Chapter 37: Justice Dads go to War Part 4
Bruce furiously typed at the computer as he used all the hacking knowledge he had to try and obtain some sort of blue print, schematic, or even just one specific location for Zatara. Unfortunately this ship's system was even more difficult than the others to decipher and decode, but nevertheless he persevered. All the while Selina and Hal watched closely, both wishing they could do more to help the dark knight with his task.
It was also a little awkward between the two of them, as neither had ever met or spoken with the other before today. Not to mention as far as Hal was aware Selina was one of Batman's rogues. I mean what do you even talk about with that as your initial image of a person? However, as if the awkward tension weren't bad enough Selina started to quietly cry. Admittedly she had been holding back tears for a while, but the silence left her with no distraction from her distress.
Hal had no idea what to do, he didn't know her, so would it even be ok to try to comfort her or even ask her what was wrong? He wanted to get Bruce to take care of it, but even to Hal it was clear Selina was trying to be discreet and not attract Bruce's attention. She was probably not wanting to distract him but was really having a hard time. So deciding it was better to provide a little awkward comfort rather than pretend he didn't see anything, Hal approached her.
"Here!" Hal said as he used his ring to grab a tissue box on Bruce's desk and handed it to Selina.
"Thank you." Selina said gratefully as she grabbed a few tissues to properly clean herself.
"Are you alright, you seem really down?" Hal asked as empathetic sounding as he could, while also mentally slapping himself for stating such an obvious observation.
"No... I'm just so angry at myself! I was supposed to protect the kids and I failed. Worst of all I lost the child of the man I love, how is he ever supposed to trust me again?" Selina cried as she tried to dry her ever flowing tears.
"Selina, no one blames you for the kids being kidnapped, especially Bruce. You were outnumbered and overpowered by psychotic metahumans. What more could you have possibly done without getting yourself killed?" Hal assured the tearful woman.
"I know but I didn't just lose the child of the man I love, I lost my baby. Dick means everything to me, and the thought of him being tortured and twisted up into a slave for those maniacs breaks me! He..he called me mommy before they took him and now all I can hear is him screaming for me and I don't know how to get to him!" Selina fully sobbed out of pure shame and worry.
It was at that moment that Hal knew he couldn't be uncomfortable anymore, so he drew in Selina to his side. He let her rest her head on his shoulder and just cry it out. Selina gladly took the offer of comfort and solace, her heart mending a little bit as she felt more and more accepted by the Justice League. At the same moment Bruce was brought out of his hyper focused state as his Girlfriend's now audible sobs reached his ears. Immediately he turned to go comfort her but then a large boom sound went off. Everyone turned to see where the sound came from only to see a giant portal as Lashina and Bernadeath.
"So this is the Batcave, it's even more drab and dreary than I imagined." Bernadeath said disdainfully.
"Like you're one to talk Fury, at least my home doesn't look like the literal incarnation of Hell." Batman retorted.
"I see you're just as gentlemanly as before Dark Knight, I thought it was traditional for the knights of this world to be chivalrous." Lashina sassed right back.
"Enough banter you psychotic harpies! Where are the kids?!" Catwoman asked angrily, her patience with the Female Furies astonishingly short.
"Oh I remember you, you and I fought just before we took your precious children. You lost if my memory is correct." Lashina responded with a condescending smirk.
"Only because you're giant oaf interfered with her own personal earthquake. Now answer my question, where are the kids?!" Catwoman demanded once more, her hands ready to strangle Lashina.
"In some cell on Lord Darkseid's ship, but I couldn't tell you more than that. It was Granny who handled their detainment." Lashina answered, almost bored by Catwoman's question.
"Then you'll just have to take us to her!" Batman growled now getting equally enraged as the Fury blocked the path to the return of his son.
"Perhaps some other time, for now we were commanded to eliminate you. We can't have our new pupils believing their parents are coming to get them. If we let even that futile little hope live then the children will never give their best. After all who wants to give their best when they think something will
soon be over. Plus that crash of hopelessness often brakes their spirits and innocence leaving a hardened mind to be more easily influenced to do things contrary to their upbringing." Bernadeath added.
Having heard enough, all three of the heroes lunged at the two Female Furies. Green Lantern took on Bernadeath solo while both Catwoman and Batman doubled up on Lashina. The two groups immediately found themselves in an incredibly heated battle, both filled with determination to defeat their opponent.
Lashina whipped furiously at Catwoman and Batman, but the two managed to nimbly dodge her lashings. However, she was soon forced to stop as Catwoman hopped onto her neck and put her in a headlock with her whole body. Eventually the imbalance from the weight of Catwoman on top made Lashina fall to the ground making it easier for Catwoman to borderline strangle the Fury.
"Where is my baby!?" Catwoman demanded as she used all her strength to keep her hold on Lashina.
"I already told you I don't know. Now get off me you crazy bitch!" Lashina grunted as she then managed to throw Catwoman off as she thrusted her torso up.
Catwoman immediately went flying and hit the cage walls making her groan in pain. Batman in response furiously attacked Lashina as he was entirely filled by rage from the hurt inflicted on his lover and kidnapping of his son. The two traded hits at a speed that almost seemed superhuman neither willing to lose. At one point Batman swung the back of his arms at Lashina to use the spikes on his cuffs, but she was able to block them with her own cuffs. This left the two in a struggle session as both tried to maneuver the other.
"Give me my son back!" Batman demanded once more as he added extra force to his pushing.
"I don't know how many times I have to tell you people this, but I don't know where he is! You should just give up on rescuing him now, because there is no chance you will be able to find him before we take over your planet!" Lashina responded as she also pushed with all her might.
Unfortunately this knocked back Batman as he simply couldn't match her superhuman strength. However the Dark Knight remained on his feet and was also rejoined by Catwoman, who now stood beside him. Together the two lunged at her and attacked her from both sides.
As this went on Green Lantern was having difficulty against Bernadeath as she burned through all his constructs with her flaming blade. No matter what he sent at her, she would be able to easily slash through it.
"So this is what it is like to fight a Green Lantern, the stories throughout the galaxy about the legendary Green Lantern Corps made you all seem so skilled and strong! Clearly they must have greatly exaggerated your power if I'm able to cut through it so easily!" Bernadeath taunted wickedly.
"We'll see about that!" Green Lantern retorted as a way to cope.
In truth he was freaking out, nothing he did seemed to work against her. Could she really be this much more powerful?! He was a top ranking member of the Green Lantern Corp and the Justice League, he shouldn't be losing this easily. As the two continued to fight and Hal continued to lose, something occurred to him that made him realize what he was doing wrong.
This entire time he was feeling intimidated by the forces of Darkseid and afraid for the safety of the kids. He may not have had a protege but he still cared for the kids deeply like all members of the Justice League. They were the future of the League and their innocence and desire to do good was something everyone wanted to cultivate and protect. He was so afraid of failing to help save them and for the children to be corrupted and twisted into something vile and evil. He was letting the fear and shame of being responsible for their fall from innocence take over.
He couldn't do that, not now, he couldn't let his power be diminished when at its full strength it could help the League rescue the kids and protect them from further harm. He needed to not just want this strength, he needed to will it with all his might!
So Green Lantern clenched his fists making his constructs glow brighter and when Bernadeath swung her blade at it, the blade stopped in its tracks. The Fury tried to push it harder and harder but the construct showed not even a scratch of damage.
"Looks like I've reduced that knife of yours to a little toy now." Green Lantern said with pure sass.
He then made a giant hand, grabbed Bernadeath, threw her around for a bit, and then dropped her unconscious on the floor.
"Hopefully that teaches you not to kidnap a bunch of little kids, especially those whose loved ones are a part of Justice League." Hal said with a very satisfied smirk.
As Green Lantern finished off Batman and Catwoman were in heated combat with Lashina. Despite both hero's skills with hand to hand combat both struggled to match her super strength and electricity emitting whips. Batman usually had a decent profile on those he fought but he was at a complete loss with Lashina, leaving him at a great disadvantage. However, soon he had a plan formulated in his head, it was hinging on one moment so it was risky. But luckily the one moment was Catwoman's specialty, so he was confident they could pull it off.
"Be ready." Batman spit out at Catwoman as he quickly passed her by.
Catwoman was confused by what he meant, but she also knew better than to try and ask in a moment such as this. So she just remained vigilant and watched Batman for some sort of signal of what was about to happen. The Dark Knight once again engaged in direct one on one combat with Lashina dodging her strikes while also looking for an opening. Soon he found it and managed to kick her across the head, disorienting her and causing her to drop her whips. He then flipped over her and grabbed both arms to stretch them behind her while also putting her in a headlock.
"Catwoman now!" Batman yelled out knowing his hold was only effective on those with super strength for so long.
At first the ex-cat burglar was confused on what to do, till she saw the whips on the floor nearby. Catwoman immediately understood and sprinted towards them, grabbed one, and lashed it hard at the captive Fury. It quickly wrapped around Lashina's torso with a loud crack and then electrocuted the armored killer. After a few moments Lashina dropped to the ground unconscious as Batman, whose luckily insulated suit protected him from the electricity, let her go.
All three hero's stood victoriously, but there was no time to celebrate as Batman took a mother box from Bernadeath's belt. He then sprinted over to that Batcomputer and managed to link the alien tech to it. He typed about for a solid moment until he found what he was looking for.
"We may not be able to use a mother box like they can, but luckily that isn't necessary. Because it gives us a perfect map of Darkseid's fortress." Batman informed his much relieved lover and fellow justice league member.
Now they had a way to save the kids, leaving them with a much needed sense of hope.
Darkseid's Ship
After much trial and error navigating the team found themselves far away from their prison cell but no closer to home. No one knew where to go as they had no form of a map or even familiarity with their surroundings, to put it simply they were lost.
"Roy I believe it would be helpful if we stopped moving! We clearly don't know where we are going!" Kaldur called out to the young archer tiredly as he readjusted Zatanna's position on his back.
"I know but we also don't know where the enemy is and I don't want to risk us getting caught." Roy responded quickly but equally tired.
"But Roy, we're just getting more lost! We could run into them and get caught that way too!" M'gann chimed in as she flew right in front of Roy to force him to stop running.
"Then what do you suggest?! Either way we seem to be risking ourselves getting caught!" Roy snapped at his friends, as his stress to protect them and get them out of the clutches of Darkseid boiled over.
"We are trying to suggest thinking of a plan! Batman taught us that if we fail to plan then we plan to fail. If we work together to come up with one we will have a better chance at escaping and returning to our loved ones!" Kaldur argued.
Roy grunted in frustration knowing the Atlantean was right, but mostly over the fact he was letting himself be driven by fear. He was supposed to be the team's leader and he was the eldest, he couldn't afford to be so reckless. So the young man took a deep breath, doing his best to gather his wits.
"You're right, I'm sorry for yelling at you. I'm just really worried right now. It's my job to protect you guys and I couldn't live with myself if even one of you got lost." Roy admitted vulnerability.
"Roy we're a team that means we protect each other, you don't need to do it alone." Wally said comfortingly he looked up at his pseudo big brother and hugged his side.
Roy couldn't help but smile as he rubbed Wally's flaming red hair.
"So what's the plan then? Anyone have any suggestions?" Roy asked his mind open to hearing his friends out.
"Well I think it would be best…" Kaldur started to say before he was interrupted.
"Someone's coming!" Conner shouted his super hearing picking up steps moving towards them.
"What do we do? I can go into camouflage mode but there's nowhere for you guys to hide!" M'gann said frantically, desperate to keep her friends safe.
"I can help that! Elbisivni!" Zatanna cried out excitedly as she cast an invisibility spell.
Immediately everyone disappeared making it completely silent in the hall only to be broken by the sound of footsteps coming closer. A large parademon came around the corner walking down the hall mindlessly as he patrolled the halls. Everything seemed normal until he suddenly felt a small but strong presence jump into him. The parademon struggled and screamed as he tried to toss off whatever was strangling him. As he reached for his neck he swore he could feel little fleshy arms wrapped around it. However, before he could do anything about it, the invisible attacker suddenly flipped his head down and sent him rolling forward into the wall like a ragdoll, knocking him out immediately.
It was then the invisibility spell wore off revealing Conner standing in the middle of the hallway admiring his handiwork. He only wished his daddy could have seen it so he could then be flooded with praises, kisses, and hugs by him like he normally was during training.
"Nice work Conner, Superman would be proud. Zatanna, how did you do that!?" Roy praised the kryptonian and then questioned the little magician.
"It's just an invisibility spell, I've been scaring my papa with them since I was three." Zatanna said cheekily from Kaldur's back as she held up three fingers.
"That was very clever Zatanna, no wonder Dick likes you." Roy stated earnestly.
Immediately Dick and Zatanna blushed as red as the boy wonder's costume as all the other kids chuckled at how adorable the two were.
"Alright everyone we need to focus now, let's search the parademon real quick. He might have something that could help us formulate a plan." Roy instructed as he brought everyone back into focus.
The kids quickly went to work as they dug through the ugly creature's pockets and storage space in hopes of finding something that could aid in their escape. Most of them came up blank, not even finding as much as a gun or piece of pocket lint. That was until Wally found a little box in one of the Parademons back pockets.
"Guys I found something!" Wally cried out excitedly as he held up the device.
Everyone looked at the strange box that was about the size of a large juice box. It also had little gold designs wrapping all around it, intriguing the kids even more.
"What do you think it is?" Conner asked curiously as he walked over to Wally.
"I don't know, maybe some sort of communicator." Wally said as he inspected it only to clumsily drop on the floor.
As soon as the device hit the ground a large holographic map of sorts appeared above it. All the kids looked at it in awe, but none were sure what it was.
"I think it's a map!" Dick squealed excitedly from his blanket sling.
"Are you sure Dickie, how can you tell?" Roy asked earnestly as picked up the device and passed it behind him so Dick could get a better look at it.
"I'm pretty sure, the way the lines are sorted look like the ones on my wrist computer!" Dick said as he bounced in his sling.
"Really?! Can you tell where we are then?" Roy asked once more hoping his friends' navigation skills could help them.
"I think so." Dick responded as he scrolled through the device like it was one of his own gadgets.
With the careful study and skill his father had trained him to have, not to mention his father's strong sense of paranoia. Dick was eventually able to determine their location, the layout of the ship, all possible exits, and multiple ways to get to them.
"I know how to get out of here!" Dick declared excitedly.
Everyone cheered with great relief, only to be shushed by Roy, who knew they weren't out of the woods yet.
"Nice job Dickie! Can you show us the way?"
"Uh huh!" Dick declared as he squirmed out of his babyish prison and sat cris cross.
Everyone surrounded the little boy, Roy putting him in his lap as it made him feel better about his little brother's safety. Dick made the map appear once more and blew it up so everyone could see it properly.
"We're right here on the detention level, the base level of the ship." Dick informed the group.
He then made the map zoom out to show their location and overall structure of the ship.
"We need to get to the ground level to escape. I think there is a plane hanger there on the north edge of the ship that could get us out of here. All we'd have to do is hop on whatever they fly around with and then we can get back home to our mamas and daddies!" Dick said with a chipper smile on his face.
"Well then I hope there's an auto pilot of sorts on whatever we hitch a ride on. Can you point out the route for our escape, Dickie?" Roy requested politely.
The adolescent was a little nervous due to the simplicity of Dick's plan, but he knew this wasn't the time to crush the hope the little boy had just provided everyone. He may have been the youngest of the group but nonetheless Dick was also probably the smartest. Not to mention Roy knew Batman drilled map reading skills into Dick so they could always be on the same page even when separated from each other. So for now he needed to be a leader and show support to his team mates to keep morale up.
"Yeah! We'll follow this path here!" Dick showed proudly as he used his little finger to trace out their designated path to freedom.
"Alright then everyone on your feet we have to move fast." Roy said with authority as he lifted Dick back into the sling on his back, luckily without complaint.
The team immediately got up and started moving, faithful that their leader would lead them back home and trusted them to turn this desperate situation into victory.
Mount Justice
"Are you sure salt will work for this?" Green Arrow grunted as he lugged another 50 pound bag of rock salt.
"The circle requires a crystal structure for the magic power to flow. So unless you have access to a diamond or quartz mine this is the most practical and economic option." Zatara said very matter of fact as he floated in the air in a meditation position.
"Well it's a good thing the kids love homemade ice cream or else there'd be no way for us to get a hold of this with the state of the world." Superman tried to joke to lighten the mood as he finished the outermost circle.
Unfortunately his normally funny anecdote only reminded the heroes of what was at stake creating another moment of tense silence. Nonetheless they all continued to finish up the magic circle as Zatara meditated to clear his mind and channel his power.
As that task was being carried out, Batman and Catwoman were busy studying the map of Darkseid's ship. They planned out a path to the dungeon level that would help them get the kids out quickly and safely. However, while Catwoman was laser focused in her study, Batman was distracted. As he tried to look through the map and scan for all possible routes they could take, all he could think about was how he failed his son.
One of the first things he ever said to Dick was that he would protect him no matter what. He could even remember when he made it, like it was just yesterday.
One Year Ago
It had been two weeks since the death of Dick's parents and Bruce found himself at the Gotham Public Orphanage. He stood in the drop off area by the front desk as a smiling young woman happily finished up the adoption papers.
"He should be down here very shortly Mr. Wayne. I'm sure they're just collecting the rest of his things. You must be so excited!" The front desk woman said with great sincerity.
"Oh yes, of course." Bruce said with a fake smile.
Inwardly the dark knight was shaking in his boots, what was he thinking, was all that filled his head. Bruce had never really interacted with children before so this was completely out of character. It all started when he saw the poor little boy's parents fall to their deaths during Haley's Circus two weeks ago. Even from the distance his seat was from the trapeze platforms, Bruce could see the earth shattering devastation in Dick's little tearful eyes.
From that moment on his own heart slowly began to break. Images of the tiny acrobats' tears and his blue eyes robbed of a piece of his innocence as well as the sounds of his mournful sobs haunted his dreams and thoughts. He didn't even really know the boy, they had met briefly just hours before when Haley was giving him a tour of the circus before that night's performance. But it was they way that Dick's whole countenance reminded him of his own the night his own parents were murdered before him.
He initially didn't know what to do about it, he had been tossing and turning every night, unable to sleep knowing yet another little boy was now orphaned and traumatized and he didn't do anything about it. He thought that maybe if he fought more crime or brought the killer to justice it would be enough, but nothing made the poor little boy leave his mind. Then he learned that Dick had been taken into custody by the state and placed in an orphanage, having no will from his parents to decide who would take over guardianship of him. Bruce saw it as a sign and decided right then and there he would care for the boy and help him overcome his pain and trauma just as Alfred had for him.
"Mr. Wayne Mr. Wayne!" The front desk woman shouted in efforts to get Bruce's attention.
"Yes!"Bruce blurted out as he came out of his stupor of thought and turned to the front desk woman.
"Could I please get your signature one last time? Then you'll officially have custody of Richard Grayson." The woman said cheerfully, as she placed the document on the roof of her desk.
"Of course." Bruce responded as he also grabbed a pen and scribbled in his signature.
"Oh look, speak of the boy himself here he is!" The front desk woman said very joyfully, this being her favorite part of the job.
Bruce turned around and saw a grimacing woman carrying a tiny backpack walking towards him. She soon enough stepped to the side, revealing a tiny alabaster skinned child with raven black hair and beautiful blue eyes. The poor boy looked incredibly scared and downtrodden, especially as he tried to hide behind the bright blue elephant plushy he held onto for dear life.
"Richard this is Mr. Bruce Wayne. He will be your new guardian, so why don't you say hello!"
Upon hearing the somewhat familiar name Dick looked up to see the same man he had met ever so briefly before his parents death. Except this time the large man made him feel even tinier as he realized he was even dwarfed by his knees. He couldn't even manage to get out a hello, he was so confused and scared. Bruce immediately took pity on the quivering little boy and decided he'd best make the first move, even if he was honestly just as scared. So the large man came down to the boys level as he kneeled down.
"Hi Richard, I don't know if you remember me, but we met a little bit before a few weeks ago. I remember you gave me the cutest smile I'd ever seen. Do you think you could show me it again?" Bruce asked as sweetly as he could muster, though he internally felt like he was already crashing and burning.
"I don like Richard, call mes Dick!" Dick managed to squeak out as he looked down and snuggled Peanuts.
Bruce was a little taken back at the response, but nonetheless was happy he got one.
"I'm sorry Dick, I'll make sure to remember. But I think I'd remember better if you showed me that handsome face of yours. Do you think you could at least look at me Dick?" Bruce requested ever so gently, now feeling like he was getting the hang of this.
Though still very afraid Dick remembered how his mama told him it was impolite to not look at someone when you were talking with them. So the little boy at last looked up and was greeted by intense and slightly scary looking green eyes. But even though he was scared he could also see a genuine kindness and gentleness in Bruce's eyes making him not want to look away.
"There that's better, and see there's nothing to be scared of. I don't want to hurt you Dick, I want to take care of you. You see I lost my parents too when I was just a little bit older than you." Bruce said as his heart skipped a beat after he saw the sad and all consuming baby blue eyes of Dick Grayson.
The eyes that looked like they were desperate to cling onto their innocence and find just a little bit of tenderness. This made Bruce open up more than he had with any other person as the beautiful blue eyes made him want to protect and preserve the tender soul behind them.
"I know just how much it hurts Dick, but if you'll let me I promise I'll help you heal and feel better. I promise you'll be completely safe with me and that no one will hurt you because I will do everything to protect you. I'll help you Dick in whatever way I can because I know how to."
In that moment Dick felt something he hadn't felt in nearly two weeks, hope. Hope he could feel better again, hope the pain of grief would stop, hope that all would be ok again. So without any warning the little boy threw himself at Bruce and wrapped his arms around his neck, relief at last washing over his body.
Bruce on the other hand was speechless, not expecting to be hugged let alone touched by this child. He wasn't sure what to do, until an almost instinctive thought came to his head. Feeling like this wasn't the time to question, Bruce then wrapped his arms around Dick and stood up. He had never held a child before, but he couldn't believe how truly light and tiny Dick was. It felt like he could break the delicate little body in his arms from just the slightest squeeze. But he also couldn't deny the tender and loving warmth he felt as the little boy clung to him.
"I think that settles everything." The front desk woman said with a cheerful and knowing smile.
She knew immediately the tiny little boy had the almost comical larger man wrapped around his rosey little finger.
"Ms. Smith, if you would please give Mr. Wayne, Dick's things? I'm sure they would like to be on their way."
Without a word the scowling woman handed Bruce the little backpack. With just a polite nod, as he could feel Dick was fast asleep on his shoulder, the man turned and walked outside towards his car. Immediately Bruce cursed himself for not bringing a thicker coat or blanket to cover Dick with as the cold made him shudder. However that was all quickly forgotten as he felt Dick curl up even more into him for warmth.
This made Bruce genuinely smile for the first time in a long time as he did his best to use his own coat to keep the little baby he held warm. It was at that moment Bruce truly vowed to keep all the promises he had made Dick just earlier. He would protect this baby from all harm and help raise him to once again smile and be happy even with the tragedy he could never forget.
Back in the Present
"Batman! Batman! Bruce!"
"Yes!" Bruce said suddenly as he was pulled out of his flashback.
"The circles ready." Superman told Batman with a nervous smile.
Without saying a word Bruce got up, Selina followed quickly behind, and made his way over to the magic circle. With everyone gathered they all looked towards Zatara, still floating in the middle of the circle, for further instruction.
"Alright now that everyone is here, I need everyone to stand in one of the empty spaces in the circle. Be careful not to disturb any of the lines or the circle may not work at all." Zatara instructed carefully.
Taking heed of the magician's words everyone carefully stepped over the lines until they found an empty space. After everyone was settled and placed, Zatara continued his instruction.
"In order for the spell to work perfectly I am going to need all of your thought energy to be focused on our destination. I know we don't have a lot of details but just think of it as best you can. I am going to start the incantation, everyone prepare yourselves, this may feel a little weird." Zatara said as he closed his eyes and began to think of the words.
Everyone did the same as they closed their eyes and thought about their destination.
"Ssorc ecaps dna emit ot secalp neesnu! Ssorc ecaps dna emit ot secalp neesnu! Ssorc ecaps dna emit ot secalp neesnu!"
As Zatara continued to chant the salt lines began to glow blue and the energy in the room felt like it was on fire. As the spell continued it only got brighter and all sound began to fade away as if the light was blocking it out. Eventually the peak of the spell was reached and the light went from blue to white as it burst out in a flash. The light faded and everyone disappeared leaving nothing but a circle of scorched salt where the Justice League once stood.
Darkseid's Ship
For almost an hour the kids followed the map Dick had drawn up to help them escape. Even with it the team still felt like they were navigating a labyrinth that was changing on them every turn they made. Nonetheless they were grateful for the tykes' tech skills that kept them from getting actually lost as every direction the Boy Wonder gave them was as shown on the map. At the moment they were taking a small rest as they were all tired from the endless running.
"Dick, how much further till the hanger?" Wally asked breathlessly, his energy reserves low from a lack of food to refuel with.
"We're about half way there by the looks of it! Another mile down this hall we'll reach a large room. After that we have probably about 4 miles till the hangar." Dick informed the speedster wishing he had better news, or at least a protein bar to re-energize him with.
"I don't think I'm gonna make it! I'm running in fumes and I don't think I could even manage 5 miles per hour." Wally moaned as he starfished on the floor.
"Maybe I can help! Kcans!" Zatanna chanted quickly.
Immediately a juice box and a small sleeve of crackers appeared in her hands. She then offered it to the exhausted little speedster.
"Food!" Wally cheered as he grateful took the snack and ravenously ate it.
"It's the only food spell my papa taught me so I don't make endless treats. It's not much but hopefully it will do!" Zatanna said now wishing she had snuck her papa's spell books to learn bigger food based spells.
"Thakkkk eweee!" The speedster mumbled out with a big goofy grin as he gorged on the crackers.
"I think that's Wally for thank you." Roy chuckled.
Zatanna beamed at the archer's praise, happy she could once again be of use to the team.
"Now that we have that settled, I believe it's best we move on. And Conner, why don't you carry Wally the rest of the way! It's best he conserves the energy he just gained back, we don't know what we may face the closer we get to the hanger." Kaldur instructed, feeling they might face something big soon.
With an agreeable grunt, Conner carried Wally on his back, lifting him like he weighed absolutely nothing. Once they reorganized themselves the group of young hero's continued on their journey. Now that they were re-energized after their rest, the last mile before the large room they were approaching seemed like a breeze. Before they knew it, they arrived at the entrance of the room which filled them with unease as they didn't know what was behind the doors.
"Alright everyone, keep your guard up and don't make a sound. We have no idea what could be waiting for us, it could either be nothing at all or something very dangerous." Roy forewarned the group so they all knew the potential dangers.
Nodding with understanding the group quietly opened the door and entered the room. It was completely dark, which was unusual to the group as nowhere they had passed was this way, even when no one was there. Unfortunately their suspicion was soon confirmed as the lights flashed on to reveal Granny Goodness and Big Barda standing in the middle of the room.
"So here are the little fugitives! I knew you couldn't have gotten too far without any real means of escape." Granny Goodness taunted the group.
"We got this far without being caught didn't we!" Roy retorted as confidently as he could, though internally his stomach became a pit of fear.
"My what an impertinent child you are. It's clear your mentor never taught you any manners." Goodness chuckled maliciously.
"Then let us teach him some Granny! What is it they say here on earth? Spare the rod and spoil the child." Big Barda said as she menacingly hit her Mega-Roda against her palm.
"You will not touch my friends, you big old cow!" Conner yelled out rather childish as he got in front of his friends defensively.
Unfortunately he had just visited his grandparents in Smallville and so farm animals were on the brain.
"My how scary, the little Krypronian is! With his juvenile insults and his Superman themed footie pajamas!" Granny Goodness laughed out of pure cruelty.
Conner blushed and immediately turned red, for while he was proud to wear his father's symbol on his chest, he was ultimately reminded he was trying to fight villains in his PJ's.
"I can fix that! Smrofinu Raeppa!" Zatanna called out.
Immediately bright puffs of smoke swirled around all the protégés revealing then now in their superhero costumes. Even Zatanna had one that consisted of a white button up, a silver vest, pristine white bow tie, black silk tailcoat, a matching black silk hat with a silver ribbon, white hand gloves, a black tutu, white tights, and shiny black Mary Jane's.
"Wow you look great Zatanna!" Robin told the young magician as he blushed a little.
"Thanks, I've been working on it without my daddy knowing for a while!" Zatanna responded proudly.
"Well it's a good thing you did because otherwise we'd be in a much worse place." Aqualad praised as he pulled out his waterbearers.
"Then let's kick their butts!" Superboy cried now much more confident in his Superman t-shirt and cargo pants.
"Hold your horses Superboy! We still need a plan, we can't just fight them." Miss Martian, who had changed her own clothes to her hero form, said as she placed a hand on her crush's shoulder to calm him down.
Superboy immediately curbed his desire to fight, knowing she was right, and also because it was Miss Martian telling him to.
"Speedy, what's the plan?" Miss Martian called out to their de facto leader.
Speedy analyzed the situation and thought about all their options. They were about to face off with the two most powerful members of the Female Furies and they weren't going to hold back. But they had the numbers with their seven verse their two, so there was a small chance for victory. However he also had to remember the goal was escape not winning the fight, so incapacitating them would be enough. With all that in mind, a plan formulated in Speedy's mind, one he was confident they could succeed with.
"Ok, Superboy, Aqualad, Miss Martian! You guys take on Big Barda over there, do your best to try and knock her out. Wether that's by a good thing wack to the head or a psychic blast, I'll leave that up to you!" Speedy commanded calmly.
All three of the not entirely human members of the team nodded and communicated through Miss Martians telepathy on how to achieve their goal.
"Kid Flash, Robin, and Zatanna you guys are with me against Granny over there! This fight is going to be more about fighting skill then brute strength so we all have to be in sync."
"But Speedy what about me, I don't have a lot of magic power left after making all our stuff appear. What can I do to help?" Zatanna said anxiously as she wrung her little tutu.
Speedy kneeled down and put a hand in her little shoulder.
"Zatanna, your job is to stay back here and try and trip that old lady up. I don't need you to do anything huge, just little stuff to mess with her rhythm. You got this Zatanna, I believe in you!" Speedy said genuinely, to get the little girl's confidence up.
Zatanna looked into Speedy's eyes and knew what he was saying was true, so the little girl nodded with confidence.
"Good girl, now everyone on my signal!" Speedy called out as he faced the enemy once more.
"Oh this ought to be good." Granny Goodness chuckled as she readied herself to fight.
Both groups looked at each other with great intensity, both waiting to see who would make the first move. After what felt like eternity, Speedy felt it was time to enact his plan.
"Everyone attack!" Speedy commanded.
Like a single unit the two groups charged at their opponents. The two female furies immediately took action as both Big Barda and Goodness sent large blasts at the teams coming after them. However both teams managed to dodge the attack and went to work separating the two super humans.
Aqualad used his water bearers to create two whips that wrapped around Barda's arms. The young Atlantean then flipped over her gracefully and with all his strength pulled her down as he flew backwards. Superboy then jumped at her ready to pounce, but was sent flying back from Barda's unrestrained legs. Luckily the little boy quickly recovered and managed to land back on his feet. He then tried to shoot lasers at her, but was only able to get a small blast out. Unfortunately from a mix of the growing pains the new power produced and a fear he might hit Aqualad Conner couldn't get much out.
Barda smirked at her opponent's weakness and took advantage of it as she then used Aqualad's water whips to throw him forward. Conner flew up and caught him, cursing himself for not being more helpful.
"That was a valiant effort boys, but I'm afraid you're not quite ready to play with the big dogs yet." Barda taunted as she prepared to swing her rod at them.
Before she could even swing she suddenly felt a horrendous pain in her head, like tinnitus on steroids. This made her fall to her knees and grab her head to try to relieve the pain. Knowing this didn't come out of nowhere Barda looked around for the source of the pain. Almost instantly as she looked up she saw Miss Martian floating in the air, her eyes glowing green, and could tell she was dealing with Martian psychic waves.
"My you pack quite a punch for one so small, but unlucky for you it takes a lot more than some ringing brain waves to take me down." Barda said as she shakily managed to grab her rod and sent a blast at Miss Martian.
Miss Martian soon found herself on the ground in pain, not expecting her psychic blasts to be so easily overcome. Angry Miss Martian was hurt, Superboy then used his super breath to blow at Big Barda. The air gave her strong pushback but the warrior woman pushed to get to the kids. As she slowly managed to walk towards them, Barda noticed ice slowly traveling up her legs slowing her down. This made her push harder knowing she needed to get to the little heroes before she froze over. However, after she was almost to them the cold wind stopped leaving her only a couple feet from them.
"Oh did you run out of steam little boy?" Barda taunted once more.
"I'm afraid not ma'am, that was merely a distraction for this." Aqualad said calmly as he then squared and produced a large puddle under Big Barda's feet.
The little Atlantean then released a large surge of electricity, which combined with her metal armor electrocuted Barda to the point she was unconscious on the ground.
Meanwhile Speedy, Kid Flash, Robin, and Zatanna were busy with Granny Goodness. The little protégés at the moment were trying to overwhelm her in the hopes she might slip and they could imprison her in some way. So they had Kid Flash and Robin running and flipping around her to try and exhaust her. All as Robin, Speedy, and Zatanna used trick arrows, gadgets from Robin's belt, and little spells to try and trip her up. Unfortunately so far Goodness managed to keep up with their attacks, using her staff to fend off the attacks as well as try to knock the boy wonder and speedster off their feet.
"My you children are quite skilled to be able to go head to head with me like this at your age. If I were any less of a warrior I would have succumbed to your little barrage." Granny Goodness chuckled admirably as she still effortlessly evaded the kid's attacks.
"Was that supposed to be a compliment?!" KF retorted as he crossed all around the older woman.
"I don't give compliments, child, only observations." Granny answered smugly.
"Man I hope you're not really anyone's granny, because I would have put you in a home by now!" Speedy said with pure disgust.
"Yeah, my nonna would never be as mean as you!" Zatanna tried to add in as much as her six year old sensibilities would allow her.
"Oh my heart is simply breaking! You children are simply too soft! Whatever member of the Justice League is training you is clearly deficient as a leader and a mentor!"
"Don't you talk about my daddy that way! He's the best leader because he loves us and he cares for us! You wouldn't be able to lead a pile of dog poop with his mean you are!" Robin screamed as the insults to his father made him attack Goodness directly.
Using a retractable baton Robin swung at her and actually made her sweat as she parried his attacks with her rod. This made Goodness's malicious smile grow even wider.
"My the anger this tiny tot has, and such power to back it up, even without meta abilities. You clearly must be Batman's brat to be able to keep up with me like that! Oh, the things I could do with you would be truly astonishing! I simply must have you as my student, if nothing else!" Granny Goodness said excitedly as she continued to fight the six year old.
Eventually she was able to catch him off guard and managed to grab his little cape. With little to no trouble she held out the squirming little boy at arm's length. Speedy immediately panicked inside, scared he might lose his innocent baby brother to the darkest of all villains.
"Everyone attack! We need to save Robin!" Speedy yelled as he immediately shot three cement arrows simultaneously.
Goodness easily knocked all three away, but then saw herself faced with the speedster once more. Kid Flash tried creating a mini tornado around her to try and knock her off her feet, but soon found himself taking Goodness's rod straight to the gut, knocking the wind out of him and stopping him in his tracks.
Zatanna in a moment of great bravery charged at Goodness and tried to cast a lightning spell that was well beyond her abilities.
"Gnitgh…" Zatanna tried to cry out before a blast from both Granny Goodness and the backlash from the spell sent her flying back.
"Zatanna!" Both Robin and Speedy cried out as the latter caught the little girl who was now unconscious.
Goodness tried to then send another blast at them only to be knocked into by Superboy who flew at her like a speeding bullet. Despite being knocked off her feet, Goodness quickly recovered and dodged Superboy's next attack. In that dodge she retrieved Big Barda's mega rod and pointed it at Superboy. She then turned on its gravity function, sending the little kryptonian crashing into the ground unable to move. The intensity of the gravity was crushing Superboy, much to his dismay, preventing him from helping any further.
This caused Miss Martian to fly at her angrily, blasting psychic waves as strong as she could make them. She flew closer and closer towards her till she was basically head to head with Goodness. Unfortunately this gave her the perfect opportunity to strike, as the Goodness then headbutted Miss M so hard it sent her crashing to the ground in pain. Miss Martian's head was throbbing terribly making her unable to think, let alone fly or even move as she writhed in pain on the floor.
Aqualad knew he had to step, he was the last line of defense at this point and it was his duty to defeat this horrid woman. So pulling out his water bearers Aqualad made two swords and attacked Granny Goodness directly. The two went head to head and both seemingly were able to keep up with each other. Aqualad was even able to send small but powerful jolts of electricity through his attacks making them that much stronger.
"I must say I'm rather impressed, you clearly have excellent training! Perhaps I won't have to work on you as hard as the others. You along with this one may very well be my star puplies with your natural talent and superior training."
"I will never be taught by you! You barbarians are all that is wrong and evil, I would never dishonor my king by joining sides with you!"
"I'm afraid you aren't getting that what I'm saying is not a hope or a dream. It is the future!" Granny Goodness declared as she then with a hard final blow of her staff sent Aqualad flying into a wall.
This knocked all the wind out of Aqualad making him fall to the ground gasping for air.
"You all put on a wonderful effort, and I must thank you for giving me a preview of what I have to work with. You truly will be my best soldiers yet, maybe even replace my beloved Female Furies. My Lord Darkseid will be most pleased!"
"Hands of my child!"
Granny turned to the direction of the new voice addressing her, only to see it was Batman and several other very angry looking heroes.
"Ah so the Justice League finally shows up, how lovely." Granny Goodness said sarcastically.
"Daddy!" Robin cried out with great relief, even as he hung upside down.
His heart sang with hope as he saw his mommy and daddy standing there, fully confident that this fight was finally over and that he was finally going to go home again.