that he had just made himself into a sitting duck horrified him, and he scrambled onto his back, pushing himself back with his legs, and found one of those monsters too close behind him but its body jerking rapidly.

It fell back, much to Gordon's surprise, and then he heard a voice screaming at him. What made this one stand out was that it was a human voice screaming.

"Get off your damn ass and get over here! You want to get yourself killed?!"

Whipping his head about, Gordon soon found the source of the gunfire. Two squad cars, lights flaring in the night, and several cops with heavy artillery on them, all aimed where that monster had been. One of the officers was rapidly waving his arm at the former commissioner.

Wow, so the police could be there when you needed them. Never mind there, there was some safety—if you could call it that—right now.

Not wanting to look this gift horse in the mouth, he scrambled onto his feet and made a mad dash to his rescuers. Of course, there was a tongue lashing when he reached them.

"What do you think you're doing out here? Why haven't you locked yourself somewhere safe?!" an officer demanded, firing off several rounds.

"Too long a story," he huffed out. "Need to keep moving."

"You go. We got a precinct nearby. They should let you in—Commissioner." There had been a pause there, one of the officers finally recognizing him.

Gordon shook his head and held up a hand. "Not anymore. Hope you don't mind, I'm sticking around." At this, he held up his pistol, never once had it left his hand. "Everyone needs help, and when the gates of hell open up, that's when we get to work. That's the Gotham way."

"You're not suicidal, are you?" the officer demanded.

"No, just one that loves his city too much. We take this city back one block at a time if we have to, but no one here is going to let these things tear our home apart, are we?" Gordon kept his gaze on the uniformed man, a tone of authority taking over his voice. What was he doing? He wasn't in the line of duty anymore…but sometimes old habits died hard, didn't they?

A few of the officers glanced at him, but their shoulders straightened nonetheless. One of them roared out, "You heard the man! Clear these fucking things out!"

A few of the monsters were stomping their way towards them, but the hail of gunfire brought them up short.

"Eyes! Mouths! Throats! Vital points! Remember your training!" Gordon shouted out as he joined in the shooting.


It was happening again.

From the sky, those monsters fell, landing hard on the street or on top of buildings, leaving cement and pavement cracked. Others came swooping in on devil wings, screeching and cawing as they attacked anything and everything they found. Mailboxes, streetlamps, traffic lights, even cars—even when moving—they attacked with claws, talons, and fangs.

"It just keeps getting worse," Stephanie said softly as she stared at the sight.

Which meant that Batgirl's solo excursion had failed. They were still in the dark about why she had left them behind, but Harper was willing to bet it had to do with some lead on this monster crisis. Seeing as it was literally raining monsters, it was safe to say things hadn't gone well.

It also left them with a distinct lack of leadership.

Harper was a fighter, a leader not so much. Yeah, when she first built her taser rifle and put on a mask, she aspired to be the one, the one person everyone looked up to in a crisis. Basically, Batman, just with different toys. After experiencing everything she had, she knew she was more cut out for grunt work, if not a specialist. And you know what, she was fine with that. She was still contributing, making a difference, even if she wasn't the one making the calls.

She had accepted Nightwing as her boss once. She bent the literal knee when Batman took over the Network. Admittingly, she chafed under Cassandra's demanding leadership, but she eventually grew to accept it. She worked better when there was a strong voice, one telling her where she needed to go and what to do.

Not a lot of people with great aspirations were willing to step down that way. That made for bad team players.

"I…I don't think we can fight this," Stephanie eventually said. "We are so under-equipped and under-manned."

"Those are the words of a weakling," Damian sniffed.

Harper turned her head and gave the boy a glare. "Hey, unless you have some Bat-monster repellent spray on you, you're about as useful as a hemorrhoid. We've fought these things and they aren't easy. We have to be realistic about this."

"So what, we should quit before we even try?" he countered snidely. "You may want to lay down and roll over, but I'm going to fight. I rather die fighting than go out whimpering."

"Oh, I'm pretty certain you'll be doing more of that dying part."

"Aren't you grounded anyways?" Stephanie pointed out. "I'm pretty certain your dad isn't going to like you running around the city."

That's right! Mr. Son of Batman had misbehaved and was relegated to his room instead of joining the fight with him, wherever the Bat was. No way would Batman be pleased if Damian disobeyed him.

The scowl that seemed permanently attached to his face twisted into some combination of a glare and grimace. But then he seemed to find his resolve as he stood up a little straighter. "What my father doesn't know won't hurt me."

Harper and Stephanie shared a look with each other. This kid's dad was literally called the World's Greatest Detective. Of course he was going to find out about Damian's latest act of defiance, that was a given. The question was what sort of blowback would come the way for helping him out.

Perhaps if they spun it around to say they were making certain he didn't get hurt doing something foolish…

What the hell was she saying? Of course that's what they were doing! Damian was being a knucklehead and they made certain he didn't get in over his head, which he was on principle. "Alright, S.O.B.," Harper said as she began to pull on her mask, "you want to lead the charge, then lead. First, just tell us how you intend on killing these things and it better be a good one."