The Pieces Are Falling Into Place
“Recognized: Batman, 02.”
Bruce stepped off the platform and collapsed into the chair in front of the Batcomputer. The weary man took off his cowl and dragged his hand down his face. Tim looked up from his gauntlets and raised an eyebrow. “I’ve only heard that particular Bat-Sigh when you’re really tired. The meeting went that well, huh?”
“Call everyone to the cave, ASAP,” Bruce growled.
“That bad?” Tim asked, already texting the group chat.
“Zatanna and Zachary Zatara are missing. I’m sure Dick has already told you about Raven, and Captain Marvel has said that he can’t find the wizard Shazam either. Madame Xanadu is gone as well. The League is on high alert and we have teams mobilized at the Tower of Fate and the House of Mystery, but I don’t think it’ll be enough. That was what we were informed of at the start of the meeting. Then, we were contacted directly by the Guardians of Oa and were made aware that the Cadre might not be just a new Injustice League. We were made aware that their devices detected that the entropic being Krona has been detected in high concentrations on Earth, specifically around the Arctic, which is where we think the device they’re building might be.”
Tim’s jaw was all but on the floor. “Oa contacted us directly ?!”
“Yes.”
By now, most of the people were sitting at the table, listening intently. Tim ran a hand through his hair. “Fucking hell, alright. Who’s Krona?”
“Krona is the reason they formed the Guardians and relocated to Oa in the first place. He was a scientist that was determined to see the beginning of time, and as a result, he shattered the universe into the multiverse. They are certain that if he were to succeed, the multiverse wouldn’t survive a second round.”
“But it’s Doctor Fate,” Tim said. “Constantine, I’m worried about, but he’s not a lord of order. ”
“They got Shazam , Tim.”
Tim nodded. “Okay, fair. And there’s no traces, anywhere?”
“The only thing we have is footage of several villains subduing Zatanna, but they just vanish with her into thin air. I was about to go over the footage again, see if I could see something that J’onn couldn’t. If you want to watch with me, I could use an extra set of eyes.”
Tim shoved his chair away from the table, rolling it to a stop in front of the Batcomputer. “Show us what we’re working with.”
Bruce tapped at the keyboard and brought the security footage up. Tim watched as Deathstroke, Doctor Psycho, Clayface, Count Vertigo, Solomon Grundy, and Captain Cold worked with ruthless efficiency to take Zatanna down. They wrapped chains around her and the entire group vanished in a flash of light.
“None of those are magic users,” Steph realized.
Bruce nodded. “And we haven’t seen any villain magic users for the past month.”
“It’s got to be the Cadre.”
Bruce nodded. “Have we gotten any further with Harley and Ivy?”
“There’s another meeting tonight.”
“I’ll join you this time. Oh, and about S.T.A.R. Labs— they confirmed the tech being requested has nothing to do with mind-wiping from what they can see.”
Tim sucked in a breath, wondering, “Joker’s still in Arkham, right?”
“I checked in person yesterday.”
“Good. One less thing to worry about.”
The December snow melted onto Peter as he stared at the building, causing the hero to shiver slightly. Tim, Cass, Bruce, and Jason were all intently listening in through the devices planted on Harley and Ivy. Peter closed his eyes and focused, narrowing in on Harley and Ivy’s heartbeats as the sounds of the rest of Gotham faded into the background.
“The machine is ready, friends,” Luthor announced in that booming voice of his. “I know we have suffered long and hard for this, but it is finally time. We only need a few more people to power the device, and then we shall destroy the League and finally take what is ours.”
The resounding cheers in the room were loud, and Peter winced. There was shuffling next, the sound of paper on paper and footsteps making their way around the room. Peter focused, narrowing his eyes as Harley and Ivy’s heartbeats increased. What was going on?
“These are the last people we need to capture, friends. We have them, and we have already won.”
The doors opened and the villains shuffled out once more, each clutching a sheet of paper.
“Cass and I will meet you back at the cave,” Jason said before swinging down.
Peter nodded and took off quietly, swinging his way back to Robinson Park as quickly as he could. There wasn’t any suspicion of Harley and Ivy, so why had their hearts been racing so much? He only had to wait a second before the women came sprinting in, enveloping Peter in a hug. Clutched in their hands was a sheet of paper, which Tim carefully extracted. Peter could pinpoint the exact moment that Tim read the contents, because the hero’s heart literally stuttered.
“What?” Peter asked, pulling off his mask. “Tim, what’s on that piece of paper?”
Peter was so lost. He had been listening in on the meeting, he had heard the same thing everyone else had. Tim passed the paper over to Bruce, who looked even more grave than usual.
“They want you, Peter.” Ivy’s voice was thick with emotion, and Peter could see the anti-hero struggling to hold back tears.
“What?” Peter asked, his eyes wide. “You mean Spider-Man, right? They want Spider-Man.”
“Yes and no,” Tim said. “It says ‘Peter Parker’ and it says ‘Spider-Man.’ That’s why they’ve been after you for a while. B, we need to get Harley and Ivy out of this. We have several safe houses you two can go to. Peter, we—”
Tim’s voice cracked, and he cleared his throat. “Peter, we need to get you into hiding. Going with Harley and Ivy might be the best choice, since the three of you can protect each other and be able to reduce mental anguish.”
Peter reared back. “Tim, don’t you dare go into Empirical Mode on me—”
“We’ll assign some League members to stay with you and make sure nothing goes awry,” Tim continued, acting as if Peter hadn’t even spoken.
Peter gawked, pulling away from Harley and Ivy to turn to his boyfriend. “No, I can’t go into hiding; if Spider-Man disappears, connections will be made. The safest route is for me to remain here and continue protecting Gotham for whatever is about to happen.”
“No!” Tim shouted. Peter flinched and took a couple steps back, his brow furrowed. “No, Peter, you’re so caught up with saving everyone that you don’t realize that maybe we don’t want to lose you either! This is the best choice, you know it is!”
The back of Peter’s throat burned. “No, it is not! I swear, Tim, I am not a random civilian, you can not and you will not do this to me, you understand?”
“Peter,” Harley’s hand was on Peter’s shoulder. “I think you should come with us into hiding. Tim’s right, we—”
Peter exhaled sharply. “No, not you too. I can’t stand around and just watch more people lose their lives when I can help! I’m always in danger, we all are, every time we put on the mask we put ourselves in danger, you know this!”
“It’s not Spider-Man that has a hit on him, though, is it?” Tim said pointedly. “Outside of the mask, you’re just a regular civilian, and whether you like it or not, we have to treat you like it.”
“But I’m not a regular civilian! I will not sit in a cushy safe house and twiddle my thumbs while JL members, while Raven, is in danger. I did that once, and that one time cost me–” Peter swallowed the tears and ignored the shaking in his voice. “That one time cost me Ben. I fight so no one has to lose their Ben ever again, so no one has to lose their May again! If you take that away from me…”
Tim’s lips were set in a thin, determined line, and Ivy stepped between the two teenagers. “Okay, let’s all take a breath.” She opened her mouth to say something else, when a quiet ringing noise came from Bruce’s comm.
“I’m in the middle of something,” Bruce said, agitation clear.
“They got Constantine.”
Peter blinked, remembering the conversation back in the cave.
“And Fate?” Bruce asked.
“Not yet, but several groups of villains are converging on the Tower of Fate.”
“Right,” Bruce growled. “Do we know how they found the House of Mystery?”
“We think they might be able to track magical signatures, but we are not sure.”
Bruce nodded. “Do you need any help protecting the Tower of Fate?”
“That would be nice, but whatever you are doing at the moment is undoubtedly important too. We already have over fifty League members helping.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Thank you, Batman.”
“Of course, J’onn.”
There was a click, and Bruce sighed. “You heard that, right Peter?”
Peter nodded.
“If J’onn is right and they are able to track magical signatures, then they will be able to track you no matter where you go. Meaning that you won’t be safest with Harley and Ivy. If they find you, they find them, and there is not a doubt in my mind that Luthor will make them suffer for betraying him. Whether you go into hiding or not doesn’t matter, they will come for you regardless. But if we know that they can find you, then we can find them and capture Luthor and his inner circle before they can capture you.”
“You want to use him as bait ?!” Ivy snarled.
Tim’s mouth was partially open as he stared at his mentor with unbridled disgust. “Ivy is right, that is exactly what you’re suggesting.”
Harley glowered at the man, putting an arm in front of Peter and pushing him slightly behind her. “If you want to put up a fancy trap, fine, but you leave the kid outta this!”
Peter thought it over, then thought it over again. “Bruce, how hard is it to find the House of Mystery?”
“The only way they could possibly find it is if they were somehow tracking John.”
“So even if I do go into hiding, they would find me, no matter where I go?”
Bruce nodded.
“Then let’s do it.” Peter turned to three out of the four people he cared for more than anything else in this world. “I’m going to be tracked and attacked no matter what. This way, we might have a chance.”
“We don’t know that Lex will come in person,” Tim argued. “They could send anyone, especially if they think that Peter is just a defenseless civilian.”
“No, Lex will come in person,” Peter said.
“How could you possibly know that?” Ivy growled.
“I’m the last person on the list, and he’s a bad guy. He’s going to want to hold it over the Justice League’s head that they are going to take me and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. They’ve gotten everyone else, right? They’re going to get cocky, and Lex will want to gloat. I’ve looked at the League’s reports on fights that he and Superman have had— he’s just another villain who will want to let everyone else know that he won,” Peter explained.
The room was quiet, only the slow dragging of the ever moving plants rubbing against one another could be heard. Tim opened and closed his mouth several times, clearly running through as many possible outcomes that he could think of, before he hung his head.
“Peter’s right,” the ex-Boy Wonder admitted. He looked up to glare at Bruce. “But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“I don’t like it either, Tim,” Bruce rumbled. “But I don’t think we have another choice. Peter, it’s your decision.”
But Peter had already made up his mind.