Mission Failed
A Night of the Owls Tie-In!

(NOTE: Mild Language & Violence follows)


Revenge felt...strange standing next to his former partner.

'The partner that abandoned me for a group of unorganized punks.' Revenge reminded himself.

Still, here she was. The only candidate left to help him on his mission in Gotham City. The mission that included hunting down Ice Crystal, who had most likely come to join up with Livewire, Poison Ivy, Catwoman, and Harley Quinn. That wasn't going to happen.

Vendicta was dressed in her normal outfit: Sleeveless pink top that stopped halfway between her chest and her waist. Skin tight purple pants that matched the outline on her top and glasses that hid her identity. A mini-cape that was pink hung behind her and a pink utility belt completed the look.

Revenge's outfit had received an upgrade recently, making him much more 'Red' Revenge.

The two were squatting above an abandoned warehouse when the message came through.

"To all allies of the Bat presently in Gotham, I send this with the greatest of urgency. Tonight the Court of Owls has sent their assassins to kill nearly forty people across this city. The Court's targets are all Gotham Leaders, people who shape this city. I have uploaded a list of the target's names, here. The Court's assassins, the 'Talons', are already en route to their targets. They are highly trained killers with extraordinary regenerative abilities. For many of their targets I fear it may already be too late to-"

A banging came from the other end of the line and Revenge looked at Vendicta.

"I will keep the line to--" more banging. "To the Cave open as long as I can."

"Good Luck, and God help us all."*

"Alfred. I know we aren't exactly who you were thinking of, but we're going to help in any way we can." Revenge said.

"Excellent, Master Bruce told me you might be here." Alfred said. "Head to Haly's Circus and rescue a young 'James Dyni'."

"Why?" Revenge asked, mounting his motorcycle.

"The Haly Circus has long provided the Court of Owls with a new Talon. This young boy, eight years old, is set to be the next Talon. Stop this from happening at ALL costs."

"Understood. Revenge out."

Red Revenge and Vendicta sped off towards the Circus.

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By the time the two arrived, Gotham was apparently lost. The Court of Owl's symbol had appeared in the sky halfway there. Three minutes after paper balloons began bombing Gotham.

The two leapt off of their still moving bikes and ran towards the acrobatic tent. There they found the young eight year old, swinging from a trapeze.

"James!" Vendicta called sweetly.

The boy leapt onto the platform and looked down. He shivered in fear when he saw the two.

"James, we're not here to hurt you!" Vendicta called. "We're here to save you!"

"S-S-Save me?" the boy asked, hugging his knees. "F-F-From who?"

"The Court of Owls!"

The boy continued to shiver.

"Beware the Court of Owls,
That watches all the time,
Ruling Gotham from a Shadow Perch,
Behind Granite and Lime.
They watch you at your hearth,
They watch you at your bed,
Speak not a word of them
Or they'll send the Talon for your head."

Vendicta spoke out the Nursery Rhyme as if it were a sacred chant.

"How do you know that?" Revenge asked.

"I lived in Gotham for a year when I was three." Rose whispered back.

"We're here to save you from the Talon!" Vendicta called.

"W-Wh-Who?"

"That's right, James. Just like a true owl. Hoot for me again."

Revenge and Vendicta turned to see a Talon standing in the doorway.

"We're out of time. You grab the boy and get out of here! I'll stop the Talon!"

"But-"

"NOW!"

Vendicta nodded and shot a grappling line to the platform, swinging up, grabbing the boy and swinging down.

After making sure the boy was gone, Red Revenge turned his attention to the Talon.

"So Batman says you have regenerative abilities." Revenge said, pulling out a handful of daggers. "Lets test the limit of those powers."

Revenge threw the daggers and they impaled themselves in the Talon's chest. He started walking toward Revenge.

"No way." Revenge breathed.

The Talon took out his throwing blades and hit Revenge square in the chest. Revenge growled.

"YOU WANNA PLAY WITH KNIVES?!?!?!" Revenge took out explosive daggers and tossed them into the Talon's chest. They exploded and flesh flew everywhere. But the Talon kept walking.

"What are you?"

The Talon picked up Revenge by the throat.

"I am a Talon for the Court of Owls. For interfering with my mission Red Revenge, both you and the boy will die."

Revenge mentally activated an electrical charge that ran through his suit and threw the Talon through the tent wall, sizzling and smoking. Revenge ran out and hopped on his motorcycle without either stopping, running over the Talon who was already getting up.

"Vendicta! Status!"

"We're on the way to Gotham now!"

"Negative! Get him to the nearest zeta-tube! Now!"

"Affirmative, where are you?"

"I'm trying to get pest control." Revenge growled, looking at the Talon, who was running with inhuman speed after him.

Revenge tossed out target explosives. They rolled down the road and exploded.

"Ha! Re-gen around THAT!"

Revenge turned around and sped onward.


"Revenge?" Vendicta's worried voice came over the comm link.

"What?" The Black Hero asked.

"He got up here somehow. He's holding us from the zeta-tube."

"Im on my way! ETA: two minutes!"

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Revenge arrived on the scene just in time. The Talon had Vendicta pinned to the wall in front of the boy. Throwing knives in hand, he reached up to deliver the final bow when Revenge ran his sword through his back.

"Regenerate around that." Revenge said.

He bent down and helped Rose up.

"It's not dead you know." she said.

"Yeah. Let's get the boy through the zeta-tube." Revenge said.

"Recognized: Red Revenge. A-13. Vendicta. A-11. Unknown Minor."

The trio's particles shifted and a moment later, they were standing in the zeta-tube Artemis often used when teleporting to the Cave. Outside the telephone box was three Talons.

"Manual Override: Red Revenge. A-13. Immediate zeta-teleportation to Watchtower. Priority Alpha."

"Not Recognized. Zeta-Tubes now offline due to critical systems failure."

"DAMN!"

Outside, the Talons were growing impatient.

"I'll distract them." Revenge said. "Get the boy safely out of here. I've sent a red alert to the Warehouse. Emerald will arrive soon with an extraction. Whatever it takes, get him to the extraction point." Revenge said.

Rose kissed him on the cheek. "Be careful."

"No promises." Revenge said, unsheathing his other sword.

Revenge stepped out of the telephone box. "Alright you undead birds. Come at me."

They didn't move.

"I said, come at me!"

The Talons looked at each other and charged. Revenge leaped over them, stabbing one in the forehead before taking another's feet out from under him. But they continued to move, crawl towards him, throw knives. Revenge backed up into a corner. Stupid move, but a necessary one.

"Move! Now!" Revenge yelled.

Rose grabbed the boy and ran.

Everything shifted to slowmotion. Revenge stabbed one Talon in the chest, leaving the sword there. He turned to see the final Talon pulling out two daggers. Revenge leaped at him and tackled him as he threw them. The first missed it's target, Rose.

But the second hit the boy. His eyes rolled back as if he were looking away from the dagger impaled cleanly in his mouth. Then he fell.

"NO!" Revenge yelled.

He grabbed his sword out of the other Talon's back and sliced the final's head off.

"You undead bastards!" Revenge yelled. He stood up, panting, looking at the result of his rage. Blood, black cloth, and a twitching body of the Talon who's head was still attached to his body. Revenge picked him up and punched him in the mouth, knocking his teeth out.

Rose walked over and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Its not your fault." she said.

"But it is, Rose." Revenge said. "I've been a hero for five years. I should've stopped him. I should've sliced off his hand instead of tackling him. I could've saved that boy."

"But he's not dead." Rose said. "I mean he was supposed to be one of them, so he's going to re-generate."

"No, he's not." Revenge said, picking up a tooth and showing the underside of it to Rose.

"The Court of Owl's symbol." Rose whispered.

"This is their regeneration device. They hit him in the mouth. He's gone, Rose."

He looked at the pink-gloved hand on his shoulder. "You can't blame yourself. It was impossible all three of us were going to escape tonight."

"How many times have I done the impossible, Rose. We? How many times have we done the impossible? Two teenagers have saved the world three times."

Rose looked down, unable to answer. She started to say something else, but Sam jerked away from her. "Holly, where are you on extraction?"

"Almost there. Are you two okay?"

"Yeah," Revenge said. "We're fine. Will be. I'll meet you at the extraction point in five minutes."

"I'll be there."

Sam nodded and cut the line. He called his bike mentally. By the time it rolled up, Rose had picked up the boy's body and was ready to return to the BatCave.

"Sam."

The Black Hero raised an eyebrow.

"You did all you could."

Sam nodded and rode off.





*The Call was taken from the Batman Comic Books. Property of DC Comics.