//------------------------------//
// Chapter 23: Temblor 
// Story: Young Amazons 
// by Wanderer D 
//------------------------------//


Young Amazons
By Ackbarfan5556
Executive Produced By Wanderer D
Chapter 23: Temblor

 









 
The past month had been a complete roller coaster of change for both Sunset and Bruce’s crime-fighting lives.
 
When Bruce told Sunset to stay put during the rampage of Joker, Riddler, and Penguin, as well as Rojas closing his grip on capturing him, she had honestly expected him to lose. She should’ve known better than to doubt him.
 
Batman had managed to not only successfully take on all three criminals and defeat them, but he also managed to keep his identity secret. Not only that, but thanks to Commissioner Gordon, the manhunt on both Batman and Alicorn was over.
 
According to Bruce, Gordon had been planning on calling off the manhunt for some time, but he was unable to do so until now, first in part because he wasn’t Commissioner for several months prior. The second reason why was because of public opinion. That all changed thanks to Batman’s efforts on stopping the three criminals when the GCPD was unable to.
 
Bruce mentioned that he was cornered with Yin after taking down Joker, Riddler, and Penguin and surrendered to Rojas before Gordon confronted the chief and explained the situation. Batman and Alicorn were no longer to be targeted by the GCPD and were de facto deputized. Gordon was even kind enough to reinstate Yin back to the GCPD.
 
However, while Sunset was now starting to get used to the police not trying to arrest her or Batman, it still was somewhat nerve-wracking for her. She knew deep down that several officers probably weren’t truly embracing this new order, such as Chief Rojas. And so, despite the change, she and Batman were keeping their distance from most of the police.
 
Sunset was quietly sitting in her bedroom as she was finishing up another one of her homework assignments when she saw something glow in the sky in the side of her vision. She turned her head to look out and saw the Batsignal shining bright in the cloudy night sky.
 
Another thing that Gordon had done was set up a spotlight on the top of the GCPD Headquarters building that had Batman’s insignia in it. The light would be used to signal whenever Gordon needed to call upon him.
 
As if on cue, Sunset’s communicator rang out and the young heroine sighed as she closed her books and got suited up.
 
Sunset moved as fast as she could towards the source of the communicator’s signal, which was close to the city’s docks before she finally arrived. She was greeted by the sign of a serious fight as many crates and containers had been utterly destroyed as if a natural disaster had torn its way through the area.
 
She carefully made her way through the carnage before she heard something moving under a pile of wood by her. A moment later, Batman got up from under the pile and brushed himself off.
 
“Sorry I’m late,” she apologized. “I tried to get here as quickly as I could.”
 
“Don’t worry, I understand. I was already in the area when I saw the signal.” He glanced towards beacon. “I’m still getting used to seeing that.”
 
“You and me both.” Sunset chuckled. “So, what exactly happened here?”
 
“Out of town villain who calls himself Temblor. He’s got two large steel gauntlets on his hands which he can use to create earthquakes.”
 
“That certainly explains why the docks look like a natural disaster struck it,” Sunset said.
 
Police sirens began ringing as several police cars approached the scene. Both Sunset and Batman moved into a hiding position as the police began to fan out around the area. Two more cars drove up before their occupants got out to reveal Commissioner Gordon and Chief Rojas.
 
“Once more, he shows up, causes havoc, and then practically melts away back into the city!” Rojas complained as he walked up to Gordon.
 
“I understand your frustration, Angel. Frankly, I’m fed up with all this myself,” Gordon said.
 
“The problem is that we haven’t had a good glimpse of this perp. He seems to be able to sneak on the premises, unleash total devastation and then blend back into a crowd somewhere.” Angel sighed before he lit a cigarette.
 
“Well, he’s going to slip up sooner or later. He’ll end up being spotted by someone and then we’ve got him.”
 
“Do you mean us or the Bat?” Rojas raised an eyebrow.
 
Sunset saw Gordon pause before he took a deep breath.  “Still not getting used to it?”
 
“Jim, look. I understand why you think this will help, but I’ve seen this sort of thing before. I think this might just end up being a repeat of the Bergmann case,” Rojas said.
 
The commissioner gave a small nod. “I’m aware this is a tight rope we’re walking, but you don’t need to worry about it. It’s not your neck on the line here.”
 
“Yeah, I know. I just wanted to remind you of my concerns, at least it’s what I can do for my actions last month,” Rojas said.
 
“Focusing much of your resources on trying to take down one man while three others were causing all sorts of havoc across the city, nine times out of ten that should’ve gotten you fired.”
 
“I know, I know,” Rojas growled.
 
“But, as I told you before, firing you would be a detriment to this city and its police force.” Gordon placed his hand on Rojas’ shoulder. “You’re a good man, Angel. You’re honestly one of the few people I can truly trust in this town.”
 
“On the count that I’m not in the pocket of some crime lord, right?”
 
Gordon nodded. “Exactly. You do this job the same reason why I do it: to protect this town and those that live in it.”
 
Rojas gave the commissioner a small smile before walking away. “Well, I’ll certainly try not to screw things up again for ya, Jim.”
 
“We’ve just got to do our best, Angel, that’s all this city can ask of us.” Gordon took a deep breath as he glanced around before putting his hands into his trench coat’s pockets. “You know, you two can come out now. You don’t need to worry about being arrested.”
 
Sunset’s eyes widened before Batman stood up and began walking towards the Commissioner. Sunset followed suit and walked along beside him before stopping in front of her friend’s father. A nagging feeling in her mind was gnawing at her, worried that somehow Gordon would see through her disguise since this was her first time meeting him as Alicorn.
 
“Sorry about that,” Batman said. “It’s still taking some time to get used to the change.”
 
“It’s something we’re all dealing with,” Gordon replied before looking at Sunset. “Nice to finally meet you, Alicorn.”
 
“Likewise, Commissioner Gordon,” Sunset said without a hint of nervousness in her voice.
 
“Now then, as you can plainly see—and I’m sure you’ve probably figured out more than me—we’re dealing with someone that can cause destruction in a very small area. The docks are the third place he’s hit this week and it’s unrelated to the previous locations. We still can’t figure out any sort of pattern.”
 
“Maybe we can’t hit a pattern, but we can get a motive.” Batman soon held up his arm and revealed a small listening device that one would put in their ear in his palm. “I managed to get this off of Temblor. He’s doing mercenary work for whoever is on the other end of this.”

Gordon reached forward and picked up the device. He looked at it for a moment before handing it back. “Great, so it’s another Lynns.”
 
“Except this was can cause earthquakes rather than propel fire,” Sunset said. Gordon gave her a look before looking back towards Batman.
 
“Temblor uses some special gauntlets that are able to create some miniaturized earthquakes,” Batman explained.
 
The commissioner sighed before pinching the bridge of his nose. “How on Earth does someone like that end up with that kind of technology?”
 
“More than likely it was provided by his employer, similar to how GothCorp supplied Lynns with his suit and flame weapons.”
 
“You don’t think GothCorp is trying something like this again, do you? I mean, I know it’s probably foolish, since they probably are still trying to pull themselves out of that Firefly mess, but maybe?” Sunset asked.
 
Batman shook his head. “No, not likely, as you said. Besides, the locations he hit aren’t related to GothCorp’s rivals.”
 
“Well, you have the listening device so maybe you could be able to trace the signal of whoever Temblor is working f—” the Commissioner was suddenly cut off from his talking as his cellphone began to ring. “Hold on a moment.”
 
Sunset watched as the older man pulled out his cellphone and answered it. “Gordon. Oh, hi, Barbara,” Sunset’s eyebrows raised a bit upon hearing her friend’s name. “Oh, that’s today? Are you sure? I mean, it’s not that good of a day what with the weather and everything. No, I understand. You and your friends have been planning this for a month.”
 
Sunset figured out the conversation quickly after hearing that. She was supposed to meet up with Pamela and Barbara as they planned to stage their protest of Chlorogene at their corporate headquarters.
 
“Look, I double checked like you asked. You should be fine so long as you stay off their property zone. Huh? No, I mean, yes, I mean, we’re discussing things right now. Police business, sweetie, not your concern. Okay, bye, I love you.” Gordon then hung up the phone. “Sorry about that,” he said, turning to face the two heroes.
 
“Not a problem, I know what it’s like to deal with girls her age,” Batman said as his tilted his head in Alicorn's direction. She couldn’t help but chuckle.
 
“I’ll take your word for that,” Gordon said. “Now, I need to focus on the cleanup efforts and hopefully track down Temblor. That is, if you don’t find him first.”
 
“We’ll take care of him, Commissioner,” Batman said.
 
“You usually do, but just be careful okay?” Both heroes nodded before turning and walking away.
 
“I’m heading back to the Batcave,” Batman said to Alicorn as the two were out of earshot of Gordon or anyone else. “I’m going to try and see if I can triangulate this earpiece and track down Temblor or, more importantly, his employer.”
 
“Sounds like a plan. If you don’t mind, I’m going to go back to civilian life for the rest of the day, join up with the girls in the protest,” Sunset said.
 
“No problem, we wouldn’t want your friends to get suspicious.” Sunset suddenly stopped as soon as he said that. “Alicorn, something wrong?”
 
“Well, now that you mention it, I think they might actually be starting to, at least Barbara is.”
 
“How so?” Batman asked.
 
“I know for sure it started the day after the manhunt was called off on us, but every time I have to pass on a meet up with her and Pam, or if I have to leave them early, there’s a subtle look that she gives me. It’s only for a moment, but I see it.”
 
“Maybe joining them for this protest will put those worries to rest.”
 
Sunset nodded. “Yeah, I think you might be right, I could just be overthinking it.”
 



 
“Hyaa!” Barbara cried out as she struck the punching bag in the garage with her leg. The redhead took a deep breath before throwing several more kicks and punches at it before she finally decided that it was time to stop and get a drink of water.
 
She took a seat on the couch as she began to calm down from the workout. The past month had been almost a blur to her in terms of her secret project. And all of it began when she found out her best friend was secretly a super-powered crime fighter.
 
Once she found that out, Barbara began training herself to follow in her friend’s footsteps to become a crime fighter herself. The past month she had been re-learning self-defence training that her father made her take a few years ago, as well as working on designing an outfit for her to use.
 
All of this was an effort to pursue what was her greatest desire that not even her friends knew: following in her father’s footsteps and becoming a detective. However, her father was dead set against her doing it. She understood his concern; it was a dangerous business, but at the end of the day it was her choice, and he should at least support her with that choice of career.
 
Not to say that Barbara didn’t like doing gymnastics and being an Olympic hopeful; she liked making her parents proud, but it didn’t have the same meaning to her. Simply being good at a certain sporting event made her feel out of place with her parents, who both worked in occupations that helped people and saved lives.
 
As she continued to relax, the phone next to her rang. She reached over and grabbed it before pressing the answer button.
 
“Hello, Gordon Residence. Barbara speaking.”
 
“Hey, Red,” Pamela’s voice answered on the other end.
 
“Oh, hey, Pam. What’s up?”
 
“Just calling you to see if you’re going to be ready for later.”
 
Barbara nodded, even through Pamela couldn’t see her. “Oh, yeah, I’ll meet with you and Sunny there. I need to take a shower first and get cleaned up. By the way, I talked with my dad earlier. We’re all good so long as we stay off the property.”
 
“That’s what I was thinking, though it’s nice to always get a heads up on that. We’ll see you soon.”
 
“Will do. See you later.” The phone went to a tone indicating that Pamela had hung up before Barbara placed the phone back down. She soon took a deep breath and then got up to get ready to join her friends.
 
A few hours later, everything was in full swing outside the headquarters of Chlorogene. Barbara and Sunset held protest signs that Pamela made while she was holding a bullhorn and her eyes looking directly up towards where she thought the CEO’s office was.
 
“You think you can just simply ignore the damage you do to plants and the environment every day? While you think that it’s all fine in the short term, in the long run, you’ll be having to answer to the future generations that you’ve harmed with your carelessness!” Pamala shouted.
 
“Think you should mention the Chloromulch, Pam?” Sunset whispered.
 
“Oh, right!” Pamela held back up the bullhorn. “And don’t even get us started on your whole Chloromulch-brand mutated vegetables!”
 
Barbara looked up and saw a man on a higher level in an expensive business suit walk up to the window and close the blinds to his office.
 
“I think you’re certainly getting their attention, Pam,” Barbara said.
 
“That’s the idea, Red. I know we’re not making them change their mind, but we’re showing them that people care. The greatest movements in history always started  with a small group of people,” Pamela smirked.
 
“I couldn’t agree more with that sentiment,” a man said as he walked up to the girls. He looked like he was in his early 30s with blonde hair that was parted to the left. A part of it came down close to his left eyebrow.
 
“D-D-D-D-Dr. Woo—” Pamela stuttered. Barbara and Sunset glanced over to their friend to see her wide-eyed and red faced.
 
“Dr. Jason Woodrue.” He smiled as he held his hand out for the girls to shake. Both of them suddenly realized why Pamela had froze up: her hero was standing right in front of her.
 
“Hello.” Barbara shook his hand before Sunset did the same. “I’m Barbara Gordon. This is Sunset Lucciola, and this is Pamela Isley,”
 
“Who just happens to be a big fan of yours, hence her nervousness at the moment,” Sunset added as she pulled Pamela a few feet away to calm her down.
 
“It’s always a pleasure to meet those who admire the work I try for this planet, especially ones your age. It just proves that the young generation truly cares about what happens to our world,” Woodrue said.
 
“Pamela certainly thinks that, and she brought us over to her side. I wouldn’t say we’re as passionate as she is, but we’re her friends and will help her in any way we can,” Barbara explained.
 
“I see. I wish I had friends like you three when I was growing up. I’ve mostly had to fight this battle on my own growing up, but at least the good news is that more and more are beginning to open their eyes and see the damage that companies like Chlorogene are doing.”
 
“Very much so, sir,” Pamela walked back up and shook Woodrue’s hand with a big smile on her face. “I see it all as our duty to this planet to protect it the best way we can, within reason of course.” She glanced back to Sunset and Barbara.
 
“A noble goal if there ever was one.” Woodrue smiled. “Well, I hope that you continue with your efforts and try to help nature, Miss Isley. I’ll certainly keep you in mind in a few years if you wish to join my group.”
 
Pamela’s eyes lit up. “Oh, very much, sir! I would be honored. I mean, several years from now when I get a college degree, but I hope you’ll remember me,”
 
“It’ll be hard to forget. The same goes for the rest of you ladies. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m needed elsewhere while I’m here in town. It was nice meeting you girls.” Woodrue said before he walked away.
 
“You okay, Pam?” Sunset asked.
 
She nodded, though the smile on her face refused to leave. “Oh, fine. It’s just I never thought I’d personally meet him.”
 
“Or have him offer you a job?” Sunset smirked as she gave Pamela a slight nudge.
 
“Like I said, hopefully in a few years. Oh, hey, thanks for helping me out there girls. I was so nervous for a minute there.”
 
“Hey, what are friends for?” Barbara shrugged her shoulders before checking her watch. “Looks like it’s getting late. We should probably head home.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right. I know I’ve got something to do,” Sunset said.
 
“Schoolwork or crime-fighting, Sunny?” Barbara thought as the girls quickly said their goodbyes and parted ways.





Barbara collapsed right on the couch as soon as she got back home, her feet aching from all the standing and walking she did during the protest. As she relaxed, her mind went back to her project as she began to think about names for her crime-fighting persona.
 
“Hmm… what would be a good one? Battycorn? No, no way on that. That’s terrible.”
 
“Barbara!” Her train of thought was interrupted as she heard her father shout. She sat up and saw him at the door, looking like he had seen a ghost.
 
“Oh, hey, Dad. What’s up?” her father’s reply came in the form of a tight hug. “Sheesh, hard day at work?”
 
“You could say so. Sorry, it’s just considering what you and your friends were doing today,” he paused as he looked away.
 
“Well, don’t keep me hanging there. What happened?” Barbara asked.
 
“You know that man that’s been causing havoc the past week? Well, we got a name and a motive. He’s called Temblor, and he’s doing mercenary work. Today, he worked overtime. He hit the docks, Neugog Chemicals, and this is the kicker, Chlorogene’s corporate headquarters.”
 
Barbara’s eyes widened. “Wait, what?!”
 
“That’s why I was so worried,” James explained. “I thought you and your friends were still there when it happened.”
 
Barbara shook her head. “Well, we weren’t. Boy, I didn’t realize how close we were to danger there.”
 
“Despite the close call, I think we might not have to worry about it much longer. I think the Bat has a lead, so Alicorn and him will probably get him soon,” James said as he walked towards his home office.
 
“Any chance you’re inviting the Dark Knight for dinner then?” Barbara smirked.
 
The commissioner smiled as he shook his head. “Very funny. Anyways, I need to get some papers filled out so try to keep it down.”
 
“Will do, Dad,” Barbara followed suit and walked into her room before sitting on her bed and pondering the information she just heard.
 
“Chlorogene was hit, and I remember Neugog was another company that Pam had been complaining about last week. Could it be? Have we been helping Pam protest, or have we been scouting targets for her?” Barbara thought.
 
She then shook her head. “No, don’t be ridiculous, Gordon. She’s doing good since the intervention, and besides, how could she afford a mercenary? Still, it’s quite a coincidence,” she then glanced over to her phone.
 
“Okay, Sunny, if you’re not going after Temblor at the moment, then maybe you can help me with a little meet up with Pam,” Barbara finished her trail of thought as she dialed the number.
 



 
“Nice of you two wanting to meet up again today,” Pamela said as she finished drinking her soda. “I honestly thought that we were going to spend the weekend just studying by ourselves, or at least you two would meet up for something involving gymnastics. Aren’t the state championships next month?”
 
Barbara nodded. “Yeah, they are, but we don’t feel like we need to meet up and practice on the weekend. We’re doing fine during the meetups.”
 
“Besides, we’ve got this championship in the bag,” Sunset gave a confident smirk.
 
“Easy,” Pamela smiled. “I may not know too much about the specifics of competitive gymnastics, but I’m pretty sure one shouldn’t be overconfident with their chances.”
 
“She’s right, Sunny,” Barbara said. “A month is still a long way to go.”
 
“I know, but I still feel good about our chances,” Sunset replied with a smirk.
 
“Speaking of feelings, there’s actually a reason why we asked you to meet up with us, Pam,” Barbara turned her attention to their friend.
 
“Oh, what is it?” Pamela asked.
 
“Well, first of all, did you hear about what happened yesterday?”
 
“You mean about Chlorogene? I know! That was crazy! We had barely just left when it happened!” Pamela exclaimed.
 
“I actually hung around the area a bit longer after we parted ways, mostly to get some dinner, but I did hear what sounded like a massive wreck before some police sirens. At the time, I thought it was just a car accident, but that changed when I saw the news,” Sunset explained.
 
“Not only that, but that mercenary, Temblor, also hit Neugog Chemicals before that,” Barbara added. “Pam, didn’t you mention your disgust of them the other day?”
 
Pamela was confused for a moment until it suddenly clicked in her mind of what her friends were possibly insinuating. “Whoa, hold on a moment! Are you trying to tell me that you think that I had something to do with this?”
 
“No, we’re not thinking that, or if we did, we quickly dismissed it. You have to admit, Pam, it’s quite a coincidence,” Sunset said.
 
“Yeah, it’s coincidental. But think about it, where would I be able to afford a mercenary?” Pamela asked.
 
“I know, I know,” Barbara said. “That’s what made me think otherwise, but I just think—” Barbara suddenly stopped speaking. “That’s the connection.” Both Pamela and Sunset looked at each other before looking back to Barbara.
 
“What? What’s the connection?” Sunset asked.
 
“It’s Temblor. Dad was complaining that there was no connection to his targets, but I think I figured it out. He’s a mercenary being paid to destroy places that relate to environmental destruction. Temblor is working for an eco-terrorist,” Barbara theorized.
 
“That certainly sounds right, but I think your father or someone at the GCPD must have made that connection too,” Pamela replied.
 
“Well, hopefully, both him and Alicorn will take care of it and then we can move on from this.” Pamela concluded before she got up to throw away her drink.
 
“Hold that thought girls, check him out.” Sunset pointed to a man who was walking past the restaurant. He was a tall and bulky man wearing a brown trench coat and holding a briefcase. His face looked grizzled while his white hair had a flat top haircut.
 
“Hey, you don’t think?” Pamela whispered, suggesting that might be the infamous Temblor.
 
“Come on, let’s follow him and see where he goes.” Barbara motioned the two of them and they began to follow the mysterious man. Pamela was somewhat worried about their actions, but the girls were making sure to keep plenty of distance away.
 
After following the man for several blocks, the three of them turned a corner, but the man had vanished.
 
“Hey, where did he go?” Pamela wondered as they all stopped.
 
“You’d think a guy like him would be hard to lose,” Barbara said.
 
“But I don’t think that man could be anyone else. Pam, aren’t we near one of Chlorogene’s research labs?” Sunset asked.
 
Pamela looked up at one of the street signs and recognized the location. “Yeah, we are. I guess that proves it. Come on, let’s go and call the police about this!”
 
“Oh, I don’t think that would be a good idea.” Pamela’s blood ran cold and she assumed Barbara and Sunset felt the same way as soon as they heard that deep voice from behind them. All three of them turned around to find the man they were following standing right behind them, his tall height making him very imposing.
 
“What’s this then? Three girls wanting to be Good Samaritans?” the man asked with a wicked sneer. He opened his briefcase and began putting on a pair of metallic gloves. “I can’t allow that to happen.”
 
“RUN!” Barbara screamed as the three girls took off running with the man following close behind.
 
Pamela move as fast as she could to keep up with her two friends, but their gymnastics training allowed them to have more stamina than her.
 
“I’ve got a plan. Let’s all split up, okay?” Sunset suggested as they crossed a street.
 
“Got it!” Barbara shouted.
 
Pamela watched as Sunset ran one direction while Barbara went the other way. Rather than going a third way, Pamela panicked and followed right after Barbara.
 
“Hey, I thought you were going to go somewhere else!” Barbara said as she looked back towards Pamela.
 
“Sorry! I’m not really thinking right now!” Pamela looked back and saw that Temblor had ignored Sunset. Now, he was following her and Barbara. “Hurry up, Red! He’s gaining on us!”
 
“This way!” Barbara turned a corner as Pamela realized they were running through the driver’s entrance of Chlorogene’s lab. Barbara hurtled over the boom barrier while Pamela slid under it before they ran towards one of the warehouse buildings that was open. As soon as they got inside, they found a place to hide.
 
“You okay?” Barbara whispered as both girls tried to catch their breath.
 
“Yeah, I am. For now at least,” Pamela said as kept her voice down.
 
Everything stayed quiet as Pamela hoped that they had gave Temblor the slip but that was forgotten as the wall behind them suddenly burst open. The dust quickly settled to reveal Temblor was behind them once more.
 
“Hiding at my target, not very smart of you,” Temblor said as the girls got out of cover. They slowly backed up as he approached them.
 
“I-I’m warning you! I’m an Olympic hopeful!” Barbara tried to bluff Temblor into backing down, but it was a foolish attempt. The man clearly wasn’t one to back down. He raised his hands up, his gauntlets beginning to charge up.
 
However, before he could bring them down on top of the girls, a black object flashed through the air and connected with the gauntlets. He brought them down on the floor a few feet away from Barbara and Pamela.
 
The whole building rocked as the girls backed up onto a container bed that was currently waiting for a container to carry and a truck to haul it. They both looked up to see the Dark Knight himself drop onto a balcony high in the warehouse.
 
“Picking on young girls, huh, Temblor? Scared to fight someone your own age?” Batman said.
 
“Oh, I’m not scared at all, but I find myself ahead of the police when there are no witnesses.” Temblor activated his gauntlets once more as he turned his attention to fighting Batman. Both girls saw Alicorn sneak into the building through the roof and land behind him. She charged up her hands before launching a yellow sphere of energy that struck Temblor in the back.
 
“You certainly made a mistake messing with those two girls,” Alicorn said before looking over Barbara and Pamela. “You girls alright?”
 
“Much better now that you’re here,” Pamela smiled.
 
“Good to hear. You better clear out of here, this might get messy,” Alicorn said.
 
“Oh, they’re not going anywhere!” Temblor charged up another quake and struck the ground, causing much of the catwalk above the girls to suddenly come down on top of them.
 
“Look out!” Pamela cried out before shielding herself on top of Barbara. Her ears rang as soon as all the metal crashed down on them. However, by sheer luck, Pamela felt little pain when the metal landed. The only pain she felt was from a small metal beam that tipped over and pressed against Pamela’s legs. “You okay?”
 
“Yeah, surprisingly. Though I think there’s something on my arms,” Barbara responded. Pamela looked forward and saw that another beam was pinning down Barbara’s arms.
 
“Okay, hang on. I think we’re both pinned at the moment. Here, I’ll get that beam off your arms, then you get the one on my legs, got it?”
 
“Got it!” Both girls went to work in trying to free themselves while they could hear the sounds of battle echoing through the warehouse. As the building continued to rock, Pamela could see out of the corner of her eye some glowing green powder trickling down next to them. As she looked up to see the source, her eyes widened in fear once more.
 
“Red! We’ve got to hurry!” Pamela shouted as she put more force on the beam.
 
“What, why? Why do you sound so worried?” Barbara asked.
 
“Look up!” Pamela saw Barbara looking up at the container above them and probably saw the powder.
 
“Uh, Pam, what is that?”
 
“That would be Chloromulch fertilizer, Red. That stuff mutates plants. I do not want to know what it does to humans!” Pamela exclaimed before she finally managed to push the beam off Barbara’s arms.
 
“Thanks, now hang on, Pam!” Barbara said as she crawled out from under Pamela and got up next to her. “We’ll get this off of you quick!”
 
The sounds of the fighting were getting more and more ferocious as the building continued to fall apart. Pamela could see more and more of the fertilizer trickling down.
 
“It’s stuck! I can’t move it!” Barbara told her as something above them snapped, the telling sign that the container and its contents were about to fall.
 
Pamela took a deep breath before looking at Barbara. “Red, get back.”
 
“What?!” Barbara exclaimed. “No, we can still get you out!”
 
“I’ll be okay, just—” Pamela paused. “Thanks for you and Sunny being true friends for me.” Before Barbara could say another word, Pamela pushed her away and the cables snapped. The fertilizer began falling right towards her. Pamela braced herself before everything went black.
 



 
“PAM!” Sunset heard Barbara’s voice scream out. She watched in horror her best friend being engulfed in the pile of fertilizer that fell on her. Sunset was just about to run over and help when the building rocked once more. She looked back towards Temblor who just knocked Batman away.
 
A surge of anger built inside Sunset as she felt rage for what Temblor’s actions did to her friend. A nagging voice in Sunset’s mind was slowly reminding her about letting loose of her powers and unleashing her full force on the man.
 
However, a brief flash of her memories when she went full she-demon kept her in check. ‘The road to Tartarus is often paved with good intentions,’ she told herself before taking a deep breath. Temblor would pay for his actions but she wasn’t going to stoop to his level.
 
Alicornt unsheathed her rapier and ran forward as Temblor turned around to face her. She stopped right in front of him and unleashed a torrent of flames in his direction. Temblor ducked down to avoid the fire as he closed the distance.
 
It was what Alicron wanted as she turned off the fire, side stepped out of the way of his fist, and brought the tip of her rapier against Temblor’s right arm. The large man gasped out in sudden shock as Alicorn's attack numbed his entire arm. She then roundhouse-kicked his arm, which knocked off the gauntlet he was wearing.
 
Anger flashed across Temblor’s face as he held up his remaining gauntlet arm to try and bash her head in. However, he left himself wide open to his hand being wrapped up in Batman’s grappling hook. As soon as the mercenary realized it, Batman fired off another hook that wrapped against a support beam on the ceiling.
 
Before Temblor knew it, he was being dragged off the ground and sent into the air. His hand slipped out of the gauntlet and he fell back towards the floor. He crashed hard against the ground and groaned out in pain. Alicorn jumped down to the floor level and she walked up to Temblor, stared into his eyes for a moment, and then brought her boot into his face, knocking him out cold.
 
Alicorn took another breath as she calmed down before she heard the sound of an industrial fan going off. She looked over and saw that Barbara had got a fan to try and blow the fertilizer off of Pamela. After a few moments, much of it was blown away and Pamela was freed. However, she was unconscious and barely breathing while some parts of the fertilizer that were caught up all over her were sparkling.
 
Within the next few minutes, emergency crews were all over the area as Temblor was being taken into custody and EMS units were assisting Pamela.
 
“Temblor’s talking. I guess he figures that it’s best for him to come clean now that he’s in custody, but he insists that he doesn’t know who his employer is,” Commissioner Gordon said as he walked over to Alicorn and Batman, who were staying back away from the emergency services.
 
“His employer will more than like burn everything when he finds out about Temblor’s capture. I wasn’t able to finish tracking down the employer, so our best chance of getting him might have slipped away,” Batman explained.
 
“Well, we may not have gotten the one paying Temblor, but that mercenary was the more immediate threat.”
 
Alicorn tuned out the conversation as she walked over to where Barbara was standing, the EMS unit was now loading Pamela into the ambulance.
 
“Hey, you okay?” Alicorn asked.
 
Barbara shook her head. “Not really. Could you feel alright if you were the one responsible for everything that went wrong today?”
 
“It’s not your fault,” Alicorn tried to tell her.
 
“Yes, it is! I should’ve just reported Temblor in as soon as I saw him, but instead, I dragged my friends along to follow him. Then I led Pam into the warehouse, where she ended up getting hurt!”
 
“You tried doing the right thing, but sometimes that doesn’t work out the way we all would like it. In the end, you may have saved many more lives by your actions. As for your friend, from what little I’ve seen of her, she’s a fighter, and I’m sure she’ll pull through.” Alicorn said as she put a hand on Barbara’s shoulder.
 
“Just have to wait and see. Dad says they need to detox her before they can truly try to help her,” Barbara sighed.
 
“Don’t worry, Miss Gordon, she’ll be okay. I know she will,” Alicorn added as they watched the ambulance drive away.
 
However, as they both would later discover, it would never reach its destination.