InsaneJournal

It was a quiet Sunday night when Cisco’s monitoring system chimed. He didn’t have nearly as elaborate a set up in Tumbleweed as he did back home, but he monitored traffic intersections and lights in the chance that a speedster friend showed up and things got bad. The least he could do, he figured, was guide somebody through the streets if a big bad showed face and they needed to ever go Team Flash on somebody’s ass. So most of the time, the monitoring system went unused and neglected, most often chiming to alert him to a minor accident on the road. With Gremlins in town, however, he found himself dusting off his laptop and checking for tiny little shadows or glowing eyes. After a few minutes of searching, he found some.

Cisco might have called on Kara and Alex, but these were Gremlins. And while they were certainly dangerous, he didn’t think it was anything he couldn’t handle. So he suited up and headed out, a tablet in hand to help him keep an eye on a pack of little monsters. Already on the eastern border of the town, they continued to push east until just out of the city limits and seemed to head toward a medium sized big box store. “Well,” he said to himself, “that’s probably not great.”

He typed quickly on his pad, checking for more activity when a familiar silhouette passed a camera. Cisco grinned and shot the man a text: Hey, can you meet me by these coordinates? Got some rogue Mogwai to wrangle. He quickly typed out his location and waited.

There wasn’t much to do in the way of vigilante work in a town like Tumbleweed. The sheer number of capes and masks in the area could have supplied the entire continent and then some, by Justice League standards. Jason almost felt sorry for anyone dumb enough to try something inside of the county, let alone on his street. Still, the Mogwai presented a problem. Unpredictable and about as prolific as fruit flies, they could overrun the two faster than tribbles had taken down the Enterprise. They’d eat a lot more than ship’s stores, too. Jason might have taken a few heads in his time, but he was generally opposed to dismemberment and being eaten alive by things the size of a rabbit.

Jason’s knives rested comfortingly against his side, one concealed in each boot, another several strapped against his torso and hidden beneath his leather jacket, along with his armor. The great thing about the Red Hood’s gear was that it looked a lot like something a biker would wear to protect himself from wind and road rash. Mindful of the public’s general lack of knowledge that superheroes and their buddies were real, Jason had left his distinctive red helmet at home. His domino mask was tucked away in one of his many pockets, ready to be used if necessary.

He sighed when his phone buzzed. The night had been awfully quiet so far. If it was one of his brothers checking in to see what he was up to, Jason might just tell them to come out and patrol for killer teddy bears so he could go home and watch Wuthering Heights on cable with Ace. He’d been pulling extra shifts at the garage to help out while one of his coworkers was away, and to put aside some extra funds in case of emergency.His muscled ached from the hours of honest but sometimes monotonous work. Lifts and padded shop creepers could only do so much to ease the cramps and old pains that all-day physical labor brought on.

So, of course, the message wasn’t from his brothers, and it wasn’t a good excuse to go home and hang out with his dog. It was Cisco, asking for help with Mogwai. Well at least it meant some action. Jason fired off a quick, Be there in ten, and was on his way.

Cisco was leaning against a light pole when Jason approached and looked like something out a comic book. He was banking on the fact that: one, it was still close enough to Halloween that most people could probably chalk it up to getting the most out of a costume and two, that his costume looked less like something a vigilante would wear and more like something an enormous nerd would wear. If Cisco was anything, he was fairly honest about how harmless he looked.

“Hey!” he said, pushing himself off of the pole and approaching Jason. “How’s it going, dude?”

This being the first time Jason had seen Cisco in costume, he couldn’t help but assess the other man. Jason toned down the amused smirk to something that wouldn’t get him punched, not that Cisco was the type, and nodded to Cisco. He wondered if the nerd factor were on purpose, or if Cisco was still so new to the life that he hadn’t worked out exactly where he wanted to go with his gear, yet. The look worked, though, so Jason reined in his tongue.

“Quiet night until you rang.” Jason’s shrug indicated that by quiet, he meant mind-numbing, though it might take a Bat or an Outlaw to read the gesture as something other than nonchalance. “So what’s the deal with the furry terrors?”

Ever even tempered, Cisco didn’t really care about the look. He and Jason were on good enough terms that teasing would have been tolerated, though Cisco probably would have been a little sassy back. It was his way. “I’ve been keeping an eye out since they showed up and these are the first to blip on my radar,” Cisco said with a shrug. “They went that way,” he pointed in the direction of the store, nothing else nearby enough to be a likely target. The thing about Texas and small towns that Cisco was learning to deal with was the enormous amounts of free space. They didn’t have near as much empty space back in Central City.

“Figured I might bring a friend just to pass the time, especially if they eat more stuff and make a bunch of friends,” he said pleasantly, and sounding mostly unafraid. These little monsters weren’t evil speed gods or bad guys assuming friendly faces, after all. Cisco thought he could handle this. He started to walk.

Jason snorted at Cisco’s assessment. He caught the “almost” that preceded the “unafraid” in Cisco’s tone, so he decided to roll with it and play up the casual angle. It was more his style anyway.He fell into step beside Cisco and partially unzipped his coat for easier access to his weapons.

“Sounds fun. Didn’t have anything better planned tonight anyway. You got any plans for how we’re going to do them in or round them up? I’m fresh out of UV lights.” Which was terribly un-Bat-like of him, and Jason mentally kicked himself for not thinking of it before now. He might be the family cautionary tale, but he wasn’t incompetent.

“Got one big UV light bomb,” Cisco said. “But we gotta get them gathered, don't wanna waste it on one little guy.” Aside from that, he could vibe around and figured they'd wing it from there. “Figured we could just work it out from there, but I'll take any suggestions.” It seemed like plans were a bat family thing from the research Cisco had done. It was lonely out at night but not altogether an unpleasant walk so he looked curiously over at Jason.

“So this is basically a reenactment of Underworld, but in miniature.” Jason rolled his shoulders, “How subtle is the whole vibing thing? Can you carry another person?” He needed a better handle on Cisco’s powers and their state of development. Jason knew about his own universe’s vibe, but it was the kind of peripheral knowledge all of the Bats cultivated about every member of the League they could. Forewarned was forearmed, and so forth.

“How is it Underworld and which of us is Kate Beckinsale?” Cisco asked, quick as a whip. He grinned brightly, like he’d made the funniest joke. Then, “It’s pretty not subtle. I basically can open vortexes. But both of us can get through if we need to move around fast, so that’s good.”

“UV bomb, that’s how. Or was that Blade?” Jason still confused his pop culture some days. Too much time dead or running around the planet in a murderous rage. He was decent, though. Too much time spent around Tim.

“Breaking and entering, then,” Jason concluded, “assuming they didn’t already leave a convenient door open.” Even if they had, he preferred not to use it. The Gremlins might be clever enough to monitor it. “We should case the place first. Get an idea where they went in, see if we can take them by surprise.”

Cisco found himself watching Jason, interested in seeing how the man worked. His mannerisms and way of looking at the scenarios reminded him vaguely of Oliver. “Well,” he said eventually as they got closer to the building and it's empty parking lot, “here's our chance.” He made a gesture for Jason to go first.

Luckily for Cisco’s ears and Jason’s patience, the comparison to Ollie was a silent one. Jason still viewed Oliver Queen with distaste after the man had left Roy to deal with his addictions on his own. Bruce might have sucked as a father figure in some ways, but at least he’d been there until Jason had died. Objectively, Jason recognized that Cisco’s Ollie wasn’t the same as own. Instinctively, he wanted to punch him.

“You’re going to want one of these.” He handed Cisco a spare comm and tapped the one in his own ear. “Take the ground. Look for any signs of entry. I’m going to take the roofs.” Jason summarily disappeared, as Bats do, for a bird’s-eye view of the store.

Cisco put on his earpiece with an appreciative nod and then started walking. He let Jason do what he was wont to do and started to stake out the area. He was as quiet as he could be as he walked, appreciative of just how large the store was from the outside.

“Is Gotham like this?” Cisco asked quietly after a little bit of exploration and no findings. “Stores like this? Central City doesn't have any store this big.”

“Not in the main part of the city. It’s all row homes, slums, historic buildings, and skyscrapers. We’ve got the docks, though. Ton of warehouses.” Jason crept silently along the edge of a nearby roof. He’d opened his jacket all the way now that he was out of main view. The red bat symbol on his chest was dark enough that it wouldn’t be noticeable until someone got up close.

“Tiny vicious monsters, though. That’s not as common. If it’s going to be small and obnoxious while causing chaos, it’s usually toys. You ever get anything like Gremlins?”

“We fought Trickster. He had some toys. Not really cute when it's a grown man. And there were evil aliens. But they weren't small or cute.” Cisco kept up his pace, pausing as he noticed a broken vent. “Uh I think I have an entry point. Vent on the west side of the building. Looks like something tore it up.” Cisco got close enough to inspect, shining a light. “No sign of them. But… we got some footprints in the dirt.”

“There a person-sized access point around there we can use?” Jason frowned as he examined the box store’s roof. No skylights. That ruled out the usual dramatic Bat entrance. They might have to use Cisco’s powers to get in after all.

“Uhhh,” Jason could probably hear Cisco moving around and searching for a door. “Yeah. There's one a little further down. Follow my signal to find me.” He raised his hand and shot out a tiny vibe that pulsed out on the rooftop for a few seconds.

The vibe was new, but Jason could roll with it. Tracking quietly, he closed in on Cisco’s location. A fire escape offered easy access back down to the street. Despite his heavy boots, Jason landed without a sound. He’d put his domino mask on while he was up on the rooftops, and his eyes were now hidden behind white-out lenses.

“Cover me,” he instructed Cisco as he went to work on the door with his lock picks.

“Cover me?” Cisco asked, brows raised and a smile on his face. The town went to sleep typically around 7 PM and further out places like this got quiet even earlier. “You know we’re probably the only people in a five mile radius, right?” Still, he did as told, giving Jason his back so that he could monitor for any trouble that might come from other directions.

“You know there are Gremlins around, right?” Jason replied, giving Cisco a look from behind his mask. But he was smiling just a little, so it was clear he was enjoying the back and forth. The lock gave way under his skilled care in a matter of seconds. “You have any tricks to disable the alarms? I don’t want police showing up before we’ve got the little buggers inside contained.”

“I got it,” Cisco said. He took out his tablet and started to type furiously for a few seconds. “I'm taking all cameras offline and putting the alarms to sleep.” His tablet beeped quietly before he put it away again. “After you?”

“Gee, thanks. Just throw me to the little creeps.” Jason grinned, though. This was going to be fun. He loosed his gun from its holster at his side. Moving carefully, he eased the door open, using its both to shield himself as he entered the building. One hand rose to the side of his mask and triggered the night vision feature. The amount of tech that a Bat could fit into their domino was one of the wonders of the Justice League.

“Clear,” Jason reported as he examined the immediate area. “They're deeper in. We could split up, flank them. Keep them contained and then drop the bomb.”

Cisco watched Jason, fascinated by the way he moved. Jason acted like a well trained member of the military - this was not how anyone in team Flash operated, no matter how serious the mission. The store was big, there were high ceilings and signs pointing to different sections. He grimaced when he saw an arrow that pointed the way toward POWER TOOLS. “Um, bud…” Cisco said, giving Jason a slight tap. “Think they went that way.”

There was an open refrigerator door and in front of it a splatter of what looked to be strawberry ice cream. And foot prints.

“Aw, shit. Seriously?” Figured the creepers would aim for power tools. “I really hope they don’t go for the crowbars.” So much for splitting up. Jason gestured for Cisco to follow him. He’d seen enough horror movies to abandon the whole “splitting up” plan when presented with the current tableau.

“Come on. I’m not getting eaten alone.”

“We’re not getting eaten,” Cisco shot back, shaking his head. “I’m missing Discovery for this. I’m definitely not getting eaten before I find out what’s going on on that show.” There was no doubting that Cisco was the biggest nerd in a hundred mile radius, so he wore that badge with pride. No need to pretend to be cool when you weren’t especially ashamed of who you were, anyway.

There was a far off sound of buzzing that put him in the mind of a buzz saw and Cisco paused and motioned for Jason to listen. “That… doesn’t sound good. Still. We’re not getting ate.”

“We’re getting ate.” Now with two guns in hand, Jason led the way deeper into the store. He did not shriek when the Gremlin leapt from the top shelves in Aisle 6 and clamped its teeth onto the junction of his neck and shoulder. He did jump, and nearly dropped his gun.

“Son of a bitch!” Jason jammed the but of his handgun against the back of the Gremlin’s skull, wishing he’d pulled one of his knives instead for close combat.

It happened so quickly that Cisco hadn’t been fully prepared. Perhaps he’d underestimated the Gremlins, not thinking them a threat because they weren’t an evil speedster. But as one went for Jason, another jumped toward Cisco, who wasn’t nearly as cool or collected and let out an “Ah! Fuck!” and blasted it backwards with his powers before it could land on him. He grinned at Jason, adrenaline flooding his system. “Totally did that on purpose,” he said as the scaly little monster got to it’s feet and scurried away.

Without warning, music started to blast from the store’s PA system. Cisco jumped slightly. “Okay,” Cisco conceded. “Maybe we’re gonna get a little ate.”

A litany of curses in several languages escaped Jason’s lips as he swung the Gremlin into the ground with enough force that it should never have gotten up and bolted for another aisle, cackling all the way. The second Robin muttered to himself and angrily exchanged his gun for a wicked-looking knife.

“I am going to make a football out of these little rats.” The Gremlin’s teeth had failed to penetrate Jason’s armor. The vigilante spared a moment to wish for his helmet. Too late now. “If they surround us, I am setting this place on fire. So Goddamn much fire.”

“Let’s… save that for plan Z.” Cisco said, patting Jason gingerly on the arm. He was feeling hyped enough that he pushed past Jason to take the lead and he walked with hands out, ready to blast any little shadow that stirred in their direction. He paused after walking down one aisle because there was sports equipment. “Huh. Speaking of footballs,” he said loudly, to be heard over the music that was blasting. Cisco reached for a baseball bat and tested it between his hands. He didn’t carry weapons but this would do.

Then, as if on cue, he saw a little blur out of the corner of his eye. “Ah!” he shouted as he turned and swung and sent a Gremlin flying into the nearest wall. “Aw yeah!” he cheered, only to be jumped on by a little monster.

Jason’s entire life consisted of one horror story after another, but he drew the line at being gnawed to death by tiny, big-eared things. He grabbed the Gremlin that had landed on Cisco and tossed it into the air, firing off a clean, perfect shot as he did so. He couldn’t remember the movies well enough at the moment to recall if bullets would actually hurt the thing, but they might at least make it think twice.

“I like fire,” he griped at Cisco as he worked, taking aim at another creature and dragging Cisco after him by one sleeve. “Fire does amazing things. It’s cathartic.” When Jason set the fire, anyway. Now wasn’t the time to go into what happened when he didn’t.

“You think they’re in the rafters? I could get us up there. Or you could. How good’s your aim?”

“Uhhh… pretty good?” Cisco said. He glanced from their spot up to the rafters, trying to gauge his shot. He was still fairly new at being a full time hero and so didn’t feel entirely comfortable bragging. As he reached an arm out to open a portal, he felt a sudden sting hit his leg. “Ah! What the fu-” It happened again. In the distance, he could see a Gremlin with a nail gun pointed in their direction. This was the exact sort of motivation that got Cisco opening up the portal rapid fire.

“You know what?” he demanded, growing annoyed, “This sucks and I’m missing Discovery for this and I’m going to fuck up some Gremlins. Come on, bro!” He made a motion for Jason to go into the portal first and then followed. Even if the Gremlins all weren’t hiding up top, they’d at least have a bird’s eye view of the venue.

Jason leaped through right as a Gremlin dove for his feet. No way. He liked those boots. He came out the other side perfectly aligned to land feet-first on the nearest rafter. Shame the Gremlins were already there. Jason came down on them hard, kicking and stabbing while he instinctively grabbed hold of an upright to keep his balance.

“Cisco, they’re in the damn roof!” he shouted. Jason cleared the beam as best he could, which was pretty damn well, but he could see the shapes of more Gremlins the next beam over, and the one after that, and the one after that. “This place is worse than a Crime Alley motel.”

“Aw hell no,” Cisco said as he jumped after Jason. He came up on the rafter literally kicking, sending Gremlins flying in any direction he could. He portaled some midair so that they fell to the floor with loud thumps and Cisco got close to Jason. “We gotta just lure ‘em out and use the UV!”

“And how do we do that?” Jason sniped, another solid thump accompanying his boot colliding with a Gremlin stomach. “You want me to jump down and start shouting, ‘Over here, you bastards!’ Because I can tell you right that that is a bad plan. A Roy Harper level terrible plan. I’d rather be locked in a room with Batman for feelings time.”

“It’s the best plan we’ve got,” Cisco said, swinging the baseball bat he’d lifted earlier and sending a Gremlin away. “Cover my back,” he said, turning. “Hey!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. “You guys hungry? Good eats right over here, you little creeps!”

Jason rolled his eyes, the action hidden behind the white-out lenses of his mask, but he raised his gun anyway and started to pick off Gremlins. They fell like curios knocked from a cabinet, and landed with about as much grace. Most of the bounced right back up. He clenched his teeth and ignored the voice in his head that repeated, We’re going to die in a freaking 80s horror movie, like a mantra. They were not dying because of ugly little knee-biters! Which sounded far better, he realized, when he didn’t have a mob of them suddenly climbing up his legs, his arms, and generally every part of him, trying to aim his body for the buzz saw they had running far below.

It was amazing how much foul language you could come up with when you spoke multiple languages, Jason noted to himself while he stabbed, sliced, shot, and threw the Gremlins off of him, grateful for Dick’s balance lessons while he teetered on the rafter.

There were enough Gremlins coming out of the woodwork that Cisco was starting to genuinely feel nervous now, and not just the adrenaline soaked anxious that came from being thrust into any dangerous situation. He batted away another that came toward him and glanced back at Jason before reaching in his bag for the UV bomb. “Don’t fall and close your eyes, dude!” Cisco shouted as he pulled a switch and let the device fall from his hands. It went off in mid air, filling the immediate space in a neon purple glow.

There were screeches from all around and Cisco, suddenly hit with an idea, used his powers to create portals to spots around the store where the bomb just wouldn’t reach. The light amplified until it was blinding and even with his glasses, Cisco had to squeeze his eyes shut.

The screeching subsided and things fell still, save for the fact that music was still playing and from a distance power tools could still be heard buzzing uselessly. Cisco opened his eyes, the light fading. “You okay, dude? Did we die?”

In the instant he had before the bomb went off, Jason adjusted the light filters on his domino mask, one Gremlin still hanging off of his arm while a half-dozen of its brethren dragged at his armor from the neck and shoulders, attempting to bypass its protection. Another five were hard at work turning his legs into chew toys. One unlucky creature triggered the armor’s security measures. The suit sent a powerful current of electricity through all of the creatures in contact. They shook, smoked, and went rigid, but refused to release their holds until the UV light hit them.

Jason’s lenses auto dimmed, though he still closed his eyes for an instant to protect against the intense brilliance of Cisco’s device. A dozen tiny weights fell from his extremities and torso. A moment later, he cautiously opened his eyes, to find that the store was again dark. This time, when he triggered his night vision, he saw only himself, Cisco, a store that looked like a dozen Black Fridays had run through it, and piles of Gremlin ash and goo.

“That,” Jason pronounced, pointing at the mess, “is disgusting. I’ve seen slime mold that’s more attractive. I am not cleaning that up.” He looked to Cisco and made a broad, circular gesture. “Let’s bounce before anyone decides we’re janitors. Vibe us out of here, dude. I can’t believe I passed up Wuthering Heights for this.”