February 3rd - 2014
Why, why did the league decide that the answer to an unexpected problem is to terminate said problem instead of being peaceful. Oh right, Assassins. I continued spinning the 3ft piece of reinforced iron core steel pole in my hands, the practice Oliver had been having me do helping me better perfect the bo staff training I'd had years ago and turning it into a defensive zone to keep them from using knifes and swords. I'd also been deflecting projectiles with a rapid spinning technique that made it difficult for them to get past, with my reflexes allowing me to dodge the rest.
I'm glad I'd turned a large area of the factory into a sparring and training room for practice because it gave us room to fight the over a dozen assassins who'd swarmed my base, Bruce, Oliver, and Diggle fighting alongside me. Cisco had made some new conductive gloves to make it easier to send electric shocks electrifying the pole whenever I made contact with someone to provide additional shock damage, but they were still incredibly strong and outnumbered us three to one.
"Nyssa!" I shouted as she sat back, waiting for her minions to do the work for her.
"Is this really what you want?!, I took advantage of my environment, you're acting like I kicked your puppy, this is way overkill for a lucky break!"
"If you want to fight me, call off your dogs and fight me, one on one!"
"What are you doing?!" Oliver seemed panicked as I declared a challenge to Nyssa al Ghul hoping to keep her off balance with wit and reflexes.
"Putting an end to this, I won't kill her, the pit will heal even death, but she has to understand this vendetta with me, with Sarah, it's pointless." Of course, I knew Sarah lance was in coast city, we'd gotten her and her family out of starling until this whole mess blew over. Still would have been nice to have her backing us up, but having two targets in one place would have put too much risk on the rapidly changing timeline, and I needed her to live for a lot of reasons, not the least of which was to eventually lead the legends.
"You're a fool if you think you can take on the dragon, let alone his daughter." Nyssa remarked as she approached, the assassins forming a circle to prevent escape, ready to step in if anyone else tried to back me up.
"And you have no idea what I'm capable of, tell me, did it hurt knowing that Ras chose Talia over you, only for her to go off and form her own splinter group?" Her rage was powerful as she cried out charging at me full on, I side stepped and tried to use the pole to sweep her legs, but she leaped into the air, the edge of the pole slamming into her arms as she blocked, sending what should have been a taser pulse only for it to harmlessly discharge into the air.
"Rubber bracers? Smart, but you still have to contend with my strength, speed, and reflexes." I anchored the pole into the ground and got into the hand-to-hand combat stance Oliver had taught me while preparing for her next attack, the two of us circling each other like lions waiting for the other to leave an opening to strike. It wasn't long before I was met with a flurry of strikes, each one pinpoint accurate, each one aiming for a lethal spot on my body, and each one dodged or blocked due to my enhanced reflexes and speed. Suddenly I noticed an opening, it was for a split second as she went through the series of strikes, a regular person wouldn't have been able to utilize it due to her own speed and defense.
As she went in for another strike, this one aiming for my heart, I sidestepped, grabbed her arm, and threw a hard punch at her ribcage, the bones snapping under the force of the strike as she flew into the gathered assassins sending a few toppling over. I felt a bit like Neo against agent smith, an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. She struggled to stand, coughing up blood from the internal injuries I'd given her.
"You're not the only one who's been preparing Nyssa, I'm a stranger in a strange land. I'm well aware of the kinds of dangers that exist in this world, and I've been training to be ready for them. I'm not just fast, strong, and agile, I think fast too, I can see every move you make, every muscle twitch, every shift of your eyes as they focus on a target. You might be able to beat me with a cheap shot, but that has no honor, and for every moment we fight, I learn your techniques, your patterns, how to better and more efficiently best you."
Nyssa again roared as she charged forward, obviously I'd bruised her ego along with her ribs, I was hoping I could defeat her without killing her, I've never killed anyone. She was favoring her injured side as she again struck out, this time with the knife, which I quickly dodged and took away, throwing it at the Ceiling to get it out of the fight. Next she threw a series of throwing knives, each one glistening with something on their tips, I yanked the pole out of the ground and deflected them with a defensive spin knocking them off course before swinging rapidly, the pole striking her knee with an echoing crack, thunder crackling from outside as a storm moved in, rain tapping against the warehouse roof.
"You need to stop Nyssa" I said softly as I stood over her kneeling form, her looking up at me in frustration as she found herself unable to stand on her left leg, the impact severely injuring it along with the stun preventing the muscle from responding.
"Just Kill me!" she shouted, trying to claw at my leg, but with me quickly stepping back out of reach.
"There is no honor in killing someone who isn't a threat, and right now, with your injuries, you alone are not one."
Suddenly I heard a clapping sound as I turned to see none other than Slade Wilson emerge from a dark corner of the main floor. Oliver reached for his bow ready to end the war Slade had started, I myself got into a combat ready stance since he was one of the few people who could match me physically as I was right now, and far better trained and with more experience to boot.
"Relax, I'm not here to fight, in fact I guess you could say I'm here to repay a favor" he stated while helping Nyssa up, the assassins confused but awaiting their next order.
"You fight well, but you're still an amateur Zalost, Though you certainly know how to leverage your newfound strength you lack refinement." suddenly I had the wind knocked out of me, the whole world spinning as I collapsed on the ground struggling to breath.
"Go home, all of you, we'll pick this up soon enough, oh and Zalost, I'll be looking forward to our real fight." he began walking away with Nyssa in tow when Oliver shouted at him to wait, but he continued catching the arrow and sidestepping the batarang thrown at his feet before throwing the arrow at Batman who deflected it with his own arm bracers.
"Oliver, I shall be getting what you owe me soon enough for shadow as well as for myself, but now is not the time, oh and Bruce, I look forward to seeing Dick again, he was an excellent student for that brief time he trained under me." Suddenly he was gone, Oliver helping me up as Batman glared at the door Slade exited out of, the assassins preventing anyone from following before vanishing themselves.
"Great, Slade is working with the league, I got my ass handed to me with one punch, what's next, is Two Face going to show up and try to drop a giant coin on me?" Bruce coughed at that comment, clearly something similar happened in this reality at some point.
"He was right, you know how to fight, you lack discipline. You're going to need to learn more control if you have any hope of going up against Slade." Oliver was right in his assessment, but it still stung knowing I was a long ways from the greats, I just wanted to get home, not caught up in some Vigilante training arc.
"I might know someone" Stated Bruce as he stepped forward, his hand pulling a small pen and paper out of his utility belt and writing something down.
"In Japan there's someone I know and trust, my old master, an expert in control and how to fight the kind of people you'd be up against."
I remembered both Oliver and Bruce traveled the world learning their combat arts, Bruce for much longer than Oliver. Nodding to Bruce it seemed that they had a lot to talk about, with old enemies teaming up it seemed like a lot more was going to happen while I was away, though I was confident that despite being off the rails both Gotham and Starling were in good hands for now. I just hope them meeting changes things because Bruce retiring really put Gotham through hell and having allies might have just saved things.
