Ascension 2

Chapter 35: Oracle of Delphi Part Three. 

"Alright then, Oracle."

Nightwing was prompt and quick to get to work. He decided that it was prudent to tell her what he was doing. "Just….trying to get you onto the network with Black Canary and Batman, that way you could talk to them directly."

"Oh?" she asked, she thought about trying to break onto the network. He just saved her the trouble by giving her a direct hookup.

"I'm sure someone of your capabilities would be able to find a way onto the Network," Harry continued. He continued to patch her through. "So are we all linked up now?"

"Yes, testing, um hi," Oracle said, realizing how awkward and clunky she sounded.

Black Canary snickered but they grew seriously. "We can hear you loud and clear."

Batman only had one thing to say in his usual Batman manner. "Yes."

"Okay….now down to business," Oracle said and Nightwing wondered if she was rubbing her hands together with glee. He allowed her to get that out of her system. "There are some locations….that we have to take care of."

"Yes, and soon," Batman reminded her. Batman wanted to get this show on the road and right away.

"So the Train Graveyard in the Industrial District?" Dinah prompted, deciding to jump on to take things after the list of the locations was given. "I think that I'll take care of that one."

"If you think that will be for the best….."

Black Canary cut Oracle off, barely suppressing the smile. "Trust me, I think that I know my way around there well enough I'll be fine."

Oracle nodded as she consulted the list. "And then from there, there's a restaurant owned by one of the big time mafia bosses. They'd kill to get their hands on this hardware."

'Literally,' Kara said. Even though that went without saying here in Gotham City, the blonde just had to say it. She could not resist saying it.

"Yes….so I'll take that one?" Black Canary inquired, ready for action and ready to bust some heads. Especially given that her fight with her mysterious pursuer was cut extremely short, she itched for some action.

She would be able to clear both sites with the greatest of ease. Without another word, Black Canary was ready to ride. Throwing herself over her bike, she made sure her communication was within an arm's length. Then she road off into the night.

"Monarch Theater and Solomon Wayne Courthouse….do you think that you can handle that one?' Nightwing asked Batman. He got the long Batman glare of discontent but there was a nod right after it. Both of them knew precisely why Harry suggested it.

"Yes."

One word, three letters, done shortly, bluntly, and it told them all that needed to know. Nightwing was one of the few that would not even blink due to the Batman glare. The man climbed down and landed on the Batmobile.

'Say what you want about that guy, but he does have a sweet ride,' Donna commented idly through the bond link and there was a lot of nodding for everyone.

'I'd say,' Diana whispered as she could see from Harry's point of view the Batmobile driving off.

'Well we might need to get something like that in the future,' Harry said and he decided to return back to business.

"So that leaves me the Gotham City Opera House and the Clock Tower?"

"Correct," Oracle confirmed, double checking to ensure that nothing else. "We're clear to go."

'Clock tower is fitting considering you do own it,' Sersi replied.

'Oh do tell?'

Harry was caught off guard by this sudden burst of news. Jaime decided to fill him in.

'You recall how we were looking into safe houses?'

Harry did recall, that was one of their big pet projects. 'Yes but….'

'Well that is one of our safe houses, it's been ready, just hadn't really been an opening to bring it up until now.'

Harry was not going to lie, he was impressed by the work of his girls. Then again, he would be kind of a huge jerk if he was not impressed.

"Right," Harry said as he switched back to Oracle. "We're going to stay in touch…."

"I'll let you know if there is any more police traffic and….good luck….to all of you if you can hear me."

Nightwing was sure that sentiment was appreciated but never the less, it was time for him to head out into the night.

"Come….come with me my brothers, I'll show you the light. Walk upon my path for if you stray, you will get claimed by the buzzards of despair."

The two homeless gentlemen walked worthless beside the Deacon and his apostles for lack of a better term. They were walking through one of the poorest districts of Gotham City, a place where many people were left for dead, left at the side of the road.

"I see it around me, I see a world that people don't want to acknowledge, my friend. But you see, I'm not blinded. Rather, I've seen the light, and you look around you. Most people would see filth, despair, and the waste of society. Those who have been cast off….cast off, like an old pair of shoes. But….I see something differently my friends. I see it before me, I see the opportunity that life will bring forth. And just because the lambs have straggled off to the side, does not mean…."

He paused as his men dragged two of the beaten goons across the ground.

"Just because the lambs have straggled from the main herd, does not mean that a preacher….well he shouldn't be less responsible for him. No, he must show them the way. For this world, this world, man, it swallows up even the most righteous without a net."

They kept walking down the street, passed the graffiti tagged walls on the condemned buildings, past the smell of piss and shit. Past the condemned signs, past the broken bottles, stained streets, a place that was not going to get cleaned up any time soon.

"My Daddy….well my Daddy told me many things. He put the fear of God at me, he made me appreciate, he made me learn, my Daddy did. Because when I looked in his eyes, I saw Satan himself, and I saw the horror, the horror, my brothers."

The sermon continued as the two homeless men looked a bit terrified. The more vocal one seemed more disturbed. They were willing to follow along with the men and they noticed that there were some other homeless men who joined the progress. They recognized one of their friends who vanished a week ago, a bit better dressed than he was, wearing a brand new pair of shoes.

All of them were wearing new pairs of shoes and better clothes.

"It has been condemned and forgotten, just like you have been condemned and forgotten, my brothers."

A church that had recently been condemned stood before them all. It had been converted into a part church/part homeless shelter.

"Take them to the basement with the other sinners," the Deacon whispered in a cold and chilling voice and the gangsters were dragged off by the two large men to parts unknown.

"What's in the basement?" the more vocal of the two homeless men said.

"My brother, prey to the good lord above that you never find out," the Deacon said to the men as he took them to a cot. "This church was once a place of worship but it fell to the sins of Gotham City. And now it is a place of rebirth, and you will be reborn all of you. Gotham City thought that they could condemn you, like it condemned this church, but those who rise above, will be rewarded with the promise that I give you."

The Deacon turned towards them all and they were hanging on his every word.

"I have seen the Devil, and I know that he is out there, dressed in black. He preys upon those who cannot defend themselves. I have seen signs that there is a reckoning coming. Green fire rained before my very eyes. They call it a meteor shower but I call it a reckoning. I call it proof that the world will burn….and if I do not protect my herd, they will be the first to go. The righteous often get taken so the wicked could spare themselves."

This rambling monologue might have been lost on many people but the homeless sat there, completely spellbound.

"All will be relieved in due time."

The Deacon turned around to see his two men exit the basement. One of them had blood on his hands but the door shut behind him. They made their way to another wing of the church.

"For those who have forsaken, time is not on your side."

SWAT toppled to the ground like nine pins behind the Solomon Wayne Court House in Gotham City. The smoke cleared as the Dark Knight stepped out, the final one of Black Mask's goons falling down onto the ground with a thud.

The crates were forward and Batman made his next movement. After double checking the contraband, he saw that it was the guns. They were all here, to the letter.

Once he located all of the crates, he started to rig a demolition charge around them. He could not afford to leave one of them on the street.

Stepping back into the shadows, Batman pressed a bottom and he waited for that confirmation.

BOOM!

This would be one set of guns that the SWAT would not be cycling back into the underworld in Gotham City. Black Mask's goons were down for the count as far as he could see. He double checked to make sure they were secure and it was off into the night.

Back into the Batmobile he went, he stepped on the gas and gunned down the streets.

"So, did you get the first location?" Alfred asked.

"Yes," Batman replied, he did not have any humor to his voice, any emotion, it was short, sweet, and to the point everything he said. The Batmobile hurled down the street, which it was abandoned, for the most part. After the recent bout of Gang activity, people were heeding the warning to stay indoors after dark, at least for a short while.

That would not last that long.

"I've got the next location in your computer, sir."

"Thank you."

Batman said nothing more, he prepared his vehicle for this next location. He activated pacification mode on the Batmobile.

Once that was done, he tapped a button underneath the steering wheel. The hood slid open and another press of the button ejected him from the vehicle.

Reaching his trajectory, Batman activated a glider mode of sorts upon his cape. He followed above the Batmobile as it drove on the ground. If nothing else, it would give him the element of surprise and act as an amazing decoy to hopefully lure his adversaries into a trap.

The Batmobile stopped, was silent, then it launched its attack. Tear gas and flash bang grenades propelled themselves out of the top of the Batmobile, landing down onto the ground with a solid thump as it connected.

The SWAT and the armored goons looked up. They could see the bangs, the smoke, the gas, and they were there.

Batman came down from the heavens with a huge leaping attack, his arm extended. He clotheslined the goon down to the ground, his head bouncing off of the pavement.

The next goon barely shouted "it's the Bat" before he was knocked down in the back of the head and flung over the top of his head onto the hood of the parked car.

Two knifes stabbed towards him but he was gone, up into the air. The smoke had not quite cleared and the goons scrambled around like chicken's with their heads cut off.

The ropes were wrapped around their legs and they were hoisted up halfway from the ground. They hung from the lightpost, their buddies rushing in to cut them down. SWAT and goons, it didn't matter to anyone, for they were struck down with the force of vengeance.

Broken bones, spilled blood, cracked pavement, one could name a list of things that happened with this situation. Regardless they were all put down for the count, their skulls cracked as hard as could be down to the ground.

It was time to uncover the next set of weapons with all of them down.

"A bit on the rougher side, wouldn't you say sir?"

Alfred, being Alfred, could not help but input his commentary.

"They were wearing body armor," Batman said, rigging up more explosives to get this set of cracks. They wouldn't be waking up outside of the hospital. "And they would have killed me if I let up."

"Well you do have a good point," Alfred conceded, as he threw his head back and sighed. "I do in fact hope that the Gotham City Police Department does have decent dental along with whoever those hoods worked with."

"Time to move," Batman said, not really registering his butler's attempt at humor. The guns on the street had got him focused and it was rather disturbing how focused he could be.

The fact that these people would likely be back on the streets by the next weekend made him feel even less sorry about the beat down he preformed on them.

The final one dropped down to the ground, his throat gripped in a chokehold. The fact that his backup had been knocked out registered in his head, only seconds before his head hit the pavement.

The SWAT Team stationed around the area of the Clock Tower did not know what hit them. All of them were knocked out before they realized that something had struck them and struck them hard. Their weapons were first disabled carefully and then they were disabled as well.

The green eyed ninja in the shadows smiled as he checked to make sure they were unconscious, then he could proceed.

"Well, that was easier than I thought it would be," Oracle whispered and Nightwing smiled, clearing his throat. "Right….we're about half way there, all you need to do is deal with this and then….."

"Don't worry, I've got this one," Nightwing commented, looking over his shoulder and stepping forward. The buyers did not show up yet and it was obvious that the SWAT was here, spreading out, in an attempt to negate some kind of double cross.

The real double cross was when Harry took them out. He waited for potential back up or any of the buyers but he had nothing.

"They don't know that you're here," Oracle said but Nightwing did respond for a few seconds, seeing the crates there.

"I know, element of surprise, it's an amazing thing," Harry replied, carefully shifting through the crates.

"First sight has been dealt with," Black Canary chimed in and there was a sound of jubilation with all of them.

"Great that means that we're halfway there," Oracle said in a gushing voice and Black Canary and Nightwing were both amused but said anything. "Right….sorry, I'll be quiet….."

"We got about a few minutes before the buyers are due to arrive," Harry said, checking the message on the phone of one of the fallen SWAT officers. It was a confirmation made just before Harry arrived about the arrival and potential pick up.

"Wow, you are that amazing….well of course you are amazing, I mean, you already know that, I mean I already knew that," Oracle rambled with Black Canary and Nightwing snickering.

"Well, what do you know anyway?"

"Um…lots of things, trust me, loads of stuff," Oracle said, wondering if she should state any of the theories she had. If she was right, she was a genius but if she was wrong….well she wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

'I wonder if she's put two and two together?' Dinah asked Harry and the green eyed wizard responded by snickering as he slowly set things up.

'Let her admit it,' Harry said as he continued to shift things around.

'You're just having too much fun watching her dance around her theories about you,' Kara suggested and Harry smiled, a true "guilty as charged" expression on his face. He didn't say any more words but there was nothing that needed to be said.

'Well, it is amusing,' Zatanna chimed in and there was a lot of agreement between the two of them.

'I'm off to the Train Graveyard now,' Dinah reported, and she did the same thing over the communication link.

"Keep us posted," Harry said as he continued to rig the trap. When the buyers showed up, they would have a nasty surprise.

They thought that just because the crates were laying there, they would get the freebies. Especially with the SWAT down on the ground but Harry was going to make them think twice about this.

The moment they opened the back of the truck with the guns, the stun grenades would go off. That would pack quite a punch and leave these particular gentlemen down for the rest of the evening.

Then when that was done, a thermite grenade would fry the guns, destroying them, burning them. He figured and his partners were in agreement, that if the police just confiscated them, the same thing could happen again. The weapons would once again be sold again and again.

Harry waited for the magic to happen. The buyers might be a little late but that allowed him to get a bird's eyes view. He perched on the light post, bent down ,and listened.

Sure enough a limo pulled up and he was magic time.

"They're here."

Dinah whistled as she looked around. This should be an easy enough opportunity in theory but things that were easy in theory and things that were easy in practice were two different things. That being said, she had plenty of cover. It was just figuring out a way to creatively use it. If she could avoid a direct fight with her adversaries, just take them out quickly, that would be for the best.

She watched and much to her surprise, she was pretty sure that this group of thugs worked with the Penguin. Perhaps the cagey bird made a last second outbid of Sionis or perhaps they had some misinformation. Regardless, that was what she had.

And they were armed, which told Dinah all she needed to know about taking them out quickly and quietly. She ambled around the train graveyard.

One thug got picked off rather quickly, pulled into the shadows. He was the easiest to pick off, being one of the stragglers from the group.

The SWAT or the goons did not notice anything right now, so Dinah kept to the shadows. A small party went to the truck, leaving about half of them standing around, shooting the shit.

"Hope the goods are worth it because I'm freezing my balls off."

"From what I heard, you don't have no balls, your old lady took those in the divorce, Frankie."

There was some laughter that quickly went silence when Dinah disabled the two nearest thugs. The other two went down off the ground, landing hard with a thud.

A fifth thug turned around and spotted her. Stealth was not going to work here, especially when he pointed that dangerous weapon in her general area. Thinking quickly, Dinah kicked back her leg and knocked it out of his hand. Then a second kick nailed him in the face.

The goons and the SWAT team members moved out into the light immediately and looked around.

"Something out here, this better not be a double cross," a man growled, getting into one of the SWAT teams face. "Because the boss will make sure that you wake up in the river the next morning….."

"Not a double cross," another thug stated as he turned his head around and looked into the shadows.

Black Canary darted out of the shadows, using an acrobatic attack to kick her adversary in the back of the head.

The enemy crashed down onto the ground, and they began to fire at her. Black Canary stopped and did a Canary Cry, which did an excellent job in disabling the weapons.

The SWAT team rushed her, swinging clubs at her, but Black Canary caught one of them in her hand. She slid underneath the leg and caused him to flop onto his back. It hit the pavement with a loud crack that echoed in every direction.

She cracked two of the SWAT members in the back of the head and caused them to get out.

One of the Penguin thugs reached for the gun. She did not want that to happen. Bending her knees, she leapt high into the air, and came down right onto the arm of the adversary, breaking it underneath her assault.

The majority of the goons both Penguin and SWAT were down onto the ground. Dinah took them out with lightning fast fury, before they could even fire upon her. That was never a bad sign.

One of the Penguin goons thought that he could get away, not only from her, but with the goods and without paying for them. He made his way behind the wheel of the truck, not even bothering to buckle up as he gunned it as far as he could go.

The truck began to speed as far away from her as possible and Dinah delivered a deliberating Canary Cry. This action caused the truck to flip over, causing the crates to fly out and the man to scream in terror as he was flipped over.

He survived but walking might be very difficult for a while, if ever.

Dinah checked to make sure that there was no one else coming.

"Okay, both down, as soon as I destroy them," Black Canary reported in to Oracle and sure enough, once the charges were set, the guns were destroyed. They went up in a fiery inferno.

"Great," Oracle said, jubilation dripping from her voice. "All we have to do is wait for Nightwing to get the last batch and these things will be off of the streets for good."

'On route now,' Harry reported to his bond mates.

'Seems to be easy,' Faora thought, but perhaps it was a bit too easy. Thankfully she did not have to tell Har-Zod to proceed with caution because he already knew.

Vicki Vale had no idea how she got herself into these fixes but the fact of the matter that she was in the van, her hands and feet were bound. The gun on her temple was not necessary but it did have that wonderful bonus of scaring her witless. The Ex-Presidents Gang had cashed in.

"Well, we got a bonus right here, we've got both a hostage and a witness and she can tell about our grand heist, and how we're going to rule Gotham City!"

The red bandana man said this statement in a completely jubilant voice with Vicki squirming and shaking.

She hoped that the police would catch up to the vehicle and the sirens were on them.

"Hey….hey, I'm the President of the United States, you can't do this to me!" one of the members of the gang yelled, the man in the Nixon mask. "I AM NOT A CROOK!"

He held up a gun at those words and began to fire on the police. The loud bang, bang, bang indicated that the police returned fire.

"Hang on, Tricky Dicky, this is going to be a bumpy ride," the driver of the car said, not quite buckled up. He had no idea how accurate those sentiments would be.

Vicki was trying to remain calm, even the gun was pressed against her head as her main captor was firing out of the building with another weapon.

A bullet came close to striking her. It was obvious that the police didn't know there was a hostage, didn't care, or knew it was her, and really didn't care. Regardless Vicki whimpered through her gag but she tried to remain calm.

The van skidded to a stop and it struck hard against a lightpost. There was the sound of shattering glass, with the driver flying head first.

"And that's why you always should wear a seat belt," the red bandanna man said as he kicked the door open and grabbed Vicki, using her as a shield. Four more men fired at the police as they got to a stop. The van was totaled but they had more than one plan on the offing.

Vicki thought that she was screwed being in the middle of this, in between both sets of bullets. She didn't believe in miracles until tonight but the fact that she did not get hit, that would classify as one.

The men were shaken and Vicki thought that she might be able to get away. The firm grip that the red bandana man and the man in the Nixon mask had on her, dragging her into the nearby apartment shot that plan in the ass.

Speaking of being shot in the ass, Vicki was very much aware of how close some of those shots got. She had the breath pretty much driven out of her as her eyes grew completely wide.

James Gordon turned up on the scene, seeing the hostage and the gang, who had forced their way inside an apartment. Gordon assumed that it must have belonged to one of the men in question and until he had information that was different, he would have to say that these men had the home field advantage.

"What do we do now….."

"Call in the SWAT," Gordon grumbled, he hated having to rely on them for something like this. But these men were a bit well organized and they had committed several crimes. This was one of those hostage situations that every cop knew that they were going to feel.

The fact that the windows were at a position where they were sitting ducks did not exactly make Gordon feel optimistic.

"SWAT said that they'll be on their way in about fifteen minutes, they're short handed tonight."

Gordon might have wondered why they were short handed tonight but that was something that he would hash out with Brandon when the time came. His teeth gritted as he looked over his shoulder.

"Behind the barricade, and try and not harm the hostage, take the other four now."

"I thought I saw a fifth perp!"

Gordon nodded, he was not sure if they were speaking of the driver who was currently laying on the pavement, his brain matter splattered everywhere or if there was five not including the driver. He waited for the SWAT, who took their sweet time to show up.

X-X-X

Five out of six sites were taken care of but it would soon be six out of six sites. The last goon dropped to the ground. It was a quiet night, which put the entire group on the edge that something was going to happen.

'Looks like we're about to finish up at the same time,' Harry thought to Dinah, listening to make sure none of them were playing possum. When SWAT goons and mob goons alike were taken out, Harry had the crates out and ready to go. They were rigged and ready to explode.

'Perfect timing,' Harry thought to her and the rest of the group. 'With one more move, that will be it and we'll be wrapping things up.'

"So, any sign of trouble?" Nightwing reported to Batman.

"Both of my sites have been taken out."

"Both of mine are as well," Black Canary reported to clarification.

"And that leaves me to finish off this last sight….right about now."

There was a click, a second click, and a loud explosion that knocked the guns out. Harry was not going to lie, he felt some smug satisfaction at the fact that they kept these weapons off the street. He wondered if this had been going on before now. Well that didn't matter, he was going to keep this set of weapons off of the street.

"Great, good, we've got them all," Oracle said as she popped in in a cheerful voice. "Well….mostly it was you got them all but….I helped….."

"You did and we appreciate that," Harry replied and Oracle looked extremely flushed before she chirped up with one word.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it, we wouldn't even have found out about this, I'm sure Black Canary and Batman would agree."

"Yes, you did well, Oracle," Black Canary replied and Batman inputted his own two cents in his usual gruff manner.

"Yes, thank you."

"So, you destroyed them all, right?" Oracle asked, she just wanted to confirm that one more time.

"Yes, something like that, it's just going to turn around and put right back on the street," Nightwing said and there were many nods.

'Well, that wrapped up easier than expected,' Amanda chimed in and there was angry shushing by her sister, Donna, and Kara.

'Do not under any circumstances ever say that something wrapped up easier than expected,' Nym said crossly. She got a three hour lecture from Moody about that once.

'Sorry but you got to admit….'

'No we don't,' Emily said, cutting her sister off in a fretful voice, crossing her arms together with each other and folding her legs.

She half expected something to come in.

"Branden's going to find out about our handiwork pretty soon," Black Canary chimed in and one could not see anything but Oracle appeared slightly amused.

"Well, I'm sure he will but the three of you…"

Oracle stopped and she could hear something come in.

"Oracle, are you still there?" Nightwing asked after the silence went on for far too long for his comfort. His green eyes flushed with a tiny bit of concern but Oracle had her mouth opened and then she shut it once again.

"You guys…..well you might want to listen to this."

'MANDY!' Emily shouted and Amanda crossed her arms.

'Don't look at me I didn't do this….'

'Ladies,' Harry said in a stern reprimand.

"Oracle, put it on, I'm sure all three of us are going to need to know about this."

Right, just a second.

"The goons dressed up as former United States Presidents have knocked off the charity event for the Boys and Girl Scouts Club of Gotham City. Their van crashed, one was dead on route but the others, along with their hostage have fled into an abandoned parking lot, calling all available SWAT units to the area, we have a hostage crisis."

'Maybe tonight didn't end as well as we thought,' Faora thought, crossing her hands together and she did hope that things would not end up so bad.

"The hostage is blonde, blue eyes….approximately between twenty two and twenty six years of age, hang on she dropped something….her press pass….it's Vale."

"I told you it was her," James Gordon's voice said to the other cop and there was an argument that was over the network.

'Well, Miss Vale can't keep herself out of trouble tonight,' Amanda chimed in through the link.

Harry said nothing but he smelled a rat. He was not sure what that rat looked like yet though.