The members of the Justice League, as well as a few from the Young Justice sat around the large table in the meeting room. Batman was at the head of the table, looking as if he hadn't slept in days. He had been the one to call the emergency meeting and everyone was wondering why.
The more experienced members of the Justice League had pits of worry growing in their stomachs. The world had just learned that Dick Grayson aka Nightwing, the real Nightwing, was alive, and here Batman was calling an emergency meeting. The fact that Nightwing wasn't there worried them. They all figured that the meeting must have something to do with the eldest of the bat children.
Batman finally spoke after what seemed like an eternity. "The court has taken Nightwing."
The hearts of everyone in the room dropped.
"There's one place that he might be, but we're going to need all hands on deck. We aren't just going to go rescue Nightwing, we are going to take down the court once and for all." Batman said, throwing up a holo screen showing a picture of the entrance to the court's underground fortress. "When I was captured by the court a few months ago, this is where they brought me. They have a giant maze which was where they put me, but I believe there is another section of the building where they may be keeping Nightwing. The court is made up of highly trained assassins, some of which are enhanced by a component they call electrum, making them basically unkillable. We can't take this mission lightly. We'll need to be on the top of our game with as much help as we can get. We will meet for the mission at 1700 hours. Go get some rest and bring anyone you know who might be able to help." Batman turned and walked away, signaling that the meeting was at an end.
—
Electricity coursed through Dick's body causing him to scream and writhe on the metal table he'd been strapped to.
The electricity was shut off, leaving Dick twitching and breathing heavily.
"Who are you?" A masked woman asked for what seemed like the millionth time.
"Nightwing." Dick muttered.
Another small shock jolted Dick's body.
"You are Talon, assassin for the court of owls. You obey the Grandmaster." The woman repeated, flipping a switch with sent electricity arcing through Dick's body again.
Grandmaster stepped into the room, staring at Dick as he screamed and struggled on the table. When the electricity was turned off again Grandmaster stepped closer to Dick. This time he asked the question. "Who are you?"
"T... Nightwing." Dick muttered, eyelids drifting closed.
"Have you seen any Progress Dr. Brady?" Grandmaster asked the owl who was standing at the control station.
The woman cleared her throat. "Though it may seem insignificant, he started out this session saying his actual name, Dick Grayson, now he has started saying Nightwing instead. You yourself heard the slip up he made when you asked him who he was this last time. I believe you will have your Talon back after only a few more sessions." The doctor clasped her hands in front of herself, hoping Grandmaster was pleased with the results she had provided.
"That's excellent news Dr. When do you expect to be done?" Grandmaster asked with a smug look on his face.
"If we do another session at midday, and another in the evening, I expect we could be finished by the end of tomorrow."
"Excellent." Grandmaster said, turning to one of the talons who were guarding the door. "You there. Take Talon back to his cell." He called turning and walking away.
The talon walked over to the metal table with Dr. Brady and began helping her remove the equipment and straps from Dick's body. Once everything was removed the talon picked him up and began to carry him back to the cement room he had first woken up in a few days ago. The talon opened the door and dropped Dick to the ground. She paused for a moment, looking at the electrical burns covering Dick's torso as they slowly faded from his skin.
The talon felt bad for Dick, he had been ripped from his home and family. She quickly shook the thoughts from her head. He was the court's talon. He belonged here. Just like her.
—
The large group of superheroes huddled near the entrance to the court's base. Superman used his x-ray vision to see inside, confirming that there were indeed people in the base, lots of them. Unfortunately, Superman couldn't confirm whether Dick was inside or not.
Batman gave the signal to go. M'gann and J'onn phased through the wall and took out the few guards before opening the door for everyone else to get in. The plan was to stay unnoticed for as long as they could, taking out anyone they came into contact with as quietly as possible until they were noticed, then it was just fight, and hopefully, win.
Superman and Batman split off from the group when they got inside, trying their best to blend in with the shadows. They were going to find Dick while the rest of the heros took on the court.
As much as he hated asking for help, especially from Superman, Batman knew that he would have the best chance of helping him to find Dick.
The two heros snuck down the hallway, heading deeper and deeper into the court's underground fortress. Superman led the way down the hallway, trying to scope things out with his advanced hearing and sight. Bruce directed them away from the door he recognized led into the court's maze.
The main section of the underground base was dimly lit with stark white walls and floors. Batman was definitely reminded of the court's maze which had given him the same odd feeling, as if his mind was a piece of glass that this place was bent on breaking.
Not having any knowledge of where to go, Batman pulled Superman into a random room, hoping there would be some way to connect to the mainframe of the building and get a map of some sort.
The room was dark, stretching off into the distance for who knows how long. Batman found a small computer-like screen on the wall with a port below it. He wasted no time hacking in and downloading any useful information to his small gauntlet computer.
"B... I think you should see this." Superman whispered, gesturing to the pods that lined the walls.
Batman walked over to the nearest pod and peered inside. He wiped an arm across the glass to get a better view before stiffening in surprise. Gold eyes stared back at him. It was a woman, her mouth open in a silent scream, fingers clawing at the glass. Batman couldn't help but think of Dick.
"We need to hurry." Batman said, turning back towards Superman and opening the holographic map that conveniently listed the purposes of the different rooms.
"Where do you think he would be?" Superman asked.
Batman thought for a second, going over the different areas in his mind. 'Mess hall, not likely. Training room. Also not likely. He could possibly be in one of the bedrooms. Lab is also a possibility... Containment... that seems promising.'
"B?" Superman asked, drawing Batman out of his thoughts.
Simultaneously, an orange light flicked on in every single pod. Their defrosting cycle was starting. The rest of the heros had been found.
"We better move. Let's check the lab area first." Batman said, sprinting out of the room and following the maze-like corridors to where the lab was supposed to be, all stealth abandoned.
—
Grandmaster opened the door of the containment room. He'd been notified of the arrival of the superheros. They were here to take his Talon... If only they'd waited a few more days. The mind washing process would have been completed and Dick Grayson would have become the perfect talon once again.
Letting out an exasperated sigh, Grandmaster walked into the circular room and looked down at Dick's still body. Another talon had just brought him back from his evening 'electrotherapy' session, and the burns up and down Dick's back and arms were still red and angry looking.
Grandmaster scooped Dick up in one fluid motion, carrying his body out of the room. As he was walking he heard Dick muttering something.
"Nightwing." Dick muttered over and over, the name slurring into itself.
Grandmaster growled and continued walking. There was something he needed to grab. Something that would be very important if things didn't turn out to be in his favor. He may not have gotten Dick back on his side, but if all else failed, he would make sure that the heros wouldn't get him either.
—
Batman was surprised there weren't more people in the halls. He could faintly hear the sounds of fighting in the distance, but he was more focused on the holographic map he held in front of himself.
When Batman and Superman reached the designated lab area, Superman activated his x-ray vision, trying to see if Dick could be inside. There were two people inside, both female from what he could tell.
"What do you see?" Batman asked worriedly.
"There are two people inside." Superman replied.
"Could one of them be Dick?" Batman asked, a sliver of hope finding its way into his mind.
"I don't think so B. They both look female to me."
"Are you sure?" Batman asked, the tone of his voice almost pleading.
"Believe it or not, there are differences in the male and female skeleton." Superman said almost sarcastically.
Batman just grumbled and pulled the holographic map back up on his gauntlet. "Where should we go next?" Batman asked.
"I say we go to whatever containment is, and if we run into anyone on the way there we make them give us any information that they have." Superman said, pointing to the small area on the map.
The containment area wasn't far from the lab and it only took a few minutes for Batman and Superman to be standing in front of an open door leading to the cylindrical room that Dick, unbeknownst to them, had been in only a few minutes before.
"There's blood on the floor over here." Superman pointed out the spot where the gray concrete had been stained with a dark red.
Batman circled the room, looking for anything that might hint at where Dick could be. When he had almost completed a full circle of the room Batman stopped and stooped down, grabbing a small piece of torn fabric. The fabric had a small bat symbol on it, and Batman recognized it as a piece from Dick's favorite pajama pants.
"He was here." Batman muttered.
Superman flew over and placed a reassuring hand on Batman's shoulder. "We'll find him B, but I think we should go help the others right now though. They have hundreds of trained assassins, some of which have advanced healing factors, making them much harder to take out."
Batman sighed in defeat. Superman definitely had a point, and so far their search had amounted to absolutely nothing, besides the knowledge that Dick had been at this facility recently. "Alright." Batman muttered, exiting the room and jogging towards the sound of fighting.