"It was so cool! I was all like, hah!" Steph kicked, in her very elaborate means of storytelling. "Then the red head was all like 'Oh no, not my precious face, don't hit me again!' and she and her band of jerks ran away with their tails between their legs! And when they ran away, the mutants just gave up!"
"Sounds like quite the ordeal," Jenn said as Jake shook his head laughing at Steph's indulgence.
"Considering that's not at all how it went down," Mick scoffed.
"Then enlighten us, oh wise one," Steph snarked. "Started with who the harlot was!"
"Oh my gosh, why won't you just let it go?" Mick shook his head. "It was just a night! Well two, but still."
"You spent multiple nights with a woman?" Jenn gasped, matching Steph's energy.
"No! It wasn't like that-" Mick realized just how it sounded.
"Just steer into it, gross them out and give us all the dirty details," Alex said with a sly grin.
"You people make me want to drink," Mick shook his head walking to the fridge.
"Come on, we'll stop if you just tell us her name!" Steph begged.
"I don't know her name!" Mick fussed.
"I'm actually impressed. You really hooked up with a random girl," Alex said smugly.
"Wow," Jake gasped, slightly surprised.
"No!" Mick growled. "Will you guys just drop it? I didn't hook up or whatever. We had a moment on the roof, once in Gotham, once here. Her name's not important because I'm probably never going to see her again."
"We're teens, not stupid. We know what a moment means," Jake joined in.
"Really, now you?" Mick stared at Jake in disbelief. "What is happening right now?"
"Look at how worked up he's getting," Jenn teased. "You really like her, don't you?"
"No," Mick snapped.
"Oh my gosh, you're right, look at that. He's as red as an apple!" Steph piled on. "He only turns that color after we call him out for watching that Between the Lanes show."
"Seriously, drop it," Mick belted.
"She must be all kinds of hot to get you so worked up. At least give us some details," Alex held his hands in front of his chest in an exaggerated manner as Mick shook his head. He then moved them into a more realistic size when Mick simply closed his eyes, trying to ignore this third degree.
"I'll make a deal with you," Jenn said as Mick huffed. "Teach me how to work in the field, and I'll stop bothering you about it."
"No deal. Your mother would kill me," Mick scowled.
"She doesn't know I do screen work and hacking for you. I'm sure she'd hate to find that out too," Jenn said with an innocently sweet expression on her face.
"Are you really trying to blackmail me now?" His disapproving scowl didn't land on Jenn, but shot straight to Steph. "Stop corrupting my cousin."
"Stop bringing harlots into our home!" Steph fussed back.
"I didn't bring her here!" Mick bellowed.
"Then learn to wash your suit, cause it reeks of cheap perfume, and terrible choices," Steph added.
—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dick walked into the Batcave, Bruce was combing through the footage from the recent New York Riot. He'd been watching this footage for the last few days, something about it had him bothered. He almost seemed obsessed with it, but Dick couldn't exactly figure out why.
"Sight any Arkham escapees?" Dick asked, leaning on Bruce's chair.
"No," he said in a gruff tone.
"Trying to learn how to defeat all of the Meta's?"
"No," Bruce snapped again.
"Is that Mick and his squad?" Dick pointed at the screen, Bruce taking his focus to see one of the many squares showing the Recluse and his Outcast battling against several Meta's.
"Yes, it appears SHIELD was called in to quell things," Bruce admitted.
"Is that guy running around fighting people with a baseball bat?" Dick reached out and touched the screen causing it to enlarge. Bruce then groaned.
"Don't touch," he shot a glare up to Dick, who was transfixed on the poise of the man with the bat. The strange black O on his red leather jacket, and the black V with red eyes on his hood, and inverse to the emblem on his black shirt. Something about him had Dick's focus, but he couldn't figure out why.
"Sorry," Dick shook his head. "It's not every day you see a guy fighting with a bat. Ok, maybe it's every day I fight beside a bat, but you know what I mean." Bruce didn't seem nearly as amused as Dick's attempt at a joke as Dick himself was.
Barbara then joined them, pulling her mask and stretching. "How did you get back so fast?"
"I, uh," Dick stammered as if he were in trouble, then smiled. "There's doughnuts upstairs."
"Of course," she shook her head, turning her focus to Bruce. "Did you get a full count, or a rough estimate of what happened?"
"Some one hundred Meta's, mostly mutants from the little I've gotten from my SHIELD contacts, rioted across the city, led by a man calling himself Magneto. A few more criminals joined into the looting, which is what made the chaos look even worse. And then there was this," Bruce pulled up an image of the bat symbol on a building near the harbor with a red X spray painted over it to look like it was bloodied.
"So that's what you're looking for," Dick asked as Bruce nodded. "You think someone is trying to send you a message?"
"They clearly pointed it toward Gotham," Barbara noted, taking in the angle of the picture.
"Maybe someone there had a problem with you?" Dick suggested. "You do tend to make a lot of enemies out of Meta's."
"I only know one Meta who I've seen in the footage who would hold that kind of grudge," Bruce said solemnly.
"Bruce, he wouldn't," Barbara said as Bruce sighed.
"I would like to believe that as well," Bruce said standing up from his desk, reaching for his cowl. "But I don't take chances."
"Then let us go-" Dick started.
"Last time you went, you ended up in New Mexico," Bruce grunted. "This is personal."
———————————————————————————————
Mick and the kids stepped into their secret base, a hidden bunker within the basement of Hightower International, transformed into a makeshift nerve center housed with technology provided by SHIELD. The air was tense as they gathered for their fourth debriefing since the Riot in New York City. Each new piece of information felt like a weight pressing down on Mick, making him nauseous. The revelation of mutants experimenting on humans in a desperate bid for equality was chilling, a stark reminder of the lengths some would go to because of segregation. The thought of hundreds injured, with at least a dozen innocent lives lost in the chaos, was a gut-wrenching reality that gnawed at his conscience.
To add salt to the wound, the fallout from that day had only pushed the community further into the shadows. New York City's Mayor, Jonathan Milan, was grappling with a rising tide of dissent, desperately trying to advocate for peaceful coexistence. At the same time, the cries of frightened civilians echoed through the streets. The conflict was expanding, taking on a national dimension; it felt like no mutant or inhuman would no longer find sanctuary within the city's borders.
During the last debriefing, discussions had turned to the urgent need to relocate the inhabitants of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters without alerting the public. Professor Charles, however, remained resolute, confident that they could utilize their unique abilities to cloak the facility if the situation deteriorated. But even his steadfast optimism couldn't eliminate the dread creeping into Mick's thoughts — a palpable fear of what tomorrow might bring.
"At least on the positive note, everyone's vitals are healthy," Jemma said confidently. "The fractures are healing quite well. Although I must recommend you keep him out of the field for a few more weeks."
"Well, if you insist," Alex said with a goofy grin on his face. He'd always been infatuated with Jemma's accent, and quite possibly her looks as well. Even Mick had to admit, Jemma Simmons was a very pretty girl. Her light brown hair, the light curls, her accent, her eyes, and that smile. Sure, she was pretty, but she was very much out of bounds. She was the focus of Mick's teammate and friend, Leo Fitz. He'd been practically in love with her since they met in their first science class at the SHIELD Academy.
"I wish you guys were always here," Mick teased.
"If we weren't busy at the Academy you know we would be," Fitz said. "It's a wonder we're still brought out to the field at all really. Between classes at research, we hardly have time for anything."
"I thought you graduated with him," Jenn pointed at Mick, as she looked at Fitz and Jemma with intrigue.
"Before, with, and after him," Fitz stated as Mick rolled his eyes.
"We're Professors of the sort, while also being researchers," Jemma said as Jenn seemed quite impressed.
"And technicians," Fitz added. "A lot of the gear you use was designed by us."
"How did you end up with such cool friends?" Steph asked as she examined Fitz's holo tablet. "And how do I get one of these?"
"It's for Data Analytics," Jenn said, holding one up as Steph smiled mischievously.
"Uh, Mick, did you make sure you shut the door to the apartment?" Patten asked looking at a strange security alert on his phone.
"Yeah?" Mick looked slightly confused, then began to question his own actions as Pat showed him the alert. "Maybe not then. Thankfully we're the only ones with access. I'll deal with it, just cover for me with Coulson."
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mick stepped off the elevator, yet the door was shut. He looked around trying to see what could've set that alarm off. The Hightower building didn't have rats, the floor was restricted. He wondered if maybe Spencer stopped by or something, which prompted him to open the door. He was immediately met by the piercing glare of Batman. Somehow this hadn't occurred to Mick as a possibility, clenching his fists tightly as he closed the door as he stepped inside.
"To what do I owe this honor?" Mick asked, to which Batman pointed a small device at Mick's TV and a strange image of a bat spray painted on a wall with a messy red X over it appeared.
"Do you recognize this?" Bruce asked sharply.
"No," Mick looked at the picture, trying to figure out where that could be. "Is that somewhere here?"
"That appeared during the Riot, painted on the harbor facing Gotham as if it was directed at me in particular," Bruce explained as Mick looked at the picture, then down at the bat symbol Bruce wore on his chest. There was a slight resemblance, except this was a little more spikey on the top of the wings.
"And what does that have to do with me?" Mick asked cautiously.
"I'm just ruling you out," Bruce stated as Mick rolled his eyes.
"I might not agree with you, but I'm not about to draw anti Batman graffiti about it," Mick quipped as Bruce didn't seem to believe that at all. "Ok fine, not anywhere someone can ever see it."
"So you didn't happen across anyone who could've been from Arkham in the Riot?" Bruce's calm demeanor had Mick's mind unsure of how to react. Was he actually using Mick for help? Did this make Mick somewhat part of his team? Was this supposed to be some weird Batman way of trying to make things right between them?
"Not that I recall," Mick leaned against the wall. "I fought some looters, a couple different Meta's, but no one that I recognize outside of seeing Xavier's people."
"Nothing that would stand out as, out of the ordinary?" Bruce continued to pry.
Mick sighed, wondering why this was such a big deal for Bruce. People didn't like Recluse, despite the good he does, why would some anti-Batman graffiti matter this much? He tried hard to focus, then the door opened as Steph, Jake, Jenn, and Patten walked in.
"Sorry, you didn't come back, and the debrief is already over," Pat started as Mick turned to him in shock, then went to look back and saw the space where Batman had once been empty. "Were you watching TV?"
"No," Mick said, trying to wrap his head around what just happened.
"Then why'd you skip debrief?" Pat asked, seeing the concern on Mick's face.
"I think Batman was just here, and he's investigating the Riot," Mick whispered to Patten. "And apparently I was on his list of suspects, or allies, I'm not really sure at the moment."
The last time Mick did anything substantial with Bruce was quite a few years ago, back in 2012, not long after Jason Todd's murder at the hand of Joker. Batman and the whole Bat-family had been pushed to the brink. The Joker had broken out of Arkham and a man named Thomas Fields, the father of Stephanie and Alex, was on the Joker's list. Thinking that he'd escaped the Joker, Officer Fields fled to Eagle Crest. The Joker's Gang then followed him, kidnapping his children and wife. This caught both the attention of Recluse, due to it being in Eagle's Crest, and Batman due to Joker's involvement.
It was only thanks to that team up they were able to save the children, even though Bruce was deeply concerned Alex and Stephanie would be mentally unstable due to their high exposure to the Joker toxin that their mother had succumbed to. That was the one time Mick could think of that he and Bruce came close to getting along, but that was only due to circumstance.
"What was the new update from HQ?" Mick asked Pat.
"There's been another attack," Patten explained. "Agent Johnson's team was ambushed by that group called the Outlaws. We need to go now."
"The attack was in Bludhaven, similar to what we dealt with in New York. The teleporter, the web girl, the claw girl, and the guy in the red hood, but there was someone extra with them this time. Some red and black clad archer," Patten explained.
"So whoever this guy is, clearly has a formidable team to take down Daisy and the Secret Warriors," Mick stated as Patten nodded. "Anything else?"
"Nothing yet, the attack doesn't make any sense. We're going to have Jenn send the data over to FitzSimmons once we get a look at the crime scene," Pat said as Mick frowned.
The jet landed at the airport, when they were given clearance to park in the SHIELD hangar. "How do we want to splinter off? We all won't fit in one of these cars. Patten pointed at the two black sedans with the barely visible SHIELD logo on the side.
"I'm going to take Jenn and head to the crime scene before too much time passes, you guys check on Daisy and her team," Mick suggested.
"Sounds like a plan," Pat said with a nod.
"Whatever. Playing favorites because she's your cousin. I get it," Eclipse grunted. "Then I've got shotgun! You two can enjoy the other's company back there."
"Excuse me?" BlueJay and Hawk both scoffed.
"He wishes," Hawk added. "I'm completely out of his league."
"Why would you even think about that?" BlueJay asked, looking at Hawk in disbelief.
"Have fun," Jenn teased as she climbed into the car.
They arrived at the scene, Jenn pulling her red hood over her head while she followed Recluse out into the bitter cold city. Recluse led the way, using his SHIELD badge to bypass the police roped off area. Jenn then pulled out her holo-tablet, scanning the area. There was damage to the building walls as well as broken windows around the block, some blood on the ground, dented cars with smashed windows. It was clearly a brutal fight. Jenn held the tablet up at the nearby cameras that had a line of sight toward the fight, then tapped several things while Batman conducted his own research and Mick looked over the SHIELD findings. Jenn also took small swabs and brushed them over the blood spots before trying to scan it onto the tablet as well.
"Get anything good?" Mick asked, taking note of Jenn's concerned expression.
"These guys make our team look so uncoordinated," she showed the fight to Mick. The fight was one sided from the beginning. That girl who could teleport had Daisy's team on edge, then you add in the girl with claws, the girl with webs, and the guy in the red mask causing chaos by teleporting with that girl jumping around the battlefield, and it all made sense. That mixed with Daisy's nature to protect civilians, which was clearly used to this guy's advantage. The thing that didn't make sense, was why go after them?
"What are you doing here?" Mick asked as Batman pulled his grapple gun from his belt. "This is a SHIELD investigation! You don't get to come in and take over."
"I have a hunch, but I need to get up higher to prove it," Batman said, then pulled the trigger, clearly ignoring Mick's statement.
"Do we follow him?" Jenn asked as Mick looked at her and frowned. "Just don't drop me."
They reached the rooftop, and to Mick's surprise, Batman was standing in front of another spray painted anti-Batman symbol. Mick walked over looking at it, this time the symbol was different. The bat seemed to be trapped in webs along with the red sloppy X over the top of it. Without asking, Jenn scanned it, then the rest of the rooftop.
"That's a creepy looking sign huh? It's like it's his bat trapped in your webs," Jenn said as Batman looked at the symbol, then at Mick, then at Jenn.
"Do you have an image of the one from New York on that thing?" Batman asked.
"I doubt it," Jenn said. "It wasn't really evidence for us until now."
"I've got it," Mick pulled out his phone showing the image. It wasn't quite as detailed as this, but that was probably due to the way it was taken.
"Whoever is drawing this, knows about our connection," Batman said somberly.
"Ok, wait a second, what is this mysterious connection between you two?" Jenn asked. Mick looked at Batman, then back at Jenn.
"Send all of that to FitzSimmons, have them analyze what they can and see if we can ID any of them," Mick said deflecting the question. "Hopefully Pat's got some more intel from Daisy's team at the hospital."
Patten guided his team of heroes through the hospital using his SHIELD badge to grant them all clearance. The nurse escorted them through the protective wing of the hospital where they had doctors willing to work on and with Metas. Through the labyrinth of corridors, they finally reached Daisy Johnson's room. With a quick knock, Patten led them into her room.
Daisy's face was bruised, her left arm was in a cast, and she was hooked up to a few monitors. "Good evening Agent Johnson," Patten said as she looked at him and smiled.
"I'm guessing Coulson's busy then?" she asked as Pat nodded. "Did Arrow say anything about us botching the mission?"
"He didn't say anything about it," Pat said. "Coulson just told us you guys were attacked."
"Odd," Daisy stated.
"What was the mission?"
"Protect Roy Harper from the Meta threat Saiko," Daisy stated.
"So was this Saiko guy working with this other team?"
"I don't think so," Daisy rubbed her head. "I don't know if we ever saw Saiko. Harper's vehicle was attacked by the teleporter girl, then they all just appeared. The girl with webs, Ghost he called her, took down Yo-yo by using her powers against her. Claws went toe to toe with Lincoln, literally. He took a serious beating, especially since the teleporting girl kept jumping in and stopping him from being able to use his powers effectively. Then the ring leader, Red Hood they called him, just fought brutally. He used a baseball bat and a taser, weaving around with the teleporter. I couldn't stop them. I tried. Our powers were completely useless unless we wanted to level the block."
"It sounds horrible," Steph said.
"They certainly didn't fight like that with us," Jake reminisced.
"That guy in the red mask hits like a truck," Alex rubbed his side.
"I really thought he was going to kill us, but he just left us there beaten down," Daisy explained.
"So Roy was his target then?" Pat asked as Daisy sighed.
"Unless Roy is his bait for Saiko," Daisy grimaced.
"Let's hope that's not the case then," Pat said with a sigh. "Thanks for the debrief. Get better soon Daisy."
"Break that prick's leg for me, will you?" She scoffed.
"Oh trust me, it's on my to-do list," Alex snorted.
Meanwhile, back in Gotham, Nightwing patrolled the north side of the city with Robin at his side, while BatGirl handled the south end on her own. Outside of a few petty crimes, not much had been on the radar. A nice and quiet night, which was great since Batman was away. At least it was until an explosion went off in the distance, followed by the Bat Signal.
"I'll race you," Nightwing said as Tim pulled his mask back on and raised his brow.
"Seriously?" he asked as Nightwing smirked. "You're going down!" With that Tim jumped from the building, flipping mid air before firing his grapple guns in succession.
"Honestly I'm not sure if I should be proud or annoyed at that," Greyson shook his head, then leapt from the building himself, showing off his own acrobatic prowess.
Nightwing and Robin landed on the roof of the police station simultaneously, where Batgirl was already standing with Commissioner Gordon.
"Hah, I win," Nightwing said as he stuck his tongue out at Robin.
"Not even close," Robin said, rolling his eyes at Nightwing.
Both boys straightened up as the Commissioner cleared his throat. "What happened Commissioner?" Nightwing asked, in a much more dutiful tone as he walked over to Commissioner Gordon.
"Several strange attacks, no one can pin down the culprits. Every time we get close, they vanish into purple smoke. Sound like anyone you know?" Commissioner Gordon asked as Nightwing looked confused, then turned to Batgirl.
"Purple smoke sounds like Joker, maybe Riddler, but vanishing doesn't fit either one," Robin stated, as Nightwing and Batgirl looked at him.
"That's exactly what I was thinking," Batgirl stated.
"Do you think they could be trying to draw us out?" Nightwing asked as Batgirl looked down and frowned.
"That's my other concern. Either us, or Batman," she stated.
"Where is Batman this evening?" Commissioner Gordon asked.
"Business," both Nightwing and Batgirl answered together.
"What a good time to be away," the Commissioner grunted as he turned back to the door leading into the station.
"We'll handle it," Nightwing said firmly. "If it's a Batman they want, maybe we just give them one."
"He's not going to like that," Robin said, shaking his head. "It's too risky."
"Our whole job is a risk," Nightwing said firmly. "You in, or out?" He looked to Batgirl, who reluctantly answered by tapping her ear piece.
"Alfred, we need the Batmobile and a Batman suit in it," she looked at Nightwing and Robin with concern. "We call him if this gets too deep, understand?"
"Oh yeah!" Nightwing pumped his fist in excitement.
The Batmobile skidded to a stop, Batgirl, Robin, and Nightwing, now disguised as Batman climbed out and began looking around the wreckage of the bank. The guards had all been knocked out, but the vault appeared untouched. Who would break into a bank just to fight the guards and leave? The trio looked around cautiously, just in case the attackers still lurked nearby.
Batgirl made her way to the security computer, checking over the footage, and that's when she watched the wreck. The wall collapsed, several people filed out of the truck, two men in red gear, one using what looked like a bow, the other a bat. Three girls, two in black, one in white and black. Those three seemed to be metas. The girl in white shot webs from her wrists, one of the girls in black had strange claws on the top of her hands, it was the third girl that filled in the gaps. She fought with weapons made of purple smoke, and teleported around using the same. She made her way back to see Nightwing and Robin already examining the injured guards and the webbing.
"Batman, Batgirl, and what's this? A new Robin?" a gruff voice hissed from behind. "You'd think you'd learn your lesson about recruiting children into your petty little war, Old Man."
Purple mist appeared before Batgirl, then a fierce kick. Barbara managed to block it, and the girl teleported again. Both Barbara and Dick jumped to protect Tim, as a man wearing a red mask and a red hood walked through the hole in the wall, the bat in his hand catching their attention. Web's sprayed down at them, Nightwing using Batman's repellent cape to protect them to the best of his ability. He uncovered his team, only to be slammed hard with the end of the bat. He crashed to the ground, Barbara landed beside him.
Tim then began fighting with his staff, the man with the bat seeming to toy with him, blocking and parrying every swing as if he knew the boy's moves before he made them. Dick and Barbara jumped back into the fray, only to be met by the others in the group. Barbara took on the girl with webs, who seemed to move like a ballerina. She stayed close to her, with a relentless attacking pattern, not giving the girl a chance to use her webs. Nightwing ended up facing the teleporter. She used that purple mist to conjure two blade-like weapons. Thankfully Nightwing had his escrima on his belt, pulling them to deflect the girl's attacks.
The man in the hood took note of the weapons in Nightwing's hand, then blocked Robin's last attack with his right arm, then swept his feet out from under him. "You're not the real Batman." The man hissed.
"We're as good as you're going to get!" Nightwing overpowered the girl, then charged at the man in the red gear.
"Not today you don't," a snarky male voice scoffed, followed by a net wrapping around Nightwing before he reached the man in the red. Another net slammed into Barbara, dropping her to the ground as a man wearing black and red holding a bow stepped forward.
"Nightshade, grab the kid. We'll leave these two as a message for the REAL Batman," the man in the red hood scoffed.
"No!" Dick screamed out. "Take me! Leave the kid alone!"
"It's much more fun this way," the man said as Tim vanished into purple smoke. "Outlaws, we're done here." His dark laugh haunted them as his team left them there on the ground.