The Demon's Revenge (October 28, 2016)

[Nocturnal Vigilante]

Batman

Allies to Batman soon entered the cave such as d**k, Tim, and Stephanie respectively. No doubt about it that Alfred had summoned them for such an occasion. Bruce acknowledged those that entered the cave though tuned the lot of them out as their questions proved pointless in the latter. They all wanted to know what had happened to Damian. To those present, most of them could call him a brother but to Bruce, he was his son and would go to great lengths to ensure his safety. Apparently so would Ra's Al Ghul. To those unaware in the room of Damian's true lineage, he was the grandson of the Demon's Head himself and the man expected the boy to accept his destiny when the time was right with or without his freedom of choice.

Ra's was a man who had at his disposable a seemingly limitless supply of wealth and knowledge was dangerous in every right. The bat's encounters with him were not favorable as it practically lead to nothing. With this accessibility to the Lazarus Pit and his questionably dangerous methods, Ra's was a force to be reckoned with and fearfully unpredictable.
Bruce's hands stroked at his chin contemplating Harper's words. She didn't have much but his mind was already trying to wrap itself around all of the information he was attempting to process at once. What was the angle here? Was it all this simple? Was Damian his only goal? Either way, whatever it was, everyone had to know what they were up against.

"The group Harper speaks about calls themselves the League of Assassin's and their leader? None other than Ra's Al Ghul himself." He looked to Nightwing knowing he'd have some prior knowledge of the shady group after they had dealings in Star City some time ago. "If I'm correct, Ra's has taken Damian to help him realize who he truly is, or who Ra's thinks he is. When I first met him, his similarities and ideologies to his grandfather were too prevalent too ignore.
Without me, without all of your influence, I'm afraid he would have turned out much worse. Whatever Ra's offers him, I'm certain he won't accept. Even so, we need to find him before we're out of options entirely." His eyes darted between the group, moving passed Harper as her current condition made her a bit of a liability in the field currently.

"If we're going to locate Damian, we'll need to cover more ground in groups. Track down various leads, old locations, anticipate what The League is getting at. That is why I'm putting together two patrols to cover areas of Gotham that may be of value to the search. Tim and Stephanie, you'll take Burnley. Be mindful of the subway tunnels and warehouses. d**k,
you're with me. We'll be taking the East End. There's a lot of ground to cover there. We'll have to be wise about what locations we target. Worst case scenario, they've already fled Gotham making our search that much harder" Bruce expecting the worst in these situations only helped him narrow his mind down to any possible solutions to their pending issue. If they really did leave Gotham, they had to have left either by land or by sea.

"Master Bruce, it appears we have an uninvited guest.." Alfred said, cutting in while there was a brief moment of silence in their impromptu meeting. Bruce turned towards the new arrival in question, grimacing at how "coincidental" this all seemed. "Talia." He'd say plainly.  

[Fergal Devitt]

"Just make them suffer. The more pain you cause to them, the more pain you cause to him." Ra's relished in the idea of the Detective knowing what it felt like to watch everything he cherished crumble. He could finally know what Ra's has felt. His plans time and time again squandered by the short sighted Dark Knight. No longer would he be a thorn in his side though. Ra's planned on making sure of such. "You can see yourself out." he said dryly, walking past Deathstroke and off to where his Grandson had been carried off to. It was time for the wrath of al Ghul to begin at last.  

[High VoItage]

To the north of Gotham City was a ghoulish psychiatric hospital with services readily available for the mentally ill. It housed the worst of the worst of Gotham's criminals ranging from the criminally insane Joker all the way down to some of the lesser known figures in the criminal underworld such as Calendar Man. Most of the men and women put here were thrown behind bars by none other than the Batman himself. Batman, the rodent protector of Gotham City. They all saw through his charade, they all saw nothing more than a broken man who thought it'd be wise to play dress up. If they could all see it, why couldn't every single Gothamite who chanted his name or had the audacity to shine that ridiculous light into the sky when their precious city needed saving.

Hugo Strange saw the weakness in Gotham's hero. He knew who he was. He knew his name and where he rested his head when it was time to hang up the cowl. Though he may have failed way back when, he had improved greatly on making sure he would never be made a fool once more going to the extreme lengths of practically making a deal with the devil himself. The details of said deal were unknown to those he affiliated himself with but to be fair, they didn't need to know where their orders were truly coming from. So long as they got their jobs done for the greater good of the mission. Casually walking the halls of Arkham, Hugo's head turned to the left and the right every so often as he stared into the eyes of each and every criminal behind bars through his dark rimmed circular glasses. Some of them he had previously experimented on, striking fear into those who still had the scars, both physical and mental.

A slight tsk sound could be heard from him, pitying the prisoners as they wasted away their sad lives in a cell. Idiots, all of them but he wasn't worried about their intelligence but if they could provide a suitable distraction. Two criminals under his thumb wasn't enough, he needed someone unhinged, someone who could be taken off of the leash and be allowed to roam free.
Stepping in front of a cell closest to the back of the B-Wing Hall, Hugo stood there in silence peering down at the awkward pudgy sad excuse of a man.

"You will do just fine, Mr. Valentin." Hugo could barely contain himself with how pleased he was. The Riddler had kept Batman busy long enough for whatever his forces needed to do. Scarecrow would soon deliver incentive needed to sway the mind of the Batman, and Lazlo Valentin, Professor Pyg would surely be the distraction of a life time. While there may have been other candidates, none were as easy to manipulate as someone with a clear goal. Hugo planned to provide said goal by allowing him all the time he needed in order to create his perfect specimens. It's all he really wanted and he would be sure to deliver if it meant serving a greater cause.

Leaping towards the glass of the cell, Lazlo's eyes widened at the sight of the man. He'd let out a sinister laugh, saying nothing as he crept back into the darkness, the faint sound of his voice could be heard trying to reach the vocal points of opera music. "There will be time for experiments later, Mr. Valentin. We have a lot of work to do. Both of us do." He finished with a sly grin.

"You mean... Pyg will get to make perfect specimens again?" He asked of the man , searching for eyes to stare back into.

"Oh, of course. That and then some." Hugo's fingers glided along the cell's keypad before the glass door receded into the space of the wall. Motioning with his fingers, he awaited Lazlo to follow him out of the cell and into the hall. Soon enough, the two were accompanied by a duo of large grey skinned orderlies wearing all white jump suits. Hugo led the group to a closed off wing inside of the building, pushing passed an old door that led to a decrepit stairwell that seemed to be falling apart with every step someone took atop it. Down underneath, Hugo had set up shop in order to exact his part of the plan. Hugo was able to gather the specific tools needed in order for Pyg to continue his spree of perfecting those around him. He gathered things only a gifted surgeon could make use of. Doll masks, drills, hammers, and a plethora of innocents gathered by Hugo's own personal army.

Letting his arm sway out, Hugo allowed Valentin to partake of whatever he'd like within the room, from the tools to the grouping of unconscious individuals strung about along several tables within the room. "Oh..yes,
this will do. Oh! This too...Hoohoo...Pyg will make everyone better, Pyg will make them all...perfect." The portly man said coldly as he slipped over his infamous pig mask over his face, his eyes as menacing as ever behind the plastic.

Taking a step back, Hugo stepped into another room connected to the other where Pyg would soon play. Several monitors were posted up along the wall directly in front of him. Many of them showed images of the camera work laid about all over Gotham and the others kept him updated with the progress of both Scarecrow and Riddler. "Mr. Crane, Mr. Nygma, do you have what I require?" Folding his arms behind his back, he stood in the dark awaiting their answer, the faint screams of the innocents having been woken up in shock rang in his ears behind the walls.  

[Sir Auron Lucien]

Slade's arms were crossed once again as he was dismissed by Ra's, remaining still as he allowed the Demon's Head to exit the room before him. After al Ghul was gone, the Mercenary would turn to leave. There was planning to be done, and vengeance to be wrought. Deathstroke had been waiting for the opportunity to go toe to toe with Nightwing once again, possibly his longest standing nemesis. That being because most of his other enemies were already dead... but this one proved stubbornly persistent. Slade had been combating him since he was just a boy, the first Robin. This time, however... it was personal. The failure of his last job, of which Nightwing played a significant role in toppling, left Slade humbled and humiliated. Had Slade Wilson been a lesser man, he would have gone after the young vigilante sooner. However, he was a professional. And never do a job for free when you can be paid for it. Slade knew it was but a matter of time before someone placed another hit on former Boy Wonder, and at last his opportunity had arrived.  

[Trainer Noir]

A bright green low-rider covered in purple question marks zoomed through the streets of Gotham at high speeds, cutting through many (rightfully) furious drivers on its mad dash back to Arkham Asylum. Behind the wheel was none other than The Riddler himself, Edward Nygma. Sitting beside him in the passengers seat was The Scarecrow and in the trunk, their precious cargo. Nygma was beaming, a wide grin extending from ear to ear of his slim features. He had to admit, everything was proceeding exactly according to his own ingenious plan. Of course, from the very beginning the goal was to capture Catwoman. He knew that she couldn't refuse his offer, and was banking on her betrayal. What he did not expect, however, was her convincing the Bat to lay off. What Nygma hoped was that she'd arrive before him giving himself and his partner suitable time to incapacitate Selina, and flee before Batman arrived. Once again, something that worked out in the favor of the kidnappers. One thing still picked at his brain, however. What exactly did Hugo Strange need with Catwoman? It wasn't like she was unstable like the rest of the poor chaps locked up in Arkham. She was no more than a petty jewel thief. What about her fascinated Strange so much that he'd go to such great lengths to have her brought to him? It was then that Hugo's voice came through the intercom, interrupting Nygma's thought.

"Mr. Crane, Mr. Nygma, do you have what I require?"

Riddler's lips curled into a wry smirk before responding

"if you see this creature
And find that your paths are crossed
Try to walk a different way
Or bad luck will be the cost"

Nygma stated in response, warranting an icy glare from Scarecrow. With a begrudging grumble, Crane responded next. Yes Doctor Strange, we have Catwoman and are returning to Arkham now. We should be no more than ten minutes.

tch... killjoy, Nygma thought to himself. It was going to be a long night... a long night indeed.  

[Cerulean Vigilante]

Bluebird
-------

Row stood up, leaning against the cot with one of her arms on the edge of it. After Stephanie had said what she did regarding Harper, she sighed and glanced at the others. Batman had given each steady protege an assignment including himself.

She made her way to the monitor, leaning against the table and soon sitting down just as everyone was about to leave. Harper pulled up security cameras and turned to face Alfred whom requested Bruce in the mansion as well as a mention of a woman named Talia. She hooked herself into the comm network just in case, being very wary of a backup plan, skillfully looking around for any gear to rack up if things turned sour.

Even in the current state she was in, Row could handle less than a handful or enough to escape or escape and inform the others.

Nocturnal Vigilante

 

[Red Robin]

︾ ︾ ︾ ︾

︽ ︽ ︽ ︽

╔══════════════╗
𝐓𝐈𝐌 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐊𝐄
ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴇᴅ ʀᴏʙɪɴ
╚══════════════╝

Tim was shocked at how insensitive Stephanie had been. Harper was beaten and left for dead by Ra's Al Ghul's myrmidons, and her first thought was to insult him? He wouldn't and couldn't dignify it. "Not the time nor place, Steph." He grimaced. Damian meant more to Tim than his own ego.

"The group Harper speaks about calls themselves the League of Assassin's and their leader? None other than Ra's Al Ghul himself." Tim couldn't even bring himself to act surprised. With Damian's lineage, and the nature of the beatings that Bluebird had sustained, The League of Assassin's involvement was more than apparent. Tim nodded along in agreement with Batman as he stated his certainty that Damian wouldn't accept. Bless the Lilliputian's headstrong attitude.

"If we're going to locate Damian, we'll need to cover more ground in groups...Tim and Stephanie, you'll take Burnley..." He agreed with the groups given, even if he was still slightly irked by Stephanie. Even though Tim had just came from East End, he didn't feel inclined to inform Batman of increased gang activity in those areas. If Tim knew, Bruce knew. "Understood. Burnley--" He was cut off by the entrance of none other than Talia Al Ghul. She marched into the cave in company of Alfred and was spouting, "Hello, everyone... where is my beloved and child?" Bruce had literally just informed them of Ra's Al Ghul's involvement, and in comes a distressful Talia. Hardly a coincidence. Tim wouldn't abandon his convictions so quickly, so why was she acting like she believed Damian was still in their company? Narrowing his eyes through his mask, he would wait to see the exchange between Talia and Bruce.

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Nocturnal Vigilante

Acrobatic Vigilante

Feline Burglaress

 

[Mrs Addams]

Gothams Enigma

Selina Kyle had lived a rough and tumble, dramatic life. She was physically honed, athletic, strong and used to surges of high adrenaline. Few others were as well accustomed to fear. As she lay bound and gagged in the trunk of the Riddler’s gaudy transport car, her parasympathetic nervous system was hard at work overcoming the toxin surging through her veins. She was coming to, but still heavily addled by the drug, and had no understanding of where she was. All was dark in the trunk. Her head ached acutely and her heart was hammering. There was a ringing in her ears as if she’d hit her head hard.

She realized she was moving. Flying? No. Falling? No, there were bumps in the road and voices. She was being taken somewhere. The physical effects of the toxin were as impairing at the mental effects.
She tried to jerk her limbs apart and discovered they were bound. She noticed the gag in her mouth with rising outrage.

Panicked, shivering and jostling in the pitch dark, Selina set to work sawing away at the rope binding her wrists with the sharp hidden climbing pitons of her boots. When the rope finally gave, she ripped at the gag stifling her airways with adrenaline enhanced strength. She steadily clawed away the tight rope that bound her ankles until she was free, all the while working blindly --working by feel alone. She was sweating bullets in the hot darkness.

It’s a coffin. I’m buried alive. I’m in a car. I’m being driven to hell. I’m trapped.

Her thoughts rushed out in an illogical reel of half-truths and nonsense. The air felt thin and hard to breathe.
She pawed around frantically in the darkness of the trunk and found the holes that housed the spring mechanism that separated the backseat from the trunk of the vehicle. She jammed a claw deep into the seat release’s spring and the rear access latch into the car popped free. With a forceful push on the seat in front of her and a primal scream, Catwoman sprang forward from the trunk of the Riddler’s car into the cab. She was loose.

Like a feral animal, with powerful arms flailing in terror, she began clawing at the interior of the vehicle and at her captors. They appeared as distorted monsters, demons even. They weren’t going to drag her to hell with her father that easily. She kicked her boot hard into the steering wheel to knock hell’s chosen chariot off course.
“YOU CAN’T HAVE ME.” Her voice was wild and strained with fear.
 

[Sinister Rocket Boss]

The rest of the drive was relatively quiet. Scarecrow didn't exactly think very highly of his begrudging compatriot. He was too eccentric for him, too... lively. If Crane had his way Nygma would be the next of his experiments. He was certain that whatever it was that man feared must be fascinating. In Jonathan's experience those with the most lively, eccentric personalities happened to be those with the darkest inner workings within their mind. The more he thought about it, the more Crane would love nothing more than to pick the man's brain apart.

Before Crane could daydream anymore, they had arrived. It had taken some time to reach Arkham due to the villains being forced to arrive via the back entrance. Just as the Riddler Mobile pulled into the secret entrance of Arkham, Crane and Nygma were sprung upon by their prisoner. What the Hell?! Nygma shrieked before having his face slashed by one of the rabid woman's sharpened claws. AAAAAAYYYYEEEE!!! The Riddler shrieked, clutching his face with his right hand as he extended his left to try and push her off him. Nygma struggled to keep her at bay, her claws slashing at his green and purple suit cutting into his flesh more and more. She was surprisingly strong... embarrassingly strong for Nygma. He was not only pain, but he was also humiliated. Crane, help! Get her off me please!

Crane gave a silent thanks that his partner had received the brunt of their attacker's wrath. From the way she looked, and how wildly she was reacting it was The Scarecrow's hypothesis that Selina was still under the influence of his fear toxin. That was a plus for them, as it would render her unable to focus on anything more than her current victim. Crane acted quickly, jabbing his syringe-claws deep into Selina's flank injecting her with yet another concentrated dose of his fear toxin directly into her blood stream. Scarecrow leaned in to whisper into Selina's ear before she was rendered unconscious once again. Scarecrow's voice was low, and distorted almost demonic behind his mask. Where you're going, you'll wish you were dead. We're dragging you to the deepest depths of Hell... and you're going to SUFFER. Crane quickly, and unexpectedly ripped his claws from her sides to inflict the sharpest pain possible upon the woman. His pale eyes focused on her, watching intently as he waited for her to collapse again.  

[Feline Burglaress]

"Well, isn't this the most unwelcome welcoming."

She took a deep breath and stared intently at Bruce. Talia started sucking in one side of her mouth, then proceeding to frown. By the reaction of those around, they clearly were aware of Damian being missing. Hopefully they would help with the next step of the plan on their own. But, it still fouled her mood to be so coldly treated.

"By the looks of it, you all seem to have lost something of importance." She sneered, ignoring the comment made by Richard. "Which, I can now pressure is my child. So, Beloved, you clearly plan to get my child back." she walked over to Bruce, placing her fingers softly on his cheek. Her hand slid forward and down along the jaw. Her eyes followed the fingers before she looked into his."Oh... Beloved..."  

[Mrs Addams]

DC The Scarecrow

Catwoman's whole body tensed as the needles pierced her muscle and injected another round of the toxin. She gritted her teeth and relinquished her clawed grasp on Nygma. Slowly she relaxed, her eyes fluttering shut. She crumpled on the front seat and went limp.  

[Nocturnal Vigilante]

︾ ︾ ︾ ︾

︽ ︽ ︽ ︽

╔══════════════╗
𝐁𝐑𝐔𝐂𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐍𝐄
ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴀᴛᴍᴀɴ
╚══════════════╝

Her sudden appearance prompted Batman to fold his arms over his chest with his eyes staring into her like daggers. For one, he really needed to update security as well as inform her that they weren't allies in every sense of the word. Her being here at this moment in time was no coincidence and Bruce was sure that the others would have picked up on it. d**k was the first to approach her, angry with her presence as usual and interrogated her without hesitation. He would have told his former protege to keep quiet had she reacted with the same level of respect she was given but instead she brushed it off, moving passed him and towards Bruce. With her hand placed at his cheek, he grabbed her wrist, pulling her hand away from him and as he let go, let it fall back to her side. Whatever they had was a lifetime ago while Bruce trained with the League, never to be brought about again.

Taking a step back, he took note of everyone's expressions and demeanor, remaining confident that they would all keep a level head as she mentioned Damian. "He's missing." Batman stated plainly, both confirming what she had to say and masking the doubt in his voice that she had anything to do with it. "His disappearance is what we plan to investigate further. You all know what to do." He said to the three able bodied members within the room. While he said nothing of his strong suspicions towards the League, Talia wasn't a fool and would soon catch on to that he was on their trail and it would only be a matter of time before he figured it all out. For now all he had was the information pertaining to who took Damian, no location, no other names. They couldn't trust Talia to tell them anything truthful as her allegiance to her father was strong last he checked.

"When I comeback, I want you out of my cave." Stepping passed her, Batman motioned with his hand for d**k, Tim, and Stephanie to head for the exit of the cave, headed straight for the many methods of transportation within the Batcave. If she knew something, if she knew where he was, he wouldn't humor it. He knew Ra's would enjoy hearing how The Dark Knight squirmed and begged for an answer. Stepping down onto the Batmobile platform, Bruce threw himself overboard inside the vehicle. Assuming d**k had his own ride, Batman sped out of the exit way that led out to the streets of Gotham City.

 

[The Spoiled Bat]

Stephanie glanced to Tim as he tried to scold her. Arching a blonde brow before she adverted her attention to Richard and Batman. Nodding at her assignment her green eyes glanced to Tim as he spoke but was interrupted. As Talia made her show of an enterance as always she could help but roll her eyes. The theatrics were old, even when he son was missing she had to play the part.

Stephanie watched the interaction between the two parents of the missing bird. Watching his motion for them to follow Stephanie stood up walking shortly behind him. "Do you think she knows where he's at?" She asked seriously. She certainly believed Talia knew where Damian was. Not that she'd give up the intell. It'd be too fun for her to watch them search. Glancing back at the other boys practically her brothers she frowned, even if Damian was a twerp he was apart of the family. And you just don't mess with the Bat family.  

[Nightwing]

︾ ︾ ︾ ︾

︽ ︽ ︽ ︽

╔══════════════╗
𝐁𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍
ɪᴍᴘᴜʟsᴇ
╚══════════════╝

He ran, his legs pumping furiously and his mind running even faster. He was running from the future, a horrible one. He heard the voices of his friends in the speedforce as well, but he couldn't focus on those other realities. Max said not to, or he could mess things up badder than they were. And things were already bad enough so he couldn't afford to badd'n up already super-bad-bad things. Eventually, he found what he thought to be the place and time, zipping out the exit, heading toward Gotham.

Now he needed to know whether he was too early, too late, or where he was supposed to be. The best he could hope for was the last one, and that everyone was okay. Or, at least, in better condition than they were in the future. He resisted the temptation to pick at the bandages adorning his body as he ran that were covering cuts that just yesterday had been bleeding profusely. It was because of what happened yesterday that he was here today. Doing what he usually loved to do--which was run. But he was a running for a different reason today. This reason being to save his future and everyone else's. Yesterday was the worst day of his life. He didn't even want to think about it.

But he here was. He was Bart Allen, Grandson of Barry and Iris Allen. He grinned happily as he skidded into the desolate city that was Gotham, and ran straight for his base of operations. When he arrived, he did a double take as he slid in, spotting an older Tim and what looked to be the new Batgirl, Nightwing, Catwoman?, and lastly, the Dark Knight himself driving off in the Batmobile looking grumpy as usual. Guess somethings don't change thought Bart. They looked to be on their way somewhere and he didn't want to interrupt besides a part of him just really wanted to see Tim alive again if he was being true to himself. Looking at the Bat-computer he took notice of the time and year and frowned. Too early. He zipped past the group after, leaving a streak of red. With enough speed behind him, Bart raced back into the speedforce.