Beware the Court of Owls that watches all the time, ruling Gotham from a shadowed perch, behind granite and lime. They watch at your hearth, they watch you in your bed, speak not a whispered word of them or they'll send the Talon for your head
At the sound of something crashing into a wall a few of the Talon’s turned their attention away from the Batgirl and back to the center pit. The strongest of their group was draped like a rag doll across the fountains edge and now standing infront of their trophy was Nightwing and Damian Wayne.
But they weren’t alone, a girl entered from the other side of the room. One of their more recent catches and from the sounds of it she intended to help the other heroes. This would not be allowed.
The ten Talons that had turned to look jumped down into the ring as the girl moved forwards towards Nightwing. They slowly crept in, crouched low and blades drawn, waiting for the perfect time to leap upon their prey.
They would avenge their fallen brother.
He recognized her, finally. “Boy, am I glad to see you,” she let out the breath she’d been holding since Nightwing readied to attack her. She moved towards him, and offered him the sword and dagger she’d recovered. “Here…I took these off of Talon back there in the corridor. I’ve got her night-vision goggles too!” she said enthusiastically, ignoring his question. There would be time for explanations about why the Court grabbed her, later, when they were safe. “We can use them find our way ou-..”
The high-spirited heroine was cut off by the sudden appearance of almost a dozen blonde-haired men and women jumping down from the darkness above. “Guess she has friends…” Bette quipped as she spun around at Nightwing’s expression and the noise behind her.
She counted ten of them, all armed, against herself, Nightwing and Damian, and the boys were already in rough shape. Batman…she wasn’t even sure he’d make it out alive if they didn’t hurry, much less be able to help with this fight. She prepared herself to take down the lion’s share of these Talons; Nightwing had nearly atacked her, and evidently wasn’t thinking clearly after his long imprisonment. She could neither wait for nor rely on his leadership to get them through this.
With a determination to protect the lives of her new-found cousin, his teen-aged son, and a man she once loved enough to be the inspiration for all her training and study, Flamebird yanked her coif and goggles back into place and leaped up onto the front edge of the fountain, keeping the Bat-boys behind her. “Hey, UP HERE, BIRD-BRAINS!” she shouted as she brought her hand to the edge of her goggles. A wicked grin parted her lips as most of their faces focussed on hers.“Made ya look…”
The area in front of her was hit by a blinding light for a full second. Most of the Talons tried to shield their eyes, but it was too late, the damage had been done. Now height and vision-advantaged, Bette hammered into their front lines with as much speed as she could manage; the spots before their eyes wouldn’t last long.
She managed to kick the two swords closest to her out of their wielders’ hands and sent them clattering across the floor, knocking one out cold with a well-placed strike to the nose with the heel of her hand.
As that one crumpled, a non-blinded opponent lunged at her, his sword aimed for her throat. Bette grabbed his arm as she dodged, the blade missing its mark by inches, and threw her attacker head-first into the fountain’s owl statue.
Flamebird had left herself open for that moment, turned away from her attackers, and felt a stab of pain on her left arm as a dagger sliced deeply into her skin. Continuing the direction of her turn, she used her own momentum to blindly swing a low roundhouse kick into the knife-wielder’s side. In a move she learned from Kate, she snatched his wrist in both hands and brought it down on her knee. The instant the knife flew from his grip, the audible snap told Bette that he wouldn’t be picking it back up anytime soon. The elbow that connected solidly with his head a moment later ensured he wouldn’t be picking himself back up soon, either.
Three down, seven to go.
The remaining Talons were spreading out to either side of the fountain, some still trying to clear their vision, others seemingly unaffected by the light-blast; two were still in her range before her, and closing in, poised with their swords. As she resumed her fight-ready stance, Bette tried to ignore her blood-dripping arm and prayed she had evened the odds enough for Robin and Nightwing to manage in their injured states.
How had three of their victims managed to bring weapons into the Court. First the Batgirl who had been recently brought in. This Flamebird and her blinding glasses and Damian Wayne with his knives.
Their Talons had been sloppy.
“Kill them all!” the Court screeched from the safety of their hideaway.
Their Talons heard them. Their fighting style becoming more ferocious and wild. Even the one who had held off in the back for awhile jumped into the fray slashing at the blonde he had brought to them.
They didn’t care about adding their faces to the wall anymore, they just wanted them dead. And once they were they could rot down in their labyrinth for the rest of time.
When Dick had arrived in the fountain room the first thing he had seen was his the Batman on the ground, a sword sticking out of his back and at first he couldn’t move. The shock of seeing something as ordinary as a sword taking down his father was unfathomable, with all of Batman’s crazy villains and missions in space it was this simple object that could end his life.
The second thing he noticed was Damian lying underneath Talon and being mercilessly beaten. It was this that was enough to snap him out of it and move into action. Running over to his brother’s aid he shouted once to get the assassin’s attention. Then reaching down he grabbed the man by the back of his costume and with all the strength he could muster pulled him off Damian and threw him against the edge of the nearby fountain.
“Hey kiddo, here’s to hoping you’re not another hallucination. I feel like I’m going to end up needing your help.”
He told Damian, reaching down to grab his hand and pull him to his feet. He certainly felt real, but then again so had his last hallucination. Moving to step infront of Bruce he dropped into a defensive stance. He was tired, mind racing and not nearly as up to strength as he needed to be but he’d be damned if he let another one of those assassins come anywhere near the man.
A female Talon ran into the room and he readied to attack her should she getting any closer. But she raised her hands in a warning gesture and cried out to him.
“Flamebird?” he asked.
The image before him shifting between the female Talon and a blonde haired girl clad in red and gold. He shook his head trying to clear the fog of a crazed mind. When he looked again it was Bette standing across from him and he lowered his defenses just a little.
“Bette?” he asked again using her real name now. “What are you doing here?”
At the sound of something crashing into a wall a few of the Talon’s turned their attention away from the Batgirl and back to the center pit. The strongest of their group was draped like a rag doll across the fountains edge and now standing infront of their trophy was Nightwing and Damian Wayne.
But they weren’t alone, a girl entered from the other side of the room. One of their more recent catches and from the sounds of it she intended to help the other heroes. This would not be allowed.
The ten Talons that had turned to look jumped down into the ring as the girl moved forwards towards Nightwing. They slowly crept in, crouched low and blades drawn, waiting for the perfect time to leap upon their prey.
They would avenge their fallen brother.
(Source: thecourtofowls)
Stephanie couldn’t help but lolling her head to see what was going on below. The sight of Bruce being stabbed made her blood run color and tears burn her eyes. Twitching slightly as the talon with her utility belt looked down below she had to act when the child, no older then a preschooler asked them to hurt the man whom was the closest thing she had to a father.
Rolling over slowly she waited as the court was distracted by the display below before rolling to her feet, her hand snapping out to grab her utility belt and tossing it into the pit below, aiming it at Damian. “Damian, catch.” She yelled, sure the boy would be able to figure out what to do with the assortment of weapons, supplies, and gadgets.
Continuing her movement she pulled the zipper at the front of her suit to fish out the extra amount of batarangs and smoke bombs she had hidden behind the hard armor front. Jumping back and to the side she pulled the zipper up just as quickly and rolled backwards for more range before throwing three of the freeze batarangs before all hell broke loose around her.
The Court let out a collective gasp at the sight of their mighty Talon being tackled to the ground by this teenager.
Talon himself was surprised by the sudden weight that was throwing him to the ground. Even more surprised by the bruising punch that landed on his cheek causing his head to slam into the ground even harder than it would have from the fall alone.
The boy was rabid. Punch after punch rained down on him and it was all he could do to manage to bring his arms to block some of the blows. There was a brief calm in the waters. Talon saw the boy reach behind him to pull a blade out from underneath his clothes. He used his opportunity to reach up and grasp at Damian’s wrist twisting it until he can hear the blade clatter to the ground. Then pulling him down close puts his foot on the outside of Damian’s leg and turns to that side, rolling them over and causing them to reverse positions. Sitting back up he delivers a harsh blow to his cheek in return for his own. The jumping backwards and onto his feet he waits for the boy to stand.
From above the Court can see another man enter the fountain room frozen in shock and staring at the dying Batman. The elder raises her hand and more Talon gather around her waiting on her command.
One of the Talon’s who had taken the Batgirl’s belt stood further to the back. Conflicted.
There was a tug and he could feel the utility belt slip out of his grasp. He did not try to stop it either. He watched as it soared across the heads of his Court and into the pit below.
This had caught all of their attention and the Talon’s turned on the girl while the Court fled for fear of being caught up in the action.
There was one Talon who did not lunge forward, the one who had been once holding the belt. No he let his brothers and sisters rush past him falling to the back unnoticed and helping neither party.
But the Talons who had rushed forward were brutal, weapons drawn they slashed at the girl from all sides.
(Source: thecourtofowls)
As she had commanded one of her Talons secured the utility belt of the young girl that lay before her. Satisfied with his work she turned her attention back to the center of the labyrinth, pointing her body finger downwards.
“We have a show to watch.” she informed her Court.
Down below where they watched the Batman and Damian Wayne the youngest son hobbled into the fountain room. Both bruised, battered and with the wild bloodshot eyes of men who had seen too much. The Court could only imagine what horrors they had witnessed, they laughed to themselves.
The Batman screamed out for someone and looked like he was about to take off but the young teen stopped him. Forced him to stay still while he insisted that he search for the person instead. He turned from him began to walk away.
It was then that one of their assassins began to make his move. A Talon crept into the brightly lit room and then with a quick burst of speed he was upon his prey. His hand reaching out to grasp the Batman’s, to hold him in place while his shining blade was plunged into his back. He leaned forward to whisper in his ear.
“Batman, the Court of Owls has sentenced you to die. But you should die knowing that your body and those of your comrades will not be returned to the surface, because the Court has decided to keep your bones down here to be displayed in the Labyrinth. Forever a monument to our valiant enemies. Only three times through history has the Court honored something this way.”
He slipped his blade back out of the Batman’s back with ease. Blood coated every inch. The Batman crumpled in on himself and Talon released his hand letting him fall to the ground.
He ignored Damian Wayne’s scream and looked up to his Court, peering down at him from the observatory balcony high above.
“My Court, my Court he is prepared! How do you wish for him to die?”
The members of the Court went wild with suggestions.
“Break his back!”
“No bleed him!”
“Take his feet!”
“Pull his spine!”
The elder was silent an amused smile on her lips. The young teen had called the Batman father.
So Bruce Wayne is the Batman
Finally she raised a hand to silence her Court. “Let the youngest decide the fate of Mister Wayne.” Looking over to a young girl in a pink dress she motioned her to come closer. “Go ahead dear what you want to see?”
The young girl stared down at the broken man, her doll tucked tightly to her chest. “Hurt him more.”
“My pleasure my lady!” Talon cried and brought his boot into the Batman’s stomach over and over again.
With that and the War Arc going on at the same time, most have other engagements to play. Since it doesn’t seem we’ll be able to get this played out soon, we’re going to play it as a flashback. As a result, all members of our Batfamily are free and recovering in various ways.
I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
