'I should have a bit of a break from the snake chick's whip for now...' I mused, my eyes darting under my helmet as I inspected the area, formulating a plan.
'The wolf guy's skin is thick, and he can regenerate, but he's not a problem...' I took a step back, dodging a swing from the werewolf as he lunged at me.
I noticed him moving to the side to give the snake lady an unhindered view of me so she could freely swing her whip without worrying about friendly fire. I reacted immediately, shadowing his movement and sticking close.
I took a boxing stance and moved closer, sending my right fist flying at the werewolf's face, he reacted by crossing his front of it to defend himself.
However, it was faint, and I caught his wrist, prying it off his face, creating an opening which I capitalized on by yanking him toward me and burying my foot in his chin with a high kick.
I drew my fist back and sent another, full-powered punch towards the wolfman's chest, infused with what little energy I managed to muster in such a short time.
The wolfman howled in pain as blood splashed, and my fist went right through his chest, crushing his heart and several organs because of the energy.
However, I could already see the hole in his chest regenerating, wiggling flesh and tissue creeping slowly towards my hand inside his chest. I frowned at the horrid scene. But I didn't stop my attack, clawing at the werewolf's eyes.
I kept an eye on the snake lady to ascertain she wouldn't take advantage and move to the side where she could attack me without injuring her friend, and my eyes widened when I saw her smirk while brandishing her whip and preparing to attack without minding the wolf man.
My surprise only grew when the wolf man clutched my wrists and held on tightly despite literally being heartless and sightless as the snake woman began her attack,
I grit my teeth, driving my foot into the wolfman's nether region, sealing the deal with a headbutt into his snout, causing his teeth to fly as he finally let go.
I put all my strength into my legs and jumped up, dodging the swing and landing on the ground just in time to see the snake woman's whip bisecting the werewolf's body in half.
Clicking my tongue, I turned to the snake lady and sprinted towards her in a hurry. That energy whip would probably tear through my coat, and I needed to put her out of commission before that happened.
The serpentine redhead frowned as she watched me charge her and quickly began whipping at me, trying to slow me down, which worked to a certain degree since I had to dodge.
Still, her actions didn't delay me enough for the wolfman to recover. However, the panic or hasty retreat I expected to see when I closed the distance wasn't there. She wickedly grinned instead and opened her mouth wide.
The snake lady's throat began contorting, and a splash of green liquid flew at me from her mouth in a wide arc that left me no room to dodge the sizzling fluid.
I retrieved a metallic sheet from my inventory and raised it in front of my body to block the strange green vomit, and my eyes widened when I saw the metal start melting.
I grit my teeth and let go of the metal sheet before the green acid-like substance could touch my hand, and I turned back to the snake lady as I prepared to skewer her with my metal wire.
I barely stopped myself from cursing aloud when I turned the woman and saw nothing but a giant green tail filling my vision as it flew towards my torso. I didn't have time to dodge and only managed to raise my hands in front of my midsection as the attack hit, sending me flying back and crashing into a wall.
I swallowed the mouthful of blood rising through my throat and turned to the woman, who now looked like a green lamia with the upper body of a woman and the lower body of a snake, shiny emerald scales covering all of her body.
"My, my... aren't we full of surprises..." the serpentine woman calmly remarked, a leisurely grin on her face as she slithered to stand in front of the werewolf whose upper body was crawling towards his legs.
"Says the chick who turned into a goddamned snake when I looked away for a second..." I quipped back as I stood up, trying to buy some time. I could already feel an itchy situation inside my chest as my organs and bones began healing.
"Chick is such a low-class word for a woman like me..." the serpentine woman replied, charmingly smiling as she reverted to her human form, naked as the day she was born.
"Wouldn't you agree that lady would be a more apt description...?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as she ran a hand through her hair, emphasizing her enormous pair of shapely breasts that jiggled with her gesture.
'She's trying to buy time for the werewolf to recover...' I mused as I stared directly into the serpentine woman's exposed breasts, my eyes moving up and down with every jiggle.
I might have had a healing factor, but it was nowhere as strong as the one the wolfman had, and I needed to buy some time for my organs to heal, so I might as well enjoy the show.
The werewolf's healing factor was probably on Deadpool's level. Mine was likely the same level as Deathstroke, maybe better, but definitely not strong enough to compete with Deadpool level shit.
'I'll play along and strike when I find the chance...'
Encouraged by my reaction, the serpentine redhead slowly walked toward me, swaying her body as she moved, and I kept my eyes on her. However, my focus was on the video feed from my pigeon drone monitoring the wolfman, who was quickly recovering.
By the time my organs healed, the wolfman was already trying to get up, and the seductive redhead was barely five meters away from me, her throat contorting as she prepared to bathe me in another green acid vomit.
I immediately moved, taking out Ivory and Ebony from my inventory. I started by fusing energy into Ebony and rapidly fired at the snake lady, aiming at her forehead with non-lethal shots.
I fired five energy projectiles, and only three hit her; one on the forehead, one on the shoulder, and the other in the center of her bare chest causing her to hiss in pain while holding her head.
Then I dumped as much energy as possible into Ivory and leveled it at the werewolf, firing a single powerful energy projectile that hit him in the shoulder, severing his arm.
I stored my bulletproof coat (it would be useless in protecting me against acid vomit and would only be ruined) and guns in my inventory and charged the serpentine redhead.
She quickly recovered her bearing, unmindful of the bruises forming on her otherwise flawless body, as she opened her mouth and tried to spray me with another splash of acid vomit.
However, I was close enough to reach before she opened her mouth, punching her chin to close her mouth, to which she hissed again, and I quickly shut her up with another punch. Equal rights, equal fights, bitch.
The serpentine woman began turning green as she tried to transform, but I had no intention of letting her get through with it. Yanking her hair to throw her to the ground, I immediately straddled her, using every bit of my willpower to focus on the task at hand and not her jiggling breasts.
I joined my fingers together as I located the nerve I needed to hit to knock her out, and she responded by opening her mouth to spray me with another acid splash.
I caught her jaw with my other hand and forcefully closed her mouth, preparing to knock her out. I noticed the wolf man recover and charge at me, but I didn't stop and buried my fingers into the redhead's neck, rendering her unconscious.
However, my action left me unable to dodge in time, and the wolf man tackled me away from the serpentine woman, climbing over me as he swiped at my neck with his claws.
My eyes widened, and I almost choked on my own blood when I felt a wetness on my neck, but I gritted my teeth and pushed my lower body off the ground to wrap my legs around the werewolf's head from behind.
I pried him off me in a brief and painful struggle as he kept swiping at my torso and neck with his claws and reversed our position, holding my bleeding throat with one hand while the other began pummeling him into the ground.
...
I felt my vision grow hazy as I continued to lose blood from my bleeding neck, but I didn't stop my assault with the pent-up frustration and irritation from the past two days fueling my aggression.
The fact that the bastard slit my throat and the lack of oxygen in my system also helped me stay focused as I channeled energy into my fist and buried it in the werewolf's skull that was already exposed at this point.
I heaved, feeling my head become lighter with every punch, wet squelch, sickening crunch, spray of blood, and howl of agony as the wolfman's head kept breaking and restoring itself at a slower rate after each cycle, and I didn't stop.
I'd already forgotten why I was there, what I was doing, and my mind went blank as only thoughts of murdering the damned lycanthrope who didn't understand the concept of staying down remained in my head.
However, I was quickly brought back to my senses when I felt something hit me in the back of my head, snapping me out of my bloodlust as I turned and saw a man in a domino mask and tight black suit with a blue stripe over the chest.
The man was well built, roughly 5.10 feet tall, with broad shoulders and a muscular body. He had short black hair and a frown as he stared at me with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
"I think he's had enough," the man said with a frown visible under his black domino mask, resting a hand on the distinctive utility belt around his waist.
My gaze turned to the wolfman, maimed beyond recognition, barely a mishmash of fur, broken bones, and wiggling, still healing flesh. I grunted in frustration, burying my fist into the ground to vent the last vestiges of my irritation before standing up.
"Anger management issues, much?" the man said, removing his hand from the utility belt, his posture relaxing. But he still looked bemused and somewhat disconcerted by my violent display.
"The guy is an immortal werewolf. I needed to make sure he stayed down," I replied, retrieving a piece of cloth from my hand and using it to wipe the blood off my helmet and gloves.
"Why are you here?" I asked, trying to change the subject, as I wasn't comfortable discussing my homicidal tendencies with one of my childhood's favorite superheroes.
Dick Grayson, formerly known as Robin and currently as Nightwing, was one of the few reasons I managed to read as far into DC comics as I did in my past life.
Whereas almost every superhero and villain in DC comics (including mortals like Batman) was like a living god dealing with human issues, Dick Grayson was the complete opposite.
He was likable and relatable to me back then, maybe even now. Dick Grayson was Batman, but better, and I don't mean that he's more capable as a hero or a vigilante.
Bruce Wayne was arguably the greatest here in fiction, but he's too obsessed with the mission, making him sound both inhuman, despite being human, and unrelatable for me.
What made Nightwing special, however, is that he became everything Batman couldn't be.
Dick Grayson didn't choose to linger in the darkness, unlike Batman. He moved on, formed genuine relationships, and became a true leader instead of following in the caped crusader's footsteps to become some menacing night demon whose only job was to instill fear into others, both friends and foes alike.
"I was asked to keep an eye on Harley Quinn..." The man, Nightwing, replied, raising an eyebrow in bemusement as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.
He didn't say who asked him, but it went without saying.
"As it turns out, it was you that I needed to keep an eye on," he added, turning to the werewolf, who was still nothing more than an assortment of disfigured, slowly healing flesh and bones.
As if she was waiting for those exact words, Harley burst into the place, carelessly skipping towards us with her baseball bat (surprisingly unstained by blood) resting on her shoulder.
'For fuck's sake...' I cursed in my head as I watched the crazy blonde skip towards me, my expression darkening under my helmet as another plan of mine went to shit.
I might have come here to blow some steam and appease Harley's, but I'd hoped she'd end up killing someone, so I'd have an excuse to hand her over to Batman or Catwoman, and get rid of her to focus on grinding the Computers skill for the meantime.
However, my plan backfired since Harley seems to have actually avoided killing anyone by how relaxed she looked even after seeing Nightwing and how he didn't react to her presence.
And to make things worst, Nightwing even caught me literally red-handed as I was unloading my frustration on the werewolf, almost killing the guy in the process.
"Like I said, immortal werewolf. I couldn't hold back any punches," I calmly remarked as I finished wiping the blood off my helmet, boots, and gloves, replacing my bloodstained shirt and pants with another pair from my inventory.
Batman already knew about my ability to make shit appear out of thin air, and he wouldn't hide that kind of information from Nightwing or any other hero since he shares his database with the Justice League.
So yeah, everyone with a mask and a caped affiliated with the justice league and their mothers probably knows to some extent about my inventory, so there was no point in hiding it.
"Cool trick," Nightwing remarked, giving me an amused look, to which I didn't react or bother commenting as I made my way towards the snake lady's discarded energy whip.
I stored it in my inventory without saying anything and turned to leave. However, Nightwing got in my way, making me feel an urge to sigh in exasperation.
The urge grew even more when I turned to Harley and noticed her eagerly grinning as she watched his actions, expecting a show with her eyes alternating between Nightwing and me.
"What do you think you're doing?" Nightwing asked as he stood in front, clearly disapproving of my actions of pocketing the alien weapon, to which Harley's eager grin only became more pronounced.
"I'm taking a piece of dangerous alien technology before the GCPD could get their grubby hands all over it and sell it to some gangster or the other," I replied, shrugging my shoulder as I tried to walk past Nightwing, only for him to get in my way again.
"That piece of dangerous alien technology will only stay in the GCPD's hands for a day at most before going to STAR labs for testing and reverse engineering," Nightwing replied in a mocking tone, doing air quotes as he shook his head.
"Commissioner Gordon will never let it get to the wrong hands," he added, firmly gesturing to the side as if his words, and James Gordon's name alone, are supposed to assure me.
"Commissioner Gordon is only one man in a wholly corrupt organization. He can't do shit," I replied with a dismissive shrug of my shoulders as I sighed.
"Even if you were right and the GCPD managed to hold on to it long enough to be transported to STAR labs for study..." I added, my tone biting as I trailed at the end of my sentence and copied Nightwing's gesture by making air quotes.
"I'd only give it a week before some villain or the other broke into the STAR labs and stole the whip as a bonus along with whatever research data or alien doomsday machine they were there to steal," I concluded, still copying Nightwing's gestures as I firmly waved to the side, much to his discomfort.
Even though I was speaking the truth about STAR labs and the GCPD, my motives weren't so selfless, and I was just spewing sophistry and rhetoric to justify myself.
I just saw something I wanted and took it. It was nothing more and nothing less.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, your mentor had left me a shit ton of work that I need to attend to," I remarked as I walked past Nightwing, and he didn't try to stop me this time, only frowning as he watched me leave.
...
"Ain't he a ray of sunshine?" Harley said with a smirk as she skipped towards Nightwing after watching Gray leave, causing the latter to turn to her with a sharp look.
"Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do, Harley," Nightwing said, frowning as he regarded the crazy blonde with a scowl. "I don't know why Batman decided to leave you with the kid, but if you keep egging him on, I'll deal with you myself, regardless of Batman's wishes," he added, his tone growing cold.
"No idea what yer talking about, ya Batman mini-me wannabe," Harley replied, grinning as she shrugged her shoulders and started walking away, following behind Gray, who was already outside the shipyard.
Nightwing watched her leave, but said nothing despite having his doubts about the arrangement out of respect for his former mentor.
'Just what the hell were you thinking, Bruce...?'
...
I yawned as I sat on the edge of the bed, stretching my limbs as I retrieved my phone to see the time. 'I overslept...' I mused as I got off the bed and equipped my street clothes, making my way out of the room.
I had shaken Harley off my tail when I left the shipyard after venting my frustration and getting my prize and made my way to a motel where I could get some sleep without worrying about the crazy blonde slitting my throat or molesting me in my sleep.
She'd already displayed some modicum of self-control by not killing anyone in the shipyard, so I decided that getting some well-deserved sleep and rest was worth the risk of letting her off my sights.
The smart choice would have been to grit my teeth and keep the crazy bitch under my nose where I could keep an eye on her and make sure she wouldn't go on a rampage, but I was too tired and irritated to care about any of that.
Harley Quinn and Batman could go fuck themselves for all I cared right about now. I was tired of doing the smart thing at the expense of my mental health and comfort.
Worst-case scenario, Harley goes crazy, Batman gets pissed off and throws me in Black Gate or some other hell hole, but I'd only need to use my system to get stronger and escape or wait for the next mass break out.
Either way, I wouldn't be in prison for long, and even though it would put a dent in most of my plans, I could fake my death (which is possible with my current available classes) and start over somewhere else.
As I am right now, I'd prefer to stay in Gotham. Don't get me wrong; my opinion didn't change. The city is a fucking hellhole, full of gangs and supervillains.
However, most villains and gangs were just plain crazy regular people. Batman would have been long dead if he had to deal with Metropolis or New York City level rogues every time he went patrolling or responded to an incident.
I could go somewhere with no superhuman activity, but I needed the conflict to grow my skills and grow stronger and Gotham, crawling with thugs and supervillains as it is, was the safest dangerous place, if that made any sense.
Long story short, I was sick of walking on eggshells, and even though I'd still do my best to find the real culprit behind this mess, I wouldn't push myself that much again.
"Here you go..." I remarked, leaving the key on the reception desk as I turned to leave the motel.
...
The Batcave
"So, what do you think...?" Batgirl asked with a sigh, messaging her sore shoulder after multiple long hours of working on the Bat computer, trying to get to the bottom of the mess.
"The kid is smart, quick with his thinking and feet..." Nightwing replied as he got off his bike, removing his domino mask and revealing the frown on his face.
"He's superhuman, and the way he fought suggests he has some experience and formal training, but..." he added, sighing as he shook his head in dismay.
"He's green, inexperienced, and malleable. He shouldn't be in contact with a nutcase like Harley Quinn..." Nightwing remarked, running a hand through his short black hair in frustration.
"If it were up to me, I'd immediately throw Harley back into Blackgate where she belongs, drag the kid by the ear and throw him into the Titans' tower..." he concluded, clicking his tongue in annoyance at the ridiculous situation.
"What do you mean, Dick?" Barbara asked, tilting her head in confusion as she regarded Nightwing with a puzzled look while following as the latter walked to the Batcomputer.
"With how she usually acts and her choice of company, it's easy to forget that Harley Quinn is a Ph.D. in psychology and how manipulative she can be," the vigilante replied, shaking his head with a scowl as he reached the supercomputer.
"She's unpredictable, toxic, and a bad influence, and that's by default. Imagine the damage she could do if she actually tried to corrupt someone..." Nightwing concluded as he opened Harley's profile, gesturing towards the screen.
"You don't mean...?" Batgirl asked, her eyes widening in shock as realization finally dawned on her.
"Most likely..." Nightwing replied with another sigh. "I honestly don't know what Bruce is thinking..." he concluded, shaking his head in exasperated disapproval at his mentor's actions.
...
Somewhere in East Africa
Richard frowned, sighing as he looked down at the unconscious body of his former friend and fellow O-Sensei student, Benjamin Turner, better known as the Bronze Tiger.
They had both studied combat, history, philosophy, and science under the same master and learned martial arts together, becoming masters in their own right.
Richard and Benjamin, didn't part ways after the end of their training as O-Sensei had sent them on a trip to find their destiny, so they started traveling the world together.
Barney Ling, an agent of G.O.O.D (Global Organization of Organized Defense), soon found the two and recruited them into the mysterious global peace-keeping agency.
They did much good together, like breaking several human trafficking and sla*very rings in Africa and destroying more than one terrorist group that terrorized third world countries.
Finally, the two martial artists retired from the organization, opened a martial arts school in Manhattan, and managed to find peace, which proved to be short-lived, as O-Sensei's daughter, and Lady Shiva's sister, Carolyn Woosan, joined them there.
Carolynn's arrival triggered many chaotic events that started with her kidnap, Lady Shiva, joining the pair to rescue her sister, the death of Turner's sister, his fiance Miyoshi, and his eventual capture and brainwashing.
As the Bronze Tiger, Ben was feared around the world. The League's Sensei was sharp enough to ensure that Ben hardly ever took off the mask, sending him on a new mission as soon as he finished another.
He was at one point sent to murder Kathy Kane, the Batwoman. Shortly after he fought and defeated Batman, another assassin killed Kane. When Turner's memory started to return, the League of Assassins turned against him. And after a fight, he was soon taken to a hospital.
However, Turner's struggle didn't end there as Amanda Waller turned her eyes to the man and retrieved him from the hospital by sending a team comprising Rick Flag and the Nightshade.
Amanda Waller then recruited Turner into Suicide Squad with the promise to help him regain his memories, leading to the current situation.
Richard didn't know about any of this, and had assumed Turner to be dead. He wouldn't have known if Lady Shiva didn't inform him of Turner's fate to make him reconsider the wager she suggested.
Richard couldn't refuse the offer and immediately tracked down Turner into Africa, where Waller had sent him to complete one Suicidal task that no one else would do.
And although it took a lot of effort and no small amount of injuries, he managed to subdue his friend, and now it was only a matter of removing the tracking explosive chip in his head.
'Sorry, kid... looks like you'll have to suffer a little because of your foolish teacher...' Richard bitterly mused, sighing as he kneeled next to the unconscious body of his friend.
Richard had faith Gray would come out on top in the end, but he initially refused the wager as he didn't like the idea of exposing him to Lady Shiva. However, the revelation that his friend was still alive and in such dire circumstances left him with little choice.
'I'll make it up to him somehow...' he shook his head, turning to the dragon amulet his master had left him before choosing to pass away after living for over 150 years.
He winced in pain as the many wounds on his body flared because of the movement, but he gritted his teeth and pressed a finger to the back of Turner's head.
Richard took a deep breath and reached for the dragon amulet on his neck as he closed his eyes in concentration, channeling his energy towards Turner's head.
Finding the chip, Richard acted quickly, pushing it out with pure energy, only to snatch it and throw it away to explode a safe distance away from the pair.
He sighed again, frowning as he picked up his friend and started walking away.
"Come on, brother, let's get you out of here..."
...
Gotham
"Achoo...!" Gray sneezed as he reached for his apartment door, causing him to pause and look around. However, he soon shrugged and opened the door.
"Welcome home, Gray-ray!" Harley exclaimed, grinning in her spot in front of the television as she watched him enter the apartment, causing Gray to sigh as he ignored her, took out his laptop and immediately started working.
...
East End
Selena's penthouse
"Ya know, I thought there's gon' be lots more typing involved..." Harley said as she leaned on the back of my chair, looking at me working the laptop while literally breathing down my neck.
"You watch too many movies," I blankly replied, shrugging my shoulders as I gestured to the side. I kept the fact I had the same idea about hacking to myself.
The first thing that will come to mind when thinking about a hacker is a guy sitting in a dark room in front of a computer, furiously typing while strings of green code rapidly flood the screen.
However, the laptop didn't even have a proper keyboard in the first place. And I didn't need to do much typing outside of programming the same apps I'm currently using to browse the city's secure servers, trying to find anyone who is or was using them illegally.
So instead of furiously typing on the keyboard, I just clicked here and there while keeping an eye on several loading screens while waiting for the results. Kinda lame, but rather convenient if you ask me.
"I have a couple of buddies in Bludhaven who are into this stuff, and they're always typing at their computers whenever I visit," Selina commented from her spot on the couch, raising an eyebrow as she watched me work from a respectful distance.
"They manually work where I create programs to do the work for me. I hate doing the same menial task over and over whenever I need something done," I replied, shrugging my shoulder as I gave Selina an unimpressed look.
"Oh... looks like we finally got a bite..." I remarked, cutting Harley with a wave before she could say something as I turned back to the laptop and began and locked on to the trace I found.
"And we have a fighter, it seems... trying to cut the link," I added as I cracked my fingers, focusing on the computer. "You wanted to see some typing, Harley?" I asked, grinning as I put on my helmet to cover my face just in case and started typing on the touchpad.
I could have just covered the camera, but I wanted to look the guy in the face before wiping out his database with my Network Crash power out of sheer spite and petty.
...
Gotham
Unknown location
Anarky frowned under his mask, turning to the computer as several of the decoys he'd set up to protect himself disappeared at once. He said nothing as he began working, furiously typing as he tried to identify and locate the person trying to hack into his database.
Though he was concerned, his concern quickly turned to irritation as he noticed the skill of the person trying to track him down through the little traces he left while hacking into the city's surveillance system, or rather, the lack of it.
The person trying to hack his way into Anarky's database wasn't an amateur, and his skill could still be called decent, but the self-proclaimed freedom fighter measured the intruder's work to his own. And it paled in comparison.
Anarky was naturally arrogant and confident in his abilities, but he wasn't foolish enough to think himself invincible and his database impenetrable.
However, the freedom fighter never thought anyone with such a skill level would try going after him, of all people, causing his expression to darken under his theatrical mask, and decide to teach the impudent fool a lesson.
He immediately went to work, disabling half of the sixty-something decoy signal sources he'd set up, luring the intruder right into his database. He wanted to give the fool a sense of false hope and crush him at the last possible second to prove his superiority.
And things went as Anarky planned as the intruder, spurred by his progress, walked right into a portion of his database that he'd intentionally opened himself.
Anarky scoffed as he was about to start tracing the intruder, now that the latter was in his playground. However, he stopped, raising an eyebrow as the impudent fool brazenly opened a two-way video call between them.
"I really don't know what I was expecting... but some guy dressed as a theatre club reject, wasn't it..." the intruder casually remarked in a mocking tone when his face, covered by a helmeted gas mask, appeared on Anarky's computer screen.
"Inconsequential fool. Anarky does not need nor want your approval, for Anarky is the voice of the voiceless!" Anarky replied, feeling a need to assert his superiority and separate himself from the foolish intruder.
"Well, it's about time someone put you on mute, Mr. Voice of the voiceless," the intruder replied, and Anarky got the impression that he was rolling his eyes under his helmet.
"Do you genuinely believe yourself capable of silencing the people's voices?" Anarky replied dismissively, gesturing to the side to show how little he cared for the intruder's poor attempt at quipping.
"You are no one and nothing in the face of the people's will. I have allowed you to hack into my database on a whim. But I tire of your impudence," Anarky added, shaking his head as he began working on tracing the intruder while the latter was in a protected section of his database.
"Did you, now?" the intruder asked in a skeptical tone as he too began working, still unphased despite several warning windows appearing on his laptop.
"Isn't that like super bad news?" a pale, blonde woman with heavy makeup appeared in the video feed, sticking her face next to the intruder as she asked. Anarky immediately recognized the woman as Harley Quinn.
"Now's not the time, Harley. Get out of here," the intruder replied, pushing the crazy blonde away as he resumed working, stopping with a sigh after a minute, much to Anarky's amusement.
"You got me good..." the intruder said, shrugging his shoulders with another sigh as he raised his hands in surrender. "I still have to thank you, though..." he added, a good measure of amusement returning to his voice as he quickly got over the fact Anarky had led him by the nose.
"If you didn't let me into your database, I wouldn't have been able to do this..." the intruder said, resuming his mocking tone as he reached for the camera with his index finger that had blue arcs of electricity coursing around it.
The video feed turned black, but nothing happened, much to Anarky's confusion. However, the confusion quickly turned into panic when his computers began wiping whatever data they had before restarting.
And before Anarky could make sense of the situation, the computers booted back up, and the two-way video call resumed. However, the intruder said nothing and merely stared into the camera with what could only be a smug expression under his helmet.
Getting a bad feeling, Anarky immediately began fiddling with the central computer, only to freeze as he found all his data gone along with the operating system he created, replaced by another customized and coded operating system.
"What have you done, you fool?!" Anarky angrily exclaimed as he tried to decipher the new operating system the intruder had installed to replace the old one, but the latter didn't stand still and fought him at every step and turn.
"Taught you a lesson in humility," the intruder replied, chuckling as he ended the call, leaving an outraged Anarky to try to reclaim his system and computers.
Anarky reckoned he'd be able to regain control, eventually. But he needed time to do so, time he did not have right now since the intruder likely managed to find his location after hijacking the system.
The freedom fighter scowled under his mask and began destroying the cameras and microphones in his lair, preparing to take whatever he could before leaving.
However, he forgot one minor detail. In his paranoia and arrogance, he had linked everything in the hideout to his computers, including the exits, effectively making him a prisoner inside his own base now that someone else had taken control of the system.
"Damnit!" Anarky exclaimed as he tried to open the exit to no avail and promptly returned to the computer to attempt to pry back control over the system from the intruder.
...
Selena's penthouse
"I'll need to stay here to make sure the bastard stays put," I remarked as I took out a pen and piece of paper from my inventory. "I currently have him trapped in his own base, but he's better than me at programming..." I added as I began writing down the man's address.
"It's only a matter of time before he wrestles control back, so you better hurry up if you want to catch him," I concluded as I handed the paper to Selina and turned back to my laptop.
She might have muttered something about not needing to go herself, but I was too focused on keeping Anarky from regaining control over his system to care.
...
As he frenziedly worked to regain control over his systems, Anarky's expression turned uglier and uglier as he tried to decipher the heavily coded operating system with Gray hindering him every step of the way.
Every time he deciphered a portion of the system, Gray would respond by decoding and recoding a part of it to delay him, and he'd done a pretty good job at that, considering he's been exactly that for the past thirty minutes.
Though Anarky's skill in hacking and programming was clearly superior to that of Grey, the fact he had to battle the latter under such circumstances made whatever aptitude advantage he had nearly null and pointless.
However, despite the constant hindrances, Anarky was nothing if not a master of programming, and he still made some progress, albeit very slowly.
And just as he was about to regain control of the system, the entrance to his lair opened, causing him to frown as he roughly guessed the identity of the person standing behind the slowly opening doors without bothering to look for himself.
He chose a forgotten, abandoned emergency bunker connected to underground tunnels under one of Gotham's central communication towers.
Getting here was no easy task, especially on such short notice.
Anarky could only think of one person capable of such a feat in Gotham, who had an interest in taking him down. One person and several of his sidekicks, in fact.
And sure enough, he turned to the entrance as the shutter doors fully opened and saw none other than Bludhaven's protector, Nightwing, in all of his glory.
"I don't know who you are and what you hope to accomplish, but it's time to put a stop to it," Nightwing stated as he already charged the freedom fighter while speaking, not expecting a reply.
Anarky gritted his teeth as he finally regained control over the lair's exits and unlocked a secret entrance he'd personally installed after making a home out of the abandoned bunker.
Then he reached into his bright red cape and retrieved several throwing stars shaped as circle-A's, throwing them at his computers, destroying the monitors.
He wanted to cut off any possible communication between Nightwing and the person who destroyed his database since he had already destroyed computers' microphones and cameras.
Anarky managed to do it before Nightwing reached him. He quickly took out a detonator with a red button, which he immediately pressed, causing a countdown to appear on the detonator's small screen.
"I have planted bombs in every major corporation in Gotham. They will explode in 30 minutes," Anarky hurriedly said as he threw the detonator to Nightwing, causing the latter to pause as he caught it with a frown.
"You can chase after me or take care of the bombs. It is your choice. Either way, Anarky shall prevail!" Anarky dramatically exclaimed, throwing a smoke bomb into the ground as he retreated toward the secret exit he'd previously unlocked.
Nightwing hesitated for a second, his gaze alternating between the smoke screen and the countdown, but in the end, he turned to leave, retrieving his communicator to contact Batgirl.
Computers were her area of expertise, so he'd leave the heavy lifting to her back in the Batcave to take a direct approach and try to evacuate to the corporate buildings closest to him.
"Batgirl, this is Nightwing. We have a situation here. There might be bombs in every major corporation's building that will explode in about 30 minutes..." Nightwing explained as soon as the call connected as he hurriedly made for the bunker's exit.
"What?" Nightwing exclaimed, halting his steps as Batgirl explained she couldn't do anything about it in time unless she could get direct or wireless access to the detonator.
"Then broadcast the news to every corporation that Anarky might have targeted and make them evacuate all employees by any means necessary," Nightwing instructed with a frown before Batgirl could repeat herself.
"I'll do what I can on my end, too. Nightwing out," he concluded, sighing as he hurried for the exit, suddenly stopping as he noticed one of the bunker's lights flickering strangely.
"Is that Morse code...?" Nightwing remarked as he stared at the light in confusion, and it flickered in affirmation. He hesitated for another second before deciding to see what was going on.
...
Selena's penthouse
I nodded in satisfaction as I got the prompt that Nightwing plugged the detonator into Anarky's computer and started working on tracing the signal.
Anarky seemed to have missed one of the mics, and I managed to hear his conversation with Nightwing before he fled. And even though I didn't have any way of verbally communicating with the latter, I figured I'd try Morse code.
I've never studied Morse code before, but a quick internet search gave me what I needed, and I quickly figured out how to say, "wait, don't leave; plug detonator into computer," through flickering the bunker's light.
My idea entirely relied on Nightwing understanding Morse code, and Batman's extensive training showed its worth.
"So why are ya trynna save a bunch of corporate ass-creams, by the way?" Harley curiously asked, her gaze alternating between the laptop screen and myself.
"I say let 'em burn, or explode or whatever," she added, grinning as she rested her hands on her hips. "That'll teach the money-grubbing geezers a lesson," she concluded, shaking her head.
"I don't know about you, but I'll do anything to stay on the Bat's good side. I don't need a paranoid vigilante breathing down my neck for the rest of my life..." I replied, shrugging my shoulders. I kept the part where I planned strategically to let several bombs explode to make a profit for myself.
Another reason for my actions was the petty grudge I had against Batman for making me keep Harley in line, but that's another part I'm keeping to myself.
I'd, of course, only let the bombs in currently empty buildings explode and avoid any civilian casualties since I wasn't that big of an asshole. Still, the explosion would cause several companies' stocks to plummet, including Wayne's enterprise.
And knowing Bruce Wayne, it won't take long before the stocks rise back up, but not before I manage to buy some of them for myself for a heavily discounted price, of course.
"Yer no fun," Harley said, turning away with a huff as she walked toward Selena, who was surprisingly silent the entire time, intently watching me work with a hard-to-read expression.
"Looks like the guy who set ya up ran away, Kitty," Harley said with a grin as she stood in front of Selena, causing the latter to sigh as she turned to the crazy blonde.
"How about you an' me blow up this joint an' go hunting for that V-wannabe loser," Harley remarked as she moved to Selina's side, wrapping an arm around the brunette's shoulder.
"I doubt we'd be able to find the guy, especially now that the Batman is on to him," Selina replied with a shrug, shaking her head in dismissal at the proposal.
"I'm sure Gray could find 'em again if-" the crazy blonde remarked as she turned to me with an eager grin, But I quickly cut her off with a gesture before she could finish talking.
"Let me stop you right there," I said, dismissively gesturing to the side with a blank expression. "I only went after Anarky as a favor to Selena and because he made things difficult for me," I added, raising an eyebrow as I turned to the brunette.
"But now, with my name cleared, Anarky exposed and crushed, and Intergang's presence in Gotham almost non-existent..." I remarked, trailing off at the end of my sentence.
"I have no more reasons to provide any more help unless you're willing to pay, of course," I blankly added with a shrug, making a money sign with my right.
Hearing my words, Harley pouted in bemusement at not getting any action after being tied up in my apartment for several hours, while Selena visibly cringed at the mere idea of spending money.
"Forget it. If you're so bored, Black Mask's goons are still out there looking for you," Selena said, immediately cutting off Harley before the crazy blonde could even ask her to spend money.
"Y'all are no fun..." Harley said with another pout as she made for the door with a huff, slamming the door behind her as she exited Selina's penthouse while murmuring curses.
"You still owe me a favor, Selena," I leisurely remarked after watching Harley leave as I turned back to my laptop. "The leak was on your side, and not only did I help you track down Anarky, but I also took care of the Intergang underbosses in Gotham," I added, pausing slightly as several explosions echoed in the distance.
"Weren't you taking care of the bombs?" Selena asked, raising an eyebrow as she turned to the window to gaze at the five smoke pillars rising on the horizon all over the city.
"I'm not a miracle worker. I couldn't disarm all bombs," I replied with a shrug, unphased by Selena's attempt at changing the topic. I'd already made it clear she owed me one, and she'll have to pay me back whether or not she liked it.
"I prioritized the bombs near civilians, so the ones that went off only caused property damage..." I added as I got up, storing my laptop in my inventory.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have places to be..."
...
Harley lazily stretched as she walked through the hallway towards Gray's apartment. She felt tired after several hours of taunting Black Mask and kicking his goons' asses.
The crazy blonde was already looking forward to annoying Gray into making him go berserk again so she could get another show. The one he put up on the docks when he beat The Beast to death and when he almost killed an almost inkillable werewolf were just too entertaining for her to not try for an encore.
She immediately opened the door as soon as she reached it and froze at the sight of the empty apartment.
The crazy blonde frowned as she began searching the apartment but found no trace of Gray or any furniture other than the air mattress in the bedroom with a piece of paper on top of it.
Her frown became more pronounced as she picked up the piece of paper and discovered it had a message left to her by none other than Gray.
...
Dear Dr. Harleen Quinzel.
It is with great regret that I'm informing you of the following; our time together, though most jolly, must now come to an end as I have many things to do that require my full attention.
You should also be pleased to know that my deal with you know who regarding you has officially concluded, and I have taken it upon myself to inform his associate from Bludhaven.
You are now free to do as you will, as am I, so let us keep it that way.
I have already paid for the apartment's rent, so feel free to use it as a shelter at your convenience for the next two months.
Thank you for the pleasant company you have provided me in the past few days.
Sincerely,
Grayson Whitlock
...
"Sincerely, my resplendent pale bottom; just ya wait!" Harley exclaimed with a scowl as she proceeded to tear the letter into shreds before leaving the apartment in a huff.
...
I chuckled in amusement, shaking my head as I looked at my laptop screen, watching Harley leave the apartment in a huff through the camera I especially installed to see her reaction.
I was already sick of dealing with the crazy blonde and keeping her in line for so long, and as far as I'm concerned, she stopped being my responsibility the moment I exposed Anarky.
I made sure Nightwing knew that I'd be washing my hands of the crazy bitch before he left Anarky's hideout, and Batman could choke on a dick and die if he didn't like it for all I cared.
In any case, my apartment was already exposed, and I didn't find the idea that villains and capes could come into my house whenever they wanted very appealing, not to mention it was most likely bugged to hell and back by now.
So I took a page from Anarky's playbook and found a nice hideout in Gotham's abandoned underground tunnels network.
It was a similarly abandoned bunker, and I was smart enough to wipe it off the city's database. I also sabotaged all servers with information about the abandoned tunnels I'd found to hide my tracks and any information about my hideout.
There were still people like Batman who had their own databases about the Gotham's underground tunnel network, but they'd still have to comb through the entire area to find me, and by the time they did, I'd be long gone.
Though I'd need to spend some effort to make the bunker feel like home, like getting electricity, an internet connection, cleaning up the place, and getting some furniture to fill it up, it'd be worth the effort in the end.
Honestly, I should have found a hideout like this and moved out after Selena managed to track me back to my apartment.
However, my subconscious need (which I only recently discovered) to maintain a normal lifestyle and not fall into any comic character stereotype prevented me from even considering the idea.
But I was here now, and that's all that mattered.
'Now, let's see what new notifications I have...' I mused, smiling as I turned the notifications prompts in the corner of my vision. I had a pretty heated-up confrontation with Anarky, and I'd be surprised if my Computers skill didn't go up by at least one level.
[+1 level the Crime skill]
[Crime (level 28)]
[+2 levels to the Computers skill]
[Computers (level18)]
[+2 levels to the Programmer class]
[Programmer (level 25)]
[+6 stat points]
'Nice... now only five more class levels before I can move on to the next one...' I nodded in satisfaction, frowning as I noticed several more notification prompts remaining.
[quest complete: Get Rich Or Die Trying (literally) II]
Get Rich Or Die Trying (literally) II:
You finally got a taste of money, but is that really enough to fill the black hole in your heart? You want, you need; it makes the world go round. Go for it.
[Objective: Gather $50,000 through any means]
[Rewards: [Random equipment] [+5 levels to the crime skill]
[Progress: $73,221/$50,000]
[Would you like to receive your rewards now?]
'Oh, yea... almost forgot, I even had that quest...' I smiled, shrugging my shoulders as I read through the completed quest. It wasn't that I forgot about it. It's actually almost impossible for me to forget anything.
However, with everything that's been happening recently, I'd just put it in the back of my mind and been ignoring it to focus on other, more important matters like not getting my teeth kicked in by Batman or getting killed by angry gangsters. You know, just usual everyday stuff.
But you're probably wondering how I suddenly finished the quest, and the answer is quite simple, really. I'd found Anarky's backup database and easily hacked into it since it was connected to his computer, and he wasn't there to stop me.
After some rummaging, I salvaged a lot of recourses, including custom-made viruses and computer programs, along with 68k in emergency funds.
'Too bad I'll spend it all buying Wayne enterprise stocks... but first...' I mused with a smile as I accepted the quest rewards since spending the money would regress the progress bar if I didn't finish it properly first.
[+5 levels to the Crime skill]
[Crime (level 33)]
[Programmer (level 27)]
[+6 stat points]
[Randomizing equipment... randomizing complete]
[You have gained: Phantom Belt]
[Phantom Belt: a stylish, highly damage-resistant black belt fully equipped with the latest personal concealing technology. It works y generating a refracting light field around its user, making them invisible with the click of a button]
'This will definitely come in handy...' I mused as the black, scaly belt appeared in my hand, and I didn't hesitate before putting it on before finding the activation button on the circular buckle.
"Wow..." I remarked as my hand and the rest of my body disappeared from my vision. I tried moving my hand in front of my face, but it was still invisible.
I tried walking, running, and jumping. But I still remained invisible until I pressed the activation button on the buckle, causing my body to appear again as materializing from thin air.
'Fuck you, Sanji! I've got your dream power, but I ain't using it to peek at the lady's rooms like a creep...!'
I chuckled, shrugging as I stored the belt into my inventory and turned to the available stat points on my character screen.
'Might as well...' I mused as I distributed my 60 stat points equally between my Mind, Body, and Spirit attributes, raising them all to 70 points, respectively.
Name: Grayson Whitlock
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Archetype: (The Mad Scientist level 1)
Class: [Thief (level MAX)] [Fighter (level MAX)] [Acrobat (Level MAX)] [Programmer Level 27]
...
Stats:
Body: 70
Mind: 70
Spirit: 70
Stat Points: 0
...
Skills:
[Brawling (level 38)]
[Crime (level 33)]
[Acrobatics (level 16)]
[Computers (level 18)]
...
Perks:
[Dormant Metahuman]
[Silent Step]
[Eidetic Kinesthesia]
[Superhuman Stamina]
[Perfect Recall]
[Accelerated Healing]
[Energy Detector]
[Energy Concentration]
...
Archetype powers:
[Network Crash]
[Code Manipulation]
...
I gave my character screen one last look and immediately got to work, buying Wayne enterprise stocks as cheap as I could find, and it didn't take me long to most of my money, leaving me with only 15k.
I honestly have no idea why people would sell Wayne enterprise stocks since the company was the oldest in Gotham, and survived many catastrophes.
Every time something happened that would cause the company's stocks to plummet, something else would happen and make them soar through the roof several days longer, and sometimes not it doesn't take that long either.
Why anyone would sell their shares in such a company was honestly perplexing, and I could only attribute it to being part of the plot since it happened all too often, but I wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Well, maybe I was, considering how many doubts I had about the system, but that doesn't apply to money.
"Time to get to work..." I remarked as I stored my laptop and got up, ready to turn the dingy, dark bunker into a permanent base.
...
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