Grim panned the small ice pistol left and right, covering the vault's opening in a layer of ice and sealing himself within with the server. Just as he finished, the small weapon chimed in his hand, its lights turning red as the prompt, "Current Charge Exceeded, Recharging" appeared on a screen on its back. Heeding the message, Grim pulled his arm back and stowed the weapon away, magnetizing it to a free space on his belt. Giving the wall of ice one final glance, Grim turned and took in the interior of the vault, finding it to be sterile and sparse.
At the center of the room, was a tall cubelike structure that stretched from the vault's floor to the above roof. It was covered in various, differently colored, lights and wires, all of which were carefully organized and laid out. Clearly, this was S.T.A.R Labs' high-security server. Surrounding the server and embedded into the vault's walls were dozens upon dozens of private lockboxes. Each of these boxes had an assigned serial number and handle, that could only be accessed after receiving approval from the central server. There was also a motorized ladder mounted on each wall, giving the lab's scientists access to the higher lockboxes.
"Drop me into one of the lower servers," Phoebe ordered, a yellow outline appearing on the nearest tray holding a storage server.
Grim immediately moved across the room, pulling the tray out and holding his right hand above the server, awaiting Phoebe's transfer. But the AI had paused, her digital avatar appearing on his HUD.
"Once I'm in, you're going to lose access to the cameras outside and our new friends will have their comms back. My current estimates show the local authorities will be on-site in approximately twenty minutes, earlier if the current weather patterns change. That doesn't account for any other outside factors making their way here." She explained.
"One problem at a time, Phoebe. First, we get the data, then we worry about getting out." Grim answered.
"Oh good! So it's business as usual!" Phoebe snarked before switching back to business. "I believe that it shouldn't take me much longer than five minutes to download everything, so try not to destroy the place as I work."
Grim sent the AI an annoyed look as he raised his hand over the server, earning himself a cheeky grin as the AI exited his suit.
XXXXXXXXXX
Outside the Vault
Dick was having trouble staying still. His entire body was practically vibrating with the demand that he get up and check on Tim. But every time he tried to force Freeze's corpse off him, his restraints would get stuck on something and would thus cut off his leverage, causing him to drop the body back onto himself. Worse, it wasn't just Freeze he had to lift, Tiny Tim was attached to the corpse as well.
The vigilante grunted in annoyance as his fourth attempt failed and resulted in the exact same result as the prior tries. At least he'd been able to make himself a bit more comfortable under the mass, so that was something.
Suddenly, his comm chirped before a veritable explosion of sound burst from the device. At first, it was the dull buzz of static, which fell away to reveal the sound of typing on a keyboard.
"O? O, do you read?" Dick immediately tried, not even trying to keep the desperation out of his voice.
"N?! What's happening down there?! First, I have cameras and then I don't. Then something jams our comms and connection to the lab's network, and now, I have comms, picture, and sound!" Oracle demanded before spotting him on said cameras.
"What the hell are you trapped under?"
"Um…."
"And why's Robin passed out next to whatever you're trapped under?!"
Dick waited to see if she had anything else to add before responding, "The big guy gave Baby Bird a pretty good wack. He probably has a concussion, but I can't check because I'm trapped under Freeze's corpse, which is its own thing by the way, and I can't move the body….. How long until backup gets here?"
The resulting silence was something for the ages. Never, had Dick seen or heard Babs be caught off guard like this as Oracle. Ever since Joker… she'd been colder and cynical. It was like nothing phased her. But to be fair, he didn't think Freeze would die like this either.
Eventually, Babs compartmentalized everything and shifted into a more business-like candor, her tone tight and entirely professional. Dick hated when her voice sounded like this, "Batwoman is already making her way up towards you and the Birds are a few minutes behind. In the meantime, don't do anything while I alert B about Freeze."
"Couldn't anything if I wanted to, O," Dick grumbled, rocking his head back onto the tile behind him.
From there, he was once again left in silence. There wasn't even the dull hum of the building's AC or the pitter-patter of the rain outside to fill the room. Dick should have probably expected that though, it was in line with S.T.A.R Labs' commitment to sterile environments and world-class tech. But that didn't mean he had to appreciate the silence.
Dick was eventually pulled from his boredom when the room's double doors flew open and Kate dove into the room. Executing a textbook forward roll, the woman came up with her dual pistols panning around the room, settling on each body in turn. From a distance, Dick could just barely make out the slight widening of her cowl's white, lenses. For some reason, that made him feel a bit vindicated. He knew Deathstroke was one hell of an assassin, and this guy was just as good, if not better. So, it should have been no surprise that he had been trapped so quickly. One did not pick a fight with Slade and walk away unscathed.
"Over here!" He called out, making an aborted move with his hand under Freeze.
Instantly, Kate's gaze snapped to him, a scowl on her lips. Cautiously, she stood and started making her way towards him, her pistols never ceasing their search for targets. She came to a stop next to him and dipped down onto one knee, covering the two of them as she spoke.
"Where's the big guy?" She questioned without looking at Dick.
"About ten minutes out," Dick answered, drawing a scowl from the woman.
"Not the Bat. The big fucker. O said he was still around." Kate gritted out.
"Oh!... He's in the vault. I don't know what he's up to." Dick answered again, watching as Kate settled one of her pistols on the aforementioned vault. The other pistol was lowered into the holster on the small of her back before her now free hand reached out to grab ahold of Freeze. She spared him a quick glance and shuffled slightly closer, her red boot filling Dick's vision.
"On three." She ordered, not even giving him time to ready himself before she started counting, "One, two, three!"
Dick pressed upwards as Kate pulled, deadlifting part of Freeze as Dick fumbled. Together, they managed to free Dick up enough to pull his shackled arms out from under Freeze. Kate then lowered the body back down and pulled a pair of wire cutters from her belt. She pressed the tool into one of Dick's hands and pulled her pistol free once more.
"Thanks," Dick said as he maneuvered the tool into one of the links that made up the chains of the cuffs. "Check on Robin. I think he has a concussion."
With a low sigh, Kate stood and moved to Robin's side. Reaching down, she quickly checked his pulse before turning his head up towards her. Pulling a penlight from her belt, she performed a quick concussion test before slipping the light back into her belt.
"Slower than normal pupil dilation, so probably a moderate concussion… He's also going to be sporting a nasty bruise on the side of his face, if not a black eye." Kate reported to the room.
"Is that all?" Dick questioned with a worried tone, working faster to free himself.
"I wasn't a medic, Bird Boy. You're lucky you're getting what you got." Kate growled.
"Alright, got it! You and B are still pissed at one another." Dick said with a roll of his eyes. Just once he'd like there to be open and honest communication in the super community. How was it that the villains could team up and make it work, but they constantly butted heads?
Kate turned and shot him a glare before turning back to the vault. Meanwhile, Dick finished cutting through the chain of the cuffs and started to pull himself free from Freeze. But he jerked to a stop when Kate snapped toward the door, her pistols leveled. He turned just in time to see Huntress and Black Canary barrel into the room, the former waving around her crossbow.
The purple-clad vigilante took the room in quickly, barely even pausing to examine the bodies as her sights settled on the black and red woman aiming pistols at her. Instantly, Kate pulled her pistols away from the two of them and returned them to the vault.
"Jesus, does no one know what call-outs are?" Kate questioned unhappily as she returned to her vigil on the vault.
"I think we're all trying to not alert the giant, Batwoman." Dick huffed as he resumed his shuffling. Luckily for him, Dinah saw what he was trying to do and was quick to lend a hand. She crouched beside the body and pulled it up as Dick shimmied out from underneath. The two of them then lowered the body back onto the floor quietly, doing their best not to make too much noise.
Meanwhile, Huntress circled around them and cautiously approached the shattered remains of what had once been a table and one Harley Quinn.
"Damn," Huntress whispered to herself as she tilted forward and checked the clown for a pulse. It took a few tries, but eventually, she found one. Weak and slow, but it was there.
Whipping around, Huntress called out to the rest of them in a low-shouted whisper, "She's alive!"
"Shame." Kate deadpanned, earning her a frown from Dick behind her.
"Batwoman." He chided.
"What?" Kate retorted uncaringly with a shrug. She was ex-military and if she had her way, the clowns would have been dealt with long ago. But, because of her cousin, she had to play nice.
"We need to be better than them," Dick answered as he started his own examination on Tim. But it wasn't needed, Kate had hit the nail on the head. Tim was going to be in for a few rough days.
"See I don't get that argument. I'm not running around blowing up buildings and murdering people by the dozens. That already makes me better than them by a country mile. So why does taking out one, singular, individual automatically invalidate all the good I or others do? In the army, we'd have been declared heroes for taking out the clown and his sidepiece." Kate argued.
"It's about showing the world a different way. That everyone deserves a second chance to mend past mistakes." Dick explained with a huff as he started to free Tim from Freeze's corpse.
"Do they though?... Did he?" Kate shot back as she gestured down towards Freeze's body. "He's murdered dozens in his quest to save his wife. Just because he may change, doesn't mean those he buried aren't still dead. If I follow your's and Batman's line of reasoning, you're implying his life is and was worth more than those he ended. Where's the justice in that?"
"It's not…. You know that's not what." Dick started to protest, only for Black Canary to interject herself into their conversation.
"Hey! In case you've both forgotten, there's still a giant, metal man to deal with." She reprimanded before switching to a more commanding tone, "So, save the philosophy for later and focus up."
A pair of looks met the singer, one slightly regretful, while the other seemed to be unwilling to cede any ground in the argument but was willing to put it aside for now. Satisfied that she had roped the two back in line, she radioed Oracle and shot Huntress a glance.
"What's the situation, O?"
"Batman's still at least fifteen minutes out. He apparently had to pull out one of his older suits but he's trying to make up time. Meanwhile, the first officers of the GCPD should be there in a few minutes, along with their two choppers." Babs responded, giving the team the lay of the land.
"They launched the helicopters in this storm?" Dick gasped, shocked that they'd do something so risky.
"The commissioner is pulling out all the stops. That means SWAT, riot gear, and every officer in Gotham. They should be there a few minutes before the rest of the GCPD."
Dinah then turned to Helena. "Do you think we can move Harley?"
Helena paused, considering. "I think we should leave her as is. If there's a skull fracture or something, moving her may do more harm than good."
"Ok. Then the ladies and I will hold down the fort while Nightwing extracts the kid." Black Canary said, ignoring the sound of protest that erupted from Dick. "We should be able to lock him down in the vault, which will allow the GCPD to move in and pull out Harley."
"Three vigilantes, one of whom is a meta and the other two armed with lethal weapons, versus one guy in a confined space. I think I like those odds." Huntress hummed in agreement.
"Except that one guy looks like a walking tank." Dick pointed out.
"You say that like Bane isn't when he's hopped up on venom." Huntress retorted. "I think we'll be fine."
Dick couldn't help rolling his eyes again. Helena was still new to this vigilante thing and was very cocky. It also didn't help that she was extremely successful against the mob earlier on, making her feel that she had the credibility to back her cockiness up. Part of him suspected that Babs and Bruce were waiting on something to humble her before swooping in to capitalize and offer her better training.
"Give me a clear shot and we'll be more than fine. Even with the armor, getting shot hurts." Kate agreed with a smirk.
"Sounds like we have a majority." Black Canary interrupted again, turning back to Dick. "Get him down to the GCPD and then you can come link back up with us."
Dick paused, considering whether or not to push the issue, but a look down at an unconscious Tim quelled any arguments he could have formed. So, he nodded in agreement before collecting Tim. He pulled the teenager upwards and settled him across his back and shoulders in a fireman's carry. With a final turn, Nightwing bounded out of the room, moving as fast as he could towards the stairs and leaving behind the three heroines.
Dinah gave him a silent five-count before she turned back to the vault and its ice wall.
Already, Batwoman and Helena were eyeing the frozen wall skeptically, likely trying to guess how much explosive they'd need to blow it open. From her belt, Helena pulled an orange-tipped bolt and spun it between her fingers.
"I think this should do it, but there may be some collateral." She explained.
"I'd rather not blow up anything else today….. Stand back." Dinah ordered as she warmed up her vocal cords.
XXXXXXXXXX
Inside the Vault
Grim pulled the last of the lockbox's contents, stowing them away in the softcase on his thigh before pulling the strap tightly across it. He may not understand why Phoebe wanted this box in addition to the other three, but he trusted that the AI had a good reason. Closing the lockbox, the Spartan stood back to his full height and started to make his way back towards the server. Only for the room to rock around him.
Across the room, the ice wall hissed and hummed, large cracks appearing across its surface as it started to break down. The wall then exploded inwards into the room, showering Grim and the server in tiny pieces of ice. Shortly thereafter, three women burst into the room.
One was dressed in black and red armor, her long, red hair flowing outwards down her back. In her hands, she held two silver pistols. The next woman was dressed in black and purple, with a white cross centered across her collarbone. In her hands, she held, of all things, a miniature crossbow. But it wasn't just a simple crossbow, it seemed to have been modernized. Grim could clearly see a magazine fitted below the weapon's action and a set of gears attached along the side of the weapon. The final woman entered without any visible weapon drawn. She was dressed in a pair of fishnet stockings, a black swimsuit-like one-piece, and a black leather jacket. Unlike the others, she didn't have any sort of cowl or mask to hide her identity from the world.
The three of them took in the room in a glance before splitting up. The black and red woman moved off to the right as her black and purple counterpart moved left, leaving the final woman standing where they had entered. Grim didn't even need to call upon his training to recognize what was a textbook pincer maneuver. So, he did what any good soldier did if caught in an attack. He attacked right back.
In less than two strides, he covered half the room, his visor locked on the woman by the entrance. But strangely, she held her ground, seemingly pulling in a particularly large breath of air. Grim reached out to grab her just as she opened her mouth, only for a force akin to a charging APC to blast him back and across the room. He tumbled through the air before landing unceremoniously on his back, skidding along the ground. Using the force of the blast, he pulled his legs up and back, using the momentum to roll over himself and back onto his feet.
But even with his legs back under him, he was struggling to fight against the force cascading into him. Every few seconds, the pressure would increase only to fall away again as the next wave of pressure approached. On top of this, his helmet's dampeners had fully engaged. Meaning he was practically deaf to the world as his suit compensated against the pressure.
Lifting his head with a bit of a struggle, he found that the air around him was distorted as waves of overpressure surrounded him. Off to his right, he saw the black and red woman maneuvering for a shot as the woman opposite of her did the same. Shifting his attention away from the two of them, he found where the waves of overpressure originated from. He had initially expected to see some sort of large sound-canon but quickly understood what he was seeing. It seems the final woman was a metahuman with the ability to manipulate her vocal cords into inducing shockwaves. A useful ability, but it had one glaring weakness.
She, like every other being on the planet, needed air to breathe.
Inevitably, and as expected, the woman's power slowed as her lungs ran out of air. All around him, the waves of overpressure similarly lessened and eventually Grim was able to fully move once more.
Without a second's pause, Grim tore forth. He pulled the assault rifle from his back and pulled the trigger, sending a burst of fire toward the black and red woman who dove onto her side as the rounds pinged against the vault's walls behind her, where she had once been. On his opposite side, Grim pulled his SMG free and leveled a similar burst towards the other woman, who likewise dove onto her side. Both of them let loose a volley of bolts and bullets, the Spartan feeling his shields flare as they absorbed the impact. But he ignored them for the moment, they weren't the biggest threat in the room right now.
That honor belonged to the blonde woman he was bearing down on. To her credit, she didn't so much as blink as he approached, seemingly waiting and trying to time his movements. Rearing back, he slammed his right leg forward in a flying knee. With dexterity that belied her looks, the woman pivoted away, causing Grim to slam into the wall of lockboxes behind her. His armor-clad knee dented the metal inward but he quickly pulled free and pivoted, turning toward the woman.
He saw her chest huff, readying another cry, so he reacted. Slamming his right arm back, he swung the barrel of the assault rifle around and just barely missed the side of her face as the weapon passed by harmlessly above her. But the move's purpose had been served as the woman's cry died in her throat.
"Canary, move!" The black and purple woman cried as she unleashed another bolt at Grim. Unlike the others, this one's head appeared to be enlarged and blue for some reason.
Dropping the SMG, Grim spun and threw his hand out, catching the projectile a few inches away from his visor. The bolt was then unceremoniously thrown onto the floor between Canary's feet where it exploded. Only it wasn't an explosion that had erupted from the object, instead a large plume of white foam surged upwards, covering Canary. The foam then rapidly hardened all around the woman as she struggled to free herself from its clutches. Grim wasn't about to allow that though. With a quick elbow jab to the temple, the woman collapsed into unconsciousness.
"Shit!" The black and red woman shouted, moving to pass behind the server tower.
Seeing her pistols and direction, the Spartan rocketed back across the room, placing himself between the server and the woman. He couldn't allow her to hit the server with Phoebe still inside. His shields flared again as the woman's rounds pinged off him.
Pulling his arm up, he centered his grapple-shot on the woman and fired. The metal end flew free from his wrist and crashed into the center of the woman's chest, knocking her back and off her feet. Kate flew backwards, dropping her pistols as the air raced out of her lungs. She tumbled onto the floor and only had enough time to register the large shape looming above her before a black-clad fist slammed into her temple.
Satisfied that the woman had been neutralized, Grim turned and rushed the final woman. Bolts sailed by his helmet as the woman desperately emptied her crossbow, her shots no longer tight and controlled. With a quick backhand, the Spartan swiftly disarmed her as he dropped his assault rifle and wrapped his hand around her neck. Helena was then pulled into the air as the man straightened back up to his full height, dragging her along. Desperately, she fumbled around in his hold, seeking some sort of escape as her vision started to blur and darken. Her attempts were halted when the man pulled her towards him and slammed the top of his helmet into her cowl, cracking the armor and knocking Helena out. Grim then lightly threw the woman away and onto the floor as he turned to collect his weapons.
A few minutes later, after having replaced his gear on his armor, Grim held his hand back above the server. Instantly, a red glow filled the room as Phoebe exited the server and returned to the suit. At the back of his mind, he could feel the cool, mercury-like feeling filling his head, signaling the return of the AI. In less than a second, Phoebe's avatar appeared once more on his HUD, an exasperated look plastered on her face.
"I thought I told you not to destroy the place."