There was something viscerally satisfying about moving throughout the city in his original body. Even back in his first life, Tenko didn't have anything to be ashamed about when it came to his muscles, but between magic and all that exercise he had been getting in his other bodies, he had been honed into a powerful juggernaut of a man, every bit Bruce's equal in raw strength and agility.
Sure, he was plenty powerful in his other bodies, but feeling all those muscles flex and strain as he exerted himself was qualitatively different to the more muted sensations that occurred when his motions were more magic than muscle.
While Robin was still inexperienced enough that he usually just followed Batman's lead, when Tenko was in the Batsuit he was expected to take more of a direct role, much like when they use the Batbot. Or Botman, there was still heated debate on the group chat about which was the better name.
So they moved through the city listening to police bands, sensing newly restless dead, and paying attention to the backdoors they had in pretty much every form of response dispatch in the city. Normally, Batman would have cases to follow up on, but Tenko had let the acquisition of such tasks fall by the wayside, only finishing the work Bruce had already set up before he left the planet.
Still, before they could get tied up in anything particularly involved, the Bat Signal lit up the sky, which meant Commissioner Gordon wanted a meeting. Sometimes the man lit it up just to intimidate the criminal element, and it worked, but he at least wanted a quick chat to touch base even when he didn't have anything specific to foist on Batman's caseload.
The GCPD's security perimeter had underwent improvements since the last time Tenko saw it, but the residual memories from sending his shade along with Batman informed him of the weaknesses of the current setup, and he was able to sneak up on Gordon just fine. "Commissioner." Batman said in greeting.
"Jesus H. Christ!" Commissioner Gordon shouted, nearly dropping his snack but catching it at the last second before putting it in his mouth. After a moment to chew and swallow, he glared at Batman. "The second I put my guard down, I swear."
Batman smirked. He always thought Jim's reactions to getting snuck up on were hilarious. It was a shame he never got the chance to do it as Tanya. "What's the sitrep?" He said without a trace of humor. "The League of Shadows are in town."
"Those guys?" Gordon asked, surprised at being given intel. "You know why they're here?"
"The Court of Owls." Batman said simply. "They're working together now." Idly, he tossed a batarang and, the instant the League assassin dodged, fired his grapple into his flight path. As he was still a very heavy man, the assassin came to him when the contest of physics was concluded, and Batman broke the assassin's ribs with a punch. As the combatant writhed in pain, Batman forcefully disarmed him of the throwing knife that was about to be thrown at Batman's head. "As you can see." He said simply, showing Gordon the knife.
"You've been a very naughty bat, my love." Gordon read off of the knife's etching. "Prepare to die by my hand. Talia." The man's eyebrows raised as much as they would go. "This isn't funny, Bats."
"It isn't." Batman agreed. Idly, he broke the assassin's wrist with a stomp, the sword clattering as he followed it up by kicking the weapon out of the fallen enemy's hand. "The second in command of the League of Shadows, Talia Al Ghul. I'll send you a file." Or rather, Barbie will. "Their goal is my death, so expect general terrorism to provoke a response.
"So the usual Joker protocols?" Gordon asked with a wry grin.
"Good idea." Batman said, not acknowledging Jim's fantastic joke. "Is there a case from you?"
Robin dropped down from somewhere. "I checked around, no more assassins, Batman." He reported, before kneeling down and sedating the injured one.
"Yeah, we're stumped on this one, it looks like it might be a meta." Jim said, taking a flash drive from his pocket and handing it over. Batman plugged it into his wrist computer, the security protocols automatically isolating it in a virtual machine before connecting. There was no need for further paranoia when dealing with Jim: he was too sharp to be a dupe, too scrupulous to manage to lie to his face, and he had already verified the cop's identity in four different ways.
As Tenko's brain went through a chain of events that could potentially lead to the USB being a problem without Jim's knowledge (Brainiac's the only one who could pull all that off, he was pretty sure…), the security checks finished and the file loaded. Unusual rodent infestations, missing pets and persons… "...Rat-catcher's back in town." Batman concluded.
"You know this guy?" Jim asked, surprised.
"Wait, there was a rat guy?" Robin asked.
"It might not be the same person." Batman acknowledged. "It was about ten years ago, a cult that was, in hindsight, probably loosely connected to the Court of Owls. They had someone who could work with rats at high levels of finesse, like your detective's theories suggest.Otis Flannegan was his name, and he had vanished, fallen through the cracks of that investigation."
"Not like you to be so sloppy." Gordon commented, a bit suspiciously.
"Among Flannegan's talents is the ability to transform into a rat. A large one, but a meter long rat can still use escape routes I cannot." Batman explained. "I have countermeasures now." This was actually true. One of the gadgets Batman had were little spider robots with complex enough chemical analyzers to be roughly as capable of scenting things as an actual rat. Combined with a distinct tracking compound in the smoke bombs, and slipping through non-water pipes and ducts were no longer sufficient to escape Batman. The robots were useful for all kinds of things, so they merited space on the primary loadout.
"I'd make a joke about a rat I saw on the subway, but…" Jim trailed off.
"Flannegan isn't the problem. The crime pattern indicates that he's working for someone, and it matches the Court of Owls' methods." Batman said. If he had to be more specific, he'd say that these movements were designed to give the Kulls an advantage, securing some apartment complexes earmarked for them after they were rebuilt instead of before, due to an exceptionally stubborn man who owned them; he knew how bad of an idea it was to sell. "I'll look into it." The Court doesn't really work together, they coordinate to stay out of each other's way. It makes sense that Leonid Kull, the current head of the family, would try to resolve things with his own assets.
"How close are you to being able to move against them?" Gordon asked. It was kind of funny: Tenko had asked Bruce that very question not that long ago.
He'll just paraphrase Bruce's answer: "...Not until I can remove the Talons from play." Batman said, "Operations in that direction have stalled, but they're desperate. They'll make a mistake soon, and then we'll be able to move." Of course, it figures that said mistake would be when Tenko was on shift, but he promised Bruce that nothing amiss would occur in his absence, it was the only way he could convince the man to take his honeymoon into space. So, as the League probably could expose the Botman for what it is, he needed to take control over the situation so that no one reveals that little secret.
"You'll take this assassin off our hands, right?" Robin asked, the jovial smile that was part and parcel to the Robin identity plastered on his face.
"Yeah, yeah." Gordon said, kneeling down to check the man's pulse. Batman stealthily started to leave. "That's everything, so good hunt-" He paused, and looked around, an instant too slow to notice Batman slipping over the edge of the roof. "...How does he do that?" The trick was to be able to identify the instant your target can no longer see you and move immediately, which gives you a lot more time than you'd think before they realize you've gone. Plus identifying the escape route with the shortest broken sight line.
Now, back to his planned itinerary of avoiding assassination while also gravitating to any disturbance of the peace as well as criminal activity, something that said assassins are completely aware of.
Never let it be said that he backed down just because something was difficult.
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Apparently, they were just testing the waters, because while there were certainly League assassins around, they were more testing his awareness. As a result, after the first three he started ignoring them, keeping note of their positions but not actually responding. If he's lucky, they'll think that they were successfully hiding. What's more, if December intended to break out his sister, he hasn't done it yet. The proxy weakened his ability to use Blood magic through the relevant connections, but it didn't take powerful magic to confirm that "Hecate" was still in her cell at Arkham.
The good news is that the enchanted bloodstone earrings that glow when someone who intends to kill you is near worked perfectly, and the Batsuit's HUD properly translated the difference in luminosity the pair provided to provide a rough awareness of the assassins directions, so Bruce shouldn't have any more trouble than Tenko has been.
With one night of vigilante action behind them, Tenko needed to, after making sure that Jason got to bed, that Ace would continue to keep an eye on the proxy doll, and that Alfred had the rest of his weekend's schedule well in hand, all the way to school on Monday, spend the next several days without assuming his true form.
So, after dawn, Batman used the Zeta Tube to go up to the Watchtower. Aquaman was next to Green Arrow, having apparently been chatting with the man for whatever reason before Batman's arrival was announced, and looked positively puzzled. "What?" Batman deadpanned. "Did Rhine paint my cowl's ears pink again?" That was a great prank.
"Nono, old chum." Aquaman said, realizing who must be behind the cowl. "I must have been… misinformed as to your schedule!" He nodded to himself. "Yes, that. Now, what brings you to the Watchtower? Training? Work? Must you slay the Justice Leagues most relentless foe, Paperwork?"
"You got there eventually." Batman commented as he walked past them. "I sent Superman a message, he should be arriving soon for our meeting." Clark had the bad habit of letting things pile up for a bit too long sometimes.
"About that." Green Arrow said, "While you're here, Mars has sent some people who want to talk about stuff."
"Stuff." Batman repeated, deadpan.
"They were vague." Green Arrow said, "J'onn's talking to them now."
That sounded like something he would want to know about. Bruce would too, when he gets back. "I'll see what they want." Batman said resignedly. He was pretty tired, the coffee he had before going up hadn't kicked in yet. He took another sip at his thermos full of more coffee.
On the way to the meeting room, he stopped by a bathroom. After checking for other people, he removed the cowl, took out one of his mental shielding tiaras, and put it on his head. It took some magical warping to let it fit beneath the cowl, but it was enough to fully shield him against anything squirrely Mars might try.
Sure, J'onn was there, but he knew better than most how complicated things could get when politics enters the picture. Truth and Honor became pretty little lies in the face of war calculus, so best not tempt them with his oh so valuable brain.
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The Mars delegation was four people, the five martians seated around one of the circular meeting tables designed for negotiations among multiple parties. Tenko knew that they chose this one because Martians preferred round tables culturally, instead of presuming that this meant that this was not a one on one discussion. "J'onn." Batman said in greeting.
"Batman." J'onn replied. "Your Majesty, this is Batman's most trusted representative, fully empowered to act in his stead."
"I suppose it would be too much to ask that you keep the illusion." Batman said, relaxing a fraction. "So, we finally meet." He took a second to examine the gathered martians, but determined that his first impulse on which one was in charge was probably accurate. "This would be Queen J'arlia J'axx, then?" He had never met her, of course, but it wasn't that hard to memorize a few names of important Martian personages, and J'onn did go over Mars' governmental structure with Rhine when they asked.
"You presume correctly." The Queen said out loud, smiling politely. Each of the martians shifted into what Tenko privately referred to as a 'human hybrid' form, looking just like green humans with fully red eyes. The Queen in particular heavily resembled a young Queen Elizabeth, with medium-length hair tamed into a retro hairstyle. After a beat, the Queen blinked, and her eyes became more human. "This is S'yarra S'mitt, my magical advisor." S'yarra had blended her martian form with… well, she had made herself attractive enough that Tenko doubted that the features she had assumed were from a real person. "While this is Halk, my science advisor." The scientist had blended his martian form with who Tenko could only assume was Lex Luthor, although he swelled his head to comical proportions for some reason.
"And I'm Megan!" Said the last of their group, "Hello, Megan!" Unlike the others, she actually spoke English, despite Batman being quite sure he addressed them in Martian. She looked like a wholesome teenage girl with green skin and long-ish red hair, having already done the human eye shift that the Queen decided on at the last second.
"This is M'gann M'orzz." Corrected J'onn. "She is an initiate Manhunter, and is here to apprentice under myself."
"...If you need advice when Blackfire and her start fighting, you know who to call." Batman said, implicitly offering his own services on that front.
"Noted." J'onn said humorlessly. "The purpose of this meeting is because of the invasion a few months ago. They heard some fantastical accounts and wished for a first hand report on the event.."
"Understandable." Batman said blandly. According to John's ring, Darkseid was a heavy hitter from the other side of the galaxy. Apparently, they are normally substantially more dangerous than they demonstrated with their invasion, although the fact that Earth was capable of shutting out their primary logistical channels, which were apparently called Boom Tubes, was what truly secured their ability to withstand the assault. If they hadn't… well, it probably would have ended with Darkseid dropping some Apokoliptic superweapons, probably a Hellspore, or several. They were the one that Darkseid was most known for using, a terraformation bioweapon that could turn any carbon based biosphere into something too extreme for anything but parademons to thrive in. Needless to say, they've been working on theoretical counters for a Hellspore assault, but it's difficult without knowing more about them. "Where would you like me to begin?"
The Queen hummed. "Sir 'J'onzz has informed us of the events of the actual battle." She said, "It is interesting to know that Santa Claus and Darkseid have a pre-existing enmity, but he was not well-versed in the underlying methods used to repel the Apokoliptic assault."
"Earth has always had problems with dimensional leaks from the hellplanes." Tenko summarized. "A particularly troublesome one led to a group of exorcists to develop a method to block, or even close such rifts, in a wide area through massive rituals. It's uniquely capable of being deployed on startlingly short notice, although there are conditions that must be met. Tens of thousands of souls harnessed to one spell… it can even turn back Apokolips." He frowned. "Darkseid himself, though, was able to push through it without much issue. He retreated without serious injury once he realized that he could not occupy the planet nor face the full might of the Justice League alone." Granted, only Diana was capable enough to use the secondary functions of the ritual, the formation of a special weapon that was capable of forcing demons across the barrier into the sealed hellportal, but it's not like the barrier was still there, they never maintained it and it simply dissolved after two months.
The Queen paused, presumably conferring with her advisors. Eventually, she spoke. "Yes, I suppose that does make sense. Of course you couldn't face the full might of Darkseid. He won't take this well, though. It may take some years, but Darkseid will return, with a much larger force. He won't be so easy to repel next time."
"We are already preparing for that." Batman said firmly. "It won't be much longer until we can induct specialists for that particular capability, and we've been assembling contingency plans for Darkseid's known capabilities from the Green Lantern's database. Any further information about Apokoliptic doctrine would be appreciated."
"The first thing you must understand about Apokolips is that it is not just a planet." Queen J'arlia began, "It is a planet-sized portal to a hellplane. Darkseid is not just a powerful King, he is not even an Archdemon, but an Evil God."
Tenko scowled. Gods… He knew that he hated Darkseid.
"Darkseid's godly domain is Tyranny." The queen continued, "So this makes organized resistance difficult, as he can see your entire organizational structure at a glance. The less organized you are, the less Darkseid can see you."
"But that's a little like saying that someone can't see you if you close your eyes. You're still handicapping yourself." Batman said, thinking out loud.
"Precisely." The Queen complimented. "While I have no answers when it comes to defeating Darkseid, that is critical information you must have. The good news is that this only applies to Darkseid himself, not his underlings. The bad news is that he will likely be taking a personal interest in his second invasion of Earth from start to finish. Not many repel Apokolips once, but only his peers, the other New Gods, have ever done it twice."
"...I'll want as complete of a dossier you can provide on the New Gods." Batman said after a pause. "For diplomatic purposes."
"Of course." She said.
"I have it." J'onn announced. "I will write it up soon."
"Good." Batman said, "Do you have any other questions?"
"No, I am satisfied." The Queen demurred. "My advisors would like to discuss more technical details, but that can be done at a later date."
"Good." Batman said, before standing up and leaving the room, letting his cape flare dramatically as he did so. "Enjoy your stay."