This one i think is up there with some of the best chapters ive written, also the longest. Hope you enojoy!
Its daylight in downtown Jump City. The glass of a tall office building shatters. Inside there is a man in a red hoodie that covers his face, holding a smoking silenced pistol. An anarchist symbol on the back of his hoodie. He leaves the pistol. Next to him, another man with the same hoodie gives him a cable launcher. The first one grabs it, aims at a lower roof across the street, and fires a cable across. Both step on the window frame, attach themselves to the cable, step into space, sliding across the dizzying drop landing on the lower roof across the street.
An SUV travels across the streets. Inside three men, all of them wearing the same red hoodie.
"Three of us, lets do this" the driver says in a southern accent.
"That's it? Only three?" the one in the passenger seat asks.
The one in the back remains silent loading his gun.
"Plus, the two on the roof, everyone gets their share, five parts is plenty" the driver answers.
"Six parts, don't forget the one who planned it"
"Yeah, well he should've come, I ain't giving him my part" the driver finishes as he pulls the car over in front of the Jump City First National Bank.
On the roof, one of the men pries open an access panel.
"You know if the boss came?" The other asks as he watches him analyze the different cables on the panel.
"I thought he always took part in the hits."
The men in the SUV get out and march into the bank holding assault rifles. They get into the lobby and fire into the ceiling causing chaos, the customers screaming in panic. "Hands in the air!" Heads down!" "I said hands up, head down!" A security guard, seeing he is overmatched, drops his gun and raises his arms surrendering. One of the men hits him hard with his rifle, the other two laugh. They proceed to round up the hostages at gunpoint. One of the tellers at the bank presses a button mounted behind her window, a silent alarm. One of the hooded men notices it and grabs her, throwing her to the ground. "Get over here!" The manager of the bank watches from his office, not liking what he is seeing, slowly he reaches below his desk.
On the roof, the man holding the cables sees the alarm ping and handhelds it. "Here is the silent alarm." He cuts the cable. "And there it goes, funny, it didn't dial out nine-eleven, it was trying to reach a private number."
"Is it a problem?" the other asks from behind as he raises his gun.
"Nah I'm done here…"
"Well done, Billy" he says as he shoots him in the head from behind. He picks up his bag and forces open the roof access door. He speeds down the stairs into the basement. He slams open the door.
In the lobby, the three men move down the line of hostages. Handing each one an object from a bag. A grenade, while at the same time they pull the pins out.
"Obviously we don't want you doing anything with your hands that isn't holding on for dear life" one of them speaks. Before he knows it, he is blown off his feet by a shot. The other two dive for cover.
It's the manager of the bank holding a shotgun as he steps out of his office.
The one in the basement reaches the vault room of the bank. He takes out a drill from his bag and starts drilling the vault. A bolt of electricity rips through the drill throwing the man to the ground.
The two in the lobby take cover as the manager fires again. "Ai, do ya know who ya er stealing to?!" he says in a British accent. "You lot are dead!"
One of the men quickly gets up and fires, he misses. The manager aims at him, and before he can shoot, the other hooded man shoots him down. The men nod at each other as one of them separates, heading for the stairs in the back.
He makes it to the basement, where he meets the other member of the gang still drilling the vault. He stops and looks at him. "They wired this shit with five thousand bolts" he says signaling to the vault. "What kind of bank does that?"
"A British mob bank" the other answers. "Where's the alarm Billy?"
He finishes drilling and starts spinning the wheel bolt opening the vault. "Boss told me to kill him when he was done, one less share" he says taking a step into the vault.
The other looks at him from behind. "Funny, he told me the same thing."
The one in the vault freezes as he scrambles for his weapon, but its too late, before he knows it, he is receiving a bullet to the head.
"Well done, Billy" he says as he steps over his corpse, entering the vault, which is filled with a mountain of cash. He kneels and starts loading them into a bag.
A couple minutes later, he steps into the lobby carrying several bags on his back. The other looks at him and laughs.
"That's a lot to carry" he says as he drops the bags on the ground.
The other kneels and grabs them in silence. He hears a click and looks up. There in front of him, the other man with the red hoodie is pointing his gun at him.
"I bet the boss told you to kill me as soon as we finished loading the cash."
The other shakes his head. "No, Billy, I was supposed to kill the truck driver."
"Truck? What…" Before he can finish, the tail of a giant red truck rockets through the front of the bank. The man pointing the gun gets distracted; the other takes out his gun and shoots him, killing him.
"Well done, Billy."
Another red-hooded man gets out of the truck. As soon as he sees him, the other shoots him also. He grabs the bags and starts loading them up on the truck.
The wounded bank manager watches him. "Think ya eis smart, aint you mate? Ya boss ai going to do the same shit to ya."
The only member still alive shakes his head.
"Yeah, sure he will, criminals like ya are all scum, what are ya morals, mate?"
The man walks up to the manager and crouches next to him. He takes off his hood, revealing a young man in his thirties and brown hair.
"I don't have any morals, compadre... I'm just an agent of chaos." He smirks.
He reaches for the dead member of his gang next to them and takes the hood off. Revealing a man with the same exact face, the same exact features as the other still alive. He winks as he gets up and strolls to the truck. The manager watches as the anarchist logo on the back of the hood gets smaller as the man moves away. He starts the engine and drives off the bank before the police can make it.
A man in a white suit and white hat is at a window seat in a train approaching Jump City. His point of origin being Gotham. His black hair perfectly combed, glasses over his eyes as he looks outside the speeding train. He takes out a cigarette and starts smoking, although its forbidden. He is at the back of the wagon, away from the other passengers.
Outside, rain pours over farms, small homes and lawns pass. The light flickers over the man's placid face.
He has one of his hands protectively over a briefcase by his side.
An eyeball, big, yellowish, distinctly inhuman, stares raptly, in between the legs of a wooden table, in the big diner room of a mansion.
"Gar? Are you in here?" A wondering Kory asks as she steps into the dining room. She looks around, not noticing him. She turns around, giving her back.
The eyes dart from side to side, making sure no one is around; this is its chance. Slowly, the green anaconda starts moving forward approaching Kory. When he makes it close enough, he lets out a loud hiss as he jumps to Kory, his fangs aiming at her. In a quick move, she turns around and grabs him while in the air.
She smirks. "I believe you will have to try harder."
The snake falls to the ground. Slowly, it starts turning back to Gar, his clothes untouched, meaning it was a planned transformation. He looks at her as she offers him her hand and helps him up. "How did you do it? I was so sure I had you this time."
"Always keep notice of your surroundings, that was one of the first rules installed on me by the warlords of Okaara." Gar rolls his eyes. This wasn't the first time she had mention them. "How did you feel the transformation?" Kory asks.
"Smooth, but I never had problem turning to an anaconda" he answers.
"Please, help me understand, how can you turn into some animals with ease, but others cannot?"
Gar thinks about it. "I'm not a scientist, so I don't know exactly. But I think it is because of practice, you know? Like I must see pictures of them for a long time, like memorize each aspect of them and then I can transform into them. And then they stay like stored in my mind, I'm basically an encyclopedia" he finishes with a proud smile.
"Oh, I understand, it is like a fighting technique, you add them to your arsenal" Kory says smiling.
Gar returns the smile. "Yeah, that's it."
"But if I ask you to transform into any specific animal that is not yet in your arsenal, you will be unable to do it, am I correct?" Gar nods. "What about a bear?"
Gar shakes his head. "Since I was usually at my house I practiced with smaller animals."
"Please try."
"But..." he protests.
"Gar..." Kory says in a comprehensive tone. "We saw what happened with that creature, you lost control, if you wish to prevent that type of accident, you must be better at controlling your abilities."
Gar thinks about it. Kory may have a point. He looks at her and nods. He takes a step back, making sure to have enough space to transform. He closes his eyes and starts focusing. Bear. Black fur. Four legs. Five feet. Four hundred pounds. Small round ears. Curved claws.
Kory watches him from her spot a few feet from him.
After a few seconds, Gar opens his eyes and looks at his hands. He is still human. He looks at Kory. "Told you I couldn't."
Kory lets out a sad smile. "Perhaps you may be able to tomorrow." Gar returns the smile.
Victor is downstairs in the underground lab. A thoughtful look on his eyes as he studies the holographic board in front of him. In the middle of it, is the S-like symbol that was drawn on the tape of the driver at the city hall. It looks familiar to him; however, he can't point out why. On the sides of it are photographs of the recent murderers. Mark Peterson, the woman in the alley, and the two cops at the warehouse. All of them dead, killed in the same merciless way. On top of the board, a photo of their prime suspect, Arthur Light, whose location is still unknown, he could be dead for all they know.
Although there's no apparent relation between the murderers and the symbol, Victor thinks there might be one; he just has to find it.
His thoughts are interrupted by Kory and Gar entering the lab.
"Where is Richard?" Kory asks upon entering.
Victor turns to her. "Went to investigate a bank robbery, I stayed, wanted to concentrate on this" he says motioning to the board.
Kory looks at it, especially the photographs. She is thankful she hadn't been on the crime scenes, all of them with their purple skin, protruding eyes… not a happy sight.
Gar looks around the lab, still amazed by it. All this cool gadgets and staff… although he must obey Victor's rule of not touching anything. He wonders around while Kory and Victor talk.
Kory focuses on the symbol. "Why did you include it with the other cases?" she asks.
Victor sighs. "To be honest, I don't really know, I had a hunch there could be a relation between them two."
"I wish Raven was here, she knew about this type of things."
Victor pauses. Raven! That's it. That's why the symbol seems familiar. "Kory, you are a genius" he says still looking at the board.
"I am?"
Victor presses a couple of buttons on this computer accessing the files. Luckily, he had digitalized all of his father's files. He accesses the C-14 file and opens it. Raven's picture appears.
"The file of Raven." Kory says.
Now more interested, Gar turns to the board. He looks at her picture. He was sure now, that's the girl he had seen the other day, she was the one who had started everything.
Victor starts going through the file until reaching the images of the different marks on her body at the moment she was found. There it is! The same symbol as the tape, it's a match.
"We must find Raven" Victor says.
Raven lays asleep on a bench in a park. A tree over her covering some of the rain. She has her hood up and is using her bag as a pillow. After the incident at the warehouse, she had used her abilities to get to Malchior's apartment, grab her things, and leave before he could make it back. She couldn't stay with him, she was too dangerous, she could hurt him by accident. She had killed those two cops. Something had snapped inside her. Since leaving him, she had remained in control, so maybe it was best to stay on her own.
She is woken up by somebody clearing his throat. Slowly she opens her eyes, noticing a cop looking down at her, not a happy look on his eyes. "You can't sleep here" he says.
"Please, I have nowhere to stay" she pleads.
"You can't sleep here, now get up or I will be forced to take you to the police station."
She considers it for a moment, sleeping under a roof doesn't sound like a bad idea, however, considering she had killed two cops recently, it wasn't the best idea, plus it was more people to hurt. She gets up and leaves the park.
She makes it to a traditional bakery and knocks on the door. An old man with a moustache opens and looks at her.
"Please, do you have some bread you can give me? I don't care if it is from yesterday" she begs under the rain, her soaked hair sticking to her face.
"No" he answers rudely. He is about to close the door, but Raven using her abilities, stops it.
"Please, I haven't eaten today."
"I said no! Now leave or I will call the police!" He says raising his voice, and with that, he shuts down the door, Raven doesn't try to argue and accepts it.
She walks to the back of the bakery. She sees the trashcan and opens it. Inside she sees a big black bag. Ignoring the smell, she opens it revealing various loaves of bread, probably from the day before. She grabs a handful and leaves. It isn't the healthiest decision; however, she is desperate, hunger clouding her mind. She had gotten food without putting anyone at risk.
She makes it to a close alleyway and sits down on the ground, a roof on one of the side buildings protecting her from the rain, piles of garbage bags to the side of her. She grabs one of the loaves of bread and takes a bite. It tastes awful and is clearly rotten. She looks at it, its mostly green. However, she takes another bite, the hunger being too much.
From the shadows, one figure watches her.
She starts sobbing in silence while she takes another bite. Tears rolling freely through her face. How had she gotten to this point? Just the other day, she was with Nightwing, Kory and Victor. She misses them, a lot. They were the only people who had shown her kindness, who didn't want anything from her. Maybe she could communicate with them, let them know where she is so they could help her… No, that would be too dangerous, she could hurt them. The evil inside her is too strong.
She trails as she thinks in Nightwing's words.
Richard kneels on the floor, a worried look in his eyes. "Raven, look at me, you weren't made to destroy, you weren't born with a labs purpose, no one was, it's your choice to find a purpose, if you want to do good, you can do it, you don't have to destroy" he finishes. Raven smiles. She launches at him and hugs him tight.
She continues crying.
Lieutenant Carson gets out of his car outside the bank, ducks the barrage of shouted questions from the press and picks his way into the lobby of the bank.
He gets in, approaching the medical examiner, who is taking pictures of one of the dead thieves. He crouches and looks at him. Nightwing steps from the shadows, Carson notices him.
"Is this the first time he shows up?" the hero asks. Carson shakes his head and hands him photographs taken from the camera footage. Nightwing looks at them. "All of them look alike?"
Carson nods. "All five dead plus the one who escaped have the same exact face and clothes."
Nightwing thinks about it. "He is a multiplier."
"He calls himself Billy."
The lieutenant signals to Nightwing to follow him as they walk to the vault.
"This was no ordinary bank." Once inside, he kneels on the ground and grabs a bundle of cash left behind. He throws it at Nightwing who catches it. "It's a mafia bank."
"Mad Mod?" Carson nods. Nightwing inspects the bills closely, using his mask to scan them. "They are marked."
Carson nods but doesn't elaborate. Just then, Mayor O'Hara walks into the room. Nightwing looks at him.
"They are marked" he repeats, motioning to the bills.
The mayor and lieutenant trade glances. It's the mayor who takes the lead taking a step forward. "For weeks, his guys have been making gun buys with this money, keeping the guns off the street. This is the second bank we find that was a drop for Mad Mod."
"This must have been a heavy blow to Mod."
"Yeah, which is not always good" the mayor says. He looks at Carson. "Give us a minute" he orders.
The lieutenant is about to protest but decides not to and leaves the vault. It's now only the two of them. "This kind of shit, usually leads to war between mobs, leaving us in the middle."
Nightwing nods. "I've experienced my own share of them in Gotham."
"Then you know what I'm talking about... I think this multiplier guy should be your priority."
Nightwing looks at him, not fully convinced. "One man or the entire mob?"
"But it isn't only one man... look with the marked bills we are trying to control Mad Mods operation. With this multiplier guy, there's no way of controlling him, he is chaos, who knows what he will do next."
Nightwing thinks about it and nods. "I'll handle it." He pauses as he thinks. He signals with his head to the exit. "The lieutenant, I don't trust him."
"Why is that?"
"I have a bad feeling, first the opera thing, then the armored truck outside the city hall, and now didn't want to tell me about the bills, just a feeling... and my guess is neither do you" Nightwing elaborates.
The mayor doesn't say anything, not wanting to admit it.
"I'll track him down along my team and report anything I find directly to you" Nightwing finishes.
"Okay, be careful, will ya?" he says but Nightwing is already gone.
Nightwing makes it outside and hops on his bike. This Billy case could be tricky one, the mayor was right, he is unpredictable, however this type of guys always have a weakness, he just has to look through his past hits, find a pattern.
He is about to start the engine when he suddenly is hit by a strange sensation, it seems familiar… Then out of nowhere, his head starts hurting badly, he clutches it as he screams in pain. Images appearing in his mind. Rain, a park, a trashcan, an alleyway. All of a sudden, it stops. He opens his eyes, out of breath.
"Raven…"
"This is rubbish!" Mad Mod says as he crumbles the newspaper about the bank robbery and throws it to the floor. "This Billy lad, already getting on ma nerves! This wanker!"
The other people in his studio look at him. Mad Mod looks down, thinking of a way to take him down. He turns to Madame Rouge.
"Can't ya just take care of him?"
"I've already been too exposed with the attack at the city hall, I prefer to keep low the next few days."
Mad Mod nods, not really wanting to get in an argument with Rouge. Controllus nervously watches him from his spot a few feet from him.
"This guy stole more than three million from me, I want him dead!" Mod yells punching his desk. "I want his head here over my desk!"
"Hey Bubba, if you wanted Billy, you just had to say my name" Billy says in his southern accent as he steps in the studio. Grin on his face. He is wearing the same red hoodie as in the bank robbery.
Without thinking it, Mad Mod takes out his gun and shoots him in the head. Controllus looks at the corpse.
"Is he dead?" he asks.
Just then, another Billy walks in the room. "You may be able to kill one Billy, but what about two?" Another Billy walks in behind.
Now Rouge takes out her guns and shoots them both.
Another Billy walks in. "We can keep doing it all…" Mad Mod shoots him before he can finish.
"The original isn't here" Controllus says.
Another five more Billys walk in. "We are infinite." Rouge and Mad Mods shoot them each without much difficulty until a click stops them, indicating they ran out of bullets.
Another Billy walks in. "You finished?"
With a death look in his eyes, Mad Mod puts away his gun. He signals to Rouge to do the same, she obeys.
"Now that's better" Billy says mockingly.
"What do ya want, lad?" Mod asks.
Billy takes a step forward and sits in front of Mad Mod at his desk. He looks around the study. "All of it, hell of a study, I want it all."
"Yula don't scare me."
Billy looks at him. "I already took out one of your banks, I can keep going, your deliveries down at the docks, I can take care of all of them. I have my own arsenal of guns, trust me, grumps, this isn't a war you will win. I'll give you one week to hand me your business. Oh, and I leave you the bodies so you can put on your desk all the heads you want." With that, Billy gets up and aims for the exit.
Mad Mod watches him go, furious, smoke coming out of his head. This bastard, thinks he can take all he worked so hard away from him. He takes out another gun and shoots him in the head from behind.
He remains silent for a couple of seconds, just fuming. He turns to one of his thugs to the side. "When is our guy arriving?!"
Raven is still in the alleyway. She has stopped crying, having been able to recompose herself. She shouldn't be weak. She has also finished the first loaf of bread, two more left, however, she isn't as hungry anymore to continue eating more rotten bread. So, she puts them in her bag.
A man approaches her, he looks dirty in old clothes. A knife in hand.
"The food now!" He says threateningly.
Raven nods and hands him the remaining loaves; they aren't worth it. The man snatches them away. He is about to leave but stops.
"The money, give it to me."
Raven shakes her head. "I don't have." She is starting to feel afraid.
"The money!" he repeats, approaching the knife toward her.
"I don't have!" He isn't listening to her. "Please, I don't want to hurt you."
The man reaches for her bag and grabs it. "My bag!" She says as she also grabs it, both pulling their way. She can't lose her bag. "Let go." The man doesn't stop as he continues pulling. Raven can feel it, the evil inside her, screaming to come out. She is about to let go of the bag when suddenly the man is hit in the head from behind and falls unconscious to the floor.
Raven looks up. There, standing in front of her, is Nightwing, a worried look on his eyes as he kneels in front of her.
"Raven, are you alright?"
For some unknown reason to her, she starts crying and launches at him, hugging him tight, both arms around his neck. "Richard" she cries.
Nightwing hugs her back. "Its okay, you are okay, I found you, you don't have to fear."
Raven looks up, meeting his mask. "No, no" she whispers as she starts separating from him. "Get away from me!" she yells.
"Raven…" He looks confused. "I won't hurt you, I would never."
"Please… I don't want to hurt you, I'm dangerous."
Nightwing leans closer to her. "You are not dangerous, you are not evil, you are our friend." He extends his hand to her. "Trust me, let us help you."
Raven seems conflicted, but she gives up, takes his hand, and again hugs him, a new wave of tears coming from her eyes.
Richard is looking through the files of the previous attacks made by Billy at the underground lab in Victor's mansion. One ruby robbery last year in Steele City, a sapphire at an auction in Metropolis two months ago, a complete jeweler's shop here in Jump two weeks ago, and the bank theft, breaking the pattern. The guy clearly has a thing for jewels, maybe they can bait him, set him a trap.
"Is Raven alright?" Kory asks coming from behind. Victor and Gar by her side.
Richard nods. "Yeah, she is asleep, I set her up in a bedroom, hope you don't mind" he says to Victor.
"Nah man, is cool, once she wakes up there's a couple of things I want to ask her."
"We should let her rest now; she looks as if she had a rough time."
"How did you locate her?" Kory asks.
"She found me, I... I can't explain it, it was like with Deathstroke, somehow, she contacted me, and suddenly I knew her exact location, found her in an alleyway under the rain, a man attacking her."
"She hasn't had it easy" Gar says, empathizing with her.
Richard nods and turns to the screen. "This is our mission now" he says referring to Billy.
"Billy?" Gar reads.
"What has this Billy done?" Kory asks.
"He is a multiplier, this morning he robbed the city bank by himself, he is unpredictable, which makes him very dangerous."
"How do you propose we catch him?" Victor asks.
"We set him a trap. He has an obsession with jewels, expensive jewels, he won't be able to resist if we put the right one in front of him, maybe at a charity event."
Silence. "Dude, does any of us have a jewel that we can use?" Gar asks looking around.
Richard thinks. Maybe he could borrow one from Bruce. It wouldn't be his favorite option, but he could try. "I…
"Perhaps I could be of assistance" Kory interrupts. Everyone turns to her. "When I arrived with my sister, we carried the jewel of my family with us. It is a Centaury moon diamond. My sister had valued it here on earth just in case. She told me, it was worth more than fifty million dollars at worst. We would use it in an emergency case. I have it here with me."
Everyone stays silent. Yeah, that would work. It is Richard who speaks. He stands up from his chair and grabs her by the hands. "Are you sure, Kory?"
Kory nods looking down. "This is an emergency, is it not?"
Richard smiles. He leans forward, places his hand under her chin, forcing her to look at him and kisses her. Once they break apart, they turn to the rest of the team, who nod in approval.
"We will need a great spectacle to attract him" Victor says crossing his arms.
Richard smirks. "Luckily for us, I have a lot of experience organizing this type of events as Dick Grayson."
Richard, dressed in a tuxedo, descends from a limousine, two supermodels wearing stunning dresses by his side, one in each arm. An almost too big of a smile on his face and shades over his eyes. Instantly, they are swarmed by the press, taking pictures and asking questions. "Richard, are you back to your playboy persona?", "What about Nightwing? Are you abandoning it?", "Do you have your suit under your shirt?" He stops as he smiles at them.
"Guys, how about we drop the vigilante shit to the side? This is for a good cause… Now… how about we party!" He yells enthusiastic as he again wraps his arms around the models. The press continues asking him questions. They ignored them as they make their way into a five-star hotel.
"We'll have to make it believable this is real and not a trap" Richard says back at the lab. "I'll have to do my best to sell the Dick Grayson persona." He turns to Kory. "Kory, you'll be among the guests, try to keep low."
Kory nods.
Kory watches, from one of the windows of the penthouse of the hotel, Richard's performance. She doesn't like it, however, it's all part of the mission. She is wearing the same purple dress she wore at the opera, not exactly the best choice for staying low, but its not as if she has many from which to choose.
The doors of the elevator swing open as Richard and the models step into the penthouse. Instantly surrounded by the other guests, all of them part of Jump City showbiz. Kory stays in her place, watching him salute people he probably doesn't know. A young man in tux approaches her. She notices him.
"Hi" he says rather timidly.
"Greetings." She returns the smile. Maybe she also had to sell a different persona to the public.
"There in the center of the room for everyone to see, it will be the diamond" Richard continues.
Kory enters her and Richard's apartment. She lifts the mattress, the place Richard taught her was the best place to hide something valuable to one, revealing a wooden box. She opens it. Inside there is a light green diamond the size of her hand. She grabs it and closes her eyes.
"I promise you, mother and father, I will not let him steal the jewel of the family. Even if I must die" she says in tamarenian. She opens her eyes.
As Richard said, in the center of the penthouse, under a crystal box, is the Centaury moon diamond. All the near guests stopping to gaze at it. It truly is wonderful, a rare sight to any human, not that they know is not from earth. The perfect bait for any thief, especially Billy.
Richard turns to Victor. "You'll be our eyes. You'll have control of every camera, in or out of the building, heat signatures, control of the power and elevators. If he makes a move, you have to be the first to know it."
Victor nods. A thought comes to his mind. "Since this time we are playing at home, I think we can accommodate a more comfortable office for me" he says with a smirk.
Victor carrying a heavy briefcase, enters an all-too-big office at the hotel. A large desk in the center of it. He sits in the comfortable chair in front of the desk. Opens the briefcase, takes out his laptop and holographic screens, and gets them online. With a smile on his face, he observes through the multiple cameras across the hotel.
"You will also need to be ready to jump into action in case all hell breaks loose" Richard says still at the lab. "We will need the numbers."
Victor nods. "I'll be ready."
"I will be among the guest" Raven says entering the lab, her arms crossed. Everyone turns to her. "You need me." She looks at Richard. He nods.
"Raven!" Kory exclaims before she flies at her embracing her in a tight hug. "You have no idea how much we missed you!"
"The feeling is mutual."
Victor comes to her side and high fives her. "What's up, little lady? Good to see you."
"Nice to see you, Vic." She looks at Gar and nods at him a little awkwardly. He nods back and looks down avoiding her gaze.
"In case a shooting commences, your priority will be protecting the guests, make sure no one gets hurt" Richard says.
Raven nods.
Raven, dressed as a waitress, walks around the penthouse. A plate with shrimp in her hands as she offers them to the guests.
She makes it to Richard and offers one to him. He grabs one and eats it while smiling. He grabs another shrimp and places it seductively in the mouth of one of the supermodels. The model takes the shrimp off his hand and eats it, always smiling.
Raven rolls her eyes at the performance and continues her duty.
She makes it to Kory, who grabs one and continues chatting with the young man.
"Is everything clear?" Richard asks.
"Oh, oh, what will I do?" Gar asks raising his hand.
Richard looks at Kory as if the choice were hers. After all, she has spent the most time with him, if someone knows if Gar is ready, its her. And he trusts her judgment.
Kory looks doubtful. Gar is very young and lacks experience in combat. She looks at him, making eye contact. A pleading look in his eyes. She smiles and turns back to Richard. She nods.
Richard nods back and turns to Gar. "Alright you are in, can you turn into something with a good sense of smell?"
Gar answers instantly. "I can be a hound."
"That will do, you'll be outside. Once his attack starts, you must find the getaway driver, he always has one. You locate him and put a tracking device on his vehicle, that's it, you stay out of danger, is it clear?" Gar nods excitedly. "I will give you one of his hoodies so you can lock in his smell."
Raven looks at Gar. She remembers him from seeing him in the street, when he first started losing control. "Let's hope he can control himself" she says in a monotone voice.
"And let's hope you don't give any unwanted headache to any guest" Gar says with a smile.
Raven shoots him a look and turns back to Richard. Her mouth turning upward with a little smile. Gar notices the smile and celebrates internally.
"Meanwhile, you have to stay low, man, a green hound will certainly attract attention" Victor adds.
A green pigeon is standing on top of a lamppost outside of the hotel. He looks around, trying to find anything unusual. The people outside oblivious of his presence.
"Everything clear?" Richard asks, looking at each of the team members. They all nod, their assignment being clear to them.
Silence again, everyone waiting for Richard to say his normal speech. But before he can say another word…
"This is so cool!" Gar yells excitedly. "We are like your old team" he says looking at Richard. "Like the Titans, but we are new, we are like... like the New Titans."
The rest of the team looks at Richard. "You had a previous team?" Kory asks, sounding a bit hurt. He nods.
"Didn't see that one coming" Raven adds.
"Yeah, it was in the past, back when I was Robin" he explains, not really wanting to talk about it. "But it isn't important, what is important is catching Billy" he finishes pointing to the screen. "And we are going to do it."
Inside his apartment, Richard kneels in front of a black box. A note attached to it. From Bruce. Richard opens it, instantly a smile forming on his face. This is cool. Fox had sure gone all out with this one.
"Doing a checkup, how is everybody doing?" Victor asks in his office. In front of him are all the cameras in the penthouse. Since Richard and Kory would spend most of the mission with the guests, that made Victor the most logical option to run point.
Raven continues serving the guests. She touches her earpiece behind her hair. "Raven in position, nothing out of the ordinary here, howlong till this Billy guy shows up?" She asks, already regretting coming here, this party was lame.
"Gar here" he says from an alleyway in front of the hotel. A serious look on his face as he looks around. He is taking his assignment very seriously. "No trace of Billy yet." With that he starts turning into a green hound and starts sniffing around, hoping to find Billy's scent.
"Kory here" she says touching her earpiece.
"What?" The young man by her side asks confused by the sudden interruption of their conversation.
"Oh, I was just saying that I am Kory and am currently here" she lies trying to cover what she really meant.
The young man seems to buy it. "Oh, I am also here... with you" he says with a charming smile. Kory smiles back at him.
Victor sees the exchange from one of the cameras. He laughs. "It appears Kory has made a new friend" he teases.
From the other side of the penthouse, Richard also notices it between the supermodels as they talk to him without him listening. To say he is not happy would be an understatement. He grabs a glass of champagne from a tray and walks up to them.
"You seem familiar to me, do i know you from somewhere?" The young man asks Kory in the same flirtatious tone. Before Kory can answer, the young man is tapped from behind. He turns around, its Richard.
"Mind if I borrow her?" He asks, the stern look on his eyes not matching his cordial manners.
Outside of the hotel, the green hound suddenly picks up a smell. He starts sniffing. He looks up. A big truck is parking in reverse on the middle of the sidewalk.
The young man instantly nods at Richard. "Yes, of course, I'm sorry." Although he had not recognized Kory, he is pretty much aware of Richard's alter ego, not someone with whom you want to mess around.
Richard fakes a smile and offers his arm to Kory as he leads them outside.
Victor enjoying the show from the cameras.
Richard leads Kory outside to the penthouse deck. He walks to the side of the balcony and pours the champagne off the edge of the building. He can't drink on a mission. Kory watches him.
"That young man may not know you, but I am pretty certain of what you were doing."
The green hound approaches the truck, he is sure, this must be Billy. He turns the other way aiming for the alleyway so he can turn back to human and notify the team. At that moment, five Billys descend from the back of the truck and enter the hotel.
Although they are fully on display of the cameras, Victor can't see them on his screens, they do not appear there. He must be being hacked.
Richard smiles at Kory. "Yeah, well, can you blame me?" Kory smiles for a second but looks down. "You know all that, with the girls is just a performance, right?"
"I know."
"Then what is it?"
"Why did you not tell me this was not your first team?" She asks, a hurt expression on her face.
The Billys make it to the lobby of the hotel. A security guard goes to meet them. "Can I help you?" He asks. One of the Billys takes out a gun with a silencer and shoots him. Another security guard is about to take out his gun, but the Billys point their guns at him. He stops and raises his arms.
"Not you, Bubba, we are gonna need you" one of the Billys says.
"Kory I…" Richard stops. This certainly isn't a conversation he wants the rest of the team, especially Victor, to hear. He reaches to his earpiece and turns it off. Kory looks at him, she understands, she reaches to hers and does the same. Richard continues. "I never thought it was that important" he defends himself.
Kory doesn't answer as she looks away. "I... do you want to see a photo?" he asks.
Kory turns his way and beams a smile. "I would very much like that." Richard smiles back.
The Billys and the security guard make it to the elevators. One of them indicates different instructions to the different Billys. Some go to the stairs, other stay. The elevator doors open. They get in.
The green hound makes it to the alleyway, he starts turning back to human. He touches his earpiece. "Guys do you hear? They are here! I repeat, they are here!"
Victor checks the cameras outside the hotel and lobby. "I don't see them."
"They just entered, I know their truck, I will go to mark it."
"Do it!" Victor says. He starts going to the other cameras through the hotel, he can't see them.
Richard reaches to his pocket and takes out his phone. He searches for a specific picture. He shows it to her. "They are Wally, Roy, Donna and Garth" he says while Kory looks at the picture. In it, is Richard wearing his Robin costume, to his left is Donna, woman with black hair and a black costume, having him in a friendly chokehold. Next to her is a man with long dark hair and a blue costume, Garth. Behind them, is Roy, with orange hair and a cap on in his red uniform, and next to him with a large smile is Wally, in a yellow costume. All five of them are smiling.
Kory smiles. "You seem happy, as if you enjoyed each other's company."
"We did."
Kory looks at him. "Then why are you no longer together?"
Gar approaches the truck, being very careful not to be spotted. He looks at the window. Inside, the driver seems oblivious to his presence. Gar reaches to his pocket and takes out a tracking device. He attaches it under the track. He touches his earpiece. "I did it!" He calls.
"Good job, Gar" Victor says. "Now get out of there before they see you."
Gar nods as he crouches, transforms into a green pigeon and flies to the nearest lamppost.
"Nightwing, Gar set the tracking device" Victor informs. No answer. "Richard!" Again, no answer. "Kory, come in!" She also doesn't answer. "Fuck! Raven, are you there?"
"I'm here, Vic" Raven says in a bored voice as she continues serving the different guests. "What's going on?"
"I can't get a signal on Nightwing or Kory, are they there?" With the side of his eyes, he looks at the camera on the elevator. In it five Billys can be seen, guns in hand. "He is here."
Raven looks around the penthouse. She finally sees them both outside. "I see them, they are outside talking, probably turned off their earpieces."
"Well, tell them to turn them on, we have a problem here, I will try to slow them down." With that Victor presses a couple of buttons on his laptop.
The elevator where the Billys are suddenly stops in between floors. "What happened, Billy?" One asks. The others shrug. They press the penthouse button again.
"We had our differences" Richard says to Kory. "Don't get me wrong, I still love them, its just... its difficult to stay with the same people for such a long time, everyone has their own plans…" He trails.
Kory looks at him, confused. "We have been together for a long time now."
That shocks Richard. He reaches to his arms and interlocks their fingers. "Yeah, we have, and I have loved each moment of it." He smiles. Kory smiles at him.
"And it has not been difficult to stay with me?"
"Not at all." That earns him a small giggle from Kory.
Kory pauses, she looks up and back at Richard. "Richard, there's something I must tell you." He raises an eyebrow, what could it be? "Since there have not been many sunny days recently, I am afraid..."
"Wait" Richard says interrupting her. He notices Raven looking at him, standing on the door of the deck. Something is going on. He touches his earpiece, turning it on. "Vic, talk to me, what's going on?"
"Oh, how nice of you to finish chatting" Victor says in a sarcastic voice. "We have a situation." He looks at the heat signature of the building, several red spots in the floor below them. "Billy is in the floor below you, a lot of them."
"I'm on my way." He looks at Kory. "We will finish talking later, stay here with the diamond." With that, he leaves the deck. On the way, passing Raven. "You too stay here." Raven nods.
Without being noticed, Richard leaves the penthouse. He reaches the hallway, looks around making sure no one is looking his way. He presses on one of the walls. It opens revealing a secret compartment, he reaches inside.
Victor sees Richard's heat signature moving through the floor below. "You should see all of them behind the door."
"On it."
A Billy with a machine gun is guarding a door on the floor below the penthouse. He suddenly notices something moving in the shadows. He raises his gun. "Who is there?" No answer. Again, he notices movement, so he fires countless bullets. He stops, the chamber in the gun empty. Then a figure descends in front of him. Is Nightwing, but with a red bird insignia on his chest, both esgrima sticks in his hands. He smirks.
"Hands in the air, pretty boy" the Billy says, although he doesn't have any bullets left.
Nightwing flips the machine gun around in Billys hand, uses it as a fulcrum to snap his forearm, smash him into the jaw with the stock without breaking step.
Nightwing forcefully opens the door, and jumps in expecting an army of Billys, but is surprised to find there is no one. Just an empty, large room. "Vic, they aren't here."
"What do you mean, they aren't there? You are literally in front of them" he says looking at the heat map. Indeed, he isn't lying, Nightwing heat signature is next to a lot of them. He should have them in front. "Where are they then?"
In the penthouse, the doors of the elevator swing open. From inside, a dozen Billys come out, all of them wearing the red hoodies and guns raised. One of them fires at the ceiling, getting everyone's attention. There are screams from the guests.
One of the Billys takes the lead as he moves smiling through the terrified guest. "I only have one question, amigos, where is the diamond?" He continues walking. "You? Have you seen it?" He says as he friendly slaps one of the guests. "You?" He finally spots it under a crystal box. The grand Centaury moon diamond, there in front of him in all its glory. "There you are." He starts walking to it.
An old, distinguished gentleman steps in his way. "We are not intimidated by thugs."
Billy stops, he smiles. "Yee-ha, I like your spirit, you should join my gang." He forcefully grabs him. "Have I told you I hate my gang?" He takes out a knife and puts it into the gentleman's mouth.
"Stop!" Kory yells.
Billy drops the gentleman and turns to her, as do the rest of the Billys. A grin on their faces. "Well, I'll be damned. Hello, beautiful." He approaches her, still knife in hand. "You are Nightwing's squeeze, aren't you? And boy, are you beautiful."
Kory's eyes flash green in a warning. Billy stops. "A little fight in you, I like that."
"Then you are going to like me" Raven says making her presence be known. She closes her eyes and black energy surrounds all the weapons in Billy's hands. Instantly, they are crashed down.
"What the fuck?!" Billy yells freaking out a little. He steps back and smirks once again. He closes his eyes, instantly five more Billys materialize out of him, all wearing the same hoodie. "It looks like you opened a six pack." He looks around to his fellow teammates. "Billys, take them" he signals. Instantly, all the Billys run at them, engaging in fight. The leaders trailing behind, he looks at the diamond.
Kory moves backward as she avoids the blows of three Billys. He blocks one, grabs him by the arm and throws him against the other two. Two more join the fight, jumping on her from behind.
Raven creates a black shield, blocking the attack from one Billy. Other jumps her from behind, tries to grab her, but she disappears through the ground, appearing to the side of him. She concentrates on one close table and, using her abilities, pushes it to the Billys, sending them flying.
Nightwing enters the penthouse, instantly noticing the chaos in which it has transformed. One Billy attacks him from the side, he ducks, catches his arms, elbows him to the face and punches him in the face. Another Billy takes advantage and attacks him with his knife. He stabs him in the back; however, the knife doesn't cut through his new suit. Nightwing smirks and delivers a roundhouse kick, knocking him unconscious.
Victor notices the fight going on. He closes his laptop, takes out his Max 8 chip, and inserts it in his temple. The blue light instantly extending throughout his whole body. He proceeds to sprint to the penthouse.
Kory is struggling against the two Billys climbed on her, she can't shake them off. Suddenly, they are surrounded by black energy and thrown off her. Its Raven. Kory smiles at here, before seeing a Billy approaching from behind with a knife, unaware to Raven. She fires a green beam that hits him. Raven quickly turns around, but the Billy is already unconscious.
"Thanks." Kory nods at her with a smile.
Nightwing, using his esgrima sticks, is fighting against three Billys at the time, ducking, blocking and counterattacking. He backflips away from them, barely able to complete the move, this suit is much heavier. Two more join the fight, its now five against him. He continues on defense, avoiding being hit.
Victor enters the penthouse. He sees Nightwing struggling against the Billys. He raises his canon and hits three of them. Nightwing takes advantage, he crouches and sweeps the feet of the other two.
Victor raises his canon and starts firing to the other.
The leader makes it to the diamond and takes it out of the crystal box.
Nightwing notices him. "NO!" He yells. The Billy turns to him and makes a run to the deck of the penthouse. Nightwing sprints behind him. He is about to get to him when he is tackled by another Billy.
The leader reaches the edge of the building. He looks down. Just below his position at the street level is their truck. He takes a deep breath and throws himself off the edge of the building. While in the air, he circles his body around the diamond, protecting it. He crashes right next to the truck, his body completely crushed, the diamond safe. A Billy descends of the truck and grabs it. "Well done, Billy." He gets back on the truck starting the engine and driving off.
Nightwing throws the Billy of him and sprints to the edge of the building. He sees the truck driving away. He jumps on the railing, gazing down at the huge drop. He touches his earpiece. "Team, Billy is gone with the diamond, I'm chasing." He extends his arms to the side and jumps off the building as he starts plummeting. He spreads his arm wide, a light fabric extending from his elbow all the way to the waist, as he starts planning at great speed chasing the truck, the fabric working as a wingsuit.
From his position on top of the lamppost, Gar sees the truck getting away. "No, no, no" he whispers to himself. "He is getting away." He thinks. "I can chase, I can do it... the fastest bird is the peregrine falcon, if I change into it, I can surely catch up to it, right?" The only problem is, he has never been a peregrine falcon before. "I can do it." He closes his eyes as he focuses. White chest, black back, yellow beak... He jumps off the lamppost, fully believing in himself. Just before hitting the ground his whole body changing to the peregrine falcon as he joins in the chase.
Kory hears Nightwing. She panics, she can't lose the diamond. She sprints to the edge as she takes on the air in a green beam.
Raven sees Kory flying away. She turns to Victor, who is a few feet from her firing his canon at the remaining Billys. "Vic, we have to go!"
"Can't you see I'm a little busy right now?!"
Raven rolls her eyes and closes them concentrating. A black energy appears below her feet as she fades through it. Another appears below Victor.
"What the…?" He too fades through it.
A second later, they both reappear inside Victors Camaro, parked outside of the hotel. Victor looks around, still confused how he got here.
"Drive! We are losing them" Raven says.
Victor nods as he starts the engine, he too joining the chase.
Billy looks through the rear mirror, all five heroes chasing him: Nightwing in his wingsuit, a green falcon to his right, Kory flying to his left and behind them tailing the truck is Victor and Raven in the blue Camaro. "It seems we attracted the whole circus" he says to himself as he drives avoiding the traffic. The diamond over the seat next to him.
Nightwing presses his arms against his body, gaining speed. Once he is over the truck, he takes out a batarang and, with great force sticks it to the ceiling of the truck, getting himself on it and preventing him from flying away.
Victor accelerates hitting the truck from behind. "Dammn it." Billy says. He closes his eyes as another Billy materializes next to him. He gives him a gun. "Take care of our little stowaway." Billy nods. He takes his body out of the window and fires at Nightwing who ducks just in time.
"You Billy back there, take care of the rest" the leader says. The back door of the truck open, two more Billys appearing with a heavy machine gun mounted on a tripod.
Victor widens his eye. "Oh no."
The Billys start firing countless bullets, one shooting while the other feeds him the bullets.
Kory and Gar move away, avoiding the bullets. Victor and Raven duck, the bullets hitting the glass of the car, shattering it.
The Billy is about to shoot Nightwing again, but before he can, Kory comes flying and blasts him off the truck.
Raven peeks up at the truck, the bullets still coming at them. She looks at Victor. "Keep them busy."
"What do you mean keep them busy? What are…?" He doesn't get to finish as Raven disappears through the floor again.
She reappears inside the truck behind the two Billys. They quickly turn around to her, but she makes a rapid movement with her hands twisting their necks and killing them. Victor looks up, there in front of him is Raven smirking at him.
Billy tries to maneuver the truck, trying to take out Nightwing. He is about to take a turn, but Victor comes from the side, pushing him straight and preventing him from taking the turn. The truck continues forward.
Nightwing moves to the side window and punches it, shattering it. He reaches for the steering wheel, trying to stop it. Billy struggles against him as he tries to remain in control. He elbows him to the face, Nightwing trying his hardest to remain in place. A green falcon comes flying from the other window and snatches the diamond.
"NO!" Billy yells as he tries to get hold of the bird, but before he can, Nightwing punches him in the face and veers the steering wheel completely. He jumps off the truck, Kory catching him in the air before he touches the asphalt. The truck crashes as it lands on its side.
After a few seconds, a stunned Billy comes out of the truck, confused, bleeding from the forehead. There, in front of him, he has Raven to the left, Victor next to her with his arms crossed, Kory with her eyes flashing green in the middle, to her right Nightwing, and completing the formation Gar, with the diamond in his hand. A stern look in their faces.
Billy smiles as he raises his hands surrendering. "Well played."
Mad Mod is in his dark studio, along his thugs, he is hearing the police radio about the capture of Billy.
"We are transporting him now to the police station to remain in custody…"
"Yeah, get in!" Mad Mod celebrates punching his desk. The thugs celebrating with him. "Take that ya wanker! Ya can't just come and mess around with Mody! Enjoy prison, my duckie."
Controllus timidly enters his studio. He looks at Mod, as if deciding if he wants to interrupt his happiness. "Sir…"
Mad Mod stops and looks to him. "What do ya want?"
"Your man has arrived."
A smile forms in Mad Mods face. "Let him in."
The man in the white suit enters the study. Instantly, he bows, like a theater actor. "Basil Karlo… or Clayface if you may."
There you have it. Had so much fun writing Billy. I may bring him back later in the story. Please like and review!
