Injustice: The Path to Hell

Birds of Prey

Chapter LX - Ragtag Team

Sunday 4th July 2010, 19:30.
Washington D.C,
Cadmus Research Facility.

Rushing down the corridor at speed, Robin took a sharp left as the rest of their impromptu team followed his lead, his right arm raised and a holographic map displaying the schematic of the Cadmus building. Despite being the slowest of the ragtag team, Robin was leading from the front as he was the only one with this information to guide them to safety.

Things had been going so well at the beginning, after all, today was the day.

It was meant to be the biggest day of his life as a hero, the moment he got see the backstage areas of the Justice League headquarters, the Hall of Justice. Not only that, but he wouldn't be alone, his friends and fellow heroes, Kid Flash, Aqualad and Speedy by his side. The four of them about to see the truth of the Justice League, to be that one step closer to being a member of the League itself.

Except that wasn't the case.

Bruce had lied to him.

As it turned out, the Hall of Justice was nothing more than a front, a public display, a way to travel to the real Justice League headquarters.

A space station in Earth's upper atmosphere, the Watchtower.

Hell, he only learned of this because of Speedy and it made him just as angry as Green Arrow's former apprentice that he almost quit as well. Batman was his mentor much like Aquaman was Aqualad's and yet they lied to them.

Hadn't they proven themselves time and time again?

Why did they still feel the need to lie to them?

'I can almost understand where Esau comes from now.' That fact only made Robin feel worse, the fact that he understood why Esau disliked heroes like them so much. He had trusted his mentor, in this idea of what today was meant to symbolise and in the end, he had been lied to and manipulated by a person he had trusted most. 'Did Barbara know?' That had been the biggest question on his mind this entire time as well, after all, she had seemed underwhelmed with what she had seen when it had been her time.

Robin had never understood, but now he did.

But the question he wanted to know, was did she know about the Watchtower and was told to keep quiet?

Or, just like him, did she not know the truth?

The thing that made this all worse, was in some way, he was starting to understand that feeling of betrayal and dislike towards heroes Esau had. If they could lie about this if his mentor could lie to him, what else were they lying about? Esau had seemed to see through that, living amongst the East End of Gotham, surrounded by crime and with no hero to be there to save him, he probably saw through them better than most could.

Perhaps, as Esau had said, they were hypocrites.

Shaking his head, Robin rid himself of these thoughts for now and instead looked at the three people behind them. There was Kid Flash who had an irritated frown on his face, no doubt due to having to slow his speed down to match Robin's seen as though he had the map. For a guy who could run over a hundred miles per hour like a gentle Sunday jog, it was no wonder he was irritated.

The other two behind him were also different.

Aqualad, the oldest and maturest of them all was calm and collected, as he always was, a light frown gracing his face as he no doubt went over the day's events just as he was. But never once letting himself get distracted, constantly keeping himself alert and prepared to react at a moment's notice, as expected of arguably the most experienced member amongst them.

The final member of their impromptu team was the clone of Superman, the Man of Steel himself, still clan in the all-white body suit that helped absorb solar radiation. However, the most prominent feature was the angry scowl on his face as he glared at practically everything around him, Robin admittedly extremely wary of his angry the clone was. He certainly had good reason to be so angry, more so than anyone here, but it didn't make Robin feel better at having what was in effect, a ticking time bomb amongst their midst.

Though the clone certainly didn't have all the powers of Superman, nor were they as powerful in comparison to the Man of Steel, he was still the physically strongest among them. He was also extremely durable, making up for his distinct lack of skill, enough to make Robin warier of him that the price army of genetically engineered weapons Cadmus had created.

They at least, were simple and easy to beat, equivalent to the Undead Talons in some ways.

The clone of Superman on the other hand had shown the ability to defeat them all.

Though, from the way everyone was watching him carefully, Robin doubted a second fight would end with the same result. He had caught them off-guard and, the idea he was the clone of Superman made a distinct feeling of fear that Robin had not felt in a long time, fill his being and cloud his thoughts, something he imagined had happened to both Kid Flash and Aqualad also. The knowledge he was not as powerful as Superman certainly made Robin feel more at ease and comfortable with being able to subdue him in the future, he would like to avoid that scenario as best as he could.

As they turned another corner, Robin skidded to a halt as he took in the sight before him. "Batgirl?" He questioned, unsure if he was seeing things correctly because if so, why was Barbara fighting alongside Killer Frost and if he was not mistaken, Ravager of all people?

However, while Aqualad also took his time to analyse the situation, the ever-impatient Kid Flash zoomed into the fray, not even taking into account all the variables. All he saw was the Batgirl – who he thought was hot – fighting against the Genomorphs with Killer Frost and an unknown there as well. The clone was just as impatient and with a roar, leapt forwards at great speed and slammed into one of the mammoth-like creatures, a G-Troll, slamming a bone-breaking punch that buried into the ground with enough force to shake the building.

Kid Flash took out a few of the smaller ones with razor-sharp claws, the G-Eleves before shoulder-barging Killer Frost away. "Don't worry, babe." He said charmingly to Batgirl as he flashed her a smile. "I got this." Then he rushed off, knocking away a few more G-Elves while closing in on Killer Frost once more.

"Wait!" Batgirl exclaimed, but it was already too late as he charged after Frost again, but this time she was ready and with a scowl on her face, slammed both hands into the ground covering it in a thick layer of ice that caused Kid Flash to slip and slide across it. "They're here to help!"

"Batgirl, what's going on?" Robin asked as he came to a stop beside her, both crouched on the ground, while Aqualad rushed past, joining Ravager in her clash with a large group of G-Elves as the clone dealt with the G-Trolls. The Water-Bracers formed into two swords that he used to cut through the G-Elves, his movements were concise and measured nothing flashy or overt, just simple and precise movements. A stark difference from the savage and brutal displayed by Ravager who seemed to revel in spraying the walls of the corridor with as much blood as possible.

Earlier this day, both Aquaman and Aqualad had defeated Killer Frost and she was meant to be transported to Belle Reve. The fact she was here meant someone had attacked the convoy and broke her out, Robin doubting Batgirl was the reason behind that. This meant Ravager was the reason for this second, unlikely team, but then the question was why did Batgirl agree to work alongside them.

As the group of Genomorphs were dealt with, the group, scattered around the corridor regarded each other with wariness, Kid Flash scrambling to his feet and ready to attack Killer Frost once more. "KF, I believe we should allow Batgirl to explain the situation." Aqualad intervened calmly, the speedster looking ready to refuse before sighing irritably and nodding his head.

"Fine." Crossing his arms over his chest, Kid Flash moved to stand beside the clone who had also moved to stand beside Aqualad. Ravager and Killer Frost also came to stand in the group, standing little ways away, each of them ignoring the glower sent their way by the speedster.

Batgirl looked between them all hesitantly, before turning to Robin. "Esau's here." The young hero's eyes widened in shock as he looked at his friend imploringly. "For about eight months, they've been experimenting on him. Ravager told me."

"Wait, how did she know?" He asked quickly, but the realisation came to him as Batgirl awkwardly looked away. "Shit, he's Marauder, isn't he?"

Kid Flash choose this moment to intervene as he rapidly shook his hands. "Hold up a minute, you're saying that you're coming here to rescue Marauder? The guy that kicked both your arses? Why?" He asked incredulously before spinning to face Ravager and Killer Frost. "And why the hell do you care?"

"KF; now isn't the time." Robin replied as he looked at Batgirl understandingly.

There were very few things Robin was certain about at this point in time and one of them was the way Barbara felt about Esau. He had watched her tear herself apart with worry trying to find him when she found his apartment torn apart, spending every waking minute trying to find where Esau had disappeared to. Robin knew that despite everything that had happened between Esau and Barbara, all the pain, anger and guilt, she still cared for him deeply.

If what she was saying was true and Esau had been experimented on for eight months, that explained why she was here working with Killer Frost and Ravager. "Alright, let's go get him out."

The smile he got told him he had made the right decision.

Though he may not like Esau, he certainly didn't hate him, nor really dislike him.

Their shared fight against the Undead Talons and the Talon himself had made Robin start to realise that, despite everything, Esau did believe he was fighting for something bigger than himself. He had half expected Esau to turn on him, or use him as a living shield, but he hadn't, Esau risking his life on a few occasions to protect his back. Though Robin couldn't agree with the way Esau was going about things, those acts proved that Esau was a guy willing to put his life on the line to save someone even if he didn't particularly like them.

Plus, no one deserved to be experimented on by these guys at Cadmus, let alone for eight months.

God knows what they had done to him, or whether he'd be the same again afterwards.

"Do you know where he is?" Aqualad asked calmly.

Ravager shook her head when Killer Frost looked at her questioningly. "No, my father didn't know and I never found out what floor he was on. I tried but I kept on running into these...things," Ravager indicated to the dead Genomorphs. "Which was why I decided to get help." She finished her statement off by indicating to Frost and Batgirl with a wave of her hand.

However, by this point Kid Flash had enough of being ignored. "Guys, come on! You can't be seriously willing to trust those two, her especially." He pointed an accusing figure at Killer Frost who glared at him heatedly.

"Get that finger out of my face before I freeze it off." She threatened and Kid Flash, yelped in fright, quickly drawing his finger back and smiling sheepishly. That was until he realised exactly who had said it and then just blushed in embarrassment, shooting her a glare out of the corner of his eye.

While Kid Flash turned to then argue with Ravager. Killer Frost just irritably tapped her foot on the ground and the rest watched, Aqualad trying to act as a mediator, the clone was elsewhere, not in body but in mind. 'Are you there?' He called out mentally, trying to reach out to the same voice from before.

"I am, brother."

"Do you know of anyone named Esau? He came here about eight months ago." He asked of the voice in his head and there was silence for a few moments.

It got to the point where he thought he would get no answer, but the voice returned. "There was one, a young boy. He is on floor thirty-four."

"Can you tell me what he looked like?"

"Blonde hair and blue eyes were his most defining features. I only caught a glimpse, they were very curious about him, almost obsessively so." The voice explained and the clone nodded his head before turning to face the rag-tag group before him.

"Does he have blonde hair and blue eyes?" The clone asked and while Kid Flash and Ravager continued to squabble, the rest turned to him. "Esau, does he have blonde hair and blue eyes?"

It was Barbara who answer. "Y-yes, have you seen him?"

"He's on floor thirty-four." He answer and Barbra smiled happily, relieved that she now knew where Esau was.

Giving the clone a nod, Aqualad moved forwards and placed one hand on Kid Flash's shoulder. "That's enough." The speedster looked ready to argue, but upon seeing the look he was given by both Aqualad and the others, he relented with a sigh. "Let's go."

So, another chapter is done and I hope you all enjoyed it. Anyway, if you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know.