NationStates

United States of Brainy wrote:Batgirl

“You have a lot of nerve,” she whispered, “showing your face after the stunt you pulled.” She just realized she had quoted Lando’s line to Han in The Empire Strikes Back. It annoyed her but it also fit. Like Han, Dick Grayson was a rogue, a scoundrel. And she wouldn’t mind freezing him in some carbonite right about now.

“You were eavesdropping again, weren’t you? On the emergency channel? I’ll make sure it’s the last time. So… I heard you were back. Working at the museum. All that time and you didn’t think to call me? Oh, if you were wondering, the situation’s handled here. The Queen again. She might be gone for good, ‘extinguished’ you might say.” She chuckled bitterly at the pun. “But I kinda doubt it. I’m going to take Ms. Bingum and these two young ladies back to her place.”

The roar of her motorcycle distracted her for a moment. The autopilot pulled the bike to a tight stop a few feet away. “Well, guess that’s my ride.” She turned back to Ruth and the girls. “Ready to go?” she asked them, hopping onto her bike and grabbing her helmet. As she waited for them to get into Ruth’s car, Babs turned back to her former boyfriend one last time. “It’s good to see you again, Dick,” she told him, warmth in her voice, despite everything. Then she donned her helmet and turned away from him.

Ruth Bingum

Ooh, did Batgirl once have a romantic relationship with this man? Fascinating. This could be good for emotional manipulation in the future, most definitely. Still, it hurt to see this boy act so confident and laid back when he had obviously hurt Batgirl. Memories of men who promised her the world through lying teeth flitted across her mind and were promptly shoved back down again. Now was not the time to think of that. She didn't know if she was going soft or she was feeling particularly vengeful, but before she knew it she was commanding one of the wasps that had been hanging around the scene, directionlessly buzzing after she had stopped her control, to fly up Nightwing's nose and sting him. A smile graced her face as she imagined the pain he must be feeling, only a fraction of whatever emotional distress he might have caused others. Heroes couldn't pretend to be good and yet do things like this. It messed with the natural order of things. If you want to hurt, become a villain. And oh boy, did she want to hurt.

She kept walking with the girls to stand next to Batgirl, who was parked on her bat-motorbike or whatever she called her ride, behind the limousine Ruth herself had used to get here. It was scratched and dented a bit, for show, but still operable, her chauffeur safe inside. It felt so long ago that she had stepped out of that vehicle, not intending to go on a rampage. Then again, she didn't work for the world, the world worked for her! For now, though, she still had her role to play. She had to remind herself of that constantly. Being in the presence of Batgirl and close to her would be a double edged sword, as most swords are, both a great benefit and a great danger to her identity.

"Girls, you can get in now. I have to speak to the famous Batgirl for a moment." The black haired one looked as if she were about to protest, probably about not being an infant, but the blonde set her hand on her shoulder and led her away, still with her head down. What an odd one, that blonde, wassername. Ugh. She was really going to have to learn these girls' names soon. It was irritating to have to refer to them by hair colour, especially when hair colour could change in under an hour. Not that she would know anything about dyeing hair.

She turned to the caped crimefighter, her face portraying concern with a touch of curiosity, one of her better faces, if she did say so herself.

"Dear, are you sure you wouldn't like to ride with us? The limousine is top of the line and I wouldn't want you to get lost in the traffic. Gotham can be so dark and scary at night, even for a hero."

Batgirl

Just before she turned away, she tracked a stray wasp as it ambled it’s way straight up Dick’s nose. She snorted underneath her helmet. At least there was some justice in this world. No doubt the wasp had stung him. She hoped it hurt. A lot.

"Dear, are you sure you wouldn't like to ride with us? The limousine is top of the line and I wouldn't want you to get lost in the traffic. Gotham can be so dark and scary at night, even for a hero."

“Thank you for the offer, Ms. Bingum,” Babs responded, “but I’ll be fine. There might be another emergency and I want to have my bike handy. Don’t worry,” she smiled through her helmet, “I won’t get lost.” The actress' look of concern hadn't escaped her. "Sorry about that," Babs offered, tilting her head back to Nightwing. "Long story. Let's just say it didn't have a fairy tale ending and leave it at that."

Babs throttled her bike. “Whenever you’re ready,” she told the diva. “Lead the way.”

Sydney Moore

An hour later, an hour of uncomfortable small talk and pleasantries later, the limousine pulled up to the mansion. The driver pressed and intercom and . . . SERIOUSLY!?! A massive gate opened up. This wasn't the mansion, it was the front gate, and yet it was still bigger than the building she had grown up in. Just how rich was Miss Bingum, and how could she become this rich for being a singer? As the driver drove down a long cobbled street, it passed immaculately manicured hedge gardens, dazzling fountains, and large glass greenhouses, everything pristine and glittering with well placed lights that cut through the gloom of the night. It was breathtaking, and it didn't seem to stop. For several minutes all she could do was stare out the window. Even to the hills in the distance there was something. Did she own all of this? The numbers flew through her head in a flurry, calculating faster than the speed of light. Just these gardens alone must have cost billions and the annual upkeep must be in the tens of millions, potentially hundreds of millions depending on how rare the greenhouse species' are. Then came the lake, except it wasn't like a normal lake. It was more like a moat the size of a lake. The cobbled path kept going, except now they were on a bridge that travelled at ground level, but over thin air. She looked down and a hundred metres below she was the glittering water, swirling with life. She then looked at the walls of the artificial canyon and realised with a start that it was filled with built in cages. This was a zoo. Thousands of animals were down there, and hundreds of walkways and ramps led to the cages, probably to help feed them and keep them dried. This was unreal. If Miss Bingum really was a target of The Queen, she had a lot to be worried about, with these potential weapons this close to her home.

And then there was the home itself. In the centre of the lake, hundreds of metres above the lake, connected to the bridge, was the house. No, the manor. No, the palace. And yet not even that word summed up Ruth Bingum's residence. The size of a small country, it was a delicate example of too much. Taking up enough stone to have emptied thousands of quarries, it was filled with spires and buttresses and walls and was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. And it shone. Several crystal domes were filled with light, and it was as if the very stone of the house was glowing with an ethereal light. And then that she noticed several floating parts of the house, swirling around it in lazy orbits, some not even buildings but more massive and rounded greenhouses or lawns, three of them simply covered in the largest fountains she had ever seen, spilling over into the lake/moat below. She remembered a few years ago when Bruce Wayne had demonstrated "the future of homes!", antigravity panels that could allow homes to float, but she had never thought she would see it in person, not in Gotham. Everything about this place was gorgeous, and she couldn't get enough, and she wasn't even noticing or able to describe half of the things she saw. Any suspicion she had about money or numbers or anything flew out of her head as she marvelled. And that was all she could do.

"Girls, welcome to the Bingum Family Home. Please, feel at home. I never have guests over, and I just love that you were able to come to dinner. The chefs should be close to finishing the meal," Ruth Bingum said, but all Sydney could think about was the house. So this is why people watched HGTV. And she couldn't help but stare at Ruth herself. Sydney had never really known about the famous singer aside from things everyone knew by virtue of her fame, but now she wanted to know everything. The chauffeur came around to the side of the limo and opened the door. Ruth gestured for the girls to exit first and they did, though Mary didn't seem as awestruck as Sydney was. In fact, she seemed almost upset. Surly was a word that came to mind. But how could anyone be upset in the face of this beauty!?

Ruth stepped out of the limo next and stood tall and regally as Batgirl pulled up behind them in her motorbike and removed her helmet, shaking out her hair that only seemed dull in comparison to Ruth. Wait a minute, did Sydney have a celebrity crush on Ruth Bingum!? Or was it just the house? Either way, there was something different about Ruth Bingum now, by Sydney couldn't put her finger on it. The mathematical notation that furiously generated across her vision didn't see anything different with anything in her surroundings either.

If it wasn't something around her, what was different?

Batgirl

Whelp, there goes my plan to do a perimeter sweep. She had seen photos of Bristol Manor, naturally, who hadn’t, the second most famous residence in Gotham City after Wayne Manor. But…no photo or video could do justice to the sheer fairy tale wonder of the place! And fairy tale was the exact perfect descriptor for this place. It was like something straight out of a Disney movie. Cinderella’s Castle, except Cinderella’s Castle looked like a cheap, Hollywood backlot facade when compared to the magnificence on display here.

The only thing missing is a carriage train and coachmen in blue frock coats. Babs smirked to herself. Then again, Ms. Bingum probably gave them the night off.

It took a good ten minutes, at least, from the gates to the manor itself. They passed immaculate gardens, canyons, waterfalls as they wended their way along the winding cobblestone pathway. And the zoo! No normal, run-of-the-mill generic zoo. The canyon itself was the zoo! Cages carved into sheer rock, housing every conceivable land mammal it seemed. An entire safari in Ms. Bingum’s backyard! And not just mammals. Reptiles, exotic birds, creatures thought extinct and probably were outside the safety of Bingum’s home. Hmmm…if the Queen wanted to stage an attack here, she would have no shortage of helpless creatures at her disposal. The thought put a sobering damper on the otherwise wondrous mood.

At long last, they arrived at the grand staircase to the manor proper. The residence, correction, the several residences, floated on antigravity panels, the latest thing from Wayne Industries. Babs had studied the technical data and knew that despite their relative thinness, the panels could support several hundred tons of weight. They kept Ruth Bingum’s castle in the sky as stable as the bedrock foundation of the biggest skyscrapers.

Parking her bike, Babs removed her helmet and shook out her long waves of crimson hair. “You have quite a home,” the crimefighter commented to the diva in what was probably the understatement of the year. Seems she wasn’t the only one enraptured either. The blonde-haired girl, Sydney, appeared totally taken with the place although her friend seemed less than thrilled. Quite a mood swing from the hysterics of earlier. I better keep an eye on her, Babs told herself.

“Pretty pointless to search the place,” Babs informed her host. “I could take all night and not get past the foyer. Best to stay close to you, keep everyone together as much as possible. If dinner is anything like your accommodations, Ms. Bingum, I think I’m going to need a larger utility belt!”

Nightwing
Nightwing's grin turned into a wry smile,
"Batgirl wait, I-ACK"
Nightwing was promptly interrupted by a fairly sizeable wasp crawling into his nose and stinging him square in the back of his nasal cavity. He flinched, basically punching himself in the face as retaliation.
He breathed in through clenched teeth as he blew the splattered remains of the wasp out of his nose, rubbing it to curb the pain of the sting.

Nightwing spat out the last bits of the wasp as Batgirl rode away.
"Son of a-"
He sighed, leaning back on his Motorcycle and watching them ride away. Before standing up and walking over to the nearest GCPD Officer.
"Give your analysis of the crime scene to the Commissioner, he knows where to send it."
He stepped back over to his Motorcycle, putting his helmet on and throwing himself onto his bike.

He dialled Barbara's phone, only to get a busy tone.
"She's blocked my number? She's blocked my number!"
He sighed, kicking the motorcycle on and into gear, revving it as loud as it would go as he tore down the road.
"Computer, track Batgirl's Motorcycle."
The GPS brought up the location of Batgirl's Motorcycle. Bingum Manor, marvelous, just the place for them to get assaulted again.
He pulled up out the front of the colossal Manor 45 minutes later, parking and standing outside the gate, it's ominous size looming over him.
Nightwing sighed, tapping the earpiece and hearing the line connect to Barbara's cowl.
"Barbara, we need to talk. We need a game plan here and I know I messed up not telling you about Bludhaven but we need to put it behind us and start again. Come on Barb, don't make me jump this fence."

Batgirl


As they proceeded up the staircase, the secure comm channel inside her cowl suddenly opened and she heard a familiar voice.

"Barbara, we need to talk. We need a game plan here and I know I messed up not telling you about Bludhaven but we need to put it behind us and start again. Come on Barb, don't make me jump this fence."

“We do NOT need to talk,” she hissed into her throat mic. “You had all the time in the world to talk while you were in Bludhaven. Not to mention since you got back. You don’t get to suddenly show up in my life again and start giving me orders. I’m more than capable of taking care of myself. And when it comes to crimefighting, Nightwing, trust me, you really don’t want to find out which one of us is better.” She was about to click off the line when she added, “And oh, since the fence is probably electrified, I would suggest you get a running start if you’re going to jump it.”

She not only disconnected but disabled the line so he couldn’t bother her again. “Ms. Bingum,” Babs asked, catching up to her, “is your security system on? If not, I’d suggest you activate it. Might be a good idea to let any guard dogs loose if you have them,” she added evilly. “Although the Queen is the primary threat, we have no idea whether she’s a part of a larger conspiracy. You don’t let your lions run loose, do you?” she added, only half-jokingly.

Dr. Raymond Palmer

Ray inhaled the swoop of fresh air that was abundant in the Gotham Botanical Gardens. He had only been in Gotham for a week and he was already feeling so...at peace with himself. Ray found it almost unsettling. The last time he’d been in Gotham was as a 5 year old, to visit some family. His parents found the city so unsafe that they never let go of Ray’s hand while walking down the road, and minimized his ability to leave the house. Of course, his parents were also extremely paranoid about the new “serial killer” in town, The Batman. Of course, Ray’s Family (and the country) soon realized how wrong they were about this vigilante. It was then that Ray learned: not everything is always as it seems.

This observation certainly still held true to Gotham.

Just as Ray was beginning to feel particularly comfortable with the park bench that he was perched on, he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket hysterically. It was Adam Cray, Ray’s best friend and the only one with knowledge of his alter-ego.

“Ray, get yo ass back to the lab NOW! I’m getting weird signals on our radar. A similar white dwarf-star segment that’s in your suit has been detected by our systems back at Gotham U, but it’s been traced to...Ace Chemicals. That ain’t sound good.”

“Sure doesn’t,” Ray muttered, “I’ll be right there.”

In fact, Ray was not planning on getting back to the lab and researching on this new substance detected. Nah, he was feeling it today. If any low key crime lords got their grubby hands on that substance at Ace, the city was gonna pay a price with all those bio weapons floating around. Ray had to be sure no intelligent criminals got their hands on this stuff. And who knows? Maybe he could even make a new suit with some of this white dwarf star substance.

The Atom

Shoot, Ray thought after suting up, How am I gonna get to Ace under the radar?. Unfortunately for Ray, he didn’t own any cool transportation tech like a Batmobile or Nightbike. As he pondered the question, he preyed his eyes on a sweet Ferrari 488 GTB. Not the most “low-key” car out there; it was bright orange. But Ray was feeling at his happiest for the first time in forever, and there was really nothing stopping him from hot wiring that sweet ride to jump start it. Although he was feeling a twinge of guilt for stealing this car, Ray convinced himself to relax. Besides, he reassured himself, it probably just belongs to some greedy billionaire.

This was going to be fun.

Nightwing

Dick threw his helmet onto the ground, yelling into the empty channel.
"What the hell is wrong with you, when did you become such a goddamn child!"
He took a few deep breaths, sitting on his motorcycle again and putting his helmet back on.

His suit was insulated against electrical shocks, he didn't really feel like testing the extent of his suits insulation on a fence though.
"Computer, get me the available schematics of the manor."
The schematics flashed up on his holographic computer, the limited schematics showing little more than a top-down view of the manor.
"Great."

He walked up to the gate, checking the lock, giving the gate a hefty kick to test it's durability. At doing so he felt a sizeable tingle run up his leg, even with the extensive insulation. Upon doing this, he heard a yell from the guard tower watching the gate, and sprinted to the point closest to the tower, diving into cover.

"Why the hell am I doing this? What the hell is wrong with me?"
He stood, rushing to his bike and kicking it into gear, tearing along as he searched the perimeter for an infiltration point.

Dick looked at the small hill standing before him, the wall was equally as high as the others, but provided him a slight advantage.
He located the wire connecting the electric fences to the grid. He took an electric dart from his glove and disconnected it from the battery in his glove. Plugging it into the port on the front of his motorcycle and jabbing it into the wire, covering his face as sparks flew up at him. He got back on his cycle, revving the engine, causing an electric charge to run down the line. If he was lucky he'd blow the circuits and the fence would go down until they could get the fuses back on.

Nightwing continued to rev the engine, sparks flying angrily from the bootleg connection.

The Riddler

Edward sat in silence as Dr. Meredith entered the room and Penguin went on about his proposition. While the mere thought of someone being his intellectual equal, or being anywhere near similar to him, intrigued Edward, he found it vey hard to believe. In fact, as Riddler studied the doctor, he couldn't find a single thing they would have in common. He'd heard some things about Dr. Meredith, but nothing that he was too impressed with. Edward did admit that he was one of the more intellectual new comers but no where near the level Riddler thought he was on.

Riddler listened to Oswald's proposal all the while thinking of how he'd been slighted out of his deal. Why was he supposed to stoop down to serve someone else in order to get what he wants. It wasn't even going to be a long deal, maybe just a couple of days until Riddler had his own men to do his work. Edward was ready to dismiss Penguin's proposal until he heard the prize, and it wasn't Penguin's help. A mysterious box that couldn't be opened, what a wonderful puzzle to crack, even better is that people didn't want the box to be opened. How could Penguin possible bring this up in front of Edward and not expect him to want to open it. It had to be some sort of trap, a rather odd one if the box was truly guarded by the League of Assassins. No matter, Edward wanted to know what was in that box, so for now he'd put up with Penguin's silly request. However, he was not ready to put up with another person getting in his way. Although, this mission could possibly prove to be a learning experience; Riddler could scout of Meredith, and the good doctor could learn what true genius looked like.

"Fine Cobblepot, you want to play that way. I'll go get you silly little box, but next time I want an actual challenge. Giving me an entire day to plan a heist to steal something from the heavily guarded ship, is like leaving a museum unlocked for Catwoman."

Riddler got up from his chair and headed towards the door of the office. He paused as though he just remembered something and turned back to the doctor. "If you really want to work together on this little venture doctor, then solve this riddle and meet me in the Lounge with the answer.Kings and Queens may cling to power, and the Jesters got his call. But as you may discover the common one out ranks them all. What is It? Solve my riddle and we'll work together, get it wrong and I work against you. And trust me, you want me on your side."

The Atom

The stolen Ferrari screeched to a halt. This was it. The infamous, nefarious, dangerous Ace Chemicals. The place of legends. The myth in reality.

The building itself appeared as a worn down, nasty warehouse. The sky above it was dark and misty from the pollution. The factory was no longer in business. The former owner and CEO of Ace Corp, multimillionaire Nancy Choi, had moved onto other business endeavors. The building had been sold to Wayne Enterprises in a widely lauded deal that was expected to clean up the crime from the abandoned building. But still, the place was really a sad sight to behold.

Ray crept out of the car cautiously.

“Adam,” he said on his suit’s built in intercom to his man in the chair, “Adam! You there?”

“Ray! Where the hell are you? I told you to get back to the lab an hour ago!”

“Yeah, well, there was a change of plans. Send the layout map of Ace Chem to me. Indicate where the white dwarf matter is.”

“WHAT?! You’re at Ace! I said it was dangerous, get the hell back he—”

“Adam, shut the fuck up and listen. I need to retrieve that matter ASAP. If it’s in an unstable area, It’ll likely blow this factory – and 25% of Otisburgh District – in approximately 8 minutes. I doubt that these ragtag criminals in this abandoned factory house their stolen universe substance in high-protective cases. So we need to find that shit before those 8 minutes are up.”

Silence on the other end. Ray assumed Adam was searching for the matter on his radar tech. In the meanwhile, The Atom would just have to search for it himself.

The sound of Ray’s boots clicked on the sleek floor of the warehouse in a staccato beat. Before he could turn around, a triad of odorous musclemen pounced on Ray from behind and began attempting to beat him to a pulp with their clubs.

Ha, Ray thought snidely, Clubs? Against my suit? That’s a new one. He clicked his belt and, immediately, he was invisible to the thugs. Or rather, he was 6 feet smaller than them. As they looked around in confusion, Ray used his regular human strength to knock out the thugs while they were off guard.

Ray grew back to his regador height of 6 ft 2 inches. He was scowling. Obviously, that was a massive waste of time; only four minutes were left until the white matter exploded!

And that’s when he found it. Right behind the fainted men was a thick glass tub filled with the smoking hot goo, the white dwarf star that had illegally been sold to these criminals. Hurriedly, Ray lifted the tub, which contained understandably heavy matter. As he dragged it back to his car, a horrendous thought occurred to Ray. He turned on his intercom.

“Adam, we don’t have a protective case for the matter. How am I gonna get it back to the lab without it exploding?”

Two seconds of silence.

“You can’t,” Adam replied, “But you can minimize the damage. Throw one of your shrinker discs at the tub. If it shrinks to ant size, the matter will only be able to destroy the Ace Chem building. Nothing more. Oh, and drive like hell outta there. The blast could get you too.”

Ray did as Adam instructed. The tub shrunk, he flicked it away, and hopped in his Ferrari. 10 seconds were left on the clock. He had to get away.

Ray drove frantically, but to no avail. The tub blew up, destroying the entire back of his beautiful stolen Ferrari and flinging Ray out of the car’s front seat. He quickly shrank to ant size and landed gracefully on the sidewalk as the entire Ace Chemicals building came crumbling to the ground.

Oh boy, Ray panted, his face covered in ash, It’s a long walk back to Gotham University. And I’m never gonna here the end of this from the authorities.

Ryan Choi

1:44 AM. And what was young Ryan Choi doing? Rushing back to work.

As an intern for Dr. Ray Palmer’s quantum physics research team at Gotham University, Ryan had multiple responsibilities. Proofreading documents, correcting equations, double checking facts – it all came down to the intern slave. So you can imagine Ryan’s hysteria upon discovering, just as he was falling asleep, that he had neglected to edit 20 whole documents at the lab?

The industrious Master Choi immediately set out for Gotham University by taxi, reaching at 2:15 AM. Just as he strolled in to grab the papers, quite a sight lay ahead of him. Two clearly worried men, one wearing a metallic suit with ash engulfing his face, and another with flimsy spectacles dangling off his nose, were frantically searching through an online city database that they had hacked.

“If this was only one shipment of dwarf star matter, where’s the rest? We need to trace these arms dealers’ location...with only one phone of a criminal...how to do that...”

Ryan recognized that voice. It was Dr. Palmer’s...and he was wearing the Atom suit.

Oh boy. What a night.

“I need to find that shipment soon,” Palmer continued, “But how?”

“Can’t...can’t you shrink to a subatomic level? Then you can travel through phone lines to reach their destination!” Ryan couldn’t help but blurt.

The two men turned around, evidently startled.

“I can explain. I’m so sorry. I’m an intern here. I just stumbled in to get ahead on work...and I found you guys. I know who you are now. What are you gonna do, kill me? Please don’t kill me...” Ryan stammered and waited for Palmer’s response.

Bycrest wrote:Riddler got up from his chair and headed towards the door of the office. He paused as though he just remembered something and turned back to the doctor. "If you really want to work together on this little venture doctor, then solve this riddle and meet me in the Lounge with the answer. Kings and Queens may cling to power, and the Jesters got his call. But as you may discover the common one out ranks them all. What is It? Solve my riddle and we'll work together, get it wrong and I work against you. And trust me, you want me on your side."

Dr. Byron Meredith/Merrymaker
Dr. Byron Meredith grinned. Clearly the Riddler was feeling threatened by the thought of competition that can challenge what he wants, however, he didn't need to worry about that for now, as the doctor had already solved the riddle. He didn't know if it was the gambling environment, or if the Riddler wasn't as sharp as he claimed to be, but the riddle was about cards, specifically poker cards, and considering that Dr. Meredith was known for being a pretty good gambler, all he had to do was rank the cards, which wasn't hard at all. In a royal flush, which is one of each of the highest ranked cards it goes ten, jack, queen, king, and ace, meaning that the ace card outranks all of the others. After figuring this out, he turns back to Penguin to quickly say, "I will take you up on the offer Mr. Cobblepot, although I don't want any funny business or betrayal, okay? Also, if there is any change of plan or a problem that arises, from either yourself or Mr. Enigma, please send someone to my office if it is during my working hours to inform me on it." With that he takes his glass of ice water and exits the room. Sipping it as he walks, he makes his way over to where he sees the Riddler in the lounge. Some people who took him up on the offer of free drinks thanked him and a few others cheered his name. He eventually made it to where the Riddler was, and said in a hushed tone, without making it seem like they know each other or that anyone else could hear, "When it comes to riddles, I hope that you have a better ACE up your sleeve." putting emphasis on the word ace so the Riddler knows that he figured out his simple riddle. "If you are serious about working together we need a plan, I am going to go to the bar, send somebody over to get me with a location if you want to meet someplace to discuss a plan tonight, because we can't discuss it here." With that he kept his course, acting as natural as he would have at any night, before making his way to the bar where he got a top off on his water.

Ed Johnson
After Ed Johnson got off work at the school, he made his way down to a bar to meet with some friends of his, who also happened to be security guards or contractors in the area. He walked into the bar, which was a boisterous, loud building. His friends were seated at the bar, so walked over and sat down next to them on a stool.
One of his friends, Joe Clark, said,"Heya Ed! Just get off work?"
Ed said,"Yeah, ususal boring day. I need a drink." He ordered a beer from the barkeep, who handed one to Ed.
Joe replied,"I was working a security detail down on the waterfront today. I overheard a couple of stevedores talking about something one of them had seen. It was something to do with a shipment of cargo disappearing. Don't know what the cargo was, but it was probably valuable considering it apparently vanished."
Ed said,"That's interesting." He thought to himself, I'll go down there tonight and check it out.
Ed finished off his beer and ordered another. He hung around the bar with his friends for a couple of hours, than he headed back to his apartment. Upon arriving home, he set his work gun, a Colt Python .357 down on a counter, along with the rest of his work gear. He walked over to a cabinet, and pulled it open. His combat gear was folded up inside of it. He pulled on his BDUs, boots, helmet, and gas mask. He shut the cabinet. He opened a drawer on a nearby table, and pulled out a holstered M1911, four magazine pouches, which each held two clips, and a Taser. He strapped the M1911 to his side, clipped the mag pouches to his combat vest/flak jacket, and holstered his Taser to his other side.
He left his apartment, and locked it up. Than he began walking down to the waterfront.

Dr. Ray Palmer
Ray already had enough on his plate. Catching biotech weapon smugglers, dealing with the consequences of blowing up one of Wayne Enterprises’ most lucrative deals...and now this pipsqueak walks in on him while doing the superhero act with Adam Cray.

“Can’t...can’t you shrink to a subatomic level? Then you can travel through phone lines to reach their destination!”

Ray ignored this precocious teenager’s science mumbo jumbo. He was only concerned about his secret identity. “WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?” Ray yelled.

“I can explain. I’m so sorry. I’m an intern here. I just stumbled in to get ahead on work...and I found you guys. I know who you are now. What are you gonna do, kill me? Please don’t kill me...”

Ray was just too pissed off to say anything. Now this immature Asian kid knew his secret identity. How could he fix this? Ray realized there really was nothing he could do.

“Whatever kid. Just don’t go around yelling it to the Gotham Globe. And we can hear about your science crime fighting idea in the morning. What do you say, do you wanna join Team Atom? Oh, and what’s your name?”

United States of Brainy wrote:Batgirl

She not only disconnected but disabled the line so he couldn’t bother her again. “Ms. Bingum,” Babs asked, catching up to her, “is your security system on? If not, I’d suggest you activate it. Might be a good idea to let any guard dogs loose if you have them,” she added evilly. “Although the Queen is the primary threat, we have no idea whether she’s a part of a larger conspiracy. You don’t let your lions run loose, do you?” she added, only half-jokingly.

Ruth Bingum

This Batgirl was a hoot! Talking to herself, probably that troublesome Nightwing, and now suggesting she release her lions with a malicious glint in her eye. Perhaps this girl was more than just a straight-and-narrow crimefighter, which would be a good change from that insufferably superior and overly dramatic Batman. Seriously, that man had some issues.

"I do have guard dogs, in fact. Are you suggesting we release the hounds?" she said with a smile, a glint of humour in her eye. "You know, you might be right. One moment please." She dug into her handbag, a small thing that had been in her limousine, and pulled out her cellular device. She pressed seventeen buttons in rapid succession, placed her finger on a scanner, and spoke her key phrase that would analyse her voice. "The swans swim at sunset." The phone beeped and she was in. Pressing another button she connected with her head of security, Abraham Adams.

"Abraham, we need full security measures released. Not full security level one. We need full security level two. Also, release the HypnoDrones. The Queen has recently attacked and Batgirl thinks I may be a target, so animal control is a must."

"But madame, aren't you th-"

"Abraham, Batgirl was so kind as to accompany me to the house, so be on your best behaviour. I think she believes . . . Nightwing, was it? Yes, Nightwing may be trying to breach the perimeter or already be within the grounds."

"Ah, I see. Best Behaviour protocols are in effect. I will get word to the others. Do you need the HoverTurrets as well, considering the company?"

"Abraham, that is a full security level 3 protocol, of course not! And Batgirl is a guest, Nightwing is not. He is a hero though, and we wouldn't want to riddle him with bullet holes just for trespassing, now would we! Ooh, trespassing. Good idea. Call the GPD, tell them someone has trespassed and may be trying to steal something. A plant, animal, whatever. Make it snappy."

"Yes madame, right away."

She clicked the phone shut and put it back into her handbag, already knowing what would happen. Regular security was bare compared to what was coming. In her home there were 50 HoverDrones ready to be deployed, but including every greenhouse and zoo sector, that number soared to 300. Complete with containment foam, electrofields that could disable small animals and children, flamethrowers and cameras, they were a threat in themselves. Of course, with full security level 2, hundreds of large dogs, lions, tigers bears, and more would be released, in addition to the dozens that normally roamed her gardens on the pretence of being trained. And then came the HypnoDrones, a much needed addition to appear as a "safeguard" against The Queen, though she knew from experience she was more intelligent than those hunks of titanium and carbon fibre. Her range wasn't quite large enough to cover her entire estate, which stretched beyond the borders of Bristol County and into the neighbouring state, which came with necessary tax breaks. The HypnoDrones somewhat copied her powers to a less fine pointed extent, creating rallying points for animals and with the ability to either emit signals to pacify or enrage them. With her entire fleet her range was almost double what it normally was.

Of course, that wasn't counting the hundreds of other security measures that kept her home safe. She didn't know if even the entire combined might of all of Gotham's heroes and villains could penetrate her defences at full security level five. Perhaps with the Justice League they could. She hated those heroes with a passion, sacrificing millions of lives just to rescue their love interests. Bah!

Still, she had a dinner party to host.

"Now that that is settled, let us go in, shall we? She pressed a button and the massive doors of her house, more than six times the height of a tall human, opened smoothly, revealing a massive entryway, the twice as tall as it was long, made almost entirely of marble and gold, the walls covered in hundreds of alcoves with marble statues within, stretching up so high one had to crane their necks up to see the ceiling far above.

"Welcome to the Bingham Family Honour Room, with a statue of every deceased Bingum since we came to Gotham. Follow me, to the Grand Dining Room!"

She led on, a warm and gentle host, leading them up and down staircases, down long hallways and through rooms even more massive than the last. They crossed bridges on the outside that gave stunning vies of the estate from twenty stories up, and each room was more opulent or beautiful than the last. After a good fifteen minutes of walking, they finally made it to the Grand Dining Room, which was about as long as a football pitch and twice as tall, with one wall entirely covered in windows that looked out on the massive gardens complex and the dozens of massive, circular greenhouses that were within. There was a certain circular pattern here that conveyed an ethereal beauty, and one could see the animals swirling below, awash in the gentle light.

And then the table . . . it stretched almost the entire length of the room and was covered in seemingly every dish in the world, both local and foreign. Dozens of seats lined the table, and each was immaculately set with silver utensils.

"I didn't know what you would like, so I had my chefs make it all. Please, have a seat and enjoy!"

Tamrida wrote:

Bycrest wrote:Riddler got up from his chair and headed towards the door of the office. He paused as though he just remembered something and turned back to the doctor. "If you really want to work together on this little venture doctor, then solve this riddle and meet me in the Lounge with the answer. Kings and Queens may cling to power, and the Jesters got his call. But as you may discover the common one out ranks them all. What is It? Solve my riddle and we'll work together, get it wrong and I work against you. And trust me, you want me on your side."

Dr. Byron Meredith/Merrymaker
Dr. Byron Meredith grinned. Clearly the Riddler was feeling threatened by the thought of competition that can challenge what he wants, however, he didn't need to worry about that for now, as the doctor had already solved the riddle. He didn't know if it was the gambling environment, or if the Riddler wasn't as sharp as he claimed to be, but the riddle was about cards, specifically poker cards, and considering that Dr. Meredith was known for being a pretty good gambler, all he had to do was rank the cards, which wasn't hard at all. In a royal flush, which is one of each of the highest ranked cards it goes ten, jack, queen, king, and ace, meaning that the ace card outranks all of the others. After figuring this out, he turns back to Penguin to quickly say, "I will take you up on the offer Mr. Cobblepot, although I don't want any funny business or betrayal, okay? Also, if there is any change of plan or a problem that arises, from either yourself or Mr. Enigma, please send someone to my office if it is during my working hours to inform me on it." With that he takes his glass of ice water and exits the room. Sipping it as he walks, he makes his way over to where he sees the Riddler in the lounge. Some people who took him up on the offer of free drinks thanked him and a few others cheered his name. He eventually made it to where the Riddler was, and said in a hushed tone, without making it seem like they know each other or that anyone else could hear, "When it comes to riddles, I hope that you have a better ACE up your sleeve." putting emphasis on the word ace so the Riddler knows that he figured out his simple riddle. "If you are serious about working together we need a plan, I am going to go to the bar, send somebody over to get me with a location if you want to meet someplace to discuss a plan tonight, because we can't discuss it here." With that he kept his course, acting as natural as he would have at any night, before making his way to the bar where he got a top off on his water.

The Riddler

Edward was comforted to know that it did not take Meredith long to figure out the riddle. Indeed it was themed to fit the current gambling environment so it shouldn't have been to hard to figure out the answer. It also informed Edward that Meredith didn't get his doctorate from a pawn shop and actually had some observation skill to guess the answer so easily. Once Edward was satisfied with the doctor's performance he started heading towards the door of the nightclub. On his way, he took out his phone and called Echo and Query.

"Echo, it's me." Riddler said into his phone as he moved past more patrons, "The plan's changed a little so we'll have to move a some things up a bit. I need you to come to the Iceberg Lounge and meet Dr. Meredith, bring him to water tower base. Then I need Query to back to the warehouse and speed up construction. Looks like we'll be needing those sooner than expected."

Riddler hung up his phone just as he made it to his car. He drove down to his water tower base, one of many in the city, where he would meet Dr. Meredith when he arrived. It was there that Riddler was starting to plan out the heist on the shipping yard. Once he got inside, he booted up his computer system and pull up a satellite view of the docks.

"Hmm, sneaking into the docks is simple enough, but it's those ninjas that'll be the challenge." Riddler said to himself as he set to thinking about his plan to infiltrate the ship.

Meanwhile, Echo and Query split up to complete their assigned task, having already recruited a good number of thugs to join Riddler's forces. They gave the new henchmen instructions to steal a series of technological parts from various companies and bring them back the warehouse, stressing the importance of not getting caught. Query lead some of the thugs to one of the target locations, while Echo drove over to the Iceberg Lounge to find Dr. Meredith.

Echo walked towards the doctor casually as to not raise any suspicion, "I'm here to pick you up for your scheduled appointment sir. Please, you wouldn't want to keep Mr. Nygma waiting."

Batgirl

"I do have guard dogs, in fact. Are you suggesting we release the hounds?" she said with a smile, a glint of humour in her eye. "You know, you might be right. One moment please." She dug into her handbag, a small thing that had been in her limousine, and pulled out her cellular device. She pressed seventeen buttons in rapid succession, placed her finger on a scanner, and spoke her key phrase that would analyse her voice. "The swans swim at sunset." The phone beeped and she was in. Pressing another button she connected with her head of security, Abraham Adams.

Babs had only been half-serious about the dogs. She had spoken in the heat of the moment, angry at the pig-headedness of her ex-boyfriend and crimefighting partner. But her temper quickly gave way to complete mortification at how she must look right now to her idol. Plus, she couldn’t ignore the serious turn the situation had taken. Mentally, she began cataloging all the crimes Dick was in the process of committing. And there were a lot! Not to mention the property damage! Babs had come here to help, not to completely wreck everything Ruth Bingum had spent a lifetime building! I have to call this off!

But then…she caught the glint in Ms. Bingum’s eye. That and the smile on her face completely seduced her. It was like sharing a secret moment of mischief just between the two of them. You know, this actually might be a good idea, Babs rapidly started rationalizing to herself. A real-world test of the effectiveness of Ruth Bingum’s security system. Yes, why not? she convinced herself, returning the diva’s grin with one of her own.

“I mean…only if you’re okay with it,” Babs told her but Ruth was already on her phone. Wow, quite a set-up she’s got there! Most people didn’t even bother to lock their phones but Ms. Bingum had gone the full nine yards! Automatically, without meaning to but thanks to her incredible memory, Babs mentally logged the seventeen digit code that Bingum had used to unlock her phone. Of course there was still the fingerprint scanner and the voice analyzer so it wasn’t like Babs had the keys to the kingdom she reminded her guilty conscience.

"Abraham, we need full security measures released. Not full security level one. We need full security level two. Also, release the HypnoDrones. The Queen has recently attacked and Batgirl thinks I may be a target, so animal control is a must."

HypnoDrones, huh? Makes sense given all the animals she has. Wonder what kinda tech she uses? Whatever it is, I’d kill to see it. And…just maybe, it’s something we can use as a countermeasure against the Queen. Ultrasonics are great but if Ms. Bingum has something better…

She let the thought linger. “Huh?” What was that about best behaviour? The way that her host had said it drew the crimefighter’s attention. Something in the tone…nah, couldn’t be. Stop being so suspicious, Babs. Ruth Bingum is the last person in the world that could be up to something.

Still, double-checking couldn’t hurt. She was about to make sure that the measures involved would be non-lethal when Ms. Bingum answered the question for her.

"Abraham, that is a full security level 3 protocol, of course not! And Batgirl is a guest, Nightwing is not. He is a hero though, and we wouldn't want to riddle him with bullet holes just for trespassing, now would we! Ooh, trespassing. Good idea. Call the GPD, tell them someone has trespassed and may be trying to steal something. A plant, animal, whatever. Make it snappy."

Babs instantly relaxed. Told you there was nothing to worry about. GPD? Now there was a thought. Should she tell Ruth to call them off? Nah…let Dick stew in jail overnight, she grinned to herself. Teach him a lesson.

The click of the diva’s phone signified that everything was in place. Enjoy your evening, Nightwing, Babs thought evilly. As for her, dinner awaited!

Again, Babs was in awe as their host led them down the grand entranceway of the main house. Slack-jawed and eyes wide in amazement was becoming a cliché tonight. Immense marble statues lined the grand concourse. Everything glittered in gold, the opulence was like nothing Babs had beheld before. And this from someone who considered Wayne Manor a second home. Bruce definitely doesn’t have anything on this!

Finally, they came to the Grand Dining Room and Barbara’s breath was just taken away. Despite everything she had seen, nothing prepared her for this. “You know, I would have been just fine with a cheeseburger,” she told Ms. Bingum as her mouth began to water and she took a seat.

Bycrest wrote:Echo walked towards the doctor casually as to not raise any suspicion, "I'm here to pick you up for your scheduled appointment sir. Please, you wouldn't want to keep Mr. Nygma waiting."

Dr. Byron Meredith/Merrymaker
After being relayed a message by the woman with the short cut black hair, Dr. Meredith excused himself from the bar, flipping his last one hundred dollar chip towards the bartender as a tip, with the other patrons there being too drunk or too content with the doctor's generosity to even question what was going on. Maneuvering his way out of the Iceberg lounge, he entered into the back seat of the car as the woman entered into the driver's seat and took off from the lounge. A few minutes passed and when they were a few blocks away from the Iceberg Lounge, Dr. Meredith decided to start some small talk.

"So who do I have the pleasure of meeting today and where is she taking me for this meeting?"

Tim Drake

Tim gloomily ogled at the expanse beyond the wide glass windows of Wayne Manor. He was only here for...business.

“Master Timothy,” the quintessential cockney voice asked, “Is there anything you need?”

“No, but thanks, Alfred.” Tim wasn’t in the mood for chitchat. First, this attack at Gotham University a couple of hours ago. And now, he was unable to get in contact with any of the Disciples. Or at least, unable to contact the important ones. Damian was always “available,” but...no one ever needs Damian.

“Um, Alfred,” Tim’s sleek voice continued, “were any of our guys at the Gotham U attack?”

“As far as I’m aware, Miss Barbara was present at the attack, namely helping civilians escape. An unidentified male in armor on a motorbike was also spotted by our cameras.”

“So Barb was there, huh? This happened a couple o’ hours ago. Why hasn’t Barb reported back to me?” It was a norm to do so.

“Have you attempted contacting Miss Barbara, Sir?”

“Yeah...yeah. I think she’s busy. Wasn’t answering her calls. I could try her suit intercom...”

We are sorry, Batgirl is unavailable.

“Dammit! She’s disabled the goddamn line!” Tim slammed his fist down on the immense rectangular dining table in frustration. Where could Barbara be?

Tim hurriedly ran into the Entrance Hall and turned the hands of the old grandfather clock that rested there. It turned to reveal the massive array of stairs that led down to the Batcave.

“Computer,” Tim yelled as he descended the stairs and entered the cave, “show me the footage of our security cameras observing Gotham University from around 7:15 today. Particularly any footage where you can recognize Barbara Gordon or Batgirl.”

The footage came up on the large screen that lay in front of Tim. Barbara doing her librarian stuff, some seriously disfigured dude engaging in some dangerous conversation with her, and...bam. Spiders, mice, a plethora of animals just ambushing the school.

The footage fast-forwarded. Batgirl was leaving the campus with...wait. Was that Ruth Bingum? And what the hell was NIGHTWING doing there?

“Alfred, we’ve got some investigating to do. Find everything you’ve got on The Queen. Recent activity, criminal record, any suspects.”

“Very good sir.”

“Oh. And you did insert emergency trackers in all the Disciples’ suits, right?”

“Indeed, Master Timothy.”

“Great. Computer, load up Batgirl’s location on the screen. And send the coordinates to my Consort. I’ve got some sniffing around to do...”

Nightwing

Dick continued to rev his motorcycle angrily until the fated shower of sparks fell from the links in the fence, and the distinct buzzing sound died away. He hopped off his motorcycle, and disconnected the wire, spoolig it back into his glove launchers.
Dick took a few large steps back from the fence, sprinting toward it and leaping toward the side of one of the massive concrete pillars supporting the fence. His legs impacted the concrete and he grabbed two of the fence bars. Pushing upwards with his legs and arms he propelled himself up towards the top of the fence.

He planted his feet on two of the bars and pushed, gripping the top bar of the fence he flipped over vertically sliding down the vertical bars and landing in a crouch.

The various lights placed around the grounds worked to his advantage, his suit darkening to match the pitch black effect surrounding the lights. Nightwing stuck to the bushes and hedges, keen to avoid security patrols and the drones flying overhead. It would take him about an hour at his current rate.

He continued, until he found himself at a clearing, a fountain park of sorts. And it had lions, lions.
"Now I've seen everything." He chuckled to himself.
He gave them a wide berth but found himself caught between a dog patrol at the base of the small hill adorning the fountain, close to a road.

Nightwing crept down the hill, drawing his Eskrima sticks and activating them, they crackled angrily. He threw one at the dog and broke into a sprint toward it's handler, sliding around him and bashing him in the knee with the stick, before whipping up and grabbing him in a chokehold, lowering him to the ground softly and picking up his other Eskrima stick.

He looked around, seeing a camera trained right on him and witnessing the entire ambush. He threw a Wing ding, that shattered the lens and he started running toward the house, traversing through the bushes away from the road. Every guard and his mother would be here in god knows how long, the closer he was to the house when that happened the better.

Tamrida wrote:

Bycrest wrote:Echo walked towards the doctor casually as to not raise any suspicion, "I'm here to pick you up for your scheduled appointment sir. Please, you wouldn't want to keep Mr. Nygma waiting."

Dr. Byron Meredith/Merrymaker
After being relayed a message by the woman with the short cut black hair, Dr. Meredith excused himself from the bar, flipping his last one hundred dollar chip towards the bartender as a tip, with the other patrons there being too drunk or too content with the doctor's generosity to even question what was going on. Maneuvering his way out of the Iceberg lounge, he entered into the back seat of the car as the woman entered into the driver's seat and took off from the lounge. A few minutes passed and when they were a few blocks away from the Iceberg Lounge, Dr. Meredith decided to start some small talk.

"So who do I have the pleasure of meeting today and where is she taking me for this meeting?"

Echo

Echo looked into the rearview mirror as she drove to Riddler's water tower base to look at the man in the backseat. She had no problems with the man but she also would have enjoyed finishing the drive in silence, but apparently he had other plans. Echo took the opportunity to play with the doctor a little instead of giving him a straight answer.

"I speak without a mouth and hear with no ears. I have nobody but come alive with wind. What am I? The answer to that riddle is the name you may address me by. As for where we're going, you'll see it when we get there."

Echo put her attention back on the road and continued driving, hoping that riddle would keep her guest silent in thought until they arrived at Riddler's hideout.

Bycrest wrote:Echo

Echo looked into the rearview mirror as she drove to Riddler's water tower base to look at the man in the backseat. She had no problems with the man but she also would have enjoyed finishing the drive in silence, but apparently he had other plans. Echo took the opportunity to play with the doctor a little instead of giving him a straight answer.

"I speak without a mouth and hear with no ears. I have nobody but come alive with wind. What am I? The answer to that riddle is the name you may address me by. As for where we're going, you'll see it when we get there."

Echo put her attention back on the road and continued driving, hoping that riddle would keep her guest silent in thought until they arrived at Riddler's hideout.

Dr. Byron Meredith/Merrymaker
He was taken aback by the snappyness in which he was shut down from his small talk, and with a Riddle nonetheless, making him believe that this was either a test for the Riddler or that she didn't want to talk to him. Thinking about it for a minute, he decided to answer the riddle, if not to pass some sort of test, then at least to humor her. However, the riddle was pretty straight forward and pretty simple to figure out though. "Nice to meet you Echo." said Dr. Meredith with a smirk, only a minute after she finished talking. "I sense that you would prefer to drive in silence for now, so I will comply with that for the remainder of our trip." Some time passed, with Dr. Meredith not saying anything more and eventually the car pulled up to the base of a water tower. "Interesting. I take it that this is where the meeting will take place?" Dr. Meredith asked Echo.

Gotham Harbor
10:34pm, Friday- October 17th

The Nanda Dawn quietly entered the mouth of the East River on its way to the Port of Gotham. The freighter had been caught in a bad Nor’easter but had managed to plow through the choppy seas with minimal delay. Which was good because the cargo it carried required delivery before the setting of the sun the next day. No, not the pallets of medical equipment packed in the hull, slated for delivery to a Gotham biotech company. This cargo was special, not on the original manifest. Nor were the crates of assault rifles. They had been loaded onto the freighter when it had been hijacked off the Java Sea.

The new masters of the vessel had taken control three weeks earlier, locking the crew below decks. But, unlike other pirates, they were neither interested in ransom nor selling their plunder on the black market. They had needed a ship, one that had as its final destination Gotham City. For a far more sinister purpose than mere maritime piracy.

The cold, October rain fell in sheets on the deck, whipped by the salty Atlantic gale. Even the most seasoned sailor would be chilled to the bone but the hulking form standing watch on deck neither noticed nor cared.

Ubu only cared about serving his master, the great Ra’s al Ghul. And the service he was performing this night was safeguarding and delivering the cherrywood case tucked in an inner pocket of his robes. The rifles would be distributed to the degenerates and the craven of this city. To sow chaos and further the goals of the League.

But the case had special import. The case was why fifty Shadow ninjas lurked on the decks and within the bowels of this ship. The case was the reason why Ubu was here. The faithful bodyguard had no idea what the case held. Nor did it matter. Neither curiosity nor greed tempted Ra’s most trusted servant which was the reason he was chosen for this mission.

There. The bright beam of a high-powered flashlight pierced the drenching rain. The signal from their agents on the pier. Over two dozen of them. They had overpowered and tied up the dockhands, locked them in a warehouse. The captive workers would serve as hostages if any heroes were foolhardy enough to show. As for the police and harbor security, some fool of a local crime lord had paid them off. Yes, the League was well aware of the machinations of these so-called supervillains, another reason for the shadow warriors. In all his wisdom, Ra’s al Ghul had seen to it that nothing would interfere with their plans and Ubu and the ninjas were the instruments to ensure that.

Tamrida wrote:

Bycrest wrote:Echo

Echo looked into the rearview mirror as she drove to Riddler's water tower base to look at the man in the backseat. She had no problems with the man but she also would have enjoyed finishing the drive in silence, but apparently he had other plans. Echo took the opportunity to play with the doctor a little instead of giving him a straight answer.

"I speak without a mouth and hear with no ears. I have nobody but come alive with wind. What am I? The answer to that riddle is the name you may address me by. As for where we're going, you'll see it when we get there."

Echo put her attention back on the road and continued driving, hoping that riddle would keep her guest silent in thought until they arrived at Riddler's hideout.

Dr. Byron Meredith/Merrymaker
He was taken aback by the snappyness in which he was shut down from his small talk, and with a Riddle nonetheless, making him believe that this was either a test for the Riddler or that she didn't want to talk to him. Thinking about it for a minute, he decided to answer the riddle, if not to pass some sort of test, then at least to humor her. However, the riddle was pretty straight forward and pretty simple to figure out though. "Nice to meet you Echo." said Dr. Meredith with a smirk, only a minute after she finished talking. "I sense that you would prefer to drive in silence for now, so I will comply with that for the remainder of our trip." Some time passed, with Dr. Meredith not saying anything more and eventually the car pulled up to the base of a water tower. "Interesting. I take it that this is where the meeting will take place?" Dr. Meredith asked Echo.

Echo appreciated that Meredith respected her want for silence, she wasn't one for small talk and it would have been awkward to constantly answer with short replies that were vague and short. She also didn't reply to his question when they arrived at the hideout, she simply got out of the car and hoped that Meredith figured out that it was indeed the right location and that he was to follow her. Echo lead Meredith into the water tower where they would find Riddler pouring over notes and schematics.

"Riddler, I've brought Dr. Meredith like you've asked." Echo said as she ushered Meredith inside.

"Good, now you can go join Query at the warehouse now, she should be almost done. Once you two are done there you can meet me at the docks with our surprise." Riddler responded, not looking up from his notes. Echo left without a word, leaving the two men in the water tower.

"Now, Dr. Meredith, as you can see I have spent my time studying the docks and devising the best possible plan for retrieving the box that Penguin wants. Since the box will be heavily guarded by the League of Assassins we'll have to very careful about our approach. Now, I've been working on some prototypical stealth tech that might work long enough to for us to slip in, grab the box, and get out without alerting anyone. If that fails I have a back up that's better left as a secret. Now, I know you're probably stunned by my brilliance, but try to muster up some words to praise my plan at least."

Damian Wayne

Whelp. There goes Drake, without telling me. Again. Damian moodily watched Tim Drake rev his bike up and leave from the comfort of a soft couch in Wayne Manor. Damian despised how Tim gave little attention to his crime fighting abilities. “You’re too young,” he always said, “I need to keep you safe. Blah blah blah.” He was 15 now. Damian wanted to find out where Tim was going, but he also was afraid of getting his superheroing privileges revoked. However, he wasn’t in the mood to remain curled up by the fire at Wayne Manor while the other Disciples were up and about.

Damian trudged down to the Batcave.

“Hey Computer,” he shouted up at the system, “Where is Tim Drake going?”

“Timothy Jackson Drake specifically instructed me not to report of his whereabouts to you, Damian Wayne.”

“Of course he did,” sighed Damian. He suited up nevertheless.

“Well, Computer. Give me something. Something. Something...interesting.”

”Sir, there’s detected activity at the docks of Gotham Harbor.”

“Nah, I’m not interested.”

“Authorities are still investigating the collapse of Wayne Enterprises’ new building, formerly Ace Chemicals. There’s some petty thievery and smuggling around that area.”

“Perfect. Good enough to get my hands dirty, but tame enough to not get me in trouble. Ace Chemicals — or rather a pile of rubble — here I come!”