Bane looked at the monitor on the desk, grinning. His menace had worked: he had put nukes over all of three Gotham's bridges, threatening to blow all of them up if a Supe showed up to interfere with his business. Alongside him, there was the prize that his benefactor had requeired from him: a little portal opened in front of him, and his master (even if he would have never called her that) appeared. She opened her hand, without opening her eyes, and he obliged, taking the object he had beside him and handling her said object: the crystal started to flow up a little, and it went through the portal. She smiled a little, and he asked -Are you satisfied?- -Yes. And now, your reward: enjoy your time with our designed enemies-. He smiled openly, put on his mask and yelled orders at his soldiers: it was finally time to start the second phase.
The portal flashed the night with a dark blue light for a few seconds, before the team came out from it, and it disappeared. Heinrich, having come out first as his duties as a leader required, checked quickly if someone had noticed their arrival, but apparently, people in Gotham were either too afraid to check on what had briefly enlightened the street or were already dead. He didn't know which option was worst. Alice came out right after him, her symbiote now full covering her, tendrils already coming out from her back and hands, in case it was needed. Avalon and Anthony followed, the Queen girl with her bow ready in her hand, and Anthony with his scanners on: he scanned quickly the zone around them, then reported -My scans don't reveal anything dangerous for us. There are people in some of the buildings, but they're not a threat for us- -Good to know- replied Osborne while he turned to check on the team. -You don't say, the Tin Man is actually useful- joked Alice, her voice modified by her symbiote form while looking at Heinrich to see if he was laughing, but she then followed the direction he was looking at, and saw that Adora, the last one to come out from the portal alongside Zion, had frozen on the spot, with a hand covering her mouth. Zion had noticed and had instinctively reached for her free hand and squeezed it, trying to make her feel she was there for her. -Oh my God- whispered the Wayne girl, looking at the desolation around them: cars were destroyed and actively burning, casting a dim light that didn't help at all to ease the situation, it made it worse. The sky was full of smoke from fires coming not only from the cars, but also from other fires spreading from the city. Signs of havoc were showing on the streets, and dead bodies of cops were disposed on a wall, with a blood sign written over them "This is our city". Adora thought she could handle that, but she fell on her knees, while Zion said -Adora! - following right after, putting her hand on her friend's shoulder. -Get used to it child- stated harshly Alice, pissed more at the attention that Heinrich had reserved at her, and while Avalon looked at her dead serious, their team leader moved a little, and squatted right in front of Adora, looking at her -Can you handle this? – he asked emotionless. She trembled a little, but then held tight Zion's hand, and nodded -Yeah. Yeah, I can- -Good. Because we need to move- Heinrich got back up and looked at Anthony -Does your armor have projectors? - -Yes, I have some of them in my helmet, and also in my hand for a little holographic image if needed--The helmet- cut it shortly Heinrich while looking at his notepad, and after some seconds, Anthony's armor received some files to download. A projector activated in his helmet and it casted a hologram in front of them.
-Ok team, this is how we'll work- said Heinrich, while the hologram zoomed on a big construction -Bane works methodically, and if his army is strong enough to conquer this city, it will be probably because of his Venom. This place showed here is the Ace Chemicals: a great chemical industry on the East Side of Gotham, planted on one of the little islands of Gotham, connected to the rest of the city with a bridge. If he's manufacturing Venom, he's probably doing it there- -So we're bursting up crackheads? – asked Adora interrupting him, trying to show to the others and to herself that she wasn't too impressed by the state of her city. -It wouldn't be our first time- replied Alice without looking at her, and Heinrich simply nodded -Some of us will, yes, but that's not all- he pressed another couple times on his pad, and the hologram shifted, showing all of the block they were at the moment -Bane's experience as a military makes him predictable in his conquest tactics: take control of every block by instituting a base in every important point of the city. His men are probably instituting a base in the zone we're right now, and are probably going to patrol this zone, so we don't have much time. Two of us are going to take a look at the troops and try to follow them from above to find said base. After you find it, report to me- another shift on the hologram, that projected the shoreline of the docks -Lastly, I have checked a little thing personally: how Bane transports his army. A ship is going to dock soon, and I think some of his men are on it. We're going to need a big concentration of fire power there to stop the ship, sinking it down if needed, so that his army will suffer some complications and will need to reorganize-. The team nodded, and Avalon, while tinkering a little with a couple of her arrows, asked -So, three groups? - -Affirmative- replied Heinrich -Do you think it's a good idea to split up? - -No, but it's our best option. Of course, each one of us more experienced will go with one of the new guys- Zion and Alice hearts both sank a little: both of them wouldn't have been able to go with the person they wanted to be the most, since Zion and Adora were both new and Alice and Heinrich were both experienced. -This will be the groups- stated the leader while tapping on his notepad, projecting the three locations at the same time. Everyone held their breath, waiting to know who was going to be their teammate -Zion and Avalon are going to search for the mercenaries' base in the zone. Avalon has the stealth experience, and Zion can use her magic to cover them up or intervene if something goes wrong- the two girls shared a look, but neither of them said something, they just nodded. Alice, in the back of her mind, was about to burst: se knew that she couldn't be with Heinrich, so that would have surely meant that he would have paired himself with that Batbitch, leaving her with the Tin Man. Boy, was she wrong. -Anthony and I will go to the Ace Chemicals and make ourselves sure to shut down their production of Venom- a single second of silence followed this statement, followed by a confused Adora murmuring -Wait, does this mean...- while looking at Alice, who hadn't moved her gaze from Heinrich: her mask had vanished, leaving space for her eyes to come out, and if it was possible, she looked even more intimidating. Zion gasped a little, worried for her friend. -Really, Heinrich? – asked Alice, her voice higher than the rest of the conversation -Keep it quiet- he replied, but the girl was in no mood for quietness -This is your best solution? – she almost screamed, looking a little at Adora, before moving her eyes back to Heinrich. Adora normally would have reacted, even if she was a little intimidated, but their team leader was quicker -I said keep it quiet, or lower if you can't truly contain yourself. This is the best plan of action: Anthony and I are the most competent when it comes to chemistry, and you are our best asset coming to destruction capacities- -That doesn't mean I should bring this child with me- -Hey, the child is here with you- spoke Adora, before a tendril coming out from Alice's back stopped an inch from her face -Shut it, kid. The adults are talking- she replied, her mask back to cover her face, and Adora could have sworn to have seen the girl's eyes on the mask become pointier at the edges for a second. -I'll just go alone- said the Venom's daughter, before Heinrich stood tall in front of her and approached her, grabbing her tendril and moving it away from Adora's face. -Absolutely not- he said with a tone that didn't leave space for insubordination -Going alone is exactly what most of the heroes in this city have done, and they all died. Adora knows Gotham, she'll lead you through the best approaching point at the docks. End of the story- Alice's tendril disappeared back in her costume, and she tried one last time to lament, her voice much lower than before -I'm not those weakling heroes of this fucked up reality...- but before she could go on, Adora interrupted her -Oh come on, stop arguing with our leader and just follow orders. I'm not fond of you either, but I'm not throwing a tantrum- she acted impulsively, thinking about defending her father and family of this dimension, even though they weren't exactly her own, but to her it didn't matter: she wasn't going to let anyone disrespect her people. Alice turned her head towards her, her talons growing, but she stopped after a second, and just stayed still, her suit adjusting itself. -Fine- she said after a time that had seemed interminable. -Then we're on: everyone knows their objective. Remember, killing is our last option here. I'd prefer to keep people alive but value your own life over theirs. And protect your teammate at every cost- concluded Heinrich, before the projector from Anthony's helmet turned off -Care to give me a ride? – he asked, to which the boy replied -Yeah... no problems- with a couple of seconds of hesitation, probably due to a little embarrassment. Heinrich crawled over his back and said -I'll guide you- he turned his head over his other four teammates -Good luck out there- and the two started to fly, keeping a low altitude so that possibly air vehicles couldn't spot them.
-I hope everything will go ok with them- mumbled Zion while they were reaching the edge of a rooftop. They had crawled on a building next to the street of their briefing, and from that, Zion had summoned a little disk of energy, that they had used to move from a palace to another: they only used it to traverse a road at a time, since Zion wasn't extremely sure to be able to hold it for long, they still needed to find a group of mercenary to follow to their base and also her disk was emanating a dim but still pretty visible purplish light. -I'm sure they are- replied Avalon, kneeling on the edge on a very superhero pose to check on the road down below them. -How can you be? – continued Zion, afraid to bother her teammate but at the same time curious on how she could always keep her cool even in life-or-death situation. Avalon lowered her head a little, like she was thinking, then sighed and replied -They are talented. And also, it's the only way for me to be able to keep going. I can't keep worrying about everyone else on my team, otherwise I won't be able to pay my attention to protect myself, the innocents or just to follow my orders. It's the only way we have to keep doing what we do, trusting the others that they'll do their best, and that it will be enough- Zion leaned over the edge of the building as well, and even though she couldn't see anything, she sat down next to Avalon, that clearly was able to spot things in the dark better than her. Since she was starting to feel a little useless, she casted a little enchantment on her eyes, that started to glow pink and enhanced her vision. -Don't- said Avalon quickly after that, and even if Zion was a little unsure on why, she dissolved her spell -You could bring too much unwanted attention- continued the Queen girl. -How can you see that good in the dark? – replied Zion, and Avalon waited a couple of seconds, before murmuring -Training- -And that's it? No enhancement, no particular set of armor, just train- Zion got interrupted by a sudden movement of Avalon's head, that had turned on her with a not so comforting look -Listen, I know you're new, but usually during patrolling and following it is quiet and people don't talk much and don't do flashy things- her tone was extremely harsher than usual, she almost looked like Heinrich. -Oh... ok- just said Zion, looking down in shame and trying to even breathe quieter than usual. Avalon noticed that, and wanted to apologize, but that would have probably meant that a new conversation would have started, and they couldn't afford that. She was also tense because she had felt from the beginning of the climbing of the first building, that her injure didn't fully recover. Her muscles still hurt when she tensed them too hard, and she was pretty sure that even her firing arrows would have been compromised by that. She hated not being at her best, because that would have meant that she could have been in danger for it, and Zion could have risked her life for her. And she didn't want it. If someone had to risk their life, she believed firmly that it had to be her. So she massaged her upper side of the chest at the part of the connection with her right arm, hoping that that would have lowered her pain even a little. A few minutes later, Avalon whispered -There, on your left- Zion moved her head, but she couldn't see anything. But after a few seconds, she saw and heard it: it was a military vehicle, with its lights turned off and a soundproof engine. How the hell could Avalon see them? She thought to herself. The vehicle continued on its route, passing right under them, and when it was relatively far, Avalon whispered -Ok, time to follow them- and while Zion was casting again the flying disk, she drew out her bow, and told her -Make it smaller-. Zion obliged, then asked -But... how are we both going to fit on it? – -We won't- replied Avalon, taking out from her quiver a pointy arrow with a metallic rope: she fired the arrow, and it landed on a top wall of a far building, then turned on Zion -Follow me- and she jumped from the rooftop, using her bow and arrow as a grappling hook to move. Zion just jumped on her little disk, that was casting a very lower light compared to before, and followed her. The following took them at least 15 minutes, but when Zion was almost sure it was about to restart its route, the vehicle stopped, and from it, three men stepped down and walked to a door of a building called "The nameless club". They knocked with a code, then the sound of mechanisms opening followed, and they entered. The door slammed right after the last one of them. Zion piloted the disk to reach Avalon, that had used her rope to get down to the street level. -What now? – she whispered, and while Avalon was ducking behind a broken car bringing Zion with her, the Queen girl replied -I'm thinking. We have the code for the entering, but I'm pretty sure that they won't let us in just like that, not dressed like this-. Zion stopped to think a little, but then had an idea -What if we don't look like this? - -What do you mean? - - I mean that I know a spell, that can change our aspect a little. I don't know for how long I can hold it, but it's a possibility- Avalon stayed silent for a while, but then nodded -Ok. Sounds like our best option- Zion held her breath, trying to remember the exact words for the spell, then opened her eyes, and they sparkled a little, while she pronounced some quick words in a language Avalon couldn't understand. She felt her skin sting and scratching a little, then she looked down at herself: she was now wearing a military black outfit, alongside with an helmet on her head. Her bow has shifted in a rifle, but if she focused long enough, she could see it vibrate a little and turn back on its original form. She turned and saw Zion looking exactly the same, with her purple hair hidden beneath her helmet, but there was an issue: Zion eyes were still sparkling pink. -Can you do something about that? – she asked, and the other answered -Sadly, not. I have to focus in order to hold up this spell- Avalon looked at her new look, and had an idea: their helmets had protective glasses on them. She lowered them to cover Zion's eyes, and with that, she looked exactly like a mercenary. And with that problem solved, she reached for the door, and knocked with the exact intensity the same exact code she had heard. Right after, a man opened the door, and after looking at them, asked -Qué estàs haciendo aquì?- Zion was already about to give up because she had literally no idea of what the guy had just said, but Avalon surprised her and replied in the guy's exact language. Whatever she had just said, the girl had convinced him, because he soon replied, this time in an English with a strong Spanish accent -Sorry, I had no idea that were supposed to meet us. Come, the boss is about to report from el jefe- he moved, and the two undercover girls entered. The inside of the club was fancy, even if the effects of the permanence of the mercenaries were showing: the fancy chairs were dirty, and rifles, guns, machetes and other weapons were laying around. The hall was desert, but the girls just sticked with the guy who had opened the door, who leaded them to another room: there was a map put on a chipped glass table, with guns and alcohol bottles put on the angles to keep it well down. The man on the opposite side of the table had his helmet off and his sleeves rolled up, showing up war tattoos on his arms, and the tattoo of a bird with its wings spread on his mouth. -The latecomers have arrived- he stated smiling smugly, before pointing down back on the map -As I was explaining, el jefe ordered us to double our patrols, he is convinced that our enemies, whoever they are, are going to challenge us soon- Zion was trying so badly to not show guilty of being one of said enemies, alongside to not show surprise about the idea that someone knew that they were expected. How could they know that? Avalon on the contrary was already to stick up with her role, and moved closer to the map. -Do we know how many of they are?- while leaning, she saw that the map had been modified: black ink was showing not only the routes of the mercenaries' patrols, but also a couple of buildings in the industrial zone, indicated as supplies stores. The most important thing was definitely the building set up as the main base: the Wayne Tower had become Bane's main military point. -Even if you're late, your brain is not- replied her the team leader, making the others laugh -As far as we know, it should be a group of six. Some of them are not good fighters, so it should be a piece of cake- -Pay close attention at what you say, Bird- said immediately another of the mercenaries -El jefe thinks that this group will be our biggest challenge yet, and you better not underestimate his judice- -I'm not- answered back the lieutenant who apparently was named Bird "Fits for his tattoo on his mouth" thought Avalon, while he continued -I just believe that this wasn't the first time we were promised a fair challenge, and yet still we are- Zion was struggling: she had never casted this kind of spell for that much of a time, and she was casting two at the same time. She moved to a corner and put her hands behind her back, so that she could move her hands a little and keep them up more easily. Sadly, it wouldn't have been enough. After Bird's last statement, the mercenaries had started to grow enthusiastic, and one of them, while he was in a position that Zion couldn't see, had dropped his empty glass on the table in order to make some noise and emphasize Bird's last provocation, but he had slammed it too hard, and that table had been hit too many times that day, resulting in a part of it breaking. The improvise sound, along with the rest of the group reaction, had broken Zion's focus, and as a result, Avalon's image trembled for a few seconds: too bad she was directly in front of Bird. -What the fuck? – he said right before trying to take out his knife from his military belt, and everything froze in the girl's mind. There were two of them, and fifteen of them. Most of them weren't armed with gunfire, and the girl had her bow and arrows; she couldn't fire due to the limited space, but she could use them as pointy weapons. The biggest problem was Zion: the girl had magic, but she had never fought in a true fight against multiple people. Anyways, this situation was blowing up right in front of them. Now they needed to fight: Avalon take out her bow, and took a big swing, hitting two of the mercenaries right in their face, breaking the first one's cheek and the second one's nose, and aimed to hit Bird last, but the lieutenant had drawn off his machete, and used it to block her strike -So, it is true. The enemies have arrived- he grunted grinning. Zion cursed herself for not being able to hold her spell, but there was no time: she used her anger due her failure, and projected a glowing enormous hand to take the remaining part of the table and threw it at the mercenaries right in front of her. The four men weren't expecting an attack that powerful, and couldn't even bow down in time, resulting in getting thrown at the wall with force. Six were down, nine to go, and Zion conjured a knife in her hand, and used it to keep it at bay the enemies next to her. Avalon was gladly surprised, but differently from Heinrich, she didn't have full access to the report on her teammates, so she couldn't know that her mother had trained her to the magical fight. The Queen girl, on her behalf, after rolling back to avoid Bird's kick, got up pretty quickly and fired an arrow towards the hand of a man that was reloading a gun, harpooning him at the wall behind him through the wrist. A guy jumped her from behind, holding her up by her shoulders, but Avalon used the momentum to push back, headbutting the mercenary and at the same time kicking back away Bird, that was charging at her with his machete ready to strike her down. Zion blocked the knife attack of an enemy with her own, then used another spell to duplicate the knife, and threw it at the knee of the guy that had been headbutted by Avalon, injuring him even more, and stopping him from probably try to hit her again. Zion then moved back again and conjured a protective set of armor around her leg, and used it to kick his enemy with major strength: she felt his ribs breaking, and was convinced that the guy was done. Avalon rolled again, but unfortunately, she put too much weight on her injured muscles, and she grunted a little while getting back up, and this took her precious seconds: the man beside her took advantage of that and pulled out a baton, and hit her in the temple with that. Even though she was used to pain, it still hurt pretty much, and felt some of her skin breaking and bleeding a bit. Still, she was ready to pay that guy back: she grabbed one of her arrows from the quiver, and charged at him, kneeling to avoid his next attack, and slashed him with the point of the arrow in the leg, the abdomen and the arm he was holding the baton, she then thrusted herself up, grabbing his arm and using the momentum to throw him on the ground, put her booth on his hand forcing him to open it, grabbed the baton and threw it at another one, that was trying to load a rifle, hitting in the back of his head and putting him down for good. Bird, in the meantime, had tried to go for the other one, and attacked Zion while she was avoiding two other men: he grabbed her by the neck from behind, and rose his blade to strike her, but after a millisecond of fear, she remembered a protective spell her mother had taught her: she projected her magical energy into a little sphere, and used it to block Bird's attack. The impact generated an explosion of magical force, that struck the two enemies in front of her and knocked them out, and also threw Bird away, making him crush his back into the wall behind him, his machete falling out of his hand. He lifted up his head, spitting a bit of blood in the meantime, and saw that Avalon had drawn out a special arrow of her and used it to glue the last one of his man standing on the pavement. Avalon breathed out a little, allowing herself to relax her muscles, and nodded at Zion -I didn't expect it, well done- Zion smiled back at her, blushing a little -Thank you. Mom always wanted me to be able to protect myself- -She was right-. Bird pushed himself back up, trembling, and sticked his hand in one pocket, pulling out a vial full with green liquid -You chicas have done it now- he said, before thrusting the vial in his leg. Avalon just thought that it was adrenaline, and decided to end it quickly and shot him with another arrow: the arrow hit him in the shoulder, but he didn't even noticed that. His body was stretching, with sounds of bones crackling and his muscles were starting to inflate. Zion opened her mouth shocked, and Avalon switched to an electric arrow, hoping that its voltage was going to be enough: Bird had injected himself with the Venom. Right were used to be a man, now stood a horrifying monster, with enormous arms and upper body, way taller than what an average human was. He growled, then took out the arrow from his should like it was a small splinter: its point was all torn, like it hit a concrete wall. The man turned monster charged at them, drooling blood and green liquid from his mouth, and Avalon had a second to dodge, while his fist hit the ground where she was standing before, tearing a hole in the pavement. Zion remained still, flashbacks of the zombie's attack in her mind, and Bird noticed it and charged at her. Luckily, Avalon realized it, and used her rope to bind her leg, and pulled her strongly, making her fall on her back but making her avoid his brutal punch, who crushed completely the wall behind her. Bird rose his leg, and tried to stomp on her, but she had recovered from the shock, and conjured a rubber wall over her, that made the monster's attack bounce and pushed him back a little, more because of the sudden appearance then the resistance of the material, Zion then conjured a little kart under her and used it to move out of his reach. Avalon took advantage of it and shot her with her electric arrow with the maximum voltage, and sparkles started to show on his skin. It wasn't nearly enough, though. The monster turned back on her, and rose his hands and hit the ground with both of them, causing a shockwave that shattered the ground right beneath him and pushed both the girls back, Zion managed to conjure a shield just in time to protect herself, reducing its force, but it still moved her back of a couple of feet. Avalon couldn't protect herself though, and flew back, hitting her head on a leg of the table Zion had used to slam the mercenaries. It resulted on a blurry vision for a couple of seconds, but it was enough for her to see that Bird was charging at her again, and that the girl had evocated an ice wall to stop him, but he managed to burst right throw it. It was a matter of two seconds, then he would have hit her. Avalon felt her shoulders tense, and in a millisecond decided to act: she stood up and pushed Zion out of the way, even if that meant that she wouldn't have been able to avoid the impact. She did it nonetheless. She pushed Zion out of the way, and the magician saw Bird's punch pummel her completely: blood started to pour out from her mouth, nose, even a couple of teeth flew off her mouth immediately. Avalon felt her sternum shatter, her breathing system in her throat being gravely compromised, her face burn in an explosion of pain, her clavicles break in various points, and then she got projected into the wall, the crushed almost completely her back. Zion witnessed all of that, a single tear coming out from her right eye, then it evaporated, as sadness was completely removed by an elemental anger she was feeling growing inside of her: she screamed at the top of her lungs, and summoned without thinking an elemental devilish fire, and she pointed her hands towards him, and hell exploded from her palms, scorching him completely. After thirty seconds of complete destruction, she closed and opened her eyes back again, incredulous: most of the room had been destroyed, furniture completely melt, and only an ash statue in the place of where Bird stood. Did she do it? But her surprise left soon room to her worry, and ran towards Avalon, calling her name crying. She put the girl's head on her lap, and cried -Please, please, survive. Please, you have to stay with me-. Avalon heard her, but it felt like she was so distant. Like she was immersed in a pool, and was drifting away. She wanted to stay, but she was losing it. The image of her friend was becoming more and more blurry, her voice more and more distant...
-You got to be shitting me- said Alice, while crawling on the wall of a building. Adora rolled her eyes, as she was next to her, walking with a wire connected to her belt so she had her hands free. Normally she would have ignored her, but it was literally the fourth time she had said that in three minutes, and it was starting to get on her nerves. -Do you really hate me that bad?- she asked her, looking at her while walking. -Don't get over your head- Alice answered her back -I don't hate you, I despise you- -And what difference does it make?- -Hating you means that I actually burn my energies thinking all the time about you. Despising you means that I only do that when I am forced to have you before my eyes- the symbiote girl kept marching with her tendrils, her pace unfazed by the conversation. By the look of it, it was like she was watching right in front of her, not looking at Adora. The Wayne girl was so done, and she started to talk again -Okay I get it. You don't like me. I don't like you either, but that doesn't mean that you have to behave like you have a metal pipe up your rectum. At least not when we're on a mission together. Turn right- she finished her statement by giving her directions towards the docks, and Adora thought that giving her instructions on how to move would have been the right way to keep talking with Alice without the other trying to maul her to death. Turns out, she was right. Alice turned right instinctively, and replied -The only reason you're still breathing is because we're on a mission together- -Bullshit. Don't get me wrong, I know you'd want to, but you won't touch me- -And why wouldn't I?- there was like a little spike of interest in Alice's voice, like she was actually interested in what Adora believed about her. She continued -Because Heinrich wouldn't stand to look you in the eyes, if you would- an instant of complete silence confirmed her theory, even if right after she tried to dissimulate -Like I'd care about someone else's opinion- -He's not just someone else- replied Adora -It might be true that you don't care about everyone else's opinion, but you care about what he thinks about you, even the way he looks at you is important to you- -Wow, you really are the daughter of the best detective in the world. Now get your prize and fuck off- that answer, that should have sounded harsh, came at Adora's ears more like a sad confession. The silence that followed made her actually feel bad. So she did what she could do best: kept talking -Listen, whatever you think about me, I don't want to put myself in between of you two- -What do you mean?- -It's obvious that you two share an important bond, and honestly, I don't even know him that good. I just wanted to spend some time with him, but you shouldn't feel threatened by me- she thought that Alice would have just laughed at the idea of finding her threatening, at least just for showing off, but she didn't. Instead, she looked at her for the first time, and asked -Why would you want to spend time with him in the first place? He's not like he treated all of you with all the regards and honors- -You're right- answered Adora, while thinking about the truth, and the truth was that she didn't know at the beginning. She just felt some kind of a connection with him, even if he had been nice like a brick thrown to the teeth. Then, well, it happened what had happened, but that was absolutely something not to mention, not to her at least. After a few seconds, she replied: -I guess I just wanted to spend time with all my teammates. You may never know who you may find back on the field at your side- she hoped that it was enough to convince her. -Meh... I guess you're right- was Alice's answer. Then, even something more unexpected happened: they had reached a big street that divided their building from the next one, and then they would have reached the accessing point to the docks. Adora was wondering how to travers it the safest way, when Alice reached out her hand in the direction of the building, and multiple tendrils came out of it and attached to the other building: with another tendril coming out her back, Alice grabbed Adora by the waist, and travelled with her on the other side, with Adora trying to just whisper and not to scream -What the fuck?- -Relax little girl. I thought bats were flying mammals- said the symbiote girl, before putting her into safety on the edge of the rooftop, before reaching her. -I just fly better when I know I'm going to fly, I guess- said Adora, trying to be a smartass again, but the truth was that she was surprised -See? We work good when we work together- she said at the end -Quit it already. I'm just following orders. We have to work together. It's not like I enjoy it all of a sudden- was the answer. Adora stayed silent, but still felt kinda good. Even though she hated still how she had made her feel on multiple times, she just couldn't help herself but think that the girl was pretty messed up. And not only because she was a megabitch. They stood from the rooftop, looking at the docks from that perspective. At that time of the night, there were a few cranes dedicated to the transport of containers, a lot of those containers that were moved, and also a lot of armed men. Adora could count at least 25 of them, and she was pretty sure there were some other of them inside a building near the shore, that had lights on. An improvise sound made them jump, the symbiote on Alice's body reacted to it by moving a little, and the result was that she looked like she had some living spaghetti moving on top of her back and shoulders. A big ship was approaching. Adora ran her calculation quickly: if that ship was full with soldiers, they were doomed. It would have been too much of them, even for all six of them in the same place. Alice must have thought the same thing -If they dock, we're fucked like a prostitute on New Year's Eve- Adora couldn't stop from laughing a little -I'm sorry, what?- Alice too realized what she had said, and tried to not laugh as well -It's nothing. It's just something that my...- she stopped, and the mood changed drastically -It's something I heard a lot back in the day- -Oh, ok, I guess-. -Anyway, you better start to go away from me, kid. Things are going to get violent, and I don't want to hold your hand while I'm eliminating these fuckers- -What do you mean?- asked Adora, now worried about what was going to happen -How did you think I was going to stop them? By giving them a caress and sending them to bed without dinner?- -Of course not, but I mean, why the fuck would we need to make noises? We have the stealth advantage- -Stealth? You're kidding right?- -Why would I kid about this?- -Because it'd take us too much time. We need to stop that boat before it stops here, otherwise we're screwed, and we can't wait to sneak up on those assholes one by one- -We can't start a fight that big right here, we may damage the docks in an unresolvable way- Adora had studied her city so much that she knew that the sea was a big help to its economy: without it, the city was pretty much already dead, and the possibility of a rebirth was unreachable. -Listen up, girl. A conversation of two minutes with you doesn't mean that all of a sudden I like you. I'm going to stop them my fucking way. If you want to join, you'll be on your own, so don't count on me to save your sorry ass- before Adora could reply, Alice had already jumped from the rooftop, and her talons had grown two inches already, and tendrils from her back had come out as well. The first guy barely had the time to turn and lift his gun, that she had slammed on him, pinning him down with two of his tendrils: she used those to lift him up, and Adora realized how terrifying the girl truly was; her symbiote mouth opened, revealing at least two sets of teeth, and other tendrils spawned from her back, as she shoved the guy right to another mercenary, hitting him so hard that they both flew for a long distance before crushing on the ground, their sounds of impact making think about probably some big body damages. Alice didn't stop for much time, and while the other mercenaries were running around shooting at her, she just jumped from one to another, biting and slashing them. Two men started to shoot at her from above, and she literally thrusted out tendrils that big that she lifted a forklift, and threw it at them so violently that the crane they were on lost its top, then she sprung two tendrils from her right hand, she grabbed another guy and thrusted him towards her, forming a hammer with her remaining hand with the symbiote, and hit the guy launching him into the sea. She collected her tendrils, and then screamed at the sky, her tendrils and talons erupting from her in the most horrifying battle cry Adora had ever witnessed, before the symbiote girl returned to eliminate the men. Batman's daughter had noticed that the damages were already too much, and in a second, extracted her grappling hook, which she used to move towards the closer crane, on top of it there was a man with a sniper rifle that was trying to shoot Alice, so Adora reached him from behind, took out a metallic wire from her belt and attacked the man, hitting him in the back of his knee with her elbow, then tying to wire to the man's ankle and throwing him off the crane, tying the other side of the wire to the crane. He fell screaming, before the wire stopped him and left him dangling. Adora chuckled, then jumped from the crane and used her cape to glide down, landing directly over another mercenary that was coming out from the storeroom she had seen with its lights on before. The guy fell unconscious, and Adora used the momentum to get inside the building: in that, she could see other six people. A bit too much, but she was already in, it wasn't like she could run out. She took out four of her batarangs, and threw them at the furthest mercenaries, hitting all four of them on their shoulders and abdomens, before running behind a big wood box, avoiding the bullets that were being fired at her. She took her grappling hook again, and when she heard that one of the mercenaries was getting closer to her position, she used the hook to jump on top of the box and kicked one of the smaller box on top of it on the head of the guy, who wasn't expecting that kind of attack, and fell under its weight. Adora landed on top of the box with a really cool pose, but before she could compliment herself, she heard the sound of a rifle cocking. Fuck! The last mercenary was aiming at her, and was about to pull the trigger when the wall on his right exploded, Alice coming in with her fangs showing: she lifted the guy, and using her talons, slammed him against the pavement and the walls a couple of times, before throwing him out of the window, screaming terrifyingly again, then jumped out the building tearing through another wall, screams of mercenaries following pretty soon. -Geez, that girl has issues- murmured Adora, before using her hook to get out from the hole on the wall. She saw Alice thrusting out even more tendrils, bigger than the others, pulling up two literal containers, and throwing them at the boat that was coming. Too bad, she didn't think it through: one of the containers was actually containing fuel, and the power of her grip had caused a leak from it, creating a trail that connected the pavement under her to the ship when she threw it first, and then she threw the second container, that destroyed part of the basement of one of the cranes, that started to dangerously tremble, before that second container hit the boat right after the first, causing an enormous explosion that blinded Adora for a second, before pushing her on her back. When she got up, ears ringing a little, she saw that the boat was exploding, probably thanks to explosives the mercenaries had on board, but the trail of fire had followed the one caused by the leak, and Alice was still too focused on bashing the rest of the mercenaries to realize it. Adora tried to warn her, but her voice was too feeble and Alice too powered by bloodlust. The crane's basements finished to crumble, bringing the rest of the crane with them, falling down on Alice and the mercenaries, while fire was still erupting. -Fuck!- screamed Adora, before jumping up and running towards the area of the impact. The fire was starting to reach it, and while Adora was approaching, she heard another inhuman scream: this one was out of pain though. She kept running, following the sound until she found Alice: she was stuck under the crane's debris, and fire had started to reach her. Adora saw the fire burning through the symbiotes tendrils. She remembered from her research that she had done from the time she wanted to beat Alice's ass (to be fair, she had just discovered that Heinrich apparently didn't want to see her anymore, so she was a little pissed), the only two things that could hurt the symbiotes were sound and fire. She didn't even start to think about it, she was already running towards her, trying to lift up some of the debris, but it was definitely too heavy. -What the fuck are you doing?- Alice asked, her voice distorted both by the symbiote and the pain -Helping you, of course- -It's no use kid. Fire is already weaking me, run away and save yourself-. Fire had started to reach Adora as well, as flames were burning her hands and running over her arms. -Go the fuck away, Heinrich will never forgive me if you die here- Alice screamed again, trying to push her away, but Adora stood her ground -Absolutely fucking not, you crazy white goo girl. I don't give a shit about what Heinrich will think, if I leave you to die here, I won't be able to forgive myself. And now fucking push- she screamed, the pain fueling her adrenaline. Alice just closed her mouth, and after a second, started to push again. With their two strengths combined, and leaving out multiple screams of fatigue, they managed to free Alice. Adora ran immediately, lifted her up (adrenaline was making her extremely light) and jumped out of the fiery pit that was forming right where they were before. She had made it: she had saved a life.
-This is absolutely not good- mouthed Heinrich. The two boys had managed to get inside Ace Chemicals from a window so high and isolated from the rest, that not even a grappling hook could have reached it. It was probably the reason they had managed to get inside unseen. Now they were on the top of the beams, Anthony flying in stealth mode and Heinrich crouching in a pose that resembled the one of his father's enemy. Anthony wrote as a communication on his pad -What do we do?-. Heinrich kept looking at the situation right under them: the Chemicals had been entirely subjugated, and soldiers were running the place. Chemical tubs were containing and boiling the Venom, and then poured it from taps into other tubs, in which some of the soldiers were filling containing canisters. Once they were done, they just put them down, and then took another one empty to fill. Heinrich looked back at Anthony, and asked him -Run a scan of this place, try to see if you find the power cells of the tubs, if we can stop them, this production is fucked- Anthony nodded, then ran a deep scan: what he found was something awful. Every tub had a personal power cell, but two of them were contained into a room on the closest catwalk to them. But that wasn't the problem. Anthony pointed at a figure behind Heinrich, and he sighed: he had put himself right there to cover up the view, hoping that Anthony wouldn't have noticed. He wanted to spare him the view. Close to the stairs to reach the catwalk, there was a body attached to a couple of hooks by his hands: it was a young, muscular boy, covered in cuts and bruises, but the stillness of the body confirmed that he wasn't breathing. Heinrich let out another sigh -Who was him?- asked him Anthony. -Jason Todd. This universe's Red Hood. Poor boy got a shitty life, died by the hand of the Joker, got brought back to life with extreme pain, and then ended up dying by the hand of a fucking conqueror that wanted to have fun-. With Heinrich's explanation, Anthony felt his anger rising, in an unhealthy way. It was like he was listening to a voice coming from inside of him... a voice that asked him to tear them apart... to give it to the rage... to... the sound of a couple of taps on the forehead of his helmet got him back to reality. Wow, what was that? -Anthony, are you with me?- Heinrich asked him, his hand near his helmet. -Yeah... yeah I'm fine- he answered, Heinrich's look was definitely showing that he knew something was off, but he didn't inquire. Instead, he pointed back at the tubs and asked him about those, and after he reported, Heinrich formulated a plan -Ok, you stay here, and get ready to use your blasters to put this guys to sleep if we get caught, I'll go in there, stop the power, then I'll try to get the formula of this Venom in order to find out if it's flammable- he then put on his cowl, and jumped morbidly on the catwalk, leaning to the door: he heard two guys talking inside. The first guy said -I don't get it. El jefe gets his orders from a what?- and the other answered -I don't know for sure. I know she's some kind of a woman, but I'm uncertain about it- -Whoever she is, she must be pretty strong to give him orders- -Yeah, I heard some guys wanted to desert since now he was receiving orders- -And what happened to them?- -Jefe got the information, and dismembered them to give the others a show- -Wow, that's rad- Heinrich heard the two guys approaching the door, and as the handle started to lower, he punched the living shit out of the first guy, hitting him so hard he stood still for a couple of seconds, before falling. In the meantime, he had burst inside without slamming the door, and held the other by the throat, strangling him until he passed out. The man had luckily dropped his gun out of surprise, and Heinrich had managed to grab it before it reached the pavement, before holding the other guy from hitting the ground as well. When the other passed out, he rapidly but carefully left them on the ground, before closing the door again. On the inside, he started to search rapidly for the power system: he found it, but after that, he didn't find anything else. There was no formula or things like that, just a paper with written all over the names of the patrolling soldiers, along with the time of the changes. They had like five minutes before another vehicle reached the Ace and people started to move. They needed to hurry up. So he stood up from the table he was leaning on and went for the cables, but before he could rip them off, he heard sounds of approaching, alongside calling the names of the two people that were probably inside of the room on the ground. He was ready on position, but right after the door opened, and the man saw him, a very loud blast was heard, and the man got projected into the wall at the side of the door. -Fuck- he said, before people started shooting at something that was probably Anthony. Knowing that stealth was now not an option, he just grabbed al the cables and ripped them off entirely. A sound of emergency started emanating from the alarms of the Ace, as long as someone yelling -What the fuck happened?-. Heinrich then proceeded to jump from the catwalk, and hit one of mercenaries in the process. -Dang it, why did you do that?- he screamed at the boy with the armor, who was flying around, shooting at the mercenaries with his blasters, forcing them to take cover while he was flying around -I'm so sorry, I thought you needed help- -I'm the last one who needs help here- Heinrich replied, before stomping so badly on one of the grates that the propulsion made it fly up, then grabbed it with both hands and launched it at two guys that were shifting their aim from Anthony to him, hitting them and putting them down. After 30 seconds of fight, in which Anthony had distracted them by keeping them at bay while Heinrich was eliminating them, the Goblin's son jumped right on the ground floor, bringing with him the last mercenary and throwing him on the floor near him. A second after, the door got busted open, and a military jeep with a M134 minigun mounted on top of it. Fuck it, of course the reinforce would have heard the alarm; he just didn't expect them to come right fucking through. The gun started firing, and while he was considering how much a hit his armor could take, Anthony landed in front of him and activated his shield he had implanted, protecting both of them from the bullets. -Do you need my help now?- joked Anthony -Don't get cocky, Robo Boy- answered Heinrich, trying not to smile, before he took up the mercenary's gun and throw it so strongly that part of the infrastructure that was holding the M134 broke, and the gun fell from the top of the Jeep and stopped firing. Three men came out of that, their rifles cocked, but Anthony rapidly fired with his blasters at two of them, and they rapidly fell back. Heinrich then jumped in front of him, and when the soldier remaining saw him, he threw his rifle down, and looked at him -How about we solve it mano a mano?- he said, sticking out a green vial. -Works for me- replied Heinrich, dead in the eyes -What are you doing?- asked him Anthony, but he just rose a hand and told him -Stay out of this, I've got this-. The man injected himself with the vial, and he started to grow: Anthony was actually impressed and was starting to feel a little grossed out, but Heinrich didn't flinch. Instead, after the man stopped transforming, he just put his hand in his bag, attached to his belt, and threw another vial, filled with blue liquid this time. -You had an antidote- exclaimed impressed Anthony, but he had spoken too soon: even though the vial was now empty, nothing had changed on the man's monstrous aspect. Heinrich looked at Anthony a little and said -You had to jinx it- before the monster lunged at him. Anthony tried to get in front of him, but Heinrich just asked him again to leave it to him. When the monster lifted his fist and tried to hit him, Heinrich just rose his arm, and blocked its fist without moving from the impact. The creature looked in disbelief, before it tried to hit him with his other hand, but Heinrich stopped it with his other hand nonchalantly. He was holding the monster at bay, and while the creature was pushing with all of his strength, he didn't seem troubled. -Yeah, their formula has improved- he said, his voice a little tired but still strong as usual. -Really? Doesn't look like that from here- replied Anthony. -Oh trust me, they did. Care for me to show of powerful that suit truly is?- Anthony was waiting for that moment, and directed all of his energy to the unibeam on his chest, and fired a literal column of laser at the creature, pushing it away from Heinrich's grasp and bashing it into the wall. Heinrich looked back at him, an eyebrow lifted in approval -Not bad, Anthony-, but seconds later, the monster detached from the wall and lunged back at them -But it is not enough- continued Heinrich, before standing in a fighting pose, and before the creature could hit him, he dodged it and punched him in the abdomen: the beast screamed, or almost growled, spitting out green liquid from his mouth before falling on its knees. Heinrich put his hands together, then hit it again on the back of its head, crushing it down in the pavement, breaking it a little. -We don't have much time- said the leader, returned to his usual demeanor, proving that he actually had a little of fun during the fight -Reinforces will get here pretty soon, and if I'm not wrong, I'm afraid there are other lesser laboratories spread in the city. It's impossible Bane has this much Venom to share it with his basic soldiers if this is the only production base- -He definitely will have less after we're done here- replied Anthony, a new sense of pride mounting inside him: his armor was almost perfect, it had worked over his most optimistic expectations, and it had also proven enough to impress Heinrich Osborne. -You're right- replied the Goblin's son, before taking a canister. -I'll bring this with us. Maybe if we can study this, we can find a way to improve the antidote as well- -How about this place?- -We'll burn it down-. Heinrich prepared to give Anthony the ok to burn the Ace Chemicals with his flamethrowers, when they both got distracted by an explosion: it was coming from the docks. -What the fuck Alice...- he mouthed looking at the rampaging fire, but right before he could tell anything, their notepads started to ring. They heard the voice of Zion screaming -Help please. Everyone help. We have a red code-. -Fuck!- screamed Heinrich, before his leadership got back and took control of his emotions -Anthony, forget this place. You have to reach the docks and help the girls there to get out of there, ASAP- -No, I can't, Zion...- Anthony tried to reply, but Heinrich interrupted him with an authority that didn't leave space to refusal -Now it's not the time for insubordination, you're the fastest. I need you to fly to them and bring them out of there, before they reach them first- he pointed at a couple of military helicopters, then continued -I'll reach Avalon and Zion in the meantime, and I'll bring them out of there. When you save them, contact me and only me. Is that clear?- Anthony startled a little, before answering -Y...yeah. Yes sir- -Good, now go!- Anthony started flying right after, already recovering the helicopters and surpassing them. -This is getting fucked up- murmured Heinrich, before he started running: he wasn't a speedster, but he was fast. And he was reaching to help his team.