A pink energy blast suddenly discharged from her wrist, hurtling straight towards you. Your eyes widening, you threw yourself to the right as the blast dissipated into smoke upon hitting the ground. Rolling on your shoulder, you took a half second to aim before throwing the Batarang while still on one knee.
As the projectile hurled through the air, Star Sapphire erected a protective pink bubble around herself, acting as a makeshift force shield. As soon as the Batarang connected, it detonated in a small explosion that quickly encased her in a cloud of smoke.
Your eyes narrowed as the smoke cleared, leaving the villainess virtually unharmed. Retracting her shield, she leered at you before raising her ring arm.
Suddenly, a giant violet mallet the size of a motorcycle suddenly materialized out of nothing, connected by a stream from her raised wrist. Visualizing the construct, a coy grin crossed her face before she slammed down with her fist, subsequently bringing the mallet construct down on you.
Back flipping in the air, you landed on your hands before performing a swift handspring, evading the construct. Just as your metal-plated boots touched the floor yards away, her construct demolished the spot where you had been standing seconds earlier, before shattering into energy shards.
Reaching into your utility belt, you hurled a trio of Batarangs her way, watching as the sleek projectiles raced towards the target.
“You never learn, do you?” she taunted, before flying towards you. Weaving her body in mid-air with the grace of an eagle, she was able to evade the projectiles before they even disrupted her violet aura. Energy materializing in her wrist, she then projected a power beam from her hand.
Thinking on your feet, you lunged to the right, rolling to your feet as soon as the beam penetrated a solid inch through the spot your palm had been seconds before. You continued running along the rooftop’s edge, as she hovered above the ground.
Raising her other hand, she rained down another power beam on you, which only disintegrated the nearby air conditioning unit that you just brushed past.Scowling in frustration, she projected another violet energy beam towards you. This time however, the beam managed to clip both your knees, catching you off balance. With a grunt, you tumbled to the floor, your body skidding across the concrete until your metal gauntlets scraped across the surface, acting as makeshift brakes.
Sensing victory, she lowered herself towards you, before raising her arm. Materializing a massive pair of scissors above her head, she grinned eagerly as you struggled to get up.
“Any last words?” she taunted, brandishing the pair of scissors with relish.
“Yeah…” Pushing yourself up on your palms, you instead shot her a sly grin, before replying, “Don’t blink.”
A split second later you hurled a flashbang grenade at her, flicking the ring off while throwing it. Her eyes widened, but before she could think to erect another protective bubble, the grenade exploded in a flurry of blinding colors that momentarily blinded the violet ringbearer.
Recoiling backwards, she desperately tried to shield her eyes as the concussive blast hit her, stunning her for the moment.
Taking advantage, you pulled out your grappling hook before firing it to her left, and disappearing in the confusion.
The mystical aura managed to soften the blow after another few seconds, allowing for her to regain her senses. Scrutinizing the spot where you had been mere seconds ago, she was incensed at this new development.
“I always figured you a coward, Batman,” she spat bitterly, still fuming. She was about to start surveying the streets below when she heard the rustling of fabric above her.
Twirling around, she was taken by surprise as you lunged at her in an aerial leap of faith, your hands outstretched towards her.
Not able to will any constructs, you took advantage of her surprise to ram into her full-on. Wrapping your arms around her forearms, you prevented her from creating any more constructs.
“Unhand me, you foul rodent!” she cried out as you continued to impose your bearhug on her. Writhing her body around in frustration, her mystical aura was beginning to dissipate thanks to her lack of concentration.
“Make me,” you shot back, before tightening your hold over her.
In response, a sly grin suddenly crossed her face, surprising you.
“Certainly,” she responded cheerfully, before leaning in towards you with her crown. Your eyes widened as an energy buildup began materializing through her mystical mask, but by then it was too late.
“Aaarrgghh!” The energy beam drilled right between your eyes, causing a wave of searing pain to surge through your forehead, giving new meaning to the word “headache.”
Lurching backwards as smoke trailed from the wound, you started to plummet back down to Earth, but Sapphire grabbed your ankle in mid-air.
With a cry, she easily lifted your weight overhead before throwing you back down to earth, your body growing limp in your unceremonious descent. With a sickening thud, you landed hard on the concrete, nearly dislocating your shoulder as you tumbled across the rooftop, before finally stopping.
Your padding had thankfully prevented any internal wounds, but you’d definitely be feeling it in the morning. Sapphire descended towards you with a newfound confidence radiating from her, as you struggled to find your footing.
“Arrogant fool! Did you really think your toys would be enough to combat the true power of love?” she mocked, before raising her hand. Subsequently, a pink energy beam began pulsing in her forearm.
Your eyes widened as the power beam slammed into your chest, knocking you off the roof, and flailing in the air.
Smoke trailing from the burnt spot, you grabbed for your grapple hook, but it was too late.
With an ear shattering metallic shriek, you plummeted through the glass window of the warehouse, the skylight exploding in a storm of glass shards. Barely able to maneuver your body, you soon found yourself falling into complete darkness.
An audible grunt escaped your lips as you slammed into something metallic. The wind knocked out of you, several pain-induced winces escaped your mouth. Glass shards still raining down on your cape and cowl, you finally managed to find the strength to push yourself up on one elbow. In doing so, your fingers involuntarily traced a patterned grating on the surface, indicating some kind of walkway.
Groggily looking around, you started to come to, albeit slowly. The glass shards sliding off your cape, you reached out for something to lean on for support, only for your arms to touch a metal bar. Hooking your forearm around it, you used it as support to rise up on one knee, only for the worst possible scenario to materialize.
A blinding light suddenly engulfed your vision, forcing you to shield your visor with your other forearm. Just like that, the ceiling lights croaked on, washing away the darkness and replacing it with an uneasy light.
Finally adjusting to the light, you realized that you were sitting on an observation catwalk, probably to oversee the assembly line below. As you looked around, it finally dawned on you the severity of the situation.
The warehouse looked like it had been abandoned for decades now. Dust accumulated on the conveyor belts, and streaks of rust colored the assorted machinery. The catwalk occasionally croaked as you began to stand up.
“Look who decided to drop in,” came a sultry voice from behind.
Twirling around, you came face to face with Cheetah, her trench coat absent but a taunting grin present.
Her entire body neck down was a cheetah’s body, complete with her signature leopard-spots as well as light brown fur that decorated her entire body. She possessed a slim, very athletic figure. Standing at medium height, her body waist down was more or less the same, except for one thing. Her bared feet were distinctly more human than the rest of her lower torso, normal-shaped toes on each foot instead of the usual three for felines. Interestingly enough, her toenails were weapons themselves, half-inch nails adorning each toe. Her feline tail weaved through the air eagerly.
“You’ve made the biggest mistake of your life, Dr. Minerva,” you growled, standing to your full height.
“Not as much as yours,” she smirked, nodding behind you.
Still leaning against the railing, you craned your neck sideways, only for a sinister figure to step out of the shadows.
Volcana.
Once known as Claire Selton, Volcana was born with a quite particular talent: pyrokinesis, the ability to manipulate fire. However, it was her extraordinary metahuman abilities that removed any semblance of an ordinary life. The government quickly got a hold of her, and tried to turn her into a “living weapon,” neglecting her even the basic human rights. She eventually escaped, and with the federal government still after her, she became what others had groomed her her entire life to be: a living weapon.
Clad in leather black, she wore skintight pitch black pants with crimson red highlights on the sides. She also wore an even tighter pitch black sports bra that wrapped around her chest, leaving her arms and midriff bare. Wearing accompanying black gloves, her bright auburn hair itself was a fiery red lion’s mane that curled all the way down her back. In one hand, she produced a ball of fire, the flames lighting up the insane grin on her face.
“Bat BBQ? My favorite,” she purred, as the flames continued to lick at her fingers.
As if on cue, Star Sapphire entered the warehouse through the broken skylight, her eyes glowing with triumph.
“Poor Batman,” Cheetah chided in a mocking voice. “Not even the League can save you now!”
As the tyrannical three advanced towards you, wearing smug smiles on their faces, your eyes narrowed as you weighted your options.