Disclaimer: I DO NOT in any form or fashion own these characters. All credit goes directly to DC entertainment and comics. They are the owners not me, I'm in no shape or form making any money off of this story. Alright, let's get on with the show.

Hey readers it's me Nomad88 back with another chapter in Batman Beyond volume 2. As always I hope that everyone is enjoying the story and the twist and turns. How many of you expected the Riddler, not many I hope LOL! Anyway I just want to say please continue to Read, REVIEW (a writer's main source of motivation) and of course ENJOY!

Chapter 2: The Court of Owls part 2

Hamilton University- Few Hours Later

Batman turned the dial on his belt and uncloaked himself within the darkened dorm room that belonged to the missing Maxine Gibson. The Dark Knight of tomorrow looked around the trashed room and a wave of anger passed over him but he quickly let it go. He knew he had to keep his cool if he wanted to find her and the people that took her.

The NGCPD had already run their forensic test and so far they've come up with nothing that could possibly trace her whereabouts but seeing as how he had more cutting edge technology and he was Batman he had the best shot at finding her period.

Batman tapped the side of his cowl and his vision changed to blue as the environmental scanners activated.

'Alright McGinnis, be the detective, be the detective.' He thought to himself as he began to scan everything in the room, 'Why would this so called Court of Owls be after Max? Does she know something? Or could she know them or someone that's involved with them? She has been a bit closed off lately after everything with Brian went down, so maybe….'

Batman stopped in mid-thought as his scanners picked up something on the ground. The scanners zoomed in on what looked like a partial foot imprint with trace amounts of metal shavings in the groves. He went over to it and knelt down and touched it with his two finger-tips.

"Analyze." He said.

The scanners in his cowl beeped and analyzed the print and metal shavings, after a second a profile of the type of metal was brought up before his eyes.

"Computer, synchronize with the Batmobile and then broadcast a secure network to Commissioner Gordon."

NGCPD- Commissioner Gordon Office

Barbara let out a long sigh as she leaned back in her lumpy and uncomfortable chair. She had been getting reports from everyone in the unit about the Court of Owls. There had been a dozen more kidnappings in the past couple of hours and everyone that had been abducted were people that were in their twenties like Max. At first she thought it might have been the jokerz trying to rebuild but her instincts were telling her something different. The Court of Owls was something new altogether and if they were tough enough to hurt and poison Damian Wayne of all people then the situation was quite serious.

"Damn it all." She whispered to herself as she reached into her drawer and removed a bottle of aspirin. She popped the top however before she could down her usually three to four tablets she spotted her computer screen going black for a moment.

Barbara narrowed her eyes as the computer screen went to a secure line and a profile of the metal shavings along with a partial footprint appeared.

"You should really fire your forensic people, they missed something." Came Batman's voice.

"Not really. I figured Batman being the great detective that he is would find something my people missed. And look I was right."

"I found a partial foot-print along with some metal shavings by the bed but I'm not sure what I'm looking at."

Barbara studied the files in front of her for a moment before typing into her computer. She created a second screen and pulled up a map of Neo-Gotham City.

"I can hear your fingers moving, is there any chance you could make your mouth do the same thing and tell me what the hell I'm looking at."

"From what I can tell the metal shavings you found are from old and outdated metal. I haven't seen this particular brand of metal being used in over fifteen years and that's mostly because the company that manufactured it went bankrupt for producing shoddy and weak product. If I remember correctly there were a few injuries and death."

"Does that mean that they could have Max at one of the abandoned factories?"

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. I'm casting a net now and searching for any place around the city that could possible still have that type of metal. I believe that around the same time the company went bankrupt Gotham went through a major overhaul from the ground up so most of the places were torn down."

The computer screen in front of her finished its search and several locations popped up on the screen.

"I'm relaying it back to you now."

Barbara grabbed her aspirin bottle and was about to down a few of the tablets when a smell caught her attention. She sniffed the air and then she carefully sniffed the inside of the aspirin bottle. She recoiled in disgust.

"I would recognize the scent of poison anywhere." She whispered to herself.

Barbara dropped the aspirin bottle and quickly stood up from her seat. She looked to her window and immediately hugged herself to the corner that was away from the blinds.

"Commissioner?" came Batman's voice.

"I need you to get here now." She said right as the Bat-signal shined brightly in the sky.

Barbara carefully looked through the blinds and saw the signal. She knew she hadn't given the order for anyone to light it.

"No kidding. I see the signal. I'm on my way."

"NO! STAY AWAY IT'S A TRA….."

KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Came the sound of an explosion as it ripped through the NGCPD building.

Barbara was roughly thrown to the ground. She could feel the building still rumbling but when she heard the cracking of the roof above her she rolled to the right as the bat-signal came falling through. The light flickered and then shut off as it tumbling through floor and all the way to the ground below.

CLANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG came the sound of the signal hitting the street.

Commissioner Gordon got to her feet just as a large figure came flying into the recently created hole in her office.

THUD! Went the sound of him landing. Barbara narrowed her eyes as the large yellowed eyed Talon rose up and removed a sword from his back.

"Commissioner Barbara Gordon-Young. The Court of Owls demands your life."

The Commissioner dodged the first thrust from the Talon in front of her. The tip of the blade jammed itself into the wall behind her where it stuck. Barbara kicked the Talon in the stomach and punched him in the face. She reached down and grabbed two of the long knives that were strapped to his sides and rolled away just as he ripped his sword from the wall and tried to separate her head from her shoulders.

She gritted her teeth as her body painfully told her that she wasn't in her twenties anymore but she had to push it aside as her attacker came in again. She used the knives to block his blade however he was strong. He came low and she lifted her foot and hopped up with a knee to his chest. It stunned him briefly only because his armor absorbed most of the impact.

"COMMISSIONER!"

BANG! Came the sound of door to her office being kicked open. Detective Montoya Bullock barged into the office with her gun raised.

"WHAT THE HELL!" she shouted.

The Talon turned to her and she immediately opened fire. The hulking assassins used his sword to deflect the laser bolts that were supposed to kill him. He removed a throwing star from his waist and tossed it at Montoya.

CLANG! Went the sound of the star knocking her weapon out of her hand.

"BULLOCK GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" Commissioner Gordon yelled as she charged forward with her stolen knives. The Talon whipped around with a mid-ranged attack that was blocked by the elder woman. The two enemies stood their locked together in a battle of strength that the Commissioner was loosing. He was vastly stronger than her and she was beginning to lose ground.

Detective Bullock grabbed the coat rack in the corner and swung it and smacked the armored Talon in the back of the head, but it did little to stop him. He turned and back-handed her in the face drawing some blood in the process.

Barbara came up with one of her knives and sliced the assassin right on the shoulder in-between the plating of his armor.

The Talon let out a shout of pain before elbowing her in the face and quickly coming around with his sword and slashing her across the shoulder and kicking her in the chest. The Commissioner went down to the ground grabbed the bleeding wound however she had to ignore it in favor of the hulking figure that stood over her.

"The reign of the Bat and his allies are at an end."

The Talon raised his sword preparing to skewer her when a grappling hook fired out and wrapped around his arms.

Outside

Batman shifted the batmobile in reverse and yanked the tied Talon out of Commissioner Gordon's office and into the freezing cold winter air. The Dark Knight of tomorrow reached up to the levers above him and pulled allowing himself to drop out of the bottom of the car just as the Talon managed to cut the line that was holding him.

Batman dove towards him and socked him in the face shattering one of his glowing yellow lenses. Batman punched him again and again until he felt the large assassin shift his weight in the air and return with a hard punch of his own. The two of them struggled with each other; however neither noticed the skylight below them that was coming closer and closer.

CRASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH! Went the sound of the two of them smashing through the glass skylight.

Penthouse

Batman and the Talon assassin fell into the pool still struggling with the other. The Talon head-butted him in the face and then kicked him in the chest before swimming upwards. He climbed over the edge and rolled onto the tile floor scarring the elderly couple who owned the penthouse.

Batman rocked out of the water and slammed both feet into his back and pinned him down to the tile floor.

"It's over dreg!" he shouted "Where is Maxine Gibson!" he growled.

The Talon chuckled which only served to anger Batman. He kneed him in the side several times before turning him over and grabbing him by the front of his armor and easily hoisting him up, so his feet dangled.

"Does it look like I'm in the mood? TELL ME WHERE YOU'RE HIDING MAXINE GIBSON!"

"In time all will be revealed but it won't matter for you will be dead."

CRASHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Batman looked up to see four more Talons descending from the skylight above, each armed with either a sword or knife. He tossed the Talon in his hands away and prepared to defend himself against his new foes.

They were swift and were upon him in moments but he managed to hold his own. Batman used his fins to block the two mid-ranged attacks. He hooked one of the blades in his fins and with a slight jerk he broke the blade in two pieces and then whipped around with a kick that nailed the assassin in the jaw. He spotted two coming out the corner of his eyes and so he flicked his wrist and out came two batarangs that he threw at them. As he expected they swung at the batarangs and once they made contact the batarangs exploded in a blinding flash of light giving Batman enough time to cloak himself.

The two talons recovered and looked all around for their foe but he was nowhere to be seen. Batman uncloaked himself behind them. He drove his knee in the back one the Talon close to him and then flipped him over to the ground. He then twisted and delivered a hard palm strike to the other Talon's nose.

Batman felt a strong kick to his back that sent him rolling towards the elderly couple that was doing their best to stay out of sight. He came up out of the roll and stood in front of them.

"Batman, the hour of your death is not quite upon you yet but it is coming. Watch for our sign!"

The larger Talon tossed dozens of pellets to the ground that each gave off a synchronized beeping sound. He gasped as he turned and dashed towards the elderly couple ignoring the sinister laugh coming from the hulking Talon behind him.

Batman grabbed the two civilians and curled his feet, taking off upwards just as the bombs detonated.

KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Outside

Batman narrowly flew through the broken skylight with the civilians in tow. He felt the force of the explosion propelling him forward a little and throwing him off balance however he managed to right himself and land softly on the roof of the building next to the penthouse apartment. He gently placed the scared civilians on the snowy roof-top and tapped the side of his cowl activating detective mode.

He scanned the raging fire but there was no sign of the Talons that attacked him. They had vanished.

"Dammit." He whispered to himself

'McGinnis!' came Damian's voice.

"You're supposed to be resting."

'Forget that, what the hell is going on?'

"In a nutshell the Court of Owls have struck again. They hit the GCPD. Gordon was the target."

"Is she…"

"Alive and well." Batman replied calmly "I'm sure she's on the way to the hospital and I'm right behind them. I have it under control."

"Clearly."

Batman rolled his eyes as the roar of the Batmobile engines found its way to his ears. He curled his feet and flew upwards and into the vehicle, making a bee-line towards the Hospital where he was sure Commissioner Gordon was going.

Elsewhere- Location Unknown

Max sat in front of a laptop that had wires and cables protruding out of it and going into a large column that was in the shape of a question mark. She looked around at the others who were typing away into their own computers which also had wires that led into the question mark column. She stared at it for a moment, her mind trying its best to put the pieces together.

'Just what is going on here?' she thought to herself 'If I had to guess that thing is receiving and transmitting signals but the question is what is it receiving and what is transmitting.'

THUNK! TAP! THUNK! TAP! THUNK! TAP! Came the sound of the cane.

Max was about to turn around to the sound when she felt the end of a cane keep her head pointed forward.

"Here's your Riddle for the day my sweet. I catch and release yet I can't hold water. I'm everywhere, yet nowhere at the same time. And everyone plays with me yet I have no hands. What am I?"

Max sat there for a moment, her mind going over the riddle from the Riddler.

"Tick Tock. Tick Tock my sweet." Came his voice from behind her.

"…..you're a net." She answered.

"And what's another name for a net?" He asked in an amused tone.

"A goal?"

"Too easy." He said "Think a bit harder, think about the patterns of a net."

"….a grid."

The Riddler removed his cane from her face allowing her to turn around.

"You're smart but I helped you out." The Riddler said with a chuckle, "And not just any grid but, my grid."

"What is all this?" she asked.

"Since you got my little riddle right I'll tell you Ms. Gibson. You are now in the honey comb center of the true strength of the Court of Owls. I've spent years siphoning precious resources, money and information from all over the world and channeling it back here, furthering their agenda. And cementing their hold on Neo-Gotham City and prepping it for the eventual take over."

"Why?" she asked innocently.

The Riddler let his smile drop and he placed both of his old hands on the question mark at the top of his cane. A dark look crossed his wrinkled features.

"Why? Why? Why? That is the ultimate question isn't it? The most deadly question in all of the questions I can think of. Why? Why I'll tell you my sweet, if you can answer another riddle. What do you call a bloody fist?"

"A bleeding heart." Max replied smoothly.

The Riddler laughed before he heard RJ clear his throat behind him. He turned to the younger man whose face looked a little flushed. RJ had a hand over his chest and his eyes were a little red.

"They wish to speak to you." He said out of breath.

"Why?" The Riddler asked.

"That is the question isn't it." RJ returned "Here's another for you, what's a secret that's not a secret anymore?"

"Knowledge." The Riddler and Max said at the same time.

"Exactly." Said RJ "I believe they know."

"Well, then I suppose that complicates things a tad."

The Riddler limped away from the two of them and towards a lift that would take him to an upper deck to where the Court of Owls were waiting.

Max watched him go before turning to RJ who stumbled to her desk and then slowly sat down on the ground still clutching his chest.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"No." He answered quickly.

She looked at him and then towards the upper deck where several of the Talons were perched, silent and menacing; the glowing yellow lens sending a cold chill down her spine.

"Are the two of you prisoners here?" she asked.

"Everyone's a prisoner in some form or fashion Max, but to answer your question about this particular situation….yes, my grandfather and I are prisoner's here."

"That guy, the Riddler is your grandfather?"

"He's a bit strange I know but he's by far the most brilliant man I've ever met….and the only one I can depend on." He said before leaning towards her a little, "He's been trying to find a way to get us both out of here but so far no luck." He finished in a hushed voice, "All hope was lost until he re-appeared."

"He who?"

"Batman." Said RJ "My grandfather says that Batman is the key to our liberation but he has to earn the right or something."

"And just what does Batman have to do with anything?" Max asked.

"Everything." RJ replied.

Across Town- Hospital

Batman climbed through the window right as the doctor and nurse finished stitching and patching Commissioner Gordon's wounds. He had been patiently waiting outside for them to leave.

"Finally." He said, "You okay."

"I've had worse." Barbara replied as she laid back in her hospital bed, "Kid do me a favor and hand me my clothes over there in the cabinet."

Batman walked to the cabinet and he grabbed her clothes and tossed them to her before turning around. Barbara gingerly began to dress herself.

"You shouldn't be here babysitting me kid; you should be out there looking for the Court of Owls."

"They just tried to kill you, and if I had to guess they're probably watching you right now. You're my best lead."

"Careful. You almost sounded like Bruce, using your friends as live bait." She said with a hint of amusement in her voice, "I'll be fine. You should be checking out that map that I sent you."

"I will as soon as I make a delivery." Batman replied while turning to face her.

Commissioner Gordon had little time to react as Batman lunged forward and hit two pressure points on her neck which knocked her out cold.

"Sorry Commissioner but I can't go checking around with you still being a target." He whispered softly.

"I see my pressure point lessons have paid off.' Damian's voice.

Batman gently picked her up and carried her to the window where the Batmobile was cloaked and waiting. He strapped her inside and then directed the vehicle to fly away.

"She's on the way to the cave, and I'm going back to work."

Batman curled his feet spread his wings and took off to the sky.

Batcave- Minutes Later

Damian let out a cough as he eyed the video screen where the voice of his close friend and former partner Dick Grayson filtered through and into the interior.

"Yeah I remember Alton Carver." said Dick, "And I remember his untimely death. It was right after Bruce's supposed death and just before I took up the cape and cowl. We were doing a show like normal, and his wire snapped and he fell. It struck me as odd that he would just fall like that, he was a perfectionist and so he would not have went onto that wire unless he knew it was perfect. I was going to investigate but it was then I had other priorities, it's one of my cases that fell through the cracks."

"It seems to be a lot of that going on." Damian replied before bursting into another fit of coughs. He removed his hand to see a few specs of blood, 'Damn.'

"Are you alright, you sound terrible."

"I've been poisoned."

"By whom?" Dick asked.

"The same people, who have seemingly resurrected Alton Carver from the dead, tell me something, have you ever heard of a shadow group called the Court of Owls?"

"Court of Owls? No, I've never heard of them." Dick replied.

"No searches I've done come up with anything either, which leads me to believe it's a group that's been made up or….they've erased any knowledge about themselves. The poison that's coursing through my veins isn't something that some normal group would know to use. It's…different, weaponized and highly potent. I believe we've met the person that made it in the past."

"So they've got deep pockets to reach out to certain psychotic botanist that we lost track of ages ago." Dick surmised.

"Basically."

Damian's attention was taken away from Dick's voice and to an incoming roar from the engines of the batmobile.

"I have to call you back Dick. Barbara just got here, did you want to…"

"No. I think we've said all we need to say to each other." He replied.

Damian rolled his eyes and he ended the transmission and swiveled around in the chair and carefully stood up. He watched as the vehicle set itself down and the top slid open to reveal an unconscious Commissioner Barbara Gordon-Young.

"YINN!" He yelled.

Yinn calmly walked towards the batmobile and he gently picked Barbara up into his arms.

"I shall attend to Mrs. Young Master Wayne. And need I remind you that you need to be resting."

"I'll rest when I'm dead." He replied before coughing.

"Keep pushing yourself and that will happen real soon." Said Yinn while walking off with Barbara in tow.

Damian scoffed at Yinn's remark.

'I'm not dying anytime soon.' He thought to himself, "Computer, voice module activation. Barbara Gordon."

The computer let out a loud beep.

"Call Mayor Young's private phone."

Young Household

Mayor Sam Young gritted his teeth as he ended the unanswered call and slammed his phone down onto the marble counter top. He stared ahead at the news report about the attack from the Court of Owls on the NGCPD building. He shook his head because he knew that whatever was happening Barbara was neck deep in it and no matter how many years he had been married to her he would never be used to the deep pit of uneasiness that formed in his stomach every time he heard her name followed by the words explosion. He knew she could take of herself, she used to be Batgirl but that was a long time ago.

"Answer your phone Barbara." He said to himself.

RINNNNNNNNNNGG! Sam looked to his phone and he grabbed it and answered it.

"Barbara."

"Hello Sam." Came Barbara's voice on the other end.

"Where are you?"

"I'm fine. I'm handling the situation. I'll be home later."

"Barbara?"

"Don't worry about me; I can take care of myself. I have to go."

Mayor Young took the phone away from his ear and he looked at it with confusion written all over his face. The sound of feet soon caught his attention and he turned to the kitchen entrance to see Carrie Kelly walking in.

Carrie looked at him and then towards the television where she saw the headline.

"Is Barbara okay?" she asked.

"She's fine. I just talked to her." Sam replied in a calm and confident voice, in spite of the fact that he was anything but calm or confident. He couldn't let her know how worried he was because he didn't want her to panic and run away…again. He remembered the first day Barbara brought her home. She was a thin, pale looking child who was wearing dirty rags for clothes. Barbara explained to him that Carrie was the niece of their dear dead friend Samantha Epstein. Samantha's sister Marjorie Epstein had gone down a dark path after her death. She started using drugs, she dropped out of college and then married a two bit hustler named Gary Kelly and together they had Carrie. Both of them were neglectful of Carrie and it was by chance that Barbara had run into her on the streets one night. She took her in with plans to adopt her but before Carrie could get settled in she ran away.

Barbara had her suspicions as to why she ran away and it was a source of great debate between them but they dropped the subject however because now that she was back they could finally ask her but only when she was ready.

Sam opened his mouth but before he could say anything there was a knock at the door. He looked at the viewing pad to see that it was his security team. He opened the door and allowed them inside.

"Mayor Young we have reason to believe that this Court of Owls cult may be after you. We're moving you to a more secure location."

He wanted to protest but his eyes glanced towards the news broadcast that was still on the GCPD Building. He watched as the screen panned down towards the fallen and broken Bat-signal.

"Carrie, go pack some things we're leaving."

Carrie nodded her head as she quickly left the kitchen and headed to her room.

Skies of Neo-Gotham City

Batman flew through the snowy night air; his mind clouded with trying to put together all the pieces that seemed to up floating about, the Court of Owls, Max, and now the attack on Commissioner Gordon. The thing that annoyed him the most however was that he seemed to be one step behind everything. In the three years he had been training with Damian he had believed that he was becoming a better Batman but with everything that's been happening it was all evidence to the contrary. He was still the same eighteen year old kid that was in over his head.

"Dammit." He cursed to himself as he came to a stop on top of a ghastly looking gargoyle, "Why can't I figure this out, it feels like I'm chasing my tail. This is probably exactly what they want. They want to keep me off balanced and guessing so I need to start thinking outside the box but the question is how or even where to start. The metal shavings are my only lead but even that is a long shot."

Batman lifted his hand to his cowl and he tapped the side. The electronics switched to voice command.

"Bring up the map Commissioner Gordon sent earlier."

The lenses in his mask turned blue as the map of Neo-Gotham City pulled up in front of him. He studied it for a moment looking at all the places that had been marked by the Commissioner. He zeroed in on where the Wayne Observatory was located. He saw that some of the inner workings of the old Observatory were made from the same type of metal found in Max's dorm. He spread his wings and curled his feet and flew away.

Wayne Observatory

Batman descended towards the observatory and he glided through the hole in the window that was barely wrapped with caution tape. He landed on the ground without a sound and he looked around the empty room.

'Be the detective.' He thought to himself as he reached up to his cowl and activated Detective mode and evidence scanner which showed him the entire layout of the old Wayne Observatory. He looked around carefully inspecting every inch of the top floor where Damian was attacked, but so far nothing was being picked up.

'Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.'

Batman came to a stop and he let out a sigh of frustration. He needed some help.

"Prophet, are you there?"

"Go ahead."

"I'm at the Observatory."

"Why?'

"Because I think I might have a legitimate lead on the Court of Owls. When I was looking over Max's room, I found some metal shavings. Barbara told me that the type of metal I found was outdated and decommissioned and so she gave me a map of all the locations to which that metal could still be used and…."

"You followed it to the Observatory." Prophet finished much to Batman's irritation.

"Yes."

"I'm impressed. You're starting to think outside the box, that's good."

"Was that a compliment?" Batman asked.

"Shut up and stay sharp. I'm tapping into your video feed now."

Detective mode was activated again. The line went silent for a moment as Damian looked around through the video feed.

"How did they get in here?" Batman asked after a minute.

"What?"

"I'm still thinking outside of the box here and after thinking over the report from when you got attacked, I remember that there were no signs of forced entry from the maitre'd's at the front door. They didn't see or hear anything until you came crashing out of the window. Detective mode is scanning the building and there are no signs of forced entry from either the top of the building or below. The observatory sits on a metal slab so there's no way they could've come in from the bottom so how the hell did they get in here with no one seeing them. If someone would have seen them there would be a body but there's no body."

"The simple answer McGinnis is that they were already in the building. They were perhaps lying in wait. I'm impressed."

"I'm searching for a very specific clue. If they were in here lying in wait they must've left something behind." Batman replied as he continued to analyze the room. He came to a stop when his detective vision suddenly changed and he could see red hash-tag marks appearing everywhere, "Whoa, what's happening?"

"I'm remotely inputting the data needed to recreate a simulation of the incident. It should only take a moment. I just have to remember every detail and where everyone was sitting."

"You can remember that!" Batman exclaimed.

"It's a learned ability you need to teach yourself McGinnis. You should know by now that in this line of work the devil is in the details." Prophet replied smoothly, "Alright I'm done. I'm going to slowly replay the events how I remember them and you look for your clue to scan."

Batman watched his detective mode intently as grainy moving images appeared in his vision. He was standing in the middle of room next to the table where he assumed Damian was standing. He looked to his right and saw who he assumed to be Valerie Vale sitting across from his mentor. The two grainy images were talking until suddenly Damian stood up.

Batman turned to see a grainy image of what he knew to be the Court of Owl Assassin. He looked at the image and then he glanced down towards the Assassin's feet, he made the vision zoom in close and that's when his scanner picked up bits of the metal shavings.

"Bingo! I've got something." Batman stated as the scanner began to calibrate and bring up the statistics on the metal shavings, "Metal shavings that don't seem to originate from this floor, but definitely from the building."

"I'm getting a reading. Turn to the left of you there should be a sealed elevator shaft."

Batman looked to the left where he spotted the old and sealed elevator shaft. He made his way over and he pried the doors opened allowing the stale air to escape the old and dark shaft. Batman reached towards his belt and he removed five black balls from one of the slots and he tossed them up into the air.

The five black balls linked together and hovered in the air above him creating some light so he could see. Batman peered down the shaft and he spotted a ladder that led down to the top of a non-functioning elevator several floors below. He jumped down.

THUD! Came the sound of him landing.

He had to balance himself as he felt the elevator shift and move dangerously almost as if it was about to fall but after a long second of shaking it finally came to a stop. Batman let out a breath and then looked down to the dusty elevator top where he saw two distinct foot prints. He bent down and put a hand to the prints.

"It looks like we're on the right track." He said.

"What floor are you on?" Prophet asked.

Batman looked at the door in front of him but there was no number on the front nor around it. He looked up and saw that the door above had the number fourteen plastered on it in fading white paint.

"I'm guessing the thirteenth floor, but there aren't any markings anywhere."

"That's because there is no thirteenth floor." Said Prophet "At least that's what the blue prints to the building are showing me right now on the computer. The schematics jump from twelve to fourteen."

"Well that's not odd at all."

Batman stepped to the closed door to the thirteenth floor and he pried it open.

The floating light above him drifted onto the darkened floor however as soon as Batman hoisted himself inside, grainy, dim, lighting from above flickered on, revealing an entire living area dedicated to the Court of Owls. Along the walls were portraits of people wearing white masks that obscured their faces, along with them wearing expensive suits or dresses. Each portrait had a date above it and the dates dated all the way back to Gotham City's inception. In all of the portraits in the center of the men and women in white mask was the hulking Owl themed assassin that he had fought earlier. Batman stared at the pictures and he narrowed his eyes.

"Are you getting this?" he asked.

"Yes." Prophet replied, "And I do not like it one bit. Keep looking around the room."

Batman moved away from the pictures and he went towards a weight set where he saw a bench press with some free weights scattered about. He saw a worn out punching bag as well as a worn out speed bag, both hanging from a chain attached to the sturdy ceiling. The Dark Knight also spotted an old school treadmill, as well as a small cot.

"How could something like this have slipped through the cracks?" Batman asked as he continued to inspect the secret Talon hideout.

"I don't know but if I had to guess, time and opportunity." Prophet replied.

Batman came to a stop as he reached a desk with several papers thrown about. Each of the papers was white and looked to be blue prints of some sort. He was about to push them away when he tilted his head to the side and spotted three question marks on the number of one of the pages. He stared at it and then moved it out the way where he saw another blueprint page with question marks around it only the question marks were in the shape of a bat.

"Good Lord." Prophet whispered.

"What?" Batman asked.

"I think I know who might be behind the Court of Owls, and if he's behind it then we were supposed to find this stash house, which means we've been playing right into his hand."

"Do you mind filling me in on who this person is?"

"The Riddler."

"Riddler, Edward Nygma. I remember reading something on him from the old man's files but I didn't pay much attention to it but I'm really wondering how did something like this escape from the old man's sight, I mean he built this building right?"

"No." Prophet answered however there was something in his voice.

Bat-Cave

Damian coughed for a few fits before staring at the screen intently. He had been in the middle of doing a cross-reference between the building blueprints he had seen through Terry's visor but the younger man's comment caused him to come to a stop. Terry had unwittingly stumbled upon a curious point.

Damian knew a little about the Wayne Observatory and that it had been standing in Gotham years before Bruce, or even Thomas Wayne but he never knew who built it. And so with a quick search on the bat-computer he brought up the architect to the Wayne Observatory. Alan Wayne, his great-great-great-great-grandfather, who not only designed the Observatory but much of Gotham before succumbing to a severe break with reality.

Damian narrowed his eyes as he continued to read several very old gazette articles about his great-great-great-grandfather and how he after building up Gotham, had mysteriously gone crazy and talked about how owls where coming after him and an old nursery rhyme before falling to his death down a man-hole.

Damian stopped on one of the gazette articles that went into detail about his great-grandfather and Owls.

"Owls." Damian whispered. He thought over what he was reading and then to the pictures he saw on the walls in the stash house.

"Did you find anything?" Batman asked.

"Only that I have no patience for mysteries." Damian replied.

"What do you want me to do?"

Damian hesitated for a moment before answering.

"I want you to show me those blue prints again."

Later that Night- Financial district-

Batman stood within another Court of Owls lair, located on the thirteenth floor of a building in the financial district of Neo-Gotham. He looked around and spotted equipment, knives and other assortment of weapons, just like in the other stash houses he had found earlier in the night. He looked up and along the wall were more photos of men and women in expensive suits and dresses wearing white mask on their face and in the middle of them was the Talon assassin.

"Send the Talon for your head." Batman said to himself as he looked at the assassin in the photos intently.

He thought back to what Damian had told him about the rhyme that Alan Wayne had muttered moments before his tragic death. The rhyme was unsettling especially considering that it was muttered back in the early nineteen hundreds. It all seemed a bit surreal but here was the evidence staring him in the face.

'Do you see another map?' came Prophets voice from over the line.

Batman looked around making sure to use his detective mode just to make sure he didn't miss anything.

"No." he answered.

'Good. The batmobile should be waiting outside, hop in and let me show you what I've compiled so far."

"Roger that."

Bat-Cave

Damian felt a wave of nausea followed by double vision but he shook it off and stared at the screen in front of him. He had a map of New-Gotham City on display with red dots on every Court of Owl base found by Batman. He had several facts listed on the screen to the left that seemed to tie all of the random buildings together as well as the reported kidnappings that have been happening.

"What do you got?" Batman asked.

"A connection." Damian replied "You told me that your friend Max is a hacker right."

"Yeah."

"All the reported kidnappings have been kids in their early to mid-twenties and most of them are on the FBI watch list as experienced hackers."

"Why would the Court of Owls need hackers?"

"A good question, one we'll have to find the answer to later. Along with the hackers all the buildings, minus the Observatory were at one point or another renovated by March Ventures. And it seems that at least three of the hackers kidnapped worked for March Ventures."

"March Ventures, as in Lincoln March. First it's the hackers, now the buildings, that's two coincidences in a row."

"You're no longer allowed to believe in coincidence. I knew there was something off about him and now I know what, he's connected with the Court of Owls."

"Maybe, or maybe he's just a red herring." Batman offered.

Damian took a second to think before allowing a smirk to grace his dry lips.

"I'm impressed, that you just used red herring correctly."

"Your condescension knows no bounds Prophet."

"A red herring he might be but it's a step in the right direction that we can't let pass, especially if Nygma is involved." Damian replied.

"Alright I'll take a look."

"Start at his company."

Damian sat back in his seat, satisfied that they were making at least some headway in their current case, but there was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he was missing something, a small detail that would not only point them in the right direction, but crack the entire mystery wide open. He stared at the map in front of him and all of the points of interest.

"Riddler, March, and the Court of Owls. What is it?" He asked himself "No, not what, but who. YINN!" He called out.

In a matter of moments Yinn was making his way down the winding stairs and towards Damian, who was anxiously waiting for him.

"Yes, Master Wa…."

"The note!" he interrupted "The note you found in the car that day. The note that said: WHO? Where were we that day?"

"At the marketplace, on Spring Avenue."

Damian typed in the address on the map of Neo-Gotham City and once it was in, there was a pattern that emerged that put everything into perspective. He made the bat-computer trace a line around all of the stash houses, as well as the kidnapped hackers and finally the observatory and when the giant question mark appeared, staring him in the face.

"Son of a bitch!" Damian exclaimed.

He did a quick search on the computer and he pulled up the address where the dot was located and he found Lincoln March's sky loft.

"McGinnis."

"What is it?" Batman asked.

"Forget Lincoln's building. I want you to go directly to his home address. I'm sending it to you now. And be careful."

In the Air

Batman pushed on the controls making the batmobile go faster through the air, plowing through the thick falling snow.

Few minutes later- Lincoln March Sky Loft

Batman silently landed on the balcony and he slipped in through the open balcony doors and was immediately greeted to the sight of a bleeding Lincoln March stumbling towards him.

He had several blades protruding from his body and there was blood running down his face.

"H-Help me." He said before collapsing to the ground.

Batman took a step forward however he spotted the gleam of metal flying towards him and so he tucked his head and rolled forward. The blade narrowly missed his forehead. He looked up to see two Court of Owl talons descending from up above and directly upon him.

Batman used his fins to ward off the quick slashes from the talon's swords that were poised to separate his head from his shoulders. He brought his arms downward and locked both swords together before jerking to the right and yanking the weapons from their hands. He kicked one in the chest and the grabbed the other and pulled him in for a vicious head-butt that cracked the lens on the owl like goggles that the Talon in front of him wore.

Batman hoisted the Talon over his head and tossed him into the group of charging Talons.

"GET LINCOLN AND GET OUT OF THERE!" Prophet shouted over the communication line.

"I can take these guys." Batman returned as he spun around and kicked the Talon to his left in the face.

The vision in his visor suddenly went to detective mode, it jarred him for a moment but it was cleared up as he saw several hazy images of approaching Talons rushing up the stairs, descending on the roof and climbing up the side of the building. It was a swarm of Talons and they all were heading right for him.

"Where the heck are they coming from?"

"I'm working on that now, but you need to get out of there with Lincoln so we can ask him some questions. And you need…"

SCREEEEEEEEEEEE!

"AHHHH!" Batman shouted as a loud feedback echoed in his ears.

"Ah Ah Ah no more cheating from the peanut gallery." Came the Riddler's voice over the private communication line.

Batman quickly perked up at the foreign voice in his ear.

"Who is this?"

"A fair question which leads to another question and more questions but perhaps the most important question is who are you?"

Batman's vision returned and he could see the talons regrouping for another attack as well as dozen of talons descending from the roof to the balcony and entering the penthouse. He gritted his teeth hit the button in the center of his belt.

Outside

The Batmobile received the signal and instantly began to lower down from its hidden spot in the clouds. The sleek machine uncloaked itself as it lined up with Lincoln's Penthouse.

The high-beams switched on, shining a bright light upon the swarm of talons. The sensors in the vehicle locked onto as many as it could and opened fire with non-lethal suppressing ammunition.

Batman punched a talon in the face as he maneuvered through the rapid fire from the Batmobile. He dropped down and grabbed Lincoln and then curled his feet and flew towards the Batmobile.

Batman landed on the vehicle and the top slid open. He carefully slid Lincoln inside first and secured him to his seat.

The Dark Knight was about to hop in when he was tackled from behind by a large Talon, the two of them tumbled over the side and went falling through the air.

"Close!" He shouted and the top slid closed leaving him on the outside to deal with the Talon that had him in a death grip. He chopped the fiend's wrist breaking the grip and delivered a solid uppercut that knocked him for a loop. Batman managed to get himself a small amount of space before the other Talons caught up to them in mid-air and tackled him. One of them grabbed him around the neck.

'Riddle me this Bat-fake. I am combustible by nature and once I'm set off everyone comes with me, what am I?'

Batman grunted as he felt a punch across the jaw from one of the Talons.

"Tick-Tock. Tick-Tock Bat-fake. Do you give up? I'm a bomb!"

Batman jerked his backwards slamming it into he face of the talon that had his arm around his neck. The grip loosened giving him enough time to break free, just as the Talon detonated.

KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The force of the explosion damaged one of his recently repaired wings and the thrusters in his boots which threw him off course and sent him spiraling further downward through the air. The ground came closer and closer and at the last possible second Batman managed to right himself and fire a grappling hook from his wrist. He swung in a wide arc narrowly missing the ground however his line was cut from a Talon dagger which sent him barreling to the snowy ground and into some trash cans.

"Oof." He grunted from the force.

The Dark Knight fought his way to his feet but as he stood up a dozen Court of Owls Talons landed on the ground surrounding him. They charged. Batman defended himself as best as he could but there were too many. He blocked two attacks however three more were there and they connected. He felt a solid blow to his stomach followed by a knee to the chin. He stumbled back and then spun around and kicked the Talon that attacked him in the face. Batman felt something hit him in the back and before he could determine what it was he felt a subtle surge of energy flood through him and suddenly his armor locked, which prevented him from moving.

The ground behind him shook as a the hulking Talon landed behind him. The enforcer swung both his metal clad fists and cracked Batman in the back of the head knocking him out.

'B-Batman….c-can you….' Came Damian's gargled voice through the comms line but there was no response from him, "B-B-Batman!'

"I said no help from the Peanut Gallery!" The Riddler shouted over the line "The elder Wayne never needed any help and so his replacement shouldn't either. I never got the chance to beat him…he regrettably was my greatest challenge and he bested me at every turn but fortune smiles. I have a second chance at victory, and by one way or the other I will defeat the Batman. So now my minions bring him to me, so the real game of riddles can begin."

End Chapter: Read and Review: Hey readers it's me Nomad88 back again with the closing comments. I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, which I know is kinda late. I know, I know. I've already gotten several PM's from some concerned readers and I thank you.

I promise I have not abandoned this story or any of my other stories. I'm just stretched a bit thin at the moment. I have to say 2016 has been a very busy year for me which is a good thing.

Anyway, please Read and Review and I will try my best to get the next chapter out as quick as possible. This is Nomad88 saying later…..

Next up: The Court of Owls part 3

Summary: The Court of Owls take over Neo-Gotham City. Batman is trapped in a Game of Riddles. Max makes a move. Dick and Brian take a road trip. Be there!