DCU: Split

Chapter 238: Night of pain

Glass crunched beneath Batman's boots as he crouched beside the unconscious form of Kid Flash. The bedroom looked like a battlefield. Furniture had been reduced to splinters, sections of wall were cracked from Superboy's impacts, and the bodies of defeated Talons lay scattered among unconscious Underpass operatives. Smoke still drifted through the room from Robin's pellet, lingering in the air alongside the smell of dust and blood.

Kid Flash lay motionless near the center of the destruction, his face twisted into an angry expression even in unconsciousness. Batman worked quickly, pulling a reinforced restraint from his utility belt and securing the young speedster's wrists and ankles. The restraints wouldn't hold indefinitely if Wally awoke in the same state, but they would buy valuable time. Once finished, Batman crossed the room to Superboy.

The clone presented a much larger problem. Even unconscious, Superboy looked dangerous. Cracks spread beneath his body where he had struck the floor, and one clenched fist remained buried halfway into broken hardwood. Batman secured heavier restraints around his wrists before finally standing and surveying the room.

"Miss Martian. Artemis."

Both girls immediately turned toward him. Miss Martian looked shaken by what had happened. Artemis looked frustrated.

"Take Superboy and Kid Flash back."

Artemis frowned immediately. "Sir, we can still help."

Batman met her gaze without hesitation. "No."

The single word stopped any further protest. Artemis visibly stiffened, while Miss Martian glanced between the two of them.

"We're not injured," Artemis argued.

Batman looked around the room, allowing everyone to see the evidence surrounding them. "Vey manipulated both Kid Flash and Superboy within seconds. Neither realized it was happening until they had already lost control. Worse, neither recognized they were compromised until after they became a threat to everyone around them."

His gaze drifted briefly toward the unconscious speedster. Wally's outburst had nearly become a disaster. Superboy had been even worse.

"I'm receiving reports of Talon activity throughout Gotham," Batman continued. "Multiple engagements. Multiple casualties. Both criminal and Court-affiliated targets."

Robin frowned. "You think they're cleaning house?"

"I'm don't know. It seems like two separate groups within the court are ordering different things."

Batman glanced toward the shattered window where Vey had escaped. Beyond it, Gotham's skyline stretched into the darkness.

Batman nodded. "Two encounters with Vey. Two opportunities to use his abilities. Yet Robin and Aqualad were never targeted. Either they possess some resistance, or something prevents his abilities from affecting them. Regardless, Vey selected his targets carefully."

His eyes settled on Artemis, "He targeted the two members most capable of causing catastrophic collateral damage. A speedster and a Kryptonian. He also picks the most emotionally vulnerable."

No one argued. The truth was obvious now that it had been stated aloud.

"If Batman hadn't helped when he did," Robin thought grimly, "this room might have become a massacre."

Batman seemed to reach the same conclusion. "Once Superboy and Kid Flash are secure, re-engage against the Talons."

Artemis straightened. "And the Underpass?"

Batman didn't answer immediately.

For a moment his eyes lingered on the broken window and the darkness beyond it. He remembered Vey dislocating his own shoulders and elbows with a smile on his face. He remembered Kid Flash screaming irrational accusations at Artemis. He remembered Superboy attacking enemies that existed only in his own mind.

Most of all, he remembered Vey escaping exactly as planned.

"If you encounter the Underpass," Batman finally said, "you withdraw."

The statement surprised everyone. Even Robin looked taken aback. Batman almost never ordered retreat. Yet there was no uncertainty in his voice.

"They know we're coming. They understand our response patterns, and right now they possess advantages we don't fully understand. Until we determine exactly how Vey's abilities function, engaging him directly is an unnecessary risk."

Silence settled over the room.

Eventually Miss Martian nodded. "We'll get them back safely."

"Good."

Batman stepped toward the shattered window. Wind rolled through the ruined bedroom as he looked out across Gotham. Somewhere below, Talons were hunting targets throughout the city. Somewhere, the Court of Owls was tearing itself apart. And somewhere in that darkness, Vey was undoubtedly smiling.

Batman fired his grapnel.

The line vanished into the night.

A moment later, so did he.

***

Vey stumbled through the warehouse doors with a low groan escaping his throat. Every step sent pain radiating through his shoulders and arms. The memory of forcing his own joints out of place to escape Batman's restraints was still fresh, and now that Kieran had stopped flooding his body with euphoric relief, the consequences were making themselves known.

The warehouse itself was one of dozens scattered throughout Gotham's industrial districts. To anyone else it would look abandoned. To the Underpass, it was another limb of their many arms.

Naima and Marcy were already waiting near a folding table covered in tablets, maps, and radios. Neither looked particularly happy to see him.

Especially Naima.

Her eyes immediately drifted to the way he was rolling his shoulders.

"So," she said dryly, arms folded across her chest. "You were right."

Vey winced as something popped unpleasantly back into place.

"I didn't expect the sidekicks," he admitted. "Batman bringing Young Justice wasn't something I accounted for."

"You shouldn't have gone."

"Probably."

Naima stared at him.

Vey shrugged, "Definitely."

Marcy snorted quietly.

For a moment only the hum of generators filled the warehouse.

Vey eventually straightened and looked toward the collection of screens Marcy had assembled.

"Dre was updating me on the drive over. Is it true?"

Marcy immediately pulled several feeds onto the largest monitor, "It's true alright."

Video after video appeared. A burning estate. Police lights surrounding a warehouse. Bodies so many bodies, Ambulances too few ambulances.

The chaos was spreading faster than even Marcy could organize it.

"Talons have been spotted all over Gotham," she continued. "Not one or two. Dozens. Maybe more."

Another screen appeared. Then another. The list seemed endless.

"They've killed more people tonight than some gangs have managed in their entire existence. Court associates. Criminal organizations. Smugglers. Information brokers. Anyone connected to the Court seems fair game."

Naima shook her head, "The whole city's losing its mind."

Vey stared at the screens for several long seconds. Then a slow smile spread across his face.

"Well."

Both women looked at him.

"Looks like our months of hard work paid off."

Marcy raised an eyebrow. Vey gestured toward the screens, "The Court is officially at war with itself."

The words seemed almost unbelievable when spoken aloud.

For centuries the Court had survived because it presented a united front. Secrets. Influence. Control.

Now it was bleeding from the inside.

"By the time the sun rises," Vey continued, "one of two things happens."

He pointed at the first screen.

"They destroy each other."

Then another.

"Or they disappear into hiding."

Neither option sounded particularly unpleasant.

Naima's expression hardened, "Let's make sure they destroy each other."

The smile on Vey's face widened slightly. Now she was speaking his language. The warehouse doors opened again.

Heavy footsteps echoed across the concrete floor. Terrell entered carrying a large duffel bag over one shoulder.

"What'd I miss?"

He dropped the bag onto a nearby table with a heavy thud.

"Talons," Marcy answered.

Terrell blinked.

"Oh."

A pause.

"That's bad."

"It's fantastic," Vey corrected.

Terrell looked at the screens. Then the casualty reports. Then the police responses.

Then the burning buildings.

"…Right."

He pointed toward the monitors, "So what's the plan then, boss?"

Before Vey could answer, his expression suddenly twisted, "Oh, fuck."

Everyone looked at him.

He immediately grabbed both arms. The pain had apparently caught up to him. The earlier adrenaline was fading. The euphoria was gone.

Reality had arrived. Vey's shoulders felt like someone had driven nails through them.

"Quentin," Naima immediately realized.

The personality shift was obvious. Quentin grimaced and rubbed at his arms.

"Painkillers first." He hissed through clenched teeth, "That fucking bastard."

Terrell looked confused, "Batman?"

"No."

Quentin pointed accusingly at empty air.

"Vey, that fucking freak."

The warehouse fell silent. Marcy pinched the bridge of her nose. Naima sighed.

Terrell looked completely lost.

Quentin continued rubbing his shoulders.

"The lunatic turns off the pain, lets me volunteer for nonsense, then hands me control back when everything starts hurting."

"He didn't volunteer," Naima muttered.

"He absolutely volunteered."

"You're the same person."

Quentin's eyes suddenly shone with intensity, "you know nothing be quiet"

Naima groaned.

Quentin ignored her and reached for a nearby chair before carefully lowering himself into it.

Every movement looked miserable.

After a moment he finally looked back toward the screens. The humor faded from his expression.

His eyes sharpened.

"Alright."

The room quieted, "The Court is panicking."

He pointed toward one monitor showing police activity, "The gangs are angry."

"And somewhere in Gotham, Kane is having the worst night of his life."

The smile widened further, "Now let's finish the job. I only know of one place that seems to be where the talons are based."

He looked at the group, "get a team ready we are going back to the labyrinth, I want a full team kitted ready in fifteen."

***

The last Talon crashed through a cluster of tables as Aqualad's water construct struck him square in the chest. Wood exploded apart beneath the impact and the assassin slammed into the far wall before collapsing into an unmoving heap.

For a moment, the nightclub fell silent.

The music had long since stopped. Broken glass covered the dance floor. Tables and chairs lay overturned throughout the room, casualties of a fight most of the patrons would struggle to explain later. A few civilians cautiously emerged from hiding places behind the bar and beneath booths, staring at the destruction in stunned disbelief.

Robin bent slightly, resting his hands on his knees as he caught his breath, "This is getting ridiculous."

Batman was already moving through the room, securing the unconscious gang members the talons were attacking. His expression remained unreadable beneath the cowl, but Robin had worked with him long enough to recognize frustration when he saw it.

"There's just too many of them, Batman," Robin said, straightening. He gestured toward the bound assassins scattered around the club. "They're everywhere. We stop one attack and another pops up somewhere else. We can't keep running around Gotham like this all night."

Aqualad joined them, dismissing the last of his water constructs. The Atlantean looked tired as well. Hours of fighting had begun to wear on even him.

"I agree," he said. "We've responded to attacks all across the city. Businesses. Warehouses. Homes. Clubs." He glanced at the Talons littering the room. "Yet they continue appearing. Where are they coming from?"

Batman didn't answer immediately. Instead, he looked down at the nearest Talon. The question had been bothering him for hours.

The Court possessed Talons, certainly. Batman had known that. What he hadn't expected was this scale. Every engagement raised the same problem. There should not have been this many.

Talons were not ordinary soldiers. They required resources. Training. Conditioning. Maintenance.

Yet tonight they seemed endless.

An army. And armies needed somewhere to come from. Batman's eyes narrowed.

"The Labyrinth."

Robin immediately looked up.

"The Labyrinth?"

Batman nodded once.

"The Court maintains safe houses throughout Gotham, but nothing capable of supporting operations at this scale. If Talons are appearing everywhere, they're being deployed from a central location. We saw a lot when we were down there, that has to be where they are located."

Aqualad folded his arms.

"Their stronghold."

"The closest thing they have to one."

Robin's expression hardened.

"So while we've been fighting them on the surface, they've been pouring more out from underground."

Batman didn't need to answer.

The realization spoke for itself.

His communicator crackled.

"Batman?" Miss Martian's voice came through. "We've got another attack downtown. Multiple Talons at the courthouse."

Before Batman could respond, Artemis cut in, "And we're hearing reports from the Narrows too. It's spreading."

Batman closed his eyes briefly.

"Continue surface operations," Batman ordered. "Prioritize civilian protection."

There was a brief pause on the other end.

"What about you?" Miss Martian asked.

Batman looked toward Robin and Aqualad.

"We're changing objectives."

Robin immediately understood. A slow grin spread across his face.

"The Labyrinth."

"Yes."

Aqualad nodded.

"If the source falls, the attacks stop."

"Exactly."

The communicator remained silent for a moment before Miss Martian finally replied.

"We'll hold things together up here."

Batman gave a small nod.

"Good."

The channel disconnected.

Outside, sirens echoed through Gotham's streets. Red and blue lights flashed through the nightclub windows as police and emergency services raced toward yet another crisis.

The city was bleeding.

Every minute they wasted allowed more people to die.

Robin tightened his grip on his staff, "So we're really doing this?"

Batman looked toward the shattered entrance of the club.

Batman fired his grapnel through the ruined doorway. The line shot upward and went taut. A second later he was moving.

Robin and Aqualad followed without hesitation.

For the first time all night they weren't chasing attacks.

They were heading straight for the heart of the problem.