Tricky Vacation

Batman was working on his current case for the Justice League from the Watchtower, the orbital satellite base of the League. His mind raced as he tried to find the links to various cases that have happened in recent years, as he knew they were linked somehow but lacked proof. It was almost like there was an organization controlling and directing various villains and criminals that should not have any link to one another.

" Bruce."

Batman replied to Wonder Woman curtly before taking a sip of his coffee.

" Diana."

Wonder Woman brought a fresh pot of coffee and topped off Batman's cup.

" Thank you."

Batman politely thanked his colleague but knew she was not being nice for the sake of it as she was here for something.

" Do you think they will be fine?"

Batman quickly figured out she was talking about the Shadow Team and their current mission.

" Unlike the League, Silva Branwen is not likely to view them as a threat and will, at worst, rough them up. If I or any of the League confronted him, things would quickly escalate, so sending the Shadow Team is safer. Especially since one of them has a prior connection to him, and he is fairly warm to those he has a positive bond to."

" Who?"

Wonder Woman asked more out of curiosity than worry. Batman sipped his fresh coffee and answered.

***

" Hmm... What to do, what to do?"

I thought with amusement as the kiddy pool of the Justice League was shadowing me, and they were now a black ops team. Aside from some familiar faces, I don't know most of the team personally, as their mentors had them keep their distance from me. I briefly considered catching them and sending them back to the Justice League gift-wrapped and probably naked to make my stance clear, but I decided just to ignore them as they were not going out of their way to antagonize me.

Using Soul Archive on most of them, I got a feel for them. Aqua Lad is the Leader and is going for the cautious approach, given my reputation. Robin wants to finish the mission with at least something to report to Batman before calling it quits. Kid Flash is filled with delusions of going on a date with Miss Martian. As for the resident Martian herself, she could feel my psychic presence even from a distance; she was stronger than her uncle but was inexperienced and on guard.

Zatanna wanted to pick my brain on the Mystic Arts as I was regarded as a powerful Magic User. Wonder Girl was curious as to why her mentor warned her so much about me and felt confident of at least making me take her seriously. I could feel the burning questions inside of Superboy that wanted nothing but to demand them from me. I smiled as I felt the presence of my old student, Raven. I have a lot of friends, lovers, and family, but very few that I consider my students.

I dealt with her Father, Trigon, by scattering his essence across multiple planes of existence, and he won't reform for several million years. It was the easier option compared to trying to kill him for good, as he is an interdimensional demon god, and with Raven's connection to him, I did not need to enter his dimension to do so. I could beat him in a direct fight, but it would be a long and tiring one; it's ultimately Raven's choice, come destiny, to end him herself.

My musings aside, I think I will give them a wild chase to amuse myself instead of ignoring them. I grinned as I started to plan how to make their surveillance of me as awkward and uncomfortable as possible for them.

***

Raven was lost in thought seeing her teacher after over a year since she last saw him in person. She noticed that he was... calmer, for lack of a better word, as before, there was always a deeply hidden sense of desperation and impatience with him. She was happy for him, as that could only mean he had finally managed to return home. The half-demon also felt jealous of him at the idea of having a place to return to that would welcome her warmly with love.

" Raven?"

Miss Martian called out to her through the telepathic link.

"Yes, Megan?"

" You know him, don't you? On a personal level..."

Raven frowned as she sternly warned her teammate for poking around her mind.

"Megan!"

"Raven, I did not mean to, but you were feeling happy, happier than everyone knew you for, and I got curious, so I peeked, sorry. Don't worry only I know, and we are talking on a private channel."

Raven physically and mentally sighed as she knew her connection to Silva would eventually come to light, but she hoped it would have been on her terms. She curtly explained to the Martian.

" He was my teacher before Kent found me and brought me aboard the Team."

" What is he like?"

Miss Martian asked as she was curious about their target. Raven did not want to talk about it as she did not want to open up now of all times during a mission but understood she needed to talk about it eventually.

" Later, Megan, we are on a mission."

" That's why I want to talk about this now since you might know something that can help us."

Raven sighed once more and told her teammate one tidbit that she was certain of.

" Silva likely already knows we are following him and is pondering what to do with us. If he is in a passive mood, he will probably ignore us, but if he's in another mood, there are only two methods he will choose."

" What are they?"

The half-demon replied with a bit of trepidation.

" If he is in a foul mood, he is going to be breaking a lot of bones, but if he is in a playful mood, that is arguably worse."

" Why him being in a playful mood be worse?"

Miss Martian asked in confusion, and Raven answered.

" Because he can be quite the vicious prankster when he wants to be. It is nothing really harmful but just unpleasant and annoying."

" That doesn't sound too terrible."

Raven snorted and warned ominously.

" He can be quite creative."

***

Kid Flash, disguised as a civilian, got himself two chili dogs from a vendor as he watched Silva walk away in the distance from the corner of his eye. He mutters with a smirk with his telepathic link.

" Too easy."

It was easy to follow Silva from a crowd as he stood out like a sore thumb with his towering frame. Aqua Lad warned with caution.

" Kid, remember who we are tailing here. Silva Branwen is someone who can stand alone against the heavy hitters of the League."

" Yeah, yeah, but we are not fighting; we are following him."

As Kid Flash was about to take a bite of one of his chili dogs but, a pigeon flew overhead, released some foul contents, and landed right on the chili dog. He scrunched up his face, dropped his chili dog on instinct, and shouted.

" Oh, come on!"

The next moment his face changed to pure disgust, and he started puking his insides out as a bit of the poop entered his mouth by accident. He heaved and complained.

" Bird poop in my mouth!"

He ran at super speed to find something to wash his mouth out. Meanwhile, Robin chuckles at Kid Flash's misfortune while pitying him. The Boy Wonder continued to shadow Silva while giving the rest of the Team the heads up telepathically.

" Guys, Kid Flash had to run as he has a somewhat major emergency."

" I saw as well, and I understand."

Aqua Lad gave the okay as he pitied his friend as well, and Miss Martian asked.

" What happened?"

" Wally will tell you when he gets back."

Robin deflected, and suddenly, a dog came at him; he easily evaded and grabbed it by its collar, then pinned it down. A lady in sportswear ran up and apologized.

" I'm so sorry he got away from me!"

" It's fine, no big deal."

Robin assures the dog owner and notices Silva is gone from his sight. He called the rest of the Team through the telepathic link.

" The Target is gone. Anyone have eyes on him!?"

" I have eyes on him!"

Aqua Lad called out, and Superboy demanded.

" Where!?"

" Ah, well..."

The Atlantian awkwardly paused before answering.

" He's um in a... Adult Shop...."

" A what now!?"

Superboy demanded, as he had no clue what an Adult Shop was, and Miss Martian tried to explain.

" Well, you see, Conner, it's well a shop where you buy certain goods for a certain setting... in private..."

Her blood rushed to her cheeks in embarrassment as she was purposely vague as saying through the telepathic link for everyone to hear was too much for her.

***

Robin watched Silva with his phone as he hacked into the security camera in the Adult Shop with a twitching eye hidden behind his sunglasses. The Snow Leopard Man was... reading smut in the store for the past few HOURS! He complained to himself.

" Why does it seem that now I am a voyeur?"

The Shadow Team were also watching the video feed, as none of them wanted to enter the shop. Zatanna watched the fees with a blush and gave an unpleasant theory.

" He may not actually be there..."

Aqua Lad asked as the leader of the team.

" Please explain, Zatanna, your thoughts on the matter."

" Well, I know for a fact there are any number of ways to appear in multiple spots at once with the Mystic Arts, but the question is which one he would use. The fact it can be captured on camera eliminates a few that I know of, so there is only one way to confirm... we have to enter the store ourselves."

The Shadow Team went quiet, and Kid Flash was the one to ask the question on all their minds.

" So... who's going?"