Risk It All: Dealer's Viewing (ch. 15) (Patreon)

"Little more than a week ago, you three along with Superboy stood before me and the League and boldly proclaimed that you were ready for more," Batman said, his tone flat as Kaldur, Richard, and Wally stood before him. Diana stood by the door, letting the boys receive a much-deserved dressing down, her arms crossed as she made an effort to look distinctly unhappy. "We gave you the chance that you asked for because we believed that you were mature and experienced enough to be allowed autonomy."

To that, Diana nodded as the boys tried to keep their shame from showing. The team was an unexpected development. She had no partner, until recently, so she had been content to follow the judgment of the members of the League that did -- Batman, Flash, Green Arrow, and Aquaman. They had spearheaded the discussion, all equally surprised that their sidekicks were discontent, and decided to step back.

"So far, you've proven that that was a mistake," Batman continued. "You have behaved like children. You three are the most experienced on the team. You are meant to be leaders. Megan, Ren, and Superboy look to you three for guidance and they have received none from any of you. They should not be forced to reach out to the Justice League for fundamental information and basic training. We allowed you the degree of freedom you have received with the expectation that you would lead the team."

"We are not happy," Batman stated in no uncertain terms, making the three boys look down in shame. "But," he added a moment later, just long enough for his words to sink in. "This is not entirely your fault. Blame does also reside with the League, and me personally. There were other outside factors, but that is not an excuse for neglect."

To that, Diana had to fight off a smile. That was the reason why while not everyone might like Batman, every member of the League respected him. As much as he held the boys accountable, he held himself equally as accountable. The League would be lesser with his absence, no matter what the public might say.

"Going forward, there will be changes-" Batman began, and Wally snapped his head up, looking frustrated.

"You're putting training wheels on the team?" He blurted, sounding frustrated with what he suspected. Diana thought that he wasn't wrong. They had phrased it a different way, but that was what it amounted to.

Batman stared Wally down, unimpressed with the outburst. However, Kaldur picked up the cause. "You are right to be angry with us. We have let personal feelings cloud our judgment, but I do feel that it is premature to have the Justice League take direct control over the team. Let us try to fix our mistakes at least," he tried.

There was a point of contention between the League and the Team. Up until this point, Diana had believed that the League was in direct control over the team.

Batman turned to Kaldur, who was similarly uncowed. Then he turned to his protege and adopted son, who stubbornly refused to meet his gaze. However, after a moment, Richard seemed to sense his gaze and dared to look up. It was another long moment before he spoke, but when he did, his voice was firm.

"We screwed up," Richard admitted. Then his lips thinned, "I screwed up." He clarified, sounding unhappy about it. "We aren't babies that need you to hold our hand. So, let us clean up our own mess. Let us fix this, Batman." He implored, finding Batman's gaze unflinching.

"What you broke is not something so easily fixed," Diana spoke up for the first time. "Trust is not an easy thing to mend. It will take time, a great deal of effort, and even then a single mistake can undo all of your work." Not to mention that it could prove fruitless if Ren decided to not give them another chance.

Ren hid it well, but it was clear that his faith in the Justice League and the team was shaken a great deal. He doubted that he had a place on the team at all. Now that he knew that more than half of the League thought that he shouldn't have been invited, he wondered if he should want to be on the team.

Ultimately, it was Ren's decision. If he no longer wanted to be a part of the team, he could continue to learn as her protege. If he didn't want that…

"One chance," Batman decided. "You get one chance to fix this. If you fail, then the League will assume direct control over the team going forward. At least until you have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that you can be trusted with the responsibility that you've taken on." He said, breaking away from the plan.

Diana knew he could feel her fierce look to the side of his head, but he ignored her. "Wait here. There are further announcements," he told them, turning around to face her. Diana held her tongue until Batman had passed her by and the door closed behind them both. “That was not what was discussed,” she pointed out, a sharp edge in her tone.

Batman looked to her, “The team, whether we like it or not, are growing up. In a few short years, all of them will be legal adults. As much as they need a guiding hand, they also need room to grow.” He spoke as if he expected her to understand, and, annoyingly, she did. When she first entered the Man’s world, the world had been at war. There was death on a scale that had thankfully never been seen again on the face of the Earth.

Men as young as Kaldur lied about their age to enlist in the military to fight and die for their country. Men and women younger still contributed to the war effort in other ways.

In her culture, both Wally and Kaldur would both be considered grown men. They weren’t. Diana was glad for it, but she did agree -- they needed room to grow from boys into men. From children to adults.

“If we press the issue, then they will rebel further. With this chance, they can prove themselves. If they do, then no further action will be required. If they don’t? Then they’ve proven twice over they can’t be trusted to act responsibly, and have far less room to argue their case.” Batman continued on with his ice-cold logic.

Diana frowned, “I dislike this manipulation. It nearly drove Ren away from the team entirely.” It was a feeble protest, Diana could admit that. While she disliked it, she could see the benefit from it, and that stopped her from acting on her feelings.

Batman nodded, “It did.” He agreed, making no excuse. But he also didn’t stop playing his mind games. Nor did she stop him. Ren was still on the team, however tenuously. The Justice League was gathering a great deal of support from the public following the outcry after Batman gave his resignation letter. There hadn’t seen so much outright public support since the first time they saved the planet.

For that reason, Diana let the topic drop as they spotted Zatara approaching. His cane was tucked under his arm, his hat on his head while his sharp performance suit remained immaculate. He offered a nod as a greeting, and she returned it with a small smile. “Are you prepared, Zatara?” She asked him, earning an unhappy sigh in response.

“No. Not even remotely,” Zatara admitted freely without shame. “But, I never will be. It’s better with the team than sneaking out like she’s threatened to.”

Despite his distress, Diana’s smile grew. “Zatanna will be in good hands,” she reassured him. Zatanna struck her as a willful girl. Not a bad trait for a burgeoning woman to have. Though, she suspected that Zatara would disagree.

“That remains to be seen, I’m afraid,” Zatara responded. “I was against the team from the start, as you two know. Thus far, it seems to have been nothing but problematic and that doesn’t seem to be changing.” He pointed out, and fairly so. Though, Diana suspected that it was less the issues that came with the team that he was speaking about.

Diana’s smile slipped as Zatara looked over his shoulder at the door that the other half of the team, plus one, were standing inside of. The hallway being isolated to prevent Superboy from overhearing with magic. He seemed to stare through the door, a worried expression on his face, and this time, she knew it wasn’t for Zatanna’s sake.

“Does it trouble you that much?” Batman questioned, making Zatara look back to him.

Zatara failed to answer for a moment, his lips pressed into a thin line as he struggled to find words. A rare thing from him. Diana’s own lips twisted into a frown, recalling what he had told her just after they entered the Zeta Tube. After Zatara had tried to determine the true source of Ren’s power.

“It was like… looking up at the night sky, seeing all of the stars… and realizing for the first time that every single dot of light you can see is as big as the sun. One that is an incalculable distance away,” Zatara began, his voice low, with a worrying hint of fear in his tone. “Yet, despite it all, everything that you see is just a small, tiny fraction of a much greater whole. How small I felt the moment I brushed against his true nature… I felt like a grain of sand in comparison to the universe.”

Zatara shook his head, a gloved hand going to pinch his nose as he gathered himself. “I do not know the origin of Ren’s powers, but I do know that his soul is not that of a human.”

There were many reasons why Ren was allowed on the team despite the reservations many of the Justice League had about him and his action prior to joining. That one was perhaps the most pressing, and Ren had demonstrated it so perfectly. First in his fight with Grundy, but more so in his fight with the team that followed.

Ren proved just how dangerous he could become. When the League realized what had happened with Batman’s, until recently, secret plan, they had followed the lockdown procedure -- lockdown the Zeta Tube and disable the vehicles to prevent his escape. Zatara and J'onn were the League's response.

Yet, Ren had nearly escaped. Despite the odds stacked against him, he had still nearly escaped.

Wally should have been able to stop him with ease, but instead, he was disabled early on with a technique that the League still struggled to understand. Then Ren gained the ability to manipulate stone while inside of a mountain, giving him the ability to create his own exit if he felt the need. He created a pocket dimension to catch projectiles then shoot them back out. He created military hardware and a motorbike to aid in his escape.

Ren seemed to develop powers almost in response to stimuli. His abilities were growing at a frankly astonishing rate -- he could still be classified as weak now, but that was only in comparison to where they expected him to be in a year from now. Or five. Or ten. He was early in his development.

Batman had made it clear when he first brought Ren to the attention of the Justice League -- in as little as a year, Ren Song could become an enemy that required a full League mobilization to defend against. That had been several weeks ago.

In Diana’s personal estimate? It was closer to six months.

Ren’s potential as a threat hadn’t been the reason why he was allowed to join the team, but it certainly had helped convince those that took issue with what he did to Black Mask.

“The investigation is ongoing, Zatara,” Batman offered. On all ends. Batman was getting in touch with his old masters, while Diana looked to her home and their wisdom for an explanation. Zatara was investigating the mystical, but he had been very upfront that he had never encountered anything remotely similar to what he felt from Ren.

“I am sure,” Zatara said with a small shake of his head, clearly doubting that they ever would find an answer. “But, this is not the time or the place. Shall we?” He said, eager to change the subject as he gestured to the door.

Batman offered a small nod, as did Diana. It was clear that he had no wish to speak more on the subject. With that, the three of them approached the door. There they found the rest of the team -- Megan, Superboy, Ren, and now Zatanna. Unlike in the other room, the atmosphere in this one was far more relaxed as they stood in a small circle and spoke amongst themselves, welcoming Zatanna to the team.

Diana was glad to see it. While she cared little for manipulation, she did wish that Ren chose to remain on the team. If not only for his sake but for Superboy’s. The young man had been closed off and angry to her knowledge, but reviewing the security footage had revealed that there was a seed of friendship growing between him and Ren. It was good for both of them.

“Miss Martain, Koi, Superboy, Zatanna,” Batman began, making the group snap to attention. They all looked over, straightening up. Zatanna looked especially proud of herself, standing a little too close to Ren. Based on how Zatara stiffened, it wasn’t something that he missed either, though Ren seemed rather oblivious. Either willfully or not.

His dark blue eyes flickered between her and Batman, to which she offered an encouraging nod.

“Follow us,” Batman said, turning around and walking down the same hallway that they had just left. Batman really did love his dramatic entrances, no matter how inconvenient they might be. A minute later, they stood in the room with the other half of the team. Richard’s face tightened when he saw Ren.

There was genuine animosity there. Worse, in a way, it was even justified. That would be a major hurdle for the team to get over. If they got over it at all.

The others seemed to get the hint, because they lined up along with the other three, waiting for Batman to continue. He took a moment to look between them all before he did so.

“As you know, I have left the Justice League,” Batman began without preamble. Ren visibly fought off a wince and Richard a frown, while the others cast not-so-subtle glances as the two. “In an official capacity,” Batman added a second later. “In an unofficial capacity, I am now acting as a supervisor to the team. I will handle the training of the less experienced members, issue missions, and supervise investigations. How much I interfere in the team is directly proportionate to your actions.”

Wally frowned, clearly not happy but he held his tongue. Kaldur remained stoic. Though Richard looked faintly unhappy he schooled his expression quickly. It was quite clear that there was a rift in the team with the proclamation -- the experienced members fought for more freedom, while Ren looked relieved, Zatanna and Megan eager, and Superboy indifferent. A little more than half desired more active involvement and guidance.

This is what Batman meant, Diana noted. The experienced three had the chance to fill that role before the League did, but they had let it pass.

“Additionally, there will be team training twice a week. Attendance is mandatory,” Batman stated, his voice firm and cold. "All of you will learn to work together. I don't expect you to get along all the time, nor even like every member on the team -- but you will work together." Richard gave a very telling reaction by not giving a reaction at all, because it was clear who the words were directed to. "Is that clear?"

The team gave their confirmations, a few yes sirs, a few nods, then a few sighs and nods.

It was different. The world was different, but that wasn't a bad thing. If the Man's world had been more like this when she first left her home, then she wouldn't have turned her back on the Man's world for sixty years.

"Good. First team training session begins now," Batman informed, catching the group by surprise. "Wonder Woman?"

Taking that as her cue, Diana stepped forward. "You will be facing me. Together, you all have the means necessary to subdue me -- so do so," Diana instructed them, her hands going to her lasso of truth. The golden rope shining at her touch. Her gaze swept over the teenagers -- meeting surprised looks and doubt.

It was the truth. Power did not mean invincibility. They lacked the ability and strength to overwhelm her, but defeat came in many forms.

"Sounds good to me -- can't wait to show you my moves," Wally informed with a cocky swagger as he strode forward. Diana knew there were some women that found that confidence attractive, but she was not one of them.

But, all the same, Diana smiled. "Show away, Kid Flash," she said, her words as sweet as poison. He smirked before he lowered his goggles, his heel arching as he readied himself, his tell that he was about to start sprinting. In that same moment, Diana flicked her lasso forward, directly where Wally would be on his third step to her. And just as planned, he stepped inside the hoop of her lasso, sealing his fate as she swept his leg out from underneath him, sending him skidding across the ground like a skipping stone as he rolled by her.

Wally was too used to fighting enemies that struggled to perceive him. To baseline humans, he was little more than a blur and a gust of wind. To her eyes, he was merely a very, very fast young man. She could see him. Not well, but still better than she could the Flash. Because she had fought faster, it made it easier to subdue him. There was no comparing the difference in the speeds between the two.

"Heh, nice one Kid," Richard remarked, his hands dipping to his utility belt before he flicked two batarangs towards her, the projectiles banking out to hit her from both sides. At the same instant, Kaldur [Getting all of his names wrong again.] rushed forward, reaching back to his weapons of choice -- water solidified with magic. Hydrokinesis. The two batarangs exploded, washing over her with a wall of smoke. With her line of vision blocked, and the vision of the children similarly obscured, Diana frowned.

This was not progressing well. So far, it felt like she was fighting two separate teams, and one of them had been sidelined. But, it was the opening moves. They had time to correct their course.

With a flick of her wrist, she pulled on her lasso, finding that Wally had freed himself. Grabbing hold of her lasso, she used the divine gift to catch a blow from Robin's axe kick as he tried to catch her off in a blindspot, before wrapping it around his foot and pivoting to send him flying into Kaldur, who had attempted to flank her from behind. Against another opponent, the maneuver would have worked, but she'd fought those that trained them. She knew their tricks twice over.

To that end, Diana dropped low, performing a sweeping kick that tripped Kid Flash as he approached at high speeds and sent him flying out of the smoke. As she rose, she flicked the lasso over Richard and Kaldur, binding them together, before she heaved and sent them flying out of the smoke as well before she followed after them not a second later.

Thankfully, the others hadn't stood idly by. Superboy rushed her, swinging wildly. He fought how Clark once had -- wild and untrained. He knew how to throw a punch, but he was completely reliant on his superior strength to win the battle for him. Because he never expected to fight something that was stronger than he was -- which was… reasonable. Not even she could best Clark in a contest of strength. Not even close.

Diana responded the same way she had back then -- she diverted his fist with her lasso held taut between her hands, before she wrapped it around his wrists and heaved. Superboy lacked Superman's flight so he slammed into the ground hard, the hard stone cracking upon impact as he let out a pained grunt. A lesson he needed to learn -- there were things that hit harder than him. And all the strength in the world was absolutely useless unless you could touch your opponent.

A flash of movement forced Diana to react, Ren making his opening move. He darted into her line of sight before darting back out, proving to her that getting her attention was the goal. He was slower than Kid Flash by a fair amount. He wasn't capable of sustained superspeed like his teammate, but he made good use of what he had. Quick bursts of acceleration that he used to blitz his opponents before retreating to a safe distance. He understood that he had no staying power as Superboy did.

Then he darted to the side, a new development with his powers. Not only could he create them in a pinch, but it seemed he could further refine them. He darted back in, his wooden sword swinging down, but even as she blocked the blade, she felt an impact to her knees and her ribs. It didn't hurt. Not at all, really. It was little more than a thump, just enough register that she had been struck, but not enough to cause pain, much less bruise.

Ren darted back while Superboy attempted to get back to his feet. while Kaldur and Robin approached from behind.

Ren darted back in, attempting to overwhelm her, and this time Diana responded. She dove in, meeting Ren halfway, and planted a fist into his stomach, knocking the breath from him. She felt no impact that time, and she heard his breathing lose its rhythm. Grabbing onto his sword arm, she pulled back and sent Ren flying. Only to have him be caught by Megan, who reached out with her mind, catching him with telekinesis.

Superboy rose to his feet, his wrists still bound. He unleashed a furious war cry, undaunted by the pain as he lashed out with his wrapped up fists. Kryptonian skulls were thick. If she wanted him to learn she just needed to keep beating sense into him until he understood. Diana deflected a fist, diverting the other with a flick of her lasso before she delivered a punishing blow to his ribs. Light taps comparatively, considering that they would rip a baseline human in two. Superboy pressed forward, swinging wildly, and she punched him in the nose with a quick jab, snapping his head back before following it up with a powerful left hook that sent him into the ground.

Just in time for Richard and Kaldur to attack her from behind.

"Dinb! Dinb! Dinb!" Diana heard Zatanna encant. At first Diana thought she was targetting her lasso. However, the lingering smoke lashed out at her, condensing until it became like a rope around her legs. An interesting tactic, one worth exploring in the future, just on a different opponent. Diana tore through the smoke bindings by flying up, avoiding an attack that Richard tried to land on her on her way up, before Kaldur lashed out, sending a torrent of water racing up towards her.

To her surprise, Ren darted forward, the tip of his sword running along the torrent of water as he peeled some off. He leaped up into the air after her, a bathtub’s worth of water trailing behind his sword. First, he learned to manipulate earth, and now water?

Diana narrowed her eyes, diving in to avoid the torrent of water and to clash against her new sidekick. He swung down, the water lashing out like a whip that she avoided solely for the purpose of avoiding getting her hair wet, and Ren struck out. He lashed out with his wooden sword as he was carried up by his momentum, and this time, Diana allowed his technique to strike her.

There were four blows in total. One that she could see, and three others that just weren't there. Four separate swings at once. This time, she felt more force behind the blows. Was he getting physically stronger as well? Was his body rising to the challenge? What was that technique?

Diana grabbed Ren by his hood and flung him to the ground, where he was then caught by Zatanna. She frowned down at him as he lightly landed on his feet. Four swings at once. Time manipulation? That was quite a jump from his current power set, but he expanded it so rapidly that she couldn't discount it either. It wasn't superspeed either. The blows had happened instantaneously.

The issue was that she didn’t see the swings themselves. If it was time manipulation, then she would see some kind of hint that he performed another three swings -- his positioning of the swing, his clothing, his grip, some kind of halting motion but it was all smooth. A single swing that struck four times. The only other possibility that made any amount of sense was… some form of reality manipulation.

In a way, that was somehow more frightening than time manipulation.

But that was for later. "Not even close," she told the team of children. They weren't correcting their issues. Wally, Richard, and Kaldur continued to fight like a separate team of three. Superboy was fighting like an individual. Megan and Zatanna were doing fine as support, but they didn't seem to understand that they were the real powerhouses of the team at the moment. They needed to be more aggressive. Ren was doing the best, but that was solely because he kept surprising her with new powers that she didn't expect. That, and he was taking advantage of openings that others provided, which was a form of teamwork if your standards were low enough.

Case in point, above his left shoulder, black smoke rushed up at her like a torrent, enveloping her in an instant. It must have been the pocket dimension he used to catch Richard's bolas and use them against Wally -- he had used it to suck up some of the smoke to use later. Her eyes narrowed, before her eyes and ears were assaulted with the harsh lights and sounds of a flashbang grenade. It wasn't an honorable way to fight, but it was an effective one.

Diana dropped to the ground, her ears ringing, and was immediately beset by Superboy. He threw a wild punch at her, but the third bout went no better than the first two. Diana blocked the blows, dropping a loop of her lasso on the ground while doing so, and yanking on it when Superboy stepped inside it to continue his assault. She used it to throw his balance off before punching him in the stomach, folding the young Kryptonian around her fist, and sending him into the air. She then delivered a high kick to the side of his head that sent him back into the ground, hard.

Her own footing suddenly shifted, her legs spreading as the earth under her feet moved. Diana flew up a few inches to avoid it and effortlessly stopped Ren's following attack that was trailed by spinning moons and twinkling stars. She swept his legs from underneath him while yanking on her lasso, lifting Superboy up dropping him on top of Ren, making both boys groan. With a flick of her wrist, she undid the hold on Superboy's ankle.

Then she dove after Kaldur, Richard, and Wally. They seemed to finally realize that they were losing quite handily and made an effort to correct course. Richard launched more batarangs at her, each one effortlessly dodged as Diana officially moved onto the offense. Disabling Richard was easy. He was well trained, that much was true, but that only meant so much. In truth, Batman could defeat her, but those scenarios always relied on one crucial aspect -- time to prepare. Which Richard had none of.

He dropped to the ground while Wally dove in, attempting to grapple, only to find her knee in his diaphragm. He dropped to the ground, gasping for breath. Kaldur put up a valiant effort, but without support, he was quickly overwhelmed as well.

Leaving only Megan and Zatanna, who looked equally afraid and awed by what they had just witnessed. Diana offered a smirk before she rushed in, her lasso flicking out towards Megan, who blasted it away with telekinesis. That was a bad habit she was developing -- she should have blasted Diana away, rather than just her lasso. Because, with a flick of her wrist, the lasso readjusted its course and she wasn't prepared for it. It wrapped itself around her body, and with a yank, Diana brought Megan down to the ground. She landed hard, but she had no bones to break. Megan just wasn't used to pain.

"Tsalb yawa!" Zatanna tried a last-ditch effort, but she was no match for Diana's raw strength and her ability to fly. She flew forward despite the telekinetic force trying to push her away, closing the distance in a moment before she swept Zatanna's legs from underneath her, and clamped a hand over her mouth to prevent her from speaking. Zatanna looked up at her with wide eyes for a moment, Diana meeting her gaze, before she removed her hand and stood up, looking out over the defeated team.

They all looked like they had more left in the tank, but it was also abundantly clear that her point had been made.

"You all have the ability to defeat me," Diana reminded them, just in case they didn't believe it. "But only by working together," she said, gathering up her lasso to return it to its rightful place at her hip. Her gaze slid over to Batman and Zatara, the latter looking like he was making an active effort to not run to Zatanna's side. Zatanna was still young, but it would be good for her to stand on her own two feet without her father hovering over her.

Batman met her gaze and offered a shallow nod. Their worst suspicions, all but confirmed. The team was fractured, divided, and completely without structure. They had no defined roles in combat, and they got in each other's way just as much as they helped each other.

After that showing, Diana found herself very glad that they didn't have a mission as of yet.

"On your feet. We're taking it from the top."