Chapter 14 - 14 Younger and Older Generations (1/2)

”I'm disappointed in all of you. Not only did you let Rider escape, you failed to stall him until Wonder Woman arrived on the scene. You also disobeyed my orders, and left Mount Justice unauthorized. Do you have anything to say for yourselves?”.

The eight members of The Team sat down in front of the entire Justice League, all of whom had their heads down, not daring to met the Dark Knight in the eye.

Several other teens stood in the corner of the room, sending looks to each other at the seriousness of the room.

Robin couldn't help but retort Batman's words.

”I admit that Rider's capabilities were out of our League, and we should've stopped before Superboy, Kid Flash and Aqualad were injured, but that's precisely the reason we didn't follow him! If it wasn't for the fact that Rider didn't want to fight women for some reason, he might've left the entire Team in the same state as the other three”.

Batman narrowed his eyes at protégés words.

”I understand that. This ”Rider” possesses a strength exceeding that of Superboy, and a speed equal to that of Kid Flash. But the least you could've done is prevent him from stealing the Falcone Family's money. If you disabled his vehicle initially, he would've had to spend time moving it to another one, giving Wonder Woman more time to get to the airport and ȧssist you”.

Robin couldn't counter the logic behind Batman's words.

He was the one to throw the batarang, not Batgirl, even if it was one of her batarangs that he threw.

When Wonder Woman arrives at the airport, she was surprised by the amount of carnage she found, and immediately called for the League to ȧssist her in retrieving the injured Superboy, Kid Flash and Aqualad.

Conner had several broken ribs and a severe concussion from taking so many of Rider's blows and was the most severely injured of the three. Aqualad's internal organs had been shifted slightly, but was only rendered unconscious from Rider's ax kick, and Kid Flash had a broken leg, courtesy of having the clone of Superman thrown at him.

Aqualad and Kid Flash were already awake but were forced by their mentors to stay in bed and get some rest. Superboy was in a stable condition, but was still unconscious.

”But you did say that he mentioned several things? Things that might give away his identity?”.

Wonder Woman came to the front of the Justice League and stood beside Batman, trying to ease the tension between them.

Zatanna nodded and spoke,

”He mentioned ”Pankration”. I think it's Greek but I can't be exactly sure”.

All the other members of the Justice League looked at Wonder Woman who nodded and had a thoughtful expression on her face.

”Pankration is a Greek form of hand-to-hand combat. It was mainly used for sport in the Ancient Olympics, but was taught and used by many ancient Greek Heroes. It's concepts and moves are still used today in modern martial arts. If Rider was taught Pankration, other than on Themyscira, I can't imagine where he was taught it. Did he mention anything else Zatanna?”.

The girl looked at Miss Martian for a moment and nodded.

”He said something about about being in the army? The Achaean Army? Oh! And he said something about Paris and Apollo! The way Rider talked about him it seemed as if he knew them, and his tone indicated that he wasn't being polite when referring to them”.

This time Hal Jordan, the first Green Lantern stepped up and said something.

”Achaean Army? Wasn't that the army that fought against the Trojans? How could someone who participated in a battle over thousand years ago, still be alive today. That exceeds the limits for most humans”.

Wonder Woman narrowed her eyes, and a confused expression sat on her face.