Chapter 4 - Black Hood

One Month Later: Current Date - 14th February 2019

The beeping noise would wake Bruce up from his sleep. "A message?" he thought, he got off of his bed and walked towards the gauntlet and activated the message to see what it was delivered. He opened the message and saw a videotape. "Hello, Bruce did you missed me?" Black Hood joked.

Bruce was prettified to see him back. "...how," he said, disbelief could be noticed in his tone.

"It doesn't matter how and when or where, what matters is that I have your Mentor at these coordinates, come and face me and let's settle this once and for all if you don't arrive by the time limit which is within a few hours, you can say goodbye to Antipatros." and the message closed, leaving Bruce in shock, letting himself fall down in a sitting position on his bed, touching his forehead with his heads, rubbing his forehead.

"I need to save him.." he said as then dreadful thought struck him. "God no! if he finds out about Katrina..he'll...he'll kill her.," he said, starting to really worry now. He stood up and opened a lamp which had a button which was directed to send him to his Armory room.

"His suit is made out of Nanotechs.. maybe vibration could work." he thought. "No, it will do little to no damage. I'll just have to punch him hard as I can and I think I have the right suit for this." Bruce said.

He suits up with his exoskeleton strong enough to compare with the might and strength of the Super Soldier Serum one might have and a far more technical design, his gauntlets were upgraded to deal more damage the shockwave radius was far stronger because he set it up to level ten which can leave a crater in the ground if used properly.

He got one of the most powerful rifles he had, he detaches it into two pieces and holsters them on his hips as he also got two powerful hand cannons and a few grenades of any kind he might need and last but not least his hood, he looked more serious than ever to stop this once and for all as he pulled his hoodie up only to have his face been covered by a mask which activated revealing a light blue visor and his cybernetic eye went through revealing its color.

He types on the control panel from his Computer and sat on his bike and the elevator transported him up and opened up the other garage and from the ground, he came speeding faster than ever matching the speed of his sports car, he knew time was not on his side...

The coordinates provided by Black Hood lead Bruce to the outskirts of the city followed by an abandoned place. Bruce stopped and hopped off of his bike he minded his surroundings and saw Antipatros tied up on a pillar. "..you shouldn't have come," Antipatros said with a very weak and tired tone.

Behind Bruce appeared Black Hood and he did not hesitated and charged at him and hit him on his back and on his leg, Bruce got hit really bad on the back but he managed to block the attack on his leg directing it so it did not break his.

Bruce unleashed his hidden blades and started hitting on Black Hood, he deflected a few but only to catch one directed at his throat. "Ah, I see peace has weakened you." Black Hood mentioned releasing his grip and let the gravity do its thing leaving an opening and Black Hood took it.

He delivered an elbow to his liver a lower hand attack delivered towards his kin and a powerful kick which hurt Bruce and knocked him on the ground, he spat some blood. Black Hood grabbed him by his head and formed a blade ready to kill him.

"I think your mentor is wise as they say, you shouldn't have come." Black Hood remarks. Bruce catches his breath and sends a variety of attacks after he blocked the upcoming blade from Black Hood.

He activates his gauntlets and with each punch, there was a shockwave, punch after punch the ground started to shake a bit. He sends multiple strikes at his lower chest then a spin elbow attack combined with a pressure point attack send towards his middle chest.

Some of the strikes did significant damage as the power of the shockwave started to chew off his Nanotech's and that pressure point attack sent to his chest made him stutter back.

Bruce goes for a high kick but Black Hood stops it and grabs his leg and throws him on the ground and Black Hood jumped on Bruce and started to punch him in his face, a punch after the other stronger than before so strong he cracked his mask wide opened and threw it on the side.

Reyes, suddenly stopped when he noticed Black Hood and Bruce fighting, he was in that abandoned place because he was tasked to secure the area. "Hey, what's going on here?" Reyes questioned, on alert. He decided that now would not be the best time to get involved, as the two appeared to be taking quite the beatings. Reyes slowly began backing away, hoping that Black Hood hadn't noticed him.

Bruce couldn't hear Reyes, unfortunately, because he was too busy protecting himself from not being punched to death. He tried his best to deflect some punches but the ones which hit him it felt like iron was punching instead, he managed to grab his arm and try to break it but to no avail.

Bruce grabbed his gun and placed on Black Hood's head and shot him but the armor was bulletproof. Bruce yelled out and punched Black Hood in the guts a massive shockwave emitted from the impact leaving a hole in his chest.

Bruce activated his hidden blade and stabbed him in his guts, Black Hood shouted and spat some blood, he then head-butted Bruce five times so strong it made him stagger back and remove the blade protruding through his chest.

Black Hood delivered a few punches with no clear direction only aiming for the head, Bruce blocked them and punched him back Black Hood had enough and stopped a punch with his bare hand and kicked him with his knee and grabbed him and threw him on the ground.

"This ends tonight!" Black Hood said creating a sharp blade ready to kill Bruce.

"I'm going to regret this..." Reyes grumbled as he stepped in. "Step off!" He shored as he jumped into action and blocked Black Hood's blade with his sword.

Black Hood's attention quickly moved towards Reyes with rage in his eyes.

"Why you little shit!" Black Hood moved his blade and delivered a punch at Reyes's head.

Bruce, on the other hand, had his world spinning around him a bit he saw mark.

"Why did you do it," he muttered.

Reyes slammed into the wall behind him. "Come to me!" He baited, motioning for Black Hood to attack him. Black Hood ran towards him with incredible speed wanting to slam into him like a train and send an elbow attack towards his head again.

Bruce tried to stand up but failed while Reyes distracted Black Hood he tried to summon his every bit of strength he had. Reyes was knocked back again his head throbbing with pain. He grabbed his sword and slashed it at Black Hood.

Black Hood blocked the sword with a made up shield and he sends a punch at Reyes's lower body where his rib could be and with the other hand try to grab his neck and choke him. Bruce slowly but surely made his way up and started to walk behind Black Hood.

The wind was knocked out of Reyes as he was punched in the chest. As Reyes was strangled by Black Hood, he headbutted him hard to try to get him off. "Hurry up!" Reyes called out to Bruce. The headbutt only made Black Hood's head stagger back but immediately recover and his hand around Reyes's neck began to grip tighter and tighter wanting to crush his windpipe.

Bruce started to run at Black Hood his exoskeleton suit providing the speed he needed but Black Hood was no fool he turned and released Reyes's neck and blocked the punch of Bruce but what Black Hood didn't know was that that impact created a shockwave leaving him vulnerable.

Bruce started to punch Black Hood over and over again so much till his visor cracked and with a well placed punched combined with a shockwave delivered towards his liver with a hidden blade stabbing him.

Black Hood gasped for air and touched Bruce's arm trying to remove the hidden blade, Bruce looked him coldly in the eyes. However, the suit unleashed a safety mechanism which created a blast so hard it sends Black Hood and Bruce away from each other and both fell to the ground.

Black Hood stood up seeing he was in no condition to fight this made things worse than before. "When I'll find you I'll kill you, mark my words." Black Hood said to Bruce and then he looked at Reyes. "And you, when I'm done with you I'll feed you to hungry dogs."

Black Hood then flew away thanks to his suit and quickly disappeared. Reyes fell onto his hands and knees, coughing up blood as he gasped for air. "what's that guy's deal?" he asked Bruce.

Bruce walked towards him and held up his hand. "He is the guy you don't want to mess with," he said. "We share quite a history."

"Yeah, I can tell." Reyes gasped. "Anyways, I gotta go". He then walked off, Bruce nods walked towards Antipatros and held him up by his arm resting on the back of his neck.

He takes Antipatros to his Home and places his mentor in a bacta tank alongside himself and after a few minutes they injuries were healed completely as if nothing happened. The two sat down on a sofa with a table and the two drank each a glass of whiskey.

"You know today is Valentine's Day," Antipatros said.

"I know," Bruce replied.

"So who are you going to spend your time with then?" Antipatros was eager to know.

"You don't know her and also it might sound strange but I met this Girl...called Katrina."

"Oh." that caught Antipatros's attention. "Please do tell me more."

Bruce then explained how he met Katrina and how he feels like they are really close and that he has feelings for her.

"My oh my," Antipatros said. "You finally did it.."

"Yeah..." Bruce said smiling.

"Then I assume your Assassin life is over?" Antipatros asked.

"Wait, what? No of course not." Bruce said. "Though I don't know if she'll like to know that I am constantly in danger and most definitely she must not find out about Black Hood."

"It is hard, I know. An Assassins life is not easy but you'll have to choose, you know going back to your old life can endanger hers." Antipatros pointed out.

"Antipatros I might be the only one able to defeat him..if not me who then? I cannot live with that on my conscious. I'll be an Assassin for the time being till Black Hood is dead, I am sorry Patros but I rather choose a life with her than a life of danger and possibly suffer her loss."

Bruce stood up and drank his drink he held up his hood and made his way outside.

"Where are you going?" Antipatros asked.

"You said it yourself, Valentine's Day is today so I am going to give Katrina something special," Bruce said hopping on his Bike and drove to an accessory shop he knew it was open at that time around.

As he arrived and entered inside the accessory shop there was a lady. "Ah, nice to see you at this time around.." the lady said.

"Well I am sorry but you know Valentine's is today and I need to get something for a person," Bruce said.

"Oh for your Girlfriend?" the lady asked.

"...well if future girlfriend counts then yes," Bruce said.

"Alright then I think I got the right thing for you." the lady said showing him the numerous possibilities.

After a few minutes, Bruce got out with a present in his hand and thanks for the lady which knew him gave him some beautiful flowers for Katrina.

Bruce got home and entered inside his room and started to plan things out how Valentine's Day could work.

After some thinking and some planning, Bruce got out of his suit and took some casual clothes on and decided to watch some TV downstairs with Antipatros.

Katrina glanced at a clock in the coffee shop.

"Oh, shoot! I gotta go. Thank you again!" She said to Shadya.

"Alright, let me know how it worked out for ya!" she says, watching Katrina walk away.

She walked out of the coffee shop and silently entered Bruce's home. She walked into her room and closed the door quietly. Inside, she continued working on her gift.

Bruce looked at the clock it was afternoon, time flew really fast as he watched TV with his Mentor.

"Hmm, I wonder if she came," Bruce said looking at Antipatros, he stood up and gave Antipatros the remote controller.

He walks upstairs and goes inside the bathroom and takes a nice warm relaxing shower and after that he styled himself and after he was done he left the Bathroom and headed towards his room again.

On his opened window was Hope joyfully squawking and welcoming Bruce. He greeted her as well and patted her.

"Now I know, I'm nervous too," Bruce said talking to Hope.

Today he decided to wear something different a black body t-shirt and a red shirt with dark grey jeans with some modern not too much fashion holes and to that he wears Air Jordan 1 with red and white color.

"I think I have her gift and everything," Bruce told Hope, Katrina's gift was in a box wrapped in a wrapping gift paper and her flowers were there as well in a big bottle with water so that they won't dry off, he also perfumed himself and then he gave Hope some food.

Bruce would also hear some sounds coming from Katrina's room. "Wonder what she's doing." he wondered. He then took his gift and the flowers and walked towards the dining room and sat down on an armchair and so patiently waited for Katrina.

Katrina continued working. Finally, she sat back and sighed. "Okay, I think I've got it." She wrapped the gift up and tidied up her room.

Bruce waited so every patiently but he was nervous. "Strange I've never been that nervous around a girl before," he said.

Katrina came out of her room, a large bundle in her arms. "Hello!" She said cheerfully. "Happy Valentine's day!" she enthusiastically said.

To that, he would stand up as he hid his presents to make it more of a surprise behind his back. Bruce smiled. "Happy Valentine's day to you too."

Katrina smiled back at him. "Here." She handed him the bundle. "It's not much, but I did my best."

"..wow you surely didn't have too," Bruce said taking the bundle and placing it on the side table of the armchair he sat on before.

"But I got something for you too," Bruce said handing the flowers. "First off lovely flowers for a lovely girl." the flowers were beautiful and were pleasing to the smell. "And well a surprise for you." he handed her the wrapped gift around with present paper which had the form of a square it was a box but what held inside well...

"Oh! Thank you!" She took the flowers and set them aside, then took the box. She tore off the wrapping paper.

There was a box which she needed to open. "You see I bought this gift for you because...you are special, my ever so lost founded treasure," Bruce said smiling.

Katrina tilted her head curiously and opened the box. The box revealed a shiny beautiful necklace with many precious stones all around it. She squealed happily. "Oh, thank you!" She said, giving Bruce a warmly hug.

Bruce accepted the huge and so ever gracefully hugged her back. "How about you try it on? May I help you?"

Katrina nodded, a huge smile on her face. She carefully picked up the necklace. Bruce helped Katrina and with a bit of finesse and patience, the necklace went around her neck with no problem. "Wow," Bruce said, amazed.

Katrina smiled. "What do you think?"

"I'm out of words," Bruce said. "It looks really great on you."

"Thanks! Now open yours!" She replied happily.

Bruce nods and takes the bundle and starts to open it as inside there was a large mass of cloth.

There was a very intrigued look on his face, he took the large mass of cloth out gently. He would see that it was a cloak, much like the one he used on his suit before.

"Try it on," Katrina said.

"You really shouldn't have," Bruce said he was happy about his gift and he tried it on. "Alright do I look menacing enough?" he joked.

Katrina smiled."Alright, wait there."

She ran into her room and brought out a small rectangular piece of armor with small buttons on it. She pressed one, and the cloak turned invisible along with Bruce.

This surprised Bruce greatly.

"Wow from where did you get cloaking technology?" he asked. "This..this is great!"

"I made it." She said shyly. She pressed the button again, and Bruce reappeared. She then handed him the remote."This can attach onto your armor."

When Bruce appeared he was a bit more closely towards Katrina he took the remote and removed his hoodie off. "...thank you," he said taking her hand.

"No problem." She told Bruce. She looked at him, happiness in her eyes.

From an opened window came Hope silently not causing any noise and played Bruce's music player from his parents, the melody which was played it was pleasant to the ear and made a mood of wanting to dance.

"Do you want to dance with me?" Bruce asked his eyes fixated on her's.

"Oh, uh, well." She stammered. "Sure."

Bruce took off his cloak and placed it gently on his armchair. He took her hand as he places his hand on her waist and started to rock around the side to side slowly and gently as he looked in her eyes.

The melody which was played was made by the Penguins in 1955 called "Earth Angel." Katrina followed Bruce's movements, not really knowing how to dance. Suddenly, a thought came to mind. "I'm going to be a superhero. Is that okay?" She asked Bruce.

Bruce continued dancing and leaded Katrina rocking side to side slowly. "Of course it's okay," Bruce said in a warm lower voice feeling very calm. "But why do you ask?" he asked.

"Well, I don't want to make you worry." She said.

"Well, I'd lie if I didn't say I would be worried about you and your safety and well being. But I trust you." Bruce said still dancing with Katrina.

"Okay," Katrina said happily. She continued dancing. "Oh, and I made a new friend today."

"Oh." Bruce was intrigued. "Who may that new friend be?" he asked, rocking around slowly and gently side to side as he twirled Katrina gently and went back on holding her hand and waist.

"Her name is Shadya. She helped fight that big robot." Katrina said as she followed Bruce's movements. "She took me out for coffee, and we chatted."

"Perhaps I might get to know your friend someday as well," he said. "I've been meaning to say something to you."

"...yes?" Katrina asked.

"There is a guy I know who met a girl a few days ago." he continues."And that at first the girl is shy but throughout the time she spends with him she opens up but not too much." he continues while dancing telling her something she might know what he meant.

"But this guy, he loves her, he loves her so much he became a fool in love but he is afraid if he goes to fast she might reject him. Though he thinks they are close he doesn't know what to do," he said coming to an end.

"So I ask you what should this guy do? Listen to his heart and go for it? Or wait and never get the opportunity or chance to ever express how much he loves her?"

"I'd tell him to take it easy and not try to rush it, but at the same time be the gentleman and go for it when he is ready. If the girl is shy, one has to show her that you care for her so that she can feel at home." Katrina said.

"And what if this guy is ready to go for it? What if this guy is ready to show her that he cares about her and that he is willing to do everything in his power to make that girl feel like she's at home?" Bruce asked wondering himself if she knew what he's talking about.

"Then the guy should wait for a good moment and go for it," Katrina said. She thought, "he's for sure talking about us."

The pleasant song stopped it was quiet, Bruce looked at Katrina's eyes with great passion as he looked at her he couldn't help but realize that her eyes were like the stars in the skies so many and yet so beautiful.

"Then this is the moment," he said, while his left hand was on her lower waist his right hand moved towards the back of her head, slipping his fingers in her hair, leaning his face gently as so did Katrina and they would meet their lips and kiss a passionate kiss.

Her heart thumped against her chest as her brain exploded in a whirl of thoughts and emotion.

It could be the same said for Bruce his heart just made a hard beat and stopped for just a second shocking his body with many emotions.

After a good long moment, he gently releases her lips and he looks her in the eyes."..I love you." he said, with a soft tone.

"I love you too," Katrina said softly as well. "This is where I'm meant to be," he adds.

Hope shakes her feathers and wings in joyfulness. "Looking for survivors that day..was the best thing I ever did," he said. Katrina smiled as she gazed at Bruce and because of that, he would go in for another passionate kiss, as their lips joined again, enjoying themselves...