Uninhibited

So what was going to be a 3k one-shot became a 9k monster. Consider this my official entry into the world of Birdflash, after my previous paltry 500 word offering. Can't believe I finally finished it... This was written over a two month period during my daily commutes to and from work, which amounts to about 1.5 hours a day—the only time I have anymore to get any writing done, sadly. I've already spent way too much time on it as it is (was?)

I've also taken a bit of creative liberty with some of the comic references (plus a bit from JLU) used, and this generally takes place sometime between Season 1 and 2 of YJ. Let's also pretend this is an AU where Spitfire never existed...again, it's all Bird/Nightflash here. You've been warned! And I apologize in advance for the ending...I'm a horrible tease.

Standard disclaimers apply.

~~~~~~~

Mount Justice
Saturday, 14:40 EST

Dick pinched the bridge of his nose, an imminent migraine honing in. Batman had called earlier that morning with a new mission: his sensors had detected the presence of an anomalous ripple in spacetime originating in South Gotham. The nature of the anomaly seemed concurrent with the interferences of Chronos, an enemy with whom the Justice League once had dealings with. However, the last encounter with the time thief should have rendered him unable to exist outside a closed time loop—courtesy of a program written by the Bat himself. If it was indeed Chronos behind this, the time-stream was definitely at risk of becoming corrupted, thus, the team was sent to investigate.

~ 6 hours earlier ~

Beta, remain in the bioship on standby. Be ready for anything. Nightwing instructed via the mind link, as he, Miss Martian and Kid Flash exited a zeta-tube into South Gotham.

Roger that. Batgirl echoed back.

The acrobat then nodded in the direction of a nearby building. Let's get to higher ground. He shot his grapple, extending a hand in his teammate's direction. Need a lift?

Wally accepted the offer without a second thought. So what exactly are we looking for? He mused as the two rode the line upwards, while the martian flew on ahead of them.

Anything unusual that might explain what caused the ripple Batman was talking about.

That's pretty vague, could be anything.

Which is why we're here to investigate, Kid Slow.

Hey, guys? M'gann cut in, already hovering high in the air for a bird's eye view. What's happening over there?

The boys crossed over the rooftop to the opposite side to see what commotion was going on below. Someone was ranting loudly in front of a local bank, a slight man who in fact quite resembled the picture of Chronos that Batman displayed for them back at the cave.

"I am Chronos! Ruler of all time, past, present, and future!"

Is this guy for real? Dick snorted.

Hey, at least he saved us the trouble of hunting him down.

Nightwing relayed the new intel to Beta. Target is in sight, we're moving in. He turned to M'gann. Stay in camouflage mode so we can maintain an element of surprise if necessary. Kid Flash and I will make contact.

The two hopped down to a lower rooftop to address the time traveler in question. "Okay Chronos, how about you turn yourself in, and we'll call it a day."

The man squinted up at them with a look of disgust. "You're not Batman!"

Dick shrugged. "And you're not the Joker. Now that we've got the obvious out of the way..."