- Location
- Massachussetts
These guys:
There were 12 to start, and 7 were still around to surrender....
Life Ore Death - DC Feruchemy [Young Justice]
- Thread starter Obloquy
- Start date
- Crossover
Obloquy
CrossMyHeart And HopeToDie, StickANeedleInMyEye
- Location
- the Physical Realm
Transported via Globe of Transportation to a different (pre-determined, they got permission since Gotham's police are over worked right now,) police precinct that feeds into a different jail once the guys get sentenced.
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Oh, phew. I didn't think they'd go lethal that quickly but you have surprised me before.
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- She/Her
You haven't seen Back to the Future?
- Location
- Leeds
Bat to the Future?
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Of all of the temporally inappropriate jokes and references that Marty McFly makes, Batman jokes are not among them
Hestia&theCourt
Turns out we're plural too.
- Location
- In transition
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Not in over a decade, so pretty much all I remember is the weird incest subplot.
Stripes
Genre-Savvy Anti-Nihilist
- Location
- Nizhniy Novgorod
Marty McFly used a lot of Memes to point his father in a right direction. Including The Breathing and claiming being Darth Vader. Google "Back to the Future Darth Vader" if you are curious - would have linked, but there is too many different versions (time wise) all over YouTube.
Sequelae - part 3
Obloquy
CrossMyHeart And HopeToDie, StickANeedleInMyEye
- Location
- the Physical Realm
Life Ore Death
* July 11 [Bane Focus]The stammered, "Batman has been seen again," made Bane laugh, though it made him want to wring his stupid subordinates' necks as well. Still, their stupidity was what made him superior, so he downed another dose of icy blue liquid and explained it all to them.
He explained about Superman, and Martian Manhunter, and how either could be imitating Batman, but Bane had plans for both.
Then he contacted the underlings who held Gotham's TV broadcasting studios with a message for where he would meet 'Batman'.
Bane checked his belt all the same, to ensure that his kryptonite, incendiaries, and Starro-based telepathy & telekinesis shields were ready, and then he sent orders to arm the explosives in his chosen battleground for fighting the pretender to Batman's cowl.
It was already past midnight, but he settled in to wait, giving his enemies at least until dawn to spring their pitiful trap.
As the hours passed, he considered sending a message to Luthor about the possibility of watching Bane break Superman as well, but while Bane had ridden high on the thrill of his victory, he remained lucid enough to worry that it would sound like an oblique call for aid.
He had taken Gotham, but reports were trickling in that many members of the Justice League had escaped or survived.
It was… less than ideal. He had certainly killed Plastic Man and put Batman on the sidelines for the rest of the man's life, yes, but accomplishing more than any other member of the Light was not the same as accomplishing all that he had claimed himself capable of.
Bane's comrades had not yet contacted him about the situation; his last message had been from Savage, prodding him to capture and keep Gotham against the Justice League's – and perhaps even the US army's – inevitable attempts to reclaim it.
Bane had placed explosives that could cripple bridges, and anti-aircraft weaponry on important rooftops; he felt able to hold the city against all incursions short of the government carpet-bombing it, in which case he could escape.
He had hacked the great number of cameras and observational devices Batman had placed in alleys and abandoned buildings – the better to tell when a mugging was occurring, or when the mob held an unconventionally placed meeting – and incorporated them into his security system. It was infuriating that Robin, Batgirl, and their makeshift imitations could still evade his watch, but not inconceivable.
The idea that anyone could approach his throne unnoticed, however? That would be-
Bane stopped his perusal of the city and leaned forward to examine the holographic display in front of him.
It was of the security systems observing his own throne room; he could see himself in the hologram, seated on his throne.
He could see Batman, motionless, standing patient behind him.
That should not be possible.
Which meant, Bane concluded, that it probably was not.
He did not turn immediately, instead eyeing the entrance and ceiling for whichever trap would spring when he turned his head away. Nothing.
Carefully, his ears peeled for any whisper of movement, Bane flicked on the telepathy blockers and shape-shifter disruptor attached to his belt.
The image of Batman did not move, although the image of Bane moved in imitation of him.
Bane felt a touch of relief, his mind whispering that he was safe after all. Though that would mean....
"So," Bane chuckled, "someone is hacking me. A heavy way to play their hand, though." He turned his attention fully to his systems.
A fist punched through his throne a second later, shattering the stone and sending him flying.
"No," answered Batman's voice as the venom junkie tumbled. Bane rolled with the landing and clicked open the cache of kryptonite he had to hand.
Batman's fist slammed into his skull all the same, having closed in instantly, and Bane crashed through the double doors in a spray of splinters.
"To arms, you fools!" Bane roared as he returned to his feet. He squared off, but then he realized that the guards around him were gone. He swayed slightly, already a touch dizzy from the headshot, though he knew he should be stronger than that.
Gritting his teeth, Bane activated his Venom intake (newly remodeled to have no exposed wires,) and felt strength flow into his already mighty limbs as the pain faded. He faced Batman, and though his vision was blurry, he saw the Dark Knight waiting for him in the doorway.
"Confidence cannot escalate to arrogance," Batman growled, "it only happens if the blood of pride is running through your veins. The blood of pride. Not the blood of Batman. You shouldn't have lied about the blood tests, Bane; it only made me get serious."
"Do not pretend to be the Bat!" Bane laughed in his hot fury as he cast three incendiaries at his enemy. "You might be Superman, or Martian Manhunter, or even Captain Marvel, but I. Broke." Batman's arm snapped out, and the flames sputtered out in ice. "BATMAN!"
"You did indeed," chuckled another voice from behind Bane. The Venom junkie half-stepped to the side, unwilling to give even a fake Batman his back, and reached for his Kryptonite and incendiaries when he found two colorful figures standing in the corner.
"Oh, don't mind us, we're only here to watch," Superman assured Bane carelessly, keeping a blinking video camera aimed at Bane while Martian Manhunter merely waved, not interrupting his snacking from a popcorn bucket filled with what appeared to be Oreos.
"…Captain Marvel, then," Bane concluded, not off-put by seeing his first two suspects for the fake 'Batman' already present. He pressed a button on one gauntlet, and several rods sprung up from around the room. There was a whine as they charged, and if it took a moment too long for them to release a flood of electrical currents through the room, Bane was not alert enough to notice it.
Batman staggered as the charge arced through him, but remained standing. He took one step, and another, and a third as the electricity still crackled.
"For a 'very intelligent man,' you seem unable to grasp the obvious," Gotham's Dark Knight mocked as the discharge ended.
"You… obviously, you must be a fake," Bane retaliated, although the slow trickle of fear began to chill his head. "I broke the true Batman, and he will never walk again. Certainly not without months or years of treatment, and it has barely been days. Imbécil."
"Not without months or years of treatment from Earth's medical technology," Superman agreed cheerfully, and that trickle of cold fear grew like the opening of a faucet and Bane processed those words. "Krypton, however, was rather more advanced, and Mars specializes in biotech that can act as a replacement for flesh. It took us maybe sixteen hours to work out a patch job for his spinal vertebrae and apply it."
"Granted," Martian Manhunter admitted, "the stress might have killed a lesser man… Batman, however, has adapted admirably in the past few days."
"Once I was on my feet," Batman rumbled, still cloaked in the half-light, "all I needed was a warm-up. Your thugs served perfectly."
"Dios mio," Bane whispered, as he suddenly realized that he faced a fresh, fully capable Batman eager for revenge. "Yo soy- Batman, Bruce, surely we can be reasonable about this." He backed slowly away and reached for the kryptonite still on his belt.
Bane blinked. When his were eyes opened again, Batman was gone, and so was his store of Kryptonite.
A grip like iron latched onto his wrist.
"Reasonable about this?" Batman hissed in his ear.
Pain.
Bane knew pain, as a blow smashed into his ribs, and the force popped his humerus out of its socket.
More blows smashed into him, knocking loose two teeth and hammering him into the wall.
"N-no… No soy un chico asustado!" Bane roared, retaining just enough presence of mind to up his Venom dosage before he lost himself in battle fury, forcing his cold fear away with hot rage and blood lust. He fought his ways through the fists to grip his enemy.
He used Batman's body as a flail to smash through a wall and followed Batman out onto a rooftop that should not have been there, but Bane did not care. He threw savage blows that flung Batman around like a rag doll, but always the Dark Knight rolled, and recovered, and got back up. Bane smashed through three floors with various pile drivers, dropping down onto Batman after he fell below each time.
They fought across rooftops. They smashed through windows. Bane picked up a bench in a public park and smashed it into his opponent.
Bane even seized a bronze statue of some old general and bludgeoned Batman until the metal broke with a steely shriek.
Through it all, Batman got up again every time, and gave back as good as he got with every blow.
Better, even.
At some point, Bane's mind whispered to the rest of him that he was only alive because Batman was holding back.
Batman held back because he wanted to take his time with Bane.
The Dark Knight was savoring this fight.
The terror only made Bane fight all the harder, but nothing was working.
Afterward, Bane would never remember entirely how it all progressed, only snapshots of images and agonies.
At one point, they fought across a catwalk while scores of underlings ran about in a panic below.
At one point, they fought in a public park until one of them tore up a sewer grate to escape.
Bane suplexed Batman six times, clotheslined the Dark Knight eight, and slugged seven jabs into his jaw. None of it did any good, and after the third repeat Batman was countering each move more and more painfully.
Bane smashed two different windows and tore his fingers to shreds as he threw glass shards and used them as knuckledusters.
Their battle crossed at least four distinct rooftops, (there were more, but they'd begun blending together in Bane's aching brain,) and two news choppers caught them in the dawn's growing light.
It ended, impossibly, back where it began, as a savage blow threw Bane weightlessly until he dropped into his throne room again.
He wheezed, he cringed at feeling pain through all the Venom enhancement that flooded him, he shook as he nearly rose to his feet.
The master of Pena Duro flinched and toppled as Batman dropped down into the now scarcely lit room, landing across from Bane.
'NotscarednotscarednotpainscaredpainpainpainnotscaredpainIwantOsito,' could be described as his process of thoughts right then.
Batman's steps echoed deliberately as he approached Bane, and the whimper escaped the big man.
"A footstool," Batman declared, and a shudder of terror rippled through Bane.
The masked man knew what Batman spoke of, and if anything were to incite the Dark Knight's personal vengeance, it would be that.
"Y-yo, yo sssoy-!" A gauntleted hand gripped his throat and cut him off. Batman effortlessly lifted Bane and pointed him.
"You claimed my father as your own blood, falsely," Batman repeated, forcing Bane to view the wooden box, "and you used his stolen coffin as a footstool, a coffee table." Tears were leaking from Bane's eyes, snot dripped from his nose, and bloody drool dribbled out.
"P-p… por," Bane slurred through his smashed jaw, swollen tongue, and missing teeth. Batman gazed at him from beneath the cowl.
Then, he saw something in Bane's face, and his expression shifted.
"Man to man, Bane," said Batman, only he removed his cowl, and it was Bruce Wayne speaking, "I feel rather sorry for you." Bane sobbed in humiliation at this final indignity. "No, don't be like that, I'm quite serious," Bruce said almost companionably. He let Bane slump down to the ground miserably, but then sat beside the beaten man. "I pulled a few strings and did some searching while I was waiting for Superman to ready for the operation. That Swiss banker, remember him? He had made a one-third down payment on the ransom for the freedom of your mother, but then he was assassinated by the League of Shadows so that they could move his junior partner into the man's position." Bane stopped breathing. Bruce shook his head. "We've both lost everything in our lives to crime; my sons aren't related to me by blood, and if you had been sincere about joining me… I don't know. But it was lonely, growing up an orphan; I'd have liked a brother."
"B-bluh, pluh-uh," Bane attempted incoherently through his broken teeth. Bruce Wayne, his face severe, placed one heavy hand on Bane's shoulder.
"I will never forgive you, Bane," he swore softly. "That doesn't mean I'm not without mercy. I make no promises, but if you behave and serve your sentence quietly, I'll ask about your half-sister visiting. Break out again, though, and I'll show you a new meaning for the word 'broken'."
His grip tightened, and Bane passed into blissful, horrible darkness as his collarbone gave a sickening snap.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
* July 12 [Overview]
*SCREECH!*
Fang Zhifu, China's own August Captain in Iron, was not an arrogant man. All things considered, given that he usually brought in his targets alive despite how squishy they could be, there were even a few cynics who would call him soft.
*BANG!*
When his country had formed the Great Ten in response to the existence of the Justice League, and the possibility of future violence in conflict with a cohesive group of super-humans who were aligned with the Western World, they had made plans to combat each member should it prove necessary. It was no coincidence that China had formed the Great Ten when the Justice League's roster had boasted 10 members.
*KA-THWOOM*
Attempts to match up Great Ten agents against Justice League members had been only half-promising on paper, but Fang Zhifu believed that he would be capable of subduing Wonder Woman, should the need arise. They both fought with strength, skill, and weaponry, but he could match her flight with his equipment, and he had studied her fighting style through more than 1,000 hours of video recordings.
*CRASH!*
After watching her tear apart 6 machines in 16 seconds, after two of them had nearly taken him down, Fang Zhifu was willing to concede that he had been incredibly arrogant in his assessment.
*CRUNCH!*
"Are you well, Captain?" the Amazon Princess asked after tearing open the chest of one device and removing a man from within.
"I remain mission-capable," Fang declared. "Thank you." His voice rasped. His throat was raw and his lungs felt unsteady after the robot had ripped his breath from his chest with an aerokinetic effect. And his head was tingling….
"I should have intervened more quickly," Wonder Woman apologized, "but I initially thought all of the robots were power-armor; once I realized the others were unmanned androids, it became much simpler to dismantle them." She touched a hand to her comm link. "This is Alpha Squad to all teams: we just encountered six robots equipped with Morrow-tech, and I am tentatively hypothesizing that this base may belong to Vandal Savage. He likes the idea of his enemies destroyed by the elements enough that he may even be in residence."
<Morrow, as in Red Tornado? > Thundermind double-checked. <What should we be looking for? >
"We dealt with robots manipulating air, fire, water, thermal energy, electricity, and sonic waves. Physician, be especially alert for pockets of synthetic silence; I don't know how those will interact with your abilities," she warned. "Everyone, check your rebreathers are functional, in case there are more attempts to suffocate us or disperse toxic gas. I'm seeing laser rifle installations further down the hall from Alpha Squad… Also, be careful with use of force: one of the robots was power armor with a mind-controlled civilian inside. Judging from his clothes, I suspect he was abducted from a local village."
<I am requesting the Mongolian government double-check their lists of missing person reports and forward us the numbers, > Mother of Champions assured them. <My boys will head in as soon as it's cleared, but their radiation-based equipment is indiscriminate. >
"I'm placing a tracker beacon," Fang Zhifu announced, attaching it to the wall. "Alpha Squad has cleared the West entry path down through to rooms and three hall crossings. Salvage the robots' parts if possible."
"Have a medical team ready to check the abductee," Wonder Woman added. "I don't know what type of mind-control was used, and I rendered him unconscious for his own safety, but I haven't made an attempt to remove it."
Instructions delivered, Wonder Woman and August Captain in Iron eyed the next hallway they were about to assault.
There were panels that would reveal weaponry such as lasers or rockets, but neither believed there would be forcefields or explosives yet.
"I'll take point, trigger the reactions, and gum up the machinery," Wonder Woman volunteered, "while you cover me?"
"Doable," he judged. Fang reformatted his power staff into its energy rifle form as Wonder Woman produced a set of capsules, the type that would explode into adhesive foam when triggered.
He counted, and on 3 she started sprinting down the hall.
August Captain in Iron wasn't quite certain why she seemed to prefer manual locomotion when she had the ability to fly, but he assumed it might involve limited power reserves or requirements like being in the open air.
Or she was athletic enough that she may just prefer to move her muscles.
Regardless, the defenses were armed and readied, but automated, as they activated only when she entered a certain range.
Panels in the walls and ceiling slid open, revealing laser turrets.
Wonder Woman's arms snapped forward as she sprinted, and containment foam blossomed in 4 of the 6 turrets, gumming up circuitry and gears. The three guns in each remaining turret opened fire, only for her to deflect the blasts back toward the far end of the hall, blowing chunks out of the walls and damaging the next wave of defenses.
Then Fang Zhifu's laser rifle sniped each turret and the machines shut down. He quickly hit three of the four turrets in the next line of defense, while Wonder Woman deflected fire back at the other turret she hadn't already damaged enough to deactivate.
With the path cleared, August Captain in Iron quickly followed down the hallway as she reached the next intersection and peered around the corner.
They had work to do, and they would see it through to the end.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
* July 12 [Overview]
Given the solidity of his cover after 'surviving an assassination attempt/rescuing the mayor,' Lex Luthor presumed that he was the least busy of the Light's uppermost echelon, barring Queen Bee if she had the international scrutiny handled as she'd claimed.
Given how frantically he had been maneuvering to erase incriminating assets over the past few days, that was not a high bar.
That only four screens lit up when this meeting of the Light began was not reassuring.
"Bane has been captured, and he is already in Belle Reve high-security," the bald businessman began without preamble.
L4—the Light were using their highest security protocols to obscure their identities now, in case their systems were hacked—replied, "What a completely unexpected turn of events," in perfect deadpan. "I assume there will be difficulties in silencing him?"
"That remains to be seen," said
The plan most likely to succeed required an agent to be captured, sent to Belle Reve, and fitted with an inhibitor collar that would be insufficient due to said agent successfully concealing the full array of their powers from the heroes; it wasn't the best of ideas, he knew.
"Our base in Western Mongolia-," L5 didn't say 'physical headquarters,' but the Light all knew it served as that and each member suppressed a flinch or grimace. "-has been exposed and was successfully assaulted by coalition forces yesterday afternoon. It strikes me as significant that Bane knew its location."
"What of L1?" asked L8, rather than discuss the possibility that Bane had sold them out more quickly than he could be silenced.
L3 knew that he would be the first targeted (assuming they could find his in the underground bunker he had retreated to,) if that occurred.
As long as he remained free without pursuit, the Light's identities had not been totally exposed.
"I successfully intercepted news of the assault in its late planning stages," L5 answered, "and sent a warning to L1 as best I was able; I believe he chose to utilize the self-destruct mechanism rather than the base being destroyed by the assault, but I do not know whether he escaped the range of the explosion, or if he 'perished' in the blast. His remains have not been found, and the location remains under observation by the UN, Hawkman of the Justice League, accomplished Perfect Physician of the Great Ten… and one 'Black Condor'."
"My systems didn't detect the energy signatures of a slider device, though it might have been obscured by our base's baffles and the subsequent explosion," assessed L8. "However, I find it likely that L1 was caught in the explosion and will need to be retrieved once he regenerates."
"It's not impossible for him to have used sorcery or an artifact to escape," opined L7.
"He might also have used a Boom Tube," L3 agreed.
"Regardless, he isn't here at present," L4 reminded them. "Nor is L6, who was being besieged in the Solomon Islands base, last I checked. L5, is there anything you can do to relieve him?"
"At the moment, I am stretched too thin, with less than no resources to spare."
"I could kick up a few distractions to throw at their flanks," L7 asserted, "but I'd need support to get them placed effectively."
"Who is leading the assault on L6?" L3 inquired, disturbed that his sources hadn't informed him of this.
"John Stewart and Icon," L4 answered flatly.
"There goes that idea, then," L8 groused.
"You don't have any… neighboring assets we could access, L8?" L5 asked.
"I wouldn't be based here if I were notably more successful elsewhere," L8 answered. "I could burn through a few expendable troops, but with the Lanterns and Dr. Fate on alert, my methods would likely be detected. At the moment, I deem it unsafe to even flee the planet, and I am remaining at the base of our… recent agents. L4, how are you handling the scrutiny?"
"The inspectors were handled simply enough—they sent people resistant or immune to my usual methods, but not to more recent developments and acquisitions, thanks to Dr. Isley's contributions—but I expect to be suffering a dearth of imports until matters settle down."
"It seems we need to go to ground, then; shed our excess and brace for the storm," L7 suggested.
"I've been liquidating numerous projects that are more incriminating than useful," L3 agreed. "It may be necessary… but it will be months before I can rebuild the equipment that I'm destroying to do so, even if the samples and resources can be preserved." The data, of course, was safe enough.
"My central bases remain undiscovered, but we'll be shutting down entire branches save for skeleton crews due to power consumption issues," L4 summarized. "I'm maintaining the more irreplaceable projects, but more expenditure risks those satellites sensing something."
"I… believe I may be able to aid our operations best by going dark and burrowing into the silt," L5 offered slowly.
"What are you thinking?" L3 asked suspiciously.
"Ocean Master has been associated already with the tidal wave, which was the mostly widely and publicly damaging aspects of Alexandria," L5 explained. "In service to our cause, it may be best for 'Ocean Master' to stage a… swan song, I believe the surface term is. Many of Ocean Master's purist followers have served as much use as they may be for the moment. I expect a final battle, which Ocean Master will not survive, should allow the public to vent and feel victory through such bloodletting. I myself may cut communications for a year or two as I rebuild a new power-structure before rejoining our council with, ideally, inside sources on our enemies' movement and other resources."
"Convenient. Though isn't that what L6 will be doing once the siege takes him?"
"Unless he escapes… but L6 also has inbuilt defenses against many forms of enhanced interrogation," L7 said. "If captured, I imagine the heroes might find it frustrating, and 'Ocean Master' going down in a blaze of blood and glory might deter them from trying more extreme methods on L6."
"With One incommunicado, Two in need of a newer replacement, Five volunteering to fail, and Six about to be captured, it seems we will be at half-strength for the foreseeable future," L3 warned.
"Oh, far less than that, Three. Don't kid yourself over how far this has set us back, successes aside," L7 said.
"And yet, friends," L8 interjected, "I believe we all remain better off than when the Light was founded. Aren't we?"
Silence.
The other four contemplated what L8 had offered as food for thought, and all they had gained since the Light was founded.
L3 had mixed sorcery and xeno-technology into his business assets, and the contacts he'd made through Savage and the Shadows' contacts largely remained, as did multiple shipping deals and smuggling rings quietly arranged by Ocean Master.
L4 now had labs with the most advanced technology available, a level of luxury and security beyond what her earlier life had led her to dream of, and even with arrangements to expand stalling out there remained many options available to her.
L5 had made connections, gained access to artifacts of old, benefitted from science beyond the cutting edge of Atlantis, and secured his cover beyond almost any investigation, in addition to finding a purpose and direction Ocean Master had lacked.
L7 had honed her abilities, gained a cohort of subordinates, and accessed resources she hadn't even know existed before her invitation.
"I suppose you have a point, Eight," L4 agreed drily. "Without our arrangement, I might have been deposed twice at least."
"No matter how thin the past year has been, we stockpiled accordingly and will survive," L5 concurred.
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," L7 said.
"And one must risk, perhaps, everything when seeking to gain the world," L3 finished. "Shall we agree to go dark for a period of… say, two months minimum and reconvene when we have news that proves worthy of sharing? Let the fit survive as we need? All in favor?"
"Aye."
"Aye."
"Aye."
"Aye."
"And aye," L3 finished. "The motion carries. Five, you remain free to invoke 'a blaze of glory' as you desire, though be warned that you may be replaced partially in the interim as you rebuild."
"I have no doubt that Black Manta will be chomping at the bit to do so," L5 answered. "L4, what of the 'Raqabat' experiment?"
"He's with me. Given how tattered the League of Shadows is, even with the new recruits that haven't been recaptured, I'm not sure how much that means," L4 assessed, "but he remains with me and his alchemy expertise is proving useful even if there aren't any Shadows to lead."
"L1 said he would be that way. I don't know how this 'experiment' and our upheaval may result," L8 claimed, "but he should be far from useless."
"I'll try to arrange a consultation with Ra's about 'transferring powers' between them, so to speak," L7 said. "In the meanwhile, I have thirty-two warriors for Love and Justice to assess, and more coming in the upcoming weeks."
"I will arrange to silence Bane if it proves necessary," L3 finished, "and we will proceed as the situation requires. Move to disperse?"
A few seconds later the screens were dark once again.
RyubosJ
Person that hates Mega Evolutions.
- Location
- UK
Oh, loved the Bane beatdown and it's always fun to see WW be the goddess of smackdown that she is.
Poison Ivy redemptions are some of my favourite stories, but I know also know that PI sinking to deeper depths are not.
Do we know who L7 is yet? Asking for my knife.
Mmm
Poison Ivy redemptions are some of my favourite stories, but I know also know that PI sinking to deeper depths are not.
Obloquy
CrossMyHeart And HopeToDie, StickANeedleInMyEye
- Location
- the Physical Realm
I don't think I've ever gone more than a week without some form of update, so once a week? (If you count Friday to the next Sunday a week).
It's been faster than that in the past -- I've done, like, 4 updates on some weekends when I was on a roll -- but once a week is what you should expect if I don't have as big a cushion of pre-written material.
It's been faster than that in the past -- I've done, like, 4 updates on some weekends when I was on a roll -- but once a week is what you should expect if I don't have as big a cushion of pre-written material.
- Location
- Leeds
I think you mean not a low bar, or just drop the negative.
Not sure why Luthor is there as it isn't done the same again. I'm going to guess that you write these scenes with their real names and then overwrite them with the codenames?
Now how did the team pull off the Bane fight? Megan and Superboy imitating MM and Superman I guess and Renka doing the Batman impersonation? Except Renka's powers are bad for drawn out fights which it seems to imply this was. Also Bane got far more freaked out that I would have expected,
honestly I'm wondering if Fear Gas was involved.
Krazyfan1
Worrying for the future.
- Location
- Australia
Brilliant as always.
A healing factor would probably be useful for Batman to have...
And i wonder what would happen if Ocean Masters "Blaze of Glory" plan doesn't work?
If this is legitimately what happened, i wonder if there are any positive side effects?
A healing factor would probably be useful for Batman to have...
And i wonder what would happen if Ocean Masters "Blaze of Glory" plan doesn't work?
Last edited:
- Location
- Massachussetts
Wow, that was fast. I thought there would be another chapter of buildup before the confrontation.
I'm honestly surprised at how far the Light as a whole has been compromised by this operation. I was expecting most of the damage to be limited to the Shadows.
I'm honestly surprised at how far the Light as a whole has been compromised by this operation. I was expecting most of the damage to be limited to the Shadows.
I really liked the previous Orm PoV where he thought about his future and goals, but I don't recall him making any actual decisions/discovering a purpose. Is this something we're supposed to have figured out from clues, or did I miss it? Or is it instead a hook for future episodes?
Stripes
Genre-Savvy Anti-Nihilist
- Location
- Nizhniy Novgorod
Personally, I parsed it as "Without The Light, Ocean Master was second tier villain whose sole reason to exist was to screw Aquaman over".
- Location
- Australia
The anti-shapeshifting tech would've messed with M'gann's impersonation if she was pretending to be her uncle.
- Location
- Leeds
Not necessarily. Bane was still under the impression 'Batman' could be MM when 'MM' appeared.
His response to this was to use Captain Marvel electricity countermeasures rather than the incendiaries. So it seems Bane himself thought J'onn could beat his anti-shapeshifting tech.
- Location
- New Jersey
Thank you for the Bane beat down-hopefully he will remember how he was spared. It will be interesting to find out how they all did it, working as a team. I hope that next Renka can catch up to Vandal Savage in the near future and spike away his immortality-that would put fear into his caveman heart.
Sequelae - part 4
Obloquy
CrossMyHeart And HopeToDie, StickANeedleInMyEye
- Location
- the Physical Realm
Life Ore Death
* July 12 [Kaldur'ahm PoV]The bedroom door opened, and a gray-haired woman entered, pausing only slightly when she saw me.
"Ah," I said, standing to greet her, "you must be Dr. Thompkins. I am Kaldur'ahm of Shayeris."
She shook my hand and paid no attention to my temperature or webbing, though a conflicted look had crossed her face first.
"I'm Leslie Thompkins, yes. I admit, you are not who I was expecting here. Aqualad?"
"I volunteered to remain with Batman while Catwoman took Talia… elsewhere," I explained, uncertain how I could explain in English that Talia had dearly needed some self-care without sounding perverse. "For the moment, my paperwork can be completed here as easily as elsewhere, and I was hoping I might speak with you."
"Just let me finish checking his vitals," she agreed as she set to work tending Batman.
I resumed my report on the relief supplies Atlantis had provided as she worked, noting what was distributed to each location.
'I originally believed that King Orin had given me a diplomatic position as requital for the arrangements I made to aid Sephol and Kinos. I do not believe I was wrong, but I suspect he would have eventually given me a duty such as this to learn from the experience no matter what.'
"Can you help me move him, so he won't get bed sores?" Dr. Thompkins requested.
I shifted Batman's comatose body as instructed; after she changed out his IV bags, she joined me in another chair.
"What did you want to ask me?"
"Several of my teammates sustained injuries during the Alexandria attacks," I explained. "I wish to consult a medical professional trained in baseline humans' bodies about the possibilities of long-lasting effects, to better judge whether I should return them to field duty."
Dr. Thompkins frowned sharply before her face smoothed out again.
"I'll be happy to answer your questions, though it won't substitute for them seeing a medical professional in person," she warned. "Would you be willing to answer of few questions of mine afterward?"
"Gladly," I agreed. "How many secret identities are you aware of?"
"Robin's brought by every vigilante who lives in Gotham, so they'll know where to go for emergency medical treatment."
"That is generous of you," I complimented. "Dick was subjected to a telepathic assault, and while he claims to suffer no long-term effects, I am uncertain if his sleeplessness and other behaviors are reflective of how busy we are, or of his lying about his recovery."
"He's been prone to nightmares in the past, but I've tried to avoid prescribing soporifics," she stated. "Have you noticed him jumping at sudden stigma—sounds, movement, the like—occasionally losing his train of thought in conversations, or trembling?"
"Nothing noteworthy, though I will keep an eye out for it."
"Do that, and please tell me." She fumbled in her pocket and produced a business card, which I politely accepted.
"Next…" 'Dr. Thompkins would not be educated in Martian or Kryptonian physiology…' "Artemis severed her femoral artery and suffered significant blood loss, though she was brought to a hospital within minutes."
"Dear God," Dr. Thompkins breathed.
"She has been released, but I hesitate to take her off of light duty, despite her insistence. I may be imagining that she still seems pale…."
"First, did it injure her Gracilis or her Semitendinosus?"
"I am uncertain," I admitted. 'I assume those are parts of the body… Bones? Muscles? Tendons or nerves?' "I do not know those."
"Those are the muscles here, around the femoral artery." She patted her thigh. "It isn't unheard of for muscles to heal faster, but usually it takes six weeks and physical therapy to heal cut muscles, and with all the jumping over rooftops you do…" I nodded my comprehension. "Second, the average adult has between 4,500 and 5,700 milliliters of blood in their body and losing as little as half can be fatal when your organs no longer get oxygen or nutrients." I mentally dismissed question about whether cadmium Feruchemy might provide oxygen in place of blood, though it would be interesting to discuss with Ferris later. "Children are more resilient, but losing 500 milliliters needs a few days or weeks of recovery, and it sounds like she lost much more than that. I certainly wouldn't risk it, and not so soon."
"I will inform Artemis and insist that she remain inactive," I promised, mildly annoyed but unsurprised by her decision to downplay her own infirmity. "Magelet and Jericho did not suffer any lasting injuries, but Rocket was concussed, among other things."
"Head wounds are tricky," Dr. Thompkins said immediately. "The effects can linger for years afterwards if there are pre-existing or lurking conditions, even if they become less common in time."
"She has complained of headaches and migraines twice in my hearing," I agreed. "Thankfully, Rocket has greater concern for her health and rests when she feels unwell, but she has not yet noted any trigger for the headaches."
"There might not be, or there might be several. I really can't guess about a head injury without more in-person observation."
"I will press her to visit a doctor again, possibly yourself," I decided. "Batgirl and Bumblebee both claim they avoided injury, but I will direct them to you if I notice anything, should you have the time."
"I will make time," Dr. Thompkins said soberly. "If I may…?" I nodded my ascent. "How old are you, Kaldur'ahm? Not just you, but the others on your team?"
'Superboy and Miss Martian's ages are complicated matter, but I do not believe the others would mind.' "I am seventeen, Kid Flash is sixteen, Magelet will turn fifteen later this month, Artemis will turn sixteen not long after, Rocket is fifteen, Bumblebee is sixteen, and Ferris is twenty," I listed. "I believe you know the others' ages."
"Teenagers," she breathed. "You're all children." She shook her head, and I reminded myself that she was expressing rational and normal concern, rather than trying to denigrate our abilities. "Does it ever seem wrong to you, that you all are child soldiers, Kaldur'ahm?"
'An interesting question, and I can appreciate that she is asking me, rather than announcing what she believes I should feel.'
"You are not the first to ask me that, so I should preface my answer with an explanation that I am a literal child soldier and very aware of this fact; citizens of Atlantis enter mandatory military service at age twelve, after we complete our elementary education."
"Twelve!?" she squawked, aghast.
'It is a milder reaction than some I received,' I reflected. "Yes. It is a holdover from more tempestuous times, and in the modern era it usually resembles enrollment in one of your country's military academies, with little chance to see combat unless we are attacked." 'Which has happened more often, with the activities of Ocean Master and Black Manta,' I acknowledged silently. "My own situation is unusual in that I am apprenticed directly to King Orin, who involves me in his activities as Aquaman, but it was less unusual to see combat a few decades ago."
"That-," She cut off whatever she was going to say. "I suppose it strikes you as more normal, then, but even though military academies exist, 'sidekicks' were far from normal here, even a decade ago. Until Bruce took in Dick and brought him out in…" she grumbled.
"We still are not 'normal,' Dr. Thompkins, and we are aware of this," I conceded mildly to catch her attention. "However, may I safely conclude that you are of the belief that we children should be kept at home, safe and away from violence?"
"Yes," she said firmly and immediately. "Children are a treasure. You're our future, and lives are so fragile; there's only so much intervention I can impose over an adult who decides to throw his life away-,"
'I assume that she strongly disapproves of Batman's self-imposed mission, then, on top of involving Robin,' I assessed.
"-but all of this is so much more than that. Secret warriors in hoods and capes, endless violence, children with their bright futures snuffed out for the sake of some mission…" She laced her fingers and sighed. "When we have the wisdom to use mercy and compassion instead of force, we human creatures will finally be on the path to perfection."
'Perfection is an illusion, though the acting of searching for it is valuable in its own right,' I opined mentally. I considered. 'She is a woman of medicine who has devoted her life to helping others and bettering the world. I do not want…' "You assert that we should be kept safe at home, rather than contributing to the safety of the world, then?"
"Yes."
"I see…" 'I don't believe Karen would object to my using her family as an example.' "Among other things, the Team requires parental permission for our members to participate, meaning the parents are free to end our participation by revoking this permission. Earlier this week, my teammate Bumblebee had to argue with her parents over their desire to do just that. The rest of the Team would have supported her if she asked us for help, but she made a very persuasive argument, her parents could not refute with their desire to keep her safe."
"Oh?" Dr. Thompkins said.
"Her aunt, and two of her aunt's three children, her cousins, were killed as a result of the Alexandria attacks," I revealed. 'I still wish that Karen had taken a bereavement leave… She says she will when things have settled, but…' "This frightened Bumblebee's parents, as they had not anticipated that the risks in our line of work could strike so close to home. Bumblebee informed me that they made the same argument as you, that we children should be kept safe at home. Bumblebee was unimpressed, and beat them in two sentences, she claims."
"Which were?" Dr. Thompkins prompted duly.
I looked Dr. Thompkins in the eyes. "To quote: 'Kelley and Mickey are dead because keeping them safe at home didn't keep them safe, and you want me to do the same thing when it doesn't work?! Me being out there with friends, support, and training is the reason more people didn't die the way they did, and if we'd had another half-a-dozen people like me in the streets, maybe they'd still be alive!'" I closed my eyes and gave a slight nod of my own agreement. "I suspect further words passed between them, but I do not deny Bumblebee's point. Adults say they want to keep us 'safe at home,' but thousands of people who were kept at home have been hurt or killed in these attacks."
Dr. Thompkins's mouth worked soundlessly for a moment. "Well, what do you suggest then? Impressing every kid into military service like they did with you?"
"Every member of the Team is a volunteer, Doctor," I rebuked pointedly. "Forcing someone to fight is no better than attacking an innocent; training and enabling those of us who wish to contribute to the well-being of the world, however, is very different."
"There are more ways to help people than violence," she bit out.
'I cannot tell if she is angry, or only stressed. Still I do not disagree with that fact.'
"Of course there are, and anyone who wants to help should be enabled to help in whatever way they are comfortable with," I agreed, "whether that is through providing medical care-," I gave her a nod of respect, as she certainly deserved my regard. "-building housing for the needy, arranging for supplies deliveries, or protecting people from those who would harm them."
"Only that last one puts the 'volunteers' in danger," she observed tiredly.
"Unless there are no volunteers, which endangers everyone else."
"All the more reason for it to be adults who step into the line of fire. God! What a world we are leaving for you."
"Exactly," I said firmly, having had this part of the debate before.
"…I'm sorry?"
"Dr. Thompkins, I have heard adults lament the state of the world that my generation will be inheriting from them. This—the Team, on the streets, fighting to protect people—is what it looks like when my generation steps up to take responsibility for leaving a better, safer world to our children. Should we have to do so? No. But too few of our predecessors have stepped up, so we will not repeat their mistakes."
She stared at me, and I would not have called her aghast, but clearly I had rattled her.
'Which was not my intention.' I reached out gently to touch her shoulder, as I had learned the gesture was one of trust and closeness.
"Dr. Thompkins, I am not intending to lecture or insult you. I have the utmost respect for your life's calling in medicine, and if the world had more people like you, then the Team would likely be safe if we stayed home-,"
"But we don't, so you won't be," she finished flatly.
'…That was not what I was going to say, but if I have parsed it correctly, I believe she is agreeing.'
"I think so."
She turned her gaze to Batman's unconscious body, and I wondered again exactly how they knew each other. I had not looked into it too deeply, preferring to remain willfully ignorant of as much of the man's personal life as was possible—about half of the Team had even opted not to learn his identity, and while I knew his name, I did my best not to use it—but clearly she had known him for most of his life.
"You know, young man? I wish he were half so verbose as you; our arguments about these things tend to devolve into shouting."
"Verbose?" 'From "verb"? I assume she means talkative, or good at speaking.' "Only about things that matter to me. If you really want a debate, you might try speaking with Ferris or Rocket. Or Jericho," I noted, "if he can borrow a body to speak with."
"Maybe. You know, I still feel that so much of what he does only perpetuates the cycle of violence: he beats senseless the needy and the madmen, and hands them over to the authorities, only for most of them to end up on the streets again, angrier and more violent."
"Debating the nature of justice on the surface is beyond me," I demurred, "although that is not how I would describe it. Bane and the Brain have both been taken into custody, however, and we expect they will spend the rest of their lives in prison. With luck, interrogating them will aid us in stopping their allies as well, once and for all."
"True," she murmured, tracing the line of Batman's jaw tenderly with a finger. "Now that I think of it, I suppose the system is broken… but maybe that's just Gotham. It's been a while since I've left the city."
I declined to comment. Indeed, I felt rather abruptly like a bit of an intruder between them.
Finally, Dr. Thompkins turned back to me with a sigh.
"I've been putting it off to the end, but I have news," she informed me.
'She's waiting for me to respond, as I waited for her to prompt me,' I noted, wondering what the news would be. "Yes, Doctor?"
"Bruce made contingencies in case he was killed on his crusade, or injured so badly that he could not continue, or left comatose," she noted. I had known about and surmised this, but it seemed one of them was about to come into play. "The good news is, a prospective stand-in for him as Batman finally got back to us. He's usually based out of Berne, Switzerland, and he uses the name Azrael; he can be here in two days to stand in as Batman for a month or two, or someone from the Team can pick him up immediately."
"It will be useful; Superboy has not objected to impersonating Batman-," 'He greatly enjoyed the opportunity to fight Bane as well.' "-but I believe the care required to maintain the- to impersonate Batman is straining his salt." I did not ask if Azrael was trustworthy.
"The bad news is, a few of Bruce's friends have been reaching out to him. The messages are still on the machine, but Alfred says at least one friend might be arriving within the week, and Bruce's great-uncle Silas wants to hear from him."
"Both cases sound more taxing than Magelet's illusory abilities can handle," I agreed. 'Enchanting Conner to resemble Batman was easy enough, even with the shield against Kryptonite radiation, but it held largely because M'gann and her uncle kept Bane too dazed to notice.' "I will consult with Martian Manhunter about impersonating him again for a meeting or two. I assume Mr. Pennyworth will know more?"
"He was having another lie down last I saw, but you should ask him when he's up again," she agreed.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
* July 12-13 [Overview]
After… What would it be, a week?
After a little less than a week had passed since the end of the world as she knew it, Talia al Ghul came to a decision.
She was sitting on the closed lid of the toilet with a short blade pressed ponderously against the flesh above her knee, wondering whether a third cut would be of any use, when her father's words, spoken to another once in her hearing, came back to her.
If you must destroy yourself, at least do so with dignity.
Talia put away the knife, tended her two weeping wounds, and ensured that her skirt and stockings would cover them, though she could feel her skin pull with each step, which was what she'd wanted.
She washed her hands, examined her image in the mirror for the first time in days, and calmly applied a layer of
She then stepped out of the bathroom attached to the second master bedroom—Wayne Manor had three of these, and Bruce refused to use the one that had been his parents' room—and calmly claimed a small duffle bag. Into this she packed a few changes of practical clothes (purchased from the Wayne Enterprise fashion line Pockets!), two portable tool sets, a small (by her standards) amount of cash taken from the bedroom's safe's supply, and two swords in her preferred make that she'd been gifted for her birthday.
She did not remove her engagement ring, yet.
She shuffled the duffle under Bruce's bed, and she kissed him delicately on the cheek before she left the room.
Talia spent the rest of the day… not quite puttering, but she spent it with people rather than doing things.
She got a gymnastics demonstration out of Dick as part of his daily work out, and she even joined him briefly on the trapeze. She scooped up Jason to join them and wheedled a few stories about Bruce's childhood out of Alfred. She attended the dinner prepared for everyone who would be going out that night and spoke at least a few words with each of them.
She met the Jean-Paul man who would be standing in as Batman until her beloved awoke. Perhaps it was blunt, but she didn't have much to say to him; the blond did not strike her as tremendously intelligent, even if he moved like a man trained in combat.
She wrangled Jason away just this once for an 'English lesson intensive' that was really them marathon-reading The Lord of the Rings from where they'd been until they were finished, and a brief discussion over Tolkien's narrative decisions that ended when Jason nodded off mid-sentence at 4 in the morning.
Talia tucked him into bed beside Bruce, checked that everyone had returned safely, and took several pieces of paper.
She wrote the letters she'd been mulling over, left them on the bedside table, took up her duffle bag, and after hesitating-
True, I have often raped history, but it has produced some beautiful children, rumbled the voice of her brother Arkady.
History is a set of lies agreed upon, quoted her father as she sat on his knee.
If you are depressed, then you are living in the past, consoled the voice of her mother.
-she set her engagement ring on the bedside table as well.
"Better to leave it than to pawn it, or have it taken from me," Talia reasoned to herself as she strode briskly down the hall.
She did not look back as she let herself quietly out the side door and went down a chosen path, but she was tempted.
As to where she was going… Wayne Manor, despite its size, took up only a small part of the estate. There were 'neighbors' closer to the city and the road by which one accessed the house, but the grounds stretched out and around behind Wayne Manor. Much of the property was unusable (unbroken marshland) or had fallen into disuse (barns, a stable, and a riding circuit), but footpaths across the property still led to several places of import.
In particular, Talia was walking to the cemetery; members of the Wayne family were technically buried in a public cemetery, but only because it was a cemetery owned by the family that they had originally opened to the public as a more dignified potter's field, with the area closest to their estate set aside for the family's use, but left accessible for the public to visit their benefactors' graves and pay respects.
It probably said something about Bruce's childhood, that he had been able to visit his parents' graves at any time after barely a 20-minute walk, no matter that the graveyard was well out of sight of the Manor, but Talia did not pause to psychoanalyze him.
She did, however, pause by the grave of Melisa Athanasia Wayne.
Athanasia as an educated, eloquent name that was an alternate to 'Daisy,' which was both her and Bruce's agreed-upon favorite flower as well as a message of the sunlight and happiness she'd hoped their daughter would experience.
Melisa after her mother, Melisande, which she and Bruce had not agreed upon, but which Talia believed would be appropriate.
There was an old Wayne Family legend that a child named after the deceased was doomed to die young, and while the evidence behind it was indeterminate—Thomas Wayne Jr., 12 January 1975 – 16 November 1975, had suffered a crib death despite being named for his living father, after all—it had somehow led to a familial practice of naming stillborn children after late relatives.
Though Bruce was comatose and could not contribute an opinion, Talia did not think he would mind her presumption in adjusting the first name and listing his surname 'Wayne' on the stone… Not unless he agreed vehemently with the guilt and shame that filled her empty belly, in which case he was free to change the gravestone, but given her Beloved's tendency to self-flagellation, she did not expect it.
Talia still had an hour before dawn, and while she had not brought a Sacred Lamp stand-in, rice, or tea, she still placed two lit candles by the grave and prayed briefly to the spirits of her deceased ancestors.
After a quiet, "I love you always," she moved over to the grave Thomas Wayne, and then to Martha.
Her farewells complete, Talia straightened, turned, and found two green eyes peering at her from a tree branch.
"C-!" Talia bit off her customary nickname for the woman, 'Cat,' in favor of something more polite, as they were ostensibly allies. "Kyle."
"Wayne," Selina responded, dropping from the tree. Talia flinched, uncertain whether to correct the woman. "You're not wearing your ring."
Cultural norms and expectations are important to understand, daughter, her father lectured in her head. It is said, "A Frenchwoman, when double-crossed, will kill her rival; the Italian woman would rather kill her deceitful lover; the Englishwoman will simply break off relations - but they all will console themselves with another man." In the case of this man, would exposure of his affair be a viable catalyst to kill him?
"I am Talia al Ghul, and I was a fool to believe I could flee my family's shame and hate." 'Not when I carry it with me.'
Selina's eyes softened, then hardened again. "What now? You're leaving? Bruce isn't even awake, and when he does, you want him to find out that you fled into the night? It will destroy him."
"I have already destroyed him," Talia spat. "He will not remain broken; he will heal. Do you not want me gone, Kyle? It will leave him uncontested for you to claim." A part of Talia knew there was more compassion to Catwoman than the assertion gave credit to, but that same part hoped Kyle would take the hint and accepted what was being offered, because Bruce deserved someone who could love him.
Selina sauntered slowly closer.
"He asked me to marry him a few years ago, and I turned him down," Catwoman answered, and Talia restrained a flinch as the memory of a lash cut across her cheek in time with the echo of her father's voice as he scolded her.
She had been 8, and she had hesitated to deal appropriately with an intruder; her empathy had gotten an agent killed instead.
"I am aware. B- Bruce told me the story when he offered me the ring I wore. It will join yours in his vault, now. That is all."
"Talia, he doesn't even know you lost your kid," Selina hissed furiously. Again, Talia did not flinch.
The words men utter in anger are traitorous to their secrets, revealing men's true beliefs, Arkady explained. Whatever they may claim and assure you of in peace, their beliefs will slip through a loosened temper, and finding out how a man has been offended is… revelatory.
Selina had accused Talia of losing the child, rather than accuse Bane of taking the babe from them.
It seemed they agreed, at least – all Talia needed to do now was make the other woman admit this, and she would be free to go.
That, or make the other woman deny it violently enough to cede the argument.
"Selina," Talia began, making a deliberate choice to use her given name, "after all the other pain I have suffered, would you inflict this admission on me as well? Would you bind me in ropes and force me to admit what I have cost him? Kill me quickly, please, instead."
"It- It will hurt him no matter, what, but at least together-,"
"A burden shared is not a burden halved when he is already so heavily burdened," Talia interrupted resolutely.
Silence stretched between them.
"I never would have figured you for a coward, Talia," Selina accused.
'She resorts to name-calling instead of arguing with me; she knows I am right to do this, no matter how much she wishes otherwise.'
"I am aghast that you have believed me to be anything else." Talia had, after all, spent her life fleeing, hiding, and cowering from her father's-
"Says the woman who freed men set to be murdered as a test, and defied her family, all for the beliefs of a man she favored."
"Yes, Cat," Talia deadpanned, "I allowed myself to be swayed by Bruce's beliefs rather than stand up for my own. Do you believe that those murders stopped, after that one batch of captives were freed? Do you believe that I did not kill others, afterward?"
"You're the victim of a lifetime of abuse and indoctrination, Talia. Did you have a choice? Could you have refused, and not been beaten into submission?"
"Could you?" Talia asked cuttingly.
Good men are naturally far more guilty than 'evil'. You may be certain that a 'good man' has committed some grave sin, my daughter, if only in his own head, and his mind will fill it in if you can convince him to think of it, and believe it discovered by you.
Talia did not know much of Catwoman's history, but clearly something in the accusation made Selina pause.
'Another sign that she, at least, is a good person, while I am not. All the more reason for me to leave him to her, lest I kill him truly.'
"How much have you eaten in the past day?" Selina asked instead of arguing. Talia's eyes narrowed. "Alfred and I have been counting calories for you, Talia. Do you realize that you're clearing maybe half your plate at meals?"
She had not, but it was true that she had not been eating much. Despite her stomach being so empty, she had not felt hungry.
It was not empty for lack of food, after all.
"I am prone to fasting as part of League practices," Talia demurred, "but I ensure that I meet minimum calorie requirements."
"Just enough to survive, and to punish yourself by almost starving," Selina countered. "Lord in Heaven, T! You and Bruce are just so perfectly suited for each other, you know that? You've both this fucking martyr routine down pat, killing yourselves slowly because you won't admit that you're suffering. Self-destruction! This is why me and him never got along, not really. It's moronic."
"I thought it was your refusal to stop stealing," Talia accused, off-guard enough that the wrong flavor of venom slipped out.
"With all the laws Batman breaks, you think that bothers him?" Selina scoffed. "He doesn't care about crime; he cares about criminals with victims. Sure, he doesn't like me breaking into museums or mansions, but given the number of times I've picked up stolen artwork, and how many rich people make their money on the backs of others, he doesn't really care. Otherwise, why would he protect the streetwalkers instead of arresting them? Why would he offer henchmen the chance to turn a new leaf? Why be a vigilante at all, instead of joining the police to root out corruption from within?" She snorted. "Don't pretend you don't know that as well as I do."
Talia refused to consider whether she was pretending any such thing.
"You've never killed anyone, Cat. He refuses to cross that precipice-," Talia slowly unzipped the duffle that held her two swords. "-and I am resolved not to cross back, now. We are on opposite sides."
"No," Selina stated. "Talia, you cannot convince me that you're going back to rejoin the people who sent Bane out to murder your baby."
The thief who has cost a man property shall lose his hand at the wrist, her father lectured, many years ago. A man who has taken another's eye should lose both eyes, or else an eye and the hand that took it. A murderer must die, if they do not kill for the state, must die, and it is best if they die slowly, as an example to others. Once, it was common practice to execute a mass murderer's family, both as the closest approximation there could be to killing him equally for the crimes he committed, and to ensure that the corruption cannot spread, burnt out root and branch. Now, we say that men may not be responsible for each other's actions, but the option has not been removed entirely; it must be exercised judiciously, my daughter, but it must remain an option, as it is the only way to be certain of cutting out any co-conspirators. As to why these punishments… I cannot see any justice in making a criminal equal to his victim through retribution, for both must live with the consequences, but the victim was not condemned by any crimes to deserve such fate, and should instead be the superior of the criminal.
Talia stilled.
Slowly, she moved her hand away from the hilt.
Threats and violence would not serve her, here.
Not against Selina, at least, but she needed to make the other woman understand from where the infection was spreading.
While good men quote the power of love and kindness, as with judo, that power is also easily turned against them, Arkady said.
"The world is in chaos because of my family and legacy," Talia declared. "Just as my Beloved seeks to pacify Gotham, so I go to seek the end of the Shadows. I do not intend to join them, Cat." She reached into her duffle and drew a sword, elegant in the moonlight.
"If you're threatening to fight me, please remember that I have beaten Bruce before," Selina claimed, flexing her claws.
Talia grimaced, as that had not been her intended implication.
But if compassion and empathy could be turned against a good woman….
"If I remain here, Selina, I fear I will kill someone," she admitted, pretending to examine her drawn blade. "Most likely, me, but I am terrified that it will not be." She let the silence sit as she re-sheathed the weapon. "Please, Kyle. I am suffocating," Talia begged.
She looked up briefly, and then down again to her skirt, which she raised.
Under the stockings, the bandages—those from the day before, and others from earlier in the week—were clearly visibly.
Selina hissed a sigh, long and slow. She stepped into arm's reach and reached out to Talia.
Talia did not strike, her though she had every chance to do so and leave unopposed.
"Promise me," Selina said, "that you're not going to get yourself killed. Promise me that you're going to come back here."
"I am leaving," Talia claimed
"That's not what I was asking," Selina pressed.
Ra's al Ghul is many things, but to lie is beneath me, her father once declared grandly, and Talia had styled herself much the same.
"I will not pre-decease my father, and there are others in the Shadows who are moving. I intend to find them, and I intend to end them," Talia swore. "None have killed me yet, and I do not expect anyone to succeed."
I do not know that I have ever made a decision of my own, if I came here as part of my father's plan, Talia heard her own voice murmured in her head, but I must try, and keep trying. Why do we fall? So that we learn to stand up again. It is my only skill.
She kept her eyes locked with Selina's as the other woman stepped closer.
Two women—one Chinese-Arabic, the other Latinx-Italian—stood together despite the gulf of beliefs between them.
"I've sure as hell felt like I was drowning or about to explode, cooped up with Bruce," Selina admitted. "I guess I was wrong a bit. If you're leaving to take care of yourself instead of to punish yourself… Talia, take whatever time you need, just let us know you're alive every now and then, okay? Different we may be, but I think we're more alike than not, and I worry." It wasn't pleading but it was close.
Talia nodded. "I will."
"I've- I imagine, if I lost my daughter under anything like these circumstances, I'd want to die or kill something," Selina said, and it took a lot of discipline for Talia to keep from punching her. "Granted, I'm not mother material… I'm not going to replace you, Talia. I can't stomach staying here forever. But I'll stay long enough for you to do what you need, and I'll try to keep Bruce alive, if he lets me."
"Better you than me," Talia said, knowing that it meant a dozen different things, depending. The other woman laughed.
"You're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think," Selina said kindly. "Never forget that."
"I will not," Talia vowed, though she made no promise to believe it. The weight of the duffle pulled at her arm, the tender skin of her legs twinged, and she thought she imagined a pre-dawn light on the horizon. "If you will excuse me, I believe I have a bus to catch."
"A bus? How plebian," Selina teased. But she let Talia walk away without further fighting, heading back to the manor instead.
It felt like a weight of sand falling from Talia's shoulders as she finally put that place of death and mourning behind her. Outside the graveyard's gates, by the street, she took a deep breath and pondered where her path would lead.
No, that was a lie. She had already decided.
Bane was behind bars and unreachable, as was her father, but her mother's father remained alive and free in the aftermath.
Alive and free, but in hiding. And Talia suspected she knew where he would hide.
First, then, she would seek out the All-Caste, to inquire of Sensei, her mother's father, his opinion on and knowledge of her child's death. Depending on his answer… she would see.
It was not much, but it was a goal. It was doing something.
Talia began to walk.
The Sandman
So Zetta Slowpoke
- Location
- Wherever I am, which isn't where I'm not
I wonder what Renka will think of this. Certainly I expect her to have words with Talia at some point, though I'm not sure whether those words would lean more positive or negative.