Gotham City was as silent as always, numerous people making their way through the city while hoping that they were not the target of whatever gang was running through the night.
Some gangs themselves had decided to stay indoors lest they draw the ire of Gotham's Dark Knight or his companions, one of whom were standing atop the city's prized bell tower.
Robin's gaze periodically scanned over the city, now and again looking at the portable computer on his wrist as Batman's voice came from it.
"Any trouble?"
"Other than a few Riddler goons trying to rob a bank, nothing much," he replied with a frown. "I've heard chatter of crime bosses trying to arrange a meeting later tonight so I'll go and observe that."
"Good. Report back whenever anything happens."
'Code: I'm going to be there observing you and making sure nothing happens,' Robin thought with a roll of his eyes, simply grunting an affirmative before the call ended.
His eyes then moved back to the city, narrowing when he caught sight of police lights flickering three city blocks away.
'Most likely more of the Light's group trying to cause trouble in the city,' he thought, thinking back to the groups of radical subordinates to the organization that didn't want to admit defeat.
Ever since Chris declaration three months ago, the entire world has been working together to capture as many of the Light's members as they could and they did manage to get some people, but not everyone unfortunately.
Vandal Savage, the true leader of the group, was still at large, but the other leaders were all locked in the Watchtower's new prison system, locked away in space where none of their political allies could try to release them.
Dropping from the gargoyle head he was perched upon, Robin whipped out his grappling gun and fired it, the hook's claws digging deep into a stone wall before it pulled taut.
With ease, the boy wonder soared through Gotham's sky, an invisible shadow to those below with his expert agility and acrobatics.
It took him barely a minute before he reached his location, landing atop a railing while staring down at the police cars blocking off a costumed figure in an alleyway.
'He's not one of the usual,' Robin thought with a frown, staring at the owl-themed figure that was eerily similar to Batman's own design.
"I will ask one last time! Put your hands up and get down on your knees!" he heard one of the police officers bark out, not expecting the figure to follow the command.
He was right, but the way it happened stunned him as the owl figure spun around, perfectly throwing six owl-styled batarangs that sliced their fingers cleaned off.
The police officers were stuck in a state of shock as the owl figure surged forward and Robin's eyes widened as the figure easily snapped their necks with a mixture of martial arts that stunned his mind.
Only one thought flashed through his mind as the owl figure stood up, surveying the area before his masked visage slowly looked up towards him with a smirk.
'I'm going to get killed,' he dove from the rooftop and fired his grappling hook, activating his emergency call button at the same time as he swung through the air.
"Robin?"
"Batman! Gotham! Between 4th and 5th Franklin Boulevard! Owl figure that scares the shit out of me!"
"Two minutes," Batman replied and the call ended, but Robin's eyes widened as he landed on a rooftop to see the owl figure waiting for him with a calm smile.
"Hmm, twenty seconds. Not bad," Robin didn't reply as he reached behind his back, grabbing onto his retracted bo-staff while staring down the figure as he stood up.
From what he could see, the figure was male, well-built and most likely a master martial artist from the showcase earlier. His footsteps were also very light, nearly on par with those of Batman.
"Who are you?"
"How many people has that worked on?" the owl figure asked in turn, a smirk on his face as he walked towards Robin.
The boy wonder immediately flicked open his bo-staff as the man shot forward, deflecting the kick aimed at his head.
Pushing the leg to the ground, he dug his staff into the ground and leapt, swinging a leg overhead that the figure blocked with his forearm.
He didn't see the following punch, only feeling the pain of the air being driven from his lungs.
The figure caught his bo-staff and held it in his off-hand, Robin barely steadying himself with a roll while coughing for a bit.
"I don't want to see that. Give me something better!" The Owl-Man grunted, snapping his staff over his leg with ease before tossing both pieces towards him.
With little hesitation, Robin lunged forward, picking up both pieces as Owl-Man met his charge.
His eyes flicked to and fro as he smacked the man's punches away, delivering a rising knee that Owl-Man easily pushed down.
He continued with a haymaker, but Robin slid under it, smacking the side of his knee and making it buckle before unleashing a flurry of strikes to his face.
Yet, Owl-Man protected himself by raising his forearms, blocking the blows before catching both at the same time.
"Goo-Urgh!" he grunted as Robin leapt, landing a dropkick that pushed him back. Catching himself and doing a kip-up back to his feet, Robin was surprised as Owl-Man did the same.
"Hehehe, not bad at all, little boy wonder. I see my original trained you well."
"Original?" Robin asked with a frown, analyzing the figure's moves as he just smiled and shifted into a familiar opening stance.
"Come, let me show you," Robin just grinned and rushed forward, but reached into his utility belt and threw down a trio of smoke bombs.
The dark smoke enveloped the both of them as Robin continued with his charge, closing his eyes and listening for Owl-Man's steps.
They were nearly silent, but there was a faint crack every time his heel struck the ground, Robin grinning as he raced towards where the sound was mostly coming from.
Lunging forward with a right smack, he felt the half-staff hit something and opened his eyes only to be greeted with the cloak of Owl-Man fluttering under the blow.
The shifting winds he felt on the back of the man made him turn just in time to catch a hook to the jaw, rattling his brain and dropping him to his knees.
'F-Fuck,' Robin thought, trying and failing to get to his feet as Owl-Man kicked his staff segments to the side.
"Use cover and smoke to discern the skill level of your foe before direct contact. Although, it appears that you did not follow that rule perfectly, Robin," the owl man spoke with a smile, crouching beside him. "Tell me. How long is Batman going to take? I'd rather not have him show up while I'm busy making a portrait out of you."
"Too late," Relief flushed through Robin's system as he heard Batman's voice behind the owl man, who immediately rolled forward and out of the way of his mentor's stomp.
Without stopping, Batman picked up his grappling gun and attached it to his waist, firing the weapon and letting it pull him out of the way of their fight.
"Oh? Not going to try and run with him?"
"We both know you'd never let us escape that easily," Batman replied, making the man chuckle as Robin felt his world coming into clarity.
Then, his eyes widened as Owl Man spun to him and the world darkened with a loud bang. Expecting death from the pistol fired at him, he was surprised by Batman's cloak held in front of him, his mentor's back turned to their opponent while he looked to him with a frown.
"Take your grapple and leave, Robin. Now," The man ordered as he saw the hesitation in Robin's eyes, turning around immediately as Owl Man twirled the owl-themed revolvers he had in hand.
"Come on, Batman. Let's see which of us is the better one!" With a grunt, Owl-Man unleashed twelve precise shots, Robin rolling out of the way and off the rooftop while Batman dove behind cover.
"Come now, Batman! Give me something that shows off your skill as the original!" Owl-Man exclaimed, tilting his head at the right angle to avoid the batarang curving in from behind.
At the same time, he reloaded his pistols and fired the left one, a bullet ricocheting off a metal pipe and barely missing Batman's ear as he threw a smoke bomb down.
Owl-Man was not discouraged as he fired two bullets into the smoke, hearing the echoes left behind from them impacting metal before spinning around just as Batman rushed in.
The halves of Robin's staff were in hand as he swung the right one, hooking it inside the trigger of the right revolver.
Dropping the pistol and letting Batman throw it away, Owl-Man fired the left pistol at the left baton-like weapon, snapping it from Batman's grasp.
He then pressed the button on the inside of his glove, activating it with a low drone and pulling the pistol back to his grasp.
Twirling his pistols, Batman lunged in with his singular weapon, the two throwing feints to try and trick the other.
Batman swung the baton, smacking a revolver out of his grasp. As Owl-Man went to fire the second revolver, Batman hooked the blunt baton inside the trigger guard, pulling it out of his grasp and kicking Owl-Man away.
Leaping back and picking up the first revolver, Batman threw both off of the rooftop, throwing his baton at the same time towards Owl-Man who smacked it away.
"You know I can just retrieve them, right?"
"Go ahead," Batman replied, but Owl-Man didn't take the bait, instead just smirked and pulled out a pair of spiked knuckle dusters.
Putting both on, he thumped his fists against each other as Batman pulled out his own tazer versions, the two staring each other down before rushing forward.
Their clash was swift, a quick exchange of blows that barely glanced the other. Owl-Man's fists were aimed for his vital points, Batman doing his best to avoid the sharp spikes while trying to land his own punches.
"Hahaha! This is fantastic! Got anything else in your repertoire?" Owl-Man asked with a grin as he caught Batman's fist, who immediately ducked under the right hook thrown at his head.
Twisting his trapped hand, he placed the knuckle dusters against Owl-Man's back, gritting his teeth as the voltage passed through his body.
Owl-Man on the other hand was caught between pain and ecstasy as he fell to a knee, Batman pulling his fist free and landing a vicious round house to his jaw.
Ripping the knuckledusters off, he tossed them to the side and picked Owl-Man up by his collar with a glare.
"Who are you? What are you? What are you doing in Gotham?"
"Owl-Man, a clone of you made by the Light and I'm here to kill ya," Batman was surprised as Owl-Man answered very easily, but he did not believe the man as Owl-Man spat a glob of blood to the side.
"I don't believe you."
"Didn't say you had to, Batman," Owl-Man replied with a smirk. "Just answering your questions. Also, if I were you, I'd look up right now."
Despite that he did not want to listen to him, Batman's eyes flicked up for a moment and what he saw send a chill down his spine.
"Seriously? One at a time?" A Superman-lookalike with a darker blue outfit and a 'U' instead of the usual 'S' asked with a frown.
"You know our orders, Ultraman," A curvaceous young woman spoke with a shake of her head, dressed in a black leotard with gold highlights.
"So do I, but what need is there for all of us to be here?" A masked figure asked with a frowning tone, their eyes hidden behind a single sniper-scope attached to said mask.
Beside him stood a silent man dressed in blue skintight diving gear, who didn't say anything other than give a shrug.
"I'm getting bored over here! Can we finish this up?" Batman turned his head to look behind him, staring at the large White Martian standing behind him in their true form as well as the yellow-themed Flash who stood beside the Martian.
"Very well, Owl-Man," Ultraman spoke up and Batman turned just in time to get a boot to his face, stumbling back and gathering his wits.
He then looked around, staring at the gathering of seven villains around him before he pressed the Alert button on his utility belt.
'Now, it's just a time of waiting,' he thought, raising his sparking knuckles as the seven fingers rushed forward.
A/N: A bit of a short chapter, but one to set up the next arc.
Next chapter: War.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one...
Ba-Bye~!!