A private jet was sitting on a runway after being forced to land in order to make some repairs. The lavish interiored aircraft was carrying none other than the Master Assassin, head of the Society of Assassins. The Master was not pleased at the interruption.

“I’m afraid there was no other choice. The solar cells had to be replaced, and it simply can’t be done in the air. But don’t worry. It’s all modular now these days, and we’ll be off the ground in ten minutes,” the pilot assured.

The Master Assassin narrowed his one eye. The other was a green bionic implant. “Any time is too long,” he informed grimly. His fears stemmed from the reason he was in flight to begin with. He was fleeing, or really, evading. Recently, many of his assassins were being hunted down and murdered. He knew who the killer was, and he knew he would ultimately be on their list.

The seatbelt sign flickered on. “See? All done,” the pilot smiled before venturing back to the cockpit. The Master Assassin sighed in relief, and his nerves settled as the plane lifted back into the air. He felt a tinge of annoyance as his phone rang. “What?” He asked sharply. “I’m in Gotham.”

“Have you located the targets?” “Not yet. It’s not easy when you’re always looking over your shoulder.” “You’re letting your fear make you too cautious,” the Master Assassin stated. He was too engrossed in the call that he did not hear the slight commotion making behind him.

“Me? You’re the one who spent the last three months in the air afraid to land anywhere because she might find you.”

Some would call him paranoid for the drastic actions, but the Master Assassin had every reason to be. The threat to his life was a serious one and not something to joke about. “She already got Carima.” Carima was one of his best assassins. “No! When?” “In Lisbon three days ago. We’re the only two left.”

The Master Assassin went to continue on, but a loud bang made him freeze. “Hold on.” He unfastened his seatbelt, stood from his seat, and turned around.

“Devon? Devon, what is it? What’s going on?”

“It’s her. Curaré.”

The Egyptian assassin stood over the body of a fallen bodyguard, brandishing her sword. The Master Assassin pulled out a gun from his suit and aimed at Curaré. “Not my weapon of choice, but I won't hesitate to use it. He fired multiple shots, but Curaré used her sword and deflected them easily. She crashed the hilt of her sword onto the Master Assassins wrist, forcing him to drop his weapon.

Curaré swung her sword wildly, but the Master Assassin dodged the strikes, flipping backward. He pulled out some shurikens. “You’ll find I’m not as easy as your other targets,” he sneered, throwing the weapons at the woman. Curaré gracefully flipped around the plane, skillfully dodging them.

At one point, the pilot came out from the cockpit to see what all the commotion was about, only to receive a smack in the face from a sword’s hilt.

“Society of Assassins trained us both well, Curaré. No one can match your skill with that sword.” With one last shuriken, the Master Assassin managed to tear a piece of Curare’s white top. “But I’ll never let you get close enough to use it.”

In the end, the Master Assassin's arrogance would be his undoing. He had underestimated Curaré’s need for vengeance. Curaré revealed a tiny capsule out from her waist and tossed it at her target. The capsule exploded against the Master Assassins chest, and a green acid like substance spilled out.

The Master Assassin's eyes widened in fear as he breathed in the toxic fumes created by the substance. He coughed and gasped uncontrollably before dropping to the ground. When the fumes dispersed Curaré walked over to the body and crouched down. The Master’s Assassin's expression was frozen, and his eye was widened and fully white. Curaré waved her hand in his face, but there was no reaction.

The Master Assassin’s mind was erased.

For a split second, Curaré almost had mercy on the man. His state was equivalent to that of death. But thinking of how he had ordered her demised, she gave into anger and hatred. Curaré stood up and raised her sword, keeping her eyes trained on the body. With one motion, she brought down her sword, decapitating the Master Assassin.

Curaré sliced open the jet’s door and, with one last glance at the now dead Master, jumped. He activated her jetpack and flew away.

Another target down, only one left to go.

~8~

“So the big guys in Malaysia?”

“Yep, taking care of some business,” Eliana answered casually. Max raised a brow at her tone. “You do know they’ve just had a major typhoon in that area.” Bruce would be fine. He’s faced far worse in his time of living, so Eliana wasn’t too worried. Of course, being gone, he had entrusted Terry and her to manage without him.

Terry was taking pleasure in the old man being away. “Yeah, no way for him to give us any orders. Now, ain’t that a shame?” Terry smiled. “Aren’t you two worried?” Max asked. “Believe me, Max, this is not a man you worry about.”

“I wasn’t talking about him.” Max gave them a worried expression. Eliana was touched at her friend’s concern but dismissed them. “Thanks Max, but we can handle Gotham for a few nights without his help.”

Just as she finished speaking, a laser shot almost hit the batplane. Terry swerved the plane, “Whoa! That almost scratched the paint job!” He exclaimed. Hastily ending the call with Max, the duo spotted the shooter. It was a man in a purple trench coat on top of a building.

Nightwing pushed a button that shot batarangs out from the batplane, which knocked the gun out of the shooter’s hands. They landed the batplane and met face to face with the man. The man raised his hands placidly. He spoke with a South African accent, “No need for violence. I was merely trying to get your attention.”

“You’ve got it. Who are you?” Batman questioned. “Mutro Botha, at your service. For a price, of course,” Botha introduced. “Botha, I’ve heard of you. You’re a member of the Society of Assassins,” Nightwing scrutinized. Her guard was one full alert, as was her partner.

“I am the Society of Assassins,” Botha corrected. Taking the statement as a threat, both Batman and Nightwing withdrew a batarang. Botha didn’t flinch. “No need for that. If my mission had been to kill you both, you two would’ve been dead already. No member of the Society has ever failed.”

“Except one, Curaré,” Batman interjected. The mention of the female assassin wiped the small smirk that had been on Botha’s face since the start of their exchange. “Yes, because you two stepped in to stop her. In a way, this is both of your faults.”

As if the heroes weren’t already on edge, the slip of information caught their attention.

“What is?” Nightwing inquired. “When you prevented Curaré from killing her target, the punishment for her failure was death,” Botha began explaining. He paused and walked toward the edge of the building, looking out into the city.

Seeing as he didn’t pose a threat, the heroes put away their weapon and listened intently.

“Unfortunately, we underestimate her. She fought back. One by one, she hunted us down. I am the only one left. And you two are the only ones that can keep me that way.”

Nightwing scoffed, “And why should we care to?” He was an assassin undeserving of any help. 
Botha turned back to face them and apparhed them. “Because when she has finished with me, she will come after you two next,” he warned.

“Thanks for the warning, We’ll be sure to look for your name in the orbits,” Batman commented as he and Nightwing made their way back to the batplane.

Botha smirked. He had anticipated their responses and planned in advance. “I thought you two might feel that way. So, I took the liberty of providing a little incentive.”

Batman and Nightwing looked back to see Botha holding a device with a countdown. “I’ve planted a bomb in your city. It's a rather large one. Set to go off unless it receives a proper guided signal from me every twelve hours,” he informed.

The countdown had reached eleven hours and thirty-three minutes.

Batman blasted into the assassin and slammed him against a wall. The device flew out of Botha’s hands, and Nightwing grabbed it.

“Go ahead. Take it. It won’t do you any good. Only I know the codes. I’m not an unreasonable man. You two help me defeat Curaré and I’ll disarm the bomb. If not, if Curaré gets to me first, boom!”

Botha inched his face closer to the duo’s. “Gotham’s experiences a sudden population decline.”

Nightwing begrudgingly handed back the detonator. They had no choice but to comply with the assassins demands.

~8~

With Bruce out of town, there was only one person Terry and Eliana could confide in.

“How much time do we have?” Max asked worriedly as she watched Terry pace around her home. Eliana sighed, rubbing her forehead. “Curaré’s last sighting puts her at least three hours away. We’re going to meet Mutro outside his hotel in about half an hour.”

Max nodded solemnly at the severity of the situation, “What’s the plan?” “He’s the bait. When she shows Eliana and I, I will get in between them. The bomb business could get bad. We’re gonna need your help, Max,” Terry explained.

Max’s eyes widened, and she looked at Eliana hesitantly. Eliana tipped her head, “Curaré’s a fierce opponent. Terry and I need to take her head on together. We need your help, Max.”

“You both know you can count on me, always. What do you want me to do?”

Max naively believed she had been given a more involving role. Instead, she was disappointed to find out her only job was to get in touch with Bruce Wayne. The reveal of Bruce Wayne being the man pulling the strings behind the scenes didn’t surprise Max. She figured it out on day 1. “But even if I do get through to Malaysia, they’ve been relocating tourists all over the islands. He could be anywhere!” She exclaimed.

Terry and Eliana were already halfway out the door. “Just keep trying. We have faith in you,” Terry assured. Max quickly intercepted them as they tried to leave. “Wait! I have another idea. Why don’t we do an end run around your assassin friend? See if we can locate the bomb. You two keep him on the run while I search his hotel room,” she proposed eagerly.

The couple frowned. “There is no “we” here, Max. Terry and I don’t want you anywhere near this. These are professional assassins. You make a mistake around them. You could get hurt, even killed,” Eliana informed gravely, inching her face closer to Max to make sure her point was across.

“And if the bomb goes off, I coud get dead,” Max replied softly. Eliana’s expression softened as she rested a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “That’s why you gotta fnd Bruce, okay?” She repeated gently before she and Terry left.

~8~

Mutro made his way out of his hotel and gazed around for Batman and Nightwing, checking his watch.

“Above you.”

Following Batman’s voice and instructions, Mutro looked upwards, but there was no sign of either vigilante. “I don’t see you.” “You’re not supposed to,” Nightwing replied cheekily. Deactivating stealth mode, the duo finally appeared to the assassins. They were hanging upside down on a ledge.

“Feel better?” Batman teased. “I’ll feel a lot better when we’re out in the open,” Mutro snapped. He started walking away, continuing his statement. “I don’t like enclosed spaces. Not when I’m the quarry.” Batman and Nightwing activated stealth mode once more and began shadowing the assassin.

Making sure the assassin and heroes had left, Max walked out from the shadows. She wasn’t satisfied being kept on the side lines for this mission. Whether or not Terry and Eliana realized it, they needed her help. And Max was gonna make them see that.

It was barely an inconvenience to access Botha’s hotel room. She easily posed as his daughter and a varlet unlocked the door for her. All she had to do was give up her future lunch money as a tip.

“If I were a critical, life-saving clue, where would I be?” Max thought out loud, scanning the room.

She ransacked the room, emptying every drawer and cupboard, even Botha’s suitcase; she found nothing.

Letting out an equally frustrated and exhausted sigh, Max sat on Mutro’s bed. Eyeying a snack on the dresser, Max grabbed it and ate it. When she finished, she bawled up the wrapper and threw it into the trash. She missed, but a thought hit her; she forgot to check the bin.

Max dumped the trash’s contents into the floor. There’s was nothing related to the bomb, but she did pocket a cash card. Her phone rang, and she answered, “Speak.”

“Max, it’s us. Any luck with Bruce?” Terry asked. Max walked away from the bin, her back towards the window. “The satcoms down for at least another hour. I got the computer running an automated search just in case.” Her last statement did not go unnoticed.

“Why? Aren’t you at home? Max, what’s going on?” Eliana questioned, her tone growing wary. “Let’s just say I’m doing a little search myself,” Max replied coyly. “Tell us you didn’t go to his hotel room. This isn’t a game, Max. Get out of there right now!” Terry demanded furiously.

Max rested a hand on her waist. “Hey, your suits don’t give you barking rights over me, Mcginnis, Grayson. Besides, as long as you both got your eyes on him, I don’t see the danger."

Just as Max finished speaking, a gleam of light caught her eye. She turned around and gasped. “Max!? What’s happening?” Eliana asked worriedly.

Curaré swung her sword, and Max fell to the ground in a panic. Luckily, the sword went through an ottoman near her. Max quickly recovered onto her feet and made a beeline for the bathroom as the assassin made attempts to free her sword.

She locked the door behind her, but Curaré’s sword pierced through. Hyperventilating, Max stood in the bathtub and tried reaching for the window above it, banging on it desperately. As she saw Curaré’s sword make a horizontal slice through the door, Max knew she was running out of time. 

Out of fear, Max pulled the bathtubs curtains closed and sat on the floor of the tub with her knees to chest. She was shaking. A bead of sweat dropped down her face as she watched the outline of Curaré’s sword on the curtains.

Max let out a scream as the sword pierced through the curtains, almost stabbing her. Curaré slashed the curtains away, revealing Max entirely. Max could watch in horror as the assassin raised her sword above her head.

From the other line, Batman and Nightwing could hear some of their friend’s distress. Their stomachs churning when they hear Max’s blood curdling scream.

“Mutro, Curaré’s at the hotel. Our friend’s there,” Nightwing explained quickly as the heroes left the assassins' side. Mutro commented through the mic they had given to him. “Then your friend is already gone.”

The duo ignored the man’s words, hoping they weren't true. They entered through the already broken window frantically calling for Max. Hearing a quiet whimper from the bathroom, the heroes rushed in.

They found a sight that would never leave them.

Shivering from fear, with tears streaming down her face was Max. She was still sitting in the tub with her knees to her chest. “Oh Terry! Eliana!” She croaked. The couple quickly got down beside the tub and pulled their terrorized friend into an embrace.

“Dear God Max, are you alright?” Eliana asked, concerned. Thankfully, there was no sign of physical harm on Max. “As soon as she got a good look at me, she backed off. Aren’t you going to yell at me?” Max questioned, still crying.

Eliana wanted to, but refrain. The last thing Max needed was a lecture after going through a traumatic ordeal like this. She herself took a few deep breaths when Max confirmed she was okay. No words could adequately describe the amount of fear Eliana had experienced, knowing her friend was in such distress.

The mere thought of her friend being slaughtered by the female assassins made her nearly throw up.

“We figured you already got the message,” Terry answered gently as he and Eliana helped Max out of the tub.

They walked her out of the bathroom, and once she was safe on her feet, she watched her walk to the door. “We gotta get back there. You go home and stay there,” Eliana said harshly, making sure her words got through to her friend.

She hoped Max learned from this encounter, so something like this will never happen again.

~8~

In a park, Botha was waiting for his bodyguards. Curaré was in Gotham, and being out in the open alone did not bode well for him. “Batman? Nightwing? Come in. I can’t stay hidden forever!” Botha exclaimed into his mic.

A rustling of a bush caught the assassin's attention, so he pulled out his gun and fired at it. The bush caught fire, but nothing jum out. Suddenly, a shuriken knocked Botha’s gun from his head. Botha spun around to see Curaré charging at him. Butha would not go down without a fight.

He reached into his coat and threw a weapon that wrapped around Curaré’s hands, making her drop her sword. “Lesson number one, Curaré. Always hold onto your weapon!” Botha picked up the fallen sword and rushed Curaré. Curaré pulled out a smaller dagger and freed her hands.

In the end, Botha didn;t stand a chance.

Curaré managed to throw the mind-erasing capsule at Botha. “No!” He gasped as the green substance exploded onto his chest. As he breathed the toxic fumes, Botha collapsed. Curaré approached her fallen victim and was pleased. Botha’s eyes were wide and completely white, and his mouth was open. His overall expression was horrific.

Batman and Nightwing were a bit dismayed to find that they'd arrived too late to save Botha. Paramedics and police were already at the scene, so the heroes had to activate their stealth mode. Batman’s eye caught the bomb device lying near a nush and quickly grabbed it. The duo’s eyes widened at the time left.

Two and a half hours. 

~8~

Deciding to check up on their friend, Terry and Eliana went back to Max’s home. The girl was still shaken from her traumatic encounter. And she felt guilty about Botha’s death. “Are you sure his mind is wiped?” “Believe me, he’s broccoli,” Terry commented, taking a sip from a glass of water.

Max sighed, looking down at her lap, “It’s all my fault. If you’d both been there instead of running off to protect me-” Eliana cut her rambling off. “Listen Max, ever hear the expression “Live by the sword, die by the sword?” Mutro was an assassin. He made his own bed.”

Max took some comfort in her friend's words. Terry pulled out the time device, “We have bigger things to worry about.” The timer was down to an hour and forty minutes. The device only reminded Max of her failure, and she groaned as all the guilt came rushing back.

“Feeling guilty isn’t going to help anyone. We need you Max, what can we do with it?” Eliana questioned softly. Max took a deep breath and controlled her emotions. A look of determination appeared on her face as she took the device into her hands.

“This is a broadband transmitter. It’s not gonna help us find the bomb.” Max turned the device over and examined the back, seeing a label. She hummed, which Terry and Eliana took as a good sign. They watched as Max opened her laptop and began typing away.

“The specs of this model say the signal has a radius of only two miles,” Max informed. “How does this help us?” Terry asked, confused. Eliana smirked, “This is why you should try to stay awake in geometry, babe.”

Max triangulated the signal from the places where Botha used the remote and isolated a small area of the city. “You saw him activate it here. Then you would’ve been at the park when the timer ran down, so he would have to set it there. Then he must have set it at least once at the hotel.. Voila! Math is once again your friend.”

Yes, they had narrowed down the search, but the small area of the city the bomb could be in was still too big. “Well, that’s about two square blocks. If we had a couple of days, we might be able to find the bomb,” Terry said.

An idea came to Max as she held up one finger. “Wait!” Reaching into her pocket, Max pulled out Botha’s cash card. “I got Mutro’s cash card. It’ll tell us where he’s been spending money in the last few days.” She placed it onto her computer, which analyzed it.

“This is the only location inside the highlighted area. And he visited it twice. That’s gotta be it!” Max exclaimed. “The Gotham Museum of Armaments?” Terry inquired, raising a brow at the location.

“Makes sense. What better place to hide a weapon than a place that’s filled with them?” Eliana mused. Max got up from her seat and ran to grab her coat. “Let’s go.” Terry and Eliana stood up in protest. Had Max not learned a single thing from her last attempt at heroics?”

“What? Absolutely not!” Eliana shouted. “Three of us give us a better chance to find the bomb. You need me on this one, and you both know it,” Max explained patiently. Eliana turned to Terry, who gave her a pointed look. “You can’t be serious. She almost got herself killed, Terry!” She said through clenched teeth.

“I know, I was by your side, Eliana. Believe me, I hate it as much as you do, but Max has a point. We low on time, Ellie, we have no choice,” Terry reasoned. After a brief tense moment of silence nodded, “Fine,” she stated tersely.

~8~

“Oh, man, where to begin?” Max wondered as the trio looked around the giant interior of the museum. “With this.” Batman pulled out a device from his utility belt. “It’s a frequency scanner. It locates hot revicers.”

Max rolled her eyes playfully, “That batcave is like one big toy chest, isn’t it?” They searched around until the scanner started beeping rapidly as they approached a staircase. The frequency turned out to be from a forgotten guard's communicator.

Max let out a breath of relief, “At least we know it works.”

As Batman and Nightwing took the lead in searching, they were unaware of the figure silently watching them. A moving shadow caught Max’s attention, and she looked up to see Curaré. “Look out!” She screamed to her friends.

Batman and Nightwing jumped away just as Curaré brought her sword down. The assassin leaped after them, and Batman threw the scanner to Max. “Keep looking!” Nightwing instructed. “Oh, man, nothing like a little pressure,” Max mumbled worriedly.   

As the heroes were battling Curaré on top of a large tank model, they tried to appeal to her. “Curaré, listen to us. Mutro planted a bomb,” Batman began. “If it goes off, it’ll kill thousands, including you. Or don’t you care? ” Nightwing finished.

Curaré didn’t appear to care as she continued in pursuit to kill them. The fighting moved around to all the exhibits in the room. From tanks to catapults. However, as Curaré slashed at the exhibits, debris fell, which knocked Max to the ground, and smashed the detector.

The heroes blasted up into the air and landed on a model missile hanging from the ceiling. They rapidly shot out batarangs, but Curaré dodged them all. When she caught up to their level, she cut the rope to the missile they were on. This went on for some time. The heroes would jump to one structure and then move to another as Curaré would cut it down.

Max screamed in panic as she tried to avoid the falling missiles. She fell to the ground after nearly being hit by one. Then she noticed it. The missile that nearly crushed her had broke open, and there was a ticking coming from inside. Max looked and found the bomb.

“I found it!” She shouted. “Can you disarm it!?” Nightwing shouted back. “If I had some help!” Max panicked. There were only 20 seconds left!

Sweat dripped down her forehead. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know,” she mumbled nervously, wringing her hands. 5 seconds left! “Max! It's now or never!” Batman yelled.

“Slcaked it!” Max exclaimed, tearing the bomb out from it’s place. She screwed her eyes shut tightly and opened them after a moment. She did it!

Meanwhile Curaré was getting bested by the heroes. With one last slam into a wall, Curaré did not recover. Nightwing quickly handcuffed the assassin. “Max!?” The heroes looked frantically back at Max, who was relieved but exhausted. “Can we go home now?” She asked meekly.

~8~

Max winced as Eliana dabbed the cut on her forehead with some alcohol. “How do you two do it?” “Do what?” Terry inquired as he watched. “This hero thing,” Max clarified. Eliana gave her a small smile. “It's easier for us. We got the suits and the training.” 

Apparently that’s not what Max was referring to at all. “No! How do you save the world and not tell anybody?” She asked excitedly. “We can tell you, you can tell us…” Terry paused, meeting Eliana’s gaze.

“That’s why we’re glad you found out, partner.”