Chapter Text
“This just in! Bruce Wayne was found dead in the Lower East Side after what looks like a vicious mugging gone wrong! His fiance, Selina Kyle is in critical condition in Gotham General.” Comes the voice of Vicki Vale all across various parts of Gotham. “B-Bruce, I mean, Mr. Wayne was attending a charity event at Gotham City Police Department where he announced his support of the Department.” Anyone listening can hear how hard it is for Vicki to maintain her composure.
“I’m Detective John Jones.” The Martian Manhunter says, holding his badge up to Harvey Bullock. “I’m here because the injuries look like similar wounds inflicted on murder victims all across the country.” The Martian Manhunter’s eyes were glowing, and Harvey’s grittier look subsided, as he vaguely recalls hearing about these crimes. He looks at the badge and lifts up the police tape, letting him in.
“Excuse me, I’m here to get a few statements.” A man wearing a trenchcoat over a blue suit says to Renee Montoya.
“Can I have a name please?” Renee asks. The man chuckles, removing his hat.
“I’m Clark Kent, with the Daily Planet,” Clark responds, as Renee lifts the tape for him to enter.
“Reporter from the Daily Planet, Detective from Detroit, what’s next, that Parker kid from New York?” Harvey mutters to himself, frustrated. At that moment, another person approaches the crime scene. “I just had to ask. Who’re you and whaddya want?”
“Sorry I’m late, I’m Barry Allen, a CSI from CCPD. There have been instances across the country-” Barry starts.
“I heard it from him. Come on in kid.” Harvey lifts the tape again. Clark and Martian Manhunter start conversing as Barry approaches them.
“Nice of you to arrive, Barry,” Clark says in a low tone. “I can’t identify the metal that’s embedded in Bruce’s chest though, it’s like it doesn’t exist. It’s structured like titanium, but has aspects I can’t define. Maybe it’s alien or future tech.”
“There are also signs of explosions and marks on Bruce’s body consistent with him fighting back, but no tools indicating they were equipped with anything,” Barry says, perplexed.
“Oh, that, uh was me,” Clark responds. “I heard Bruce’s heartbeat fade and flew over here. I know that protecting his identity would be his number one priority, so I removed all of his gadgets from the scene. This is a Justice League investigation, but we have to be discreet.”
Wayne Manor is hauntingly quiet. The Batcave, however, is buzzing with activity. The majority of the Batfamily, past, and present, are all in attendance in the cave, trying to figure things out. At the Batcomputer, Barbara Gordon and Tim Drake are trying to pull up footage of the previous night, with a very tense Dick Grayson standing behind them, clearly having come straight from a fight of his own.
“Dick, I told you, this is going to take a while, you need to be patched up,” Barbara informs him, nodding to the open gashes across his torso and the bruises on his face. “Please, I’m worried about you.”
“You should see the other guy. I’ll be fine after we figure out what happened,” Dick responds. Barbara glares at him but relents after seeing the panic in his eyes.
“You know, when Alfred comes back tonight, he’s going to mother you,” Tim points out. Barbara passes Tim a grateful look. “We haven’t found anything, and since we don’t want to alert the Justice League yet -although I really doubt that they don’t already know- we have to go about it on our own. I promise Dick, we’ll let you know when we find the who and the what happened.” Dick can’t really offer up anything but a defeated sigh, and watches as Tim tears himself away from the computer, with tears in his eyes. “I- I don’t think I can defend him being alive, this time. But that means we have to catch whoever did this and stop them.”
“Ok. You made your point,” Dick relents. “Both of you.” He quickly adds because he knows Tim’s response was spurred by Barbara’s worry. Dick heads towards the infirmary, where Harper Row is patching up Kate Kane.
“Kate, you really need to take it easy on your ribs. They’re still bruised from last time,” Harper admonishes, as she bandages her up. “It’s a good thing these cuts are mostly superficial and don’t need stitches, except the one on your leg, that looks like a deep knife wound.” Harper grabs a needle and begins to sew up Kate’s leg.
“Some of these criminals have really been stepping up their game, it feels like even the regular muggers are packing military-grade combat knives at the very least,” Kate responds, wincing as the needle passes through her skin over and over.
“Hey Harper, got room for one more patient?” Dick asks, finally starting to feel his wounds.
“Dick! What the fuck? Are you ok?” Harper asks. Dick’s costume is torn, and there are twin-shaped slash marks across his body. There are heavy bruises across his jawline, and his right eye looks swollen shut.
“Penguin was in Blüdhaven, and apparently found some extra muscle. 2 women, in red bodysuits and masks, with some really sharp nails,” Dick responds, gasping in pain as he goes to sit down on the unoccupied medical bed next to Kate’s.
Over in the training area, Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain, and Damian Wayne are huddled together. Jason is precariously perched on a railing, with his leg dangling over what has been called the “endless abyss” of the cave. Cassandra is sitting on the floor, knees drawn up to her chin. Damian is pacing back and forth, sword drawn and constantly twirling it around. Jason’s face looks sullen and withdrawn, as he tries to come to terms with the news. Before he can think further, Stephanie comes running into the Batcave, clearly panicked.
“Guys! The Justice League is here!” Stephanie screams, sprinting up to the Batcomputer, and plugging in a USB. “This is my camera footage from my mask, I’m not sure who the other two are, but that’s definitely Clark Kent.” She messes with settings and the camera zooms in on Clark and the other two gentlemen. Just as she zooms in, the rest of the present family comes back towards the computer and looks at the screen, and Stephanie catches a glimpse of recognition in Dick’s eyes.
“That’s Barry Allen,” Dick says. “He’s the Flash.”
“I thought your -uh- friend, Wally was?” Stephanie retorts, prompting Dick to just sigh.
“There are 3 people acting as Flash right now; Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, and Wally,” Dick responds. “And the third guy is John Jones, the Martian Manhunter.”
“They’re looking into it as well, meaning that they might-” Tim starts, just as a blur of Red and Blue swooshes into the cave. “Head over here,” he finishes, a tad late.
“I would have come sooner, but there’s a lot going on in the city. I ran into one of your team members, Signal, who’s dealing with some of the Arkham escapees that are bold enough to show up in the daytime. This young lady in the purple is what let me know you were still trying to find evidence as to what happened,” Superman says, gesturing to Stephanie.
“Actually it’s, um, Eggplant,” Stephanie automatically corrects. “Superman. Sir.” She salutes to him, trying to hide her embarrassment at correcting the Man of Steel. Superman smiles at her, and she relaxes her pose.
“We’ve found evidence of some kind of tech, but I’m seeing a bit of circuitry in the metal shards. I went to Star Labs to try and get a microscopic look at them and this is what we found,” He says, handing over a USB to Barbara. She pulls up the files and is looking through them, trying to isolate anything when Tim speaks up.
“I recognize that design, back when I had to take over as CEO of Wayne Enterprises. There were experimental projects Bruce was working on, such as a new type of cutter tool that uses less energy than plasma cutters and was much more compact. He never finished it, but the circuitry looks remarkably similar and way more advanced than the current schematics,” Tim says. “I guess this could be some future tech, but I don’t know.”
“This is our only lead and it’s getting us nowhere.” Comes Dick’s groan, a mixture of pain and frustration, as he struggles to maintain standing upright. Superman rushes over to him to help him stand upright. His eyes glow a bit as he looks Dick up and down, and the worried look on his face lessens a bit.
“Nothing is broken, and there’s no internal bleeding, but you need to take it easy. You not healing is going to do anything to help solve these murders,” Superman intensely says. “I know you’re not only grieving over Bruce and Selina but also trying to look out for the rest of the family. But like I tel-told him, you have to all lean on each other. We can all work together on this, Dick.” Dick nods and leans into Superman. “Based on what I can gather, it seems like whoever took them out, disappeared into the night. The few witnesses that were there all have conflicting stories, with one person saying that Hush was there. Another said something about a group of ninjas with metal, bird-like googles, and the third said a larger man with a spear.”
“It makes no sense, Hush and the Court of Owls are nothing to be confused about, so they could have been working together,” Tim wonders aloud. “But it still begs the question…”
“Who’s our mystery man with the spear?” Barbara responds.
“Maybe I can help.” A voice bounced off the walls of the cave. Bats start flying around, revealing a new person in the Batcave. Standing at 6 feet tall, and decked out in a full-bodied black suit, the newcomer steps into the light, revealing a red bat symbol emblazoned on his chest.