The Darkest of Knights

"ALICE!!!!" Batgirl screamed, reaching out to her. Too late. Alice was pushed back as the direct hit blasted her and she was tossed out of the side wall hitting the warehouse adjacent from the one they were in. Falling to the ground she coughed and checked her mouth. No blood, thank goodness. Checking the wound where she was attacked, the suit wasn't damaged but her skin was definitely burned, and it felt like someone swung a mallot into her gut. Trying to stand she realized she couldn't and fell to the ground. "Ugh.. sh*t." She muttered as she tried to crawl back to the fray.

"I'll give points for determination, but I must admit, your attempts to halt me thus far have been feeble at BEST." Metallo mocked. He fired a missile at Alice to finish her off...

"Luna, save Karmy! We- we have to go! We can't touch him..!" She grunted to her. In an outburst of rage Batgirl jumped on the back of Metallo, screaming and wrapping her grappling hook around his neck extremely quickly and ready to shoot the make-shift noose to the top of the warehouse.

"I'll tell you in a bit..." Raven said to Robin standing up, "I'm getting some really bad vibes from that warehouse district that Batgirl and Malice went to." She said walking out.

Metallo knew full well the capabilities of the bat-graple, and using his abilities, he fired it off prematureley, causing it to fire prematureley off to the side. "A direct physical approach? Tisk tisk, don't disapoint me- if BATMAN couldn't take me, what makes you so sure his stooges can, hm?" Metallo asked snideley.

Ivy coughed at the smoke. She couldn't see a thing, but when she crouched onto the ground on all fours, she caught faint vibrations. A few moments of thinking, and she deduced who was who and where they were. Still not enough information to properly attack, as she wasn't sure where Batgirl was. That's because Batgirl had leapt atop Metallo.

Gingerly making her way through the smoke, the elementalist headed towards Metallo.

In the midst of his attempts ot dislodge Batgirl, Metallo realized he had been blissfuly ignoring his captives,s tilled tied nice and tight behind him. he wheeled around tos ee Luna there. "Oh no you don't!" He barked, firing several rockets at her. He could keep the riders and Batman's little helpers at a stalemate like this, but he couldn't simply seem to deliver anything enough to destroy them. He needed something to absorb to ovetake them...

Metallo snarled. "Quite the irritating one, ain'tcha'?" Metallo asked. He still had a grip on Karmy and Cyrah with his ca-

Hm.....

Cyrah was a cyborg. Mostly machine. The kind of tech. he could get from absorbing her would be amazing. But his thoughts were cut off by a shadow arm slicing cleanly throug the cables. Zero, scooping up the girls [and grunting from the strain of hoisting up his cybernetic syster] ran like a bat out of hell- missiles pouring after him courtsey of Metallo, whom was now totally ignoring Luna altogether...

(Sorry I take so long, this might be a little out date cause I'm busy..)

The grapple hook was no longer spring loaded. Well yes it was but it was activated electronically to give it more of a punch, coupled with propane gas. Metallo must have controlled it's electronic properties which in turn set off the spring and the gas. The sudden burst of the grapple hook shocked Batgirl to fall on the floor. She kicked her legs in the air and forced herself back to her feet. "You don't know what I'm capable of!" Batgirl sneered. She hated being put down, her whole life, she was being offered protection as if she was a defenseless poor helpless child. Officer Bard. Her Father. Her martial artist sensi. Anyone she could think of, even Dick and Bruce before they knew who she really was. She was too feminine, too short. She never met the height requirements for the streets of Gotham on the GCPD. Revisiting those memories was like throwing gas on a low ember. She was ready for anything that was about to get thrown at her.

Alice was still crawling when suddenly she felt a club to the back of her head. Then she felt she was being thrown around and bagged. Something was going on. She heard no voices, and she couldn't see anything because she was blacking out and the heat sensitive goggles weren't helping. She was being carried. The sounds of the footsteps were as if someone had on burlap slippers.

"Let me just tell you this..." Raven said walking around the Warehouse district. "Wearing his mask... Made me feel pretty cool." She said smiling.

"Wake up Karmy. Come on Karms, it's time to get up sleepy head." Karmy opened her eyes and saw a tuff of green and blue hair. "Casey?" her eye's focused and she gasped at what she saw. This was a mistake though because a searing pain went through her side. "You're ribs are broken." Casey said. "Yeah I know." Karmy tried to sit up but she couldn't, the ropes still bound her tight. "Where am I?" she asked. "I'm not sure.."

"Are you real?"
"I'm as real as you want me to be."
"I want you to be real."
"Then I am real." Casey smiled.

The Mad Hatter sat on the end of the bed that Scarecrow had placed the now unconscious Alice in. He waited patiently for her to awake, staring dreamily at her slumbering form. Scarecrow had also made sure that when she woke up, that she wouldn't be able to go to far, the ropes that held her to the bed made sure of that. "Alice?"

Dick arrived at the bottom floor where he thought Raven and Robin might be, no. They had to be there, and yet they weren't. Something was wrong. Grabbing a bell from the study and ringing it Wintergreen answered the call almost immediately. May I ask what you require Master Richard?" He asked. "I want to know where Raven and Robin are." He told him. "Well I'm no expert in knowing where everyone is everywhere at all times, but I'll figure out shortly. Follow me sir." He said leading him to their computer. Sitting down and Dick walking behind him placed a hand on his shoulder. "Find them yet?" He asked. "I only turned the satellite on Master Richard." He informed him.

Wintergreen opened up the screen and located Raven and Robin snooping around The Warehouse district. "Dammit." Dick muttered storming off. "Where are you heading off to?" Wintergreen asked.
"Do you have to ask?"
"Indeed sir, I meant to ask what do you plan to wear?"
"The Batsuit. What else?"
"Given the circumstances sir; Ms. Gordon requested that you not use The Batsuit and instead use the Hockey Garb."
"The hockey-..? Oh forget that! If everyone is, going I might as well."
"Sir... Mistress Mau took the Batmobile."
"I know that."
"Do you plan to take the Bat-Pod sir?"
"No I'll go for something more subtle."
"The Lamborghini then?"
Dick as already getting into his Batsuit. "Much more subtle." Wintergreen mused walking off.

Booming down the streets of Gotham the sports car cut through traffic quickly. Red lights seemed to hate Batman, though he's only fortunate to know how to hack into the traffic lights and teach Wintergreen how to use it. Was it a federal offense? Sure. But so was murder rape and stealing. Breaking one law to save a life, to save a store, to bring justice. It seemed like a fair trade. Pulling up to the Warehouse district, Batman pulled his cowl over his head. "Babs is gonna kill me when she finds out I'm in the Batsuit." He thought stepping out of his car.


Alice awoke. Looking at the Mad Hatter directly in theeyes she couldn't look anywhere else, the creepy stare was unbareable and unavoidable. Breathing heavily, her abs were burned and a turn would scrape the skin clean off. Her head was pounding, she could feel the blood pumping through as if each pump was a giant clot trying to make its way through. There was no way she could avoid him but to close her eyes. She didn't give him the pleasure in answering his call for her, no. That would only entice him. She moaned, she couldn't help it but f*ck, she didn't want to. Dammit all, she couldn't stop. Her brain felt like it was trying to escape her head, she was shivering, moaning, and squirming. And she hated herself for it.

"Hello Alice." The Mad Hatter smiled softly down at her. She was just as beautiful in real life than in the photograph and his hallucinations. His eyes couldn't help but look her at her body. He didn't see a wounded herorine who was creeped the hell out by him, no. What he saw was a princess. His love, Alice. Scooting up on the bed he placed a hand on one of her bound ones. "My darling Alice, i'm so glad you came." he said, almost sneering.

Alice began to wish she had stuck to the name "Mercy" now, she also began to wish that her skin tight suit wasn't so skin tight. Then when he touched her she freaked out, trying to get away but knowing it was just another feeble attempt. Her arms and legs, her torso and head were all trying to get as far as possible from him. She tried her hardest not to say anything to him. She knew the moment she even tried to say Get away from me! that would be the biggest mistake. She would then establish vocal contact. It was bad enough she made eye...

"Oh no don't be frightened my dear." Mad Hatter said now holding her hand. Something didn't feel right to him. The were both wearing gloves. Still smiling he slowly took off both of his white gloves and slipped them into his jacket pocket. Then he reached down and pulled hers off before she could protest. With both of them ungloved, he held hers in is. "Isn't this just so wonderful?"


(I'm totslly creeping myself out..)

Alice tried her hardest to scratch him anything, nothing was working. She was strapped down tight, and she needed a way out. This was the man who killed a bag of rabbits to pain a portrait of blood of her on the side of The Wayne Manor, This was the man who had put a mindcontrol device on Karmy and attacked Nicole and Wintergreen, this was the man who had broken into the Batbunker, snuck into Barbara's room and hung her on a noose while she was already injured. There was no way to get out. She began to scream.

"Oh no no my darling." Mad Hatter quickly shoved a piece of cloth in Alice's mouth to shush her. "No need for screaming, after all," he placed a glove on her face, feeling the tender warmth of her cheek. "You're home now. I wont let anyone take you away from me."

Zero ducked out of the way of the swarming rockets, and with Metallo now distracted by luna, he was able to put the two down. Metallo's cables had done ther damage, but Zero made sure they were 100% unbound and used hsi healing abilites to the best he could. The fight with Metalo was proving tot ake its toll, and he didn't dare deplete himself while he was still on the rampage. Onc ehe noticed Cyrah starting to come to, he went back to help Luna and the others...

"oof!" metalo wa ssduprised by Luna's atack and reeled a few steps before regaining his composture. "Why you little punk!" He snarled. And that's when he saw it- a forklift, used for moving items about the warehouses. It was time to turn the tables- his black cables shot out, and effortlessly disembered the forklift, hauling the parts to Metallo. Absorbing the mechanical mass, his armor became bulkier, and a pair of chainguns formed on his arms. Metallo sneered at the heroes gathered before him, ready for one of them to make the first move.

Alice didn't know what to do or what was going to happen. She couldn't feel the blood circulating through the hand that The Mad Hatter was holding. Couldn't he see that she was terrified of him? The cloth in her mouth made Alice gag for air, she was choking on it and struggling until she finally fainted.

"Son of a...." Ivy whispered, eyes locking with the guns. If she was behind him, she could attack safely. Now...to actually get behind him.
---
Poison Ivy felt some pity for Jervis. So insane he had to kidnap girls named Alice to keep up the illusion of Wonderland in his head. He was mad in almost every way, except to himself. To himself, all else were mad. A real pitiful story.

Of course, it was lessened by the fact Poison Ivy would have loved to kill Alice right there.

"Casey!" Karmy looked up at him as she struggled against the ropes. "Could you untie us? We need to get out of here." she said. Too anyone around her, it seemed like she was talking to herself.

---

The Mad Hatter pulled the cloth out and tied it back around his neck. "You rest now Alice." he said standing back up. "I have some work to finish and then everything will be.." he walked over to the desk and began working again. "Perfect.

Cyrah looked at Karmy blankly, rubbing her head as she grogilly got ther feet. She looked at Karmy with concern. "Uhm, K, we're untied already...." She said, mildly concerned. The metal around ehr stomach was crumpled from Metallo's cables, but otherwise, she was in relativeley good condition.

"Oh." Karmy said looking down at her hands. "Thanks Casey!" she rose up to hug him but her ribs felt like they were on fire. She ignored the pain and stood up to look at Cyrah. "Where is everyone?"

The smoke was still high in the air and Metallo was still fighting the Riders, there was a moment of silence but suddenly a voice broke that silence. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" A black claw shot out of the smoke and blasted Metallo. The smoke cleared, revealing Raven and Robin in fighting stance.

Raven glided to Luna's side; she hand her hands aglow. "If we hit him at the same time we can deliver stronger blows." She said charging up, "You ready kid?" She asked.

Batgirl landed behind them, "Where did those two go?" she asked. "And where's Alice, Luna?"

Ivy rejoiced. Back up! "Thank lord you showed up!" Metallo was so going down! But now....how could she attack? Air....no...Water, no way. Earth, she could hurt the others with an earthquake....Fire it is!

Her hands sparked, launching a fire ball at the metal man's side.