Ch 9

(3rd Person POV)

Batman and Robin were currently trying to escape the enemy hideout when suddenly Batman skid to a stop glancing upwards. "Listen." He spoke to his son. The said boy followed his father's gaze and noticed the many Bat like creatures hanging above them. "Man-Bats." Bruce muttered in confirmation as the two prepared themselves for a fight. The creatures quickly swooped down and piled onto Batman and Robin. Not long after Bruce quickly knocked the swarm off of him and Damian managed to kick his captor off of him and they both fought the bats. The Bat like creatures only multiplied as they once again tried to surround the duo. Thinking fast Bruce grabbed Damian and shot his grappling gun upwards towards the metal structure.

The creatures then began flying towards them and Batman swiftly kicked one of the enemies. Damian, on the other hand, smirked in excitement as he jumped onto one of the Bats and shoved his sword into it's back. The young boy then swung towards the score board and tricked the next creature into crashing headfirst into the screen. Batman soon followed, kicking another Bat towards the board. Batman noticed the ever growing numbers and threw a batarang above them. "Ok. Now what?" Damian questioned in irritation as he eyed his father from behind his sword.

Batman grappled away without a word and Robin followed suit. Soon after with the Bat creatures following, Batman detonates the batarang and the Bats collapse. Just as the explosion sounded Batman and Robin landed safely above the slightly destroyed building. Once the smoke clears Batman stood to his feet only to find his son chasing Langstrom below. Bruce sighed in annoyance, "Stupid kid."

Down below Langstrom, in am effort to escape, slips and falls onto the deck. Right as the doctor turns his head a sword is pointed at his head with Damian smirking. "Robin!" Batman shouts in anger. Robin frowns as he lowers his sword, "Lucky." He mutters in annoyance. Batman soon approaches with a frown etched on his face. Although he is happy to have captured Langstrom successfully, Jade was nowhere to be seen. Damian eyed his father already knowing that they both were wondering the same thing.

Later on Batman and Robin brought Langstrom to the Batcave for interrogation. Once the bag had been removed from his head, the doctor began panicking. "W-Where am I?!" He asked in obvious fear. Batman glared at the man and immediately commanded the doctor to talk. Noticing the seriousness in Batman's voice Langstrom answered, "Ra's wanted me to splice animal DNA to human using advanced mutations. He would provide volunteers for me to work on. I'm assuming the girl that was with you is going to be his next victim." The room remained tense. "So you saw them take Jade and you ran like a coward." Damian scoffed in slight anger. With a stern look Bruce continued the conversation, "Obviously you took him up on it." Langstrom took this as a sign to continue. "I knew this would mean prison if anyone discovered I was up to my old experiments. But how do you say no to Ra's al Ghul?"

"He wanted you to make the ultimate warriors." Nightwing concluded. "Yes. Ra's called it Operation: Air Strike. No Military could withstand an army of super powered ninjas using sonar in the dead of night." Langstrom informed the group of heroes. "But Deathstroke took over." Nightwing deduced after the doctor finished. "The formula was my ace in the hole. I kept working on it, making improvements. If I completely finished it I didn't know what he might do." The doctor admitted. "Where's your family?" Bruce asked. Langstrom shook his head sadly, "I don't know. He let me speak with them once, briefly. My daughter mentioned something about snow...and two mountain peaks that looked like cat ears." Damian's eyes snapped open, "Interlaken. Grandfather's compound." Bruce nodded his head, "Are you sure?" Without hesitation Damian confirmed, "I'm sure."

"Can you make an antidote for the man-bat formula with the right materials and right equipment?" Bruce asked the old doctor. The man nodded, "It's possible, but what about my family?"

Batman quickly reassured the man that he would rescue his family. Just before Batman and Damian could leave, however, Langstrom spoke up once more. "The girl...Jade? I saw her teleport and I saw the faint glow around her. I don't know if Deathstroke knows, but if he finds out about the girl's abilities he might just take advantage of it. She could be in danger." Bruce stood still for a moment, upset that he let Emily get captured so easily. Damian only grew more angry at this new information. Regardless the two walked off and retreated the cave to find Langstroms family and their comrade.

In Deathstroke's base, the said man sat in his chair rewatching a clip of Damian's fighting. After watching one final time, Deathstroke stood to his feet and made his way to the room he locked Talia in. Once opening the door he spoke, "I know where you took the boy. He fights like an assassin...like you. Your romance with The Dark Knight wasn't merely rumor. Who is he? Who is Batman?" Talia, bruised and bloody, shook her head at the man. "Do what you must. I won't talk." The dark and brooding man narrowed his eyes, "I believe you." He spoke as he turned to exit the room. Suddenly Talia spoke once more with a new gleam in her eye. "Besides you won't need to look for them. They'll find you first." Deathstroke dismissed the young woman and began walking away. "Works for me."

Deathstroke exit the room and locked the door behind him as he made his way back to his chair. Just before he could sit down, a group of his men entered with a confident air about them. "What?" Deathstroke questioned in impatience. The group of men clad in black stood aside to reveal a young girl dressed in black and green. "What do we have here..." Deathstroke trailed as he examined the child with new interest. "The girl was traveling with Batman and Robin and she seems to posses some rather strange abilities that we think you might find use for." Nodding his head Deathstroke advised his men to send the girl off to one of the locked rooms.

(Emily's POV)

Everything felt off. That was the first thought that ran through my head as I felt myself waking up. My body felt stiff and I could barely feel my hands. The air around me felt more cold than it had been previously. As I opened my eyes and readjusted to the dark area I noticed I was in a small room. An uneasy feeling settled in as I noticed the bars on the door and a cold sensation on my wrists. My breathing suddenly picked up as I frantically moved my head left and right trying to analyze my surrounds and situation. I pulled at my wrist only to have it immediately pulled back by the metal chain that trapped me to the wall. My heart was beating so fast and my mind was in overdrive as I panicked in frustration and fear. I needed to get out of here. I need Langstrom and then I need to regroup with Batman and Robin.

With my new mission in mind I stopped struggling against my shackles and closed my eyes. Slowly counting to three I regained control of my breathing and slowed it to a more normal pace. My heart was still beating a bit faster than normal but my mind was more clear than when I first awoke. Finally I opened my eyes and phased through my chains and stumbled to the doors. Ignoring the dizziness, I approached the door opposite of me and phased through the door. The sensation left me slightly drained but I continued nonetheless. Looking left and right I began to sneak across the halls filled with similar doors. I really hope my natural low presence keep me off the radar. Of course, right as that thought passed my mind I tripped over some loose ground and attracted some unwanted attention.

"Get the girl!" One of the henchmen yelled from down the hall. In a nervous frenzy I jumped to my feet and sprinted in the opposite direction. The men were a lot faster than myself and seemed to grow in numbers as the chase continued. The building was huge! I have absolutely no idea where I'm going! I thought to myself as I skidded down a corner into another hallway with no doors or windows.

"Where do I go?" I spoke aloud to myself as I frantically searched for some sort of escape out of this crept maze. Suddenly as I took another step my head began to ache once again.

"There...people..""There!""Stop!""Help!"

The voices kept piling over one another as they screamed and screamed. With every voice that chimed in I stumbled closer to the wall and leaned against it for support. Just when the voices became unbearable they suddenly stopped and the pain lessened as I tried to calm my breathing. "Found her!" The familiar voices of the assassins sounded. "Really right now?" I shouted in alarm. Just as I was about to sprint from the wall I heard voices from within. As quick as possible I phased through the mountain of bricks and fell to the ground. I looked up to find two women cowering in a corner with a look of pure fear. 

"H-hello I stuttered in greeting as I tried to give a welcoming smile. "How did you?" The oldest of the two women spoke up. I slowly stood to my feet and answered. "It's a long story...but it was a gift. That's besides the point though, what are you two doing here?" No longer seeing me as a threat the older woman, I presume is the mother, approaches with shaky steps. "We're being held captive by Deathstroke. He separated us from my husband to get him to make some kind of syrum. He threatened to kill us or him if we stepped out of line." Processing the information I put two and two together. This was Langstrom's family....I need to help them escape. Suddenly the brick wall behind me slid open loudly to reveal the soldiers I had been running from. "You guys again?" I questioned in annoyance as I positioned myself in front of the family.

Just like that the men charged at me and I went from punching one guy in the face to teleporting over to the next guy. I quickly swung my leg out and kicked the back of his knee before elbowing the back of his head. From my peripheral I noticed a fist heading my way so I let it phase past me and grabbed his arm, successfully twisting it. Once he was down on his knees I knocked him out and went to take on the next. Suddenly as I was charging for the next, something sharp pressed against my neck. I was barely able to skid to a stop as the person behind me locked my arms in a painful grip. "Now now. What's with all the noise?" A dark voice questioned in a threatening tone. The man behind me set the blade on my neck just waiting to slit my throat.