"Cassie!"
Damian had to muscle Darren away from the railing—a task his enhanced strength made near impossible. "We can't help her! You touch that water, you'll die!"
Darren's head snapped to him. "What do we do?!"
He grabbed Darren's shoulders. "She's handled such matters before. She'll be fine. We need to make this count, get the others out of here."
Darren glanced at the water.
"Stay focused! You heard that thing; if it comes back and finds us here, we're all dead."
Darren closed his eyes and took deep breaths, slowly calming himself. "Okay…okay." He nodded rapidly. "Let's go."
…
"I can still feel them crawling on me!"
Lindsey shot Frazier a look. "I can tase you again if that helps."
He paled and shut up.
They'd managed to corral the rest of the group and keep them from doing too much damage to themselves or each other, but everyone was shaken. Jason was busy near a circular grate too small for anyone to crawl through, but just large enough to serve as ventilation—and maybe get a signal out.
"Jason!"
Damian's alarm immediately grabbed his attention. "What's wrong?"
"Wonder Girl got grabbed by Caephus and dragged into the water—apparently he's an electric eel."
Jason felt a chill pass over him. "In a sewer?"
"I know. There's nothing we can do for her right now. Darren and I are still looking for a way topside. Have you been able to contact Father?"
Jason grimaced. "Not yet, but—"
Sure enough, his earpiece whined with a new signal.
"Dad—Dad, can you hear me!"
Static persisted another second or two.
"Barely," Bruce shouted. "Where are you?"
"Shady Cove Water Treatment! The ground opened up and we got split up in some kind of sewer system."
"Where's your brother?"
"With the other half of the group. Dad, that fear toxin—someone deployed it in the pipes and my group got hit. Tell EMS to bring the antidote—a lot of it."
"Understood. I'm sending Cass with as much as she can carry. Same for me. Just stay put."
Jason glanced at the others to see if they were listening. They all seemed too busy with their hallucinations. "We may not have that option. Caephus snatched Wonder Girl and took her underwater, and we haven't seen Troia since he hit her on the bus."
"What happened to the bus?"
His jaw tightened. "Dechamps. He crashed it. If he's down here too—"
A faint hiss echoed off the walls. Jason immediately snapped to attention, looking for any more signs of gas. Lindsey put the rebreather back on. Nothing. But then, what was—
Dechamps has a snake head for a tail.
Jason's voice lowered to a whisper. "Dad…I think he's close."
"Damn it—get them up and moving! We're five minutes out!"
The call clicked off, and Jason dashed to the others as silently as he could. "We gotta move," he whispered to Lindsey. "Start getting them up."
Lindsey shivered and nodded, glancing down the empty tunnel. She and Jason had given their coats to the two girls who'd been running around "naked" thanks to the fear gas. For now, it seemed to have alleviated their worst symptoms. Willa was still dazed from the headbutt he'd given her, but the mild concussion seemed to have jarred her brain enough to at least blunt the effects of the toxin.
"Up, up, up," Jason whispered, pulling arms and shoulders and glancing in every direction.
That hissing steadily increased in volume. Jason put a finger to his lips and motioned the group to follow. They were just coherent enough to comply, somewhat. The group was still moving glacially slow. Just as Jason's heart was about ready to leap into his chest, a hand snapped out and pulled him around a corner. His fist was halfway cocked before he saw the silver stars against black. Donna's other arm waved the others into the alcove. They followed her lead a little less reluctantly than they did Jason's.
"He's close," she whispered. "The sewer might confuse his senses somewhat, but if he gains on us anymore, it won't matter. We need to move quickly and quietly." It was when Frazier started whimpering again that she noticed the state of the group. "What happened?"
"Fear toxin," Jason said gravely. "Short exposure, but they're still grappling with the effects."
She fixed her gaze on his. "You?"
He nodded in reassurance. "Antidote. Dad made sure I had some when he heard about the theft."
Donna sighed in relief. "All right. There's a path out of this place. I need you to lead them to the exit. I'll be the rearguard."
"Sure," he said.
She explained the pattern of passages as quickly and quietly as she could, then had the group of infected kids gather close together while she prepared her lasso.
"You think it'll work?" Jason asked.
"To cure them? No. But it should allow them to overcome their fear enough to stay alert." She whipped the silver cable around them, her focus making it glow faintly. "You will follow Jason to the surface. Look after each other and do not let anything stop you."
The terrified fog over their eyes sharpened suddenly, pupils dilating and narrowing haphazardly as the Lasso's effects took hold.
"Will it last after you take it off?" Lindsey asked.
"For a time, yes. My presence should help maintain the enchantment."
Donna whipped the cable back to her hip and waved them out into the tunnel. Jason hurried for the exit with the rest of the group hot on his heels. They made it a whole two minutes before the snake hiss was no longer audible. Then a PA speaker they hadn't noticed whined to life with an unfamiliar voice.
"Did you really think it'd be that easy?"
Jason's instincts flared wildly. He snapped to the left a split-second before the entire wall shattered as Dechamps' lion paws crashed through. He'd shrunk down from his form on the road, but that decrease in size had in no way weakened his power. Within moments, Jason was buried under a shower of concrete and rebar.
Lindsey screamed his name, rushing to the pile of rubble.
"Lin!" he shouted desperately. "I'm okay, just pinned! Get the others out!"
Jason could just see her through the gap in the rubble, already trying to clear it away.
"Dammit, there's no time! I'll be fine! Go!"
Her eyes flashed with wild terror as Donna and Dechamps' struggle shook the tunnel.
Jason's voice surged with fury. "Go!"
With a clenched jaw, Lindsey leapt to her feet and started sprinting with the others. Jason gave them a good twenty seconds to get out of sight before all the anger and frustration he'd kept in check surged to the surface. With a roar of pure rage, he shattered the rubble and flew at Dechamps full-speed.
The snake-head whipped toward him and spewed a stream of acid. He twirled around it, sword springing to full length as he slashed at its neck. The snake was lightning-fast for something so large, easily avoiding even the tip of his blade. It curled around his back and snapped at him. At this size, it was easily large enough to swallow his head whole, along with most of his torso. Jason shot straight down and kicked off the floor while it was recovering from the lunge, leaving a crater in the concrete. His stab missed the snake's soft palate under the chin—barely.
Exactly what he was counting on.
The rising kick that followed sent the snake-head crashing into the ceiling with a shriek. The goat-head's bleating drew his attention to a ring of magic runes forming around its horns. With the snake disabled for the moment, he flew toward the array and slashed through it unopposed, disrupting the cast. The lion head growled from where it was clamping down on Donna's staff, bucking hard enough to force her to kneel. With gravity on his side, Dechamps kicked his hindlegs off the ceiling and smashed her into the ground.
Jason lunged for his flank, trying to limit his mobility. Faster than anything that big had any right to be, he whirled around, forepaw swiping him into a wall. Another blow came in on the heels of the last. Jason braced his arms against it, feeling his bones creak at the sheer blunt force. He was sorely missing his armor—so far he'd been lucky Dechamps hadn't hit him at an angle where the claws would be a concern. That was about to change.
The chimera had forced him into a corner by cratering him in a wall. With no time to rip himself loose, Jason braced his sword-hilt against the wall at the last second and aimed the blade right for the incoming palm. Dechamps' roar of pain shook the whole tunnel as he recoiled, pulling Jason with him. Jason grinned ferally and twisted the blade as he ripped it loose, doing even more damage in a twist-flip that landed him right next to the goat-head. Mid-swing, Jason recoiled when the goat lashed its head and deflected his blade with its horns.
A feral hiss came at his back, and he leapt straight up, landing feet-first on the ceiling and springing off toward the lunging snake-head. From below, he saw Donna tackle the lion with the flat of her staff. She braced each end against the first joint of its digitigrade forelegs, preventing Dechamps from gaining any striking leverage. It also had the fortunate effect of throwing him off-balance. The snake's aim was just off enough that it made Jason's counterattack easier.
He twirled around its lunging fangs with a roundhouse kick to the neck, then dragged his sword along the length of the tail, all the way to the base. While the snake shrieked in pain, Jason rolled on impact with Dechamps' back, running for the goat-head while digging his blade into the chimera's body. Dechamps roared and thrashed uselessly as Jason leapt for a downward stab into the goat's throat. It brought its horns down once again, shunting his blade to the side, but he wrapped his offhand around one such horn and held on tight.
Jason's sword was flipped to an icepick grip and stabbed at the goat's eyes repeatedly without landing a hit. It kept thrashing and banging against the chimera's back, trying to shake him off. Donna delivered a powerful combo of blunt strikes to the lion's left forepaw, forcing the limb to collapse. The wounded snake spewed more acid at Jason, forcing him to finally let go. It seemed the acid had no effect on other parts of the chimera.
He landed next to Donna, who was sent skidding back by a powerful paw strike against her staff.
"Think the others need more time?" Jason asked.
"More time?" Donna replied. "I aim to finish this here and now."
Jason grinned. "Was hoping you'd say that."
They exchanged a look, then rushed Dechamps on either side.
…
The moment Batman reached the entrance closest to Jason's last ping, he saw a stream of twenty or so kids in various states of mania. Immediately, he leapt off the bike and opened a panel on the side with a dozen or so vials of antidote. The roar of Black Bat's approach drew his attention. She too leapt for the group, injector at the ready. The redhead at the front of the group waved them off.
"No, no! I'm good! Get them!"
Batman nodded to Lindsey and continued inoculating the group from right to left while Black handled the reverse. His eyes scanned over the crowd, heart leaping into his throat when he didn't see Jason.
"Where's Wayne?" he shouted. "We intercepted his SOS."
Lindsey's eyes darted wide open. "He's still down there! They pinned him under some—"
Batman didn't wait for her to finish, just kept four vials for himself and handed the rest to Black before sprinting into the darkness. It didn't take him long to zero in on the fight, given how much of a ruckus they were causing. He dashed to the side to avoid flying rubble, rolling behind a large connecting pipe for cover. Donna and Jason were tangling with something straight out of mythology. He'd only gotten a brief glimpse at Dechamps' beast form last time, but this was something else.
The speed, the power—this was not a battle he could fight.
Jason evidently agreed. "Dad, we got this! Find Damian!"
He nodded. "Your sister's right behind me!"
Jason nodded and leapt back at the snake-head, parrying its fangs with his sword and yelping at the faint spray of poison that issued from them. Batman's jaw clenched as he ran into the tunnels following the last ping from Damian's panic button. He would be fine. Besides Diana and Artemis, Donna was one of the greatest fighters Themyscira ever produced. Batman growled and ran faster.
…
Amid the sizzling agony of being boiled alive, Cassie had one persistent thought: get this bastard away from the kids. So she did, plunging through the water channels like a riptide while trying not to lose focus amid the ever-present needle-like pain all over her body. Once or twice, she tried to fly out of the water only for the eel to drag her back down and redouble his efforts. Still, for all his fury, his command of Keravnós was nothing compared to Lycus'. Thus, it was with one final effort that she crashed them through a flow gate, arced into the air, and slammed Caephus against the concrete floor of a walkway, finally able to take a breath.
Cassie wheezed and coughed out foul water, keeping an eye on the eel currently wriggling its way from the crater. He hissed, veins and teeth crackling with electricity as he bared them. Clearly, her lasso would be useful as a lightning rod and restraint—and nothing else. It reminded her of how frustrating it had been fighting Lycus, given he could do the same absorbing trick with Keravnós. Speaking of, where was Caephus keeping the dagger in that form?
She didn't have much time to ponder it. The eel lunged at her once again. She was ready this time. Wonder Girl wound the Lasso of Lightning around her left forearm like an extra sheath of armor and felt his fangs close around it. She slammed her forearm and his head into the ground, then the wall, pummeling him against one surface or another to no effect. He just wouldn't let go. But what was the point? He'd never bite through her—
Wait—the tail.
Cassie slapped Caephus' electrified tail away with her other Bracelet of Submission, then pinned his head to the ground and slammed her fist into his body where an eel's stomach should be. Within seconds, the creature let go and morphed back into his human form, gasping and snarling at her. She stalked up to him, ready to punt his ass through the nearest wall. Then she gave him a once-over and realized what wasn't on him.
Cassie whirled around, crossing her forearms as Keravnós bounced off her gauntlets. The dagger flew across the tunnel, zigzagging randomly and flying at her fast as lightning. It took her a moment to realize it was leaving behind little traces of energy at each pivot point. Her eyes widened.
A cage!
She lunged for Caephus before the dagger could complete the array, slamming him against a wall hard enough to make a crater. Before she could really lay it on, he morphed back into his eel form and slipped from her grip, wrapping around her legs and slithering away fast enough to pull her off her feet. Cassie dug her fingers into the ground as he dragged her through the tunnel, carving divots into the concrete. Keravnós was still in the air and flying toward her.
Then she felt a rumble echo through the walls to her left and smiled.
Cassie scrunched her body into a ball, grabbing Caephus firmly, then promptly flew them both through a series of nearby grates separating them from an adjacent tunnel. When the chimera came into view, Cassie spun like a top and wriggled her legs, just managing to loosen Caephus' grip enough to throw him into his partner. Without even missing a step, the eel curled around Dechamps' snake-tail, lining their heads up side by side as they both fixed on Cassie. As one, acid and lightning streaked toward her from opposite angles, forcing her into a very narrow space to avoid them.
That narrow space became a vacuum that rapidly sucked the air from her lungs when the goat-head cast a spell. That is, until Donna punched it in the face. Cassie hadn't even seen the other two until the glint of Jason's sword drew her eye. He was busy handling the lion's claws while trying not to get his head chomped off. Cassie coughed and wheezed, trying to recover her breath while the other two kept fighting.
Jason pushed the flat of his blade against both paws, throwing Dechamps off. Unfortunately, that turned the chimera in her direction. Seeing her prone, Dechamps immediately lunged for her. His claws stopped inches from her face when Donna yanked his tail and pulled with everything she had. Caephus unwound from around the snake and entrapped Donna, attempting to bite her head off. She managed to free an arm and punched him in the jaw repeatedly with each lunge.
With a cough and dusting of her pants, Cassie finally caught her breath and leapt to join the others.
…
It was as the walls shook once again that Damian finally got something other than static and frantic clips of Jason fighting.
"Damian, can you hear me? Damian—"
"Father," he said softly, trying not to alert the others. "Are you close?"
"I think so. I'm getting sporadic signals from your watch. The schematics for this place show a junction about two-hundred meters ahead of you. Let's link up there."
"Got it," Damian said with a relieved smile.
Gail glanced his way. "What was that about?"
He thought for a second. "My father. He managed to get through to my earpiece. Help is close by. We just need to keep moving to a nearby junction. This way."
As the walls periodically shook, Damian led them to the meeting point while making sure nobody wandered off. The junction was a hub of sorts, with passages leading up and down and all around. If Damian had to guess, they were right under that complex they'd seen from the street, which meant they weren't far from an exit. Still, with this many cats to herd, he wasn't about to pick a direction at random. A long minute passed waiting for Batman to show before two students started coughing.
Damian immediately snapped toward them to see a thin stream of pale brown smoke filtering in through a vent.
"Everyone get back!" he barked.
But he knew it was only seconds before the whole room would be filled with gas. They needed a way to block off that pipe or—
Three more of the remaining nine started coughing. Adrenaline filled his blood as he scrambled for the best possible solution. He had a rebreather and one dose of antitoxin. One of those had to be his, or he'd be no use to them at all. He had to be able to speak, so antitoxin was his best bet. Which meant he had to reach one of the unaffected with the breather before the gas hit. The moment his eyes landed on Katie's crushed leg, he had his answer.
They couldn't get a look at her internals; no way to know whether blood was circulating properly, but given its worsening color, he doubted it. With the immediate adrenaline dump from the gas, any toxic build-up from the injury would circulate through her system exponentially faster, a problem compounded by hypoxia resulting from panic. She'd be dead in minutes, even without the others getting violent. He shoved the breather between her lips before he could second-guess himself, holding her nose closed until she got the idea.
Damian injected himself with the antidote a split-second before he remembered something important.
Darren was hopped up on ΔV.
His green eyes goggled as they snapped to the boy. Darren was among the closest to the vent and already coughing. On instinct, Damian grabbed the two nearest to him and pulled them away. They were already starting to scream and swat at nothing. Some were cowering against a wall, trying to block out their senses. Darren just stood there for a long time and stared into the distance with tears streaming down his face. Damian pulled someone else away from him when he noticed Darren's eyes start tracking his movements. The moment their eyes met, he knew something was very wrong.
Because all at once, the tears stopped and turned to pure, blind rage.
Darren closed half the distance before Damian could shove the girl in his grasp away. When Damian whirled to face him, Darren's fist was already flying. Damian barely ducked the punch in time, driving his elbow into Darren's gut with both arms. It didn't even move him.
"You won't take her again!" he wailed, swinging wildly.
Damian dove away from his fists only to choke when Darren grabbed his shirt and hurled him back into a brick wall. The impact alone knocked the wind out of him. He barely had enough time to duck before Darren's fist caved in the brick. Damian loosed a barrage of body shots and slipped his follow-up cross, using Darren's overextension to swing around behind him. Damian leapt on his back, getting him in a rear naked choke with both legs wrapped around his torso. Darren groped for him wildly, trying to grab his shirt again.
Damian sharply twisted his arms sideways, putting more pressure on the sides of Darren's neck to cut off blood flow. That lasted all of three seconds before Darren slammed him back-first into the wall. As soon as his arms went limp, Darren grabbed and threw him into another grate. Pain erupted all over his back as he tried to catch his breath. Damian blinked rapidly, forcing himself to move and keep an eye on Darren.
He wasn't advancing on Damian though.
No, he was walking toward the group of hallucinating kids.
"Get away from her!" Darren yelled.
Damian tried to think, tried to remember what he knew about this kid, but came up short. Except Lindsey, he'd never taken enough interest in his classmates to know what they might be seeing—an oversight he would never let himself live down. Damian grimaced and pushed through the pain. He forced himself to stand, reaching into his pocket for something he kept in case of emergencies. Darren reached out for his classmates.
A thick cloud of smoke exploded between them.
From multiple angles, Darren was slammed with body and head shots bearing Damian's full weight. He swung blindly, panicking more with every hit. Damian focused on disabling his movement, directing most of the damage against his shoulders and knees. Without anything particularly sharp on hand, he could only do so much, especially since ΔV would continually regenerate him. But he didn't need to do any permanent damage, just wear him down. According to Adonis' intel, the serum would only last fifteen minutes, and it had already been almost ten since he'd juiced up.
It would take at least ninety seconds for the smoke to clear. He just had to hold out for three more minutes after. Damian nailed him with another kick to the side of the knee. He almost tripped when Darren grabbed his foot before he could retract it. Without missing a beat, Damian leapt and kicked him in the face with his other leg. Between the ΔV and fear toxin, Darren didn't even flinch. He just picked up Damian by the leg and slammed him flat against the wall. The wind was punched out of Damian; he could already feel his ribs on the verge of breaking.
Then the smoke was parted by a dark blur that slammed feet-first into Darren's chest. The impact force sent him stumbling back. It was the sight of Batman that sent him screaming into a locked grate. A grate that was quickly ripped open and used to escape into the tunnels.
Batman blinked and turned to the crowd, opening his belt to prepare more antidote.
"He's on ΔV, you need to stop him!" Damian shouted.
Batman turned to Damian, speaking through the deployable breather over the lower half of his face. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" He grabbed the injector and vials. "I got this, go!"
…
Batman heard his own breath echo through the cowl as he scanned the tunnels for any sign of Darren. It wasn't hard to follow the trail of broken grates, but keeping up with a panicked teenager on ΔV was proving much more difficult.
The tunnels whined and echoed with the sound of a PA system going active.
"Familiar, isn't it?"
Batman stiffened, a chill passing through him at the voice.
"Chasing a lost child through the sewers, Crane's toxin boiling in his veins?"
He slid to a stop at the mouth of another broken grate, that icy feeling in his blood swiftly turning to welling anger. "Thomas Elliot," he growled. "You're the 'shapeshifter.'"
Grim laughter echoed from the speakers. "Finally! I was wondering when you'd catch on. Your boys aren't so quick on the uptake, especially that new kid."
"What do you want with Darren Hayes?"
"Mean to tell me the 'World's Greatest Detective' can't solve that one?"
The PA fizzled out.
Batman sprinted through the tunnels, following Darren's path of destruction up a stairwell and through a set of busted double doors. Screams echoed up ahead as he saw a body go flying. Batman leapt through the doors and saw Darren holding up one of the treatment plant workers by his jumpsuit. Immediately, he threw a flashbang grenade, blinding and deafening the kid until he could get the workers away. The one who'd been thrown was cradling a dislocated arm. Batman glanced at the doors. This room could be hermetically sealed in case of a chemical leak. As soon as the room was clear, he hacked into the security system and did just that.
Darren turned to him the moment the seals hissed into place. "Give her back!"
Batman stayed at a neutral distance, trying to look as unthreatening as possible. "Who?"
He ripped a pipe from a wall, inadvertently flooding the room with more fear toxin. The thickness of the gas made it difficult to see, so Batman activated his cowl's lenses and switched to infrared vision just in time to see Darren charging with the pipe. The impact took out chunks of brick and mortar from the wall behind Batman as he ducked out of the way. Two minutes. He just had to hold out two more minutes until the ΔV ran out. Darren lunged at him again and again, Batman managing to mitigate the worst of the impact with his gauntlets.
The enhanced strength still ensured he could feel it. Darren tossed his dented pipe, then grabbed Batman by the forearms and hurled him into another wall. And then something in his peripheral vision glinted, and a gunshot rang out in the confined space.
Batman grunted with a hard impact across the face. He glanced up toward the source of the shot to see an upper-level catwalk with a door at the far end. He saw the faintest trace of movement as the door slid shut. With a sharp cough and touch to his face, Batman realized what had happened.
Elliot had ruptured his breather.
And he'd given all the remaining antidote to Damian.
Batman had all of two seconds before Darren smashed both fists into the wall. The Dark Knight rolled away, whirling toward Darren as the kid's form rapidly morphed before his eyes. Jaundiced skin turned deathly pale. Lips flared in panic turned to rotting flesh baring cracked teeth. Darren's charging form became a rotting corpse before his eyes. A rotting corpse he recognized.
Batman grunted as the second Robin's corpse tackled him off his feet and slammed him into an overhead pipe.
Jason is alive! he reminded himself as he scrambled to stand.
A hard blow smashed into his gauntlets. He looked past them to see a rotting Thomas Wayne repeatedly slamming his right fist into Bruce's defenses. A haymaker was ducked and countered with a body shot. He received one in return from Harvey Dent, the best friend who was all but dead for how trapped he was in his own mind. Bruce stumbled back from the force of it. He ducked another swipe at his face, countering with a one-two to the face.
His follow-up hesitated when Harvey's mangled face morphed into the silver-haired form of Silver St. Cloud, his late fiancé of years past. She grabbed his shoulders and threw him to the ground, then straddled his hips and started clawing at his face. Bruce covered up, holding on as he felt her blows steadily weaken. Gritting his teeth through the migraine and memories assaulting him, Bruce snapped his palm up into her nose and bucked his hips to throw her off. The ΔV should've worn off by now. He just had to get the kid in cuffs.
As soon as Bruce pulled them out, he froze.
There knelt Diana in a hospital gown, hand on her swollen belly as her skin lost color before his eyes.
"Bruce," she croaked, voice cracking.
Move, Bruce told himself.
"Our son…"
His jaw clenched. Move!
Then Diana flinched and drew back, eyes wide with terror as she reached for something tucked under the gown. An inhaler came into view, and he wondered about it for the briefest of moments before it clicked.
"No!" he screamed, trying to knock the device from her hands.
He failed.
The moment Bruce was in arm's reach, she backhanded him hard enough to dent his cowl and send him flying. He groaned and pushed himself up enough to see her running straight at him. Her legs gave out before she got halfway. Bruce caught her falling body, terror gripping his chest as she started convulsing. Forcing his mind to work through the migraine and intrusive memories, Bruce recalled the side effects of ΔV if multiple doses were taken too close together.
Immediately, he disengaged several seals in the front of his armor, detaching a portion of the chestpiece and placing it on her torso. His Batsuit had an AED built in as a prototype application of the armor's piezoelectric layer, and Darren had been wailing on him for a while. He had to hope it would be enough to save him. Batman manually attached the pads inside and activated his gauntlet to check for vitals. As expected, Darren was going into cardiac arrest.
Bruce forced himself to ignore Diana's convulsing features and activate the device. Multiple shocks pulsed through the patient, trying and failing to regulate his heart. Grimacing, Bruce reached for his belt and quickly assembled a collapsible valve bag mask, placing it over Darren's nose and mouth and pumping it to keep him breathing. Diana's face flashed with Jason Todd's and Harvey's and Silver's. Bruce forced them all out and kept monitoring his vitals.
"How many more will it take, I wonder?" Tommy taunted, voice echoing in his head.
No change. He heard the faint echo of sirens through the hallucinations, remembering distantly that he'd alerted local EMS to attend to the exit where Cass was and the facility itself.
"What remains of Bruce Wayne when there's no one left to fight for?"
"Hold on," Bruce ordered. "Just—hold—on."
…
This was dragging on too long. Donna had hoped that a three on two with Circe's beasts would be an easy wrap-up once they started working together. What they hadn't expected was Dechamps and Caephus having equal synergy. Fighting them individually was a harrowing exercise in constant vigilance. Fighting them together was a nightmare.
The goat-head overlaid its magic on Caephus', turning rubble into a maelstrom of jagged shards, the metal bits of which rapidly became conductive. Within seconds, the tunnel was turned into a vacuum deathtrap of electrified shrapnel. It took Jason reading the speed and direction of the wind to execute a masterful throw that sliced his sword through the goat's spell array. As the blade buried itself in a wall, all three Amazons flew to subdue the pair before they could recover.
Donna streaked for the lion's open mouth, then turned at the last second to tackle Caephus before he could entrap Jason. Dechamps' jaws clamped around empty air an instant before Cassie's Lasso of Lightning muzzled him. A moment later, his entire body was engulfed in a storm of golden arcs, its output built up by all the electricity she'd absorbed from Caephus' attacks. The snake-head thrashed wildly, managing to smack Jason away. Donna managed to get a solid grip around the eel and suplexed it headfirst into the floor, then snapped her staff out and gave Caephus a straight-up golf swing to the face.
The sorcerer caved in the nearest wall and reverted to his human form, near-insensate.
Donna grinned for the briefest of moments.
Then Cassie screamed as Dechamps' claws tore through her shirt and back, and the Lasso fell loose. His snake-head lunged for Cassie's prone form fangs-first. Donna intercepted it—or tried to. He'd expected her interference and changed directions at the last second, jaws almost snapping closed around her upper body. Instead, he clamped down on her arm.
And got the angle just right.
Donna grit her teeth to hold in a scream as Dechamps' left fang pierced her bicep, grinding painfully against her humerus. She punched the snake in the eye as hard as she could with her other arm. It reeled and shrieked as it let go, but she could already feel the venom boiling in her veins. Donna heaved for breath, trying to focus and push through it. Her Amazon physiology should repel it in time, but with Cassie recovering—
The goat-head released a distorted bleat as its throat spewed complex arcana into the air. This array was twisted with arcs of red and dark energy giving off a faint blacklight effect. Donna blinked rapidly, unsure if she was seeing straight or this was the effects of the venom. The lion's paws came at her at once. She threw her arms up, just managing to hold them back but already feeling her injury scream as her muscles buckled under the strain. Still, she stood firm.
The magic array was incomplete. Cassie was already lunging to restrain the snake before it could bite Donna again. She nearly had it muzzled with her lasso. Then Donna's right arm gave out, and the goat bleated once again as she was pinned to the ground. The array lit up with dark energy, and a dark flame of black light and dark red streaked toward her. She tried to fly or slip under the paws to no effect.
Then a blur flashed in her vision, and Jason flew between them, sword in hand.
Donna's eyes flashed with panic. "Jason, don't!"
With a burst of lightning speed, Jason slashed the flames with a thousand strokes of Nth-metal, not ceasing until it was completely dissipated. Not a tongue of it touched Donna. That fact didn't calm her panic in the least. When the sword clattered to the ground, she stared in horror as Jason slowly turned to show his arms, upper chest, and most of his face blackened and unrecognizable. Then he collapsed, and her terror turned to pure bloody rage.
The venom burned away from the fire in her blood as she ripped two of Dechamps' claws from their sockets and buried them in his paws. He roared and reared back, letting her up. Jason's sword entered her hand in the blink of an eye.
Then there was only Amazon fury.
The crackle of Cassie's lightning. The sickening slick of razor-sharp Nth-metal through flesh and fur. The unnatural gurgle of the goat-head as Donna plunged the sword down its throat. The twitching death rattle of the snake-head as she cleaved it from Dechamps' body by the base of its tail. Donna stabbed the chimera in the leg when it tried to limp away, leaving behind trails of black blood, enough to coat the concrete in a thick layer. Dechamps reverted to human form with a sick crack of bone and deforming flesh.
Gone was the bravado and menace. Only fear remained. Cassie's lasso went around his arms before he could move. Donna's tightened around his neck.
"Tell me what you did to him," she growled.
Dechamps' pupils shifted haphazardly, obviously trying to fight the effects of the Lasso.
Donna's fist clenched around the glowing silver cable. "Tell me!"
"He's…already dead," he spat, as if it was punched out of him. "If not yet, he will be soon enough."
Donna yanked the cable, choking him as she snarled in his face. "He dies, you die."
"Not today, I think."
Both Amazons whirled around at the voice but saw nothing except a violet glow that engulfed Caephus just before he vanished. She caught on a split-second too late, feeling her line go slack when Dechamps vanished as well.
Cassie scowled. "Circe."
Donna ignored her and sprinted to Jason's side, gingerly rolling him face-up. She immediately covered her mouth to stop from screaming. Cassie didn't look much better when she caught up. They both had just enough time to see Black Bat running toward them from the surface.
Then Jason's eyes opened, and he let loose such a scream that would make the vilest banshee pray for mercy.
Black Bat's cowl hit the ground as she stared in mute horror.
"Hold him down!" Donna shouted.
Cassie held his arms and tried to keep his thrashing to a minimum while Donna scrambled to do something to help him. The Lasso of Persuasion curled around his ankles as she focused her mind, ironically hoping that his agony would weaken his will enough for this to work.
"Jason, you feel no pain," she ordered.
His screams didn't even stutter.
"You feel no pain," Donna repeated, voice cracking.
He wasn't calming in the slightest. Either his will was truly beyond hers, or—more likely—whatever Dechamps hit him with was overriding the effects of the Lasso. Then she noticed faint movement on his half-melted face and looked closer.
"Oh my god," Cassie choked.
He was healing, or trying to. The flesh would regenerate a millimeter or two, then immediately begin melting away again.
Donna's eyes widened in horror. "He's still burning." Her gaze snapped to Cass, who was still staring blankly. "He needs Amazon medicine! Tell Batman!"
With Cassie still holding Jason's arms, Donna picked him up and flew for the exit. The pair pushed their speed to the absolute limit as they streaked toward Themyscira.
…
Batman was still hallucinating when the EMTs carried Darren to the ambulance. He knew the toxin's effects were still present when Damian's voice came from Martha Wayne's decaying mouth. It was still there when Darren Hayes flatlined four times in rapid succession.
The fourth was the last.
He was still hallucinating when the mourning of Darren's classmates was heard amid the condemning whispers of every Gothamite slain by Ares during his rampage two years ago. He wasn't hallucinating Cass's trembling voice when she gave him a leftover antidote and told him what happened to Jason. Both Batcycles drove themselves back home while he, Damian, and Cass piled into the Invisible Jet. Damian had "vanished" into Alfred's limo a few minutes after police secured the scene, but that was merely a distraction to get him aboard the jet.
Diana flew.
Bruce had taken the antidote, but he'd been under the gas's effects too long. He knew from experience that there would still be tremendous shakes for a while, especially with a dosage that concentrated. He wasn't sure the shakes were entirely the toxin's fault. Diana wasn't much steadier. As soon as the jet set down in front of the palace, all four dashed onto the walkway and sprinted inside. Hippolyta, Cassie, and Donna were waiting for them.
"Where is he?" Diana asked.
"In the subterranean pools, with the healers," her mother answered with a grim look. "They aren't sure what's happening to him, but whatever magic struck his body, it's still affecting him, eating away at his flesh. Between his natural healing and the restoring waters, he seems to be stable for now. They're doing what they can to mitigate the pain."
"Can we see him?" Bruce asked.
"Of course." She nodded to the side. "Philippus, lead them."
They followed the general in tense silence. Cass stayed at the palace. The gaze of every Amazon they passed lingered on them. It was as if the whole island was holding its breath. They descended to the healing pools on Philippus' heels. The general waved them in with a grim frown, unable to meet their eyes as they stepped past her. Bruce froze the moment he saw Jason's body, suspended as it was on the surface of the water. From a glance, it seemed Jason was blessedly unconscious.
Three healers were carefully monitoring him, layering wrappings of herb-treated hemp over his wounds. And they were extensive. As he stared at Jason's half-covered face, Bruce's memories assaulted him with a similar sight and the madness hiding under those wrappings. He felt bile rise in his throat as he forced himself to step closer.
"Althea," Diana called. "What's happening to him?"
One of the healers looked up to see the trio and rose to greet them.
"Princess, Bruce Wayne," she greeted. "Your son is suffering from a kind of wasting curse. We have not been able to determine its exact nature, only that it is designed to devour until nothing is left. He is fortunate to have been durable enough to reach us."
"How can we help?" Diana asked.
"We need to know more about the spell. How it was cast, what energy was exhibited. Even so…" Her lips pursed tightly. "I don't wish to jump to conclusions, but I have never seen anything like this before. If his condition worsens suddenly, we will not be able to stop it." She glanced at Bruce and Damian. "It may be prudent to prepare for the worst."
Bruce's eyes glued themselves to Jason's floating form. The hallucinations flashed in his mind's eye, one corpse after another. Every life he couldn't save.
"That's not going to happen," Diana said firmly. "We'll find out what we can and get back to you."
Althea nodded. "Then I should return to him. We'll be waiting."
The group hurried back to the palace. Bruce absently noted Damian's pallor and stone-faced composure. He was certain a look in the mirror would show the same. When they returned, they found Cass at a side table in the throne room, hunched over a mug of something steaming and staring into it blankly. On the other end of the long chamber were the queen, Cassie, and Donna. The former was posted on her throne listening to the other two speak in hushed tones.
As soon as Diana and the others returned, all three focused their attention on her. She looked between her protégés with hard blue eyes. Both visibly squirmed under her gaze.
Then Diana sat at her mother's right hand and spoke. "Start at the beginning. And leave nothing out."
…
Long minutes passed as the young Amazons gave a detailed account of the day. Bruce sat by Cass, keeping a close eye on her while listening to the account. Diana maintained a steady tone and demeanor throughout the report, but she could feel her husband's energy darkening by the second. By the end of the account, Bruce was a tangible black spot in the room, though his face and hunched-over posture gave little away.
"I've never seen flames like that before," Donna said. "I wouldn't even know what to tell Althea."
Philippus nodded. "We'll relay your account immediately. Perhaps she knows something."
The general sent one of her aides, who bowed out and rushed to the healing pools. The throne room fell deathly quiet for a long minute. Then a quiet voice split the silence.
"You…were supposed to keep him safe."
Diana looked at Bruce. He hadn't raised his head even the slightest bit, and his voice was so quiet, she barely heard him. But she knew something much darker was boiling under the surface. Diana braced herself.
Donna turned to him with unease in her voice and eyes. "I was pinned. He jumped between us…it all happened so fast—"
"You," Bruce growled, "were supposed to keep him safe."
He finally looked up, and his glare alone made Donna pale.
She swallowed hard, voice shaky. "I know. I'm sorr—"
Bruce stood up so fast, Donna and Cassie jumped. "Do I look like I want your apology?!" he roared. "Your excuses?!" He stalked toward them, focusing in on Donna. "What I want is for you to do—your damn—job!"
Donna and Cassie visibly shrank in front of him, neither able to pull their eyes off the floor. His anger hung in the air, echoing ominously through the cavernous hall. And nobody said a word to him. Not Diana, not the queen, not even Philippus. Bruce stayed there, close enough for Donna to feel his breath, and stared at her until the echoes ceased.
Then his voice lowered to a growl. "So do your job. Fix this. Whatever it takes." He looked between her and Cassie. "And do not come back until you do."
They both kept staring at the ground until Donna finally spoke in a voice barely above a whisper.
"Yes, sir."
They both left the throne room without another word. Diana watched them go, then turned back to see Bruce pacing. His hands were visibly shaking. Then he stopped and turned toward the throne.
"I'm taking the jet back to Gotham. Cass, Damian, start it up."
Cass finally looked up from her drink. "N-Now?"
He nodded.
She swallowed and stood, following a reluctant Damian to the landing pad.
Diana's thoughts echoed Cass's. "Why are you leaving?" She stood and approached him. "What's so important in Gotham that you can't—"
"Darren Hayes overdosed on Delta-Venom during the attack, went into cardiac arrest." His lips pressed to a grim line. "EMTs couldn't bring him back."
Diana grimaced and fell silent. Then her eyes widened. "But I thought—"
"So did I," he said grimly. "Apparently it's out in the open now. I need to find out where it's coming from and put a stop to it."
Diana's eyes shut as she shook her head. "But—now, really?" she asked incredulously.
His jaw tightened. "When I started funding Gotham Academy, I made a promise, that it would be a safe place for parents to send their children. I failed today. Tomorrow, I have to tell the Hayes why their son is dead, and when I do, I want answers."
She huffed. "And what about our son?"
Pain flashed across his eyes as he looked away. "I'm smart enough to admit that I don't know what I don't know." His jaw clenched. "I don't know how to help him."
Diana put a hand on his arm. "That's not why you stay, Bruce."
"Maybe," he admitted softly. "But one of his friends was murdered by whoever sold him that Venom." He met her eyes, voice hardening. "What I'm not going to do is sit here and watch uselessly while those poison-pushers are running around, free and clear in my city." He took a breath. "So I'm going back to Gotham, and I'm going to put an end to this so that when Jason wakes up…I can tell him the people responsible have been dealt with."
Diana's throat closed and voice cracked. "What if he doesn't?"
Bruce softened and gripped her shoulders. "Diana, he will pull through." He looked between her eyes. "He has your strength."
Diana's vision blurred as she chuckled softly. "And your stubborn will."
Bruce managed a tiny smile. "That too."
He pulled her in close and stroked her hair as she leaned into his warmth. Diana held onto him like a lifeline.
"Keep me updated on his condition," Bruce said.
"Of course."
When they pulled apart, Bruce took a moment to wipe Diana's tears and kiss her.
"Bruce."
They both turned to Hippolyta. The queen was on her feet, looking as grim as Diana had ever seen.
"Aeaea is nearly impossible to find thanks to Circe's magic, and the portal beneath Lycabettus will not respond to anything but her touch. However, if you can find a way to track her, the Amazons will be there." Her eyes flashed with fury. "She has gone too far this time."
Bruce nodded and held Diana's gaze for a moment longer before pulling his cowl on and leaving for the jet.
…
Bruce boarded the jet to see Cass and Damian finalizing a pre-flight check. They surrendered the pilot's seat to him immediately.
"Do we hunt Elliot and Circe?" Damian asked with an edge in his voice.
Bruce scowled and shook his head. "They're both in the wind. They won't be found unless they want to be."
Cass looked at him uncertainly. "Then why—"
"Delta-Venom is on the open market now. We need to purge it before it becomes widespread."
Without another word, he tapped his gauntlet and made a call while taking off.
"Hey Bruce. Late night?"
"Drake, Jason's class was attacked on a field trip today. One of his classmates overdosed on ΔV while under the effects of fear gas."
The line went silent for a while. "You're sure?"
"Different ingestion method—inhaler instead of injector—but the effects were the same. Either Adonis was wrong about it being exclusive to the Network—"
"Or he lied," Drake growled. "Give me an hour. I'll find out which."
"Good." He hesitated before adding, "Jason's in critical condition from some sort of curse. He's with the Amazons now, stable for the moment. I'm heading back to Gotham. When you know more, call me there."
"You got it. Tell the kid I'm praying for him."
"I will."
…
The moment the line went dead, Caden blankly stared out his penthouse window. Then the numbness turned to cold anger, and he dialed a number. The moment it stopped ringing, he spoke, taking great pains to keep his voice neutral.
"Fionne, I need to meet him face to face, within the hour. Make it happen and text me the details."
He hung up before she could even acknowledge him and went to his armory. A glance was turned to the armor chamber containing his Green Arrow uniform.
He wasn't going.
A small huff left him as he turned away to a very different one. Inside sat a gray and black tactical suit made from a carbon nanofiber mesh weave, with layered silicon-carbide plates over the vitals. On either side was an array of guns and blades.
Caden cracked his neck and suited up.
AN: Next chapter is going to bring some old faces together in a rather unorthodox team-up. And deal with the fallout of Jason's injuries and how it's affecting everyone in Themyscira and Gotham. Hoping to get it out sooner than later, but no promises.
Drake out.
Formatting notes:
– Internal Thoughts/Flashback
– "Super-Hearing/Surveillance/Hallucination"
– Telepathy/Divine Speech
– "{Translation}"
– [Text Message]