Shadow-takes place just before Shadow enters the Justice League Thank you ShadowMaster77 for Jin

The Pure Evil

A plane lands in Gotham Airport, screeching along the wet tarmac. It's raining in the morning. A Japanese man steps off and retrieves his luggage. He keeps silently muttering to himself, confusing the airport security however they do not take any action. The man gets into a cab. He parks in an alley. The Japanese man leaves the taxi, the driver is dead. The Japanese man walks with his luggage to an apartment building. He shows his passport to the receptionist. The receptionist asks him "Which room Jin Matsumoto? He grabs keys and a note from the receptionist and enters the elevator. He exits and heads to a room. He enters and unpacks his bag. It is full of guns, knives and other equipment. He smiles before hiding the gear and climbing into bed. He reads the note and it says 'Batman, Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, or Shadow. One of these and five million dollars is yours'.

James Rola was resting in a lounge area on campus. It had been a long couple of weeks. Basketball was really heating up, the playoffs were next month and his assignments (which he was always on top of) were continuing to appear. Shadow had been busy too, taking out Ventriloquist and Scarface as well as busting a new smuggling ring. Kate Ingalls sat next to him. Since that incident with Howler, they had been hanging out a lot. She smelt nice, but he didn't tell her. Her blue eyes sparkled at him before she spoke "You tired Rola?" There was a hint of concern yet slightly happy in her generally soft voice. James looks at the model, sees her beauty but resists any hormonal urges. His training accounted for that. He replies "I've been busy". She knew exactly what he meant.

Kate pulls a newspaper out of her bag and shows him the front page. The title reads 'Shadow Stops Breakout'. Shadow helped put down a prison riot two nights ago. Kate says "Yeah, I wonder how you manage it all".

James replies "I don't have a lot of free time. I haven't been able to this last month. How was Hawaii?" His skin looks a little worn out with the lack of sleep.

Kate plays with her hair and says "So good, the weather was great". James gets a text. He doesn't check it. Kate continues "It would have been great if you could have come. I had a lot of time by myself, when it could have been you and me". She smiles flirtatiously.

James blandly replies "Gotham needs me, but I'll let you know when it clears up". He knows this probably won't happen.

Kate asks a little frustrated "Why do you do it? You owe those people nothing".

James looks into her eyes and replies "It's so people like you stay safe". She smiles. He checks his phone, it's from Alfred: You are needed at work.

James says to Kate "I have to go, work wants me". Kate looks at him with concern and says "One day can we hang out together?"

James gets up and says "Yes, I promise". He walks away, to his car. She seems slightly satisfied with his response.

Alfred is at the Batcomputer when Shadow gets there. Alfred looks and says "Thank heavens you are here Mr Rola".

Shadow replies "What is it Alfred?"

Alfred explains "In the Gotham slums, there have been 10 homicides in 3 days. All were differently murdered, some with a gun, knives or even hands. Whoever it is, they are good".

Shadow says "But not smart, they left the door open on the cab and they burnt a car. So why is there a link between these?" He ponders.

Alfred answers "We got a report from Japan of a man called Jin Matsumoto. He is a schizophrenic mercenary with skills in many martial arts and hand to hand combat. Batman said he also had extensive weapons training. He possesses equipment like smoke bombs, sound decoys, holographic projectors and thermal vision masks".

Shadow asks "So why is he here?"

Alfred replies "That is your job and you will have to stop him".

Shadow looks at Alfred. Alfred explains "Batman and Robin are with the Justice League, Nightwing is in Bludhaven and Batgirl has been off the grid for the last couple of days".

Shadow sighs and says "Typical. Has he any ties here?"

Alfred shakes his head. Shadow says "I'll find him". He grabs the Batbike and leaves the Batcave.

Meanwhile, Jin had murdered a couple of crooks who had tried to rob him. They lay in the alley motionless while Jin cleaned his machete. He smiled and hid the machete in his coat. Night had set in on Gotham. He effortlessly moved through the streets until he saw a diner. He walked in and robbed it. He walked out casually before heading back to his apartment. He changed into his uniform; a black mask with two vertical red lines starting from the back of his head, passing over each of his eyes then stopping at his chin. He wears a red coat over top of a black piece of armour covering his torso with a sword strapped to his side, a rifle strapped to his back, knives in his red utility belt. He also wears black pants and red boots. He headed back out, shooting out car tyres, causing them to crash. He climbed onto a rooftop and waited, looking for something.

Shadow is quietly patrolling the rooftops when he sees Jin. Shadow hides and observes from a distance. Jin sees Shadow and starts to move in. Shadow says "Thermal vision, forgot to switch my settings". He grinds his teeth a little in frustration before switching his suit to anti thermal. Jin freezes, he couldn't see Shadow. Shadow sneaks behind him, listening to Jin as he rambles "He was just there (Voice change) He is here, he doesn't stand a chance". Jin turns around randomly in frustration only to see Shadow. Shadow dodges a knife swing from Jin. As they fight, Shadow says "Why are you here?" Jin replies "I'm a kill you!" He lunges at Shadow. Shadow counters and the knife hits the ground. As Jin goes to retrieve it Shadow steps on the blade and breaks the knife by the hilt as Jin tried to pick it up. Jin starts to cry and attack Shadow in rage. Shadow barely evades the attacks, struggling to fight the maniac. Jin all of a sudden says "This isn't over". He throws a smoke bomb on the ground and disappears. Shadow gets away from the smoke and searches for Jin. He has vanished.

Back in Jin's apartment, he paces the room, arguing with himself. "The kid is too well organised to kill, I need a plan (Voice Change) No, unpredictability was what got you Batgirl (Voice Change) This guy is better, smarter, faster, and ready (Voice Change) You can take him". Jin looks over at the bathroom. He walks in and laughs. Batgirl is tied up in the bath, she is gagged and her belt is in the basin. She looks well beaten up and she is blindfolded. Jin says "Soon, you shall die". He leaves again.

James pulls his car into a parking space. He gingerly walks into the college and Ben finds him quickly.

Ben says "Big game tonight J, you ready?"

James replies "Yeah I think". James is slightly preoccupied.

Ben asks "What's up?" James sighs and says "Batgirl has been missing for a couple of days and there is this new evil man in town. I got a lot going on". James lifts up his shirt to reveal bruises on his ribs and a slight scratch mark from a knife. Ben reels away a little. James lets his shirt back down. They head to class. James sees Kate, she walks up to him and asks "When will you be free?"

James sympathetically replies "Not anytime soon". He also shows her a section of his chest. She is horrified. Kate says "Something wrong?"

James explains "A new guy in town, he is crazy".

Kate looks sorry. She says "Its ok, when you have saved the day again then we can spend that day together you promised me". She walks off. Ben watches keenly but James says "Easy, Dominique won't be too happy you looking elsewhere". Ben stops watching and says "Well hurry up and do something with her". James shrugs and heads into class.

They walk in only to see Jin has the lecturer at gunpoint. James ushers Ben back out. James says "Cover for me". A shot is fired and the room starts screaming. James runs into a bush and changes. Kate sees Shadow and says "I heard shots, what's happening!?"

Shadow replies with a little urgency "It's the crazy guy. Go with Ben and find cover. I got this".

Ben grabs Kate and takes her to another room. Kate worryingly asks "Does he?"

Ben replies "I hope so, because no one else does". They close the door and lock it.

Shadow watches the crowd part for him to walk through. He re-enter s the class and sees Jin had shot the lecturer in the leg. Jin shouts "Yes! Let it hurt!"

Shadow ushers a couple of people out before Jin notices and shoots at Shadow.

Kate and Ben screw their eyes up every time a gunshot is heard. Ben asks "So, he promised you a day to spend with you? You are very lucky". They are crouching behind a desk.

Kate shrugs and says "I guess; he's so busy though". Ben replies "I forget that when he wins us games, gets top grades and saves my bacon". Kate nods and understands James has to be busy for things to work. He couldn't just take time off.

Shadow is able to direct more people out the door while dodging shots from Jin. Shadow has been able to empty all but 4 students and the injured lecturer. Jin is in the way between Shadow and the students. Jin laughs maniacally and pulls the trigger. It clicks as the magazine is empty. Jin quickly throws a knife at Shadow who dodges and advances on Jin. They again engage in a fist fight. Shadow is more aggressive this time, and he pays for it. Shadow's defence and counter moves rival Batman's but his offensive manoeuvres are quite unrefined and need a fair bit of work. Jin lands good hits on Shadow, injuring him. Shadow yells out "Get him out of here!" The students drag the lecturer out of the room. Jin looks at them, his mistake. Shadow hooks him with his left and Jin staggers backwards. Jin says "Your friend will die tomorrow night, so will a lot of your people!" Jin again leaves via smoke bomb. Shadow waits for the smoke to clear before very gingerly walking out. The crowd eagerly watches Shadow walk out the classroom. They applaud in admiration as Shadow slowly makes his way out of the college. The lecturer is on the ground and says "Thanks kid". Shadow nods. He hides in a garden when Ben helps him get back as James. James and Ben meet with Kate. James inspects his body, it is heavily bruised and his lip is a little puffy. James says "I'll go home, I'll play tonight". He leaves without another word. Kate and Ben look at each other with concern. They are watching their friend risk his life to stop a maniac without a second thought.

James arrives back at the college to play Basketball. He is still sore, especially when Jin landed a good hit on his pelvis. He looks into the crowd to see Daniel and Laura. He then sees Dominique and Kate. This game was important. Gotham City College were playing Elmond University. They had a good Power Forward and Small Forward. James loved the match up he had on the point guard. He had no defensive skills to stop James. James was surprised when he saw a different man line up against him though.

The game started. James wasn't moving as freely as he would have liked. He still moved quickly enough to stop the point guard's attempts to drive. The game settles into a flow. James, because of his injury wasn't shooting as well but Ben as dominating the boards and winning loose balls. Gotham went into halftime with a 4 point lead. James had 12 points, 9 assists and 4 boards. He asked the coach if he could sit a little more in the second half. The coach didn't have a problem with it. James sat out the first half on the 3rd quarter. Gotham surrendered the lead and was down by 7 by the time James was back in. James marked on the point guard who had just started shooting hot. He got free of James briefly before shooting a 3. It swished in and the point guard said to James cockily "James who?" James got the ball and dribbled up court. He broke the point guard's ankles with a triple crossover after some in and out dribble moves. James shot a 3 and it swished in even better than the previous. James then stole the ball and dunked it on the point guard. James just looked at the point guard, who looked sheepish. James smiled but didn't say anything. Gotham retook the lead and won the game. James finished with 24 points, 15 assists and 7 boards to go with a block and 3 steals. He left to go to his car when he checked his phone. There was the typical well played from Kate, Dominique and Daniel, but then a text from Alfred. It read: You are urgently needed.

Shadow again joined Alfred at the Batcomputer. Alfred starts off "There have been 17 deaths tonight, similar to the previous murders. His total sits at 45. Some experienced torture. If I may say he is a very sick man".

Shadow replies "He almost did a number on me, I can't take him on in combat, his offense and my defence cancel each other but his defence is a lot better than my offense. I need an advantage".

Alfred speaks up "In Batman's report, he states Jin is suspect in ability to do stealth and detect stealth activities. Also, I did some research and found he has been seen in an apartment building".

Alfred shows Shadow the address. Shadow says "He has Batgirl; I think she's in there".

Alfred is surprised and says "So what will you do?"

Shadow darkly says "Get her out, and then get him out of Gotham". He goes back to the Batbike.

Alfred calls out as Shadow leaves "Batman said he and Robin will be back tomorrow night".

Jin is in his apartment, watching Batgirl eat scrap food. She is ungagged and not blindfolded currently but is too weak to scream. He gags her again and puts the plug in the bathtub. He grabs a welding device and welds the plug in. He starts to run the water and says "I hope you suffer Batgirl, it would make my day". It slowly fills the bath as Batgirl struggles to keep her head up.

About 20 minutes later, Shadow climbs into the apartment and sees the bathroom. He sees Jin watching gleefully as Batgirl's face is about to go underwater. Shadow enters and throws a Shard of Darkness at the light. The bulb smashes and the room goes black. Jin looks around blindly. Shadow grabs Batgirl's belt out the basin and uses it to whip Jin. He hits Jin in the head and Jin staggers and trips into the toilet lid. Shadow pulls Batgirl out of the water before dropping a smoke pellet and vanishing back down to the Batbike. He uses Batgirl's grapple in her belt to get down. He climbs back and sees Jin has made his way to the bedroom. He goes into his bag and pulls out a sound decoy. Shadow covers his ears as Jin grabs a sword. Shadow grabs a lampshade and they duel. Both are good at the combat style but Jin is a little quicker. Shadow appears to drop the lampshade. Jin advances and attacks. Shadow dodges and counters him, slinging Jin into a wall. Jin immediately gets back up and laughs "You think you can defeat me? Tomorrow night, I will finish you on my terms (Voice Change) I will kill you, find out who you are, kill your family and friends. I will terrorise this city, destroying it and finishing everyone in it. You won't stop me". He runs through the bathroom and jumps through the window. He gets away from Shadow. Shadow sighs and goes back to Batgirl. She is barely awake sitting on the Batbike. She goes to speak as he climbs onto it. Shadow says "Save your energy, I'll stop him". They head back to the Batcave.

Stephanie is being medically assessed by Alfred while Shadow looks at the Batcomputer. He thinks before saying to Alfred "Let me know if anything else happens". He leaves for home. Stephanie asks "Is he okay?" Alfred replies "He has heavy bruising over most of his body. This Jin guy is serious".

Stephanie says "I can't believe I let my guard down". Alfred raises an eyebrow.

Stephanie explains "I fell for the hologram, and then he surprised me from behind with a sound decoy device. Then I woke up in the bathtub". Alfred shakes his head.

James wakes up the next day to his phone going off. Ben is texting his phone. James sees what he wants. It reads: You okay after yesterday? Kate keeps asking about you. James replies: I'm recovering, tell her I'm fine. He heads downstairs to find the house empty, weird for a Saturday. James then gets a thought, he says "No". What if Jin got them? He checks the house to see Laura still in bed, snoring. She did that after a big night. Daniel then walked through the front door with groceries. James sighs in relief before heading to Stephanie's house. She is home alone. She answers the door and lets him in. James sits and asks "How are you?"

Stephanie has a puffed up cheek, bruised body, a slight concussion and puffy lips and scratches on her arms; she has a minor black eye and a sore nose. She replies "I have been a lot better. Alfred told me all about what I missed. You have been busy".

James nods and says "Did you pick up on any weaknesses of Jin? I need an edge".

Stephanie thinks then says "I heard him say a number of times that he wasn't smart enough but it's not like you're going to take him on in a math test. I did hear him say money, death and destruction over and over. I'm sorry James, I can't help". She looks a little disappointed. James says to her with sympathy "Hey, I'm glad you are alive. It's okay just let me know if something comes back". He gives her a little hug then leaves and heads home. He thinks about clearing a commitment.

He calls Kate and asks "You free today?"

Kate excitingly responds "Yes, where do you want to meet?"

James replies a little happier "Robinson Park in about 20 minutes". He hangs up and leaves.

They meet in the park. Kate looked beautiful as usual. James looked a little worn but still neat.

Kate expectantly says "I'm guessing you just want to sit and talk". James replies "Only to start off with". Kate smiles at him.

James says "Sorry I'm a little tired and beaten today". Kate looks at the defensive marks on his body as he shows her his arms.

They sit down on a park bench. Kate says "Will you ever give it up?"

James says "Eventually, I still want to have a family and help them have a father unlike me and let them enjoy life".

Kate sighs and says "My career is going to take me overseas a lot, and if you're preoccupied here, I guess it isn't going to work out". Her tone goes a little sad.

James replies slightly defiantly "We can still be good, close friends". Kate's eyes light up. James continues "You are special Kate; you deserve a man who can be there for you all the time, not me where I will be preoccupied. It's a little sad but maybe in another life it would work".

Kate nods and says "I'm glad I met you". She kisses his cheek briefly. James is unsure how to react. He does nothing. He then says "You want to go to the amusement park? Like play bumper cars and go on the rollercoaster?"

Kate beams "I thought you would never ask". They leave together, smiling. They head home after having a blast at the amusement park. James drops her off back to her dorm. He gets out. Kate says "Thank you, we have to do that again sometime". James nods before she pulls him close and kisses him. James sort of returns it but motions for her to stop. He says "I'll see you later. I have to save this city". He leaves. Kate sighs and says "Such a nice guy". She turns around and a cloth is put over her face. She passes out and is taken away.

Shadow scouts the streets, looking for signs of Jin. He then sees 10 dead people lying in the street. He thinks '55'. He continues to search uptown. He then sees a horrific sight. 6 people are hanging perilously above the street, only their hands bound to a tightrope which Jin walks across. Shadow looks at the 6 people. A middle aged man, a grandma, a teenaged girl who he realises is Kate, 2 Gotham State University students and a young man. Shadow watches as Jin uses a whip to hit the hands of the hostages. They won't fall but the pain is really punishing their hands.

Shadow looks closer at the hostages; the two Gotham State University students are dead. Shadow starts a transmission to Alfred "Alfred, he's got 4 hostages tied to a tightrope. Where are the police and fire service?"

Alfred replies "They seem to have had car problems Shadow. Batman is about 10 minutes away in the Batwing."

Shadow ends the transmission. He has to stall Jin from killing them and hope Batman can get there in time. He slowly approaches, making sure Jin does not detect him. Shadow sets a timer in his cowl, sets it to 10 minutes. This is to give him an idea on how long he has to keep Jin occupied for.

Jin yells out to no one "Where are you Batman?!"

He walks along the tightrope and stands above the grandma. He asks her "Where is Batman?"

The grandma confidently says back "I don't know. And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you". Her defiance impresses Shadow. Jin raises his sword to cut the rope when a Shard of Darkness hits his hand and the sword falls to the street below, just missing a car. Shadow calls out "I'm right here Jin".

Jin smiles and gets off the tightrope. But as he takes the final step, he uses a knife to weaken the support clipped on the building. The strain of the hostages slowly weakens the rope.

Shadow takes a defensive stance as Jin rushes at him. On the rooftop they engage in hand to hand combat. Shadow's timer is down to 3 minutes. He briefly glances at the rope, it is weakening fast. Shadow knows it may not last in time. He continues to fend off Jin's attacks; slowly however, Jin's previous encounters were taking a toll on Shadow's body as he started to tire. Shadow takes a few hits and falls to the ground. Jin moves for the kill, making no mistake this time. Shadow looks up and hears the sounds of the Batwing. The Batwing cut through the air and flew past them. Shadow rolls away from where he was to avoid Jin as Jin stabs towards the ground. Batman manoeuvres the Batwing to under the tightrope. Robin climbs out and frees the grandma and the young man. Shadow is kicked away by Jin who throws a smoke bomb at Robin. Robin is blinded. Jin runs to the tightrope to cut it. Shadow makes a last ditch effort and tackles Jin away. Jin yells "No!" As Robin frees the middle aged man and Kate from their situation. Batman lands the Batwing on the rooftop and gets out. He goes straight for Jin. Jin and Batman engage in combat. Batman dominates as Jin is tired and the voices in his head were ruining his concentration. Shadow notices a plane on a rooftop nearby. It's Jin's escape route.

Shadow however goes and looks after the hostages as Robin joins the fight. Jin is overwhelmed but not beaten. He says "Maybe next time". Before he drops another smoke bomb and runs for the plane. He takes off but Batman does not give chase. Robin asks "Aren't we going after him?"

Batman replies "No, he is just a hired gun, a good one. This goes bigger than that". He turns to the hostages who Shadow is helping get down from the roof.

Shadow and Kate is side by side, seemingly alone as he helps her walk down to the street.

Kate says with some gratitude "My hero". Shadow looks at her darkly. He is quite beaten. He replies "This is why it won't work". She looks down and says "Still friends though?" Shadow nods and blandly replies "There is someone out there for you, currently it's not me". She seems a little happier. Shadow then says "I have to go. I'll keep in touch". He disappears back to the Batwing.

Batman and Robin climb in as Shadow reaches it. Robin helps Shadow in and they leave to the Batcave. Once back, they debrief. Batman says "If he was hired to kill me, surely there will be others. Deadshot is in Blackgate but no one has seen Deathstroke. We have to be ready". Both Robin and Shadow nod. Shadow climbs to his bedroom's balcony and enters his room. He changes and goes to sleep. Batman watches Shadow enter from a distance and then leaves, with a small smile on his face. It disappears as Batman joins the night again.

The End