School of Power

Broken Barriers

Bane looked at the monitor on the desk, grinning. His menace had worked: he had put nukes over all of three Gotham's bridges, threatening to blow all of them up if a Supe showed up to interfere with his business. Alongside him, there was the prize that his benefactor had requeired from him: a little portal opened in front of him, and his master (even if he would have never called her that) appeared. She opened her hand, without opening her eyes, and he obliged, taking the object he had beside him and handling her said object: the crystal started to flow up a little, and it went through the portal. She smiled a little, and he asked -Are you satisfied?- -Yes. And now, your reward: enjoy your time with our designed enemies-. He smiled openly, put on his mask and yelled orders at his soldiers: it was finally time to start the second phase.

The portal flashed the night with a dark blue light for a few seconds, before the team came out from it, and it disappeared. Heinrich, having come out first as his duties as a leader required, checked quickly if someone had noticed their arrival, but apparently, people in Gotham were either too afraid to check on what had briefly enlightened the street or were already dead. He didn't know which option was worst. Alice came out right after him, her symbiote now full covering her, tendrils already coming out from her back and hands, in case it was needed. Avalon and Anthony followed, the Queen girl with her bow ready in her hand, and Anthony with his scanners on: he scanned quickly the zone around them, then reported -My scans don't reveal anything dangerous for us. There are people in some of the buildings, but they're not a threat for us- -Good to know- replied Osborne while he turned to check on the team. -You don't say, the Tin Man is actually useful- joked Alice, her voice modified by her symbiote form while looking at Heinrich to see if he was laughing, but she then followed the direction he was looking at, and saw that Adora, the last one to come out from the portal alongside Zion, had frozen on the spot, with a hand covering her mouth. Zion had noticed and had instinctively reached for her free hand and squeezed it, trying to make her feel she was there for her. -Oh my God- whispered the Wayne girl, looking at the desolation around them: cars were destroyed and actively burning, casting a dim light that didn't help at all to ease the situation, it made it worse. The sky was full of smoke from fires coming not only from the cars, but also from other fires spreading from the city. Signs of havoc were showing on the streets, and dead bodies of cops were disposed on a wall, with a blood sign written over them "This is our city". Adora thought she could handle that, but she fell on her knees, while Zion said -Adora! - following right after, putting her hand on her friend's shoulder. -Get used to it child- stated harshly Alice, pissed more at the attention that Heinrich had reserved at her, and while Avalon looked at her dead serious, their team leader moved a little, and squatted right in front of Adora, looking at her -Can you handle this? – he asked emotionless. She trembled a little, but then held tight Zion's hand, and nodded -Yeah. Yeah, I can- -Good. Because we need to move- Heinrich got back up and looked at Anthony -Does your armor have projectors? - -Yes, I have some of them in my helmet, and also in my hand for a little holographic image if needed--The helmet- cut it shortly Heinrich while looking at his notepad, and after some seconds, Anthony's armor received some files to download. A projector activated in his helmet and it casted a hologram in front of them.

-Ok team, this is how we'll work- said Heinrich, while the hologram zoomed on a big construction -Bane works methodically, and if his army is strong enough to conquer this city, it will be probably because of his Venom. This place showed here is the Ace Chemicals: a great chemical industry on the East Side of Gotham, planted on one of the little islands of Gotham, connected to the rest of the city with a bridge. If he's manufacturing Venom, he's probably doing it there- -So we're bursting up crackheads? – asked Adora interrupting him, trying to show to the others and to herself that she wasn't too impressed by the state of her city. -It wouldn't be our first time- replied Alice without looking at her, and Heinrich simply nodded -Some of us will, yes, but that's not all- he pressed another couple times on his pad, and the hologram shifted, showing all of the block they were at the moment -Bane's experience as a military makes him predictable in his conquest tactics: take control of every block by instituting a base in every important point of the city. His men are probably instituting a base in the zone we're right now, and are probably going to patrol this zone, so we don't have much time. Two of us are going to take a look at the troops and try to follow them from above to find said base. After you find it, report to me- another shift on the hologram, that projected the shoreline of the docks -Lastly, I have checked a little thing personally: how Bane transports his army. A ship is going to dock soon, and I think some of his men are on it. We're going to need a big concentration of fire power there to stop the ship, sinking it down if needed, so that his army will suffer some complications and will need to reorganize-. The team nodded, and Avalon, while tinkering a little with a couple of her arrows, asked -So, three groups? - -Affirmative- replied Heinrich -Do you think it's a good idea to split up? - -No, but it's our best option. Of course, each one of us more experienced will go with one of the new guys- Zion and Alice hearts both sank a little: both of them wouldn't have been able to go with the person they wanted to be the most, since Zion and Adora were both new and Alice and Heinrich were both experienced. -This will be the groups- stated the leader while tapping on his notepad, projecting the three locations at the same time. Everyone held their breath, waiting to know who was going to be their teammate -Zion and Avalon are going to search for the mercenaries' base in the zone. Avalon has the stealth experience, and Zion can use her magic to cover them up or intervene if something goes wrong- the two girls shared a look, but neither of them said something, they just nodded. Alice, in the back of her mind, was about to burst: se knew that she couldn't be with Heinrich, so that would have surely meant that he would have paired himself with that Batbitch, leaving her with the Tin Man. Boy, was she wrong. -Anthony and I will go to the Ace Chemicals and make ourselves sure to shut down their production of Venom- a single second of silence followed this statement, followed by a confused Adora murmuring -Wait, does this mean...- while looking at Alice, who hadn't moved her gaze from Heinrich: her mask had vanished, leaving space for her eyes to come out, and if it was possible, she looked even more intimidating. Zion gasped a little, worried for her friend. -Really, Heinrich? – asked Alice, her voice higher than the rest of the conversation -Keep it quiet- he replied, but the girl was in no mood for quietness -This is your best solution? – she almost screamed, looking a little at Adora, before moving her eyes back to Heinrich. Adora normally would have reacted, even if she was a little intimidated, but their team leader was quicker -I said keep it quiet, or lower if you can't truly contain yourself. This is the best plan of action: Anthony and I are the most competent when it comes to chemistry, and you are our best asset coming to destruction capacities- -That doesn't mean I should bring this child with me- -Hey, the child is here with you- spoke Adora, before a tendril coming out from Alice's back stopped an inch from her face -Shut it, kid. The adults are talking- she replied, her mask back to cover her face, and Adora could have sworn to have seen the girl's eyes on the mask become pointier at the edges for a second. -I'll just go alone- said the Venom's daughter, before Heinrich stood tall in front of her and approached her, grabbing her tendril and moving it away from Adora's face. -Absolutely not- he said with a tone that didn't leave space for insubordination -Going alone is exactly what most of the heroes in this city have done, and they all died. Adora knows Gotham, she'll lead you through the best approaching point at the docks. End of the story- Alice's tendril disappeared back in her costume, and she tried one last time to lament, her voice much lower than before -I'm not those weakling heroes of this fucked up reality...- but before she could go on, Adora interrupted her -Oh come on, stop arguing with our leader and just follow orders. I'm not fond of you either, but I'm not throwing a tantrum- she acted impulsively, thinking about defending her father and family of this dimension, even though they weren't exactly her own, but to her it didn't matter: she wasn't going to let anyone disrespect her people. Alice turned her head towards her, her talons growing, but she stopped after a second, and just stayed still, her suit adjusting itself. -Fine- she said after a time that had seemed interminable. -Then we're on: everyone knows their objective. Remember, killing is our last option here. I'd prefer to keep people alive but value your own life over theirs. And protect your teammate at every cost- concluded Heinrich, before the projector from Anthony's helmet turned off -Care to give me a ride? – he asked, to which the boy replied -Yeah... no problems- with a couple of seconds of hesitation, probably due to a little embarrassment. Heinrich crawled over his back and said -I'll guide you- he turned his head over his other four teammates -Good luck out there- and the two started to fly, keeping a low altitude so that possibly air vehicles couldn't spot them.