The Darkest of Knights

'Huh?" Karmy lifted up her head. "Whoa! Big guy." she cried , a little startled by the mans size. "Uh.. Sure you can." she said and leaned way back in her seat, laying her head against the booth.

"Ugh, me head feels like it's gonna crack in two... anyone got something for that?" Cyrah mumbled as she rested her chin on the table, her figners darting around her temples to try and massage the ache out.

Corben pulled up a chair and sat down, the chair creaking as he rested his heavy metal body on it. "Thank you, much too kind." he said as politeley as he could muster. he observed Cyrah and the exhausted Karmy. "Oh, have I come at a bad time? I would hate to be intruding." He said, despite intruding Cyrah's mind being exactly what he was doing at the time. Casius gave him a suspicious look under his helmet- this man was up to something, he was sure....

"I'm, um. I'm sorry sir, we were just about to leave anyway." Alice said getting up, obviously suspicious of the strange man, "You can have the table for yourself." She said pulling a bottle of ibuprofen and handing it to Cyrah. "C'mon guys lets go to my car."

Dick looked at Zero. "Kill him...?" He asked confused. Then it hit him, he did say he would kill The Mad Hatter once he got his hands on him before, at the time he was depressed and enraged that Nicole and Wintergreen had been attacked and nearly killed, then when he personally came into the Batcave just to hang Barbara and leave her for dead had clouded his mind with revenge and hate. "No." He said shaking his head. "No, no, no. The Batman doesn't kill." He said placing his sweaty hands to a table. "That's what the mantle comes with. His honor. I'm sorry I said that. No we're not going to kill The Mad Hatter." Dick said.

Ivy breathed a tiny sigh of relief at that. No murder would be involved. But then, her mind wandered back to the full blown attack suggestion. The idea of taking on those villains at once set her to worrying again, not to mention their newbie. She hadn't heard of him yet, though.
===
Poison Ivy bit her bottom lip. Maybe now, was the time to reveal her plan to the other villains. "We'll attack them. Each of us will get the most powerful weapon at our disposal." A snicker escaped as she announced, "I am trying to return Harvest."

Now, if she did return Harvest, and things didn't go as planned, she could still leave the other villains with her beloved plant monster. Scarecrow would do fine with tanks upon tanks of strong hallucinogen. Riddler's riddles were a weapon all on their own, of annoyance. Mad Hatter, why, nobody ever knew what he had up his sleeve. Er, hat.
====
Astro phased through the museum wall with ease. He felt himself grow thinner the further from his body he became, if he went too far, he couldn't return. But he knew better than that. He knew his limits, and he could snatch the chemical Poison Ivy wanted with no problem. It was as he thought that he felt the gentle tug. His soul yearning to return to his body. Almost a warning, that his body was in danger. Nonsense.He reassured himself.I'm just creeping myself out now...

He continued his search of the museum for the botany house.

In Jump City, the sun had barely touched the mountains when Cyborg and Red Robin had bid farewell to Raven as she boarded the non-stop train to Gotham. They had contacted Dick and made sure they would meet this time, he had even said that Raven would be perfect to have at this particular time, dealing with The Mad Hatter was no cake walk. Having her would be not only pleasant but helpful. Raven walked around with a black messenger bag with all her belongings in it, looking for a seat; the linoleum floors of the car of the train cracked under her feet. From end to end of the first floor of the train, the seats were full, ever passenger wanted to be the first man out. Upstairs was more secluded; Raven had expected this but nevertheless would have also preferred a seat on the first floor of the train. She always wanted more seclusion than an early seat out though; plopping down in a seat with rows empty. Perfect. She starred out of the train as it began to move, the man on the P.A. announcing "Next stop, Gotham City." A small smile spread across the grown woman's face, she was thinking about the first thing she'd say to Robin, Nightwing, Batman, whatever he called himself now. He shared an important role in her life, and she was just happy to try again to meet up with him again.

Raven would lose three hours but gain a lot more than just sleep, she decided the fourteen hour train ride would more or less be boring so she dug through the articles of things she brought in her messenger bag. An extra outfit, a wallet with some money, a book or two, toothbrush, several other travel items. She pulled one of the books from her bag and looked up; the floor was practically empty. Someone could get mugged here and no one would notice. Though, she knew no one would mess with her, Raven had build quiet the reputation of the new leader of the Titans.

She sure did hoped Cyborg and Red Robin could handle themselves.

Corben continued to intrude Cyrah's mind, and finally broke her mental barriers. This is what both he and Cyrah saw simultaneously:

12 years ago:
Young Sarah sat in a small room in a laboratory. She wore an ID bracelet on her thin, stick like arm, her outgrown hair scruffy as it fell messily around her shoulders. Like so many times and so many days before, a researcher came in. Sarah protested as usual, kicking, evading, but inevitably, a tranquilizer found its way into her arm, and she was KOed.

She came to everal hours later back in her room, the soiled bandages indicating they had done more 'work' to her nerves and mind. It was too painful to move, so she remained on the floor of her stall, letting the cold floor keep her company...

6 years ago:
THis experiment was different- they didn't knock her out for this one. sharp needles probed into her body, miniature lazers re-wrighting her genetic code in much the same way they had with Zero. But her body wasn't accepting it like Zero did, her body fought it vigorously. And it was loosing. Blood spurted out of her mouth, and she began to convulse violently. She could hear soemone say 'Shat that machine off, dammit! if she dies, five billion dollars go right down the crapper!' He barked. The machine shut off and the needles withdrew, but Cyrah continued to convulse, a sharp pain searing her chest. Her hearing began to phase out, and she heard the word 'cardiac arrest'. Suddenly, a sharp explosion and a burst of lightning blew the researchers away. A tall armored figure she could quite see well tore the operating table apart and pulled her out, barreling through a wall and escaping as she gave in to unconciousness....

2 years ago:
After her father had put her in stasis, he promised she would wake up normal again.

Yeah.... that didn't happen. She woke up in another lab, but this wasn't soem white color industry chop-shop. No, this was like a garage in hell, run by a man like the devil himself. The things he told her to do, the things he made ehr do, were ntohing short of evil....

But it wasn't ALL misery....

Images of the past few years right up to the present flashed in their minds, the vacation, traveling the world, Cyrahs seeing things with her family and Karmy...

Corben broke the link, overhwelmed by the influx. "My apologies.... I'll go." He said, and made a hasty escape as Cyrah clutched her head, and then suddenly let go and almost passed out. from the emotional impact.

(Awwww ;-;!!!)

Karmy wasn't too surprised when Corben up and left but she saw Cyrah waver slightly so she put a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Hey Cyssy, you ok?" she asked as they sat in the booth.

Alice was taken aback by the man's sudden leave, she forced the bottle of ibuprofens into Cyrah's hand, she stepped out to try and find out where he left off to. She couldn't help but think that he had something to do with Cyrah's sudden headaches. She looked around and checked the corners. The mystery man was gone. Alice scratched her head and walked back in. "Come on guys, lets head back to the uhh... to the mansion." She said struggling not to say 'Batcave.'

Astro continued his journey through the museum. Even in his shadowy, high defense shape, he felt fear being in the museum. Fear only enhanced by the constant tugging urging himself back to his body. Fear of what though, he couldn't classify.

The further he went, the rougher the pull became. Figures., he thought. I did, technically, just tear my own soul out of my body... He suddenly realized how odd that was. Whenever he performed astral projection, it was the greatest pain he ever felt. Being stretched and turned, burned and chilled, falling yet floating. It was a mash of actions, until he wasn't sure who he was or what he was doing. That was the sensation of removing your soul, as best as words could put it.

It should hurt, he speculated. It should hurt floating in his tender soul, a petite and important organ. But he didn't feel the least bit of pain. The young astral felt free, more free than he ever was in the skin and bones cage that was his body.

A brutal yank, this time actually proppelling Astro's shadowy figure backwards. A thin string still held himself to his human cage. Usually, Astro could travel much further, and he had never felt such a jerk like this one. His throat clenched. What if something was wrong? What if he was losing his ability? What if his actual body was in danger? What if...

STOP. he commanded. Astral projection was tricky. The more you tried to control it, the more you lost it. He breathed in deeply, imagining himself snipping off the rope holding him to his body. His imaginary scissors broke. A saw, same consequence. Third time's the charm. The rope was imagined to be flat out breaking. This time, it worked. He lost his hold, which in some roundabout way, secured his control.

The shadow flickered, the annoying and painful tug had finally ceased. A grin would have been seen on his face, if he had any features in that form. The smile grew as he discovered where he was. Completely abosrbed in his thoughts, he had noticed which room he had wondered into, but now...

A joyful flash of blue.

A sparkling indigo crossing the sky. And, if you looked close enough, a glass green capsule could be seen within.

[I just realized how unwillingly sh*tty Cyrah's upringing was...]

Cyrah prided herself on being tough and having a thick shell. But the sudden outpoor of being reminded of her life was just too much. She rested her head on Karmy's shoulder, and for the first time she could remember, she cried hysterically.

Corben hauled his sorry carcass away- it was indirect and, frankly a fate he wouldn't have wished on any twenty people, but now he had a vauge idea what to do.... secret identities, weaknesses, strengths, locations... he got anything he could have ever dreamed of. He turned around and decided to visit one Dick Greyson's Batbunker a little visit...

"Come in Alice. Alice? Do you read me?" Dick asked though his communicator. "Yeah I read you Bats." Alice replied. "I have a friend coming around five in the afternoon, can you pick her up when you have the chance?" He asked. "Sure thing, but it's like nine in the morning now. Are you in the Batcave where there's no clocks or something?" Alice asked checking her time on her watch. "I'm currently discussing plans with The Midnight Riders. We're coming up with how to combat The Mad Hatter." He informed her. "Okay well I'm going to drop Cassius, Karmy, and Cyrah off while I return to my errands." "Hurry." Dick pleaded. "Don't worry, we have things under control. Other than Cyrah who's bawling at the moment. We ran into a strange man in metal garb. He was bigger than Cassius." Alice said over the communicator, while getting everyone in the car. "I'm sure he'll be easy to spot." "No kidding." Alice said now driving.

Karmy was surprised when Cyrah started to cry. For as long as she had known her, she had never once seen her cry, no matter how bad things got. She was always so strong, so confident, and in a way, Karmy now knew what it felt like to have a younger sibling. She knew what it was like to be Casey. Wrapping her arms around Cyrah, she held her close and let her cry her hearts content out.

When Alice signaled them that it was time to go, Karmy did what any good older sibling would do, she carried Cyrah to the car. Well ok, tried to at least. It was kinda hard to do considering how weak she was and how heavy Cyrah was, she just kinda, fell on her ass. "Ok... Not smart." she said tiredly.

[I suppose I should have said he was in normal human form earlier, his robot form is a dead giveaway .__.;]

Alice pulled up to the Wayne Manor and dropped off Karmy, Cyrah, and Cassius. She pulled out and began to drive back into town when she didn't see it coming. She stepped on the breaks as hard as she could, the car went to a screeching halt, that didn't stop it from ramming straight into the man who was walking out in the middle of the street. Alice got out, "Hey are you okay?" Alice said walking out. "Oh geez! It's you!" Alice said in shock as it was the man from the coffee shop, walking up to him to check if he was okay. She knelt down next to him, "Hey you okay?"

Metallo got up with a grunt. "You little brat- what did you do THAT for!?" He barked as he got up, suprisingly unphased- he had done mroe damage to Alice's car then her to him. He checked himself to make sure his disguise hadn't been compromised...

"Well you were kind of walking in the middle of the street!" Alice said forgetting about sympathy seeing how if he had the energy to yell at her, he was alright. She examined her car. Then looked back at the mysterious man, "What.. what are you?"

Karmy was sitting on the couch back to back with Cyrah, trying not to fall asleep or whatevers. She suddenly remembered something. "Dude!!" she sat up fully, causing Cyrah to fall back on the couch. "Zero has healing powers! Why do I keep on forgetting that?! Where is he?"

Crap, she was on to him. "What am I, you ask? That's an easy one- I am..." Heat eminated form his body, melting his wax skin off and revealing his true, fearsome robot body. "Metalo!" he said. "You managed to catch on quick, i'm suprised. let me return the favor with only a minimaly painful death for finding me out:" He snarled, and fired deadly radiation bursts from his eyes right at Alice...

Cyrah tried her hardest to compose herself, but after what she had seen, it was.... dificult, to say the least. But she managed it, soemhow. "Sis... that guy... something about him... not right.... I saw... my memories..." She managed to say to Karmy as Casius supported her before she droped again. "I knew there was something screwy about that guy... if I see him again, I'm gonna knock him for a loop for this." He grunted angrily.

The best luck in her life in the past few days couldn't have been any better than running into a robotic superhuman with deadly radiating death rays of death. Why can't she run into a hobo? Then at least she might get bit, and be diagnosed with hobo-rabies or something. No it had to be the giant robo-megazorg. Plus her car had a dent, damn.

Alice jumped out of the way and to her car. She opened the door really quickly to get back in, a ray came crashing through the door tearing it off. She wasn't in her suit and had to dig in the compartments for something to shoot him with. Anything. She found a swiss army knife in the few seconds she had before the hood of the car was crushed and sent flipping forward. She slipped out the open door and landed on her stomach. "Ugh sh*t..." Alice murmured getting up. Starring down the robot who called himself Metalo she noticed the trunk of what use to be her car open, a stockpile of grenades had spilt out. If she could reach to it before she was reduced to a pile of ashes, or dust, or a fury of woodland critters, or whatever, she might have a chance. She made a dash for the grenades.

"Yeah.. I know Cy." Karmy said, throwing an arm around Cyrahs shoulder. "We'll check him out once we're both better. Now where's your bro? I would really like to get rid of this head pain. "

Metalo didn't need to be as inteligent as he was to notice Alice making a mad dash for the grenades. "Oh no you don't!" He barked, and he fired a beam not at Alice, but at the grenades themselves. Alice was a moving target, but her weapons were dead standstills...

Cyrah had deteriorated to the point of incoherent babling and pointed down towards where the meeting with batman was taking place. Being the emotional wreck she was, she hugged her knees close and began to rock back and forth...

Zero was proped up against Ivy, listening to Batman, and rather releived that offing the Hatter wasn't the plan after all.

Karmy really didn't want to leave Cyrah alone, but she wanted to get healed. "Hmm... Hey Cy? I have a surprise for you!" she whipped out a large lollipop from her bag and gave it to Cyrah. "I'll be right back, I promise." she smiled and gave her a wink before heading off the the room. Once inside the room, she leaned heavily on Zeros head. "Hey Z. Care to give me a patch up?"

In a blinding, deafening, explosive frenzy of grenades Alice ran too close too fast. Smoke grenades blew out, flash grenades were set off, incendiaries burst, and frag grenades were all set off in one auspicious and simultaneous explosion. She had been sent back twisting in the air like a dragon and falling onto wet grass, sliding in the mud, basically destroying her attire in dirt and filth. Alice couldn't see, she couldn't hear, but she felt pain. She couldn't even hear herself moan in the anguish. She shook her head and tried to lift her arm, right arm was immobile for whatever reason, she could still feel it, but it couldn't move. When her vision was recovering she found herself in a ditch and her arm in between two rocks. How it got there was beyond her, but that didn't matter now, what did matter was getting out and trying to escape the Metalo, though he was closer to the grenades than she was, she wondered if he suffered any damage. She was finally able to struggle out, dizzy, she couldn't climb out of the hole herself. She fell to her knees and heard giant steps coming to her.

Metalo smirked to himself. His robotic form was singed and sparking and his suit was effectiveley destroyed, but he had this match as good as won. He walked over to her, and lifted his foot above her head...

"You don't say 'hi,' you don't even give me a hug no more and you wanna ask me favors. I'm HURT." Zero said in mock offense, and he used his healing power, rejuvenating Karmy and patching up her injuries. "There, that outta do it." he said to her as he finished up. However, he felt the spacial pulses from Metalo and Alice's fight. "Oh, you might wanna go to the intersection of pine and redwood, I think something's going down there." He said to her.

Cyrah took the lolipop with great enthusiasm and began to nom it. She nodded her thanks to Karmy before she took off, as she appreciated the gesture a whole lot. Being as much of a wreck as she was, the things like that helped to make her feel better.

Muffled sound, nothing but garble. Delirious and still dazed, Alice felt with her hands the foot above her head as if it was the most peculiar thing she had ever seen. There was no chance against Metalo, she might as well give up. Her ears were ringing and buzzing, she felt the pressure of his foot squeezing her head and she decided she didn't like that. Then her consciousness came too, her thinking skills were coming back and she realized what was going on, Alice could hear again, and using her feet in a sweeping motion got back up and out of Metalo's grip.